# Indian Space Capabilities



## joey

> NEW DELHI: India may be sending a manned mission to space. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the possibility at a meeting here on Tuesday with the chairmen of the Space Commission and the Atomic Energy Commission.
> 
> Manmohan Singh, an official statement on Wednesday said he reviewed India's space and atomic energy programmes with the scientists.
> 
> The possibility of the Department of Space developing a manned space programme was also discussed.
> 
> The department's other plans, including upcoming launch missions, a profile of missions proposed up to 2013, the project for developing a *regional navigational system * as well as futuristic plans covering *air-breathing propulsion systems*, *heavy lift launches * and advanced communication technologies came up for review.
> 
> The presentation on nuclear power focussed on the scenario for its development, on the cost effectiveness and environmental sustainability of nuclear power, *on the three stage nuclear programme* and the approach of the Department of Atomic Energy.
> 
> An introduction to advanced technologies under development for meeting India's energy needs was also provided, the statement said.
> 
> The imperative to offer attractive career incentives for scientists in the space and atomic energy programmes was underlined by the Prime Minister.


Source : http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE...nd~man~to~space

Regional navigation system > gagan
air-breathing propultion > for avtar with the russians.
heavy lift launches > RLV
three stage nuke power > first stage done , second stage to be operational from 500Mw kalpakkam third stafe to follow the continous use of thorium as France does.

besides Cartosat 2 is set to launch in this year last and GSLV to follow next year middle.

guys i hope i'm not offending anyone with articles? if so let me know 
cartosat 2 for IRs remote sensing satellite which repeteadly many websites including nasa and FAs says one of best in world and can read cars backplate number.

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## joey

I dont think this is needed India DID SEND men in space back in 1984 with russian help.
sending men in space and getting them back is of no use.
u gotta send robots or payloads to study planets which has much more scientifical importance.

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## Contrarian

*India takes giant leap in space initiative*
Friday, March 2, 2007 (Thiruvananthapuram):

For the first time ever, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has allocated Rs 50 crore for ISRO's manned space initiatives in an indication that India is very serious about its manned space faring ambitions.

If all goes according to plan, a 50 metre tall and more than 400 tonne rocket will put an Indian in space.

The Geostationary Launch Vehicle is being fine tuned by ISRO for India's first manned space flight, possibly in 2014 from Sriharikota.

The new national effort was announced by the Finance Minister in his budget speech.

ISRO is also developing a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew into a low Earth orbit.

Crew module

The mission, which will place India in the league of Russia, USA and China, is estimated to cost about Rs 10,000 crore but will be a boon for the domestic industry.

"We have carried out a detailed feasibility study of carrying humans into orbit and bringing them back using existing vehicles. We feel by using the GSLV Mark II it is possible to undertake this mission but a lot more technology has to be developed. This is quite exciting and challenging for our youngsters who are joining and hopefully we feel we will be able to do it by 2014," said B N Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvananthapuram.

Work has begun at the highly guarded facilities at Thiruvananthapuram. NDTV was shown the first drawings of the crew module and the escape vehicle if something goes wrong in the manned flight.

It is the life support system that will take most development.

Hardware like heat resistant tiles to protect astronauts on the return to Earth have already been developed and the success of the satellite recovery experiment earlier this month demonstrated India's capability in re-entry technology.

Finally a capsule six times heavier will take Indians into space.

A new race to space has begun with India and China vying to find their place. All what happens at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre will decide how soon and how fast India moves in this demanding area.

http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?category=National


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## Lilo

Just to put things in perspective ..

compared to india's 50 crore/year

*official* cost of Shenzou Project for the past 11 years was $2.3 billion USD,
applying the chinese multiple of 3 their *real* budget would be ~$7 billion/13 years

=2500 crore Rs/year

I really wonder if its enough ??


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## Goodperson

Lilo said:


> Just to put things in perspective ..
> I really wonder if its enough ??



Its giant step from previous budget


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## Contrarian

Should be, ISRO always *delivers* even on a shoe string budget.


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## Lilo

malaymishra123 said:


> Should be, ISRO always *delivers* even on a shoe string budget.



Iam sure that ISRO 's missions are quite economical..
..but i seriously think the reporter missed adding one or two zeros at the end of the 50 crore figure

even In the same article the total cost of the manned flight was stated to be 10,000 crores....and a figure of 50 crore/year jus doesnt seem right ...

do u have any other source to verify the above article...?

Here's another albeit older article which madhavan nair says that the cost of the manned space mission will be between 10000-15000 crore ($2.2-$3.3 billion) over eight years




> *
> Indian scientists favour manned space mission*
> 
> Bangalore, Nov. 7 (PTI): Top scientists and technologists here today strongly favoured a proposal to undertake a manned mission into space that would catapult India into a select group of nations with such a capability.
> 
> At a national consultative meeting convened by the Indian Space Research Organisation to "crystallise and converge" on the issue, participants "overwhelmingly and very positively" supported the proposal, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.*
> 
> ISRO is in a position to undertake the manned mission in eight years. Nair said the estimated cost of such a mission would be in the region of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore.*
> 
> Nair made a presentation to a gathering of 80 scientists and technologists, including those from ISRO, HAL and NAL and those associated with space technologies, and detailed studies conducted by the organisation in this context.
> 
> "All of them were supportive of the idea," Nair said. "There was absolute unanimity on the issue. Everyone feels it's a logical step."
> 
> Among those who participated in the meet were U R Rao, Roddam Narasimha and Yash Pal. Some others, who could not attend, including M G K Menon, sent written comments, he said.
> 
> Some key questions at the interaction centred around the safety of personnel making the flight, ISRO sources said, adding the space agency will respond to these queries.
> 
> Nair, also Space Commission Chairman and Secretary in the Department of Space, said ISRO will submit a report on the deliberations to the government by the year-end.
> 
> He had made a presentation last month on the space department to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who suggested a national team of scientists look into the manned mission issue. Today's meeting was a result of suggestion.
> 
> http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200611071540.htm


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## Contrarian

Dude, this is the just the first installement. There will be more as much as ISRO requires. This is a prestige issue for the govt, to show we can do it too, it will be given priority. Dont worry, i have faith in ISRO. They punch above their size.


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## Contrarian

> *ISRO takes delivery of mobile launch pedestal*
> 
> CHENNAI: The Sriharikota Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday took delivery of a mobile launch pedestal made by KCP Ltd.
> 
> M. Annamalai, Director, Sriharikota Centre, said this was the centre's second mobile launch pedestal and would play a key role in its satellite launch programmes.
> 
> The order was placed over one-and-a-half years ago and it involved making a mobile launch platform weighing 600 tonnes with metal sheets of 10-120mm thickness. It is on such platforms that the launch vehicles that carry the remote sensing satellites and communication satellites are built.
> 
> Partnership with the private sector was a key factor for the ISRO, he said.
> 
> V.L. Dutt, Chairman, KCP Ltd., handed over the inspection documents to Mr. Annamalai, marking the formal handing over of the platform.
> http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/27/stories/2007032706450300.htm


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Webby, could you make this thread a sticky like the other ones about Arjun, MRCA, etc. All the space related materials would go here.


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## Lilo

When is our next launch??


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## Contrarian

*ISRO To Launch Foreign Satellite As Primary Payload First Time*

The ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch the 360-kg AGILE spacecraft as a primary payload next month.

India for the first time will launch a foreign satellite -- an Italian one -- as a primary payload on a home-grown rocket, as space scientists prepare to further demonstrate the country's cost-effective launch services capability.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched foreign payloads as piggybacks in the past; next month's mission would see the space agency launching the 360-kg AGILE spacecraft as a primary payload.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse rocket of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, would blast-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with AGILE and India's Advanced Avionics Module (AAM) as secondary payload.

The launch is scheduled between April 20-30.

"It will send a right message to global community. This contract (to launch AGILE) was obtained against competition, and once we are able to launch it on time and at a good price, I think this (foreign payload launches) will start coming more and more to us", ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI here.

AGILE is a space scientific mission devoted to gamma-ray astrophysics supported by the Italian Space Agency, with the scientific and programmatic co-participation of the Italian Institute of Astrophysics and the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics.

The 180-kg AAM is aimed at testing some of the advanced avionic package for use in the future PSLV flights, the space agency said.

Officials said PSLV configuration for next month's flight would be modified to use only the core vehicle (without the six solid propellant strap-on motors).
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/I...ellite_As_Primary_Payload_First_Time_999.html


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## Contrarian

*Integration process begins for Chandrayaan-1*

The integration process of the spacecraft structure and antennae has begun for Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned moon mission which is scheduled for March 2008, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Wednesday.

The spacecraft structure for the mission has arrived at the ISRO satellite centre from Hindustan Aeronauticals Limited and integration work has begun, S Krishnamurthy, director, Publications and Public Relations, told PTI from Bangalore.

ISRO's Deep Space Tracking Network system, which is being established for the moon mission at Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, has already erected its first 18-mt antenna, he said.

The prestigious 32-mt antenna built by the Electronic Corporation of India and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is currently being erected at DSTNS, Krishnamurthy said.

Krishnamurthy added that the instruments from various collaborators, including European Space Agency and NASA, have started coming in.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission, that involves placing of a 525-kg spacecraft around the lunar orbit, is expected to provide impetus to science in India by unravelling some of the unknown features of the moon.

According to ISRO, it is also a challenge to technology, and possibly adds a new dimension to both Indian and international cooperation.

ISRO also has an agenda for the preparation of the three-dimensional atlas of the regions on the moon and the chemical mapping of the entire lunar surface.

According to M Annadurai, director-in-charge of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the launch schedule is targeted early next year.

"But technically we have three to four launch dates targeted," he said in an e-mail communication recently.

"This is because, a mission like Chandrayaan-1 needs few launch opportunities. I am aiming for a launch not later than March end or early April 2008. Currently we are on schedule, with 30 days of schedule margin, leading to March 2008 launch," Annadurai added.

"All systems and instruments are getting ready for flight integration. Accordingly, our target schedule for launch is as follows: 1) February 29, 2008 (If there is no slip in the current integration schedule); 2) March 13 (assuming 15-day slip); 3) March 26 (assuming 30-day slip); 4) April 9 (one more backup date)," he said.

"You may note unlike other satellite launches, it is difficult to have daily launch opportunity for Chandrayaan-1, as we need a particular moon geometry from earth to have optimal mission mode. So, we prefer not to miss the above launch opportunities," he said.

"ISRO is fully geared up to meet this challenge," he said.
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/28moon.htm

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WEEBY bhai, isse sticky bana do!


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## Lilo

> *
> India prepares for moon mission*
> 
> New Delhi: India has begun assembling the spacecraft for Chandrayan-I, its first unmanned mission to the moon scheduled for 2008, a top space agency said on Wednesday.
> 
> "We have begun the integration process for the spacecraft structure and are putting in place the antennae required for tracking data from this month," S Krishnamurthy, director of publicity for the Indian Space Research Organisation, said from Bangalore.
> 
> The spacecraft structure has arrived at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the integration work has begun, he said.
> 
> ISRO's deep space tracking network system is being established for the moon mission at Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, and its first 18-metre antenna has been erected, he said.
> 
> A 32-metre antenna built by the Electronic Corporation of India and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is currently being erected at the site.
> 
> Krishnamurthy said instruments from various collaborators, including the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA of the US, have also started coming in.
> 
> Though scientists first conceived India's moon mission in 1999, it was officially announced by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on August 15, 2003 and finally approved in November 2003.
> 
> The mission is scheduled for launch in March-April 2008.
> 
> With the geo-political importance of Chandrayaan, ISRO has pushed back other programmes that were conceived and scheduled much earlier, like the first science satellite Astrosat, which is now scheduled for 2009-10.
> http://www.ibnlive.com/news/indias-prepares-for-moon-mission/37210-11.html



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## Lilo

> *India's space sector starts a price war*
> By Raja M
> 
> MUMBAI - With the space industry emerging as the next economic frontier to be explored, India's scientists aim to propel the South Asian country into stratospheric heights of profitability in a market dominated by the US, Russia, Europe and China. The key to success, they believe, is cutting costs.
> 
> More than 60% of global satellite revenues now come from consumer-based video, radio and Internet services, and the 24-year-old satellite business journal SatNew says about 104
> 
> 
> 
> satellites launches are planned between now and 2008.
> 
> Antrix Corp, the marketing arm of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) satellite data products, has cornered 20% of the global satellite imaging business, ISRO sources told Asia Times Online.
> 
> Antrix has an annual sales turnover of US$68 billion, mostly marketing transponder capacity for satellite TV, Internet and telecommunications. Antrix sells transponder capacity (transponders receive signals, translate, amplify their frequency and transmit them back to Earth) for $1 million per client a year.
> 
> The ISRO now plans to cut the cost of launch vehicles, including working to use purified kerosene as rocket fuel just as Russia and the US have been doing. Rockets swallow many tonnes of rocket fuel, which currently costs India $46 per kilogram. With purified kerosene, costs plummet to less than 50 cents per kilogram.
> 
> Much of India's ability to cut technology costs arose from the necessity of having to find home-grown solutions when the United States and European countries imposed sanctions after India first detonated a nuclear device in 1974. The ISRO had to reinvent technologies it could no longer buy and, ironically, those technologies are now giving European and US agencies a run for their money.
> 
> S Krishnamurthy, a director at the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore, said the focus on self-reliance and the low cost of highly talented workers give India an edge over other countries.
> 
> India's steadily growing space business also received a major boost this January after its first Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) was launched and retrieved intact.
> 
> Krishnamurthy confirmed that the successful SRE-1 test indicated that the ISRO has more commercial aims. "The Indian launch vehicle will be about 30% cheaper for similar launch capabilities" in other countries, he said.
> 
> India still has some catching up to do with China, which in the past five years has launched 24 Changzheng rockets, orbited 22 satellites of different types and versions, and has planned many moon missions. Luan Enjie, one of the directors of the Chinese lunar program, told the media this month that by 2015, China will have a launching fleet of 1,060 units, enabling it to corner most of the launch-services market.
> 
> The success of the SRE-1 was also a big milestone for India's manned-space-flight program, as it demonstrated its reusable capabilities in space, putting it in the same league as the European Union, the US, Russia, China and Japan. "The SRE-1 can now offer a platform for experiments under microgravity conditions of space," said ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair.
> 
> Krishnamurthy also said that India is planning to develop a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) to "reduce the cost of access to space by an order of magnitude, so that it can be competitive in the world space market. Current costs range between $12,000 and $15,000 to place a kilogram of payload in orbit."
> 
> According to Nair, the Madras School of Economics has estimated that ISRO projects have contributed nearly three times the astonishingly modest ISRO annual budget of $800 million to the nation's gross domestic product.
> 
> The downside is that the Indian government's appreciation of the country's talented space scientists is not reflected in their paychecks. An entry-level teenager in India's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry earns about $8,400 a year, while an Indian space scientist earns half that figure plus a modest pension.
> 
> The ISRO is the brainchild of Dr Vikram Sarabhai (1919-71), a remarkably farsighted man considered to be the father of India's space program. He said: "We are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society."
> 
> ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair said: "India is perhaps the only country where societal needs are met by the space program in a cost-effective manner and the services are reaching the needy."
> 
> India's six remote-sensing satellites form the largest such constellation in the world and oversee land and coastal waters and help scientists inform farmers about climatic changes. India's seven communication satellites, the largest civilian system in the Asia-Pacific region, give television coverage to 90% of the population, including the remotest regions, and also serve to provide remote health care services and education to the rural poor.
> 
> In 2005, A P J Abdul Kalam, India's president and the world's first rocket scientist to be head of state, outlined an eight-point agenda to guide India's space missions for the next 25 years.
> 
> At a ceremony at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first flight of the country's launch vehicle, SLV-3, he urged India's space scientists to make sure that the country is part of the "space industrial revolution", including launching manned missions to the moon and Mars, setting up an industrial base in space, developing a solar sail for interplanetary missions, developing cost-effective space transportation systems using hypersonic reusable vehicles, using space energy for power, and using space technology for integrated disaster management.
> 
> The next big ISRO challenge is its moon missions. Last year, 80 leading Indian scientists met in Bangalore and expressed their support for the ISRO undertaking a manned moon flight by 2014, developing a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry two-member crew to low Earth orbit and safely return them to Earth.
> 
> ISRO's first moon craft, Chandrayaan-1, is being built for launch next year. Chandrayaan-1 ("Moon Vehicle" in Hindi) costs the ISRO just 2% of its annual budget for a period of five years for this mission. The ISRO says the moon probe will map the lunar surface at resolutions down to 5 meters, for the first time in human history.
> 
> According to Nair, one of the purposes of the moon mission is to inspire Indian youngsters to take up a career in science, which they will be more inclined to do if the government makes it financially desirable.
> 
> http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IC31Df04.html
> 
> (Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)



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## Lilo

> *
> A project to develop a semi-cryogenic engine is sought to be revived.
> *
> 
> R. RAMACHANDRAN
> 
> 
> 
> The cryogenic engine, The cryogenic final stage that is currently used in GSLV launches is not indigenous.
> 
> A CURIOUS new budget head in this year's allocations to the Department of Space (DOS) has not attracted the attention and discussion that it merits. This pertains to the Rs.25 crore allocated under the head "Semi Cryogenic Engine/Stage Development". According to the budget document, the objective is to develop and qualify a high-thrust semi-cryogenic engine and stage, using kerosene as fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidiser for the future advanced launch vehicle. The proposal is somewhat baffling because it essentially seeks to revive a 36-year-old project. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), initiated the project shortly before his death in 1971, but it was inexplicably dumped soon afterwards, much to the disappointment of its champions. Had the project been pursued to its logical end, India would have achieved world-class launch capability, complete with an operational, indigenous fully cryogenic engine, by the 1990s.
> 
> A "full" - as against a "semi" - cryogenic engine uses liquid hydrogen (LH) as fuel and LOX as oxidizer. Both the fuel and the oxidizer being gases at ordinary temperatures, their liquefaction requires use of the cryogenics or techniques and systems at sub-zero temperatures. In the case of a semi-cryogenic engine, the fuel kerosene - usually the superior aviation turbine fuel (ATF) - is a liquid at room temperature (an "earth-storable" propellant) and only oxygen requires liquefaction. Rocket propellants, which consist of both fuel and oxidizer, and are earth-storable liquids, are also used; for instance, a combination of unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and red-fuming nitric acid or nitrogen tetra-oxide (N2O4) as oxidizer is used in the second and fourth stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse from ISRO's stable.
> 
> Among the liquid propellants, the cryogenic bi-propellant combination of LH-LOX offers a higher `specific impulse' - a measure of thrust delivered per unit mass of propellant burnt per second - than the semi-cryo or fully earth-storable combinations. As compared to a specific impulse of 360-380 seconds for the LH-LOX combination, the specific impulse of the semi-cryo combination is 290-310 seconds and the earth-storable UDMH-N2O4 combination 270-280 seconds. This implies that a fully cryogenic engine can deliver a higher payload mass as compared to a semi-cryo engine or earth-storable liquid engine for a given weight of on-board fuel.
> 
> It is for this reason that ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which has to deliver an INSAT-II class satellite weighing over two tonnes into the geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above, has a cryogenic final stage as opposed to a UDMH-N2O4 liquid-based final stage of the PSLV, which has to deliver only 1.5-tonne-class satellites in the polar orbit, 800-900 km high. (It is possible to configure the PSLV to deliver geostationary satellites, but of mass much less than two tonnes, as was done in the case of the one-tonne meteorological satellite, METSAT, in September 2002.)
> 
> The cryogenic final stage that is currently used in GSLV launches is not indigenous. It uses the imported Russian cryogenic stages as Russia backed out from transferring the cryogenic engine technology under American pressure, violating a 1991 ISRO-Glavkosmos agreement. The 1991 deal had to be renegotiated subsequently in 1994 without technology transfer as the original deal was perceived to be in violation of the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and ISRO ended up importing off-the-shelf engines and stages. (The MTCR is an informal arrangement among 24 missile-technology capable nations of the West to restrict missile-related technology and equipment transfers to non-member countries.)
> 
> At present, the process of development of an indigenous 7.5 tonne thrust cryogenic engine and stage based on the Russian design (known as Mark-II) is on. The long-duration (720 seconds) test of the indigenous cryogenic stage on January 19 was aborted but will be carried out soon and the stage should be ready by year-end. A totally indigenous and more powerful cryogenic engine (Mark-III), which is intended to deliver satellites weighing up to four tonnes in the geostationary orbit, is also under development.
> 
> However, the main core first-stage booster of both the PSLV and the GSLV is still a solid propellant motor, which generally has a specific impulse less than the liquid propellants, and the second stage is the liquid engine `Vikas', which uses earth-storable bi-propellants, based on the French Viking engine technology obtained in the 1970s. Clearly, the payload capabilities of both the launch vehicles can be increased substantially if, instead of a solid motor, a first-stage liquid booster (based on either a cluster of semi-cryo or earth-storable propellant engines or a powerful cryogenic engine) is used like in most advanced launchers of the world today. LOX-kerosene-based semi-cryo liquid engines have propelled many Russian launch vehicles. The world's most powerful liquid engine, the Russian RD-170, which has been used in launch vehicles such as Proton, Zenit and Soyuz, is powered by a LOX-kerosene combination. LOX-kerosene engines have powered several American launchers as well, including Saturn V, which carried men to the moon.
> 
> However, for some reason, ISRO has been reluctant until now to develop a liquid-booster stage that could replace the solid booster and achieve a higher payload capability, notwithstanding the fact that it has mastered the solid-motor technology, which is completely indigenous. As recounted by N. Gopal Raj, the science correspondent of The Hindu in his 2000 book Reach for the Stars on ISRO's rocket development, similar efforts at developing indigenous capability in liquid propellants have been lacking all these years. Nearly all the effort on this front was directed at indigenising the imported Viking engine technology into Vikas and consolidating this capability, including creating industrial capacity to produce Vikas engines to meet the needs of PSLV and GSLV launches.
> 
> One of the chief architects of ISRO's solid propellants programme was Dr. Vasant Gowariker, a chemical engineer-scientist who later became the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and is currently ISRO's Satish Dhawan Professor in Pune. It was Gowariker who pioneered the work on cryogenic engine development in ISRO. In 1971, under Sarabhai's suggestion, he set up the Cryogenic Techniques Project (CTP) with six people and initiated the conceptualisation and design of a semi-cryogenic engine.
> 
> "The project was more like a software kind of work as a step towards fully cryogenic technology," Gowariker says. "It was Sarabhai's idea to use this as a basis to get familiarised with cryogenic technology because while making liquid hydrogen is risky business, liquid oxygen was easily available from the industry. The idea was to make do with whatever systems that were available at that time, get experience with liquid oxygen in its handling and the filling process and develop systems to utilise its full oxidation capacity," Gowariker said.
> 
> "I feel that wisdom has finally dawned on them," says P.R. Sadashiva, an important member and the first recruit in the six-member team under Gowariker, who took voluntary retirement from ISRO in 1992. "After the testing of one small-scale semi-cryo engine, the whole project - costing Rs.3.48 crore then - was shelved and the setting up of a dedicated liquid oxygen plant costing just Rs.16 lakh was stopped," he recalled. In fact, this was the last thing that Sarabhai approved a day before his death in December 1971. According to Dr. Sadashiva, after listening to a presentation on solid propellants for the Defence Research and Development Laboratory that went on well into the night, Sarabhai retired to Kovalam Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram when Gowariker rushed in with the papers on the proposal for a 10-tonne LOX plant. Sarabhai promptly signed it.
> 
> "People connected with Vikas and the proponents of solid propellants pulled it down, in particular one man who was interested in pushing the imported Vikas," adds Sadashiva. Although he refrained from naming the person, it is amply clear that he was referring to Dr. A.E. Muthunayagam, who led the Vikas programme at ISRO's Liquid Propellants Systems Centre (LPSC).
> 
> "Although the Vikas project definitely gave us the liquid propellant technology, semi-cryo [technology] is the cheapest option as compared with earth-storable liquids," he pointed out. He said ATF was available at nominal cost and liquid oxygen was about 20-25 times cheaper than UDMH or N2O4 at that time.
> 
> "The proposal was to develop a 75-tonne thrust semi-cryo engine, similar to the 68.5-tonne Saturn V engine, and we could have easily achieved that. And by clustering four of these, we would have had an extremely powerful booster by now, equivalent to the most advanced rockets, which could have formed the basis for our main version of the PSLV. And in parallel a 7.5-tonne thrust LOX-LH cryogenic engine could have been developed. We have lost valuable time," he observed.
> 
> Sadashiva recounted how they would transport LOX by jeep from Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. in Kochi, where it was obtained as a by-product and was largely wasted, in containers that were so bad that half the content would have evaporated by the time they reached the testing facility near Thiruvananthapuram.
> 
> "The man to blame is [Satish] Dhawan," says Prof. H.S. Mukunda of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, who headed the committee that prepared the report on the semi-cryogenic engine. "He, for some reason, went along with the arguments of people involved with the Vikas engine project and did not even give us a hearing. Even U.R. Rao [former Chairman of ISRO] was extremely unhappy with our proposal."
> 
> "Of course, there was no requirement, or even any ambition, for a payload greater than INSAT-II at that time to say that there was a shortfall [in Vikas's capability] and we lacked an engine with a greater thrust. But our idea was to get hands-on experience with cryogenic systems over three years so that we could be in a position to develop full cryogenic engines on our own, on the basis of this experience," Mukunda adds.
> 
> The curious thing is that ISRO wants to develop the semi-cryo engine now after developing the full cryogenic engine, instead of having done it the other way around. "I don't really know for what kind of payload is the present semi-cryo engine being developed. But the environment now is completely different after the handling of the Russian cryogenic engines and systems. Moreover, much better hardware is available today. So developing the semi-cryo engine should not take more than three years," Prof. Mukunda says.
> 
> Gowariker does try to rationalise Dhawan's decision in retrospect. "The functional requirements of mission [of the time] are important and from that perspective the Viking-Vikas liquid engine route was a good idea. Given limited financial and human resource, the overall performance of a system becomes important and decisions on where and how we direct the development effort become extremely difficult. So, instead of letting too many things go on simultaneously, it must have been felt that a semi-cryo project was less important then," says Gowariker.
> 
> But the price of not following the path of self-reliant technology development has turned out to be dear. It would certainly have been clear even in the 1970s and 1980s that cryogenic engines would eventually be needed. Perhaps it was felt that, like the Viking-Vikas route to developing earth-storable liquid engines, cryogenic engine technology too would be readily available for import. Indeed, that was the logic when the ISRO approached the Soviet Union after the United States and Japan refused and France apparently demanded a very heavy price for its technology.
> 
> In fact, warnings from within against the potential risks of importing technology owing to export controls and embargoes such as the MTCR that emanated from the emerging geo-political alignments were ignored and ISRO signed the deal with Glavkosmos only to be abrogated later. Even if it had signed with France at a higher price, the U.S. would still have imposed MTCR-related sanctions and brought pressure upon France. Having taken the path of imports, India had to go its logical end of importing systems without the know-how.
> 
> Of course, in the absence of technology transfer, ISRO could not go on importing forever and indigenous development became imperative. U.R. Rao had then said that the indigenous engine would be ready by the turn of the century. Clearly, the envisaged time frame was not only very optimistic but it was also unrealistic. In the ultimate analysis, more than the substantial sums of money spent in buying cryogenic stages and related ground systems from Russia, it is the decade and a half lost in the development of high-lift launch vehicles that could impact adversely ISRO's bid to gain a share of the world's launch services market.
> 
> http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20070406001404300.htm



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Reactions: Like Like:
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## Contrarian

* ChinaÃ¢â¬â¢s ASAT Galvanizes Indian Efforts *

India has begun design and development work on an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon in response to ChinaÃ¢â¬â¢s test of a similar weapon, and revived plans to link all of its military satellites and related ground systems.

Indian Defence Ministry sources said the January test shocked India into hastening efforts to defend its satellites, including military and civilian communication systems. Of particular worry is that China has in the past supplied missile technology to IndiaÃ¢â¬â¢s nuclear adversary, Pakistan.

No details of the ASAT weapon program are known, but sources confirmed that the program is under way in cooperation with the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Indian Space Research Organisation and research institutes.

A Defence Ministry official said India does not have a militarized space program. Sources in the ministry said space-based options must be used to protect national security, and that space programs should shift from force support missions, such as observation, navigation and communication, to space-control efforts.

But it could be said that dual-use technology permits the state to use space for communication and reconnaissance, said Ajay Lele, a defense analyst from the Institute of Defence Studies, a think tank here.

*Triservice Aerospace Command*

Meanwhile, establishment of an Aerospace Command program, which the Defence Ministry postponed last year because it would have involved only the Air Force, will be activated soon for all three services, the Defence Ministry official said. The $3 billion program will network all military satellites and related ground systems and create space technologies for the Indian defense forces, said the Defence Ministry official.

Ã¢â¬ÅThe government is considering the establishment of a triservice aerospace command,Ã¢â¬Â an Air Force official said.

The Air ForceÃ¢â¬â¢s new chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, when taking charge March 31, announced he planned to work toward transforming the Air Force into an Ã¢â¬Åaerospace force.Ã¢â¬Â

Air Force sources said a separate space assets branch has already been set up at the control room at the Integrated Defence Staff headquarters here. It will serve as a precursor to the future Aerospace Command program, the sources said. No details on the special space branch are known.
Currently, the militaryÃ¢â¬â¢s space programs are mainly confined to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance through low Earth-orbit, early warning, communication, navigation and meteorological satellites.

These satellites include the Technology Experimental Satellites and the Cartosat-1 satellite, while the Cartosat-2, proposed to be launched this year, would be improved through the space-based surveillance program.

*Lease Deal With Israel?*

India is also negotiating with Israel to lease its Ofeq-5 satellite. The Ofeq-5 is capable of covering an area of 500 square kilometers and can take high-resolution pan-chromatic pictures of an area of 12.5-by-12.5 kilometers, at a resolution of 1.8 meters.

India is also building a microwave remote-sensing satellite, Risat, which is designed to take images through dust and darkness. Ã¢â¬Â¢

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2670653&C=asiapac


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## Contrarian

* PSLV to carry Italian satellite; lift-off from Sriharikota on April 23*

CHENNAI: The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C8), which will deploy an Italian satellite Agile, will lift off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on April 23.

B.N. Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said, "The launch preparations for PSLV-C8 are progressing satisfactorily.

They are going on without any problem."

The 360-kg Agile, meant for astronomical observations, has arrived at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The PSLV-C8, the 11th in the series, will also carry the Indian Space Research Organisation's Advanced Avionics Module (AMM), which weighs about 180 kg.

For the first time, the PSLV-C8 will fly without its six strap-on booster motors. The "core alone" vehicle will have two roll-control motors in the first stage for achieving symmetry.

The PSLV will be launched without the strap-on motors because the weight of Agile and AMM put together is only 540 Kg.

A PSLV with the normal configuration, which includes the strap-on motors, can put a satellite weighing 1,600 kg in orbit.

The PSLV, a four-stage vehicle, is 44 m tall and weighs 295 tonnes. The PSLV-C8, minus the strap-on motors, will weigh around 240 tonnes.

The Agile satellite will have payloads to investigate gamma ray bursts, pulsars and supernova remnants.

The Agile mission is supported by the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Institute of Astrophysics and the Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics. The satellite will go into a circular orbit 560 km above the earth.

Equipment bay

The AMM, which will monitor the performance of the vehicle, will carry an advanced computer, a next generation telemetry system and an advanced inertial navigation system. "All these new systems will be tried out. The AMM is as good as having another equipment bay," Dr. Suresh said. The AMM will be useful only as long as the flight lasts. It will go into space along with the spent fourth stage.

Antrix Corporation, the commercial wing of the Department of Space, is receiving a fee for launching the Italian satellite.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/10/stories/2007041003631100.htm


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## Contrarian

*India to launch Italian satellite on April 23*

BANGALORE: India's space agency on Wednesday said it was set to launch a foreign satellite as the primary payload on a home-grown rocket for the first time on April 23.

The Italian satellite Agile will be launched as the primary payload on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota spaceport, officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation said here.

The agency has launched foreign satellites only as "piggyback" payloads in the past.

"We are targeting April 23 for the launch (if) weather conditions (are) favourable," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told a press conference here. "It's a commercial launch."

The 360-kg Agile will be launched with India's Advanced Avionics Module (AAM), which will be the secondary payload on the PSLV.

ISRO officials said the contract to launch Agile was obtained through a competition. Though officials did not state the value of the contract, it is believed to be around 11 million dollars.

The 180-kg AAM will be used to test some of the advanced avionic to be used in future PSLV flights, officials said.

Agile is a scientific mission supported by the Italian agency that is devoted to gamma-ray astrophysics. The Italian Institute of Astrophysics and Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics are co-participants in the mission.

Nair said the PSLV for the April 23 flight will be modified to use only the core vehicle without the six solid propellant strap-on motors. "It's a stripped-down version (of PSLV)," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1894779.cms


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## Contrarian

*'ISRO studying proposal on mission to Mars'*

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation is studying a proposal on a mission to Mars and is confident of undertaking a trip to the Red Planet within five years of the Centre giving the nod, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said on Wednesday.

"Our scientific community has come out with some outline of a Mars exploration. We are studying the proposal. If the proposal is interesting, we will pursue that", Nair told reporters here.

Nair, Secretary in the Department of Space and also Chairman, Space Commission, was asked on India's "Mars strategy" in the backdrop of China recently announcing it will launch a joint mission with Russia to the planet in 2009.

He rejected the view that India is being left behind in the "race for Mars".

"Nothing (we are not being left behind). Our rocket can go to Mars without any problem. The GSLV (the home-grown geosynchronous launch vehicle) can take about 500 kgs (satellite) to Mars", Nair said.

If the Mars project starts now, ISRO would be in a position to undertake the mission in 2012, he added.

According to the agreement between the Chinese and Russian space agencies, a small satellite developed by China would be launched along with "Phobos Explorer", a Russian spacecraft in 2009.

India plans to undertake an unmanned mission to Moon in March-April next year.

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO is also currently in the process of preparing a detailed project report for a manned mission which Nair said ISRO would be able to launch within eight years of approval.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1894649.cms


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## Contrarian

*CARTOSAT images released*

Staff Reporter

*Captured through state-of-the-art panchromatic camera with one-metre spatial resolution*

BANGALORE: The images captured by CARTOSAT-2, the 12th satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series, were released by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here on Wednesday.

The black and white images were captured by the satellite &#8212; launched on January 10 &#8212; from its orbit 630 km away through a state-of-the-art panchromatic camera with a high spatial resolution of one metre. The satellite has a lifespan of approximately five years.

"We are very satisfied with the quality of the images we have recovered from CARTOSAT-2," said G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman. This proved the quality of the system. *"India can in no way be considered to be falling behind when it comes to remote sensing technology."*

The one-metre spatial resolution will have its uses in disaster management, urban and rural infrastructure planning and monitoring, watershed management and coastal land use monitoring. IRS data has already been applied in land-use mapping, agro-climatic zones planning and crop acreage and production estimation.

"These satellite images will be far more affordable for domestic users than those bought from the United States, which are priced at $20 for one sq km," said K. Radhakrishnan, Director, National Remote Sensing Agency. CARTOSAT -2 in the next three years is bound to become one of the key players in the international market worth $120 million, for remote sensing data products.

It will provide impetus to the applications of the IRS satellite system for the National Natural Resources Management System. 
http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/12/stories/2007041204391200.htm


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## Contrarian

*Mars mission likely in 2012: ISRO chief*
Bangalore, DHNS & UNI:
India can launch a mission to Mars in 2012, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair indicated here on Wednesday.

India can launch a mission to Mars in 2012, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair indicated here on Wednesday.

Talking to newspersons here, he said the proposal for Mars mission was being looked into. If feasible, the mission could take place in 2012.

The GSLV was capable of taking an Indian spacecraft of up to 500 kg weight to Mars, he added.

On manned mission, Dr Nair said ISRO had received an allocation of Rs 80 crore in the current budget for preparing a detailed project report and other requirements.

ISRO would be in a position to submit the report to the government for clearance in a year.

Once the approval was received from the government, the mission could be launched eight years from then. Detailed studies need to be carried out on various aspects of the manned mission, including training, before it could be implemented, he added.
*
CARTOSAT images*

Three months after ISRO&#8217;s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) successfully launched CARTOSAT-2, clear black and white images of regions such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Perth were released here.

The satellite has been functioning satisfactorily since day one, when it was injected into orbit and is highly agile and in perfect health, according to Nair.

CARTOSAT-2, the 12th in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite (IRS) series, was launched on January 10, 2007. Images received on January 26, of the Republic Day parade is a major achievement, informed the ISRO chairman.

&#8220;This unique piece of equipment has a life expectancy of five years. The cartographic images will largely help in urban planning, by getting clear images of water bodies, consequently helping in watershed development.&#8221;

The imageries have a spatial resolution of one metre, the best so far for an operational Indian satellite. Panchromatic imagery of such kind is essential in urban infrastructure and transportation, monitoring and implementation; and mapping individual settlements, urban complexes and urban utilities.

In the pictures released, images of the Kempe Gowda Bus Station, Vidhana Soudha, High Court and Cubbon Park have been clearly captured, besides those of Raj Bhavan Road in Hyderabad and the airport in Perth, Australia.

The launch of ISRO&#8217;s latest communication satellite, INSAT 4B, on March 12, 2007 has also taken shape well. A forthcoming commercial PSLV launch will also take place expeditiously as the vehicle has already been integrated on to the launch pad.

http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr122007/index234382007412.asp


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## Contrarian

* ISRO's 1-m imagery in market soon
*

Bangalore April 11 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is *now working at far superior satellite imageries of half-metre resolution* and beyond even as it is about to hit the global market with 1-metre Earth pictures.

*



ISRO is the world's third and only second non-US supplier of 1-m imageries and perhaps the most competitively priced; the data come at a premium of nearly 40 per cent. Some data is internationally priced at $18-20 per picture of a sq km.

Click to expand...

*Cartosat-2's high-resolution imageries are primarily for urban and infrastructure planning and will be offered at affordable prices to its users, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said on Wednesday as he unveiled pictures of Bangalore and Hyderabad taken from over 600 km in the sky.

He said the next move would be towards 0.5-m or better imageries; radar imaging to look through clouds; improved ocean surface imageries through Oceansat-2; and a camera on its forthcoming geostationary Insat-3D.

However, the sub-metre project may not be before 2010. ISRO is still to develop technologies such as 1.2-m telescope, better material such as silicon carbide; and imaging detectors, which its Semiconductor Lab could work on, Mr Nair said.

*The 1-m market is large and ISRO would aim at capturing 10-15 per cent of the 1-m market in a couple of years*, said Mr K.R. Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director, Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm. With its competitive pricing, it also hopes to wean domestic users away from sourcing 1-m data of foreign commercial satellites such as Ikonos or Quick Bird. Some 200 data products are being imported and this is set to grow ten-fold, he said.

*The national space agency is currently among the top three satellite imagery suppliers and holds nearly 25 per cent of the $ 120-million free-play market.*

All IRS (Indian Remote-sensing Satellite) imageries are distributed through the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) in the home market and exports through Antrix.

According to ISRO officials, IRS products are the largest selling in this segment, offering over 10,000 products in various categories. The NRSA Director, Dr K.Radhakrishnan, said the 1-m offer would raise the number of products sold from 27,000 to over 40,000 a year.
*
ISRO reached the 1-m capability in October 2001 with the Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) but did not offer it in the market.*

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/12/stories/2007041205401000.htm


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## Contrarian

Cheers! 
ISRO rocks!


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## Contrarian

*ISRO builds satellites for European clients*


NEW DELHI: Expanding its foray in the international space sector, ISRO said it was building a communications satellite for a British company for a possible 2009 launch.

"We are building a communications satellite for a British company Avanti Screen Media," said K R Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of ISRO.

He said the transponders for the satellite would be sourced from Europe, while the satellite platform will be built at ISRO facilities in Bangalore.

The space agency had signed a contract with Eutelsat in February last year to build a communications satellite, marking its foray in the international satellite building business.

The satellite for Eutelsat is being developed in collaboration with European Aeronautic Defence and Space company which is providing transponders for the satellite that will be built at ISRO.

Each of the satellites will weigh more than four tonnes and Antrix will have to scout for an international launch vehicle as ISRO launch vehicles can launch sub-four-tonne birds.

ISRO has launched six foreign satellites, which rode piggyback on domestic payloads. The space agency is launching an Italian satellite 'Agile' using the indigenously developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the first exclusive launch for an international satellite.

It will also launch six micro satellites with a combined weight of 24 kg later this year.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/..._for_European_clients/articleshow/1923453.cms


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## Contrarian

*Vital gear for rocket launches handed over to ISRO*

Chennai, April. 20 (PTI): The RH-560M Motorcase, a vital piece of equipment that can help cut the amount of fuel needed to launch rockets, was handed over to the Indian space agency here today.

The Motorcase was handed over to B N Suresh, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation, by city-based Ramakrishna Engineering Company.

Suresh later told a press conference that VSSC is trying to configure low-cost effective technology for air breathing propulsion.
*
"The RH-560M enhances the capability of the launch. It can save almost the whole amount of fuel...as of now only the US has it. We will be the second country to go in for it," he said.*

ISRO plans to test the air breathing propulsion technology by January or February next year, he said.

The April 23 commercial launch of the Italian satellite Agile from Sriharikota by ISRO, the first such launch from India, would be a "significant" event, Suresh said. 

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/002200704201860.htm


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## Contrarian

_* Work for building RLV in initial stages: Nair*_


Pune, Feb 25: The work to build a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) for putting satellites into orbit is in its initial stages of configuration, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

As the first step towards RLV concept, a fully reusable two-stage orbit vehicle has been conceived, with a capability to launch 10 tonne into lower earth orbit, he said delivering the Swatantraryaveer Savarkar memorial lecture at the University of Pune here yesterday.

The first stage is configured as a winged body system, which will attain an altitude of around 100 km and deliver nearly half the orbital velocity. After burnout, the vehicle will re-enter the earth's atmosphere and will be made to land horizontally on a runway, like an aircraft.

In the second stage, after delivering the payload, the vehicle will be made to re-enter the atmosphere and will be recovered using airbags either in sea or land.

"However, this is only in its conceptual stage and we will have to develop a host of technologies related to advanced material, propulsion control etc, before it can be realised", he said.

To prove the technology for RLV, a small-scale flight test bed vehicle for demonstration is being conceived.

Some of the technologies that would be addressed through the demonstrator missions would be in the area of Aero Thermodynamic characterisation of wing body configuration at hypersonic speeds, use of reusable thermal protection systems, advanced light weight materials, autonomous navigation, guidance and control systems landing mechanisms etc, Nair said.

Bureau Report


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## Contrarian

*'India can build any type of SLV'*
[25 Apr, 2007 l 1107 hrs ISTlIANS]

Print


Save


EMail


STRASBOURG: Against a giant backdrop of his presidential website, A P J Abdul Kalam, the aero-science professor turned head of state, told an international class of space students here that India was set to make "important contributions" to the future of exploration with missions to the Moon and Mars.

Addressing a packed lecture hall at the International Space University (ISU) Tuesday evening at the edge of this northeastern French city, famous for being the seat of the European Parliament, Kalam told the students drawn from around the world that space has no borders: &#8220;When we explore space, (it) can act as a motivator for national collaboration between nations.&#8221;

Space is a &#8220;platform for sharing ideas and technologies and to work towards a sustainable world with peace and prosperity,&#8221; said Kalam.

Before becoming the President of India in 2002, Kalam was the professor of Technology and Societal Transformation at the Anna University in Chennai.

Kalam, who was introduced to the students as a &#8220;president and a teacher,&#8221; said space science had enabled Indian villages to taste the fruits of connectivity and had been &#8220;touching the lives of many among the billion people of India in several ways.&#8221;

&#8220;Today, India with her 14,000 scientific, technological and support staff in multiple research centres, supported by about 500 industries and academic institutions, has the capability to build any type of satellite launch vehicle to place remote sensing, communication and meteorology satellites in different orbits. Space application has become part of our daily life,&#8221; said Kalam.

&#8220;India has today a constellation of six remote sensing and 10 communication satellites serving applications like natural resource survey, communication, disaster management support, meteorology, tele-education (10,000 classrooms) and tele-medicine (200 hospitals),&#8221; said Kalam.

&#8220;Our country is in the process of establishing 100,000 Common Service Centres through a public-private partnership model for providing knowledge input to rural citizens,&#8221; Kalam told the students at ISU that has had a long and cooperative relationship with India.

Among the alumni of the university, over one per cent are from India, which ISU president Michael Simpson said &#8220;is a pretty large proportion for a school whose graduates come from 93 countries.&#8221;

The ISU has in this year's master programme one Indian student and three with Indian roots, mostly from Canada, and one Indian among the staff.

Kalam will address the European Parliament today before leaving for Athens on a four-day state visit to Greece, the first by an Indian head of state in 21 years.


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## Contrarian

* It will be Israeli satellite in August*

T.S. Subramanian

ISRO to launch Polaris on "core-alone" configuration PSLV

# It gets contract to put in orbit six micro satellites from Canada
# Italian Space Agency receives signals from Agile

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch an Israeli satellite, called Polaris, through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in August from Sriharikota.

The satellite, weighing 300 kg, can take pictures of the earth through cloud and rain, 24 hours of the day.

Informed sources said the Israelis wanted a "core-alone" configuration of the PSLV to put Polaris in orbit and the launch in August.

For the first time, a core-alone configuration of the PSLV, called PSLV-C8, lifted off from Sriharikota on Monday and put in orbit Italian satellite Agile.

In normal configuration, the PSLV has six strap-on booster motors around the first stage.

The PSLV is a four-stage vehicle that is 44 metres tall and weighs 295 tonnes. In the core-alone vehicle, these six strap-on booster motors are not used. So the core-alone PSLV weighs 230 tonnes.

On international rates

Commercial marketing agency of the Department of Space Antrix Corporation Limited will fly Polaris on board a core-alone PSLV at international rates.

ISRO has bagged another contract from Israel. In 2008, it will fly an ultra-violet astronomy telescope from Israel on board ISRO's GSAT-4 that will be launched by the indigenous GSLV (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) from Sriharikota.

The ultra-violet astronomy telescope is called TAUVEX (Tel Aviv University Ultra-violet Experiment.)

Yet another contract

Antrix Corporation has also won a contract for ISRO to put in orbit a cluster of six micro satellites from Canada. These six micro-satellites totally weigh 26 kg.

A PSLV core-alone configuration will again be used to put these satellites in orbit.

They will ride piggyback on ISRO's Cartosat-2A, which will be used for mapping purposes.

This launch will take place before this year-end.

The sources said Agile satellite was working well. Signals from it have been acquired by the Italian Space Agency's ground station at Malindi in Kenya. It had now been placed in a sun-pointing mode.

Agile will make astronomical observations such as bursts of gamma rays and X-rays, which can unlock the secrets of the origin of the universe and studying neutron stars.

Giovanni Bignami, president, Italian Space Agency, said at a press conference at Sriharikota on April 23 that Agile would enhance the contribution of astrophysicist and Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on study of neutron stars.

(Chandra X-ray observatory, a large NASA scientific satellite, has provided invaluable information on the violent phenomena taking place in the universe by detecting bursts of X-rays which result from such phenomena).
http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/25/stories/2007042501891500.htm


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## Contrarian

*Next space capsule recovery test in two years*

Staff Reporter

_``We have planned three launches this year including 2 PSLVs and one GSLV''_

B. N. Suresh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India would be conducting another round of Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) in two years to consolidate its position among a select group of countries which have capabilities not only to launch a satellite into a specified space orbit but also to recover it undamaged after the completion of its mission.

This was disclosed at a news conference here on Saturday by the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), B.N. Suresh, after inaugurating the maiden public exhibition of the first Indian SRE module which was successfully recovered from the Bay of Bengal on January 22 after its 12 days of sojourn in the outer space.

"We have already obtained sanction for the next SRE. We are waiting for a `co-passenger' in the launch. In the maiden launch also we had a `co-passenger'."

"We have planned three launches this year and they include two Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) and one Geo-Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The GSLV launch has been scheduled for August and the PSLV schedules are being finalised. We will be busy with these three launches this year. We will take up the next SRE after those launches," Dr Suresh said.

Replying to questions, he said the SRE II would be a repeat design of the SRE I with some minor changes based on `lessons we had learnt from the first experiment.'

He said the successful completion of SRE I had given sufficient confidence to the Indian scientists in the development of technologies needed for re-entry and recovery of an orbiting module.

"We did not have any data with us on vital issues like the recovery of a module from the space orbit, its navigation, velocity control and temperature regulation and other related issues. We had to make several assumptions. But everything went off as per our calculations. Barring some minor changes even the surface of the capsule was intact. The electronic systems inside it were working perfectly well."

This was a significant milestone in the development of reusable launch vehicles and satellites.

Answering a query, he however said the modules in the SREs would not be reused as they were meant for experiments.

Project Director of the SRE, A. Subramanian, and several other senior scientists were present at the Press conference.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/29/stories/2007042902611000.htm


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## ahussains

SO the indians are moving with a nice pace in the SPACE ...


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## niaz

ahussains said:


> SO the indians are moving with a nice pace in the SPACE ...



To give credit where it is due; Indians have been in this business much longer than we have. I remember reading about Indian Missile/Rocket research program back in the sixties when I was still a student. Think there was also a mock up of first Indian space rocket at the Sciece museum next to Natural History museum building in London. 

I was presented a copy autobiography of Dr Abul Kalam, now President of India by a friend which in a way is also history of Indain Space research.
Apparently Indian Rocket program had started as early as Pandit Nehru era.


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## Contrarian

Yes, do you know there is a CLASSIC foto...i cant find it now.

There were humble beginings for India...The FIRST satellite was taken to the launch center in Orrisa on a BICYCLE!

I cant find that image now...its such a beautiful image and classic image...nostalgic. It was published in Hindu once.


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## Lilo

> *GSLV Mark-III launch in 2009: ISRO*
> [3 May, 2007 l 1540 hrs ISTlPTI]
> 
> SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
> AHMEDABAD: India's ambition to grab a slice of the billion-dollar global satellite launch market will get a major boost when ISRO makes the maiden launch of its new Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark-III in 2009.
> 
> "The development of GSLV Mark-III is progressing well and we hope to have its maiden launch in 2009," said Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Thursday.
> 
> The GSLV Mark-III is an entirely new three-stage launch vehicle and is not derived from PSLV or GSLV Mark-I or II series.
> 
> With the development of GSLV Mark-III, India will be able to launch heavy satellites into the geosynchronous transfer orbit. This vehicle is billed as the technological successor to GSLV Mark-II.
> 
> Nair, who was at Space Applications Centre here to attend a "National Telemedicine Users' Meet", told the media that ISRO had identified the problems that had caused the failure of GSLV Mark-II launch last year.
> 
> "Last year we had a failure. But we have identified the reasons for it."
> 
> "There is nothing wrong with the design or any of the other sub-systems. It was only a fabrication error which caused the failure," he said of the three-stage 414 tonne launch vehicle which had lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in July 2006 only to plunge into the Bay of Bengal with a 2,168-kg INSAT-4C satellite.
> 
> Nair said ISRO had rectified the snag and the space agency will be re-launching the GSLV Mark-II by October this year.
> 
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/GSLV_Mark-III_launch_in_2009_ISRO/articleshow/1998598.cms



Here's the foto u were talkin abt malay..





> *The long journey*
> 
> The other day a national daily carried a 1966 photograph taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson of a rocket-cone being taken by bicycle to the Thumba testing facility in Kerala by two people â one tending the cycle and the cone on foot, the other walking by his side. In the picture at least, the road leads to nowhere with a couple of palms standing mute sentinel to the efforts of a 20-year-old Free India trying to find its feet in the world of rocket technology.
> 
> The photograph â taken by a master â portrays in microcosm the past of this nation and also its future. In short, that rocket-cone being taken on the back of a bicycle was the precursor of today's geo-stationary satellite launch vehicles which the country is hawking around the world. It has taken all of 40 years for the Indian rocket-technician to reach this point in his quest for attainment, a point which compares favourably with countries in the West generally where such technology was first used in the 1940s during the Second World War.
> 
> What makes the Cartier-Bresson creation somewhat poignant is that, for a large swathe of the country, the bicycle continues to represent the basic norm of civil transport, a phenomenon that has been completely over-shadowed by the huge strides made by rocket-technology since those early days.
> 
> So while the business of economic development has taken time to percolate to the rural areas, the Indian mind has leapt forward to a point where it seems ready to take on the world.
> 
> As President Abdul Kalam told US President Bush on Thursday, "The India that you are visiting is in the midst of profound change. It is on a scale that has never been attempted before in a democratic framework... has lessons for the whole world because it is being attempted under the most challenging of conditions".
> 
> That Cartier-Bresson photograph tells the world exactly how much India has travelled the distance towards progress and modernity since 1947 yet keeping the moorings of Indian society intact.
> 
> Ranabir Ray Choudhury
> 
> http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/04/stories/2006030400011000.htm


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## Contrarian

Yeh dude, its the same one, but could you find the foto itself?


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## gpit

Congratulations, dude. Especially the remote sensing stuff.


----------



## Neo

*'Space ties with India, a win-win situation'*
15 May, 2007 

WASHINGTON: Senior officials of the NASA and scientists have told American law makers that there is a lot of merit in increasing international cooperation with leading space powers like India that will only see a win-win situation which benefits the United States and the partnering country. 

At the same time at least one senior Republican law maker has voiced scepticism of going about with cooperation with such countries like China and Pakistan on the grounds that "tyrants and dictatorships" are actually a threat to the values of western civilisation. 

At a recent Congressional hearing on Space programmes, Democratic Congressman Mark Udall asked Alan Stern, the Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate of the NASA, to assess international collaboration as a means to advance the priorities of National Academy's decadal surveys. 

Stern said the US was ready to talk with any country who was on an acceptable list, who had a space programme and capability that could fly instruments or collaborate in missions. 

"And I mean that to be a win-win -- certainly, Asian nations like the Japanese and the Indians, who are space powers, the European Space Agency, the individual European national space programmes, the Canadian Space Agency and others all come to mind," he said. 

Vice Provost of Physical Science and Engineering at Cornell University Joseph Burns said within one year the world will have three foreign spacecraft in orbit around the moon -- Japan, China and India. 

"And they will provide a very significant part of our new kinds of understanding of what the moon is all about and thereby aid our exploration programme. I think we need to carry that into other spheres," he said. 

But senior Republican law maker Dana Rohrabacher of California argued that while he was all for cooperation between scientists from "free" and "democratic" countries, the United States would have to be "very, very cautious" in training scientists who will return to "dictatorships" and create a threat to western civilisation. 

"Whether or not it's a bomb in Pakistan, I would hate to think that we had Pakistani scientists here and trained them how to make that bomb. 

"I would hate to think that democratic countries like our own would use our science and so indiscriminately provide information that we provide the means for a dictatorship like China to set up a computer system that will spy on its own people and put believers in God in jail and be able to control the internet in their societies when they couldn't have done it without our help -- things such as that," Rohrabacher said. 

"So I would just like to make sure that we balance off. Pure science isn't an end in and of itself. If it works with people who are tyrants and negative forces on this world, that science is not a good thing to transmit to those people," the senior Republican in the House Panel on Science and Technology said. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...a_a_win-win_situation/articleshow/2046402.cms


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## kvLin

It is no strange for Dana Rohrabacher to put political stuffs into anything anytime. He is an ultra-antiChina,throttlehold drum beater as well as chairman of Taiwan caucus. one of his notable snarl states that "China is more dangerous than Muslim". never expect a man in such position can make a decent definition of space science.


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## Interceptor

The Indians have also place the first Indian long before, they joined with Russian astronautes, the Indians are well established in the Space field.

Ill post the info on the first Indian in Space I believe it was was probably in the 10s or 80s.


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## Interceptor

There is a thread on this astronaute already,
https://defence.pk/forums/showthread.php?t=2615


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## Neo

The manned space program of the Indian Space Research Organisation has depended entirely upon Russia, and the first Indian cosmonaut became the 138th man into space, he spent eight days in space aboard Salyut 7. Launched along with two other Soviet cosmonauts aboard Soyuz T-11 on 02 April 1984, was then-Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma, a 35 year old Indian Air Force pilot. During the flight, Squadron Leader Sharma conducted multi-spectral photography of northern India in anticipation of the construction of hydroelectric power stations in the Himalayas.

Squadron Leader Sharma and his backup, Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra, also prepared an elaborate series of zero-gravity Yoga exercises which the former had practised aboard the Salyut 7. Retired with the rank of Wing Commander, Rakesh Sharma joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as a test pilot. He was based at the Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bangalore and worked on the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft program. Current status - retired.

*R, Sharma*

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## joey

I'm against subsequent manned space mission, but I'm for for one manned space mission as it gives you insight into space medicines, which DIPAS a lab of DRDO has already worked upon, also the zero gravity centre, now boy o boy where do sign up? 



> DRDO to be part of ISRO&#8217;s first manned space mission
> Sunday May 20 2007 11:22 IST
> Click here to get the latest Karnataka news on your BSNL mobile for Re.1 a day.
> 
> BANGALORE: The life sciences laboratories under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) may play a crucial role in India&#8217;s first manned space mission.
> 
> The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has agreed in principle to let these labs participate in the mission, Dr W Selvamurthy, DRDO Chief Controller (Research and Development), Life Sciences, told this website's newspaper.
> 
> He said DRDO had made a written request to ISRO to participate in the manned space mission which India is aiming to undertake between 2015-2020.
> 
> &#8220;Many of the technologies and life-supporting systems that we have developed for the armed forces are applicable to manned space missions after adaptation,&#8221; he said.
> 
> &#8220;ISRO deals with the ergonomic aspects of the space missions, but when it comes to manned space mission our technologies would help sustain the lives of the astronauts in space capsule.&#8221;
> 
> Selvamurthy said the nine labs which are conducting research through a Rs 64-crore annual budget, had convincingly met the needs of the armed forces as well as social obligations towards the civilian sector, and is now prepared to participate in the challenging first manned space mission.
> 
> The smart vest of Defence Bio-engineering and Electro-medical Laboratory (DEBEL) can enable physiological monitoring of the astronauts. This system has integrated sensors in the fabric which relay key health parameters back to a land-based control room.
> 
> An adapted version of the ergonomic layout of the futuristic infantry combat vehicle &#8216;ABHAY&#8217; could be relevant to designing interiors of a manned space capsule to ensure a convenient working environment and work space for the astronauts, DRDO scientists said.
> 
> They said astronauts could use the submarine escape set developed by DEBEL consisting of a hydro suit and breathing apparatus, while the manned space capsule splashes down at sea on their return.
> 
> Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences&#8217; (DIPAS) solid state- cooling garment for tank crews, could be adapted for astronauts to be used in emergencies such as the failure of the space capsule&#8217;s interior cooling system, scientists said.
> 
> They said Mysore-based DFRL can adapt pack rations with quality assurance methods, and preservation and packaging methods for long distance transportation of perishable products in space.
> 
> The DRDO&#8217;s nine life sciences laboratories
> 
> Defence Agricultural Research Laboratory (DARL), Pithoragarh;
> 
> Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Lab (DEBEL), Bangalore
> 
> Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore
> 
> Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), Delhi
> 
> Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR), Delhi
> 
> Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior
> 
> Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), Tezpur
> 
> Field Research Laboratory (FRL), Leh; and
> 
> Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi
> 
> http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE120070519110230&Topic=&Title=&Page=


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## joey

New space university....this is really needed.

http://www.iist.ac.in/


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## Neo

What is the best place in India to get Aeronautical education, Bengalore?


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## joey

no, it depends Neo, Are you talking of Aeronautical or Aerospace?
If Aeronautical the IIT's gives you and bachelors is best from there then you can get into job orinted work.

While in PHD, research et al, it is NAL/IISC/TIFR etc etc, NAL is highly respected instution, It is National Aerospace Limited, but i think they takes peoples after Phd or soemthing, one of my cousin is in NAL, he stood first in VIT in Bangalore and recieved prize from Kalam saab.

In Aeronautics you have NAL/HAL/ADA/ARDB these all are for research et al and involved in strategic projects.

Normally after Education people get into job oriented work and there are a lot of instutions giving you out works.

These days even HAL has seperate r&d workshop.

ARDB has some very nifty projects in its hand, you can check out the projects from drop down menu from their website..
http://www.drdo.com/boards/ardb/index.htm


Take for example the instutions working on LCA..



It is de-centralised, It depends , what course you want to pursue, bachelors / masters et al from where...hehe.


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## Neo

First Indian Satellite: *Aryabhatta Satellite *







Launch Date : April 19, 1975 

Weight : 360 kg 

Orbit : 619 x 562 km inclined at 50.7 deg

Lauched by : Soviet Intercosmos rocket.

Objectives : The objectives of this project were to indigenously design and fabricate a space-worthy satellite system and evaluate its perfromance in orbitr. 

* to evolve the methodology of conducting a series of complex operations on the satellite in its orbital phasei.

* to set up ground-based receiving, transmitting and tracking systems

and to establish infrastructure for the fabrication of spacecraft systems.

The exercise also provided an opportunity to conduct investigations in the area of spcae sciences. The satellite carried three experiments, one each in X-Ray Astronomy, Solar Physics and Aeronomy.


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## Neo

joey said:


> no, it depends Neo, Are you talking of Aeronautical or Aerospace?
> If Aeronautical the IIT's gives you and bachelors is best from there then you can get into job orinted work.
> 
> While in PHD, research et al, it is NAL/IISC/TIFR etc etc, NAL is highly respected instution, It is National Aerospace Limited, but i think they takes peoples after Phd or soemthing, one of my cousin is in NAL, he stood first in VIT in Bangalore and recieved prize from Kalam saab.
> 
> In Aeronautics you have NAL/HAL/ADA/ARDB these all are for research et al and involved in strategic projects.
> 
> Normally after Education people get into job oriented work and there are a lot of instutions giving you out works.
> 
> These days even HAL has seperate r&d workshop.
> 
> ARDB has some very nifty projects in its hand, you can check out the projects from drop down menu from their website..
> http://www.drdo.com/boards/ardb/index.htm
> 
> 
> Take for example the instutions working on LCA..
> 
> 
> 
> It is de-centralised, It depends , what course you want to pursue, bachelors / masters et al from where...hehe.



Wow, thats some network! Its all over the country...pfew!


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## Always Neutral

Spells good for India. Can anyone elighten me on the Pakistan Satellite Programmes. They can't be far behind the Indians ?

regards


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## Bushroda

Always Neutral said:


> Spells good for India. Can anyone elighten me on the Pakistan Satellite Programmes. They can't be far behind the Indians ?
> 
> regards



Pakistan is working on its own satellite project & they are going to launch it by 2011. This is as far as I know. Neo & other senior members can shed some more light.


----------



## Bushroda

*India To Launch Dedicated Military Satellite CARTOSAT 2A To Monitor Missile Launches*
Dated 10/6/2007

India will launch its first dedicated military satellite in August to give the country the capability to monitor missile launches in its neighborhood.

The dedicated military reconnaissance satellite, CARTOSAT 2A, will be launched on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the first week of August, an official said here.

CARTOSAT 2A will boast of spatial resolution and will be loaded with cameras that can supply advanced imagery. It will cater to military and intelligence specifications than any existing Indian satelite. The launch of the satellite will fulfil a long- standing demand from the armed forces for a dedicated reconnaissance spacecraft.

Launch of the first military satellite will be rapidly followed by the launch of two more advanced imaging satellites by next year to give India the capability of keeping an eye round-the-clock on the region surrounding the country. 

*Technical Specifications*

CARTOSAT-2 will be an advanced remote sensing satellite with a single panchromatic camera capable of providing scene specific spot imageries for cartographic applications.

The satellite will have high agility with capability to steer along and across the track up to +45 degrees. It will be placed in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 630 km. It will have a revisit period of 4 days, which can be improved to one day with suitable orbit manoeuvres.

The panchromatic camera is designed to provide better than 1 m spatial resolution imageries with a swath of 10 km.


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## Bushroda

*First flight of Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle by end of next year* 

*Ground test for scramjet propulsion system conducted * 

A leap forward: V.K. Saraswat, Chief Controller, DRDO, making a presentation on the eve of an international conference on High-speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation to be inaugurated in Hyderabad by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday. 

HYDERABAD: The first flight of the ambitious Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HTDV), which will ultimately pave the way for launching a re-usable space capsule, will be held by the end of next year.

The ground test for HTDV scramjet propulsion system using kerosene as fuel has been conducted by DRDO scientists at a high speed material testing laboratory abroad and the results have been encouraging, according to V. K. Saraswat, Chief Controller (DRDO) and P. Venugopalan, director DRDL. 

They were speaking to reporters here on Thursday on the eve of a two-day international conference on High-speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation to be inaugurated by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday.

The development of hypersonic technologies and vehicles have been engaging the aerospace community the world over for applications in the areas of space sector for placing payload in near earth orbit at low cost, civil sector for reaching far off destinations in a short time and military sector for development of long range hypersonic cruise missile to effectively engage time-critical targets.

The USA, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and China are involved in the development of hypersonic technologies.


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## Bushroda

*Isro plans to construct reusable launch vehicle* 

Hyderabad, June 29: The Indian Space Research Organisation has plans to construct a reusable launch vehicle demonstrator and air breathing propulsion modules. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told an international conference on high speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation here on Friday that vehicles that could be reused 100 to 500 times would make space travel cheaper.

Dr Kalam said that the aeronautical community could also design air-breathing engines with high fuel efficiency. They could also help the space community design reusable launch vehicles that fly like an aircraft within in the atmosphere and like a rocket in space. "I visualise an industrial complex on the moon and a beginning of human habitation at Mars in 50 to 75 years," he said. "A major driving factor will be the low cost of access to the space", he added.

Feasibility studies were already on to send a manned mission to low earth orbit by 2014, said the President. Dr Kalam said that integration of multiple technologies will help construct unmanned supersonic aircraft which will replace manned fighter aircraft in the long run.


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## Maddy

malaymishra123 said:


> Yes, do you know there is a CLASSIC foto...i cant find it now.
> 
> There were humble beginings for India...The FIRST satellite was taken to the launch center in Orrisa on a BICYCLE!
> 
> I cant find that image now...its such a beautiful image and classic image...nostalgic. It was published in Hindu once.



I am sure you are referring to these pictures .. enjoy

How India developed the SPACE STATION !! 
http://www.mavenarts.com/idea/?p=188

Dont miss the young Abdul Kalam in one of the pics!


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## Contrarian

That is EXACTLY the picture i was refering to. Thanx a bunch mate!


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## Adux

*India's first space university lifts off*

23 July 2007

India's first space university is all set to lift off, to produce experts that can take the country's satellite and rocket programmes to higher orbits. The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) will begin operating just after Independence Day from the campus of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram next month. 

The Institute, which offers technical courses in space science and technology, has already attracted some of India's brightest minds. "Our original plan was to recruit students from the extended list of the IIT joint entrance exam (IIT-JEE). But we got a large number of applicants from the main list itself," says G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has set up the institute. 

ISRO will create a full-fledged campus for the IIST at Ponmudi, near the Kerala state capital, which will be ready in about two years. Around 150 students will be enrolled in aeronautical and avionics engineering, and in the integrated MSc in space sciences, in the first academic year. 

ISRO has set up the institute as it is faced with large-scale attrition with scientists leaving for better assignments in private industry and abroad. On the one hand it has been unable to attract the best talent. "Most of the students who come out of the IITs and IISc, Bangalore, either join management courses, the IT industry, or go abroad; they are not available to the Indian scientific community," Nair said. 

The Bangalore-based ISRO gets over 70,000 applications each year, of which it short-lists around 1,500 after written tests. In the final selection, it has been unable to pinpoint even 200 with the right aptitude, when it requires around 300. "We cannot rely on the marks given by engineering colleges. We have to conduct our own tests. Finally, we get only a handful of people. So, we thought we need to catch the students at the plus-2 level (12th standard)," Nair, who is also the Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

The students will learn propulsion, aero dynamics, navigation, guidance, sub-systems, avionics, control systems, etc, so that ISRO can absorb them as soon as they pass out of the Institute. The course is heavily subsidised by ISRO, and the students joining the IIST have to sign a bond that they will work with the space agency for five years, or pay a large amount as penalty.



Other reports on

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/july/2007/20070723_university.htm


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## Contrarian

This is EXCELLENT NEWS!


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## joey

*India plans to double satellite launches in USD 2 billion push*
26 Jul 2007, 1312 hrs IST,PTI
TOI



> BANGALORE: India plans to double its annual satellite launches and put into space up to 25 spacecraft in a USD 2 billion exercise spread over the next five years as it moves to take advantage of booming demand for capacity, top Indian Space Research Organisation officials say.
> 
> New Delhi has targeted to boost the number of transponders India currently has from 199 to 500 by the end of the 11th five year plan (March 2012), Secretary in the Department of Space G Madhavan Nair said.
> 
> "On the average, we may have about four to five launches in a year compared to hardly two that we are (currently) doing annually", Nair, also Chairman of ISRO and the Space Commission, said.
> 
> "That's one of the major loads not only on ISRO but on industry and other establishments in the country", he said.
> 
> ISRO officials estimate the cost involved in building these satellites and launching them in the region of Rs 8,000 crore-Rs 9,000 crore (approximately USD two billion-2.25 billion).
> 
> Bangalore-headquartered India's space agency plans to launch as many as 15 INSAT-class satellites and 8-10 remote sensing spacecraft by 2012 as it moves to stay ahead of the demand curve.





*India to launch military satellite by year end*
Rediff

July 29, 2007 15:31 IST



> India is on the threshold of joining a select band of advanced countries by putting into orbit a dedicated military satellite.
> 
> The military-specific reconnaissance satellite CARTOSAT-2A will be launched on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by the Indian Space Research Organisation by the end of this year, ISRO officials said.
> 
> The satellite will give India the capability to keep tabs on missile launches in its neighbourhood.
> 
> CARTOSAT-2A was earlier programmed to be put into space by the first week of August, but its launch has now been scheduled for mid-September or early October, officials said.
> 
> Along with the country's own military satellite, ISRO is also planning to launch an Israeli reconnaissance satellite called POLARIS [Get Quote].
> 
> The Israeli satellite will ride piggyback on the 1,100-kg CARTOSAT-2A, and will be the third foreign satellite to be launched by ISRO, sources said.
> 
> CARTOSAT-2A will boast of spatial resolution and will be loaded with cameras that can supply advance imagery. It will cater full time to military and intelligence specifications, unlike existing Indian satellite.
> 
> The launch of the nation's first military satellite will be rapidly followed by launch of two more advanced imaging satellites by next year to give India a means to keep a close eye round-the-clock on the neighbouring region.
> 
> The first Radar Imaging Satellite carrying a C-BAND synthetic aperture radar will have a spatial resolution of three metres to 50 metres and a swath of 10 km to 240 km.
> 
> The second reconnaissance satellite to be launched by ISRO will be the OCEANSAT-2, with 8-band multi-spectral cameras, giving the spy vehicle the air a capability to keep a watch on a wide expanse of up to 1,420 km of the ocean to monitor the movement of naval surface warships and submarines.
> 
> Though ISRO sources were tightlipped, it is learnt that the Israeli military satellite POLARIS and CARTOSAT-2A can take pictures of the earth through cloud and rain, which no other Indian satellite has been able to do so far.
> 
> The launch of CARTOSAT-2A is being timed to coincide with the scheduled delivery of the country's first Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft by Israel to give the armed forces a network-centric platform for carrying out surveillance from the ground to the stratosphere.
> 
> The supply of the Phalcon AWACS is scheduled for early next year. India has signed a deal with Israel and Russia [Images] for purchase of three such AWACS, and has kept options open for the acquisition of three more.
> 
> The launch of the military satellite is being undertaken in tandem with the Indian Air Force's plan to set up an integrated air command, control and communication system.
> 
> The plan envisages the linking of AWACS, aerostat balloon radars and low-level transportable radars of the IAF with the dedicated military satellite.
> 
> With three advanced reconnaissance satellites in orbit, Indian military agencies will have the capability to keep an eye on the airspace over Pakistan and China and also to study the oceans and monitor changes in winds across the seas.
> 
> © Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.


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## joey

I'm wondering what Pakistan air traffic control uses? I think after GAGAN gets finished Pakistan will come under its augementation, because I think for international airlines in south Asia will follow only that as it will be compatible with WASS , MSAS and EGNOS.


----------



## joey

Anyone knows the answer to the question i asked above?

Monday, July 30, 2007

*India's Space Ambitions Soar*
A lunar mission and a reusable launch vehicle are planned. 



> By Mark Williams
> 
> As China's star has risen, there's been speculation about whether its expanding space program will trigger a space race with the United States. After all, Shenzhou spacecraft have twice carried taikonauts to orbit and back, and they might in principle support the manned moon mission that the Chinese claim they'll carry out by 2026--and even, maybe, by 2017, one year before NASA now foresees a return to the lunar surface. Still, the next-generation CZ-5 Long March launchers necessary for a manned moon mission by China remain unfunded, and, in general, its space program has so far only repeated decades-old American and Russian achievements.
> 
> Meanwhile, attracting far less attention and operating on a far smaller budget, that other rising Asian giant, India, has also been ramping up its space program--and it is developing some novel, promising approaches. This spring, India's then president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam--a colorful scientist-technologist who loomed large from the success of his country's early satellite launch missions, and then led its guided-missile program--laid out (via teleconferencing ) an ambitious vision of India's future space efforts during his speech at a Boston University symposium.
> 
> Kalam told the international audience of space experts in Boston that, besides expanding its extensive satellite program, India now plans lunar missions and a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that takes an innovative approach using a scramjet "hyperplane." Kalam said that India understands that global civilization will deplete earthly fossil fuels in the 21st century. Hence, he said, a "space industrial revolution" will be necessary to exploit the high frontier's resources. Kalam predicted that India will construct giant solar collectors in orbit and on the moon, and will mine helium-3--an incredibly rare fuel on Earth, but one whose unique atomic structure makes power generation from nuclear fusion potentially feasible--from the lunar surface. India's scramjet RLV, Kalam asserted, will provide the "low-cost, fully reusable space transportation" that has previously "denied mankind the benefit of space solar-power stations in geostationary and other orbits."
> 
> Talk of grand futuristic projects comes cheap, of course. Nevertheless, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed its first commercial launch in April, lofting an Italian gamma-ray observatory into orbit on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Next, in early 2008, the Chandraayan-1, India's first lunar orbiter, will carry two NASA projects to search the moon's surface for sites suitable for the proposed U.S. Moon Base. And at next year's end, the first flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HTDV), a demo for the scramjet RLV, is scheduled.
> 
> While this current spate of activity brings the country greater prominence, India's space program is hardly a new development. In 1975, ISRO launched its first satellite, Aryabhata, on a Soviet rocket, and in 1980, India's first home-built launcher, the SLV-3, successfully put a satellite into orbit. ISRO has continued with a series of larger satellites and rockets in the succeeding years. Rather than national prestige, the Indian focus has until recently been on entirely pragmatic applications that gave the most bang for its limited rupees: communications satellites to provide services to far-flung regions of a vast country with little existing communications infrastructure, meteorology packages (often carried on the same geosynchronous satellites that perform communications missions), and remote-sensing satellites to map India's natural resources.
> 
> Now ISRO is moving beyond that focus on immediately practical space applications. In November 2006, Virender Kumar, counselor for space at India's Washington, DC, embassy, told a forum on U.S.-India space relations at the Center for Strategic and International studies, "The time has come when you do have the feeling that you have accomplished a lot." Following much discussion within India's space-science community, Kumar continued, "They basically demanded that we go forward and do these exploration missions."
> 
> Setting aside the more science-fictional objectives described by President Kalam--whose term just ended, on July 25--in the near future, the most technologically innovative of ISRO's projects is its scramjet RLV, named Avatar. Lowering launch costs via an RLV has, of course, been theunattainable holy grail for both the United States and Russian space programs. Avatar would weigh only 25 metric tons, with 60 percent of that the liquid hydrogen needed to fuel the turbo-ramjet engines that would power its initial aircraft-style takeoff from an airstrip and its ascent to a cruising altitude. Thereafter, Avatar's scramjet propulsion system would cut in to accelerate it from Mach 4 to Mach 8, while an onboard system would collect air from which liquid oxygen would be separated. That liquid oxygen would then be used in Avatar's final flight phase, as its rocket engine burned the collected liquid oxygen and the remaining hydrogen to enter a 100-kilometer-high orbit. ISRO claims that Avatar's design would enable it to achieve at least a hundred reentries into the atmosphere. Theoretically, given ISRO's plans for it to carry a payload weighing up to one metric ton, Avatar could thus deliver a 500-to-1,000-kilogram payload into orbit for about $67 per kilogram.
> 
> Current launch prices range from about $4,300 per kilogram via a Russian Proton launch to about $40,000 per kilogram via a Pegasus launch. Conceivably, Avatar could give India a radical advantage in the global launch market. Gregory Benford, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine, and an advisor to NASA and the White House Council on Space Policy, is enthusiastic: "The Avatar RLV project will enable the Indian program to leap ahead of the Chinese nostalgia trip. Once low cost to orbit comes alive, it will drive cheaper methods of doing all our unmanned activities in space."
> 
> Still, Avatar's potentially radical advantage comes with significant restraints, given both the restricted scale of its payloads and that very low 100-kilometer orbit. That latter factor, indeed, is something of a puzzle since any satellite released at such a height will find its orbit degrading quickly. Do the Indians intend to use Avatar as a first-stage launcher, in effect, from which they will fire their satellites further up into secure orbits? Perhaps. But in that case, it's hard not to notice that Avatar, in fact, makes more sense as a missile-launch platform. After all, the United States is also working on the scramjet concept but in the context of an unmanned global cruise missile: the X-51 Scramjet-Waverider.
> 
> Could Avatar be just another military application upon which India's space scientists are piggybacking their hopes to develop a radical RLV prototype? The Indians do seem to be serious enough about Avatar as a commercial concept that they've taken out patents internationally on the design. ISRO has, relatively, a very low budget, and for Avatar to happen, Indians need to bring in international partners and funding. But if it turns out that Avatar is really just another military application that India's space scientists have used to secure funding from their military for their high aspirations, they will hardly be the first ones in the history of spaceflight to do so.
> 
> http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19115/


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## Bushroda

*'ISRO is planning a Mars mission'*
1 Aug 2007, 0521 hrs IST

The Indian space programme is unique in the world for its innovative use of space technology for development programmes. ISRO, which spearheads space research in India, is now planning a manned mission to moon and most probably, an unmanned mission to Mars. ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair spoke to Atul Sethi: 

*Q: What are the achievements of Indias space programme? *

We have been successful in realising the vision of self-reliant capability. Today, India has established space systems like INSAT for communication, television broadcasting, meteorology and disaster warning and the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) for resources monitoring and management. 

INSAT is the largest domestic communication satellite system in the Asia-Pacific region and IRS is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellite providing data in a variety of spatial resolution and spectral bands. 

India has developed two powerful launch vehicles; Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to place its satellites in required orbits. 

All these space systems have been developed in a self-reliant way in spite of several challenges such as the absence of the right industrial infrastructure to take on advanced systems realisation and the regime of technology denials. 

Today, our space programme is recognised by the world for novel applications to which the space systems have been put to use, in areas like tele-education, telemedicine, village resource centres, forecasting poten-tial zones for fishing, and locating groundwater prospect zones. 

*Q: Space sciences is an area where, many feel, India has some expertise. What are our areas for research? *

Our activities cover astronomy, astrophysics, planetary and earth science and theoretical physics. Ground facilities like mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar and ground-based observatories, a series of sounding rockets and spacecraft platforms are available for pursuing scientific investigations. 

With the existing capabilities, India has now planned the first mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, that will carry six Indian scientific instruments besides six instruments from other space agencies (NASA-2, ESA-3, Bulgaria-1). 

*Q: Is ISRO looking at an unman-ned mission to Mars before the proposed manned moon mission? *

An unmanned spacecraft could follow Chandrayaan-1 to Mars. Man-ned space mission will be pursued as another project, for which project report is now under preparation and if approved the mission could be undertaken in about 8-10 years. 

*Q: What would be ISROs thrust areas in the future? *

We would continue to increase the capacity and capability of our present space systems. Reduction of cost of access to space is another area. GSLV Mk-III that is already under development is expected to reduce the cost of the present GSLV by about 30 per cent.


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## Contrarian

*Indian will be put in space by 2015: ISRO Chairman*

Nagpur, Aug. 4 (PTI): India will be able to send its astronaut into space by 2015 and embark on a lunar mission after 2020, noted space scientist and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Madhavan Nair, said Friday.

"India will be launching its satellite 'Chandrayan' by mid next year for carrying out scientific experiments on the moon," Nair told reporters after inaugurating an information and communication technology gallery at the Raman Science centre here.

The satellite with a payload of 560 kg will carry various instruments to study the surface of moon, Nair said adding, the satellite will be launched by PSLV sometime around August next year.

It will orbit near the moon and take visuals and photographs to study the real colour of the surface. It will remain for two years and this will be first of its kind experiment by ISRO as a part of India's lunar mission.

ISRO was in a position of launching commercial satellites of Italy and some European countries as it has acquired the necessary capability, he said.

Speaking on debris in space, Nair said a United Nations organisation was working on minimising it along with exploring ways to get rid of them.

He lauded the role of Maharashtra in using tele-medicine and tele-education technology seriously. 
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200708040360.htm


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## Contrarian

*India to Host International Space Meet in September 2007*

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Friday, August 3, 2007
Source: Indian Space Research Organisation

India has the unique opportunity to host the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC-2007) during September 24-28, 2007 at Hyderabad. Hailed as one of the prestigious meets of the world's astronautical community, IAC is organised every year jointly by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and International Institute of Space Law (IISL). Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO will be hosting this event in India. ISRO and ASI are active members of IAF and over the years, ISRO/ASI scientists have played a significant role in the activities of IAF, IAA and IISL. Mr G Madhavan Nair, who is the Chairman of ISRO and President of ASI, is also the Vice President of the Scientific Activities of IAA.

By electing India to host the 58th Session of IAC, the world space community has recognised the country's significant achievements in space science and technology and their benefits to humankind. It is also significant that India is hosting the IAC in the year 2007 which marks the 50th anniversary of the first launch of Russian Sputnik-1 in 1957 that heralded the space age. The last time that India hosted the IAC was in 1988 in Bangalore.

A Planning Committee, Chaired by Dr B N Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, with senior scientists and administrators of ISRO as members, has been specially constituted to organise this international event at Hyderabad.

Several other sub-committees to coordinate the technical programme, preparation of the venue and organisation of the exhibition have also been constituted.

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, in his message has said "on behalf of the Pearl City of Hyderabad, it gives me an enormous pleasure in welcoming the delegates to the 58th International Astronautical Congress". He added that Hyderabad is one of the most distinctive and historic Indian cities that provide a fine blend of the old world charm and its distilled flavor with the exuberant energy and passion of the Generation next.

In his message on the holding the IAC 2007 at Hyderabad, Mr James V Zimmerman, the President of the IAF has said that India has, for many years, been pursuing a wide range of space applications programme and the theme of the Hyderabad Congress "Touching Humanity: Space for Improving the Quality of Life" will enable the space community to focus on the growing use of space to improve the lives of humankind. He added that the congress will also provide an opportunity to discuss many robotic and human space exploration activities to expand our knowledge of the universe.

Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, has said that Hyderabad is the hub of information, aero-space and bio-technology pursuits in India and also encompasses many landmarks to portray its ancient history and cultural heritage. He has further said that the delegates to IAC 2007 will have an opportunity to experience India's rich tradition and culture.

More than 2,500 delegates including eminent leaders, professionals and industrialists engaged in space science, technology and applications from all over the world will be participating in IAC 2007. The important aspects of the congress include:

* Technical Sessions, where about 1,300 selected technical papers covering topics on Space Science, Space Technology, Infrastructure, Space Applications and Interaction with Society will be presented

* Plenary Event and Highlight Lectures, where chiefs of Space agencies will deliberate on their accomplishments and future plans apart from interacting with participants. Invited eminent astronauts and space scientists will deliver the talks

* UN/IAF Workshop on "Space Technology for Sustainable Development :Towards Food Security" will be organised prior to the Congress

* Academy Day of IAA on 23rd September

* The finals of Moot Court Competition organised by International Institute of Space Law (IISL) will be judged by Judges of the International Court of Justice

* Student Session wherein about 250 selected students from across the world will participate and share their views on Space related issues

* International Space Exhibition displaying the latest in technology and products from various space agencies, entrepreneurs, industries and others

A demonstration on space systems based telemedicine linking hospitals between India and Europe is also planned as part of open Plenary Event on the last day.

The Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) - India's largest and the most technologically advanced convention facility has been selected as the venue for organising the IAC 2007. The spacious HITEX Exhibition Complex will be the venue for the international space exhibition. The website www.iac2007.org provides details about the Congress including Registration of delegates, exhibition participants and press. 

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=23167


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## Contrarian

* Reusable rocket launch by 2010: ISRO chief*

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair on Monday told journalists that the country would launch a reusable rocket by 2010.

Dr. Nair said scientists have designed a &#8220;demonstrator&#8221; to measure parameters of the vehicle and the work was on. A facility to study aerodynamics and related matters was coming up in Thiruvananthapuram.

ISRO was also concentrating on a Mars mission, which could take place in 2012. &#8220;We have thrown this idea to the scientific community. They are coming out with some proposals and suggestions,&#8221; Dr. Nair said.

He was speaking at Vidhana Soudha after the launch of the EduSat programme for 102 Government Colleges.http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/14/stories/2007081455441500.htm


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## mustang

Got to admit that from what i read above the indain space capabilities seem pretty good ...
good to see that all funds r not going into the milatary's poctects ...


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## Neo

*India will send astronaut into space by 2015: ISRO chief​* 
NAGPUR: India will send an astronaut into space on one of its own rockets by 2015 and embark on a manned mission to the moon by 2020, the country's space agency chief said on Friday. 

Before sending an astronaut to the moon, the country will send the Chandrayaan-I satellite to the moon next year, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Madhavan Nair said. 

"India will be launching Chandrayaan-I by mid-next year for carrying out scientific experiments on the moon," he said after inaugurating an information and communication technology gallery at the Raman Science centre. 

The satellite with a payload of 560 kg will carry instruments to study the moon's surface. It will be launched on the PSLV rocket around August next year, Nair said. 

Chandrayaan-I will orbit the moon and take visuals and photographs of its surface. It will remain in orbit for two years and this will be first experiment of its kind by ISRO as part of the planned lunar mission, he said. 

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into space but he travelled on a Russian rocket. 

Nair also said the ISRO has acquired the capability to commercially launch satellites for other countries. A UN organisation is working to minimise debris in space and exploring ways to get rid of this problem, he said. Nair lauded Maharashtra's role in using tele-medicine and tele-education technology. 

India will send astronaut into space by 2015: ISRO chief-India-The Times of India


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## Contrarian

*ISRO prepares for GSLV-F04 launch*


BANGALORE: India is set to launch on Sunday a communications satellite that will replace one destroyed last year when the rocket carrying it into space failed.

*The 49-metre (1,481-feet) high satellite launch vehicle, or GSLV, will lift the satellite into space at 4:20 pm local time (1050 GMT) from Sriharikota space station, a spokesman for the space agency said.*

"The launch is crucial to the extent that the high-powered satellite will augment the country's communication capacity and help meet increasing demand," said the spokesman for Space Research Organisation.

He cited a boom in telecommunications, from facsimile and Internet traffic to satellite television, video transmission and digital satellite newsgathering, whose requirements will be met by the Insat-4CR satellite.

Insat-4CR, weighing 2,130 kilograms (4,686 pounds), is equipped with 12 wideband channels that allow digital transmission on each at the same time by several video and audio networks.

Users sharing a channel benefit from costs that are lower than they would have to pay for use of landlines or earth stations.

The channels, known as transponders, will add to the 200 India already uses for communication and broadcasting purposes.

Sunday's launch will be the fifth for the GSLV, whose predecessor had to be destroyed along with the satellite it was carrying 56 seconds after lift-off in July 2006 when the rocket strayed from its path.

Scientists at the space agency, who blamed a sudden loss of power in one of the rocket's four liquid-propellant motors for the failure, have taken care to ensure the vehicle does not "meet the same fate,".

"The launch campaign is progressing satisfactorily," said a statement posted on ISRO's web site.

"The satellite has already been integrated with the launch vehicle."

India started its space programme in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies.

It carried out the first successful launch of a domestic satellite, which weighed 35 kilograms (77 pounds), by a home-built rocket in 1980.

After using satellites to map natural resources and predict the weather to help farmers and the rural poor in the early days of the programme, it has moved towards commercial exploitation of space technology.

The country's space agency in April launched an Italian satellite for a fee for the first time, and also earns money from telephone companies and broadcasters who use its transponders.

ISRO prepares for GSLV-F04 launch-India-The Times of India


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## Bushroda

*Indian GSLV carrying new satellite blasts off * 
Xinhua, China
2007-09-02 

NEW DELHI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-FO4 (GSLV) rocket carrying communication satellite INSAT-4CR blasted off from Sriharikota, south India, at 6: 20 p.m. local time Sunday. 

The launch of the GSLV carrying INSAT-4CR was scheduled to liftoff at 4:21 p.m. local time. However, it had earlier been stopped several seconds before the blast off due to a "technical snag in parameters related to the launch," India media quoted sources in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as saying. 

The rocket was on its designated path, and the performance was reported as normal, the ISRO said, adding that all parameters were functioning well. 

The GSLV was to put into orbit INSAT-4CR, which carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home television services, video picture transmission and digital satellite newsgathering. 

The ISRO scientists say they are extra careful this time to ensure that the vehicle does not meet the same fate of its predecessor, the GSLV-F02, in July 2006, when it had strayed away from its path, forcing them to destroy it, 56 seconds after takeoff.


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## Bushroda

*INSAT-4CR successfully placed in orbit*
2 Sep 2007, 2027 hrs IST,PTI

SRIHARIKOTA: Overcoming technical snags, ISRO on Sunday successfully placed into orbit its latest communication satellite from the spaceport here, giving a major boost Direct-To-Home television services. 

In a textbook launch, the rocket GSLV-F04 carrying INSAT-4CR satellite blasted off at 6:21 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, two hours behind schedule after computers put off the launch following unsatisfactory performance of vent valve of the rocket. 

The scientists took about one hour 40 minutes to set right the problem and the rocket was cleared for launch at around 6:00 pm. 

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F04 placed the 2,130 kg satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) at an altitude of 248 kms about 17 minutes after the liftoff. 

The 49-metre tall launch vehicle, the fifth in the GSLV series, soared into the space carrying the 2130 kg (415 tonne) satellite which was manoeuvred into the orbit using its own propulsion system. 

"It has been an excellent performance of the launch vehicle. There have been a number of critical moments on this happy occasion," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G Madhavan Nair told reporters here. 

INSAT-4CR is a replacement of its earlier version INSAT-4C that was destroyed on July 10 last year when the launch vehicle GSLV-F02 crashed 56 seconds after lift-off due to malfunctioning of a strap-on motor.


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## joey

This GSLV flied with home designed microprocessor named Vikram, the avionics systems are totally new, there was slight deviation in initial path but closed loop guidance was initiated. The avionics programming needs to mature as it is some sort of centralised avionics system. There was a bit gap in apogee but the HAM motor satellite is exactly there to orient itself in the GTO which carries a whopping 1190 kg of fuel.

Regarding the microprocessor only data we have is here,
http://www.aesitvpm.org/presentations/Kalpana&#37;20Chawla memorial lecture.htm 



> Meeting the changing complex requirements and obsolescence in technology every three years were real challenges in OBC and test systems area. The fault tolerant On Board computers and test systems underwent tremendous changes based on the technological advances in this area.
> 
> 
> We started with 6800 microprocessor based system for ASLV with hot standby redundancy scheme. PSLV uses 68000 based OBC in a cross strapped configuration. GSLV uses 68000 based OBC with 1553 interface for new packages. All these systems used point to point communication. Advanced mission computer with i960 and in house developed Vikram 16-01 has been developed as a 1553 bus based system and validated for all future missions and PSLV/ GSLV. All these OBC configurations are tightly coupled distributed processing systems.
> 
> 
> Similarly on the test system side, we used in house developed 8086 systems for ASLV. As the checkout system had to simulate inputs as in flight and also monitor all the outputs, store the outputs, analyse and display, we had to listen to sound of relays to find out whether relay closure command has occurred. Then we went ahead for 4 processor multiprocessing systems using commercially available configurable open systems and value addition in hardware and software for PSLV. Obsolescence was a real problem. We worked with multibus 1, followed by multibus 2 multiprocessing systems. Currently we have operational systems using EISA bus based multiprocessing systems and PCI/ISA bus based distributed processing systems. We are working with Cpci based multiprocessing systems in RTLinux environment.


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## Contrarian

*ISRO sets up Space Institute*

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 14 : Unmindful of political controversies surrounding its land deal, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today inaugurated its Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, the third such institute in the world.

Addressing the first batch of students after lighting the traditional lamp, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said it would be a world class institute to mould young scientists to meet the growing demand for specialised engineers to fulfil the country's future space programmes.

Stating that the ISRO was facing a manpower crunch, he said the Institute, which was launched in a 'rocket speed,' was a right step in this direction.

There would be 140 students for the B Tech in Space Technology (Avionics and Aerospace Engineering) and Integrated Masters in Applied Science.

A temporary campus had been set up at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here and the students would move to the new campus in the third year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would lay the foundation stone for the new campus shortly.

The ISRO acquired 82 acres near Ponmudi hills, for the purpose from an estate owner. But it became controversial after the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front alleged that Forest Minister Binoy Viswom helped the private person to sell the government land, notified as the Ecologically Fragile Land (EFL), to the ISRO.

Subsequently, the government promised to provide 200 acres land, free of cost to the ISRO to set up the institute.

Welcoming the initiative of the government in this regard, Mr Nair said ''we will not insist that we should get a specific spot.

But what we require is high altitude land for the project. Ponmudi is an ideal place that suits our requirements.'' Referring to the controversy, he said, ''we buy from bolt to rocket engines and follow certain guidelines during the past 30 years. We have followed all such guidelines in the land purchase also.''

--- UNI
@ NewKerala.Com News Channel


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## Contrarian

* Launch of a technology demonstrator in 2009*

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: India is planning to launch a technology demonstrator of a reusable launch vehicle in 2009, according to B.N. Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

&#8220;Work is progressing on the technology demonstrator of the reusable launch vehicle and we are planning to have its launch in 2009,&#8221; Dr. Suresh said on Thursday at a press conference convened to provide details of the five-day International Astronautical Congress (IAC), which will begin here on September 24.

It will be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s spaceport at Sriharikota. &#8220;The technology demonstrator is a precursor to mastering technologies related to the reusable launch vehicles. It will vertically take off, go into the right atmosphere, then fly out of the dense atmosphere &#8230; It is basically for testing the hypersonic aerodynamics, the thermal protection system and a host of other technologies,&#8221; he said.

The contraption would inject the reusable technology demonstrator into the atmosphere at a high Mach speed. But the technology demonstrator would not be recovered in the first flight.

&#8220;There will be no recovery because this is the first flight. But we will receive a lot of data by telemetry.&#8221; Dr. Suresh, who is also the co-chairman of the international congress committee and chairman of the national planning committee for organising the IAC 2007 in Hyderabad, said Yong Li Wei, the first Chinese astronaut to go into space in a Chinese space module a few years ago, would take part in the IAC. 
The Hindu : National : Launch of a technology demonstrator in 2009


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## Sam Dhanraj

*India, Russia discuss space cooperation*​


Press Trust Of India
Hyderabad, September 27, 2007
First Published: 12:20 IST(27/9/2007)
Last Updated: 12:25 IST(27/9/2007) 



India and Russia held discussions in Hyderabad on possibility of cooperation in space exploration, including missions to the moon and Mars. 

General Anatoly Perminov, Head of the Federal Space Agency, Russia met Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair on the sidelines of the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Hyderabad.

"Discussions are on for possible cooperation with ISRO on missions to the moon and Mars," Perminov told PTI.

He said a special meeting of officials of space agencies from the two countries will be held in November to take the discussions forward.

India is launching its lunar mission 'Chandrayaan-I' next year and is expected to announce Chandrayaan-II soon after.

"International scientific community is keen to partner with India in Chandrayaan-II," a senior ISRO official said.

Under the India-Russia joint space programme, the two countries would launch a research satellite constructed by students early next year.

Indian students are building the satellite, called Youth Sat, while Russian students are constructing scientific instruments for the mission, which will study the earth's upper atmosphere.

*Under the Indo-Russia joint project CORONAS-PHOTON,the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research will supply a low-energy gamma-ray telescope for a Russian spacecraft that will be launched before mid-2008 to study solar physics.

Discussions were also held to explore the possibility of India launching the Russian GLONASS-M satellites from its GSLV platforms and join Russia in developing the next generation GLONASS-K satellites for the Russian global navigation system.*


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## Sam Dhanraj

*Indian space programmes on demand worldwide: ISRO*


Hyderabad, September 27, 2007
First Published: 17:15 IST(27/9/2007)
Last Updated: 20:44 IST(27/9/2007) 


Indian space programmes for education, healthcare, management of natural resources and weather forecast and disaster management are in great demand the world over due to their domino effect on living standards, a top Indian space agency official said in Hyderabad on Thursday.

"Nations across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific are making a beeline to seek our expertise and resources for replicating the success of our space programmes and applications.Latin American countries are keen to implement our space programmes in to improve education and healthcare of their people, says Nair. 
"Most advanced countries want to collaborate with India in using such space services for their people, while others are trying to copy our models for tele-education, tele-medicine and village resource centres," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairperson G Madhavan Nair told reporters at the 58th International Astronautical Congress held in Hyderabad.

Giving an assessment of the global space agencies of ISRO's impressive achievements in the space arena, Nair said India was not only being counted among them, but was in demand for collaborations in the ongoing programmes for the benefit of humankind and explorations.

"Bilateral meetings with the heads of space agencies from the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and China during the space summit have created a lot of opportunities for partnerships and mutual cooperation in the space missions being undertaken by them as well as us.

"Latin American and African countries are keen to implement our space programmes in improving education and healthcare of their people. Similarly, the Asia-Pacific nations are seeking our expertise in disaster management, flood control, exploration of minerals and identification of ground water resources," Nair pointed out.

In lunar exploration, Japan has offered to share the data from its Kaguya mission and join hands with ISRO for setting up a base on the moon for explorations of other planets in future. 

"The US and European space agencies (NASA and ESA) are already onboard our lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1) with their experimental payloads as piggybacks for studying the origin and evolution of the earth's only natural satellite (moon).

"NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and China have also offered to cooperate with us beyond the ISS (international space station) to explore the moon and other planets," Nair affirmed.

Asked whether ISRO would seek NASA's assistance in the proposed manned mission and beyond, Nair said that as in the case of developing capabilities in launch vehicles and satellites, the space agency would have self-reliance in building heavier rockets and spacecraft for future lunar and manned missions into space and possible moon later.

"Experience over the decades, especially during the sanctions period when dual-use technologies were denied, shows it would be prudent to be self-reliant in developing our own capabilities for taking up future missions in space, to the moon, Mars and inter-planetary explorations," Nair asserted.


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## Sam Dhanraj

*Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Qualified​*
November 15, 2007 


ISRO has achieved a significant milestone through the successful test of indigenously developed Cryogenic Stage, to be employed as the upper stage of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The test was conducted for its full flight duration of 720 seconds today (November 15, 2007) at Liquid Propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, in Tamil Nadu. With this test, the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage has been fully qualified on the ground. The flight stage is getting ready for use in the next mission of GSLV (GSLV-D3) in 2008. 

It may be recalled that a ground test for 480 seconds of the complete stage was conducted on August 4, 2007. 

The indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) is powered by a regeneratively cooled cryogenic engine, which works on staged combustion cycle developing a thrust of 69.5 kN in vacuum. The other stage systems include insulated propellant tanks, booster pumps, inter-stage structures, fill and drain systems, pressurisation systems, gas bottles, command block, igniters, pyro valves and cold gas orientation and stabilisation system. Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) from the respective tanks are fed by individual booster pumps to the main turbo-pump, which rotates at 39,000 rpm to ensure a high flow rate of 16.5 kg/sec of propellants into the combustion chamber. The main turbine is driven by the hot gas produced in a pre-burner. Thrust control and mixture ratio control are achieved by two independent regulators. LOX and Gaseous Hydrogen (GH2) are ignited by pyrogen type igniters in the pre-burner as well as in the main and steering engines. 

Apart from the complexities in the fabrication of stage tanks, structures, engine and its sub-systems and control components, CUS employs special materials like Aluminum, Titanium, Nickel and their alloys, bi-metallic materials and polyimides. Stringent quality control and elaborate safety measures have to be ensured during assembly and integration. 

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is the lead centre for the development of Cryogenic Upper Stage with the involvement of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and other ISRO centres as well as several industries, both in public and private sector. 

The successful ground test of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage for the full flight duration has validated the design robustness and performance adequacy for its use in GSLV. 


Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Qualified


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## Contrarian

*India achieves self-reliance in GSLV technology*


Bangalore, Nov 16: India`s efforts to acquire self-sufficiency in Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle technology has received a major boost with the "successful" testing of an indigenously developed cryogenic engine.

The test of the indigenously developed cryogenic engine carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu yesterday was successful, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

*"With this successful test, India`s GSLV programme has become absolutely self-reliant,"* Nair said over phone from Thiruvanathapuram today.

"GSLV vehicle has become totally indigenous. GSLV was flying with Russian (cryogenic) stage, (so far). With this indigenous stage, we are on our own," he said.

India so far depended on Russia for providing cryogenic engines for its GSLV vehicles. LPSC is the lead centre for development of Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS).

The cryogenic engine is required to launch the geosynchronous satellites that are used in communications. *This technology was so far confined to Russia, Europe and the US which used it to launch global commercial satellites.*

Nair said the flight stage is getting ready for use in the next mission of GSLV (GSLV-D3) next year. "Flight stage is already under preparation at Mahendragiri. Things are progressing well," he said.

Terming the "successful test" as a significant milestone in India`s space programme, Nair said the country now has a mature technology in cryogenic.

*"Concerted efforts (for this achievement) were there in the last ten years. In between, there were problems and failures....That`s a learning curve. With this test, today we have a mature technology in cryogenic."*

In the past, GSLV was flown with the stage supplied by Moscow.

"We have four of them (flown with Russian stage). Two more (of Russian stage) are in our stock", Nair said.

Summing up the feelings of the space engineers and scientists over the feat, he said: "they are extremely jubilant, and confident to face future challenges of GSLV-MK III equally well".

The indigenous CUS is powered by a regeneratively cooled cryogenic engine, which works on staged combustion cycle developing a thrust of 69.5 kn in vacuum.

Apart from the complexities in the fabrication of stage tanks, structures, engine and its sub-systems and control component, CUS employs materials such as aluminium, titanium, nickel and their Alloys, bi-metallic materials and polymides, according to Bangalore-headquartered ISRO.

Bureau Report 
:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## Contrarian

*ISRO plans mars adventure, comet flyby*

India has drawn up plans to send a spacecraft to Mars [Images] and have flyby missions to comets and asteroids over the next five years.

The Indian Space Research Organisation will also ramp up the number of transponders on its communication satellites to 500 from the current 175 to meet the growing demand in the various sectors.

Government has also proposed to more than double the plan outlay ISRO to Rs 27,305 crore to enable it achieve its ambitious programmes, including facilitating tele-medicine and tele-education services.

The Eleventh Plan has identified building capabilities in space communications and navigation, developing navigational satellite systems, research in satellite communications and self sustenance of INSAT/GSAT systems as major areas of focus.

ISRO is expected to operationalise the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III capable of putting four ton satellites in orbit and develop technologies to recover spacecraft after completion of missions.

India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I will take to the skies on April nine and ISRO has already begun finalising details for a second lunar mission with a possible launch in the next three years.

While Chandrayaan-I will orbit the moon, following mission would be an advanced one with lander and rover for collection and analysis of lunar samples.

The draft plan document also lists advanced space endeavours like mission to Mars, and flyby missions to comets and asteroids as thrust areas for the next five years.


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## AgNoStiC MuSliM

*The road to India's Cryogenic Engine*​
Armies tend to herald their victories with the blowing of bugles. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chose to announce its entry into the exclusive club of nations capable of building cryogenic engines with a thunderous sound of a rocket test that lasted 12 long minutes.

The sound, equivalent to that of 10 Jumbo jets taking off simultaneously, reverberated across the Mahendragiri hills in Tamil Nadu where Indias ultra-modern liquid engine test facility is located.

It signalled the culmination of ISROs 13-year quest to build engines using cryogenic fuels that are super-cooled to around minus 250 degrees. (Cryo originates from the Greek word Kryos which literally means ice-cold.)

The quest began in 1993 when Russia, under pressure from the US, reneged from an agreement to supply India with the technology to build such engines. The Americans successfully argued that it would give India the capability to launch Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

ISRO needed cryogenic engines to power the upper stages of its Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) which is capable of putting two-tonne INSAT-class communications satellite into a geo-synchronous orbit at 36,000 km above the earth.

Cryogenic engines that use a mixture of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen as propellants are highly efficient providing more bounce per ounce of fuel.

The thrust these engines generate is usually 50 per cent more than that provided either by liquid or solid rockets for the same weight of fuel (see graphic). In doing so, it gives a space-faring nation the flexibility to put heavier satellites or other payloads into space.

So as not to delay its GSLV programme, ISRO renegotiated the agreement with Russia for outright purchase of two cryogenic engines.

It simultaneously began designing and building an indigenous cryogenic engine similar to the Russian one for future flights. ISRO had hoped to complete the indigenous project within five years but the sheer complexity of building such an engine frustrated scientists for many years.

Barring the performance designs given by the Russians, the fully assembled engines purchased by them were, as one scientist put it, like a blackbox.

That meant that ISRO had to do everything from scratch. Given that the rocket has to withstand extremely hostile temperatures that vary from super-cooled temperatures before ignition to superhot ones when it fires, metallurgy was a key hurdle that had to be overcome.

The right alloys had to be developed that could take these massive temperature fluctuations and also keep the weight of the engine down.

There were other complications. The problem with liquid hydrogen is that it has a tendency to return to its gaseous form rapidly and is highly inflammable.


Cryogenic engine under testIt ignites spontaneously when it comes in contact with atmosphere. So the temperature has to be tightly monitored and the pipelines and pumps through which liquid hydrogen is fed have to be totally leak proof. This meant that joints had to be welded rather than screwed tight.

The cryogenic engines project director Mohammed Muslim says, There is absolutely no margin for error. Other major hurdles were developing the thrust chamber, which required intricate grooves to be machined, and the high speed turbo pumps.

Initial efforts by ISRO engineers met with little success. The first test that took place in 1999 ended in abject failure when one of the gas generators blew on the test stand.

With delays inevitable, in 2001 ISRO negotiated with the Russians to supply five more cryogenic engines to power its GSLV flights at a cost of $5 million (Rs 20 crore) each.

It was only in 2006 that the ISRO team felt it had, to an extent, mastered the range of technologies needed for the test. The first firing of the engine in October 2006 went off smoothly for the planned 50-second duration.

Emboldened, the scientists tried for a longer duration in January 2007 but had to abort it within 30 seconds as an extraneous fire occurred in one of the pipelines. More recently in August this year, the system fired smoothly for 500 seconds but because of a technical glitch, it had to be aborted before completion.

After identifying the problem, the scientists felt that it was a minor issue and so scheduled another test for mid-November. They waited anxiously at the Mahendragiri test stand to watch as the countdown began for the engine. This time the test was flawless.

ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair, who was there too, told India Today: For ISRO, it is the culmination of the development of rocket technologywe are now totally self-reliant in the entire range of rocketry whether solid, liquid or cryogenic.

Nair points out that the development was critical not just because of the foreign exchange it saves but also because getting cryogenic engines from the international market is proving increasingly difficult.

He says, Not only were other nations asking for the moon in terms of price but they were also not available for the next five years. He denies that India took Russian help to develop the engine as alleged by some scientists and points out that ISRO not only indigenously developed a host of new materials needed for the engine but also the various critical components for it.

Much more though needs to be done. The research organisation is in the process of building the more powerful GSLV Mark III launch vehicle capable of putting a four-tonne INSAT class satellite in orbit, almost twice the weight of its current capacity.

For this, an all new heavy cryogenic engine is being developed. The first test is being planned next year. Even the recently tested cryogenic engine has to be modified if it has to fly for a future mission to carry slightly heavier satellites than the existing two-tonne class.

More importantly, the proof of ISROs capability would be demonstrated only when the cryogenic engine that it has developed flies on the GSLV and performs perfectly. Till then, ISRO scientists can take the much deserved credit while keeping their fingers firmly crossed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russian tech assistance to India has been outstanding - no wonder India is loath to damage such ties over Gorshkov's - though we'll have to wait and see....


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## zeus

we should thank Russia for providing Cryogenic engine which was never tested in russia it self ,was not up to the mark and was hard casing you open it you will never be able to put it back ,thank god our Cryogenic engine will be more tested and reliable then those


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## AgNoStiC MuSliM

zeus said:


> we should thank Russia for providing Cryogenic engine which was never tested in russia it self ,was not up to the mark and was hard casing you open it you will never be able to put it back ,thank god our Cryogenic engine will be more tested and reliable then those



So you are suggesting that India has been gambling with other nation's years of work and millions of dollars worth of investment by sending up their satellites in vehicles powered by "less tested and less reliable" Russian cryogenic engines?

Thats pretty shoddy and unethical don't you think? Selling services you know are "inferior and unreliable"?


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## roadrunner

zeus said:


> we should thank Russia for providing Cryogenic engine which was never tested in russia it self ,was not up to the mark and was hard casing you open it you will never be able to put it back ,thank god our Cryogenic engine will be more tested and reliable then those



A lot of the Indian space program is of Russian origin. That's alright, but to harp on about it as an achievement is nothing special. Soon almost every country in the world will be able to lob a man into space for quite a cheap price. The achievement comes with being a world leader in the area, as the Russians were, the Americans are, and the Chinese will become.


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## zeus

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> So you are suggesting that India has been gambling with other nation's years of work and millions of dollars worth of investment by sending up their satellites in vehicles powered by "less tested and less reliable" Russian cryogenic engines?
> 
> Thats pretty shoddy and unethical don't you think? Selling services you know are "inferior and unreliable"?




Moscow agreed to limit the transfer to a small number of rocket engines and not production technology and under watch full eyes of usa do you think Russia could have provided very power full engines ? we had to work with whatever we had ,we lost one satellite because of this Russian cryogenic engines which could not power it to the required orbit


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## zeus

roadrunner said:


> A lot of the Indian space program is of Russian origin. That's alright, but to harp on about it as an achievement is nothing special. Soon almost every country in the world will be able to lob a man into space for quite a cheap price. The achievement comes with being a world leader in the area, as the Russians were, the Americans are, and the Chinese will become.




if Space technology was Plug and play every country could have launched a man into space by now ,only two real masters and achievers of space are Russia and America while china has more made in Russia/or copied part in their rocket then any one else


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## roadrunner

zeus said:


> if Space technology was Plug and play every country could have launched a man into space



No, because it costs a lot of money, which most countries are too poor to have. Japan obviously has the money, but probably not the desire. 



> by now ,only two real masters and achievers of space are Russia and America while china has more made in Russia/or copied part in their rocket then any one else



Sure. I don't think China's achievements to date in space are anything amazing. Their aerospace industry is much more outstanding.


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## zeus

roadrunner said:


> No, because it costs a lot of money, which most countries are too poor to have. Japan obviously has the money, but probably not the desire.



it is not only the money ,it also comes down to manpower ,talent and R&D and availability of technology ,saddam had lot of money but was still not able to make a nuke ,after India had tested nukes in 1974 he had told his generals " if hind can do it why cannot we do it ?? " this was when iraq was in process of R&D of developing nukes but it never did even after 30 years


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## roadrunner

CIRUS was built with Canadian assistance actually..


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## zeus

roadrunner said:


> CIRUS was built with Canadian assistance actually..



ya a nuke reactor not a nuke


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## Neo

*India installs antennas for planned moon mission*​(AFP)

16 December 2007 

BANGALORE - India has installed a pair of giant antennas to monitor a planned robotic mission to the moon next year, making it one of a few nations with deep space tracking ability, officials said.

The deep space network at Byalalu, 45 kilometres (30 miles) from Bangalore, will keep track of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission and provide command support during its two-year orbit around the moon, Indias space agency said.

The facility, which reporters visited Saturday, consists of two powerful dish antennas 32 metres (105 feet) and 18 metres in diameter.

The network will be used to send commands and receive telemetry signals, including massive scientific data from the spacecraft, said S.K. Shivakumar, director of the Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) Telemetry Tracking and Command Network.

By installing the network at a cost of one billion rupees (25 million dollars), India joins the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Russia in the ability to track deep space missions, officials said.

India plans to launch Chandrayaan-1 in April next year, joining Asian nations Japan and China in moon exploration. The spacecraft will conduct a lunar orbit at a distance of 385,000 kilometres from Earth.

The first robotic mission next year, budgeted at 100 million dollars, will be followed by another in 2012. Dates for a manned mission will be announced in 2008.

Indias deep space network will serve as the base station for future planetary exploration, such as a planned mission to Mars, Shivakumar said.

It also will be used to track the countrys proposed Astrosat, a space telescope designed to scout for galactic clusters, new stars beyond the Milky Way and a variety of cosmological phenomena.

Khaleej Times Online - India installs antennas for planned moon mission


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## Contrarian

*Russia, India may jointly develop new space shuttle*


MOSCOW: India and Russia could jointly develop a new generation space shuttle for manned space flights and negotiations for the project are expected to begin in January, according to a top space official.

"India has expressed desire to participate in the development of a new reusable manned spaceship and from January next we will discuss this issue with the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation," Chief of Russia's Federal Space Agency, Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov said.

Although Perminov did not identify the project, but 'Energia' Corporation is reportedly developing reusable spacecraft 'Clipper', which is expected to replace Soviet-designed Soyuz spaceships in Russia's national space programme.

Perminov said India was Russia's privileged space partner with which it was working in different directions and has granted Indian space experts access to many of its ground control facilities.

"With India we are interacting in carrier rockets, their components, dual use systems, global positioning system GLONASS and mission control and ground tracking equipment," Perminov said here at an year-end news conference.

Russia, which launched three satellites on Christmas to commercially operationalise Soviet developed global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), has taken India onboard in further developing of the system to end dependence on the Pentagon controlled Global Positioning System (GPS), which was twice switched off to enable US strikes during the Balkan and Iraq wars.

Russia, India may jointly develop new space shuttle-Rest of World-World-The Times of India


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## Neo

Russia already has the 'Space Shuttlesky' called Buran. The project was prematurely abandoned to economic crisis in the late eighties.

Why not revive the Buran?



> Not many know this but the Russians have a space shuttle themselves, it's name is Buran. The Russians watched the American space program and realized that they needed a space shuttle.
> As you can see it looks very much like the American shuttle and the Russians admit borrowing the blueprints, but the Buran ("snowstorm" in Russian) is not an exact copy.
> 
> The Buran Spacecraft made one unmanned space flight on November 15, 1988. It was launched by the Engeria, which is the world's most powerful rocket. It returned to a runway landing in Russia. The flight was unmanned, controlled only by computers. With it's deteriorating economy, the Russians could not justify the expense of making the Buran shuttles operational, and the original and several uncompleted models today sit in storage.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Americans once thought of changing the length of the SRB's on the shuttle but found out that if they only lengthened them by 5 centimeters, the aerodynamics of the launch would change significantly and would result in a failure that would destroy the craft. So it is very unlikely that the Russians copied the American shuttle, they would have had to make their own simulations and wind tunnel tests to find a configuration that would work with their powerful rocket, the Energiya.
> 
> To transport Buran from the space center Baikonur to the launch pad they used rails with a powerful locomotive. Originally, they had planned to launch the shuttle only 3-4 times a year in addition to the 100 rocket launches usually made. Unlike the American shuttle the Buran was only going to be used for missions which could not be done by other craft. These missions included repair missions and return of old satellites which could not be done by the small Soyuz spacecraft, it was also going to be launched to dock with the current Mir station to deliver crew and supplies and bringing home scientific material.
> 
> NASA Space Shuttle & Buran/Energia Shuttle
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Buran is not launched like the U.S. space shuttle. NASA uses 2 solid rocket boosters (SRB's) and 3 liquid engines fueled by an external tank filled with oxygen and hydrogen to boost it into orbit. The Russians on the other hand uses just one giant rocket, in fact it is the largest and most powerful rocket in the world. It's name is Energiya, it can lift 100 tons. It stands 60 meters high and produces a thrust of 4000 tons. With the shuttle Buran attached it can still lift 30 tons, this is 5 tons more than the shuttle can with it's 25 tons.
> 
> 
> 
> Buran is/was more expensive to launch because the engines on the Energiya rocket burn up in the atmosphere and are not reused like the American SRB's and 3 liquid engines mounted on the shuttle. Unlike the American shuttle, Buran does not help to boost itself into orbit, Energiya does all the work. The rocket is currently not in use because all of the satellites launched are relatively small and only require a small rocket like a Proton to boost into orbit. When the Russian space program was still going strong they had planned to use the Energia to boost a new space station into orbit (Mir2) consisting of several modules each weighing 100 tons. The current Mir only consists of modules weighing 20 tons and the ISS will also consist of modules weighing 20 tons because that is the maximum weight the Proton rocket can carry and the shuttle can launch when it has to reach the inclination and height of the new station.
> 
> Transporting people to the new Russian station was also going to be made by Buran with the Soyuz only acting as a rescue vehicle but as you probably have noticed those plans were scraped because of the lack of funds.
> 
> Google Image resultaat voor http://www.hightechscience.org/Buran_Space_Shuttle_Comparsion_1.gif


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## Neo




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## Neo




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## Cheetah786

malaymishra123 question is would the Russians will be willing to give that kind of tech to India if she is moving more and more towards USA?


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## KENT

Cheetah786 said:


> malaymishra123 question is would the Russians will be willing to give that kind of tech to India if she is moving more and more towards USA?




offcouse, why not? Since some turbulence that was created between INDO-RUSSIAN relationship on account of India' close up towards US, does't mean such minor turbulence will created any patches in Indo-Russian relationship. In spite of nucler deal with US, India has entered with russian some of other multibillion topnotch projects like PAK-FA,MTA, Nucler plant in southern India, all other host of Infrastructure projects.


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## ahussains

What ever is the realtions between india russia and US its a healty devlopment there because so far US is dominating in the space some one or some joint devlopment is not a bad idea..


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## Vinod2070

IIRC, the Russians were not convinced of the efficacy of the space shuttle concept. They experimented with it, found it to be not economical and abandoned it. May be I am wrong here but I read something along these lines.

Wonder what has changed now to revive the interest!


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## ahussains

Neo said:


>



So far *Energiya* is the most powerfull rocket in the world from last 20 years when it was devloped

Development
Work on the Energia/Buran system began in 1976 after the decision was made to cancel the unsuccessful N1 rocket. The cancelled N1 rocket-based Manned Lunar Launch Facilities and Infrastructure were used for Energia (notably the huge horizontal assembly building) - just as NASA reused infrastructure designed for the Saturn V in the Space Shuttle program. Energia also replaced the "Vulkan" concept, which was a design based on the Proton rocket and using the same toxic hypergolic fuels, but much larger and more powerful. The "Vulkan" designation was later on given to a variation of the Energia which has eight boosters and multiple stages.


*First launch*
The Energia was first test-launched 15 May 1987 21:30 with Polyus (UKSS military payload), where the Energia itself functioned well, but the Polyus did not reach orbit due to a mishap of its own attitude control system after separation from Energia.


*Second launch*
The only other flight to orbit has been the successful mission in which the unmanned Shuttle Buran was brought to orbit, in 1988. Both the Energia and Buran programs were designed to maintain strategic parity between the two superpowers.


*Discontinuation*
Production of Energia rockets ended with the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Buran shuttle project. Ever since, there have been persistent rumors of the renewal of production, but given the current political realities, that is highly unlikely. While the Energia is no longer in production, the Zenit boosters are still in production and in use. The four strap-on liquid-fuel boosters, which burned kerosene and liquid oxygen, were the basis of the Zenit rocket which used the same engines. The engine is the RD-170: a powerful, modern, and efficient design. It is still used on the Baikonur Cosmodrome-launched Zenit and on the Sea Launch floating launch platform system, which is built around the Zenit. A half sized derivative of the engine, the RD-180, powers Lockheed Martin's Atlas V, one of the two new U.S. EELV rockets (the other being the Boeing Delta IV). The quarter size derivate of the engine, the RD-190 would be used in the Russian Angara rocket.

Variants

Three major variants were planned after the original configuration, each with vastly different payloads.


*Energia M*
The Energia M was the smallest design configuration. The number of Zenit boosters was reduced from four to two, and instead of four RD-0120 engines in the core, it had only one. It was designed to replace the Proton rocket, but lost the 1993 competition to the Angara rocket.


*Energia II ("Uragan")*
Main article: Energia II
Energia II, named "Uragan" ("Hurricane" in Russian), was a rocket planned to be fully reusable and would be able to land on a conventional airfield. Unlike the Energia, which was planned to be semi-reusable (like that of the U.S. Space Shuttle), the "Uragan" design would have allowed the complete recovery of all Buran/Energia elements, like that of the original totally reusable Orbiter/Booster concept of the U.S. Shuttle. The Energia II core would be capable of re-entering and gliding to a landing, presumably using technology developed for the Buran.


*Vulkan-Hercules*
The final unflown configuration was also the largest. With eight Zenit booster rockets and an Energia-M core as the upper stage of it, the "Vulkan" (which was interestingly the same name of another Soviet heavy lift rocket that was cancelled years earlier) or "Hercules" (which is the same name designated to the N-1 rockets) configuration could have launched up to 175 tonnes into orbit.


Energia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## KENT

The collabration might likely to furnish India's space capability dramatically, since India have already undertaken Successful space recovery capasule.


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## Contrarian

Vinod2070 said:


> IIRC, the Russians were not convinced of the efficacy of the space shuttle concept. They experimented with it, found it to be not economical and abandoned it. May be I am wrong here but I read something along these lines.
> 
> Wonder what has changed now to revive the interest!



India is going to experiment with the space shuttle concept with or without the Russians. We have already testesd the reentry technology, it would just take more time, if ISRO did it alone. 

It would be more economical for both and there would be risk sharing if they made it or researched it together.


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## Tiki Tam Tam

The Indian missile programme apparently has been concluded and wound up.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080107/jsp/frontpage/story_8760934.jsp


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## Contrarian

* ISRO planning to launch satellite to study the sun*

Divya Gandhi

_100-kg &#8216;Aditya&#8217; should be up in space by 2012 to study the dynamic solar corona, the outermost region of the sun_

Bangalore: In the midst of the buzz about Chandrayaan, the moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a satellite to study the sun.

&#8216;Aditya&#8217; should be up in space by 2012 to study the dynamic solar corona, the outermost region of the sun. This fiery region has temperatures of over one million degrees, with raging solar winds that reach a velocity of up to 1000 km a second. The satellite will carry as its payload an advanced solar coronagraph.

&#8220;Aditya will be a small satellite weighing 100 kg, placed most likely in a near-earth orbit of 600 km,&#8221; said G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO. &#8220;The satellite is intended to study one of the most fundamental problems of coronal heating, and other phenomena that take place in the magnetosphere. &#8220;This will be one of the first projects scheduled in a road map formulated by the Advisory Committee for Space Research, said Mr. Nair.

Beyond being a research exercise, Aditya has a unique practical application: to protect ISRO&#8217;s satellites from the vagaries of solar phenomena, said R. Sridharan, Programme Director, Space Science Office, ISRO.

&#8220;The sun&#8217;s corona is highly active, releasing energy during solar flares in the form of bursts &#8212; manifesting as geomagnetic storms on earth. These associated charged particles can distort the earth&#8217;s magnetic field, and have a huge bearing on near-earth space where our satellites are located,&#8221; he explained.

The launch of Aditya will coincide with a &#8216;solar maximum&#8217; a phase of high solar dynamism, which will occur in 2012, said Prof. Sridharan.

&#8220;The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity &#8212; we crossed the solar minimum in 2006,&#8221; he said. The coronagraph will study the solar corona through an artificial eclipse that will prevent sunlight from directly entering the instrument, revealing to the telescope only the halo of the corona.

The advisory committee has constituted a national-level study group to work out the optimum configuration for the coronagraph, among other parameters.

The study group comprises individuals from the ISRO Satellite Centre, Udaipur Solar Observatory, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Radio Astronomy Centre, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, and several universities, said Prof. Sridharan. Their report will be out by May, and the project finalised by the end of 2008, he added. The projected cost of the satellite is approximately Rs. 50 crore.

&#8220;We want to cut costs by avoiding a dedicated launch. With ISRO&#8217;s multiple launching capability, Aditya could go as a co-passenger in one of the many launches scheduled for the next four years,&#8221; said Prof. Sridharan. &#8220;The cost of the instrument can also be reduced by nearly a factor of 10 by using screened industrial grade components. We do not need this satellite for more than two years &#8212; it would have gathered an enormous amount of data in this span of time.&#8221; 

The Hindu : Front Page : ISRO planning to launch satellite to study the sun


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## Contrarian

*DRDO plans satellite-based coastal surveillance system*

M. Somasekhar

Tenali (AP), Feb. 6 India is planning to establish a satellite-based coastal surveillance system to monitor and guard its long coastline extending beyond 7,500 km.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has prepared a blueprint for the system and has made some headway in developing the ingredients for it, according to Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, Chief Controller (R&D).

The major national project to be launched soon would require a dedicated satellite, which would be fabricated. It has to be placed in the geostationary orbit, where Indias Insat series are operating and beaming communication, television, meteorological and other imagery to meet the countrys demands, Dr Pillai told Business Line here.

The satellite would be something on the lines of the Oceansat of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The total cost of the project is being worked out and it would be a reality in the next 4-5 years, said the top DRDO scientist and Chief Executive Officer of BrahMos Aerospace.

Dr Pillai, who was here to receive the 16th Dr Y. Nayudamma Award and deliver the lecture, said the surveillance system was important for the country because the vast coastline needs to be continuously monitored and key assets have to be protected.

The Kochi-based Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory, under the DRDO, would be the nodal lab to implement the ambitious project.

A major feature of the system would be the installation of sea bed arrays in critical locations. They will throw up information that would be captured by the satellite. This information is relayed to a Central Control Centre. A string of smaller centres in different regions would also be linked for sharing the data, he said.

The ISRO has on its own put in place a satellite-based system to help fisherfolk in distress on the sea, be it due to rough sea conditions, sudden health problems etc. They are installing a receiver on fisherfolk boat, which continuously tracks their location and relays distress signals, by the pressing of the button onboard to a Central hub.

The Hindu Business Line : DRDO plans satellite-based coastal surveillance system


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## KENT

Clear sign of gearing up towards Network Centering warfare as well as a very needed move towards foiling Piracy, Terror activities over the Indian coastline.


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## Flintlock

*Mission water on moon*
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Bangalore, Feb. 27: A US team yesterday visited an Indian Space Research Organisation facility where American equipment is being integrated into Chandrayaan-1 to look for water and ice on the moon.

The Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (miniSAR) will help India&#8217;s first lunar mission establish whether the permanently shadowed regions of the moon&#8217;s poles have water in any form.

The miniSAR has been developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University, and the Naval Air Warfare Centre. The delegation was headed by Ken Ulman, the executive of Howard County in Maryland, where the APL is one of the largest private sector employers.

US space agency Nasa is expected to pay Isro at least $10 million for carrying the miniSAR and tracking its probes, officials said.

&#8220;The moon is believed to be very dry, but recent discoveries suggest the existence of water and ice in its polar regions, which are never illuminated by the sun,&#8221; a scientist said. 

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Mission water on moon


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## Sam Dhanraj

*India seeks Russia's help in space pilot training* 
18:46 | 25/ 03/ 2008 



NEW DELHI, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - India is considering sending one of its citizens into space on board a Russian spacecraft to acquire the skills necessary for future manned space missions, an Indian space source told RIA Novosti. 

"India would like to have one of its astronauts trained in Russia and send him into space on board the Soyuz spacecraft," said a senior researcher from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

He said ISRO had been in talks on the issue with the Russian Federal Space Agency and "received a positive response." 

India has been successfully developing its space program in recent years, regularly launching satellites using its own booster rockets. 

India is planning to launch its first space shuttle in 2014.

The vehicle would be launched by India's successful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk II) - a three-stage rocket with solid, liquid and cryo stages. The GSLV can place 2,200 kg into geostationary transfer orbit.

India sent its first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, into space with the Soviet Intercosmos program aboard the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft on April 2, 1984.

RIA Novosti - World - India seeks Russia's help in space pilot training

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Lets see who would be the second Indian after Rakesh Sharma..


----------



## Malang

India plans 70 space missions in five years

India plans to undertake 70 space missions in five years, a nearly three-fold jump from the previous half-decade, as it seeks to address requirements and develop new technologies to meet future needs.

"We have proposed something like 70 missions totally (in the 11th plan (April one 2007 to March 31, 2012) compared to about 26 missions in the tenth plan period," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair, told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The proposed missions have a "good mix" of both INSAT class satellites as well as remote sensing ones, he said.

Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, indicated that the aim is to address requirements of the area of communication transponders and work in the fields of microwave remote sensing, hyper spectral and other new technologies of the future.

"Future developments will be towards the manned space mission and reusable satellites and Ka-band satellites," he added.

The 2008-09 annual budget for the Space Department has gone upto Rs 4,072 crore, a 25 per cent increase over the previous financial year, ISRO officials said.

India plans 70 space missions in five years- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## Malang

ISRO comes out with Manned Mission plan

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) confirmed to have chalked out plan for Indias manned mission lined up for 2015 on Friday.

Chairman of ISRO, Dr D G Madhavan Nair told media persons, We have now finalised the project report on the manned mission. The report is going to the Government.

The Government will have to review and take a decision soon.

He said that the report will be submitted to Space Commission by next week, which will give its recommendation on the total cost of project.

Dr Nair further explained the stratagem and said that the organisation has now clarity in the framework they have reached upon finally, he also discussed about the technologies to be assessed, facilities to be established and the agencies to involve in this project.

This report is another indication of Indias preparedness to undertake the manned mission and through its various satellites India has proved that it has the maturity to go ahead with the plan.

ISRO has also surveyed since 2003 to scrutinise the technological challenges of a manned spaceflight, some of the facilities required are available in the country however many areas have to be developed to give a thrust to the mission. Earlier, preliminary cost has been pegged at Rs 10,000 crore by ISRO, spread over a period of 8 years.

This indigenous manned space exploration is planned for 2014-15 and ISRO has already setup a Deep Space Network in Byalalu village near Bangalore. Indian Deep Space Network comprises primarily of two powerful dish antennas measuring 32-metre and 18-metre diameter to track all its future space missions. A third antenna measuring 11-meter diameter will be also erected for ASTROSAT mission.

India is also set to enter the moon exploration club by sending its first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 by July 2008.If the mission goes as planned, ISRO would be the sixth space agency in the world, after the Soviet Union, NASA, Japan, European Space Agency and China.

India has evolved as a prominent nation in the field of space sciences and this manned mission to come up will boost the morale of our nation.

ISRO comes out with Manned Mission plan


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## Malang

India to launch remote sensing satellite this month

India will later this month launch a remote sensing satellite equipped with high-resolution cameras and advanced scientific instruments, space agency officials said here Friday.

Cartosat-2A, as the all-weather, reconnaissance satellite is called, will be used to plan urban and rural development projects. It can also be used for intelligence gathering, the officials said.

"The tentative launch date is April 28," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters in Bangalore where the agency is based.

"The exact date and time will be finalised in a fortnight after factoring weather and other relevant data," he added.

Identical to the mapping satellite Cartosat-2, which was launched in January 2007, the 680-kilogram (1,500-pound) Cartosat-2A will be placed in a polar orbit at an altitude of 630 kilometres (391 miles).

The satellite will be launched by the Indian-developed rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, from the Sriharikota space station in southern India.

India started its space programme in 1963, and has since developed and put several of its own satellites into space. It has also designed and built launch rockets to reduce its dependence on overseas space agencies.

Space agency chairman Nair said the body has finalised a project report concerning a manned mission by 2014-15.

"The report is being submitted to the government for approval and budgetary allocation," he said. "The Space Commission, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet next week or so to review the report and take a decision." 

AFP: India to launch remote sensing satellite this month


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## Titanium

ISRO's licensing role comes under US scrutiny

New Delhi (PTI): The role of India Space Research Organisation in influencing the licensing policy for hiring foreign satellites by telecom and broadcasting firms, has come the scanner of the US Department of Commerce.

An annual review, completed under an American law identifying barriers facing the US telecom and equipment suppliers, has found a conflict of interest between ISRO's "unofficial" role as a regulator and service provider for renting capacity on its satellites.

The Office of the US Trade Representative has said it would "continue to monitor all of these issues and encourage countries to address these concerns in ongoing engagement over the following year".

It said although India's Department of Telecommunications and the Information and Broadcasting Ministry act as licensing authorities for companies interested in utilising foreign satellite capacity, ISRO seems to greatly influence the licensing process.

ISRO "appears to exert enormous influence over the licensing process and prevents companies from contracting directly with foreign satellite operator," the review done under Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 said.

Thus, the organisation plays an "unofficial policy role" and at the same time acts as a competitor to the foreign satellite operators, since it owns and operates India's domestic satellite system INSAT.

"This presents a serious conflict of interest that is likely to put foreign satellite operators at a competitive disadvantage and also limit the number of choices available to Indian telecommunications and broadcast companies in need of satellite capacity," the review said.


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## bhangra12345

Titanium said:


> ISRO's licensing role comes under US scrutiny
> 
> 
> "This presents a serious conflict of interest that is likely to put foreign satellite operators at a competitive disadvantage and also *limit the number of choices available to Indian telecommunications and broadcast companies* in need of satellite capacity," the review said.


Oho! so these people are worried about business from indian broadcast companies, so that they can share a pie.

get lost


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## Sam Dhanraj

*April 28: ISRO to launch 10 satellites*
23 Apr 2008, 1420 hrs IST,PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch ten satellites, including eight from abroad, which will be carried by PSLV-C9 on April 28 from Sriharikota. 

The cluster of satellites to be lifted included Indian satellite Cartosat-2A weighing 690 kg. The vehicle would also carry eight nano satellites of 16 to 27 kg from Canada, Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, an ISRO official told agencies. 

The satellites would be ejected into 635 km orbit. Cartosat-2A, which is of one metre resolution, would be used for mapping purposes and management of natural resources. 

The second Indian satellite of the cluster, weighing 85 kg, was an experimental remote sensing satellite. It would also be used as a platform for trying out advanced technology in the coming launches, the official said.

The launch is scheduled at 0920 hrs from ISRO's launch port Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on April 28. 

*"All launches are important. But, this is for the first time that ISRO is launching ten satellites together," the ISRo official said.* 

Of the eight nano satellites, six form a cluster called NLS-4. These satellites were built to test nano technologies for use in satellites. 

ISRO considers the launch very important as it was a major step forward in its commercial launch operations. Technically also, it is an important mission, as satellites have to be put at the right time in precise orbit one by one, he said.

Antrix Corporation, marketing agency of the ISRO, is charging for launching the eight satellites, he said. 

April 28: ISRO to launch 10 satellites-India-The Times of India


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## Sam Dhanraj

*PSLV-C9 to Launch CARTOSAT-2A on April 28, 2008*

Next launch of Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C9, is scheduled to carry Indias latest Remote Sensing satellite, *CARTOSAT-2A along with Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) *and eight nanosatellites from abroad around 9.20 am on Monday, April 28, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This will be the thirteenth flight of PSLV and third flight with core-alone configuration. 

_*CARTOSAT-2A weighing about 690 kg carries a state-of-the-art Panchromatic camera (PAN) that is capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The imagery will have a spatial resolution of about one metre. The camera covers a swath (geographical strip of land) of about 9.6 km. The highly agile CARTOSAT-2A is steerable along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently. CARTOSAT-2A will form a pair with CARTOSAT-2 launched on January 10, 2007 providing more frequent revisit. *_ 

Indian Mini Satellite-1 (IMS-1) is developed by ISRO. Weighing 83 kg at lift-off, IMS-1 incorporates many new technologies and has miniaturised subsystems. IMS-1 carries two optical payloads  a Multispectral camera (Mx Payload) and a Hyperspectral camera (HySI Payload). Both Mx and HySI payloads operate in the visible and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The resolution of Mx camera is 37 metre with a swath of 151 km while that of HySI is about 506 metre with a swath of 129.5km. The data from this mission will be made available to developing countries. 

Eight nanosatellites built by universities and research institutions in Canada and Germany are also being launched under a commercial agreement with Antrix Corporation. The weight of these Nanosatellites vary from 3 to 16 kg with a total weight of about 50 kg. 

The launch campaign is progressing satisfactorily at SDSC SHAR. The satellite has already been integrated with the launch vehicle and on April 18, 2008, the launch vehicle was moved to the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 

PSLV-C9 to Launch CARTOSAT-2A on April 28, 2008


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## Sam Dhanraj

Some Nice Pictures of PSLV-C9

PSLV - C9


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## JEFF

India creates space history with 10-in-1 successful satellite launch
Zeenews Bureau

Sriharikota, April 28: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history on Monday when it successfully launched 10 satellites into near-Earth orbit off a single launcher, PSLV-C9. All the 10 satellites  two of which were Indian and the rest foreign  were successfully put into orbit. It was for the first time in the world that as many as 10 satellites as payload were launched in a single mission. Earlier, Russia had launched eight satellites together.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C9) blasted off from the world-class second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh at 09:23 hrs.

It carried India`s latest Remote Sensing satellite, the 690-kg CARTOSAT-2A, along with the 83-kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nanosatellites, all put together weighing 50 kg. Six of the eight nanosatellites were clustered together and have the collective name NLS-4. The other two nanosatellites were NLS-5, built by University of Toronto, and RUBIN-8, built in Germany.

The launch vehicle injected the main payload CARTOSAT-2A in the Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit at a height of 635 km with an inclination of 97.94 degree with respect to the equator, about 885 seconds after lift off and after separation from the fourth stage. It was followed by the separation and injection of IMS-1 about 930 secs after the launch. Eight nanosatellites then got separated from the vehicle and were placed in the intended orbit in sequence.

The main passenger abroad the launcher, the indigenous CARTOSAT-2A will offer close views of objects less than one metre, from a height of 630 km.

CARTOSAT-2A, with a life of five years, is the third in the carto or mapping series. CARTOSAT-1 (launched in May 2005) and CARTOSAT-2 (January 2007) are beaming pictures that are used by urban planning and infrastructure agencies.

According to ISRO, CARTOSAT-2A will form a pair with CARTOSAT-2, providing more frequent revisit of a location.

The IMS-1 has been specifically developed by ISRO for remote sensing purposes and to carry different payloads in future without significant change in it. Weighing 83 kg at lift-off, IMS-1, which was flown as an auxiliary payload, incorporates many new technologies and had miniaturised sub-systems.

NLS-4 developed by University of Toronto, Canada, consists of six nanosatellites developed by various universities. Two of them, CUTE 1.7 and SEEDS, were built in Japan, while the other four  CAN-X2, AAUSAT-II, COMPASS-1 AND DELPHI-C3  were built in Canada, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands respectively.

The eight nanosatellites have been built to develop nanotechnologies for use in satellites as well as for the development of technologies for satellite applications. These tiny satellites were launched under a commercial agreement with Antrix Corporation.

This was the 13th flight of PSLV, the workhorse launch vehicle of the ISRO, and third flight with `core-alone` configuration. 

Zee News - ISRO history satellite


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## JEFF

India's PSLV-C9 launched

India's PSLV-C9 blasted off into space, carrying ten satellites including the country's latest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Monday.

Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirteenth flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 9.23 am from the second launch pad.



Besides the 690 kg CARTOSAT-2A, the PSLV is also carrying ISRO's Indian Mini Satellite-1 (IMS-1), weighing 83kg, and eight nano satellites built by universities and research institutes in Canada and Germany.



While the CARTOSAT-2A, carrying state-of-the-art panchromatic camera (PAN), will be used for mapping purposes and management of natural resources, the IMS-1 will be used as a platform for trying out advanced technology in future

launches.



The Rs 700 million PSLV-C9 will be second to a Russian rocket that delivered 16 in the outer space in April last year.



But the Russian launch vehicle carried a lesser payload of only around 300 kg.

This will be the thirteenth flight of PSLV and the third flight with 'core-alone' configuration, which means the main/core PSLV rocket will be without the hugging six strap-on booster motors that powers the first stage.

The highly agile remote sensing satellite can be manoeuvred to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently.

The 83 kg-Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) developed by ISRO incorporated many new technologies and has miniaturised subsystems.



Date from it will be shared with other developing countries.

All the 10 satellites will be fired 635 km into the respective polar sun synchronous orbit (SSO) within 16 minutes after blast off, officials said.

The two earlier core alone PSLVs carried foreign satellites with a payload of 352 kg and 535 kg, they said.

The two foreigh nano satellites, which together weigh just 51 kg, belong to research institutions in Germany and Canada and are being launched under a commercial arrangement with Antrix corporation.

All the satellites have already been integrated with the launch vehicle.



On 18th April 2008, the Polar rocket was moved to the second launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre

India's PSLV-C9 launched - www.ddinews.com 



Here is a video of that launch 

India creates space history-News-Broadband - Indiatimes.com

Congratulations to ISRO's Scientist and Support Staff.


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## Flintlock

Finally!! The thing had been delayed repeatedly. Apparently they were having a hard time figuring out the technicalities.


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## Neo

Congrats!


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## Contrarian

*ISRO sets world record with 10 launches
*
India's PSLV-C9 has successfully injected ten satellites into orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), set up 35 years ago, may be a baby among the world's space faring nations. But, it is competing with the other biggies to set world records.

And the mission, which has given ISRO an edge over other competitors, is the launch of India's latest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The launch vehicle took off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and has launched 10 satellites - a feat which has created a world record.

PSLV weighs 230 tons - the weight of almost 50 elephants - and is as high as a 12-storey building.

The launch vehicle has put two Indian and eight foreign satellites into orbit, it has beaten the current world record of hoisting eight satellites at one go accomplished by Russia almost a year ago.

At lift-off, the first stage of the rocket ignited. Three minutes after the flight, the massive heat shield peeled off. And then, one after the other, the third and fourth stages ignited taking the rocket higher.

Almost 15 minutes after the flight, India's mapping satellite called CARTOSAT 2-A was the first one to be put into orbit and 45 seconds later, the experimental remote sensing satellite, called the Indian Mini Satellite, was put into orbit.

After a gap of 100 seconds, all the babies on board were sequentially dropped off one by one, with a gap of 20 seconds each with the mission ending almost 20 minutes after lift-off.

The first foreign satellite to be dropped off was CUTE from Japan and the last to be ejected was RUBIN from Germany.

The high-resolution mapping satellite CARTOSAT 2-A, which, while placed at a height of over 600 kilometres, can identify objects as small as a car.
NDTV.com: ISRO sets world record with 10 launches


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## Contrarian

*ISRO sets world record with 10 launches
*
India's PSLV-C9 has successfully injected ten satellites into orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), set up 35 years ago, may be a baby among the world's space faring nations. But, it is competing with the other biggies to set world records.

And the mission, which has given ISRO an edge over other competitors, is the launch of India's latest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The launch vehicle took off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and has launched 10 satellites - a feat which has created a world record.

PSLV weighs 230 tons - the weight of almost 50 elephants - and is as high as a 12-storey building.

The launch vehicle has put two Indian and eight foreign satellites into orbit, it has beaten the current world record of hoisting eight satellites at one go accomplished by Russia almost a year ago.

At lift-off, the first stage of the rocket ignited. Three minutes after the flight, the massive heat shield peeled off. And then, one after the other, the third and fourth stages ignited taking the rocket higher.

Almost 15 minutes after the flight, India's mapping satellite called CARTOSAT 2-A was the first one to be put into orbit and 45 seconds later, the experimental remote sensing satellite, called the Indian Mini Satellite, was put into orbit.

After a gap of 100 seconds, all the babies on board were sequentially dropped off one by one, with a gap of 20 seconds each with the mission ending almost 20 minutes after lift-off.

The first foreign satellite to be dropped off was CUTE from Japan and the last to be ejected was RUBIN from Germany.

The high-resolution mapping satellite CARTOSAT 2-A, which, while placed at a height of over 600 kilometres, can identify objects as small as a car.
NDTV.com: ISRO sets world record with 10 launches


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## Bushroda

Congrats to ISRO & all the scientists involved in the successful mission. 

Malay, could you tell me if the same process can be adopted by DRDO to MIRV Agni-III? I am not a defence buff but I guess the technical aspect involved should be same in launching 10 satellites & 10 warheads apart from the re-entry part. If I am not mistaken ISRO has already worked on the re-entry technology.


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## PakiJane

Hi everyone..

I am a civilian who is curious about how the Pak army works..

Therefore, brave jawans, could you please tell me:
1) Do you guys follow a 'BCT' [Basic Combat Training] schedule for 9 weeks at the beginning of your recruitment?
2) Is there a 'Victory Forge' in Pakistan too?

Basically, if there are any soldiers on this forum, please just tell me what life in the army is like...What's a typical day for you like, and how does that change once you start getting promotions and stuff..

Thanks
PakiJane


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## Contrarian

Bushroda said:


> Congrats to ISRO & all the scientists involved in the successful mission.
> 
> Malay, could you tell me if the same process can be adopted by DRDO to MIRV Agni-III? I am not a defence buff but I guess the technical aspect involved should be same in launching 10 satellites & 10 warheads apart from the re-entry part. If I am not mistaken ISRO has already worked on the re-entry technology.



I will have to read about it mate. I dont have any off hand knowledge on this.

Yes, ISRO has worked on reentry technology. Last year they sent up a RV(reentry vehicle). You will find a report in this forum itself.


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## T-Rex

India has successfully launched a rocket into space carrying a cluster of ten satellites into orbits. Oreviuosly it was claimed that Pakistani missile programme was far ahead of India, but now it seems the opposite is true.


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## Joodi

T-Rex said:


> India has successfully launched a rocket into space carrying a cluster of ten satellites into orbits. Oreviuosly it was claimed that Pakistani missile programme was far ahead of India, but now it seems the opposite is true.



Missile program and space program are two different areas. But yes, no doubt indian have invested heavily in their space program and they are quite successsful in the space field. Space program has never been priority areas of our military and civil establishments.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## Vinod2070

It is not exactly a world record. I read that a Russian rocket put 13 satellites in orbit a few years back.

A remarkable achievement none the less. Congratulations to ISRO.


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## Flintlock

First Published: 18:01 IST(28/4/2008)
Last Updated: 18:05 IST(28/4/2008)
*ISRO to send man into space in seven years*

India will be in a position to carry out a manned space mission within seven years from now, said a top official of the Indian space agency in Sriharikota on Monday.

Addressing the media after the successful launch of 10 satellites in one go, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair said: "The government has given us pre-project funding of Rs 950 million (for the manned mission) and we have initiated necessary activities."

Asked about the need for a manned mission when tests could be conducted remotely, he said: "Today the US, Russia and China have a capability to have a manned mission. We cannot be left behind in the space race. Further, man's presence is absolutely necessary in a spacecraft for conducting some experiments."

The manned mission will be in ISRO's second and more powerful rocket geo synchronous launch vehicle (GSLV).

"We have to study issues like crew module, emergency escape system, provision of all-round outside view from the spacecraft for the crew. These are complex systems that ISRO has to tackle," said K Radhakrishnan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, on the complexities involved.

ISRO will first put out three unmanned rockets to test the systems before sending a rocket with a man.

That aside, ISRO will be launching five-six rockets per year - all with multiple missions, Nair said.

"In terms of missions - satellite launches per rocket - during the next five years we will be doing around 70," he remarked.

Speaking about the forthcoming commercial launches, K.R. Sridharamurthi, executive director of Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm, said: "We are in the process of negotiating for two commercial launches".

Referring to Monday's PSLV C9 launch, Nair said the weather gods gave ISRO officials some anxious moments as there was low pressure over the Bay of Bengal.

"We found that out with the image sent by our meteorological satellite Kalpana. At 11 pm last night we decided to proceed with the launch as the low pressure moved away."

The rocket lifted off the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 80 km from Chennai, at 9.24 am emitting thick orange flames, and placed in orbit an Indian cartography and a mini satellite to maintain leadership in the remote sensing domain.

It also slung eight nano satellites into outer space, marking the world's second largest such mission. Russia holds the record for launching 16 satellites at one go last year.

Fourteen minutes into the flight, the 44-metre tall rocket first slung the 690 kg Cartosat-2A and followed it by slipping the 83 kg mini satellite and the cluster of other nano satellites into a high polar sun synchronous orbit (SSO).

However, there were a few anxious moments for the ISRO scientists as the separation signal from seven satellites didn't come in initially.

Fortunately, it all ended well when the tracking station at Mauritius got the satellite signals.

"Our customers too have received the signals from their satellites at their respective tracking stations," Nair said.

Antrix Corporation earned $600,000 as carriage fee to ferry the eight nano satellites.

The two Indian satellites, Cartosat-2A and the mini satellite, will start sending pictures Tuesday.

The Rs.1.2 billion Cartosat-2A has a life of five years and the Rs 220 million mini satellite two years.

"Both satellites have sufficient on-board fuel to last longer," said DVA Raghava Murthy, project director, Small Satellite Projects.

Asked about the optimal luggage capacity of PSLV without its customary six strap-on motors, George Koshy, vehicle director, said: "The core alone version can carry up to 1,100 kg. The capacity may vary slightly depending on the orbit intended."

HindustanTimes-Print


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## Flintlock

^^^To get Here, from here...



....is very inspiring!


----------



## Sam Dhanraj

Vinod2070 said:


> It is not exactly a world record. I read that a Russian rocket put 13 satellites in orbit a few years back.
> 
> A remarkable achievement none the less. Congratulations to ISRO.



Vinod, You are correct, what media is comapring this launch with is the failure to launch 8 satellites in one go on a Russian rocket some time back and thus considering it as a world record of sorts.

But some other newspapaers such as Hindu is reporting correctly that this is the second best world record after Russians put 16 satellites in one go. The better part is that those 16 satellites were less in weight (Around 300 Kg)as compared to our lauch of 10 satellites (824 Kg).

*Edited Later*- I might be wrong here as one news source says 16 satellite in one lauch by Russian - Link- on April 18, 2007, While the official Russian Website shows 8 satellite on the same day - - Link RS-20 Cluster Launch-
 

Nonetheless this is still a first by India and a very proud moment for ISRO and all the Indians.


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## Sam Dhanraj

Stealth Assassin said:


> ^^^To get Here, from here...
> 
> 
> 
> ....is very inspiring!



Thanks a ton...I was digging for this rare picture for quite some time...thanks mate !!!


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## Energon

10 satellites. Impressive. I hope the space business is opened up a bit more in India especially the satellite building part. There are so many global companies dying to come to India who have excellent capacities in this field; Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon to name a few. I think perhaps JVs should be set up with the private sector and academic institutions to build more sophisticated satellites with numerous civilian and military purposes and then let ISRO manage the launches.


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## Contrarian

Vinod2070 said:


> It is not exactly a world record. I read that a Russian rocket put 13 satellites in orbit a few years back.
> 
> A remarkable achievement none the less. Congratulations to ISRO.



I believe that they failed. In the end they did not put up the project.

Either ways, this is a world record since it is the heaviest multiple payload, more than what the Russians carried.


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## Vinod2070

malaymishra123 said:


> I believe that they failed. In the end they did not put up the project.
> 
> Either ways, this is a world record since it is the heaviest multiple payload, more than what the Russians carried.



No doubts about the second part. Great achievement indeed.

TOI wrote today that NASA tried and failed in such an operation. Though I take it with a pinch of salt, still it shows the complexity of the mission.


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## indiapakistanfriendship

I think the more interesting part of this launch was the launch of Cartosat 2a. This is the third in series of cartosats launched. I think all this talk of Cartosat used for mapping and urban planning is BS. I think it will be primarily be used as a spying and reconissance purpose.


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## niaz

indiapakistanfriendship said:


> I think the more interesting part of this launch was the launch of Cartosat 2a. This is the third in series of cartosats launched. I think all this talk of Cartosat used for mapping and urban planning is BS. I think it will be primarily be used as a spying and reconissance purpose.



Your assumption is probably correct. One can purchase maps from google earth for most purposes anyway.


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## indiapakistanfriendship

> Your assumption is probably correct. One can purchase maps from google earth for most purposes anyway.



Even if not from Google there are private satellites that would only be happy to provide high resolution images of urban population.

PS: Could there be some kind of relation between the launch of Ofeq the Israeli satelite launched by Isro few weeks ago and Cartosat or am I being a consiracy theorist


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## Contrarian

indiapakistanfriendship said:


> I think the more interesting part of this launch was the launch of Cartosat 2a. This is the third in series of cartosats launched. I think all this talk of Cartosat used for mapping and urban planning is BS. I think it will be primarily be used as a spying and reconissance purpose.





niaz said:


> Your assumption is probably correct. One can purchase maps from google earth for most purposes anyway.



There are a LOT of uses for launching our own Cartosats. For one, we Dont have to depend on private companies or other countries to get our images. Photos of military bases or border areas, are sensitive, and the required resolution is not given by commercial firms or unless you pay them a lot.

Secondly, its cheaper because India is starting to use satellite mapping in a big way, so its about the scale. Cartosats are used extensively in mapping resources, urban planning, in a LOT of places in India. Your underestimating its uses.

Thirdly and MOST importantly, other people, countries, companies buy from us. So what you are suggesting is what other people do and we provide them the photos. 
Antrix Corp(commercial arm of ISRO) has a very sizeable share in remote sensing and high res photography market, and has garnered a sizeable percentage of the global market, as it is cheaper than from other countries. So we are earning a lot of money through that.

Fourthly, Cartosat's are not sent as individual payloads, they are always sent along with other satellites, so other countries pay us for sending their satellites as well. For instance, Antrix earned $0.6 million for sending these foreign nano sats up in this launch, and this was ONLY because Antrix had reduced the charges as these sats belonged to universities and not commercial firms. So it all ends up being paid for and we earn a lot of money through it, apart form having our own sats that can be used for military purposes.

Fifth, building and sending our own sats gives a huge boost to our own aerospace industry, and the money goes back in our own economy. It also gives experience to constantly build more and more sophisticated satellites, something which we would have lacked if we used or rented other countries sats. A bit like the LCA example.


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## Vinod2070

I am eagerly waiting for the moon mission (this year) and the planned manned-mission (7 year plan, I believe).

Now is the time for India to get ambitious in the space arena. The basic building blocks are in place. Sky is the limit now, literally.


----------



## ak56

Vinod2070 said:


> I am eagerly waiting for the moon mission (this year) and the planned manned-mission (7 year plan, I believe).
> 
> Now is the time for India to get ambitious in the space arena. The basic building blocks are in place. Sky is the limit now, literally.



No. The moon is the limit!
This is one field where we need to catch up. But I think its too late, a bit like the LCA.


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## Flintlock

* Satellites beam quality images*

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The cameras on board Cartosat-2A and the Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1), which were launched by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C9) on Monday, have started sending pictures of some States and the quality of the images was &#8220;excellent,&#8221; according to a press release from the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The PSLV-C9 also put eight foreign nano satellites in accurate orbits. The telemetry data received indicated that all the sub-systems of the Indian satellites were normal.

The multispectral camera on board the IMS-1 was switched on the previous day and it transmitted a high quality image covering a wide swathe from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

On Wednesday, the hyperspectral camera on the IMS-1 and the panchromatic camera on Cartosat-2A were switched on.

The images from the IMS-1 covered Uttarakhand to Karnataka, passing through New Delhi and Bhopal.

The images from the Cartosat-2A covered strips of land from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to Nuh (south of Delhi) and Sangli in Maharashtra to the Goa coast. &#8220;The quality of the images received at the National Remote-Sensing Agency, Hyderabad, was excellent.&#8221;

The release said the launch of PSLV-C9 was a milestone for ISRO as it again proved the reliability and versatility of the PSLV and its ability to put satellites in different types of orbits.

The Hindu : National : Satellites beam quality images


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## Flintlock

niaz said:


> Your assumption is probably correct. One can purchase maps from google earth for most purposes anyway.



IMO google earth isn't exactly useful for intelligence purposes.

Intelligence agencies need up-to-date photos, not pictures that might be anywhere between 2-5 years old, and low resolution.


----------



## Flintlock

*ISRO to launch moon mission by December*
Thursday, 22 May , 2008, 17:44

Kolkata: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch its first unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, between October and December, a top official said in Kolkata on Thursday.

"We are hopeful of launching the spacecraft in the third quarter of 2008-09. The mission would be targeted to capture images of the lunar surface," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters during an interactive session in Kolkata.

*
"The objectives of the Chandrayaan-I mission are to carry out high resolution mapping of topographic features in 3-D and to harness the science payloads, the lunar craft and the launch vehicle with suitable ground support systems," he added.*

The lunar craft would not be landing, but will travel in a polar orbit around the moon and pay special attention to gathering data on the polar icecaps that may contain traces of water.

"It would take at least two years for the spacecraft to cover the entire lunar surface," Nair said.

Talking about ISRO's future plans, he said: "*After launching Chandrayaan-I, we are planning to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with an indigenous cryogenic engine. All preliminary testing has already been completed and it's expected to be launched by the end of this fiscal (March 2009)."*
*
"We are planning to launch 70 missions in the 11th Five Year Plan period (2007-12). The number of missions would be three times what we have done in the past five years," Nair said.*

Nair was in town to receive the Raja Rammohan Puraskar, 2008 for his outstanding contributions to the development of space technology and its application.

He said that ISRO's Regional Remote Sensing Centre (RRSC) that is located in Kharagpur in West Midnapore would soon be shifted to Kolkata.

"The West Bengal government has already given a piece of land at Salt Lake and the construction work has also started. We are expecting the centre to be operational by next year," he said. 

http://sify.com/news/scienceandmedicine/fullstory.php?id=14679248


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## Flintlock

Video describing:

Chandrayaan I (2008)
Chandrayaan II (2011)
Manned space Mission (2014)
Manned Moon Landing (2020)

ipBOotJDJ1k[/media] - Chandrayaan ISRO - India's Moon Mission Animation by Thejes


----------



## nitesh

The Hindu : National : Mars mission possible before 2015

Mars mission possible before 2015

R. Ramachandran
Ambitious space missions drawn up by ISRO&#8217;s Advisory Committee
Chandrayaan-1 will be launched by mid-2008

Chandrayaan-2 launch expected in 2012

Udhagamandalam: After the Moon, it could be Mars before 2015 for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) if the ambitious space missions drawn up by ISRO&#8217;s Advisory Committee for Space (ADCOS) up to the year 2020 are realised in the envisaged time frame. This was disclosed here by Prof. U.R. Rao, former Chairman of ISRO and currently Chairman of ADCOS, in his inaugural address at the four-day 15th National Space Science Symposium (NSSS-2008) which got underway on Tuesday.

It was on the basis of the recommendations made by ADCOS that the first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, which will be an orbiter-cum-impactor mission, and the multi-wavelength X-ray astronomical satellite ASTROSAT have been undertaken by ISRO.

Chandrayaan-1, originally scheduled for an April launch window, is now postponed by a few months and will be launched by mid-2008. The mission is chiefly aimed at understanding the chemistry and mineralogy of the lunar surface. It comprises 11 instrument payloads, which include five indigenous experiments, two joint experiments of ISRO with external agencies and the remaining four wholly foreign.

According to ISRO sources, four of the payloads have been totally integrated with the lunar satellite and the remaining are in various stages of integration. ASTROSAT is expected to be launched in 2009.

ADCOS, Prof. Rao said, had recently constituted four major panels on Planetary Exploration, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Weather and Weather and Climate Science. In recent months the deliberations of these panels have resulted in the identification of candidate future scientific missions on the basis of which the Committee has drawn up a perspective plan up to the year 2020, that also includes programmes for the Eleventh Five Year Plan period 2007-2012, he said. The exercises of defining these missions are likely to be taken up in due course.

The identified missions include Chandrayaan-2, which ADCOS envisages to be a lunar orbiter mission again but this time with the possibility of including a lander-rover and robotic instruments to carry out, if possible, in situ analyses of lunar samples. Studies related to this mission are already on and Chandrayaan-2 is expected to be launched by 2012. Prof. Rao, in fact, expected this to be followed by more lunar missions.

Some other important future scientific missions that ADCOS has identified include:

A Mars Orbiter, to be taken up in the time frame 2009-2015, for the exploration of Mars with regard to the effect of solar wind, studies of its surface magnetic field, and search for palaeo-water; Asteroid orbiter or comet fly-by during the time frame 2009-2017, with the near-earth asteroid as the primary target; Space-borne solar coronograph by 2012 in the visible and infrared.

A twin-satellite mission is planned to probe the electromagnetic field of the near-earth space during 2008-2010; small satellites carrying primary payloads such as (a) a nadir-viewing multi-angle polarisation imager and multi-spectral sensor; (b) payload for measuring vertical distribution of aerosols; and, (c) IR spectrometer for measuring atmospheric trace gases by 2010.

Besides the small satellite scientific mission solar coronograph mentioned above, several other small satellite missions have also been proposed for the period beyond 2010.

As for the upcoming near-term scientific missions besides Chandrayaan-1, there is the Indo-Russian mission called RT-2, aimed at hard X-ray spectrometry and imaging, which will be flown aboard the Russian launcher Photon-Coronas and is scheduled be launched this year.

The other is the Indo-Israeli mission called TAUVEX, a UV imaging satellite, which will be launched along with GSAT-4 aboard ISRO&#8217;s launcher GSLV. This is also scheduled for launch in 2008.

With increasing scientific missions, where instrument design and fabrication is a critical area, a dedicated Space Science Instrumentation Facility (SSIF) is also proposed to be established shortly as a separate wing of ISRO.


----------



## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> The Hindu : National : Mars mission possible before 2015
> 
> Mars mission possible before 2015




You have got to be kidding me


----------



## nitesh

Stealth Assassin said:


> You have got to be kidding me


Ok check this link

India Fully Capable of a Mars Mission « Indian Aerospace News and Affairs

So may be I am not kidding


----------



## nitesh

Moon mission launch in September: ISRO-India-The Times of India

Moon mission launch in September: ISRO
10 Jun 2008, 0328 hrs IST,TNN


BANGALORE: The wait for Mission Moon just got a little longer. A crucial meeting of the senior scientists at Isro's Satellite Centre has decided that the moon mission could blast off in September. Weather conditions will also determine the precise launch date. 

Scientists took stock of work preparedness and tasks to be completed. While assembly and integration of instruments to the Chandrayaan spacecraft is on at the integration centre, the Byalalu centre of Isro is humming with activity. 

A 32-metre diameter antenna at Byalalu is being tested to receive signals from deep space. As India does not have deep space satellites, it has sought services of such satellites from a third country. 

"We are putting the antenna to work to see how it receives and communicates signals from such satellites. The country knows well that we are using data from their satellites. It is with their permission that we can go ahead with such work," an official said. 

The Deep Space Network at Byalalu is receiving signals from deep space satellites for the first time. Its performance over the next few weeks will determine what modifications may have to be effected in time for the Chandrayaan mission. 

The antenna is powerful enough even to handle missions to Mars and beyond.


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## Flintlock

^^^Huh..the last reports said it was between Oct and Dec? Isn't that an advancement of date?


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## Always Neutral

nitesh said:


> Moon mission launch in September: ISRO-India-The Times of India
> 
> Moon mission launch in September: ISRO
> 10 Jun 2008, 0328 hrs IST,TNN
> 
> The antenna is powerful enough even to handle missions to Mars and beyond.




Moon mission a waste of money. I think the world should co-operate in outer space and India and China and any other country that wishes should all work together.

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Moon mission a waste of money. I think the world should co-operate in outer space and India and China and any other country that wishes should all work together.
> 
> Regards



You're kidding right?

Moon mission is a lot of things. One thing it isn't, is a waste of money.


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## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> You're kidding right?
> 
> Moon mission is a lot of things. One thing it isn't, is a waste of money.



Why do you feel I am kidding. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel. India, China are third world countries with massive third world problems. 

Also remember any threat comming from outerspace concerns the whole world. If the world can combine on cold fusion to save money why not in outerspace.

Please tell me what the benefits are for India in the moon program.

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Why do you feel I am kidding. There is no point in re-inventing the wheel. India, China are third world countries with massive third world problems.



Yeah, dude, we live in the real world. Not in some fairyland where everyone shares everything and lives happily ever after.

India, China and the third world are countries with massive third world problems, and therfore need massive investment in science and technology in order to catch up with the first world.

Do you have any idea of the effect a successful moon mission will have on the people of the country? 
It will be a source of inspiration and pride for everybody in the Indian middle class.

It will encourage students to take up science. It go a long way in removing the cobwebs of underachievement from the minds of people.

The Chinese, Russians are no fools to spend millions on manned space missions.

Besides, any world power in the 21st century needs to have a viable space program. Space might well be the next frontier. 



> Also remember any threat comming from outerspace concerns the whole world. If the world can combine on cold fusion to save money why not in outerspace.



I don't know. Ask the Chinese government.

BTW, ISRO and NASA are collaborating in this project. NASA is supplying a wide range of scientific instruments, and the data is being shared.

By your logic, why should India reinvent anything? Why make LCA when we can buy planes from the Russians or Americans? Why build tanks when we can buy? Why spend millions on research in universities when we can "cooperate" with the americans and get all the latest tech?


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## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> India, China and the third world are countries with massive third world problems, and therfore need massive investment in science and technology in order to catch up with the first world.
> 
> Do you have any idea of the effect a successful moon mission will have on the people of the country?
> It will be a source of inspiration and pride for everybody in the Indian middle class. It will encourage students to take up science. It go a long way in removing the cobwebs of underachievement from the minds of people.



Why not use the millions to build some world class universities ?

UK, Japan, S Korea, France, Germany all co-operate in Space without having individual space progarmmes ?

I can add 50 more countries who much more advanced then India and China who also donot feel the need to go for a moon mission to motivate their citizens. Also I have no qualms in accepting that asian brain is today probably more hungry for knowledge then the EU brain so there is no need to spend millions on something already done. 

Regards


----------



## indiapakistanfriendship

> Why not use the millions to build some world class universities ?



Well I guess we already have some here in India.


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## Always Neutral

indiapakistanfriendship said:


> Well I guess we already have some here in India.



Dear IPF,

Yes you may do but not enough for the population you have ?

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Why not use the millions to build some world class universities ?
> 
> UK, Japan, S Korea, France, Germany all co-operate in Space without having individual space progarmmes ?
> 
> I can add 50 more countries who much more advanced then India and China who also donot feel the need to go for a moon mission to motivate their citizens. Also I have no qualms in accepting that asian brain is today probably more hungry for knowledge then the EU brain so there is no need to spend millions on something already done.
> 
> Regards



India is already spending millions on building universities. Read up on the recent news.
Rest assured, India's investment in education etc. isn't being compromised because of this.

The EU is a different scenario. India is not a part of the EU and hence cannot obtain all the technology.

Your reasons for not having a space program are hardly compelling. 

A decent space program is not an option for an influential country. Its a necessity, as I have explained in my earlier post.

You have not bothered to reply to the rest of my post, as I can see.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

Stealth Assassin said:


> Yeah, dude, we live in the real world. Not in some fairyland where everyone shares everything and lives happily ever after.
> 
> India, China and the third world are countries with massive third world problems, and therfore need massive investment in science and technology in order to catch up with the first world.
> 
> Do you have any idea of the effect a successful moon mission will have on the people of the country?
> It will be a source of inspiration and pride for everybody in the Indian middle class.
> 
> It will encourage students to take up science. It go a long way in removing the cobwebs of underachievement from the minds of people.
> 
> The Chinese, Russians are no fools to spend millions on manned space missions.
> 
> Besides, any world power in the 21st century needs to have a viable space program. Space might well be the next frontier.
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know. Ask the Chinese government.
> 
> BTW, ISRO and NASA are collaborating in this project. NASA is supplying a wide range of scientific instruments, and the data is being shared.
> 
> By your logic, why should India reinvent anything? Why make LCA when we can buy planes from the Russians or Americans? Why build tanks when we can buy? Why spend millions on research in universities when we can "cooperate" with the americans and get all the latest tech?



So essentially the argument in favor of the moon mission is "power status".

Hence Always's comment/question - what tangible advantage is there for the moon mission?

Everything you have mentioned is intangible, and unproven - "a source of pride in the middle class", "inspiration to take up science" etc.

He has a valid point in that the billions spent on the lunar program do nothing in terms of India's security needs and nothing in terms of providing access to basic services for tens of millions of people lacking them.

India may already be investing in those services, but the billions going into the lunar program means that they won't be used elsewhere, and there will be people who will suffer.

If you can show me that the programs India has undertaken to provide relief to the poor are going to reach the vast majority of those lacking, and improve their condition, then I would agree that there is room for the lunar program.

So long as there are people being left out, this is frivolous.


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> India is already spending millions on building universities. Read up on the recent news.
> Rest assured, India's investment in education etc. isn't being compromised because of this.
> 
> The EU is a different scenario. India is not a part of the EU and hence cannot obtain all the technology.
> 
> Your reasons for not having a space program are hardly compelling.
> 
> A decent space program is not an option for an influential country. Its a necessity, as I have explained in my earlier post.
> 
> You have not bothered to reply to the rest of my post, as I can see.



Dear SA,

I am not sure what part of your post you need a reply for ?

As regards why Russia invested in a space program, the answer is simple for military purpose but once it realised there is nothing much to gain in the race to moon it was the first country to tie up with USA and the EU on the ISS. Even Japan who is miles of head of most of the world preferred building a module of the ISS instead of jumping into a space race.

Lastly you space program is just copying the US.

They went to the Moon so 30 years later you announce you will go there.
They went to the Mars so now you announce you will go there.

Why not innovate and go to Mercury or Jupiter and do something new.

Regards


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> India is already spending millions on building universities. Read up on the recent news.
> Rest assured, India's investment in education etc. isn't being compromised because of this.



Is that the reason why most people went on a mass strike recently in Jaiput so that they could get reservations in colleges and govt. jobs. More than 30 people died and India lost more than USD 150 million during the agitation.

If education was freely available why would those people fight for reservations ?

Regards

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> So essentially the argument in favor of the moon mission is "power status".



No its not. I said that a world power needs a viable space program. 
Now why would a world power need a viable space program?

1. For exploratory missions to scout for possible mineral sources, energy sources, possiblilities for human settlement.

2. Defence applications. To ensure that space is not monopolized by another power and hence national interests compromised.

3. For commercial purposes: ISRO can earn millions (and already is) by contracting.



> Everything you have mentioned is intangible, and unproven - "a source of pride in the middle class", "inspiration to take up science" etc.



Agno, pride might be intanglble to you, but it is a very, very essential factor for nation building.

Ask the Chinese if you don't believe me. Without pride, a nation cannot function.



> He has a valid point in that the billions spent on the lunar program do nothing in terms of India's security needs and of nothing in terms of providing access to tens of millions of people lacking in basic services.



That's because the lunar mission has nothing to do with providing basic services or addressing security needs.

Not everything a developing nation does has to be immediately related to poverty alleviation.

The Indian Space Program has been active since the early 60s, and just because it has been far more successful than the poverty alleviation program, doesn't mean that we abandon it when it reaches its logical milestones.


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## indiapakistanfriendship

> Dear IPF,
> 
> Yes you may do but not enough for the population you have ?



Dear AN actually there is a lot going on in university education. First there is talk of reforms in education sectors, there are already plans to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in full or in fifty fifty basis in India(eg cornell). Also private players are entering the foray. Governmnet has realised that it cannot simply fund institutes from its coffers so is encouraging foreign and private investment(Vedanta university) into the sector. Also there is a renewed interest in fundamental sciences. New institutes in collaboration with major R and D labs are being setup to impart education in fundamental sciences, case point being ISRO's new intitute which offers intergrated Masters programme in Physics,Chemistry, Aerosapace etc, also IGCAR and TIFR and BARC have collaborated to start such five year programmes in Mumbai, so the higher education scene seems to be exciting, especially for the next generation.


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Is that the reason why most people went on a mass strike recently in Jaiput so that they could get reservations in colleges and govt. jobs. More than 30 people died and India lost more than USD 150 million during the agitation.
> 
> If education was freely available why would those people fight for reservations ?
> 
> Regards



What does the failure of the education program have to do with the phenomenal success of the space program?

Don't try to relate things that have nothing to do with each other.


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Dear SA,
> As regards why Russia invested in a space program, the answer is simple for military purpose but once it realised there is nothing much to gain in the race to moon it was the first country to tie up with USA and the EU on the ISS. Even Japan who is miles of head of most of the world preferred building a module of the ISS instead of jumping into a space race.



Quote from Wikipedia:
*
On September 14, 2007, JAXA succeeded in launching lunar orbit explorer "Kaguya", also known as SELENE (costing 55 billion yen including launch vehicle), the largest such mission since the Apollo program, on an H-2A rocket. Its mission is to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. It entered into a lunar orbit on October 4.[6] [7]*




> They went to the Moon so 30 years later you announce you will go there.
> They went to the Mars so now you announce you will go there.
> 
> Why not innovate and go to Mercury or Jupiter and do something new.



Right. There is a reason why India needs to "copy" the US. 

The Moon, and Mars are two most logical places to send exploratory missions. 
The Moon, obviously because it is the closest and thus the easiest option to send an exploratory probe. 
Mars, because its climate is similar to earth and it might be able to support human life in the future.

I would have expected you to know such elementary things.


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> What does the failure of the education program have to do with the phenomenal success of the space program?
> 
> Don't try to relate things that have nothing to do with each other.



Dear SA,

Explanation is very simple. I would vote out my Govt. if they diluted the educational, health, human rights standards in my country. I would definately not bother if they went to the moon or not.

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Dear SA,
> 
> Explanation is very simple. I would vote out my Govt. if they diluted the educational, health, human rights standards in my country. I would definately not bother if they went to the moon or not.
> 
> Regards



What does your vote have to do with the space program?

The government had, btw, nothing to do with the success of ISRO. Its the scientists who have toiled on 3rd world wages to make it a success. 

Now that they have achieved success, you want to say:

"wait! Indians are still poor, so it would be a shame to let you continue your work. Please wait until we are a first world nation and then we can continue the space program".

Does that make sense to you? If it does, then I am afraid that we must agree to disagree.


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> Quote from Wikipedia:
> *
> .*


*


Thank you for the above information but it still doesnot explain the following

1. Why are Indians travelling out of the country for higher level education ?
2. Why are Asians the biggest group of illegal immigrants to the USA and EU ?
3. Even if the space launch is successfull how will it help Indians ? Okay they will be motivated to study but you donot have enough institutions for that ?
4. Why is a tribe in jaipur ready to kill themselves in riots to be downgraded to get reservations in educational institutions ?

Regards

Ps : I have travelled to India several times and think its a great country.*


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> What does your vote have to do with the space program?
> 
> The government had, btw, nothing to do with the success of ISRO. Its the scientists who have toiled on 3rd world wages to make it a success.
> 
> Now that they have achieved success, you want to say:
> 
> "wait! Indians are still poor, so it would be a shame to let you continue your work. Please wait until we are a first world nation and then we can continue the space program".
> 
> Does that make sense to you? If it does, then I am afraid that we must agree to disagree.



There are cheaper and more cost effective ways to achieve it. Thats the only point I am making.

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> Thank you for the above information but it still doesnot explain the following
> 
> 1. Why are Indians travelling out of the country for higher level education ?
> 2. Why are Asians the biggest group of illegal immigrants to the USA and EU ?
> 3. Even if the space launch is successfull how will it help Indians ? Okay they will be motivated to study but you donot have enough institutions for that ?
> 4. Why is a tribe in jaipur ready to kill themselves in riots to be downgraded to get reservations in educational institutions ?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Ps : I have travelled to India several times and think its a great country.



What exactly does all this have to do with India's space program?


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> There are cheaper and more cost effective ways to achieve it. Thats the only point I am making.
> 
> Regards



India's space program runs on 3rd world funding and India's scientists work on 3rd world wages. It is probably the cheapest space program in the world.

Now I am not going to argue over which is cheaper, borrowing a satellite or building one on your own. 

Howeer, I would definitely say that homegrown technology, if feasible, is always the best option.


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> What exactly does all this have to do with India's space program?



It means the money can be spent on the social sector in India and by simultaneously co-operating with the US, Japan, EU and Russia you can still visit the moon at a cheaper cost.

Regards


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> What exactly does all this have to do with India's space program?



Dear SA,

Since your posts are comprehensive and quite erudite please pm the answers of the 4 questions I asked you even if you don't consider them relavent to this topic. Would be interesting to see your view point.

Regards


----------



## Flintlock

Always Neutral said:


> It means the money can be spent on the social sector in India and by simultaneously co-operating with the US, Japan, EU and Russia you can still visit the moon at a cheaper cost.
> 
> Regards



Alght this is getting repititive.

I have already explained that it is not possible for India to cooperate with the US or EU or Russia or Japan on the scale that you mention. There are technology denial regimes, other restrictions in place.

India is already spending enough money in the social sector. It is a different matter that these funds are eaten away by corruption and inefficiency.

As I said earliier, its not like India is denying funds for education in order to go to the moon. That would be a very foolish thing to do.


----------



## Always Neutral

Stealth Assassin said:


> Alght this is getting repititive.
> 
> I have already explained that it is not possible for India to cooperate with the US or EU or Russia or Japan on the scale that you mention. There are technology denial regimes, other restrictions in place.
> 
> India is already spending enough money in the social sector. It is a different matter that these funds are eaten away by corruption and inefficiency.
> 
> As I said earliier, its not like India is denying funds for education in order to go to the moon. That would be a very foolish thing to do.



Thanks for the reply. Lets wait till the incident happens.

Till then.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

Stealth Assassin said:


> No its not. I said that a world power needs a viable space program.
> Now why would a world power need a viable space program?
> 
> 1. For exploratory missions to scout for possible mineral sources, energy sources, possiblilities for human settlement.
> 
> 2. Defence applications. To ensure that space is not monopolized by another power and hence national interests compromised.
> 
> 3. For commercial purposes: ISRO can earn millions (and already is) by contracting.



My argument is not related to the space program, but specifically the lunar program, and specifically the mission to land a man on the moon.

Most of the advantages you mentioned are related to developing a space program, which I am not questioning, and am supportive of in Pakistan as well, as I am of the nuclear program (civil and military).

But on the issue of "mineral sources, human settlement" etc, you are just rattling off stuff from popular mechanics.

Even with their far more advanced space programs, when was the last time Western nations sent a manned mission to the moon? If the advantages mentioned above (for the moon - minerals, settlement) were realistic and necessary, why has the West simply been sitting around?

The fact is that all the necessary research can be conducted without the need for manned missions - the reasons behind it for India remain a quest for "status" and projecting itself as a "world power". 

When that is contrasted with the generations of today and tomorrow who will go to bed hungry and never be part of this "proud middle class", it si unjustifiable in my eyes.

However, I understand your "pride" argument, though I disagree with it. I understand it because of your and Logic's posts in the Hindutva thread, and how you described the movement as one of "regaining Hindu pride".


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> My argument is not related to the space program, but specifically the lunar program, and specifically the mission to land a man on the moon.
> 
> Most of the advantages you mentioned are related to developing a space program, which I am not questioning, and am supportive of in Pakistan as well, as I am of the nuclear program (civil and military).
> 
> But on the issue of "mineral sources, human settlement" etc, you are just rattling off stuff from popular mechanics.



No I am not rattling off stuff from popular mechanics. Any visionary realizes that space is the next phase of human expansion.

NASA doesn't spend billions on exploring mars just to get a kick out of it.



> Even with their far more advanced space programs, when was the last time Western nations sent a manned mission to the moon? If the advantages mentioned above (for the moon - minerals, settlement) were realistic and necessary, why has the West simply been sitting around?



The west has not been 'sitting around'. NASA is actually planning a moon mission in the next dacade.
The reason for the delays is because of the lull in space race after the cold war, not because of any lack of necessity.

Also because NASA has been concentrating its energies elsewhere, like Mars, for example.

Space exploration is a long-term thing. Not something that gives immediate gratification.




> The fact is that all the necessary research can be conducted without the need for manned missions - the reasons behind it for India remain a quest for "status" and projecting itself as a "world power".



Not all research can be conducted without manned missions. Thats because the ultimate goal of moon exploration is human settlement.

Don't take my word for it. Ask the visionary heads of any successful space program.

Of course, it is also a quest for status and power projection. However, you don't need to put the word 'world power' into double quotes. 



> When that is contrasted with the generations of today and tomorrow who will go to bed hungry and never be part of this "proud middle class", it si unjustifiable in my eyes.



Again, the losers argument. I have already busted this line of thinking in a previous post, if you care to read it.



> However, I understand your "pride" argument, though I disagree with it. I understand it because of your and Logic's posts in the Hindutva thread, and how you described the movement as one of "regaining Hindu pride".



Sorry, this has to do with national pride, not Hindutva.

You are hopelessly confused between these two.

Hindutva is a mass movement that reaches the grassroots of India. It doesn't interest the secular middle class, though they are affected by it to a certain degree.

However, the moon mission is mostly a source of pride for those who have satellite TVs and enough to eat. i.e. the middle class.

I don't know why I have to mention the obvious here, but there is a reason why countries have national flags, national emblems, national heroes, national monuments, national achievements. 
Nationalism is just as important an ingredient for nation building as any other.

Don't dismiss it as something 'intangible' and 'unnecessary'.


----------



## Flintlock

*Special cell set up to counter growing threat to space assets * 
10 June 2008 


India has acquired an Integrated Space Cell under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Services Head Quarters to counter the growing threat to the country's space assets.

Defence minister AK Antony Defence minister AK Antony announced the formation of the new space cell under the aegis of the Integrated Defence Services Head Quarters , while addressing the Unified Commanders' Conference in New Delhi.

Antony said that although the country wanted to utilise space for peaceful purposes and remain committed to its policy of non-weaponisation of space, "offensive counter space systems like anti-satellite weaponry, new classes of heavy-lift and small boosters and an improved array of military space systems have emerged in our neighbourhood".

He said the new cell would act as a single window for integration among the armed forces, the department of space and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The defence minister also announced the approval of the government for the setting up of a Defence Informatics Centre on the lines of the National Informatics Centre to cater to the e-governance needs of the armed forces, the defence ministry and other associated organisations.

He also said a defence information technology consultative committee (DITCC) comprising eminent personalities from the defence ministry, the three services, the ministry of communication and IT, academia and the industry was also being constituted. DITCC would seek to synergise all information technology related matters in the defence ministry, the three services and various organisations.

"DITCC has evolved a road map and a common approach for the integration of information technology in our armed forces," Antony said.

"Our security planning must be able to anticipate and plan in advance," the minister said. The crucial role envisaged for India in the regional and international security environment must focus on the security requirements of the future. "Owing to the complexities of security threats and challenges, defence policy formulation must keep evolving constantly. New dimensions have been added to the security environment around us. Our nation's economic and technological development has to proceed apace with our defence capabilities. At the same time, we need to forge working partnerships to maintain equilibrium of peace and cooperation in the emerging world order."

He said there was enough space India and China to mutually cooperate and develop, while remaining sensitive to each other's concerns. Antony said humanitarian aid worth $ 5 million was provided to China in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake last month.


domain-b.com : Special cell set up to counter growing threat to space assets


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

> The west has not been 'sitting around'. NASA is actually planning a moon mission in the next dacade.
> The reason for the delays is *because of the lull in space race after the cold war,* not because of any lack of necessity.



Read the part in bold, you have essentially validated my argument there. The race to the moon was about Status and power, and not necessity. Necessity would dictate that the efforts would have continued apace.



> Again, the losers argument. I have already busted this line of thinking in a previous post, if you care to read it.



No need to resort to ad hominem attacks and snide comments about double quotes - I would expect better from you after all this time posting.

I did read your argument, and I don't find it convincing since it does not address the fundamental issue that regardless of how much a developing country is spending, there is more it can spend, and "national pride" means that those billions go into a manned mission to the moon, rather than feeding starving children and providing them education.

Its not a losers argument, I just don't see your position as justified, when the best advantages you can come up with are some unknown advantages from the distant future, achievable as Always suggested through cooperation with other countries (if not now then later) balanced against the needs of people today.

Make no mistake, the sort of investment and research that is required to accomplish anything even close to the sorts of things you mentioned will come from collaborative efforts between nations. Eventually India will have to join that collaborative effort. Perhaps you think this is the only way India can be taken seriously and be invited to join that effort?


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> Read the part in bold, you have essentially validated my argument there. The race to the moon was about Status and power, and not necessity. Necessity would dictate that the efforts would have continued apace.



Nopes.

The speed with which the moon mission was executed had to do with the space race, not the long term goals of space exlploration.

Now that the cold war is over, space exploration has continued, but at a slower pace.



> No need to resort to ad hominem attacks and snide comments about double quotes - I would expect better from you after all this time posting.



It doesn't qualify as an ad-hominem because I questioned your argument, not your character.



> I did read your argument, and I don't find it convincing since it does not address the fundamental issue that regardless of how much a developing country is spending, there is more it can spend, and "national pride" means that those billions go into a manned mission to the moon, rather than feeding starving children and providing them education.



That's not true at all. 

India's spending on education is dictated by its goals in this area, not by how much money it can possibly spend.

The Indian space program has its own goals, which are as important as any other national program.



> Its not a losers argument, I just don't see your position as justified, when the best advantages you can come up with are some unknown advantages from the distant future, achievable as Always suggested through cooperation with other countries (if not now then later) balanced against the needs of people today.



Again, we don't NEED to balance the advantages of the space program against the needs of India's poor because they are simply not in conflict with one another.

India's strategic objectives are as important, and quite different, from India's social objectives.

I feel like a broken record here, repeating the same stuff over and over.



> Make no mistake, the sort of investment and research that is required to accomplish anything even close to the sorts of things you mentioned will come from collaborative efforts between nations. Eventually India will have to join that collaborative effort. Perhaps you think this is the only way India can be taken seriously and be invited to join that effort?



Time will tell that. There is no need to predetermine what India can achieve and what it cannot.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

Stealth Assassin said:


> Nopes.
> 
> The speed with which the moon mission was executed had to do with the space race, not the long term goals of space exlploration.
> 
> Now that the cold war is over, space exploration has continued, but at a slower pace.



If the manned mission to the moon was a necessity, then race or no race similar efforts would have continued. It was a "frontier" that had to be conquered, and it duly was, but the efforts have since focused on more necessary and relative activities in Space - not manned missions to the moon.



> That's not true at all.
> 
> India's spending on education is dictated by its goals in this area, not by how much money it can possibly spend.
> 
> The Indian space program has its own goals, which are as important as any other national program.


The goal of any nation should be to provide the most it can for its people, security is a part of that, hence the justification of military expenses. But when you squander resources on a project that provides no tangible gains then you are doing people who could be fed, clothed and receive an education a huge disservice.

That last goal is the only important one in my book. 


> Again, we don't NEED to balance the advantages of the space program against the needs of India's poor because they are simply not in conflict with one another.
> 
> India's strategic objectives are as important, and quite different, from India's social objectives.
> 
> I feel like a broken record here, repeating the same stuff over and over.


The needs of India's poor (who could use these billions) are not in conflict with this program? Can you add two plus two?

There is never enough money for development, not even in the developed world. How can you argue that the billions pumped into the moon mission could not help expand poverty alleviation programs or access to health and educational infrastructure? 

You sound like a broken record because all you have done is just state that "the needs of the poor are not in conflict with the lunar mission" - you haven't explained to me how that child going to bed hungry, never getting an education, and farmers killing themselves, are compensated by a lunar mission?


> Time will tell that. There is no need to predetermine what India can achieve and what it cannot.


Time will tell indeed.

In the meantime the actions and experiences of other nations with space programs tell a lot.


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> If the manned mission to the moon was a necessity, then race or no race similar efforts would have continued. It was a "frontier" that had to be conquered, and it duly was, but the efforts have since focused on more necessary and relative activities in Space - not manned missions to the moon.



If you feel like it, please do look up the list of upcoming manned missions to the moon.



> The goal of any nation should be to provide the most it can for its people, security is a part of that, hence the justification of military expenses. But when you squander resources on a project that provides no tangible gains then you are doing people who could be fed, clothed and receive an education a huge disservice.
> 
> 
> That last goal is the only important one in my book.



Well then we better just disagree on that one.



> The needs of India's poor (who could use these billions) are not in conflict with this program? Can you add two plus two?



Yes I can, and no, they're not.



> There is never enough money for development, not even in the developed world.



Then please ask the developed world to stop spending in space exploration and put all the money into development.



> How can you argue that the billions pumped into the moon mission could not help expand poverty alleviation programs or access to health and educational infrastructure?



Firstly, you have no idea how much India plans to spend on the moon mission (manned or unmanned).
India's manned mission is in 2020, and I daresay that by then India will be a little richer.




> You sound like a broken record because all you have done is just state that "the needs of the poor are not in conflict with the lunar mission" - you haven't explained to me how that child going to bed hungry, never getting an education, and farmers killing themselves, are compensated by a lunar mission?



They are not benifitted in the short run. I never claimed that they are.

Is that so hard to understand?



> In the meantime the actions and experiences of other nations with space programs tell a lot.



and what do they tell?


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

> Then please ask the developed world to stop spending in space exploration and put all the money into development.



Not space exploration, specifically a manned mission to the moon to bring back some moon rocks.

On the latter, I do disagree with such plans. Probes can pick up rock and soil samples and be far cheaper.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

> Firstly, you have no idea how much India plans to spend on the moon mission (manned or unmanned).
> India's manned mission is in 2020, and I daresay that by then India will be a little richer.



It doesn't matter how rich India is, how many hundreds of million are under the poverty level, how many could be helped with the money going into the lunar program? There is an opportunity cost for every action.

That is the question and comparison you are refusing to answer. Sacrificing the present and future of some Indians may be acceptable to you in the quest for national pride, but as I said earlier, it is callous and a disservice to those who could benefit from this money.


> and what do they tell?



International Space Station.


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## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> Not space exploration, specifically a manned mission to the moon to bring back some moon rocks.
> 
> On the latter, I do disagree with such plans. Probes can pick up rock and soil samples and be far cheaper.



LOL...why don't we just leave the specifics of space exploration to those who understand it better?

One of the objectives of space exploration is also to make it hospitable for men to survive.


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> It doesn't matter how rich India is, how many hundreds of million are under the poverty level, how many could be helped with the money going into the lunar program? There is an opportunity cost for every action.
> 
> That is the question and comparison you are refusing to answer. Sacrificing the present and future of some Indians may be acceptable to you in the quest for national pride, but as I said earlier, it is callous and a disservice to those who could benefit from this money.



Alright, since you don't seem to understand / appreciate my points, lets just leave it there.

As far as the opportunity cost in concerned, the benefits of a manned moon mission far outweigh the costs.

You may consider it a disservice, but obviously there are some very qualified people, who don't.




> International Space Station.



Space exploration doesn't end with the ISS. It has just begun.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

Stealth Assassin said:


> LOL...why don't we just leave the specifics of space exploration to those who understand it better?
> 
> One of the objectives of space exploration is also to make it hospitable for men to survive.



Get off your sarcasm and snide comments horse will ya.

You keep venturing off into "space exploration", I have indicated what specific case I was referring to. You haven't heard me criticizing the ISS have you?


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

> Space exploration doesn't end with the ISS. It has just begun.



The point is that the ISS indicates the collaborative approach towards larger projects in space.



> Alright, since you don't seem to understand / appreciate my points, lets just leave it there.



I disagree with your points -since the best you can offer on the benefits are intangibles at some distant point in the future, perhaps after an entire generation, millions of Indians, have lived and died in poverty.

Its simple really. Show me how those in poverty right now could not benefit from the money going into the lunar program.


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> The point is that the ISS indicates the collaborative approach towards larger projects in space.



In certain areas, yes, in other areas, no.

Besides, you need some minimum qualification (and clout) to be a part of such collaborative efforts.


----------



## AgNoStiC MuSliM

> Besides, you need some minimum qualification (and clout) to be a part of such collaborative efforts.


Which goes to my point earlier, that India believes that this might be one way of being invited into those efforts, and its not a bad argument.


----------



## Flintlock

AgNoStIc MuSliM said:


> Its simple really. Show me how those in poverty right now could not benefit from the money going into the lunar program.



I don't intend to prove anything of the sort.

You are simply repeating your earlier argument of weighing the benefits of social development versus those of a manned moon mission.

I have already said that they have completely different objectives that cannot and should not be compared.


----------



## nitesh

Rocket fuel as cheap as a bottle of water - Newindpress.com

Rocket fuel as cheap as a bottle of water
Friday June 13 2008 03:19 IST
ENS | Manoj K Das

KOCHI: A litre of rocket fuel that costs less than a bottle of bottled drinking water! India has begun research activities to make this a reality with a view to bringing down launch expenses.

Scientists at ISRO&#8217;s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre have entered the second stage of a research programme to gift the country with a semi-cryogenic fuel known as loxkerosene at a cost of less than Rs 15/kg. The solid fuel that powers rockets costs about Rs 1500/kg.

Lox-kerosene consists of refined kerosene and liquid oxygen. &#8220;The kerosene will cost about Rs 18/litre and liquid oxygen Rs 6/litre. A litre of lox-kerosene will cost only about Rs 12 to 15/litre,&#8221; sources told this website's newspaer.

ISRO is in talks with senior scientists of Ukraine to update its knowhow. &#8220;Ukraine will not be a partner in this venture.We&#8217;re engaged in technological consultation with Ukraine. It&#8217;s scientific community played a big role in developing semi-cryogenic technology during the USSR days,&#8221; the sources added.

India is decades behind the US and Russia in the development of semicryogenic technology. In fact, the US used the liquid oxygen-kerosene combination to land Armstrong on the moon. &#8220;They used lox-kerosene to power a 500-tonne vehicle. Our search is for a cocktail that can develop a 200- tonne thrust,&#8221; sources said.

Interestingly, India&#8217;s search for semi-cryogenic technology follows close on the heels of the initial success of its cryogenic engine. After a decade&#8217;s delay, LPSC was able to complete a 720-second firing of the cryogenic engine at a Mahendragiri test bed last year.

Scientists, however, point out that lox-kerosene will be a better proposition for more reasons than its economical impact. Storage is one of them.

Cryogenic needs liquid hydrogen and oxygen. But storing liquid hydrogen is more challenging than storing kerosene. The emphasis must be on semi-cryogenic research as there&#8217;s nothing left to prove in cryogenic technology beyond what the world knows. But semi-cryogenic is an emerging area with the concern over mounting launch costs echoing around the world.

India is planning to develop the technology by 2012 to power its reusable launch vehicle (RLV), envisaged to make the country a low-cost destination for space launches.


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## Bushroda

nitesh said:


> Rocket fuel as cheap as a bottle of water - Newindpress.com
> 
> Rocket fuel as cheap as a bottle of water
> Friday June 13 2008 03:19 IST
> ENS | Manoj K Das



If successful they should put a rocket engine in every car & bring down our dependence on oil imports.


----------



## nitesh

Bushroda said:


> If successful they should put a rocket engine in every car & bring down our dependence on oil imports.



Rocket engine in car??? sir ji, r u trying to say every body flying?????

Well I would love that idea


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Chandrayaan instruments wired up for possible Sept. 19 launch
New Delhi (PTI): India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I has reached a major milestone as scientists completed the integration of all instruments onto the spacecraft and are aiming to launch it by September 19.

Space scientists at ISRO last week completed the integration of the 11 instruments -- six indigenous and five under international cooperation -- onto the spacecraft which is no bigger than a typical office cubicle.

"We are now carrying out detailed integrated tests to ensure all systems work as per the expectations and to record spacecraft level data for future reference," Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, told PTI.

The tests are expected to last another four weeks after which the spacecraft's ability to handle the extreme thermal and vacuum environment of lunar orbit will be gauged. These assessments will be followed by vibration and acoustic tests.

The spacecraft needs to be shifted to the launchpad at least four weeks prior to the launch date to allow scientists and engineers to carry out necessary checks on the launch vehicle.

"At present, all these activities lead us to September 19 launch," another top scientist close to the project said.

Chandrayaan-I will be launched atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), India's workhorse rocket with a streak of nine consecutive flawless missions.

However, the launch may happen on September 19 provided all the tests are carried out without any hitch. If any problem arises, it needs to be solved before proceeding to the next state.

Best of luck to ISRO guys


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## nitesh

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Star wars drill in the works

Star wars drill in the works
- Earth station to keep satellites out of line of missile fire
SUJAN DUTTA

Cartosat 2A being launched
New Delhi, June 16: Indian space scientists are setting up an earth station to keep a lookout for missiles fired at Indian satellites and take them out of the line of fire, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) officer said here today.

The disclosure &#8212; effectively meaning that India is evolving its version of a star wars programme &#8212; came alongside a call by the army chief, General Deepak Kapur, to set up a joint military space command.

General Kapur prefaced his call with remarks on the expansion of China&#8217;s military-space projects.

China shot down one of its old weather satellites with a missile in a test on January 11 last year, becoming the third country after the US and Russia to demonstrate the capability and sparking concerns over the weaponisation of space.

The response to the Chinese ASAT (anti-satellite missile) was being prepared, Geeta Varadan, the programme director for special projects at Isro, said at a meeting on Indian military applications in space.

&#8220;The first is a geo-stationary satellite that we are trying to put up (to keep a lookout for probable missiles) and we are also setting up a ground station to monitor any object coming close to our satellites so that we can move our satellites out of harm&#8217;s way,&#8221; she said.

&#8220;There should not be a threat,&#8221; she added, &#8220;because our space programme is entirely peaceful but we have to be prepared.&#8221;

Since its inception, Isro has launched 50 satellites. Its more advanced satellites, like the Cartosat I and the recently launched Cartosat 2A, also have military applications with superior imagery technology.

Varadan said the Cartosat 2A can give sub-metre resolution (.8 metre) for pictures and was meant for cartographic purposes.

But the military would also like to use the satellite for surveillance. Varadan said Isro hoped to launch a satellite in five years that can send even sharper &#8212; at .3 metre resolution &#8212; imagery.

Kapur himself praised the quality of images that have been received so far from the Cartosat 2A. He said: &#8220;The establishment of a tri-service space command for persistent surveillance and rapid response is required in the future.&#8221; The army had taken up an initiative by creating a space cell at its headquarters.

Kapur noted that &#8220;(the) Chinese space programme is expanding at an exponentially rapid pace in both offensive and defensive content&#8221;.

He said the army, the navy and the air force had to jointly develop institutions that will eventually lead to the creation of a space command.

&#8220;The Indian Army&#8217;s agenda for exploitation of space will have to evolve dynamically. It should be our endeavour to optimise space applications for military purposes,&#8221; the army chief said.

Last week, defence minister A.K. Antony announced the creation of a space cell in the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).

IDS chief Lt General Hardev Lidder, who was also at today&#8217;s meeting, said weaponisation of space was inevitable.

&#8220;We may get sucked into the inevitable military race of space-based applications in warfare and protection of space assets,&#8221; he said.


----------



## Marshal

ISRO ties up with BrahMos aerospace unit 

Press Trust of India / Thiruvananthapuram June 18, 2008, 14:18 IST 



The BrahMos Aerospace unit here has signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for taking up engineering and integration of the space agency's launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV. 



The Rs 25-crore pact involves work on ISRO's tankages, special aluminium work and all titanium work, a senior BrahMos official said here today. 


The Brahmos facility will also take up space-tech related infrastructure work for ISRO's future missions. 


Brahmos Aerospace established its unit here early this year by taking over the state-owned Kerala High-tech Industries Ltd (KELTEC). 


Even when it was a state-run facility, the unit used to supply some components and sub-assemblies to the ISRO as well as other central scientific and defence agencies like the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).


----------



## nitesh

Marshal said:


> ISRO ties up with BrahMos aerospace unit



Isn't this news is unnecessary, this will give a chance to global non proliferation lobby to showcase the co-operation between civilian (ISRO) and military (DRDO). And pressurize to put sanctions on ISRO.


----------



## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> Isn't this news is unnecessary, this will give a chance to global non proliferation lobby to showcase the co-operation between civilian (ISRO) and military (DRDO). And pressurize to put sanctions on ISRO.



As long as the details of the agreement are public and freely available for inspection, it shouldn't be a problem.


----------



## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : 2009 to be a busy year for ISRO

2009 to be a busy year for ISRO
Our Bureau

Hyderabad, June 20 Flying high on its recent success of placing 10 satellites into space at one stroke, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is looking ahead to a busy schedule for the next 18 months.

It has six major launches, starting with perhaps the most challenging Chandrayan I (moon mission), which is expected in September.

*While September 19 is definitely the first date identified for the launch, a final decision would be taken after all the preparedness reviews are completed, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said.*

*Following Chandrayan I, will be about 5 launches in 2009. These include RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite), ASTROSAT (Astronomy Satellite), the Indo-French Megha-Tropiques and two commercial launches,* he told newspersons on the sidelines of a technology event organised by the Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS), here today.

Mr Nair refused to be drawn into commenting on either the need for a unified space command or the allegations of involvement of an NRI scientist in passing secrets to the ISRO and defence establishments.

Asked if the Indo-French Joint Mission called Megha-Tropiques, now scheduled for launch in 2009, was delayed, Mr Nair said &#8220;No. Some of the technical problems have taken time to be sorted out and it is ready for launch. The project costs around Rs 120 crore&#8221;.

The Megha-Tropiques project aims to study the water cycle and energy exchange in the tropics. A tie-up with NASA-JAXA has been forged to carryout a global precipitation mission to understand the atmospheric physics of the tropics better.

Earlier, delivering the National Technology Day lecture on Space perspective, Mr Nair said &#8220;India would maintain the leadership position in earth observations, communications and navigation satellite systems&#8221;.

*The increasing launch orders from abroad and the fact that Antrix Corporation has logged nearly Rs 1,000 crore business on space-based products vindicate the growing strength of India in the global space arena, he said.*


----------



## Always Neutral

nitesh said:


> The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Star wars drill in the works
> 
> Star wars drill in the works
> - Earth station to keep satellites out of line of missile fire
> SUJAN DUTTA
> 
> Cartosat 2A being launched
> New Delhi, June 16: Indian space scientists are setting up an earth station to keep a lookout for missiles fired at Indian satellites and take them out of the line of fire, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) officer said here today.



Weaponisation of space must be stopped. Both India and China and for that matter USA and Russia should all desist from this stupid arms race in space.

Regards


----------



## JEFF

Always Neutral said:


> Weaponisation of space must be stopped. Both India and China and for that matter USA and Russia should all desist from this stupid arms race in space.
> 
> Regards



I haven't seen India being involved in weaponisation of space so far, although India is readying for the same because its arch rival China is making great foray into space based weapons system and hence it becomes imperative for us to make the provision to have proper defence for the same. 

In the meanwhile, the sentence of a article to which you have quoted, it clearly states that radar being made is purly for a defensive purpose and to save our satellite.


----------



## nitesh

Always Neutral said:


> Weaponisation of space must be stopped. Both India and China and for that matter USA and Russia should all desist from this stupid arms race in space.
> 
> Regards



Good point made, agree with you on this. But which countries today have the ASAT capabilities. i dont think india have that.


----------



## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> Good point made, agree with you on this. But which countries today have the ASAT capabilities. i dont think india have that.



Developing ASAT is no big deal for any country which has the capability to put a satellite into orbit, that's pretty obvious.

However, China did set a bad precedent by testing its own system. Unfortunately, now the race as begun.


----------



## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Satellite to study climate change

Satellite to study climate change

Divya Gandhi
An ISRO initiative with science institutes

I-STAG will collect data on greenhouse gases, aerosols

Bangalore: Few issues have taken the global centre stage as did climate change recently, and images of melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels are now all too ubiquitous to ignore.

*But how much do we really know about global warming? What is the quantity of greenhouse gases &#8212; carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane &#8212; in our atmosphere? How are they distributed around the world?

Some answers might be brought back by I-STAG, a satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2012, in a unique collaborative initiative with science institutes.*

*&#8220;I-STAG, (Indian Satellite for Aerosol and Gases) is a small satellite, weighing no more than 150 kg and will most likely go as a co-passenger with one of the major launches scheduled for 2012,&#8221; R. Sridharan, Programme director, Space Science Office, ISRO, told The Hindu. It will be placed in a low Earth orbit at 600 km.*

In its two-year life span, I-STAG will collect data on the quantity and distribution of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, aerosols (suspended particulate matter), ozone, water vapour and the oxides of nitrogen and sulphur so that an estimate can be made on their impact on climate.

&#8220;The satellite will have a special focus on the tropics and will monitor the spatial and temporal variation in the amount of these gases to assess their long-term effect on the climate and ecosystem,&#8221; said Prof. Sridharan.

The experiments would also attempt to estimate the impact of biomass burning and forest fires on climate.

*I-STAG will be developed jointly by the Indian Institute of Science, the Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram, the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, and the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Tirupati.*

&#8220;ISRO will put in the seed money of about Rs. 10 crore, and scientists will, through simulations, demonstrate the concepts and also work out the methods for analysing the data,&#8221; Prof. Sridharan said.

The three experiments on I-STAG would measure and trace the distribution of greenhouse gases through an infrared spectrometer, and a multiwave radiometer would monitor the distribution and polarisation properties of aerosols.

I-STAG is part of the space organisation&#8217;s &#8220;small satellites programme&#8221; for scientific experiments, said ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair. &#8220;The first of the series of small satellite was the Indian Mini Satellite, which flew with CARTOSAT-2A. We are scheduled to launch three more small satellites in the next four years, including I-STAG. These are SENSE, to study the near-space environment; Aditya, to study the solar corona; and YOUTHSAT to measure solar radiation,&#8221; he said.

Prof. Sridharan said the science institutes were now preparing the project report for I-STAG in consultation with the satellite group at the ISRO Satellite Centre.


----------



## nitesh

» Chandrayaan launch postponed, new date to be announced soon - Thaindian News

*Chandrayaan launch postponed, new date to be announced soon*

June 26th, 2008 - 9:51 pm ICT by ANI 



Bangalore , June 26 (ANI): *Chairman of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair said on Thursday that the Indian pride Moon mission Chandrayaan launch is postponed for certain reasons.*

Nair was talking to the media in Bangalore on Thursday on the sidelines of an International conference on Aerospace.

*Nonetheless, he asserted that a new date of launch would be announced next month and in all probability, it could be September.*

*I think it is going to be a unique mission where we will get a total mapping of the moon which does not exist today. We are trying to look for rare elements on the surface of the moon. So this information will help us with further exploration. Launch will be announced next month and September will be the earliest date of launch, said Nair.*

*This is only preliminary state and we really don&#8217;t know if helium is there and at what quantity to exploit. In 2012 we are going to launch the second mission of Chandrayaan, which will go to the moon surface and pick up samples and analyse it. It is going to be a co-operation between Russia and India , Nair added.*

Nair also said Chandrayaan was crucial and would provide critical data.

Ever since the first rocket was launched in 1963 from Thumba at Kerala, under the supervision of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the Indian space ventures have made steady progress over the past 45 years.

Chandrayaan-I will be launched atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), India &#8217;s workhorse rocket with a streak of nine consecutive flawless missions.

*The spacecraft would be loaded with six instruments including a high-resolution stereo camera capable of imaging objects about 16 feet in diameter.*

*It will also carry near-infrared and X-ray spectrometers and a laser altimeter to determine the altitude of the lunar craft for spatial coverage of various instruments.*

These payloads will enable researchers to ascertain the composition and topography of the lunar surface.

*The engineers have also built a 64-pound impactor that will be dropped from the orbiting spacecraft for a suicidal nosedive into the moon.*

The probe will relay video imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mothership, which will be in a lunar orbit 100 kilometres away. (ANI)


----------



## nitesh

This seems to be a good move

Wider horizons

ISRO

Wider horizons

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN
The Indian Institute of Space Technology is expected to meet ISRO&#8217;s demand for quality manpower to launch its ambitious programmes.

A BUNCH of youngsters dressed in casuals walk out of the low-slung, tile-roofed building located on the shore of the Arabian Sea at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram. The day&#8217;s classes have just ended at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), established by the Department of Space in September 2007, close to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). They belong to the first batch of 138 students (11 of whom are women) who have joined the four-year B.Tech courses in Avionics and Aerospace and the five-year integrated post-graduate programme in Applied Sciences.

Prakhar Agarwal, a tall, bespectacled student from Lucknow, says, &#8220;My interest is in aerospace. Nowhere else you can see technology in action when you are studying. Our programme is unique because of its goal. We use space technology for the betterment of humans.&#8221; Prateep Basu from Ranchi chips in: &#8220;There is a difference between studying in a conventional college and studying in a place that sends up rockets.&#8221; Sudha Bendapudi and Megha Garg point out that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) do not offer an undergraduate programme in avionics. &#8220;The IIT course deals with aeronautics, that is, flight mechanics. There is not much emphasis on astronautics. The IIST focusses on astronautics,&#8221; said Megha.

The IIST is the world&#8217;s first space university to offer undergraduate programmes. From this academic year, it will start three post-graduate programmes in areas of specific interest to the ISRO. One student has registered for Ph.D. If things go according to plan, the institute will move to its own spacious campus at Valiamala, 23 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram, in September 2009. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the campus in July or August.

G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told Frontline on June 21: &#8220;We want to build the IIST as a world-class institute that can produce high-quality manpower in space science and technology. It is a unique set-up. Most colleges offer only post-graduate courses. But here, we want to train the students at a young age and expose them to space science and technology so that they become leaders in this area tomorrow.&#8221;

Admission to the IIST is through the IIT-JEE (Joint Entrance Examination). The IIT-JEE prepares two lists for admission: the main list and an extended list. Candidates whose names figure in the extended list are eligible to join the IIST.

Besides, students from the main list, who are keen on joining the institute can opt for it. About 4,000 students, who have got through the IIT-JEE in this academic year, are expected to register for admission to the 150 seats in the IIST&#8217;s undergraduate programmes.

The institute does not charge tuition or other fees and hostel accommodation is totally free of cost. Besides, the students are given Rs.3,000 every semester as book allowance. Students completing the course with a first class will be absorbed into ISRO. They will be asked to sign a bond that they will work for ISRO for five years. If they jump the bond, they will have to pay Rs.10 lakh to the Department of Space.

Quality manpower
Dr. B.N. Suresh, Director of the institute, who recently retired as VSSC Director, said, &#8220;We consider the IIST an investment for our ambitious future programme. The idea is to get bright students into the IIST and train them so that they will get plenty of opportunities to work in ISRO.&#8221; The IIST will meet ISRO&#8217;s demand for quality manpower for its space programmes.

The vision that suffuses the IIST, according to Suresh, is that &#8220;it will be a place where technology, research and academics are integrated seamlessly&#8221;. &#8220;The students are thrilled at the prospect of working in high-end technology areas. We have triggered their initiative by asking them to do their own projects,&#8221; he said. For instance, a group of students has designed a rover that can be used for inter-planetary missions. Another group has designed a remote-controlled aircraft.

Another important initiative of the IIST is to expose its students to experiments that have real-life applications. In the last semester, every student did two experiments at the VSSC laboratories. Some students were asked to assemble a gear-box, dissemble it and prepare a report. Another experiment related to the electro-chemical energy system on Chandrayaan-1, the spacecraft that India plans to send to the moon in September. One other related to a Chandrayaan payload.

What motivated the Department of Space to set up the IIST? Despite the best efforts of ISRO, it was unable to recruit high-quality scientists and engineers during the past 10 years. This situation arose mainly because of the prevailing job-market situation wherein engineering/science students preferred to work for software companies. ISRO was unable to attract talent from the IITs, the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other prominent universities. At the same time, the Department of Space had planned several ambitious programmes such as Chandrayaan-1 and 2, a manned mission to space, inter-planetary exploration programmes beyond Chandrayaan, and Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch VehicleMark III.

&#8220;All these required high-quality human capital. That is when we came upon the idea of starting our own institute to produce engineers and scientists in space science and technology. That propelled the ISRO Chairman to take the initiative,&#8221; Suresh explained.

Moreover, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keen about the management of human resource in ISRO. After every successful rocket launch, he would invariably ask the ISRO top brass: &#8220;How are you going to manage your human resource? Are you able to get them?&#8221; When ISRO&#8217;s plan to set up the space institute was conveyed to him, he appreciated the move. The Central government gave the approval to set up the IIST in April 2007.

The IIST has attracted a young and talented corps of 26 academics. C.S. Narayanamurthy, who has a Ph.D. from IIT Madras, was teaching in the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, before he joined the institute. He is now the Head of the Department of Physics. Raju K. George is the Head of the Department of Mathematics. P.S. Robi, who heads the Department of Aerospace Engineering, earlier taught at IIT Guwahati.

The syllabi
They said the syllabi were tailored to meet ISRO&#8217;s needs. A high-powered committee headed by Prof. R. Natarajan, former Director of IIT Madras and former Chairman of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), spent 400 man-hours to frame the syllabi. The committee comprised professors from the IITs, the NITs and other institutions. Every department&#8217;s board of studies, which consists of teachers from the IITs and ISRO staff, refined the syllabi further.

For instance, the syllabus for B.Tech (Avionics) will cover the entire spectrum of electronics. Students will specialise in digital electronics, control systems, radio frequency systems, computer science and software engineering. The Aerospace programme lays stress on aircraft structure, aerodynamics, flight dynamics, machine dynamics, and so on. The M.Sc. course will focus on astronomy, astrophysics, remote-sensing, planetary science and atmospheric science.

&#8220;Students who pass out of the IIST will not require separate training. They can be directly absorbed into any programme of ISRO,&#8221; said Suresh.

Prakar Agarwal summed up thus: &#8220;When we came here, we were a bunch of students who were fascinated by space science. After we joined the IIST, our horizons have widened and our dreams have started materialising into projects.&#8221;


----------



## nitesh

now this is a good news in terms of Indian American relationship. I was just watching CNN-IBN and seems like samajwadi party is going to support the deal. Seems like nuclear deal is through 

DNA - Money - Indo-US trade to touch $ 100 billion - Daily News & Analysis

Indo-US trade to touch $ 100 billion
PTI
Thursday, July 03, 2008 18:27 IST


MUMBAI: Notwithstanding the impasse in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the bilateral relations have reached a new high with India gearing itself to launch four US satellites and and the two-way trade expected to more than double to touch $100 billion in the next 3-4 years.
*After successful launch of Israeli, German and Canadian satellites from Shriharikota near Chennai, four US satellites are to be launched by Indian launch vehicles. "As part of the collaboration in space technology, four American satellites are to be launched by India in the next two years," the outgoing Consul-General Michael Owen said.*

It is not correct to say that Sino-Indian trade is growing rapidly at the cost of Indo-US trade, Owen said. "No doubt Sino-Indian trade is growing fast. Nonetheless Indo-US trade has more than doubled from 20 billion dollars to 42 billion dollars in the last three years," he said.

The bilateral trade doubles every 3-4 years and "our next target is to take to 100 billion dollars," he said.

Regarding defence collaboration with India, he said the American companies are responding to Indian competitive tender for military hardware and fighter aircrafts like F-16 and F-18.

Another exciting thing will be the American companies are going for co-production with the Indian companies, Owen said.

Elaborating on the all time high relations between India and US, he said, there have been a series of agreements in various fields like energy, agriculture, trade, investment and open sky policies which were not there 15 years back.


----------



## nitesh

a good read:

India's space programme thrives > IT Examiner > Telecoms

India's space programme thrives - Feature ISRO's reputation goes from strength to strength as it provides telecommunications services globally

Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, once said that there are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation.

Indeed, until recently, India never dreamed of competing with more economically-advanced nations at exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But the space fraternity was always confident about India&#8217;s potential in playing a meaningful role nationally and internationally, and now this confidence is bearing fruit, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reaching out to the global market.

About 35 years ago, ISRO was a child among space organisations. However, it&#8217;s an entirely different story today. ISRO stands high with its dedicated space research and development programmes that not only help India but also other smaller nations that cannot afford to have a space organisation of their own.

In December 2005, the Indian national satellite (INSAT)-4A was launched by Ariane-5G, the European launch vehicle of Arianespace, and is still ISRO&#8217;s latest INSAT series satellite. INSAT- 4A has 12 high-power Ku-band transponders that make it the first satellite to meet the requirements of direct-to-home (DTH) television services, and also carries12 C-band transponders to enhance the INSAT capacity for communication and television services.

The master control facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka monitors and controls INSAT-4A, and utilises the ground stations at Beijing (China), Fucino (Italy) and Lake Cowichan (Canada). The ISRO telemetry, tracking and command network (ISTRAC) ground station at Biak in Indonesia also monitors the satellite. The satellite's orbit is precisely determined by continuous ranging from the participating ground stations.

In an interview given to the IT Examiner, ISRO scientific secretary and director, A Bhaskaranarayana, emphasised the importance of ISRO&#8217;s two satellite systems - Indian remote sensing satellite systems (IRS) and the INSAT series.

On the telecommunications front, Bhaskaranarayana says that about 210 transponders of the INSAT series of satellites were in orbit. The INSAT applications include broadcasting, communication, meteorological and developmental services such as tele-education and telemedicine. The telemedicine facility has allowed more than 30,000 schools and colleges to become connected, benefiting nearly 300,000 patients.

And there are commercial applications, too. Way back in 1992, the Department of Space (DoS) established its commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, to market and explore the Indian space programme&#8217;s products and services in the global arena.

Bhaskaranarayana says that Antrix has made the most of the IRS system and achieved global success, with a business of Rs 10 billion ($231.9 million). He claims that the IRS is the best remote sensing satellite system, with ground stations across 23 nations. The IRS provides services in establishing international ground stations (IGS) and the international reseller network to receive, process and market IRS data products and IRS image processing.

Bhaskaranarayana says that Antrix provided these services only on a commercial or civilian basis, and not for defence purposes. The defence services may use the data, he says, but Antrix doesn&#8217;t have any specific services for them. 

Antrix recently launched CARTOSAT-2, which offers the facility to receive data products to international users. It has already launched a series of commercial satellites - Kitsat (Korea), Tubsat (DLR - Germany), BIRD (DLR - Germany), PROBA (Verhaert, Belgium), Lapan Tubsat (Indonesia), Pehuensat-1 (Argentina) aboard ISRO's polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) in addition to the dedicated launch of Agile (Italy).

As for future plans, the senior official of ISRO says that remote sensing projects will continue. Keeping in mind the increasing demand of DTH services, ISRO is looking forward to increase the number of transponders from 210 to 500, enhancing internet services and data services in remote places.

The Indian telecoms industry has always owed its success to space technology. Industry players in both the public and private sectors have also played a great role behind the success of INSAT-4A. The DoS has always been the force behind the country&#8217;s successful space projects.

With third generation services (3G) knocking at Indian telecom&#8217;s door, more and more foreign and global telecom players are likely to join the booming Indian market. Advances in space sciences are vitally necessary to keep pace with the growth of the telecom sector in India, delivering enhanced satellite capacities in power and bandwidth. The DoT has benefited a lot already.

More than 550 telecommunications terminals of various sizes and capabilities are operating in the INSAT telecom network, providing 5,100 two-way speech circuits or equivalent over 166 routes. About 400 earth stations have been implemented over the last few years in the department of telecommunications (DoT) network.

Bhaskaranarayana says it isn't in ISRO's power to prevent the spillover of mobile signals to neighbouring countries. Concerned government authorities like the DoT have to intervene, as the development has to go hand in hand with the security of the country. He adds that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and private players have to draw out a plan to stop signals from spilling over.

The DoS has signed a number of memoranda and agreements with several nations and agencies worldwide, including an agreement with the European Space Agency. Indian space programmes stand high globally, but still have some competitors amongst those nations with dedicated space organisations. Of these, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) is notable for its management of space activities for civilian use, and is increasing its cooperation with other countries.

By the end of 2005, China had more than 80 international and domestic telecommunications and broadcasting earth stations, with 34 satellite broadcasting and TV link stations. Dozens of departments and some large corporations have established a total of around 100 satellite specialised communication networks and more than 50,000 very small aperture terminals (VSATs).

China has cooperation deals with smaller countries and agencies with Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission.

Among the other nations involved in bilateral cooperation are Brazil, France, Russia and Ukraine. China and France have been involved in peaceful space exchanges and cooperation. Apart from this, nations like Russia and China have been providing services to the smaller nations, which cannot afford to have dedicated space programmes.


----------



## nitesh

PIB Press Release

17:53 IST

The Joint Working Group of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Centre National d&#8217;Etudes Spatiales (CNES) met at Goa during July 5-6, 2008 to review the progress of on-going collaborative programmes under the chairmanship of Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO and Dr. Yannick d&#8217;Escatha, President, CNES.

*The status of Megha Topiques, an Indo-French collaborative satellite project scheduled for launch during 2009 for tropical weather monitoring was presented during the meeting. Megha Tropiques carries four payloads &#8211; a Microwave Radiometer, a humidity sounder, a radiation measuring instrument and a Radio occultation sounder for atmospheric studies. During the meeting, an Agreement between ISRO and CNES on the Data Policy for distribution of data received from Megha Tropiques was also signed. This policy enables the global scientific community to have free access to Megha Tropiques data after calibration and evaluation of the payloads by scientists from both the agencies for weather and climate change studies. This data is expected to enhance a better understanding of the tropical weather phenomena including the monsoons.*

*The meeting also reviewed the status of SARAL, a small satellite mission with payloads from CNES for the study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions which are otherwise not covered by the in-situ measurements. The satellite carries a Ka band altimeter and a payload for reception of ARGO floats deployed all over the world oceans. The altimeter data will provide support in coastal environment studies, estuarine, bathymetry and preparedness towards Tsunami disaster. The periodic data collection over the oceans permits climate assimilations for improved weather forecast.*

While reviewing the future collaborative projects, the teams emphasized the need for space-based observations for climate, environment and disaster management. Scientists from ISRO and CNES exchanged ideas for cooperation in conceiving space based systems and methodologies, which lead to a better understanding to tropical weather and climate. The cooperation between the two agencies will also enhance interaction between scientists outside space agencies in India and France and among the global scientific community. It was re-emphasized that technical and scientific strengths of ISRO and CNES would lead to evolving and establishing innovative operational space systems in addressing issues related to the tropical weather and climate. Both the agencies concluded that these efforts should facilitate achieving leadership position in understanding the tropical climate.

The meeting further re-established the relevance of the successful Indo-French cooperation in space activities.

PRA/SKK


----------



## Ravsta12

Always Neutral said:


> Weaponisation of space must be stopped. Both India and China and for that matter USA and Russia should all desist from this stupid arms race in space.
> 
> Regards



I agree with you AN but what do you do when someone picks up a gun? You think about your self defense. This example of China shooting down a missile and India developing an Earth Station is a typical example that clearly portrays the reasons why India is more favored by the international community. There are different approaches to achieving power you know and China believes in outright demonstration of it's power whereas India believes in silent buildup.(Even though nothing is hidden) This is my opinion.

You are right stealth assassin. Every country that can launch a satellite can shoot it down and even Madhavan Nair had admitted that India is fully capable of developing a missile to shoot down satellites but why?? Why unnecessarily send out a hate message to the world. I reiterate my point here. This is why China is making a different impression in the world than India. 

btw-im not anti china  just commenting on this particular topic


----------



## Neo

nitesh said:


> a good read:
> 
> India's space programme thrives > IT Examiner > Telecoms
> 
> India's space programme thrives - Feature ISRO's reputation goes from strength to strength as it provides telecommunications services globally
> 
> Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, once said that there are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation.
> 
> Indeed, until recently, India never dreamed of competing with more economically-advanced nations at exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But the space fraternity was always confident about Indias potential in playing a meaningful role nationally and internationally, and now this confidence is bearing fruit, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reaching out to the global market.
> 
> About 35 years ago, ISRO was a child among space organisations. However, its an entirely different story today. ISRO stands high with its dedicated space research and development programmes that not only help India but also other smaller nations that cannot afford to have a space organisation of their own.
> 
> In December 2005, the Indian national satellite (INSAT)-4A was launched by Ariane-5G, the European launch vehicle of Arianespace, and is still ISROs latest INSAT series satellite. INSAT- 4A has 12 high-power Ku-band transponders that make it the first satellite to meet the requirements of direct-to-home (DTH) television services, and also carries12 C-band transponders to enhance the INSAT capacity for communication and television services.
> 
> The master control facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka monitors and controls INSAT-4A, and utilises the ground stations at Beijing (China), Fucino (Italy) and Lake Cowichan (Canada). The ISRO telemetry, tracking and command network (ISTRAC) ground station at Biak in Indonesia also monitors the satellite. The satellite's orbit is precisely determined by continuous ranging from the participating ground stations.
> 
> In an interview given to the IT Examiner, ISRO scientific secretary and director, A Bhaskaranarayana, emphasised the importance of ISROs two satellite systems - Indian remote sensing satellite systems (IRS) and the INSAT series.
> 
> On the telecommunications front, Bhaskaranarayana says that about 210 transponders of the INSAT series of satellites were in orbit. The INSAT applications include broadcasting, communication, meteorological and developmental services such as tele-education and telemedicine. The telemedicine facility has allowed more than 30,000 schools and colleges to become connected, benefiting nearly 300,000 patients.
> 
> And there are commercial applications, too. Way back in 1992, the Department of Space (DoS) established its commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, to market and explore the Indian space programmes products and services in the global arena.
> 
> Bhaskaranarayana says that Antrix has made the most of the IRS system and achieved global success, with a business of Rs 10 billion ($231.9 million). He claims that the IRS is the best remote sensing satellite system, with ground stations across 23 nations. The IRS provides services in establishing international ground stations (IGS) and the international reseller network to receive, process and market IRS data products and IRS image processing.
> 
> Bhaskaranarayana says that Antrix provided these services only on a commercial or civilian basis, and not for defence purposes. The defence services may use the data, he says, but Antrix doesnt have any specific services for them.
> 
> Antrix recently launched CARTOSAT-2, which offers the facility to receive data products to international users. It has already launched a series of commercial satellites - Kitsat (Korea), Tubsat (DLR - Germany), BIRD (DLR - Germany), PROBA (Verhaert, Belgium), Lapan Tubsat (Indonesia), Pehuensat-1 (Argentina) aboard ISRO's polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) in addition to the dedicated launch of Agile (Italy).
> 
> As for future plans, the senior official of ISRO says that remote sensing projects will continue. Keeping in mind the increasing demand of DTH services, ISRO is looking forward to increase the number of transponders from 210 to 500, enhancing internet services and data services in remote places.
> 
> The Indian telecoms industry has always owed its success to space technology. Industry players in both the public and private sectors have also played a great role behind the success of INSAT-4A. The DoS has always been the force behind the countrys successful space projects.
> 
> With third generation services (3G) knocking at Indian telecoms door, more and more foreign and global telecom players are likely to join the booming Indian market. Advances in space sciences are vitally necessary to keep pace with the growth of the telecom sector in India, delivering enhanced satellite capacities in power and bandwidth. The DoT has benefited a lot already.
> 
> More than 550 telecommunications terminals of various sizes and capabilities are operating in the INSAT telecom network, providing 5,100 two-way speech circuits or equivalent over 166 routes. About 400 earth stations have been implemented over the last few years in the department of telecommunications (DoT) network.
> 
> Bhaskaranarayana says it isn't in ISRO's power to prevent the spillover of mobile signals to neighbouring countries. Concerned government authorities like the DoT have to intervene, as the development has to go hand in hand with the security of the country. He adds that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and private players have to draw out a plan to stop signals from spilling over.
> 
> The DoS has signed a number of memoranda and agreements with several nations and agencies worldwide, including an agreement with the European Space Agency. Indian space programmes stand high globally, but still have some competitors amongst those nations with dedicated space organisations. Of these, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) is notable for its management of space activities for civilian use, and is increasing its cooperation with other countries.
> 
> By the end of 2005, China had more than 80 international and domestic telecommunications and broadcasting earth stations, with 34 satellite broadcasting and TV link stations. Dozens of departments and some large corporations have established a total of around 100 satellite specialised communication networks and more than 50,000 very small aperture terminals (VSATs).
> 
> China has cooperation deals with smaller countries and agencies with Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission.
> 
> Among the other nations involved in bilateral cooperation are Brazil, France, Russia and Ukraine. China and France have been involved in peaceful space exchanges and cooperation. Apart from this, nations like Russia and China have been providing services to the smaller nations, which cannot afford to have dedicated space programmes.



Good read indeed Nitesh, thanks for shring!


----------



## Contrarian

Always Neutral said:


> Weaponisation of space must be stopped. Both India and China and for that matter USA and Russia should all desist from this stupid arms race in space.
> 
> Regards



AN, you know that weaponization of space will occur eventually whether we like it or not. With China already starting to flex its muscles in the space arena i am an advocate of India being capable of using offensive power in space.

You never know what might happen in future, say if tomorrow the P-5 put a missile in one of their sats of make a base on the moon, you'l find that they start another one of those NPT like treaties so that the rest will be forbidden to do the same. 

Like the nuclear apartheid, it might become space apartheid, and this time round, i'd rather India matches them move for move.


----------



## nitesh

A good read:

By Dr. K Kasturirangan

http://www.cat.gov.in/happenings/fdaykkr.pdf


----------



## Flintlock

*ISRO, CNES agree to share climate data with other countries* 
10 July 2008 


Mumbai: India and France will provide scientists from other countries free access to data from their Megha Tropiques satellite, scheduled for launch next year. This was decided at the joint working group of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), which met at Goa on 5 July 6 July to review the progress of on-going collaborative programmes.

During the meeting, under the chairmanship of of Dr G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO and his French couneterpart Dr Yannick d`Escatha, president, CNES, an agreement was signed between ISRO and CNES on the data policy for distribution of data received from Megha Tropiques. This will enables the global scientific community to have free access to Megha Tropiques data after calibration and evaluation of the payloads by scientists from both the agencies for weather and climate change.

This data is expected to enhance a better understanding of the tropical weather phenomena including the monsoons.

The satellite, due for launch in late 2009, is being built and launched by ISRO and has four vital French payloads - a microwave radiometer, a humidity sounder, a radiation measuring instrument and a radio occultation sounder for atmospheric studies.

The meeting also reviewed the status of SARAL, a small satellite mission with payloads from CNES for the study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions which are otherwise not covered by the in-situ measurements. The satellite carries a Ka band altimeter and a payload for reception of ARGO floats deployed all over the world oceans. The altimeter data will provide support in coastal environment studies, estuarine, bathymetry and preparedness towards Tsunami disaster. The periodic data collection over the oceans permits climate assimilations for improved weather forecast.

While reviewing the future collaborative projects, the teams emphasised the need for space-based observations for climate, environment and disaster management. Scientists from ISRO and CNES exchanged ideas for cooperation in conceiving space based systems and methodologies, which lead to a better understanding of tropical weather and climate.

The cooperation between the two agencies will also enhance interaction between scientists outside space agencies in India and France and among the global scientific community. It was re-emphasised that technical and scientific strengths of ISRO and CNES would lead to evolving and establishing innovative operational space systems in addressing issues related to the tropical weather and climate. Both the agencies concluded that these efforts should facilitate achieving leadership position in understanding the tropical climate. 

domain-b: informachone tools: print


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## nitesh

domain-b.com : Raytheon led team to bid for final phase of GAGAN - India's satellite-based navigation system

Raytheon led team to bid for final phase of GAGAN - India's satellite-based navigation system news	

16 July 2008

Raytheon Company is leading a team to deliver a comprehensive solution for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) global navigation satellite systems.

The solution will complete the final phase of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN).

GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation across South and East Asia, providing India with the most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system deployed.

The GAGAN design is based on the experience gained delivering the only certified space-based augmentation systems. For instance, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAS) was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in July 2003, and the MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System was certified by the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau in September 2007.


"We look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with ISRO and AAI during this critical phase of GAGAN," said Andy Zogg, Raytheon vice president of airspace management and homeland security. "We are committed to a thorough transfer of knowledge of the GAGAN system to further enhance India's leadership position in air navigation."

The Raytheon team will leverage the experience gained during the past several years in deploying the technology demonstration system phase of GAGAN. Team members include Bangalore based Accord Software and Systems Pvt. Ltd. for GPS-based user receiver prototype development optimized for the equatorial region; Gurgaon-based Elcome Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for logistical and on-site support; and Naverus, Inc., of Kent, Washington, for performance-based navigation route design, procedure flight validation and other related services.


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## nitesh

guys check this

PIB Press Release

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for funding of six GSLV operational flights (F11 to F16) at a total estimated cost of Rs. 1280.96 crores with a Foreign Exchange component of Rs. 272.90 crores.

With the realization of six GSLV Operational flights ( 9F11 to F16 ) end-to-end capability to launch communication satellites will be available during the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

The six flights (GSLV F11 &#8211;16) are expected to be realized during the time-frame 2010-1012.

BACKGROUND

GSLV after successfully completing the two demonstration flights attained the operational status during 2004. In its first operational flight, GSLV-F01 successfully launched 1950 kg EDUSAT satellite into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). More recently, during September 2007, GSLV in its F04 flight successfully carried a 2130 kg communication satellite, INSAT-4CR. GSLV in its operational series has so far completed three flights, of which two have been successful. With four successful flights so far, GSLV is poised to launch a series of 2200-2400 kg class communication satellites during the eleventh Five-Year Plan period and beyond. The next mission aims at the launch of GSLV-D3 during early 2008, which will be the maiden flight of GSLV with indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) and will carry the GSAT-4 satellite into GTO.

The development project for GSLV was approved during November 1990 at a cost of Rs. 1405.19 Crores towards meeting the indigenous launching capability for carrying 2 tonne class communication satellites into GTO. The project provided for the design, development and launch of three developmental flights viz., D1, D2 and D3.

The first version of GSLV (GSLV Mark-I) is a three-stage vehicle using solid and liquid stage for the first two stages and a procured cryogenic stage (CS) from Russia for the third stage. The first development flight, GSLV-D1 successfully launched a 1540 kg GSAT-1 into Geo Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) during the year 2001. This was followed by D2 launch in 2003 which launched a 1824 kg GSAT-2 into GTO. With these two successful missions, GSLV was declared operational.

In the operational series, Government had approved for the realization of three GSLV flights (F01-F03) and additional procurement of long lead items for 3 more flights during April 2003 at a cost of Rs. 945 crores ( FE : Rs. 368.80 Crores). To cater to the increased demand of two GSLV&#8217;s per year for GTO mission in the 11th Five year Plan period, approval was obtained for realization of seven more vehicles (F04-F10) in December 2006 at a total cost of Rs. 1325 Crores ( FE : Rs. 311 Crores).

The INSAT and GSAT satellites being launched by operational flights have significantly augmented the INSAT system capacity for national development in the areas of communications, broadcasting, and developmental communications including telemedicine & tele-education.

The efforts so far have resulted in payload improvement from 1540 kg to 2150 through use of S139 solid core stage, high performance liquid engines, miniaturized avionics and mission optimization. Plans are afoot to increase the payload capability to 2400 kg in subsequent flight through the use of indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage.

Presently, the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system has 211 transponders and the demand for transponders by end of 11th Plan is expected to be about 500. An assessment of national requirement of transponders meteorological and navigational services, specialized customer needs, opportunities for bilateral / international cooperation as well as potential commercial possibilities calls for launch of 2 GSLV&#8217;s per year during the 11th Five Year Plan period and beyond. During the 11th Plan period and beyond, based on the demand profile of transponders, it is envisaged to build and launch 12 GSAT series of satellites onboard the current version of GSLV. Out of this, approval already exists for 6 GSLVs in the current GSLV operational programe, GSLV F1 to F10. Hence, it is proposed to undertake 6 additional GSLV operational flights ( GSLV F11 to F16), to meet the 11th Plan demand.

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## Vinod2070

There was a plan to increase the private component of the launch vehicles to increase the numbers that India can launch per year and to start joint R&D with the private sector?

Does anyone know what came of that? It still seems to be ISRO doing all the work when all they should really do is high end R&D and system integration.


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## nitesh

Vinod2070 said:


> There was a plan to increase the private component of the launch vehicles to increase the numbers that India can launch per year and to start joint R&D with the private sector?
> 
> Does anyone know what came of that? It still seems to be ISRO doing all the work when all they should really do is high end R&D and system integration.



Well, there were lot of officials expressed interest for it, but I don't think any significant steps have been taken in this regard.


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## nitesh

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal...unch-chandrayaan-i-in-september_10075385.html

SRO to launch Chandrayaan-I in September

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch Chandrayaan-I, India&#8217;&#8217;s maiden mission to the moon, in September.
Talking to ANI in an exclusive interview on the sidelights of a seminar here today, Chairman of ISRO G. Madhavan Nair said that the final tests have been on to launch the spacecraft to moon.
Chandrayaan-I will be launched atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), India&#8217;&#8217;s workhorse rocket with a streak of nine consecutive flawless missions.
The spacecraft would be loaded with six instruments including a high-resolution stereo camera capable of imaging objects about 16 feet in diameter.
It will also carry near-infrared and X-ray spectrometers and a laser altimeter to determine the altitude of the lunar craft for spatial coverage of various instruments.
These payloads will enable researchers to ascertain the composition and topography of the lunar surface.
The engineers have also built a 64-pound impactor that will be dropped from the orbiting spacecraft for a suicidal nosedive into the moon.
The probe will relay video imagery, altitude information and spectral data back to Earth through the Chandrayaan mothership, which will be in a lunar orbit 100 kilometres away.
The remote sensing satellite will weigh 1304 kg (590 kg initial orbit mass and 504 kg dry mass).


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## nitesh

http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/24231239/IBM8217s-rebuff-forces-Isro.html

IBM&#8217;s rebuff forces Isro to fend for itself

Isro looks to upgrade its facility after shortlisted vendor IBM declines, citing fears of chip use by the Indian military

Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, will now upgrade a semiconductor fabrication unit, or fab, on its own after International Business Machines (IBM) Corp., the vendor it had shortlisted, declined citing fears that India&#8217;s space agency may use the chips designed there to guide rockets and satellites for India&#8217;s military.
In 2006, IBM won a face-off with another US-based firm, Atmel Corp., to handle a nearly Rs500 crore contract to upgrade Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL), India&#8217;s oldest chip foundry, in Chandigarh.
Isro, which, in turn, acquired the fab from the ministry of information technology in 2005, planned to upgrade it to produce chips of 0.25 micron size from the current 0.8 micron (micron is a unit of length, which is one-millionth of a metre). &#8220;In all these projects, the components are all of dual-use technologies (and) many people don&#8217;t agree that they can part with the technology they have,&#8221; said G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of Isro. So, &#8220;we are going on our own now. Entire rocket technology and satellite technology we have developed ourselves. We can also develop (on our own) semiconductor technology.&#8221;
But, efforts to build semiconductor fabs in the private sector are yet to take off in India, despite big plans by several firms.
India has around 11 fabs, all captive to the government needs in space and defence, according to India Semiconductor Association (ISA), a lobby for the semiconductor industry. &#8220;The country has no commercial fabs. It needs to be addressed through the semiconductor policy implementation,&#8221; said Poornima Shenoy, president of ISA in an email response.
IBM wanted the space agency to declare in advance &#8212; before a contract was signed &#8212; guarantees about the end-use of chips made from the upgraded foundry, said a person familiar with the development who didn&#8217;t want to be named. US law, which governs IBM, mandates firms dealing with dual-use technologies insist their customers sign the so-called end-user agreement.
The chips produced in SCL are used by Isro in the satellites and rockets it designs. But, the same person didn&#8217;t rule out the use of these chips in &#8220;strategic programmes&#8221; or, those that guide missiles, or in other defence projects.
An IBM India spokesman said the company doesn&#8217;t comment on client issues.
Analysts say sourcing of such technology by institutions such as Isro would indeed put them under the export control regime of the US.
&#8220;If we can do well in rocket science, chip technology shouldn&#8217;t be difficult. We should know how to put it on the table correctly,&#8221; said Ajey Lele, a research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, a New Delhi-based think tank.
IBM&#8217;s insistence of an end-user agreement also comes against the backdrop of an India-born businessman, Parthasarathy Sudarshan, being jailed for violation of the US export control laws over selling vintage Intel chips allegedly for India&#8217;s light combat Tejas programme and rocket programmes. Sudarshan, chief executive of Cirrus Electronics, an American firm, was sentenced by a US court in January to a 30-month prison term.


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## nitesh

guys chanhrayaan is getting delayed

The Hindu : National : Chandrayaan launch delayed

Chandrayaan launch delayed

CHENNAI: The launch of Chandrayaan, *India&#8217;s moon mission project, will be delayed past the scheduled date of September 18 to mid-October,* Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Wednesday.

*He said that the systems had already been fully integrated and that thermo-vacuum tests would be conducted soon. The launch would be possible about 45 to 60 days after that.*

Alignments were the key to a successful launch along with climate conditions. Only about three days each month would provide favourable alignments, he said.

Chandrayaan-2, which would involve a moon orbiter and a land rover, was already being planned for a 2011-2012 launch. Agreements had been signed with Russian space authorities and plans had started, he said.

On the entry of private players into satellite launches, Dr. Nair said cost was an important factor. It took about 7 to 8 years for a Rs. 600 crore-1,000 crore investment in a satellite launch to break even. This was why private players showed only a mild interest.

Many companies, including TataSky and Reliance, had come forward to buy slots in the Ku band for direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. ISRO would consider new satellites to accommodate new channels. All Ku band slots had been sold out and negotiations with international bodies were required to increase spectrum allocation, he said.

Manned mission
Dr. Nair said that India&#8217;s manned mission project could become a reality in the near future as ISRO was preparing a project report for the perusal of the government. Manufacture of indigenous cryogenic satellites could also be possible from the next year, as a thorough study had been made.


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## Flintlock

*Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists
*
Mumbai (PTI): The 'Chandrayaan mission' will give Indian scientists an oppurtunity to become international players in space expedition, giving them an equal footing with their global partners, a top space scientist has said.

"We must go to the moon and this is important because it gives an opportunity for Indian scientists to become international players," K Kasturirangan, Rajya sabha memeber and former Chairman of Indian space Research Organisation (ISRO) said adressing students at Centre for Basic sciences (CBS) here last evening.

"We must become equal global partners just as we are in the Antarctic expeditions," he said.

'Chandrayaan I' is expected to be launched next month.

Highlighting the basic reasons for which India was sending unmanned mission to the Moon, he said, the scientists will have a chance to study the science behind origin of moon, the Moon-Earth-Sun system.

"The mission is also a technological challenge for interplanetary missions in the future that will be undertaken by ISRO," he told students pursuing the five-year integrated MSc course at CBS.

Such missions also gives inspiration to scientists besides students, teachers and other people who have lot of interest in space science and astronomy and astrophysics, he said.

The Moon mission is also promoting international cooperation in a big way enabling production and integration of all types of instrumentations and systems, Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists

The Hindu News Update Service


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## nitesh

India may test futuristic jets by 2015-India-The Times of India

India Becomes Hot Spot for Satellite Launches
By Raymond Thibodeaux 
Bangalore, India
07 August 2008

*India is getting into the business of launching satellites, giving rise to a new space race. The country's space program recently put 10 small satellites in orbit, all in one go, an achievement topped only by Russia. The launch signaled India's desire to capture a larger share of the global commercial satellite launch market - a $90-billion-a-year industry that, so far, has been dominated by the U.S. and Russia. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Bangalore, India's space agency headquarters.*

Got a satellite that needs launching? Try India.

S. Satish is the spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization, India's space agency. Asked why more and more countries are looking to outsource their satellite launchings to India, he had this to say:

SATISH: The first [reason] is the high reliability. The second is it is very cost effective. These are the factors that are driving most customers to come to India. We are definitely cheaper than other international rates.

VOA's THIBODEAUX: How much cheaper?

SATISH: [Laughs] Once the customer comes in, we will tell him the rates.

*Turns out, India's space program is significantly cheaper. India's launch services run about $8,000 per kilogram, compared to roughly $18,000 dollars or more per kilogram charged by other major commercial satellite launch companies. And as for reliability, Satish says 12 of India's last 13 satellite launching missions have been successful, gaining its space program a good reputation.*

But not everyone is happy about India's newfound prowess in the exosphere. Earlier this year, several Arab nations along with Pakistan criticized India for launching an Israeli satellite with high-resolution, wide-area radar imaging capability. In other words, a potential spy satellite.

Roddam Narasimha is an advisor to India's space agency and an aerospace scientist at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center, a science and space research institute in Jakkur, a city just north of Bangalore. Speaking by telephone, he says that politics too often hinders the free-flow of technology. 

"Space and anything that is connected to rockets and satellites is subject to a variety of technology-denial regimes," Narasimha said. "As long as those technology-denial regimes are part of politics and trade in the world, these questions will in fact arise."

Still, the most lucrative and fastest-growing sector of the commercial launch market is telecommunication satellites. These satellites handle broadband internet and mobile phone traffic as well as other digital services. The problem is the satellites are heavy, weighing as much as eight tons.

India's space program does not yet have the capability to heave satellites that heavy into orbit. But not for long, Satish says.

"We are developing a new generation launcher that can put a four-ton satellite into geostationary orbit," Satish said. "That will give us an edge in conquering commercial launch services for communication satellites. That's where the big money is."

India, with its $1-billion-a-year space program, is eager to be the sixth country to reach the moon next year. The mission includes an $83 million lunar orbiter that will provide detailed mapping of the moon's surface. A manned lunar mission is planned by 2020.

These are logical next steps for India's space agency, but giant leaps for India, a nation eager to become an economic powerhouse despite the fact that the vast majority of its 1.1 billion people still live on less than two dollars a day.


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## nitesh

Some info:
Wish these guys succeed

Moonward bound - Newindpress.com

Moonward bound
Saturday July 19 2008 15:06 IST
Manoj K Das

Somewhere here&#8230; near the Malpat Crater,&#8221; says Dr T K Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, as he carefully runs his index finger towards the south pole on a moon globe with hundreds of American and Russian names claiming every hill and valley on it.

The moon is the toast of the space community this week (commemorating the Armstrong landing of July 20, 1969). All space-faring nations are brushing up on old lessons for a re-visit and India is aiming to take pole position in the new race.

*&#8220;Our mission,&#8221; says Alex, &#8220;will land the first man-made object on the lunar poles.&#8221; The pride and confidence in his voice are echoed on the face of Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan, as they give this website's newspaper an exclusive preview of the country&#8217;s first moon mission.*

*The uniqueness of Chandrayaan-I doesn&#8217;t end with the landing spot. &#8220;It will truly be the first international study of the moon. We&#8217;re flying 11 experiments on board the satellite. Six are payloads of international agencies, including three from NASA and one each from an American university, Bulgaria and the UK,&#8221; beams Annadurai.*

*There are other firsts that make Chandrayaan the cynosure of the space community. It&#8217;s India&#8217;s first moon mission, the first attempt to land on the lunar poles, where the world expects to find water. It will make India the fourth country to land something on the moonscape.*

*&#8220;It will be a small probe called the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). This is the camera that will record every movement of its descent from Chandrayaan-I, the mother ship,&#8221;* says George Koshy, director of the PSLV programme, fingering a small triangular object with a lens in the centre. 

Inside a clean room, where the most sophisticated electronics and avionics await fitment on the MIP, technicians are completing its assembly.

*&#8220;This camera will be the first Indian eye to see the moon&#8217;s landscape at close quarters. It will map every moment of its flight till it crashes. We don&#8217;t know whether its systems will survive the crash, but we&#8217;re sure they will continue sending data up to the moment their sensors succumb to the impact,&#8221; says Chandramouli, the scientist in charge of the facility.*

*The MIP will leave the mother ship 10 days after it steadies at a 100-km orbit above the moon. &#8220;It will take nearly six days for Chandrayaan to reach lunar orbit from Sriharikota. It will be the first Indian space vehicle to cross the limit of Earth&#8217;s gravity,&#8221; says K Radhakrishnan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, adding that the payload will ride on a PSLV rocket, our most trusted work-horse.*

*&#8220;Normally the PSLV is only used to launch polar orbit vehicles. However, we launched Kalpana, a metsat, into geo-synchronous orbit and this gives us the confidence to use it. Besides, the payload is only 1,380 kg and we don&#8217;t need a GSLV, which can lift about 2,000 kg,&#8221; Koshy says.*

*The scientists made certain changes to the PSLV to give it enough firepower to reach an elliptical orbit that will place Chandrayaan at a perigee of 240 km and an apogee of 24,000 km. &#8220;We&#8217;re giving more power to the strap-on motors for that extra reach,&#8221; *Koshy says. 

*The strap-ons are being aptly called PSOM-XL; the XL-suffix underlining the additional three tonnes of fuel that each of the six rockets will carry, taking their weight to 12 tonnes instead of the usual 9 tonnes.

The PSLV, a four-stage rocket, will place Chandrayaan in a 250x24,000-km orbit. &#8220;From this orbit we&#8217;ll do incremental firing to extend the orbit to 400,000 km and get into lunar gravity about 1,000 km off the moon,&#8221; says C Venugopal, associate project director, PSLV.*

More about the plan comes from M Krishnaswamy, programme director &#8212; IRS. &#8220;Chandrayaan will be placed below the south pole. That&#8217;s the significance of the proposed launch date of September 19. 

*Five and a half days from that date, we&#8217;re hopeful of placing Chandrayaan in the moon&#8217;s path. Once it&#8217;s captured by lunar gravity, we&#8217;ll use onboard thrusters to position it at 1,000 km before the orbital height is gradually reduced to 100 km,&#8221; he says.*

*&#8220;Though we&#8217;re aiming for the south pole, it could even be the north pole,&#8221; adds *Annadurai as his colleagues in white overalls and blue caps carry out last minute checks on the payload kept inside a huge sterilised hall at ISAC, Bangalore.

*&#8220;About 90 per cent of the fabrication is over. The equipment will be tested in a thermo-vacuum chamber to expose it to all thermal vagaries of the moon. Temperatures ranging from 180 degrees to minus 120 degrees will scorch and freeze it within the span of a lunar day,&#8221; *he says. 

&#8220;The payload will also be subjected to forces up to 15G to ensure that nothing affects it during its journey into space on the fourth stage,&#8221; says Annadurai even as several hands work overtime at VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, to get every aspect of the fourth stage right.

&#8220;This is the most crucial stage. It houses the flight computer, which drives the entire mission from lift-off,&#8221; Koshy points out as he walks us to a huge titanium bubble shining in a brightly-lit hall at Elix, VSSC&#8217;s electrical integration lab.

Thousands of cables in different colours connect the fourth stage to numerous computers that scan every minute point in the system. &#8220;There are 10,000 mandatory tests to be performed before we can stamp an okay on it,&#8221; smiles Prakash, the head of Elix. 

The number of interconnections that integrate this crucial phase with the rest of the vehicle is about 50,000. Once the systems integration is complete, the fourth stage will undergo a ground resonance test.

&#8220;There will be a series of tests that each part of the vehicle undergoes. We always keep the level one step beyond the expected conditions. We just do not want to be surprised,&#8221; says Koshy.

Hundreds of kilometres away, the hopes are echoed at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, where preparations are in an advanced stage for the launch that will inscribe an Indian dream on the moon.

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists
Mumbai (PTI): The 'Chandrayaan mission' will give Indian scientists an oppurtunity to become international players in space expedition, giving them an equal footing with their global partners, a top space scientist has said.

"We must go to the moon and this is important because it gives an opportunity for Indian scientists to become international players," K Kasturirangan, Rajya sabha memeber and former Chairman of Indian space Research Organisation (ISRO) said adressing students at Centre for Basic sciences (CBS) here last evening.

"We must become equal global partners just as we are in the Antarctic expeditions," he said.

'Chandrayaan I' is expected to be launched next month.

Highlighting the basic reasons for which India was sending unmanned mission to the Moon, he said, the scientists will have a chance to study the science behind origin of moon, the Moon-Earth-Sun system.

"The mission is also a technological challenge for interplanetary missions in the future that will be undertaken by ISRO," he told students pursuing the five-year integrated MSc course at CBS.

Such missions also gives inspiration to scientists besides students, teachers and other people who have lot of interest in space science and astronomy and astrophysics, he said.

The Moon mission is also promoting international cooperation in a big way enabling production and integration of all types of instrumentations and systems, Moon mission to give global footing to Indian scientists


----------



## nitesh

Deccan Herald - IIA developing solar telescope

IIA developing solar telescope

IIA News Service, Bangalore:

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is developing a high resolution solar telescope. Announcing this at the Founder&#8217;s Day celebration at the institute on Monday, Director of IIA, Prof Siraj Hassan said that the institute is collaborating with Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences in Nainital. 

The solar telescope would be of 2 metre diameter and is at a conceptual stage. A detailed project report is being prepared.

Prof Hasan said that the initial estimate of project was Rs 150 crore and it was expected to be ready by 2013. Three locations, one in Nainital and two in Ladakh have been identified as potential spots for installing the telescope.

Delivering the Founder&#8217;s Day lecture on 'Doing Science in India: Personal Reflections", Prof CNR Rao said that Nehru not only sowed the seeds of democracy, but also the seed of science policy. Reminiscing about his earlier days of research at the Indian Institute of Science, he said that there was hardly any equipment at IISc during those times, and yet the paper he wrote there, was the most highly cited paper. 

He also rued about the big gap that existed in the quality of research in India and abroad and even the development process had not bridged this gap. &#8220;There is a need to have fear of failure and anxiety of success. Not even 15 percent of research are coming out of universities. Not even a single university in the country can equal Harvard or Oxford. We have to increase the quality of research&#8221;, he maintained. Stating that most of the country&#8217;s talent lay in rural India, he said that they would make the knowledge centres of the world.


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## nitesh

Guys check this, this acts as a good motivator:
Deccan Herald - ISRO AWARDS ANNOUNCED


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## nitesh

News about moon mission:

India to launch maiden mission to moon this year: PM- Hindustan Times


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## jaison

okeyyeeeeeee


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## nitesh

Raytheon eyes India's global navigation system for ISRO, AAI - Sify.com

Raytheon eyes India's global navigation system for ISRO, AAI Saturday, 16 August , 2008, 14:07

New Delhi: A US defence major Raytheon would make a bid for a satellite-based navigation system for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Raytheon along with its Indian partners would bid for the system wit h its Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN) project, company's vice president for Airspace Management and Homeland Security Andy Zogg said in a statement.

Raytheon will lead the team to deliver the GAGAN solution to AAI and ISRO. GAGAN is expected to provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation across south and east Asia, which will provide India with the most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system deployed.

&#8220;We look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with ISRO and AAI during this critical phase of GAGAN,&#8221; Zogg said, promising that the company was committed to a thorough transfer of knowledge of GAGAN to further enhance India's leadershi p position in air navigation.

In November last year, Raytheon had announced the successful completion of the final system acceptance test to augment standard Global Positioning System signals over India. The Indian partners in the GAGAN project would be Accord Software and Systems f rom Bangalore for Global Positioning System (GPS)-based user-receiver prototype development optimised for equatorial region, and Elcome Technologies from Gurgaon for logistical and on-site support, he said.


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## jaison

this will surely improve the quality of air travel safety in the subcontinent.....


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## Contrarian

As far as i was aware, didnt Raytheon win the contract for the first phase of GAGAN as well?


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## nitesh

malaymishra123 said:


> As far as i was aware, didnt Raytheon win the contract for the first phase of GAGAN as well?



Yes sir, you are correct, kindly find the references:
The Hindu Business Line : GAGAN ready for demo phase

ISRO, Raytheon complete tests for GAGAN Satellite Navigational System | India Defence

But my question is can't it be used for precision bombing instead of GPS system, or only GLONASS will serve that purpose?


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## nitesh

This might be of interest:

Info about IRNSS and GAGAN:

http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/icg/2008/expert/2-3.pdf


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## nitesh

NDTV.com: Destination moon: ISRO's big challenge

Destination moon: ISRO's big challenge 
NDTV Correspondent 
Wednesday, August 20, 2008, (New Delhi)
India's maiden satellite to the moon, Chandrayaan-1 has been fully integrated and it is undergoing final tests before it can be sent in the next few weeks to the country's spaceport Sriharikota to be hoisted moon wards. 

Speaking to NDTV Dr G Madhavan Nair, chairman, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said, "the satellite is all dressed up and we can look forward to an October, 2008 launch."

Having mastered a host of technologies, ISRO's next big challenge really is the launch of Chandrayaan-1 (Moon Craft), the country's maiden shot at the moon to be launched using the 44-meter tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle that will weigh 316 tonnes at lift off, or to put it in perspective weigh more that the combined weight of 50 fully grown Asian elephants and is taller than seven storey building. PSLV with 12 consecutive successful launches is India's workhorse rocket. 

This moon mission costing about Rs 400 crore is a scientific venture meant for mapping the moon surface in detail like never before and will undertake the most intense search of water on our nearest planetary neighbour. This is first multi-continent mission in several decades, and also literally one where the tables have been turned around for once. 

In this mission, countries like USA, UK and Sweden are being given a literal free ride to the moon as India is just not charging them anything for taking their instruments to the moon. In this barter deal the contributing nations share data with each at no cost. The recent Japanese and Chinese mission carried only instruments from their own countries, while ISRO in its magnanimity opened its heart and coffers so that the global lunar community could join in this new race to the moon, now being led by the Asian nations. 

India's mark on space faring is now indelible with a mission for robotic landing on the moon called Chandrayaan-2 already slated for 2012 and spacecrafts to Mars, an asteroid and Sun already under planning. The Indian space agency is already eyeing sending an Indian up on an Indian rocket from Indian soil by 2015 and an Indian on the moon by 2025. 

Quoted in the book written by NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla and Subhadra Menon titled Destination Moon: India's Quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond and released on Tuesday, Nair says, twenty years from now when space travel is likely to become mundane like airlines travel today, we don't want to be buying travel tickets on other people's space vehicles. 

Moon is still an enigma

Even though the moon has been fabled in songs and poetry, and romanticized by lovers down the ages, the earth's closest neighbour is still an enigma in material terms. Can it sustain life? Does it have water? How did it come into existence? And what is its exact relationship with the earth?

Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden moon craft, will seek to unravel these and other mysteries in the most ambitious exploratory mission to the moon in decades. 

Conceptualized by Indian scientists, it is in some ways a global scientific endeavour, with European and American instruments hitching a ride on a lunar satellite and rocket designed and launched by the Indian Space Research Organization. 

When the mission was first proposed in 1999, it seemed wildly optimistic to most people. Could a developing nation with limited resources afford to invest so much money, time and effort on research into outer space? Yet, almost a decade later, India's science community has just about proven beyond doubt that it is capable of meeting the most exacting challenges.


----------



## Flintlock

India, Nasa tie up for Chandrayaan-India-The Times of India
*
India, Nasa tie up for Chandrayaan*
21 Aug 2008, 0201 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman,TNN

MUMBAI: Preparing to its first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, between October and December, India joined seven other nations to team up with Nasa for the future exploration of earth's only satellite.

Confirming this, Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI that a key pact was signed at a conference of International Lunar Users' Group at Nasa's Ames Research Centre last month. India was represented by Devi Prasad Karnik, space counsellor attached to the Indian embassy in Washington. The other seven countries are Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, France and Britain. Japan has already launched an unmanned mission to the moon. Germany, Italy and Britain had announced at International Astronautical Congress in 2007 that they planned their own lunar missions which would be independent of the European Space Agency.

The international lunar agreement, which Nasa says a "landmark" one, will allow India and the seven countries to join hands with Nasa for developing new technologies and send robotic exploratory missions for a manned return mission to the moon.

For Nasa, the lunar agreement is important as the eight countries, including India, are keen to send astronauts to the moon. Experts say the increased interest in the lunar science and the emergence of India, Japan and China as important space-faring nations will also help Nasa.


----------



## nitesh

Isro to launch Italian, Algerian satellites - Technology - livemint.com


Bangalore: Antrix Corp. Ltd, the commercial arm of India&#8217;s space agency, has won a pair of deals from Algeria and Italy to launch earth observation satellites next year on the polar satellite launch vehicle, or PSLV, its workhorse rocket.
The contract awarded by the Algerian space agency to launch Alsat-2A, a 200kg remote sensing satellite, is the first won by Antrix from an African nation. The Algerian agency has the option to launch a second such satellite. For the Italian space agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Antrix will launch a satellite named IMSAT, which will be the second Italian satellite to be boosted into space by the Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, which in April 2007 launched Agile, a 352kg scientific satellite.
The Algerian and Italian satellites, besides a 100kg satellite for Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Cubesat, a three-satellite package from the Netherlands, would ride piggyback on heavier Indian satellites, said K.R. Sridhara Murthi, managing director of Antrix. He didn&#8217;t disclose financial details.
Antrix is also in talks with space agencies of South Africa and Nigeria to carry out similar launches, Murthi said. &#8220;We are also looking at opportunities bigger than that&#8212;remote sensing satellites, where payloads (are) of 800kg or even higher.&#8221;
Isro offers the home-grown PSLV to carry satellites of up to 1,700kg into low-earth orbit at a cost that&#8217;s nearly 30&#37; cheaper than that charged by firms such as International Launch Services, owned by Space Transport Inc. and two Russian organizations, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia. Low-earth orbit is the region above earth between 200km and 2,000km, ideal to place earth observation or remote sensing satellites.
India is still a fledgling competitor in the global satellite manufacturing and launch industry, which is expected to grow to $145 billion (Rs6.3 trillion) over 10 years to 2016, from $116 billion in the 10 years to 2006, according to Paris-based research firm Euroconsult.
&#8220;(Isro&#8217;s) benchmark is with international specifications on quality, reliability and credibility of the systems. And then, you are also cost competitive,&#8221; said K. Kasturirangan, director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, a think tank in Bangalore. &#8220;The opportunity is just growing.&#8221;


----------



## jaison

nitesh said:


> Isro to launch Italian, Algerian satellites - Technology - livemint.com
> 
> 
> Bangalore: Antrix Corp. Ltd, the commercial arm of India&#8217;s space agency, has won a pair of deals from Algeria and Italy to launch earth observation satellites next year on the polar satellite launch vehicle, or PSLV, its workhorse rocket.
> The contract awarded by the Algerian space agency to launch Alsat-2A, a 200kg remote sensing satellite, is the first won by Antrix from an African nation. The Algerian agency has the option to launch a second such satellite. For the Italian space agency Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Antrix will launch a satellite named IMSAT, which will be the second Italian satellite to be boosted into space by the Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, which in April 2007 launched Agile, a 352kg scientific satellite.
> The Algerian and Italian satellites, besides a 100kg satellite for Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Cubesat, a three-satellite package from the Netherlands, would ride piggyback on heavier Indian satellites, said K.R. Sridhara Murthi, managing director of Antrix. He didn&#8217;t disclose financial details.
> Antrix is also in talks with space agencies of South Africa and Nigeria to carry out similar launches, Murthi said. &#8220;We are also looking at opportunities bigger than that&#8212;remote sensing satellites, where payloads (are) of 800kg or even higher.&#8221;
> Isro offers the home-grown PSLV to carry satellites of up to 1,700kg into low-earth orbit at a cost that&#8217;s nearly 30% cheaper than that charged by firms such as International Launch Services, owned by Space Transport Inc. and two Russian organizations, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia. Low-earth orbit is the region above earth between 200km and 2,000km, ideal to place earth observation or remote sensing satellites.
> India is still a fledgling competitor in the global satellite manufacturing and launch industry, which is expected to grow to $145 billion (Rs6.3 trillion) over 10 years to 2016, from $116 billion in the 10 years to 2006, according to Paris-based research firm Euroconsult.
> &#8220;(Isro&#8217;s) benchmark is with international specifications on quality, reliability and credibility of the systems. And then, you are also cost competitive,&#8221; said K. Kasturirangan, director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, a think tank in Bangalore. &#8220;The opportunity is just growing.&#8221;



antrix is doing things.


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## nitesh

US, Russia to help track India's moon mission - news.smashits.com

US, Russia to help track India's moon mission
Posted: 12:40a.m. IST, August 24, 2008
New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) India will be helped by Russia, Spain and the United States in deep space tracking of Chandrayaan-I, its maiden moon mission that will be launched later this year.

'Deep Space tracking of Chandrayaan-I is a tough task and needs global support. We are getting support from Russia, Spain and the US for tracking the movement of the mission,' K. Kasturirangan, former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. Kasturirangan is currently an adviser to ISRO.

'India has set up two antennas of 18 metre diameter and 32 metre diameter to track Chandrayaan but, looking at the huge task, other space agencies like NASA will help us in getting enough data,' Kasturirangan said.

Chandrayan-I, India's first unmanned lunar mission will be launched either in late October or in early December. ISRO does not launch any mission in November due to cyclonic atmosphere.

Kasturirangan said that while the 18-metre deep space network (DSN) antenna will track the movement of Chandrayan up to 100,000 km, the 32-metre DSN antenna would help capture data from the mission that involves a distance of 400,000 km.

ISRO has already installed the indigenously built 32-metre DSN antenna at Byalalu, a village 32 km from Bangalore.

M.G.K. Menon, another leading scientist and a former ISRO chief, said that deep space tracking network is expensive but once India builds the required infrastructure for it, 'we can use it repeatedly and reap the benefit'.

ISRO spokesman S. Satish, who was in Delhi earlier this week, said that the Chandrayaan had already been assembled.

'It's like a dress rehearsal now. It's undergoing several tests to face the tough environment of the moon. Soon it will undergo a vibration and acoustic test,' Satish told IANS.

'It will probe if there is water in the polar part of the moon. It will investigate the origin and its evolution,' he added.

The spacecraft will be launched by indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and will carry 11 payloads, including six of foreign countries.

These 11 payloads will bring back best digital elevation map of the moon, mineral concentration, and carry out environmental studies, direct measurement of radioactivity and provide transport on the lunar surface.


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## jaison

nitesh said:


> US, Russia to help track India's moon mission - news.smashits.com
> 
> US, Russia to help track India's moon mission
> Posted: 12:40a.m. IST, August 24, 2008
> New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS) India will be helped by Russia, Spain and the United States in deep space tracking of Chandrayaan-I, its maiden moon mission that will be launched later this year.
> 
> 'Deep Space tracking of Chandrayaan-I is a tough task and needs global support. We are getting support from Russia, Spain and the US for tracking the movement of the mission,' K. Kasturirangan, former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. Kasturirangan is currently an adviser to ISRO.
> 
> 'India has set up two antennas of 18 metre diameter and 32 metre diameter to track Chandrayaan but, looking at the huge task, other space agencies like NASA will help us in getting enough data,' Kasturirangan said.
> 
> Chandrayan-I, India's first unmanned lunar mission will be launched either in late October or in early December. ISRO does not launch any mission in November due to cyclonic atmosphere.
> 
> Kasturirangan said that while the 18-metre deep space network (DSN) antenna will track the movement of Chandrayan up to 100,000 km, the 32-metre DSN antenna would help capture data from the mission that involves a distance of 400,000 km.
> 
> ISRO has already installed the indigenously built 32-metre DSN antenna at Byalalu, a village 32 km from Bangalore.
> 
> M.G.K. Menon, another leading scientist and a former ISRO chief, said that deep space tracking network is expensive but once India builds the required infrastructure for it, 'we can use it repeatedly and reap the benefit'.
> 
> ISRO spokesman S. Satish, who was in Delhi earlier this week, said that the Chandrayaan had already been assembled.
> 
> 'It's like a dress rehearsal now. It's undergoing several tests to face the tough environment of the moon. Soon it will undergo a vibration and acoustic test,' Satish told IANS.
> 
> 'It will probe if there is water in the polar part of the moon. It will investigate the origin and its evolution,' he added.
> 
> The spacecraft will be launched by indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and will carry 11 payloads, including six of foreign countries.
> 
> These 11 payloads will bring back best digital elevation map of the moon, mineral concentration, and carry out environmental studies, direct measurement of radioactivity and provide transport on the lunar surface.


 so now even the us is helping us along with russians,seems to be a good development...


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## nitesh

Foreign push to moon mission 
Manoj K Das | ENS
29 Aug 2008 01:50:00 AM IST 

KOCHI: India&#8217;s moon mission is giving new dimensions to international scientific cooperation. A 50-member team of scientists from NASA and EADS (the European Space Agency) has arrived in the country to provide technical support to Chandrayaan-I.


The NASA team has already completed a thorough scrutiny of the Indian strategy to reach the moon at its Jet Propulsion Centre and stamped its endorsement. The NASA brains, along with the EADS scientists, are also studying the minute behaviour of the Chandrayaan satellite currently undergoing the crucial therm-vac tests at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.

The thermo-vacuum tests subject the payload to the vagaries of space where it is exposed to temperatures ranging from 180 degrees to minus 120 degrees. "Each time we switch over from one extreme to the other the data is analysed by the NASA-EADS team. The constant monitoring will continue till the satellite comes out of the thermvac chamber around September 12," said M Krishnaswamy, IRS programme director.

The foreign scientists are engaged in an extensive study of the ISRO&#8217;s launch plan. "NASA is studying the impact of gravity on our satellite while it is en route to the lunar pole. This being our first inter-planetary mission, we&#8217;ve no models on influences. NASA tested our software on their models and found that our plan should safely put Chandrayaan into lunar orbit," sources said.

The US has also agreed to undertake parallel tracking of the Chandrayaan till the satellite is placed in the moon&#8217;s orbit. "Though we plan to execute all crucial manoeuvres when Chandrayaan is visible to our stations, a couple of commands may have to be executed when it is not. NASA will track it during this phase," ISRO sources said. They also revealed that India and the US have already inked an MoU for smooth tracking of the Chandrayaan.

The ISRO is looking at a mid-October window for the launch. "The programme is now three days behind schedule. But we&#8217;re hopeful of making it happen on October 16 or 17. In case we miss this window, the next chance is on November 3 and then on November 16," sources said.

The launch date is dependent on the moon&#8217;s cycle.

ISRO&#8217;s plan is to station Chandrayaan at 400,000 km when the moon comes closest to earth. The satellite will be moved towards the moon&#8217;s southern polar field and allowed to be grabbed by lunar gravity. Then, through controlled firing of onboard rockets, it will be placed at a height of 100 km before the probe is launched to study the lunarscape.



Express Buzz - Foreign push to moon mission


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## nitesh

Students too join ISRO&#8217;s satellite project

Hemanth CS | ENS
29 Aug 2008 05:50:00 AM IST

BANGALORE: The complicated business of designing and developing space applications and putting space satellites on board will no longer be restricted to scientists or technocrats; students too are set to be part of India&#8217;s latest space mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is currently undertaking the &#8220;youth satellite&#8221; project, a dedicated satellite for scientific experiments, has the participation of undergraduate and post graduate students. The youth satellite, according to ISRO, will be launched next year from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on board a polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) for conducting experiments on remote sensing and observing outer space.

Students of the Moscow University and Andhra University, along with other education institutions, have already been involved in the project, DVA Raghava Murthy, project director, Youth Satellite told to this website's newspaper. &#8220;The configuration of the three payloads has already been finalised. One payload for solar fare observing (SOLRAD) is being currently developed by students of Moscow University.

The other two payloads which the launch vehicle will carry are being developed in India,&#8221; he said. The two payloads currently being developed by students in Indian universities are the astrospheric limb viewing payload and the radiobeacon for ionospheric tomography (RABIT) payload. This apart, ISRO has also finalised the configuration of the main spacecraft, which is said to be in the fabrication stage.

Students of Andhra University and other institutions have been pursuing the project; a project team of around 30 ISRO officials are also involved. The Banaras Hindu University is said to have evinced an interest in being part of the youth satellite project, which is the brainchild of former President Abdul Kalam, who incidentally, during his visit to the city, christened the project the &#8220;youth satellite&#8221; project.

The project will help in conducting experiments in galactic observation and atmospheric studies. &#8220;The young students will benefit a great deal through the experiments, as they will be involved in the data utilisation process,&#8221; said Raghava Murthy.

Express Buzz - Students too join ISRO


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## nitesh

Good news

The Hindu Business Line : ISRO arm&#8217;s revenue up at Rs 940-cr on satellite launches

ISRO arm&#8217;s revenue up at Rs 940-cr on satellite launches
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
&#8216;We have also now entered into a good business contract of $5 million (around Rs 20 crore a year) from Russia for IRS data.&#8217;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, Aug. 30 Two commercial satellite launches made from Sriharikota during 2007-08 have driven up the revenue of ISRO&#8217;s commercial arm Antrix Corporation to Rs 940 crore for that year.

Antrix&#8217;s pre-audit revenue grew nearly 42 per cent year on year &#8212; up from Rs 664 crore &#8212; due to the launch of Israeli defence satellite TecSAR in January 2008 and Italy&#8217;s Agile in April 2007. A part of it spilled over from the previous year.

The mainstay of business, however, remains the leasing of transponder capacity on ISRO satellites to broadcasters, VSATs and public sector users, according to Antrix&#8217;s Executive Director, Mr K.R. Sridhara Murthi. The space services and systems provider of the Department of Space is now a &#8216;mini ratna&#8217; &#8211; which gives it relatively more autonomy to take faster decisions on some of its projects and collaborations.

Antrix also saw its provisional profit after tax touching Rs 169 crore, or 60 per cent growth over Rs 105 crore it gained in fiscal 2007. Two years back, in 2005-06, Antrix&#8217;s sales were Rs 414 crore.

In the complex and volatile global space services market: &#8220;This growth is certainly heartening but it also poses a challenge as to how we maintain further growth&#8221;, Mr Murthi told Business Line.

IMAGERY, LAUNCH DEALS
In remote sensing data sales, which gave 10 per cent of the revenue last year, Antrix has wrested the big and growing Australian market, where it will sell imageries from Resourcesat/IRS-P5. Australia has apparently sought Indian data to replace long-time supplies from US Landsat earth observation satellites after there were supply hitches. Australia, new and important territory to Antrix, would be served initially for three years.

&#8220;We have also now entered into a good business contract of $5 million (around Rs 20 crore a year) from Russia for IRS data,&#8221; Mr Murthi said. In the past, Russia was an occasional user of IRS data and it can renew the one-year deal.

It recently signed contracts to launch two satellites as co-passengers next year. These are the Italian space agency&#8217;s 200-kg IMSAT and Algeria&#8217;s Alsat-2A, a 200-kg earth observation satellite. ISRO reportedly charged Rs 45 crore for Agile and a little more than that for TecSAR.

&#8220;We are looking at launching some more nanosats and a couple of other opportunities,&#8221; Mr Murthi said.

Ideally, Antrix, like other space majors, would prefer to peg its growth on the bigger pie of building and launching satellites for global customers. ISRO has been making its satellites for over a decade and has also launched 16 tiny and small satellites for a fee. Its real opportunity in launch services, according to Mr Murthi, will start opening up when the GSLV-MkIII that can lift four tonnes to space gets into service in two years.

Currently, ISRO is working on two satellite integration contracts that it won jointly with EADS Astrium. The W2M satellite is to be delivered to Eutelsat around October. The other one, HYLAS, is for Avanti Screen Media of the UK.


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## Marshal

RIA Novosti - World - India plans to launch first space shuttle in 2010 - space official

BANGALORE, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - India is planning to launch a reusable spacecraft for the first time in 2010 and to send a mission to Mars as early as 2012, a senior space official said Monday. 

India has been successfully developing its space program in recent years, regularly launching satellites using its own booster rockets. 

"Our target [for the first launch] is before 2010," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Madhavan Nair as saying. 

Indian scientists have already designed a prototype of the space shuttle to measure parameters of the vehicle and determine future work on the project, the official said. 

"The launch vehicle will use a rocket to boost it up to Mach 5 or so," Nair said, adding that air-breathing modules could be integrated into the reusable delivery vehicle. 

The news agency said the ISRO is also focusing its attention on an unmanned mission to Mars to study chemical attributes of the Martian atmosphere, and the planet's sub-soil and terrain. The mission could take place as early as in 2012. 

India earlier announced plans to launch 15 telecommunications satellites and 8-10 earth remote sensing satellites by March 2012, when the 11th five-year plan has been completed.


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## Marshal

*India set to launch a reusable spacecraft * 
TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos -
India is surging ahead literally out of this world as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) begins work on a wholly indigenous effort to build a space shuttle that will carry Indians into the space like US space shuttle, Columbia. India is planning to launch a reusable spacecraft for the first time in 2010 and to send a mission to Mars as early as 2012. 

India has been successfully developing space program in recent years and regularly launching satellites using booster rockets. But with a little cooperation with either USA or Russia, India will be able to cut the huge costs and share technology to build its own shuttle. India has agreements with both and could get help from either or both countries. 

Former ISRO Chairman, Dr K Kasturirangan, and now advisor says the first prototype is a few years away, The instruments and the satellite are under the final tests in ISRO satellite centre. So this will take a month and a half for to go through these tests and make sure that all the systems are behaving normally under the conditions of the space. Subsequently, there will be flight readiness review and a mission readiness review. I can except anything earliest could be the next two months.


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## nitesh

marshal, is this is the AVATAR

Isn't 2012 is too ambitious deadline for MARS mission?

But any way good news 
check some thing I have old references



> ISRO completes ground trials of hyperplane engine
> Monday April 5 2004 13:06 IST
> 
> KOCHI: After the US successfully flew its first hypersonic jet, itâs now Indiaâs turn to test its air-breathing propulsion system.
> 
> The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed the ground-level trials of the air-breathing engine and is preparing to move into more advanced stages of development. Top sources told this newspaper that the ISRO would be able to launch the first technology-demonstrator within two years.
> 
> Special teams have been formed to prepare the indigenous system for its first flight. ââWe plan to put it on a sounding rocket instead of carrying it on an aircraft like NASA. The module will be launched at a height of 20-25 km at a speed of about Mach 6. It will draw oxygen from the atmosphere and convert it into fuel for further propulsion,ââ top sources said.
> 
> Through the Air-Breathing Propulsion Project (ABPP), being undertaken in Thiruvananthapuram, Indian space research will join the league of the US. Though many other countries attempted the concept, none had been successful.
> 
> ââWe are happy with the ground tests. The system produced desirable floor rates. Next round of experiments will be held at the National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore,ââ sources said.
> 
> The ISRO will also send a special team to the Liquid Propulsion Centre, Mahendragiri, for a crucial phase of the project. ââThis is injection of hydrogen into the system. During its supersonic flight, the technology will breath in oxygen. This will be mixed with hydrogen on board to create fuel for forward manoeuvres,ââ sources said.
> 
> The ABPP, also known as hyperplane, is intended at providing a most-efficient, technologically-reliable and cost-effective space launch system.
> 
> ââWe have adopted a step by step approach. And the first strides have been quite satisfactory,ââ said G.Madhavan Nair, ISRO chairman. ââThe engine module has been satisfactorily tested at ground level. We are indeed hopeful of flying it in another 18 monthsâ time,ââ he said.
> 
> The ISRO is aiming to touch Mach 6 during the first flight. ââWe have demands for achieving Mach 10. This is, perhaps, the first step,ââ Madhavan Nair said.
> 
> The idea of using a two-stage sounding rocket is also to keep the costs down. The system may be accommodated in the second stage of the rocket that will effectively take it up to 25-km height. ââThe scientists have been able to hold combustion effectively. This, itself, is a significant landmark or a strong foundation for us to build further,ââ sources said.
> 
> India plans to use the hyperplane for cheaper satellite launches. A similar project, titled Avatar, is also being undertaken by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). ââAny rocket system will have military use also. So itâs not surprising,ââ sources quipped.
> 
> Link
> - Newindpress.com



and


> http://www.geocities.com/spacetransport/spacecraft-avatar.html

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## Marshal

In fact when I first saw the news on timesnow I thought it was a joke.....the reporter was even claiming that the Indian shuttle is comparabale to columbia..............but yes I think it has to be the AVTAR...... Remember India and Russia signed the deal to develope the space shuttle back in Jan 2007 during the visit of then Russian Pres. Putin. I think the probable russian involvement in this project could have played a part for early complition of the project..but this is just a speculation on my part...


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## nitesh

Marshal said:


> In fact when I first saw the news on timesnow I thought it was a joke.....the reporter was even claiming that the Indian shuttle is comparabale to columbia..............but yes I think it has to be the AVTAR...... Remember India and Russia signed the deal to develope the space shuttle back in Jan 2007 during the visit of then Russian Pres. Putin. I think the probable russian involvement in this project could have played a part for early complition of the project..but this is just a speculation on my part...



ok refer this also:

A scramjet that cruises at 17290 km/hr - Newindpress.com


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> ok refer this also:
> 
> A scramjet that cruises at 17290 km/hr - Newindpress.com



yes I read it sometimes a go......... but dont you think the 17290 km/hr speed is bit too much.!! ????? I think it should be somewhere around 7000 to 10000.......


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## Sam Dhanraj

Marshal said:


> ..............but yes I think it has to be the AVTAR......



Marshal, I may be wrong but Avatar(HSTD) is the system being devloped by DRDO while at the same time ISRO is devloping its own system called RLV. Both of them had set 2010 as deadline. So these are two seperate Programs running at the same time and ISRO seems ahead at this moment.

Found some details here..


> *India's hypersonic jets catch attention​*
> 18 Aug 2008 06:12:00 PM IST
> 
> *An Indian double *has caught global attention in the hypersonic race for cheap and cost effective launch technology. Bidding for their rightful place among the world&#8217;s majors, two of the country&#8217;s premier agencies are in the advanced stages of proving scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology to meet their respective strategic needs.
> 
> 
> *While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) for launching satellites, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is dreaming about a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator (HSTD) to carry a range of weapons faster and farther.*
> 
> Both have set a 2010 deadline. And both are in the pre-fabrication stage. But *ISRO has the edge as it has already carried out a seven-second experimental combustion of a test engine.* To state that both the projects are progressing at somewhat the same pace won&#8217;t be far off the mark.
> 
> But there&#8217;s a remarkable design difference between the RLV and the HSTD. ISRO&#8217;s hypersonic plane, being built at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, is a winged body while the HSTD is a sleeker structure. The only common architecture, perhaps, is the air intake scoop at the front through which atmospheric air will be sucked in before oxygen is separated from it to oxidise the onboard fuel.
> 
> This is how the scramjet bypasses the need to carry an oxidiser on board. In a conventional rocket, the fuel and oxidiser are stored separately and burnt in a regulated combustion of eight grams of oxygen to one gram of fuel. But in the scramjet, oxygen is isolated from the air, compressed and introduced to a stream of fuel.
> 
> To ensure that sufficient oxygen is ingested for a self-sustaining flight, the scramjet must get to supersonic speeds before going ahead with its designated mission of launching a satellite for ISRO or delivering a warhead for DRDO.
> 
> This speed is achieved by coupling the scramjet to a conventional rocket during the initial phase of the flight. "We will mount the RLV prototype on a sounding rocket (S9). The rocket will speed it up to Mach 5 before the body is allowed to surf and suck air for onboard combustion. This process fires the scramjet and propels the payload to the desired orbit at speeds between Mach 8 and 10," says VSSC director K Radhakrishnan.
> 
> *The DRDO plans to use a core-alone Agni stage (S1). The capsule containing the HSTD will ride on Agni to stratospheric heights.* After the first stage separates, the capsule shifts to a horizontal alignment and opens up to allow the HSTD to skim the atmosphere and breathe air.
> 
> &#8220;We&#8217;re in an advanced stage. The shock tunnel test will soon be conducted. *Our plan is to have a 400-second flight by 2009,&#8217;&#8217; says M S Sundareshan, technical adviser at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad. The DRDL is currently firing its test engine in a ground facility.*
> 
> &#8220;The initial results are promising. We achieved significant thrust value,&#8221; says Sundareshan, adding that achieving hypersonic levels is a challenge that no nation except the US has met. The DRDO needs such speeds for weapon delivery at very great distances. The job is now done by Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles.
> 
> But like space rockets, ICBMs are a very costly chemical proposition. &#8220;The hyperplane can fly in at fast speeds, fire the missile or launch the warhead and return. The reusability will reduce our costs significantly,&#8221; says DRDL director Dr Venugopalan.
> 
> Cost figures in ISRO&#8217;s calculus as well. &#8220;The cost of launching a satellite using conventional rockets like the PSLV or GSLV is $25,000 to $28,000 per kg. The scramjet can reduce it to $500. This will make any nation with such a technology a launch destination,&#8221; says Radhakrishnan.
> 
> One great attraction is that the RLV can be brought back and reused. &#8220;The conventional rocket is expendable. Each stage burns out as the payload soars. But the RLV will come back after its mission,&#8221; he says.
> 
> *ISRO will land the RLV on the sea using parachutes. But a project to facilitate its landing like an unmanned aircraft is on the anvil. DRDO also plans to land it like an aircraft. &#8220;We&#8217;ve a few UAV projects going where this technology is being experimented with. It can be integrated with the HSTD*,&#8221; sources say.
> 
> Another frontier that scramjet research has opened up is advanced metallurgy. &#8220;We&#8217;re talking about a craft that moves at great speeds, breaks off from the atmosphere and re-enters, weathering high temperatures and atmospheric friction. There are several new alloys being developed. Apart from their use in scramjet vehicles, this research will impact the whole gamut of strategic metallurgy,&#8221; says Dr G Malakondaiah, director of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad.
> 
> India is experimenting with silica-carbon-silica and nickel-based alloys to cover the scramjet. Both alloys have high thermal resistance. A prototype using these alloys will be subjected to wind tunnel tests to gauge their strength against the vagaries of the atmosphere and beyond.
> 
> It is but natural for anyone to wonder why two Indian agencies are developing the same technology in parallel, with so much, except the sophisticated nature of the end-use, in common. ISRO insiders blame it on the absence of a pro-active culture within DRDO&#8217;s portals; the latter finds fault with ISRO&#8217;s big brother attitude.
> 
> &#8220;It&#8217;s the typical Indian defence story,&#8221; says one former top gun of ISRO. &#8220;In a way, it&#8217;s a blessing in disguise. Whoever proves it first will attract global attention. With the country inching closer to the concept of aerospace strategic forces, there will be a lot of give and take once the technology is proved indigenously,&#8221; he adds.
> 
> And the scramjet will place India in a league of nations that includes the US, Japan, China, Russia, Australia and Europe where this nascent technology is the latest scientific fad.
> 
> http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/...n4=&SectionName=n5rce3HBdMPVeH7FlL5aBQ==&SEO=

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## nitesh

so guys, we are moving in two fronts. In my definition DRDO is working towards giving our armed forces "sudarshan chakra" (as the HSDTV can come back after weapons delivery) and ISRO towards reusable vehicles for satellite delivery.


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## Sam Dhanraj

Earlier Joey had posted some very useful information on this forum in this thread below....I found it very informative.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-photos-multimedia/6330-hstdv.html


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## nitesh

In response to an order placed by BEL, Ghaziabad for development of 12.88m dia radomes for the 9M dia Doppler Weather Radar developed by BEL-Ghaziabad (technology transferred from ISRAD-ISRO), NAL has successfully designed and built the country&#8217;s first state-of-the-art 12.88m dia MARK-II Radome, installed around the 9m dia DW Radar at BEL-Bangalore site.

In continuation to the MARK-I Radome (146 panels) developed earlier for ISTRAC-ISRO, this MARK-II Radome was developed to get better EM performance, with increased panel size of approx 7 sq. m (against the 3sq m of MARK-I). This MARK-II radome has only 66 panels and is configured with randomized joints. Non-linear FEM analysis was carried out to establish factors of safety against buckling at wind speeds of 250 kmph (normal) and 300 kmph (gust). A totally new tooling system was exclusively developed for large panel fabrication and the panels were fabricated using the room temperature vacuum bag moulding technique (RTVBM). The Radome panels after inspection by BEL has been installed at BEL-Bangalore site, to carry out the Radar Antenna-Radome Assembly tests, as per the test procedure evolved by ISRAD (ISRO). The end users of the radome are ISRO / DRDO / IMD. Efforts are on to transfer of technology (TOT) to BEL (GAD) for productionisation of these MARK-II Radomes.

News and Events, NAL, Bangalore


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## nitesh

SpectraTime to Supply Atomic Clocks to IRNSS | Inside GNSS

SpectraTime has announced its receipt of a contract valued at approximately &#8364;4 million to supply rubidium space clocks for the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), a GNSS system that is under development by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 

The IRNSS will consist of seven satellites, three in geostationary orbit and the other four in geosynchronous orbit. First launch of an IRNSS is currently expected in 2009. The system will transmit BOC(5,2) and BPSK signals at the L5 frequency (1176.45 MHz) and also in S-band. 

Headquartered in Neuchatel, Switzerland, SpectraTime is part of the Orolia group of companies and has provided atomic clocks for Europe&#8217;s Galileo and China&#8217;s Compass GNSS systems. 

Within 5 years, the company expects to have more spaceborne atomic clocks in orbit than any other company, according to Pascal Rochat, SpectraTime&#8217;s CEO.


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## nitesh

Bangalore to host India's maiden space exposition
Friday, 05 September , 2008, 13:18


Bangalore: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Indian Space Research Organisation and its marketing arm Antrix is organising India's maiden space exposition from November 29 to December 1.

To be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), the Bengaluru Space Expo (BSX) 2008 will showcase the latest in technology and products from various space agencies, entrepreneurs and industries focusing on areas such as space science, space technology, infrastructure, space application and space exploration items, according to an ISRO announcement today.

A concurrent two-day international conference "world Space-Biz" would be organised to highlight the achievements of the industry and to discuss its future requirements and deliberate on commercialisation of space.

Presentations will be made by experts from the space industry from India and overseas.

Speakers from global space agencies and industry would discuss on agendas such as access to space, space commercialisation, space adventure and exploration, space vendors and suppliers and risk management. 

Bangalore to host India's maiden space exposition - Sify.com


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## nitesh

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/Science/20080907/1047129.html

NSG waiver will give access to latest technology: ISRO chief

September 7th, 2008 - 6:33 pm ICT by IANS - 

Chennai, Sep 7 (IANS) The lifting of the 34-year embargo against nuclear supplies to India would help the nation access latest global technological advancements, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Sunday.&#8221;Though we are fairly advanced in this field, thanks to the NSG nod we will have access to uninterrupted supply of global inputs and technological advancements as the development is a clear recognition of our nuclear capability,&#8221; Nair told reporters.

The preparations for the unmanned space mission Chandraayan was proceeding as planned and some of its vital parametrical needs would be completed by October, Nair added.

Nair was en route to a nearby university to accept a honorary doctorate.


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-I passes thermal vacuum test 

BANGALORE: The Chandrayaan-I satellite has successfully undergone the thermal vacuum test even as Indian space scientists achieved a major milestone inching closer to the country's first mission to the moon. 

A formal announcement on the date of the eagerly awaited launch is expected to be made by Chairman of the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G Madhavan Nair next week. 

The two-week vacuum test to evaluate the thermal design of the spacecraft and to verify its endurance in the harsh environment of space, has just been completed at ISRO Satellite Centre here, sources in the space agency said. 

"The test was satisfactory," an ISRO official said. "Environment and acoustics tests will follow, and the pre-shipment review is expected by this month-end". 

The ambitious moon mission is slated for second half of October. An ISRO official said on condition of anonymity that the first available date is October 22, and the launch window has been fixed between October 22 and 26. 

ISRO officials said it's an "exceptional example" of international collaboration towards exploring the moon. 

The nearly 1,400 kg Chandrayaan-I satellite would be launched by the 316-tonne Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the spaceport of Sriharikota. 

There are six scientific payloads from NASA, ESA and Bulgaria in addition to the five Indian instruments onboard Chandrayaan-I. 

Chandrayaan-I passes thermal vacuum test-India-The Times of India


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : GAGAN project gets Govt nod

GAGAN project gets Govt nod
Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept 11

In a move, which will allow seamless navigation and better use of Indian air space, the Government on Thursday approved a joint proposal of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to implement Global Position System aided Geo Augmented Navigational system or GAGAN programme.

Seamless navigation
*The complete implementation of the programme will allow India to have satellite-based navigation system instead of the ground-based navigation system being adopted at present. &#8220;The operationalisation of the system will allow seamless navigation over Indian air space apart from a enabling aircraft to navigate a straight route instead of navigating a zig-zag path over land based stations at present. Besides, the system will provide coverage of oceanic areas which is not possible with a terrestrial system,&#8221; said a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.*

Two phases
The programme will be realised in two phases &#8211; the GAGAN technology demonstration system, which was completed in August last year and the final operation phase to be implemented for operations use and to be certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This phase is expected to be completed by May 2011.

India will become only the fourth country globally to implement such a programme.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 774 crore of which Rs 148 crore was spent during the TDS phase while the remaining amount will be spent to implement the final operation phase, officials said.

AAI is expected to contribute Rs 596 crore, which will be mainly garnered from internal resources, while ISRO will contribute Rs 178 crore from its budget.


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : GAGAN project gets Govt nod

GAGAN project gets Govt nod
Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept 11

In a move, which will allow seamless navigation and better use of Indian air space, the Government on Thursday approved a joint proposal of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to implement Global Position System aided Geo Augmented Navigational system or GAGAN programme.

Seamless navigation
*The complete implementation of the programme will allow India to have satellite-based navigation system instead of the ground-based navigation system being adopted at present. The operationalisation of the system will allow seamless navigation over Indian air space apart from a enabling aircraft to navigate a straight route instead of navigating a zig-zag path over land based stations at present. Besides, the system will provide coverage of oceanic areas which is not possible with a terrestrial system, said a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.*

Two phases
The programme will be realised in two phases  the GAGAN technology demonstration system, which was completed in August last year and the final operation phase to be implemented for operations use and to be certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This phase is expected to be completed by May 2011.

India will become only the fourth country globally to implement such a programme.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 774 crore of which Rs 148 crore was spent during the TDS phase while the remaining amount will be spent to implement the final operation phase, officials said.

AAI is expected to contribute Rs 596 crore, which will be mainly garnered from internal resources, while ISRO will contribute Rs 178 crore from its budget.


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## nitesh

The Statesman

ndia approves satellite navigation project

Statesman News Service
NEW DELHI, Sept. 11: F*or providing seamless navigation over Indian airspace and waters, the government today approved implementation of Rs 774-crore Global Positioning System (GPS) aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) project. 
This project involves development of indigenous technology in frontier areas and is expected to yield a number of benefits to the aviation sector.* 
Apart from enabling aircraft to navigate on a straight path instead of navigating in a zig-zag path over land based stations, it will provide coverage of oceanic areas which is not possible by terrestrial systems. *It will increase safety by using three dimensional (3D) approach operations-enabling multiple approach capability, improve airport and airspace access in all weather conditions, enhance reliability and reduce delays. 
It will also help airlines cause by providing fuel-efficient air corridors and providing CAT-I approaches without ground element support.* The Indian Space Research Organisation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are developing this system jointly. *With implementation of Gagan, India will become 
the fourth country in the world to have a satellite based navigation system,* a spokesperson said. 
The civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, said the GAGAN system will be in place by 2011 and it will make flying much safer than at present. *He said of the Rs 774 crore estimated expenditure on the project, AAI would spend Rs 580 crore.* 
The implementation of the Gagan programme is being realised in two phases. *The first, Gagan TDS phase (Technology Demonstration System), was completed in August, 2007.*


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> The Statesman
> 
> ndia approves satellite navigation project
> 
> Statesman News Service
> NEW DELHI, Sept. 11: F*or providing seamless navigation over Indian airspace and waters, the government today approved implementation of Rs 774-crore Global Positioning System (GPS) aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) project.
> This project involves development of indigenous technology in frontier areas and is expected to yield a number of benefits to the aviation sector.*
> Apart from enabling aircraft to navigate on a straight path instead of navigating in a zig-zag path over land based stations, it will provide coverage of oceanic areas which is not possible by terrestrial systems. *It will increase safety by using three dimensional (3D) approach operations-enabling multiple approach capability, improve airport and airspace access in all weather conditions, enhance reliability and reduce delays.
> It will also help airlines&#8217; cause by providing fuel-efficient air corridors and providing CAT-I approaches without ground element support.* The Indian Space Research Organisation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are developing this system jointly. *&#8220;With implementation of Gagan, India will become
> the fourth country in the world to have a satellite based navigation system,&#8221;* a spokesperson said.
> The civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, said the GAGAN system will be in place by 2011 and it will make flying much safer than at present. *He said of the Rs 774 crore estimated expenditure on the project, AAI would spend Rs 580 crore.*
> The implementation of the Gagan programme is being realised in two phases. *The first, Gagan TDS phase (Technology Demonstration System), was completed in August, 2007.*



thats good News. is this system defferent from IRNSS or both are same???


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## nitesh

Marshal said:


> thats good News??? is this system defferent from IRNSS or both are same???



IRNSS is a different system, it will be used mainly for military purpose.


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## nitesh

Salem College students develop motors and components for ISRO rockets and satellites 
12 September 2008 

Salem: For the first time in the country, two special brushless motors, which form an important part of the Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), India's largest space launch vehicle and in controlling satellite panels, have been developed by students of a local engineering college here.

These motors were earlier imported by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

A prototype of this motor was displayed by students of Sona College of Technology to ISRO scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VVSC) and ISRO's inertial systems unit (IISU) at Thiruvanthapuram. 

The first motor, which will be placed in the rocket nozzle of the GSLV to control its direction, is a 32 newton metre, 1000 rotations per minute quadruplex brushless DC torque motor, according to Prof Kannan, director of Sona Special Power Electronics and Electric Drives (SSPEED). 

The second motor, which controls the rotation of the panels in a satellite, is a 2 newton metre, 50 rotations per minute slotless brushless DC motor. It will be used in the scan mechanism of microwave analysis detection of rain and atmospheric structures for the Megha Tropiques Spacecraft. 

ISRO's inertial systems unit needed 'cog free' motors to enhance the performance of precision scanning mechanisms in spacecraft and SSPEED had met all the required parameters, Prof Kannan said. 

Prof Kannan said this was a "unique" achievement by an institution, which designed and developed an aerospace quality component for actual use in ISRO's satellites and rockets. "This would save precious foreign exchange and provide valuable technical know how," he said.

domain-b.com : Salem College students develop motors and components for ISRO rockets and satellites


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## Contrarian

nitesh said:


> IRNSS is a different system, it will be used mainly for military purpose.



No, it will be our equivalent to the NAVSTAR GPS. Its our own GPS which would cover Indian subcontinent and our regions of interest. It would be used by everyone like in aviation, etc. But we would have our own military grade signals for use by the Armed Forces.

Also we have the GAGAN project going on, which improves the accuracy for all GPS signals. Its first phase is already done and tenders are on for the second phase. Raytheon won the bid for the first phase and is the lead contender for the second phase as well. GAGAN when completed would augment the accuracy of IRNS, NAVSTAR GPS, and GLONASS.

I believe we are the third/fourth country in the world to have a GPS enhancing system(considering that EU implemented it as a whole).


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## nitesh

But isn't IRNSS is supposed to take signals also from GLONASS. So creating redundancy for the satellites in our immediate area of interest.


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## Contrarian

IRNS is not supposed to take signals from GLONASS. It creates GPS signals just LIKE GLONASS, but limited to South Asia and parts of Middle East-Indian area of interest and action.

We already have access to mil grade signals from GLONASS. India is a partner in the GLONASS constellation. India will launch a couple of the GLONASS satellites.

GAGAN, takes signals from GLONASS/NAVSTAR/IRNS and increases their accuracy by a good amount.


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## nitesh

Thanks for clearing it, but again it is just creating redundancy in terms of signal acceptable. In case if any body hits IRNSS signals, GLONASS is working. If some body hits GLONASS then it is dragging russia in to war.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : Chandrayaan-1 on course for launch

Chandrayaan-1 on course for launch

T.S. Subramanian
Passes battery of tests in Space Simulation Chamber

BANGALORE: The sticker on the threshold just says, &#8220;Spacecraft checkout No.4.&#8221; As we entered the mezzanine-like floor on Monday and looked below, the gorgeous looking Chandrayaan-1, enveloped in golden yellow insulation foil, came into view.

It was in the dirt-free &#8220;clean room&#8221; of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, and men dressed in white overalls, were fussing over it and conducting checks. It had passed a battery of tests in the space simulation chamber (SSC), where it was subjected to extremes of hot and cold temperatures.

Tests that unfolded its solar panel, as if were an accordion, and for pointing its antenna were equally successful. It will now face vibration and noise tests. Things are moving ahead for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India&#8217;s first spacecraft to the moon, before the end of October from Sriharikota by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle called PSLV-XL.

Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments, five from India and six from abroad. They will map the minerals and chemicals on the lunar soil and also provide clues to the moon&#8217;s origin.

ISAC Director T.K. Alex called it &#8220;a complicated mission&#8221; because &#8220;for the first time, we are sending a spacecraft beyond the earth&#8217;s orbit&#8221; (that is, it will orbit the moon). The moon is nearly four lakh km away and the spacecraft has to be manoeuvred precisely in stages to reach the moon&#8217;s orbit.

After all the 11 instruments were successfully integrated into Chandrayaan-1, it underwent thermo-vacuum tests in the special facility SSC. The spacecraft was subjected to 120 degrees Celsius and minus 150 degrees Celsius in the chamber. &#8220;It was tested in varying temperatures for almost 20 days. The performance of the spacecraft and its instruments were thoroughly checked and we found that they were all working well,&#8221; said Dr. Alex.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, asserted that there were &#8220;no issues&#8217; when the spacecraft went through thermo-vacuum tests, including &#8220;soak and shock tests.&#8221; During the &#8220;soak&#8221; tests, it was subjected to high temperatures for long durations. In &#8220;shock&#8221; tests, it alternately went through high and very low temperatures in quick succession. &#8220;During these tests also, we found that there was no issue and all the systems were working well,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.

He called the SSC a big contraption that &#8220;looks like a well.&#8221; It is four metres in diameter and seven metres in depth. It has a big lid.

Chandrayaan-1 is now getting ready for the vibration and acoustic tests from September 20. It will be placed on a shake-table. Mr. Annadurai said: &#8220;We will generate the vibrations that the spacecraft will undergo when it is launched by the PSLV. Then we move on to the acoustic chamber, where we generate noise similar to that made by the PSLV engines. The spacecraft has to withstand that also.&#8221;

While an aircraft engine produced 145 decibels of noise, the PSLV engines produced 150 decibels, Dr. Alex explained. &#8220;We are on course for transporting Chandrayaan-1 to Sriharikota by the end of this month (September),&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.


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## Marshal

http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan-1/announcement_1.htm
NDTV.com: Countdown to India's moon mission begins
Pallava Bagla 
Wednesday, September 17, 2008, (Sriharikota)

Wrapped in a golden foil are India's space dreams, waiting to take off. Chandrayaan, that literally means a vehicle to the Moon is s a first for India. Engineers from the ISRO are busy giving final touches to the satellite that is carrying scientific instruments from India and abroad to map the moon resources like never before. 

NDTV was given very rare access to the high tech clean room where the satellite awaits launch. 

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, says: "The spacecraft is fully ready, integragetd, tested and the fully dressed up baby. The Chandrayyan is raring to go all the way to the Moon for exploration and the whole team is fully charged, anxious, a bit nervous. And weather Gods permitting, we will be able to put the space craft around the Moon at the end of October."

Chandrayaan-1 is an unmanned satellite that will be launched using India's tried and tested rocket the polar satellite launch vehicle, or PSLV. 

The journey to Moon will take 5 and half days. In its two-year life, the satellite will also search for water on the Moon.

While also attempting to place the Tricolour on the surface of the Moon that would bring India into a league of its own. 

A few more tests, and Chandrayaan-1 will begin its lunar journey. 

The launch of Chandrayaan will hail India's arrival as an important regional power with big dreams since missions to study Mars, and the Sun are already planned ISRO then hopes at putting an Indian in space on an Indian rocket very soon.

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## Marshal



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## nitesh

marshal, please put it in the Indian space capabilities thread na.


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> marshal, please put it in the Indian space capabilities thread na.



Sorry..........!!!


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## nitesh

mods merge the the threads please


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## Neo

Done!


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## nitesh

guys one question,

why there is sudden frenzy towards moon? I mean why most of the countries are looking towards moon suddenly. Any body has clue?


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> guys one question,
> 
> why there is sudden frenzy towards moon? I mean why most of the countries are looking towards moon suddenly. Any body has clue?



probably for two reason...
1)to build the base on the moon for future deep space exploration...
2)For tritium......as earth has very limited source of tritium......Most of the scientist belive that there is a possible large reserve of the tritium on moon......


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## nitesh

Marshal said:


> probably for two reason...
> 1)to build the base on the moon for future deep space exploration...
> 2)For tritium......as earth has very limited source of tritium......Most of the scientist belive that there is a possible large reserve of the tritium on moon......



oo check these link:

seems like for helium 3 which will be used for fusion reactors:
Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel
Technology Review: Mining the Moon
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | India joins nuclear fusion club


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> oo check these link:
> 
> seems like for helium 3 which will be used for fusion reactors:


sorry........my mistake......I actually interpreted wrongly............
H3- tritium 
He3- helium 
Both signs are eye catcher, arent they??.......


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan to be launched today-India-The Times of India


take it easy guys. some major goof up it seems ha ha ha
Chandrayaan to be launched today
18 Sep 2008, 1222 hrs IST,Times Now

NEW DELHI: India&#8217;s first unmanned mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan 1, will be unveiled by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday. An upgraded version of the hugely successful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be used to send Chandrayaan to space. Within 100 kilometres of the lunar surface, the spacecraft will be launched. ( Watch ) 

Chandrayaan will then enter the lunar atmosphere and land for exploration. The remote sensing satellite will weigh more than 1300 kilograms and carry high resolution remote sensing equipment for the visible spectrum, near infrared and hard frequencies. 

Over its two year period, the mission will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and topography. ISRO is likely to launch the spacecraft by October or December this year. The estimated cost of the mission is a whopping $83 million and will include payloads from other international space agencies including NASA as well. 

India has seen numerous successes in the recent past with its space programs. On 28th April this year, India created history by launching ten satellites in one go, carrying a payload of 824 kg. India's first fully commercial launch came on 23rd April when the Italian astronomical satellite, AGILE, was sent into space. On January 10th 2007, India launched the PSLV C-7 vehicle, injecting four satellites into orbit.


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## Marshal

The news itself says that the chandrayaan is likely to launch by octeber or december................................not today.!!!


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## nitesh

some more good news:

PIB Press Release
Lunar Mission &#8211; Chandrayan -2 approved
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for undertaking Lunar Mission &#8211; Chandrayan -2 and upgrading the associated existing ground segment at a total cost of Rs.425.00 crores including a Foreign Exchange (FE) component of Rs.293.50 crores.

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## nitesh

Express Buzz - ISRO gets 12 acres at Valiyamala

ISRO gets 12 acres at Valiyamala


Express News Service
18 Sep 2008 12:43:00 AM IST

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology&#8217;s (IIST) plans for a permanent campus in the district went one more step forward on Wednesday with the State Government handing over 12 acres at Valiyamala to the ISRO.

A total of 54 acres are to be handed over to the IIST - the ISRO&#8217;s dream academy for training India&#8217;s future space scientists - at Valiyamala for setting up the campus. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan handed over the documents to ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair at the former&#8217;s office in the presence of Law Minister M. Vijayakumar, VSSC Director K. Radhakrishnan and IIST Director B.N. Suresh.

Earlier, the State Government had handed over 20 acres at Ponmudi for setting up an Observatory. ``We will be setting up a radar and other facilities there,&#8217;&#8217; Madhavan Nair said. The master plan for the permanent campus is ready and the IIST had identified the contractors for the project. The facilities are expected to be ready in a year.

The Ponmudi land is 2,500 feet above the sea level, while the Valiyamala land, which lies next to the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the ISRO, is 500 feet high, he said.

The ISRO had set up the IIST to overcome an acute resource crunch at the ISRO units across the country. It currently functions from a temporary campus at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba.

The first batch of the IIST had 138 students from all over the country sourced from the IIT-JEE rank list. The procedures for the admission of the second batch are on.


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## nitesh

Marshal said:


> The news itself says that the chandrayaan is likely to launch by octeber or december................................not today.!!!



marshal

check this



> Chandrayaan will then enter the lunar atmosphere and *land* for exploration. The remote sensing satellite will weigh more than 1300 kilograms and carry high resolution remote sensing equipment for the visible spectrum, near infrared and hard frequencies.


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## nitesh

DNA - India - Cabinet nod for Chandrayaan-II - Daily News & Analysis

As space scientists prepare for India's maiden moon odyssey, the government on Thursday approved another lunar mission which entails landing a rover on the earth's natural satellite.The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave the nod to Chandrayaan-II which is to be an Indo-Russian mission with a projected launch in 2011-12.

The Cabinet also approved upgrading the associated existing ground segment at a total cost of Rs 425 crore including a foreign exchange component of Rs 293.50 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said.

Scientists are planning to land a rover on the moon for carrying out chemical analysis of the lunar surface and explore other resources there.

"In situ chemical analysis and resource exploration is the main objective of Chandrayaan-II," a scientist associated with the mission said.India had begun initial technical discussions on Chandrayaan-II which is expected to be a much shorter mission than Chandrayaan-I scheduled for launch later this year.

An agreement for Chandrayaan-II was signed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in November last year.

Mineral samples from the moon contained Helium 3, a variant of the gas used in refrigerators, and Chandrayaan-II will also look out for the gas which experts believe may offer a solution to energy shortages. The current Chinese moon mission is also exploring this prized source of energy.

*Chandrayaan-II will benefit from the country's maiden moon mission which will survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography over a two-year period.
The survey of the lunar surface will help scientists identify the exact place for landing the rover and strategic locations to carry out experiments.*

ISRO recently established a 32-meter diameter antenna at Byalalu near Bangalore for providing tracking and command support for Chandrayaan-I.The antenna and associated systems are the first steps in building the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN), that is vital for facilitating a two-way radio communication link between the spacecraft and the earth.

*The DSN-32 project will provide ISRO the capability to handle deep space missions besides allowing it to extend cross-support to similar missions by other nations because of its inter-operable features, world standards specifications and state-of-the-art capabilities.*

Besides six Indian instruments, the mission is carrying payloads from the US, Germany, France, the UK and Sweden."All systems are progressing as per schedule for launch later this year," a scientist said.

The first phase will predominantly have remote sensing equipment like X-rays and gamma and laser imaging machines.
*The remote sensing satellite will weigh 1,304 kgs (590 kg initial orbit mass and 504 kg dry mass) and carry high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infra-red, soft and hard X-ray frequencies.*


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## nitesh

Cabinet nod for Chandrayaan-II-India-The Times of India
NEW DELHI: As space scientists prepare for India's maiden moon odyssey, the government today approved another lunar mission which entails landing a rover on the earth's natural satellite.

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave the nod to Chandrayaan-II which is to be an Indo-Russian mission with a projected launch in 2011-12.

The Cabinet also approved upgrading the associated existing ground segment at a total cost of Rs 425 crore including a foreign exchange component of Rs 293.50 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters here.

*Scientists are planning to land a rover on the moon for carrying out chemical analysis of the lunar surface and explore other resources there.*

"In situ chemical analysis and resource exploration is the main objective of Chandrayaan-II," a scientist associated with the mission said.

India had begun initial technical discussions on Chandrayaan-II which is expected to be a much shorter mission than Chandrayaan-I scheduled for launch later this year.

An agreement for Chandrayaan-II was signed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in November last year.

*Mineral samples from the moon contained Helium 3, a variant of the gas used in refrigerators, and Chandrayaan-II will also look out for the gas which experts believe may offer a solution to energy shortages. The current Chinese moon mission is also exploring this prized source of energy.*


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## Marshal

well headlines today right now is reporting that the chandrayaan 3 4 and more......already on card.. ISRO is eyeing 2020 for manned moon mission.


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## nitesh

Is any news about Mars mission also? Just a query.


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> Is any news about Mars mission also? Just a query.



 well it is yet to approved by GOI but ISRO has a plan for marsh as well.....and if it is approved within a year then surely we are going to see it somewhere around 2012.


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## nitesh

Marshal said:


> well it is yet to approved by GOI but ISRO has a plan for marsh as well.....and if it is approved within a year then surely we are going to see it somewhere around 2012.



hey thanks but the mission is for MARS right not for "marsh or marsh....al" 

he he he


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## Marshal

nitesh said:


> hey thanks but the mission is for MARS right not for "marsh or marsh....al"
> 
> he he he


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## Marshal

hey any news regarding the ISRO's solar eaxplortion mission.........???


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## nitesh

domain-b.com : Chandrayaan-1 launch likely on 19 October

Chandrayaan-1 launch likely on 19 October news	

18 September 2008

Mumbai: India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, may lift off on 19 October from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, provided the weather permits, scientists associated with the mission said.

''The tentative date is 19 October," ISRO officials said in Bangalore after completing all the work on the 590 kg spacecraft that will carry 11 payloads.

''We have completed the integration of the satellite,'' Chandrayaan-1 director M Annadurai said at ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore.

Chandrayaan-1, which will be launched using the indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), will carry payloads from the US, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria apart from India's own.

The spacecraft will beam back digital elevation maps of the moon and its mineral concentration, as also carry out environmental studies and measure radioactivity on the lunar surface.

It will also look for traces of atomic elements such as radon, uranium and thorium.

The Chadrayaan-1 spacecraft would be shipped later this month to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota for the launch.

The government, meanwhile, announced that it has approved a sequel to the Rs400 crore mission few years down the line.

''The union cabinet today gave its approval for undertaking lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 and upgrading the associated existing ground segment at a total cost of Rs425 crore,'' information and broadcasting minister P R Dasmunsi said in New Delhi after a cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh.


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## Contrarian

Hehe...my Birthday-19th October!


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## Marshal

malaymishra123 said:


> Hehe...my Birthday-19th October!



Sorry malay.......

*Chandrayaan-1 launch on Oct 22*
Bangalore, September 18 Come November 8, India&#8217;s space programme could have its first ever date with the moon. 
Five years after the Government cleared the project, ISRO announced on Thursday that it is all set to launch the country&#8217;s first unmanned mission to the moon and unveiled the spacecraft &#8212; Chandrayaan-1, fully loaded with its six Indian and five foreign scientific instruments&#8212; at its satellite centre. 

The spacecraft is scheduled for launch on October 22 with a window fixed between October 19 and October 28. It will make an entry into the lunar atmosphere for a two-year mission. The window is, however, subject to Chandrayaan-1 clearing the vibration and acoustic tolerance tests over the next week before it is shipped to Sriharikota for integration with its launch vehicle the PSLV-XL. &#8220;The flesh and bone is ready,&#8221; said ISRO moon mission director M Annadurai. It has cleared a major hurdle in the form of extreme temperature tests (thermo vacuum test) over the past fortnight. Now its launch is dependent on weather factors, said Annadurai. 

&#8220;Weather is a key issue. We are watching for forecasts closer to the tentative launch dates. On the east coast there are worries over weather at this time of the year,&#8221; Annadurai added. Chandrayaan-1 would take approximately eight days to course the nearly 3,86,000 km to get to its final orbit &#8212; 100 km from the moon. Chandrayaan-1 launch on Oct 22


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## nitesh

India to offer a site for international gamma-ray telescope- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

India plans to offer an astronomical site at Hanle in Leh for an international collaboration which is exploring the possibility of setting up two large gamma-ray telescope arrays in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, a senior astronomer said. 
The international collaboration is planning Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) in both the hemispheres to enhance the understanding of the high energy Universe, Prof Ramesh Koul, Head, Astrophysical Sciences Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said. 

They are expected to be operational by 2018 enabling a 24x7 observation of the universe, Koul said at a public lecture series 'Vistas' in Astronomy at Nehru Planetarium here. 

In keeping with global efforts, the Himalayan Gamma-ray Observatory (HiGRO) is being set up jointly by scientists of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at the high altitude (4,200 m above sea level) astronomical site at Hanle. 

This observatory will deploy a wave-front sampling telescope array which is presently at an advanced stage of commissioning and the large area MACE (Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment) telescope. 

The MACE telescope, which is presently at an advanced design stage, will use the state-of-the-art technology to configure a 21m diametre tracking light collector with a 1408 pixel imaging camera at its focal plane.


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## nitesh

Moon Mission In Dec If ISRO Misses October Date

Satish Dhawan spaceport at Sriharikota.
New Delhi, India (PTI) Sep 22, 2008
India's maiden moon mission could begin its space odyssey in December if it misses its earliest launch window of October 19-26, former ISRO chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan has said.

The cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal extends all through November which rules out the possibility of space launches, he said.

Chandrayaan-I, which is being assembled at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, will be launched from the Satish Dhawan spaceport at Sriharikota on the eastern coast.

The spacecraft, which will orbit the moon at a distance of 100 km, was unveiled in Bangalore last week. It is yet to undergo vibration and acoustic tests.

For the vibration test, the spacecraft integrated with all its components would be put through a simulated environment similar to the vibrations emitted while being launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The acoustic test would simulate sound equivalent to 10 jet engines to ensure integrity of systems and to ensure that noise does not create any disturbance or affect the functioning of any component.

"The mission is progressing as per the strict timeline," said Kasturirangan, who got the mission going when he was at the helm of affairs at the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Chandrayaan is devoted to high resolution remote sensing of lunar surface features and is expected to have an operational life of two years.

The indigenously made spacecraft would carry 11 payloads, six from international organisations like NASA and ESA, and five from India.

The main objectives of the mission are to carry out high resolution mapping of the lunar topography in 3D, distribution of various minerals and elemental chemical species including radioactive nucleides covering the lunar surface using a set of remote sensing instruments.

The new set of data would help in unravelling mysteries about the origin and evolution of solar system in general and that of moon in particular.

The areas of study of the spacecraft include high resolution mineralogical and chemical imaging of permanently shadowed north and south polar regions.

It would also search for surface, sub-surface water-ice on the moon, specially at lunar poles.

Chandrayaan-I is expected to be shipped to Sriharikota by end of the month, where it will undergo further tests before the launch.

Source: Press Trust of India


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## nitesh

Indian airspace management headed for sea change- Airlines / Aviation-Transportation-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Indian airspace management headed for sea change
23 Sep, 2008, 1442 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Indian airspace management would undergo a sea change in the next few years with the implementation of a slew of measures, like a satellite-based air navigation system, for seamless and cost-effective use of the skies by civilian and military aircraft. 

*As part of the steps being taken by various agencies, the Indian Air Force is already in the process of reviewing the 'Restricted' and 'Dangerous' air zones in a bid to expand areas for civilian air traffic, official sources said here. *

"We are moving ahead step by step. One after the other recommendations of a high-level technical committee are being taken up for implementation," the sources said. 

When contacted, Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain said *"as far as we are concerned, we have implemented the flexi-use of airspace. Now, the next steps in this direction are being taken by the military authorities." *

Two weeks ago, the Union Cabinet had approved the implementation of GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system at an estimated cost of Rs 774 crore to enable satellite coverage of the entire Indian sky, including the oceanic airspace around it. 

*GAGAN, being developed by the Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation, would make India the fourth in the world after the US, Japan and the European Union to have such a system. The GAGAN would depend on 29 satellites giving GPS coverage to provide seamless navigation to aircraft using the Indian airspace. *

*The project, to be operationalised by May 2011, would provide straight-line fuel-efficient routes and precision approach landings, thereby reducing fuel burn substantially.*


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## nitesh

With He-3 on mind, India gets ready for lunar mission- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


With He-3 on mind, India gets ready for lunar mission

BANGALORE: I*ndian space scientists expect to map the lunar surface for the helium-3 (He-3) mineral to fuel nuclear power plants *and frozen water as they make final preparations for India&#8217;s mission to the moon, expected to blast off next month. 

*Non-radioactive He-3 is scarce on earth but believed to be abundant on earth&#8217;s natural satellite and is seen as a promising fuel for advanced fusion reactors to generate power. The Chandrayaan-I mission is tentatively scheduled for launch between October 19 and 28.* 

The 575-kg spacecraft will be transported to the moon by a modified version of India&#8217;s main rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. *&#8220;The mission will help us locate He-3, which has the potential to produce a large amount of energy. It is expected that in a few years we can transport it from the moon to run nuclear plants and generate electricity,&#8221; *the director of the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s (ISRO) satellite centre T K Alex said. 

The satellite is in the final stages testing and it will be transported to the launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It will carry a total of 11 instruments, including six from India, two from the US and one each from Bulgaria, Germany and the UK. The satellite, which will orbit the moon from 100 km above, will jettison a &#8216;moon impact probe&#8217; to slam into the lunar surface to help explore it from a close range. 

*&#8220;Probably 10 years from now fusion reactors which can use He-3 will be available. Our second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-II, will also have a lunar lander and help us collect samples of the mineral. The government has given clearance for Chandrayaan-II and we will start the mission as soon as Chandrayaan-I is completed,&#8221;* Chandrayaan project chief Mylswamy Annadurai said. Programme director (satellite navigation)Surendra Pal said a couple of tonnes of He-3 would be enough to meet the energy needs of the world. 

*&#8220;In the next 40 years, it will be possible to transport it to the earth,&#8221;* he said. Besides He-3, India&#8217;s first moon mission will also search for *important minerals like titanium, uranium- 238 and possibility water. &#8220;Chandrayaan will look for large craters which have never been exposed to sun light. They are potential sites for frozen water, which is great subject of interest for humans,&#8221;* the head of ISRO&#8217;s astronomy and instrumentation division Sree Kumar said.


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## nitesh

http://spacespin.org/article.php/80957-europe-set-for-chandrayaan-1

Europe all set for lunar mission Chandrayaan-1

Europe is participating in a big way in the Indian Space Agency&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon, by contributing three instruments. All these instruments have now been delivered, tested and integrated with the spacecraft.
The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is now at the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO&#8217;s facilities in Bangalore, India. Delivery for each instrument is completed once the hardware physically arrives, has been integrated with the spacecraft, and the software interfaces are checked. 

SIR-2, a near-infrared spectrometer was delivered in the first week of November last year. SARA, Sub-kilo electron volt Atom Reflecting Analyser, was delivered on 8 April 2008. Europe&#8217;s contribution is now complete as the Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS), the third instrument, was tested and integrated with the spacecraft on 22 August. 

SIR-2 will survey the Moon&#8217;s geological composition and the effect of space weathering on its surface. Data from the instrument will be used to study the formation of the structures that exist on the Moon. SIR-2 is led by the Max-Planck Institute for Solar System science. 

This instrument builds upon the infrared spectrometer (SIR), which flew on SMART-1. The combination of the improvements made and the low orbit of Chandrayaan-1 will enable superior scientific measurements. 

SARA, led by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, and developed with hardware contribution from the Space Physics Laboratory at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, India, will measure the resulting atomic emission from interactions of the solar wind with the Moon&#8217;s surface. 

&#8220;The experience with SARA will prepare us for a similar instrument on BepiColombo,&#8221; says Christian Erd, ESA&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 Project Manager.

X-ray Spectroscopy of the Moon, the objective of C1XS, will yield information on the origin and evolution of our planet&#8217;s natural satellite. C1XS builds upon the legacy of the D-CIXS instrument that flew on board SMART-1, and consists of significant upgrades based on the experience gained with ESA&#8217;s lunar mission. 

C1XS has been developed in collaboration between Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK and the ISRO Satellite Centre, with support from ESA. 

Erd added, &#8220;SARA follows up on instruments used on board Mars and Venus Express and will be the first instrument to study plasma-surface interactions, while SIR-2 and C1XS build upon the legacy of SMART-1. The lessons we have learnt through experience will be put to good use with Chandrayaan-1.&#8221; 

Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s low orbit will bring it very close to the Moon, returning data of a high quality. 

&#8220;European scientists will have the fantastic opportunity to continue our work on the Moon,&#8221; added Detlef Koschny, ESA Chandrayaan-1 Project Scientist. 

The integration of all instruments of the Chandrayaan-1 mission is now complete and validation tests to check the functionality of the spacecraft and the suite of instruments are underway.


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## nitesh

Orbital Vehicle


Design of an Indian manned spacecraft began in October 2006. Dependent on a full funding decision at the end of 2008, planned first flight of the two-man capsule was 2015. 

An initial funding of $23 million was provided for 2007-2008 for concept work on the capsule, spacesuits, and mission simulation. Full funding of $2.2 billion would have to be approved by the end of 2008 in order to make the 2015 operational date. Estimates in 2006, perhaps more realistic, had been that the program would cost $4.3 billion and take eight years. 

ISRO had launched and recovered the 550-kg Space Recovery Capsule in January 2007. The full-scale manned capsule was said to be derived from this, although ISRO's published concept showed a more elongated conical shape than the SRE. The launch vehicle would be a version of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2, with a structurally-strengthened upper stage to accommodate the heavier low-earth-orbit manned capsule as opposed to the lighter standard geosynchronous-transfer-orbit satellite payload. 

A crew of two to three was mentioned. Although ISS orbital capability of the GSLV Mark 2 was 4.6 metric tons, a spacecraft mass of 2.5 to 3.0 metric tons was mentioned - perhaps this was the capsule only. The illustration showed a main engine and smaller orientation engines arranged in a light package around the base of the capsule, indicating an earth-orbit maneuvering capability was to be included. The nose was free for a docking mechanism, but primary entry was evidently through a side hatch secured by explosive bolts. 

India would receive assistance in crew selection and training from Russia under an agreement signed between the two countries in March 2008. One option being studied would be flight of an Indian astronaut aboard a Soyuz capsule by 2012 in preparation for the Indian mission. 

India's schedule was ambitious under any circumstances, and even if funding materialized, its history of performance on other indigenous aerospace programs made it unlikely that the capsule would fly before 2020. Earliest accounts had mentioned a manned flight to the moon. This would be possible at the low end of the indicated payload range, 2500 kg, within the payload capability of an improved GSLV, and perhaps account for the lightweight capsule plus modest propulsion package shown in the ISRO illustration. 

Crew Size: 3. Typical orbit: 400 km circular orbit. Length: 3.30 m (10.80 ft). Basic Diameter: 2.00 m (6.50 ft). Mass: 4,500 kg (9,900 lb).


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## nitesh

EADS Astrium, ISRO deal likely Tuesday

29 Sep 2008 

PARIS, Sept 29 (Reuters) - EADS unit EADS Astrium and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are likely to sign a satellite launch deal on Tuesday, an Astrium spokesman said. "There will probably be a signature tomorrow," the spokesman said. The deal would be signed as part of a France-India summit at the Elysee Palace, President Nicolas Sarkozy's official residence in Paris. The agreement is expected to cover launches of small satellites made by Astrium using ISRO launchers. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Editing by Quentin Bryar) Keywords: EADS ASTRIUM/INDIA tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com cmr COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.

EADS Astrium, ISRO deal likely Tuesday -spokesman - News - CNBC.com


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-1 taking final tests 

Chandrayaan-1 will be married up with PSLV on October 12 or 13

Launch likely on October 19 or 20


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHENNAI: Work in different centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gathering speed for the launch of Chandrayaan-1 at 6.20 a.m. on October 22 from India&#8217;s spaceport at Sriharikota. 

The tall and elegant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) that will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit is fully integrated at Sriharikota&#8217;s second launch pad. After having sailed through thermal and vacuum tests which simulated the conditions in deep space, Chandrayaan-1 is coursing through the final stages of vibration tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore to determine the integrity of its systems. 

At Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, two massive dish antennae, one with a 32-metre diameter and the other with a diameter of 18 metres, are ready to track Chandrayaan-1 during its 3.84-lakh km. odyssey to the moon, send commands and receive information on its health.

Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments &#8211; five from India and six from other countries &#8211; to study the minerals and chemistry on the moon&#8217;s surface from an altitude of 100 km above. &#8220;The vehicle is totally ready,&#8221; declared George Koshy, Mission Director. &#8220;Some tests are going on. Everything is in good shape.&#8221; 

Mr. Koshy said Chandrayaan-1 would be married up with the PSLV on October 12 or 13 after the spacecraft arrived at Sriharikota from Bangalore in the first week of October. &#8220;We would like to launch on October 22. But a date before October 22&#8230; October 19th or 20th is my target.&#8221; The PSLV-C11 is fully integrated in the 83-metre tall (the height of a 26-storey building) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the second launch pad. It stands majestically on a huge mobile pedestal, with platforms surrounding the four stages of the rocket. The PSLV-C11, which weighs 316 tonnes and is 44.4 metres tall, will be wheeled very slowly on its pedestal from the VAB to the launch pad some days before the launch.

The mood is equally upbeat at the ISAC. &#8220;Vibration tests of the spacecraft are going on at the shake-table,&#8221; M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said on Monday. &#8220;They started on October 25th evening. Things are under control.&#8221; The tests involved 120 accelerometers. 

Mr. Annadurai said: 

&#8220;It is not just putting the spacecraft on the table and vibrating it. We have to ensure that all accelerometers&#8217; results are within limits. 

&#8220;When the vibration is taking place, accelerometers will provide information on what is the response from each one of the instruments from the spacecraft. We will keep Chandrayaan in different orientations on the shake-table and test it. The vibration tests will ensure the integrity of the spacecraft.&#8221; 

Now Chandrayaan-1 will be subjected to high levels of noise, simulating what happens when the rocket climbs up with the spacecraft.

Both the 32-metre and 18-metre dish antennae would be used, said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore. &#8220;It is good to have two antennae.&#8221; The Control Centre, which will be the nerve centre of the Chandrayaan mission, was ready, he said. &#8220;Everything is focussed.&#8221;

The Hindu : National : Chandrayaan-1 taking final tests


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## jeypore

nitesh said:


> Chandrayaan-1 taking final tests
> 
> Chandrayaan-1 will be married up with PSLV on October 12 or 13
> 
> Launch likely on October 19 or 20
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CHENNAI: Work in different centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gathering speed for the launch of Chandrayaan-1 at 6.20 a.m. on October 22 from Indias spaceport at Sriharikota.
> 
> The tall and elegant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) that will put Chandrayaan-1 in orbit is fully integrated at Sriharikotas second launch pad. After having sailed through thermal and vacuum tests which simulated the conditions in deep space, Chandrayaan-1 is coursing through the final stages of vibration tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bangalore to determine the integrity of its systems.
> 
> At Byalalu village, 40 km from Bangalore, two massive dish antennae, one with a 32-metre diameter and the other with a diameter of 18 metres, are ready to track Chandrayaan-1 during its 3.84-lakh km. odyssey to the moon, send commands and receive information on its health.
> 
> Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments  five from India and six from other countries  to study the minerals and chemistry on the moons surface from an altitude of 100 km above. The vehicle is totally ready, declared George Koshy, Mission Director. Some tests are going on. Everything is in good shape.
> 
> Mr. Koshy said Chandrayaan-1 would be married up with the PSLV on October 12 or 13 after the spacecraft arrived at Sriharikota from Bangalore in the first week of October. We would like to launch on October 22. But a date before October 22 October 19th or 20th is my target. The PSLV-C11 is fully integrated in the 83-metre tall (the height of a 26-storey building) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the second launch pad. It stands majestically on a huge mobile pedestal, with platforms surrounding the four stages of the rocket. The PSLV-C11, which weighs 316 tonnes and is 44.4 metres tall, will be wheeled very slowly on its pedestal from the VAB to the launch pad some days before the launch.
> 
> The mood is equally upbeat at the ISAC. Vibration tests of the spacecraft are going on at the shake-table, M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said on Monday. They started on October 25th evening. Things are under control. The tests involved 120 accelerometers.
> 
> Mr. Annadurai said:
> 
> It is not just putting the spacecraft on the table and vibrating it. We have to ensure that all accelerometers results are within limits.
> 
> When the vibration is taking place, accelerometers will provide information on what is the response from each one of the instruments from the spacecraft. We will keep Chandrayaan in different orientations on the shake-table and test it. The vibration tests will ensure the integrity of the spacecraft.
> 
> Now Chandrayaan-1 will be subjected to high levels of noise, simulating what happens when the rocket climbs up with the spacecraft.
> 
> Both the 32-metre and 18-metre dish antennae would be used, said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore. It is good to have two antennae. The Control Centre, which will be the nerve centre of the Chandrayaan mission, was ready, he said. Everything is focussed.
> 
> The Hindu : National : Chandrayaan-1 taking final tests




Nitesh, which six other countries do you know?


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## nitesh

jeypore said:


> Nitesh, which six other countries do you know?



India, US, Sweden, Canada these names I remember need to check on my sources will let you know


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## nitesh

ISRO, Astrium ink bilateral space cooperation pact in Paris
30 Sep, 2008, 1637 hrs IST, ANI

PARIS: India and France on Tuesday signed a long term agreement for the Utilization of the Indian Polar Satellite launch vehicle for launching satellites.

The agreement was signed ahead of talks between Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and French President Nicholas Sarkozy here.

The Chairman of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO) Dr. G Madhvan Nair and the CEO of Astrium, the French space organization, Fran&#231;ois Auque signed the pact.

The two companies have been already cooperating in the field of space activities.

Two major satellite contracts have been already signed by both companies, representing a major breakthrough for European and Indian space organizations.

Agreements on civil nuclear cooperation and social security are also to be signed after the summit level talks between Singh and Sarkozy this afternoon.

The agreement on nuclear cooperation will be the first such pact after the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted a waiver to India.

Officials of the two countries had finalized the bilateral nuke pact in New Delhi in January this year during Sarkozy's visit to India.

The pact in the field of social security will benefit of over 200,000 non-resident Indians working in France.

Prior to their meeting, both Singh and Sarkozy have indicated that the nuclear pact will be finalised.

ISRO, Astrium ink bilateral space cooperation pact in Paris- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## nitesh

jeypore said:


> Nitesh, which six other countries do you know?



ok one more:

X-Ray Specs Ready To Eye The Moon

X-Ray Specs Ready To Eye The Moon


by Staff Writers
Oxon UK (SPX) Sep 29, 2008
A sophisticated X-ray camera made by scientists and engineers from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is set to launch into space on October 22nd aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - India's first mission to the Moon.
This is the first time the UK and India have collaborated in space science and the two countries' space agencies will be attending the 59th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) next week (29 September - 3 October), along with space agencies from all over the globe. A replica of the camera will be on display at the IAC.

The camera - C1XS - was designed and built at STFC Space Science and Technology Department in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It is an X-Ray Spectrometer that will measure X-rays to map the surface composition of the Moon which will help scientists to understand its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist there.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first lunar mission from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is designed to orbit the Moon and carries radar and particle detectors as well as instruments that will make observations in the visible, near infrared and X-ray part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Dr Ian Crawford from Birkbeck College, who chairs the C1XS Science Team, said, "There is still a lot we don't know about the Moon. Accurate maps of the surface composition will help us unravel its internal structure and geological history. Among other things this will help us better understand the origin of the Earth-Moon system. We will also be able to learn more about what happened on the Moon since it formed and how and when it cooled. By peering into its craters, we may even be able to see below its crust to the material underneath."

C1XS was developed in conjunction with the Indian Space Research Organisation. It employs new technology to make a compact, lightweight, sensitive instrument that can measure the abundances of chemical elements in the lunar surface, by detecting the X-rays they absorb and re-emit.

The spectrometer builds on a successful technology demonstration called D-CIXS, which was launched aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Smart-1 mission to the Moon.

Prof Manuel Grande, C1XS Principal Investigator, Aberystwyth University, said,"In the UK we are rapidly becoming the world's leading maker of planetary X-ray instruments.

C1XS will cement this position, and paves the way for UK leadership of similar instruments at Mercury and elsewhere in the Solar System."

C1XS will work by looking at X-rays from the Sun which have been absorbed by atoms in the lunar soil, then re-emitted in such a way as to reveal the chemistry of the surface.

The spectrometer is sensitive to magnesium, aluminium and silicon X-rays. When the solar X-ray illumination is bright, for example during a solar flare, it may also be able to make measurements of other elements such as iron, titanium and calcium.

To make accurate measurements of the surface elements it is essential to measure the X-rays being produced by the Sun. C1XS has an additional detector system to measure these X-rays called the X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM) which is provided by the University of Helsinki Observatory, Finland.

"C1XS uses an advanced version of conventional CCD sensors such as you might find in a digital camera, called swept charge devices. These are mounted behind a gold/copper 'collimator', which limits the field of view of the X-ray detectors to a narrow beam.

"Together these two innovations form an X-ray camera that has high resolution allowing identification of the surface elements, yet is far more compact and lower mass than other spacecraft's X-ray spectrometers." Said Chris Howe, C1XS Chief Engineer, from STFC Space Science and Technology Department.

Dr Ian Crawford concluded, "There is currently a renaissance in lunar exploration, with many international lunar missions either underway or planned for the next few years, leading up to the planned return of astronauts to the lunar surface by 2020. Through its involvement in C1XS, the UK is playing an important role in this international activity."


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-I moved to Sriharikota for October end launch

2 Oct 2008, 1926 hrs IST,PTI

BANGALORE: The stage is set for India's first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-I as the spacecraft has completed all environmental tests and shifte 
d to Sriharikota for launch on-board PSLV-C11. 

The PSLV-C11 was expected to be launched later this month. 

The environmental tests included vibration and acoustic tests, ISRO officials said. 

The tests were carried out at the ISRO Satellite Centre at Bangalore, the officials said. 

According to the sources, the launch vehicle has been integrated up to the fourth stage. 

"The spacecraft after reaching Sriharikota will undergo mandatory tests after which it will be mated with PSLV-C11 vehicle", they said. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...r_October_end_launch_/articleshow/3553279.cms


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan to be launched on October 22 

Bangalore, Oct 6 (PTI) After repeated delays, India's first unmanned mission to the Moon-- Chandrayaan-1-- will be launched on October 22 from the spaceport at Sriharikota, Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) sources said today.
The sources said weather conditions permitting the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) carrying the Chandrayaan-1 satellite will blast off at 6.20 AM, the sources taold PTI. The Rs 386-crore lunar mission was cleared by the Government five years back but the historic launch faced several delays.

The space odyssey moved one more step closer to fruition when the satellite was transported from here to Sriharikota in a special vehicle last week and has since reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the coastal town, about 100 km from Chennai.

The spacecraft is expected to be mated with ISRO's work-horse rocket,PSLV-C11 later this week, the sources said.

The spacecraft would carry 11 payloads -- five from India and six from the US, Europe and Bulgaria.

It would orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km mapping the topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar soil.

Chandrayaan-1 would also carry a Moon Impact Probe payload for demonstrating the technology needed towards landing on the Moon's surface.

India believes the lunar mission is a step towards its quest for exploration of outer space and inter-planetary missions. PTI 

http://www.ptinews.com/pti/ptisite.nsf/$All/7730405D8A088BE6652574DA004B5947?OpenDocument


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

India to have new launchpad for proposed manned mission
Sriharikota (PTI): India plans to a have a new launchpad to undertake its proposed human space flight (manned mission) programme, ISRO officials said.

A project report on the human space flight is ready and is awaiting final approval from the government, Director Satish Dawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, M P Dathan said.

*He said the indigenously built geosynchronous launch vehicle will be upgraded to undertake this mission.*

According to ISRO officials, this human space flight is expected in 2015. This will be the third launchpad at Sriharikota, they said.


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : Moon voyage


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## nitesh

Moon mission is not expensive, says ISRO- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


Moon mission is not expensive, says ISRO
9 Oct, 2008, 1341 hrs IST, PTI

BANGALORE: Dismissing suggestions that Chandrayaan-1 was an expensive mission, ISRO on Thursday said the moon odyssey will enable India to upgrade technological expertise for exploration of outer space and ultimately help in setting up a base on the earth's natural satellite. 

*"Moon mission cost is less than Rs 400 crore, which is just ten per cent of annual budget of ISRO spread over many years,"* ISRO spokesperson S Satish said, countering critics who questioned the need for such a venture when other countries have already explored the moon. 

*Cost of India's first unmanned lunar mission, slated for October 22, is Rs 386 crore, which includes Rs 100 crore for the establishment of Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu near here that will perform the task of receiving radio signals transmitted by future satellites, not just Chandrayaan-1. *

"Those who argue that the moon mission is unnecessary do not know the full facts," say ISRO officials. 

For example, previous moon missions have been undertaken by individual countries and it's no secret that expertise of that nature are not shared. So, India had to do it by itself lest it would lose out in the race for the Moon. 

Besides, the moon mission would enable ISRO to upgrade its technological expertise further as it takes steps towards its quest for exploration of outer space and inter-planetary missions. 

"There is also the pride factor. With China forging ahead in the space field, India cannot lag behind and miss the bus. Moreover, some kind of colonisation of Moon cannot be ruled out in the coming decades. We have to have our presence," an ISRO official said.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan-1 gets ready for launch


Chandrayaan-1 gets ready for launch
T.S. Subramanian

SRIHARIKOTA: If all goes well, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, *to be launched by the Polar Satellite Vehicle (PSLV-C11) on October 22 at 6.20 a.m. from the Sriharikota space port, will reach the lunar orbit on November 8,* according to M.Y.S. Prasad, Associate Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

About 1,000 engineers and technicians of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have rolled up their sleeves and are working hard for the past two months to ensure a flawless launch. *The 52-hour countdown will begin on October 20 at 4 a.m.*

On Saturday, the PSLV-C11, which is 44.4 metres tall and weighs 316 tonnes, looked majestic in the huge Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the state-of-the-art second launch pad on the Sriharikota island. As it gleamed in white and brown colours, the VAB&#8217;s massive doors, in contrast, shone in speckled grey.

*&#8220;All checks on the vehicle are completed. The vehicle is now ready to receive the satellite,&#8221;* declared T. Subba Reddy, Manager, Second Launch Pad, when journalists visited the complex.

A few kilometres away, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which weighs 1,380 kg, is undergoing a battery of tests to test its flight-worthiness.

The spacecraft will be moved to the VAB on October 14 and married up with the PSLV-11. The &#8220;marriage ceremonies&#8221; such as filling Chandrayaan-1 with propellants and gas, and cobbling of the heat-shield which protects the spacecraft through searing heat when the rocket climbs through the atmosphere, will be performed over the next four days. On October 18 will begin the extremely slow journey of the rocket with the spacecraft, as if it were a temple chariot with the deity, from the VAB to the launch pad.

The PSLV, which stands on a mobile platform, will be wheeled on rail tracks to the launch pad, also called the umbilical tower, which is one km away. A powerful hydraulic bogey system will slowly pull the vehicle. The one-km journey will take two hours!

&#8220;The movement of the vehicle to the launch pad will take place on October 18. There will be minimum four days of work on the launch pad. *The launch will take place on October 22 at 6.20 a.m., provided the weather supports us,&#8221;* said M.C. Dathan, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

However, V. Krishnamurthy, the Range Safety Officer for the mission, is a confident man. *&#8220;Rains do not matter. The launch vehicle is rain-proof. It can get drenched and we can still launch,&#8221;* he asserted.

The PSLV had lifted off earlier when it was pouring over the island. Only a cyclone would pose a problem to the launch on time. Since this was the time when the north-east monsoon set in, Mr. Krishnamurthy said ISRO had formed a team of weather specialists who would be in Sriharikota six days before the launch.

Depending on their inputs, ISRO would take a decision on when to ignite the rocket.

Chandrayaan-1 will carry 730 kg of propellants. About 600 kg of these propellants will be used to put the spacecraft into lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km. The spacecraft will have a mission-life of two years and use up 70 kg of propellants during this period, Mr. Prasad said.

Chandrayaan-1 has 11 scientific payloads &#8212; *five from India and six from abroad. The payloads from abroad includes those from NASA, the European Space Agency and Bulgaria.* The payloads will map the chemicals and minerals on the moon, and also prepare a 3-diemensional map of the entire lunar surface. The mission will also give clues on the early origin of the moon.

Mr. Prasad said, *&#8220;We will be able to confirm whether there is water on the surface of the moon near the Poles with the help of the Chandrayaan mission.&#8221;* Water on the moon was first identified by a NASA mission called Clementine. Based on that, NASA concluded that there could be a possibility of water in the moon&#8217;s South Pole, he added.

Moon Impact Probe

S. Satish, Director, Publications and Public Relations, ISRO, said an *important Indian payload on the Chandrayaan-1 was the Moon Impact Probe (MIP).* When the spacecraft reached the lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km, the MIP would eject from Chandrayaan. As the MIP sped towards the moon&#8217;s surface, its video-camera would take pictures of the lunar surface.

Its altimeter would measure the instantaneous altitude from the moon. A third instrument, a mass spectrometer, would sniff the tenuous atmosphere above the moon. V. Seshagiri Rao, Deputy Director, Range Operations, Sriharikota, said each payload on the Chandrayaan, was subjected to different tests at Sriharikota.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : IDSN tracks Japanese lunar mission

IDSN tracks Japanese lunar mission

R. Ramachandran
Bangalore: The impressive communications infrastructure called the *Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN),* set up by the Indian Space Research Organisation to transmit and receive signals from Chandrayaan 1, *successfully tracked last week the Japanese lunar mission SELENE (Koguya), launched in 2007 and now orbiting the moon.*

&#8220;We have been able to establish downlink with the spacecraft with the help of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency),&#8221; S. K. Shiva Kumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command (ISTRAC), told The Hindu.

&#8220;We have also been able to bring uplink fairly quickly, establish contact with the spacecraft and track the spacecraft successfully. That has given us ample confidence. If you have tracked a similar object closer to the moon and have been able to establish links with it with good margins, to that extent your comfort level is high. You don&#8217;t have to worry about our capability to do [it] with Chandrayaan,&#8221; he said.

The IDSN has been set up at Byalalu, a village 40 km from Bangalore. It is an important and critical element of Chandrayaan, expected to be launched on October 22, as it is the constant communication link to the lunar satellite from the ground. It will be used for tracking as well as for orbit control and housekeeping operations for the entire duration of the moon mission of about two years.

Different game

Doing this for a deep space mission such as the moon mission is a different ball game altogether as compared to the satellite missions that ISRO had undertaken hitherto, which included Low Earth Orbit (LEO) remote sensing IRS system of satellites and geostationary communication INSAT satellites. Missions that go beyond a distance of 1,00,000 km from the earth are usually termed as deep space missions.

The IDSN comprises a 32-metre antenna designed and built indigenously and an 18-metre antenna built by a German agency to ISRO&#8217;s specifications. As the launch of Chandrayaan approaches, the natural question is how do we know that DSN-32 will perform as desired, given that ISRO has had no earlier experience in deep space missions? How is DSN-32 calibrated to say with confidence that Chandrayaan will be accurately tracked throughout its lifetime? *The IDSN will take over the tracking of Chandrayaan 17 minutes after its launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Launch Centre at Sriharikota, when the satellite would have separated from the launch vehicle.*

While, in principle, it would suffice for the IDSN to take over after the lunar satellite reaches the Earth Transfer Orbit (ETO) of 1,00,000-km apogee, being the first deep space mission, the IDSN plans to track in parallel beyond the first ETO apogee of 22,000 km itself, according to Dr. Shiva Kumar.

Link with ROSETTA

&#8220;When Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it,&#8221; Dr. Kumar said. In addition, beginning this week, DSN-32 will be put into calibration and test mode with another deep space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) called ROSETTA, a probe launched in 2004 with the objective of landing on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoin 2014.

When a link with ROSETTA would be established, DSN-32 would have truly proved itself as the real deep space tracking system. In addition, the IDSN is being put to regularly track radio stars. &#8220;We have been tracking Cygnus, Cassiopeia (supernova remnant stars) and, of course, sun and moon which are all good radio sources in their own right. We have been able to obtain signals from them and track them,&#8221; Dr. Kumar said. &#8220;This has also given us ample experience&#8230; we now know how to maximise our signals,&#8221; he pointed out.


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## nitesh

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...-indian-space-capabilities-20.html#post206294

Chandrayaan-I preparation reaches final stages

Sriharikota, Oct 13 (UNI) As preparations reached the final stages for the launch of Chandrayaan-I, India's first unmanned lunar mission, there is real excitement at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR from where it will be blasted off on October 22.

The mood at the SHAR is really upbeat for the final countdown of India's leap into the outer space.

''We are all really excited. The world itself is excited,'' SHAR Director M C Dathan told visiting journalists from Thiruvananthapuram.

''Till now we had only gone up to 36,000 km. Now we are moving from 36,000 km to about 3.8 lakh km. From the geo-synchronous orbit, we are now moving to the lunar orbit, which is a great milestone for the country,'' he said.

''Every one here is engaged completely in the mission and the mood is upbeat,'' Mr Dathan said.

VSSC director K Radhakrishnan, PSLV Project Director George Koshi and Mission Director Annadurai were all seen to be in an upbeat mood while explaining about the mission.

''This is going to be an important mission in the history of India. For the fist time, we are going to circle the moon, which is a real excitement,'' Mr Radhakrisnan said.

Talking about the greatest challenge faced in the mission, he said the mission itself was a challenge. ''The challenge is to place the Chandrayaan in a 100 km orbit around the moon. We are confident of reaching this orbit,'' he said.

Mr Koshi said the PSLV-C11 is all ready and waiting for the satellite to be installed and integrated to the vehicle tomorrow.

''For the last so many months, we were all with the satellite and the vehicle. We are so excited to see it leaping into the sky,'' he said.

The Chandrayaan-I will blast off into the sky at 0620 hrs on October 22 from here. Its main objetive is to look into the distribution of various minerals and chemical elements and high-resolution three-dimensional mapping of the entire lunar surface.


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## nitesh

The Space Review: The new path to space: India and China enter the game (page 1)

The new path to space: India and China enter the game

by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, October 13, 2008
Imagine for a moment that the Cold War never happened. Suppose that Joseph Stalin had suffered an aneurism a week after the end of World War 2 and that his successors, although not exactly friendly toward the West, chose a far less antagonistic relationship. No ICBMs, no technological competition, no Space Race.

Would humans be in orbit right now? Would any country have launched anybody into space considering the immense costs and the lack of a compelling political rationale?

This is the kind of counterfactual argument that makes historians sputter. It has too many variables and cannot really tell you much. But we do know that the Cold War caused the United States and the Soviet Union to rush to outdo each other in spaceflight, forcing each to launch faster and seek to produce &#8220;firsts&#8221; in the Space Race. Without the Cold War, human spaceflight would have developed along a more normal trajectory.

But what is &#8220;normal&#8221; anyway? Is there even a way to measure it? Fortunately, China&#8217;s entry into human spaceflight and India&#8217;s newly stated desire to have a human spaceflight program allows us to consider this subject from a slightly different perspective. In the past couple of weeks a number of public talks by Indian and Chinese space officials as well as American observers of the Chinese space program have shed some new light on this issue.

India in space
On October 6, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) sponsored a panel discussion with the National Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) at AAAS headquarters in Washington, DC. NIAS is an Indian think tank based in Bangalore, and the discussion consisted of three presentations on the Indian space program, the future of the Indian nuclear program, and the need for professional accreditation of scientists. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion including the three presenters and three other NIAS representatives.

The first speaker was Krishnaswami Kasturirangan, the director of NIAS and a member of the Indian Parliament. Kasturirangan was chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for nine years and Secretary to the government of India in the Department of Space. He earlier served as the director of the ISRO Satellite Centre where he oversaw activities related to the development of new generation spacecraft such as INSAT-2 and the Indian Remote Sensing Satellites IRS-1A and 1B as well as scientific satellites.

Kasturirangan gave a fast-paced overview of the Indian space program. The program began in the 1960s&#8212;what he dubbed the &#8220;initiation phase&#8221;&#8212;and continued in the 1970s, or &#8220;experimental phase.&#8221; The 1980s were when India finally entered its &#8220;operational phase&#8221; where its satellites were capable of serving the social priorities of the country. As a poor country, India could not treat spaceflight as a luxury&#8212;the satellites it developed were directly tied to the social needs of the Indian people. Kasturirangan noted that the United States assisted India in this regards: in the early 1970s the United States sponsored a demonstration program using an American geostationary satellite to provide telemedicine resources to rural doctors. (See &#8220;India and the US: partners or rivals in space?&#8221;, The Space Review, February 11, 2008)

Telemedicine is particularly important in India, Kasturirangan explained, because 98&#37; of the people from rural areas who become doctors leave those areas, resulting in a small number of doctors with the required training to serve a large number of people. Telemedicine can therefore bring some of the medical resources of India&#8217;s thriving urban areas to remote villages. Also important is remote sensing for agricultural assessment. According to Kasturirangan, India can now predict with 90% accuracy the national crop output one month before harvest. For a country that in its past frequently faced starvation and malnutrition, this is a vital resource. He noted that in 1978 Indian remote sensing satellites could achieve one kilometer resolution; today they can achieve one meter resolution.

Now that India has not only developed significant space capabilities but also experienced substantial economic growth, the Indian space program has entered into what Kasturirangan describes as its &#8220;expansion phase.&#8221; India can afford the luxuries of space science and possibly even human spaceflight. The country&#8217;s first lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, is scheduled for launch later this month. The government has also created the Antrix Corporation to market Indian space capabilities around the world. The country&#8217;s next goals are development of a heavy launch vehicle, lunar exploratory missions, a two-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle, human spaceflight, and further international cooperation.

During the panel discussion, several members of the audience asked Kasturirangan and two of his colleagues questions about the Indian space program. His colleagues included S. Chandrashekar, a professor of corporate strategy at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, as well as a 20-year veteran of ISRO. Chandrashekar&#8217;s recent work at NIAS includes an assessment of Pakistani and Chinese ballistic missile capabilities. In response to a question about Pakistan&#8217;s missiles he said that it is clear that they are not entirely based upon Chinese technology and that Pakistan clearly has significant ballistic missile design expertise of its own. Chandrashekar also said that his assessment of China&#8217;s missiles disagrees with that of the United States. For instance, he said that while the Americans have concluded that the Chinese DF-5 ICBM is a two-stage missile, his group has concluded that it is actually a three-stage missile. His research also disagrees with the American assessment of China&#8217;s newer DF-31 ICBM.

Most of the space questions were directed at Kasturirangan, who was asked about India&#8217;s plans for human spaceflight. Kasturirangan explained that right now India&#8217;s government has not officially approved a human spaceflight program. Although he did not say so, other sources have indicated that India will pursue a two-person capsule. ISRO is currently studying technology options and questions and he rattled off a long list, including life support, reentry, tracking and human-rating a launch vehicle, clearly indicating that he was personally familiar with the studies. Only after the Indian space agency has answered these questions and defined the kind of vehicle they want to build, its costs, and the timeframe for the first human space launch, will ISRO officials take those plans to the Indian Parliament for formal approval. Simply put, India&#8217;s human space program has not yet been fully defined or approved.

Kasturirangan said that ISRO has not yet made a decision concerning launch vehicles, but is considering a 2.5-stage rocket for carrying a manned spacecraft into orbit. ISRO is studying two possibilities, the current Geostationary Launch Vehicle (or GSLV), which has flown successfully several times, or the planned GSLV Mark 3, which is scheduled for first launch in 2010. The Mark 3 will be more capable, but as of yet it is only a paper vehicle and therefore higher risk.

When asked about India&#8217;s goals in space science beyond the Chandrayaan lunar mission, Kasturirangan listed several objectives: developing chemical analysis capabilities for future lunar landers, sample return from the Moon, international cooperation on a robotic Mars mission, and the Astrosat observatory, which is to be capable of observations from the ultraviolet to high energy X-ray portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Although he is not currently involved in decision making concerning the Indian space program, it was apparent from the clarity and quickness of his answers not only that Kasturirangan was very familiar with the current state of Indian spaceflight plans, but that Indian space officials are putting a great deal of effort into planning their next moves in the expansion phase of Indian spaceflight.

China in space
On October 8, several American space experts spoke at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC on China&#8217;s space program. The speakers were Dean Cheng, of the Center for Naval Analysis; Kevin Pollpeter, China Program Manager of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis; and Scott Pace, the new director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University and former NASA associate administrator for program analysis and evaluation.

The panel discussion had the rather awkward title of Pandas in Orbit. Heritage is a conservative think tank, but none of the speakers were particularly ideological, although they did not reflect viewpoints recently expressed by some other speakers (for instance, Joan Johnson-Freese and Theresa Hitchens) calling for more cooperative engagement with China.

Unfortunately, the Heritage event again reflected some of the ignorance and myths that surround China&#8217;s space program&#8212;opinions not expressed by the speakers, but by Heritage&#8217;s moderator and some members of the audience. The moderator once again repeated the mistaken claim that China plans to land a man on the Moon by 2017, a myth resulting from confusing China&#8217;s stated plans for a robotic lunar sample return mission with plans for a human lunar lander. Several of the questions posed to the speakers also repeated some of the erroneous claims made about China&#8217;s space weapons capability, including the charge that China &#8220;blinded&#8221; an American satellite with a laser, and that China is developing a &#8220;parasitic microsatellite&#8221; capability. The laser incident was exaggerated&#8212;in fact, the United States government never protested the incident to the Chinese government, and obviously did not interpret it as an attack&#8212;and the parasitic microsatellite claim has been effectively debunked. (See &#8220;Paper dragon: the Pentagon&#8217;s unreliable statements on the Chinese space program&#8221;, The Space Review, June 23, 2008)

Fortunately, whatever ignorance was reflected by the moderator and audience was counterbalanced by the informative speakers. They all emphasized the point that it is a common mistake to view China&#8217;s space developments in isolation from its other activities. China does not simply have a &#8220;space program,&#8221; the country&#8217;s leadership views space as part of its goals in many areas, including economic development, national security, and diplomacy.

Dean Cheng explained that the recent Shenzhou 7 spaceflight demonstrated what observers of the Chinese space program have realized for at least half a decade now, that the People&#8217;s Republic of China is a space power possessing the &#8220;full range of space mission capabilities.&#8221; These include the ability to produce, launch, and track satellites on its own. The country has a range of indigenously developed satellite systems including communications, meteorological, Earth-imaging and navigation satellites.

According to Cheng, the PRC sees space as promoting &#8220;zonghe guojia liliang,&#8221; or &#8220;comprehensive national security.&#8221; It improves the national economy both by raising China&#8217;s level of science and technology and generating high-tech jobs, and serves national security, both through military security and diplomacy.

It is this latter point that often gets ignored in the West. The PRC uses space as a diplomatic tool, Cheng noted, citing several recent examples including satellite sales to Venezuela and Nigeria, the sharing of satellite data, and China&#8217;s membership in the Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization. Potential future efforts include offering insurance for space missions and training foreign astronauts.

Of course, it is China&#8217;s January 2007 ASAT test that gained the most attention in the West. China&#8217;s view of the military value of space has evolved substantially over the past two decades. The 1991 American experience in Desert Shield/Desert Storm had a major effect upon China&#8217;s People&#8217;s Liberation Army (PLA), convincing the PLA leadership that future wars will involve joint forces, will be high-tech, and rely upon precision weapons. The military will rely on information for operational coordination, target location, and weapons guidance.

Cheng said that more recent wars have continued to shape China&#8217;s view of space and in recent years the PLA has begun to shift from a view of space as a source of information to a &#8220;key battleground in its own right.&#8221; He cited the example of the PLA Encyclopedia, which in 1997 downplayed the importance of space, but by 2002 rated it as a vital battleground.

In light of this evolving viewpoint of space&#8217;s importance, China&#8217;s manned spaceflight missions remind the world of the PRC&#8217;s space capabilities even if the human spaceflight program has no overt military goals.

Kevin Pollpeter focused more on the economic aspects of China&#8217;s space ascendancy, a rise which has been rapid in the past few years. He noted that since 2001 China had flown three human spaceflight missions, launched a lunar mission, conducted ASAT tests, and orbited a radar satellite, a remote sensing constellation, an ocean monitoring satellite, a communications relay satellite, and exported two satellites. China had also achieved launcher reliability at international standards and has not experienced a launch vehicle failure since 1996, possibly due to the illegal assistance of several American companies.

Space, according to Pollpeter, is a method for China to achieve &#8220;great power status.&#8221; Chinese officials believe that it is a technology driver that can propel China&#8217;s economy and facilitate innovation in pharmaceuticals and metallurgy. It can also provide other economic benefits, like increases in quality control testing and improving standards for selecting and training management personnel.

The Shenzhou human spaceflight program in particular is a driving force. Pollpeter noted that the average age of Shenzhou personnel is 36 and the average age of their Chang&#8217;e robotic lunar mission personnel is 33. Pollpeter compared this to many NASA projects where the average age is in the fifties and 25 percent of the US aerospace workforce is eligible to retire.

If China has been making great strides in spaceflight in the past decade, the United States has been either standing in place or shooting itself in both feet. Pollpeter noted that recent American national space policy and US Air Force space documents are seen by many foreign leaders as unnecessarily provocative and have contributed to a perception around the world that the United States government overemphasizes national security applications and intends to weaponize space. Pollpeter concluded by saying that China&#8217;s rise as a space power will have negative consequences for the United States. Simply increasing the American government&#8217;s space budget is not enough and solutions have to come from many areas. Although the recent success of SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon launch vehicle demonstrated that American industry can accomplish great things, the US government will have to take the lead in improving America&#8217;s space capabilities relative to China.


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## nitesh

The Space Review: The new path to space: India and China enter the game (page 2)

The final speaker was Scott Pace, who began his talk by emphasizing that he was not an expert on the Chinese space program but was very familiar with the issue of dual use technologies. Pace devoted much of his talk to China&#8217;s possible human lunar ambitions.

China has made some impressive advances in human spaceflight with relatively few flights. The United States flew five orbital missions over three and a half years before accomplishing its first space walk during Gemini 4 in June 1965. The Soviet Union accomplished the first ever space walk on its seventh manned mission in March 1965, with four years of human spaceflight experience. China took five years and did it in three missions. Pace noted that China&#8217;s 14-minute spacewalk was comparable to the first spacewalks of Russia and the United States (24 and 20 minutes respectively). But he also added that although China had gone from a one-person mission to a three-person mission slightly slower than the Soviet Union and faster than the United States, there is really no good substitute for actually doing things when it comes to spaceflight. China has undoubtedly extensively studied previous American and Soviet extravehicular activities, but there are many things you cannot learn from a book; you have to do them yourself. In addition, claims that China had copied most of its equipment from the Russians were exaggerations and the Shenzhou is approximately 95&#37; indigenously developed and produced.

Pace also offered a brief overview of NASA-Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) discussions. In December 2004 NASA administrator Sean O&#8217;Keefe met with a CNSA delegation and discussed possible cooperation on space applications and Earth and space science. Nothing came of this meeting. In September 2006 NASA administrator Mike Griffin traveled to China where American and Chinese officials discussed regular exchanges between the two countries. Nothing really came from this meeting either and it was nearly another two years&#8212;in July 2008&#8212;when a NASA team visited CNSA and the two organizations formed two working groups on Earth and space science.

Pace said that many in the space community viewed space as a potential form of &#8220;ping-pong diplomacy&#8221; that could ultimately lead to greater cooperation between the two countries. But in his opinion, this was unrealistic. Space cooperation is dependent on the broader US-China relationship. As long as that relationship is rocky, there will be little or no space cooperation.

Pace said that although Chinese technical capabilities are becoming clearer, their strategic intent has not, and several broad questions remain unanswered: Will China develop a human lunar lander? Will China give the Long March 5 (CZ-5) heavy launch vehicle priority over continued evolution of the workhorse Long March 2 (CZ-2)? Will China focus more on robotic systems for disaster monitoring and navigation, among other missions?

If China decides to send humans to the Moon, its current most likely method will be to use the Long March 5 booster. First announced in 2001, it is projected to launch in 2014 after numerous schedule slips. Designed to launch heavy geosynchronous communications satellites, it could place 25 metric tons (55,000 pounds) into low Earth orbit or 14 metric tons (31,000 pounds) into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Pace mentioned that a 2008 paper titled &#8220;Research on the Technical Approach of Manned Lunar Mission&#8221; (in Chinese) was prepared by Long Lehao, of the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and Rong Yi, of the Beijing Institute of Space System Engineering. They identified four different approaches to the Moon, most of which require multiple launches of Long March 5 boosters. Two of the methods would require three launches.

Pace noted that Lehao is the developer of the Long March 5 and therefore inclined to underemphasize the difficulty of the task. NASA has also developed a notional concept of how China might conduct a human lunar mission and in NASA&#8217;s estimation it will require four Long March 5 launches, not three. The first launch would carry a translunar injection (TLI) stage into low Earth orbit. It would be followed by the unmanned lunar landing vehicle, which would automatically dock with the TLI stage and head to the Moon. They would be followed by another TLI stage and then a Shenzhou vehicle which would also rendezvous in low Earth orbit before heading to the Moon. In lunar orbit the Shenzhou would rendezvous with the lunar lander and two astronauts would descend to the Moon&#8217;s surface. They would later rendezvous with the Shenzhou and return to Earth. Four launches and four rendezvous events would entail a significant amount of risk, especially for a country with such limited human spaceflight experience. In its current approach to returning humans to the Moon, NASA has sought to minimize the number of launches and rendezvous events.

After Pace&#8217;s talk the speakers took questions from the audience, several of which focused upon how much China spends on spaceflight, particularly the manned program, and how obscure their future plans are. Dean Cheng said that although Chinese officials have stated how much they have spent developing Shenzhou, the numbers are effectively meaningless because of the convoluted bureaucracy that is involved in the project. The Chinese may not even know themselves due both to arcane and secretive accounting rules and the way that the program is matrixed throughout various organizations. A better measurement is not cash, but level of effort. Cheng also added that when the People&#8217;s Liberation Army was ordered earlier this decade to divest itself of its various commercial holdings such as casinos&#8212;part of a plan to &#8220;professionalize&#8221; the Chinese military&#8212;one industry that they did maintain control of was communications satellite manufacturing, which they viewed as vital to their military mission.

Pollpeter said that during a recent trip to China, a senior Chinese space official explained that the government was seeking to separate its military and civil space functions which up until now have largely been lumped under the responsibility of the People&#8217;s Liberation Army. Although Pollpeter did not offer an explanation for this change in policy, it is not hard to imagine that it is part of the broader effort to increase accountability, professionalism, and clarity in the Chinese military. All that you need to know about the convoluted nature of the Chinese military can be summed up in one name: the People&#8217;s Liberation Army Navy.

All three speakers agreed that a major problem with China&#8217;s space program is its opaqueness. This has been a major complaint in the West, and something that has apparently fallen on deaf ears in China.

Openness in Glasgow, and in orbit
Despite oft-repeated Western complaints about China&#8217;s lack of openness concerning its space program, the reality is that although China is secretive about some of its space projects and plans, including its budget, the country is far more open than many Westerners believe, and certainly far more open than the Soviet Union ever was during the Cold War. There was no better example than the talk given by a member of the Chinese Society of Astronautics during the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland, the week before the AAAS and Heritage discussions in Washington.

The speaker&#8212;I do not know his name&#8212;demonstrated that in addition to mastering EVAs, the Chinese have also mastered PowerPoint. The presentation includes many detailed computer illustrations of the various Shenzhou vehicles launched to date as well as what are apparently early designs of their future space station modules. The presentation, titled &#8220;Shenzhou-7 Mission and Beyond&#8212;From Imagination to Reality,&#8221; was mostly devoted to recounting the various Shenzhou missions, including the four unmanned missions and their accomplishments.

The presentation was remarkably detailed, including a graphic illustrating that five tracking ships, three satellites, and at least nine ground stations supported the Shenzhou 7 flight, a much higher degree of openness than the Soviet Union ever practiced during the Cold War. But the most interesting aspects were the speaker&#8217;s discussion of China&#8217;s future human spaceflight plans.

Up until relatively recently, Western observers have assumed that the next step in the Chinese Shenzhou program would be the near simultaneous launch of Shenzhous 8 and 9 to conduct an orbital rendezvous. This would then probably be followed with the launch of a rudimentary unmanned space station, perhaps in 2010, to be visited by Shenzhou 10.

But according to the presentation at Glasgow, China now has a preliminary plan to launch a target craft around 2011, with an &#8220;unmanned spaceship&#8221; and a Shenzhou to be launched to conduct a rendezvous and docking test. It is unclear from the presentation if this refers to three vehicles&#8212;only one manned&#8212;or two. If it refers to three vehicles, then the Chinese may be planning on practicing launching an unmanned &#8220;core&#8221; vehicle that would be joined by a Shenzhou and could be resupplied with a cargo ship, similar to Russian experience with the Salyut and later Mir space station programs.

According to Chinese television&#8212;although not detailed in the Glasgow briefing&#8212;China might conduct up to three simple space station&#8212;known at Tiangong&#8212;missions between 2010 and 2015. They would be visited by up to eight Shenzhou spacecraft. If accurate, this means that China plans to gradually increase the pace of its human spacecraft launches. So far China has averaged one manned launch every 2.5 years. It might be at least that long before the launch of Shenzhou 8. But after that, the launch rate could increase to 1&#8211;2 missions per year.

According to the Glasgow presentation, China would develop a &#8220;manned space station&#8221; by 2020 &#8220;to solve the problem of larger scale space application with manned long-term presence in space.&#8221; This is all part of a &#8220;three-stage&#8221; strategy. Although not fully explained, presumably the first stage was the development of Shenzhou up to the most recent mission. The second stage will consist of the rendezvous and docking with a small space station vehicle and multiple missions extending through at least the first half of next decade. And the third stage will involve developing the &#8220;multi-module space station.&#8221; Once China has achieved that by the end of the next decade, &#8220;China will move to the broad area of the LEO orbit and far beyond.&#8221; The presentation slides also state that &#8220;we think manned landing on the moon is a great challenge in the global high-tech and is also a strategic field for exploration. So, it is necessary to carry out R&D activities at proper time for the future goal.&#8221; But so far as the presentation is to be believed, China&#8217;s plans for the next decade focus on extended human spaceflight in low Earth orbit, not a mission to the Moon.

Just as interesting as the words in the presentation are the images, which appear to show for the first time both what may be the Tiangong spacecraft, and an early plan for the multi-module space station that China wants to develop by 2020. The Tiangong module appears to be somewhat akin to the European Space Agency&#8217;s Jules Verne Advanced Transfer Vehicle, a pressurized module that could provide supplies to keep a Shenzhou in orbit for perhaps a few weeks. The multi-module space station consists of three large modules mounted around a central hub, with a Shenzhou parked at one of the hub&#8217;s docking ports, and what appears to be a module similar to that shown in a previous slide as the docking target&#8212;possibly the Tiangong, similar to the Russian Mir space station configuration. Thus, it seems possible that China&#8217;s goal is to use the Tiangong to support extended duration Shenzhou missions in the early part of the decade and later to provide logistics support to the multi-module space station. If so, this is a logical stepping-stone approach.

Which brings us back to the Cold War analogy and how little that model resembles the path that China and India are pursuing. China and India are both carefully studying the experience of their predecessors, but setting their own pace. There should not be any real surprise in this. But it does highlight that there may be no &#8220;normal&#8221; path to human spaceflight. After all, what explains the fact that one of the largest space programs in the world, Japan, never chose to develop its own human spaceflight program? And what exactly determines why a country will choose to develop its own human spaceflight capabilities? Two years ago, at a symposium on the social aspects of spaceflight in Washington, DC, one speaker challenged the notion that countries develop human spaceflight programs in order to assert their capabilities and independence. If this was so, the speaker asked, then what explains the fact that France does not have its own human space program? Every country is different. There is no &#8220;normal&#8221; path to human spaceflight.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : The colours of India to the moon

CHENNAI: The Moon Impact Probe (MIP), which has pride of place among the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-1, is painted with the proud colours of the Indian flag. It is this instrument that will land on the moon&#8217;s surface and leave telltale evidence of an Indian instrument having reached the moon.

The MIP, which weighs 29 kg and sits like a hat on top of Chandrayaan-1, has been built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

*The MIP will be a technological forerunner to India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-2 mission which will deploy a lander or a rover on the moon. Russia will build this lander/ rover.* If it is a rover, it will look like children&#8217;s toy-car, a few feet long and a few feet broad.

*It will move around the moon, pick up soil samples, do chemical analysis in situ and transmit the data to the ground. India&#8217;s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit around 2011-12.*

*The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia&#8217;s federal space agency Roskosmos signed an agreement on November 12, 2007, which envisages a joint lunar mission for Chandrayaan-2. While ISRO will build the mother-spacecraft, Roskosmos will build the lander/rover. This lander/rover will detach from Chandrayaan-2 and land on the moon.*

Preparations are on at Sriharikota for the launch of Chandrayaan-1 on October 22 by ISRO&#8217;s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11). Chandrayaan-1 will carry 11 instruments &#8212; five from India and six from abroad.

An important instrument is the MIP.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, explained how the MIP would land on the moon. After Chandrayaan-1 reaches the lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km, ISRO will give commands to it to re-orient and eject the MIP, which has a motor on board.

&#8220;The motor will fire for two seconds to reduce the MIP&#8217;s velocity to 75 metres a second,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.

As the MIP descends to the moon&#8217;s surface, its video-camera will take pictures of the lunar surface. These pictures will help ISRO to decide where to land Chandrayaan-2&#8217;s rover.

The MIP&#8217;s altimeter will measure its altitude from the moon every second of its journey towards the moon.

A third instrument, a mass spectrometer, will sense the moon&#8217;s atmospheric constituents as it keeps falling and crashes on the moon.

All this data will be sent to Chandrayaan-1 till the MIP crashes on the moon. Chandrayaan-1, in turn, would beam the data to the earth, Mr. Annadurai said.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan looking to help establish lunar bases


Chandrayaan looking to help establish lunar bases

Roy Mathew
U.S., Germany collaborating with Indian effort to confirm presence of water

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: *The Chandrayaan mission will focus on the exploration of the South Pole of the moon besides three-dimensional mapping of the entire moonscape.*

*The moon impact probe will hit the rim of the Shackleton crater of the moon at the South Pole by mid-November if everything goes well. The rim of the Shackleton crater is a location identified by the U.S. space agency NASA to establish a possible lunar outpost by 2020.*

An advantage of the location is the availability of sunlight for about 90 per cent of the time. This means abundance of solar energy for power generation.

Direct view

*The location is not far from the 5-km high Malapert Mountain on the moon. The Mountain, about 120 km from the Pole, has a direct view of both the Lunar South Pole and the earth and hence could be a suitable location for a radio relay station. Besides, the temperatures on the sunlit areas of the Pole and surroundings are moderate.*

A bigger attraction of the location is the possibility of finding water in the dark areas of the Pole, such as the craters. The U.S. Defence Department&#8217;s Clementine Orbiter and NASA&#8217;s Lunar Prospector had indicated the presence of water in the form of ice in the craters.

*ISRO may be able to confirm the presence of water by next year when data from instruments on board Chandrayaan I are analysed. The U.S. and Germany are collaborating with the effort. If water is detected, that would open up the way for production of drinking water, oxygen and hydrogen fuel for future lunar bases and rockets.*

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Associate Director M. Y. S. Prasad said that out of 11 payloads on Chandraayan I, four would serve to detect water. These are the miniature synthetic aperture radar and moon mineralogy mapper from the U.S., near infrared spectrometer from Germany, and India&#8217;s hyper spectral imaging camera.

To detect ice

The synthetic aperture radar can detect ice in the permanently shadowed regions on the Lunar Poles up to a depth of a few metres.

*The infrared spectrometer, which measure wavelength and intensity of the absorption of materials,* can throw light on several aspects of lunar surface including chemical characteristics of the surface materials. The mineralogy mapper, which measures solar reflected energy, can characterise and map surface minerals including potential volatiles.

The hyper spectral imaging camera, which can see visible light as well as the ultraviolet to infrared light, will provide information on mineralogical composition of Moon&#8217;s interior. Together, they facilitate identification of chemicals on the lunar surface and in the craters.

*The high-energy X-ray spectrometer can provide credence to the idea of transport of volatiles including water to the Polar Regions of the moon over geological time.*

*It will also provide information on the presence of decay products of uranium and thorium (radon and lead) on the moon. The terrain-mapping camera will provide data for the preparation of a three dimensional high-resolution atlas of moon.*

Mission Director George Koshy said Chandrayan I would remain in the Lunar orbit for two years. It would normally be able to gather all the targeted data in one to one and a half years. This means there would be spare time.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K. Radhakrishnan said the moon mission, scheduled for October 22, would mark the beginning of India&#8217;s interplanetary explorations. &#8220;We are getting into the moon&#8217;s zone of influence.&#8221;


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## nitesh

India should be reaching for the stars -Times Online

*India should be reaching for the stars*

*India's determination to win the space race will help them solve their real economic challenges*

Stuart Simpson

f all goes to plan on 22 October at 6.20am, the rocket Chandrayaan-1 will lift off from Sriharikota in India, heading for the Moon. This comes a year after China sent its satellite there. The space race between the two emerging economic giants is well under way. India is planning to pip China to the post in the race to put a man on the Moon. India in 2008 really believes it can and should reach for the stars.

Not everyone agrees. A headline on a national newspaper&#8217;s website said it all: &#8216;India should focus on the gutter before the stars&#8217;. Why, the argument goes, all this head in the clouds stuff when poverty within India manifests itself on a scale comparable with Sub-Saharan Africa?There are 800 million people in India living on less than $2 a day. Malnutrition, disease, a lack of basic sanitation or clean water are not confined to rural areas, but characterise India&#8217;s growing mega-slums also. And while it's true that India&#8217;s growth rates of around 8 per cent a year are high compared with the growth rates recently seen in the developed world, they are woefully insufficient to deal with the scale of poverty in the country.

Already running to catch up, India faces real economic and political challenges. Still reeling from the effects of high food and oil prices, the credit crunch is now spreading to the emerging economies. The IMF predicts that growth rates in India will slow in the coming years.

Added to the very real threat of economic slow down, full-stream ahead growth in India is hampered by what a recent Economist article dubbed India&#8217;s 'mutinous democracy'. The recent forced relocation of the Tata Nano plant is an example. The plant was designed to produce Tata&#8217;s flagship 'Nano' car - the 100,000 rupee car designed to be affordable for India's growing middle class. Tata has sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into buying land and building a new car plant in West Bengal, only to be forced out by local political problems, amid accusations that compensation payments to local farmers were inadequate. This situation has been presented as an example of the growing conflict between the haves and the have-nots in Indian society. In the popular imagination, at least in the West, the 'untouchables' are fighting back.

It might be tempting to argue that India should downgrade industrial development in favour of policies that benefit the poor or even that India would gain from the sort of one-party state that guides planning in China. But it would be a mistake to impose a particular direction upon India as it works through the conflicts and problems generated by rapid growth.

How India deals with the contradictions generated by its development can only be determined by India itself. The political prejudices of Western commentators will not help. *That India, a country with an income per head of less that $1,000, is flying to the moon isn't reflective of a society that has its head in the clouds and ignores the reality of poverty on the ground. Instead it shows a society that has the ambition to strive for more.* This striving will not be straightforward and there will be hurdles to overcome. Yet as the saying goes &#8216;per ardua ad astra&#8217; &#8211; through struggle to the stars. *Ultimately it is this ambition to have more that will solve India&#8217;s problems of poverty and inequality.*

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## nitesh

Deccan Herald - Chandrayaan: Payloads tasked

Chandrayaan: Payloads tasked

DH News Service, Bangalore:

India's maiden lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1 will be carrying eleven payloads when it launches on October 22.

Over the next two years, these payloads or scientific instruments will completely map the moon surface and conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping.

Out of these eleven payloads, five instruments have been developed and designed in India, three are from European Space Agency, two are from United States and one is from Bulgaria. Below is a brief description of each of the instruments.

*Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC):* A CCD camera, it will map topography in both near and far side of the Moon and prepare a 3-dimensional atlas with high spatial and altitude resolution. This will help in understanding the lunar evolution process as well identify regions for detailed study.

*Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI):* A CCD camera, it will obtain spectroscopic data for mineralogical mapping of the lunar surface and improve existing data. It will also study the mineralogical composition in deep crater regions of Moon&#8217;s interior.

*Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI):* This instrument will provide data for determining the accurate height of lunar surface features. It will also aid in determining the global topographical field of the Moon and also generate an improved model for the lunar gravity field.

*High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX):* The High-Energy X-ray spectrometer is designed to explore the possibility of exploring polar regions covered with thick water and ice deposits. It is designed to primarily study and identify regions of thorium and uranium deposits.

*Moon Impact Probe (MIP):* The only probe to actually land on the Moon, it will demonstrate the technologies required to land a probe at a desired location on the moon. It will also qualify technologies required for future soft landing missions and explore moon from a close range.

*Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS):* The primary goal of the C1XS instrument is to carry out high quality X-ray spectroscopic mapping of the Moon. C1XS will use X-ray fluorescence technique for measuring elemental abundance of Magnesium, Aluminium, Silicon, Calcium, Iron and Titanium distributed over the surface of the Moon.

*Smart Near-IR Spectrometer (SIR-2):* SIR-2 will analyse the lunar surface in mineral resources, formation of its surface features and survey mineral lunar resources for future landing sites and exploration. 

*Sub Kev Atom reflecting Analyser (SARA):* The aim of this instrument is to study the surface composition of the moon, the way the moon&#8217;s surface reacts with the solar wind and magnetic anomalies associated with the surface of the moon.

*Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM):* RADOM will qualitatively and quantitatively characterise the radiation environment in a region of space near the moon. Provide an estimate of the dose map around Moon at different altitudes and latitudes.

*Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR):* This will detect water ice in the permanently shadowed regions on the Lunar poles up to a depth of a few meters. This radar mapper will allow viewing of all permanently shadowed areas on the Moon, regardless of whether sunlight is available or the angle is not satisfactory.

*Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3):* This spectrometer will assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution to support planning for future, targeted missions. It will also help in characterising and mapping lunar materials in context of moon&#8217;s early geological evolution.


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## nitesh

Looking beyond Chandrayaan-I- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Looking beyond Chandrayaan-I
15 Oct, 2008, 1148 hrs IST,Srinivas Laxman , TNN

The country&#8217;s first Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 that is scheduled to take off on October 22 will not mark the end of India&#8217;s interplanetary missions. 

The much-awaited lunar odyssey will, in fact, kick off a slew of ambitious space programmes. At various ISRO establishments, scientists and engineers are working on space projects that will be a follow-up to Chandrayaan-1. 

As a first step, ISRO and Russia&#8217;s Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos ) had, on November 14, 2007, agreed to team up on joint lunar research and exploration as part of Chandrayaan-2 mission. 

This agreement, approved by the Union Cabinet a few days ago, involves an orbiting spacecraft and a rover that will land on the Moon. Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to lift off from Sriharikota some time between 2010 and 2012, will have a budget of Rs 425 crore. 

The amount is slightly more than the current mission which is costing India Rs 386 crore. The spacecraft will be designed and developed by ISRO, while the rover will be a Russian product. 

The rover will weigh between 30 and 100 kg, depending on the kind of landing - a hard or soft one - it will execute on the lunar surface . It will have a one-month life span and operate predominantly on solar power. 

Keeping in mind the additional payloads in the spacecraft that could increase the launch weight, the rocket for the second mission will be the three-stage Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). 

The current version of the rocket can carry payloads of up to two tonnes while the new version - GSLV Mk3 - can fly with payloads weighing four tonnes. The data from the rover will be transmitted to the orbiting spacecraft, which, in turn, will send it to the ground station at Byalalu near Bangalore. 

As in the case of Chandrayaan-1, the data from its successor will also be sent to various scientific bodies - both in India and abroad - for analysis. Though Chandrayaan-2 will essentially be a joint Indo-Russian venture, the spacecraft may include instruments from other countries too. 

For instance, NASA has shown interest in sending its instruments to the Moon through Chandrayaan-2 but details have yet to be worked out. The inclusion of a Russian rover in the second mission did cause some heartburn in India, especially among IIT-Kanpur students. 

The institute had designed a rover and it was hoping that it would be a part of Chandrayaan-2. But following PM Manmohan Singh&#8217;s visit to Russia in November 2007, the decision swung in favour of the Russian rover. 

After Chandrayaan-2 , the question being asked is whether there will be Chandrayaan-3 . According to ISRO officials, if the government agrees to have a third moon mission, it could be what is known as a sample return flight - samples from the Moon will be flown back to earth for analysis. 

&#8220;But this is still at a planning stage and no decision has yet been taken,&#8221; said an ISRO official. After Chandrayaan-2, ISRO is planning a manned mission to the low Earth orbit at an altitude of 2,000 km. 

The space programme could pave the way for a manned mission to the Moon in 2020. 

Flight to Mars 



ISRO is also working on an unmanned flight to Mars. &#8220;The Moon mission will mark the beginning of more ambitious interplanetary flights and we definitely have Mars on our horizon,&#8221; an ISRO official said. 

Last year, the principal scientific investigator to the Chandrayaan mission, J N Goswami, told TOI at the International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad that scientists had informally begun studies about a possible mission to Mars. &#8220;The science which we plan to do on Mars has to have an international context ,&#8221; he said.

&#8220;It will not be a landing mission and the focus will be on areas like the Martian atmosphere, ionosphere, its magnetic field, dust storms and the weather on the red planet,&#8221; he said. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former ISRO chief who is considered the father of the country&#8217;s lunar programme, said a &#8220;mission to Mars by India is a logical extension to the moon flight&#8221;. Goswami said ISRO is also planning a mission to asteroids to do an analysis. 

Final phase Of The Countdown 

The 52-hour countdown for India&#8217;s first mission to the Moon will begin at 4 am on October 20. The launch will be at 6.20 am on October 22 The spacecraft will be moved to the vehicle assembly building for integration with the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on October 14. 

All checks on the rocket have been completed Between October 14 and 18, the process of filling the spacecraft with propellants and gas and fitting it with the heatshield to help it withstand atmospheric friction and space pressure will be completed On October 18, the rocket and the spacecraft will be moved from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pad Chandrayaan-I will lift off even if it rains on October 22. But the mission may be postponed if there are cyclonic conditions 

Men Behind Mission 

Srinivasa Hegde, Mission Director: He is responsible for the entire flight. On October 22, he will give the final launch authorization after all systems are a &#8216;go&#8217; for the lift-off. 

M Y S Prasad, Associate Director of the Sriharikota Complex and Range Operations Director: He is responsible for all key pre-launch operations like fuelling and integration at Sriharikota. 

S K Shivakumar, Director of Isro&#8217;s Telemetry, Tracking And Command Network: His responsibility includes communication between the spacecraft and ground stations. The most crucial moment for him will be when the spacecraft enters the lunar orbit. 

J N Goswami, Director of the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of Chandrayaan-1: He will oversee the entire scientific data being beamed from the spacecraft. 

Mylaswamy Annadurai, Project Director: Once the mission got the go-ahead, he was given the responsibility of turning India&#8217;s Moon dream into a reality and hardselling the project to sceptics. Prior to the Moon mission, he was the mission director for the Indian National Satellite Programme.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan-1 shifted to VAB

Chandrayaan-1 shifted to VAB

Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Hectic activity was under way at ISRO&#8217;s launch centre in Sriharikota, 100 km north of here on Tuesday, with the integration of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) proceeding smoothly.

The spacecraft was moved to the 83-metre tall Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) of the second launch pad complex on the midnight of October 13/14. It is in the VAB that the PSLV-C11 rocket stands majestically on a massive launch pedestal.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said from Sriharikota, &#8220;The spacecraft is being assembled on top of the vehicle now. Initial tests are going on.&#8221; The tests involved checking the radio frequency and computer connectivity to the ground.

&#8220;We are testing them so that we can get ready for the countdown. If the weather permits, the launch will take place on October 22. There are no other issues. Technically, we are in good shape. The whole team is in an upbeat mood,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai added.

The 52-hour final countdown starts from 4.00 a.m. on October 20.

Chandrayaan-1 is India&#8217;s first mission to the moon. The spacecraft will take remote-sensing images of the moon, which will help in locating minerals and chemicals on the lunar soil. It will help in confirming the presence of water in the South Pole of the moon.


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## nitesh

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...th-Moon-Mars_complex_/articleshow/3592628.cms

Kalam: India set to step into Earth-Moon-Mars complex 
14 Oct 2008, 0610 hrs IST,TNN

BANGALORE: Former President and scientist Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, who has been in the forefront of India's scientific and defence endeavours for over 40 years, is a man with a mission and vision. He would like India to be a superpower by 2020, for which the country has to undertake mega missions. The Moon mission is one such. India is set for its date with history on October 22, when the PSLV blasts off from Sriharikota to launch Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to the Moon. The Times of India, which is carrying a countdown to India's first Moon mission, contacted Dr Kalam for his message. 

*What is the most important value of India's Moon mission? *

I visualize an Earth-Moon-Mars complex to become an economic entity of strategic importance to many nations. In this situation, India's Moon mission will give a boost to space research. Young scientists will look towards studying the physical geological structure, mineral potential and availability of helium-3 in large quantities on the lunar surface. 

*What signal does India's Moon mission send to the world? *

India has the capability to build any type of launch vehicle , any type of spacecraft and launch it not only in Earth's orbit, but also in the lunar orbit. It will give a signal that India is ready to become a partner in international space missions. This will also enable the evolution of the Earth-Moon-Mars complex, leading to inter-planetary economic activity and evolution of an alternative habitat. 

*What does the Moon mission mean to the scientific community and students at large in India? *

Already, the young in India are aspiring to become astronauts. The scientific community and students will find many research challenges in material science, exploration, transportation and low-cost production of energy.


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## nitesh

Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.



China needs sharper eyes in space
By Peter J Brown 

* If China wants to become a dominant space power, it must step up and take a leading role in providing new Earth observation satellite (EOSAT) technology. However, the field is crowded and becoming more so, making this a far more difficult task than previously thought. 

China has been slow to make any significant headway in the global satellite communications market - see China lost in SE Asian space (Asia Times Online, October 10, 2008) * - and sharing EOSAT technology was sitting at the top of the list when it outlined its regional "space cooperation" priorities in October 2005. That's when the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) Convention was signed in Beijing by China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and later Turkey. 

Just three years later, in early September this year, China launched a 510 kilogram research EOSAT into low Earth orbit, part of a joint project which involved Thailand, Iran, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bangladesh and South Korea. Besides enhancing disaster response capabilities in the region, this EOSAT will be used to monitor and assess natural resources and agricultural trends, among other things. 

Almost immediately after, on October 1, Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) announced the successful launch of the Thailand Earth Observation Satellite (THEOS). This European-built, Russian-launched satellite has apparently already attracted offers from China, Japan and Sweden who want to distribute satellite imagery generated by THEOS. 

The EOSAT business has changed quickly, becoming almost a long distance phone call-like system in the process, and EOSAT-generated imagery - apart from classified military surveillance data - is rapidly bought and sold in very high resolution across borders. Consumers can access it easily online at very low or no cost, thanks to ventures likes Google Earth, for example. 

For years, well before the emergence of APSCO, China had attempted to gain ground by expending considerable time and energy in its EOSAT technology outreach and training activities in Asia, under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Multilateral Cooperation on Space Technology and Application (AP-MCSTA) pact. 

China's Beihang University, the AP-MCSTA secretariat, and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have jointly sponsored a large number of graduate students over the past few years. Many from Thailand in particular have studied in China under its Master Program on Space Technology and Applications, and the vast majority of these students focused on advanced EOSAT programs which they can now bring to fruition via THEOS. 
In Laos, China plans to soon build a new ground station, and will be providing other equipment and technical training. This will vastly improve the ability of Laos to receive and process EOSAT data. Myanmar is another Southeast Asian country that China has provided with EOSAT technology in the past so Myanmar could better monitor opium cultivation within its borders, among other things. 

One successful Chinese EOSAT initiative early on was the Feng Yun Satellite Data Broadcasting System, which was overseen by China's Central Meteorological Administration and is still being used by several Asian countries including Laos, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand as well as other South and Central Asian countries. 

Elsewhere, in Latin America for example, Brazil has emerged as China's biggest EOSAT partner. China will launch a new EOSAT for Venezuela - scheduled for 2013 - following Venezuela's failed attempt to buy into Israel's ImageSat project. 

Despite all of this activity, China may now be compelled to rethink its EOSAT strategy, perhaps even shelving many plans altogether in the face of a global surge in EOSAT-related projects.

In a report on EOSAT trends released this year, Paris-based Euroconsult estimated that nearly 200 new EOSATs are expected to be launched through 2017. While established government EOSAT programs overseen by the world's largest space agencies including NASA, the European Space Agency, France's CNES, and India's ISRO will maintain their dominant status, their share of total EOSATs will drop from a high of 77&#37; from the period of 1997 to 2006 to only 36% over the coming decade. 

What stands out is that private companies will be ordering an estimated 29 EOSATs over the next decade which will account for almost one-fifth of total EOSATs on order - almost six times the number of EOSATs ordered by the private sector in the prior decade. While these Euroconsult projections may be highly optimistic and subject to revision, they nevertheless point to an EOSAT market in transition. 

Launch plans for upcoming space tourist flights may well include space available for low-cost, uninsured and low-weight EOSAT constellation payloads as a means to enhance their profitability. 

Here, the real issue facing China is timing, and whether or not Beijing will really gain any significant ground in a geopolitical sense by aggressively pursuing new joint ventures in the EOSAT realm. Any discussion of EOSATs in general has traditionally touched on the subject of "dual-use" technology, that is, the fact that any EOSAT project can be quickly and easily adapted for military surveillance purposes. 

However, China's recent experiences, with a devastating earthquake in particular, suggest that its rapid upgrading of overall disaster preparedness, response and recovery capabilities has taken on an added sense of urgency. With this comes the recognition of the need for a closer integration of EOSAT technology into all disaster preparedness and emergency management operations. 

In other words, EOSATs today are really all about achieving a "triple use" solution in terms of bonding together multiple civilian GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and environmental monitoring applications together with military surveillance and disaster response applications and networks - all on one satellite. 

China cannot dismiss India - and Japan

Despite their relatively low number of satellite launches to date, two other Asian space agencies, India's ISRO and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA, loom large and have many new satellite programs including EOSATs already in motion. 

* ISRO in particular is probably what compels Chinese officials to lie awake at night as they try to figure out how they might aggressively outmaneuver India and its relatively down-to-earth approach. *

* Besides having a coastal rocket launch facility already in operation - ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Center is far closer to the equator than China's new facility on Hainan Island - India is making rapid inroads into Southeast Asia, Africa and other parts of the world, while inking several launch contracts and satellite deals with the Israelis and Europeans. *

* Not only is India's prowess in the EOSAT realm attracting considerable attention, but India has already undertaken ambitious satellite-based distance education and telemedicine projects covering vast rural areas. India is the first country to launch the dedicated distance learning satellites known as EDUSAT, and is demonstrating that it can be an effective integrator of terrestrial networks and satellite infrastructures after working its way through a somewhat painful learning curve. *

Even if China figures out an effective way to neutralize or at least spoil India's efforts to woo new customers, China will have to keep pace with the European Space Agency's expansive plans for a new Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) system. a multi-EOSAT constellation with a price tag of well over $3 billion, along with a long list of other EOSAT contenders like DigitalGlobe and GeoEye in the US, Canada's RadarSats and perhaps even Germany's SARLupes, to name a few. 

The one wildcard in this mix, however, remains the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Was this single event so powerful that it dismantled China's EOSAT strategy which was undergoing major modification as a result of all the EOSAT-related trends mentioned previously? 

Perhaps not, but doors that were already starting to open prior to the earthquake are now suddenly opening even wider at the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. And China has recently joined with the US, Europeans and South Africans on the Group on Earth Observations' executive committee which is addressing new strategies for environmental monitoring and EOSAT deployments.

CNSA is a longstanding member of the International Charter of Space and Major Disasters which deploys EOSATs over disaster zones, and CNSA supports activities undertaken by the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response or SPIDER, along with other organizations. 

The 2008 earthquake, which followed right after the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, simply gave China a better reason to see these and other related EOSAT-driven projects in a new light. 

China has not abandoned its dreams for APSCO and it will never cease in its efforts to devise new small and even nano-satellite technologies. Nor will it ever be ready or willing to abandon military surveillance projects of all kinds. China's ongoing and hugely successful space technology espionage campaign in both the US and Europe has major military space ramifications, and it will persist. That said, the global EOSAT race is now different in character, and, China's priorities and aspirations in this regard will likely have to change over the coming decade. 

Peter J Brown, a Maine-based satellite specialist, writes frequently about satellite industry trends and developments in Asia. 

(Copyright 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)


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## nitesh

Avionews ... =index.php

Aerospace 
06:33 pm - Thursday	
Arianespace Flight 186 with Eutelsat's Hot Bird and W2M satellites
Paris, France - For end November
(WAPA) - "Arianespace and Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) confirm that the upcoming launch of the Ariane 5 ECA will orbit Eutelsat&#8217;s HOT BIRD&#8482; 9 and W2M satellites. The launch of Flight 186 is planned to take place in the last week of November and will be the sixth Ariane 5 launch in 2008. 

The modification to the Arianespace launch manifest enables Eutelsat to ensure timely entry into service of HOT BIRD&#8482; 9 and accelerates the deployment of the W2M satellite. 

Built by EADS Astrium, the construction of HOT BIRD&#8482; 9 was completed in July and the satellite arrived in Kourou from Toulouse on September 16 to be prepared for launch. W2M, *which is built by EADS Astrium / ISRO is due to be shipped from Bangalore (India) to Kourou by mid-October to initiate final preparations for launch. *

Designed for consumer broadcasting to satellite and cable homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the high-power Ku-band HOT BIRD&#8482; 9 satellite, equipped with 64 transponders, will join Eutelsat&#8217;s 13 degrees East position to increase in-orbit sparing at the Group&#8217;s premium video neighbourhood. HOT BIRD&#8482; 9 is identical to HOT BIRD&#8482; 8 which was launched to 13 degrees East in August 2006 and HOT BIRD&#8482; 10 which will be orbited by Arianespace beginning of 2009. 

W2M will be positioned at Eutelsat&#8217;s 16 degrees East position which represents one of the Group&#8217;s fastest-growing neighbourhoods for digital broadcasting in central Europe and Indian Ocean islands. Equipped with 26 Ku-band transponders and up to 32 depending on operational modes, the new satellite will replace W2 and provide additional capacity for further service expansion". 
(Avionews)
(006) 081015183334-1095365 (World Aeronautical Press Agency - 2008-10-15 06:33 pm)


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon&#8217;s sphere of influence

How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon&#8217;s sphere of influence

ROY MATHEW

The enhanced capabilities of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and accurate modelling of the forces that act on the Chandrayaan-1 satellite in orbit make India&#8217;s mission to Moon possible next week. The PSLV will put the satellite into an elliptical orbit under the influence of earth&#8217;s gravity.

The inbuilt rockets of the satellite will then push it to the moon&#8217;s sphere of influence.

*Final destination*

The final destination is a circular Lunar orbit 100 kilometres above the surface of the Moon. The first challenge for the engineers of ISRO will be to put the satellite into the transfer orbit around the earth. The PSLV has been modified to lift the 1,304 tonne satellite and attain a highly elliptical orbit.

The nearest point (perigee) of this orbit will be about 250 kilometres and the farthest point (apogee) will be about 22,860 km away from earth. The launch vehicle will have to achieve a velocity of about 26,000 km an hour to place the satellite into the transfer orbit. This, it will do in just over 18 minutes, or 1,096 seconds, to be exact. The capacity of the strap-on-booster motors of PSLV has been increased from nine to 12 tonnes of solid propellant to achieve that. (Because of the increased length of the strap-ons, they are referred to with the suffix XL.)

The first stage of the vehicle together with its six strap-on boosters carries 320 tonnes of propellants. The third stage also uses solid propellant while the second and fourth stages use liquid propellants. Once the launch Vehicle puts the satellite into orbit, the inbuilt thrusters are used to move it into an extended transfer orbit.

Then a trajectory to transfer the satellite into the moon&#8217;s gravitational sphere is achieved through multiple manoeuvres to extend the apogee beyond 3.8 lakh kilometres.

The calculation of the gravitational and other forces acting on the satellite at this and earlier stages is crucial in guiding the satellite into the right orbits.

The Indian Space Research has prepared models for this, and the calculations have been validated in reference to models used by other space agencies.

*The manoeuvre*

The manoeuvre to insert the satellite into Lunar orbit will be done when the moon is at its nearest position to earth. The Indian Space Research Organisation is hoping to use a window available early in November.

For this, the launching is to be done between October 22 and 28. Before the moon is in position, a trial will be done by extending the apogee beyond the position where the moon would be at the time of insertion.

When the satellite falls into the Lunar orbit, it will be about 500 km (peri-seline) from surface of the Moon on an elliptical orbit that will extend to 5000 km (apo-seline). The orbit will then be reduced to 100 km in steps by slowing down the satellite.


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## nitesh

photo gallery

Welcome to Indian Space Research Organisation


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Indian spacecraft will try to unravel moon's origins

Sriharikota (IANS): India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to unravel the moon's origins as it scouts for minerals and water there, according to project director M. Annadurai.

When Chandrayaan is launched Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 80 km from Chennai, it will boost international space cooperation by carrying 11 scientific devices, six of them from European and American organisations, to study the earth's nearest celestial neighbour while it orbits 100 km above the moon.

One of the lunar orbiter's key missions will be to map the moon. "During the two-year expedition, the 11 devices will be used to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the moon," Annadurai told IANS. The maps will have a high resolution of 5 to 10 metres, he added.

Annadurai said the chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface will show where elements such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium, iron and titanium are to be found.

"Simultaneous photo, geological and chemical mapping will enable indentification of the different geological units, which will test the early evolutionary history of the moon," he said. They will also help determine the nature of the lunar crust, he said.

The lunar probe will also look for water-ice in the permanently dark polar regions of the moon which may be as cold as 50 to 70 degrees Kelvin (about minus 223 to minus 203 degrees Centigrade) , he said.

* These are the European Space Agency devices or payloads that will fly on the Chandrayaan: *

-- Imaging x-ray spectrometer (C1XS), developed by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Britain with the ISRO satellite centre, will map the lunar surface, using x-ray fluorescence technique for measuring the elements. It will also observe the moon during the rising phase of the solar cycle when x-ray signals are expected to be enhanced.

-- Sub-kiloelectronvolt (keV) atom reflecting analyser (SARA), built jointly by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VKSC) at Thiruvananthapuram, will study the composition of the moon, the way its surface reacts to solar wind, how its materials change and the magnetic anomalies.

* The following are the two US instruments packages: *

--The 6.5-kg mini synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR), developed by the Johns Hopkins University applied physics laboratory and the naval air warfare centre, will detect water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles by digging a few metres into the surface.

-- Moon mineralogy mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer built by Brown University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA, will assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution for future targeted missions.

"The seven kg M3 will also help in characterising and mapping lunar minerals for knowing the moon's early geological evolution," Annadurai said. "Its compositional maps will improve our understanding of the early evolution of a differentiated planetary body and provide a high-resolution assessment of lunar resources."

* The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' * radiation dose monitor (RADOM) will characterise the radiation environment in a region of space near the moon. Its data will be used to evaluate the radiation environment and radiation shielding requirements on future manned moon missions.

* The five Indian payloads are: *

--The seven-kg terrain mapping camera (TMC) will map moon's topography and prepare the three-dimensional atlas.

--The four-kg hyper spectral imager (HySI) will gather spectroscopic data for mapping minerals.

--The 10-kg lunar laser ranging instrument (LLRI) will provide data for determining the height of lunar surface features and moon's gravity field.

-- The 16-kg high energy x-ray spectrometer (HEX) will explore the moon's polar regions (north-south) that may be covered by thick water-ice deposits.

-- The 29-kg moon impact probe (MIP) that will descend on to the lunar surface in about 20 minutes from an altitude of 100 km on a specific location at a pre-determined time to explore the moon from a close range.


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : As ISRO&#8217;s lunar date nears, tracking systems are in full gear

When Chandrayaan-1, the nation&#8217;s most ambitious and biggest space adventure to date, takes off on its lunar odyssey at the crack of dawn on October 22, two giant antennae at Bangalore will start tracking it 17 minutes into the launch.

These tracking systems, which are the eyes, ears, brain and guide of the lunar mission, are ready for the long haul, according to Mr S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network.

Starting from just after the launch to the next two years of the mission, ISTRAC and its Indian Deep Space Network with the 32-metre and 18-m antennae will play the key role in all manoeuvres, navigation, control, command. This includes catching or sending signals to the spacecraft across nearly 4 lakh km and the release of the Moon Impact Probe, painted in the Tricolour and that will crash land on the lunar surface.

&#8220;We did the first full dress rehearsal yesterday [on Tuesday] involving all the nine ground centres and it went off quite well. We will do two more until the 19th,&#8221; Mr Shivakumar told Business Line.

The biggest morale-booster, according to him, has been that the two antennae have tracked the Japanese lunar orbiter Selene or Kaguya, in co-operation with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAXA sent up its orbiter last year.

Selene being similar to Chandrayaan-1, tracking it for practice means &#8220;Our antenna pointing is perfect, the ground system works; and we are there when Chandrayaan-1 reaches Moon&#8217;s orbit,&#8221; he said.

ISRO has set up the Rs 100-crore ISDN which includes the special 32-metre antenna (named DSN32) to track the lunar mission and future planetary forays; the DSN18 stands by at the ISDN site at Byalalu, some 30 km on the outskirts of the city.

ISTRAC&#8217;s scientists also track the IRS remote-sensing satellites that orbit at a relatively small distance of 900 km. Over 200 scientists have been specially working round-the-clock with only Moon on their mind and hands. &#8220;There is heightened enthusiasm as this is a major mission. Every one has been put on the job, their command tasks assigned and logistics worked out. From now on, we&#8217;ll get even more focussed,&#8221; Mr Shivakumar said.


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## nitesh

Moon mission to boost PSLV orders
Friday, 17 October , 2008, 13:20
Last Updated: Friday, 17 October , 2008, 13:25


Chennai: The launch of India's lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan on Oct 22 will not immediately result in big satellite launch orders for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), but will improve its expertise in the area where India specialises - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV).

PSLVs carry lightweight research satellites, not the heavy communication or weather satellites that orbit the earth above the equator. In the area of these rockets, called Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV), India has a long way to go before it can attract commercial luggage.

Space science on a high

World over the lunar or other planetary missions are in exploratory research stage. Estimating the commercial fallout of India's moon mission is too early to discuss. People have to go a long way to exploit the potential, K.R. Sridhara Murthi, executive director, Antrix Corporation Limited told IANS.

The Rs 940 crore turnover Antrix (profit Rs 160 crore) is the commercial arm of ISRO.

Chandrayaan-1: Quick facts

Even the pictures taken by the Chandrayaan spacecraft will not be of much commercial value. But they will have scientific value. The one advantage that India has is that we are in the game in an early stage, Murthi said.

Adding that the main driver is future potential and strategic capability, he said: The positive spinoff is the development of technological capability in making high energy instruments, miniaturised components, robotics and others that will be in useful in the long run.

While PSLV is used for placing lighter satellites in polar orbit and at times in geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) if the payload is around 1,100 kg, GSLV is for putting heavier satellites of around two tonnes in GTO.

Chandrayaan-1 rides on basketballer turned rocket scientist

Only research institutes and universities would want to send small satellites on PSLVs and they are widely dispersed across the globe, making it difficult to make a concerted marketing pitch, remarked Murthi.

India will be considered seriously in the global satellite launch arena only when its GSLV Mark III comes into play with a capacity to carry over three tonnes, he added.

ISRO's current strategy relating to its rockets is to maximise the carrying capacity utilisation by pitching for light weight luggage as co-passenger for its own satellite - the main luggage.

Chandrayaan-I passes thermal vacuum test

India has not invested in capacity creation to wait for payload. Our investment is for our use and at the same time cash on the available opportunity, Murthi said.

The bulk of the commercial launches around the world are for communication satellites that weigh over three tonnes, a segment dominated by Europe, the US, Russia and China.

The major launch vehicles in the world are Delta, Pegasus, Shuttle, Atlas, Ariane, Soyuz, Proton, Titan and the new Long March that belongs to China.

The rocket freight rate is calculated on cost per kilogramme per kilometre carried basis.

ISRO has used PSLV to launch 16 third party satellites till now.

The heaviest is the 500 kg Italian satellite Agile in 2004 followed by the Israeli satellite TecSAR that weighed 300 kg.

Presently ISRO has received three or four payload commitments from third parties for PSLV, said Murthi.

According to him the overall launch industry is stagnating in the last couple of years.

There is no big growth. No big satellite systems are coming into the market. 
Moon mission to boost PSLV orders - Sify.com


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## nitesh

India's pie in the sky 
Bibhu Ranjan Mishra & Praveen Bose / New Delhi October 18, 2008, 0:11 IST 

On Wednesday, India will enter the annals of lunar history with its bid to land a mission on the moon.

Business Standard :: Business News,Finance News, World Business, India Stock News, Indian stock market, India investments, Indian Industry, Sensex, Nifty, BSE, NSE, India Business, India Economy, India, share market, Corporate Result, Finance News fr ... ono=337665

At dawn on October 22, a thousand staid scientists, all with alphabet soups of academic qualifications, will be braced to break out the bubbly. Indias first moon mission, Chandrayaan-1

(C-1) is scheduled to launch about 10 minutes after sunrise from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, on the little peninsula of Sriharikota, Indias spaceport on the Bay of Bengal.

Chandrayaan is the latest validation of Indias space programme which had its origins in 1963 when Vikram Sara-bhai laid the foundation for what has become one of the greatest success stories of India.

While India has put satellites galore into space, ISROs experience is thus far limited to operating assets at a distance of about 40,000 km. A moon mission is a whole new ball-game. It involves managing complex equipment at a distance of 400,000 km  enough to cause over a seconds lag each way in the radio signals that control those systems.

The sylvan green of Sriharikota with its vast acres of mangrove swamps and its winter arrivals of flamingos and other migratory birds is a charming, if apparently incongruous, setting for a high-tech space centre. However, although the 1,000-odd scientists and technicians camped there claim their surroundings help them relax, the location was chosen for hard-headed, practical reasons.

There is always an element of uncertainty in a rocket launch. If it fails here, it will land in the sea. In case of deviations from the proposed path or other malfunctions, the launch vehicle can be blown up. Once the vehicle lifts off, nothing can be done. We wont simply destroy because of a marginal deviation or malfunction. We destroy it only when there is a chance of it causing catastrophic damage, says

V Krishnamurthy, general manager (safety) of the mission.

However, C-I is unlikely to fail  at launch at least. The PSLV is tried and tested, it has put 12 payloads into space. The objective of C-1 is to put a 1.5 metre cube into orbit, about 100 km above the lunar surface, for two years. Various experiments will be run and data of all sorts acquired. The unmanned, 11-payload mission also incorporates a moon impact probe that will crash into the moon itself and drop a tricolour on the surface, staking Indias claims to the moon.

The making of C-1 has involved very complex systems integration. The mission head of the project, M Annadurai, has had his fingers crossed since July 21 when the integration of the launch vehicle started. His team is charged-up. People from the lowest to the top level are working round the clock with great excitement. All of them are self-motivated and dont need to be set a target. We have not seen this kind of team spirit with any other project in the past, says M C Dathan, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR.

At a distance of 384,000 km, the moon is the most visited celestial body. A few dozen manned and unmanned missions have been undertaken by Russia (then the USSR), USA, China and Japan. Russia and the US have landed robotic spacecraft on the moon; the US has landed astronauts as well. But no man has walked on the moon for over 30 years.

In May 1999, Atal Behari Vajpayee evaded the question of a possible moon mission while he was watching the launch of PSLV-C2. He took refuge in poetry, saying, When man reached the moon, he did not find anything beautiful there. ISRO did eventually get clearance for the missions and, at Vajpayees behest, it was named Chandrayaan. The numeric 1 suggests that it is the first of several missions and indeed C-2 is already in the pipeline.

C-1 is an exercise in developing technical expertise for ISRO as well as in global scientific cooperation. It carries six payloads and experiments devised and contributed by UK, Germany, Sweden, Bulgaria and the US (two payloads), apart from five designed by Indian scientists. If all work, it will send back enough data to generate 3-D maps, check for the presence of water and other chemicals and minerals, assess background radiation levels, measure the (tenuous) lunar atmosphere, study solar wind interaction, et cetera.

It will acquire unprecedented amounts of data and answer many questions about the evolution of earths mysterious satellite. In spite of several missions to the moon, the origin of the moon is not fully understood. The theory that the moon originated due to a catastrophic collision of the earth with a Mars-sized body over 3 billion years ago is unproven. In this context, the data collection about the lunar surface and its chemical composition by C-1 may provide us insights into its origin, says

G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO. With luck, it will also throw up more questions that later missions can attempt to answer.

The present unmanned mission from India is unique. Most moon missions so far have tried to unravel one side of the moon. We are now concentrating on the polar orbit, and wish to prepare a three-dimensional atlas which is unique and will help in mapping the topography, says V K Srivastava, a senior scientist working with the project.

The moon impact probe aims at providing ISRO with technologies for future soft landings including possibly manned missions. Another target is to investigate the abundance of Helium-3, which is vital for fusion energy generation experiments. He-3 is very rare on earth and supposedly present in much larger quantities on the moon. While it may not be cost-effective in energy terms to mine it, its presence would spark new interest in lunar resources. The moon has 2-3 million tonnes of Helium-3. This would be enough to produce energy for us on earth for about 8,000 years, says U R Rao, former director of ISRO.

For ISRO, which runs a large and ambitious communication and remote sensing satellites programme, C-1 is a crucial mission. While ISRO chairman

K Kasturirangan had been lobbying since 1999, it was in November 2003, after G Madhavan Nair took over, that the project gained approval. Work started about four years ago. The C-1 spacecraft has been built using the indigenous capabilities of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore with contributions from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, Space Application Centre (SAC), Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad and Laboratory for Electro-optic Systems, Bangalore. As mentioned, the 1,380 kg spacecraft to be launched with the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) carries 11 scientific experiments.

Around November 8, when the satellite is in a polar orbit about 100 km above the moons surface, the moon impact probe will be ejected to hit the lunar surface. It will take a series of close-ups as it crashes and the instrumentation will transmit that data back. Other payloads will execute their functions over two years on the solar-powered satellite. The telemetry and data relay will be managed at the Deep Space Network Station in Byalalu near Bangalore.

The satellite has a mass of 550 kg (the weight on the moon is one-sixth that on earth due to lower gravity, but mass remains the same). When it is in the moon orbit, our satellite will be about 550 kg, despite carrying 11 payloads on board. This is satisfactory, says Srivastava. (Famously, astronauts eat caviar because it has the highest calorie to weight ratio, and weight is key to space missions.) Chandrayaan-1 will be launched using a PSLV variant. PSLV-C11 consists of four stages along with six strap-on rockets.

It is very cost-effective, with a price-tag of less than Rs 400 crore. A space shuttle mission from NASA, which only goes to 40,000 km (and comes back) costs about five times as much. The project cost of Rs 386 crore includes Rs 100 crore towards the cost of the launch vehicle, another Rs 100 crore for the Deep Space Network, which controls the mission, and Rs 185 crore for satellite and operations. Actually, the moon missions cost of less than Rs 400 crore is just 10 per cent of the annual budget of ISRO. The money we have invested on DSN will help us with all future planetary missions including Chandrayaan-II, a spokesperson for ISRO says.

ISRO, like any other public sector organisation, has to work under tight constraints. Insiders say it was really tough for the space research agency to accomplish the project on schedule within the given budget. ISRO outsourced non-core work to private vendors to minimise costs and speed up schedules. The major hurdle was post-Pokhran II sanctions that prevented technology transfer. As a result, the Indian payloads were developed indigenously. The failure of Insat 4C in July 2006 also slowed things down. Thankfully, all that is in the past.

ISRO and the Indian scientific establishment have a lot riding on C-1. It would make India a serious player in outer space and make it easier to attract and retain high quality scientists and engineers. The moon could eventually serve as a launch-pad for missions to other planets such as Mars. India would definitely like a seat in that game. The countdown begins on Wednesday.


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## nitesh

All I want to say is BEST OF LUCK

The Hindu Business Line : Chandrayaan may encounter peaking monsoon

The launch of Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 lunar spacecraft scheduled for October 22 may have to deal with a north-east monsoon peaking just around the same time.

The east-west shear zone of monsoon turbulence would have been established over south peninsular India by that time which could provide for some unsettled weather along the southeast coast, said Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Advisor, Department of Science and Technology.

This would be pronounced over the Tamil Nadu and south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Ground Zero for purposes of the launch programme. Gusting winds and convective clouds are other likely risks.

* WIND GUSTS *

Easterlies to northeasterlies are seen picking in speed in tandem with the peaking monsoon. Formation of convective clouds, however, cannot be predicted with any conceivable measure of accuracy until two hours before it actually takes place.

In this context, the Doppler radars at Sriharikota and Chennai would become in handy for the crack team of meteorologists associated with the Chandrayaan project, Dr Gupta said.

* Vertical wind shear triggered by the vertical motion in tall convective clouds, lightning and storms are weather hazards such launch programmes have to deal with during this time of the year. But the skies can clear up in between, throwing up possible launch windows depending on how long the recess sustains. *

* NO BIG STORM *

These possibilities are largely factored in to the launch schedule, and the actual count-down lends itself to being adjusted in accordance with emerging weather conditions. In any case, no big storms are forecast to develop in the Bay around October 22 save for some activity centred some distance to the east.


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## nitesh

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081027&fname=ISRO&sid=2

'We Can Easily Catch Up With China'
Chairman of ISRO and the Space Commission on the moon mission and more


SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU INTERVIEWS G. MADHAVAN NAIR

*What does the moon mission mean to ISRO and India? What message does it send out to the world?*

First of all, it is a major technology challenge. So far we have sent our satellites to a distance of nearly 36,000 kms and put them in a geo-stationary orbit. But, for the first time we are travelling 400,000 kms. To reach near the moon and put the satellite in a suitable orbit around it, poses a lot of technology challenge in terms of tracking, orbit determination, navigation, guidance and so on. Apart from this, the mission is unique because we are trying to map the entire lunar surface in terms of its terrain features and mineralogical content. We hope to provide a lot of inputs to the scientific community on the various aspects of the moon, on its origin and then in turn to throw light on the origin of the earth itself.

*The moon mission is happening around the same time as the nuclear deal, the economy is also vibrant? Are there linkages between the three? Has India truly and finally arrived?*

We have established ourselves in both atomic energy and space. Today we are treated in par by the developed nations in these areas. It is time to give a major thrust to the future developments in this area and maintain a leadership position. Our economic growth and vibrancy is going to help us in this. *We are spending hardly 0.5 per cent of our national budget on our scientific programmes, if this could be increased it will help us emerge as world leaders in many other areas of science and technology too.* The overall national income is also going up and this will definitely help us in many ways. 

*ISRO has been a great and transparent institution. It has delivered one success after another. Does our political establishment appreciate this?*

At all times, all governments have been very supportive of the space programme for chiefly two reasons: Firstly because it is a hi-tech area. Secondly, we are able to provide a wide range of services to the country. Take for instance agriculture resource management or water resource management or for that matter natural resource management in general -- the quality of inputs that has been coming from our space programme has tremendously increased the productivity and income of large sections of our people. Again, the communication and connectivity that we are providing through our satellites across the length and breadth of the country meets the national needs. Successive governments have been supportive of our work and the fact that in the last few years we have been getting roughly a 20-25 per cent increase in our annual budget is indicative of that support. Most of our budget goes towards meeting national priority needs. We work in a very democratic fashion. Our projects go through an elaborate process of consultation with various government departments and scientists. We have also learnt to deliver our services on time and in a cost effective manner. The fact that more or less the successive prime ministers of India have held the space portfolio has helped us in removing procedural hurdles. 

*Does Chandrayaan come at an inflection point in ISRO's life? A sort of midlife crisis? Is that why you are moving from societal application to space exploration? *

We could be at an inflection point, *but what we are spending on Chandrayaan is hardly only three per cent of our budget over the last five years.* It is a small fraction. But, the amount of technological advancement we will see as a result of this and the national pride that the mission brings is tremendous. Also, we have to lay the foundation for the future. The exploration of planets whether it is the moon or mars, the exploration of the solar system or the galaxies have become very interesting topics for the scientific community.

To create a scientific temperament in the nation and create a new generation of space scientists missions like Chandrayaan are needed. *We plan to set aside aside 10-15 per cent of our budgets toward advanced R&D both in space science and space technologies. We are actually not moving away from societal application, but only further expanding it. You never know, what we find today may be of use for the next generation. Suppose we are able to find helium three on the moon, and we can commercially exploit that, it will be of great use to our atomic programme.*

*How do you handle criticism from a section of the people that a poor nation like India shouldn't be wasting money on projects like Chandrayaan?

We have faced this question in the early phase of the programme. We are convinced that we are doing more service to the society than the money spent on the programme. But to doubly assure ourselves, we asked a school of economics in Chennai a couple of years back to make an assessment. The report they submitted was really mind-boggling. They found that what we have given back to the society in terms of products and services is something like one and half times more than the cumulative investment made on the entire space programme. Leave alone the infrastructure, the technology, the human resources and the various laboratories we have developed, if we add all that it is certainly more than five times spent on the programme.*

*Do you think this is an Asian century? China, Japan and now India are all into lunar missions?*

I think it is correct in a way. Though these countries are underdeveloped in some areas they have given enough importance to scientific development. What you are seeing in terms of space exploration is a culmination of that. China and Japan have not only sent lunar missions but also have very ambitious plans for planetary exploration.

*How do you compare India with China?

Compared to China we are better off in many areas. For example our communication satellites are world class. Chinese still depend on some foreign companies to supply some components. On launchers, we have very advanced capability. As far as manned-mission is concerned we are lagging behind, but that was a conscious decision on our part. Since it involves a lot of funds, in the initial phase of the moon programme we have not given thrust to that area. But given the funds and necessary approvals we can easily catch up with our neighbour in this area. 

In the global space industry there was a lean period as far as the moon was concerned, nothing happened for decades, but why the sudden interest now?*

For two reasons. One is the prospects of minerals which could be exploited and the second is that if you want to get into inter-planetary travel or go beyond the solar system, we need an intermediary base. Instead of having an artificial system like a space station, if we have a base in moon it may help us. That is the kind of future vision that space agencies are developing.

*When will India put a man on moon?

We have a dream to put a man on moon with our own vehicle system by 2015.*

*Other planetary explorations?*

About Mars we have given some thought. *We can have a spacecraft going to the planet by 2012.* But we are still looking for good scientific ideas on inter-planetary missions.

*Personally for you what is it that is very significant about this moon mission?*

Basically the technical challenges. *We decided to put the deep space tracking network on our own. We developed it indigenously through ECIL and BARC.* It was a major decision and I am happy that we now have a really world class facility. 

*You were travelling abroad with the PM recently, what were people in other countries asking you about the moon mission?*

People are very much looking forward to the success of this mission for different reasons. First of all, a country like India is doing this. Secondly, it is seen as a fine example of international co-operation in space exploration. We have instruments from the US and Europe flying on board along with our instruments. Our scientists and scientists from these two continents are working together. No other country has had technological co-operation to the extent that we have had in the context of our moon mission. 

*Is the moon mission also about attracting young talent to ISRO?*

Young, bright scientists can be attracted only by technology challenges. Money is a factor that counts but more than that it is technology challenges that are important. We have full clarity about what ISRO should be doing for the next 20 years. There are a lot of fascinating things that we intent to pursue. Our vision plan will put forward a big bouquet of technology challenges and these challenges I hope will attract young talent. It is very difficult to get young talent, *but the fact that attrition rate at ISRO is less than 10 per cent shows that money is not the only factor for people who have joined us and are wanting to join us.* In IT industries where they pay hefty packets, they talk of an attrition rate of 25 to 30 per cent. I don't mean to say that scientists need not be remunerated well. We have taken up these issues with the government and we are very positive about getting a better package. To train young scientists we have also started the Indian Institute of Space Technology, which is a unique institution in the world. We take in youngsters at plus two level and after four years of education they are guaranteed a job in ISRO. This specialised education will bring the best talent to work with us in the future.


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## nitesh

India's Satellites Help Farmers, Fishermen | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com

Nobody would mistake India for a leader in outer space. Many Indians are hopeful that the launch this week of the Chandrayaan I spacecraft, which will orbit the moon in search of water, will mark a turning point for the nation's space program. The Indian mission will carry instruments for the U.S. and European space agencies in addition to its own Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). *Judging from local media coverage, Indians are following the mission almost as closely as the gyrations of the stock markets.* {nitesh: how true, wishing ISRO best of luck}

*The Indian space program is already far ahead in one respect: its use of space technologies to solve the everyday problems of ordinary people on the ground. For more than 20 years, India has been quietly investing hundreds of millions of dollars in its earth-sciences program with an eye toward helping farmers with their crops, fishermen with their catches and rescue workers with management of floods and other disasters. "India is leading the way in the approach towards the rationale for earth observation," says Stephen Briggs, the head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Observation Science and Applications Department.*

*Measured by the number and sophistication of their satellites, America and Europe may be ahead of India. But with an annual budget of about $1 billion&#8212;less than a tenth of NASA's&#8212;ISRO covers a lot of ground.* It has built and launched 46 satellites, which provide data for at least nine Indian government ministries. Its 11 national communications satellites are the largest network in Asia, *and its seven remote sensing satellites map objects on Earth at a resolution of less than a meter. These form the backbone of a series of practical initiatives that, according to a Madras School of Economics study, have generated a $2 return for every $1 spent. "We have clearly shown that we can give back to the country much more than is invested in the space program," says ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair.*

*The satellite network is the fruit of an effort begun in 1982 to connect India's remote&#8212;and often roadless&#8212;regions to radio, TV and telephone networks. By 2002, ISRO had expanded satellite TV and radio coverage to nearly 90 percent of the country, up from 25 percent.*

*India's investment in Earth observation satellites over the years comes to only about $500 million per satellite, about a tenth of the cost of its Western counterparts.* After introducing a satellite service to locate potential fish zones and broadcasting the sites over All India Radio, *ISRO helped coastal fishermen double the size of their catch. For the government's Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, begun in 1986, satellites have improved the success rate of government well-drilling projects by 50 to 80 percent, saving $100 million to $175 million. Meteorological satellites have improved the government's ability to predict the all-important Indian monsoon, which can influence India's gross domestic product by 2 to 5 percent.*

Next, ISRO plans to roll out satellite-enabled services to hundreds of millions of farmers in India's remote villages. *In partnership with NGOs and government bodies, it has helped to set up about 400 Village Resource Centers so far.* Each provides connections to dozens of villages for Internet-based services such as access to commodities pricing information, agricultural advice from crop experts and land records. ISRO's remote-sensing data will also help village councils develop watersheds and irrigation projects, establish accurate land records and plan new roads connecting their villages with civilization as cheaply and efficiently as possible. *One ISRO partner&#8212;the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation&#8212;has used satellites to conduct 78,000 training programs for more than 300,000 farmers in 550 villages, teaching them about farming practices like drip-and-sprinkle irrigation, health-care awareness programs for diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, and information about how to access government services. Using satellites to guide reclamation of 2 million hectares of saline and alkaline wastelands is expected to generate income of more than $500 million a year.*

*The United States and Europe may have beaten ISRO to the moon, but India's vision might just show the way for mankind's next giant leap.*


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## nitesh

good news guys, hope all things goes successfully now

The Hindu News Update Service

*Rehearsals for Moon mission successful*

Bangalore-Chennai (PTI): *India's maiden unmanned moon mission's launch rehearsals at Sriharikota progressed satisfactorily and scientists on Sunday geared up for the 52-hour countdown for Chandrayaan-1's historic space voyage on Wednesday.*

*"All the preparatory work is going on as usual and the formal countdown would begin tomorrow morning about 0400 hours,"* Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Associate Director Dr M Y S Prasad told PTI at Chennai. Sriharikota is about 100 km from Chennai.

*"All the work including the checking of payloads went satisfactorily. The spacecraft launch would take place as per the schedule,"* he said.

The integrated launch vehicle has already been moved into the second launch pad (umbilical tower) at the spaceport of Sriharikota and launch rehearsals are underway, sources in India Space Research Organisation at Bangalore said.

SDSC officials said if the weather does not play truant, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV-C11) would take off from the second launch pad on October 22 at 0620 hours.

*"After the rehearsals, we will make sure that everything is in place before the countdown,"* they said.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first spacecraft mission of ISRO beyond Earth orbit. It would be followed by Chandrayaan-2 which features a lander and a rover. India and Russia would jointly participate in this project. However, there might be a provision to accommodate payloads from other space agencies like in Chandrayaan-1.

*"This apart, studies are being conducted by ISRO on sending unmanned spacecraft to planet Mars as well as to asteroids and comets. Through such programmes, ISRO intends to undertake the exploration of space besides its primary mission of developing and utilising space technology for the overall development of the country",* ISRO officials said.


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## nitesh

TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos -

The 52-hour countdown for Chandrayaan-1 -- India's first unmanned moon mission -- will begin at Sriharikota spaceport early on Monday (Oct 20) for Wednesday's historic launch. With this mission, the Indian space program will hurtle itself into a new league altogether. ISRO, The Indian Space Research Organisation, which has so far specialized in putting satellites into the earth's orbit, is making it's maiden attempt to reach the moon. 

In the process, they are leapfrogging from their current capability of 40,000 Kms to 4,00,000 Kms. The success of this mission will enable the ambititous plans that the ISRO has for the future, which include a manned mission and even a Mars mission.

The integrated launch vehicle has already been moved into the second launch pad (umbilical tower) and launch rehearsals are underway, sources in India Space Research Organisation at Bangalore said. "All the preparatory work is going as usual and the formal countdown would begin tomorrow morning about 0400 hrs," Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Associate Director Dr M Y S Prasad said. "All the work including the checking of payloads went satisfactorily. The spacecraft launch would take place as per the schedule," he added.

SDSC officials said if the weather turns out to be good, the PSLV-C11 would take off from the second launch pad on October 22, at 0620 hrs. "After the rehearsals, we will make sure that everything is in place before the countdown," they said.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first spacecraft mission of ISRO beyond Earth orbit. It would be followed by Chandrayaan-2 which features a lander and a rover. India and Russia would jointly participate in this project. However, there might be a provision to accommodate payloads from other space agencies as happened in Chandrayaan-1.

"This apart, studies are being conducted by ISRO on sending unmanned spacecraft to planet Mars as well as to asteroids and comets. Through such programmes, ISRO intends to undertake the exploration of space besides its primary mission of developing and utilising space technology for the overall development of the country", officials of the Bangalore-headquartered agency said.

PSLV-C11, chosen to launch Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, is an upgraded version of ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle standard configuration. Weighing 316 tonnes at lift-off, the vehicle uses larger strap-on motors to achieve higher payload capability. PSLV-C11 is 44.4 metre tall and has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately.

Chandrayaan-I spacecraft carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) weighs about 1,400 kg at the time of its launch and is shaped like a cuboid with a solar panel projecting from one of its sides. The state-of-the-art subsystems of the spacecraft, some of them miniaturised, facilitate the safe and efficient functioning of its 11 scientific instruments.

The payloads through which Chandrayaan-1 intends to achieve its objectivies are: to expand scientific knowledge about the moon; to upgrade India's technological capability and to provide challenging opportunities for planetary research to the younger generation of Indian scientists.

"The moon mission aims to achieve these well defined objectives through high-resolution remote sensing of moon in the visible, near infrared, microwave and x-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With this, preparation of a three-dimensional atlas of the lunar surface and chemical and mineralogical mapping of entire lunar surface is envisaged," SDSC officials said.

The instruments - five entirely designed and developed in India, three from European Space Agency (one of which is developed jointly with India and the other with Indian contribution), one from Bulgaria and two from United States -- were carefully chosen on the basis of many scientific and technical considerations as well as their complementary supplementary nature, ISRO sources said. 

(With inputs from agencies)


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## nitesh

The countdown begins guys......... but there was a glitch.... Hope everything goes fine

Countdown begins for India's moon mission

October 20, 2008 11:14 IST
The final 52-hour countdown for the October 22 launch of the country's first moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, began early on Monday morning at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Indian Space Research Organisation sources told UNI, there was a minor glitch initially which was soon rectified and the final countdown began. All parameters were being checked for the launch scheduled for 0620 hrs on Wednesday.

The fully assembled Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) was moved to the second launch pad from the Vehicle Assembly Building on October 18 with a host of scientists launching a sequence rehearsal on Sunday morning. The sequence rehearsal went as planned.

If the weather turns out to be fine, the 44.4 metre tall PSLV-C11, would blast off from the sophisticated second launch pad as scheduled on the morning of October 22 to put Chandrayaan-I in orbit.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Going boldly where others have gone before

Going boldly where others have gone before

N. Gopal Raj
Interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew. What&#8217;s left to find out about the Moon?


It was nearly 50 years ago that the Soviet Union sent the world&#8217;s first spacecraft to the Moon. But the sphere-shaped Luna 1 did no more than fly past Earth&#8217;s natural satellite at a distance of several thousand kilometres in January 1959 before settling into an orbit around the Sun.

During the next 15 years or so, in a frenetic burst of technological one-upmanship, the Soviet Union and the United States despatched over 40 more spacecraft to photograph and study the Moon in great detail. In July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first of a dozen men to set foot on it in the course of the Apollo programme. Those astronauts brought back close to 400 kg of lunar soil and rock samples. The Soviets relied on robotic craft and rovers to explore the Moon&#8217;s surface and return samples.

Once the space race ended, interest in sending spacecraft to the Moon rapidly waned. After Soviet Union&#8217;s Luna 24 brought back samples in August 1976, the small Japanese probe, Hiten, journeyed to our cosmic neighbour only 14 years later. Then the U.S. sent two spacecraft, the Clementine in 1994 and the Lunar Prospector in 1998.

After such an intense burst of space exploration and careful analysis of the lunar data and samples that were garnered, one would think that the Moon has become a well understood entity with much of the scientific juice already wrung out of it.

But interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew in recent years. In 2003, Europe sent the SMART-1 spacecraft. Last year, Japan&#8217;s Kaguya and China&#8217;s Chang&#8217;e-1 probes followed and are at present circling the Moon. India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 is currently scheduled to set off for the Moon on October 22. Early next year, the U.S. is planning to send the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

*So what&#8217;s left to find out about the Moon?*

*Countless mysteries*

&#8220;We know more about many aspects of the Moon than about any world beyond our own, and yet we have barely begun to solve its countless mysteries,&#8221; states a report from the U.S. National Research Council that was published last year. The report, titled &#8216;The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon&#8217; and prepared at the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is eloquent about how much more the Moon has to offer science.

&#8220;The Moon is, above all, a witness to 4.5 billion years ... of solar system history, and it has recorded that history more completely and more clearly than any other planetary body. Nowhere else can we see back with such clarity to the time when Earth and the other terrestrial planets were formed and life emerged on Earth.&#8221; Besides, the Moon&#8217;s proximity makes it accessible to a degree that other planetary bodies are not.

The U.S. is interested in looking for resources that could support future human exploration of the Moon, but &#8220;that is not [our] primary goal,&#8221; said J. N. Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at Ahmedabad. In the Indian Space Research Organisation, PRL will have a major role in the analysis of the scientific data sent back by Chandrayaan-1.

&#8220;We still feel that in spite of all these [earlier] missions, our understanding of many aspects of the Moon is very rudimentary,&#8221; he told this correspondent. Many hypotheses were based on samples brought back by the Apollo and Luna missions from a few places on the Moon&#8217;s Earth-facing side. But quite a few of these views were not supported by the comprehensive lunar surveys that the Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecraft carried out, he said.

During the two years that Chandrayaan-1 is scheduled to spend orbiting the Moon, the stream of data from its suite of 11 instruments, several of which are supplied by the U.S. and Europe, will cast new light on many of these issues and perhaps help resolve some of the current controversies.

*How Earth came to acquire so large a moon is still a big mystery. Currently the most favoured hypothesis is that a Mars-sized body, given the name Theia, slammed into Earth some 4.5 billion years ago. The vast cloud of debris and vapourised material thrown into space by the gargantuan collision is thought to have later coalesced to form the Moon.*

It is believed that in its early days the Moon may have been covered with molten rock (or magma). Then a crust solidified, made up of lighter minerals that floated to the top.

&#8220;But we don&#8217;t know whether the magma ocean covered the whole Moon or how deep it was,&#8221; according to Narendra Bhandari, a leading planetary scientist who was closely involved in drawing up the scientific programme for the Chandrayaan-1 before he retired from the PRL.

&#8220;We need to have detailed information about the chemical and mineralogical composition&#8221; of the Moon and how the composition changes with depth, said Dr. Bhandari. Those who study the Moon would like to know how many layers make up its crust, the composition of the mantle (the part of the interior of Moon below the crust) and so on, he remarked.

It is this sort of data that Chandrayaan-1 has been configured to provide. Modellers will then be able to use the information to try and figure out the Moon&#8217;s hidden past.

*Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s advantage*

Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s great advantage is that its instruments can survey the Moon in several different ways: using visible wavelengths of light, ultra-violet, infra-red, x-ray, low-energy gamma ray and even radar. Doing so should provide not only the detailed topography of the Moon but also an accurate, high-resolution map of the chemicals and minerals that make it up.

When, for instance, there is a solar flare and more energetic x-rays emanate from the sun, iron atoms in minerals on the Moon are prodded into giving off x-rays with a characteristic energy that can be readily picked up by an instrument on the spacecraft known as the Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer. That information would help calibrate data from other instruments, such as the Hyper-spectral Imager and Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which can then be used to estimate more precisely the amount of iron in minerals all over the Moon.

The iron-to-magnesium ratio is a key number that scientists need to figure out the early stages of the Moon&#8217;s evolution, said Dr. Goswami. If all goes well, the Chandrayaan-1 should be able to provide that information with greater accuracy and a resolution that is an order of magnitude better than is currently available, he added.

The pockmarked surface of the Moon, the result of collisions with numerous bodies left over after the formation of the Solar System, offers an opportunity to study its sub-surface composition as well. The Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s high-resolution cameras will be able to pick out the &#8220;central hill&#8221; in craters where material from the interior of the Moon has rebounded and become exposed after such collisions.

Then there is the issue of whether water is present on the Moon. Both the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions found strong indications that water in the form of ice could be present in permanently shadowed areas at the poles.

Just a few months ago, a group of U.S. researchers reported in the prestigious scientific journal Nature that they had used a new and more sensitive technique to analyse again some of the lunar volcanic soil samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts. They found that these samples still carried minute traces of water, suggesting that the water had come from deep within the Moon. &#8220;Thus, the presence of water must be considered in models constraining the Moon&#8217;s formation and its thermal and chemical evolution,&#8221; pointed out Alberto Saal of Brown University and the other scientists in their paper.

*Finding water*

Water could also have been deposited on the Moon by comets and meteorites that crashed into it, and produced locally by interaction of the solar wind with oxygen-bearing minerals. As a result of heating by sunlight, much of this water would have evaporated and been lost to space. But some water might have been transported to places at the poles that never receive sunlight.

Finding water is important for sustaining a permanently manned lunar base. The U.S.-built Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar on the Chandrayaan-1 is specifically intended to detect water ice up to a depth of a few metres at the poles.

The spacecraft will also look for signs of how volatile substances, such as water, move along the hot, sunlit surfaces of the Moon till they get trapped in shadowed places at the poles. To this end, its High-Energy X-ray Spectrometer will be used to try and pick up faint signals from gamma rays released during decay of a radioactive form of the element radon, which is volatile, said Dr. Goswami.

Other instruments on the spacecraft will make measurements to better model the lunar gravity field and study the radiation environment there. The spacecraft will also drop off an impactor that will crash land on the Moon.

For scientists, the excitement from a mission like the Chandrayaan-1 lies not just in using its data to validate existing ideas about the Moon. A bigger thrill would be coming across new and unexplained phenomena that then open up fresh avenues of research.

&#8220;In natural science, you approach the truth but never probably [reach] the whole truth,&#8221; says Dr. Goswami.


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## nitesh

India's space odyssey - Church to Chandrayaan- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

India's space odyssey - Church to Chandrayaan
20 Oct, 2008, 1337 hrs IST, IANS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A church as control room, the bishop's house as office, a humble bicycle as ferry and eyes to track the smoke trail of a rocket - these were the humble beginnings when India launched a US-made rocket from Thumba, near here, in 1963. Nearly 45 years later, the country is set to launch its first lunar probe Oct 22. 

The launch of a US-made Nike-Apache Sounding Rocket from Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram, on Nov 21, 1963, marked the beginning of India's space odyssey that has now reached a stage when the country launches the satellites of other countries as a commercial proposition. 

Recalling the incident, R. Aravamudan, who has been associated with the Indian space programme from the very beginning, says: "There were no buildings yet in the range (Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station -TERLS). Our first office was in the bishop's house and the St. Mary Magdalene church building there." 

The church has since become a space museum. 

"Once the rocket was launched, there was no telemetry or radar tracking, only photography from three stations of the vapour cloud. The orange vapour trail was visible from all over Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. This created great excitement. Since the common public had never seen such a sight before, it also gave rise to some hilarious newspaper reports." 

"In fact, the Kerala assembly, which was in session then, apparently adjourned temporarily to take a good view of the bright vapour trail in the western sky!," Aravamudan recalled on Nov 21, 2003, during the 40th anniversary of the first sounding rocket launch. 

"We had to make use of public transport as there were no official vehicles yet and no canteen. So, our day began with a quick breakfast of idli sambar at the Railway Station Canteen, which was the only place where we could get food to our taste. 

We would then pack some snacks and lunch from the same canteen and go to the bus stand to catch a mofussil bus to Kazhakkutam. We would get down at the bus stand there and walk about a kilometre or so to the range. The whole trip took about an hour. 

"The range (TERLS) was quite large in area and the only means of transport within the range was by bicycle. Those like (A.P.J. Abdul) Kalam, who could not cycle, had to hitch rides with others." Aravamudan said in a speech, which was later published in the Oct-Dec 2003 ISRO newsletter 'SPACE india'. Aravamudan retired as director of ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, and later served as honorary advisor to ISRO. 

Recalling the Nov 21, 1963, incident, K. Narayana Kurup, then a first-time member of the Kerala assembly, told IANS that he had some recollection of how the proceedings of the house were stopped in order to view the blastoff of the Apache rocket from Thumba. 

"I am turning 81 on Oct 23, and I do recall that the proceedings of the assembly were stopped," said the veteran former minister and deputy speaker, who retired from electoral politics in 2006. 

The TERLS formally came into existence in 1962. It was renamed the Indian Space Research Organisation and after the death of Vikram Sarabhai, considered the father of India's space programme, it became the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

India's first moon mission is world's 68th

Bangalore (IANS): Chandrayaan-1, that lifts off Wednesday morning from Sriharikota, is India's first and the world's 68th mission to the moon, the earth's closest celestial body which has fascinated children, scientists and poets alike.

{lsquo}{lsquo}Through the ages, the moon, our closest celestial body, has aroused curiosity in our mind, far more than any other objects in the sky,{rsquo}{rsquo} says the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its maiden moon mission.

The world's first moon mission was by the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Jan 2, 1959, followed two months later by the US on March 3.

Between them, the two countries have sent 62 missions to probe the moon with the US stealing a march over the then cold war rival USSR by landing a man on the moon on July 20, 1969.

Japan broke the monopoly of the two superpowers on Jan 24, 1990 by sending its spacecraft Hiten to orbit the moon. The European Space Agency launched its probe in September 2003. China sent its spacecraft Chang-e last year.

The first hard landing on the moon was on Sep 12, 1959 by Soviet Union's Luna 2.

The first photos from the moon were taken by Oct 4, 1959 from the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3.

On Jan 26, 1962, the US Ranger 3 missed the Moon by 36,793 km.

The Soviet Union's Luna 6 did worse on June 8, 1965 missing the moon by 160,000 km.

Luna 9 made up for it on Jan 31, 1966 by becoming the first spacecraft to soft land on the moon.

The Indian mission to the moon was proposed at a meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999.

Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced the project was on course in his Independence Day speech on Aug 15, 2003.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is cuboid in shape, weighs 1,304 kg at launch and 590 kg at lunar orbit. It will carry 11 payloads, including six from abroad.

A canted single-sided solar array will generate required power for the spacecraft during its two-year mission. The solar array generates 700 watts of peak power. During eclipse the spacecraft will be powered by Lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries.

The spacecraft employs an X-band, 0.7-metre diameter parabolic antenna for payload data transmission.

The Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TTC) communication is in S-band frequency and scientific payload data transmission in X-band frequency.

The spacecraft has three Solid State Recorders (SSRs) to record data from various payloads.

SSR-1 will store science payload data and has capability of storing 32 GB data.

The 8 GB SSR-2 will store science payload data along with spacecraft attitude information, satellite house keeping and other auxiliary data.

The third SSR with 10 GB SSR is for storing M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) payload data.

On the ground, Chandrayaan-1 will be tracked by the Deep Space Station (DSN), Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) and Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC).

The spacecraft will blast off on an upgraded version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, built first in the early 1990s by ISRO.

PSLV is ISRO's workhorse launch vehicle. The upgraded version, PSLV-C11, has a liftoff weight of 316 tonnes.

Chandrayaan-1 costs Rs.3.86 billion (about $76 million): Rs.530 million (about $11 million) for Payload development, Rs.830 million (about $17 million) for Spacecraft Bus,

Rs.1 billion ($20 million) for Deep Space Network, Rs.1 billion ($20 million) for PSLV launch vehicle, and Rs.500 million ($10 million) for scientific data centre, external network support and programme management expenses.

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## Sam Dhanraj

The Launch window for CHANDRAYAAN-1 is 0550 - 0650 Hrs(IST). Less than 4 hours from now !!!!

You can see the Live Webcast on ISRO's website (Welcome to Indian Space Research Organisation). They are running the introduction parts already

Live Webcast of Launch


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## nitesh

guys, some more good news:

News From Sahara Samay:: India to build astronaut training centre

India to build astronaut training centre

Posted at Tuesday, 21 October 2008 14:10 IST
Bangalore, Oct 21: India plans to build a new satellite launch pad and a major training facility for astronauts as it proposed to undertake a manned space mission by 2015.

"It (the cost of setting up the launch pad) is around Rs 600 crore. A major national facility (for training astronauts) will be established here (Bangalore), Indian Space research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair told newsmen.

It would be the third launch pad in the Sriharikota spaceport on the east-coast in Andhra Pradesh, some 100 kms north of Chennai.

Nair said hat the manned mission has been approved by the Space Commission, and a formal government nod is expected in the next few months.

The Technologically-challenging manned mission (human space flight) envisages development of a fully autonomous manned space vehicle to carry crew (two members) to low earth orbit and their safe return to earth, development of critical/new technologies for crew module, service module, launch escape system, establishment of long-term facilities and identifying detailed elements required for undertaking the venture.

"Basically, technology elements required for development of habitable module is the top-most priority", Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

"Technology elements required for improving the reliability of launch systems have been identified. Crew escape and mission management system has to be in place," he said.

In 2006, ISRO said that the preliminary estimated cost for the manned space mission was Rs 10,000 crore spread over a period of eight years.


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## nitesh

a perfect lift off guys. Congratulations to ISRO.


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## nitesh

4th stage shut off. Ina perfect orbit now


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## nitesh

chandrayaan seperated from rocket. Congratulations to ISRO. A proud moment.


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## nitesh

now the long journey begins. Best of luck for next 15 days.


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : When will an Indian walk on the Moon?

When will an Indian walk on the Moon?
M. Ramesh

Chennai, Oct. 21 &#8220;There were oceans down there, deep and wide, but I could see completely across them now and they seemed so small. However deep, however wide, the sea has a shore and a bottom. Out where I was dashing through space, I was wrapped in infinity. There is no end.

I&#8217;m not an overly religious person, but I certainly am a believer. Someone, some being, some power placed our little world, our sun, and our moon where they are in the dark void, and the scheme defies any attempt at logic. It is just too perfect and beautiful to have happened by accident.&#8221;

--Eugene Cernan, the last man who walked on the Moon, in 1972.

How fascinating! As Chandrayaan-1 rushes to keep its lunar date, no one can help wondering &#8220;when will an Indian walk on the Moon&#8221;.

Of the several possible answers, one is certainly true: Not anytime in the near future. India will have to wait at least a generation to be able to achieve the feat, for the task is so daunting.

We neither have the money nor the technology for it.

The Apollo programme that sent up a dozen satellites, six of which landed on the Moon, cost $25 billion, which works out to $135 billion (Rs 65,000 crore) at 2005 prices.

That is about one-third of the total budget for infrastructure for the Eleventh Plan, and hence, would be a major indulgence for a country that ranks 127th in the Human Development Index.

Even if you could find the money, there is the big hurdle of technology.

Saturn V, the rocket that carried Neil Armstrong and Edward Aldrin, the first men to walk on the Moon, stood 110 metres tall and weighed 3,038 tonnes. The best rocket we have today, the GSLV, is 49 metres tall and weighs around 400 tonnes.

At start, Saturn V&#8217;s engines produced a thrust of 34,280 kiloNewtons. The GSLV&#8217;s starting thrust is about 4,270 kN.

India, then, needs to learn to build much bigger rockets, which is not out of grasp, but is prohibitively expensive. In any case, before we think of putting an Indian on the Moon, we must first put one in the space.

The Chinese did it in 2003, when the Long March 2F carried the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft with Yang Liwei. Last month, Col. Zhai Zhigang, stepped out of his Shenzhou-7 spacecraft and spent sometime in the space. China wants to put a Chinese on the Moon by 2020 and mastering the space walk and docking technology is a necessary pre-step.

India has to traverse the same path, which too is costly. Officially, the Chinese say that the Shenzhou mission cost $110 million, but Western experts don&#8217;t believe. They say it would have been at least thrice as much.

Above all, what purpose does putting an Indian on the Moon serve other than reinforcing national pride? What man can do, the machines can do better and it is much cheaper to send machines (robots) anywhere.


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-I launched successfully-India-The Times of India

Chandrayaan-I launched successfully
22 Oct 2008, 0628 hrs IST, AGENCIES

SRIHARIKOTA: India's historic maiden mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-I, was launched early on Wednesday morning from the mission control room at Shriharikota. *The focus now shifts to the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) at Peenya in Bangalore, which will be the country's nerve-centre for tracking and controlling Chandrayaan-I for the next two years.* 

Peenya will receive the first signals from the spacecraft, when the fourth stage of the rocket separates and injects the spacecraft into Earth's orbit. *From the 17th minute to the very last day of the spacecraft's life - two years from now - ISTRAC will be in command. *

*The Deep Space Network (DSN) at Byalalu will join ISTRAC in tracking the spacecraft six hours after take-off.* Both DSN and ISTRAC will act as back-up stations for each other, with ISTRAC concentrating on the data flow from the spacecraft, and DSN helping in reception of the radio signals owing to its powerful 32-metre antenna. But ISTRAC will be the primary agency tracking the craft. 

The control centre at ISTRAC has about 350 people monitoring the health of Indian satellites.


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## Sam Dhanraj

nitesh said:


> now the long journey begins. Best of luck for next 15 days.



I just glanced at the the moon and I felt proud of the fact that the Flag of our country would be there in a few days to come if everything goes according to the plan. What a proud moment of technical achievement for the Nation and ISRO


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## shrivatsa

I was glued to the tv ,really a amazing achievement congratulations to isro


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## nitesh

launch video

Chandrayaan-I launched successfully-News-The Times of India


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : Antennae turn to Chandrayaan

Antennae turn to Chandrayaan

Divya Gandhi
Bangalore: Training their gaze on India&#8217;s maiden moon launch on Wednesday are antennae at Mauritius, Brunei, Biak (Indonesia) and Bearslake (Russia), Goldstone, Maryland, Hawaii (U.S.), Brazil, Russia, Lucknow, Sriharikota, Thiruvananthapuram, Port Blair and, of course, the giant antennae at Byalalu, which will feed ISTRAC with telemetric information on the health of Chandrayaan.

Even as all eyes are on Sriharikota, it is the Bangalore&#8217;s industrial suburb, Peenya, which is the nerve centre of the operation. At the space control centre here, scientists prepare to receive data from ground stations around the world on Chandrayaan.

ISRO&#8217;s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network will get data within minutes of Chandrayaan&#8217;s launch from 15 ground stations from as far as Brazil and Hawaii, said ISTRAC Director S.K. Shivakumar.

&#8220;Within 19 minutes of its launch the spacecraft separates completely from the launch vehicle and begins its independent orbital life, which is when the tracking will begin,&#8221; said B.R. Guruprasad, PRO of ISRO.

&#8220;For the first 48 hours we will be receiving telemetry data on the health of the satellite from all these stations. Typically these stations have 10 metre antennae which are sufficient to track the satellite at this stage,&#8221; said O. Chiranjeevi, Group Director, ISTRAC. The antennae at Byalalu will begin to pick up signals within six hours after its launch, said Dr. Shivakumar. The Indian Deep Space Network Facility includes two antennae &#8211; a 32 metre one and an 18 metre one. However, the true work of these antennae will begin later once the satellite reaches a distance of over one lakh kilometres in a couple of days, said Mr. Chiranjeevi.


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## Goodperson

*Chandrayaan-I launched successfully*

SRIHARIKOTA: Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden moon spacecraft, was on Wednesday put into Transfer Orbit around the earth by the Polar Launch Vehicle 

Chandrayaan-I has been launched from Sriharikota. (Pic courstesy: Times Now)
More
PSLV-C11 about 19 minutes after it blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here. ( Watch ) 

The 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, carrying 11 payloads, was released into a Tansfer Orbit at a perigee (nearest point to earth) of about 250 km and apogee (farthest point from the earth) of about 23,000 km, 18.2 minutes after the PSLV-C11 blasted off as the scientists broke into jubilation at the mission control centre. 

After a series of procedures over the next two weeks, the spacecraft would reach its desired Lunar orbit and placed at a height of 100 km from the Lunar surface, marking the operational phase of the mission which would put India in the elite lunar club. 

Earlier, at the end of the 49-hour countdown, the 44.4 meter tall four-stage PSLV-11 lifted off from the second launch pad into a cloudy sky. 

This is the 14th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 29 satellites into a variety of orbits since 1993, and 13th successive one in a row. 

Chandrayaan-1 is carrying 11 payloads, five entirely designed and developed in India, three from European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and two from US, which would explore the Moon over the next two years. 

Chandrayaan-I launched successfully-India-The Times of India

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## third eye

Commend able indeed.


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## Neo

Saw the launch live on TV, awesome!





Congratulations India, I envie you!


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## Neo

Saw the launch live on TV, awesome!




Congratulations India, I envie you!


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## Humanoid

tried to embed a good video from CNN. .. is there a way through which we can embed videos other than youtube here..?


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## Vinod2070

Congratulations. A proud moment for all of us.

ISRO has again proven its mettle. Great work and kudos to them. It was an amazingly fast executed mission.


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## nitesh

Neo, please merge it na with the existing thread.


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## nitesh

guys this is the first stage now we need to see that it gets perfectly transferred to the moon orbit. My best wishes for ISRO.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Opinion / Interviews : &#8216;Once Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it&#8217;


&#8216;Once Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it&#8217;

*The 32-metre antenna in Bangalore will allow us to collect the signals from Chandrayaan about 4,00,000 km away both in terms of satellite control capability and the science data coming from the various onboard experiments.*


After its expected launch on Tuesday morning, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian lunar orbiter, will be injected into its first orbit around the earth in just 17 minutes. {This part is done} During its subsequent course to the final orbit around the moon, and during the orbiter&#8217;s lifetime of two years, a critical element of the mission will be the constant communication link from the ground to the satellite for tracking it as well as for its orbit control and house-keeping &#8212; the Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) operations &#8212; and receiving data from the 11 onboard experiments.

Missions that go beyond a distance of 1,00,000 km from the Earth are usually termed as deep space missions and Chandrayaan-1 is the first such for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). For deep space missions, ISRO has established an impressive communications infrastructure called the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu, a village located about 45 km from Bangalore, as part of the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command (ISTRAC) system. Comprising a massive indigenously built 32-m antenna and a German 18-m antenna, the IDSN will be the centre of activity for the entire duration of the mission.

Excerpts from an interview of ISTRAC Director S.K. Shiva Kumar with Science Correspondent R. Ramachandran:

*Dr. Shiva Kumar, what are the critical issues involved in telemetry, tracking and communications in general associated with deep space missions?*

When we talk of satellites in near earth orbit, we mean about 1,000 km altitude or more, or near earth space of about 2,000-2,500 km in range from the Earth&#8217;s surface. But when we say deep space mission, we mean lakhs of kilometres. For example, when we talk of the Moon mission, it means that the distance is not less than the Earth-Moon distance, which is about 4,00,000 km. Internationally, there is a way of categorising deep space and near earth, but a common way of defining would be the moon distance and beyond.

In deep space missions, as the space probe moves farther away from the Earth, the strength of the signals from it become weaker and weaker. The real challenge is to catch those weak signals. Mathematically, from antenna theory, we know that we have to put up larger and larger dishes. ISTRAC has so far been involved with smaller dimension 10-11-metre diameter dishes. But now for a deep space mission, it jumps to something like 32 m. To make such an antenna, especially through the indigenous industry, was a big challenge for us. We looked at [systems] the world over and found that the nominally working deep space antenna you get to see is 30m-plus. We decided to make a 32-m antenna in Bangalore, which would give us the strength to talk to our satellite from our own soil and also to collect the signals from Chandrayaan about 4,00,000 km away both in terms of satellite control capability and the science data coming from the various onboard experiments.

But wisely this DSN-32 has not been done only for the Chandrayaan mission but for all deep space missions to come in the future. It puts us in the category of deep space antennae found anywhere else in the world. That is the whole essence of building an Indian Deep Space Network facility. *Starting with Chandrayaan we are pretty sure that we can track any other object deeper than this.* If we are doing a Mars mission we do not have to worry at that point of time whether we have to build some more things. We have built a world standard facility that meets all the international standards. That means it can track any other [deep space] object. *Simply stated, it is state-of-the-art interoperable and cross-support compatible facility that meets the Indian requirements with good margins and also the requirements of any other space agency.*

For deep space applications, when we say that we are capable of receiving signals of weaker strengths with this antenna, we should similarly be able to pump fairly strong signals to the satellite for commanding the spacecraft. Once the diameter of the dish is increased, that is very easily done with higher power amplifiers. About 2 kW was our normal usage. This time we have put up a 20 kW high power amplifier. That much power with a big dish is enough for the satellite to receive and execute the command functions. This is another world standard that has been met by IDSN. This antenna will also be capable of doing what is called the two-way ranging required for determining the position of the spacecraft. In addition, we have put up a reception facility for the science experiments [next to the antennae at Byalalu].

All the data will be sent to the spacecraft control centre [of ISTRAC] and the science data will be sent from this facility to the Space Science Data Centre (SSDC). The science data received here can then be sent to different processing systems for producing the various data products. All this needed a lot of critical technologies to be done and everything had to be done through the Indian industry.

*In terms of the amount of data that you would be receiving, what would be the bandwidth requirements? Could you give a comparison with what you handle in LEO missions?*

Of course, in deep space everything is [at] a premium. Actually, IRS satellites, which are in 700-900-km orbit, produce much more data than what Chandrayaan will produce. For the imagery that you collect with 1-m and 5-m resolutions, that data is quite voluminous. But we are [already] in the higher level of data transmission from Chandrayaan. We will be transmitting data at 8.4 Mbps, whereas many people are doing it at much lower rates. Just for comparison, IRS satellites transmit at 100 Mbps data rate. Since we have handled high bit-rate data links, there is no issue in handling these lower bit-rates. For Chandrayaan, since the incoming data is at 8.4 Mbps, we have organised ourselves well for transmitting the data. The data we receive from Chandrayaan at our SSDC will be redistributed [for which] we have put up really high-speed dedicated links [up to 16 Mbps depending upon the experiment and the location]. In addition to that, since some people did not want dedicated links because they wanted [their data] to be in the public domain, we have put up a high-speed internet link of 16 Mbps. These are all, I would say, first in our domain. ISTRAC has never handled so many high-speed links.

*How will the operations be sequenced? Will it be that the normal ISTRAC network would track up to 1,00,000 km and then switch over to DSN?*

That&#8217;s rightly perceived. Actually, the satellite will be first put into an orbit with an apogee of 22,800 km. This is quite close to Earth. Since ISTRAC has a fairly big network, all our stations commonly used in our IRS missions will be deployed. None of these stations has a big antenna but they are good enough for tracking up to 1,00,000 km without any problem. Once we cross the 1,00,000-km barrier, the big antenna will come in. Notwithstanding this [nominal procedure], since we are deploying the big antenna for the first time, we cannot be waiting till 1,00,000 km. So, for most part of the trajectory we will be tracking it with both DSN-18 and DSN-32, even earlier than 1,00,000 km. But beyond 1,00,000 km, we will be doing specifically by the mission-assured IDSN.

*Are there any issues with regard to calibration that you need to do before you start your operations?*

First, there are the standard test and evaluation procedures that we have in ISTRAC. Then we have tracked some of the LEO satellites like Cartosat and IRS-P4/Oceansat with the big antenna. But, of course, this does not satisfy anybody because you have to track something nearer to moon. *Very recently, we have started tracking SELENE, the Japanese lunar orbiting satellite [launched in September 2007], thanks to cooperation from JAXA [the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]. We have been able to track the satellite continuously with this antenna. That has given us ample confidence to say &#8216;Yes. Once Chandrayaan goes near the moon, we will be there to track it.&#8217;* To that extent, our comfort level is quite high because if you have tracked a similar object that is closer to moon and you have been able to establish links with good margins and all that, we don&#8217;t have to speak much about our ability to do [the same] with Chandrayaan. In addition, we are planning to track another deep space [cometary] probe ROSETTA [launched in 2004]. This was another opportunity that was created thanks to the European Space Agency.

That is one part of it. We have also tracked radio stars, which are quite good in S-band and X-band [the frequencies that will be used for TTC operations and science experiments respectively], like Cygnus, Cassiopeia, as well as Sun and Moon. This has given us ample experience in terms of pointing the beam on such a far off object, a major thing in my opinion. It also gives us ample scope for measurements because their movements are quite slow and we now know how to maximise our signals.

*What are the critical technologies that had to be developed to establish this set-up?*

The realisation of the entire antenna system itself was a big challenge because we were doing it for the first time. ISTRAC was responsible for building this. We chose ECIL [Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.] as the prime contractor who had the primary responsibility for the reflector and the mount of the antenna. In turn we worked with ECIL very closely. Along with that we chose BARC for antenna control servo system, the major subsystem. The RF design was entrusted to the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC). ISTRAC and ISAC together developed the feed system. These three are the heart of the whole system and these four agencies constituted the core team for executing the project. But that is not all because many subsystems had to be realised. So we went around scouting different industries in the country. We could identify sources with good capability within the country &#8212; L&T, Godrej & Boyce, SLN Technologies in Bangalore, HAL and many others. I think we had interface with 40 industries to do this work.

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## digitaltiger

India Rocks.... Kudos to ISRO.. 

Next in the series is a probe on moon ..........


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## Black Stone

Congratulations on the launch.


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## newlife

waiting for Chandrayaan-II....


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## p2prada

Woohoo!!!


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## nitesh

ok guys here comes plan for chandrayaan 2

Chandrayaan 2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO

Chandrayaan-2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO
PTI
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 AT 1:10 PM
Tags: space
SRIHARIKOTA: After the successful launch of India&#8217;s first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send its second lunar odyssey, Chandrayaan-2, an Indo-Russian joint venture, likely by the end of next year or early 2010.
The work on this project would be taken up after Chandrayaan-1 starts its task of researching the moon, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the PSLV-C11 launched the spacecraft.
&#8220;One of the two GSLV missions next year could carry Chandrayaan-2,&#8221; he said.
The team behind the success of the first mission would work on Chandrayaan-2 also, he added.
However, the composition of the instruments for Chandrayaan-2 would be decided after studying the data received from the first mission, he said.
The second mission, for which the ISRO and Russian federal space agency have already signed a pact, would feature a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon.
&#8220;However, there would be a provision for accommodating payloads from other space agencies as is the case of Chandrayaan 1,&#8221; Nair said.
In addition to India&#8217;s five payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is carrying scientific instruments of the European Space Agency, Bulgaria and the USA.


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## nitesh

India now has outer space in its sights- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

India now has outer space in its sights
22 Oct, 2008, 1123 hrs IST,Mukul Sharma, TNN

Sometime earlier today, weather permitting, a modified version of India&#8217;s main Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle should have lifted off from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. Atop its nosecone it will be ferrying a 575 kg spacecraft called Chandrayaan-1 which, if all goes well, will ultimately orbit the Moon for a period of about two years. During that time it will also release a smaller impact probe to slam into the lunar surface to help explore it from close range. 

But why on earth are we going to the Moon at all, and that too at a cost of nearly Rs 400 crore? Surely there are other pressing priorities back home like poverty, literacy, medical care, infrastructure development etc that need urgent attention and the taxpayers&#8217; money. Besides, why are we doing this now when others have done it several decades ago? 

The former Soviet Union and the United States both launched successful lunar orbiting satellites way back in 1966. 
We&#8217;re told that, among other things, the mission will try to source non-radioactive Helium-3 which is scarce on Earth but believed to be abundant on its natural satellite and is seen as a promising fuel for advanced fusion reactors in the future. Once located, we can transport it back from the moon to run nuclear plants and generate abundant electricity. Apparently, a couple of tonnes of Helium-3 are enough to meet the energy needs of the world. So how come other advanced nations of the world haven&#8217;t thought along similar lines? 

They also tell us Chandrayaan will pave the way for future manned missions to the Moon. But the Americans have already been there and done that nine times with a flurry of 27 astronauts between 1968 and 1972 and haven&#8217;t gone back since. The Russians, despite their awesome expertise in space travel, haven&#8217;t done it at all. Obviously it&#8217;s either not that important or no big deal. Or are we missing something here? 

We are. It&#8217;s the bigger picture which ultimately involves the colonisation of Moon and Mars. Most everything else about Chandrayaan &#8212; whether it&#8217;s a show of strength to demonstrate that what China does we can too, or to develop terrestrial military missile options, or benefit from technology spin-offs and generate more jobs and get young people interested in such science &#8212; is, at best, unenduring. Even the national pride associated with becoming a full member of an elite club of super space powers, thus announcing India&#8217;s place in the world, is an ephemeral phenomenon. 

Earlier this year, the renowned Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking had seen this same picture when he called for a massive investment in establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars. &#8220;If the human race is to continue for another million years&#8221; , he said, &#8220;we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before.&#8221; Of course, he also saw it as an insurance policy against the possibility of human beings being wiped out by catastrophes like nuclear war and climate change. Ever since humans came out of Africa, exploration has always been in their blood. Yesterday it was the New World, today it&#8217;s Antarctica, tomorrow the solar system. 

This is the real reason why, after the famously fought face-saving &#8220;me first&#8221; duel to go to the Moon in the 1960s, the two original space-faring countries ducked the effort completely. Instead, what the Russians &#8212; and later the Americans &#8212; concentrated on quietly for long decades was in putting its astronauts for longer and longer periods on the orbiting Mir space station and the International Space Station (ISS). They wanted to study the effects of weightlessness on the human body. The information is vital for making long duration journeys to, say, Mars which can last anything from six to nine months one way. 

In fact, besides serving as a research facility, the whole idea of building space stations is also for furthering lunar and other interplanetary voyage options. According to NASA the ISS has a key role to play as it moves forward with a new focus for its manned space programme, which is to go out beyond the Earth orbit. The ISS is now a stepping stone. The crews will not only continue to learn how to live and work in space but also how to build hardware that can survive and function for the years required to make the round-trip voyage from Earth to Mars. Is it any surprise then that China too plans on building one in the future? 

Or that after Chandrayaan-2 , which is scheduled for some time between 2010 and 2012, and a manned mission to the Moon, ISRO has Mars in its sights? Last year, the principal scientific investigator to the Chandrayaan mission, J N Goswami, said that scientists had indeed begun studies about a mission to Mars. And K Kasturirangan, former ISRO chief, has stated that a mission to Mars by India is a logical extension to the moon flight. 

That&#8217;s why Chandrayaan-1 should be heading for the Moon today &#8212; because it&#8217;s only a matter of time before humanity starts moving out from Earth. Therefore, it&#8217;s good the country is considering at least some of its priorities to be in outer space too. It shows that, in the future, India can also be an enduring part of that outward movement.


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## Neo

*Threads merged.*

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## nitesh

nice pictures here about the humble begining:

India's space journey started from a village church-Thiru'puram-Cities-The Times of India

India's space journey started from a village church
22 Oct 2008, 0107 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN

T&#8217;PURAM: Far from the research stations and labs, India's space programme began at a church in what was once a tiny fishing village called Thumba, not far from Thiruvanathanapuram airport in Kerala. 

In 1962, when the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established, father of India's nuclear programme Homi Bhabha, along with Vikram Sarabhai, evaluated a number of sites in Kerala to establish a rocket station. Finally, they zeroed in on Thumba. 

But there was a hitch. Fisherfolk of the village, emotionally attached to the place, particularly the St Mary Magadelene's Church had to be convinced to give up the place. The task fell on a former bishop of Thiruvananthapuram. During a Sunday congregation, he spoke to the villagers about the advantages of a space programme. He then asked if they had any objections if the village was handed over to the space department. The villagers paused only a while, and chorused, "Amen", indicating that they were ready to give up their village. 

Space experts later commented that that it was an auspicious beginning for India's space missions. The project was initiated with the blessings of the villagers who were resettled. The small place of worship became the mainstay for the team of rocket scientists, including A P J Abdul Kalam. The first drawings of some of the earliest rockets were made in this church, now a space museum. 

The conditions were anything but comfortable. Scientists travelled daily from Thiruvananthapuram in rickety buses, carrying lunch bought at the railway station. 

Thumba was soon turned into the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. The first sounding rocket, Nike Apache supplied by NASA, was launched in November 1963. After this, many sounding rockets, which study the atmosphere, lifted off from Thumba including those from the US, Russia, Japan, France and Germany. 

Many rocket parts were carried by the scientists on bicycles from one place to another within Thumba. Even today, sounding rockets take off every week &#8212; only it is now a modern station. 

Encouraged by the success of the sounding rocket programme, Sarabhai told his team that India had to develop its own satellite launch capability. For this, Sriharikota in AP was taken over by the space department from the Yanadi tribals. This too received the support and cooperation of the locals. 

India hasn't quite gone cycling to the moon, but scientists and villagers will all remember the church where the space expedition began in right earnest.


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## gpit

Congratulations on Indian endeavor on this!

Hope every subsequent operation will go smoothly as planned, and we'll know more about the Moon.

Reactions: Like Like:
2


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## jeypore

India launches first moon rocket, tailing China


India is on its way to the moon, the country&#8217;s first unmanned mission there ahead of a planned 2012 rover landing.

The Chandrayaan 1 probe blasted off atop a PSLV-C11 rocket at 6:22 local time this morning from Satish Dhawan Space Center in the southern Andrha Pradesh Province. The $79-million mission reflects an emerging, competitive Asian presence in space at a time when the U.S. shuttle fleet is nearing retirement. 

&#8220;It is a historic moment,&#8221; said G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, according to Bloomberg News. &#8220;Our journey to the moon has started.&#8221;

Chandrayaan 1, which means &#8220;moon craft 1,&#8221; will spend two years in lunar orbit, analyzing moon dust and looking for chemicals including helium 3, which is used in nuclear fusion, according to Reuters. It&#8217;s carrying 11 payloads, including a moon impact probe that will demonstrate the technology needed to land the rover.

The mission also could boost India&#8217;s competitiveness with China, which sent an unmanned rocket into lunar orbit last year and conducted its first spacewalk three weeks ago. Like India, China plans to land an unmanned rover on the moon in 2012 that will study soil and rock.

&#8220;China has gone earlier, but today we are trying to catch them, catch that gap, bridge the gap,&#8221; said Bhaskar Narayan, a director at the Indian space agency, according to Reuters.

The U.S. will retire its shuttle in 2010, and it will be at least 2015 before its new Orion spacecraft is ready for the cosmos. It plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2020&#8212;the same year the Chinese expect to arrive.
India launches first moon rocket, tailing China: Scientific American Blog


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## gpit

jeypore said:


> India launches first moon rocket, tailing China
> 
> ...



Firstly, I think it is silly for Indian moon project to be again "China centric".

Secondly, Indian Moon program, if successful, is already ahead of China in some aspects: a) it will blast the moon to get samples; b) reportedly it will drop an Indian national flag on Moon. This makes India the 4th country to do so. But I haven't found this on ISRo official website.


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## jeypore

gpit said:


> Firstly, I think it is silly for Indian moon project to be again "China centric".
> 
> Secondly, Indian Moon program, if successful, is already ahead of China in some aspects: a) it will blast the moon to get samples; b) reportedly it will drop an Indian national flag on Moon. This makes India the 4th country to do so. But I haven't found this on ISRo official website.




I did not make up the title. It was scientific america that wrote the article.


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## Vinod2070

Hopefully, the two programs can keep the other stimulated to achieve more rather than become a pissing contest.

As of now China is ahead in the game though not by much. And all the best to both countries for success in their programs.


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## Black Stone

It is expected, the Chinese would want to catch up with the US and the Indians would want to catch up with the Chinese. 

That's the game.

This quote from the director says it all...



> &#8220;China has gone earlier, but today we are trying to catch them, catch that gap, bridge the gap,&#8221; said Bhaskar Narayan, a director at the Indian space agency, according to Reuters.


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## Nihat

> Chandrayaan-2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO
> PTI
> Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 AT 1:10 PM
> Tags: space
> Close...
> 
> SRIHARIKOTA: After the successful launch of Indias first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send its second lunar odyssey, Chandrayaan-2, an Indo-Russian joint venture, likely by the end of next year or early 2010.
> 
> The work on this project would be taken up after Chandrayaan-1 starts its task of researching the moon, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the PSLV-C11 launched the spacecraft.
> 
> One of the two GSLV missions next year could carry Chandrayaan-2, he said.
> 
> The team behind the success of the first mission would work on Chandrayaan-2 also, he added.
> 
> However, the composition of the instruments for Chandrayaan-2 would be decided after studying the data received from the first mission, he said.
> 
> The second mission, for which the ISRO and Russian federal space agency have already signed a pact, would feature a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon.
> 
> However, there would be a provision for accommodating payloads from other space agencies as is the case of Chandrayaan 1, Nair said.
> In addition to Indias five payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is carrying scientific instruments of the European Space Agency, Bulgaria and the USA.



Source - Press Times of India


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : What Chandrayaan-1 aims to accomplish

Although India has earlier built multi-purpose INSATs which combined communication and meteorology payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is a novel clubbing together of remote-sensing and communication payloads. Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s orbit may be similar to the geo-synchronous transfer orbit of a communication satellite.

The complexities of the remote-sensing payloads in Chandrayaan-1 are also similar to those of the regular remote-sensing satellites. The comparison stops there.

For &#8220;all [the Indian] instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 have been made for the first time [in the country]. We had to develop prototypes and test them for high levels of endurance in the environment,&#8221; said T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built the spacecraft.

For this spacecraft, every system and sub-system is critical. &#8220;We have made sure that their reliability is good. For every item, we had a redundant system. If an item or a sub-system did not work, we had a standby. We had two star-trackers. We had two gyroscopes, two transmitters, two receivers and so on,&#8221; he added.

*Looking for water ice*

Chandrayaan-1 carries on board 11 instruments &#8212; five from India and six from abroad.

These scientific payloads will help in preparing a three-dimensional atlas of the entire topographic surface of the moon, spot minerals such as thorium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium, and in confirming the reported presence of water ice in the moon&#8217;s polar regions.

The spacecraft&#8217;s communication sub-system transmits this precious information gathered by these 11 instruments to the earth in &#8216;X-band&#8217; through its dual gimballed antenna, which has been made in India. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, has been the dynamic driving force behind the integration of the 11 instruments in the spacecraft bus.

Mission wise, the journey of Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon is extremely complicated. &#8220;For the first time, we are sending a spacecraft beyond the earth&#8217;s orbit deep into space,&#8221; Dr. Alex said.

*The manoeuvres*

The moon is nearly four lakh km away from earth. The manoeuvres for propelling Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit will be done in stages. The spacecraft will be initially put in low, elliptical orbit.

Its altitude will be increased precisely in stages. &#8220;Finding the direction in which the spacecraft is pointing is important. Finding the direction and position of the spacecraft in its orbit are the important challenges in accomplishing this mission,&#8221; he explained.

*The direction of Chandrayaan-1 is found by using star-trackers and gyroscopes, both of which have been developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) laboratories.*

*The star-tracker images the sky and gets the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling from ten stars. The positions of the bright stars in the sky are kept in the memory of Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s computer by a technique called pattern-imaging.*

*The computer automatically identifies the star-cluster and establishes the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling. Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s position in orbit is found by a technique called &#8220;satellite tracking,&#8221; which is done by a chain of tracking stations spread all over the globe.*

*&#8220;The most important part is that Chandrayaan-1 should reach the moon at the precise time and required velocity when the moon is exactly at the desired place,&#8221;* explained Dr. Alex.

Once the spacecraft reaches the moon&#8217;s vicinity, the former&#8217;s velocity is reduced by giving commands to it and it is put in an orbit of 100 km by 5,000 km around the moon. The altitude is reduced to a circular orbit of 100 km around the moon.

Later, the scientific instruments are switched on. The Moon Impact Probe, one of the 11 instruments, is ejected from Chandrayaan-1 and it hits the lunar surface.

*To study moon&#8217;s origin*

The five Indian payloads are Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) , Hyperspectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI),

High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and MIP. The TMC is a charged coupled device (CCD) camera which will take images of the near and far side of the moon which will enable preparation of the 3-D atlas of the entire lunar surface. This will help in understanding the origin and evolution of the moon.

The HySI, which is also a CCD camera, will provide mineralogical mapping of uranium and thorium deposits.

*Lunar gravity*

These images will help in identifying the mineralogical compositions in the moon&#8217;s deep crater region. The LLRI will provide the accurate height of moon&#8217;s hills and mountains, and depths of craters. This information will be useful in getting an improved model of lunar gravity.

HEX will enable exploration of the moon&#8217;s polar regions. The MIP, which will crash-land on the moon, is a forerunner to India landing rovers on the moon.

It has a video-camera, which will take pictures of the lunar surface every second of its 20-minute descent to the moon. Its altimeter will measure the MIP&#8217;s altitude from the moon every second of its descent.

Its mass spectrometer will analyse moon&#8217;s thin atmosphere. The high-resolution and low resolution optics in the cameras of the Indian instruments have been fabricated by the Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore.

Dr. Alex, who was the founder-director of LEOS, said: &#8220;We get raw, special glass, grind it and polish it into mirrors and lenses of very large sizes. We can fabricate at LEOS lenses and mirrors of half-a-metre to one metre diameter.&#8221;

Of the six instruments from abroad, three are from the European Space Agency (ESA), two from the U.S. and one from Bulgaria.

*Looking for minerals*

The three ESA payloads are Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS) which will measure the presence of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium on the moon&#8217;s surface; Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) will study the moon&#8217;s surface composition, the way in which its surface reacts with solar wind and so on; Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) will study the lunar surface to explore its mineral resources.

Bulgaria&#8217;s Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) will characterise the moon&#8217;s radiation environment. NASA&#8217;s Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) will detect water ice in the moon&#8217;s permanently shadowed polar regions. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) also of NASA will map lunar minerals.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : What Chandrayaan-1 aims to accomplish

Although India has earlier built multi-purpose INSATs which combined communication and meteorology payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is a novel clubbing together of remote-sensing and communication payloads. Chandrayaan-1s orbit may be similar to the geo-synchronous transfer orbit of a communication satellite.

The complexities of the remote-sensing payloads in Chandrayaan-1 are also similar to those of the regular remote-sensing satellites. The comparison stops there.

For all [the Indian] instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 have been made for the first time [in the country]. We had to develop prototypes and test them for high levels of endurance in the environment, said T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built the spacecraft.

For this spacecraft, every system and sub-system is critical. We have made sure that their reliability is good. For every item, we had a redundant system. If an item or a sub-system did not work, we had a standby. We had two star-trackers. We had two gyroscopes, two transmitters, two receivers and so on, he added.

*Looking for water ice*

Chandrayaan-1 carries on board 11 instruments  five from India and six from abroad.

These scientific payloads will help in preparing a three-dimensional atlas of the entire topographic surface of the moon, spot minerals such as thorium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium, and in confirming the reported presence of water ice in the moons polar regions.

The spacecrafts communication sub-system transmits this precious information gathered by these 11 instruments to the earth in X-band through its dual gimballed antenna, which has been made in India. M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, has been the dynamic driving force behind the integration of the 11 instruments in the spacecraft bus.

Mission wise, the journey of Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon is extremely complicated. For the first time, we are sending a spacecraft beyond the earths orbit deep into space, Dr. Alex said.

*The manoeuvres*

The moon is nearly four lakh km away from earth. The manoeuvres for propelling Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit will be done in stages. The spacecraft will be initially put in low, elliptical orbit.

Its altitude will be increased precisely in stages. Finding the direction in which the spacecraft is pointing is important. Finding the direction and position of the spacecraft in its orbit are the important challenges in accomplishing this mission, he explained.

*The direction of Chandrayaan-1 is found by using star-trackers and gyroscopes, both of which have been developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) laboratories.*

*The star-tracker images the sky and gets the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling from ten stars. The positions of the bright stars in the sky are kept in the memory of Chandrayaan-1s computer by a technique called pattern-imaging.*

*The computer automatically identifies the star-cluster and establishes the direction in which the spacecraft is travelling. Chandrayaan-1s position in orbit is found by a technique called satellite tracking, which is done by a chain of tracking stations spread all over the globe.*

*The most important part is that Chandrayaan-1 should reach the moon at the precise time and required velocity when the moon is exactly at the desired place,* explained Dr. Alex.

Once the spacecraft reaches the moons vicinity, the formers velocity is reduced by giving commands to it and it is put in an orbit of 100 km by 5,000 km around the moon. The altitude is reduced to a circular orbit of 100 km around the moon.

Later, the scientific instruments are switched on. The Moon Impact Probe, one of the 11 instruments, is ejected from Chandrayaan-1 and it hits the lunar surface.

*To study moons origin*

The five Indian payloads are Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) , Hyperspectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI),

High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and MIP. The TMC is a charged coupled device (CCD) camera which will take images of the near and far side of the moon which will enable preparation of the 3-D atlas of the entire lunar surface. This will help in understanding the origin and evolution of the moon.

The HySI, which is also a CCD camera, will provide mineralogical mapping of uranium and thorium deposits.

*Lunar gravity*

These images will help in identifying the mineralogical compositions in the moons deep crater region. The LLRI will provide the accurate height of moons hills and mountains, and depths of craters. This information will be useful in getting an improved model of lunar gravity.

HEX will enable exploration of the moons polar regions. The MIP, which will crash-land on the moon, is a forerunner to India landing rovers on the moon.

It has a video-camera, which will take pictures of the lunar surface every second of its 20-minute descent to the moon. Its altimeter will measure the MIPs altitude from the moon every second of its descent.

Its mass spectrometer will analyse moons thin atmosphere. The high-resolution and low resolution optics in the cameras of the Indian instruments have been fabricated by the Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore.

Dr. Alex, who was the founder-director of LEOS, said: We get raw, special glass, grind it and polish it into mirrors and lenses of very large sizes. We can fabricate at LEOS lenses and mirrors of half-a-metre to one metre diameter.

Of the six instruments from abroad, three are from the European Space Agency (ESA), two from the U.S. and one from Bulgaria.

*Looking for minerals*

The three ESA payloads are Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (CIXS) which will measure the presence of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium on the moons surface; Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) will study the moons surface composition, the way in which its surface reacts with solar wind and so on; Smart Near Infrared Spectrometer (SIR-2) will study the lunar surface to explore its mineral resources.

Bulgarias Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) will characterise the moons radiation environment. NASAs Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) will detect water ice in the moons permanently shadowed polar regions. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) also of NASA will map lunar minerals.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : An international mission with India as captain

An international mission with India as captain

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: *Although 60 spacecraft have been sent since 1959 to study the moon, this is the first time that as many as 11 scientific instruments are being carried on a spacecraft,* Chandrayaan-1 &#8212; five from the Indian Space Research Organisation, two from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, three from the European Space Agency and one from Bulgaria.

*M. Annadurai, Project Director, called the spacecraft &#8220;an international mission with India as the captain.&#8221; &#8220;We are carrying a spectrum of instruments that people have not sent to study the moon earlier.&#8221;*

Addressing a press conference at Sriharikota on Wednesday after the PSLV-C11 successfully put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said the scientific instruments on board were &#8220;unique for the spectrum of their coverage.&#8221; These were &#8220;the most comprehensive set of instruments to fly on board a spacecraft to the moon in recent history.&#8221; The instruments would provide a map of the entire surface of the moon &#8212; its hills, valleys and craters, and look for minerals such as thorium, uranium, silicon and magnesium.

&#8220;We will also try to see whether there is any trace of water ice on the moon,&#8221; Mr. Nair said.

The data sent by these instruments would also reveal whether helium-3, which would be the fuel of the future, was available in abundance on the moon.

&#8220;A search for the presence of water ice will be made in multiple ways by Chandrayaan-1,&#8221; said Mr. Annadurai. Imaging instruments on board the spacecraft could detect the presence of water ice. The signals observed by the X-ray payloads would be useful in identifying the presence of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the moon.

The Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument would send high-energy lasers to the lunar surface and these would bounce back to the spacecraft. The lasers would help in measuring the depth of the moon&#8217;s craters and the height of its mountains.

An important instrument was the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), on which was painted the Indian national flag. The MIP would be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 soon after the spacecraft reached its final orbit of 100 km around the moon on November 15, Mr. Annadurai said. After a 20-minute descent, it would crash-land on the moon.

The MIP has three instruments &#8212; a video camera that will take pictures of the lunar surface as the MIP descends towards the moon; a mass spectrometer that will &#8220;sniff&#8221; and analyse the constituents of the thin atmosphere present above the moon; and an altimeter that will measure every second the altitude of the MIP from the moon during its fall. When the MIP crashes on the moon, it will kick up dust. The video camera will take pictures of this dust. The video images of the lunar surface and the dust will help in determining where the lander/rover in the Chandrayaan-2 mission can land on the moon.

T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built Chandrayaan-1, said: *&#8220;The spacecraft is in right orbit. It is in good health. The outlook is excellent.&#8221;*

George Koshy was the mission director and C. Venugopal, the vehicle director.


----------



## nitesh

The Hindu : National : An international mission with India as captain

An international mission with India as captain

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: *Although 60 spacecraft have been sent since 1959 to study the moon, this is the first time that as many as 11 scientific instruments are being carried on a spacecraft,* Chandrayaan-1  five from the Indian Space Research Organisation, two from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, three from the European Space Agency and one from Bulgaria.

*M. Annadurai, Project Director, called the spacecraft an international mission with India as the captain. We are carrying a spectrum of instruments that people have not sent to study the moon earlier.*

Addressing a press conference at Sriharikota on Wednesday after the PSLV-C11 successfully put Chandrayaan-1 into its initial orbit, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said the scientific instruments on board were unique for the spectrum of their coverage. These were the most comprehensive set of instruments to fly on board a spacecraft to the moon in recent history. The instruments would provide a map of the entire surface of the moon  its hills, valleys and craters, and look for minerals such as thorium, uranium, silicon and magnesium.

We will also try to see whether there is any trace of water ice on the moon, Mr. Nair said.

The data sent by these instruments would also reveal whether helium-3, which would be the fuel of the future, was available in abundance on the moon.

A search for the presence of water ice will be made in multiple ways by Chandrayaan-1, said Mr. Annadurai. Imaging instruments on board the spacecraft could detect the presence of water ice. The signals observed by the X-ray payloads would be useful in identifying the presence of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the moon.

The Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument would send high-energy lasers to the lunar surface and these would bounce back to the spacecraft. The lasers would help in measuring the depth of the moons craters and the height of its mountains.

An important instrument was the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), on which was painted the Indian national flag. The MIP would be ejected from Chandrayaan-1 soon after the spacecraft reached its final orbit of 100 km around the moon on November 15, Mr. Annadurai said. After a 20-minute descent, it would crash-land on the moon.

The MIP has three instruments  a video camera that will take pictures of the lunar surface as the MIP descends towards the moon; a mass spectrometer that will sniff and analyse the constituents of the thin atmosphere present above the moon; and an altimeter that will measure every second the altitude of the MIP from the moon during its fall. When the MIP crashes on the moon, it will kick up dust. The video camera will take pictures of this dust. The video images of the lunar surface and the dust will help in determining where the lander/rover in the Chandrayaan-2 mission can land on the moon.

T.K. Alex, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, which built Chandrayaan-1, said: *The spacecraft is in right orbit. It is in good health. The outlook is excellent.*

George Koshy was the mission director and C. Venugopal, the vehicle director.


----------



## batmannow

Congratulations to Indian peoples, for the sucsess full lanuch of the space craft.
BBC was saying , why indians , did that, they should spend 80,milion dollars to reduce poverty, butn i , feel the gora shahi cant see, any of asian nation geting progress.

even , i am a hawkish kind of person as far as india is concern but, i realy cant see , some gora putting, crap on a wonderfull, achivment by a asian nation. 
guys take cool at me, save your anger on me, so we can argue on some other thread.


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## nitesh

he he he. There will be critics everywhere. So nothing much to think about them. All in all an achievement. But let's wish that other stages go as planned. Best of luck to ISRO


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## PeaceForAll

batmannow said:


> Congratulations to Indian peoples, for the sucsess full lanuch of the space craft.
> BBC was saying , *why indians , did that, they should spend 80,milion dollars to reduce poverty*, butn i , feel the gora shahi cant see, any of asian nation geting progress.
> 
> even , i am a hawkish kind of person as far as india is concern but, i realy cant see , some gora putting, crap on a wonderfull, achivment by a asian nation.
> guys take cool at me, save your anger on me, so we can argue on some other thread.



May be the US ans UK should stop wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and start looking at their economic problems... and unemployment problems.. and home foreclosures problems..


----------



## Contrarian

*Chandrayaan-2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO*


SRIHARIKOTA: After the successful launch of India&#8217;s first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send its second lunar odyssey, Chandrayaan-2, an Indo-Russian joint venture, likely by the end of next year or early 2010.

The work on this project would be taken up after Chandrayaan-1 starts its task of researching the moon, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the PSLV-C11 launched the spacecraft.

&#8220;One of the two GSLV missions next year could carry Chandrayaan-2,&#8221; he said.

The team behind the success of the first mission would work on Chandrayaan-2 also, he added.

However, the composition of the instruments for Chandrayaan-2 would be decided after studying the data received from the first mission, he said.

The second mission, for which the ISRO and Russian federal space agency have already signed a pact, would feature a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon.

&#8220;However, there would be a provision for accommodating payloads from other space agencies as is the case of Chandrayaan 1,&#8221; Nair said.

In addition to India&#8217;s five payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is carrying scientific instruments of the European Space Agency, Bulgaria and the USA. 

Chandrayaan 2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO


----------



## Contrarian

*Chandrayaan-2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO*


SRIHARIKOTA: After the successful launch of Indias first unmanned mission to moon, Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send its second lunar odyssey, Chandrayaan-2, an Indo-Russian joint venture, likely by the end of next year or early 2010.

The work on this project would be taken up after Chandrayaan-1 starts its task of researching the moon, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here after the PSLV-C11 launched the spacecraft.

One of the two GSLV missions next year could carry Chandrayaan-2, he said.

The team behind the success of the first mission would work on Chandrayaan-2 also, he added.

However, the composition of the instruments for Chandrayaan-2 would be decided after studying the data received from the first mission, he said.

The second mission, for which the ISRO and Russian federal space agency have already signed a pact, would feature a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon.

However, there would be a provision for accommodating payloads from other space agencies as is the case of Chandrayaan 1, Nair said.

In addition to Indias five payloads, Chandrayaan-1 is carrying scientific instruments of the European Space Agency, Bulgaria and the USA. 

Chandrayaan 2 likely next year end or 2010: ISRO


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## nitesh

This is huge compliment,
Deccan Herald - Obama views Chandrayaan as a challenge

Obama views Chandrayaan as a challenge
Washington, IANS:

As the White House hailed India's maiden moon mission as "encouraging" and "exciting", Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama saw it as a reminder to revitalise the US space programme and not let other countries surpass it. "I haven't spoken to the President (George Bush) about it. I saw that story, it was very interesting," White House spokesperson Dana Perino said on Wednesday. "We noted it's very encouraging for India, I'm sure, very exciting."

However, *Obama viewed Wednesday's historic launch of India's moon mission Chandrayaan I from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh as a challenge.*

*"With India's launch of its first unmanned lunar spacecraft following closely on the heels of China's first spacewalk, we are reminded just how urgently the United States must revitalise its space programme if we are to remain the undisputed leader in space, science, and technology,"* he said.


Obama said his comprehensive plan to revitalise the US "space programme and close the gap between the Space Shuttle's retirement and its next-generation replacement includes $2 billion more for NASA - but more money alone is not enough."

"We must not only retain our space workforce so that we don't let other countries surpass our technical capabilities; we must train new scientists and engineers for the next generation," he said.

Obama said his "comprehensive space policy focuses on reaching new frontiers through human space exploration, tapping the ingenuity of our commercial space entrepreneurs, fostering a broad research agenda to break new ground on the world's leading scientific discoveries, and engaging students through educational programmes that excite them about space and science."

"As a child, I remember sitting on my grandfather's shoulders and watching the Apollo astronauts return from a splashdown to Hickam Air Force Base, dreaming of where they had been," he added.

*"It inspired my imagination and gave me confidence in what we as Americans could achieve. It's time for a space programme that inspires our children again,"* said the Democratic nominee who is leading over his Republican rival John McCain in most opinion polls.

*"As president, I will lead our space programme boldly into the 21st century - so when my daughters, and all our children, look up to the skies, they see Americans leading the way into the deepest reaches of our solar system,"* Obama said.

The United States India Business Council (USIBC), representing 280 of the largest US companies investing in India, has also hailed India's maiden moon mission with two US instruments on board as the beginning of long *"relationship promoting the opening of the frontier of outer space."*

*"This unique technology partnership in civil space exploration, which taps India's highly skilled scientific expertise with American instrumentation furnished by Raytheon, beckons what we hope will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship promoting the opening of the frontier of outer space,"* USIBC president Ron Somers said.


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## nitesh

India's air navigation system to be world's most sophisticated- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times

India's air navigation system to be world's most sophisticated
24 Oct, 2008, 1124 hrs IST, IANS

*By 2011,* India will have arguably the most sophisticated satellite-based air navigation system in the world that will bring immense benefits to both civilian and military aircraft, experts said.

Raytheon Company of the US is currently leading a team of companies to deliver a comprehensive solution for a global satellite navigation system to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India.

The $196 mn or Rs.7.74 bn Global Positioning Satellite-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation system or GAGAN, *to be implemented from the end of this year or early next year, will provide India with the most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system ever deployed.*

*"India had asked for the most sophisticated navigation system - even more sophisticated than what we have implemented in the US and Japan and we have shown that we are ready to deliver that,"* Raytheon's director of business development and strategic planning Fred A. Treyz III told media.

Treyz was here as part of Raytheon's delegation to the first civil aviation air show in India, the India Aviation 2008 held here Oct 15-18, 2008.

The GAGAN design is based on the experience that Raytheon gained while implementing the only certified space-based navigation augmentation systems in the world in the US and Japan.

The Wide Area Augmentation System, designed and developed by Raytheon and now being used in the US, was certified and commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration of the US in July 2003.

The MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System also designed and developed by Raytheon was certified and commissioned by the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau in September 2007.

The European Union is currently implementing the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) but this system is yet to be certified.

*No other nation or group of nations is deploying such sophisticated air navigation systems.*

The other members of the Raytheon-led technology team are Accord Software and Systems Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore, Elcome Technologies Pvt. Ltd. of Gurgaon and Naverus Inc. of Kent, Washington.

Accord Software is providing Global Positioning System (GPS)-based user receiver prototype development optimized for the equatorial region, Elcome is providing logistical and on-site support and Naverus is providing performance-based navigation route design, procedure flight validation and other related services.

The project will provide straight-line fuel-efficient routes and precision approach landings, thereby reducing fuel burn substantially. It will also enable multiple approach capability.

GAGAN will also make it possible to provide coverage of oceanic areas, which is not possible by terrestrial systems; improve airport and airspace access in all weather conditions; enhance reliability and reduce delays; provide uniform and accurate navigation performance over the entire airspace; provide fuel efficient air corridors and provide CAT-I approach without ground element support.

Broadly, the project would result in fuel savings/efficiency for airlines and enable higher air traffic within the limited airspace.


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## nitesh

some anxious moments

The Hindu : National : ISRO battled leak in liquid propellant facility

ISRO battled leak in liquid propellant facility

Special Correspondent
Men behind moon mission faced some anxious moments
CHENNAI: It was not only adverse weather that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) battled but a leak in the liquid propellant servicing facility on the ground before the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) rose majestically from its launch pad at Sriharikota on Wednesday at 6.22 a.m. (October 22) with Chandrayaan-1 on board. This gave anxiety to the men behind the mission, who were manning the consoles in the Mission Control Centre at the spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.

George Koshy, Mission Director, PSLV-C11, which put Chandrayaan-1 in its initial orbit, said on Thursday that problems arose when manoeuvres were under way in filling the second stage of the rocket with liquid propellants.

There was a leak in the liquid propellant servicing facility established on the ground.

&#8220;We had to overcome that. It has nothing to do with the vehicle itself. It is a remotely operated facility. We corrected the problem,&#8221; he said.

Although the mission team lost 10 hours of the 49-hour countdown due to bad weather, it made it up by conducting several pre-launch activities in parallel, Mr. Koshy said. These activities included filling of pressurants and gases.

Dedicated team
He attributed the success of the PSLV-C11 mission to &#8220;ISRO&#8217;s dedicated team. You will not get such a committed team anywhere else.&#8221;

C. Venugopal, Vehicle Director, asserted that despite the loss of time by the adverse weather condition and the technical problem related to the leak, &#8220;we were back on track by T-minus four hours,&#8221; i.e., four hours before the lift-off at 6.22 a.m. The sequential operations, including electrical checks, were done in parallel. The weather, which was bad till T-minus ten hours, cleared subsequently. &#8220;By T-minus four hours, everything was in normal condition,&#8221; he said.

Although the PSLV-C11 was a new advanced version of the standard PSLV and it was being flown for the first time, &#8220;I had absolute confidence in the vehicle,&#8221; Mr. Venugopal said. Its design was robust and its new motors had been fired on the ground. The PSLV-C 11 is also called PSLV-XL. Each of its six strap-on motors carried 12.4 tonnes of solid propellants instead of nine tonnes each in the standard version. The motors were also longer. (Hence they are called XL- extra long/large).

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, called the Chandrayaan-1 launch &#8220;a historical mission because we are going for the first time beyond the earth&#8217;s orbit to a nearby heavenly body (the moon).&#8221;

P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, called the mission &#8220;a fight against weather.&#8221;

The weather cleared exactly when the mission required it and the launch vehicle put the spacecraft into an orbit of 256 km by 22,866 km with an inclination of 17.8 degrees.

&#8220;This was exactly as we required. So the launch was a grand success,&#8221; Mr. Veeraraghavan said.


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## Flintlock

Good pictures - finally - ISRO really needs to improve their PR.


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## nitesh

India's manned mission not before 2012: Madhavan Nair- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

India's manned mission not before 2012: Madhavan Nair
24 Oct, 2008, 1357 hrs IST, ANI

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that India's manned mission would take atleast another three years. 

India's space programme took a leap on Wednesday when the ISRO undertook a flawless lift off of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying Chandrayaan-I, a cuboid spacecraft which includes a Moon Impactor Probe gadget. 

*India hopes to send an astronaut into space by 2012 and a manned mission to the moon by 2020. The Indian Government has approved the launch of Chandrayaan-2, which is expected to take off between 2010 and 2012, and will include a rover that will land on the moon.* 

Nair revealed that the *ISRO has indeed planned the logical, complex and ultimate manned mission next in the pipeline.* "Looking at the global scenario and also our own priorities, we believe that undertaking a manned mission is very important and for that we are now conducting a basic study as to what technologies needs to be developed, what facilities needs to be established and how the reliability of launch system has to be improved and so on," Nair told Asian News International (ANI) in an interview. 

*"So this programme, once it is launched, of course it is very complex. We have to understand many fundamentals. The information available from the literature is very few. So, with that our estimate is that it may take up to 2012, before we can have man around earth and back,"* Nair added. 

India had sent an Air Force pilot, Rakesh Sharma in space aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket way back in 1984 when the then Soviet Union sent cosmonauts from a number of Eastern bloc to space, but New Delhi did not follow up that programme. 

Two other Indian origin astronauts have been to space aboard NASA's space shuttle but ISRO still lacks a manned mission. 

The Chandrayaan-I project cost 79 million dollars, considerably less than the Chinese and Japanese probe in 2007. ISRO says the moon mission will pave the way for India to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business. 

*"We have launched almost 16 satellites for other countries. It will show the reliability and confidence of PSLV system. I am sure more and more opportunities will come in the near future," Nair said*. 

India started its space programme in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies.


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## Vinod2070

Flintlock said:


> Good pictures - finally - ISRO really needs to improve their PR.



The best PR is a string of successes and a solid and ambitious plan for the future.

That is all we seek from ISRO, not flashy media campaigns or camera friendly scientists.

ISRO seems to be delivering on what we expect. They do need to increase the capacity by involving the private sector in a big way for all non-core activities.


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## Flintlock

Vinod2070 said:


> The best PR is a string of successes and a solid and ambitious plan for the future.
> 
> That is all we seek from ISRO, not flashy media campaigns or camera friendly scientists.
> 
> ISRO seems to be delivering on what we expect. They do need to increase the capacity by involving the private sector in a big way for all non-core activities.



What's up with you today? I never said anything about media campaigns or "camera friendly" scientists.

All they need is some good pictures and a decent website. How hard can it get? 

I can understand that they work on a _really __shoestring _budget, but making a decent website isn't all that expensive. 

Also, PR isn't something dishonest or evil, as you are making it out to be. Have you seen the Indian Army ads on tv?


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## Vinod2070

Well, I think I may have misunderstood your post in that case.

Frankly I am proud of their achievement and even though I have visited their website a few times and agree that it could be better, I just ignored it in the excitement of their solid achievements on the ground.


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## nitesh

How India flew to the moon economy class
How India flew to the moon economy class-India-The Times of India
CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1, now on its way to the moon, has cost less than one-tenth of the Indian Premier League (IPL) rights bagged by Sony Entertainment. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spent just over Rs 380 crore (about half the price of a Jumbo Jet) on Chandrayaan-1, with 1,000 scientists toiling over it for three years. A similar effort by NASA or any other space agency would have cost at least five times more. In real terms, Chandrayaan-1 cost only about 4&#37; of Isro's budget over three years.

How did Isro do it? "Optimisation," says its chairman G Madhavan Nair, in an exclusive interview to STOI. "There are some tests the Americans would have done six times and we did only thrice. We scrutinise every parameter and optimised the tests. Yes, you may call it a calculated risk, but, touch wood, we have been successful with this approach so far.' 

But this didn't mean cutting corners, insists the Isro chairman. "More than 30% of the sub-systems that went into Chandrayaan-1 were used by us in other operations. The PSLV we used for the launch is almost the same we have been using for several previous launches, with the only difference being the six enhanced strap-on motors (the quantity of solid propellants was increased from nine tonnes to 12 tonnes each)." 

Optimising tests on such equipment and procedures helped Isro save a lot. But it has at least partly been forced to turn this spend smart and save-philosophy into a cherished principle. *The IPL deal of about Rs 5,000 crore or $1 billion is equivalent to Isro's entire annual budget, while NASA's is 20 times as much.*

On the brighter side, Antrix Corporation, Isro's commercial wing, has earned Rs 900 crore from commercial satellite launches and sale of remote sensing data last financial year and the revenues are growing at 25%. "We have launched 16 satellites for other countries so far and another four are on the anvil. Commercial launches add to our earnings," says Madhavan Nair. This should augur well for Isro, which has such ambitious projects as the Rs 12,000 crore manned space mission scheduled for 2015. 

Another aspect that makes Isro stand out in the group of space-faring nations is its down-to-earth scientists. Anyone who has taken a peep into the mission control at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota would have been struck by the simplicity of Isro scientists in crumpled white lab coats with the blue letters 'PSLV' on their back, who hugged each other when PSLV-C11 injected Chandrayaan-1 into the earth orbit about 18 minutes after take-off.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## nitesh

NASA may set up R&D centre in Pune
NASA may set up R&D centre in Pune
BS Reporter / Pune October 25, 2008, 18:57 IST
While India has just entered the list of moon-mission countries, the pioneer and global leader is aerospace projects US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seems to have taken India very seriously. NASA is on the verge of taking a decision to set up its largest non-US centre near Pune, which would necessarily be a huge theme park
The project, which has been kept under heavy confidential barriers by NASA as well as its Indian-partner for this theme park, the Lavasa Corporation, is expected to be launched within a year's time frame over a sprawling area of more than 300 acres. The same marks NASA's entry into India, a country that over last two decades has emerged as a critical player in global aerospace research, execution and management projects. NASA's flourishing relations with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its sincere interests in India have reportedly led to this particular project.

While Nasa officials did not disloce any information regarding this project, Lavasa Corporation too avoided a comment. "The talks with NASA are confidential. I cannot reveal any information about this tie-up at this moment," Lavsa Corporation chief operating officer Rajgopal Nogja told Business Standard. When asked, when is an official announcement expected in this regard, Nogja said, the announcement would happen only when the deal is signed.

US-President Dwight Eisenhower had established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958. The move was then seen as a response to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite in the year 1957. Later, the NASA grew out of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) involved in reaserch projects for 40 years then. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, for the first time walked on the moon as part of the NASA project. NASA has more than 14 centres and facilities within US while they have certain other establishments in other parts of the world. The upcoming project, hence, would become its first ever-huge set up outside the United States of America (USA), an official working very close to these developments told Business Standard.

As part of its 50 years of celebrations, NASA has decided to expand its reach through a number of projects specifically in the research and development, academics, promotion and awareness segments. "Considering the presence of Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and a large number of top-brass educational institutions in India, the NASA officials seem to have finalised Pune city to set up the NASA theme park," the official stated.

The proposed theme park would come up along the backwaters of Varasgaon dam on a 300-acre huge piece of land, which is part of the controversial Lavasa Lake City promoted by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). NASA plans to invest more than Rs 150 crore over this project. Located around 45 kilometers west of Pune, the theme park would be aimed at attracting youngsters and tourists towards NASA's activities. NASA is also giving a thought to set up a research and development centre at this venue, which would primarily be aimed at new technologies and space browsing, sources claimed.


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## Flintlock

*Chandrayaan sends Indian space scientists rushing back home*
Tuesday, 28 October , 2008, 12:31
Last Updated: Tuesday, 28 October , 2008, 12:32



Bangalore The successful launch of India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has inspired many Indian space scientists working abroad to return home for a promising career in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a top official said.

"Our moon mission has aroused tremendous interest in the scientific community the world over. The launch has made many overseas Indian space scientists think of returning and working in our organisation to further their career prospects," the official told IANS.

Chandryaan special: Destination Moon

Though the state-run ISRO's human resource department is yet to receive applications from abroad, the official who didn't want to be named confirmed that enquiries for job prospects in the space agency started since the Oct 22 launch of Chandrayaan from Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km north of Chennai.

Chandrayaan%u20131 successfully placed in orbit

"There have been some enquiries though at a personal level. For instance, Chandrayaan director M. Annadurai got e-mail from scientists, mostly of Indian origin, congratulating him for the lunar mission and offering to join the space agency," the official pointed out.

Many persons of Indian origin (PIOs) currently working in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US and the European Space Agency (ESA) in Europe or at Kourou in French Guiana, South America, began their career as scientists in ISRO or in Indian academic/research institutes before migrating in search of greener pastures.

'It was a perfect launch'

"Some Indian space scientists working in NASA may be mulling to come back to work on our projects. They might be keen on applying for a suitable post in commensurate with their experience and expectations. We welcome them on merit," the official noted.

But the official added that as a policy the Indian space agency did not recruit foreign nationals.

"Indian born scientists and PIOs are, however, eligible to apply in ISRO. To our knowledge, barring a few, not many Indian scientists are working in ESA. If any, they may be second or third generation Indians with European nationality," the official hinted.

Annadurai has said scientists from NASA and ESA, including PIOs have sent feelers expressing interest to work for ISRO, even at lower salaries. Annadurai could not be reached for his comments.

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair had told reporters at Sriharikota that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had put in place packages for scientists working in the space organisation and the atomic energy agency on the basis of the Sixth Pay Commission.

"We are in the process of getting these things (revised packages) cleared at the final approval stage. But I don't think we can give the phenomenal salary offered by the IT firms. We will give respectable living conditions in line with society," Nair affirmed.

In accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations, the government has revised pay scales of space scientists and engineers to Rs.31,000 from Rs.18,000 at entry-level posts; to Rs.60,000 from Rs.43,000 at middle-level posts and to Rs.70,000 from Rs.45,000 for the top posts - director and above.

The 36-year-old ISRO, headquartered in Bangalore, with multiple locations across the country, has a total workforce of 16,500, including about 10,000 scientists and engineers. About 6,500 are employed in administrative and auxiliary services.

"Our attrition rate is less than the best of IT companies. Though there is a dearth of outstanding science or engineering graduates opting for a career in space science/technology, we are able to manage the demand-supply gap fairly well," the official observed.

To ensure a steady stream of supply to its various departments, ISRO has commenced a space university at Thiruvananthapuram this academic year where about 150 students with science background are offered a five-year course in space technology and applications.

"The graduating students will have a five year bond to serve with the organisation. They get oriented to work on space application and programmes, with opportunity to do projects at our various facilities," the official added.

About 90 percent of ISRO scientists/engineers are home-grown, having graduated from Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, Bits Pilani or other top engineering universities/colleges.

Chandrayaan sends Indian space scientists rushing back home - Sify.com


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## Flintlock

*Indias lunar experience: small heads with big dream*

Indias first unmanned moon mission - Chandrayaan-I - ISRO - NASA - all are big things, indeed! But, the people involved behind ISROs recent success have a small, smaller, start! Majority of these glittering personalities are the gift of little native towns of India. The achievement brought by these heroes has, once again, proved Indias strong educational ethos.

Quality and perfection with which Chandrayaan-I has been launched, has made the world staring India with great surprise and respect. Even America has started calculating amount of drift ISROs small heads have caused in their leading space programs. Barak Obama, US Democratic Presidential nominee, has already warned America saying Indias recent moon mission must not be ignored and should be taken as a wake-up call for them.

If you look at the long list of scientists those made the Chandrayaan-I a grand success, you will find majority of these scientists are the graduates of relatively smaller regional engineering colleges of India, and not from the IITs as one might think about. Two good examples of such low-profile engineering colleges are Government College of Technology and PSG College of Technology, both from a small town, Coimbatore, of India,

Comments and observations with envy that have come from overseas after Chandrayaan-1s launch reaffirms ISROs matured and advanced technologies, said G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO. Even NASA has shown interest, following Chandrayaan-I, in working with ISRO recognizing Indias space power.

India&#8217;s lunar experience: small heads with big dream


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## Flintlock

*Recapturing the American spirit*

DAN RATHER
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

NEW YORK -- A little more than two weeks ago, when Barack Obama and John McCain met for the second presidential debate, Obama spoke up for his alternative-energy plan by invoking perhaps this nation's greatest achievement:

"Now, when JFK said we're going to the moon in 10 years, nobody was sure how to do it, but we understood that, if the American people make a decision to do something, it gets done."

Last week, India, which started its space program in the same year that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the U.S. flag on the lunar surface, launched its own mission to the moon. Unlike Apollo 11, the Indian Chandrayaan spacecraft that lifted off from an island in the Bay of Bengal Wednesday was not manned, *but it does reflect a national spirit that our country once possessed, and which we will fail to reclaim at our own peril.*

How to define that spirit?

Some inside and outside of India have been critical of the Chandrayaan moon shot, saying that even at its relatively modest $78 million price tag, the cost of the mission represents an expenditure that the country can little afford, given the fact that millions of its inhabitants still live in conditions of crushing poverty.

But the mission's advocates point to Chandrayaan as a first step toward scientific goals that are worthy of the expenditure. Some of these goals are of a practical nature, such as determining the prevalence of helium-3, a rare isotope that could be used as an energy source, and constructing a three-dimensional map of the lunar surface, which could facilitate future missions for mining lunar resources. And some of these goals serve pure science, such as experiments designed to learn more about the moon's origins.

They also point to the burgeoning space programs of China and Japan, and emphasize India's need to prove itself worthy of a share of the growing market for launching private satellites.
*
All these goals, poetic and prosaic, add up to vision -- long-term, beyond-the-immediate-horizon vision. This is the kind of vision that is given much lip service in our own political rhetoric.* But when it comes to practice, some in America have said in recent years that we can't afford it, just as some are still saying that now -- not in the midst of a Global War on Terrorism, not as we face the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, not as we contemplate enormous projected budget deficits.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy called upon America to put a man on the moon and return him safely, among other goals, "not because they are easy but because they are hard." In the years that followed, our nation fought the Vietnam War and launched, in the Great Society, some of its most ambitious social programs. We saw our society divided over issues of race and war. And yet, in 1969, Kennedy's goal saw fruition.

*The lesson is not only that we as a nation can achieve great things even in difficult times, but that our ambition to achieve great things is a necessary engine of progress.* Despite what we might like to tell ourselves, America has never had a monopoly on this kind of forward-looking spirit. But there was a time when we surely had the world's largest supply of it.

India's own reach into space serves as a much-needed reminder that, at the start of this new century, the rest of the world is catching up. And if America wishes to stay great, we need to discover once again the ambition to not only survive the present but also capture and define the future.
Dan Rather is a columnist for Hearst Newspapers.

Recapturing the American spirit


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## Humanoid

Flintlock said:


> What's up with you today? I never said anything about media campaigns or "camera friendly" scientists.
> 
> All they need is some good pictures and a decent website. How hard can it get?
> 
> I can understand that they work on a _really __shoestring _budget, but making a decent website isn't all that expensive.
> 
> Also, PR isn't something dishonest or evil, as you are making it out to be. Have you seen the Indian Army ads on tv?



I think it was copied and pasted from Bharat-Rakshak..


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## Vinod2070

No, I just mentioned my thoughts. I am happy with ISRO's achievements and may be was a bit overzealous in defending them.


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## deltacamelately

How come there are no Pakistani posters on this thread?
Lack of interest or plain ignore?


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## Neo

deltacamelately said:


> How come there are no Pakistani posters on this thread?
> Lack of interest or plain ignore?



Atleast 35 replies by Pakistani members, did you mis them all? 

Unlike some other fora we manage to keep high profile threads like this one troll free, its been quite educative sofar, with or without Pakistani contribution.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : How Chandrayaan-1 is raised to higher orbits

How Chandrayaan-1 is raised to higher orbits

R. PRASAD

Chandrayaan-1 could have been fired to reach the moon, which is about 3,84,000 km from earth, in one shot. But that was not done. Instead the spacecraft is being moved towards the moon in increasingly elliptical orbits with an apogee (farthest point from the earth) increasing many times more than the perigee.

* &#8220;We could have done it one shot, but there is a possibility of missing the moon,&#8221; said M. Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 to this Correspondent. &#8220;So we have adopted an incremental increase in the orbits&#8217; perigee.&#8221; *

That probably explains why the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to settle for five increasingly elliptical orbits before Chandrayaan-1 reaches the moon&#8217;s sphere of influence. Why is the firing always undertaken at the perigee position?

* Firing at perigee *

&#8220;To increase the apogee, we must fire at the perigee [position]. And firing should consume less energy. So the firing is done at the perigee,&#8221; Dr. Annadurai explained.

One more reason to fire at the perigee is to ensure that the spacecraft can be tracked by 3-4 ground stations. &#8220;The spacecraft is allowed to complete one or more orbits till such time 3-4 ground stations can track it. But we will fire it at the earliest opportunity,&#8221; he said.

But not always can one assume that the firing will happen as planned. So any change in this will in turn affect the apsidal line (imaginary line that connects the apogee and perigee). This should be corrected and maintained if the rendezvous with the moon is to happen.

* Increasing the apogee *

And what ensures that the apogee increases many hundred kilometres after every firing while the perigee changes by only a few kilometres? &#8220;When the firing is done exactly at perigee, the velocity increases and the apogee keeps increasing. There will be no change in the perigee position,&#8221; he said.

But firing the spacecraft exactly at the perigee position is only theoretically possible. This results in a small change in the perigee altitude.

* Duration of firing *

&#8220;It is not an instant firing [at the perigee]. It takes a few hundred seconds to complete the firing,&#8221; he said. But great effort is however taken to centre the firing around the perigee position.

For instance, the first firing to take Chandrayaan-1 from the initial orbit to the first orbit (with an apogee of 38,000 km) took about 1060 seconds to complete. The second firing to take the spacecraft to the nearly 75,000 km apogee took 920 seconds. And the third firing to raise it to about 1,65,000 km apogee took 560 seconds.

The fourth firing to take Chandrayaan-1 to 2,67,000 km will take about 190 seconds and finally the last raise to 3,80,000 will take 150 seconds.

Though the original plan was to reach 2,00,000 km apogee in the third orbit, ISRO could only raise it to 1,65,000 km. So will that lead to any problems? &#8220;This can be made up for in the next firing,&#8221; Dr. Annadurai said.

* Use of propellant *

Will the change in the orbit-transfer strategy from five-and-half days to nearly a fortnight lead to increased fuel consumption and hence reduced mission life? &#8220;The amount of propellant required to fire the spacecraft to 4,00,000 km is less, whether it is done in one shot or in stages. And the propellant is used only for changing the orbits and not for orbiting around the earth,&#8221; he explained.

Orbiting around the earth is mainly through the gravitational force of the earth. But the gravitational influence of sun and moon would still play a role, though minor. Since the spacecraft goes around only for a few days in each orbit, there will not be any change in the orbits and hence the need to use propellant to correct the orbits would not arise.

But that will not be case when Chandrayaan-1 orbits the moon for two years. &#8220;There will be a need to correct the orbit once in two weeks to maintain a 100 km circular orbit,&#8221; said Dr. Annadurai.

* Less energy required *

While earth&#8217;s gravitational force will exist even when the spacecraft moves further and further away from the earth, the force will decrease with distance. &#8220;So firing it to the fourth and fifth orbit will require less energy,&#8221; said Dr. Annadurai. &#8220;Since some propellant is already used in the previous firings, the overall mass would come down. So the effort required to fire reduces.&#8221;

* Reverse firing *

Five-and-half days after the fifth firing, Chandrayaan-1 will have its rendezvous with the moon. Chandrayaan-1 will get nearer to the moon on November 8 when it reaches the 3,81,000 km apogee.

Though the moon&#8217;s influence will be predominant, the velocity of Chandrayaan-1 has to be reduced to enable the moon to capture it. Else, it can fly past the moon.

Once captured by the moon&#8217;s gravity, the velocity of the spacecraft has to be reduced to help it reach its final destination of 100 km circular orbit around the moon.

This is achieved by reversing what was done to raise its orbits.

&#8220;First, the firing is resorted at both perigee and apogee positions. And the firing takes place only after the orientation of the spacecraft is reversed &#8212; turned 180 degrees,&#8221; he said.

While the momentum of the spacecraft allows it to move in the same direction, the reverse firing helps it to reduce the velocity. The reduction in velocity is again undertaken in an incremental manner to reach the predetermined 100 km circular orbit around the moon.

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## deltacamelately

Neo said:


> Atleast 35 replies by Pakistani members, did you mis them all?
> 
> Unlike some other fora we manage to keep high profile threads like this one troll free, its been quite educative sofar, with or without Pakistani contribution.


My Dear Neo,
I concede I must been plain lazy reading here and there and probably must have missed them in the process. I sincerely thought something must be wrong as newer posts didn't find newer comments. My bad though.

regards,

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## nitesh

some interesting thoughts here:

BBC NEWS | Americas | Venezuela joins space club nations


> Despite the money spent on the satellite project, Mr Marcano Gonzalez believes the investment is justified, and he cites the example of India.
> "Thirty years ago India began its space programme when the country had high levels of poverty. Space technology has allowed the nation to maintain social and cultural cohesion to emerge from under-development.
> "Today it is a big power with a voice among nations."


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## nitesh

Some good news guys, the camera is tested successfully:

Chandrayaan-1 Camera Tested


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## Sam Dhanraj

nitesh said:


> Some good news guys, the camera is tested successfully:
> 
> Chandrayaan-1 Camera Tested



Some beautiful pics taken by the camera...For instance this one is now my wallpaper..

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## nitesh

Sam Dhanraj said:


> Some beautiful pics taken by the camera...For instance this one is now my wallpaper..


Same here sam it is on my wallpaper


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## nitesh

Just waiting for 15 nov hope everything goes fine and the chandrayaan reaches to moon orbit correctly. My view will change for the moon completely as my country's flag will be there. What you guys think?


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## Vinod2070

And mine too. Thx. for sharing...


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## Vinod2070

nitesh said:


> Just waiting for 15 nov hope everything goes fine and the chandrayaan reaches to moon orbit correctly. My view will change for the moon completely as my country's flag will be there. What you guys think?



Yes. It will never be the same again.

Let's wait for some more cool pics from ISRO.


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## newlife

I cant wait for Chandrayaan II....

Hoping to see Mangalyaan before 2020.....


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## nitesh

newlife said:


> I cant wait for Chandrayaan II....
> 
> Hoping to see Mangalyaan before 2020.....



Hey the mars mission is already in planning stage can expect it after 2012.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Every Indian should be proud of Chandrayaan, says Kalam

Every Indian should be proud of Chandrayaan, says Kalam

Bangalore Bureau

BANGALORE: Byalalu village near Bangalore had a high profile visitor on Saturday. The former President, A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, visited the Indian Deep Space Network and the giant antenna here and *expressed his desire to see an Indian scientist land on the moon by 2021. &#8220;I would be 90 years old then,&#8221;* he told a gathering of senior scientists.

G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) presented Mr. Kalam with a picture of the Earth taken by the Terrain Mapping Camera on board Chandrayaan-1 from an altitude of 70,000 km.

Earlier in the day, speaking to reporters after launching an emergency response service in the city, Mr. Kalam said he believed that every Indian should be proud of the Chandrayaan, the country&#8217;s first moon mission programme taken up by ISRO.

The images captured by the spacecraft were of high resolution and quality and therefore &#8220;an indication of what it holds for the future,&#8221; he added. On November 8, when Chandrayaan leaves the Earth&#8217;s gravity and enters the moon&#8217;s orbit, will be the next milestone for the mission, Mr. Kalam said.


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## nitesh

something in expected lines:

Chinese media questions Chandrayaan's success-China-World-The Times of India

Chinese media questions Chandrayaan's success
2 Nov 2008, 2037 hrs IST, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN


BEIJING: India's Chandrayaan mission may have evoked a good bit of national pride and come in for praise from different quarters worldwide including the White House in Washington. But a large section of the Chinese media has raised questions published articles questioning the success of Chandrayaan. 

*The articles question the contention of Indian Space Research Organisation, which said that Chandrayaan had an apogee of 37,800km with an orbital period of 73 hours. The articles in the Chinese media state that the apogee was only around 16,400 km with an orbital tour of 11 hours. *

*Most of the articles have been published in websites and blogs popular with the military and nationalist politicians. They include bulletin boards of websites that are linked to government organizations.* But the general newspapers have refrained from taking a critical view of the Indian space mission. *Most of them are copies of a single article. *

The critical articles claim they were the result of *analysis of data released by LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE AND SPACE SHUTTLE TRACKING,* which is a site devoted real time tracking of satellite launched across the world and contains a lot of technical information. *Interestingly, the website of US government's National Aeronautics and Space Administration has published an article on Chandrayaan without raising any doubts about it.* 

Most of the articles are copies of a single piece using *almost similar text. The headline common several of the pieces in different websites are: "Orbit not very normal; has India's Chandrayaan-1 run into problem?"* 

*A search on the Chinese search engine, Baidu and the Chinese version of Google throws up several websites where the same article has been pasted. It seems someone or some agency has gone into a good deal of effort to ensure that the article is widely circulated across several media networks including those that represent government agencies.* 

Some of the Chinese sites also published Chinese versions of another English article, which described Chandrayaan mission as a case of major success in a country that has not been able to curb human rights violations and address the problem of poverty adequately. The source of this second article has not been clarified. 

"Though India's human rights performance has been dismal in the last decade with right wing Hindu chauvinists targeting two large minorities of the country, Christians and Muslims but it has not hindered India's ascendance to the big league in the space," the version in the Chinese media said.


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## doobie86

^^ well now we know that they're certainly worried about our growing capabilities, mud slinging is the name of the game, they talk about our human rights record, the US talks about mercury in their noodles.


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## Nihat

Don't think China can be much bothered , it's just some enthusiasts who has written and posted such stuff with wide coverage.


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## nitesh

Nihat, read the post again. they are certainly crying hoarse.


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## nitesh

inching closer guys.........

Chandrayaan to get within 500 km of moon soon - Sify.com



> "The liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board will be fired around 5.00 am Tuesday for about five minutes to make the transition and position the spacecraft at about 500 km from the moon's surface and over 384,000 km away from the earth," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S Satish said here.


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## su-47

doobie86 said:


> ^^ well now we know that they're certainly worried about our growing capabilities, mud slinging is the name of the game, they talk about our human rights record, the US talks about mercury in their noodles.



i think its just the work of some anti-indian chinese nationalists, rather than the govt or the public in general.


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## nitesh

SU read the post again. These articles are appearing in media. This is not just job of individuals here. propaganda is thrown to the public.


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## Vinod2070

Doesn't matter guys. There will always be such people who can't bear to see others progress.

I don't think that is the general feeling of the Chinese people or the government policy.

Lets move on. Eagerly waiting for the Chandrayan to get into the Moon's orbit.


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan enters lunar space for final journey-India-The Times of India

Chandrayaan enters lunar space for final journey
4 Nov 2008, 0920 hrs IST, IANS

BANGALORE: India's first moon mission Chandrayaan-I *entered the lunar space early Tuesday for its final journey into the lunar orbit Saturday, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. *

*"The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very well. The complex manouvre was carried out around 5am by firing the liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board for about I50 seconds to place the unmanned spacecraft 380,000 km away from earth (apogee) and I,000 km from the moon," ISRO director S. Satish said.* 

The distance between earth and moon is about 384,000 km. 

Preparations for the next major manoeuvre will begin soon to enable the *spacecraft enters lunar orbit November 8 and positions itself about 100 km from the moon's surface.* 

"Chandrayaan has commenced its final journey towards the moon and will be inserted into the lunar orbit Saturday through complex manoeuvres from the space control centre of ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) here," Satish said. 

Even as the spacecraft gets ready for its rendezvous with the moon, its terrain-mapping camera (TMC) will *shoot pictures of the earth and moon orbiting in 380,000 km (apogee) by 1,000 km (perigee). *

"The images will be beamed to Istrac's space centre through electrical signals for processing and developing into high resolution pictures of one-five metres," Satish added. 

All functions on board the satellite are performing well and its health parameters are normal. It is also able to send and receive signals from ISRO's deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40km from here. 

Chandrayaan is carrying 11 scientific instruments, including six foreign payloads - two from the US, three from the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. The remaining five are indigenously designed and developed by various centres of the state-run ISRO. 

The spacecraft was blasted off October 22 on board the 316 tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-CII) from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota spaceport, about 80km north of Chennai.

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

'Bhuvan'- India's answer to Google Earth

Gandhinagar (PTI): ISRO will soon launch *'Bhuvan'*, which will *provide online maps based on Geographical Information System (GIS) in line of Google Earth,* ISRO chairman, G Madhavan Nair said here on Tuesday.

"ISRO is planning to launch 'Bhuvan'. *It is equivalent to the Google Earth, but is going to be much more precise,"* said Nair, who was here to attend the inaugural function of the 28th INCA International Congress on Collaborative Mapping and Space Technology.

"It will provide the *latest information on our natural resources.* We are going to provide very accurate maps of the region with the latest picture. This will be more beneficial for the people of the country," he said.

"The service *likely to commence in the coming six months,* will be available to the people in appropriate manner. This will provide valuable and updated information to the people," Nair said.

"The software and infrastructure necessary for the service is being established," he said. *"Though most of the information will be online, but precision data will be given to selected users only,"* Nair said.

The ISRO chairman said *with this service they will have mapping of the entire earth,* *both in terms of the upper land surface and the exotic minerals down below.* Nair also delivered the Todar Mul Memorial lecture on the occasion and briefed the participants about the Indian space programme and its application in day-to-day life.

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## Sam Dhanraj

*Chandrayaan 96 hours from moon's orbit*​
5 Nov 2008, 0012 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN 


MUMBAI: *At 4.56am on Tuesday, Chandrayaan spacecraft entered the main highway to the moon and began its 96-hour flight towards the lunar orbit.* It 
was the fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre before the spacecraft entered the orbit on Saturday. 

A jubilant Chandrayaan project director Mylaswamy Annadurai told TOI from Bangalore the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about two-and-a-half minutes and Chandrayaan entered the moon highway with an apogee (farthest point to earth) being 3,80,000 km. 

Annadurai recalled the final moments before the spacecraft entered the moon highway also known as lunar transfer trajectory. "I was at Isro's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) at Bangalore since early morning and we were going step by step very carefully. As soon as we received a signal that Chandrayaan had successfully entered the main highway to the moon, there was a jubilation in the mission control room," he said. Istrac director S K Shivakumar told TOI, *"Yes, we all had a sense of satisfaction, but let me tell you that there were no clapping and embracing because the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was still left," *Shivakumar said. 

He said commands are flashed to the spacecraft in the form of a digital message. "The return key in a keyboard 
is hit and the message is processed by the computer and transmitted to the spacecraft. Let me assure you that the person who will be hitting this return key on Saturday for the LOI is under no pressure," he said. 

Annadurai said the health of the spacecraft was being continuously monitored from the spacecraft control centre at Istrac with support from the Indian Deep Space Network antennas at Byalalu. "I am happy to say that the spacecraft is performing normally," Annadurai said. 

Asked if the Chandrayaan team was nervous about the LOI on Saturday, he said the orbit raising manoeuvre on Tuesday was equally crucial. "I am hoping that the manoeuvre will go off smoothly on Saturday too," he said. 

He said in all probability the LOI will occur between 5pm and 6pm on Saturday. *Space scientists said this manoeuvre can be a hair-raising one because 30% of lunar missions of US and the former Soviet Union have failed because of some problems during LOI.*

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## nitesh

hmm this mission is entering the final phases, this will be one of the most crucial part, best of luck to ISRO



> "Yes, we all had a sense of satisfaction, but let me tell you that there were no clapping and embracing because the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was still left,"


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## Contrarian

They are attempting something new for the first time, and they have jumped a few steps, they have directly aimed for a landing on the moon. You know even if this particular mission fails, ISRO will have generated a LOT of data which will aid their future Lunar missions as well as Mars missions immensely. 

Here's wishing success to them this time itself though!


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## nitesh

ok guys one more mile stone

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan takes pictures of moon

Chandrayaan takes pictures of moon

Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: The Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on board Chandrayaan-1 has * started taking pictures of the moon. * On Tuesday evening, when the spacecraft was in the lunar transfer orbit, it photographed the crescent moon from a distance of some 2.5 lakh km.

The TMC took pictures of the earth when it was made operational on October 29. The pictures showed the northern and southern coasts of Australia.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed the fifth and final orbit-raising manoeuvre of Chandrayaan-1 early Tuesday morning, which put the spacecraft in the lunar transfer orbit. In the evening, the TMC, one of its 11 scientific instruments, took images of the moon.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: * &#8220;The pictures were taken when the spacecraft was more than 2.5 lakh km away from the moon. We did again the entire chain of tests of the 11 instruments, data handling, data storage, downlinking, radio frequency and so on.&#8221; *

Chandrayaan-1 will reach the moon&#8217;s vicinity on November 8. According to ISRO&#8217;s present plans, the spacecraft will be lowered into its final orbit on November 15, in which it will go round the moon at an altitude of 100 km.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : How Chandrayaan-1 will help compile a 3D atlas



How Chandrayaan-1 will help compile a 3D atlas

R. PRASAD

he Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on-board Chandrayaan-1 is a unique demonstration of space scientists&#8217; ingenuity. It will be able to produce a 3D atlas of the moon using a single camera. The resolution will be 5 metres. This will help to prepare a 3D atlas with a unprecedented high-resolution.

*Developed indigenously*

Developed by the Ahmedabad based Space Applications Centre, the TMC will be able to image the moon&#8217;s surface from three directions &#8212; vertically down view, forward view and backward view along the path of the spacecraft&#8217;s orbit. The three view imaging feature of TMC is the first among ISRO&#8217;s remote sensing payloads.

&#8220;The three different views become possible as the camera picks up data from three different angles,&#8221; said Dr. Kiran Kumar A.S., Deputy Director, Sensor Development Area, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. &#8220;The three images are picked up simultaneously from three different angles by the Terrain Mapping Camera.&#8221;

The data will enable the preparation of a three dimensional lunar atlas. For 3D information, at least 2 views of the region from different angles are required.

*Overcoming occlusion*

The three views of TMC will ensure that regions on slope where the viewing angle is smaller than the slope is not occluded, as the image of the slope will be available by the third view.

One would normally need three cameras to image a feature simultaneously from three different angles. So how does the Terrain Imaging Camera manage to do it with just one camera?

&#8220;It is due to the innovative design of the camera,&#8221; Dr. Kumar said. &#8220;A set of two mirrors in the camera are used to provide two angles apart from the nadir [view from the top] view.&#8221;

While a normal camera of four mega pixels would have 2,000 by 2,000 elements, the Terrain Mapping Camera does not capture data the same way. &#8220;We don&#8217;t get one frame at a time but one single line,&#8221; he said.

The 4,000 pixels (1 pixel covers an area of 5 metre x 5 metre from a height of 100 km from the moon) in the Terrain Mapping Camera are arranged in a linear manner. While the spacecraft moves in north-south polar orbit, the camera covers a width of 20 km in an east-west direction.

*The swath*

Hence the area covered in an instant is 5 m x 20 km (4,000 by 5 metres). This is called the swath. &#8220;We can map 4,000 elements by 5 metres (20 km swath) in one instant and the next moment we move to cover another 5 metres,&#8221; Dr. Kumar explained. An area of 1.5 km of the moon is imaged in one second.

All the three views generate a 2-D image, as each view covers north-south and east-west directions (X, Y directions). And a 3-D view of a point can be generated by combining the 2-D data by using data from any of the two views.

Since the three views of the camera are in the same direction of the spacecraft movement, a point lying in the path of the orbit is covered by all the three views. &#8220;Combining all the 3 views provides more details and takes care of the occlusion problem,&#8221; said A Roy Chowdhury, Head, Geo & Planetary Sensor Electronics Division and Instrument Scientist TMC & HySI, Chandrayaan-1 at Space Applications Centre.

The spacecraft will take nearly two hours to complete one north-south polar orbit. But the moon will not be imaged continuously for the full two hours of the orbit.

The solar illumination changes as the moon moves in its orbit. So the imaging time is limited to minimise the variation of illumination conditions.

*Prime imaging period*

Limiting the solar aspect angle to 30 degrees on either side of the equator will result in a prime imaging period of just 60 days in six months.

&#8220;We will get two slots of 60 days each in a year. We will pick up data during these two slots,&#8221; said Dr. Kumar.

So this results &#8220;in imaging for only 20 minutes per six visible orbits from the Indian ground station to cover the whole moon.&#8221;

The area covered during 20 minutes of imaging will be 1,800 km (1.5 km will be imaged in a second).

These are some of the reasons why the mission period is two years though imaging the moon can theoretically be completed in 28 days &#8212; the time taken by the moon to complete one rotation.

The camera has four exposure settings and this lets the camera record data from areas not well illuminated by the sun, particularly those lying in higher latitudes up to the poles.

While increasing the exposure time would allow imaging the less lit areas, the spacecraft will be moving during such long exposures. This will result in coarser resolution of the images.

The 3D atlas with a unprecedented high resolution will help in better understanding of the moon&#8217;s evolution process.

It will also help researchers to identify regions of the moon for detailed study. The images will also &#8220;be an important input for analysing data from other scientific instruments on Chandrayaan-1.

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## nitesh

any guesses where else it will be used 

ISRO develops new satellite- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a new satellite that *could take images through the clouds,* enabling space-based application in such scenarios to manage cyclones, floods and agriculture related activities.

India's current earth-observation satellites are working in visible and infrared bands, which means they can take pictures only when its cloud-free.

"Often, during cyclones and floods the entire sky will be clouded. To see through the cloud, the new *Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT)* will be important. In fact, we have got a tie-up with Canadian space agency...we are now using their satellite images to assess floods and other problems," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

"Once our satellite (RISAT) is put into orbit, we will be able to use this for all purposes. And that will also help us in assessing the agriculture during monsoon season - how much sowing has been done and how much harvesting," Nair, who is also Secretary of Department of Space said here.

According to ISRO officials, *RISAT mission would have a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode.*

SAR, an active sensor, operated in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum, provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness and geometry. With its unique capability for day-night imaging and in all weather conditions, including fog and haze, provides information on soil moisture.


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## nitesh

I can't get confirmation from other sources so dunno how much correct this is:

Chandrayaan-1 beams moon images | Chandrayaan



BANGALORE: India&#8217;s rendezvous with the moon is heading in the right direction.
Following the final orbit raising manoeuvre which has put the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft closer to the moon, the first black and white images of the moon have been beamed by the spacecraft.

The images which can be seen only on the television screens have been transmitted to the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu.

ISRO officials said that the beaming of the images was satisfactory and that it was sent when the spacecraft was propelled for the fifth and final orbit raising manoeuvre.

The Chandrayaan-1 has entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory with an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of about 380,000 km. Chandrayaan- 1 will approach the moon on November 8 and the spacecraft&#8217;s liquid engine will be fired again to insert the spacecraft into lunar orbit.

Earlier this month, the Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s camera was tested as the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft beamed two images capturing the Australia&#8217;s Northern and Southern coast.

The Chandrayaan-1 which was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on October 22 has 11 payloads. Apart from the TMC, the other four Indian payloads of Chandrayaan-1 are the Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and the Moon Impact Probe (MIP). The other six payloads are from abroad.

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## nitesh

guys less then 24 hours for rendezvous with moon


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## nitesh

Let's hope everything goes right 

NDTV.com: Chandrayaan to begin orbiting moon on Saturday

November 07, 2008 7:20 PM (Gandhinagar)
Indian space scientists are hopeful that Chandrayaan-1 will Saturday start orbiting the moon.

*"If everything goes right, by November 8, Chandrayaan-1 will start circling the moon," *said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Madhavan Nair in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. 

The last orbit-raising manoeuvres to enter the lunar transfer trajectory were completed Tuesday by the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, he said. 

The ISRO will soon launch Bhuvan that will provide online maps based on the Geographical Information System (GIS) similar to that of Google Earth, said Nair, who was here to attend the inaugural 28th International Congress on Mapping and Space Technology-INCA-2008. 

The 28th International Congress has been organised jointly by ISRO and the International Cartographic Association with participation of about 400 delegates from India, the US, Australia, Germany and other countries.


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## nitesh

ok guys it is 17:30 today let's hope everything goes fine , otherwise we will need to wait for next launch

Crucial Chandrayaan manoeuvre today

R. Ramachandran

It&#8217;ll inject spacecraft into orbit around moon

NEW DELHI: A crucial manoeuvre, to be performed on Saturday, on Chandrayaan-1 will inject it into an orbit around the moon from its current highly elliptical orbit around the earth.

On November 4, the last of the earth-bound manoeuvres was carried out, which put the satellite into an orbit with an apogee (the farthest point in the orbit from the earth) of 3,84,000 km and a perigee (the nearest point) at 1,019 km. With this apogee, the satellite actually encircles the moon as well. However, this earth-bound orbit is actually at about an inclination of 18 degrees to the earth&#8217;s Equator. *Since the final designated lunar orbit is a circumpolar one, this orbit has also to turn around by almost 90 degrees.*

As the satellite cruises along its present trajectory, *the moon&#8217;s gravity will begin to dominate when this orbit will be about 60,000 km from the moon, which is expected to happen around midnight on Friday.* Under the gravitational pull, the satellite will also begin to gain velocity. The orbit plane will also begin to gradually tilt away from its present near-equatorial one.

To enable the satellite to be completely captured by the moon, and thereby make the earth&#8217;s gravity irrelevant, the satellite would have to be slowed down. And this important operation will be performed when it is about 500 km from the moon, above the lunar north-pole. This is expected *to occur around 1730 hrs on Saturday.* At this point, the satellite&#8217;s orientation will actually be earth-facing. *Also, significantly, the orbit will no longer be a closed elliptic one; it becomes an open hyperbolic one. So, if velocity reduction is not achieved at the designated time, the satellite will escape from moon&#8217;s gravity and be irretrievably lost in space. Thus, this operation is extremely crucial.*

To enable Chandrayaan-1 to be captured by the moon, its orientation will be turned around by 180 degrees with the help of on-board reaction wheels. After this , retro-rockets will be fired for about 800 seconds.

The firing will give momentum to the satellite in the direction opposite to its orbit direction and slow it down. This will bring down its velocity from about 2 km/s to about 1.5 km/s.

It will then be under the total influence of the moon and its trajectory under its gravitational pull at this point will be such that the slowly tilting orbit would have actually swung by nearly 90 degrees southwards to become a circumpolar one. In this Lunar Orbit of Injection, the satellite&#8217;s closest point from the moon (perilune) is 500 km and the farthest point (apolune) is about 7,500 km. The period of revolution around the moon will be about 10 hours.

The preparation for the manoeuvre is expected to begin around noon on Saturday when satellite health checks will be performed. A little before the satellite approaches the lunar north-pole, its orientation will be turned around to ensure that its new orientation is exactly opposite to its velocity vector. *The firing of the retro-rockets is expected between 1730 hrs and 1800 hrs. Within an hour, one will know if the manoeuvre has been successful.*

Once completed, the orientation will be maintained such that the solar panel continuously faces the sun to generate maximum power. It will be similarly turned around every time a velocity reduction operation is to be performed. *Four more velocity reduction operations are required to be carried out, twice at perilune and twice at apolune, to bring it into final pole-to-pole circular orbit of 100 km radius. The satellite will attain its final orbit on November 15.*

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## nitesh

Chandrayaan to enter tricky lunar orbit today-India-The Times of India

Chandrayaan to enter tricky lunar orbit today
8 Nov 2008, 0352 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN

MUMBAI: Saturday evening would mark the D-day for India's prestigious Rs 386-crore moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, when the tricky lunar orbit 

insertion (LOI) takes place &#8212; expectedly between 5 pm and 6 pm. The success of the moon mission, which lifted off on October 22, depends on this. 

According to space experts, *LOI is not without danger because it means traversing through an area in which the gravitational forces of the earth and moon nearly cancel each other out. Consequently, even a small deviation could send the spacecraft into a crash course towards the moon or earth &#8212; or on a path leading into deep space. Experts recall that about 30&#37; of unmanned moon missions of US and the former Soviet Union failed during an LOI.* 

On the eve of Chandrayaan's LOI, an Isro official said: "Despite the challenging manouevre on Saturday, the professionalism of scientists and engineers makes us approach the task with optimism, although I admit to a feeling of nervous apprehension. It will be a test for everyone, including the deep space network at Byalalu and the electronic brain of the Chandrayaan spacecraft," he said. 

He said the main challenge before LOI was targetting the spacecraft accurately to pass near the moon on Saturday at a "safe" distance of a few hundred kilometres. The distance between the earth and the moon is 3,86,000 km. "At that distance, it will be a big challenge for us to track the spacecraft, because the moon itself will be moving around the earth at the speed of 3,600 km per hour," he said.

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service
Chandrayaan-1 to enter lunar orbit today
Bangalore (PTI): In one of the most crucial manoeuvres since the launch of India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, ISRO scientists are slated to inject the spacecraft into the lunar orbit today.

*"The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) will start around 5 p.m. and last around 800 seconds," ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI here.*

Once the operation is completed, it will be in a 7,500 km X 500 km elliptical orbit around the moon. "It (Chandrayaan-1) will enter the moon's orbit. It will be captured by lunar gravity," Satish said.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota on October 22.


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## Sam Dhanraj

Congratulations Guys !!!!

*Chandrayaan-1 successfully enters Moon orbit - NDTV*

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## nitesh

Cogrtats to everyone, MiSSION SUCCESSFULL, Chandrayan enters moon orbit..........

Chandrayaan-1 enters lunar orbit successfully

Chandrayaan-1 enters lunar orbit successfully

New Delhi:After two weeks of journey India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar orbit on Saturday evening. The journey so far has been 'error-free'. 


Initially, Chandrayaan-1 will be circling the moon from 7,500 kilometers away. However, by Tuesday it will cruise closer to the moon early on Tuesday when it makes the transition from the earth's elliptical orbit into deeper space, a top space agency official said Monday.


"The liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board will be fired around 5.00 am on Tuesday for about five minutes to make the transition and position the spacecraft at about 500 km from the moon's surface and over 384,000 km away from the earth," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish said.


The complex manoeuvres will be carried out from the spacecraft's control room at ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) in coordination with its deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore.


"Additional velocity will be given to the spacecraft to enter the lunar orbit Saturday (November for a rendezvous with the moon. With calibrated firing of its LAMs, it will be inserted into its designated orbit, which will be about 100 km from the lunar surface," Satish said.

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## nitesh

guys what about having beer on 15th in bangalore when we will have our flag on the moon


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## Sam Dhanraj

Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit​ 

November 8, 2008 


Chandrayaan-1, India&#8217;s first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon, entered lunar orbit today (November 8, 2008). *This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth&#8217;s gravitational field and reached the moon.* This historic event occurred following the firing of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft&#8217;s liquid engine at 16:51 IST for a duration of 817 seconds. The highly complex &#8216;lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre&#8217; was performed from Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Control Centre of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network at Bangalore.

Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu supported the crucial task of transmitting commands and continuously monitoring this vital event with two dish antennas, one measuring 18 m and the other 32 m.

Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s liquid engine was fired when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity to enable lunar gravity to capture it into an orbit around the moon. *The spacecraft is now orbiting the moon in an elliptical orbit that passes over the polar regions of the moon. The nearest point of this orbit (periselene) lies at a distance of about 504 km from the moon&#8217;s surface while the farthest point (aposelene) lies at about 7502 km. Chandrayaan-1 takes about 11 hours to go round the moon once in this orbit.*

The performance of all the systems onboard Chandrayaan-1 is normal. *In the coming days, the height of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft&#8217;s orbit around the moon will be carefully reduced in steps to achieve a final polar orbit of about 100 km height from the moon&#8217;s surface.* *Following this, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) of the spacecraft will be released to hit the lunar surface*. Later, the other scientific instruments will be turned ON sequentially leading to the normal phase of the mission.

It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched on October 22, 2008 by PSLV-C11 from India&#8217;s spaceport at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. As intended, PSLV placed the spacecraft in a highly oval shaped orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 255 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 22,860 km. In the past two weeks, the liquid engine of Chandrayaan-1 has been successfully fired five times at opportune moments to increase the apogee height, first to 37,900 km, then to 74,715 km, later to 164,600 km, after that to 267,000 km and finally to 380,000km, as planned. During this period, the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), one of the eleven payloads (scientific instruments) of the spacecraft, was successfully operated twice to take the pictures, *first of the Earth, and then moon*.

With today&#8217;s successful manoeuvre, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon. The other countries, which have sent spacecraft to Moon, are the United States, former Soviet Union, Japan and China. Besides, the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries, has also sent a spacecraft to moon.

Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit

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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit


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## Sam Dhanraj

> Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), one of the eleven payloads (scientific instruments) of the spacecraft, was successfully operated twice to take the pictures, *first of the Earth,and then moon*
> Chandrayaan-1 Successfully Enters Lunar Orbit



Nitesh,

Your earlier post of the First Moon pictures seems to be correct..as this press article from ISRO confirms it...Not sure if thats the same image in your post. Will have to wait till its posted on ISRO website..


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## p2prada

Sam Dhanraj said:


> Nitesh,
> 
> Your earlier post of the First Moon pictures seems to be correct..as this press article from ISRO confirms it...Not sure if thats the same image in your post. Will have to wait till its posted on ISRO website..



And the Chinese will say it is just some round cheese hanging in front of the camera using Bollywood special effects.


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## nitesh

p2prada said:


> And the Chinese will say it is just some round cheese hanging in front of the camera using Bollywood special effects.



Hey leave it, it is part of psy ops  they always need to prove that they are great, you remember the chat between the premier and the astroaunts were released even before the launch

Read these 

The Hindu : Front Page : &#8220;Everything went exactly as planned, and on dot&#8221;
The Hindu : Front Page : My heart skipped a beat or two, says Madhavan Nair
The Hindu : Front Page : &#8220;Chandrayaan has followed its schedule down to last millisecond&#8221;

and this one:

The Hindu : Front Page : India&#8217;s Moon mission a big success


A TV grab of the Moon sent by Chandrayaan-1 on November 4.

CHENNAI: Chandrayaan-1 has kept its rendezvous with the Moon. In a meticulously planned operation, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday accomplished the most crucial and critical manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit.

This is the first time that an Indian-built spacecraft has broken away from the Earths gravitational field and reached the Moon. The spacecraft is now circling the Moon over its polar regions with a periselene (nearest point from the moons surface) of 504 km and an aposelene (farthest point) of 7,502 km.

The ISRO flawlessly executed this highly complex manoeuvre by radioing commands from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC), Bangalore, to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1, which fired for 817 seconds from 4.51 p.m.

ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair called it a fantastic achievement and a great moment for the country. He described the manoeuvre as the most crucial moment in the whole mission  We have done it so precisely that as far as I know nobody else has got this kind of precision Our precision proves that in competence, our scientists and technologists are quite ahead of the global standards. With this, we have achieved more than 90 per cent of the main objectives of the mission.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: Today we graduated into a real lunar mission. Everybody is thrilled. This is the first significant milestone in putting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit.

Mr. Annadurai said there were more steps to perform in the mission: progressively reducing Chandrayaan-1s orbit to the final circular orbit of 100 km above the moon on November 15. The first indications from the spacecraft show that everything has gone on the dot.



The historic event took place after Chandrayaan-1 reached the vicinity of the Moon and commands were radioed to it for reducing its velocity by rotating the spacecraft in the opposite direction. In space parlance, it is called retro-firing. When Chandrayaan-1s velocity was reduced by 366.8 metres a second, it was captured by the Moons gravity and safely ensconced in the lunar orbit.

S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bangalore, where the SCC, the nerve-centre of the operations is located, called it a wonderful feeling.

Commands were being given to Chandrayaan-1 from the 32-metre and 18-metre antennas, and their tracking of the spacecraft is excellent. The signals received from the spacecraft were good too, Mr. Shivakumar said.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, applauded the precision with which Chandrayaan-1 was inserted into the lunar orbit. Had the slightest mistake been made, Chandrayaan-1 would have skipped and gone away.


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## nitesh



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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan orbital: height reduced
CHENNAI: After successfully accomplishing the most crucial and tricky manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit on Saturday, the Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday executed the first manoeuvre of reducing the orbital height of the spacecraft around the moon. While on Saturday, Chandrayaan-1 reached the lunar orbit with an aposelene (farthest point from the moon) of 7,502 km and a periselene (nearest point from the moon) of 504 km, the periselene was reduced to 200 km on Sunday. The aposelene continues at 7,500 km. The periselene was reduced by giving commands to the engine on board Chandrayaan-1 to fire for about a minute from 8.03 p.m.
More manoeuvres

Three more manoeuvres of reducing both the aposelene and periselene will be done in the coming days. This includes the manoeuvre of putting Chandrayaan-1 in the final circular orbit of 100 km above the moon on November 15. After this is done, ISRO will command the spacecraft to eject its Moon Impact Probe on the same day.

*The Terrain Mapping Camera, an Indian scientific instrument, has already been switched on. It has taken clear pictures of the earth and the moon.*


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## Vinod2070

^^What was that!


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## nitesh

what you guys say about this now 

I say go go go

ISRO to develop Sun mission &#39;Aditya&#39;, says Nair - Yahoo! India News

ISRO to develop Sun mission 'Aditya', says Nair

Mon, Nov 10 01:25 PM

Bangalore, Nov 10 (ANI): After the success of Chandrayaan -1, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) *has conceptually developed a Sun mission called 'Aditya'.*

Talking to ANI here, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, said the success of Chandrayaan -1 has *boosted the confidence of ISRO scientists to look beyond the moon.*

*"Aditya has been approved and its operations would begin soon. Sun mission is very critical and one of its kind in the global space research," Nair added.
*
He further revealed that ISRO is also developing a fast track satellite to augment rural development and the Indian space sphere. The operations will continue for the next one-and-half years.

Launched on October 22, by PSLV-C11, the Chandrayaan-1 put India in an elite lunar club comprising Russia, US, Japan, China and European Space Agency.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission intends to put an unmanned spacecraft into an orbit around the moon and to perform remote sensing of the nearest celestial neighbour for about two years with eleven payloads. (ANI)


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## nitesh

ISRO Planning To Launch Satellite To Study The Sun


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## Vinod2070

So the focus of ISRO is moving from being just "utilitarian" earlier to also include exploration of the deep space.

Good luck.


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## nitesh

There is lot of excitement for next decade as we are going to see chandrayaan 2 mars mission, Indian in space and then Indian on moon too. Hope everything goes well.


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## p2prada

Vinod2070 said:


> ^^What was that!



Spam. Sade I say, SADE.


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## p2prada

Vinod2070 said:


> So the focus of ISRO is moving from being just "utilitarian" earlier to also include exploration of the deep space.
> 
> Good luck.



The satellite will not go close to the sun. A mars mission is better. The distance between the sun and earth is 150million kms. Earth to mars is 60million.


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## Vinod2070

p2prada said:


> The satellite will not go close to the sun. A mars mission is better. The distance between the sun and earth is 150million kms. Earth to mars is 60million.



Yes, the link does mention that the satellite will be in the NEO of 600 KM. It will be dedicated for solar study, though. Should not be too expensive.


> *The projected cost of the satellite is approximately Rs. 50 crore.*
> 
> "We want to cut costs by avoiding a dedicated launch. With ISRO's multiple launching capability, Aditya could go as a co-passenger in one of the many launches scheduled for the next four years," said Prof. Sridharan. "The cost of the instrument can also be reduced by nearly a factor of 10 by using screened industrial grade components. We do not need this satellite for more than two years - it would have gathered an enormous amount of data in this span of time."


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Moon probe ejection on November 14 or 15

Moon probe ejection on November 14 or 15

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: ISRO will study Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s orbit for a day or two before commanding to eject on November 14 or 15 the 29-kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP), a box-like instrument on top of the spacecraft. The probe will crash-land on the Moon&#8217;s surface. Since the MIP is painted with the Indian flag on its sides, it will symbolically register the Indian presence on the Moon.

On Saturday (November 8), ISRO accomplished with aplomb the most crucial and critical manoeuvre of safely inserting Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit with an aposelene of 7,502 km and a periselene of 504 km.

This was achieved by retro-firing the engine for 817 seconds, which pushed the spacecraft in the opposite direction of its journey, reduced its velocity and inserted it into the lunar orbit.

S. Satish, Director, Publications and Public Relations, ISRO, said: &#8220;The ISRO team was very cautious in executing this critical manoeuvre because we did not want to jeopardise the mission. This is a precious mission for us. Contingency plans were in place in case the liquid apogee motor (LAM) engine on board Chandrayaan-1 did not fire. Then, we would have used other thrusters on board the spacecraft to fire&#8230; There have been dynamic changes in our manoeuvres to reach the Moon.&#8221;

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the orbit reduction under way now was the reverse of what ISRO did in approaching the Moon.

After the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) put Chandrayaan-1 in an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 22,866 km and a perigee of 256 km around the earth on October 22, ISRO performed four manoeuvres by firing the LAM to keep increasing this ellipticity.

On November 4, the spacecraft reached the vicinity of the Moon with an apogee of 3,80,000 km. The Moon is 3,84,000 km away from the earth. Then the crucial manoeuvre of inserting the spacecraft into the lunar orbit of 7,502 km by 504 km took place on November 8 and it was captured by the Moon&#8217;s gravity.

&#8220;We are now reducing the Chandrayaan&#8217;s orbit to come closer to the Moon,&#8221; Mr. Ramakrishnan said. On November 9, the LAM was fired and the spacecraft&#8217;s orbit around the Moon was further reduced to 7,502 km by 200 km. &#8220;The Moon&#8217;s gravity is not well characterised. It is not symmetrical like that of the earth. The Moon&#8217;s gravity is not well understood. So there will be uncertainties. When we fire the engine to reduce the spacecraft&#8217;s orbit, depending on the response, we have to do further corrections,&#8221; he said.

Mr. Ramakrishnan was confident that the remaining two manoeuvres would succeed because Chandrayaan-1 was already &#8220;in a stable orbit and it cannot vanish anywhere.&#8221;


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## nitesh

After moon odyssey, it's 'Mission Sun' for ISRO-India-The Times of India

After moon odyssey, it's 'Mission Sun' for ISRO
11 Nov 2008, 1307 hrs IST, PTI

BANGALORE: After Chandrayaan-I moon odyssey, it's in a way "Mission Sun" for team ISRO.


Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation are in an * advance stage of designing a spacecraft, named 'Aditya', to study the outermost region of the Sun called corona. *

"That's a mini satellite. In fact, the design is just getting completed," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

* "During solar maxim...which is happening...we would like to see the type of emissions which are taking place in the Sun and how it interacts with the ionosphere and atmosphere and so on," * he said.

According to Dr Jayati Datta, deputy programme director, space science office, ISRO, * Aditya is the first space based Solar coronagraph intended to study corona. *

'Aditya' would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating, coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather processes and study of these would provide important information on the solar activity conditions, she said.

* "A basic understanding of the physical processes and continuous monitoring would help in taking necessary steps towards protecting ISRO's satellites either by switching them off or putting them on a stand-by mode as warranted by the background conditions," * Datta Said.

The temperature of the solar corona goes beyond million degrees. From the Earth, corona can be seen only during total solar eclipses mainly due to the bright Solar disc and the scattering of the sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere. One has to go beyond the atmosphere to be able to mask the bright solar disc and study the corona.


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## nitesh



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## nitesh



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## nitesh

hmm interesting:

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan


China fears India-Japan space alliance
By Peter J Brown

India and Japan's agreement in October to expand cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in the field of disaster management, has the raised the ire of a China fearful that the US is masterminding a powerful space alliance between its allies in the region.

All of Asia wants to see improved regional disaster management capabilities, but the growing ties between ISRO and JAXA come just as India and Japan are devising an action plan to advance security cooperation.

"China is concerned about the general effort of the US during the Bush Administration to form a Japanese-Indian alliance to contain China," said Dr Gregory Kulacki, senior analyst and China project manager at the Massachusetts-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

"They are more concerned about what this implies about US intentions rather than what it implies about the intentions of the Japanese or the Indians, particularly as it concerns space."

Brian Weeden, a technical consultant at the Colorado-based Secure World Foundation, hesitates to agree that India and Japan's efforts to pursue closer ties in space are part of a deliberate US master plan for the region, but he does not see the US taking any steps to discourage them.

"The US sees India as primarily a counterbalance to China in the region, but at the same time it does not see India as a full ally in the same sense as Britain or Japan. I do not think the US looks unfavorably on this relationship, but I am certain it will be examining it very closely and if the US does have concerns, they will be quietly expressed to the Japanese," said Weeden.

Whereas Japan benefits greatly from the steady deployment in the Pacific Ocean of US AEGIS ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology - it will soon be aboard all four of Japan's Kongo-class destroyers - this sea-based BMD system will probably not appear soon on any of India's warships, for example.

Weedon also points to the most recent 'Red Flag' exercise at Nellis Air force Base in Nevada. "The Russian-built Indian fighters participating had their radars in test mode so as not to give away their full capabilities to the Americans. Likewise, the US didn't let the F-22 participate for the same reasons."

The agreement is a concern for China, as it would be for any nation when their traditional regional adversaries talk about cooperation, adds Weedon. "Most countries still see the national security angle of space as a unilateral effort and are unlikely to collaborate in that area. They will, however collaborate in scientific or civilian areas."

There is considerable turmoil in Japan concerning the future of JAXA and how much money the Japanese government should be spending on it. The situation is made more complicated by Japan's recently enacted Space Basic Law, which for the first time permits Japan to consider deployment of national security space assets, which the Japanese had denied themselves until now.

"The government of Japan, particularly the Ministry of Defense, is still sorting this out," said Aerospace consultant Lance Gatling, head of Tokyo-based Gatling Associates, which closely monitors JAXA and the Japanese space program.

Japan has been using its weather satellites
to provide free weather data to countries throughout Asia for many years without any hint of controversy, but this is quite different from deploying a new generation of surveillance satellites to monitor disasters.

Virtually all existing satellite-based multinational disaster management initiatives such as the "International Charter, Space and Major Disasters" depend upon the ability of the signatories to engage in the rapid tasking of their respective surveillance satellites. In other words, quickly altering the flight patterns of the surveillance satellites in question so they zoom right over a disaster zone is essential to the success of the mission at hand.

"This could be seen by some as a sensitive undertaking with obvious dual use possibilities which Japan will attempt to handle with great care. And that degree of sensitivity clearly permeates anything that ISRO and JAXA have been given the green light to develop in this instance, even though JAXA has no national security mission," said Gatling.

When, in early November, the Japanese press revealed that Japan has begun to explore the possible future launch of an early warning satellite which can detect the launch of enemy ballistic missiles, according to a draft plan obtained by The Yomiuri Shimbun, the joint declaration was not even mentioned.

Among other things, this draft plan promotes the use of rockets and satellites for defense purposes and endorses the need to examine the feasibility of deploying a new satellite which can perform BMD-oriented security and crisis management or disaster monitoring roles simultaneously.

The draft plan is scheduled for a final review in late November, and while it may not neatly address whatever ISRO and JAXA have elected to pursue, Beijing will be hard pressed to dismiss what could easily become a convenient addendum to the Joint Declaration.

India, on the other hand, simply wants to increase satellite surveillance of all Chinese military activities, particularly along the Chinese border with India.

On November 1, for example, the Times of India reported that during the most recent Indian Army commanders' conference, "one of the main agenda items" included a discussion of the need to dig tunnels in forward areas including along the Chinese border with "fooling enemy satellites from gauging the exact troop positions and their strength in forward areas" identified as one of the key objectives.

"China has resorted to tunneling on a large-scale along the LAC [Line of Actual Control] especially in the Tibetan Autonomous Region," one senior officer at the conference told the Times.

Proponents of increased Japanese government budgetary support look to exploit every opportunity to stress the commercial and strategic importance of the Japanese space program, and in this case, China's manned spaceflight program - not tunnels - serves an important purpose.

"The rapid advances in space by China - and India - clearly caught the attention of the Japanese who saw themselves as the leader in space in the region a decade ago," said Gatling.

Dr Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of the Department of National Security Studies at the US Naval War College, does not believe the Japan-India space relationship is picking up steam. "The consensus-driven decision making process used in Japan means that pretty much everything moves at a glacial pace," said Johnson-Freese.

She prefers to take the language in the Joint Declaration at face value.

"Disaster management efforts in the Pacific Rim region have been under discussion for a long time, and this is part of the culmination of those talks. It is one of the few areas where everyone in the region agrees that concerted efforts are required," said Johnson-Freese, adding that she has not heard of any serious concerns from China over Japan-India working together on disaster management.

Kulacki also recalls the tone and spirit of the proceedings of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) conference in Beijing in 2006, where the Group issued a declaration on cooperation called the ILEWG Beijing Declaration.

"All sides seemed cordial, well-acquainted and anxious to pursue joint projects. I do not sense any tension among the space professionals of these three countries, who understand and are anxious to reap the benefits of joint efforts," said Kulacki.

Johnson-Freese views things a bit differently, and labels the three parties as "cautiously prudent".

"They will pursue joint projects when it is win-win," said Johnson-Freese.

Here she adds weight, albeit indirectly, to the argument that India and Japan are very much on the same page, and probably agree that a merger of their space activities gradually over time may offers a distinct strategic edge.

Johnson-Freese and Kulacki also clearly disagree over China's leadership role in the Asian space race.

"China is not anxious to be seen as a leader and does not see itself as a leader. China feels it is far behind most advanced spacefaring nations," said Kulacki.

"They are also focused on their own objectives and their own needs. While they would welcome the opportunity to be a competitive commercial space player, especially in the international launch services market where they have a strong advantage, they are focused on longstanding goals first set back in the mid-1980s and revised only marginally since then.&#8221;

"China very much wants to be seen as both the leader of space efforts in Asia, and for developing nations. They are using their manned program to reap all the prestige awards it renders - which are considerable, if only in perceptions created - including that it is beating the US," said Johnson-Freese.

&#8220;By virtue of their success in manned space - and the worldwide attention that it brings them - there is certainly the perception that China is the regional technology leader. While that is a function more of political will than technical capability, perception very quickly becomes the reality from which people base opinions and actions.&#8221;

Interestingly, news of Japan's draft plan involving the possible launch of an early warning satellite coincided with the arrival in Tokyo of Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. He warned Japan and the rest of Asia about the dangers of the rampant missile technology proliferation now underway in the region and an emerging "confrontational atmosphere" stemming from such things as Japan's AEGIS BMD deployment.

Of course, Lavrov said nothing about Russia's important role in support of South Korea's entry into the Asian space race or about how Russia has been a major backer of the Indian aerospace sector. In fact, the Russian space agency is actively engaged in ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 project, supplying ISRO with its lunar lander and jointly developing a lunar rover.

China's recent announcement that it would provide Pakistan with a new communications satellite early in the next decade - adding yet another space asset to the fast-growing Asian "dual use" roster - no doubt provides India with further justification for pursuing closer ties in space with Japan.

China, at the same time, must not enjoy the news that numerous NASA scientists are apparently eager and poised to joint the ranks of ISRO, a timely shift in highly specialized talent that came to light in the days immediately following the successful launch of India's new moon probe, Chandrayaan-1.

"I doubt China is the only factor, but it is one factor in [any ongoing India-Japan joint space activity]. Other factors could be desires to increase regional relations and influence. We are seeing more and more cooperation in space, sometimes along traditional relationships like US and Europe, and sometimes along nontraditional ones like Japan and India," said Weedon.

The success of the International Space Station program, and the fact that countries are looking for new ways to cope with the huge costs of operating in space during this steep global economic downturn, are making international cooperation a more attractive and more acceptable option, he said.


Peter J Brown is a satellite journalist from Maine USA.


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## nitesh

BANGALORE: India carried out the penultimate orbit-lowering manoeuvre of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft on Tuesday, positioning it on the doorstep

of what will be its path around the moon for two years.

The craft&#8217;s liquid motor was fired for about 30 seconds at 6.30 pm to position it in an orbit where it is 255 km from the moon at its farthest and 101 km at its nearest, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) spokesperson S Satish said.

Isro has carried out three orbit-lowering moves since the spacecraft entered the lunar orbit on Saturday. The spacecraft, which was launched on October 22, was propelled on its 4,00,000-km voyage to the moon in a number of stages, with its orbit being raised progressively towards the moon by activating its liquid motor.

Eventually, it will be placed in a circular orbit 100 km above the lunar surface for the duration of its two-year mission

Once positioned in the intended orbit, a moon impact probe, one of the 11 instruments carried by Chandrayaan-1, will be dropped on to the lunar surface in an experiment to gather knowledge for future soft landing missions. The probe is one of five Indian scientific payloads that Chandrayaan-1 is carrying.
Chandrayaan a step away from lunar orbital home- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## nitesh

ok now done, waiting for the MIP hurling down and doing tiranga plating on moon 

Chandrayaan-I reaches its final resting orbit-India-The Times of India
Chandrayaan-I reaches its final resting orbit
12 Nov 2008, 1915 hrs IST, AGENCIES

BANGALORE: Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft reached its final orbital home, about 100 kms above the moon's surface on Wednesday.

Chandrayaan-I will stay in the orbit for the next two years.

On November 9, India became the fifth member of the global moon club with Chandrayaan-1 entering the lunar orbit at 5.04 pm (IST). The other four members are the US, Russia (former Soviet Union), Japan, China and members of European Space Agency (ESA).

According to Isro officials, Chandrayaan's liquid engine was fired for 817 seconds when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity to enable the lunar gravity to capture it around the moon. Chandrayaan's speed was reduced to 366 metres per second when it flew into the moon's orbit.

Experts said it was a significant feat because India's moonshot was successful in the very first attempt &#8212; something that even major space powers like the US and Russia could not achieve. The man who launched the Indian moon mission, Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, had said, "It's undoubtedly a great moment for India because nearly 50&#37; of the moon missions of other countries have not been successful."

Chandrayaan-1, the two-year Rs 386 crore Indian moon mission launched from Sriharikota on October 22, will draw a three-dimensional map of the moon, carrying out its chemical mapping and hunting for water or ice.

Kasturirangan said the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was a nail-biting moment because two objects &#8212; the moon and Chandrayaan &#8212; moving at a high speed had to have a successful rendezvous. At a certain point, the gravity of moon and that of earth cancel each other out, making LOI very challenging.

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## nitesh

India all set to mark entry on moon - Express India

India all set to mark entry on moon
Posted: Nov 13, 2008 at 1320 hrs IST

Bangalore, November 13: The Indian flag is all set to *mark its presence on the lunar surface for the first time on Friday as a moon probe with the tri-colour painted on it will detach from Chandrayaan-1 and descend onto the earth's natural satellite.
*

*"The Moon Impact Probe is expected to be detached (from Chandrayaan-1) at around 10 pm on Friday,"* Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesperson S Satish said.

*Miniature Indian flags are painted on four sides of MIP. "It will signify the entry of India on Moon,"* Satish said.

"During its 20-minute descend to the moon's surface, MIP will take pictures and transmit these back to the ground," he said.

MIP is one of the 11 scientific instruments (payloads) onboard Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon launched on October 22.

The spacecraft on Thursday reached its final orbital home, about 100 kms over the moon surface after ISRO scientists successfully carried out the last critical orbit lowering operation.

Developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, *the primary objective of MIP is to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon.*

*The probe will help qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. This apart, scientific exploration of the moon at close distance is also intended using MIP.
*

The 29-kg MIP consists of a C-band Radar Altimeter for continuous measurement of altitude of the probe, a video imaging system for acquiring images of the surface of moon from the descending probe and a mass spectrometer for measuring the constituents of extremely thin lunar atmosphere during its 20-minute descent to the lunar surface.

*ISRO officials are confident that the MIP would withstand the impact once it hits the lunar surface. "Most probably it will not disintegrate,"* an ISRO official said.

From the operational circular orbit of about 100 km height passing over the polar regions of the moon, it is intended to conduct chemical, mineralogical and photo geological mapping of the moon with Chandrayaan-1's 11 scientific instruments (payloads).

Two of those 11 payloads - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) - have already been successfully switched on. TMC has successfully taken the pictures of Earth and the moon.

After the release of MIP tomorrow, the other scientific instruments would be turned on sequentially leading to the normal phase of the two-year mission.


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## nitesh

so guys it's tommorow . Hope everything goes fine and then.............


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## Flintlock

This is so awesome! You will not believe how excited me and my friends are! 

One of my friends is actually considering working for ISRO at considerably lower pay than what he would be offered in private!


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## nitesh

NDTV.com: NASA applauds Chandrayaan's success

*NASA applauds Chandrayaan's success*
Pallava Bagla
Thursday, November 13, 2008 1:49 PM (Bylalu, Karnataka)

It has been a dream run for India's maiden moon mission as it is now in its designated home base, 100 km above the moon. *By doing this, India has in way outpaced even the American Space Agency NASA, which repeatedly failed in its first few attempts.
*
No wonder, *NASA is now all praise for India. Its representative in India Dr Alok Chatterjee* has been keeping a continuous vigil on the health of the Chandrayaan satellite since NASA is flying two instruments on the Indian mission.

NDTV's Science Editor Pallava Bagla caught up with him in an exclusive interview.

*NDTV: Alok how do you think Chandrayaan is doing?*

Dr Alok Chatterjee: Chandrayaan is doing excellent. *It is beyond our hopes.*

*NDTV: How do you think ISRO got it right on the first occasion itself?*

Dr Alok Chatterjee: Well I think, it is a dedicated team, and they had a very good plan in terms of desiging the satellite and desiging the right orbit, having the right people in the team, very experinced people, and also talking to NASA, in navigation as well as tracking and so forth, that combination helped very much, ISRO achive what they have achieved for this mission.

*NDTV: NASA failed in the first attempt.*

Dr Alok Chatterjee: I don't know about the fitrst attempt, but quite a few attempts, it has been difficult

*NDTV: Are you excited?*

Dr Alok Chatterjee: I am very very excited, I am here.

Chandrayaan has been a remarkable success and Dr Chatterjee looks forward to getting the first data from the moon mineralogy mapper.


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## nitesh

Flintlock said:


> This is so awesome! You will not believe how excited me and my friends are!
> 
> One of my friends is actually considering working for ISRO at considerably lower pay than what he would be offered in private!



Hey that's gr8 news. We are planning a big party if we are going to here the news for successful impact. Otherwise any way we are going to

It has taught a gr8 amount of lessons for future missions already.


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## nitesh

Hmm time needs to be checked here

Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2012: ISRO-India-The Times of India

Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2012: ISRO
13 Nov 2008, 1649 hrs IST, PTI

CHENNAI: ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Thursday said India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-II, will be launched by 2012.


"Chandrayaan-II will be launched by 2012. We will have a lander that will drop a small robot on the moon, which will pick samples, analyse data and send the data back. Already the project has been formulated for Chandrayaan-II," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here.

*He dismissed as speculation reports that the government had not sanctioned ISRO's proposal for a manned mission.
*
Justifying the relevance of manned moon mission, Nair said, *"We cannot be lagging behind in terms of our capability to access space. China, the US and Japan are going ahead with huge plans for space."*

Talking about Chandrayaan-I, the country's first unmanned moon mission, he said the Moon Impact Probe would land on the lunar surface tomorrow evening. However, *"we cannot specify the time as of now," he said.*

*On the success of the moon mission, Nair said already 95 per cent of the mission had been completed and just five per cent of the work had to be over. The total success of the mission would be known only after the remaining work was completed, he said.
*
He said Chandrayaan-I would get extensive study map of the moon by which an idea of the minerals of the moon would be available. Mineral mapping and surface feature mapping would be of prime importance, he said.

*He also said the ISRO was going ahead with the study of sending a spacecraft to Mars.*

*On the 'Solar mission' Aditya, he said a satellite was intended to study solar emissions. The design work had been completed and it would be launched within two years, he said*.


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## daredevil

Great news!!!. Many more successes for ISRO and India.


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## nitesh

Sunday Herald: International: International

Space saving

INDIA: *Moon mission set to take outsourcing industry to the final frontier*
From Raymond Thibodeaux in Bangalore

*INDIANS CROWDED around televisions in tea shops and streetside electronics stores to glimpse the launch of the country's first-ever Moon mission last month, a huge ego-boost for a country trying to shrug off its former standing as one of the world's poorest and least-developed nations.
*

In a moment of national pride, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the launch as the "first step" in India's exploration of space, cementing the country's status as a serious contender in a new space race with China and Japan.

Still, the two-year mission is not without its detractors. Among the patriotic machismo of most headlines and talk shows, a few critics griped about spending more than $80 million to map the Moon when there are urgent problems closer to home: crumbling roads, grinding poverty and child malnutrition rates higher than in many African countries.


But the spin-off benefits of India's space programme are too good to pass up, say analysts. It boosts India's military and diplomatic clout, coming on the heels of a nuclear deal with the US that ended its status as a nuclear pariah.

Its satellite capability is focused on helping speed up telecommunications development, weather forecasting, educational broadcasting, and resource mapping to help farmers improve their crop yields.

*Arguably, one of the biggest benefits of the mission, Chandrayaan-1, is that it helps India's bid to win a larger share of the world's estimated $15 billion-a-year commercial satellite launch market. It is outsourcing with serious potential.
*

*"People are recognising that our space technology is reliable. And we can do more with less money. That's why we're starting to attract other countries to our satellite launch programme," said S Satish, a spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
*

India's space agency *crossed a milestone in April when it launched a rocket that dropped 10 satellites in space, all in one go. For $8000 a kilo, India can put your satellite in orbit, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal. That's the sales pitch from the final frontier of India's outsourcing industry: space.*

It seems to be working. In the past few years, India has launched satellites for space agencies and research institutions in the US, Germany, Canada and Israel. Last year, *India's satellite launches brought in more than $500m in revenue, about 75&#37; of that from foreign clients.
*

Of the 52 commercial satellites put into orbit in the past year, nearly two-thirds were launched by the Big Three: the US's Sea Launch and Boeing, Russia's Krunichev and France's Arianespace. Experts predict that, within two years, China, India and Japan should capture at least 15% of the global launch market.

Still, the big money is in telecommunications satellites but these can weigh up to six tonnes and, for now, India's launch capability is limited to "nano" satellites, some only 3kg. ISRO adviser Jayant Narlikar said: "As India's space programme goes deeper into commercialisation, we need to develop our own technology for putting telecommunication satellites into space."

However, not everyone is ecstatic about India's new skills in the exosphere. Some industry experts are concerned that India might use its capabilities for military purposes, an unsettling prospect for its uneasy neighbours, particularly Pakistan and China.

But for the most part, India's aims in space have been to improve conditions for Indians on the ground, according to A S Padmavathy, a scientist at the space agency's Bangalore headquarters.

"Some Indians in the past asked, When India is so poor, why waste money on programmes in space?' *But the new generation sees the value in making sure all citizens enjoy this technology. Fisherman get satellite advice from us and students in remote villages can attend a virtual lecture from Mumbai,"* she said.


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## nitesh

It is hurling towards moon to paint the tiranga. Congratulations to ISRO.


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## nitesh

ok guys now tiranga is on moon. iSRO has done it.

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## nitesh

It feels different when seeing towards moon now guys, Jai Hind 
Chandrayaan-I Impact Probe lands on moon-India-The Times of India

Chandrayaan-I Impact Probe lands on moon
14 Nov 2008, 2035 hrs IST, AGENCIES

MUMBAI: The Indian tricolour marked its presence on the moon on Friday night after having flown 3,86,000km from the earth. The timing of this
proud moment had been specially designed to coincide with Children's Day.

The United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency comprising 17 countries already have their flags on the moon.

The Indian tricolour is painted on all sides of the 29-kg Moon Impact Probe which is attached to the main orbiting spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, which was launched on October 22.

The inclusion of the MIP as part of the Chandrayaan mission came at the suggestion of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, a former rocket scientist, during the International Lunar Exploration Working Group conference held at Udaipur in November 2004.

The Indian tricolour had been hoisted on Mount Everest and Antarctica. And now it is on the moon.

The flight of the MIP on Friday is a forerunner to the second Indian moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, which will carry a Russian rover and a lander slated for lift-off between 2010 and 2012.

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## daredevil

Good news indeed.


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## nitesh



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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Indigenous effort all the way

Indigenous effort all the way

T.S. Subramanian 


Another picture of the moon taken by the Moon Impact Probe on Friday. 

CHENNAI: What was extraordinary about the historic event of Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s probe landing on the moon on Friday night was that the spacecraft was built in India, it was put into orbit by the Indian rocket, PSLV-C11, and the launch took place from Indian soil, said a jubilant M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1. Mr. Annadurai led the team that integrated the 11 scientific instruments, including the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) into the Chandrayaan-1 bus at the ISRO Satelllite Centre, Bangalore. The MIP was built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram. *&#8220;We have got all the data. We are working on the data and processing them,&#8221;* Mr. Annadurai said.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), VSSC, called it &#8220;a momentous occasion for ISRO and India because it is for the first time that we have sent a spacecraft to an extra-terrestrial body and its MIP with the logo of the Indian flag has reached the moon soil.&#8221;

Everything went as per schedule right from the separation of the MIP at 8.06.54 p.m. IST from Chandrayaan-1 to the MIP impacting on the Shackleton crater 25 minutes later, Mr. Annadurai said. The entire sequence of events began at 7.15 p.m. at the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC), which was the nerve-centre of the operations, at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, headed by its Director S.K. Shivakumar.

*The spacecraft got oriented in the right attitude before the command went from the SCC for the MIP to separate. The MIP separated as per plan and &#8220;we got the positive signal that it had separated,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said. Then the data link from the cable to the radio frequency got changed as per plan. &#8220;For 25 minutes of its descent towards the lunar soil, we received continuous radio frequency signal from the MIP,&#8221; he added. About 300 seconds after the separation of the MIP, the SCC received signals of a reduction in the velocity of the descent of the MIP indicating that the retro-rocket had fired.
*
Twenty-five minutes after the separation began, *&#8220;the receiver went on unlock, indicating that the MIP had impacted on the Shackleton crater on the moon,&#8221; said Mr. Annadurai. &#8220;The trajectory of the MIP was excellent,&#8221; *he said.

As the MIP crashed on the lunar surface, it self-destructed.

Earlier, data from the video-camera of the MIP, its radar altimeter and mass spectrometer kept pouring in simultaneously throughout the 25 minutes of the MIP&#8217;s descent. The video-camera had taken a number of pictures of the moon&#8217;s surface.

As this sequence was being enacted, Chandrayaan-1, the mother-spacecraft, had gone behind the moon.

&#8220;We have had a good success and everything went as per our aim. What is important is that the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (a rocket technologist himself) was present at the SCC during the occasion,&#8221; said Mr. Annadurai.

Mr. Ramakrishnan called it &#8220;a precision mission&#8221; in which the MIP was in communication with the mother-spacecraft during all the 25 minutes. The MIP separation was indicated by a disturbance in the Chandrayaan-1. Its gyros and sensors sensed the separation. &#8220;We could see the spin-up and de-orbit motors work [on the plot-board],&#8221; he said.

&#8220;Everything went precisely in this mission. Right from the PSLV-C11 launch on October 22, the Chandrayaan-1 being safely inserted into the lunar orbit on November 8, the MIP separating from Chandrayaan-1 and its impacting on the moon, everything performed with clock-work precision,&#8221; Mr. Ramakrishnan said.


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## nitesh

I love the image , leave other guys I am going with Mr. kalam's statements

Mission Moon: Kalam?s brainchild lands succesfully-India-The Times of India

Mission Moon: Kalam&#8217;s brainchild lands succesfully
15 Nov 2008, 0257 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN







MUMBAI: Former president APJ Abdul Kalam, who first suggested the inclusion of Moon Impact Probe in the Chandrayaan mission, said the *landing of the probe on the lunar surface proves India&#8217;s superior technology.*

Kalam, a rocket scientist, put forward the idea during the International Lunar Exploration Working Group Conference at Udaipur in November 2004.

*Kalam told TOI: &#8216;&#8216;After (the spacecraft) going so near the moon, I felt the mission will have more scientific relevance if the probe was included. I believe that the moon cannot be left to a few countries.
*

*I strongly felt that India cannot be left behind. So, I suggested the probe, and many in ISRO enthusiastically supported the plan.&#8217;&#8217;

&#8216;&#8216;The landing of the probe establishes India&#8217;s presence on the moon and prove that India can do it,&#8217;&#8217; Kalam said.*

According to him, the probe will help in studying the moon&#8217;s geological features. &#8216;&#8216;I visualise that in another four decades, the earth, moon and Mars will have economic and strategic importance. Well, my feeling is the way we have taken Chandrayaan and flown 3,80,000 km clicking a beautiful picture of the earth and putting it into the lunar orbit on November 8 is impressive. November 8 is, therefore, a very important day for us.&#8217;&#8217;

Strategic expert K Subrahmanyam said the landing placed India on par with powerful space powers like the US and Russia.&#8216;&#8216;It has some political significance because our Indian flag is on the moon. Apart from the political importance, it is also a great technological achievement for India.&#8217;&#8217;

Disagreeing with Subrahmanyam was New Delhi-based strategic analyst Bharat Karnad who said that the moon landing by India had no strategic importance. &#8216;&#8216;The landing has a symbolic value and certainly places India among the elite group of countries. But it has no geopolitical significance.&#8217;&#8217; At the same time Karnad added: &#8216;&#8216;Hundred to 150 years from now when the moon is colonised, India can be proud of the fact that it had a pioneering status.&#8217;&#8217;

Former atomic energy commission chairman P K Iyengar said the way the space scientists manoeuvered the mooncraft at such a distance establishes that India had the technical capability to undertake more ambitious space missions . &#8216;&#8216;Yes, the Indian flag on the moon had some political significance, but scientifically no value.&#8217;&#8217;

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## Flintlock

Its really great guys. It kinda shows what heights can be achieved with good leadership.

If we continue to be blessed with people like Kalam and Annadurai, nothing is out of our reach, be it in the social field, or in the scientific.


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## jeypore

Great accomplish for India.


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## nitesh




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## Flintlock



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## digitaltiger

nitesh said:


> Hey that's gr8 news. We are planning a big party if we are going to here the news for successful impact. Otherwise any way we are going to
> 
> It has taught a gr8 amount of lessons for future missions already.



Hey Congrats fello Indians and count me in for the PARTY ..  Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  

Thanks


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## Flintlock

* Scientist calls for co-op between Asian space powers
*
BEIJINGA Chinese scientist on Wednesday called for moon probe program experts in China, India and Japan to step up cooperation to "deepen mankind's understanding of the moon."
Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist for China's moon exploration program, said the three countries shared goals on moon probe while each had its advantages.
Taking a full map of the moon's surface, detecting minerals and studying the space environment were the common goals, he said.
Each country had its unparalleled technological competitiveness, and he expected more cooperation and hoped to see more contributions made by the scientists in the three Asian countries.
Ouyang's comments came only hours after Chinese scientists revealed the country's first full map of the moon's surface, which was hailed as the most complete image of the moon surface yet published.
The picture was released more than a year after the launch of China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1.
An official also announced on Wednesday that China would launch a second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, before 2012, as part of its three-stage moon mission.
The eventual goal is to bring lunar soil and stone samples back to earth for study in about 2017.
"Chang'e" is named after a legendary Chinese moon goddess.
In 1990, following the Soviet Union and the United States, Japan became the third country to orbit the moon after sending the Hiten spacecraft. India launched an unmanned lunar orbiter last month.

Xinhua


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## su-47

Flintlock said:


> Its really great guys. It kinda shows what heights can be achieved with good leadership.
> 
> If we continue to be blessed with people like Kalam and Annadurai, nothing is out of our reach, be it in the social field, or in the scientific.



But a lot of the times, good, incorruptible leaders are pushed aside by the corrupt ones.

If we are to truly rise as a superpower, we have to do more to fight corruption.


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## Neo

Nitesh, 

Do we have pictures of Indian flag already?


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## deltacamelately

One wonders if it was possible to use some kind of baloons/retro boosters to enable a soft landing by the MIP.


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## Flintlock

deltacamelately said:


> One wonders if it was possible to use some kind of baloons/retro boosters to enable a soft landing by the MIP.



Baloons won't work because the moon has no atmosphere. 

Retro-boosters and landing gear is the next step - that will be implemented in the next stage - Chandrayaan II, which will place a rover on the moon surface. 

We are taking one step at a time.


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## nitesh

Neo said:


> Nitesh,
> 
> Do we have pictures of Indian flag already?



I was just checking the ISRO site. The MIP has crashed there and flag was printed on that. They are processing the data released from the MIP. But no idea when they will release the video or whether they will release or not. The images I have posted are the only ones released so far. And the TMC have a resolution of 5m so I don't think you will see that clearly.


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## Neo

Please do share your findings...I'm anxious to see the flag.

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## Flintlock

Neo said:


> Please do share your findings...I'm anxious to see the flag.



Neo, the flag is printed on the side of the MIP. Unless its possible for the MIP to see itself, I don't think we will be seeing any images of the flag anytime soon.

The only way is if the moon orbiter actually takes a photograph of the Impact Probe at sufficient resolution in order to discern the flag.


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## nitesh

Neo said:


> Please do share your findings...I'm anxious to see the flag.



Neo saar, I don't think we will see that visually as no instruments carrying can capture that clearly. The idea of MIP printed with flag is to mark the presence. If something do come up will be glad to share.


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## Sam Dhanraj

There is a nice feeling when looking at moon surface through Indian lens...can't describe it !!!


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## nitesh

Sam Dhanraj said:


> There is a nice feeling when looking at moon surface through Indian lens...can't describe it !!!



The only way to say your feeling is the way we did yesterday (have beer in open area watching towards moon). That makes easy to bring the feelings out . Make sure that don't disturb any one. Ha ha ha


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Chandrayaan-1 shows India means business in space: ISRO chief

Bangalore (PTI): The successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface has not only *boosted the confidence of ISRO to undertake inter-planetary travel in future,* but also conveyed a firm message to the world that India means business in the field of space, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said here today.

*"It (the landing of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) and the Chandrayaan-1 mission) has validated many of our assumptions and many of the principles involved in interplanetary travel. It's really a big boon for ISRO. We can now take up travel to any other planet with confidence,"* a jubilant Nair told PTI in an interview, a day after the historic event.

Last night, the Indian space programme achieved a unique feat with the *placing of the Indian tricolour on the Moon's surface. The Indian flag was painted on the sides of MIP, *one of 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that successfully hit the lunar surface at 20:31 hrs. *This is the first Indian built object to reach the surface of the Moon.*

"I am extremely happy that the nation has responded very positively to this event (MIP landing and Chandrayaan-1)", Nair, also the Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

ISRO officials rpt ISRO officials said Chandrayaan-1 was a coup of sorts in the branding stakes and ISRO's brand has skyrocketed with India's first unmanned Moon mission.

"ISRO's name has been high all the time. This is another significant event. I am sure in the global community, we will have much more respect than what was (there) in the past", he said.

The Chandrayaan-1 mission has sent a clear signal internationally that India is really a space power and it means business. "That message has been given to everybody," Nair said.


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## Vinod2070

^^ We too did that yesterday. Beer in the open watching the moon.

It was great.


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

France, EU congratulate India on success of Chandrayaan-I

New Delhi (PTI): *France and the European Union on Saturday hailed the successful landing of India's Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on lunar surface and expressed keenness to strengthen the existing scientific cooperations with this country in the field of space.
*
*"France, on behalf of the European Union, warmly congratulates India for the successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe and the launch of the lunar exploration programme,"* a statement issued by the French Embassy said.

France is the current chair of the 27-nation European Union.

*"This remarkable success of the Indian space vehicle confirms anew India's eminent position among the world-class scientific and technological powers,"* the statement said.

It said France and the European Union "look forward to the strengthening of the existing scientific cooperations with India in the field of space, which are particularly promiseful for the development of science and knowledge worldwide."

*The MIP, carrying India's national tricolour landed on the Moon last night, making India the fourth country to mark its physical presence on the Moon. *


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## Sam Dhanraj

I am not a beer man so for me.... its tequila shots 







+..... 



much appropriate !!!!


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## nitesh

Hmmm good response to the nay sayers

The Hindu News Update Service

Chandrayaan project an investment for future: Kasturirangan

Chennai (PTI): Rejecting criticism over high costs for the Chandrayaan-1 project, former ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan said it was a *good investment for the future.*

"With the population explosion, the demand for land, a scarce material, will go up in future. We have to look for other sources for this. Chandrayaan 1 is to look for water availability on the Moon so that human settlements can be created," he told an international seminar on space applications here.

He said the Moon's environment was almost similar to that of the Earth and human habitations would become a "real possibility in the future."


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## nitesh

^^

I am in sam for this


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : ISRO targets to develop semi-cryo vehicle in 6 years

ISRO targets to develop semi-cryo vehicle in 6 years

Design phase over, project proposal soon: Madhavan Nair.

&#8220;We can now go to Mars, or any other object in the solar system; they are now within reach of India.&#8221; &#8212; Mr G. Madhavan Nair

Bangalore, Nov. 15 A 4-lakh-km lunar leap and a day after an impacter firmly established Indian presence on the moon, ISRO is set for deeper, bigger missions. It has started work to *build a new, powerful semi-cryogenic launch vehicle that can travel far and bring materials or men back home from space travel, according to the head of the national space agency.
*

*The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram is finalising the design of a launch vehicle powered by a semi-cryogenic engine system and &#8220;this is an entirely new development&#8221;,* ISRO&#8217;s Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said.

&#8220;The return (technology) needs powerful launchers. For that we are in the process of developing semi-cryogenic rocket systems that will feed the future missions. The target is to develop the semi-cryo vehicle within six years, with a budget of Rs 1,600 crore.

&#8220;The design phase is almost completed. We expect a project proposal soon. Thereafter, it has to go through a series of ground tests,&#8221; Mr Nair, who is also Secretary, the Department of Space, told Business Line in an interview.

*Powerful boosters*

He said, &#8220;If you want to just get to the moon you require a particular capacity. For the return mission, the capacity has to be doubled. *GSLV MkIII (due for test by 2010) for example, has a 10-tonne lift capacity in a low-earth orbit. We have to achieve a capability of 20 tonnes plus for bringing back our spacecraft. The semi-cryogenic launcher will give much higher, more powerful and eco-friendly boosters which could be used for larger missions.&#8221;*

*The semi-cryo system runs on superior kerosene or refined paraffin (RP1), considered a green propellant; it also lowers costs by 30 per cent as it replaces the expensive liquid hydrogen. India will be only the second after a few former Soviet States to have this technology,* said Mr P.S. Sastry, Director, Launch Vehicle Programme Office.

Now that the 23-day-old Chandrayaan-1 has already achieved most of its objectives, &#8220;We can now go to Mars, or any other object in the solar system; they are now within reach of India. Chandrayaan-1 gives us tremendous confidence in undertaking inter-planetary projects,&#8221; Mr Nair said after the Moon Impact Probe crash-landed on the moon on Friday night. He has spoken of an Aditya mission to the Sun and another to Venus as well.

*&#8220;We have a projection for the Mars mission in the next Five-Year Plan. We are in the process of selecting the scientific experiments. If everything goes well, we should have that mission in 4-5 years. The Space Commission has approved the human mission and we have to submit it to the Government.&#8221;
*

The low-earth manned trip is estimated to cost Rs 12,000 crore and needs technologies to sustain people through the trip with food, special spacecraft and soft landing. ISRO is also building an Astronaut Training Centre near Bangalore with an initial spend of Rs 100 crore.

*Chandrayaan-2*

Chandrayaan-2, slated for 2011-12, jointly with Russia, he said, is a firm plan, with each agency putting in around Rs 425 crore. *&#8220;We are going to have a lander and rover which will collect samples from the lunar surface. Beyond that, there is no commitment. If we find minerals on the moon, the next logical step would be to collect them and get them back to earth. That may be a future mission, beyond 2015,&#8221;* he said.

That would be when a the launcher with a return capability is in place. *The first project to bring back spacecraft &#8212; the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment or SRE-1 &#8212; was tested in January 2007 and the second is slated for 2010-11.*

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## nitesh



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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : A long haul for ISRO

A long haul for ISRO

T.S. Subramanian

Moon Impact Probe mission: they got it right the first time itself 



CHENNAI: *What was remarkable about the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) separating from Chandrayaan-1, its 25-minute descent and crash-landing on the moon&#8217;s surface was that &#8220;we were able to do everything for the first time and correctly too,&#8221;* said J.N. Goswami, Principal Scientist, Chandrayaan-1 mission, on Saturday.

At 8.31 p.m. IST on Friday, India emphatically registered its presence on the moon when the MIP crash-landed on the Shackleton crater in the moon&#8217;s south polar region. The panels of the MIP, which is a box-like instrument, were painted with the Indian flag. After the MIP separated from the mother-spacecraft at 8.06.54 p.m., it followed a curved path for 25 minutes before it impacted on the moon and self-destructed. The MIP had three payloads: a video camera, a radar altimeter and a mass spectrometer. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received enormous amount of data from these three payloads throughout the MIP&#8217;s flight.

*&#8220;Whatever we did [during the MIP mission], we did for the first time and without anybody telling us how to do it,&#8221; said Dr. Goswami, who is also Director, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad. ISRO was able to release it from Chandrayaan-1, spin it up, reduce its velocity of descent and then &#8220;approximately impact it at a point where we wanted to go,&#8221; he said. The 35-kg MIP, which was &#8220;a mini satellite of Chandrayaan-1&#8221; did everything it was expected to do. Its three instruments collected the data during its descent and transmitted them to the mother-spacecraft, which sent it to the ground. &#8220;We were doing something new and for the first time. That is why we have reasons to feel happy about whatever we have done,&#8221;* Dr. Goswami said.

It has been a hectic journey not only for Chandrayaan-1 but a long haul for the ISRO. It was on November 21, 1963 that a Nike Apache rocket from the United States took off from the beachhead in the fishing village of Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram and climbed to an altitude of 208 km. The two-stage rocket weighed 715 kg.

The Nike Apache released sodium vapour which, with its orange trail, lit up the twilight sky. The sight created a sensation in Kerala and the neighbouring districts in Tamil Nadu. The Kerala Legislative Assembly was adjourned for a few minutes so that the members could watch the spectacle on the western sky. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President, was present at Thumba on that day and was in charge of Nike Apache&#8217;s payload.The launch signalled the start of India&#8217;s rocketry programme.

The indigenous space programme began on February 22, 1969, when a &#8220;pencil&#8221; rocket weighing 10 kg. from Thumba soared a few km. into the sky.

The Chandrayaan-1 has travelled 3,84,000 km to reach its final orbit of 100 km. above the moon. The PSLV-C11 that put it into its initial orbit around the earth stood 44.4 metres tall and weighed 316 tonnes.

M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, said: &#8220;Some decades ago, man never imagined that he could set foot on the moon. Decades from now, human colonies on the moon can become a reality. India also should be in the forefront of this challenging and exciting endeavour. Chandrayaan-1 is the first calculated and well-planned initiative by ISRO in this direction.&#8221;


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## Neo

Tell me guys, how does it feel to experience something of this magnitude?

As a South Asian, this makes me proud to see each and every development in the region. But this is beyond anything I've seen in my life, its a piece of excellence...a previlege only owned by a few.

Honestly, I think I'll go crazy the day Pakistan sends a rocket to the moon. Hope I live long enough to see it happen.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : First 3-D image of Moon on Monday

First 3-D image of Moon on Monday

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: *A year from now the world will have the most detailed three-dimensional image of the Moon, complete with the precise location of its craters and mountains, thanks to Chandrayaan-1. And the first 3-D picture of the Moon&#8217;s terrain, taken by the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on board Chandrayaan, will be processed by Monday, according to M. Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan-1.*

&#8220;This is the next big event for the mission,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai told The Hindu. &#8220;This stereoscopic image, with its five-metre resolution, will set Chandrayaan apart from the previous lunar missions, and will be one of its most important contributions to science.&#8221; The images that would be obtained on Monday would be those taken around the Moon&#8217;s equator, he said. The pictures from the TMC&#8217;s three cameras would be overlaid to create this 3-D image. Within a year and a half all the images collected from the TMC would be &#8220;stitched together&#8221; to create a Moon globe, Mr. Annadurai said.

The TMC, one of 11 payloads on board Chandrayaan, has already produced a much-celebrated picture of the Earth on October 29 taken from a distance of 9,000 km. It has been capturing images of the Moon since November 13 from a height of 100 km from the lunar surface.

*The images would be clearer than the other previous lunar missions, said S.K. Shivakumar, director of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC). &#8220;The highest resolution images of the Moon so far have been those taken by the Japanese space probe Kaguya earlier this year.&#8221; The TMC cameras would work for two months continuously, with a gap of six months in between, as they would be driven by the condition of illumination, said Mr. Shivakumar.

Mineralogical map

On Sunday, Chandrayaan&#8217;s next scientific experiment would be switched on: The Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI) would create a mineralogical map of the lunar surface and help in understanding the mineralogical composition of the Moon&#8217;s interior. &#8220;The two sets of images &#8212; those captured by the HySI and the TMC &#8212; will be overlaid to create an accurate picture of where the minerals are located,&#8221; said Mr. Annadurai.
*
By the end of the month, all the payloads would be operational. These included the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) and High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX), said Mr. Shivakumar.


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## Flintlock

Neo said:


> Tell me guys, how does it feel to experience something of this magnitude?
> 
> As a South Asian, this makes me proud to see each and every development in the region. But this is beyond anything I've seen in my life, its a piece of excellence...a previlege only owned by a few.
> 
> Honestly, I think I'll go crazy the day Pakistan sends a rocket to the moon. Hope I live long enough to see it happen.



Neo, words cannot describe the feeling - it really brings a lot of things into perspective - it dispels a lot of cobwebs accumulated over the decades about what Indians can and cannot do - its a massive ego-boost, to say the least.

In a time where public service, and doing something for the sake of it- for the love of it - is seen as a negative thing by so many Indians, these scientists who work for peanuts - who would be grabbed up in any foreign country for a much better quality of life and far larger salaries - have chosen to dedicate so much of their time and life to this project - is to say the least, inspiring. 

The guy in charge - Nair- actually cried on television. I am sure many, many Indians cried that day.

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## Logic note

Neo said:


> Tell me guys, how does it feel to experience something of this magnitude?
> 
> As a South Asian, this makes me proud to see each and every development in the region. But this is beyond anything I've seen in my life, its a piece of excellence...a previlege only owned by a few.
> 
> Honestly, I think I'll go crazy the day Pakistan sends a rocket to the moon. Hope I live long enough to see it happen.



Dear Neo 

As I see it .. We as a human race are capable of achieving a lot as we share same capacity. This achievement demonstrate that everyone or anyone can achieve the milestones .
and the best thing is this has been achieved with a democratic system ,which got its freedom only 60 years ago and it is still a developing country, still facing poverty, still trying to convince lot of its own people what unity can achieve , without ruthlessness of power .

As for Pakistan , We are same people , same origin and have same capacity to achieve milestones of human dreams . I am sure you will achieve it someday , but this someday depends on how fast you get over the Problems made by Pakistanis themself and not anyone else . 

Best of Luck for that endevour

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## nitesh

outlookbusiness.com : Pie in the sky

Pie in the sky

*Chandrayaan-1 is a statement of sorts: India has space capabilities and is a low-cost player. And now, it&#8217;s building an ecosystem for companies
*







He just can&#8217;t conceal his excitement. "We are part of the moon mission," gushes TT Mani. *His company, Avasarala Technologies, is responsible for a piece of chandrayaan-1: heat pipes, a critical component that regulates temperature in spacecraft and satellites, and ensures that electronic components don&#8217;t fail in space. When India blasted off its first unmanned mission to the moon last month, it launched million-dollar dreams of space entrepreneurs like Mani with it.*

*About 40 companies have contributed to Chandrayaan-1. Companies like Tata Advanced Material, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and L&T built the body and solar panel array elements (which power the craft). A clutch of small companies made myriad components like heat pipes, ground fixtures and power packages&#8212;critical components that have no scope for error. They are all part of the troupe of about 100 Indian companies in the private sector&#8212;big (the Tatas, L&T and Godrej) and small (Walchandnagar Foundry, Venkateshwara Engineering and Shoma Industries)&#8212;that have been quietly powering the country&#8217;s space ambitions.*

*No limits in the sky*

At the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), it&#8217;s take-off time. Following the success of Chandrayaan-1, ISRO is planning more launches. *There&#8217;s Chandrayaan-2 in 2011, a mission to an asteroid or comet in 2015 and a Mars mission in 2019. ISRO is collaborating with several countries to carry an ultra-violet telescope (which captures images normal satellites cannot) in an Indian satellite within a year. It&#8217;s building a tropical weather satellite with France and collaborating with Japan on a project on disaster-management from space. It is building capabilities to launch heavier satellites (which can go 10-15 times further than conventional geo-stationary satellites that rotate along with the Earth) by 2010.* The more satellites and crafts ISRO launches, the more business comes the way of Indian companies. 

Besides its own launches, ISRO plans to step up commercial satellite launches for other countries and private players. This is a market worth $138 billion, and forms the lion&#8217;s share of the total global space opportunity of $251 billion, notes The Space Report 2008 (See table below: The Space Pie). To start with, ISRO wants to increase its commercial launches&#8212;which it began in April 2007, *with the launch of Italy&#8217;s Agile astronomical satellite&#8212;from two to five in a year, and earn $70 million a year in the process. The bigger, long-term goal is a 10&#37; market share, leveraging its 60-70% cost advantage over foreign players.*

*The business opportunity for India exists in three areas. One, building and launching satellites. Two, leasing space on these satellites for applications like direct-to-home (DTH) services, global positioning systems (GPS), education, telecom and weather monitoring, among others. Three, disseminating and processing data and images generated by satellites (for example, fisheries study water and weather patterns, and move their trawlers accordingly).* In India, currently, ISRO dominates all three. The private sector, though, is gradually increasing its capabilities in satellite building and data processing. And, as the Indian space ecosystem develops, so will the opportunities for private firms.

*Star wars*

India&#8217;s space programme is largely self-sufficient&#8212;partly the unintended outcome of sanctions imposed by the US and Europe following India&#8217;s nuclear test in 1974&#8212;*and aims to soon become completely independent of foreign support.* *India&#8217;s six remote-sensing satellites, the largest such constellation in the world, monitor the country&#8217;s land and coastal waters. India&#8217;s seven communication satellites, the biggest civilian system in the Asia-Pacific region, provide communication access, television coverage, even remote healthcare services and education to the rural poor.* 

What ails India&#8217;s space programme is *weak marketing,* which cramps the overseas
revenue potential of ISRO and private ancillary industries. The need to market better led to the birth of Antrix Corporation 16 years ago. *Antrix, an anglicised spelling for Antriksh (space in Hindi),* is the commercial arm of the Department of Space, and does the grunge work of convincing foreign space agencies the cost savings of launching payloads through ISRO. 

In 2007-08, Antrix saw a spike in revenues to Rs 940 crore (Rs 660 crore in 2006-07), on the back of two satellite launches for overseas clients. The bread and butter, however, remains the leasing of transponder capacity on ISRO satellites. Even then, it pales before Europe&#8217;s Arianespace, which controls almost half of the global commercial launch business. But that&#8217;s also the opportunity for ISRO, Antrix and the private sector to aim for&#8212;and chip away at. Says Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director, Antrix: "PSLV is a proven vehicle to carry satellites. We are marketing its capabilities to get more business."

In addition, Chandrayaan is a statement to the world that India has top-notch space capabilities. And low cost&#8212;*Chandrayaan is the cheapest moon mission.* Says Murthi: "Opportunities for the private sector are huge because of growing demand for satellites. The challenge for Antrix is to cater to the diverse needs of the global market on the one hand and get the private sector ready on the other."

Still, in a business where geo-political loyalties run deep, because of privacy issues and because volumes aren&#8217;t big enough to look beyond, crossing over won&#8217;t be easy. *In satellite manufacturing, Antrix competes with players like Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin of the US, Alcatel Alenia and Loral Space and Communications of Europe, and some Russian manufacturers. In services such as sale of high-resolution images, against SpotImage of France, and GeoEye and DigitalGlobe of the US.* "We are competing with seasoned players. Currently, there is no integrated space industry in India that can work collectively," says Murthi.

This apprehension of competing in the global market is palpable across the sector. "Competing in the global market is tough," says B Malla Reddy, CEO, Astra Microwave Products, a Hyderabad-based company that manufactures TR modules (transmit/receive components) for remote-sensing satellites and automated weather stations. *In 2007-08, Astra recorded revenues of Rs 25 crore from the space sector, with ISRO its sole buyer. Says Reddy: "Countries prefer sourcing from home. Indian component manufacturers can sell globally only if Antrix acts as a facilitator."

Antrix hasn&#8217;t yet started acting as a facilitator in a big way, but ISRO is helping component companies in the global market. Precision-machinery manufacturer Avasarala Technologies began by supplying heat pipes to ISRO. It has about 1,000 heat pipes in space, and recorded revenues of Rs 25 crore last year. This is expected to double next year when it enters the global market, with ISRO&#8217;s help. Avasarala will supply heat pipes to ISRO, which will then remake them into thermal panels and supply US satellite maker SS Loral. Says Mani: "Once volumes increase, we will go into the global market on our own. For now, we depend on ISRO, as we don&#8217;t have the financial muscle or technical capabilities. Also, future business is not assured."*

*Shifting priorities*

Despite the teething troubles, everything points to greater private participation in space programmes. ISRO has been gradually getting out of the production cycle and has even been transferring technology to private players. Some large international players are also looking at India as an outsourcing centre to manufacture critical components or develop software to interpret data, and are looking to set up captive units in India. An increasing number of ISRO veterans are leaving to join private companies. 






The ecosystem is building up and investment is trickling into the private sector. November 2007 saw the first private equity (PE) deal in the defence and nuclear space, with *Blackstone picking up 26% in MTAR Technologies, a Hyderabad-based nuclear, defence and space components company, for Rs 260 crore. Shortly before this, AIG, through its AIG Asian Opportunity Fund II, had loaned $20 million to Avasarala Technologies to build a new production unit on the outskirts of Bangalore.*

Most of the work being done by private companies is either low-end or marginal. "For the private sector to truly get into the space sector, a policy shift is needed," says Mukund Rao, COO of ESRI India, a GIS (geographic information system) software provider and an ex-ISRO scientist.

Rao says ISRO should take on only R&D and support functions, and pass on satellite manufacturing completely to the private sector, as it is in the US and Europe. Adds Shivananda Kanavi, VP-Special Projects, TCS, and a space industry specialist: "ISRO can only be unshackled through the creation and implementation of forward-looking, business-oriented policies. ISRO should network with private enterprise to pass on its scientific and engineering expertise and products," he says. Indian Inc would like that, and Chandrayaan-1 may just speed up the transition.

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## nitesh

Inspiring stories guys:

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Dreamers catch the moon

*Dreamers catch the moon*

G.S. MUDUR AND CHARU SUDAN KASTURI










A picture of the moon&#8217;s surface taken by the Moon Impact Probe after separating from Chandrayaan-1, (above) project director Annadurai with the spacecraft before the launch. Pictures courtesy Reuters, Isro

New Delhi, Nov. 15: *Mylswamy Annadurai had a choice &#8212; join a booming colour TV industry, or accept lower pay from a space agency still struggling with its earliest launch vehicles and satellites.
*
For the electronics engineer, who had never stepped out of his home district of Coimbatore till he had obtained an MTech from the PSG College of Engineering, it was an easy choice.

On Saturday, his &#8220;baby&#8221;, Chandrayaan-1, helped India complete its journey to the moon. &#8220;This is another step towards human presence in outer space,&#8221; said Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan-1 at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Satellite Centre, Bangalore.

*His colleague, R. Venkata Ramanan, had disappointed his father when he didn&#8217;t even fill in application forms for an engineering degree and, instead, chose to do his BSc and MSc in mathematics at Madurai Kamaraj University.
*

On Saturday, Ramanan, who had helped compute the orbital paths, watched images of mountains on the moon relayed by Chandrayaan-1 to a space centre in Bangalore. &#8220;I&#8217;ve waited nearly 20 years for this,&#8221; said Ramanan, who began pencil-and-paper orbital calculations in 1989, some five years after joining the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

*Many key people behind the moon mission had defied social pressure, rejected conventional wisdom or pursued childhood dreams to become part of India&#8217;s space enterprise.* They had joined Isro in the &#8217;70s and early &#8217;80s when its profile was much lower than now.

*Yet, experts within and outside Isro say the culture in India&#8217;s elite engineering institutes, as well as social pressure and the arrival of competition, is keeping some of the country&#8217;s best engineers away from the space agency. Of Isro&#8217;s 6,000 scientists and engineers, top Isro officials estimate, less than 100 are from the IITs.

&#8220;But we&#8217;re not unhappy, we&#8217;ve got extremely talented people. We have a rigorous process of selecting candidates,&#8221; said Isro chairman G. Madhavan Nair. &#8220;Our attrition rate is less than 10 per cent.&#8221;
*

In engineering streams such as electronics or software, attrition rates are almost twice higher. &#8220;Isro provides technological challenges and a stimulating environment. We provide a broad canvas. Youngsters are expected to fill in the colours by themselves,&#8221; Nair said.

*&#8220;I thank God I got an opportunity to work on orbit dynamics,&#8221; Ramanan said. &#8220;With my background, I could have been put in other areas of aerospace, but somehow I was assigned what I wanted to do since my university days.&#8221;*

*Annadurai recalled that on a Friday, only three months after joining Isro, he had pitched an idea to develop a satellite simulator &#8212; software that would allow engineers to study how satellites would behave in space without actually building them.
*

&#8220;I got the green signal on Monday,&#8221; Annadurai said. The episode, Isro officials say, underlines a work culture that encourages ideas without regard for hierarchy.

&#8220;There&#8217;s freedom to think independently&#8230; and there are no punishments for genuine failures,&#8221; said George Koshy, who had joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1972 with a BTech from a college in Kerala and an MTech in mechanical engineering from IIT Mumbai.

Koshy had grown up near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, India&#8217;s first launch site outside Thiruvananthapuram, hearing the sound and watching the smoke trails of India&#8217;s earliest rocket launches in the 1960s.

IIT faculty say some of their postgraduate students even today continue to follow Koshy&#8217;s early career vector. &#8220;Students who join us for MTech invariably come from lesser-known engineering colleges,&#8221; said Gautam Bandopadhyay, professor of aerospace engineering at IIT Kharagpur.

Some of these students seek jobs in public-sector aerospace firms such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the National Aerospace Laboratories or Isro, he said. But those who do their BTech at the IITs hardly ever continue in the institutes for a PG degree.

&#8220;Our own BTech students move from aerospace to IT or management-related jobs,&#8221; Bandopadhyay said.

Isro now has competition from foreign aerospace entities too. &#8220;New avenues have opened up,&#8221; said Abhijit Kushari, assistant professor of aerospace engineering at IIT Kanpur. &#8220;General Electric, Boeing and several European companies have been picking up our graduates.&#8221;

&#8220;Their recruitment process appears much simpler and faster, unlike Isro&#8217;s which involves tests and interviews and requires students to have specific levels of scores,&#8221; Kushari said.

&#8220;They pay much better too,&#8221; Bandopadhyay said.

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## Neo

*Chandrayaan-I shows India means business in space​*
** New Delhi rejoices over moon probe landing
* Kalam wants to see an Indian on the moon in 15 years​*
BANGALORE: The successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface has not only boosted the confidence of the Indian Space Research Organisation to undertake inter-planetary travel in future, but also conveyed a firm message to the world that India means business in the field of space, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said here today.

It (the landing of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) and the Chandrayaan-I mission) has validated many of our assumptions and many of the principles involved in interplanetary travel. Its really a big boon (for ISRO). We can now take up travel to any other planet with confidence, a jubilant Nair said in an interview, a day after the historic event.

Last night, the Indian space programme achieved a unique feat with the placing of the Indian tricolour on the Moons surface. The Indian flag was painted on the sides of MIP, one of 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-I spacecraft that successfully hit the lunar surface at 20:31 hrs. This is the first Indian built object to reach the surface of the Moon.

I am extremely happy that the nation has responded very positively to this event (MIP landing and Chandrayaan-I), Nair, also the Secretary in the Department of Space, said.

Nair said Chandrayaan-I was a coup of sorts in the branding stakes and ISROs brand has skyrocketed with Indias first unmanned Moon mission.

ISROs name has been high all the time. This is another significant event. I am sure in the global community, we will have much more respect than what was (there) in the past, he said.

The Chandrayaan-I mission has sent a clear signal internationally that India is really a space power and it means business. That message has been given to everybody, Nair said.

Rejoices: India rejoiced Saturday over the landing of a lunar probe on the moons surface that vaulted the country into the league of space-faring nations like the United States, Russia and Japan.

Politicians across the spectrum buried their differences to hail the milestone in Indias space history in which the nation joins Russia, the US, Japan and the European Space Agency in successfully landing moon probes.

Today is a historic day for India, said Sonia Gandhi, head of the ruling Congress party. Opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishna Advani called it an event to be recorded in golden letters.

Former Indian president and rocket scientist Abdul Kalam said the landing of the probe - which coincided with the anniversary of the birth of Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru - will kindle a dream in children.

In 15 years I want to see an Indian on the moon, said Kalam, who conceived of the so-called moon impact probe, or MIP, and is popularly known in India as missile man. agencies

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

*LASER instrument on Chandrayaan-1 successfully turned on*

Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), one of the 11 scientific instruments (payloads) carried by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, has successfully been turned on Sunday.

According to B R Guruprasad, PRO, ISRO, *the instrument was switched ON when the spacecraft was passing over western part of the moon&#8217;s visible hemisphere. Preliminary assessment of the data from LLRI by ISRO scientists indicates that the instrument&#8217;s performance is normal. LLRI sends pulses of infrared laser light towards a strip of lunar surface and detects the reflected portion of that light. With this, the instrument can very accurately measure the height of moon&#8217;s surface features. LLRI will be continuously kept ON and takes 10 measurements per second on both day and night sides of the moon. It provides topographical details of both polar and equatorial regions of the moon. Detailed analysis of the data sent by LLRI helps in understanding the internal structure of the moon as well as the way that celestial body evolved.*

It may be recalled that earlier, *three other payloads of Chandrayaan-1 &#8211; Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) and Moon Impact Probe (MIP) &#8211; were successfully turned ON. MIP, carrying Indian tricolour, was released from the spacecraft on November 14, 2008 and 25 minutes later, successfully impacted the lunar surface as intended. TMC took pictures of the Earth and moon when the spacecraft was on its way to moon. After reaching lunar orbit, TMC has been taking breathtaking pictures of the lunar panorama. RADOM was also switched ON in the Earth orbit itself.*

The pictures and other scientific data sent by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft from lunar orbit have been received by antennas of Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu. The spacecraft operations are being carried out from the Satellite Control Centre (SCC) of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore.


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## nitesh

This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 15, 2008. Taken over the polar region of the moon, the picture shows many large and numerous small craters. The bright terrain on the lower left is the rim of 117 km wide Moretus crater. 



This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 13, 2008. Taken over the equatorial region of the moon, the picture shows the uneven surface of the moon with numerous craters. On the lower left, part of the Torricelli crater is seen.

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## Sam Dhanraj

^ In nitesh's post above:

Picture 1- This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 15, 2008. Taken over the polar region of the moon, the picture shows many large and numerous small craters. The bright terrain on the lower left is the rim of 117 km wide Moretus crater. 

Picture 2- This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 13, 2008. Taken over the equatorial region of the moon, the picture shows the uneven surface of the moon with numerous craters. On the lower left, part of the Torricelli crater is seen.

Description Source: http://isro.org/pslv-c11/photos/moon_images.htm

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## su-47

Neo said:


> Tell me guys, how does it feel to experience something of this magnitude?
> 
> As a South Asian, this makes me proud to see each and every development in the region. But this is beyond anything I've seen in my life, its a piece of excellence...a previlege only owned by a few.
> 
> Honestly, I think I'll go crazy the day Pakistan sends a rocket to the moon. Hope I live long enough to see it happen.



Neo, this is a feeling that has to be experienced. As Flintlock said, words cannot describe it. Seeing that rocket blast off, and knowing that flag of my people is landing on the moon, as a symbol that we ,as a people and as a country, have progressed so much, makes me surge with patriotism and pride. It feels like the dawn of a new era for India. I feel so proud to say, "I'm Indian".

I sincerely do hope that one day Pakistan, and every other country in the world, launches a moon mission, or something similar, because i believe that every patriot in this world deserves to feel as happy and proud about their country as I feel about mine today.

My sincerest thanks to the chaps at ISRO for bringing such a glorious event to India. If I, an NRI, feels such emotions for this event, I can only imagine the joy and pride of the scientists who sacrificed so much for Chandrayaan.

A toast to the scientists at ISRO. You have brought hope and joy to a billion people. Enjoy the moment ladies and gentleman, and savor the success. May God bless you all. 

Jai Hind.

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## Contrarian

This is for you Neo, and ofcourse, fellow countrymen.

For those who have not seen the MIP. Here it is with the National Flag symbolically on it ...

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## Bushroda

luftwaffe said:


> lol imported stuff from russia thats all indians got to throw at moon...kepp up the russian stuff flying lol.



Did u happen to see the ISRO purchase order receipt or the Russian delivery invoice?


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## Bushroda

Neo said:


> Tell me guys, how does it feel to experience something of this magnitude?



The feeling is indeed great & made me feel tremendously proud. But then few in western media press & few more in domestic media cannot relax unless they've soured the celebrations by questioning the need for such space explorations by bringing up the cliched melody of poverty. Otherwise, it has been an elating feeling. Its a tremendous achievement for a struggling but ambitious nation. It only shows that poverty & other social issues shouldn't stand in the way of dreams & desire for you never know when you get to live your dream.

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## nitesh

^^

Hey sam thanks a lot I was forgotten to add the description. Added it now


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## su-47

Bushroda said:


> Did u happen to see the ISRO purchase order receipt or the Russian delivery invoice?



Leave it bro. If he cannot appreciate the effort of others, then nothing we say or do will change his opinion. In my language there is a saying, "Kannadachu Irrutakuka" It means "Closing your eyes to make it dark" (prevent yourself seeing what you don't want to see). Thats what he is doing.

India has progressed a lot since the days in 1960s when the space research centre was set up in Thumba. Even the scientists at NASA have lauded our efforts. I don't think anyone should give a f**k about what the critics of the project say. We have done it, and nothing can change that.


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## nitesh

luftwaffe said:


> i don't need to prove it u proved it already its an imported stuff...btw when is LCA going to be inducted? and also I'm waiting for the ARJUNK too???any more info if these too pieces of metal crap aren't rolled out how in the hell did u even get the capabilities to toss chandababa in the space?lol u don't need to answer me i know its ok its alright we understand i've all sympathy regarding LCA/ARJUNK Its ok to buy imported junk lol.



there are threads in this forum go and read them and ask the question there.

And for your imported ones crap read the post 452


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## nitesh

http://msrv2.wstream.net/isro_archive/TMC01.wmv

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## nitesh

I am loving this....................
American Chronicle | India´s First Moon Mission and the Re-Discovery of ET Artifacts: A Dialogue with Richard C. Hoagland

India&#180;s First Moon Mission and the Re-Discovery of ET Artifacts: A Dialogue with Richard C. Hoagland
Michael Salla



Dr. Michael Salla is an internationally recognized scholar in international politics, conflict resolution, US foreign policy and the new field of 'exopolitics'. He is author/editor of five books; and held academic appointments in the School of International Service& the Center for Global Peace, American University, Washington DC (1996-2004); the Department of Political Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (1994-96); and the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington D.C., (2002). He has a Ph.D in Government from the University of Queensland, Australia, and an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has conducted research and fieldwork in the ethnic conflicts in East Timor, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Sri Lanka, and organized peacemaking initiatives involving mid to high level participants from these conflicts.


Print Article Michael Salla
November 17, 2008
On November 14, India succeeded in landing a space probe on the surface of the Moon. The probe was launched from an orbiter, Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit for moon-vehicle), circling 100 km above the Moon that had reached lunar orbit on November 8. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organization on October 22, Chandrayaan-1 marked India&#180;s first effort to reach the Moon. India joins a small group of nations that have reached the moon, and one of only three nations currently with orbiters around it. Chandrayaan-1 will remain in orbit for two years in order to conduct a comprehensive geological survey of the Moon&#180;s surface. It has already begun supplying high resolution images of the Moon's surface which excites those seeking independent verification of what exactly is on the Moon's surface. .

One of those most excited by the Chandrayaan-1 mission is Richard C. Hoagland who has spent decades analyzing NASA images of the Moon and Mars. In his 2008 book, Dark Mission, Hoagland claimed that *NASA, through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has systematically covered up or altered satellite imagery data pointing to the existence of extraterrestrial artifacts on both Mars and the Moon. He furthermore pointed out that NASA is subservient to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) due to the national security provisions found in NASA's Charter.*

I contacted Richard Hoagland to get his opinion about the Chandrayaan-1 mission and its significance for his thesis that extraterrestrial artifacts can be found there. He prefaced his response to my questions by pointing to President-Elect Barack Obama's statement on October 22 where the latter observed: "With India's launch of its first unmanned lunar spacecraft following closely on the heels of China's first spacewalk, we are reminded just how urgently the United States must revitalize its space program if we are to remain the undisputed leader in space, science, and technology."

What follows are Richard Hoagland&#180;s responses (R.H.) to my questions (M.S.).

M.S.: *Have you any thoughts on how long the NASA-DOD inspired cover up of extraterrestrial artifacts can continue with India and other nations placing orbiters around the moon and probes on it?
*

R.H.: If Obama (and those behind him ...) is truly interested in the new Indian Moon mission, as his very public statement strongly implies (McCain made no such public statement, nor did Bush), then Obama must also suspect (or know!) the "why" for India engaging in this totally "non-economic" major domestic expenditure. And, why it is planning on further, far more expensive future lunar missions with the Russians! So, whether the "NASA-DOD cover-up of alien artifacts" will continue during the Obama Administration would seem, in part, to involve Obama's personal knowledge of why the Indians are going to the Moon ... and his related, future plans for some kind of a "new relationship" with Russia (Putin).

Short answer: I think we finally have a shot at some real "disclosure" here -- if for no other reason than, the more that other international "players" are involved (even if they're all controlled by one central "source" -- "the Families") ... the more opportunity for serious new "data leaks" -- planned, or otherwise.

*M.S.: How successful will the Indians be in coming up with an independent data base on what's on the moon's surface?
*
R.H.: The Chandrayaan mission is equipped with sensitive, state-of-the-art high resolution equipment -- cameras, radar, and a unique instrument designed to specifically record instances of "TLP" ("transient lunar phenomenon" -- bright, minutes-long "lights" that have been appearing on the lunar surface for hundreds of years ...) close-up from lunar orbit. We at Enterprise, based on the NASA images, believe that these long-reported "lights" are actually bright, irregular solar reflections from the surviving glass ruins on the Moon seen in those NASA images! We actually have some quite striking examples in the NASA database of such reflections "from the glass!" If that is so, *the fact that the Indians have specifically sent an instrument into lunar orbit to study and record this long-standing mysterious phenomenon, could be interpreted as strong foreshadowing of their plans to ultimately, publicly, reveal the source of those reflections -- once they have their own TLP data: ancient glass ruins on the Moon!
*

*M.S.: How do you anticipate NASA/DOD trying to influence what the Indians put up for the public on their future moon database?
*
R.H.: the Indian government signed a "memo of understanding" with NASA some years ago, over this Indian Moon Mission. As a result, there are a couple of NASA experiments flying on the Chandraayan mission, in addition to the Indian experiments, with JPL scientists involved. However, if the Indian government is planning to reveal "the good stuff," I don't believe NASA will hold much influence in their larger policy objectives. Again, it all depends on agreements much higher up "the food chain," and how much "change" Obama (and the folks behind him ...) REALLY are supporting ... in the run-up to 2012.

*M.S.: Do you consider India as a possible contender for informing the world about artifacts on the moon through satellite imagery?
*
*R.H.: Definitely, yes. The Indian Vedas preserve remarkable hints of the ancient, sweeping, high-tech history of all humanity -- from the distant era when both the Moon and Mars (and many other bodies in the solar system) were once inhabited ... by our own great, great, great ancestors. If there is to be "disclosure" of these long hidden truths, there would be no more fitting "messenger" than India ... if they are "allowed" to make them public by other geopolitical forces acting on them at this time. Obama's curious, public "singling out" of India's new Moon mission ... weeks before he was in any position to do anything about it ... is a very intriguing sign of what could happen in the coming months ....
*

*M.S.: Finally, do you anticipate that those behind the secrecy are fully aware of India disclosing the truth about what's on the moon's surface and may try to preempt such a contingency in order not to lose all credibility.
*
R.H.: That again leads us back to Obama's public reaction vis a vis the Indian Chandraayan Mission, even BEFORE he was elected. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point that "change" is coming. Who will initiate it (us, out of fear of "loss of face" ... or the Indians) is totally up for grabs ... again, if it occurs at all. Allowing India "to do it" has a certain logic behind it. It would give NASA a much-needed "plausible deniability" -- in terms of its own, decades-long NASA data and the cover-up; the Indians just had "better, newer equipment" ... which allowed scientific proof of what was merely hinted at on NASA's ~40-year-old images! As with all other ultimately political decisions, the final decision would seem to depend on how dumb "they" think the rest of us really are ... to buy this type of "Indian revelation." If it comes. Stay tuned. RCH

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## Vinod2070

^^ Incredible if true.


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## Bushroda

nitesh said:


> http://msrv2.wstream.net/isro_archive/TMC01.wmv



Thanks a ton Nitesh for sharing,

Have seen those old moon surface pics from NASA archives but these are by far the clearest & closest to real-time images available. Fabulous


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## nitesh

Hey they will start releasing the pics anytime now. keep a watch on ISRO's site


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## su-47

If our great great great ancestors inhabited the moon and mars, why did we have to start off our civilizations by striking two pieces of stone together to create fire? why didnt we just borrow some of their robots and glass buildings?


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## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> I am loving this....................
> American Chronicle | India´s First Moon Mission and the Re-Discovery of ET Artifacts: A Dialogue with Richard C. Hoagland
> 
> India´s First Moon Mission and the Re-Discovery of ET Artifacts: A Dialogue with Richard C. Hoagland
> Michael Salla
> 
> 
> 
> Dr. Michael Salla is an internationally recognized scholar in international politics, conflict resolution, US foreign policy and the new field of 'exopolitics'. He is author/editor of five books; and held academic appointments in the School of International Service& the Center for Global Peace, American University, Washington DC (1996-2004); the Department of Political Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (1994-96); and the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington D.C., (2002). He has a Ph.D in Government from the University of Queensland, Australia, and an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has conducted research and fieldwork in the ethnic conflicts in East Timor, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Sri Lanka, and organized peacemaking initiatives involving mid to high level participants from these conflicts.
> 
> 
> Print Article Michael Salla
> November 17, 2008
> On November 14, India succeeded in landing a space probe on the surface of the Moon. The probe was launched from an orbiter, Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit for moon-vehicle), circling 100 km above the Moon that had reached lunar orbit on November 8. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organization on October 22, Chandrayaan-1 marked India´s first effort to reach the Moon. India joins a small group of nations that have reached the moon, and one of only three nations currently with orbiters around it. Chandrayaan-1 will remain in orbit for two years in order to conduct a comprehensive geological survey of the Moon´s surface. It has already begun supplying high resolution images of the Moon's surface which excites those seeking independent verification of what exactly is on the Moon's surface. .
> 
> One of those most excited by the Chandrayaan-1 mission is Richard C. Hoagland who has spent decades analyzing NASA images of the Moon and Mars. In his 2008 book, Dark Mission, Hoagland claimed that *NASA, through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has systematically covered up or altered satellite imagery data pointing to the existence of extraterrestrial artifacts on both Mars and the Moon. He furthermore pointed out that NASA is subservient to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) due to the national security provisions found in NASA's Charter.*
> 
> I contacted Richard Hoagland to get his opinion about the Chandrayaan-1 mission and its significance for his thesis that extraterrestrial artifacts can be found there. He prefaced his response to my questions by pointing to President-Elect Barack Obama's statement on October 22 where the latter observed: "With India's launch of its first unmanned lunar spacecraft following closely on the heels of China's first spacewalk, we are reminded just how urgently the United States must revitalize its space program if we are to remain the undisputed leader in space, science, and technology."
> 
> What follows are Richard Hoagland´s responses (R.H.) to my questions (M.S.).
> 
> M.S.: *Have you any thoughts on how long the NASA-DOD inspired cover up of extraterrestrial artifacts can continue with India and other nations placing orbiters around the moon and probes on it?
> *
> 
> R.H.: If Obama (and those behind him ...) is truly interested in the new Indian Moon mission, as his very public statement strongly implies (McCain made no such public statement, nor did Bush), then Obama must also suspect (or know!) the "why" for India engaging in this totally "non-economic" major domestic expenditure. And, why it is planning on further, far more expensive future lunar missions with the Russians! So, whether the "NASA-DOD cover-up of alien artifacts" will continue during the Obama Administration would seem, in part, to involve Obama's personal knowledge of why the Indians are going to the Moon ... and his related, future plans for some kind of a "new relationship" with Russia (Putin).
> 
> Short answer: I think we finally have a shot at some real "disclosure" here -- if for no other reason than, the more that other international "players" are involved (even if they're all controlled by one central "source" -- "the Families") ... the more opportunity for serious new "data leaks" -- planned, or otherwise.
> 
> *M.S.: How successful will the Indians be in coming up with an independent data base on what's on the moon's surface?
> *
> R.H.: The Chandrayaan mission is equipped with sensitive, state-of-the-art high resolution equipment -- cameras, radar, and a unique instrument designed to specifically record instances of "TLP" ("transient lunar phenomenon" -- bright, minutes-long "lights" that have been appearing on the lunar surface for hundreds of years ...) close-up from lunar orbit. We at Enterprise, based on the NASA images, believe that these long-reported "lights" are actually bright, irregular solar reflections from the surviving glass ruins on the Moon seen in those NASA images! We actually have some quite striking examples in the NASA database of such reflections "from the glass!" If that is so, *the fact that the Indians have specifically sent an instrument into lunar orbit to study and record this long-standing mysterious phenomenon, could be interpreted as strong foreshadowing of their plans to ultimately, publicly, reveal the source of those reflections -- once they have their own TLP data: ancient glass ruins on the Moon!
> *
> 
> *M.S.: How do you anticipate NASA/DOD trying to influence what the Indians put up for the public on their future moon database?
> *
> R.H.: the Indian government signed a "memo of understanding" with NASA some years ago, over this Indian Moon Mission. As a result, there are a couple of NASA experiments flying on the Chandraayan mission, in addition to the Indian experiments, with JPL scientists involved. However, if the Indian government is planning to reveal "the good stuff," I don't believe NASA will hold much influence in their larger policy objectives. Again, it all depends on agreements much higher up "the food chain," and how much "change" Obama (and the folks behind him ...) REALLY are supporting ... in the run-up to 2012.
> 
> *M.S.: Do you consider India as a possible contender for informing the world about artifacts on the moon through satellite imagery?
> *
> *R.H.: Definitely, yes. The Indian Vedas preserve remarkable hints of the ancient, sweeping, high-tech history of all humanity -- from the distant era when both the Moon and Mars (and many other bodies in the solar system) were once inhabited ... by our own great, great, great ancestors. If there is to be "disclosure" of these long hidden truths, there would be no more fitting "messenger" than India ... if they are "allowed" to make them public by other geopolitical forces acting on them at this time. Obama's curious, public "singling out" of India's new Moon mission ... weeks before he was in any position to do anything about it ... is a very intriguing sign of what could happen in the coming months ....
> *
> 
> *M.S.: Finally, do you anticipate that those behind the secrecy are fully aware of India disclosing the truth about what's on the moon's surface and may try to preempt such a contingency in order not to lose all credibility.
> *
> R.H.: That again leads us back to Obama's public reaction vis a vis the Indian Chandraayan Mission, even BEFORE he was elected. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point that "change" is coming. Who will initiate it (us, out of fear of "loss of face" ... or the Indians) is totally up for grabs ... again, if it occurs at all. Allowing India "to do it" has a certain logic behind it. It would give NASA a much-needed "plausible deniability" -- in terms of its own, decades-long NASA data and the cover-up; the Indians just had "better, newer equipment" ... which allowed scientific proof of what was merely hinted at on NASA's ~40-year-old images! As with all other ultimately political decisions, the final decision would seem to depend on how dumb "they" think the rest of us really are ... to buy this type of "Indian revelation." If it comes. Stay tuned. RCH



With all due respect Nitesh, the article is bullshit.


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## Bushroda

*Moon mission inspires India to launch own version of Google Earth*
By CHER THORNHILL
Daily Mail, UK
14th November 2008

Space-hungry India is planning to launch an improved version of Google Earth using its own satellite system, just weeks after conquering the moon. 

Its space agency hopes to unveil a prototype of Bhuvan - the Sanskrit for Earth - by December and launch the programme to the public by March. 

Officials claim the mapping system will generate clearer images and zoom into a distance of just 10m.






*Sophisticated: 3D Google Earth provides a 3D image of the London Eye*

The state-owned service, which will initially cover only India, will be free to use on the web.

'We've created a lot of value added products out of satellite data of the Indian region', Dr. V. Jayaramna, a director at Isra, told the Financial Times. 

'We will introduce Bhuvan in phases. Over the next three to four months, the first lot [of map data] will come out and then more in a systematic manner.'

The move comes just weeks after India stepped up its position in the space race with the blast-off of the country's first unmanned space mission to the moon. 





*Space contender: India launched Chandralayaan-1, its first unmanned moon mission, in October*

Chandrayaan-1, which was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will create a 3D map of the lunar surface over two years. 

India is following in the footsteps of rival China, after the emerging Asian power celebrated its first space walk in September.

'What we have started is a remarkable journey,' G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of ISRO, said.

Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter is expected to mark the achievement tomorrow as it drops a probe, painted in the colours of the Indian flag, on the moon's surface.





*Earth from space: ISRO s Chandrayaan-1 pictures the Earth on its way to the Moon*

But critics argue that India should address the poverty at home before competing with space leaders including China and Japan.

The latest project has sparked speculation that India will develop its own global positioning system, providing for TomTom-like devices for cars. 

It is already working towards a satellite-based global aviation navigation system. 

And scientists revealed earlier this week that designs for an Aditya spacecraft to study the sun are nearly complete.

Google Earth displays satellite images of varying resolution of the Earth's surface, giving users a bird's eye view of things like houses and cars.

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## nitesh

Flintlock said:


> With all due respect Nitesh, the article is bullshit.



How come you are always Bingo Flint  I know that but was not able to resist my self from posting it. He he he


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## nitesh

hmm this needs attention too

Slipping satellite, rocket deadlines affect India?s space astronomy - Home - livemint.com

Slipping satellite, rocket deadlines affect India&#8217;s space astronomy

*The launch deadlines for two experimental projects in astronomy--Tauvex and Astrosat--have been sliding
*

Bangalore: India&#8217;s deep space exploration may have taken off smoothly with the Chandrayaan mission to the moon, but its space astronomy programmes, to explore the stars, galaxies and black holes, are still grounded.

The launch deadlines for two experimental projects in astronomy&#8212;Tauvex and Astrosat&#8212;have been sliding and scientists tell Mint it&#8217;s getting increasingly difficult to keep the small research crew motivated, an issue that has larger ramifications for Indian space science ambitions.


Waiting for lift-off: The set of three UV telescopes of Tauvex. Courtesy: Tauvex Group, Tel Aviv

*Tauvex, built by the Israel Space Agency, or ISA, is a set of three wide field ultraviolet, or UV, telescopes to be sent into the earth&#8217;s orbit aboard GSAT-4, India&#8217;s next communication satellite, which will be launched by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, or GSLV.
*While signing the agreement in December 2003, ISA and Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, had said *Tauvex would be launched in 2005. The launch date then slipped to mid-2008 and then to April-May 2009*.
*The hardware, ready to be hurled into space, is sitting in a clean room in Israel for the last two years while the software, too, is stacked up at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, or IIA, here in Bangalore.
*While the instrument is losing sensitivity, it&#8217;s also very difficult to keep the group motivated when such delays happen, says Jayant Murthy, Tauvex&#8217;s Indian investigator at IIA.
His Israeli counterpart and principal investigator, Noah Brosch at Tel Aviv University, says he is &#8220;angry and dismayed&#8221; at the delay.
&#8220;Astronomy is a competitive science and our main competition comes from the US telescope Galex, which was launched in 2003,&#8221; says Brosch, who believes that with passing months, Tauvex is increasingly losing out to Galex on UV discoveries. &#8220;The loss is in the discovery space; there are now less discoveries to be made, because Galex already cornered some,&#8221; he says. The team is, however, shifting its scientific goalposts to maximize returns.

But it&#8217;s not just Tauvex, which is one of several payloads to go on GSAT-4&#8212;a flight that is going to test Isro-developed cryogenic engine&#8212;but space astronomy at large that is suffering from a lack of focus and shifting deadlines.
&#8220;GSAT-4 has many developmental projects which, in any case, take long,&#8221; argues P. Sreekumar, head of space astronomy and instrumentation at Isro Satellite Centre. But he believes Astrosat has been delayed, among other things, due to a lack of focus. &#8220;All academics are trained to work as an individual, not as a team&#8230;it&#8217;s very difficult to make them work with engineers.&#8221;

*Initially, Astrosat was supposed to be launched in 2005-06 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV); then it shifted to late 2008 and, now, to early 2010.
*&#8220;Scientists have really squandered away the fantastic opportunity given to them&#8230;we are looking at it as a sideproject,&#8221; says Sreekumar. There is no such science mission on the anvil globally and if India delays too much, then it&#8217;ll lose its competitiveness and hold on the intended science, he notes.
Unlike most Isro missions where the payloads are largely developed by its umbrella organizations, Astrosat payloads are developed by three institutes: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, IIA in Bangalore, and Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, or IUCAA, in Pune.
Together they are building instruments that would enable multi-wavelength observations of stellar objects in optical, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. This complexity, says S.N. Tandon of IUCAA, justifying the delay, &#8220;has required our laboratories to take on new developments in technology&#8221;.
Murthy says some years were lost in dealing with &#8220;institutional bureaucracy&#8221; which delayed release of funds for instruments, one-tenth of the Rs400 crore Astrosat budget. &#8220;We lost four years in formal clearances, then there was change of guard at various places&#8230;,&#8221; recalls Murthy, who, after 20 years in the US, came to IIA from Johns Hopkins University in 1999 for Astrosat. Now, he says, his UV instruments won&#8217;t be ready before early 2010.
Isro, besides building PSLV, is also putting together an experimental payload to scan the sky for X-rays, which Sreekumar says would be ready in six months.
&#8220;Anywhere else a programme like Astrosat would have at least 10 PhD students, but I have only one and others don&#8217;t have any,&#8221; adds Sreekumar. People don&#8217;t understand that science experiments, unlike engineering, are new and provide an excellent training ground, Sreekumar says, who isn&#8217;t getting students to work on Aditya, Isro&#8217;s solar mission, either.
Why can&#8217;t Chandrayaan&#8217;s success be replicated? Experts say while the moon mission is much grander in scope, it had an &#8220;emotional spin&#8221; that helped people work together. Moreover, all the payloads were under Isro&#8217;s control.
&#8220;While, as scientists, we don&#8217;t like being pushed, Chandryaan had tremendous external pressure, which I think is sometimes necessary (for timely completion of projects),&#8221; says J.N. Goswami, principal scientist of Chandrayaan.


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## nitesh

The Indians have landed | The Australian


The Indians have landed
*
A FLAWLESS 23-day Indian space mission has made a hard lunar landing, planting a flag symbolising the country's growing technical, economic and industrial might.*


Chandrayaan-1 blasts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre near Chennai late last month

*It is the first stage in India's ambition to put a man on the moon by 2020, four years before China aimed to become the second nation, after the US in the late 1960s and early '70s, to complete a manned mission.*

The probe's mothership Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit for mooncraft) remains in orbit where Japanese and Chinese satellites already circle, each vying to boost national pride. *Chandrayaan's success has stoked India's ego.*

For Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Madhavan Nair, the mission has proved "very productive and fruitful". "We have also emerged as a low-cost travel agency to space," he says.

It is not just a landmark for the ISRO, which has launched dozens of satellites since it was founded in 1969, but had never before sent an object beyond Earth's orbit. The successful mission catapults India into an elite club: the US, Russia, Japan and China are the only other countries capable of independently reaching the moon (the European Space Agency has also sent a satellite into moon orbit).

It also marks the beginning of what some experts describe as a 21st-century Asian version of the space race between the US and the Soviet Union.

*India is competing with China and Japan - Asia's two dominant powers - to send a man to the moon. Even South Korea has an ambitious space program.
*

"In the 20th century the race to the moon was fought between the erstwhile Cold War adversaries," says Pallava Bagla, author of Destination Moon, a history of ISRO.

"In the 21st century those gladiators have been left behind and the Asian nations, on the upsurge, have decided to take their place.

*"Chandrayaan is a scientific mission, but it also has implications for global geopolitics. It's like a coming-out party for India."
*
The setting for the historic launch was the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, built in 1971 on Sriharikota Island, about 100km north of Chennai, and now surrounded by a bird sanctuary. *The entrance looks much like that of any other Indian government compound: a couple of nonchalant policemen, a dirty tea shop, a few stray dogs. Only the two model rockets hint at the futuristic activity within.
*
Scientists and engineers clapped and hugged each other when news of the hard landing last Friday was transmitted to mission control along with video pictures of the event. Hundreds of millions more Indians watched live television coverage.

Chandrayaan took several days to travel 385,000km through space before reaching its final position 100km above the moon's surface. *It spent 10 days in orbit before firing the lander to the surface, the Indian flag painted on its casing. The lander is thought to have settled in a crater near the south pole.*

The mothership will orbit the moon for two years, using high-resolution remote sensing to compile, *for the first time, a three-dimensional atlas of its surface and analyse its composition. "*This is a historic moment for India," Nair says. "What we have started is a remarkable journey ... to unravel the mysteries of the moon."

*On board are 11 instruments: five from ISRO and six from foreign agencies, including NASA and the ESA. ISRO is footing the bill for the mission and will have access to all data from the experiments in an unprecedented example of international co-operation in space.
*
The results could reveal whether the moon contains enough water and helium-3 (a potential energy source rare on Earth) to sustain human life.

"Man has to go to the moon," says T.K. Alex, head of ISRO's satellite centre. "If something happens to Earth, a natural or man-made disaster, we may also need a colony on Mars."

*The idea of colonising the moon, let alone Mars, marks a huge strategic shift for India, which has previously focused on cheaper projects with more earthly applications.
*
India's modern space program was conceived by Jawaharlal Nehru, its first prime minister, as a peaceful way to lift the country out of poverty. ISRO has concentrated on civilian projects with social or industrial benefits, laying the foundations of India's recent information technology boom.

Today India has 16 satellites in orbit, supporting telecommunications, TV broadcasting, earth observation, weather forecasting, remote education and health care.

Because of an early shortage of funds it also boasts the world's most efficient space program, generating income from spacecraft sales and commercial satellite launches.

Now ISRO has far more ambitious and expensive plans. The Government has approved a second unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, that will land a rover on the moon by 2010-12. ISRO is also planning to put its first Indian astronaut into orbit by 2014-16, depending on when the Government approves the $2.4 billion budget. It has already announced plans to land a man on the moon by 2020.

The public response to the plans appears to reflect the gulf between India's consumer class of 50 million to 100 million people and the rest of the population of 1.1billion. Poorer Indians tend to say the money should be spent on fighting poverty in a country where 800 million people live on less than $3 a day and 47 per cent of children under three are malnourished.

"Will going to the moon help me to stop pedalling this?" asks Pappu Tiwari, 34, who pulls a cycle rickshaw in Delhi, supporting a wife and four children on little more than 2000 rupees ($60) a month.

"To me this space exploration is nothing but a gimmick."

Wealthy and middle-class professionals generally respond that the country lacks good governance, rather than money, and that the space program benefits Indian industry.

*"Poverty and hunger will always remain,"* says Rajeev Kapoor, 48, a salesman from Delhi who supports his wife and two children on about 6000 rupees a month.

*"By the time the Government would try to eradicate them completely, the world itself would have vanished."
*
There is, however, a new impetus for India's lunar ambitions. Mao Zedong initiated China's space program in 1958 with specific military applications in mind and placed it under the purview of the People's Liberation Army.

That head start, combined with a 30-year economic boom, means China is years ahead of India on several fronts, as demonstrated in a series of recent breakthroughs. China put its first astronaut in space in 2003, shot down a satellite and launched a lunar orbiter in 2007, and conducted the first space walk by a Chinese astronaut last month. Beijing plans to land a man on the moon by 2024.

Indian officials insist they are not racing with China, but they have eyed it with suspicion ever since Chinese forces easily prevailed in a brief border war in 1962. Last year India's army chief spoke in public for the first time of his fears about China's military space program and the need for India to accelerate its own.

Other Asian powers have also been spurred into action by China's recent success and by North Korea's claim to have tested a nuclear bomb in 2006. Japan launched a new unmanned lunar orbiter last year, has plans for an unmanned moon lander in 2012-13, and is considering putting a man on the moon by 2025. South Korea accelerated its space program in 2004 by teaming up with Russia to develop a space port and a satellite launch vehicle, due for completion this year.

"There's an element of rivalry, but each country has a mix of motivations," says Bates Gill, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. "It's a combination of national prestige and the spin-offs for technology. The third aspect is the military one. The ultimate high ground: space."

This new space race differs from the Cold War because of the lack of ideology and the international co-operation needed for expensive projects such as Mars missions, experts say. "Space is a global enterprise," says Henry R. Hertzfeld from George Washington University's Space Policy Institute.

Some foresee a golden era of global co-operation. NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon again by 2020 and to build a permanent base there. Russia aims to have one by 2028-32. If all plans come to fruition, the moon is going to be a little crowded.

Nevertheless, most experts agree that space exploration continues to be as much about politics as about science, and a few see trouble over the horizon.

China, India, Japan, Russia and the US publicly oppose the weaponisation of space, but all are developing space technology with potential military applications.

And India is the only country with a lunar program to have signed the 1979 UN Moon Agreement, which bans ownership of lunar resources. None has yet ratified it.

"There is a window over the next 10 to 15 years for countries to think about a resource race in space," Gill says. "It's not too early to think about what these countries might do that could avoid conflict in the future."

The Times and agencies


----------



## nitesh

The Space Review: India on the ISS: it starts with a rack






India&#8217;s accomplishments in space, including the launch last month of its first lunar mission (above), warrant including it in the ISS partnership in some manner. (credit: ISRO)

*India on the ISS: it starts with a rack*
by Taylor Dinerman
Monday, November 17, 2008

As the International Space Station (ISS) nears completion, the partnership that built it needs to expand. It is not just a question of new resources, though of course spreading the expense amongst a wider number of partners would lead to small reductions in the operating costs paid for by the current partners. *There are, however, two other, more important reasons: ideas and politics.*

*The current partners&#8212;the US, Russia, ESA, Canada, and Japan&#8212;may still be engaged in finding ways to use the &#8220;World Class Laboratory&#8221; they have built, but they are still doing so within the limits and using the procedures they have established over many years.* It has been hard just to build the station, and this effort has distracted the leaders of these government space agencies from preparing to utilize the facility to the fullest extent possible.

It has been natural for those involved in the project to concentrate on the task at hand and not to get distracted by plans and preparations that can only bear fruit if the job is completed. *Now, however, the time has come to begin to change the focus and to seek ways to get the maximum return on the investment that has been made. The US Congress&#8217;s decision to designate the ISS as a national laboratory is a step in this direction.*

*The partnership now needs new sources of ideas and new people who will bring a new perspective to the program.* Obviously China and India are the first candidates for membership. China seems to be holding its cards close to its vest, and the continuing lack of real transparency in their program will make it hard for them to join up any time soon. *India, on the other hand, has opened itself to international cooperation and has proven itself a reliable and talented partner.
*
*India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 moon mission has not only been a scientific and technological success, but it has been an international political winner. By incorporating instruments from Europe and the US as well as their own ones, and doing so in an open way, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proven itself to be, without question, one of the world&#8217;s top space agencies.
*
ISRO wants to follow up this mission with another Moon mission and then a Mars mission. More to the point, *ISRO has begun studying a two-person capsule that could put India in the same league with Russia, the US, and China: nations that are able to launch humans into orbit. For the moment, the only reasonable destination for such a spacecraft is the ISS.*

India has not only proved itself with Chandrayaan, it has also made a *critically important step towards a truly civil space program, by setting up a military space command.* This separation puts India well within international norms and indicates that the government in New Dehli wants to make it fairly easy for ISRO to join international space projects, such as the ISS. By itself, this will not solve the problems with the transfer of sensitive dual-use technology, but it shows that India is ready to take those concerns into consideration. Of course, life would be easier for everyone if the US were able to seriously reform export control regulations.

One obstacle to India&#8217;s joining the ISS is lack of money. This is what killed Brazil&#8217;s membership and preliminary talks with India should be careful to insure that ISRO&#8217;s commitments are compatible with India&#8217;s overall budgetary policy. *It spite of its limited funds, ISRO has already taken steps along the path to developing its own system for manned spaceflight.*

*In January 2007 they launched their Space Capsule Recovery Experiment on one of their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV). The experiment stayed in orbit for 12 days and was recovered by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal. Among other things this showed that ISRO has the capability to design and build workable ablative heat shields that could be used for manned capsules. No one really knows how long it will take them to build their new capsule, but it will be interesting to watch the process they use to human-rate the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) they plan to use.*

What makes sense for the ISS partnership in the short term is to *offer India full control of an experimental rack.* The agreement with Japan stipulates that a number of the racks in the Kibo module will be controlled by NASA. Since the US has been cutting back on some of the science work it once planned to do on the ISS, it would be logical to offer this space to India, free of charge. ISRO could then take charge of outfitting the rack with experiments devised by Indian scientists.

At some point India could begin to fly its own astronauts to the station, either on one of the last Shuttle flights or with the Russians. They have not had anyone in orbit since Rakesh Sharma flew to the Salyut 7 station in 1984. It&#8217;s about time that an Indian citizen returned to space.

India has earned the right to be considered a full-fledged spacefaring nation. Inviting them to be a full partner on the ISS will simply make clear what everyone in the space industry already knows. It would also be a nice way for President Obama to begin his administration&#8217;s relationship with the world&#8217;s most populous democracy.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## nitesh

Chandrayaan-II cleared by govt, to be in orbit by 2011-12
17 Nov 2008, 2142 hrs IST, PTI


COIMBATORE: Even as India's maiden lunar probe
circles the moon, the Centre has given its approval for Chandrayaan-II and it would be in orbit by 2012.

ISRO has started necessary research workfor the next mission for which the Centre has sanctioned necessary funds, Chandrayaan-I Project Director Mylswamy Annadurai told reporters. The second mission would be a fully indigenous one, he said.

Chandrayan-I is the best thing to happen to Indian space research and is designed to study the water availability and fertile standards of moon, he said.

The moon mission has proved that India is on par with any other nation which ventured to the earth's satellite, he said.

Stating that the pictures being received from moon were giving very valuable inputs, he said steps are being made to get continuous pictures by making some technical corrections.

Earlier, the Scientist was felicitated by the public at different places in Coimbatore district for the successful launch of the country's moon mission.

Accepting the felicitations, Annadurai exhorted the students to shelve their foreign dreams as opportunities were available within India.

The days of foreign students coming to India in pursuit of research works and higher studies were not far away, he said.


Chandrayaan-II cleared by govt, to be in orbit by 2011-12- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


----------



## Halaku Khan

The Arab Probe
Ghassan Charbel Al-Hayat - 17/11/08//

One is supposed to cheerfully welcome any scientific or technological advancement achieved by a close or remote nation, especially if this advancement has nothing to do with an aggressive military project or a hegemonic scheme. Yet, I must admit that I was overtaken by frustration and envy when the news agencies circulated the story of the Indian probe. The India Space Research Organization announced that a tiny probe no bigger than a small TV set has landed on the moon as part of the first Indian unmanned lunar mission. The probe split from the satellite Chandrayaan-1 (which stands for lunar vehicle) on its way on a two-year mission to capture three dimensional images of the lunar surface, particularly in the two dark poles, in addition to searching for water or snow on that same surface and identifying the chemical structure of some rocks. This mission crowns the efforts by the India Space Research Organization that was established 45 years ago.

This event can be understood in light of the Indian-Chinese competition. Mao Zedong's nation no longer accepts to sit in the back seat whether in terms of economic or technological development. It no longer accepts American or Russian leadership in challenging fields, and Chinese scientists are currently busy with the preparations for sending a Chinese to the moon.

I felt envious. Had India followed our path, it would now been an ocean of the starving and unemployed. Instead, it chose a different path. It is true that hundreds of millions are still living at or below the poverty line, but it is also true that this nation, which has secured its position in the nuclear club, has also achieved massive progress in the computer and chip industries. With the scenarios predicting the rise of Asia in the coming phase, many states have already started building commercial, scientific and technological relations with the Indian giant. This is attributed to two reasons: India's success in rehabilitating itself to play a major role, and the desire of several states to keep the Chinese giant in check by formulating an alliance with the Indian giant.

My preoccupation with the Indian probe did not prevent me from following Arab news, which is always sweet and reassuring. Arab League Secretary General broke startling news to al-Mutanabbi's descendants when he announced that the Arab world's population of illiterates has now reached 100 million. This means that the illiterate in the Arab world easily constitute a population bigger than that of Germany - without counting the semi-illiterate and the technologically illiterate.

I was about to forget the story of the 100 million illiterates when I found myself facing other news. The First Arab Report on Cultural Development revealed that reading is not among the established habits of Arabs. The report noted that published books in the various fields of science and knowledge represent no more than 15% of all books published in the Arab world last year. It also noted that one book is published for every 12,000 Arabs versus one book for every 500 Britons and 900 Germans. In other words, the reading average in the Arab world is almost 4% of that in Britain.

I was taken by a sense of defeat that was doubled as I read about an incentive plan by the German government aiming at attracting brilliant researchers from all over the world. The plan offers deserving and willing researchers the opportunity to finance their projects on German territory with expected great returns, including the opportunity to restore German universities to the top ranks among the best universities in the world.

It is no secret that the future is made today, in schools, universities, research centers and technological institutes. Evidently we are losing the battle for the future. We are not asking for sending an Arab probe to the moon. We demand probing the Arab mind itself to find out how it has frozen and discover how we can bring its comatose state to an end. The largest party in the Arab world is the party of illiterates. The loudest voice in the Arab world is that of the semi-illiterate. This is horrific. The probe has to dig deep inside the Arab mind before it can find out what went wrong. We neither write nor read, and if we write, it is ancient language that we produce. This is why we have lost our status and this is why we envy the Indian probe. We have lost the space too and won nothing but the enjoyment of a pleasurable nap in front of TV screens.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Note from Halaku: Thanks to Arab friends for their complements. I'm sure India will be happy to collaborate with the Arab world in technical fields.


----------



## nitesh

Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads

Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads

Express News Service
First Published : 18 Nov 2008 04:53:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 18 Nov 2008 10:41:12 AM IST

BANGALORE: After the success of Chandaryaan- 1 mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have now successfully developed another project which will further enhance their reputation.

*They have developed hydrogen fuel cells to power an automobile bus by using the expertise of the homegrown cryogenic technology for rockets.
*
*The first proto-model of the bus is already assembled and by next year it is expected to hit the road.*

The project is a two-year effort and now the scientists are preparing for the fuel cells to be fitted into a bus. In 2006, ISRO and Tata Motors had entered into an agreement to design and develop an automobile bus using hydrogen as a fuel through fuel cell route.

The Tatas will handle the locomotive part and hydrogen handling system of the bus.

*HOW IT WORKS?*

Hydrogen would be fed to the fuel cells which would then produce 80 kw of electric power to drive the bus.

The bus which would be on the lines of CNG model will have hydrogen stored in eight bottles at high pressure atop the bus. However, the cost of running hydrogen-fuel powered buses would be higher than the conventional vehicles run on diesel.

But its environmental-friendly and zero-pollution factors would go a long way in ridding our cities of vehicular pollution and enable us to earn some carbon credits.


----------



## nitesh

Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads

Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads

Express News Service
First Published : 18 Nov 2008 04:53:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 18 Nov 2008 10:41:12 AM IST

BANGALORE: After the success of Chandaryaan- 1 mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have now successfully developed another project which will further enhance their reputation.

*They have developed hydrogen fuel cells to power an automobile bus by using the expertise of the homegrown cryogenic technology for rockets.
*
*The first proto-model of the bus is already assembled and by next year it is expected to hit the road.*

The project is a two-year effort and now the scientists are preparing for the fuel cells to be fitted into a bus. In 2006, ISRO and Tata Motors had entered into an agreement to design and develop an automobile bus using hydrogen as a fuel through fuel cell route.

The Tatas will handle the locomotive part and hydrogen handling system of the bus.

*HOW IT WORKS?*

Hydrogen would be fed to the fuel cells which would then produce 80 kw of electric power to drive the bus.

The bus which would be on the lines of CNG model will have hydrogen stored in eight bottles at high pressure atop the bus. However, the cost of running hydrogen-fuel powered buses would be higher than the conventional vehicles run on diesel.

But its environmental-friendly and zero-pollution factors would go a long way in ridding our cities of vehicular pollution and enable us to earn some carbon credits.


----------



## jeypore

India on the ISS: it starts with a rack



As the International Space Station (ISS) nears completion, the partnership that built it needs to expand. It is not just a question of new resources, though of course spreading the expense amongst a wider number of partners would lead to small reductions in the operating costs paid for by the current partners. There are, however, two other, more important reasons: ideas and politics.

The current partners&#8212;the US, Russia, ESA, Canada, and Japan&#8212;may still be engaged in finding ways to use the &#8220;World Class Laboratory&#8221; they have built, but they are still doing so within the limits and using the procedures they have established over many years. It has been hard just to build the station, and this effort has distracted the leaders of these government space agencies from preparing to utilize the facility to the fullest extent possible.

It has been hard just to build the station, and this effort has distracted the leaders of these government space agencies from preparing to utilize the facility to the fullest extent possible. 
It has been natural for those involved in the project to concentrate on the task at hand and not to get distracted by plans and preparations that can only bear fruit if the job is completed. Now, however, the time has come to begin to change the focus and to seek ways to get the maximum return on the investment that has been made. The US Congress&#8217;s decision to designate the ISS as a national laboratory is a step in this direction.

The partnership now needs new sources of ideas and new people who will bring a new perspective to the program. Obviously China and India are the first candidates for membership. China seems to be holding its cards close to its vest, and the continuing lack of real transparency in their program will make it hard for them to join up any time soon. India, on the other hand, has opened itself to international cooperation and has proven itself a reliable and talented partner.

India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 moon mission has not only been a scientific and technological success, but it has been an international political winner. By incorporating instruments from Europe and the US as well as their own ones, and doing so in an open way, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proven itself to be, without question, one of the world&#8217;s top space agencies.

ISRO wants to follow up this mission with another Moon mission and then a Mars mission. More to the point, ISRO has begun studying a two-person capsule that could put India in the same league with Russia, the US, and China: nations that are able to launch humans into orbit. For the moment, the only reasonable destination for such a spacecraft is the ISS.

India has not only proved itself with Chandrayaan, it has also made a critically important step towards a truly civil space program, by setting up a military space command. This separation puts India well within international norms and indicates that the government in New Dehli wants to make it fairly easy for ISRO to join international space projects, such as the ISS. By itself, this will not solve the problems with the transfer of sensitive dual-use technology, but it shows that India is ready to take those concerns into consideration. Of course, life would be easier for everyone if the US were able to seriously reform export control regulations.

One obstacle to India&#8217;s joining the ISS is lack of money. This is what killed Brazil&#8217;s membership and preliminary talks with India should be careful to insure that ISRO&#8217;s commitments are compatible with India&#8217;s overall budgetary policy. It spite of its limited funds, ISRO has already taken steps along the path to developing its own system for manned spaceflight.

In January 2007 they launched their Space Capsule Recovery Experiment on one of their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV). The experiment stayed in orbit for 12 days and was recovered by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal. Among other things this showed that ISRO has the capability to design and build workable ablative heat shields that could be used for manned capsules. No one really knows how long it will take them to build their new capsule, but it will be interesting to watch the process they use to human-rate the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) they plan to use.

India has earned the right to be considered a full-fledged spacefaring nation. Inviting them to be a full partner on the ISS will simply make clear what everyone in the space industry already knows. 
What makes sense for the ISS partnership in the short term is to offer India full control of an experimental rack. The agreement with Japan stipulates that a number of the racks in the Kibo module will be controlled by NASA. Since the US has been cutting back on some of the science work it once planned to do on the ISS, it would be logical to offer this space to India, free of charge. ISRO could then take charge of outfitting the rack with experiments devised by Indian scientists.

At some point India could begin to fly its own astronauts to the station, either on one of the last Shuttle flights or with the Russians. They have not had anyone in orbit since Rakesh Sharma flew to the Salyut 7 station in 1984. It&#8217;s about time that an Indian citizen returned to space.

India has earned the right to be considered a full-fledged spacefaring nation. Inviting them to be a full partner on the ISS will simply make clear what everyone in the space industry already knows. It would also be a nice way for President Obama to begin his administration&#8217;s relationship with the world&#8217;s most populous democracy.

The Space Review: India on the ISS: it starts with a rack


----------



## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : &#8216;It&#8217;s a turning point for ISRO&#8217;


*&#8216;It&#8217;s a turning point for ISRO&#8217; *


Dr G. Madhavan Nair 

Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, Nov. 18 The October-November 2008 Chandrayaan-1 gave India its Moon and caps the dauntless spirit of the 40-year-old national space programme: the wholly indigenous agenda kept its head up amidst external adversities most of its time.

If it met pressing national needs of communication, broadcasting and disaster management in its early 30 years, it chose to harvest the investment in it by going commercial during the late 1990s with its launch and satellite services. ISRO in Version 3 says it has matured enough to start an exciting but challenging journey on its own into deep space. Excerpts from an interview that Dr G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, gave as the Indian lunar tryst was climaxing:

*What does the success of Chandrayaan-1 mean to ISRO and the country?*

It&#8217;s a turning point for ISRO. Of course, in the last few years we have seen very unique ones - *the space capsule recovery experiment; the launching of 10 (small) satellites at a stretch; and now Chandrayaan-1. All this shows the maturity of our technology.*

I think we have established (the fact) that our systems are globally competitive and *we will be able to get a really good share of the global market, whether it is satellite building or launch vehicles.*

*We are also in the process of formulating the next phase of space vision for 2025.* That is unfolding. We have been working on it for almost a year now.

The *important elements in that are the human space flight, the recoverable and reusable launch system; hyperspectral (64-colour) imaging, microwave imaging and wide-band communication system.* So this formulation should find better support from all quarters in the light of Chandrayaan-1. In addition, we have the responsibility of meeting day-to-day national needs.

*In terms of business?*

I&#8217;m sure it will reflect in business as well. You see, we already have two full satellites being built here. One of them (the W2M for Eutelsat) has been shifted and the second one (HYLAS for Avanti) will follow within a year. In launches also, we hope some more opportunities will come in the light of this event.

The Chandrayaan-1 trajectory was very tricky and the results are remarkably on the dot. *We had practically no deviation in any phase of the mission. The first lunar injection came within 10 km of accuracy. To get this over 4 lakh km is really unique (for a first time shot).*

*Now people recognise that our launches are reliable and perform well. This will definitely build up the confidence of the customer.
*

*Do you expect other agencies to increasingly seek to partner with ISRO? Or a smoother path to getting technologies that you need quickly?
*

Other space agencies are appreciative of a difficult feat achieved. But basically international cooperation will remain on space exploration and space science.

On the technology side, I&#8217;m afraid even today, competition is very stiff.

*I don&#8217;t think we will get much benefit out of collaboration on that front. But we may be able to exchange our products and many sub-systems needed for satellites which could be sold in the international market.* Similarly, we also would be looking at buying some things in the international market based on the strength of technology and cost-competitiveness.

*What is the finance required for all these projects?*

*For the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), we have projected a budget of around Rs 35,000 crore .*We hope we will be fully supported.

*Do you foresee the present global economic slump affecting the activities of ISRO and its customers?
*

These are high-end (areas) not affected by normal commercial events. Of course, the availability of funds can sometimes affect programmes. Our R&D is fully funded by the Government, which has normally been considerate with the space programme and not reduced the budget. We hope we will be able to maintain the pace of our growth.

Projects already committed should sustain for the next 2-3 years. By then the economic situation may improve. *In fact, we expect Antrix to grow 25-30 per cent. (ISRO&#8217;s commercial arm Antrix Corporation had 2007-08 revenue of Rs 940 crore.)*

*Surprisingly, the Indian satellite market demand is quite high and the demand from our commercial channels continues to grow. We don&#8217;t have a single spare transponder - all are sold out!
*

These new missions also throw up a large hardware requirement in the coming years.

Indeed, *our activities are multiplying and we are developing new technologies. We are talking of Rs 12,000 crore to be spent over the next six-seven years. A major chunk of this will be pumped into Indian industry. More than 60 per cent of our budget is spent on Indian industries. This policy will continue.*

*Has it been easy to find suitable vendors?*

People already working for us have caught on with space quality. But if you ask me about the growth rate of the aerospace industry, it has not been as much as what we would have liked it to be. Big players like HAL, L&T, MTAR and Godrej have invested and are doing a major part our work. But to take on major space systems, perhaps other than HAL, the rest have not matured into that level of technology. But we will keep up the dialogue and enthuse them to take up more and more work load.

*Why is it so &#8211; the Big Brother waits but the suppliers are missing?*

The basic philosophy of our industry is that probably they are looking for quick returns. Whereas return on investments in a high-tech area like space will come later. You need to have patience and our industry may not be prepared to wait.

In the US and Europe, industries themselves invest in R&D, human capital and infrastructure. Here they don&#8217;t have a long-term vision to build themselves up. So the Government is forced to invest in many such areas.

*How is the human mission plan progressing? Have you given a name to the Indian in space?*

*As for a name, we are going to declare this as a national competition for schools and select an appropriate name from among those entries.
*
The Space Commission has cleared the human mission and it&#8217;s being submitted to the Government. It is a multi-disciplinary task. We have to create simulation facilities first and then open up other disciplines. We are in dialogue with the Institute of Aviation Medicine (under the Ministry of Defence). It selects fighter pilots (- a process which has) so many elements common with training astronauts also. We will make use of their expertise. That is the reason for our selecting Bangalore as the site for the astronaut training centre.

Not only the physiology, psychological aspects also come into picture for meeting the environment in space.

*How will require training overseas?*

Training is one of the challenges. With this kind of facility it can all be totally done here. The centre should start working in about three years. In another two years we will start training the people.

The Russians and the Americans start with some 200 candidates and converge on four or five for the work [space trip]. We have to go through a similar process.

*Are there partnership offers from NASA or Russians who have the experience?*

At the moment there is no concrete proposal. However, we are in constant dialogue with them.

*What is the status of your plan to send an orbiter to Mars?*

We already have a projection for the Mars mission in the next five-year plan. We are in the process of selecting the scientific experiments and a formal proposal will follow. If everything goes all right, *we should have that mission in 4-5 years.*

*How will the manpower requirement be met? With more recruitments?*

The first year is over (for the batch of nearly 150) at the Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology at Thiruvananthapuram and the results are very good. That will feed half of the manpower needs for the future. For the remaining we still depend on the open market.

Our policy is to sub-contract to the maximum extent. We won&#8217;t be increasing more than 1,000-1,500 in the next five years across centres to replace retiring ones and for new recruits. That would be 300 scientists added each year on an average. On the business side, it&#8217;s separate for Antrix.

*Many non-resident Indian scientists are said to have contacted you after chandrayaan-1.
*
I have not received a single request like that from anybody. I have come across many people who work in the same areas (overseas) but frankly, I don&#8217;t think they anywhere match the quality, knowledge base or the type of overall specialisation that we now have. Of course, if some bright ones do turn up, we would welcome them.


----------



## nitesh

Chandrayaan mission finds maiden application in weather forecasts- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Chandrayaan mission finds maiden application in weather forecasts
19 Nov 2008, 1114 hrs IST, Chandra Ranganathan, ET Bureau


*A few weeks back, Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday for all schools in Chennai fearing the heavy downpour that had been lashing the city for over 10 days would continue. Schools remained closed and students had a great time, playing outside with not a drop of rain falling on their heads. Yet another weather forecast had gone wrong.
*

*Now contrast this to what happened at Sriharikota on October 22nd. India was about to launch its most prestigious mission to date- Chandrayaan. And it was raining heavily. But the footages from the control room showed scientists in a very relaxed mood. As it happened, it rained before and after the launch, but during the blast off at 6:22 am, there wasn't a single drop of rain.
*

*ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair, attributed this to weather modelling and forecasting techniques that the space agency had developed by using national and international scientific expertise.
*
"The weather all over the world is a mystery. I don't think anybody has deciphered it so far. But a *team of scientists assembled here from various parts like ISRO, national aeronautics, lab, space physics lab, space application centre- they were running for the first time multiple simulation models based on fundamental physical principles. And these were assisted by observations we have from Kalpana spacecraft, Doppler weather radar developed by ISRO, and automatic weather stations and GPS atmospheric sounding equipment developed by ISRO. I can vouch for 48-hour weather prediction with 85&#37; confidence level. And its 6-hour predictions are very precise. During the launch, everything went as per predictions." He added that ISRO would use this model for future launches.*

Mr Nair said that ISRO is now in discussions with the Indian Meteorological Department to share some of these forecasting methods. "This is more relevant in the tropics. US and Europe already have well-established models for weather forecasting," he added.

"In this case, we created a model and ran software to predict weather for 6 hour, 12 hour intervals. Usually, the percentage of accuracy comes down with longer time lines. But, for the launch, we predicted weather for 48-hours with a confidence level of 85%. This could also go up to 72 hours in some models," said Mr Seshagiri Rao, deputy director- Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

If this is widely used, it might come as bad news for students who prefer the playground to classrooms. But it could be a boon for people whose livelihood depends on accurate weather forecasts.

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## nitesh

domain-b.com : "Spot beam" satellite being developed for rural net connectivity: ISRO

"Spot beam" satellite being developed for rural net connectivity: ISRO news 
19 November 2008

India is developing an unconventional satellite which will be designed to provide fast-track internet connectivity to rural masses and allow them to access advice on various aspects of agriculture, according to chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair.

"You know, if you take the country, even today more than 30,000 villages don't have proper connectivity. (With) conventional type of satellites, we cannot meet that requirement", he said. "So, we have to go for spot beams, high bandwidth type of capacity to be built up. Only that can make things happen", he said.

Aimed primarily at rural areas, the new INSAT-class, three tonne satellite, will not have an all-India beam, but spot beams instead which would cover different parts of the country. These would be controlled by a hub, which would be connected to the national network.

As for the satellite's applications, Nair, who is also secretary, department of Space, said "communication has to be established. Then, agricultural advice which needs to be given to farmers in various aspects...that would be provided through that (the satellite)".

The spacecraft would be launched by European space consortium, Arianespace, within two years, he added.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Sci Tech : Chandrayaan-1: imaging moon in 64 colours

Chandrayaan-1: imaging moon in 64 colours

R. PRASAD

HySI will map the equatorial region during two 60-day slots in a year 



http://www.thehindu.com/seta/2008/11/20/stories/chandrayaan1.pdf

If the Terrain Mapping Camera (TRC) can collect topographical data that will help compile a 3D lunar atlas with a 5 metre resolution, the Hyper-Spectral Imager (HySI) will enable the mineralogical mapping of the moon&#8217;s surface.

HySI, along with other instruments, will also help in understanding the composition of the moon&#8217;s interior.

*Developed by the Ahmedabad based Space Applications Centre (the same Centre that developed the terrain mapping camera), the HySI will operate in the visible and near-infrared bands.*

As a result, the HySI will be able to collect crucial colour information of the moon&#8217;s surface features.

The colour information is collected from 421 nanometre to 964 nanometre wavelength, with a spectral resolution better than 15 nanometres.

*Captured in frames*

Chandrayaan-1 goes around the moon in a north-south polar orbit. It will collect the sun&#8217;s light reflected from the moon&#8217;s surface in an area detector (frames). This is much the same as any ordinary camera that captures an image in the form of frames.

*One frame will correspond to 40 km in the north-south direction and 20 km in the east-west direction.
*
*The 20 km coverage is called the swath. The rectangular frame has 512 pixels arranged in a north-south direction and 256 pixels in the east-west.
*
Arrays of 512 pixels in a north-south direction can be considered as rows and the arrays of 256 pixels arranged in an east-west direction can be considered as columns.

Each pixel covers 80 metres (hence 256 pixels x 80 metres gives the 20 km swath in the east-west direction). The area covered in the north-south direction depends on for how long the HySI camera captures data. Hence more the duration, more the area covered.
Wedge filter

The reflected light falling on HySI is split into spectral bands of different wavelengths by a wedge filter. The filter is placed in such a manner that the spectral separation happens in a north-south direction.

Hence each of the 512 pixels arranged in the north-south direction will represent continuously differing spectral wavelengths.

&#8220;One end of the array will have 421 nanometre and the other end will have 964 nanometre wavelength,&#8221; said Dr. Kiran Kumar A.S., Deputy Director, Sensor Development Area, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad.

The pixels arranged in a particular row (256 pixels) in the east-west direction will collect information in the same spectral wavelength.

So in one instant the HySI camera picks up data in different wavelengths. Ideally, data collected by all the 512 rows will help in understanding the mineralogical composition better.

*Data processing*

But transmitting the voluminous data will be very challenging. &#8220;Onboard processing is done and only 64 spectral bands are transmitted,&#8221; said Dr. Kumar.

The data processing is done by combining the data from 8 continuous rows that will cover the same region on the moon at slightly different wavelengths into one data.

This kind of data compression allows the 512 rows of spectral wavelengths to be sent as 64 spectral bands.

&#8220;The data compression will result in some data loss,&#8221; Dr. Kumar remarked, &#8220;but we need to compromise a little as we have to take into account data storage and transfer,&#8221; Dr. Kumar said.

*Operational time*

Much like the Terrain Mapping Camera, The *Hyper-Spectral Imager will be operational only for 20 minutes per orbit. This is because only the well illuminated regions of the moon near the equator will be imaged at any given point of time.
*
*&#8220;So the imaging period will be restricted to 60 days in six months. We will have two slots of 60 days each in a year,&#8221; he said.
*

*Area covered*

The rate at which the moon will be imaged will be 1.4 km per second. Since the swath (east-west coverage) is fixed at 20 km, 100 seconds of continuous operation will cover an area of 140 km length and 20 km width.

In 20 minutes of operation per orbit, the area of moon covered will be 1,680 km in length and 20 km in width. The higher latitudes, which will not be well lit by the sun, will be covered be increasing the exposure time of the camera.

&#8220;We will be able to cover the entire moon in two years&#8217; time,&#8221; Dr. Kumar said.

But why choose a wedge filter instead of a prism to split the incoming light into different spectral wavelengths? &#8220;We can get a compact system that weighs less only when a wedge filter is used. The complexity and weight increase when we use a prism,&#8221; he explained.


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## nitesh

Data bank

Data bank

R. RAMACHANDRAN

The Indian Space Science Data Centre will ingest, archive and disseminate payload data for all space science missions.


At the Spacecraft Control Centre of the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, at Peenya in Bangalore. 


A WEEK before the launch it looked like the most unlikely place to house the all-important Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) for the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter mission. The ISSDC is intended to be, according to the website of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), &#8220;the primary data centre for the payload data archives of Indian space science missions&#8221;. This data centre will be responsible for the ingestion, archiving and dissemination of the payload data and related ancillary data for all space science missions.

The centre&#8217;s building, located next to the building on which stands the massive deep space antenna DSN-32 on the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) campus at Byalalu near Bangalore, was under construction and one wondered how it would be ready in time for the launch. Of course, the data from the 11 on-board experiments would start coming in only after the satellite reached the final lunar pole-to-pole orbit, which would be around November 15. Even then the ISSDC building was far from a state requiring only the final touches.

One had to make one&#8217;s way past piled-up stones, cement, tiles, bricks and water puddles, and construction workers who were busy obviously working against time. But inside the under-construction building, you were in for a surprise. It seemed that, given the fast-approaching launch schedule, it had become necessary to get the data infrastructure ready first and then the building shell around it. To turn around what is usual in construction business must have required some ingenuity on the part of the civil engineers and the building contractors.

To the right of what would eventually be the main entrance to the building is a corridor. To the left of that is a big hall housing massive computer systems and allied electronics. To the right of the corridor are several smaller rooms with scores of PCs at which people were busy poring over tables and graphs displayed on large desktop monitors. To the left of the main entrance is another huge hall with several video monitors, much like a satellite control room. It is indeed what one may call the instrument control room. Here were the computers for the principal investigators of the various experiments and their scientist-engineer teams to sit and monitor the performance of their respective instruments via both the video images on the monitors and the data streams in the computers on their desks once the spacecraft reached its designated final 100 km circumpolar orbit around the moon.

The downlink signal that will be received at the antenna control centre at Byalalu will be both in S-band and X-band. The former is meant for communications between the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) of the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) headquarters at Peenya in Bangalore for orbit control and housekeeping operations and the latter for data recorded by the on-board experiments. The signal received by DSN-32 (which is built in what is known as the Cassegrain configuration) is reflected on to a sub-reflector situated at the focus of the large 32-metre-diameter dish, which in turn reflects it towards the centre of the dish where there is an opening. From here the signal is carried by a waveguide &#8211; comprising a series of seven oval-shaped reflectors &#8211; into the antenna control room situated under the base of the antenna.

As L. Srinivasan, the head of operations at Byalalu, explained, the sixth mirror is what is known as dichroic mirror in honeycomb configuration, which is transparent to one band and reflects the other. This serves to separate the S- and X-band data streams by transmitting the higher frequency X-band through and reflecting the S-band. After separation, the X-band data will be reflected by the seventh mirror on to an antenna feed and digital down converter and then on to a series of cryo-cooled low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). The insides of these LNAs are maintained at sub-zero temperatures of 15 K (-258oC). Similarly, the S-band data will also be sent separately through the feed-down converter-LNA combination of devices.

K. MURALI KUMAR

The signal received by the 32-metre-diameter antenna is reflected onto a sub-reflector situated at the focus of the dish, which in turn reflects it towards the centre of the dish where there is an opening. 


Both the unscrambled and amplified data streams are sent to the SCC (interview with S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISTRAC, Frontline, November 21). Here a basic check is first done on the X-band or science data to ensure that it is in the expected format. This is then checked for quality by ensuring that it is &#8220;frame-synchronised&#8221;; that is to say the data received are proper and can, therefore, be used for further processing. The quality-assured data are sent directly to the ISSDC at Byalalu.

The science data received at the ISSDC will first be segregated into data streams for each payload. The segregated data will be processed to generate Level-0 and Level-1 data products at Byalalu itself for distribution to the various science users. Level-0 data are basically raw data. This level corresponds to converting the zeros and ones &#8211; the binary representation &#8211; of the data received to some basic format. For example, if the data correspond to some imagery, they will be converted to the corresponding pixel representation.

All the orbit-related and attitude data at the time of data gathering will be added on at Level-1 so that the exact satellite position is known for any corrections that may be required to be made to the basic data, according to Srinivasan. The Level-1 product is thus a gross product; a quick-look product, to which no corrections to any parameter &#8211; say, geometric corrections such as geographical or coordinate corrections because of the tilt of the camera or vibrations &#8211; have been made. These will be done at Level-2. Upwards of Level-3, products would be application-specific.

Raw payload data/Level-0 data and Level-1 data will be available at the ISSDC in the respective servers of different payloads. Through the different means of dissemination &#8211; Internet or dedicated links &#8211; that have been established for access to all users (Frontline, November 21), these will be transferred to the respective Payload Operations Centres (POCs) for further processing, analysis and generation of higher-level data products.

Each POC is co-located at the respective institutions of the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the various on-board experiments, which will generate the higher-level products depending upon their requirement and various applications. For such purposes the data may have to be band-separated because a particular application may depend on a particular frequency, say, visible or infra-red, which would be carried out at the user&#8217;s end, Srinivasan pointed out. The PI will also coordinate the science to be done with the data with other investigators in a given experiment, who could be from different institutions.

The higher-level data products generated by the POCs will be transferred to ISSDC archives for storage and dissemination. The data archives for Level-0 and higher products will be organised following the international Planetary Data System (PDS) standards. The ISSDC has been designed with a mindboggling storage capacity of 400 petabytes (400 x 1015) or 400 million billion bytes of data to be archived for 20 years, according to Bangararaju, a senior engineer associated with the IDSN.

An important part of the mission from the perspective of ISRO, the launch contractor of these payloads, is the availability of data from foreign experiments to Indian researchers. While the payloads CIXS (Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer) and SARA (Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyser) have collaborating Indian institutions &#8211; the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, and the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram &#8211; and associated co-investigators, Indian researchers have apparently shown interest in data from other experiments as well.

After considerable negotiation, it has apparently been agreed to share raw and calibration data of each of the payloads. Accordingly, a nodal Indian investigator for each of the foreign payloads has been identified with whom the PIs of the non-Indian experiments will coordinate the sharing of these data. Of course, all the processed data from the six non-Indian experiments (except for CIXS and SARA) will be the property of the respective PIs.


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## newlife

*Chinese media questions Chandrayaan's success*

BEIJING: India's Chandrayaan mission may have evoked a good bit of national pride and come in for praise from different quarters worldwide including the White House in Washington. But a large section of the Chinese media has raised questions published articles questioning the success of Chandrayaan.

The articles question the contention of Indian Space Research Organisation, which said that Chandrayaan had an apogee of 37,800km with an orbital period of 73 hours. The articles in the Chinese media state that the apogee was only around 16,400 km with an orbital tour of 11 hours.

Most of the articles have been published in websites and blogs popular with the military and nationalist politicians. They include bulletin boards of websites that are linked to government organizations. But the general newspapers have refrained from taking a critical view of the Indian space mission. Most of them are copies of a single article.

The critical articles claim they were the result of analysis of data released by www.n2yo.com, which is a site devoted real time tracking of satellite launched across the world and contains a lot of technical information. Interestingly, the website of US government's National Aeronautics and Space Administration has published an article on Chandrayaan without raising any doubts about it.

Most of the articles are copies of a single piece using almost similar text. The headline common several of the pieces in different websites are: "Orbit not very normal; has India's Chandrayaan-1 run into problem?"

A search on the Chinese search engine, Baidu and the Chinese version of Google throws up several websites where the same article has been pasted. It seems someone or some agency has gone into a good deal of effort to ensure that the article is widely circulated across several media networks including those that represent government agencies.

Some of the Chinese sites also published Chinese versions of another English article, which described Chandrayaan mission as a case of major success in a country that has not been able to curb human rights violations and address the problem of poverty adequately. The source of this second article has not been clarified.

"Though India's human rights performance has been dismal in the last decade with right wing Hindu chauvinists targeting two large minorities of the country, Christians and Muslims but it has not hindered India's ascendance to the big league in the space," the version in the Chinese media said.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China_doubts_Chandrayaan_success/rssarticleshow/3665791.cms


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## Bushroda

newlife said:


> *Chinese media questions Chandrayaan's success*
> 
> Chinese media questions Chandrayaan's success-China-World-The Times of India



Its an old news. I think now they are all convinced that its a success.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan: normal operations soon

Chandrayaan: normal operations soon

A Correspondent

*Only two more instruments to be made operational, says Madhavan Nair*

Nedumbassery: *Almost all the major steps with regard to the course of Chandrayaan-1, the Indian moon mission, are complete and it will switch over to normal operation in a short while, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair has said.*

He told press persons at the airport here on Saturday that *only two more instruments aboard the craft had to be made operational and that might be done within a week.
*

&#8220;From there onwards, only some routine operations are left and everything is going according to the plans,&#8221; he said. The two science instruments of the U.S. aboard the spacecraft had become operational and they would start sending data within a week.

Mr. Nair said that with the terrain mapping camera of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), stereoscopic pictures of the moon would be available, which, in turn, would help to have a better understanding of the height and shape of craters on the lunar surface.

*&#8220;We are the only country to obtain pictures from such a closer distance. We have got pictures with a resolution of five metres followed by a Japanese probe which secured pictures only with a resolution of 10 metres,&#8221;* he said.

On the ejection of the MIP from the space craft, he said the probe hit the lunar surface within 25 minutes and 10 seconds after leaving the mother craft and approached a crater named Shackleton. &#8220;During its fall from the lunar orbit, the instrument could take approach pictures of the crater,&#8221; he said.

Noting that the MIP was part of its technological demonstration, he said the previous missions around this region had not yielded the desired results.

Mr. Nair said the ISRO was planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 in 2012, a mission in which a robot would be sent to collect samples from the lunar surface and conduct tests. In 2015, it would conduct a spacewalk and the man mission to the Moon would be launched only after it. After completing the Chandrayaan series, the ISRO would be going in for a mission to Mars and the steps for it had started. A blueprint of this project was expected to be out only after four or five years, he added.


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## Flintlock




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## Flintlock

^That girl in the blue sari who wants to become an IAS officer is so cute!


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## Munir

The link towards China or superpower is wrong. Putting a man in the space is far more difficult then crashing a probe on the moon... That is not my opinion but the reality.

India lands on the moon. Wow.
17 November 2008, 13:05 GMT + 2
THE rise of the world&#8217;s new superpower was underscored by Saturday&#8217;s moon landing by a probe painted in the saffron, white and green of the Indian flag.
The probe&#8217;s landing represents the first major space achievement by a developing country.
India&#8217;s top newspapers heralded the event with banner headlines, the best of which came from the Asian Age which put it simply: &#8220;India is big cheese.&#8221;
&#8220;This momentous achievement shall be etched in the history of India as a grateful tribute to our scientific community,&#8221; said Sonia Gandhi.

Here is the Times of India editorial on the accomplishment:

As planned, at exactly 8.06 p.m. IST on Friday the indigenously built Moon Impact Probe (MIP) detached itself from the spacecraft Chandrayaan-1
as it flew over the Malarpet mountain on the Moon. Twenty-five minutes later and revolving like a top to stabilise its descent, the instrument console about the size of a large television set with the tricolour painted on it hard-landed in a place called the Shackleton crater in the south polar region. With this India becomes only the fifth country in the world after the US, Russia, EU and Japan to have successfully sent an artefact to the Moon&#8217;s surface.
Yes, to an extent, the whole mission is also symbolic. For instance, it&#8217;s a great shot in the arm for national pride to know that even China hasn&#8217;t done something like this as yet. More importantly, though, it&#8217;s a symbol of India&#8217;s growing presence in space both in near-Earth remote sensing and communication satellite orbits to nearly 4,00,000 kilometres away in deep space using workhorse launchers like the PSLV which now have an enviable record of flawless lift-offs, including the latest one.
But Chandrayaan-1 and its impact probe aren&#8217;t merely technical demos. The MIP is actually the forerunner of a lunar rover vehicle to be soft-landed by Chandrayaan-2 sometime in 2012 or 2013 and, as such, had to test critical technologies and functions necessary for such an operation. It also had to demonstrate the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s (ISRO) capability of sending a probe at a pre-planned time and precise location on the Moon for scientific exploration and sampling at ground level. Chandrayaan-1 will meanwhile be preparing a high resolution three-dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the Moon and conducting chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface, including looking for water.
The fact that India can achieve all this at a fraction of the cost that space agencies of other countries incur means that in the future it would make sense for them to outsource at least a part of their own exploratory ventures to India as indeed they&#8217;ve already started doing for some time now with satellites that ride piggyback on PSLVs. As soon as the economics of this business start working out, ISRO can be minting money. How many other government R&D organisations who have been floundering on their own antediluvian development schemes for decades can boast of such success?


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## Munir

Well, So they crashed on the moon with Russian technology... 



nitesh said:


> Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads
> 
> Hydrogen fuel bus from ISRO to hit roads
> 
> Express News Service
> First Published : 18 Nov 2008 04:53:00 AM IST
> Last Updated : 18 Nov 2008 10:41:12 AM IST
> 
> BANGALORE: After the success of Chandaryaan- 1 mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists have now successfully developed another project which will further enhance their reputation.
> 
> *They have developed hydrogen fuel cells to power an automobile bus by using the expertise of the homegrown cryogenic technology for rockets.
> *
> *The first proto-model of the bus is already assembled and by next year it is expected to hit the road.*
> 
> The project is a two-year effort and now the scientists are preparing for the fuel cells to be fitted into a bus. In 2006, ISRO and Tata Motors had entered into an agreement to design and develop an automobile bus using hydrogen as a fuel through fuel cell route.
> 
> The Tatas will handle the locomotive part and hydrogen handling system of the bus.
> 
> *HOW IT WORKS?*
> 
> Hydrogen would be fed to the fuel cells which would then produce 80 kw of electric power to drive the bus.
> 
> The bus which would be on the lines of CNG model will have hydrogen stored in eight bottles at high pressure atop the bus. However, the cost of running hydrogen-fuel powered buses would be higher than the conventional vehicles run on diesel.
> 
> But its environmental-friendly and zero-pollution factors would go a long way in ridding our cities of vehicular pollution and enable us to earn some carbon credits.



GSLV
In the 1980's India began designing the GSLV, a Delta-II class medium launch vehicle, with an objective of placing 2.5 metric ton payloads into GTO. The development and launch of the GSLV rocket is a priority item in the 20-year Indian national space programme aimed at creating a dense satellite network to meet the country's requirements for telecommunications, Earth sounding, environmental monitoring and other systems, as well as India's entrance to the international market of space. The task set for Indian designers for the near future is to ensure launching at least one satellite a year.

Drawing heavily on the PSLV, early concepts for the GSLV borrowed the six strap-on boosters and first two stages of the PSLV's core vehicle. A later design suggested replacing the solid strap-on boosters with four liquid units similar to the second stage of the core vehicle. The third stage was to incorporate an indigenous liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine with a thrust of approximately 12 metric tons. Component development for this engine was already underway in the late 1980's, and subscale development was still on-going in 1992 (References 70, 81, and 82).

However, in an attempt to maintain the GSLV development schedule which called for a first flight as early as 1997, India in 1992 contracted with Russia to buy a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine (KVD-1/KVD-7.5) developed in the 1970's for the heavy-lift N-1 launch vehicle. The plan, which had been in negotiations since 1988 came under fire from the US which considered the transfer of such technology a violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Eventually, a compromise was reached which allowed the Russian Federation to supply a limited number of engines to India (seven) without the transfer of critical technologies. The first engine was delivered in 1996 for the planned inaugural GSLV mission in late 1997 or early 1998. Test firings of lower stage GSLV motors were underway in 1994 (References 83-96).

The GSLV is a three stage vehicle. The first stage is a 129 tonne solid propellant core motor with four liquid propellant strap-ons with 40 tonne propellant each. The second stage is a liquid propulsion system with 37.5 tonnes of propellant. The cryogenic upper stage has 12 tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

The first flight of the GSLV in mid-2000 will carry the experimental GSAT-1, that is aimed at demonstrating advanced communication technologies. Even though the initial flight of the GSLV would be using a Russian cryogenic engine, the second or the third flight in 2001 or in 2002 would use the Indian-built CUSP (Cryogenic Upper Stage Project) engine.

The delivery to India of Russian cryogenic acceleration blocks (CAB) (the so-called cryogenic engines) and preparations for launching a GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) equipped with a CAB is a major joint project between India and Russia. It is expected in India that with the help of CABs they would be able to launch into a geosynchronous orbit effective loads of up to 2.5 tons and thereby join the narrow group of states (Russia, the US, France and China) with a similar potential in this field.

Under the initial contract signed in January 1991 the Soviet Union was not only to supply CAB to India as ready-made units, but also the know-how for their production in India. The second Russian-Indian contract concerning the GSLV project, signed in April 1992, provides for the delivery of equipment, assembly and testing of CAB ground support systems by Russia.

However, at the end of 1993, as Russia joined the Missile Technology Control Regime, the terms of the contract were revised and now it provides for the delivery to India of 7 operating CAB specimens without transferring the know-how for their production.

The contracts signed by the Russian State Committee for Space Exploration and the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] were to be performed on the Russian side by the Salyut Design Bureau of the Khrunichev Research and Production Centre. Salyut opened its representative office in Madras, 100 km from the SHAR space launch grounds (Sriharikota Peninsula, Andhra-Pradesh), because the assembly, autonomous systems tests and comprehensive tests of CAB demanded permanent presence of Russian specialists, from 6 to 50 persons at a time.

For this project, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and other compressed gases supply systems, an automated control system for the preparation and fuelling of CABs were developed and made in Russia. More than 80 railway freight cars of equipment were delivered to the SHAR Centre space-launch grounds by sea. In 1996 a CAB model was delivered; its transportation of which by air (AN-124) cost to India US$200,000. In 1998 the fuelling CAB model and the first of the seven flying blocks were delivered. Compressed gases supply and hydrogen purification systems were adjusted and subjected to autonomous testing, as well as fuelling and other automated control systems were adjusted both at the launching grounds and at the Centre for Liquid-Propelled Engine Systems (Mahendraghiri, Tamilnadu). For this purpose almost 160 Russian specialists were sent to India during 1998 for a term of up to 2 months and some 50 specialists for shorter terms.

At the SHAR launching grounds, autonomous systems tests were completed and the automated control system was adjusted. Comprehensive tests in mid-1999 were the final stage of preparatory work.

The repeatedly postponed launching of the GSLV with a cryogenic accelerating block was scheduled for September 1999. The launch was delayed through the fault of both parties: the Indians were unable to fulfil their part of work in time, while the Russian side had to face financial and economic difficulties.

Ground equipment delivered to the SHAR space center will be maintained for 20 years under the designer's supervision to be exercised by Salyut which is to provide additional supplies of units and systems under new contracts.

For the purpose of expanding satellite launch potentiality the Indian leadership resolved to build another launching complex on Sriharikota Peninsula which would cost several billion dollars. Leading Indian companies are competing to obtain a contract under this state order. The degree of possible participation of Russian enterprises in this project has not yet been defined and will depend on the success of the CAB contracts.

India would not be able to develop their own cryogenic engine before 2005. In the opinion of Indian scientists, necessary conditions for the successful implementation of the project are available. According to the director of the Centre for Liquid-Propelled Engine Systems (Indian CAB development head organisation), they have completed design of a 7.5 ton engine and signed a contract for its manufacture with Indian companies, Godrej and Machine Tools and Reconditioning (MTAR).

In addition, the work is in progress on the creation of an infrastructure for servicing cryogenic engine-propelled rocket launches. For instance, since August 1996, ISRO has been producing cryogenic rocket fuel at a plant built with the assistance of Germany in Mahendraghiri (Tamilnadu), with a capacity of up to 8,000 litres of liquid oxygen, 5,500 litres of hydrogen and 2,500 litres of nitrogen; construction of testing grounds has been started there also. Furthermore, India has already built basic facilities for testing the turbine pump and engine control system. In the opinion of ISRO specialists, their CAB will be similar to Russian engines in terms of technical characteristics, but will be lighter and more powerful.

At the same time, CAB manufacturers faced certain difficulties. In particular, the low quality and insufficient supplies of the necessary aluminum and scandium alloys and of other special alloys will bring the engine's load capacity down to 1,000 kg instead of the planned 2,500 kg. In the absence of know-how for the so-called "wafer structure" and special equipment for large-diameter casing welding, the Indian side has to purchase containers for CABs from the French company Arianespace.

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## Vinod2070

Well it is a journey. Some significant steps have been taken and some significant ones remain.

ISRO has been experimenting with recovery modules and I think it is on course for a human space visit on an Indian craft in the next 5-6 years time and after that a visit by an Indian to the moon on an Indian craft in another few years.

The first step is always the most difficult and India is well on the way.


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## Munir

If India complained about Pakistan copying stolen US cruisemisile and help from China then why are they so filled up with their crashing on the moon and painting it as Indian achievement? I do not get it. You guys are posting so much in this topic yet none of you was able to enlighten us about your presidents actrivities in Russia and the real background of the engine... Just tell me, did I open up wrong info or is the truth? You guys can handle the truth, don't you ? 

I really want to hear the definition of the word HOMEGROWN...


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## Flintlock

A video made by ESA about Sriharikota:

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## Vinod2070

Munir said:


> If India complained about Pakistan copying stolen US cruisemisile and help from China then why are they so filled up with their crashing on the moon and painting it as Indian achievement? I do not get it. You guys are posting so much in this topic yet none of you was able to enlighten us about your presidents actrivities in Russia and the real background of the engine... Just tell me, did I open up wrong info or is the truth? You guys can handle the truth, don't you ?
> 
> I really want to hear the definition of the word HOMEGROWN...



I don't know of India complaining! Where did it complain? UNSC!

The *crashing* on the moon *is* a major achievement, that is why it is so rare. It is the first step to soft landing and human landing.

It is well known that Russia supplied a number of Cryogenic Engines but not the technology. So it was developed by India and it is being improved as we speak. The next version of GSLV is going to be bigger and better. Then India is also working on the Air Breathing Rockets and Reusable Launch Vehicles which threaten to dramatically lower the cost of space launches.

You may know very well that in the space arena no nation will share technology with you. Not even your best friend. That is the nature of the beast.

Try getting it from China and you will know what I am talking of. They may sell you the satellites and launch it for you, they will never share the technology. Its not a market where any country wants competition, not if they can help it.


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## Vinod2070

And BTW, I think you failed to notice that the MIP was just one of the 11 scientific instruments on board the Chandrayan-1 which will orbit the moon for 2 years.

Though it seems to have captured the most imagination as it was meant to be. India is now physically there and that means a lot to a lot of people.

You will know it when you do it. I saw NEO mentioning on this thread that he will not be able to control himself if ever Pakistan achieved such a feat and I can understand what he meant. Guess you may be able to at least try to understand the feelings if not experience them.

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## nitesh

For Munir:

Post 452 mentions the project please do read it.


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## nitesh

ISRO plans manned space mission ahead of manned moon mission-India-The Times of India

ISRO plans manned space mission ahead of manned moon mission
23 Nov 2008, 2023 hrs IST, PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the success of Chandrayaan-1, the country's first moon mission, the *Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning a manned space mission as a first step to manned moon mission.
*

"Sending man to moon is a very complicated mission. So, *as a first step, we plan to develop an Indian spacecraft that will take astronauts across the earth and bring them back,"* ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said delivering a lecture on 'India's Recent Space Achievements' here on Sunday.

The government approval for the mission was yet to be received and ISRO was planning the programme by 2015, Nair said.

ISRO was also in the process of developing technologies for a manned moon mission and it would take more than six to seven years to develop those technologies, he said adding our effort is to achieve the milestone by the time the proposed next manned moon mission of USA and China materialise in 2020".

On the next Space programme of ISRO, Nair said government has accorded sanction for the Chandrayaan-II mission that would be launched in 2012. The work on Chandrayaan-II had started, he said. Under the programme, a robotic lunar rover would smooth land on the moon and conduct experiments, he said.

*'Adithya', was the another space programme in the pipeline, he said. Under this programme, effort would be made to study the Solar System by launching a satellite and the same would be stationed within the earth orbit, he said.*

*"There was no plan to send any satellite to Sun,"* he said referring to media reports that ISRO was planning a Sun Mission.


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## nitesh

Committed people made Chandrayaan possible: Prof Menon

Committed people made Chandrayaan possible: Prof Menon

Chandigarh, November 23 : &#8220;Chandrayaan was made by ordinary people who were committed to its cause,&#8221; said Professor MGK Menon, renowned scientist and distinguished professor at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He was addressing the Children Science Congress, 2008, at the Panjab University today. Menon talked about ISRO&#8217;s journey from its first satellite Aryabhatta to its latest accomplishment &#8212; Chandrayaan.

Briefing the students about the beginning of research on the universe, he said 1957 was the dawn of space age as there was increased solar activity during the year. The same year was celebrated as the International Geophysical Year all over the world.

He talked of the difficulties, landmarks and knowledge that his team acquired during the period which spanned over four decades. &#8220;In 1962, when ISRO started working on space, developing a satellite like Chandrayaan was unimaginable. During the early stages of our research, we lacked capabilities of building a satellite. Aryabhatta was built in a shed of tin. This made me believe that great institutes have small beginnings,&#8221; said Menon.

Also credited to be the man behind Chandrayaan, India&#8217;s first unmanned mission to moon, Menon said that the satellite is one of the many landmarks the country has achieved. &#8220;The route to Chandrayaan was based completely on self-reliance and it was Indians who made it happen. We developed the capabilities of instrumentation, design and building the satellite ourselves and we pride in this fact,&#8221; averred Menon. 

&#8220;Those associated with this mission are common persons like us. The only difference is that they have remained dedicated to their task. Each one of us has the capability of achieving such an impossible sounding goal provided we are focused, diligent and have the interest of the nation in mind,&#8221; Menon summed up.


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## nitesh

Munir,

Crashland is a shallow term that the Media cannot understand simply because they are too dumb or their readers wouldn't understand.
Along with the satellite, ISRO sent out a 29kg payload called MIP(Moon Impact Probe). This device ejects itself from the "mother ship"(the satellite) and enters the moon's atmosphere and falls under gravity, during which time the instruments generate data regarding moons' atmosphere and gravity. Abdul Kalam forced this on ISRO. The MIP is equipped with a 2 instruments for ranging and also a camera.

The Hindu Business Line : Moon impact probe device sends vital videos


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## Munir

nitesh said:


> Munir,
> 
> Crashland is a shallow term that the Media cannot understand simply because they are too dumb or their readers wouldn't understand.
> Along with the satellite, ISRO sent out a 29kg payload called MIP(Moon Impact Probe). This device ejects itself from the "mother ship"(the satellite) and enters the moon's atmosphere and falls under gravity, during which time the instruments generate data regarding moons' atmosphere and gravity. Abdul Kalam forced this on ISRO. The MIP is equipped with a 2 instruments for ranging and also a camera.
> 
> The Hindu Business Line : Moon impact probe device sends vital videos



My friend,

If it was a totally unknown moon with no knowledge of the environment then we might crash to test. The moon is extremely well documented. They could start with a decent touchdown if they did some more research. I think it is more about throwing something on the moon before China could do it. ou do remember US and USSR? While the Russians where clearly the first with a sat (sputnik), animal (nice dog) Laika, astronoaut (Yuri), space walk or space sex... The US wanted to put something on the moon just to show... Whether it contributed anything? I doubt that. Now India and China seems to do the same...


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## nitesh

Munir said:


> My friend,
> 
> If it was a totally unknown moon with no knowledge of the environment then we might crash to test. The moon is extremely well documented. They could start with a decent touchdown if they did some more research. I think it is more about throwing something on the moon before China could do it. ou do remember US and USSR? While the Russians where clearly the first with a sat (sputnik), animal (nice dog) Laika, astronoaut (Yuri), space walk or space sex... The US wanted to put something on the moon just to show... Whether it contributed anything? I doubt that. Now India and China seems to do the same...



Munir, everything has a beginning. Whatever dta needs to be generated from the future mission ISRO has got it. The article has explained it. For the manned mission the space recovery capsule has already been tested in 2007.

Munir, mean while check this one: http://isro.org/Chandrayaan/htmls/objective_scientific.htm

This will tell u what exactly this mission want to achieve


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## jeypore

Munir said:


> My friend,
> 
> If it was a totally unknown moon with no knowledge of the environment then we might crash to test. The moon is extremely well documented. They could start with a decent touchdown if they did some more research. I think it is more about throwing something on the moon before China could do it. ou do remember US and USSR? While the Russians where clearly the first with a sat (sputnik), animal (nice dog) Laika, astronoaut (Yuri), space walk or space sex... The US wanted to put something on the moon just to show... Whether it contributed anything? I doubt that. Now India and China seems to do the same...



Competition does breed advancement, so what is throwing something to moon, as you have put it.


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## Chanakya.10

Munir said:


> My friend,
> 
> If it was a totally unknown moon with no knowledge of the environment then we might crash to test. *The moon is extremely well documented.* They could start with a decent touchdown if they did some more research. I think it is more about throwing something on the moon before China could do it. ou do remember US and USSR? While the Russians where clearly the first with a sat (sputnik), animal (nice dog) Laika, astronoaut (Yuri), space walk or space sex... The US wanted to put something *on the moon just to show...** Whether it contributed anything? I doubt that. Now India and China seems to do the same...*



The Moon is extremely well documented we know dat, but that data is with USA and Russia. We needed our own data so we sent our own probe. As the matter of fact, it will collect more precise data than any other probe sent before even by US or Russia. 3-D atlas, map of dark side of Moon, water fragments on polar caps, and not to forget Helium-3.

*If India were left behind then we would not be able to claim parts and minerals of moon after 30 so years.*

So its more than just show off. And it brings confidence, and that matters most to any nation.


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## Flintlock

The data and the research that we are conducting is entirely new. It has not been done by any other moon mission.


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## Vinod2070

> If it was a totally unknown moon with no knowledge of the environment then we might crash to test. The moon is extremely well documented.



It is a factually wrong statement. There is very little that is known about the moon.


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## nitesh

ok guys some more pics now:
Images of Moon from Chandrayaan-1






Moon Imagery obtained using HySI and TMC cameras operated together






HySI image (64 Bands) of lunar craterlet BarrowH 





A strip (20 km across x 40 km along track) from equatorial region in 64 bands 






First RADOM results for Earth and Moon Radiation Environment






First RADOM results for Earth and Moon Radiation Environment

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## Geromix

Great Pics.Looking Good.


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## Nihat

> Chandrayaan feels the heat in 'moon summer'
> 
> Vicky Nanjppa in Bengaluru
> 
> 
> November 26, 2008 11:29 IST
> Last Updated: November 26, 2008 11:30 IST
> 
> India's moon mission Chandrayaan [Images]-1 was a dream come true for every Indian and it was a perfect launch. But, since the last few days, ISRO scientists have been noticing that there is a slight rise in temperature on the surface of the Chandrayaan.
> 
> However, ISRO scientists told rediff.com that there was no cause for concern and this generally happens due to something called as 'moon summer'
> 
> The multi-layered insulated blanket on the Chandrayaan maintains the temperature between 0 and 40 degree Celsius. However, due to moon summer, the ISRO noticed that there had been a 10 degree rise in the temperature on the surface.
> 
> ISRO scientists, who reassure that there is no cause for panic, add the temperature is expected to cool off in the next two weeks following which things will come to normal.
> 
> The immediate fall-out due to the rise in temperature will be that the high energy X Ray Spectra Meter and the Sara (Sub KeV Atom Reflecting Analyser) will not be switched on immediately.
> 
> Following the launch, the nine instruments being carried aboard the Chandrayaan had been switched on, but the remaining two as mentioned above will be switched on only once the temperature comes down.
> 
> ISRO says that it will be better to switch on these two instruments once the temperature comes down as these are high-voltage instruments.
> 
> The SARA once switched on will image the moon surface using low energy neutral atoms as diagnostics in the energy range 10eV-2keV to address the following scientific objectives:
> 
> For India, this is a relatively new concept considering the fact that this is the first moon mission. ISRO had been gathering details about moon summer from other countries which have had moon missions in the past. However this time it is a first-hand experience for ISRO.



rediff.com


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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan mission on target

Chandrayaan mission on target

Special Correspondent

Data sent from nine scientific instruments being analysed 

&#8212; Photos: ISRO 



*Detail-Rich: Three-dimensional images of the moon&#8217;s surface, with craters and other features, captured during the past fortnight by the Terrain Mapping Camera of Chandrayaan-1. *

CHENNAI: *Nine out of 11 scientific instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 have been switched on, and the data that have been radioed in by them are being analysed.
*
According to M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1, the data include three-dimensional pictures of the Moon&#8217;s surface taken by the Terrain Mapping Camera, an instrument built by ISRO&#8217;s Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad.

The TMC has fore, nadir and aft cameras. Of the nine instruments that have been activated, the Moon Impact Probe, painted in the colours of the Indian flag, landed on the Moon on November 14.

*Two more to go*

The instruments that remain to be activated are the *High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX) and the Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA).* HEX, built by the Physical Research Laboratory, Bangalore and the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, will study the Moon&#8217;s polar regions for deposits of water ice and prospect areas for high uranium and thorium concentration.

SARA will investigate the surface composition, how its surface reacts to the solar wind and how materials are altered in space. SARA has been jointly built by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics and the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

HEX and SARA, both high voltage instruments, will be switched on in the first week of December. &#8220;These are high voltage systems. You have to wait for some time in orbit before they are switched on,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.

When the ISRO performed a series of manoeuvres by firing Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s onboard engine to take the spacecraft to the Moon and then lower it into the final lunar orbit at an altitude of 100 km above it, the two systems could have been exposed to gases.

These gases should be &#8220;evacuated&#8217; before the two instruments were activated, he said. The calibration of instruments was under way. Teams dealing with the instruments were studying the data received. &#8220;The science data needs to be fully reviewed and analysed,&#8221; said Mr. Annadurai.

Also check this:
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/videos/tmca.htm


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## smeaglegolum

*Lunar Flyby Video*

India's First Mission to Moon

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008...moon-video.htm


A movie generated using multiple view images taken by Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) of Chandrayaan-1. The Terrain Mapping Camera,built by ISRO's Space Applications Centre(SAC) of Ahmedabad, is taking excellent pictures of Moon's surface from Chandrayaan-1's 100 km high orbit from the Lunar surface.

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## Bushroda

A satirical humour about Chandrayaan mission. 



> *Beating the moon mans wife..!*
> Robert Clements
> Pakistan Observer, Pakistan
> 
> The Man on the Moon heard the shriek and stumbled out from one of the moon craters where he lived with his wife, What is it dear? he asked. Somebody threw something at me! Youre hallucinating again! sighed the old man, You did it forty years ago when you said you saw people climbing down from a spaceship and youve started again! Of course I saw people on a space ship getting off onto our moon,  said the old lady defiantly, and I swear somebody just beat me with something! Look my neck is bruised.
> 
> The Man on the Moon sighed and looked at his wife, In medical terms, said the old man, you are psychosomatic! Psycho what? asked his wife glaring angrily at him. It means your body is reacting physically to whats playing on your mind! So what youre saying husband is That you so desperately want company that you are even getting bruises from imaginary stones imaginary people are throwing at you! Just like the imaginary earthlings I saw forty years ago? asked his wife angrily. Exactly! said her husband as he went back into the crater hed come from.
> 
> The Woman on the Moon looked round wearily for the stone she was sure had been flung at her and nearly shrieked again but thought better of it as she saw a pole painted green, saffron and white staring at her. What is this? she asked herself as she picked up the Moon Impact Probe she didnt know had been sent down by Indias rocket hovering above. Oh I know these colors, whispered the woman as she looked at earth thousands of miles away. Those are the colors of India! She looked up and saw Chandrayaan circling above and clapped her hands with glee, India! she screamed silently, India! I know you are from India! You hit me didnt you? Dont tell me we will be having visitors soon? The Woman on the Moon walked back to the crater where her husband was already asleep, Husband, she screamed, Ive found what hit me! Woman stop hallucinating, let me sleep!
> 
> The Indians are coming! she screamed, The Indians are coming! The Man on the Moon turned over on his side and looked squarely at his wife, Listen woman when you told me years ago you saw Americans on the moon I nearly believed you, because I know they were capable of doing something like this, but if youve become mad enough to suggest Indians have the technology and money to come here, you better get your head examined!
> 
> Husband have you looked at India lately? Look down husband, tell me what you see?
> 
> The man on the moon looked down at the world below and gasped, Whats happening? he asked, The lights are off all over except India? Theres a recession below dear husband, and your America and other countries are all going down under, but the feeble light you see still burning and which seems to be struggling but steadily becoming stronger is India! This time the Man on the Moon walked with his wife to where the tricolor lay on the ground and grinned,
> 
> Way to go India! he shouted and all the stars and planets clapped, Its good to see you beating the world, but youve dared to do what even I wouldnt dare: beating up my wife..! And the Moon Man and his wife laughed and danced a jig with a billion jubilant people down below.

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## gpit

*BBC NEWS | South Asia | India moon craft hit by heat rise* 
By Swaminathan Natarajan 
BBC Tamil service 

Indian scientists are exploring various options to cool down a sudden surge of temperature inside the country's first unmanned lunar craft, Chandrayaan 1. 

The temperature inside the satellite has gone over 50C, prompting scientists to take drastic measures. 

They say that the problem arose because of very hot temperatures during the lunar orbit. 

The mission is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia. 

Earlier this month the spacecraft sent a probe onto the surface of the moon. 

Urgent measures 

"Now the moon, our satellite and the sun are in same line this means our craft is receiving 1,200 watts of heat from the moon and 1,300 watts from the sun per meter square," said M Annadurai, project director of Indian's moon mission. 

If the temperature is not kept in check, many instruments on board the orbiter may fail to perform, scientists say. 

This has prompted them to take urgent measures. Most of the instruments are now switched off or being used sparingly. 

"We have rotated the spacecraft by 20 degrees and this has helped to reduce the temperature of the craft. We have also switched off certain equipment like mission computers and this has resulted in the reduction of temperature to 40C now. At this temperature all the equipment can perform very well," Mr Annadurai said. 

"Although we did factor in the thermal conditions in the lunar orbit, the temperature is a bit higher than we anticipated." 

He insisted all the instruments carried on board of the satellite have been tested and were working properly. 

While the turning-off of certain equipment will have an impact on lunar research, Mr Annadurai said that it was not worth "taking the risk to run it" at present. 

Scientists also plan to raise the orbit of the Indian craft to cool it down. It is presently in orbit 100km (62 miles) from the moon. However Mr Annadurai said that would only be done as a last resort. 

He said that the next month would be critical for the survival of the mission, which has an intended life span of two years. 

"We are able to use terrain mapping cameras to take picture of the moon whenever required," Mr Annadurai said. 

India launched its first lunar mission on 22 October. The mission aims to map the lunar surface, look for traces of water and the presence of helium. 

The current difficulties are the first to be experienced by the probe, which has been praised for sending the probe onto the moon's surface. 





1 - Chandrayaan Energetic Neutral Analyzer (CENA)
2 - Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
3 - Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM)
4 - Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC)
5 - Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
6 - Chandrayaan 1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS)
7 - Solar Panel


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## bhishmar

Munir said:


> If India complained about Pakistan copying stolen US cruisemisile and help from China then why are they so filled up with their crashing on the moon and painting it as Indian achievement? I do not get it. You guys are posting so much in this topic yet none of you was able to enlighten us about your presidents actrivities in Russia and the real background of the engine... Just tell me, did I open up wrong info or is the truth? You guys can handle the truth, don't you ?
> 
> I really want to hear the definition of the word HOMEGROWN...


Even though Vindod2070 has answered you in his post#528 (23/11), let me supplement his answer.


> What is the definition of the word HomeGrown? & How you go about to achieve it?


If you take time to read post#509 (18/11) from Halaku Khan, where he grudgingly acknowledges & welcomes the Indian Chandrayan achievement, you will get an idea about the answer you are seeking. Reading his (Halaku Khan's) post is very illuminating, even though his answer is from a more generic context of an Arabic-Probe. _(Some excerpts below)_


HalakuKhan said:


> It is no secret that the future is made today, in schools, universities, research centers and technological institutes. Evidently we are losing the battle for the future. We are not asking for sending an Arab probe to the moon. We demand probing the Arab mind itself to find out how it has frozen and discover how we can bring its comatose state to an end.


In his post, He humbly admits that he has indeed prejudices, but in this post he is able to overcome these prejudices, and able to provide a stimulating & very thought provoking discussion. *One cannot but salute his frankness & openmindness, and the professionalism displayed by him in this quite lengthy analysis.*

_Now coming to my own answer:_
It is generally well known that India follows a dual pronged strategy in the develoment/acquisition of its military assets. _( I am trying to be simplistic here, for sake of brevity.)_
(Approach-A): Inhouse Research & development & realization _(what you call as homegrown)_.
(Approach-B): Acquisition of completed equipment/hardware from other developed powers.
But the stress is definitely on Approach-A. 

Now the problem with Approach-A is that many times, it will not provide immediate results/dividends (in short-run). There will be some failures & only partial successes. But you learn along the way correcting mistakes, gaining huge knowledgebase, which can be put to use _(re-invested)_in later endeavours & projects successfully.

This approach has payed rich dividends to india, interms of developing huge infrastructure, academic/research-institutions-base, & many times exploiting them in other projects, and also developing an associated industry in private sector. Resulting in cheaper realization & even earning of precious FE in sales to other interested 3rd world countries.

For any nation, the basic necessity to follow a sustained strategy based on Approach-A (i.e. home grown technology & assets) is to invest adequately in & have a vibrant educational/academic/research-institutions-base to tap high-quality talent pool. Fortunately India has world class institutions in its IITs & IISc, thanks to the vision of our founding fathers, and also numerous other technological-academic institutions. Another requirement is to have a sound economic base, again thanks to the financial reforms we have achieved it.

Now coming to development of space technology & assets, the Indian strategy is all the more centered on _(if not solely based on)_ approach-A, simply because there is no CHOICE! _(There are very few exceptions)_. Other developed countries will not share their highly valued space technology, because of the huge competition involved, as well as because of MTCR/ICBM issues.

Now in my opinion Pakistan on the other hand, has adopted a strategy giving more thrust to approach-B in both their military & space endeavors. Now there will be differences of opinion here, regarding this issue. But the results are there for all to see. Moreover I myself have seen in these very forums (& sister forums) many Pakistani friends sarcastically commenting on India's reliance/emphasis on approach-A, which has led to failure in some _(if not all)_ segments of its DRDO missile projects & LCA projects, and claiming jingoistically that Pakistan is far ahead because of its wiser direct acquisition policies on military hardware, missiles/planes etc... _(Pertinent to note here this is not my opinion, but only quoting others)_

Now my intention here is NOT to belittle Pakistan's own indigenous achievements in the research & development of military/space technologies, for whatever it is worth. But it is a plain fact that because of your initial thrust _(& i would say even continued thrust)_ on Approach-B, & neglecting Approach-A, you have fallen way far back.

To conclude, here in this forum I have seen an Indian friend "LogicNote" replying (post #482, 16/11) to Neo that, Pakistan too will be able to achieve similar feats (rockets targeting moon) someday in the future, since we are the same people , same origin and have same capacity to achieve milestones of human dreams. I do agree with him. But Pakistan has a long way to go from its current state of affairs, for nearing this. Fundamentally you have to strengthen your economy, & strengthen your academic/ educational/ research-development systems-base etc etc, by providing more funds (GDP%) into your educational sector.
Basically switch to an Approach-A strategy, which is inherently a slow process & for which results cannot be achieved overnight, as I indicated earlier. It is pertinent to note that India took about 4 to 5 decades to buildup its academic/ research/ institutional base to its current advanced state.

Without any acrimony, I can state Pakistan has wasted a lot of time clinging to an India-centric responsive approach, whereas India has long ago extricated itself from a similar destructive path, to leapfrog into the 21st century. You may be surprised to know that there are less % of people in India carrying hatred towards its neighbor than viceversa. I am not telling not everybody is devoid of prejudices here in India, but the new generation is more concerned about getting a job in the fledgling IT industry or other public-sector/corporate segments, than worrying about Pakistan OR Pakistan centric issues (atleast in urban centres). ##
regards 
Signing off for now...

_NOTE: ## Some fellow-indians here may disagree with me here, especially after this Nov 26 Mumbai incident, But I sincerely hope it is only a transient & hence passing phase._


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## nitesh

LONDON: India's first uncrewed lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, is experiencing the hottest temperatures it has yet faced, which have forced it to

take a "summer break", using its instruments sparingly until mid-January to get through the hot patch.

Chandrayaan is currently over the sunlit side of the moon, a place where spacecraft are expected to heat up because they receive energy directly from the Sun as well as infrared radiation given off by the Moon.

According to a report in New Scientist, the spacecraft is currently facing external temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius, and cooling systems aim to maintain the spacecraft's interior at around 40 degrees C.

*"It is local summer for the satellite," Chandrayaan project director Mylswamy Annadurai told New Scientist.
*
When the craft passes by the dark side of the Moon external temperatures will fall to as low as -100 degrees C.

Still, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working in unknown territory, on its first mission operating outside the Earth's gravity.

"The thermal environment is very demanding. I think it somewhat surprised ISRO," observed Paul Spudis, scientist at the Houston-based Lunar and Planetary Institute. "They have ways to mitigate the issue, so I do not see this as a big problem," he added.

*Annadurai said that the spacecraft systems are designed to withstand different temperature ranges depending on their use and exposure to radiation.
*
For example, solar panels that supply power to the spacecraft can withstand from minus to plus 120 degrees C. Others, like its infrared detector can only handle up to 50 degrees C.

Nine of the 11 instruments on-board Chandrayaan have now been switched on for calibration and simple health checks.

*The spacecraft's temperature is expected to stabilise by the end of December.

Until then, scientists will use one instrument at a time, as required, but will be able to operate all instruments simultaneously by mid-January.*

Chandrayaan-1 takes summer break till mid Jan - ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## nitesh

New Isro rocket in 6 months, will cut launch costs by 40% - Technology - livemint.com

New Isro rocket in 6 months, will cut launch costs by 40&#37;
Tecsar is a 300kg Israeli spy satellite Isro had launched in January and Agile a 352kg Italian astronomical satellite launched in April 2007
K. Raghu


Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is *building a smaller launcher that costs 40% less than existing rockets to hurl satellites such as Tecsar and Agile into low-earth orbit.*
Tecsar is a 300kg Israeli spy satellite Isro had launched in January and Agile a 352kg Italian astronomical satellite launched in April 2007.

The three-stage rocket will launch remote-sensing satellites weighing less than 500kg into an orbit that will ensure they return to map a targeted region on earth at more frequent intervals. Low-earth orbit is 400-500km above the earth. The new launcher is targeted at the country&#8217;s military as well as global customers. *&#8220;This (launcher) is for strategic reasons. There is also demand from international customers,&#8221;* said an Isro official, who did not want to be named because of the sensitive nature of the matter. The new launcher would take around six months to build, the official said. In June, the government said it is setting up an Integrated Space Cell to counter a growing threat to India&#8217;s space assets, but did not elaborate. The Indian Air Force (IAF)&#8217;s first controlled satellite to gather navigational information will be launched in July. The satellite, according to IAF chief Fali H. Major, would serve as the air force&#8217;s eye in the skies, &#8216;PTI&#8217; reported on 18 November. An Isro spokesman said the space agency was working on a different variant of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). It currently costs Rs100 crore to launch a satellite on a PSLV rocket. The PSLV, Isro&#8217;s workhorse, can launch satellites of 1.3 tonnes into a polar orbit, but in the last two years, stripped-down versions of the rocket carried the lighter Israeli and Italian satellites. &#8220;We had to first send it to polar orbit, burn the rocket for long, before we placed Tecsar in the low (earth) orbit,&#8221; said another official at the space agency. &#8220;That (detour) consumed 60% of the energy of the rocket.&#8221;

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## nitesh

Cutting edge

Cutting edge

R. RAMACHANDRAN

*There were many technology firsts by ISRO in the ground segment, Chandrayaan&#8217;s design and in the experiments. 
*


*A picture of the moon's surface taken from the lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1's Terrain Mapping Camera on November 15.* 

ON November 12, the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully manoeuvred the Indian lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, to its operational circumpolar 100 km x 100 km orbit around the moon. Further, with the deliberate crashing of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) in the intended area on the moon&#8217;s surface on November 14, one of the five Indian experiments was also successfully completed (Frontline, December 5, 2008) although the media hype and hoopla surrounding the event was completely unwarranted and incommensurate with the scope of the experiment (see accompanying story). There were, however, many technology firsts and noteworthy innovations by ISRO in the ground segment, the spacecraft&#8217;s design and the other four Indian experiments.

The establishment of the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) to world standards around an indigenously built 32-metre diameter antenna, which can support the communication needs of not only lunar missions but also future deep-space probes, was a significant achievement in itself (Frontline, November 21, 2008). But significant technology developments in the ground segment have been not only in hardware but also in software.

According to M. Annadurai, Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s project director, improved data formatting and coding systems have been evolved for deep-space communication so as to minimise the amount of &#8220;link margins&#8221; &#8211; appropriate margins provided to account for randomly varying gains and losses in the received signal power &#8211; in the coding chain. Further, the technique of packetised telemetry for on-board instrument data transmission &#8211; where data are sent in packets &#8211; over a deep-space channel, as per the protocol defined by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration&#8217;s (NASA) Deep Space Network, has been implemented for the Chandrayaan-1 mission.

*The overall spacecraft mass is at a premium in any deep-space mission.* Given its limited capability, the PSLV-XL launcher could inject Chandrayaan-1 into an initial orbit (IO) with a perigee lower than the usual Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). Miniaturisation, therefore, is a key feature of the satellite as well as its payloads to reduce the mass budget, said K. Thyagarajan, formerly of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore. Also, according to Annadurai, *by using parts made of Composite Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) wherever possible, significant mass reduction was achieved.*


*Chandrayaan-1's orbit with respect to the sun.*

&#8220;Unlike in all earlier satellite missions of ISRO, for Chandrayaan-1, the control gyros, which maintain the spacecraft&#8217;s attitude, had to be miniaturised,&#8221; said Annadurai. Similarly, the reaction wheels, which change the orientation of the spacecraft by a spin-up or spin-down operation (as was done during the lunar orbit injection (LOI) manoeuvre and will be done many times during the course of the mission) were not the ones that ISRO normally uses, he pointed out. In Chandrayaan-1, the wheels were spun at a much higher speed to achieve greater torques.

All the orbital manoeuvres to take the spacecraft from its earth-bound IO to the final operational lunar orbit have been performed with remarkable precision. Of these, the last of the earth-bound manoeuvres to reach the lunar transfer trajectory (LTT) and the LOI were particularly crucial. Each orbit manoeuvre corresponds to imparting a certain velocity change to the satellite, which is done by firing the on-board Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM). Precision manoeuvre requires that this velocity change is determined accurately.

In the usual earth-bound missions, on the basis of the specific impulse of the fuel as well as the engine parameters, the LAM is allowed to fire for a calculated amount of time through commands from the ground to change the velocity by a given amount. This is subsequently verified by determining the parameters of the orbit acquired. *&#8220;In deep-space missions, however, even a small error in this can result in a difference of several hundred kilometres in the apogee of the new orbit,&#8221;* pointed out V. Adimurthy of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram. &#8220;The process of cut-off, the tailing off and the detailed behaviour of the propulsion system become important,&#8221; he added.

*&#8220;We need autonomous determination of the velocity change realised and automatic cutting off of the firing,&#8221; said Annadurai. To realise this, ISRO has used ceramic servo-accelerometers for the first time in Chandrayaan-1 for precise orbit manoeuvres, and the success so far is a testimony to their performance.*

Accelerometers are normally used as part of the on-board navigation, guidance and control system in launch vehicles, which experience large accelerations in a short time. In orbital manoeuvres of near-earth satellites, because of the overwhelming background of the earth&#8217;s gravitational acceleration, accelerometers are not very effective in determining the accelerations imparted to the satellite. In deep-space missions, beyond the earth&#8217;s gravity, where orbit changes across several tens of thousands of kilometres are realised, accelerometers are very sensitive. &#8220;This precision has helped us save a lot of on-board fuel,&#8221; said Annadurai. *In Chandrayaan-1, miniaturised accelerometers were used, and Micro Electromechanical System (MEMS)-based accelerometers may be used in future missions, according to Thyagarajan.*

Thermal control of the spacecraft is very critical in deep-space missions like Chandrayaan-1, pointed out Annadurai. In a lunar mission, this becomes particularly complex because of the very different thermal environment that a lunar satellite encounters as compared with an earth-bound satellite. Maintaining the temperatures of the on-board instruments and detectors at the desired levels is a challenge as each device has its own appropriate operating temperature, which varies from a low &#8211;17oC to a high +40oC, while the general electronic components need to be maintained at about &#8211;10oC.


*Solar panel orientation strategy: A 180o rotation of the satellite about its yaw axis in the first extreme configuration, performed twice a year (A and C), and a 180o flipping of the solar panel about the satellite's pitch axis in the other extreme configuration, performed after a three-month phase lag with the former (B and D). *

In the case of earth-bound missions, while the thermal load on the sun-facing side of the satellite is about 1,300 W/m2, it is much less on the earth-facing side because of a low albedo (reflectance from a surface averaged over all frequencies). Also, since the earth has an atmosphere, only part of the heat absorbed by the earth is lost by radiation and the rest contributes to atmospheric convection. Temperature variations across the globe are, therefore, not drastic because of the atmosphere.

The solar load on the moon, too, is about the same as the earth and its albedo &#8211; in fact, it is about a third of the earth. However, since the moon has no atmosphere, the absorbed heat is almost fully radiated as heat. This causes the temperature of the moon to vary from a peak of about 125oC on the sunlit side to about &#8211;170oC on its dark side. Thus the spacecraft, which has an orbital period of only two hours, has to go through quick cycles of very cold and very hot lunar environment. Recent lunar missions such as the European SMART-1 (2003-06), the Japanese Kaguya/SELENE (launched in 2007) and the Chinese Chang&#8217;E-1 (also launched in 2007) have all had problems with the thermal management of their on-board instruments.

Generally, *thermal management of a satellite is based on two principles,* explained D.R. Bhandari of the ISAC, who led the thermal modelling exercise for Chandrayaan-1. *One is the multilayer insulation (the golden metallic wrapping that one sees on the outside) that reduces the external thermal load on the satellite as a whole.* But then there is also the heat generated internally within the satellite, which needs to be dissipated. So, the *second principle involves selecting some suitable radiating surfaces on the satellite that have very low solar absorption but high emissivity. But to meet the special requirements of designing for very low temperatures in some parts of the satellite, the heat is distributed with the aid of thick distributor plates or heat pipes and finally dissipated through special radiators incorporated in the satellite.*

According to Bhandari, the actual layout of these is achieved through mathematical modelling in which the heat distribution is calculated by dividing the satellite into a number of parts. Further, to ensure that the critical components requiring low temperatures are exposed only to minimum solar and lunar load, they are mounted on non-sun/moon-facing sides of the satellite. Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s design is such that the solar panel is only on one side (the positive pitch face) and, as will be explained here, the satellite or the solar panel is suitably manoeuvred at the right time to ensure that this face is always sun-facing. Correspondingly, the negative pitch face, which carries all the critical instruments, will always be facing away from the sun.

*An important feature of a circular polar orbit around the moon is that it is fixed in space (relative to the distant stars) unlike the sun-synchronous orbit of earth observation satellites.* The latter precesses around the earth-axis because of the oblateness of the earth. The moon, on the other hand, has very small oblateness and the lunar orbit is always very nearly perpendicular to the earth-sun plane. This gives rise to two extreme situations as regards the solar illumination of the lunar orbit. One extreme is when the sun-pointing direction (with respect to the moon) is parallel to the lunar orbit plane and the other, which occurs after three months of the first extreme, is with the sun vector perpendicular to the orbital plane (see figure 1).

These orbit configurations have a direct bearing on the illumination on the satellite&#8217;s single-sided solar panel. If, as is usually done, the solar panel were mounted exactly perpendicular to the satellite face, it would face the sun directly in one extreme orbit configuration and generate 100 per cent power. In the other extreme configuration, it would be edge-wise and generate zero power. Hence, for optimum power generation throughout the mission, detailed orbit analysis shows that the solar panel is required to be canted, or offset with respect to the horizontal, by 30o.

In addition, *eight important manoeuvres &#8211; four on the satellite and four on the solar panel &#8211; need to be performed during the entire two-year period (see figure 2).* As mentioned earlier, this complex strategy also automatically results in the negative pitch face (the aft side of the solar panel face) always being non-sun facing, an important requirement for thermal control. *One other important consideration is the occurrences of eclipse during the mission, when the solar panel does not generate any power. For the first time, ISRO has used compact (rechargeable) high-energy lithium-ion batteries to provide essential power during the eclipses, the maximum duration of which is about 48 minutes, according to Thyagarajan. Chandrayaan-1 will experience its first eclipse in February 2009.*

Miniaturisation and mass reduction were key aspect of the payloads as well, Annadurai pointed out. For example, the *Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), built by the Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, makes use of a very innovative camera design that is capable of acquiring stereoscopic images with a single lens camera.* It has an unprecedented 5-metre resolution and is designed to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of the moon. *Two sets of mirrors help to obtain aft and fore views and this combined with the direct nadir view by the lens system, a field of view is imaged from three angles in a push-broom mode, which are combined to generate a 3D view (see figure 3).*

*The focal plane imaging is done by a 4,000-pixel linear array Active Pixel Sensor (APS)-based detector, an evolving technology in space applications. The device is a silicon-based CMOS (Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) image digitiser, which has an in-built detector drive and on-board processing electronics. &#8220;This,&#8221; said A.S. Kiran Kumar of the SAC, &#8220;has helped to reduce additional hardware and minimise power, weight and size&#8221;.*


*Schematic of configuration and viewing mechanism of the Terrain Mapping Camera.* 

The Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), intended to obtain mineralogical mapping of the lunar surface, also makes use of a focal plane APS detector &#8211; this time a 500 x 500 area array &#8211; with a digitiser to map the spectral bands. *The APS detectors, both for TMC and HySI, were designed in-house and fabricated by a Taiwanese foundry,* according to Kiran Kumar. The uniqueness of HySI is in its capability to map in 64 contiguous bands in the spectral region of 0.4-0.95 micrometre (&#181 wavelengths (visible and near-IR), with a spectral resolution better than 15 nanometre (nm) and a spatial resolution of 80 m.

The *dispersion into different spectral bands is achieved by using the new concept of a wedge filter, which is being used for the first time by ISRO. As against a prism or grating, the use of a wedge filter makes the instrument compact and reduces the weight. A wedge filter is basically an interference filter with varying thickness along one direction so that the transmitted spectral range varies in that direction. Pixels along the track direction will receive signals from different spatial regions in the same band while pixels in the perpendicular direction will receive signals in the different spectral bands.*

The *High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX)* aboard Chandrayaan-1 is meant to detect naturally occurring emissions of Gamma-rays from the lunar surface owing to *radioactive decays of nuclides in the uranium-238 and thorium-232 series with energies in 20-250 kilo electron Volt (keV) range. Gamma-ray emissions in this range, however, are of low intensity. The HEX payload will use for the first time pixelated cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) array detectors that have high sensitivity and high energy resolution to pick up these weak signals.* Regions of U/Th concentration can be mapped by detecting the 240 keV emissions from the decays of lead-212 and lead-214, nuclides of the series.

*So far, no mission has detected Gamma-rays below 500 keV, according to J.N. Goswami, Director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, and principal scientist, Chandrayaan-1 mission. CZT detectors have not been generally flown in space missions because of the high noise in high radiation and the need for on-board cooling, he pointed out. &#8220;Usually space missions have used cesium iodide scintillators or germanium detectors or proportional counters which do not have the required sensitivity,&#8221;* said Goswami. Extensive thermal modelling has been done for these detectors in Chandrayaan-1 and these will be maintained below 0oC by passive cooling.

*Specially designed CZT detectors were flown in the U.S. X-ray satellite SWIFT, launched in November 2004, which have been used so far for X-rays above 500 keV only. &#8220;This will also be the first experiment to detect volatile transport from the sunlit regions to the permanently shadowed cold regions in the moon,&#8221; said Goswami. &#8220;If we can pick up the 46.5 keV line characteristic of the decay of lead-210, a decay product of volatile radon-222, it will give us a handle to model volatile transport on the moon, which could in turn be used to study transport of water molecules to the poles,&#8221; Goswami said.*

*The Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI), built by ISRO&#8217;s Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), is aimed at studying the topography of the lunar surface and its gravitational field by measuring the altitude precisely from Chandrayaan&#8217;s orbit using a pulsed neodymium (Nd)-YAG laser (1,064 nm wavelength) and measuring the &#8216;time of flight&#8217;.*

*&#8220;While the laser has been bought off the shelf, they feel that in future they will be able to build it themselves,&#8221; said Goswami. &#8220;However, the entire optics has been designed and built by LEOS.&#8221;* *To handle the poor reflectivity of the lunar surface, a suitable silicon Avalanche Photo Detector (APD), with good resolution and a high-signal-to-noise ratio, and the associated electronics were built in house. This will provide altimetry data close to the poles for the first time.*

*In addition to the above indigenous instruments, ISRO&#8217;s contribution has been noteworthy in the collaborative payload called Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS). The mission objective of C1XS is to produce a high-quality X-ray spectroscopic map of the lunar surface and determine the abundance of elements such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, calcium and titanium, which have a bearing on the origin and evolutionary history of the moon, using the X-ray fluorescence technique. The sun is the natural source of X-rays and the above elements absorb these primary X-rays and re-emit them as fluorescent X-rays with the energy characteristic of each element (1-10 keV). In normal solar conditions, C1XS can detect magnesium, aluminium and silicon and during solar flare time it would be able to detect elements such as iron, calcium and titanium.*

C1XS will *use the recently developed Swept Charge Device (SCD) X-ray sensors, with 24 nadir pointing detectors. SCD was flown recently in the European SMART-1 lunar mission as part of the instrument called D-CIXS (Demonstration of Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer). It is similar to the conventional Charge Coupled Device (CCD) but allows sensitive spectroscopy to be done at low temperatures of &#8211;20oC to 0oC (achieved by on-board passive cooling with radiative plates and heat sinks). The technology of the device was successfully demonstrated in SMART-1 and, in fact, the mission detected calcium for the first time.* 


*Graphic representation of Chandrayaan-1. The solar panel is canted by 300. C1XS (including XSM), RADOM, SIR-2, SARA (including CENA and SWIM), MiniSAR and M3 are the six foreign experiments.* 

However, an important consideration for its proper functioning is good thermal design and radiation shielding. *In fact, because of the long time of 15 months that it took to reach the moon and its highly elliptic 300 km x 3,000 km final orbit, SMART-1 had to pass through the near-earth radiation belt several times. This caused rapid degradation of the SCD and made its calibration and good energy resolution difficult.*

*But Chandrayaan-1, both because of its orbit and the timing of its launch, will be able to focus on science with potentially better results.* From its low 100 x 100 km orbit, *Chandrayaan-1 is expected to provide much better spatial resolution of 25 km (as compared to over 100 km in SMART-1). But more importantly, while SMART-1 flew at the worst time in respect of solar flares, Chandrayaan-1 has been launched at the best time for solar flares, thus enabling much more robust data.*

*Further, the orbit is also relatively a low radiation environment region of space and therefore the device is not expected to deteriorate fast. In its journey to the lunar orbit, however, it did pass through the radiation belt once, but its switching-on on November 23 has indicated that the instrument is working fine.*

*The collaboration with ISAC has contributed substantially to its improved design, better thermal engineering and radiation shielding, which are expected to yield far better energy resolution than SMART-1&#8217;s 200 eV. To check its calibration in the lunar orbit, a radioactive iron-55 source was placed on a deployable door that the instrument carries. After the instrument was switched on, the spectrum of iron-55 obtained in the moon&#8217;s environment was found to be identical to the spectrum on the earth. This is indicative of the instrument&#8217;s efficient thermal control and robust calibration, and a testimony to the ISAC team&#8217;s successful effort headed by P. Sreekumar.*

*One of the hurdles during the preparation for the Chandrayaan-1 mission before 2004 was the export embargo placed on ISRO units by the U.S. An IR detector up to 3 &#181; frequency that ISRO wanted to include in HySI could not be procured. HySI now has a range of 0.4-0.9 &#181; only. Post-2004 a French company offered to supply it, but by then the instrument design had been frozen. The Japanese mission has included an IR detector that goes up to 2.2 &#181;. The U.S. payload Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on Chandrayaan-1, however, has a range of 0.7-3 &#181;.*
*
&#8220;By overlapping data from the three experiments we will have a complete mineral map of the lunar surface,&#8221;* said Goswami.

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## nitesh

An afterthought

An afterthought

R. RAMACHANDRAN

*The Moon Impact Probe was never a part of Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s original configuration.*

ISRO 

*The Indian flag painted on the Moon Impact Probe.*

*THE primary objective of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was &#8220;to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon&#8221;. It was also intended &#8220;to qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions&#8221; and to carry out a &#8220;scientific exploration of the moon at close distances&#8221;.* In contrast to the other four Indian experiments, which were well conceived and evolved over time, the MIP, it is argued, was not the optimal experiment to achieve the above.

The MIP actually was never part of Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s original configuration, which included payloads from abroad in response to ISRO&#8217;s announcement of opportunity (AO) for proposals from elsewhere. This clearly indicates its lesser importance. Its inclusion probably became imperative because it was mooted by former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. This was subsequently endorsed (uncritically though) in November 2004 by ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair at the International Conference on the Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon in Udaipur.

The probe&#8217;s mass of 35 kg is more than one-third of the total mass (of around 100 kilogram) of the 11 payloads on board and is the highest of all. This would seem to be highly disproportionate to what was achieved during its 24-minute descent from the mother satellite to self-destruction. *However, once the MIP&#8217;s inclusion was decided, ISRO scientists tried to make the best of a bad bargain without sacrificing any of the mission&#8217;s other, already planned, objectives. In fact, the initial estimate was only about 24 kg &#8211; the final mass marks an increase by nearly 50 per cent.* K. Thyagarajan, formerly of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), agreed that the payload mass could have been optimised better.

The nominal amount of on-board propellant required for the maintenance and orbit and attitude control of the lunar-orbiting 675 kg spacecraft over its lifetime of two years is about 100 kg. One could, therefore, argue that if the launcher (PSLV-XL) could deliver a 1,380-kg satellite (as against the originally planned 1,300 kg) in the appropriate earth-bound initial orbit (IO), its lifetime could have been extended by four to six months, and the period more gainfully utilised by the other experiments, if an equivalent amount of additional propellant had been carried instead of the MIP.

However, according to Thyagarajan, *any additional propellant loading was not possible* for the following reason. Given its high mass, the launcher, PSLV-XL, could inject the satellite not into a 36,000-kilometre-apogee Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) (like the 1,050 kg METSAT/Kalpana-1) but only into an IO with an apogee of 22,000-23,000 km. This necessitated a subsequent lunar transfer through a series of firings of the satellite&#8217;s liquid apogee motor (LAM). To enable this, the satellite&#8217;s fuel tank was apparently filled to its capacity. So, it could not have carried any additional fuel even if one desired. But that only begs the question: couldn&#8217;t the satellite have been reconfigured to carry a higher capacity tank?
*
Indeed, Chandrayaan-1 had to be reconfigured significantly to accommodate the MIP and that too within six months. For instance, the original plan of having 16 on-board thrusters was changed to eight, according to M. Annadurai, Chandrayaan-1 project director. Similarly, instead of the usual four star sensors (used for attitude control) only two were used. This reconfiguration exercise also seems to have necessitated some innovation. Instead of deploying the antenna at the end of a boom, as is usually done in such deep-space missions, the antenna was re-engineered for it to be deployed without a boom.*

Annadurai, however, *prefered to take a positive view of the whole exercise. &#8220;I would not say we paid a price. It was a trade-off,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This forced us to optimise the mission to the maximum without giving up system redundancy. This challenge has resulted in an improved overall mission performance. We could carry out all operations with great precision. This has given confidence for efficient execution of future missions,&#8221; he added. According to him, the satellite now has about 150 kg of the propellant, which is 50 per cent more than what is required (including the margin provided for in the fuel budget) for a lifetime of two years.*

In its final form, the *TV monitor-sized MIP payload was like an autonomous mini-satellite. It included three on-board scientific instruments: a C-band radar altimeter to measure the instantaneous height of the probe from the moon surface, a CCD video camera to acquire images of the surface during its descent and an off-the-shelf mass spectrometer to sense the transient lunar atmosphere (particularly for the sporadic and localised volatile emissions of helium-4, radon-222 and argon-40 from the surface). Besides the instruments, the MIP carried a small solid motor and mini solid thrusters, on-board electronics for communication with the orbiting mother satellite, an antenna, a thermal control system and a data storage and read-out system for relaying to the orbiter.*

*The solid motor provided the small de-boost velocity (of about 62 metre/second) to make the probe&#8217;s orbit sub-optimal so that it would crash on the surface (instead of going around with the orbiter after separation). The de-boost was kept small so that the orbiter and the probe had nearly the same horizontal velocity (of about 1.6 km/s) and the former could track the latter right until its demise.*

*Before the de-boost operation, the probe was spun (at 60 rpm) using the spin-thruster to stabilise it so that the on-board antenna remained steady during the firing. Thus the video imaging was actually done by a spinning camera, which is devolved to get images with the correct perspective. In the distance that the MIP traversed before crashing, it captured about 800 images, according to T.A. Alex, Director, ISAC.*

According to Annadurai, the probe crashed near the rim of the Shackleton Crater on the south pole as targeted. The crash was signalled by a sudden break in the transmitted data. The crater itself is in permanent darkness whereas the sun shines in the adjacent regions (including the Malapert Mountain Range) nearly all the time. *The evidence on where it crashed came from the final few video images which became progressively pitch dark from one side, as against the earlier lighted images, because of the adjoining crater&#8217;s darkness.*

*A valid argument against the MIP&#8217;s inclusion is that the orbiter Chandrayaan-1 itself will be de-orbited at the end of its two-year life and allowed to crash on the moon.* It is, therefore, conceivable that science and validation of technologies could be done during the final crash of the orbiter itself by a deliberate manoeuvre (as was done for SMART-1) and by adding suitable instruments on board. As regards the operations done using the MIP, all except one could have been carried out during the final descent of the orbiter.

*An important feature of future lunar missions will be a lander/rover that would separate from an orbiter and descend to the surface, with the two moving objects remaining in constant radio communication. This technology could not have been validated using the final descent of the orbiter alone. The MIP was the test bed for this, but only to the extent that this was being done for the first time; not for overcoming any inherent technological limitations.* The primary objective of landing the probe at a desired spot could have been better achieved during the final crash of the higher mass orbiter by including a pre-programmed trajectory and appropriate spin and de-boost, which, in fact, could have been made larger to achieve a slower descent.

Similarly, video images, instantaneous altitude information and data on the lunar atmosphere from close quarters could have been obtained during the final descent, by including a video camera, an altimeter and a mass spectrometer in the suite of main payloads, and transmitted directly to the ground station.

Besides qualifying the pyro-activated device that separated the probe from the orbiter and the communication link between the two, it is not clear what other technologies this experiment could have validated for future soft-landing missions. Unlike the hard-landing of the MIP at 1.6 km/s, a soft-landing mission is a different technology altogether. (At 6,000 km/hour, the probe, the flag on it included, would have blown to smithereens.)

According to a paper by R.V. Ramanan and Madan Lal of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), *the optimal strategy for landing on the moon from a lunar parking orbit requires a powered braking (at an intermediate altitude) to bring the horizontal velocity to zero and the vertical velocity to a few m/s so that the probe has vertical soft touchdown with a near-zero velocity. This requires an optimum braking thrust of about 700 Newton. The thrusters that ISRO currently has are only of 440 N, and a new thruster has to be developed. They also point out that the landing mass is not optimal if two 440 N thrusters are used.*

The MIP could not have validated any of the above. It is, therefore, debatable whether its inclusion could be justified by the single technology of establishing communication link between two moving objects that it helped validate &#8211; which is no big deal &#8211; at the cost of skewing the satellite&#8217;s mass budget significantly.

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## nitesh

'India's manned moon mission by 2020' .:. NewKerala - India's Top Online Newspaper

Guwahati, Dec 6: India would be able to send a manned mission to the moon by 2020, while the second unmanned spacecraft would be ready by 2012, said a top space scientist who was involved in the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1.

"If everything goes as per the plan, we will be ready to send a man to moon by 2020," said Jitendranath Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.

PRL is the laboratory that helped build a payload called the high energy X-ray spectrometer that will look for water ice in the polar regions of the moon.

Goswami, who hails from Assam, was Saturday interacting with students, journalists, and academics, in Guwahati.

"Maybe in 50 years from now, there will be an alternate space to live in Mars," the space scientist said.

Goswami said he felt proud to be part of the historic moon mission and spelt out other programmes in the pipeline.

"As a scientist I have miles to go," Goswami was modest in his reply to a question as to how he felt being part of Chandrayaan-1.

"But we're not in any great hurry. We're hoping to get data (from Chandrayaan-1) for a long time."

He stressed on the need to help children get attracted towards science and space technology by urging parents to do something inspirational. "Parents and guardians can inspire their children to achieve something in life," Goswami said.


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## Flintlock

* Indian-built satellite goes global*
Bangalore (PTI): *In a major commercial achievement for the ISRO, its 'W2M satellite' built for Europe's leading satellite system specialist EADS Astrium is set to be launched from Kourou in French Guyana on December 20.
*
Weighing 3462 kg at lift-off, W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency till date and will be launched on board an Ariane rocket.

"That has reached Kourou...W2M for Eutelsat Communications," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI. W2M has been built by Bangalore-headquartered ISRO in 26 months, the agency's spokesperson S Satish said.

"ISRO has been able to meet the stringent time and quality schedule demanded by the customer," he said. Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, and EADS Astrium, signed contracts in February 2006 to provide communication satellites for the international market.

The first success of the alliance is demonstrated by the award of the W2M satellite contract by Eutelsat, the holding company of Eutelsat SA Group, a leading satellite operator. Nair said, "one more satellite is being built (under Antrix/EADS Astrium alliance). By next year, that will also be shipped."

Satish said W2M, designed for an operational lifetime of 15 years, would carry 32 transponders. Under the W2M contract, EADS Astrium was prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and built communication payload. Antrix/ISRO built the satellite bus, integrated and tested the spacecraft.

Satish said ISRO would also be in charge of early in-orbit operations. ISRO got a "good rate" as prevailing internationally for its work, officials said.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/h...0812091662.htm

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## nitesh

Russia to take Indian astronaut on space mission in 2013-India-The Times of India

Russia to take Indian astronaut on space mission in 2013
10 Dec 2008, 1219 hrs IST, PTI


NEW DELHI: *An Indian astronaut will embark on a mission to space in a Russian spacecraft within the next five years, nearly three decades after Rakesh Sharma undertook the historic flight.*

*This mission, tentatively scheduled for 2013, will be the precursor to Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) maiden human spaceflight planned to be launched in 2015.*

India and Russia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Activities in the Field of Human Spaceflight Programme during the recent visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

*"As per the agreement, an Indian astronaut will first go on a space mission on a Russian spacecraft. This will be followed by an Indian manned mission to space in 2015,"* ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

Under the MoU signed by Nair and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Perminov, ISRO and Russian space agency Roskosmos will jointly build the spacecraft for the Indian manned mission.

"We will be redesigning the Soyuz space capsule of the Russian agency for our mission," Nair said. Government has already sanctioned Rs 95 crore to study all aspects of the manned space mission under which ISRO plans to send a two-member crew on a week-long sojourn in space.

The spacecraft, to be placed in a low earth orbit, will splash in the Indian ocean after completion of the mission.

ISRO is setting up an astronaut training centre in Bangalore. For the two-member mission, a batch of 200 would be initially selected and trained before opting for four persons out of which two would go on the mission.


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## nitesh

The Space Review: Technical ego: India and Germany in space





TerraSAR-X is a relatively inexpensive radar imaging satellite developed by the German space agency DLR. (credit: DLR)

Technical ego: India and Germany in space
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, December 8, 2008

On December 3 the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Baltimore Section held a talk at the Johns Hopkins University&#8217;s Applied Physics Laboratory titled *&#8220;Space Program Updates: Germany and India.&#8221; The featured speakers were Counsellor Devi Prasad Karnik of the Indian Consulate, and Dr. J&#252;rgen Drescher of the German Center for Aeronautics and Spaceflight. The two men discussed the current activities and future goals of their respective space programs.*

*India in space*

The first speaker was Devi Prasad Karnik, who first started working for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1984 and now represents ISRO in the United States. Karnik provided a detailed overview of India&#8217;s space program that was quite similar to a panel discussion on the same topic held in nearby Washington in October (see: &#8220;The new path to space: India and China enter the game&#8221;, The Space Review, October 13, 2008). *India&#8217;s space research has transitioned through four eras: the initiation phase of the 1960s, the experimental phase of the 1970s and &#8217;80s, the operational phase of the 1990s, and the expansion phase of today, which is gaining the country more attention on the international stage.*

Unlike the space programs of the Cold War superpowers, or even Japan, Europe, and China, *India&#8217;s space program was always very closely tied to the developing country&#8217;s social needs. Satellites were developed to provide communications and telemedicine with isolated areas, weather forecasting, and remote sensing for vital needs such as agriculture assessment.* 

*Today the Indian space program is funded at 40.74 billion rupees, or over $800 million, and includes 16,500 people spread all over the country.* Karnik showed a map of India indicating the various space-related research centers located throughout the country. There are a large number of them well dispersed geographically. Although Karnik did not discuss it, an interesting question would be the degree to which the location of these research centers was intended to spur local economic development. Lyndon Johnson sought to site NASA centers in the American south in order to spur economic development. Has India followed a similar approach?

Much of Karnik&#8217;s talk covered the same ground as the October panel discussion in Washington. However, when Karnik took questions his responses provided additional insight into India&#8217;s space program, including the impetus behind its newest developments. One questioner asked if India&#8217;s space program was publicly popular because of its linkage to social problems, and also asked if projects like the Chandrayaan lunar spacecraft and the human spaceflight program had come under criticism.

Karnik confirmed that India&#8217;s space program was very popular with the public. Its results, like telemedicine, meteorology, and telecommunications, have long been visible and the public &#8220;recognize the value of space.&#8221; He noted that cell phone access is inexpensive in India and even the lower classes can afford mobile phones&#8212;the public attributes this to space development. But he conceded that Chandrayaan and the human spaceflight plans had recently received some public criticism as wasteful and unnecessary.

Karnik stressed that India was not planning on discontinuing any of its existing programs and had plans to develop follow-on satellites for the current remote sensing and other programs. *The reason that India is now branching out into space science and human spaceflight has little to do with prestige, he said, and more to do with maintaining the interest and involvement of the current space workforce who had become bored with developing the same systems over and over. These programs are about &#8220;satisfying the technical ego of the younger generation,&#8221;* he explained.

Another questioner asked about the possibility of using satellites for coastal monitoring, a shortfall highlighted by the recent Mumbai terrorist attack. Karnik said that India has a vast coastline but does not have any plans for satellite surveillance of the coast&#8212;a daunting task. He said that a particular shortfall for India was the lack of a dedicated satellite for &#8220;disaster monitoring.&#8221; In response to a question about using satellites to warn of tsunamis, Karnik explained that at the moment India&#8217;s scientists are seeking to correlate the data they have to the satellites that could provide such warning. They still don&#8217;t understand what the data means, but they do hope to eventually develop a tsunami warning system using satellites.

*Germany in space*

Dr. J&#252;rgen Drescher is the head of the Washington office of the Deutsches Zentrum f&#252;r Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR). Drescher is a medical doctor by education and his background is in aeromedicine, but his current job makes him the primary representative of the German Center for Aeronautics and Spaceflight in the United States, acting as a liaison both to the American government and to industry. The person who introduced him referred to the DLR as the &#8220;German NASA,&#8221; but as Drescher explained, the DLR is actually significantly different than NASA in scope and function. Germany currently spends 572 million euros on European Space Agency programs and 191 million euros on its national program. In addition, the country spends 124 million euros on &#8220;research and technology,&#8221; which includes funding for various institutes throughout Germany.

Although the largest portion of DLR&#8217;s funding is spent on space, the agency also sponsors research in four other areas: aviation, energy, transportation, and the newest focus, security. Aviation funding includes basic research to support the aviation industry, including wind tunnel testing, advanced materials and composites research, as well as aviation safety and air traffic management research.

The DLR&#8217;s energy projects include work on things like solar cells and fuel cells. Drescher explained that one of the agency&#8217;s current projects is developing a fuel cell to replace the auxiliary power units (APUs) used by commercial jetliners to run their electronics and start their engines on the ground. APUs burn jet fuel and contribute to noise and pollution while the jets are at an airport. The fuel cell that DLR has developed produces up to 80 kilowatts of power, sufficient to replace an APU, and its only byproduct is water. The ultimate goal of the project is to couple the fuel cell&#8217;s electric power to the landing gear, enabling the plane to back away from the gate and taxi without the assistance of a tractor, thereby eliminating the pollution from two combustion engines&#8212;the APU and the tractor. The audience&#8217;s interest was clearly piqued by this device and anybody who has ever stepped out of an airplane into a fume-filled jetway can attest that this could definitely improve the environment.

The DLR is also responsible for studying the aerodynamics of high speed trains like the Inter City Exchange (ICE), and is working on various research projects associated with combustion technology.

The agency&#8217;s newest focus is security technology, a broad field that includes not only national security technologies, but things like airport screening devices. Like the United States, they have developed airport scanners that can peer through a person&#8217;s clothes and accurately reveal the presence of weapons and explosives on the body of a passenger transiting through a terminal. But, like the United States, they are also facing issues of personal privacy because the device effectively produces a high-resolution picture of a naked human being.

According to Dr. Drescher, other aviation projects sponsored by the DLR include an effort to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into commercial airspace. Drescher explained that, unlike the United States, Europe does not have separate military and civilian air corridors. European airspace is so crowded that it is nearly impossible to test fly UAVs in restricted airspace. This has provided incentive for the DLR to develop systems that allow UAV operations in Germany&#8217;s airspace, with the aircraft monitoring its local airspace and coordinating with the ground in order to avoid straying too close to manned aircraft.

Much of Dr. Drescher&#8217;s talk was devoted to spaceflight. Approximately forty percent of Germany&#8217;s 572 million euro contribution to ESA goes to the International Space Station and Germany played a major role in the development of the Columbus space laboratory and plans to conduct research there once the station becomes fully operational. Germany&#8217;s role in developing systems has been self-limited, however, and the country has primarily focused on the development of high quality space subsystems.

In recent years, Germany has substantially expanded its space capabilities. Although Drescher did not make the connection, nearly ten years ago the Bosnian conflict provided the impetus for a change in German defense policy. Numerous European countries found themselves in the unfortunate position of having limited ability to deal with a security threat in their own backyard and had to rely heavily upon the United States for important national security resources such as satellite intelligence. Today the situation has changed dramatically. In only the past few years Germany has acquired both a highly capable space-based synthetic aperture radar imaging capability and a low-resolution, quick response photoreconnaissance capability. In addition with the French Helios 2 medium resolution (better than one-meter) reconnaissance capability, and Italian space assets, Europe now has the ability to monitor both its own backyard as well as the rest of the world.

The German radar capability consists of two satellites known as TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, producing 3-D elevation models with one-meter ground resolution imagery and also stereo imaging of non-moving targets. Using the Doppler effect, the satellites can also estimate the velocity of moving ground targets. According to Drescher, TerraSAR-X was a relatively inexpensive program, costing approximately 180 million euros, including launch and the ground station. He said that DLR is in discussion with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build more such satellites with additional frequencies.

The five-satellite photoreconnaissance constellation known as RapidEye can produce quick overviews of terrain features. The images are low resolution, but because of the constellation size the satellites have the ability to cover a lot of territory and revisit targets relatively quickly. The products of both TerraSAR-X and RapidEye are sold commercially and the United States military is a customer. Drescher explained that the next major step for the DLR is the development of EnMap, a hyperspectral Environmental Mapping system.

The DLR is also involved in two future space science projects, the eROSITA x-ray spacecraft, and the BepiColumbo Mercury orbiter. In addition, the DLR is focusing attention on &#8220;satellite maintenance and services,&#8221; which includes everything from space situational awareness&#8212;monitoring the environment around its satellites&#8212;to protecting them from malfunction or attack.

Drescher also discussed the DLR&#8217;s work on the Lunar Exploration Orbiter, or LEO, and showed a computer animation of the spacecraft. LEO could be launched by 2013 atop a Soyuz rocket and sent to an initial 100-kilometer orbit around the Moon. It would be equipped with two subsatellites for gravity mapping of the Moon. The spacecraft would carry a number of instruments, including a synthetic aperture radar sounder and a primary payload of an advanced high-resolution stereo imaging camera developed at DLR Berlin Adlershof. After operating in its initial 100-kilometer orbit, LEO would descend to 50 kilometers where it would be able to map the Moon in multispectral ranges at better than one meter resolution&#8212;better even than NASA&#8217;s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter scheduled for launch in spring of next year.

Lunar Exploration Orbiter would be an entirely German mission, without ESA or foreign involvement. Unfortunately, this past summer the German government decided not to fund the spacecraft, only the instruments. The DLR will continue instrument development and if it does not receive funding to build the spacecraft in the future, it may then offer the instruments to other nations to fly on their own lunar spacecraft.

Although Drescher did not address the overall trends in German space funding, aerospace budgets took a substantial hit after reunification in the early 1990s. As the German government pumped money into the former East Germany, it drastically cut back other programs, including space. One thing clear from Drescher&#8217;s talk is that the DLR is actively looking for both partners and markets, undoubtedly to continue to justify the agency&#8217;s funding.

As Dr. Drescher emphasized during his talk, both the United States and Germany share a number of technology development and policy interests: decreased airport pollution, integrating UAVs into civilian airspace, and even the problems of airport security and personal privacy. But ITAR remains a major impediment for future space cooperation between the DLR and NASA. Surprisingly, the DLR has been able to engage in a number of cooperative efforts with the US Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency, &#8220;but with NASA it&#8217;s impossible for us,&#8221; he joked.
Different countries, similar interests

At first look it might seem rather odd to include both India and Germany in a discussion of space programs. After all, India remains a developing country, only now venturing out to do the kinds of space projects that Germany has been involved in for decades. But upon closer examination, the two countries&#8217; space programs share many characteristics. Neither India nor Germany has flashy space programs. Unlike the United States, prestige plays a limited role in determining what they do. Instead, their space programs are closely linked to a relatively narrow definition of their societal needs. Germany is the more mature space power, and deeply entwined with numerous partners. But it still maintains a limited national space program.

From a policy standpoint, India is the more interesting of the two. Whereas China is branching into space science and human spaceflight both to satisfy a domestic audience and to demonstrate Chinese technological capabilities on the international stage, India&#8217;s motivations are more internal and bureaucratic. Although India certainly responds to the actions of other countries in space, as Counsellor Karnik hinted, claims of an &#8220;Asian moon race&#8221; are probably overrated. India has been successful at using its space program to meet social needs, but has found that this is not enough; in order to attract and keep people in its space program&#8212;to meet their &#8220;technical ego&#8221;&#8212;India has had to set its sights higher.


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## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> From a policy standpoint, India is the more interesting of the two. Whereas China is branching into space science and human spaceflight both to satisfy a domestic audience and to demonstrate Chinese technological capabilities on the international stage, Indias motivations are more internal and bureaucratic. Although India certainly responds to the actions of other countries in space, as Counsellor Karnik hinted, claims of an Asian moon race are probably overrated. India has been successful at using its space program to meet social needs, but has found that this is not enough; in order to attract and keep people in its space programto meet their technical egoIndia has had to set its sights higher.



Very good assessment.


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## nitesh

Airliners.net | Airplanes - Aviation - Aircraft- Aircraft Photos & News...

*India Wants Global Space Partners*

Friday, December 12, 2008

*The Indian Space Research Organisation hopes to fast-forward some of its ambitious space plans.*

BENGALURU, India - Flush with the ongoing success of its Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is looking for international partners as a way to fast-forward some of its ambitious space plans.

"There will be challenging opportunities for industries in India and abroad to provide equipment and services," says ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, addressing the recent Bengaluru (former Bangalore) Space Expo 2008 organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with ISRO and its marketing arm, the Antrix Corporation. "These include many small and medium enterprises."

*The latest Geosynchronous Space Launch Vehicle - the GSLV Mk III (LVM3) under development with a $500 million budget and a Russian cryogenic stage - is now moving to an indigenous cryogenic stage, with two variants set to be ready in 2009.*

*"The objective is to have a self-reliant cost-effective new launch vehicle capable of launching the 4-ton class of communication satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and up to 10-ton satellites in low Earth orbit by 2010/2011,"* says N. Narayanamoorthy, the SLV3 project director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSCC). The LVM3 development also includes improved operability, he says.

Reducing the cost of access to space is a prime goal. And some potential international partners may be willing to help. "We're not in India to sell any hardware," says Alan De Luna, Project Director, Space Flight Programs, United Space Alliance. "What we bring is our experience on how to totally scope your program."

In land remote sensing - long a focus of India's help-the-villages space policy - "international cooperation will be the cornerstone," Antrix Director C.V.S. Prakash says.

"Building, launching, operating and pursuing the program is very expensive," Prakash says. "It is a 'dammed if you do and dammed if you don't' situation once you have stepped in to such a program. You require investment for processing systems, software to use the remote sensing data of a satellite, which takes about three to four years to start yielding results. If the program is not continued after the normal life of a satellite, the ground investment comes to naught."

That conundrum may be a way for India to find common cause with other national space programs, much as NASA has joined the European Space Agency to stretch limited resources with a collaborative Mars exploration plan.

"For small countries, there is no other way than collaboration," says Zvi Kaplan, director-general of the Israel Space Agency (ISA).

*The ISA is waiting for India to launch its Tel Aviv University Ultra-Violet Experiment (TAUVEX) instrument,* started in the 1990s, on the GSAT-4 satellite next year. That mission also will test the ISRO-developed cryogenic engine for the GSLV upper stage.

But challenges remain as India's long-isolated space program struggles to join the international mainstream. A senior official told Aviation Week that while the Chandrayaan-1 mission had raised India's image, some countries are not ready to share technology.
*
ISRO plans six launches by the end of 2009, and also plans to launch a small probe named Aditya - "Sun" in Sanskrit - in 2012 to study the solar corona during the next solar-maximum period.*


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## nitesh

M3 Science Blog Data


First Peek at M3 Data!

We are thrilled to finally be able to share with our colleagues and the public a look at the first set of data that our Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument collected! M3&#8217;s first look at the Moon occurred on November 22, 2008 when we acquired some new data for the Orientale Basin.



The first image is a &#8220;context&#8221; image, whose purpose is to allow you to get a feel for where on the Moon the long, narrow M3 data strips are located. It shows part of one orbit of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data superimposed on Lunar Aeronautical Chart (LAC) 108. This LAC sheet covers the southern portion of the Orientale Basin, a large impact structure on the Moon&#8217;s western limb. North is up. Major geological features in this orbit of M3 data include basaltic materials in the basin center, impact melt related to basin formation, Orientale basin massifs (mountains), and dark pyroclastic volcanic materials in the south. The LAC sheet background image is the 750 nm Clementine UVVIS basemap. The M3 strip is 40 km wide, and was acquired in the instrument&#8217;s lower-resolution mode at a spatial resolution of 140 m/pixel. The blue box identifies the subset region shown in later figures.



This second image is a subset of a longer M3 &#8220;image-cube&#8221; acquired across the Oriental Basin. To create this image using a two-dimensional detector, one line of spatial information (40 km in width with 300 elements) is acquired simultaneously with all channels in the spectral dimension. As the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft moves along an orbit from pole to pole, the second dimension of spatial information is obtained line by line forming the image shown. A full spectrum from 420 to 3000 nm is thus acquired for every spatial element within the scene ( altogether 182,000 spectra for this subset!). These M3 low-resolution data consist of 86 spectral channels continuously spaced from 420 to 2980 nm. Example spectra for four small areas are shown in the next image. The areas are located just to the left of the numbers in the figure above which correspond to the spectra labeled in the next image.



Our third image (really a figure) is a plot that shows some example visible to near-infrared spectra extracted from the M3 subset across the Orientale Basin. Number labels refer to the location of each spectrum in the previous image. Prominent absorption features (arrows) are seen near 1000 and 2000 nm for the two small craters #2 and #4. These spectral features are due to iron-bearing pyroxene at those locations. Subtle differences between the shape and wavelength of these pyroxene features indicate differences in pyroxene composition associated with magnesium, calcium, and iron content. Most lunar soil spectra, such as spectrum #3, have very weak absorption features, but exhibit an overall trend in which reflectance increases toward longer wavelengths (we call this trend a red-sloped continuum). Spectrum #1 exhibits no evidence for the presence of iron-bearing minerals but is very bright. This mountain, and several like it in this scene, is composed almost entirely of the mineral plagioclase forming a rock called anorthosite. The presence of anorthosite plays a central role in the early &#8220;magma ocean&#8221; formation of the lunar crust.



Finally, we have a set of three images of the subset of M3 data for the Orientale region. These images contain 300 spatial elements (pixels) across the 40 km field of view, providing 140 m resolution. On the left is one spectral band at 750 nm in which the signal is entirely reflected solar light. The middle figure is a color composite of processed data that accentuates compositional differences. The blue to red colors represent the slope of the lunar continuum in the near-infrared. The green color is an indication of the abundance of iron-bearing minerals such as pyroxene ( as measured by an integrated band depth derived from 26 channels of continuum removed data between 790 and 1290 nm). The image on the right is a single M3 spectral band at 2940 nm. This image contains significant thermal emission in the signal and is particularly sensitive to small variations in local morphology. These new data provide mineralogical constraints on geologic processes that occur within the Orientale Basin. The dark mare region in the north-east part of the image contains the greatest abundance of iron-rich minerals and is basaltic in composition. Although a few small areas of iron-bearing minerals occur within the impact melt formed by the basin impact (seen along the left and bottom of the image), this material is very plagioclase rich, and several mountains and blocks are essentially pure anorthosite.

Please check back to this site for updates! New results will be released periodically!

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## nitesh

Good news guys:

The New Indian Express - No. 1 site for South India News, Breaking News, Cinema, Business successfully tests Cryogenic rocket engine

*India successfully tests Cryogenic rocket engine*


IANS
First Published : 20 Dec 2008 05:06:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 20 Dec 2008 05:24:27 PM IST

BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a *test of its indigenous cryogenic (supercooled fuel) engine to be used in the next geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) mission, the space agency said here Saturday.*

"The flight acceptance hot test of the Cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu Thursday. *This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT)," ISRO said in a statement.*

Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for liquid fuels that have to be held at very low 'cryogenic' temperatures, as they would otherwise be gas at normal temperatures.

*Typically, hydrogen and oxygen are used which need to be held respectively below 20 degrees Kelvin (-253 degrees Celsius) and 90 degrees Kelvin (-183 degrees Celsius) to remain in liquid form.*

*ISRO plans to use its own first cryogenic engine in place of the Russian-made engine in the upper stage of the rocket that will deploy the satellite with navigation and technology payloads into the geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).*

*The cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds (7.56 minutes) and can carry 2.2 tonnes.*

Working on a staged combustion cycle with an integrated turbo-pump, the engine will have 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It also has two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the flight mission.

"The hot test was carried out for 200 seconds (3.33 minutes) during which the engine was operated in the nominal and 13 percent up-rated thrust regimes. All the propulsion parameters were satisfactory and matched with predictions," the statement mentioned.

The cryogenic engine will be integrated with propellant tanks, stage structures and associated feed lines of the launch vehicle for the flight mission in April next from the spaceport at Sriharikota, about 80 km north of Chennai.

*The central government Friday approved the development of semi-cryogenic engines for space transportation at a cost of Rs.1,798 crore (approx Rs.18 billion) with a foreign exchange component of Rs.588 crore (Rs.5.88 billion).*

"This will be an important step towards self-reliance in advanced space transportation technology," Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi.

*Cryogenic engine technology is currently present only in Russia and the US.*

The semi-cryogenic engines will facilitate applications for future space missions like the reusable launch vehicle, the unified launch vehicle and the vehicle for inter-planetary missions, Chidambaram added.

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## Flintlock

*
India lunar craft problem 'fixed'*
By Swaminathan Natarajan
BBC Tamil service
*
Indian space scientists say they have corrected a major heat problem that threatened India's first unmanned lunar craft Chandrayaan 1.

They say that the craft is now functioning normally after the heat was brought down.*

India launched its first lunar mission on 22 October. It reached lunar orbit in the first week of November.

But soon after that the temperature inside the probe went up to 50C, endangering the mission.

Project director M Annadurai told the BBC: "Due to various measures we took, now the temperature has come down below 40C.

"All the 11 instruments carried on board are working normally."

The heat rise had prompted scientists to take urgent measures.

The problem arose because of very hot temperatures during lunar orbit.

A lot of onboard equipment was switched off and the satellite was tilted by 20 degrees. "The lunar probe has also been brought back to its original position," M Annadurai added.

The Indian lunar mission aims to map the Moon's surface, look for traces of water and the presence of helium.

The mission is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India lunar craft problem 'fixed'

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## nitesh

Union Cabinet sanctions financial package for ISRO - www.ddinews.com

Saturday 20 December, 2008

ISRO's efforts to develop a semi-cryogenic engine to power future inter-planetary missions got a boost as the government sanctioned Rs 1,798 crore for the initiative to be completed within six years.

*India will become the third country, after the US and Russia, to have developed the advanced propulsion system which will be used to launch space shuttles and future space missions.*

The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved development of semi-cryogenic engine technology at an estimated cost of Rs 1,798 crore with a foreign exchange component of Rs 588 crore, Home Minister P Chidambaram said reporters in New Delhi on Friday.

The objective is designing, fabricating and testing this advanced technology in India in six years time, which will be a key step towards self-reliance in advanced space transportation technology for the country, he said.

"The semi-cryogenic engine will facilitate applications for future space missions such as the Reusable Launch Vehicle, Unified Launch Vehicle and vehicle for interplanetary missions," Chidambaram said.

The semi-cryogenic engines using liquid oxygen and kerosene are considered relatively environment friendly, non-toxic and non-corrosive.

The propellants for such engines are safer to handle and store and also reduce the cost of launch operations.

After the successful launch of Chandrayaan-I, ISRO is now planning to send an Indian in space, a mission to Mars, flyby mission to asteroids and comets.

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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

ISRO's commercial Communication Satellite launched

A state of the art communication satellite, W2M, built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched on Sunday at 0405 hrs (IST) by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana, says ISRO release.

32 minutes after its lift-off, W2M separated from Ariane-5, after reaching its intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Radio signals transmitted by W2M were successfully received by ISRO&#8217;s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka and the satellite&#8217;s health is normal.

W2M project was undertaken in the context of an accord signed during the visit of the President of France on February 20, 2006, at New Delhi between Antrix Corporation Ltd., the commercial arm of the India&#8217;s Department of Space and EADS Astrium to jointly build and deliver a communication satellite (W2M) to Eutelsat Communications, which is a global satellite communications provider based in Paris.

Astrium had the responsibility for overall program management and delivery of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite bus and also performed W2M's integration and testing at ISRO's facilities in Bangalore.

W2M satellite, weighing 3,463 kg at lift-off, is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO and is capable of operating for over 15 years. The satellite's solar panels generate a maximum of about 7000 Watts of power.

Subsequent to its placement in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by Ariane 5, W2M is to be positioned finally at the orbital slot of 16 degree East in the Geostationary Orbit.

It carries 32 high power Ku band transponders for telecommunications and broadcasting services over Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

Antrix/ISRO is also responsible for the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) operations of W2M, which is being conducted from Master Control Facility.

The operations include 3-axis stabilisation of the satellite, repeated firing of its Liquid Apogee Motor to reach the satellite to its final orbital slot and deployment of its appendages.

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## nitesh

ISRO makes $40 million profit out of W2M satellite - Technology - livemint.com

*ISRO makes $40 million profit out of W2M satellite*

*Weighing 3,462 kg at lift-off, W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency till date*

Bangalore: India&#8217;s space programme is all set to achieve a major milestone when European space consortium Arianespace launches over the weekend the W2M satellite built by ISRO for a foreign customer *for the first time fetching it $40 million profit.*
Building W2M for satellite operator Eutelsat under the ISRO-EADS Astrium alliance has signalled the Bangalore- headquartered space agency&#8217;s foray into the satellite-manufacturing market.

*While W2M was built under a $80 million (Rs400 crore) contract by ISRO, officials said it was a good deal for the space agency which made a profit of $40 million (Rs200 crore) in this venture.*

&#8220;ISRO builds such spacecraft without payloads for less than Rs200 crore. That way we made a good profit&#8221;, an ISRO official said.

&#8220;It (W2M) is comparable to INSAT-4 series. For the first time, we have built a satellite for a foreign customer. So, that&#8217;s why the launch is important for us&#8221;, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI.

Nair would be at the Europe&#8217;s spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana when the W2M spacecraft is launched, along with HOT BIRD satellite built by EADS Astrium, Europe&#8217;s leading satellite system specialist, by an Ariane rocket early Sunday Indian time.
*ISRO spokesperson S Satish said &#8220;weighing 3,462 kg at lift-off, W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency till date. It was built in 26 months&#8221;. *

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## nitesh

Raytheon's Chandrayaan-1 Sensor Successfully Activated

Raytheon's Chandrayaan-1 Sensor Successfully Activated

by Staff Writers
El Segundo CA (SPX) Dec 23, 2008

*Raytheon has received confirmation from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization that a water-detecting sensor system on the Chandrayaan-1 lunar-orbiting spacecraft has been activated and is fully functional.*

The assurance extends Raytheon's perfect 40-year record of start-up success. Data collected during an initial checkout will be used to calibrate the sensor.

Under contract to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Raytheon provided the antenna, transmitter, analog receiver and software for the sensor system to Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which then integrated the sensor system with the spacecraft.

The company also supplied system engineering, integration and test support.

The main mission of the system is to detect water at depths up to several meters in the frozen regions of the lunar poles.

*Operational data retrieval will begin several months after initial calibration to allow other on-board optical payloads to take advantage of favorable solar illumination conditions during the early phase of the program.*

"We are proud to be supporting this highly important Indian space mission and of our company's unblemished record of on-orbit sensor activation," said Brian Arnold, vice president for the Space Systems group of Raytheon.


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

'Bhuvan' to be launched in March

New Delhi (PTI): Bhuvan, India's response to Google Earth, will be launched in March 2009 and *will provide high resolution imagery data of the order of five metre* which would be of great relevance for real-time exercises, including disaster management and military operations.

*"The Google Earth is providing high resolution data in the order of less than a metre. But the data is two to three years old. It cannot be of much use for any real-time exercise. But Bhuvan will provide the relevant data for any real-time exercise,"* S K Pathan, Head, Geo Informatics Data Division, ISRO, said.

Bhuvan, to be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be a better alternative to Google Earth in terms of quality of data, he said.

"Bhuvan, which means earth, will get the images from the satellites and provide high resolution imagery data of the order of five metre. *This can be of use for real-time exercises like disaster management and military operations,"* he said.

For real-time exercises, the latest data is a guiding force, he said. It can show the topography, altitude, depth and other features of any specific location.

"This information will be required when you are undertaking a massive exercise like flood management or post-cyclone disaster mitigation," he said.

The data could be of use to manage public services, internal security, town planning and infrastructure development activities.


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## nitesh

News and Events, NAL, Bangalore

AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISATION OF RLV-TD

NAL trisonic wind tunnel facility is being used extensively to characterize the aerodynamics of Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) configuration during various phases of flights as well as to generate very important data viz. FADS calibration coefficients, hinge moments, unsteady aerodynamics, flow visualization and dynamic derivatives of RLV-TD HEX-1 mission, which is planned in the middle of next year. The descent phase aerodynamic characterization (TDV alone) was completed and the huge data generated was of immense use for the design and simulations. The aerodynamic community has lauded the voluminous data, which runs into 1196 tables that was followed for the first time, as practiced in aircraft industry.

In order to meet RLV-HEX-1 mission target of May-June 2009, the complete aerodynamic characterization during ascent phase as well as FADS calibration data were essential by November, 2008. On the request from ISRO, the test program was undertaken on priority by the NTAF team. Also during the course of the tests, the test data were made available in real time to the Project and design teams that facilitated making a first cut assessment on the result and to carry forward the remaining program. The total number of blowdowns was more than 450 and the whole test program went smooth. The NTAF team rose to meet the crises, like power problems and put extra effort in order to ensure timely completion of the program.

On behalf of the project, Dr K Sivan Project Director, RLV-TD, VSSC has appreciated the NTAF team for putting their best efforts to complete the RLV-TD ascent phase aerodynamic characterization and FADS calibration test for providing the data within the targeted schedules . Dr K Sivan has also mentioned that he is looking forward to the continued support and cooperation from NAL for the further test programs.


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## nitesh

News and Events, NAL, Bangalore

AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISATION OF RLV-TD

NAL trisonic wind tunnel facility is being used extensively to characterize the aerodynamics of Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) configuration during various phases of flights as well as to generate very important data viz. FADS calibration coefficients, hinge moments, unsteady aerodynamics, flow visualization and dynamic derivatives of RLV-TD HEX-1 mission, which is planned in the middle of next year. The descent phase aerodynamic characterization (TDV alone) was completed and the huge data generated was of immense use for the design and simulations. The aerodynamic community has lauded the voluminous data, which runs into 1196 tables that was followed for the first time, as practiced in aircraft industry.

In order to meet RLV-HEX-1 mission target of May-June 2009, the complete aerodynamic characterization during ascent phase as well as FADS calibration data were essential by November, 2008. On the request from ISRO, the test program was undertaken on priority by the NTAF team. Also during the course of the tests, the test data were made available in real time to the Project and design teams that facilitated making a first cut assessment on the result and to carry forward the remaining program. The total number of blowdowns was more than 450 and the whole test program went smooth. The NTAF team rose to meet the crises, like power problems and put extra effort in order to ensure timely completion of the program.

On behalf of the project, Dr K Sivan Project Director, RLV-TD, VSSC has appreciated the NTAF team for putting their best efforts to complete the RLV-TD ascent phase aerodynamic characterization and FADS calibration test for providing the data within the targeted schedules . Dr K Sivan has also mentioned that he is looking forward to the continued support and cooperation from NAL for the further test programs.


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan II design complete- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times

Chandrayaan II design complete
24 Dec 2008, 1640 hrs IST, IANS


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday said that the design for Chandrayaan II has been completed and it will be launched by 2012.

"The designs for Chandrayaan II have been completed and we hope to launch it by 2012," ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to felicitate the Chandrayaan I team.

The Chandrayaan II project is slated to land a small rover on the moon's surface and collect and analyse samples, he said.

The ISRO has made another achievement recently, when a commercial satellite built by the organisation for the European satellite operator, Eutelsat, was successfully launched from French Guiana in South America.

*Nair noted that the ISRO was earning about Rs 10 billion (Rs 1,000 crore) annually from its commercial wing. This is expected to grow at 20 percent per year, he added.*


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

*ISRO eyes lunar landing in 2012, Mars mission in 2013*

New Delhi (PTI/IANS): Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-I, space scientists now plan to conquer new frontiers by sending a robot on moon in 2012 and a spacecraft to Mars the following year which will also see an Indian astronaut in space.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lined up a slew of missions which also include landing a spacecraft on an asteroid and sending a probe to fly past a comet.

*ISRO plans to send an Indian astronaut in space onboard a Russian mission in 2013 and follow it up with two Indian astronauts on a seven-day mission on an indigenously developed rocket in 2015.*

*India's mission to Mars is at a conceptual stage right now, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI on the sidelines of a felicitation of the Chandrayaan-I team by CII.*

*"Next year we will be able to finalise and by 2013 it can take off,"* he said.

Nair said the *current Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), used to put communications satellites in orbit, will be used to launch the probe to Mars.*

ISRO also plan to launch a sequel to Chandrayaan-I, which will entail landing a rover robot on moon by 2012. The lunar rover will be built in collaboration with Russia.

"The designs for Chandrayaan II have been completed and we hope to launch it by 2012," Nair Said.

The Chandrayaan II project is slated to land a small rover on the moon's surface and collect and analyse samples, he said.

The ISRO has made another achievement recently, when a commercial satellite built by the organisation for the European satellite operator, Eutelsat, was successfully launched from French Guiana in South America.

Nair noted that the ISRO was earning about Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crore) annually from its commercial wing. This is expected to grow at 20 per cent per year, he added.

*Last year, ISRO had sent to space a capsule which was recovered after keeping in orbit for 22 days. The Space Recovery Experiment (SRE) was seen as a technology demonstrator for future manned missions.*


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## rubyjackass

nitesh said:


> The Hindu News Update Service
> 
> 'Bhuvan' to be launched in March
> 
> New Delhi (PTI): Bhuvan, India's response to Google Earth, will be launched in March 2009 and *will provide high resolution imagery data of the order of five metre* which would be of great relevance for real-time exercises, including disaster management and military operations.
> 
> *"The Google Earth is providing high resolution data in the order of less than a metre. But the data is two to three years old. It cannot be of much use for any real-time exercise. But Bhuvan will provide the relevant data for any real-time exercise,"* S K Pathan, Head, Geo Informatics Data Division, ISRO, said.
> 
> Bhuvan, to be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be a better alternative to Google Earth in terms of quality of data, he said.
> 
> "Bhuvan, which means earth, will get the images from the satellites and provide high resolution imagery data of the order of five metre. *This can be of use for real-time exercises like disaster management and military operations,"* he said.
> 
> For real-time exercises, the latest data is a guiding force, he said. It can show the topography, altitude, depth and other features of any specific location.
> 
> "This information will be required when you are undertaking a massive exercise like flood management or post-cyclone disaster mitigation," he said.
> 
> The data could be of use to manage public services, internal security, town planning and infrastructure development activities.



Wow!!!Wow!!!Wow!!!
cool!!!


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## nitesh

The Hindu Business Line : ISRO&#8217;s proposal for manned mission submitted to Govt

ISRO&#8217;s proposal for manned mission submitted to Govt

CII felicitates India&#8217;s space scientists for moon mission. 

Our Bureau,

New Delhi, Dec. 24 The success of the Chandrayaan-1 is now going to be a stepping stone for India&#8217;s space science team which has its eyes set on Mars.

A report for ISRO&#8217;s plans for a manned mission into space has been submitted to the Government, said Dr G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space. The three-manned mission is expected to take off in 2015. Before that ISRO hopes to get a lander on the moon and collect material, including scientifically rich minerals for study.

At an event organised by CII to felicitate the various scientific and research agencies of the country, that along with ISRO made the moon mission such a success, Dr Nair said, &#8220;Where Space science was concerned, India was no longer a developing country. &#8230;Now developed countries are buying spacecraft from India.&#8221; In a year that saw moon missions from Europe, China and Japan take off, India&#8217;s mission was also noticed for the comprehensive range of instruments it took on board.

The success of the lunar mission had made the country proud, and highlighted the huge service that ISRO had been doing for the country since so long, said Mr Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs. According to Dr Nair, although there was a certain brain drain that happened from India, many scientists like those at ISRO worked for the technical challenges that projects like the moon mission offered. The Government has taken note of the remuneration of researchers and scientists at least at ISRO and institutes under the Department of Atomic Energy, said Dr Nair.

ISRO&#8217;s Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) would also introduce its first batch of students who would soon contribute to India&#8217;s scientific community, added Dr Nair.

Among those felicitated today were Dr K. Radhakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre; Dr M.Y.S. Prasad, Associate Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre &#8211; SHAR; Dr V. Jayaraman, Director, National Remote Sensing Agency; and Mr K.R. Sridharamurthy, Managing Director, Antrix Corporation. Mr M.K.G. Nair, Director of Liquid Propulsion System Centre; Mr P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit at Trivandrum; Mr S.K. Shivkumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC); Mr A Bhaskaranarayana, Director, Satellite Communication Programme/Scientific Secretary, ISRO; Dr T.G.K. Murthy, Programme Director, ASP, ISRO Satellite Centre, Mr A.S. Kiran Kumar, DD, SEDA, Space Applications Centre; and Dr George Koshy, Managing Director, PSLV-C11; were also felicitated.


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Chandrayaan instrument throws new light on moon surface

Bangalore (PTI): *The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), one of the 11 payloads on board India's Chandrayaan-I spacecraft, has taken composite image of the Orientale Basin region of the moon providing new information, officials said.*

Different wavelengths of light in the image captured by M3 during the commissioning phase of Chandrayaan-I as the spacecraft orbited the moon at an altitude of 100 km, provided new information about the region, located on the moon's western limb, they said.

M3 is from Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States.

"The Moon Mineralogy Mapper provides us with compositional information across the moon that we have never had access to before", said Carle Pieters, the instrument's principal investigator, from Brown University, in a statement.

"Our ability to now identify and map the composition of the surface in geologic context provides a new level of detail needed to explore and understand Earth's nearest neighbour", he said.

*The image revealed changes in rock and mineral composition, indicated the abundance of iron-bearing minerals such as pyroxene, and provided a new level of detail on the form and structure of the region's surface.*

M3 is the first instrument to provide highly uniform imaging of the lunar surface. Along with the length and width dimensions across a typical image, the instrument analyses a third dimension - colour.

M3 provides scientists their first opportunity to examine lunar mineralogy at high spatial and spectral resolution.


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## SherdiL!

India is capable of nothing more than Child Prostituation over 40% is a big number.


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## nitesh

some new images:

Crater Visualisation from TMC images






2.5D Visualisation of Coulomb C Crater by TMC





Hyper Cube

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## slugger

*Chandrayaan II design complete*


> NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday said that the *design for Chandrayaan II has been completed and it will be launched by 2012.*
> 
> "The designs for Chandrayaan II have been completed and we hope to launch it by 2012," ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to felicitate the Chandrayaan I team.
> 
> The Chandrayaan II project is slated to *land a small rover on the moon's surface and collect and analyse samples*, he said.
> 
> The *ISRO* has made another *achievement* recently, when *a commercial satellite built by the organisation for the European satellite operator, Eutelsat*, was successfully launched from French Guiana in South America.
> 
> Nair noted that the *ISRO was earning about Rs 10 billion (Rs 1,000 crore)* annually from its commercial wing. This is expected to *grow at 20 percent per year*, he added.


*Chandrayaan II design complete*


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan: India on the moon & more- Special Report-The Sunday ET-Features-The Economic Times

Chandrayaan: India on the moon & more
28 Dec 2008, 0730 hrs IST, Harsimran Singh, ET Bureau

With the launch of its first mooncraft, this year, India has become one of the world superpowers in the space technology club, which was being dominated by US, Russia and Japan.





First results from Chandrayaan 1


In the wee hours on October 22, 2008, from the sleepy district of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Space Research Organisation made history. *Developed with a cost of just $86 million, Chandrayaan-I moon mission, is intended to survey the lunar surface and produce a map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography.*

*The mission launch cost was almost half the cost of China&#8217;s Chang&#8217;e 1 mission ($187 million) and just about a fifth of Japan&#8217;s Kayuga ($480 million), both in 2007.* India is also planning to launch a manned space mission in 2014, and follow it up with a manned lunar mission in 2020, four years before China.

On November 14, 2008, the Moon Impact Probe was separated from the orbiting Chandrayaan, thus marking the successful positioning of the spacecraft into moon&#8217;s orbit. Says Antrix Corporation&#8217;s Executive Director Sridhar Murthy: *&#8220;The moon mission will help us in providing answers to many key questions regarding the origin and destiny or Universe. It will help in finding solutions to formulate pharmaceuticals and organic materials which grow very well on crystals in a unidirection in micro or zero gravity environment.&#8221;*

The success of Chandrayaan I led the government to announce Chandrayaan mission II. The government has announced that the Chandrayaan II launch would happen by end 2009 or early 2010. *The Chandrayaan II is projected to cost of Rs 425 crore ($90 million). The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as a lander/rover.* The success of Chandrayaan I also has a military aspect. *Besides augmenting India&#8217;s commercial capabilities in launching and manufacturing satellites, it sharpens the country&#8217;s strategic defence capabilities.*

Says Commodore Uday Bhaskar (retd.), former director of New Delhi-based Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses: *&#8220;Typically, India has firewalled space and missile programmes. But any capability which allows you to carry a heavy payload with precision over a large distance definitely can be used for long-range intercontinental missile capability.&#8221;*There are numerous commercial benefits from Chandrayaan missions as well. Chandrayaan-1 will search for Helium-3, a good nuclear fuel which is rarely found on Earth. It can be used to power nuclear reactors. It will also search for water ice and conduct chemical composition of moon&#8217;s surface. (This will help India as it wants to send two men to Moon by 2015).

It also demonstrates India&#8217;s capability to launch payloads and make satellites in a cost effective manner. Meanwhile, apart from launching satellites, India has entered the global league of satellite manufacturing. ISRO now competes with the likes of global majors like EADS, Mitsui, Motorola, Raytheon. The organization recently shipped satellites for two European majors. *It is now targeting a revenue of $60 million from outsourcing of satellite manufacturing by major nations to India.*

*Overall, India&#8217;s romance with the moon is not going to end soon and hopefully it is going to bear fruit for the country&#8217;s defence, space, pharma industries and also pave way for an Indian colony on moon, a few decades down. *


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## nitesh

next month will be interesting:

NDTV.com: Scientists to announce findings of moon data next month: ISRO

Scientists to announce findings of moon data next month: ISRO
Press Trust of India
Monday, December 29, 2008, (Bangalore)

Scientists would *announce next month preliminary findings based on the data generated by instruments on board India's Chandrayaan-1 moon mission,* Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair said on Monday.

"Today, Chandrayaan is sending very good data to the ground stations. Soon, we will have the preliminary analysis of the data. *By the end of January, we will have session by which the scientists will come together and announce the first findings,"* he said.

*"There is already some lead about the presence of iron and calcium and so on. Yes, there are indications. But to say it conclusively, a lot of analysis need to be done,"* he said.

Chandrayaan-1 instruments (payloads) *have so far sent 35,000 scenes (images),* he said during a lecture organised by the KEB Engineers' Association in Bangalore.

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## nitesh

India to launch exclusive satellite for climate - Yahoo! India News

*India to launch exclusive satellite for climate*

Tue, Dec 30 01:45 PM

Bangalore, Dec 30 (ANI): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that after the success of Chandrayaan 1, India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch an exclusive weather satellite jointly with the French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) in 2009.

*The satellite, named 'Mehga Tropiques' will study the tropical atmosphere and its associated phenomena and would help India and France to study the cyclones, monsoon and other changes.*

*The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) would be built and launched by ISRO and two instruments called SCARAB and SAPHIR would be built by the CNES.*

*The other critical instrument called MADRAS will be jointly engineered by ISRO and CNES.*

Talking to reporters here on the sidelights of a programme on Monday, Nair said that the *satellite would be launched by the end of 2009.*

"It is a joint agreement between France and ISRO. Some instruments are made by French people and some we are doing it. By the end of the 2009, it would be launched. *This satellite will provide lot of inputs for weather modulates and near time weather forecast and so on,"* said Nair.

The satellite would be operated by ISRO and both the countries (India and France) would share data.

India hopes to send an astronaut into space by 2012 and a manned mission to the moon by 2020.

India's Chandrayaan-1, the first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon and the country's first space vehicle to venture beyond Earth's orbit successfully entered lunar orbit on November 8. (ANI)


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## nitesh

I am waiting for it: 

The Hindu News Update Service

*Chandrayaan's moon impact photos to be released soon*

New Delhi (IANS): *It is a set of pictures that is among the most anticipated in India - around 3,200 frames tracking the descent of the first-ever Indian-built device to the moon's surface.*

But the Indian public may have to wait for some more time to take a peek at that journey.

The images were taken by the 35-kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP) as it hurtled down for nearly 25 minutes after detaching from India's maiden lunar probe Chandrayaan-I and landed on the lunar surface at 8.31 p.m. Nov 14.

That day, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had released two photos of the pockmarked surface taken from MIP. Nothing after that.

According to a key Chandrayaan scientist, it is now a matter of waiting a bit more - though he still could not specify the date.

*"While we have released some sample images already, the full set of 3,200 pictures will also be made public after some more time,"* A.S. Kiran Kumar, deputy director, sensor development area in ISRO's Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre, told IANS.

Kumar headed the team which built the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), one of India's key payloads on Chandrayaan.

The pictures are currently being analysed at ISRO's Physical Research Laboratory. "We could be releasing it in a couple of months," Kumar said, adding that the last photograph on the set was from a height of two to three kilometres from the surface.

One of the several activities involved in getting the pictures ready for public release is to identify the surface features. "Since the pictures are of very high resolution, the features are not listed on any current moon atlas," he said.

The TMC has meanwhile been mapping the South Pole at a resolution of five metres, through lens capable of capturing images at three angles simultaneously.

*Recently, China unveiled a three-dimensional map of the lunar surface with data from its Chang'e-1 mission, while Japan has been frequently releasing imagery from its lunar orbiter, Kaguya, including that of the landing site of the Apollo 17 spacecraft.*

*But, Kumar insisted, photographs collected by the Indian orbiter would be better due to higher resolution and lower orbit height at 100 km.

"The Chinese camera is three-dimensional but only has a resolution of 200 metres compared to our five-metre resolution. The Japanese one has 10-metre resolution, but they have only stereo doublet - we have a stereo triplet," he said.*

*By stereo triplet, the senior ISRO scientist referred to TMC's capability to take images from three angles - frontal, nadir and rear views. "The advantage is that no portion (of the surface) will be blocked. Occlusion will not be a problem," he said.*

*In optics, 'occlusion' refers to the method in which a close object masks or covers an object that is further away.*

While Chandrayaan goes around the moon approximately 12 times each day - the camera is operational for two to three orbits.

"We have to balance every activity on the satellite, take note of the operating condition and find the optimal time to transmit to the ground station," Kumar said.

The time slot also gets limited as the camera has to factor in the solar illumination angle, which changes with the orbit of the moon. *The scientists have decided to limit the solar angle to 30 degrees on both sides of the equator to take consistently well-lit images.*

*During the 20-minute photographing in each orbit, TMC captures images over an area 1,700 km long and 20 km wide, which translates into 1.4 km per second.*

"Every second of data recorded takes about two and a half seconds to be transmitted to the ground station," said Kumar. The latest photograph released is of a lunar impact crater on the far side of the moon.

The senior ISRO scientist said several images have also been provided to academic institutions for analyses.

NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper payload team has also sought information from TMC. "They are interested in particularly looking at the terrain data," Kumar added.

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## nitesh

India goes on a star trek with Isro - ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

India goes on a star trek with Isro
25 Dec 2008, 0302 hrs IST, Shelley Singh, ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: *Sweat it out, aim for the moon, and you&#8217;ll end up a star, says India&#8217;s space chief. The country&#8217;s first lunar astronaut needn&#8217;t be a rocket scientist or a pilot, but anyone who is &#8220;young, physically active, healthy, and with a terrific spirit of adventure&#8221;,* according to G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

&#8220;The shortlisting of the candidate will start three years prior to the mission,&#8221; Mr Nair told ET in an exclusive chat about Isro&#8217;s Mission 2015, the space agency's ambitious manned mission to the moon.

Enough time for aspirants to build up endurance and work on those biceps. With Chandrayaan-1 firmly in lunar orbit and Isro&#8217;s successful launch of multiple satellites &#8212; 10 in one go &#8212; early this year, completing a great year of launches, the national space agency is now looking at bigger missions, he said.

*With its established credentials as a provider of low-cost access to space, Bangalore-based ISRO also sees itself in a unique position to get into the business of launching satellites for other countries, apart from developing an array of rocket components and satellite sub-systems for global customers, a $10-billion opportunity globally.*

*Besides its own missions in 2009, ISRO will be launching satellites for Singapore, Italy, Algeria and a clutch of so called nano-satellites for the Netherlands on its proven Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).*

*To play a bigger role in space activities, ISRO is hiring more people and expanding its infrastructure while its commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, is targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore next year. Much of this will come from services like providing Global Positioning System (GPS) applications, direct-to-home (DTH) TV services, telecom, launch of satellites and development of rocket sub-systems.*

Over the next few years, ISRO will also be focusing on emerging as a bigger player in the space mission launch market. The area it has an edge over other countries is in its capability to do low-cost launches and development of control and propulsion systems. Last week, ISRO for the first time designed and built a satellite &#8212; W2M &#8212; for Eutelsat, the European satellite operator, at a cost of $80 million. 

*&#8220;It&#8217;s a $130-billion global market with 80&#37; being accounted for by services and $10 billion being spent on satellites and launch vehicle systems. With our successful launches this year, we have built market credibility and demonstrated reliability. The more successful launches we do (with bigger and heavier satellites), the bigger market share we will get,&#8221;* said KR Sridhara Murthi, managing director, Antrix Corporation.

The W2M satellite, at 3.46 tonnes, is the heaviest built by ISRO so far and the space agency made a profit of $40 million on it. India's Department of Space &#8212; ISRO is the largest organisation under it &#8212; has a manpower of 16,000 out of which 11,000 are scientists and engineers. ISRO will be hiring 300 scientists next year, Mr Nair said.

&#8220;High bandwidth satellites capable of micro-wave imaging and new exploratory missions are much sought after worldwide. However much depends on investment in infrastructure and HR,&#8221; he said on the sidelines of CII's felicitation of ISRO&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 team.

As more countries seek to put satellites for applications spanning DTH, GPS, telecom and education, ISRO&#8217;s launch services &#8212; which cost 60-70% cheaper than costs of similar services by western nations &#8212; could also help boost India's own commercial space programme.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## nitesh

domain-b.com : ISRO to test high-end launch vehicle GSLV Mark III in 2009

*ISRO to test high-end launch vehicle GSLV Mark III in 2009*
01 January 2009

Following the launch of Chandrayaan last year, ISRO will roll out several ambitious initiatives to consolidate the gains and build on its last year's achievements over the coming years. *According to ISRO calendar the new year will mark a crucial testing phase in its development of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III, which is slated for space flight in 2010-11.*

*GSLV Mark III is a next generation launch vehicle designed to put four tonne satellites into orbit.* But more importantly, *it is expected to cut the costs of launching satellites by half, to enable Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm offer the cheapest space launches in the niche market. The current GSLV can put 2.2 tone satellites in orbit.*

According to K Radhakrishnan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, *the new year will see solid booster testing for Mark III. This will be followed by the liquid stage and finally the cryogenic engine stage will be tested, he added.*

He said that the flight testing will be carried out duirng the 2010-11 period.

*He said that with GSLV III, ISRO will be able to pack more transponders per space flight which would make for cost effective solutions, giving India an edge in the category of four tonne satellite launches.*

*He added that the GSLV Mark III will also help ISRO put more Indians in the manned space flight program which will be undertaken in 2015. He said that as per current plans, the agency will send two Indians on a week long space sojourn in that year.

However, instead of the regualr GSLV if GSLV Mark III is used, it will be possible to send three persons instead of two he said.*

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV, is an expendable launch system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO). Expendable launch systems derive their name from the expendable launch vehicle (ELV) they use to carry a payload into space.

Vehicles in expendable launch systems are expended during a single flight; they can, therefore, be used only once. The vehicles comprise several rocket stages, that are discarded one by one with the vehicle gaining altitude and speed.

The GSLV was developed by ISRO for launching INSAT type satellites into geostationary orbit and to lessen India's dependence on foreign rockets.


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## nitesh

Not good news 
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/...3s=&SEO=&SectionName=zkvyRoWGpmWSxZV2TGM5XQ==

ISRO arm plays favourites


Express News Service
First Published : 02 Jan 2009 08:18:00 AM IST
Last Updated :

BANGALORE: A performance audit of the Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has revealed many irregularities in the functioning of the company, including undue benefits to private companies.

The Express has a copy of the report of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India on the performance of Antrix Corporation Limited, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha in October.

The report highlights the following points: n ACL extended undue benefit to Space TV (Tata Sky) by reducing the rates originally accepted by the customer while entering into a longterm agreement. Due to a reduction in lease charge, there was a recurring loss of revenue of Rs 4.8 crore per annum, whereas revenue of another Rs 5 crore was foregone due to increase in free period by a month.

n The company allowed Reliance Communications Limited to bill for the bandwidth utilised by them instead of the bandwidth allocated to them.

Absence of a deemed supply clause in 16 contracts led to a loss of Rs 27.45 crore in revenue.

n The service charge on foreign transponders was voluntarily reduced by the company, resulting in a recurring loss of Rs 8.3 crore in seven cases. There were delays in recovery of quarterly recurring charges and service.

n Service Tax was not being collected from foreign hired transponders resulting in a likely liability of Rs 16.77 crore to the exchequer. However, service tax was collected from INSAT operations.

n Though the company was set up as the commercial arm of the Department of Space (DOS), several commercial contracts like with Prasar Bharati, New Sky Satellite, Netherlands and INTELSAT were not entrusted to the company.

n ACLs non-operational revenue (interest earned from deposits in banks) averaged around 50 per cent of the profit after tax during 2002-03 to 2006-07, which suggests that the company was used as a special purpose vehicle for unutilised funds by the DOS.

n Despite having substantial cash balances, ACL had not developed proper procedures to increase its yield from the surplus cash retained by it.

n There were delays in revenue recognition or raising bills and important contractual provisions in respect of performance bank guarantee, surrender or termination of leased capacity were not followed.

n Company-specific guidelines and procedures for investments, personnel and accounts had not been developed even 15 years after the companys creation in 1992 and despite Governments clear directive.

n The functional distinction between the company and the DOS was ambiguous since the departments officers were also executives of the company. Proper delegation of powers consistent with good governance, structure and growth of the company had not been drawn.

n ACL credited the DOS share of revenue to ISRO instead of the Consolidated Fund of India. Remittances were also prompt even though the relevant money was shown as accrued to the DOS in the Accounts. Periodical reconciliation of amounts due and payable to the DOS had not been carried out.


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## nitesh

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/india-plans-future-space-missions/406253/

India plans future space missions
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted: 2009-01-03 19:03:52+05:30 IST
Updated: Jan 03, 2009 at 1903 hrs IST

Shillong: India has planned its future space mission systematically in phases up to the year 2025 with the proposed next unmanned mission to Moon in 2012 to be followed by a similar mission to Mars in 2013 and would sent a man on a space voyage in 2015.

The Chairman of Indian Space Organisation (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair speaking at the 96th Indian Science Congress said that the unmanned Chandrayan-I mission sent to moon on October 22, 2008 had generated enormous data for the global scientific community.

These data would be reviewed in January 2009. The satellite took images of the moon's surface close to a distance of 4 km and captured 35,000 images. Moon impact probe was conducted in November 14, 2008 and the wealth of data generated through the mission would be reviewed in January, 2009.

Though no traces of water, ice or oxygen was found, there were places were traces of iron was detected, he said and added that next mission to moon would pick up more materials and process more data.

Nair said finest of the instruments were deployed in taking the imagery, five of which were indigenous and five other sourced from other countries. Peaks of 2 km height was noticed on moon's surface. He admitted that India's moon mission could be successful due to global cooperation.

He said that ISRO has worked with a small budget of $ one billion as against NASA's budget of 20 billion.

Within a span of four decades ISRO has developed infrastructure for deep space network, payload operations and for processing scientific data.

"We will send a second unmanned mission to moon in 2012 followed by a similar mission to Mars in 2013 and sent a man on space voyage in 2015. ISRO has also drafted Indian Space Mission-2025," said Nair and added that in future space tourism would be a reality.

According to Nair ISRO with improved technology would aim at reducing the cost of its operations. Resuseable launch vehicles (RLV) would be developed in next 10 to 15 years and also heavy left launcher would be developed

ISRO has also developed applications for broadcast, meteorology, communication and for development programmes in the country.


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## nitesh

This is becoming exciting

Scientists can extend mission life of Chandrayaan-I- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times

Scientists can extend mission life of Chandrayaan-I
4 Jan 2009, 1605 hrs IST, PTI

SHILLONG: *Scientists can now extend the duration of India's maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I beyond its planned two-year period.*

The precise launch and lunar orbit insertion of Chandrayaan-I has given space scientists the leverage to extend the mission life of the spacecraft orbiting the moon at an altitude of 100 km.

*"The spacecraft has about 183 kg fuel onboard and we are looking at a two-year plus mission life,"* S K Shivakumar, Director ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) said at the 96th Indian Science Congress here.

*Principal scientists involved in all the 10 experiments onboard the spacecraft are meeting in Bangalore on January 29 to discuss the initial findings of the moon mission.*

Orbital manoeuvres need to be carried out on the spacecraft once every 28 days to ensure that it stays in the designated 100 km circular orbit and does not go astray.

*"About three kg fuel is used when onboard motors are fired for carrying out the orbital manoeuvre,"* said Shivakumar, whose team has been monitoring the spacecraft ever since it's launch on October 22 last year.

*Chandrayaan-I was launched with an orbital accuracy of five km making India the first country to achieve such a precise maiden mission,* ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

The Chandrayaan-I mission has been sending "unprecedented" amount of data and scientists are busy analysing it.


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## nitesh

Deccan Herald - ISRO working on spacecraft engine

ISRO working on spacecraft engine
From Kalyan Ray,DH News Service,Shillong:

*The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed the first prototype of an ion-propulsion engine that can take unmanned spacecraft to the outer solar system.*

Despite initial positive results in this highly ambitious project, ISRO top brass is tight lipped about the development unless they test the technology.
&#8220;I can not reveal any technology specifications of the ion-propulsion system unless we test them,&#8221; Dr K Radhakrishnan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram told Deccan Herald here on the sidelines of the 96th Indian Science Congress here. Spacecraft propulsion is required to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites to go out of the earth&#8217;s gravity and move ahead in deep space.
Bulk of the current genre of spacecraft use chemical fuels for launch. Most satellites also have simple but reliable chemical thrusters for orbital station-keeping.
*But there is active research on ion thrusters, which provide electric propulsion. The first successful ion-propulsion engine is a European Space Agency (ESA) payload, SMART-1 that reached the moon in 2004.*
In a broad sense, ISRO&#8217;s ion-thrusters will use electricity to accelerate ions which left from the rear of the spacecraft (the ions act as the reaction mass). In the process the space craft pushes ahead. Another power source &#8211; initially a photovoltaic solar panel &#8211; provides the energy.
*However, once the ion-propulsion technology is proven, the space agency may even use a miniature nuclear reactor as the electricity source.*
*ISRO chairman Dr G Madhavan Nair too said at the Science Congress that the &#8220;electric propulsion system from the stationary plasma thrusters may pave the way for nuclear propulsion system in future.&#8221;*
*The trials will possibly begin next year with the launch of GSAT-4 payload.
If the technology turns out to be a success, it would help ISRO design probes to explore the at least a portion of the outer solar system involving Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and their satellites.*


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## proud_indian

nitesh said:


> *To play a bigger role in space activities, ISRO is hiring more people and expanding its infrastructure while its commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, is targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore next year. Much of this will come from services like providing Global Positioning System (GPS) applications, direct-to-home (DTH) TV services, telecom, launch of satellites and development of rocket sub-systems.*
> 
> Over the next few years, ISRO will also be focusing on emerging as a bigger player in the space mission launch market. The area it has an edge over other countries is in its capability to do low-cost launches and development of control and propulsion systems. Last week, ISRO for the first time designed and built a satellite  W2M  for Eutelsat, the European satellite operator, at a cost of $80 million.
> 
> *Its a $130-billion global market with 80% being accounted for by services and $10 billion being spent on satellites and launch vehicle systems. With our successful launches this year, we have built market credibility and demonstrated reliability. The more successful launches we do (with bigger and heavier satellites), the bigger market share we will get,* said KR Sridhara Murthi, managing director, Antrix Corporation.





if isro keep on achieving higher success rate in its commercial space missions (cost effective too like indian IT and BPO industry  ) then it will boost india's share in big $ space league by a great margin and will be great beneficial to our forex reserve


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## nitesh

ISRO to launch four foreign satellites this year .

Bangalore, Jan 06: Indian Space Research Organisation will *launch four foreign satellites this year* as it seeks to make further inroads into the international satellite-building and launch services market in 2009.

Two weeks ago, communication satellite, W2M, built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana.

Managing director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, KR Sridhara Murthy, said the *Indian space agency is gearing up to launch four satellites of Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria.* (These contracts were bagged by ISRO independently and not in partnership with EADS-Astrium).

"We have four commitments for Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. We want to complete it in 2009," he said. "It (the four spacecraft) is a mix of nano and small satellites".

Contractual obligations bar ISRO from talking about specific launch price but Sridhara Murthy said that the *space agency's charge per kg of satellite (to be launched) is around Euro 20,000 per kg,* quite cheaper than prevailing International prices.

But, he stressed that the launch price is guided by competition, market conditions and demand-supply scenario.

W2M project was undertaken in the context of an accord between Antrix, to jointly build and deliver the satellite to Eutelsat Communications, a global satellite communications provider based in Paris.

Astrium had the responsibility for overall programme management and delivery of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite and also performed W2M's integration and testing at ISRO's facilities here.

W2M satellite, weighing 3,463 kg at lift-off, is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO and is capable of operating for over 15 years. The satellite's solar panels generate a maximum of about 7000 Watts of power.

*Sridhara Murthy said Antrix and EADS/Astrium are now pursuing three-four satellite-building proposals, similar to their W2M venture. "Discussions are at a reasonably good stage," he said.*

"We (Antrix and EADS/Astrium) are looking at various opportunities where people are trying to procure satellites (to be built) in the two to three tonne category which is our capability", he said.

Sridhara Murthy said that in a technologically evolving scenario, ISRO's effort is to make its satellites more power and weight efficient; and pack more payloads without increasing the weight of the satellite.

He noted that while ISRO typically looked at solar panels of its satellites generating a maximum of five kilo watts or six kilo watts of power, in W2M it exceeded seven kilo watts.

Bureau Report


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## aanshu001

BANGALORE
: Indian Space Research Organisation will launch four foreign satellites this year as it seeks to make further inroads into the
international satellite-building and launch services market in 2009.

Two weeks ago, communication satellite, W2M, built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guiana.

Managing Director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, K R Sridhara Murthy, said the Indian space agency is gearing up to launch four satellites of Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. (These contracts were bagged by ISRO independently and not in partnership with EADS-Astrium).

"We have four commitments for Singapore, the Netherlands, Italy and Algeria. We want to complete it in 2009," he told PTI in an interview. "It (the four spacecraft) is a mix of nano and small satellites".

Contractual obligations bar ISRO from talking about specific launch price but Sridhara Murthy said that the space agency's charge per kg of satellite (to be launched) is around Euro 20,000 per kg, quite cheaper than prevailing International prices.

But, he stressed that the launch price is guided by competition, market conditions and demand-supply scenario.

W2M project was undertaken in the context of an accord between Antrix, to jointly build and deliver the satellite to Eutelsat Communications, a global satellite communications provider based in Paris.

Astrium had the responsibility for overall programme management and delivery of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite and also performed W2M's integration and testing at ISRO's facilities here.

W2M satellite, weighing 3,463 kg at lift-off, is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO and is capable of operating for over 15 years. The satellite's solar panels generate a maximum of about 7000 Watts of power.
Sridhara Murthy said Antrix and EADS/Astrium are now pursuing three-four satellite-building proposals, similar to their W2M venture. "Discussions are at a reasonably good stage," he said.

"We (Antrix and EADS/Astrium) are looking at various opportunities where people are trying to procure satellites (to be built) in the two to three tonne category which is our capability", he said.

Sridhara Murthy said in a technologically evolving scenario, ISRO's effort is to make its satellites more power and weight efficient; and pack more payloads without increasing the weight of the satellite.

He noted that while ISRO typically looked at solar panels of its satellites generating a maximum of five kilo watts or six kilo watts of power, in W2M it exceeded seven kilo watts.

Once GSLV-Mk III rocket is operational, ISRO's ability to address launch services market enhances considerably, Sridhara Murthy said.

ISRO officials said GSLV-Mk III is envisaged to launch four tonne satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Its first development flight is expected in 2009-10.

Antrix posted sales of Rs 940 crore in 2007-08 and it is targeting Rs 900 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the current financial year, he said adding it is unrealistic to aim too high a growth as there is a lot of gloom in the market.


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## slugger

@anshu001
please check before posting - *reported your post for deletion*


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## aanshu001

slugger said:


> @anshu001
> please check before posting - *reported your post for deletion*



thik hai bhai


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## nitesh

Digital Elevation Model of the lunar surface generated using TMC imagery 


Finer details of a lunar crater captured by TMC 



3D images of different regions of lunar surface captured by TMC. The height of features shown in these images can be grasped when viewed through anaglyph filters.


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## nitesh

http://www.ptinews.com/pti&#37;5Cptisite.nsf/0/4BEC4ABC628715A0652575370017EC61?OpenDocument

India to launch 'unique' satellite to study distant galaxies



Sagar Kulkarni
Shillong, Jan 7 (PTI) India's space agency along with astronomers from across the country will launch a "unique" satellite later this year to study distant galaxies and black holes.

The Astrosat, scheduled for launch towards the end of the year, will be the country's first satellite entirely dedicated to astronomy.

Astronomers are excited about the prospects thrown up by the Astrosat which is expected to give India an edge in observing the universe.

"The Astrosat will carry the best ultraviolet telescope ever flown," Dipankar Bhattacharya, a senior astrophysicist with the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) told PTI on the sidelines of the 96th Indian Science Congress here.

Besides IUCAA, premier institutions like the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Raman Research Institute and Physical Research Laboratory will also be participating in the Astrosat project which is funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The satellite will be a multi-wavelength observatory in space with instruments surveying the sky in ultraviolet, soft x-rays and hard x-rays bands.

Scientists claim that the Astrosat have the best spectroscopic instrument to study hard x-rays which would be 10 times more sensitive than the current instruments on the Integra and Rossini missions. PTI

Reactions: Like Like:
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## shchinese

I don't see any real scientific contribution from India's moon image. the whole surface has been photoed in 3D images with the resolution of 120m/pixel. 

a snapshot here:
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/fileftp/2008/11/2008-11-12/U90P4T47D9641F967DT20081112154321.jpg

the whole image data captured during our mission is 1.3Tbytes.


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## Vinod2070

shchinese said:


> *I don't see any real scientific contribution from India's moon image*. the whole surface has been photoed in 3D images with the resolution of 120m/pixel.
> 
> a snapshot here:
> http://www.chinanews.com.cn/fileftp/2008/11/2008-11-12/U90P4T47D9641F967DT20081112154321.jpg
> 
> the whole image data captured during our mission is 1.3Tbytes.



Just remove the large blinkers from the small eyes and you may well see something.


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## shchinese

Vinod2070 said:


> Just remove the large blinkers from the small eyes and you may well see something.



sure. our satellite has been there for more than 1 year already, and that is a full size satellite. it was lunched by a rocket 10 times more powerful than the India toy. this is what I saw. 

I can only see plain nationalism from India's space program.


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## Vinod2070

shchinese said:


> sure. our satellite has been there for more than 1 year already, and that is a full size satellite. it was lunched by a rocket 10 times more powerful than the India toy. this is what I saw.
> 
> *I can only see plain nationalism from India's space program.*



But then you did not follow my advice in the previous post!


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## paritosh

shchinese said:


> sure. our satellite has been there for more than 1 year already, and that is a full size satellite. it was lunched by a rocket 10 times more powerful than the India toy. this is what I saw.
> 
> I can only see plain nationalism from India's space program.



well for starters...we did what we did tin the most economic way...but then we actually dont expect the chinese to appreciate our space program at all.
your chinese trilion pixel sat...would not show you poppy on the moon surface now would it?so there has to be some purpose behind the resolution selected.

chinese rockets are 100 times powerful...but we wanted a rocket that could fly upto the moon..and ours did.period.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## shchinese

paritosh said:


> well for starters...we did what we did tin the most economic way...but then we actually dont expect the chinese to appreciate our space program at all.
> your chinese trilion pixel sat...would not show you poppy on the moon surface now would it?so there has to be some purpose behind the resolution selected.
> 
> chinese rockets are 100 times powerful...but we wanted a rocket that could fly upto the moon..and ours did.period.



so that is now used to justify the pure *nationalism* the regime of india is using to fool its people? nationalism gets you nowhere. 

I can tell you the truth mate - the reason why China is far more advanced in space program is not because we are going to launch our first space station in 2-3 years (Shenzhou 8/9/10 missions), it is not because we had 6 men already in the space, *it is because now we educated Chinese no longer see it as major achievement of our nation*. 

I feel really funny that some "fans" post *every single released* image here on this forum just because it is india made. please just ask yourself why Americans internet users won't do this, why Chinese users won't do this, why Russsian users never thought about doing this? because there is just no such plain nationalism. 

*tell me why such moon image is related to defense and military? *


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## paritosh

shchinese said:


> so that is now used to justify the pure *nationalism* the regime of india is using to fool its people? nationalism gets you nowhere.
> 
> I can tell you the truth mate - the reason why China is far more advanced in space program is not because we are going to launch our first space station in 2-3 years (Shenzhou 8/9/10 missions), it is not because we had 6 men already in the space, *it is because now we educated Chinese no longer see it as major achievement of our nation*.
> 
> I feel really funny that some "fans" post *every single released* image here on this forum just because it is india made. please just ask yourself why Americans internet users won't do this, why Chinese users won't do this, why Russsian users never thought about doing this? because there is just no such plain nationalism.
> 
> *tell me why such moon image is related to defense and military? *



i fully appreciate this post of yours...shoes how intelligent you are.
the level of maturity you talk about will come with time mate.things wernt calm even with the americans and the soviets when there programs were fresh...the excitement was used to involve the masses into the space venture(as in the spirit)...space clubs in schools...lead to astronaut fanatasies...that sorta nationalism helps you...such achievments help a nation like india to forget it's problems and restablish a fresh belief in the people.it is definitely not negative. 
another type of nationaloism would be to pick up ak47s and call for wars against the enemies of the 'hindu-rashtra' the parallels to which can be seen in afghanistan...it being jihad there...i would stick to being pro space!


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## shchinese

paritosh said:


> things wernt calm even with the americans and the soviets when there programs were fresh...the excitement was used to involve the masses into the space venture(as in the spirit)...space clubs in schools...lead to astronaut



that "excitement" was 40 years ago when the computer used to control the spaceship only has 8k memory. any educated people should NOT be excited about launching a moon satellite using a 1970s style rocket. 



paritosh said:


> fanatasies...that sorta nationalism helps you...such achievments help a nation like india to forget it's problems and restablish a fresh belief in the people.it is definitely not negative.



oh, please, just for the very basic fairness, such nationalism is pushing your young generation to have the idea of "incredible india" in mind.

trust me mate - when half of your female population couldn't even read/write, it would be much better to spend money on education. I can even promise you that a better educated population would not be interested in every single released moon image. in my country, I visit different online forums, we have large forums with billions of posts, we have military forums with millions of users, but I have NEVER seen anyone posting those moon image captured by our Chang'e satellite at such daily basis. 

does this mean that we Chinese are less interested in science, technologies and space program? No. you can simply check the number of computer and space related online forums we have in China - we just no longer have such nationalism. 



paritosh said:


> another type of nationaloism would be to pick up ak47s and call for wars against the enemies of the 'hindu-rashtra' the parallels to which can be seen in afghanistan...it being jihad there...i would stick to being pro space!



pro space doesn't mean people need to carry the useless nationalism. 

sitting in the library/study room reading some well written books on space is called pro space. working hard in the labs for your national space program is called pro space. paying tax to make sure your national space program can get sufficient funding is called pro space.

however, a bold however, get excited for every launch/released image is just nationalism, not pro space.


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## Zaheerkhan

shchinese said:


> that "excitement" was 40 years ago when the computer used to control the spaceship only has 8k memory. any educated people should NOT be excited about launching a moon satellite using a 1970s style rocket.
> 
> 
> 
> oh, please, just for the very basic fairness, such nationalism is pushing your young generation to have the idea of "incredible india" in mind.
> 
> trust me mate - when half of your female population couldn't even read/write, it would be much better to spend money on education. I can even promise you that a better educated population would not be interested in every single released moon image. in my country, I visit different online forums, we have large forums with billions of posts, we have military forums with millions of users, but I have NEVER seen anyone posting those moon image captured by our Chang'e satellite at such daily basis.
> 
> does this mean that we Chinese are less interested in science, technologies and space program? No. you can simply check the number of computer and space related online forums we have in China - we just no longer have such nationalism.
> 
> 
> 
> pro space doesn't mean people need to carry the useless nationalism.
> 
> sitting in the library/study room reading some well written books on space is called pro space. working hard in the labs for your national space program is called pro space. paying tax to make sure your national space program can get sufficient funding is called pro space.
> 
> however, a bold however, get excited for every launch/released image is just nationalism, not pro space.



Sir,I appriciate your concern about our economy. We are not borrowing money to run our Space programme. We are not cutting funding into agriculture and education to fund for Space Technology.
We are doing what we have to do. We can clearly afford whatever we are doing. 
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The moon mission is a big achievement for India, if it was soo easy to send satellites to the moon, 100 countries would have sent it there. And if you are talking about the importance of this mission, wait for 10 years, and you will know the absolute difference..

Cheers...


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## paritosh

shchinese said:


> that "excitement" was 40 years ago when the computer used to control the spaceship only has 8k memory. any educated people should NOT be excited about launching a moon satellite using a 1970s style rocket.
> 
> 
> 
> oh, please, just for the very basic fairness, such nationalism is pushing your young generation to have the idea of "incredible india" in mind.
> 
> trust me mate - when half of your female population couldn't even read/write, it would be much better to spend money on education. I can even promise you that a better educated population would not be interested in every single released moon image. in my country, I visit different online forums, we have large forums with billions of posts, we have military forums with millions of users, but I have NEVER seen anyone posting those moon image captured by our Chang'e satellite at such daily basis.
> 
> does this mean that we Chinese are less interested in science, technologies and space program? No. you can simply check the number of computer and space related online forums we have in China - we just no longer have such nationalism.
> 
> 
> 
> pro space doesn't mean people need to carry the useless nationalism.
> 
> sitting in the library/study room reading some well written books on space is called pro space. working hard in the labs for your national space program is called pro space. paying tax to make sure your national space program can get sufficient funding is called pro space.
> 
> however, a bold however, get excited for every launch/released image is just nationalism, not pro space.



woah...!
you are fuming! and the idea of 'incredible india ' does what?

i will tell you something...the goal of our space program has always been to cater education.We for years have built and launched educational satellites and remote-sensing satellites and earth observation satellites.
after all it was China that took wars to space when you killed a satellite!
and are things that rosy in china?
you link nationalism and poverty of a counrty in such an intricate way that it is too lame to comprehend!you talk in millions and billions as if you've forgotten the problems china faces...


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## shchinese

Zaheerkhan said:


> We are not borrowing money to run our Space programme. We are not cutting funding into agriculture and education to fund for Space Technology.
> We are doing what we have to do. We can clearly afford whatever we are doing.
> A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The moon mission is a big achievement for India, if it was soo easy to send satellites to the moon, 100 countries would have sent it there. And if you are talking about the importance of this mission, wait for 10 years, and you will know the absolute difference..



I am asking why those *moon images* being posted here by some Indian members is related to the general topic of this forum? why those moon images are *defense and military* related?

wait for 10 years and see the difference? nothing offensive, but you can just look at the past 10 years and see what happened to Arjun and LCA. 



paritosh said:


> i will tell you something...the goal of our space program has always been to cater education.We for years have built and launched educational satellites and remote-sensing satellites and earth observation satellites.
> after all it was China that took wars to space when you killed a satellite!



when was your last major military conflict with other countries? in later 1990s, right? what is your contribution to the WWII? China committed millions of troops and thus got herself qualified for the permenant seat of the UNSC. you tell me *which country is more peaceful*. 

for the military applications of our space program, sure, I can tell you more - all 6 taikouants we sent to the space are PLA fighter pilots, all in active service with the PLA, the whole program is operated by the PLA and the long march rockets being used have so close tie with our DF missiles. 

educational satellites? we don't such propaganda materials. space program is used to fuel the domestic economy (weather forecast, communication, sensors etc) and for military purposes. 



paritosh said:


> you link nationalism and poverty of a counrty in such an intricate way that it is too lame to comprehend!you talk in millions and billions as if you've forgotten the problems china faces...



we have a lot of problems, just like all other countries. but we don't have such plain nationalism. 

again, I repeat my question - *why the moon images are related to the general topic of this forum? why those moon images are defense and military related?*


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## linkinpark

shchinese said:


> again, I repeat my question - *why the moon images are related to the general topic of this forum? why those moon images are defense and military related?*



Because the future wars will have a space component to it, for example, like using satellites for real time movement of troops or cutting off of communications of a country etc. Moon images will show a sign of India's strength in Space and not to be taken lightly by anyone.In that context, why did China used a missile to blow-up a satellite?. If you know answer for this, your question is already answered.


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## shchinese

linkinpark said:


> Because the future wars will have a space component to it, for example, like using satellites for real time movement of troops or cutting off of communications of a country etc. Moon images will show a sign of India's strength in Space and not to be taken lightly by anyone.In that context, why did China used a missile to blow-up a satellite?. If you know answer for this, your question is already answered.



please be aware that an anti satellite missile would be 100% match to the topic of this forum, however lunar images are NOT. NO one cares about such propaganda materials, if you can read, this is a defense and military forum, not image processing forum.


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## nitesh

Apollo landing sites mapped by Chandrayaan-Pune-Cities-The Times of India

Apollo landing sites mapped by Chandrayaan
11 Jan 2009, 0256 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN


PUNE: Nearly 40 years after Nasa's Apollo flights, which put a man on the moon, India's Chandrayaan mission launched on October 22, 2008, *recently did something unique this week it mapped the landing sites of the six Apollo missions on the moon and the process ended on Saturday.*

The Apollo flights were launched between July 1969 and December 1972.

This hitherto unknown aspect of the Chandrayaan programme was revealed to TOI on Saturday by a top scientist associated with the Indian moon mission, P Sreekumar, who quit his job in the US to be a part of the Indian moon team. He was among the participants at the inauguration of the International Year of Astronomy programme at the Pune-based Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCCA).

Sreekumar told TOI that that the six Apollo landing sites which were mapped related to those of Apollo 11, 12, 14 15 and 17. *The process began on January 7 and ended on January 10. "Our purpose of carrying out this exercise was to validate and confirm the data through global mapping about the moon's surface and rocks which had been obtained by these Apollo flights,"* he said. It may be recalled that Apollo 11 placed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, which became historical because they were the first humans to step on the lunar surface.

He said that the mapping of the Apollo landing zones were done by six of the 11 scientific payloads on Chandrayaan which included the indigenous Terrain Mapping Camera which was first activated on *October 29, 1995,* {date mistake} the Hyper Spectal Imaging Camera also from Isro, Nasa's Moon Minerology Mapper, Radom from Bulgaria and the Near Infra-Red Spectrometer (Sir-2) of Germany.

Told that the Apollo landing sites were on the equatorial region of the moon, while Chandrayaan operated in the north-south polar orbit, Sreekumar explained that even though the Indian moon mission was flying in the polar orbit, it was successfully covering the entire surface of the moon, which included the six Apollo landing sites.

*He said that another instrument on Chandrayaan, the Sub-Kev Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA), a contribution through ESA from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, the Space Physics Laboratory and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, was activated this week.* The role of this equipment is to image the moon's surface composition, including the permanently shadowed areas, study the solar wind interaction and carry out studies connected with space weathering.


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## Smooth Operator

shchinese said:


> I am asking why those *moon images* being posted here by some Indian members is related to the general topic of this forum? why those moon images are *defense and military* related?



You are not even the moderator,if they don't have a problem,what's your's......apart from the frustration that is



> wait for 10 years and see the difference? nothing offensive, but you can just look at the past 10 years and see what happened to Arjun and LCA.



10 years later ShChinese will be that much older but none the more wiser 



> when was your last major military conflict with other countries? in later 1990s, right? what is your contribution to the WWII? China committed millions of troops and thus got herself qualified for the permenant seat of the UNSC. you tell me *which country is more peaceful*.


 
later 90's ?...A dumb question after being on a Pakistan defense forum for any amount of time


during the world war II India was busy liberating Japanese run whore camps in mainland China along with other allied forces.....



> for the military applications of our space program, sure, I can tell you more - all 6 taikouants we sent to the space are PLA fighter pilots, all in active service with the PLA, the whole program is operated by the PLA and the long march rockets being used have so close tie with our DF missiles.
> 
> educational satellites? we don't such propaganda materials. space program is used to fuel the domestic economy (weather forecast, communication, sensors etc) and for military purposes.
> 
> 
> 
> we have a lot of problems, just like all other countries. but we don't have such plain nationalism.
> 
> again, I repeat my question - *why the moon images are related to the general topic of this forum? why those moon images are defense and military related?*



I repeat this is none of your concern and nor requires any explaining to be done,as long as forum managers are ok with it.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## shchinese

Smooth Operator said:


> You are not even the moderator,if they don't have a problem,what's your's......apart from the frustration that is



I am raising this issue which is clear to all educated people on this forum. 




Smooth Operator said:


> during the world war II India was busy liberating Japanese run whore camps in mainland China along with other allied forces.....



then show me the major battles you race has ever had for the world peace. 

here is ours:
Second Sino-Japanese War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

about 45 Japanese generals were killed in combat. show me what you have done other than the "free india" which is a part of the Axis. 



Smooth Operator said:


> I repeat this is none of your concern and nor requires any explaining to be done,as long as forum managers are ok with it.



I have the right to raise the concern.


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## Vinod2070

You can simply not visit this thread.


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## notsuperstitious

"I am raising this issue which is clear to all educated people on this forum. "

Educated in which ideology?

if u don't know of (United) india's contribution to world wars, too bad, but there's hope, use google and look up 

Besides, China only fought for own survival, indians fought all over the world.

abt excessive nationalism, well we all saw the 'red armies' during the beijing olympics torch run


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## gpit

shchinese said:


> I am raising this issue which is clear to all educated people on this forum.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> then show me the major battles you race has ever had for the world peace.
> 
> here is ours:
> Second Sino-Japanese War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> about 45 Japanese generals were killed in combat. show me what you have done other than the "free india" which is a part of the Axis.
> 
> 
> 
> I have the right to raise the concern.




Calm down Shchinese.

Launch and let launch. Post and let post.

If the pure nationalism is bad for India, wouldnt you be happier if you let it be there? Or, would you?


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## Brown

If ISRO is achiving results I do not mind giving them money for further projects.


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## Flintlock

Brown said:


> If ISRO is achiving results I do not mind giving them money for further projects.



ISRO is turning out a profit. That itself should keep the critics quiet.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## shchinese

fateh71 said:


> Besides, China only fought for own survival, indians fought all over the world.
> 
> abt excessive nationalism, well we all saw the 'red armies' during the beijing olympics torch run



 when it takes 3 days for your special forces to kill those 9 terrorists in urban areas, your army doesn't have any proven ability to "contribute". why the "fought all over the world" didn't get qualified for the permenant seat of the UNSC? 

for the "red armies" issue, that is because we China has an evil neighbour named India which is hosting terrorists groups and we Chinese in general won't tolerant in long term.


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## SherdiL!

one word "BOLLYWOOD"


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## Bane Blade

You know what I think that if we come back to the thread we should first realise that Indian pilots should first be taught to stay within there country then maybe if they get better in that they could learn to go into space because if they fly out of the atmosphere accidentaly and I am afraid no aliens will be there to escort them back on the right path.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## nitesh




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## Black Stone

Bane Blade said:


> You know what I think that if we come back to the thread we should first realise that Indian pilots should first be taught to stay within there country then maybe if they get better in that they could learn to go into space because if they fly out of the atmosphere accidentaly and I am afraid no aliens will be there to escort them back on the right path.



Interesting...


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## shchinese

PureLogic said:


> You know what, though we have second largest population in the world, we respect people's lives. In India, humans are certainly more important than cockroaches.
> 
> Here is Chinese concept of 'killing the enemy'. Go on...check it.
> 
> Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> China is technically developed than India. But in China, people are for progress, progress is not for people.



when your population are dying at their early 60s but at the same time you spend billions of $ on wars, I really just couldn't understand how that is linked to "respect". 

when your female population are being discriminated in a massive scale, I don't think you respect them as human. 

the cast system in your country is just another example on how human can be treated like dogs.


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## shchinese

the best thing you can ever do on internet is to discuss human rights with people from a country where cast system still has big influence on society. 

LOL


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## nitesh

What is going on!


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## Vinod2070

Guys, let's not bash China because of one bad apple.

China was a victim of WW-2. The rape of Nanjing was horrible, it lost millions of people and soldiers.

It was no match to the allied powers at the time. It is good that they are picking up the threads and doing well for themselves now after hundreds of years at the margins. Not much unlike us.


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## shchinese

danny said:


> No grudges at all against china or chinese but there are some like the one in this forum who simply can't digest the fact that there is a potential competitor called India, even though India is still far behind and far underdeveloped.



you can work 25 hours a day 8 days a week 53 weeks a year and I won't call you a competitor. not qualified yet. 

please work harder to get qualified first, thanks!


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## shchinese

rajk20002002 said:


> Every second day we read miners getting trapped and blasts in your mines.. Let us not point fingers. We have accepted that over all China has developed much more.. However, that does not mean that you keep throwing your **** all the time.
> 
> RK



I don't like the nationalism displayed by those lovely Indian members who report every single moon image released by your lunar mission. same for the arjun/LCA threads where we see people reporting any single test done by the 30 years old arjun and LCA. 

Pure nationalism stop you from achieving anything. you don't just claim something is great just becuase it is made in india.


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## rajk20002002

shchinese said:


> I don't like the nationalism displayed by those lovely Indian members who report every single moon image released by your lunar mission. same for the arjun/LCA threads where we see people reporting any single test done by the 30 years old arjun and LCA.
> 
> Pure nationalism stop you from achieving anything. you don't just claim something is great just becuase it is made in india.



Let us not get into this unending debate. Every nation has its own show as far as nationalism is concerned. I can quote 1000 examples of China also...Let us not get into all this.. And let others have feedom to say whatever they feel like.. You don't have to counter everything they say...
Its better to laugh sometimes even on idiots... cheer up now..

RK


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## afriend

shchinese said:


> I don't like the nationalism displayed by those lovely Indian members who report every single moon image released by your lunar mission. same for the arjun/LCA threads where we see people reporting any single test done by the 30 years old arjun and LCA.
> 
> Pure nationalism stop you from achieving anything. you don't just claim something is great just becuase it is made in india.



What ever small achievements we are making.. we are very happy with that.brother..!!! And we will continue to make progress in our own little way..!!! If people are gonna ridicule it.. then thats surely gonna fuel our motivation..!!! We have invested heavily on education and futre is is gonna be bright..!!!!


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## Vinod2070

Mods, can you warn this guy to stop posting in this thread?

It is obvious he has nothing to contribute here except inanities. He is not even posting on the subject.


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## AgNoStiC MuSliM

Back to the topic please - India's space program only. And please, no more sarcasm, or bans will follow.

This is not the thread to be discussing India's poverty, allocation of resources, castes systems etc. etc.

Start a different thread in the economy and development section if you want to discuss those issues.


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan eyes ice on moon



Chandrayaan eyes ice on moon


Manoj K Das
First Published : 13 Jan 2009 02:54:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 13 Jan 2009 09:14:42 AM IST




KOCHI: In what could be a very significant scientific breakthrough, Indian and global space agencies onboard Chandrayaan are waiting with bated breath for a final confirmation of the presence of ice at the lunar poles.

*This week India will move Chandrayaan to take a second and closer look into the depths of a small crater on the south pole to confirm the presence of ice after the initial inference of data suggested a strong possibility of this.*

*Sources told to The New Indian Express that Chandrayaan payloads detected the presence of &#8216;real hard surface&#8217; inside a small crater sitting next to the Shackleton Crater. Payloads of ISRO and NASA have recorded this unique feature.*

But it is too early to conclude that it may be a sheet of ice, sources said. &#8220;Such hard surface is very uncharacteristic of the lunar surface. The moon&#8217;s upper crust is very dusty. Though the dust percentage would be proportionately reduced inside the crater, the possibility of such a hard crust is food for thought,&#8221; they said.

*The suspected presence of ice was first detected by an S-band radar that can look into dark abysses where sunlight doesn&#8217;t reach. The S-band rays reflect from targets and onboard computers analyse the feedback.*

&#8220;A couple of instruments on Chandrayaan have given the same inference.

The satellite will be made to focus on the crater once again. This is to verify the first input. The data will be calibrated and cross-checked with input received from other payloads,&#8221; sources said.

*The presence of ice will give a tremendous boost to global efforts to use the moon as a prospective transit point for inter-planetary missions and future habitat. Apart from iron, the Chandrayaan has detected the presence of magnesium on the lunar surface. But concrete information regarding the presence of Helium-3, the much-sought-after gas considered to be a potential source of power generation, is yet to be recorded.*

&#8220;There is so much data pouring in every day. This needs to be analysed and translated into scientific information,&#8221; sources said. The ISRO is planning a total review of the Chandrayaan data in the third week of this month.

Sources said all partner agencies would take part in the first review meet scheduled for January 29 when a formal announcement of materials detected till date is expected to be made.


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## nitesh

478291 : Technology : ISRO processes propellant booster for Mars programme

ISRO processes propellant booster for Mars programme 

Published: January 15,2009

Kochi

The Indian Space Research Organisation has recently commissioned a world class solid propellant plant at Sriharikota, where the 200 tonne propellant booster meant for the' Mars programme' was processed, an official of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre said.

"Two months back, we commissioned a world class solid propellant plant at Sriharikota, where we are able to process the 200 tonnes propellant booster meant for the Mars three programme, which will be commissioned in two years," M Chandradathan, director of SHAR, said, delivering the K Unnikrishan Memorial lecture here last night.

On the success of Chandrayaan I, he said it was the result of a team effort under the"visionary leadership" of ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair.

Referring to criticism on the need to have launched Chandrayaan-1 when there had been similar launches all over the world years back, he said ISRO's aim when they started the rocket launch programme in 1964-65 was not for going to the moon or landing on the moon.


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## rajk20002002

Vinod2070 said:


> Mods, can you warn this guy to stop posting in this thread?
> 
> It is obvious he has nothing to contribute here except inanities. He is not even posting on the subject.



Why are u so upset ? He has every right to post whatever he feels right. Loosing temper is the first sign of defeat. I enjoy his posts. He does lots of home work before posting. 

RK


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## nitesh

Day in Pics - Economic Times


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## nitesh

Chandrayaan beams back 40,000 images in 75 days-India-The Times of India

15 Jan 2009, 0214 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN
MUMBAI: Forty thousand and counting. The Rs 386-crore Indian Moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, which completes a flawless 100 days around January 30 has transmitted more than 40,000 images of different types since its launch on October 22, 2008, which many in ISRO believe is quite a record compared to the lunar flights of other nations.

ISRO officials estimated that if more than 40,000 images have been transmitted by Chandrayaan's cameras in 75 days, it worked out to nearly 535 images being sent daily. They are first transmitted to Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore, from where they are flashed to ISRO's telemetry, tracking and command network at Bangalore.

They said some of these images have a resolution of up to five metres providing a sharp and clear picture of the Moon's surface. On the other hand, they said many images sent by some of the other missions had a 100-metre resolution.

On November 26, the indigenous Terrain Mapping Camera, which was first activated on October 29, 2008, took shots of peaks along with craters. This came as a surprise to ISRO officials because the Moon consists largely only of craters.

Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-1, ISRO is now planning a more ambitious lunar venture around 2020 after the Chandrayaan-2 in 2012: a manned mission. This was stated by none other than the man behind India's maiden lunar mission, Mylswamy Annadurai, Chandrayaan-1's project director, while speaking to TOI recently.

Annadurai said around 2015, ISRO is embarking on a manned mission to the low earth orbit, which is 2000 km above the Earth. "An Indian on the Moon is, therefore, certainly the next logical step and ISRO is definitely considering it,'' he said.

On November 14, India's first spaceman Rakesh Sharma said the landing of the indigenous 29-kg Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface was the first step towards establishing the capabilities for a subsequent human flight to the Moon by India, the probe was one of the 11 scientific payloads on Chandrayaan-1.

They cited the case of China and Japan which are working on a manned mission to the Moon around 2020 apart from the US. "Keeping this in view can India lag behind in this human race to the Moon?'' a space expert from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research requesting anonymity asked.

With regards to Chandrayaan-1, a meeting of all the principal investigators of the different scientific experiments is being held in Bangalore on January 29 to review the preliminary results.


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## nitesh

Research key to progress: Kalam-Pune-Cities-The Times of India

Answering a question on the criticism of India's spending on space missions, Kalam said, *"I asked the same question to the director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) after the Chandrayaan mission. I was told that Isro spends 98 percent of it's budget on putting communication and geo-sensing satellites in space. These satellites enable fast communication, and do sensing of critical resources and water. The remaining two percent has to be spent on moon and Mars missions because they have certain characteristics that will make them strategically important in the years to come."*


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## nitesh

NASA - NASA Radar Provides First Look Inside Moon?s Shadowed Craters






WASHINGTON -- Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's coldest, darkest craters.

The Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, has passed its initial in-flight tests and sent back its first data. The images show the floors of permanently-shadowed polar craters on the moon that aren't visible from Earth. Scientists are using the instrument to map and search the insides of the craters for water ice.

"The only way to explore such areas is to use an orbital imaging radar such as Mini-SAR," said Benjamin Bussey, deputy principal investigator for Mini-SAR, from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "This is an exciting first step for the team which has worked diligently for more than three years to get to this point."






The images, taken on Nov. 17, 2008, cover part of the Haworth crater at the moon's south pole and the western rim of Seares crater, an impact feature near the north pole. Bright areas in each image represent either surface roughness or slopes pointing toward the spacecraft. Further data collection by Mini-SAR and analysis will help scientists to determine if buried ice deposits exist in the permanently shadowed craters near the moon's poles.

"During the next few months we expect to have a fully calibrated and operational instrument collecting valuable science data at the moon," said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.

Mini-SAR is one of 11 instruments on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 and one of two NASA-sponsored contributions to its international payload. The other is the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution. Data from the two NASA instruments will contribute to the agency's increased understanding of the lunar environment as it implements America's space exploration plan, which calls for robotic and human missions to the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 launched from India's Satish Dhawan Space Center on Oct. 21 and began orbiting the moon Nov. 8. The Applied Physics Laboratory performed the final integration and testing on Mini-SAR. It was developed and built by the Naval Air Warfare Center and several other commercial and government contributors. The Applied Physics Laboratory's Satellite Communications Facility is Chandrayaan-1's primary ground station in the Western Hemisphere.

For more information about the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, visit:

Moon Mineralogy Mapper -

For more information about Chandrayaan-1, visit:

WelCome to Chandrayaan


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## nitesh

ISRO begins work on Chandrayaan-II project- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

ISRO begins work on Chandrayaan-II project
17 Jan 2009, 1923 hrs IST, PTI

CHENNAI: ISRO has begun working on the Rs 425-crore second unmanned moon mission to be launched by early 2012 following the success of
Chandrayaan-I, a top ISRO official said here on Staurday.

Chandrayaan-II will focus on soil and mineral exploration on the lunar surface with the help of a robotic device and send back data, Chandrayaan Project Director Mayilsamy Annadurai told reporters here.

The work had begun on the project and it was likely to be launched by end of 2011 or early 2012, he said.

ISRO plans to send a manned flight to space in 2015 and the manned mission to the moon in 2020, he added.

About Chandrayaan-I, he said it has beamed 40,000 pictures since its launch.

The stakeholders of the project would meet soon to discuss the information beamed by India's successful lunar mission, Annadurai said.


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## nitesh

sad news

ISRO scientist, wife killed in accident-Chennai-Cities-The Times of India


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## Flintlock

nitesh said:


> sad news
> 
> ISRO scientist, wife killed in accident-Chennai-Cities-The Times of India



Very sad. A great loss for all of us.


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## nitesh

India adopts ATCi&#8217;s Warrior Satellite Surveillance and Monitoring Systems


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## shchinese

nitesh said:


> India adopts ATCis Warrior Satellite Surveillance and Monitoring Systems



that is the correct way to go when you couldn't invent anything significant.


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## nitesh

shchinese said:


> that is the correct way to go when you couldn't invent anything significant.



ah you again with


----------



## shchinese

nitesh said:


> ah you again with



I am saying cooperation is always good, it becomes even better/more important when you couldn't build anything yourself. 

Please just read some introduction of your Delhi class destroyer, they are being laughed in my country on a hourly basis. we had someone come up with a list of all equipments/weapons on board the Delhi class destroyers and we all surprised to see nothing is built by India. 

Radar, Engine, Missiles, Sonar, Guns......blah blah

sorry, *now I have to question how many devices/components used in India space programs are actually designed/made in India, not some 1960s era US/USSR left overs*.


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## nitesh

again started


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## shchinese

nitesh said:


> again started



if you don't have anything to talk, why don't you just shut up? tell me what is the point of your post? 

*I am saying given that most gears on the Delhi class destroyers are made in Europe/US/Russia, I want to raise the question how many of those components/devices used in India's space program are actually India made. Do you understand this? 

when the country couldn't build a ship on its own, how it is possible to build a spaceship and ensures it can operate safely? *

this is my question, which is directly related to the topic of this thread, you can answer it, ignore it if you want, but please stop spamming here.


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## nitesh

please read post no. 452


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## duhastmish

shchinese there is no doubting that china heading toward great power in space capability. which is just great and reason being they are most hardworking race in the world right now. very similar to last century Japanese. but on the other hand we should also appreciate the capability of Indian space research with its limited resource and third world country background. Rome was not made in a day. but i think Chinese are way ahead. and i would liek to see them being the pioneer here for india and other such countries. kind of inspiration to go ahead. WHERE As for copycat thing : we need to grow some sensibility these childish comments only downgrade your judgment on this forum. developing something and copying something are two different subjects.


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## shchinese

nitesh said:


> please read post no. 452



there are at least two very basic but dead important components you just couldn't design and build by yourself.

one is the CCD chip used on that camera. another thing is the central processing unit (CPU) used for data processing and mission control. 

for CCD chip, I am happy to tell you that we have a Nasdaq listed company building billions of them. For the CPU specially designed for space mission is a part of the godson project which we have been working on since 2000, normal processor 1G (PIV speed) for home and office use is available at $30, this is called mass production. 

all made in india? major all made in india just other than those core components.


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## shchinese

duhastmish said:


> shchinese there is no doubting that china heading toward great power in space capability. which is just great and reason being they are most hardworking race in the world right now. very similar to last century Japanese. but on the other hand we should also appreciate the capability of Indian space research with its limited resource and third world country background.



we started our space program when our engineers even couldn't had enough food, they designed our first satellite and rocket when feeling hungry everyday. as of today, China is still a developing country like india and our budget on space program was largely cut in the 1980s/1990s - we had our next generation rocket engines tested/certified for ages, but we just didn't go ahead for the new rocket - why? because at that time, there is no clear valuable aim for the space mission/capacity, putting those money onto infrastructure and eduction was one of the best decisions made by the communist party. 

so you can happily withdraw the claim about how poor you country is, how difficult conditions your men are facing. thanks. 




duhastmish said:


> Rome was not made in a day. but i think Chinese are way ahead. and i would liek to see them being the pioneer here for india and other such countries. kind of inspiration to go ahead. WHERE As for copycat thing : we need to grow some sensibility these childish comments only downgrade your judgment on this forum. developing something and copying something are two different subjects.



then you are copying, we are developing. 

The long march rockets series is one of the best developed rocket series with different capacities/engines. they were designed by a pure Chinese soul who contributed numerous theories to the space technologies. 

Tsien Hsue-shen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



the most interesting thing here on this forum is indian members are talking about development and research when their country even couldn't file some WIPO patents. maybe their findings are just too advanced to be put into any WIPO category?


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## shchinese

rubyjackass said:


> What a cheap shot to arouse emotions from Indian members.
> FYI many Indians eat beef. Even among Hindus...



good for you.


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## duhastmish

sir shchinese, 

China can not afford a war with India now or in future. we will loose alot but china will loose much more than India will! so all these claim are meaning less to compare each other. where as these constant remark on poverty in india. these people sitting here on their computer are not those poor .... indians.


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## indiatech

wrong and untrue claims.

defence and some of the non defence chips are designed and then HW is made in Taiwan under secrecy and in india itself with companies like semiconductor complex ltd etc. SCL currently manufactures .8 micrometer. Soon it will manufacture upto .35 micrometer chips. India will be independent on foreign manufacturing to a great extent.

eg: drdo is almost not dependent slowly on foreigh processors for its missiles and microelectronics. It has the "Advanced Numerical analysis group", who designs processors and ASICs . 

by the way, chinas chip industry is infant but growing at fast pace. they are way behind leaders yet like taiwan, japan, US, korea, but are growing by doing collaborations and bringing investments. Chinas chip industry is expected to surpass $28 Billion in 2011. Meanwhile the current net worth or sales of a single semiconductor giant in taiwan is way more than that ,United micro ($50 Billion), TSMC ($45+ billion) , HonHai precision ( $58 billion) etc etc.

So china has long way to even catch up with a single company in Taiwan, and india will not lag behind, considering that india has a huge ASIC design task force . HW manufacturing however isn't catching up much.


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## indiatech

shchinese said:


> there are at least two very basic but dead important components you just couldn't design and build by yourself.
> 
> one is the CCD chip used on that camera. another thing is the central processing unit (CPU) used for data processing and mission control.
> 
> for CCD chip, I am happy to tell you that we have a Nasdaq listed company building billions of them. For the CPU specially designed for space mission is a part of the godson project which we have been working on since 2000, normal processor 1G (PIV speed) for home and office use is available at $30, this is called mass production.
> 
> all made in india? major all made in india just other than those core components.




wrong and untrue claims.

defence and some of the non defence chips are designed and then HW is made in Taiwan under secrecy and in india itself with companies like semiconductor complex ltd etc. SCL currently manufactures .8 micrometer. Soon it will manufacture upto .35 micrometer chips. India will be independent on foreign manufacturing to a great extent.

eg: drdo is almost not dependent slowly on foreigh processors for its missiles and microelectronics. It has the "Advanced Numerical analysis group", who designs processors and ASICs . 

by the way, chinas chip industry is infant but growing at fast pace. they are way behind leaders yet like taiwan, japan, US, korea, but are growing by doing collaborations and bringing investments. Chinas chip industry is expected to surpass $28 Billion in 2011. Meanwhile the current net worth or sales of a single semiconductor giant in taiwan is way more than that ,United micro ($50 Billion), TSMC ($45+ billion) , HonHai precision ( $58 billion) etc etc.

So china has long way to even catch up with a single company in Taiwan, and india will not lag behind, considering that india has a huge ASIC design task force . HW manufacturing however isn't catching up much.


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## nitesh

ISRO may allow school students to use its laboratories soon

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) may soon allow school students to use its laboratories to carry out project work.

This was informed by Mayilsamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I.

Annadurai said, "The growing interest among school children on space research after the success of Chandrayaan-I will give an impetus to space research in future."

"Now, around 200 graduate and postgraduate students are allowed to use ISRO lab to carry out their project work," added Annadurai.

Interacting with students Dr. Annadurai answered queries raised by students.

"As the success of Indian space research has come at a time of the slump in the IT industry, many bright young minds in the country will start to think of a career in space research," he added.

Dr. Annadurai also said that the country could achieve the long term goals of space research in a short span of time if more school students came forward to contribute to research in the field.

He mentioned the importance of tapping the potential of the moon in meeting the energy needs of the country.

ISRO may allow school students to use its laboratories soon, Tamil Nadu News - By Indiaedunews.net


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : 70 scientists to review Chandrayaan-1 data

70 scientists to review Chandrayaan-1 data

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

Project Director says may lead to new, interesting findings

CHENNAI: Around 70 scientists including those from other countries will participate in the *first meeting to review scientific findings from the data acquired from each instrument of the Chandrayaan-1 project at Bangalore on January 29.*

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a brainstorming session with schoolchildren at Chennai on Monday, Project Director Mayilsamy Annadurai said, &#8220;We expect something new about the moon to emerge during the first meeting of scientists associated with all the 11 instruments of Chandrayaan-1.&#8221;

One of the instruments of Chandrayaan-1, MiniSAR, has the *objective of detecting water ice* in regions on the lunar surface not yet studied. *&#8220;We see something unique and if during the meeting in Bangalore the scientific findings provide a breakthrough in detecting water ice in the moon, it will be a goldmine,&#8221;* said Dr. Annadurai. Such a breakthrough will be a stepping stone to setting up a colony in the moon, he added.

Apart from scientists from the country, eminent space scientists participating in the first meeting will include Paul Spudis, Carle Pieters, Ben Bussey, Stas Barabash, Christian Erd and Manuel Grande.

SARA, Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser, is the first ever such instrument to decipher what the planetary body contains. The data from SARA, Dr. Annadurai said, may also lead to new and interesting findings on the moon.

The scientists participating in the deliberations in Bangalore on January 29 are from organisations such as NASA, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University and Max Planck Institute.

At the meeting, the findings of each instrument will be discussed by the scientists concerned in order to get a comprehensive picture of the preliminary results of the project, said Dr. Annadurai.


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## nitesh

Space there? NASA scientists call up ISRO

Bangalore: Several NASA scientists &#8212; of Indian origin and foreigners alike &#8212; are knocking the door of Indian Space Research Organisation looking for opportunities to work in future Indian space missions following the success of Chandrayaan-1 launch, a senior ISRO official said on Saturday.

*Project Director of Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned lunar mission, Mayilsamy Annadurai says he definitely sees a "small trend" of what he calls "reverse brain-drain".*

"Some of my friends and juniors working there (NASA) are looking for opportunities for working in ISRO," Annadurai said.

He said at least half-a-dozen of them had approached him seeking openings in the Indian space agency and he knew that "a good number of foreigners" were also looking for such jobs.

Other senior ISRO officials sure would have got similar calls, he said. The question they are all asking is: "Is there any opportunity for working in future missions of ISRO".

India's Chandrayaan-1, launched on October 22, is carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) &#8212; two from NASA, three from European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and five from India.

"Fifty per cent of the instruments have come from outside. It's symbolic. Instead of we going there, they have come along with us as co-passengers," Annadurai said.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said "comments and observations with envy that have come from overseas after Chandrayaan-1's launch reaffirms ISRO's matured and advanced technologies."

After the launch, US Democratic Presidential nominee Barak Obama had said India's mission should be a wake-up call to America, and should remind his nation that it was getting complacent or sloppy about maintaining its position as the foremost nation in space exploration.


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## nitesh



Reactions: Like Like:
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## LCA

These pics are awesome man .

I think India should develop these technology for remote sensing satellite.

With higher resolution we can monitor every movement in indian sub-continent.


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## nitesh

Check about Bhuvan project of ISRO that should clearify


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## LCA

Yeah, i heard about that project it is similar to google earth .
and in this year ISRO going to release it .

But if they go for a real time monitoring system with high resolution,then it will give a major edge to india.


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## nitesh

The Imaging X-ray Spectrometer, one of the 11 payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and UK&#8217;s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, has *successfully detected the first X-ray signature from the Moon.* *This is the first step in its mission to reveal the origin and evolution of the Moon by mapping its surface composition.* It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on October 22, 2008 and entered the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008.

In orbit around the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X ray Spectrometer (C1XS) detected the X-ray signal from a region near the Apollo landing sites on ? December 12, 2008 at 02:36 UT. The solar flare that caused the X-ray fluorescence was exceedingly weak, approximately 20 times smaller than the minimum C1XS was designed to detect. The X-ray camera collected 3 minutes of data from the Moon just as the flare started and the camera finished its observation. C1XS depends on radiation from the Sun to activate the detection of X rays. Though, the minimum in solar activity was expected to end in early 2008, however solar activity is yet to reach the anticipated increase. With the highly sensitive C1XS instrument, it has been possible to detect the X rays.

The camera - C1XS (pronounced &#8220;kicks&#8221 &#8211; was designed and built at Space Science and Technology Department at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is an X-Ray Spectrometer that uses X-rays to map the surface composition of the Moon and will help scientists to understand its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist there.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first lunar mission of ISRO and also the first mission with international partners. It is designed to orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km and carries 11 scientific instruments including radar and particle detectors as well as instruments that will make observations in the visible, near infrared and soft and hard X-rays.

Dr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO said that the joint development and operationalisation of C1XS in Chandrayaan-1 between ISRO and RAL, UK is a major achievement. First signatures obtained from C1XS are highly encouraging.


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## duhastmish

i recently heard about GLONASS : GLObal NAvigation Satellite System- where india is participating with russia in a radio-based satellite navigation system. so if this projetc is under development and soon to be in action.
does that mean end of Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System?


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## nitesh

No IRNSS will complement GPS to provide accurate regional navigation. GLONASS will be operational by 2010. It is rival to GPS in which Russia and India are participating. Bulk of satllites are already under place.


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## Contrarian

nitesh said:


> No IRNSS will complement GPS to provide accurate regional navigation. GLONASS will be operational by 2010. It is rival to GPS in which Russia and India are participating. Bulk of satllites are already under place.



Wrong buddy.

IRNS will be the Indian Equivalent to NavStar GPS. It will be limited to only over the Indian Subcontinent and will cover till the straights of Malacca and Hormuz. It will be only for the Indian Area Of Interest. 

GLONASS is the Russian equivalent to the NavStar GPS. It will be a global GPS system ie covering the entire globe. India is a partner in that. India will launch Russian GLONASS satellites.

GAGAN is the complement to GPS(Both NavStar and GLONASS). India is building GAGAN which will augument the GPS signals over India to make it 
*more* precise. This will aid the India is the third individual country to implement such a system. It has numerous spinoff's. As of now US has implemented it, Japan has implemented it and the EU has implemented it. Phase 1 of GAGAN has been completed. Raytheon won the bid for Phase 1. Phase 2 is being implemented, i think Raytheon has won the contract for Phase 2 as well.

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## nitesh

Thanks I messed up too many things


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## LCA

*Space there? NASA scientists call up ISRO*

Press Trust Of India

TimePublished on Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 22:55, Updated on Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 23:23 in Sci-Tech section 


Bangalore: Several NASA scientists &#8212; of Indian origin and foreigners alike &#8212; are knocking the door of Indian Space Research Organisation looking for opportunities to work in future Indian space missions following the success of Chandrayaan-1 launch, a senior ISRO official said on Saturday.

Project Director of Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned lunar mission, Mayilsamy Annadurai says he definitely sees a "small trend" of what he calls "reverse brain-drain".

"Some of my friends and juniors working there (NASA) are looking for opportunities for working in ISRO," Annadurai said.

He said at least half-a-dozen of them had approached him seeking openings in the Indian space agency and he knew that "a good number of foreigners" were also looking for such jobs.

Other senior ISRO officials sure would have got similar calls, he said. The question they are all asking is: "Is there any opportunity for working in future missions of ISRO".

India's Chandrayaan-1, launched on October 22, is carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) &#8212; two from NASA, three from European Space Agency, one from Bulgaria and five from India.

*"Fifty per cent of the instruments have come from outside. It's symbolic. Instead of we going there, they have come along with us as co-passengers," Annadurai said.*

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said "comments and observations with envy that have come from overseas after Chandrayaan-1's launch reaffirms ISRO's matured and advanced technologies."
*
After the launch, US Democratic Presidential nominee Barak Obama had said India's mission should be a wake-up call to America, and should remind his nation that it was getting complacent or sloppy about maintaining its position as the foremost nation in space exploration. *

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## Nitish_V

^^^^^^^^ Cheeeeeese pleaseeee......


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## macintosh




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## nitesh

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan II to be launched on GSLV

Chandrayaan II to be launched on GSLV

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Chandrayaan II will be launched on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as opposed to the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle used to launch Chandrayaan I, Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said here on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Customs Day celebrations organised by the Bangalore Customs Commissionerate, Mr. Nair outlines the immediate plans of ISRO. &#8220;An ocean satellite, which is in the offing, would be launched by March or April. The satellite will be used to detect surface temperature and extra sensors to map the colour of the ocean have also been added to the satellite,&#8221; he said.


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Moon Impactor Probe silenced sceptics

New Delhi (PTI): Scientists were a divided lot over sending onboard Chandrayaan-I the Moon Impactor Probe which later produced excellent pictures of the earth's natural satellite.

The Moon Impactor Probe (MIP), which crashed onto the lunar surface on November 14, was included as one of the 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-I at the suggestion of the then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

However, some scientists were doubtful about including the 28-kg MIP as a part of the payload and favoured carrying some other experiments, said senior scientist Narendra Bhandari, who has been involved with Chandrayaan-I since its inception.

On the one hand there was one experiment that "would weigh 28 kg and crash on the lunar surface and on the other hand, we had 10 experiments with a total weight of 50 kg," he said.

Any given day, scientists would have preferred carrying more diverse experiments instead of one weighing 28 kg, Bhandari said.

*But the breathtaking pictures beamed back on earth by MIP as it plunged towards the moon gladdened scientists. Never before had they seen pictures of the moon clicked from an altitude of 6 km.*

*The MIP, which landed very close to the South Pole near Shackleton crater, marked India's physical presence on the lunar surface.*

Bhandari was speaking to reporters after his book 'The Mysterious Moon & India's Chandrayaan Mission' was released by Thirumalachari Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology here on Tuesday evening.

The Terrain Mapping Camera on board the MIP was switched on and the Deep Space Network on the outskirts of Bangalore received five metre resolution images of lunar surface.

*Developed by ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, the primary objective of MIP was to demonstrate the technologies required for landing a probe at the desired location on the moon.*

*Besides scientific exploration of the moon at close distance, the probe will help qualify some of the technologies related to future soft landing missions. *


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## nitesh

bad news

SPACE.com -- Newly Launched Satellite Fails in Space

Newly Launched Satellite Fails in Space
PARIS - The Eutelsat W2M telecommunications satellite - the inaugural product of a Euro-Indian commercial joint venture - has failed in orbit just five weeks after launch and is likely a total loss, industry officials said.

Paris-based Eutelsat, in a Jan. 28 statement, confirmed that W2M, launched Dec. 20, suffered "a major anomaly affecting the satellite's power subsystem" and would not fulfill its role of replacing Eutelsat's W2 satellite at the company's 16 degrees east orbital position.

The W2 satellite at that orbital slot continues to work well, but is nearly 11 years old. Eutelsat said it now will replace W2 with the much larger W3B satellite scheduled for launch in mid-2010.

The immediate problem for Eutelsat is that the company it had customers waiting to use the failed W2M satellite who cannot be placed on the aging capacity-constrained W2 spacecraft. Once operational, the W2M would have increased Eutelsat's capacity at 16 degrees east to 30 transponders from the current 27.

"Eutelsat is analyzing options using its existing in-orbit resources for meeting the requirements of clients who were expected to benefit from the increased capacity on W2M in comparison to W2," Eutelsat said in its statement.

The satellite is the latest to fail in space in recent weeks. On Jan. 15, the SES Luxemburg-owned telecommunications satellite Astra 5A failed after 12 years in Earth orbit. An update released by NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office this month reported that the Soviet-era Cosmos 1818 satellite, which launched in 1987 with its own nuclear reactor, is breaking apart in orbit.

W2M is the first satellite to be launched as part of a joint venture formed in February 2006, with the blessing of the French and Indian governments, of Astrium Satellites of Europe and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The joint venture's ambition is to offer a low-cost alternative to satellites at the lower end of the power and weight range of commercial telecommunications satellites. It is a market niche that has been exploited most successfully in recent years by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va.

The Astrium-Antrix joint venture has sold a second satellite, to Avanti Communications Group of London, whose Hylas consumer-broadband satellite is nearing completion.

Avanti Chief Executive said Jan. 28 through a spokeswoman that the Avanti satellite does not use the components suspected of causing the failure on W2M.


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## nitesh

domain-b.com : Chinese threat to Indian space assets

Chinese threat to Indian space assets news 
29 January 2009

Chinese attempts to militarize space are being taken note of by an alarmed Indian defence establishment By Radhakrishna Rao


With all the three wings of the Chinese defence set up going through a process of massive modernization and augmentation, India has every reason to get worried over the possibility of a "Chinese threat" to the territorial integrity of the country. The "subtly expansionist" incursions by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim and its deployment of nuclear submarines at a facility on Hainan Island in South China Sea are only some recent examples.

Not so far back in time, another incident which made everybody sit up and take notice of Chinese intentions was the shooting down of a junk weather satellite with the help of a missile. This incident only served notice of the belligerent intentions of India's northern neighbour.

Of course, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Marshal FH Major has made it clear that ground work is under way to make extensive use of space assets for a variety of passive and active combat roles and that the IAF is fully well aware of the threat faced from "space and cyberspace".

The aerospace command

Against this backdrop, the otherwise low key Indian defence minister AK Antony was frank enough to drive home the threat faced by "Indian space assets" from the growing Chinese prowess in the area of "space militarization". India, which is now a major space-faring nation, has a substantial number of satellites for communications, weather watch and earth observation in orbit. In fact, while addressing the United Commanders Conference held in New Delhi in mid-2008, Antony minced no words in deliberating upon the Chinese threat without making a direct reference to India's neighbouring communist giant. The thrust of Antony's thesis was on the Chinese advances in the area of "Star Wars."

Antony underscored India's worries over the emergence of "anti-satellite weaponry, a new class of heavy-lift boosters and an improved array of military space devices in our neighbourhood." Admitting that the ongoing developments provide a pointer to the threat facing "Indian space assets", Antony wondered as to how long India can "remain committed to the policy of non-weaponization of space even as counter space systems are emerging in our neighbourhood".

Antony backed up his concern by the announcement of the formation of a tri-services space cell that will be a single window agency within the Integrated Services Headquarters. The space cell, while helping Indian defence forces access the constellation of satellites being operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will also serve as the forerunner of a full-fledged aerospace command, whose formation has been deferred for a long time now. In particular, the IAF has been pressing the Government to approve the formation of such a command, which is likely to be headquartered at the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The aerospace command will also have active participation from Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Meanwhile, the IAF chief, ACM FH Major, has made it clear that preparations are on to fully harness the capabilities offered by the country's satellite systems to boost preparedness and operational capabilities of the IAF. ACM Major has said that through an increased use of satellites and introduction of net centric warfare techniques, the IAF is set to emerge as a power of global standing.

Supporting the observation of the defence minister, Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor expressed his concern over the fast growth of the well tuned Chinese space programme "especially in military terms with a thrust on offensive and defensive contents". Gen. Kapoor has highlighted the country's need to "optimize space applications for military purposes".

He has also made a forceful plea for the creation of a tri-service aerospace command, especially for surveillance and reconnaissance that would ensure rapid response to emerging threats. But then Gen. Kapoor was cautious to state that "the establishment of a tri service aerospace command for the exploitation of space will have to evolve dynamically".

Lt Gen HS Lidder, chief of the Integrated Defence Staff has expressed the view that "there is every possibility that we might get sucked into military contests either to protect our assets or to launch an offensive. And that is why a space cell is a precursor of a tri-service aerospace command".

It does appear that the Indian military establishment has come to view outer space as a new, and emerging, theatre of conflict, which so far has been fought only on land, air and water. It now argues that India should be well equipped to tackle potential adversaries in this "futuristic battlefield".

Borrowing ISRO assets

As things stand now, the role that ISRO could play in any proposed aerospace command remains uncertain. For, on the face of it, ISRO remains a civilian space agency with a mandate to peacefully exploit outer space for socio-economic development of the country. The activities of ISRO are in public domain and hence open to scrutiny. In public, ISRO maintains a safe distance from the defence establishment though the satellite constellations under its control are regularly accessed by Indian forces.

As of now, there are no exclusive military satellites catering to the specific needs of the Indian armed forces. Of course, all the three wings of the service have been clamouring for dedicated defence satellites to boost their preparedness.

The 690 kg Cartosat-2A advanced earth observation satellite, launched in April 2008, interests the Indian armed forces particularly. The satellite, with a resolution of one metre, is capable of providing detailed mapping of the terrain and landscape features. Similarly, navigation satellites planned for launch by ISRO in the near future could also come in handy for the defence forces as they would determine location status with a high degree of precision.

Moreover, a GPS satellite with a navigational payload would also contribute to the success of net centric warfare doctrines which the Indian defence forces are set to incorporate in their operational plans.

In parallel, efforts are on to exploit advances in areas of communications, computers, command and control and inter-operability. These would allow the services to get a holistic picture of the battle field and also allow them to destroy targets with a high level of probability, and in real time.

Similarly, sophisticated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, capable of monitoring the movement of adversaries would be available through the use of space platforms.

As is widely known, military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, spearheaded by US and allied forces, the entire range of reconnaissance information systems, including tactical UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) imageries, were analyzed at a central facility and transmitted back to the ground forces with minimum time-loss through a satellite communications system. There is no doubt that the net-centric warfare strategy paves the way for information sharing across multiple levels of traditional echelons of command and control.

On its part, the United States Air Force (USAF) which describes itself as an "integrated aerospace power" says that its responsibilities stretch from the surface of the earth to the orbital regions. The long-term strategy of the American space command includes the plan to destroy the well guarded space assets of the enemy camps in lightning speed. In fact, the thesis of the warfare experts is that since the success of military and strategic operations on ground depends on "alert birds" in outer space, whosoever knocks down the largest number of enemy satellites, stands to hold the strategic lead. Weather-watch spacecraft, predicting climatic and atmospheric conditions to facilitate bombing raids, navigation satellites guiding lethal arms to desired points, reconnaissance satellites locating the exact geographic position of military targets, electronic ferret satellites getting data on radar frequencies, communications satellites providing key links between the troops spread across a vast geographic swath and ocean watch satellites snooping on naval movements of the enemies have all become puppets on the chain of modern day warfare.

Indian defence forces are keen to get high resolution data from the defence satellites of Israel, including ISRO's PSLV- launched TECSAR reconnaissance satellite. The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) is ISRO's four stage workhorse rocket. 

Battlefield of the future

Glaring intelligence failures, experienced particularly during the Kargil skirmish of 1999, continues to prod Indian defence forces to strengthen their intelligence gathering capabilities through the acquisition and analysis of high resolution satellite imageries.

As pointed out by Dr VK Aatre, former chief of DRDO, the need for India to go in for a system dynamic enough to protect its space assets has become pronounced in the context of the developments in China."We have fought wars in the air, water and land. But the way things are going, Star wars will no longer be just a fiction", observed Dr Aatre.

He also stated that 'India should adopt new technologies just as Russia and USA are doing to safeguard their interest in this new age space war. The USA has 110 military satellites, while the Russians have 40. This clearly signals that future wars will be space-based. It is necessary for us to develop satellite based electronics systems to ensure that our valuable space assets do not become vulnerable",

Against such a backdrop, the Indian defence planers have stressed on the need for a greater integration of activities and certain synergies between ISRO and DRDO to avoid duplicity of research efforts and pave the way for profitable and mutually beneficial sharing of resources. It is interesting to note that the development of nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni range of missiles, spearheaded by the DRDO, did benefit from the solid-fuel technology developed by ISRO for its rockets.

Chemical fuel, navigation as well as guidance and electronics are among the hardware that are common to both satellite launch vehicles and missiles. The successful deployment of the PSLV for multiple satellite launches reveals that India has built a certain capability to develop Multiple Independent Retargetable Vehicles (MIRV). Of course, the technology going into MIRV would need to be far more precise and sophisticated than the one used in launch vehicles. On its part, DRDO has already hinted at a plan to develop MIRV technology.

Meanwhile, the tie-up that ISRO has forged with the New Delhi-based Brahmos Aerospace , the Indo-Russian outfit responsible for developing Brahmos supersonic cruise missile, augurs well for greater synergy between a civilian space organization and an outfit active in the area of defence oriented research and development. As part of this tie-up, Brahmos is planning to take up the engineering and integration of the Indian launch vehicles, such as the PSLV and the three-stage GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle).

The upcoming Brahmos facility at Thiruvananthapuram, which also happens to be the nerve-centre of Indian launch vehicles development, will also handle space tech related infrastructure work for ISRO's futuristic missions.

It may be recalled that in the aftermath of the widely publicized Chinese anti satellite test of early 2007, ISRO chairman G.Madhavan Nair had stated that though it is well within the capability of ISRO to develop and deploy a system to knock down a satellite in orbit, India's concern is to keep outer space an area of peace and tranquillity. As it is, the Communist giant had stunned the entire world by successfully deploying a ground- based, medium-range ballistic missile to destroy an aging weather satellite, located at an altitude of 537 miles. 

The dragon's breath

By all means, this was the first demonstration of China's well-conceived plan to perfect a satellite killer device as a prelude to its "space weaponization programme".

All said and done, China would need to achieve a greater degree of sophistication to destroy enemy satellites meant for end-uses, such as communications, surveillance and navigation. For such satellites are placed into a higher orbit. But it is easier to kill reconnaissance satellites, a majority of which move in low earth orbits.

Taking a cue from earlier Russian and American experiments, China is also experimenting with high-powered laser weapons to knock out satellites. In incidents prior to the anti-satellite test, the Chinese "painted" an American satellite with laser beams. "They let us see their lasers. It is as if they are trying to frighten us" says Gary Payton, a senior Pentagon official dealing with space. What makes laser an ideal device for use as a space weapon is its inherent quality of moving straight without getting diffused or dissipated.

This light beam of a laser is of immense potential as it heats up the outer surface of a missile, or a satellite, until it is knocked out. Imaging surveillance satellite would be particularly vulnerable to blinding by laser beams because their functions depend on devices which are sensitive to light.

In the Chinese context, there is hardly a dividing line between space activities and defence projects .For the totalitarian communist regime in the country ensures that space and defence establishments in the country are free from public scrutiny. China, which has already accomplished two manned missions, is now busy preparing for another space spectacular in the form of a space walk and docking.

It has also hinted that it has a clear-cut plan to put in space an orbital complex which would give the communist giant an ideal platform to further its "space war ambitions". China could use its space complex to either shoot down a missile or kill a satellite.

China is also quietly building a new generation of heavy lift-off space vehicles to support its long-term space goals.

China also has in its possession a large number of ICBMs capable of reaching targets beyond 10,000-km. In sharp contrast, the most powerful ballistic missile in India's possession is the Agni-III, designed to reach a target at a distance of 3,000-kms.

The DRDO, of course, has plans to develop a 5,000-km range Agni-V. Also on DRDO's agenda is a plan to develop a submarine launched ballistic missile. It is also known that India is sufficiently well-equipped to build ICBMs with 10,000-km range as it exploits advances in space vehicle and missile technology.

For the moment, China is focussed on a programme to modernise its ballistic missile forces with the aim to improve its long-range strike capability.

Older generation, liquid fuel-driven ballistic missiles are now being replaced by a new generation of solid propellant road mobile missiles. Solid fuel driven missiles have a clear cut advantage over the liquid propellant missiles. For solid propellants, being earth storable, can be filled into missile silos in advance.

It is high time India took cognizance of the all-round defence oriented developments in its neighbourhood and prepare the ground to tackle the challenge posed by China's versatile military modernization drive.


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## nitesh

The Hindu : National : Is there water-ice on the Moon?

Is there water-ice on the Moon?

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Do the permanently shadowed polar regions of the *Moon contain water-ice?*

This is one of the many questions that a group of 70 scientists &#8212; from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) &#8212; aim to resolve at a two-day meeting that began here on Thursday.

The meeting, which was held at the ISRO Satellite Centre, marks the 100 days since the launch of Chandrayaan-I and will unravel the data that the lunar craft has gathered during its space voyage.

*Scientists will now focus their attention on identifying &#8220;areas of interest&#8221; on the lunar terrain for further exploration &#8212; including exploring the possibility of finding water-ice, said ISRO Chairman, G. Madhavan Nair.*

&#8220;We will now identify areas on the Moon which need to be looked at closer for substances like water-ice. These areas will then be studied with a range instruments such as the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar and Hyper-spectral Imager,&#8221; he said.

*Assessment*

The ISRO chief added: &#8220;We had an assessment of all the 10 instruments on board the space craft [one of the instruments &#8212; the Moon Impact Probe &#8212; was designed to crash-land on the lunar terrain] and it was confirmed that their performance has been excellent so far.&#8221; The quality of the images was high, he said.

The meeting was successful, with a good representation of scientists, he said. Around 20 scientists participated from around the world &#8212; from the United States, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan and the Netherlands.

It has been an eventful 100 days for Chandrayaan-I: *the lunar craft has captured the first-ever images of the dark side of the Moon, confirmed the presence of iron and picked up X-ray signals from its cratered terrain.* Chandrayaan-I was launched on October 22 from Sriharikota, carrying on board 11 scientific instruments. Of these, five were indigenously developed and the others developed by agencies including NASA and ESA.


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## A-D

*One Hundred Days Of Chandrayaan-1*

Hundred days after it was launched from Sriharikota on October 22, 60 scientists, including about 50 from the US and Europe, will conduct Chandrayaan-1's first high-level review on January 29.
The scientists will compare notes on data their respective instruments have gathered and generated on Chandrayaan-1. European Space Agency, Bulgarian experts, Nasa and perhaps the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Chandrayaan-1 team, would represent Europe, the US and India respectively.

An air of expectation hovers around the meeting as scientists are expected to announce new findings on the Moon. Some findings could also be of the nature of confirmation of findings from earlier Moon missions. Either way there is tremendous credit attached to the flawless operation of Chandrayaan-1 and expertise ISRO has demonstrated in its stability.

There is tremendous anticipation whether Chandrayaan-1 can reveal and confirm traces of water which would make feasible ideas of building colonies on Moon. Traces of iron have been confirmed and extensive imageries of Moon's surface characteristics have been beamed by India's TMC camera on board Chandrayaan-1.

Chandrayaan-1 project director M Annadurai told TOI: "We can't now say what data has been generated. Presentations by scientists on all instruments and their operation will tell us what the initial findings are and their implications. We're meeting on the completion of 100 days of Chandrayaan-1. We'll make clear what emerges from the findings so far.''

The mission has a life-term of two years and there is plenty of time left for new data to be generated. Nasa has in fact stated it has already got the first look into cold and dark craters through their instrument on Chandrayaan-1. Nasa was also the first to declare traces of iron on Moon. Its Jet Propulsion Laboratory has gone on record about Chandrayaan-1's confirmation of mineral traces and access it has lent to unexplored craters via Nasa instruments.


Source: One Hundred Days Of Chandrayaan-1


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## nitesh

http://www.ptinews.com/pti&#37;5Cptisite.nsf/0/14D2B2CE59AF4E5C6525754F001D44F9?OpenDocument

Russia successfully orbits spacecraft with Indian payload



Moscow, Jan 30 (PTI) Russia today successfully launched its CORONAS-Photon spacecraft with Indian payload to study the Solar activity and its impact on the upper atmosphere of our planet.
'Cyclone-3' space launch vehicle lifted off with CORONAS-Photon spacecraft at 1840 IST today from Russia's northern Plesetsk cosmodrome and about two hour later it was placed on its designated orbit, Space Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin told 'Zvezda' TV channel of the Defence Ministry.

According to experts of MEFI Institute of Astrophysics, which will be coordinating the research and analysis of the Solar mission, low-energy Gamma radiation telescope RT-2 developed by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a major payload along with the NATALYA sensor developed by several Moscow institutes.

The scientific payloads allow to register with high time resolution the electro-magnetic radiation of Solar Fluxes in the energy range to examine the process of transformation of accumulated magnetic field energy into accelerated particles energy at the time of Solar Fluxes.

They would provide data for the detailed study of the mechanism of acceleration, distribution and inter-action of energetic particles in solar atmosphere to examine co-relation between solar activity and physical and mechanical processes in the earth's upper atmosphere.

India and Russia had signed the CORONAS-Photon agreement during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Moscow visit in December 2005.

Initially the launch of the Cyclone-3 rocket had been scheduled for Thursday, but was delayed by a day for technical reasons. PTI


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## nitesh

NDTV.com: IIT students keen to be a part of ISRO

IIT students keen to be a part of ISRO
Sonia Sarkar
Friday, February 06, 2009, (New Delhi)

Students at IIT Delhi graduating this year are all starry-eyed about a new career option - being a scientist at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

One of them is Anshul Sirohi, who is soon going to graduate from IIT. He wants the job at ISRO badly. In a few days he will be interviewing with the ISRO for the position of a scientist.

"A lot of my friends were looking for IT jobs abroad. A couple of them are also joining the corporate world, but I am keen to be a part of ISRO. I feel there is an endless opportunity for us in ISRO and everyday is a new day. There is lot of excitement and challenge," said Anshul Sirohi, M Tech (Thermal Engineering), IIT-Delhi.

It was the historic launch of Chandrayaan-1 that has young IIT students wanting to reach out to the moon.

The number of students wanting to join ISRO has gone up by 30&#37; this year. With the space organization introducing more projects like Chandrayaan -II, Aditya and Manned Moon Mission, more and more young technocrats are excited to be a part of this research institute.

What's also helping is higher starting salaries at ISRO than ever before.

"After the sixth Pay Commission, even the pay packages are the same like the corporate world. So why don't I rather work for ISRO and do something worth," said Pawan Kumar Panth, M Tech (Thermal Engineering), IIT-Delhi.

That's what inspired Anupam Roy to work with ISRO for 18 months after he got his bachelor's degree from IIT. Now he's back in school for his master's and his memories are not all happy.

"They don't give the space to work and they don't show the confidence in you at all," said Anupam Roy, M Tech (Mechanical), IIT-Delhi.

However, that is changing, promises the government.

"We are restructuring our organizations. We are also introducing all kinds of measures, which will create more space for these young professionals in research organizations," said Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology.

So move over corporate, there's a new dream in town for the IIT-Delhi campus.

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## nitesh

India Works With University Of Leicester On First National Astronomy Satellite

India Works With University Of Leicester On First National Astronomy Satellite






Astrosat will carry five instruments to observe exotic objects such as black holes, neutron stars, and active galaxies at a number of different wavelengths simultaneously, from the ultraviolet band to energetic x-rays.


Leicester, UK (SPX) Feb 05, 2009
India's first national Astronomy satellite - Astrosat - is to have key components assembled by the University of Leicester.

A team of engineers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, has arrived at the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre to progress work on the satellite which is due for launch in 2009.

The team, who will be in Leicester until Friday 6th February, will work on the next phase of the mission, when hardware manufactured in India arrives in Leicester for inspection, testing and assembly into a space qualified X-ray camera.

Guy Peters, Astrosat SXT Project Manager UK, said: "In several months, when the camera has been assembled and the Leicester built detector assembly and control electronics installed, it will be tested to space qualified standards and shipped back to India for integration into the spacecraft."

Mr Sangam Sinha from the Tata Institute added: "Astrosat is critical to the Indian space programme as it is the first satellite entirely dedicated to the pursuit of science. Astrosat also forms the beginning of a long term collaboration between TIFR and the University of Leicester through which it is hoped that many more missions will be undertaken jointly by the Indian and UK teams."

Astrosat will carry five instruments to observe exotic objects such as black holes, neutron stars, and active galaxies at a number of different wavelengths simultaneously, from the ultraviolet band to energetic x-rays.

The camera was designed by the University of Leicester and the manufacture of the hardware components was undertaken by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

In addition to the manufacture of the camera hardware, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has built the main telescope body and mirror. The University of Leicester is to assemble the camera, support the project through consultancy and calibrate the camera at the Space Research Centre.

The University of Leicester Space Research Centre was asked to undertake the SXT camera development because of its track record in spacecraft design, in missions such as Swift and XMM-Newton and the experience gained from its CCD laboratory programmes.

The delegation from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research currently visiting Leicester includes:

Mr. Sangam Sinha - Chief Engineer - Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Mr. Harshit Shah - Astrosat Mechanical Engineer - Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research


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## nitesh

ISRO 2009 Exhibition Kicks Off

ISRO 2009 Exhibition Kicks Off

by Staff Writers
Davanagere (PTI)Feb 06, 2009
ISRO's public relations officer B R Guruprasad demonstrated the prototype component models that were used in Chandrayaan-I to Sri Taralabalu pontiff Shivamurthy Shivacharya maha swamiji, at BIET college in Davanagere on Tuesday evening.

The Sanehalli mutt pontiff Sri Panditharadhya swamiji, along with a team of ISRO scientists including Chandrayaan-I project director Annadurai, S K Shivakumar, scientist at ISTRAC (ISRO), C D Sridhar, were present while the exhibition was inaugurated by Sri Taralabalu pontiff, as part of the nine-day festival of Taralabalu Hunnime.

Several models of the Chandrayaan-I was displayed, which will continue to be open to the public till February 9.

Meanwhile, the ISRO scientists were honoured by the pontiff for their success in the Chandrayaan-I project. A film on Chandrayaan-I was also screened on the occasion.

The chief patron of Sri Taralabalu Hunnime S Shivashankarappa, reception committee secretary S S Mallikarjun, treasurer A C Jayanna, along with other members of the Bapuji Educational Association, BIET principal B T Achyutha, director Y Vrushabhendrappa, program coordinator B E Rangaswamy were also present.

Later, the students and staff of the college interacted with ISRO scientists.


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## LCA

C1XS Catches First Glimpse of X-rays from the Moon

*C1XS Catches First Glimpse of X-rays from the Moon*

January 23, 2009
The Imaging X-ray Spectrometer, one of the 11 payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and UKs Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, has successfully detected the first X-ray signature from the Moon. This is the first step in its mission to reveal the origin and evolution of the Moon by mapping its surface composition. It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on October 22, 2008 and entered the lunar orbit on November 8, 2008.

In orbit around the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 Imaging X ray Spectrometer (C1XS) detected the X-ray signal from a region near the Apollo landing sites on ? December 12, 2008 at 02:36 UT. The solar flare that caused the X-ray fluorescence was exceedingly weak, approximately 20 times smaller than the minimum C1XS was designed to detect. The X-ray camera collected 3 minutes of data from the Moon just as the flare started and the camera finished its observation. C1XS depends on radiation from the Sun to activate the detection of X rays. Though, the minimum in solar activity was expected to end in early 2008, however solar activity is yet to reach the anticipated increase. With the highly sensitive C1XS instrument, it has been possible to detect the X rays.

The camera - C1XS (pronounced kicks)  was designed and built at Space Science and Technology Department at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is an X-Ray Spectrometer that uses X-rays to map the surface composition of the Moon and will help scientists to understand its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist there.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first lunar mission of ISRO and also the first mission with international partners. It is designed to orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km and carries 11 scientific instruments including radar and particle detectors as well as instruments that will make observations in the visible, near infrared and soft and hard X-rays.

Dr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO said that the joint development and operationalisation of C1XS in Chandrayaan-1 between ISRO and RAL, UK is a major achievement. First signatures obtained from C1XS are highly encouraging.


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

Chandrayaan a wake up call, says Annadurai

Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE: *After 2010 there will be many moon missions undertaken by other countries. Anticipating this, we wanted to complete ours before they began. When we step into the moon tomorrow, we should be leaders among the other countries,* Project Director of Chandrayaan &#8211; 1 M. Annadurai said here on Saturday. Responding to a felicitation given by Avinashilingam University for Women, *he said the mission that was slated to be completed in seven years was accomplished in a record time of four years without any hitch.*

&#8220;The Rs. 355 crore that was spent for the mission is not too high a cost for this kind of achievement. This is to show that we can achieve anything if we can work as a team. You need not have a background. Opportunities do not always knock at our doors. But, when they knock, we should be able to respond to them as a team. That will yield the best results,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.

Asking students to hold on to opportunities offered by the country, he said, &#8220;It is not a pride to go abroad and earn. India is throwing a red carpet of opportunities for you to grab. When India has given me the opportunity, it can give each one of you also&#8221;.

*Terming the moon mission a &#8220;wake up&#8221; call not only for the U.S., but also for India,* he said it was something the youth could look up to for doing more for the country. Since India could boast of a large youth population, it should serve as a productive human resource. He asked the students to be environmentally conscious. &#8220;Women have a more important role in this duty because they have to take on the role of teachers to their children at home. The role of a mother as a teacher is more significant than any other,&#8221; Mr. Annadurai said.

T.K. Shanmuganandam, Chancellor, Saroja Prabhakaran, Vice-Chancellor, and Lakshmi Santa Rajagopal, former Vice-Chancellor, of the university were among those who offered felicitations.


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## nitesh

Moon mystery unravelled -Ahmedabad-Cities-The Times of India

Moon mystery unravelled
8 Feb 2009, 2332 hrs IST, TNN


Ahmedabad : *Images of moon's surface, rare footage of small and large craters from a close range left audience at ISRO spellbound!*

This was part of the lecture on India's first moon mission, Chandrayaan-1' delivered by AS Kiran Kumar, deputy director, Sensors Development Area, SAC, ISRO on Saturday.

*The clip from the 1,500 seconds of video footage from Moon Impactor Probe (MIP),* indigenously developed payload under supervision of Space Application Centre(SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad wowed many.

The lecture was organised by Broadcast Engineering Society, India (BES). It is active in promoting advancement, dissemination of knowledge and practice in the field of broadcasting and related sciences.

Kumar played a key role in designing and development of payloads of Chandrayaan-1. "MIP's landing on lunar surface was a historic moment for the country. With this, India has become the fourth country in world to have their flag on lunar surface," he said. According to Kumar, MIP has provided high resolution pictures of moon surface. *"It was just 700 m away from lunar surface before it crashed on moon,"* he added.


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## nitesh

http://www.ptinews.com/pti&#37;5Cptisite.nsf/0/9E63F8AAC13FE1F265257558004D3EC0?OpenDocument

India to develop spacecraft which can carry 3 astronauts

Bangalore, Feb 9 (PTI) *India plans to develop a space vehicle that can carry up to three astronauts in the seven-day manned mission to space*, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said today.

"Concept is getting evolved", Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said while addressing an international seminar here.

ISRO is looking at developing a capsule (spacecraft) with service module which can accommodate three astronauts and take it to lower earth orbit using the indigenous GSLV (Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle) in the year 2015, he said.

Mission duration is seven days. There would also be emergency mission abort and crew rescue provisions in case of necessity. Crew module would be designed for re-entry and service module for mission management, Nair said.

*He said the GSLV-Mk III, which can launch four tonne class satellites, would bring down the launch cost by half. The maiden flight of GSLV-Mk III is slated for next year.*

On the recent Chandrayaan-1 moon mission, *Nair said instruments on board have thrown up voluminous data which would take a few years for scientists to analyse and come out with concrete results.*

Entire mapping of the lunar surface is expected to be carried out in a year's time, he said, adding, *there is no trace of water on moon so far.*


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## proud_indian

Designs for India's First Manned Spaceship Revealed 

BANGALORE, India -The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), with help from Russia, hopes to join the ranks of nations capable of independently launching astronauts into space around 2015 and has revealed the designs for its first orbiting crew capsule.

complete story here

SPACE.com -- Designs for India's First Manned Spaceship Revealed

i just can not believe this


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## nitesh

buddy it could have been good if you could have posted the pic 
any way here it is

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## lincdean

Indian Rocks!
I like your article.

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## LCA

FOXNews.com - Designs for India's First Manned Spaceship Revealed - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News

Designs for India's First Manned Spaceship Revealed

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
By K. S. Jayaraman

BANGALORE, India  The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), with help from Russia, hopes to join the ranks of nations capable of independently launching astronauts into space around 2015 and has revealed the designs for its first orbiting crew capsule.

In its maiden manned mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 248 miles (400 km) in altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board, ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair announced Jan. 3 at the Indian Science Congress held in Shillong.

The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability, he said.


ISRO spokesman S. Satish told Space News Jan. 10 that the program is estimated to cost about 100 billion rupees ($2 billion) over an eight-year period dating back to 2007. The manned mission was formally proposed to the government in 2006.

Although full-mission funding has yet to be approved, Satish said preliminary work has already begun using 950 million rupees ($19.4 million) allocated for the effort in ISRO's 40.7 billion rupee ($834 million) budget for 2007-2008.

The necessary mission infrastructure includes a new launch pad at ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Satish said. Another key facility is an astronaut training center to be located in Bangalore.

*As a precursor to manned spaceflights, ISRO launched and recovered intact a 1,212-pound (550-kg) space capsule in January 2007, demonstrating its capability to develop heat-resistant materials necessary for atmospheric re-entry.*

India also launched a landmark moon probe, Chandrayaan-1, into lunar orbit last year.

But several key capabilities have yet to be developed, including a man-rated launcher featuring safety and reliability enhancements, life support systems, rescue and recovery systems, a robotic manipulator, and new mission-management and control systems, Satish said.

Satish said the astronaut capsule would launch atop a modified version of ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 2, currently under development.

The GSLV Mark 2 features an indigenously developed cryogenic upper-stage engine; the Mark 1 variant currently in use has a Russian-supplied upper stage engine. The first test launch of the standard GSLV Mark 2 launcher is scheduled for this year.

Satish said ISRO's human spaceflight program will benefit from assistance provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roskosmos.

The cooperative arrangement was sealed in an accord signed Dec. 5 by Nair and Roskosmos Director-General Anatoly Perminov during a state visit to India by Russian President Dimitri Medvedev.

*Under the accord, an Indian cosmonaut will fly aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2013 ahead of ISRO's planned 2015 mission, Satish said.*

Roskosmos will also help in crew selection and training and in construction of ISRO's orbiter vehicle.

Russia and India have a long history of space-related collaboration. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space, flying to the then-Soviet Union's Salyut-7 space station aboard a Soyuz capsule.

Today only Russia, the United States and China are capable of independently launching astronauts. *China joined the exclusive club in 2003 using a capsule that was developed with Russian assistance.*


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## LCA

Not looking at Arianespace as a competitor: ISRO

*Not looking at Arianespace as a competitor: ISRO *


Bangalore, Feb 9 (PTI) Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair today said that European space consortium Arianespace would market home-grown rocket PSLV in Europe and maintained that ISRO does not see the latter as a long-term competitor.
"ISRO does not want to be a competitor of Arianespace. ISRO is looking for cooperation and collaboration with the European space community to evolve next generation of GSLV-Mk III," he said.

"Similarly (in addition to marketing PSLV), some payloads which do not rightly suit their launcher (rocket), they (Arianespace) will deflect to us," Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said on the sidelines of an international seminar here.

Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, who was also present, added "Cooperation (with ISRO) will centre around (marketing in Europe of) PSLV (ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)".

Since 1981, Arianespace has launched 13 of ISRO's satellites. *It is slated to launch INSAT-4G towards the end of this year.*

*Beyond that, barring one or two launches for which ISRO may have to go to Arianespace, Indian space agency is expected to have all launches from Indian soil. Its first flight of GSLV-Mk III, which can carry four tonne class satellite, is expected next year and this rocket is slated to be operational after the first two flights. *PTI


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## duhastmish

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...rs-proposals-purchase-three-more-awacs-9.html

*IAF to have its own eye in space*

With a view to increasing its surveillance capabilities, Indian Air Force is going to have its own satellite
in space by the end of 2010.

"We will launch our satellite by the end of 2010," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said here yesterday.

The satellite to be launched by ISRO next year will be a dual-use satellite and will be used for civilian purposes also.

It will help the IAF to position its aerial and ground assets and targets. It would be used to gather navigational information.

In the recent past, IAF has been working closely to develop its space-based capabilities. It even has plans of setting up an Aerospace command under it but it has faced opposition from the other two services over the issue.

Its southern command based in Thiruvananthapuram works closely with ISRO in space related areas. At the air headquarters also, one Air Vice Marshal rank officer looks after space operations.


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## slugger

*IIT-K satellite'Jugnu' in final stages*



> Kanpur: A micro satellite being developed by IIT Kanpur in co-operation with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been christened 'Jugnu'.
> 
> The satellite, which is near completion, will be handed over to ISRO in November, who after testing will launch it.
> 
> Work on the satellite, which is aimed at gathering prior information regarding flood, drought and disaster management is in the last stage and will be handed over to ISRO in November for further test and launch, IIT Kanpur director Prof Sanjoy Govind Dhande told here today.
> 
> Last year in August, both ISRO and IIT-K had inked an MoU to develop a micro satellite dedicated for agricultural purpose.
> 
> "A team of mechanical engineering department of the institute has almost finished the work on the satellite. They will need another 6-7 months to give final touch to the project," he said.
> 
> Scientists have used indigenous technology to develop 'Jugnu', whose weight and length are 3kg and 34cm respectively, he said, adding an estimated amount of Rs 2.5 crore has been spent to develop the satellite.
> 
> The hi-tech cameras fitted in the satellite will send photographs regarding agriculture, weather and soil to the base station, he said.
> 
> The satellite can also be used to link other big satellites in the space, he added.
> 
> Bureau Report


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## indiatech

Chandrayaan spurs space ambition in IITs- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times

Chandrayaan spurs space ambition in IITs


MUMBAI: When Chandrayaan-I soared into space last October, so did the dreams of many young and aspiring IITians keen on a career with the Indian 
Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Says a professor from IIT-Bombay's aerospace engineering department, "Ever since Chandrayaan lifted off, space has become the magic word among students. They aspire to become rocket scientists and hope to play a role in taking India beyond the moon some day." 

The fact that ISRO has planned a manned mission to the low earth orbit (Leo, 2000 km above earth) in 2014, a mission to Mars around 2020 and another to the moon is a great source of excitement, he adds. 

Two fourth year BTech aerospace students, Shashank Tamaskar and Kartavya Neema, are already doing a research project on interplanetary flight. Says Shashank, "Inspired by Chandrayaan-I, I am doing a study on a satellite's flight from Leo to the moon." He started work on the project in August 2008, when Chandrayaan was being primed for its historic launch, and hopes to complete it in ayear. 

Asked if he would like to join ISRO, he says, "Definitely, after I complete my studies." The budding rocket scientist said that the focus among students earlier had been on designing planes, but "with the success of Chandrayaan, most of us are talking about designing rockets and satellites". 

Kartavya says he is designing a flight path for a satellite to Mars. "For both of us, the inspiration came from Chandrayaan," he confirms, adding thathe'd love to work at Isro. 

Echoing their views is Gyandeep Singh Momi, an aerospace student at IIT-Kharagpur. "Space has become the catchword here after Chandrayaan and most aerospace students want to be involved with space technology." Gyandeep says that Chandrayaan also had a strong impact at their student festival earlier this year. "Nearly 50% of the emphasis was on rocketry. And we had a Nasa astronaut talking to us." 

After India tested its nuclear weapons at Pokhran on May 11 and 13 in 1998, the number of applications received by BARC's training school in Trombay increased manifold. Today, job openings at ISRO carry more lucrative packagesbecause a slew of projects is in the pipeline. 

The space buzz has infected IIT-Kanpur as well. S Kamle, head of the aerospace engineering department there, says, "Now, there's a lot of excitement in our department about space, with students talking about rocketry and satellites." They had been designing a rover for Chandrayaan-II, he adds, which is slated for launch in 2012. But during PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Moscow in November 2007, a decision was taken to carry a Russian rover and lander instead. 

IIT-Bombay is also designing a micro satellite which will be launched by Isro's PSLV. The project started when Chandrayaan-I was steadily moving from the laboratory and workshop to the launch pad at Sriharikota. 

ISRO is well aware of this groundswell of excitement. "The success of Chandrayaan-I has given a lot of confidence to students. More now want to be part of India's space programme," says its chief spokesperson S Satish.


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## indiatech

IIT-K satellite 'Jugnu' in final stages 

Kanpur: A micro satellite being developed by IIT Kanpur in co-operation with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been christened 'Jugnu'.

The satellite, which is near completion, will be handed over to ISRO in November, who after testing will launch it.

Work on the satellite, which is aimed at gathering prior information regarding flood, drought and disaster management is in the last stage and will be handed over to ISRO in November for further test and launch, IIT Kanpur director Prof Sanjoy Govind Dhande told here today.

Last year in August, both ISRO and IIT-K had inked an MoU to develop a micro satellite dedicated for agricultural purpose.

"A team of mechanical engineering department of the institute has almost finished the work on the satellite. They will need another 6-7 months to give final touch to the project," he said.

Scientists have used indigenous technology to develop 'Jugnu', whose weight and length are 3kg and 34cm respectively, he said, adding an estimated amount of Rs 2.5 crore has been spent to develop the satellite.

The hi-tech cameras fitted in the satellite will send photographs regarding agriculture, weather and soil to the base station, he said.

The satellite can also be used to link other big satellites in the space, he added.


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## LCA

Picture of ISRO's RLV in Aero India from another discussion forum:

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## nitesh

Hey that's exciting so AVATAR is slowly getting in to reality. So hope we can see DRDO HSDTV also soon. That will be really great as we will be gettting hold on one more crucial tech Scramjet engines.


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## LCA

yeah... i think there is a race going b\w ISRO's avatar and DRDO HSDTV or Brahmos-2.
And also the misslie in the picture very much look like astra or akaash.


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## nitesh

any way LCA we have hypersonic missiles Hint: Check shourya

PS: Let us not derail the thread


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## nitesh

The Hindu News Update Service

ISRO gets 27 per cent hike in budgetary allocations

New Delhi (PTI): *ISRO today got a 27 per cent hike in budgetary allocation, a major chunk of which is will be spent on missions to moon, development of the semi-cryogenic engine and building a rocket for launching heavier satellites.*

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was allocated Rs 4,459 crore, an increase of Rs 960 crore over the previous year's sanction of Rs 3,499 crore, in the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here.

Development of a semi-cryogenic engine for future advanced satellite launch vehicles has been allocated Rs 75 crore as against Rs 4.09 crore last year. The Cabinet had approved the project for development of the semi-cryogenic engine recently.

Chandrayaan-I and its future missions have been provided Rs 90 crore as against Rs 88 crore last year, while the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III project has received Rs 217 crore as against Rs 240.19 crore last year.

The GSLV Mk III, which will have the capability to put in orbit four-tonne satellites, is expected to be launched later this year.

ISRO's institute for training space science personnel has received Rs 175 crore as against Rs 65.25 crore last year. The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, currently functioning from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, is developing its permanent infrastructure at Valiamala in Kerala.

The space agency has received Rs 50 crore for its programme to send a human in space. The objective of the Human Space Flight Programme is to develop a fully autonomous manned space vehicle to carry a two-member crew to a 400-km low earth orbit and ensure their safe return to earth.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, a constellation of seven satellites, has been provided with Rs 270 crore.

The IRNSS is expected to provide position accuracies similar to the Global Positioning System in a region centered around the country with a coverage extending up to 1,500 km from India.

The VSSC, a lead facility for development of satellite launch vehicles, has received Rs 613.42 crore as against Rs 494.69 crore last year.


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## duhastmish

with this allocation i can smell GSLV-III and avatar some where down the corner. Not far from reality, with this funding i am hoping many more of our brain will come back and indulge in ISRO instead of NASA.


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## nitesh

After moon mission, ISRO now lines up twin launch

Bangalore, Feb 17 (PTI) After the successful Chandrayaan-I moon mission, Indian Space Research Organisation is now getting ready for a twin launch - a "breakthrough" Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) and ANUSAT.
Bangalore-headquartered ISRO is targeting a March last week date for launching them on board the indigenously built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Indian space scientists see the 1,780-kg Risat as a major milestone for the country as far as remote sensing satellites are concerned. RISAT mission would have a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode.

SAR, being an active sensor, operating in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum, provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness, and geometry, and has the unique capability for day-night imaging, and imaging in all weather conditions including fog and haze, and also provide information on soil moisture.

"So far, all satellites launched by ISRO are optical remote sensing satellites. But RISAT will have all other capabilities," ISRO spokesperson S Satish told PTI.

RISAT is capable of taking pictures during night as well and even in cloud-covered conditions, an expertise Indian remote sensing satellites did not have previously. PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/pti&#37;5Cptisite.nsf/0/C382EFD377669B7B6525756000223345?OpenDocument


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## nitesh

Isro set to use indigenously developed cryogenic engine for GSLV launch

Isro set to use indigenously developed cryogenic engine for GSLV launch
Bibhu Ranjan Mishra / Bangalore February 18, 2009, 0:55 IST

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is expected to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) in July this year, using an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. The flight that is likely to launch the GSAT-4 into orbit will mark the end of India's dependence on Russia, which had been supplying the cryogenic engines since 1991. India has so far launched five GSLV rockets.

The launch vehicle is capable of placing a 2-tonne satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit, uses all the three kinds of propellants &#8212; solid, liquid and cryogenic. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) uses only solid and liquid propellants and is capable of carrying payloads less than 2 tonnes.

"All the previous GSLV flights had cryogenic engines procured from Russia. For the first time, indigenously developed cryogenic engines will be used. This is a development started almost parallelly to procurement from Russia. We have completed all the tests, including qualification and flight acceptance. Now the engine is fully qualified and will be used in the next flight of GSLV," a highly-placed source in Isro told Business Standard.

Work on developing India's own cryogenic engine was started by Isro shortly after the project to develop the GSLV was initiated in 1986. However, failing in the initial attempt to develop the highly complex cryogenic engine on its own, Isro inked a $120 million contract with Soviet space enterprise Glavkosmos in 1991 for supply of two KVD-1 cryogenic engines. India has so far procured seven Russian-built cryogenic engines, of which five have been used during the previous GSLV launches of Isro.

With an initial project cost of about Rs 235 crore, the work for the development of India's own cryogenic engine was jointly carried out by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Trivandrum, Material Development and Research Centre at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the Liquid Propulsion Test Facility (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. Isro conducted the flight acceptance test of the indigenous cryogenic engine on December 18 last year at the LPSC, which was found to be quite satisfactory.

"The flight acceptance hot test of the cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT)," the space research agency had stated at that time.

GSAT-4, the communication satellite that Isro intends to launch using the indigenous cryogenic engine powered GSLV, will provide internet connectivity in remote villages. "We are going to launch GSAT-4 which will have digital connectivity on board. It's meant for data transfers from computers at remote villages," says Isro Chairman G Madhavan Nair.

Isro is planning to use the GSLV for the Chandrayaan-II mission scheduled for 2012 as opposed to PSLV that was used to launch Chandrayaan-I


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## satishkumarcsc

India plans delayed scramjet flight test for 2010

There are a lot of anomalies in this article...but the source is sort of credible....


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## nitesh

:: ISRO ::

annual report


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## macintosh

India urged to review space prog 

New Delhi, Feb 22: India should undertake a strategic and comprehensive review of its space programmes as quickly as possible given "the military character and military functions" of China's space programme, a senior US expert in Asian military affairs said on Saturday. 

Painting a "horror picture" of China's rapidly expanding global military reach, Richard Fischer Jr, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in the US, said Indian private universities should begin satellite or space development programmes as has been done in the United States. 

Initiating a discussion on "Chinese military modernisation" at the Observer Research Foundation, a public policy think tank here, he said China's space and satellite programmes have a military character and military functions. 

Given this, he stressed on the need to develop satellite and space technologies to counter China's advancement in these areas. 

"We have to look forward to China performing military activities from moon," Fischer said, noting that Beijing's moon programme spokesman had said the team to moon would carry telescopes and lasers. 

"What are they going to do with laser and telescope on the moon?" he wondered. 

Fischer said the Chinese moon programme had even forced the US to take a re-look at its own lunar programme and to give it high priority with the necessary funds even at a time of economic meltdown. 

He said the satellite programmes, to be developed by private Indian universities after obtaining legal permission, should be "completely outside the government's tentacles". 

"If China can develop A-Sats and SLVs, why can't India?" he asked, offering India a seat in the US' second moon programme on a bilateral or trilateral basis. He said even Russia might be offering India such cooperation as it had offered to China. 

He said India should make "necessary hard choices in these trying circumstances".


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## LCA

A new space race | Science | The Guardian

*A new space race*

* Anil Dawar
* The Guardian, Tuesday 24 February 2009
* Article history

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) was set up in 1969 but only one Indian citizen has made it into space. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma, hitched a lift with Soviet cosmonauts to dock with the Salyut 7 spacestation.

In November 2008, the unmanned Chandrayaan 1 orbited the moon. Isro now aims to launch an unmanned mission to Mars in 2013. China shelved plans to put men on the moon in 1967 rather than lose the race to the USSR. In 2003 it became the third country to send an astronaut into space when Yang Liwei orbited Earth 14 times.

In 2005, two more astronauts followed, and last year, Zhai Zhigang completed the first Chinese space walk. In 2005 Iran revealed its manned programme. It plans to launch a manned mission within a decade, as it seeks to become the region's leading space power by 2021.


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## LCA

Manned space flight: Govt adds Rs95cr to kitty-India-The Times of India

*Manned space flight: Govt adds Rs95cr to kitty*
24 Feb 2009, 0314 hrs IST, Srinivas Laxman, TNN

MUMBAI: Apart from the Planning Commission approval to ISRO's Rs 12,400-crore manned space flight programme scheduled for liftoff in 2015 from
Sriharikota, the Centre has hiked the pre-project funding for the mission by about Rs 40 crore this year, indicating its keenness to back the project.

ISRO chief spokesperson S Satish told TOI on Monday that the government has earmarked Rs 95 crore this year towards pre-project funding activity, which essentially involves initiating more studies relating to a human space flight.

Last year, the figure was Rs 50 crore. "We are awaiting formal Cabinet approval. It is possible that Cabinet will seek more clarifications before we get the final go-ahead," Satish said.

In Delhi, MoS in PMO Prithviraj Chavan said several aspects of the mission would have to be examined to ensure that the project was viable. "Planning Commission has approved it but the Cabinet is still to clear it," he said. The cost of the mission, at Rs 12,400 crore -- roughly the initial spending on NREGA -- has to be factored in before the government gives a green signal even though, as the pre-project funding indicates, it is interested.

The programme is perhaps the most ambitious one during the 11th five year plan after Chandrayaan-1. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director K Radhakrishnan told TOI that the mission will lift off with the three-stage Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk2 version). "This rocket will be slightly reconfigured and human rated. Preliminary work has already been initiated," he said.

*The GSLV-Mk2 will have an indigenous cryogenic engine and this rocket's maiden flight is slated to take place sometime this year*. The current GSLVs are powered with the Russian-made cryogenic engine.
*
The flight plan envisages the manned vehicle with a two-man crew orbiting in the low earth orbit (LEO) for seven days. The LEO extends up to 2,000 km. There has been change in the flight plan as Satish said that originally it was to operate at an altitude of 400 km. "This has been lowered to 275 km because it will permit a heavier mass to fly and the crew compartment itself will be made more comfortable," he said. Some 16 minutes after lift off, the manned compartment will be injected into orbit.

Satish said that after the seven-day mission is completed, there will be a sea landing of the manned compartment. As precursor to this, ISRO launched the Space Capsule Recovery experiment on January 10, 2007 and successfully recovered it in the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007.*


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## shchinese

there can be two possible outcomes for your new engine - a big bang or successful to some extent. 

but could you please tell me one thing - what makes you so happy for such an engine which we Chinese can already design and build 30 years ago? 

please google the terms "YF-100" "YF-77" and see our progress in recent years. btw, our space agency doesn't have your 20 billion USD budget for any mission.


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## shchinese

can someone in this thread help to answer me a simple question - how it is possible for India to successfully send a man into the space when the only indigenous made component on the Delhi class ships are the hull itself? 

Delhi class:
Delhi class destroyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

everything imported, nothing designed/made in India.


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## heartwinlion

shchinese said:


> can someone in this thread help to answer me a simple question - how it is possible for India to successfully send a man into the space when the only indigenous made component on the Delhi class ships are the hull itself?
> 
> Delhi class:
> Delhi class destroyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> everything imported, nothing designed/made in India.



whole world know how chinese make wapeon.


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## duhastmish

Like diet coke ???? all fizz with 0 calorie? lol
but this is a misleading statment by him. he is underestimating the enemy, anyways nothing much to prove and a destroyer and space technology are two different thing, *somebody should teach shchinese that destroyer don't go to Space*


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## zombie:-)

shchinese said:


> can someone in this thread help to answer me a simple question - how it is possible for India to successfully send a man into the space when the only indigenous made component on the Delhi class ships are the hull itself?
> 
> Delhi class:
> Delhi class destroyer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> everything imported, nothing designed/made in India.



you are a complete *RETARD* what are you smoking you want to stirr up a storm go do it in an appropriate thread not in the space discussion thread 

*GUYS PLEASE NO REPLYS TO THIS POST PLEASE MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE THREAD MODS PLEASE DELETE OFF TOPIC POSTS INCLUDING THIS ONE TOO*


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## shchinese

heartwinlion said:


> whole world know how chinese make wapeon.



yes, indeed. We invented a large range of modern weapons. rockets/rifles.

watch what the Americans are saying or you can keep trolling. 





















now show me some Indian invention that changed the history of human civilization please.


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## SN320

shchinese said:


> there can be two possible outcomes for your new engine - a big bang or successful to some extent.
> 
> but could you please tell me one thing - what makes you so happy for such an engine which we Chinese can already design and build 30 years ago?
> 
> please google the terms "YF-100" "YF-77" and see our progress in recent years. btw, our space agency doesn't have your 20 billion USD budget for any mission.


This could be a futile exercise seeing your intelligence level so far, but where did you get the 20billion figure?


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## booo

shchinese said:


> now show me some Indian invention that changed the history of human civilization please.


ancient indians invented 0.
your chinese martial arts are derived from indian martial art called kalaripayattu.
Bhuddism is from india.
*now will you please stop hijacking this thread*?


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## LCA

BrahMos To Sign MOU With ISRO

*BrahMos To Sign MOU With ISRO*

-
by Staff Writers
Kochi, India (PTI) Feb 27, 2009
BrahMos Aerospace will sign an MOU with ISRO for launcher vehicle integration, the Company CEO, Siva Thanu Pillai, said on Thursday.

A separate production line for ISRO is expected to be ready by 2013 and the government has agreed to provide about 50 acre of land for it, Pillai said at a workshop here on 'Industrial Opportunties in Aerospace and Defence Sectors'.

BrahMos would also be partner with Atomic Energy department to manufacture precision robotics systems and manipulators for nuclear reactors, he said.
*
Another area of interest is the development of Aero engines for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)s.*

The aim was to make Brahmos Aerospace Rs 1,000 crore company in four years time.

Pillai said business worth Rs 10,000 crore turnover could be tapped by industries in Kerala from the defence sector in another 3-4 years time. The Indian defence market would be around USD 45 billion in the next five years.

Very soon a tripartite agreement between Bharat Electronics, National Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) and Keltron would be inked for development of varous defence systems, he said.

There were vast opportunities for Kerala based industries to contribute to the growth in defence market, Pillai said, adding, *the state had Titanium reserves of about 7.5 lakh tonnes which can be mined.*

With an investment of Rs 4500 crore, and production target of 10,000 tonnes per year, a company could post an annual turnover of around Rs 5,000 crore, he said.

Col Manoj Nair, Director, Army Aviation, said the Army aviation has a sizeable fleet of helicopters and a host of aircraft spares are required ranging from low technology items to high cost items procured from abroad and vendors from within the country. There was ample opportunities for industries in Kerala to step into this growing market, he said.

*Only 30 per cent of defence requirements are presently procured indigenously.*


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## LCA

ISRO rocket to carry more astronauts in space-India-The Times of India

*ISRO rocket to carry more astronauts in space*

1 Mar 2009, 1145 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: As the country readies itself for putting a human on a space flight, scientists are busy developing next generation rockets that can
carry more astronauts and put heavier satellites in orbit.

*The Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III), expected to be launched in the next three years, will give the country self-sufficiency in launching the entire range of satellites.*

"If everything goes through successfully, we can attempt a launch by 2011 beginning," GLSV Mk III Project Director N Narayan Moorthy told PTI here.

Scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram will carry out testing of all engines this year.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists also said the GSLV Mk III will enable them to send "heavier and more meaningful" probes to Mars and also help send more astronauts on a single mission.

*ISRO is planning to use the current version of the GSLV in the human space flight it plans to undertake in 2015.*

*"In case we use Mark III, we can send three persons instead of two by the regular GSLV," an ISRO scientist said.*

The GSLV is capable of launching 2.5-tonne satellites and ISRO has to depend on the European Space Agency to put in orbit its communications satellites.


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## LCA

IIT-K students develop nano satellite-Pune-Cities-The Times of India

IIT-K students develop nano satellite
28 Feb 2009, 0240 hrs IST, Vishwas Kothari, TNN

PUNE: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has embarked on a mission to become the first academic institution in the country to
design and develop a nano satellite. The launch of this nano satellite, Jugnu', is scheduled for the end of this year.

Speaking to ToI here on Thursday, IIT-K's dean (resource, planning and generation) Sanjeev K Aggarwal said, "*The Indian Space and Research Organisation (Isro) is assisting in the project, which forms part of the run-up activity for a bigger contributory role we (IIT-K) expect to play in Chandrayaan-II."
*
The second phase of India's unmanned moon mission is scheduled for launch by Isro in 2011 or 2012.

He said, *"The entire exercise is aimed at familiarising students with system building; the nano satellite is a full integration project."*

Referring to Jugnu', Aggarwal said, "The nano satellite will weigh around 7 to 9 kg and is currently being designed and fabricated by students and faculty in the IIT-K labs."

"The launch is intended to put the nano satellite in the polar orbit, between 700 and 800 km distance from earth," he added.

The polar orbit is an orbit in which a satellite travels from north-to-south direction and passes above or nearly above both the poles of the earth. Polar orbit is normally used for purposes like earth mapping, earth observation and reconnaissance.

Jugnu will carry high resolution cameras to puck up images meant for data analysis. It is also intended to aide collection of information for flood, drought and disaster management.

Aggarwal said, "While ISRO will launch the nano satellite for us, the control earth station for the purpose of communication and reconnaissance images, will be located on the premises of IIT-K."

Meanwhile, Aggarwal said that the IIT-K has launched a thorough review of the curriculum for its undergraduate degree programmes. "The review is part of an exercise that is taken every 10 years to see that the curriculum remains in tune with what the industry wants from our product, ie the students."

Also, he said, the idea is to sustain the distinct differentiating edge, which IIT graduates enjoy over their counterparts from other institutes in the country. There would be focus on emerging areas of study in fields related energy and nano-materials, among others, he said.


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## Screaming Skull

*India to invest £1.7 billion to send astronauts in space by 2015*

Thursday, February 26, 2009, 16:24

India has finally announced its plans to launch its first manned space mission in 2015.

This would be the first Indian mission where in an Indian astronaut would walk on the moon using an Indian spacecraft.

Senior officials have earmarked £1.7 billion to fund the program.

Indias Planning Commission, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has agreed to hand over billions of dollars to make it happen. With the success of this mission, India would join the elite club, which presently includes China, US and Russia, that has sent a man to the moon using their own spacecraft.

ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair explained that the mission would involve ISROs 3-ton capsule to orbit the Earth at 248 miles in altitude for up to seven days with a 2 member crew on board. The capsule has a capacity to carry three persons and is and is equipped with a rendezvous and docking capability.The spacecraft will splashdown in the Indian Ocean after completion of the mission.

The necessary mission infrastructure includes a new launch pad at ISROs Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and a programme to train the astronauts for the mission. ISROs spokesman S.Satish said, We have to establish a facility for training the astronaut, then we have to build a human space capsule - so these are some of the major technological challenges.

The astronaut training is expected to be conducted in Bangalore.

ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said, We zeroed in on Bangalore after identifying several favorable aspects. We have an aviation medicine institute in the city which will significantly contribute for the astronaut training. A site of 140 acres beyond the greenfield Bengaluru International Airport has been selected for the training.

The whole project will also receive assistance from Russia as far as the crew selection and training are concerned. As a part of the agreement signed between India and Russia, an Indian astronaut will first go on a space mission on a Russian spacecraft.

This apparently will be followed by the Indian manned flight into the space in 2015.

After the success of the unmanned mission, Chandrayan-1, in 2008, Indian scientists at ISRO started working on a manned mission to the moon. We had a good meeting. The general inference is that ISRO has done an expert job and it needs to be supported. The Planning Commission will support it,
said Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia who had a two-hour meeting on February 20, 2009, with top ISRO scientists and officials
of the Department of Space.

The full funding for the project is yet to be done but the work has already begun with the $19.4 million allocation by the government to ISRO in ISROs 40.7 billion rupee ($834 million) budget for 2007-2008.

To make the project a success, scientists are still working on some of the key aspects of the spacecraft, namely a man-rated launcher featuring safety and reliability enhancements, life support systems, rescue and recovery systems, a robotic manipulator, and new mission-management and control systems.

The MoU signed by G. Madhavan Nair and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Perminov also allows India to redesign the Soyuz space capsule of the Russian agency for the mission similar to the Soyuz redesigning by the Chinese to develop their spacecraft Shenzhou.

S.Satish also said the astronaut capsule would launch atop a modified version of ISROs Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 2, currently under development. The GSLV Mark 2 features an indigenously developed cryogenic upper-stage engine; the Mark 1 variant currently in use has a Russian-supplied upper stage engine.

The first test launch of the standard GSLV Mark 2 launcher is scheduled for 2009.

The success of the mission would mark another milestone for ISRO, which has been receiving support from the government despite the issues between the major parties like BJP and Congress. The mission hopes to build a strong base for further research.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## PeacefulIndian

I think we preponed it. I remember that Madhavan Nair had said that India plans to send astronaut in Space by 2020. 
Let's hope we can achieve 2015 target!!


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## Khajur

*"India would join the elite club, which presently includes China, US and Russia, that has sent a man to the moon"*

china & russia sent man to the moon,when???


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## notsuperstitious

Link pls.

there's some mistakes in the article, india is not sending astronauts to moon, only to space.

Just like Russia and China. the articles states russia / china also sent ppl to moon, they did not.

in any case, hanuz dilli dur ast.


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## Gabbar

Khajur said:


> *"India would join the elite club, which presently includes China, US and Russia, that has sent a man to the moon"*
> 
> china & russia sent man to the moon,when???



They never did, this is just poor journalism.


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## Chanakyaa

Khajur said:


> *"India would join the elite club, which presently includes China, US and Russia, that has sent a man to the moon"*
> 
> china & russia sent man to the moon,when???



It should have been "put in space" .. a goof .


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## nitesh

Discovery of New Microorganisms in the Stratosphere

Three new species of bacteria, which are not found on Earth and which are highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, have been discovered in the upper stratosphere by Indian scientists. One of the new species has been named as Janibacter hoylei, after the Distinguished Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle, the second as Bacillus isronensis recognising the contribution of ISRO in the balloon experiments which led to its discovery and the third as Bacillus aryabhata after India&#8217;s celebrated ancient astronomer Aryabhata and also the first satellite of ISRO. 

Also:

Aliens in space? ISRO discovers extraterrestrial life

Terrestrial microbes fight to survive at heights where the three species of bacteria have been discovered as ultraviolet rays kill most of them.

So are they really alien? Scientists say they could be mutant forms of earthly bacteria. Tossed into space by exploding volcanoes, they could have evolved to survive in a hostile world.


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## LCA

The Hindu : Front Page : ISRO gearing up to put Israeli satellite in orbit

* ISRO gearing up to put Israeli satellite in orbit*

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to put in orbit Israeli satellite RISAT in the first week of April.

The vehicle integration has already begun at the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The launch campaign is gathering speed. *The vehicle, PSLV-C12, will also deploy a mini-satellite called Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai.*

*RISAT is a radar-imaging satellite used for remote-sensing. It can take pictures of the earth 24 hours of the day, through rain and cloud.* The satellite has already reached Sriharikota from Israel.

Anusat, an amateur communications satellite weighing 38 kg, was integrated at the Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, of Anna University.

It is undergoing tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore. It will reach Sriharikota soon. Its integration helped the students to get a hands-on experience in understanding the complexities in building a satellite.

This is the second time that the ISRO will be putting in orbit a satellite from Israel. On January 21, 2008, a PSLV deployed in orbit Tecsar, also a radar-imaging, remote-sensing satellite. The launch was executed under a commercial contract between the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Antrix Corporation, the commercial wing of the Department of Space.
Radar images

India may use the radar images from the Israeli RISAT because the integration of Indias own RISAT had been delayed, an ISRO official said. However, another ISRO official said, We do not know the end-user. *The Indian version of RISAT will be launched later this year or next year.*

The PSLV that will put RISAT and Anusat in orbit in April from Sriharikotas second launch pad is a core-alone version  without the six strap-on booster motors that form part of the standard PSLV. The core-alone vehicle weighs 230 tonnes while a normal PSLV weighs 295 tonnes. The PSLV is 44 metres tall.


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## nitesh

http://www.ptinews.com/pti&#37;5Cptisite.nsf/0/891057F482233D216525757F0035CFA6?OpenDocument

India set to launch imaging satellite with Israeli support



Bangalore, Mar 20 (PTI) India is all set to launch a radar imaging satellite (RISAT) built with "substantial inputs" from the Israel aerospace industry from Sriharikota spaceport, an ISRO official said today. Israel has supplied Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is in fact "heart" of the 1780-kg remote sensing satellite, the official told PTI on condition of anonymity. "Israel has supplied substantial systems," the ISRO official said.

The Israeli "inputs" are seen as a "return gesture" by the Jewish State to New Delhi for launching an Israeli spacecraft Techsar on board India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota last year.

"RISAT is likely to be launched in the first half of April. We are looking at April five or six," the official said.

An active sensor, SAR operates in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum and provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness, and geometry. PTI


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## Hellfire

further the likely deployment of TES (Technology Experimental Satellite) series in variants of CARTOSAT may also subsequently take place with resolutions in same or lesser category


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## LCA

Techtree.com India > News > General > India's 1st Student-made Satellite Set for Launch

*India's 1st Student-made Satellite Set for Launch*

Techtree News Staff, Mar 23, 2009 1306 hrs IST

To take-off in April
E-Mail Print

Coming April, India's student community will get a big morale booster when the country's first student-made satellite will ride into space on the PSLV, (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) along with ISRO's (Indian Space Research Organization) Risat Satellite.


*The "Anusat" has been designed by 37 aerospace engineering students with the help of 10 teachers from the Madras Institute of Technology. ISRO, which has been promoting the development of satellites (microsatellites), is finally seeing its efforts bearing fruit with the imminent launch of the Anusat.* The idea behind the promotion was to make the students aware of the various factors involved in the design and launch of a satellite. These involved taking in to consideration the thermal management of the satellite, controls, the guidance system, power delivery, and not to mention, the communications part wherein the two-way communication between the satellite and the command centre will be managed.



The satellite will orbit the earth in a low altitude orbit between 600 and 800km. Data from the satellite will be received at the Chennai Tech University and the Pune University.


Anusat has been designed to cater the basic communication purposes. However, the main purpose behind the initiative, apart from the obvious scientific intent, was to give the students a "hands-on" experience in handling complex projects like the design, development and execution of a project of this nature. The program was initiated in 2002 and was ideated by R. Vasagam, the former vice chancellor of Anna University.


Other universities and educational institutions are already in the midst of developing micro satellites. These include the IIT Mumbaui and IIT Kanpur and not to mention, Anna University to which the Madras Institute of Technology is affiliated with.


The launch of the satellite is expected to happen on April 5 or 6.


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## LCA

Indo-French satellite to study tropical areas - The Good Earth - Earth - Health & Science - The Times of India

*Indo-French satellite to study tropical areas*

24 Mar 2009, 0121 hrs IST, TNN

BANGALORE: Megha-Tropiques, the most advanced and complex tropical weather and climate monitoring satellites, a joint project of ISRO and the
French Space agency  CNES, has been scheduled for launch around 2009-10. The satellite is in advanced stage of development.

A three-day international conference on Megha-Tropiques science and applications is underway at ISRO headquarters, being attended by about 40 scientists of international agencies from France, UK, USA, Japan and Brazil besides 180 senior scientists from Indian R&D agencies, universities, etc,. The conference is deliberating various aspects of Megha-Tropiques science and retrieval of various variables over tropical region.

Megha-Tropiques has been conceived primarily to investigate the tropical regions as they receive maximum energy from the Sun that they radiate back into space. The excess energy received in the tropical region is utilized as a thermal engine and provides circulation in the atmosphere and oceans.

This has substantial influence and is strongly linked to hydrological cycle, which immensely influences tropical convective systems. The stored energy through tropical rains is released in the form of latent heat while high humidity and thick clouds strongly affect the radiation budget. The complex processes between solar radiation, water vapour, clouds, precipitation and atmospheric motion determine the life cycle of convective systems and influence Indian monsoon in the tropical region.

Megha-Tropiques will be one of the unique satellites to be launched with multiple sensors in a single satellite and provides highly reliable parameters to understand global tropical weather and climate.

*Megha-Tropiques will carry four scientific payloads, of which Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures (MADRAS), is a five frequency nine channel passive microwave radiometer. This instrument will provide estimation of rainfall, water vapour, liquid water, ice and surface wind speed in the systems.*


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## nitesh

Terrorism to a whole new level

Madhavan Nair, Kasturirangan were on LeT hitlist

LeT targeted Madhavan, Kasturirangan



> KOZHIKODE: Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had plans to assassinate senior scientists in India, including ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair and former chairman Kasturirangan.
> 
> This was disclosed by international terrorist Sarfaraz Nawaz during the interrogation by the Karnataka police.





> Jasim also mentioned that film star Govinda was also on LeT target list.&#8217; LeT had carried out an attack at the IISc, Bangalore. Nawaz&#8217;s statement has detailed accounts of how the terrorists in Kerala operated as per instructions from their leaders in Pakistan and in the Gulf.


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## LCA

Radar imaging satellite ours, not Israel's, says ISRO Chairman

*Radar imaging satellite ours, not Israel's, says ISRO Chairman*



Bangalore, Mar 26 (PTI) The Indian Space Research Organisation today asserted that the Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), expected to be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota spaceport next month, is not an Israeli one.
Denying reports in a section of the press that RISAT is from Israel, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said it is an Indian spacecraft.

Asked if RISAT is an Israeli satellite or an Indian one, the Secretary in the Department of Space said "we don't launch any Israeli satellite. It's an Indian satellite".

On whether Israel has contributed to the satellite, Nair said "no. That many countries contribute, not only Israel. It's our satellite".

Asked if Israel supplied Synthetic Aperture Radar for the satellite, he said "those finer details...We will talk when we make the launch".

He said the exact date for the launch has not been finalised. "It could be within two weeks or so", he said, adding that preparations are in progress at the launch pad.

"May be sometime in the middle of next week, we will fix the exact date", he said. PTI

Reactions: Like Like:
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## LCA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ntire-surface-of-Moon/articleshow/4320612.cms

*Isro hopes to map entire surface of Moon*
27 Mar 2009, 0303 hrs IST, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
BANGALORE: Landing a human being on the Moon, increasing the reliability of satellite launch systems, improving communication means in space and
protecting astronauts from radiation -- these are what Madhavan Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) counts as the country's greatest challenges in the future.

Delivering the BMA-HAL J M Shrinagesh Memorial Lecture on Thursday on challenges in space research, Nair said that though launchers had a failure rate of 1%, they could not afford to have even that when it came to putting a man in space.

Terming Chandrayaan as the culmination of four decades of space research, he said that within a year, Isro hoped to complete mapping the entire surface of the Moon.

All programmes in aerospace work with a 5-10% margin, but even a single millimetre error can be fatal to a space programme. The challenge is to innovate on one side and to ensure reliability on the other.

Talking of future challenges in space research, he said that landing on the Moon would be a real challenge. "Astronauts now carry their environment with them. Creating a habitat to survive in space and evolving a protection system to protect against radiation is crucial," he said.

The man capsule is likely to carry three people. "The programme is likely to be complete by 2015, when we can put Man around the Earth. The journey to the Moon is further ahead and we would need to double the capacity of launchers. We hope to touch the Moon by 2020 and beyond," he said. Elaborating on the need for a long-term vision, he added that as per studies, for every rupee spent on research, Rs 1.5 has been returned to the country in benefits.


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## LCA

The Hindu : National : An Indian space shuttle takes shape

* An Indian space shuttle takes shape*

T.S. Subramanian

Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator to fly within a year


CHENNAI: An Indian version of the space shuttle will be test-flown from the spaceport at Sriharikota in a years time. The Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), as it is called, will be a combination rocket-aircraft: the aircraft with a winged body, which is the RLV, will sit vertically on the rocket.

The engineering model of the aircraft is ready at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. The first stage of the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3, flown in the early 1980s, will form the booster rocket. Weighing nine tonnes, it is called S-9.

After it takes off like a rocket, the booster will release the unmanned aircraft, which will go into space. At the end of the mission, the aircraft will land in the sea.

K. Radhakrishnan, Director, VSSC, said in an interview: *The next year we expect the prototype of the RLV-TD to be ready for flight-testing. This will be a milestone for ISRO. The RLV will open a new dimension in the launch vehicle technology and transportation system of ISRO.
*
According to Dr. Radhakrishnan, ground testing of the booster rocket was done at Sriharikota in December 2008.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), VSSC, explained how the rocket-aircraft would look: *The aircraft will stand over the rocket, nose-tip up, and its tail will be interfaced with the rocket. In other words, the entire RLV will stand vertically on top of the booster.* The engineering model of the prototype RLV was ready at the VSSC. It will undergo various structural and load tests, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

The booster rocket will take the RLV to a specific altitude, release the RLV and fall into the sea. On re-entry into the earths atmosphere, the RLV will land in the sea, to be recovered.

Re-entry, descent and recovery are the three issues which we are trying to understand, Mr. Ramakrishnan said. But in the first trial-flight in 2010, the RLV will not be recovered from sea because it will not be cost-effective to do so. But we will get the data on the re-entry, deceleration and return from the telemetry.

There were several issues that the ISRO was trying to understand in the mission, Dr. Radhakrishnan said. These included the aerodynamics of the RLV, compared to the rocket, and the controllability of the vehicle. The control system must be fast-acting. That is the basic challenge. The digital auto-pilot is important for the ascent phase and the descent phase.

The third important challenge was the heat generated when the RLV re-entered the atmosphere. Dr. Radhakrishnan said: You need to have hot structures [which can withstand the re-entry heat] Today, we have a handle on the materials.

The ISRO had a long way to go before it could build an operational RLV, he said. This is the first TD towards that.


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## LCA

India plans to test space shuttle in next 12 months - Telegraph

*India plans to test space shuttle in next 12 months*

India has developed a space shuttle and plans to launch a prototype into the Earth's orbit in the next 12 months, officials said on Thursday.


By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Last Updated: 6:36PM BST 02 Apr 2009

The disclosure marks yet another giant leap for India's space programme following last year's successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan 1, and a significant step towards India becoming a major player in space transportation.

It hopes the shuttle will enable India to offer cut-price satellite launches and become a dominant player in the industry. Last night officials said if successful the shuttle may, in time, be used for other transport uses, but its main purpose now is to "reduce the cost of access to space."

Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully tested the booster rocket which will fire the shuttle into space in December last year.

The Indian shuttle, currently known by its technical name, Reusable Launch Vehicle  Technology Demonstrator  will now undergo a number of structure and load tests before it takes its first test flight early next year.

It bears a strong resemblance to the American Challenger shuttle, with a tube-shaped body and triangular wings, and sits vertically, nose up, on top of its launch rocket.

ISRO spokesman Mr S. Satish on Thursday night said that, if successful, the demonstrator would "prove the technology for the development of a space shuttle," but it would be a further four or five years before the country would be ready for a commercial launch.

Next year's test flight, which will be unmanned and remote-controlled, will take off from a test site in southern India, blasting beyond the Earth's atmosphere into space before it re-enters and lands in the Indian Ocean.

The flight will test the aerodynamics of the shuttle, the remote control system and its ability to withstand the heat generated when it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere.

*"The cost of access to space has to be reduced, and this [test-flight] will prove India can build a space shuttle within four or five years,"* said Mr Satish.


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## LCA

The Hindu : Front Page : Launch of RISAT rescheduled

* Launch of RISAT rescheduled
*
T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: The launch of Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) by the Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) from Sriharikota has been rescheduled to take place in the third or fourth week of April. The PSLV C-12 was to originally put it in orbit in the first week of April.

The launch has been postponed because of the under-estimation of the time-schedule to build the rocket, informed sources in the ISRO said. The RISAT, from Israel, is a remote-sensing satellite that can take pictures of the earth, day and night.

The PSLV C-12 will also put in orbit Anusat from Anna University, Chennai. Anusat, weighing about 38 kg, will be used for amateur communication. It is the first satellite to be built by a university in India.


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## LCA

The Hindu Business Line : Coming soon: ISRO&#8217;s &#8216;see-all&#8217; radar imaging satellite

* Coming soon: ISROs see-all radar imaging satellite*

EYE IN THE SKY.

RISAT-2 will be fully indigenous and development work is in progress

Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, April 5 At a time when the country grapples with terror threats and security concerns have peaked, a radar imaging satellite that is due to be put in orbit later in April is expected to give extra teeth to the nations eyes and ears in the sky  ISROs constellation of earth observation satellites.

ISRO also plans to send up a second one, Radar Imaging Satellite-2, towards the end of this year to complement the upcoming RISAT-1.

At a time when the Ministry for Home Affairs has put even the space agencys scientists on terror alert, the project is sensitive to a normally open ISRO, which is playing down the project and its Israeli input. RISAT-1 (Radar Imaging Satellite) is an all-weather satellite, capable of seeing through rain and cloud; and at night too, is all its officials would say. It will orbit pole to pole from a height of around 600 km.

*The brain of the 1,780-kg RISAT-1 is a C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) based on active phased array technology.* ISRO has procured the SAR for RISAT-1 from Israel. Except for the SAR that we procured, it is our satellite, an official unwilling to be named said, meaning to distinguish it from the TecSAR/Polaris surveillance satellite that the space agency launched for Israel in January 2008.

Corresponding developments on the ground data processing systems with large computational requirements is yet another requirement, ISROs Web site says.
RISAT-2

However, RISAT-2 will be fully indigenous and development work is in progress at the Space Applications Centre, the official said. The US, Europe, Canada and Israel are among the few countries that have the SAR capability. The recent lunar mission  Chandrayaan-1  uses NASAs mini-SAR as a guest instrument.

Who will be the primary user of RISAT? How useful will it be to secure vital scientific and commercial establishments that face risk? Will data from RISAT be commercially available, just as data from IRS are? Answers to these will have to wait for now.

A SAR system sees opaque objects that take cover under darkness, foliage, haze or clouds. These features, ISRO officials admit, are warranted by Indias risk-ridden location; they were lacking in the IRS remote sensing satellites that have been launched in the last two decades. Ninety five per cent of our data requirement can be met by (the regular) optical imaging satellites. When we needed radar images, we have obtained them from other satellites like Canadas Radarsat, one official said.

A RISAT brings other advantages, such as timely information during floods, natural calamities and quicker assessment of damage and deployment of relief to those areas. A radar imaging spacecraft is estimated to cost much more than the Rs 150 crore that a regular IRS costs.
Features

About RISAT, the ISRO Web site says the radar provides target parameters such as roughness and geometry and has the unique capability for *day-night imaging, in fog, haze or any weather conditions. **It can glean soil moisture data and give spatial resolutions of 3 metres to 50 metres and a sweep of 10-240 km.*

According to information available online, regular earth observation satellites sense reflected sunlight; a SAR transmits microwave energy towards the surface and records the reflections. It can also offer fairly clear terrain features, identify selected man-made targets and movements and can be handy for 24x7 military requirements.

*Some SAR systems are built to see select underground utility lines, arms caches, bunkers, mines, oil slicks and moving vehicles, says the Web site of US SAR leader Sandia National Laboratories.*


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## LCA

Latest Images from Chandrayaan-1



ISRO and NASA have recently released some of the latest images taken by the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Above, Chandrayaan-1 looks back at Earth, and fittingly, India is at the center of the image. And heres a link to another similar image, taken about an hour earlier. Below, are images taken by the Mini-SAR, the imaging radar instrument that NASA has tagging along on the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter. The new radar images are not only visually arresting, but they will be extremely useful in unraveling the complex geological history of the Moon as a whole, said Dr. Paul Spudis, principal investigator for Mini-SAR. We are hard at work finishing the calibration of our instrument, which is required in order to make definite statements about the nature of the radar backscatter signature, the tell-tale sign of the presence or absence of water ice.







As you can see, the Mini-SAR gathers data in strips as it orbits the Moon, which are later assembled to create larger images. This composite shows Rozhdestvensky K, a moderately sized (42-kilometer [26-mile] diameter) impact crater on the southern rim of the larger crater Rozhdestvensky, near the moons north pole. These Mini-SAR images show massive slumping, as result of wall collapse caused by gravity. NASA says these images demonstrate that Mini-SAR images will be of great value in deciphering the geological evolution of the moon.






Heres a very young, fresh impact crater (3 kilometers [nearly 2 miles] in diameter) on the western limb of the moon near the crater Sylvester, taken by the Mini-SAR instrument aboard Indias Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. Fresh features on the moon display radar bright (i.e., high backscatter) material around them. This is caused by the presence of very fresh ejecta, which includes many angular blocks and rough material. These deposits are the cause of high radar backscatter.






Coverage maps of the Mini-SAR experiment aboard Indias Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter as of mid-March 2009. Mini-SAR has mapped about 80% of both of the moons poles. The polar excluded zone is a consequence of the side-looking nature of the instrument; these zones will be filled by both scatterometry (in which the instrument views the moon straight downward at low resolution) and high-angle SAR, in which operators roll the spacecraft 9 to 12 degrees to look at areas closer to the ground track.


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## Screaming Skull

*India-to-launch-spy-satellite-on-April-20*

BANGALORE: India will launch a spy satellite from Sriharikota spaceport on April 20 primarily to keep an eye on its borders round-the-clock and help 
the government in anti-infiltration and anti-terrorist operations. 

The 300-kg radar-imaging satellite has been built by Israel and is set to blast-off on board India's home-grown rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). 

This remote-sensing advanced imaging satellite, to be positioned 550 km above the earth, has all-weather capabilities. 

It carries Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, which can take images during day, night and all weather conditions including under cloud cover, a capability that Indian satellites do not have. 

Given the sensitiveness of the venture, the Indian Space Research Organisation is tight-lipped over the mission, not giving out many details. 

A senior ISRO official, who spoke to PTI on condition of anonymity, said that the significance of the satellite is its all-weather capability. 

"It will be primarily used for defence and surveillance. The satellite also has good application in the area of disaster management and in managing cyclones, floods and agriculture-related activities," he said. 

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO launched Tecsar surveillance satellite of Israel Aerospace Industries from Sriharikota in January last year. 

"When we launched the Israeli (Tecsar) satellite, we found that it's a good satellite. Then we asked them to build one for us. It can penetrate through the clouds and take pictures even at night," the official said. 

Anusat, built by Chennai-based Anna University, would be the co-passenger on board PSLV-C12, which is expected to take off between 6 am and 6.30 am on April 20, officials tracking the preparations said. 

India to launch spy satellite on April 20 - India - The Times of India


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## zombie:-)

finally the third eye is coming ..that sees all cool ....this is different from the satellite dedicated to IAF right


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## Screaming Skull

*First Image of RISAT-2 to be launched on April-20 2009.​*
​

*Design verification model of Synthetic Aperture Radar for RISAT-1 undergoing near-field test​*
​


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## Screaming Skull

zombie:-) said:


> finally the third eye is coming ..that sees all cool ....this is different from the satellite dedicated to IAF right



Yes this is different from the one dedicated to IAF. The one dedicated to IAF will be launched by IAF itself. I mean the ACM or someone will press the button in the presence of a whole lot of IAF personnel.


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## Screaming Skull

The Indian RISAT-2 looks mighty similar to Israel's TecSAR. There are rumors that the Indian RISAT-2 is an off the shelf Israeli TecSAR. Though ISRO is tight lipped about the specs of RISAT-2, if the rumors are true then RISAT-2 is going to be one hell of a killer of a spy sat. 
 ---*(Purely my opinions. I may be wrong though!)*

Here are the specs of the Israeli TecSAR.

*TecSAR*

The Mini class, low earth orbit TecSAR, is offered as an off-the-shelf product by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and ranks among the world's most advanced space systems.

Its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) uses a large dish-like antenna to transmit and receive radar signals that can penetrate darkness and thick clouds providing images with 1m resolution.

The Multi mode SAR is capable of high resolution imaging of Spot (1m), Strip (3m), Mosaic(1.8m) and Wide coverage (8m).

The highly agile bus design in combination with the body-pointing parabolic antenna dish system permits greatly increased viewing capabilities from the spacecraft. The spacecraft/antenna system may be dynamically redirected into any direction of the flight path (i.e. in the cross-track as well as in the along-track direction). Thus, a wide FOR (Field of Regard) within the incidence-angle range may be obtained on either side of the ground track for event monitoring coverage.

*Strip mode:* the synthetic apertures are targeted on wide geographical swaths. The spacecraft performs synchronous imaging and does not change its orientation during observations except for some small maneuver due to the need to keep the imaging strip parallel to the ground track. Squinted strip imaging is possible. 

*Wide coverage ScanSAR:* The coverage of large strips is achieved by electronic beam steering. Three beams are used in the nominal wide coverage mode which create three footprints (subswaths) in the target area. The ground resolution in this mode is decreasing since the integration time is split up among the subswaths. The swath width can be increased by using more antenna beams. In principle the swath width may get to more than 100 km for some incidence angles. However, this reduces the ground resolution to about 20 m.

*Spotlight mode:* This focuses on a specific, pre-assigned target. In spotlight, the spacecraft performs mechanical steering to halt the antenna footprint in a specific target area. The longer integration time over the spot target area yields an improved azimuth resolution. The range resolution is achieved in adjusting the bandwidth to the incidence angle. The TecSAR ability for spotlight imaging in squint allows for multi-look imaging without any loss in resolution. To obtain a multi-look image of a given target area, a number of spotlight images are being observed, each at a different squint angle. 

*Mosaic mode:* The radar imager slews its focus on a number of spots in the same general target area. The mosaic mode enables to extend the limited coverage of the spot mode by using the electronic steering capability of XSAR. In mosaic mode the radar beam scans in the range direction while the mechanical maneuvering advances the strip line in the azimuth direction. Hence, this mode may also be interpreted as the spot version of ScanSAR.



*Artist's rendition of the TecSAR spacecraft in Earth orbit. Photo Credit: IAI*



*Illustration of the TecSAR spacecraft. Photo Credit: IAI Systems Ltd.*



*Multi modes of SAR. Photo Credit: ELTA Systems Ltd.*



*Illustration of the wide coverage mode. Photo Credit: ELTA Systems Ltd.*



*Illustration of the mechanical and electrical beam steering in the mosaic mode. Photo Credit: ELTA Systems Ltd.*


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## Screaming Skull

*Isro to launch high-end satellite on Monday​*
17 Apr 2009,

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will on Monday put in orbit its first radar imaging satellite (Risat), which can watch'
the earth under all-weather conditions, day and night.

Isro's workhorse PSLV (C-12) will take off at 6.45am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, an island by the sea 100km north of Chennai. About 17 minutes later, the 300-kg Risat will be put in an orbit 550km from the earth. Riding piggyback on Risat will be a microsatellite called Anusat, developed by Anna University, Chennai.

"The countdown will start 48 hours before take-off (Saturday morning). As of now, everything is going on fine. Risat, which can penetrate clouds and observe earth under all climatic conditions, will be extremely useful in disaster management," Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI. Unlike Isro's previous remote sensing satellites that used optical imaging, Risat uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that has several antennas to receive signals that will be processed into high-resolution pictures.

While its applications in mapping and managing natural disasters such as floods and landslides are spoken about, Risat will come in handy for defence applications as well. Isro had started work on a 1,780-kg Risat, but shelved its launch to advance the launch of the present 300-kg variant. Defence sources confide that the lighter Risat version was assembled on a war footing in the wake of terrorist attacks. "Risat has been put together with inputs from the Israeli Space Agency (ISA), but the satellite images will be used solely for Indian purposes," Satish said.

Also in the PSLV-C12 payload will be Anusat, the first satellite to be assembled by an Indian university. "Scores of students and faculty members from different streams have been working on Anusat for six years," said Anusat project director P V Ramakrishna. Anusat will be a store-and-forward communication satellite that will enable transfer of confidential academic material like exam question papers, to get rid of leakages (Brilliant).

PSLV-C11 had, on October 22, 2008, carried the lunar probe as part of Chandrayaan-I. Ever since it launched the first satellite Aryabhatta on April 1, 1975, Isro has launched more than a dozen satellites, including the INSAT (Indian National Satellites) series for communication, broadcasting and meteorology and IRS (Indian Remote Sensing Satellites) for resources monitoring and management.


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## indiatech

PSLV C-12 , RISAT, ANUSAT pics from ISRO

Nozzle end segment of first stage being moved to VAB 


Interstage 1-2 being unload-stacked 1st stage at background 


Fully Stacked PSLV-C12 ready to move from VAB 


PSLV exiting from Vehicle Assembly Building 


On its way to Launchpad 


PSLV - C12 On Launchpad 


4th stage after stacking 


ANUSAT


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## indiatech

RISAT & PSLV-C12 Brouchure

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c12/C12RISATBrochure-2.pdf


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## indiatech

ISRO launches spy satellite RISAT-2-News-Videos-The Times of India


Spy satellite RISAT takes off from Sriharikota
20 Apr 2009, 0740 hrs IST, PTI 


SRIHARIKOTA, AP: Aiming to bolster India's defence surveillance capabilities, ISRO on Monday successfully launched its first all-weather spy 
satellite that will help security agencies keep a watch on the movements on the borders, from its spaceport here. ( Watch ) 

The PSLV-C12, carrying 300-kg Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) and 40-kg micro educational satellite ANUSAT lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan space Centre here at 6:45am and placed into 550 km orbit around earth. 

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky from the spaceport here, about 90 km north of Chennai. 

At the end of the 48-hour countdown, the 44-meter tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage. 

RISAT has all-weather capability to take images of the Earth and would also be beneficial in mapping and managing natural disasters, such as floods and landslides, besides amplifying defence surveillance capabilities of the nation. It would also help keep track of ships at seat that could pose a threat. 

As per specifications, RISAT is different from previous remote sensing satellites as it uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), equipped with many antennas to receive signals that are processed into high-resolution pictures. 

The SAR, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, gives RISAT defence capabilities. 

ANUSAT is the first satellite developed by an Indian university (Anna University), which would demonstrate the technologies related to message storing and forward operations. 

University sources said scores of students and faculty from different streams had worked on this satellite for the last six years. 

ANUSAT is a store-and-forward communication satellite that will help transfer confidential academic materials, including exam question papers, to prevent question paper leakages. It will also help monitor drought and wasteland, urban planning and other studies. 

This is the 15th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 30 satellites (14 for India and 16 for foreign countries) into a variety of orbits since 1993


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## Screaming Skull

*Human in orbit in 7 yrs, Chandrayaan II launch 2011-12: ISRO​*
April 20, 2009,

Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) is planning to send two humans to orbit in the next seven years. ISRO has submitted a Rs 12,400 crore ($ 2.5 billion) project report to the government for its approval. Meanwhile, 2009 is going to be the year of &#8220;fireworks&#8221; for ISRO, which scheduled four more launches in 2009 and Chandrayaan II launch in 2011-12.

G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO said that government has approved pre project report Rs 90 crore for Human Space Mission. Now, a detail project report was submitted to the government for approval. *He noted, the planning commission already approved the Rs 12,400 crore ($ 2.5 billion) mission.*

The money will be spent for training Astronauts, setting up a launch pad, handling the crew, mission control system, technologies and hardware.

&#8220;We will be sending two humans for the orbit, 270 kms away from the Earth, in seven years&#8221;.

He also said 2009 is going to be the year of fireworks for ISRO and it would continue. "We will be launching Oceansat II, Gsat IV and Resourcesat and others. Indigenously developed cryogenic engine will be inducted this year." ISRO has scheduled four launches starting from June this year.

While giving update on Chandrayaan, which was launched end of 2008, he said it is doing well and sending pictures for the past six months. &#8220;Chandrayaan II launch plan is going on in full swing and it will be a soft launch,&#8221; said Nair.

The rocket will carry one or two small vehicles and will land it in the moon. These machines will do analysis of the samples and will send back the data. Currently Chandrayaan sends only picture but doesn&#8217;t do any analyse on the resources.

Chandrayaan II will be launched in 2011 end or 2012 beginning with Russian collobration, said Nair.


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## godsavetheworld

^^ THATS AWESOME!!!! "ISRO" has finally made itself the new "cool word" in India. They are actually earning $2.5 billion a year, through multiple ventures. Thats enormous money.


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## startrex

My first post here .
I went across this specific thread regarding why India is spending billions in space exploration when there is rampant poverty me having been a part of this programme felt compelled to join this forum just to respond. The answer is simple ....To solve it .

People many of them Indians are still unaware as to what exactly ISRO does and how it affects the life of every common Indian right from the poverty affected ones to the emerging industrialists.

Education first : Every country has the right to make its citizens literate and India uses space for it .
India is the country perhaps the only country in the world that has launched a satellite solely for education it is called Edusat and it connects all low funded universities to the top ones so that they can have integrated classes as well as seminars . Me being a student gets personally benefited every day.

For farmers there is a technologically sound water resources management and locust warning system that predicts sudden change of flow of rivers , locusts, wind pattern etc the Indian agriculture depends a lot on monsoons and there is also an India specific three dimensional wind pattern and weather prediction system that is many a farmers lifeline. The Floods in many parts of the country do not make it tho the news papers because the sats pick it up give early warning to the rescue teams

Health : This is perhaps the most important of ISROs activities called the tele medicine project it gives Live video conferencing sessions to poor patients from across the country with doctors who perhaps are the best in the world in their respective fields . Surgeries are planned small treatments are advised to nearby doctors { who refer the cases in the first place } and this has had a considerable impact on national health 

Now the moon and strategic stuff : Let me assure you the moon mission was as cheap as any other mission the agency did . With the growing economy the moon mission cost was pocket change and strategic issues are funded only along millitary budget lines nothing more it is normal everywhere.

And one thing that many users dont know is that ISRO is not an agency that uses money but makes it . The satellite market worldwide is worth 10 billion and this year we launched close to ten foreign satellites and that means a lot of money .

So the person who was so keen to know why a developing country like India is investing on space{and allegedly not on food } please feel free to clarify any doubts


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## Screaming Skull

*A brilliant spectacle in eastern horizon ​*
CHENNAI: It was brilliant spectacle in the eastern horizon as the PSLV-C12 rose from the spaceport at Sriharikota at the appointed time of 6.45 a.m. on Monday. As the four-stage rocket sped up in a straight path with the early morning sun behind it, a fabulous-looking shadow of the rocket&#8217;s smoke trail painted itself in the sky. 

It was a wonderful sight again, in the backdrop of a clear sky, to see the vehicle&#8217;s first stage discard itself and the rocket majestically continuing its journey into space. 



*PROUD MOMENT: VSSC Director K. Radhakrishnan; ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair; Director of ISRO Satellite Centre T.K.Alex; and Vice Chancellor of Anna University P. Mannar Jawahar display models of PSLV-C12, RISAT-2 and Anusat at Sriharikota on Monday.* 


At the end of about 18 minutes of flight, the fourth stage injected RISAT-2 at a velocity of 26,000 km an hour into orbit at an altitude of 550 km. About a minute later, the 38-kg Anusat was in orbit. 

*This was the 14th successful flight in a row for the PSLV.* 

ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair called it a *&#8220;precise&#8221; mission with &#8220;no deviation whatsoever in the flight parameters.&#8221; He described the launch as &#8220;more thrilling than a cricket match&#8221; because during the countdown, &#8220;we put up boundaries and [delivered] googlies and finally achieved it.&#8221; * 

He was referring to a &#8220;drama&#8221; on Sunday afternoon when an umbilical cord detached itself from the rocket and fell on the connectors, disrupting the filling of the fuel in the rocket. Six hours of the 48-hour countdown were lost. 

&#8220;In that condition, we could not have run the launch,&#8221; he said. However, the ISRO&#8217;s crisis managers rose to the occasion and &#8220;without even having a cup of tea, made everything all right, and the result is we have gone on the dot,&#8221;  he said at a press conference after the launch of the satellites.

Mr. Nair said it would be &#8220;a season of fireworks&#8221; this year at Sriharikota with a series of &#8220;major missions&#8221; lined up by the ISRO. By June end, a PSLV will put in orbit ISRO&#8217;s Oceansat-2. Another PSLV will deploy in orbit Resourcesat-2. A Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, with an indigenous cryogenic stage, would also lift off from Sriharikota. *The indigenous Radar Imaging Satellite RISAT-1 too may go up by this year-end.* 

Asked at what cost the RISAT-2 was bought from Israel, Mr. Nair said, &#8220;We had cooperation with the Israel Aerospace Industries&#8221; in building the RISAT-2. He, however, declined to reveal its commercial aspects. 

The RISAT-2 had a micro-wave radar imaging configuration. Till now, the ISRO&#8217;s earth observation satellites operated in the visible and infra-red region. For the first time, the ISRO would have a satellite operating in the micro-wave band. It could precisely take images of objects on the ground. It would be an asset to the country, he asserted. *Only Japan, the European Space Agency, Canada and Israel could build radar imaging satellites.*

R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, said a radar imaging satellite in the micro-wave region operating in the X or C or L band facilitated better disaster management, as it had enhanced capability to discriminate ground features and had higher frequency of visits.

A lot of data could be stored in Anusat built by Anna University, its Vice-Chancellor Dr. P. Mannar Jawahar said. 

It had the capability to relay messages from one station to another in digital format, said Mr. Nair. 

While George Koshy was the Mission Director of the PSLV-12, C. Venugopal was the Vehicle Director. R.N. Tyagi was the Satellite Director for the RISAT-2 and K.S.V. Seshadri the Project Director of Anusat. 

*Manned missions *

About the ISRO&#8217;s plans to send an Indian into space, K. Radhakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the mission had four major elements: setting up facilities to train astronauts, building a new launch pad at Sriharikota and establishing facilities to enable the crew to get into the vehicle and a mission control centre to communicate with the astronauts all through the mission. 

A GSLV would put the module carrying two Indian astronauts into space. They would stay in space for seven days. The module would orbit at an altitude of 400 km to 700 km. 

Dr. Radhakrishnan said, &#8220;We need to develop crew modules. We need to have developmental flights. We need to test the vehicle without humans first. All these require the development of critical technologies.&#8221; 

Another important issue related to re-entry technology. The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) in January 2007 was a major input for this technology. The ISRO aimed to put Indian astronauts in space in seven years from now. The project would cost Rs.12, 400 crores.

Chandrayaan-1 completed six months in orbit on Sunday, said S.K. Shivakumar, Director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore. The spacecraft was doing well. &#8220;We are doing manoeuvres with it every month,&#8221; he added.

N. Narayana Moorthy, Project Director, GSLV Mark III, said the ground testing of the new vehicle&#8217;s major propulsion systems would be done at Sriharikota in August. &#8220;All facilities are ready. The hardware is ready.&#8221; 

The first cryogenic engine for the vehicle would be ready for testing by this year-end. The GSLV Mark III would lift off in 2011.


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## rubyjackass

> Asked whether the RISAT-2&#8217;s synthetic aperture radar operating in the X-band meant that it would be used for defence applications, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said, &#8220;There is nothing like a spy satellite in our agenda. We have only earth observation, communication and scientific satellites.&#8221;



Src: The HINDU


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## LCA

rubyjackass said:


> Src: The HINDU



Publicly they may say that they are using this satellite for only civil work but we all know that this sat. have dual use capability,so it will be meaning less to think that india will not be use this sat. for military purpose.


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## sob

India to Have it's own Liquid Telescope

Next year, the town in Uttarakhand will host a unique telescope, only among a handful of its kind in the world, that uses a big, spinning bowl of liquidand not the usual glass mirrorsto focus light from celestial objects.
The telescope, with its 4m wide dish, will cost only one-hundredth of its equivalent-sized glass-mirrored counterpart, and is much easier to maintain, say scientists associated with the project, making it a potential candidate for futuristic space and lunar observatories.
he International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT), as it is called, is part of an agreement between the University of Belgium and the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous organization funded by the Centres department of science and technology.
We will not be really involved in the construction and such, said Ram Sagar, director of ARIES, We will be handling the operations and maintenance part of it.
Sagar said the telescope would not cost more than Rs1.5 crore. The glass mirror equivalent would be anywhere near Rs150 crore, he added.
Like in a camera, the primary dish in a telescope collects light from a source and focuses it to a point. From here, a complex arrangement of lenses magnifies the image for the human eye.
The bigger the primary mirror, greater the chances of catching light, and therefore, seeing a distant, elusive celestial body. However, such mirrors are extremely expensive to make. Polishing their surfaces and chiselling them to a parabola (the most effective geometric shape for focusing light) are what adds to the cost.
In ILMT, mercury is filled in a parabolic dish, which is rotated at a constant speed.
That a liquid spun in a container naturally acquires a parabolic shape has been known to physicists since centuries.
But Isaac Newton, who is credited with the design of the modern reflector telescope, and knew this property of liquids, didnt have electric motors and charge-coupled devices (CCD), for making such a telescope.
An electric motor turns the dish in ILMT and a CCDlike in digital camerasallows you to take pictures without a photographic film.
Sagar said that mercury is the most popularly used liquid for such mirrors. Its a highly reflective liquid, can peer as far into the sky as its mirror-equivalent and the images are as clear, he added.
However, because the mercury can spill, the telescope can only look straight up and cannot be rotated like the mirror telescopes.
So, you may have to have a series of these telescopes to increase the collection area. You can have 20-30 such telescopes instead of the rotating ones, said Sagar.
Ravi Subramanhyan, director at the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore founded by late Nobel laureate C.V. Raman, said that such a telescope would be a boost to Indian astronomy. This, and another 3.6m dish telescope being built in the same spot, would be among the largest optical telescopes in India. That would draw more collaborative efforts among scientists in India, as well as abroad, he said.
India and Belgium are collaborating on a 3.6m dish telescope, which promises to be the biggest optical telescope in India. Since we were anyway building this telescope, the Belgian scientists requested that we host the liquid mirror one, too, said Sagar, so thats how this telescope is being built here.

India to have its own liquid telescope - Technology - livemint.com

Another Giant step in Indian Space Research. Kudos to our scientists


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## Screaming Skull

*Radar reconnaissance capability of RISAT-2 comparable to USAF's latest U-2 spy plane: Lockheed Martin​*
On Monday, the trusty Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carried into orbit what is widely perceived as an Israeli-built radar satellite intended for Indias defence and security services. Earth-viewing satellites built and launched hitherto by India have depended on picking up light coming from the ground below. These satellites cannot work at night or when clouds block visibility. Putting a radar on a satellite overcomes these problems and enables it to capture images irrespective of weather and lighting conditions. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has for some years been developing its own radar satellite, RISAT-1 (an acronym for Radar Imaging Satellite), which may be ready to take to the sky by the end of 2009. Meanwhile, the RISAT-2 satellite, which has just been launched, was realised in association with Israel Aerospace Industries, according to an ISRO press release. (But RISAT-2, in contrast to RISAT-1, does not figure in the Annual Report or the Outcome Budget presented by the Department of Space to Parliament last year.) In January 2008, the PSLV launched Israels TECSAR radar spy satellite. A drawing of RISAT-2 released by ISRO shows the satellite to be strikingly similar to that of TECSAR, and their weights and orbits also match. RISAT-2 is said to have a resolution that varies from one to 10 metres, depending on the mode in which it operates. With a higher resolution than that of RISAT-1 or Canadas RADARSAT-2, the satellite just launched will be able to detect far smaller objects. The Indian space agencys press release claims that RISAT-2 will enhance ISROs capability for earth observation, especially during floods, cyclones, and landslides, and aid in the management of disasters. *On the other hand, the space website Spaceflight Now, quoting officials of the U.S. aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin, observed that RISAT-2 will give India a radar reconnaissance capability comparable to that on the latest U-2 spy plane operated by the U.S. Air Force.*

Indias first university-built satellite, ANUSAT, travelled as a co-passenger on the latest PSLV launch. The 38-kg micro satellite designed by the Anna University in Chennai will be capable of storing and forwarding messages as it orbits the earth. IIT Kanpur is planning another small satellite and IIT Mumbai too is believed to be considering one. Such satellites provide an opportunity to test advanced technologies inexpensively and is also seen as a way to get a younger generation interested in spaceflight. For ISRO, the PSLV has registered its 14th consecutive success. A key challenge coming up this year is the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle equipped for the first time with an indigenous cryogenic engine and stage.


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## Screaming Skull

*It's strike II for Chandrayaan; American Association of Science and NASA appreciative of findings​*
BANGALORE: Indias Moon mission  Chandrayaan-1  is certainly making strides in the time it has been around the Moon. After revealing traces of iron deposits and formation of craters recently, it is now throwing up pin-point evidence on the evolution of the Moon.

Forty years after the American Apollo Mission, Chandrayaan-1 has revealed direct evidence on the formation of crusts/highlands on the Moon.

*No less than the American Association of Science and Nasa investigators acknowledge this contribution of the Indian mission. Nearly 40 years after Apollo, no one had directly and unequivocally confirmed the true nature of the lunar highlands. Researchers from the Chandrayaan-1 mission have reported that they now have the final, direct proof, the association has said in a recent publication in the journal Science.*

The Indian mission through the Moon mineralogy mapper has offered proof that the Moons highlands were formed by the eruption of a hot liquid inside the Moons surface popularly known as magma. While it has been held that only the lowlands were formed by the magma , this new evidence suggests even the highlands were formed by a similar process.

The hot liquid, magma, seems to have flowed on to the surface and taken the form of lava. The rocky remains that floated to the top appear to have transformed into the Moons highlands or mountains, an Isro scientist explained.

This lunar magma ocean hypothesis , as it is popularly known, gained support from Apollo, groundbased, and orbital observations to become the paradigm for how planetary bodies got their first, or primary, crust. *Experts from Brown University , USA, have said new images show the lunar surface in very fine detail. The images are so clear that even the colours of the surface can be seen separately to indicate the formation of the highlands or the crust.*

Investigators behind Nasas Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument flying onboard Indias Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft report that the entire Inner Rook Mountains is of this character. It validates the magma ocean. The huge impact that formed the great Mare Orientale basin threw up those mountains, investigators say.

*MISSION possible*

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys imager on Japans Kaguya spacecraft is reporting similar findings in 70 impact craters around the Moon Corroboration from other space agencies is not a must Yet, anything that indicates similar results enhances faith in Chandrayaan-1. 

It's strike II for Chandrayaan- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## Screaming Skull

Here is the Science article mentioned in the above report:

http://m3.jpl.nasa.gov/Science_April-10-09.pdf


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## Screaming Skull

*RISAT specs from National Remote Sensing Centre: ISRO*

Welcome to NRSC


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO to send bacteria cells into space​*
Saturday, May 02, 2009

Bangalore: In its first set of biological experiments, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will send bacteria cells into space &#8212; and bring them back &#8212; in the second Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2) scheduled for launch this year-end. 

Two life science experiments, using E.coli and photosynthetic bacteria, will help us understand cell division, genomics (genetic changes) and proteomics (changes in proteins) in microgravity conditions, said Kamanio Chattopadhyay, national coordinator of the Indian Microgravity Programme, who is coordinating scientific experiments for the mission.

In the first experiment, an E.coli cell would be grown in a bio-reactor and brought back to the earth to carry out genomic studies. 

&#8220;When the experiment is recovered, we will explore why microgravity alters the growth of cells.&#8221; The experiment could be seen as a prelude to ISRO&#8217;s manned space mission slated for 2015, he said. 

&#8220;We know that astronauts experience physiological changes when they go into space, the most common being bone loss. NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration] has done experiments to prove that microgravity impacts genes. We need to understand this phenomenon better.&#8221; 

The payload would be developed in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

In the other experiment, photosynthetic bacteria would be cultured to study the effect of microgravity on photosynthesis. Much like plants, cynobacteria carry out photosynthesis. This experiment would be developed jointly by CCMB, ISRO and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The effect of space radiation and microgravity on seeds &#8212; of rice and medicinal plants &#8212; would be the subject of a third experiment developed by the Pune and Kerala universities. Using a dosimeter, the experiment would measure levels of radiation exposure on the seeds. 

The satellite would also have a materials science experiment onboard to study the role of gravity on melting and sintering of metal powder. Developed by the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, this payload would use a model copper-tin alloy as the subject.

​
*Coast Guard men recover the Indian Space Research Organisation's 550-kg recoverable space capsule SRE-1 that splashed down in the Bay of Bengal near Chennai in January 2007 after 12 days in space.*


The experiments would remain in orbit for 10 days, said Dr. Chattopadhyay. *&#8220;While SRE-1 [launched in 2007] proved we had mastered technology for safe vehicle re-entry, SRE-2 will focus on life science experiments in microgravity.&#8221;* SRE-1 was launched on January 10, 2007 and it successfully re-entered the earth&#8217;s atmosphere 12 days later.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/02/stories/2009050256751800.htm


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## Screaming Skull

*Model of space crew module ready​*
Saturday, May 02, 2009

​
*Ergonomic model of the module.​*
CHENNAI: Indias manned mission to space has taken a small step forward with the fabrication of the ergonomic model of the crew module that will take two Indian astronauts into space in seven years from now. 

This model has already arrived at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, from Bangalore. It has panels for the astronauts to operate and train. A metal model was earlier fabricated. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) calls its manned mission Indian Human Space Flight Programme. 

In a recent interview, VSSC Director K. Radhakrishnan said the missions objective was to send a two-member crew into space in low-earth orbit at an altitude of 275 km to 400 km, orbit them for about seven days and bring them back safely to earth. It would be a sea-landing, either in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. The module with the crew will be recovered from sea.

The complex mission called for fabrication of several components: a crew module with enough space for three astronauts; environment control and life-support systems for the astronauts; flight suits; and a highly reliable vehicle. 


​
The ISROs Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) would be used in the initial flights to carry the crew into space. The vehicle had to be improved with high reliability to be called a human rated vehicle  to put humans into space. In the initial missions, GSLV-Mark II would be used to carry two astronauts.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said: Later, when the GSLV-Mark III is ready, we should be able to take at least three members. The crew module is designed in such a way that three persons can be accommodated. However, initially, we will put two in space. Here, the improvement and reliability of the vehicle is important. 

A new element is that the crew module will have a crew escape system (CES). If a mishap were to be expected in any phase of the mission, either in the launch pad, initial phase of the flight or towards the orbit, the CES would be able to detach the crew from the rocket. The CES will have the ability to sense the mishap a few seconds in advance and get the crew out fast, he explained.

*Control centre* 

A critical requirement will be the building of a Mission Control Centre (MCC) to monitor the mission during its ascent, orbital and descent phase. The facilities at the spaceport at Sriharikota and ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Centre (ISTRAC), Bangalore, will be used for the MCC.

A new launch pad  it will be the third  will be built at Sriharikota with facilities to take the astronauts into the rocket and quarantine them. There will be crew-conditioning facilities to take care of them after they return from space. In space, the astronauts will conduct experiments relating to agricultural seeds, material processing and the growth of bacteria in space environment.


The Hindu : National : Model of space crew module ready


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## Screaming Skull

Self delete...


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## Screaming Skull

*And now, lectures and examination question papers via satellite​*
May 3rd, 2009

On April 20, while the world was focused on Risat-2, a much smaller satellite was launched by the same Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12)  Anusat.

Anusat, a 50-kg micro satellite, is the result of a first-of-its-kind collaboration: designed and fabricated by academicians from Anna University, Chennai, and by Isro experts. While anu in Sanskrit means atom, Anusats ambitions arent small. According to experts, Anusat is to Indian universities and education what Risat-2 is to Indias borders and security.

With Anusat, Anna University will be able to connect with all its affiliated colleges. The universitys vice-chancellor, Prof P. Mannar Jawahar, said, *Anusat has been placed in orbit and all sub-components were working well. Soon question papers and other relevant information can be sent from the university to colleges using high-security, high-speed link. Question papers can now be dispatched to colleges just half-an-hour before examinations commence. Apart from this, we would be broadcasting lectures live from the university to all our colleges.*

Within two years, the university plans to launch another satellite in the Anusat series that will have the capability to connect colleges across the country.

*Since Anusat has its limitation in transmitting data, we have decided to develop a second satellite which will be much more sophisticated and be able to connect colleges and universities across the country, Prof Jawahar said. While Anusat cost the university approximately Rs 5.5 crore, its part-II will come at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore.*

The launch of Anusat is also significant for University of Punes department of electronic science whose faculty and students managed to indigenously build and make operational a receiving station and retriever capsule. This will help in not only sourcing information and data from Anusat in a 15-minute time window, but they will also analyse it and make its findings available for further research throughout the country.

Sharing details about the universitys contribution to the project, Dr Pandit Vidyasagar, head of Anusats retriever module project, said: The University of Pune has many firsts to its credit in the field of bio-informatics and nano-technology, but the success of space recovery experiment has been the most cherished project.

One of the major benefits of hosting the receiving station is that it will give students an opportunity to have hands-on experience and live and continuous access to data that is required for research. Currently 60 MSc. (electronics) students will be monitoring the working of the receiving station. Later it will be open for students from other universities and institutions, said Dr Vidyasagar.

*The success of the project has prompted the department of science and technology to sanction Rs 15 crores to the University of Pune as an incentive for further research in space technology.*

And now, lectures via satellite | Deccan Chronicle


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## Screaming Skull

*An Indian spy in the sky​*
May 3rd, 2009



Kargil, 1999. As they had done for years during the winter months, Indian troops and intelligence assets withdrewn from the heights in Kargil, Dras and other sectors, sure that the Pakistanis would do the same. But they didnt. Instead, they sent hundreds of terrorists and Army personnel to hide in the mountains and capture the heights and the crucial Srinagar-Leh National Highway 1.

No one saw the terrorists coming because no one kept vigil. Doubtless, it is difficult for humans to stay at heights of 5,000-6,000 metres in the winter months. Only a high-quality spy satellite in the sky could have kept an eye on terrorist infiltration routes. Unfortunately, India did not have one then. But a decade and many infiltrations and terrorist attacks later, on April 20, 2009, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) launched just such a satellite.

A PSLV rocket launched Risat-2, a 300-kg satellite developed with Israeli assistance, into a 550-km high circular orbit. It will stay up there for at least three years and keep an eye on terror routes, Pakistani troop movements, their missile deployments and test-firings, and, playing the role of a good neighbour, even on Pakistans agricultural crops. Placed over the Equator at an inclination of 41 degrees, it will also monitor Indias coastline and the seas  including the route Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists took to reach Mumbai on 26/11.

Admittedly, India has taken a long time, in fact over 45 years from the early 1960s when it started launching rockets, to put a spy in the sky. This is not to argue that India did not have the capability to do so in the past, but it never felt the pressing need to do so. Many of Isros remote sensing satellites (satellites that study the earth) are dual-use capable  for used militarily while also serving civil purposes  but the Indian satellite programme has always had a pronounced socio-economic bias.

Risat (short for Radar Image Satellite) represents a quantum leap in Indias intention and capability. After Risat-2, a bigger, indigenous Risat-1 is in the works and is likely to be launched by year-end.

Risat-2, launched in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks, has an Israeli Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and is a small yet multi-purpose satellite that will serve a limited purpose for a limited period of time. Risat-1 will be bigger, at 1,700 kg, also multi-purpose, and will have more sensors on board.

Furthermore, unlike the optical remote sensing satellites that Isro has sent up until now, Risat-2 offers the technology of an active sensor  that is, operating in the microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum, it illuminates its targets. This is what makes Risat-2 an all-weather, day-and-night spy. Terrorists routinely infiltrate under the cover of bad weather. But now, Indias Risat-2 will be watching.

SAR, mounted on a fast-moving platform, is able to take images in spot, mosaic and strip modes. The spot mode helps to focus a high-powered beam on a small area to build a high-resolution picture. Satellites in this category usually offer images with a resolution between 10 cm and 1 metre  good enough to monitor terrorist infiltration along the border. It will also offer imagery intelligence ranging from missile launch preparations to building of temporary or permanent structures, such as bunkers, near Indias border. Incidentally, 1-metre resolution image is enough to spot a car, while a 10-cm resolution image, taken at the right angle, will reveal the cars licence plate.

While there is still speculation over which Central agency  the Union home ministry or Military Intelligence  will handle the spy data from Risat-2, there is no doubt that Indias military and paramilitary forces will benefit from the satellites capabilities.

Yet one must note that Risat-2 is only one small piece in Indias anti-terror strategy which involves multiple agencies. Even with regard to gathering intelligence, Risat-2 should not be seen as a single-window solution. Its value must be enhanced by other inputs, including human intelligence. The satellite can give a snapshot, literally, of the ground reality. Deciphering it and acting on it is a human, nay political, function.


* Ajey Lele is a research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi


*Indias other eyes*

*India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market and with the launch of Risat-2, Isro will have nine remote sensing satellites in orbit. The others include:

* Technology Experimental Satellite (TES), 2001: Indias first military satellite sends 1-metre resolution images. Indian military obtained high-resolution images of Pakistani troop movement along the border and the war in Afghanistan from this satellite.*

** Resourcesat-1, 2003: A sophisticated remote sensing satellite operating in multiple spectral bands, with a resolution of 6 metres.

* Cartosat-1, 2005: Has two panchromatic cameras able to take black-and-white pictures of an object from two different angles. It has a 2.5-metre resolution.

* Cartosat-2, 2007; 2A, 2008: Has panchromatic cameras, capable of 0.8-metre resolution images. Is meant for spot imagery.

* Gagan/IRNSS: India is developing or partnering multiple navigation satellite systems. The Gagan system will augment data from the American GPS system, while IRNSS will be a 7-satellite indigenous network meant to cover the Indian Ocean region for both civil and military applications.*

** IAF satellite: The Indian Air Force is set to get a dedicated communications satellite by mid-2010.*


An Indian spy in the sky | Deccan Chronicle


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## LCA

`Jugnu' to light up space research - Kanpur - Cities - The Times of India

`Jugnu' to light up space research
7 May 2009, 2124 hrs IST, Abhinav Malhotra, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
KANPUR: IIT-Kanpur which is soon going to enter into its jubilee year is ready to set new highs in the field of space research with its much
coveted space project -- the development and the launch of the nano satellite `Jugnu'.

A team of students, working under the guidance of faculty members of the institute have been working on this project prior to the launch of Jugnu. Its launch is expected in the month of September or December, 2009. The satellite has been termed as India's first indigenously made satellite and it is expected that it will be launched by the scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Head of mechanical department, Dr N S Vyas informed that the nano satellite, Jugnu will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (also known as SHAR, located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh) by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). "It is extremely cost effective and reliable launch vehicle. After its launch, Jugnu will be continuously monitored and controlled by ground station located at the campus," said Dr N S Vyas.

Weighing less than 3 kg and with most functional qualities of a normal satellite on a small platform, the payload of the satellite will include an indigenously designed camera for near remote sensing and a GPS receiver. Jugnu will transmit blinking signal, at all times, all over the earth. The designed life span of the satellite is proposed to be one year. Jugnu's design will have to overcome many challenges as it will have to face high vibrations even before its ejection. The satellite will also have to survive high doses of radiation that can cause damage to the system memory. There are many other functionality constraints on the satellite hardware due to the limited power availability.

The nano satellite project of the IIT-K is going on in the mechanical engineering department, the department which has to its credit many successful projects. One such project is the `derailment prevention project' under Dr Vyas of the mechanical engineering department, in association with RDSO, Lucknow, for enhancing the safety of the passengers.

On further exploring about the satellite, a member of the team Jugnu informed, "The images collected will also be useful in studying the vegetation and the water bodies. The satellite design is mostly indigenous. In view of the high cost associated with the launch special efforts are being made to keep the weight to the lowest minimum."

"Most of the performance tests for the sub-systems of satellite will be carried out in the institute itself, using existing infrastructure. However, launch critical tests will be carried out at ISRO centres," added the team member.

The aim of the making and launching of Jugnu is to develop a long term infrastructure and human resources in the IIT-K for future space research programs in the institute in collaboration with ISRO. The efforts of the team Jugnu were appreciated even by Dr David Morrison, director, NASA Lunar Science Institute who had visited the IIT-K campus at the time of IIT's annual technical fest, Techkriti.


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO over the moon as 1.35 lakh (135 thousand) apply for 300 jobs​*
7 May 2009,

MUMBAI: *Indias successful moonshot, Chandrayaan-1, has not only enriched the countrys brand value but also flooded Isro offices with more than a lakh job applications from youngsters, which the space agencys officials say is unprecedented.*

V Jayaraman, director of Isros Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency , told TOI on Wednesday that Chandrayaans success has spurred the demand for jobs in Isro. *The organisation has acquired a glamour value thanks largely to the moon mission, and students in standard X and XI from all over India are knocking on our door,* he said.

Jayaraman said that at present there were more than 1.35 lakh applications for a mere 300 openings in different categories at Isro. He said that from among the applicants, about 70,000 students qualified for the entrance examination which was held on April 26. About 46,000 actually took the test.

*From centres like Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, we usually receive on average about 4,000 to 5,000 applications. But this year the figure from these places has shot up,* Jayaraman said. He cited the economic slowdown as a possible factor for the surge in applications.

*Isros chief spokesperson S Satish said that many people who had left Isro for IT organisations now wanted to return to the space agency.* 

ISRO over the moon as 1.35 lakh apply for 300 jobs- LATEST NEWS-The Economic Times


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## indiatech

Mission Profile of ISRO

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## indiatech

Delayed Indo-Israeli TAUVEX project

to be launched with GSAT-4 mission in 2009

TAUVEX: UV Astronomy Mission

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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO implements ESRI software for image processing​*
May 06, 2009


*ArcGIS Server and Its Image Extension Will Be Used throughout the Indian Government to Integrate Data with New-Generation Images*

Redlands, California&#8212;May 6, 2009&#8212;The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has reached an agreement with NIIT GIS Limited (ESRI India), ESRI's distributor in India, to equip its five Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (RRSSCs) with ArcGIS Server and the Image extension. The centers in Jodhpur, Dehradun, Kharagpur, Nagpur, and Bangalore use Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite and other imagery to create thematic maps and geographic information system (GIS) databases that provide valuable societal applications to various government agencies throughout India.

With India's success in remote-sensing technology through the IRS constellation, several new imagery-based and GIS-centric projects of national relevance are gaining visibility and importance. ISRO is presently implementing major programs related to natural resources, disaster management, environmental oversight, and groundwater and watershed management.

The remote-sensing centers are establishing a distributed architecture of server-based solutions designed to be the foundation for publishing, hosting, and serving images and data. Over time, the RRSSCs have collected large volumes of map data and integrated them with attribute data. The centers plan to combine and assimilate all the data with new-generation IRS high-resolution images and serve the data and application sets across the government sector.

The RRSSCs needed a GIS solution that met their needs and was scalable to meet growing demands for services from a large number of users for a variety of advanced applications. The centers selected ESRI's proven technology and superior solutions after several rounds of technical presentations, demonstrations, and discussions. The RRSSCs and ESRI India have concluded a comprehensive training session, and RRSSC users have started developing the solution.

Dr. Yvn Krishnamurthy, director of the RRSSCs, says, "ISRO users have been using ESRI products for a variety of applications, and many national programs have been based on GIS solutions. IRS imagery has been the source of thematic mapping inputs and provides end-to-end solutions under the umbrella of the National Natural Resources Management System. ArcGIS Server with the ArcGIS Server Image extension is a robust and integrated product and has capabilities that can meet our application needs of serving images and thematic maps to a variety of users. Our technical team is geared up to use these capabilities and develop solutions that will be unique and beneficial. We look forward to close support from ESRI in this endeavour."

Dr. Mukund Rao, president and chief operating officer at ESRI India, notes, "ISRO has been pioneering the use of IRS imagery and advancing GIS solutions for a long time. We are proud to be associated with [the organization] on this prestigious, first-of-its kind national project to serve image and map-based solutions in a GIS portal architecture. We value our relationship with ISRO and are committed in our support."

ArcGIS Server helps users connect people with the information they need via Web mapping applications and GIS services. It is built on a modern, service-oriented architecture. The ArcGIS Server Image extension makes it possible to take raw or preprocessed imagery and immediately deliver it as a Web service. It enables organizations to exploit the rich information content available in imagery and quickly access large volumes of imagery. This is far superior to traditional options that required significant effort by users to locate and make file-based imagery available.

Organizations are moving to newer technology platforms because of their need to leverage imagery throughout their entire enterprise and the new capabilities available for working with imagery. "We provide some really remarkable and powerful new tools that enable things to happen in near-real time&#190;things like delivering and displaying imagery, roaming around the imagery, zooming in to the imagery, and doing on-the-fly mosaicking and orthorectification of the imagery," says Lawrie Jordan, ESRI's director of imagery enterprise solutions. "Customers like this because they are seeing immediate benefits in terms of performance and the quality of their results."

ESRI India envisions that this new software deployment and implementation will serve as a key reference within all Indian government agencies, especially those that disseminate and/or consume imagery and imagery-related data.

------------------------------------​
*About ESRI* 

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at ESRI - The GIS Software Leader.

ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcGIS, GIS by ESRI, ESRI - The GIS Software Leader, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

http://www.directionsmag.com/press.releases/?duty=Show&id=32382


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## Screaming Skull

*Ocean satellite our next mission: ISRO chief​*
05 May 2009

BALASORE: Launch of an ocean satellite is the next mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1, said G Madhavan Nair, ISRO chairman and Secretary of the Department of Space.

Nair who was here recently to attend the fifth convocation of Fakir Mohan University told this paper that, through the satellite we would study the winds on the ocean surface, sea surface height variability and the wave heights and collect information about fishes. The satellite will provide quantitative description of the evolving state of the upper ocean and the pattern of ocean climate variability, including heat, fresh water storage and transport, he added.

The ISRO chief said, oceans are the driving force for monsoons, a potential source of food, energy and drugs, a cost-effective medium for transport and a strategic space.

Measurements of sea-surface height, or ocean surface topography, reveal the speed and direction of ocean currents and tell scientists how much of the suns energy is stored by the ocean.

Combining ocean current and heat storage data is key to understanding global climate variations. These technological advances will allow scientists to monitor conditions in coastal regions, Nair said.

However, the next mission will enhance our knowledge of tides in coastal areas, shallow seas and internal tides in the open ocean, while improving our understanding of ocean currents and eddies, he added.

On India after 10 years, the ISRO chief said: We are already having a leadership position in the world. We will consolidate that and be one of the prominent nations as far as space research is concerned."

Ocean satellite our next mission: ISRO chief


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## Screaming Skull

*Base station on moon is the next dream: ISRO chief​*
Sunday, May 10, 2009

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: *The Indian space missions next dream is to set up a base station on the moon so that space vehicles for onward journey to the Mars can be assembled and launched from there, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), G. Madhavan Nair, has said.*

Addressing students of ISROs Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at their annual celebrations here on Friday, Dr. Nair asked them to have this dream in their mind. *He asked them to think big, not just retrace the path already trekked by space science and technology, but look to where the future beckoned.*

*You are going to be with the ISRO for 30 years and more. Think beyond what we have already done. We want you to think of air-breathing rockets, India having a base station on the moon, India emerging as a space power, he told them after describing how happy he was to see the IIST really coming of age, to become an institution that would in future drive the Indian space mission.*

Earlier, the students gave a video narration of what all they had done in their institution during the course of the last one year (the celebrations were in connection with the second anniversary of the IIST).

Referring to the activities, both curricular and extra-curricular, Dr. Nair said the institution, which now had the former President, Abdul Kalam, as the Chancellor, was in the process of evolving a hitherto untried method of grooming scientists in the country. The students here were in the thick of what was happening in the ISRO and its organisations in the country.

*New campus, courses*

IIST Director B.N. Suresh said the institution would shift to a new campus at Valiyamala (in Thiruvananthapuram district) by August this year. The IIST had introduced Ph.D. programmes in various disciplines of space science and postgraduate courses were being launched during the course of the year.

Chief Secretary K.J. Mathew, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K. Radhakrishnan and several top scientists from ISROs other institutions attended the celebrations.

The Hindu : National : Base station on moon is the next dream: ISRO chief


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO sets its sights on Mars​*
Sunday, May 10, 2009

BANGALORE: *With the moon mission Chandrayaan 1 accomplished, the next venture will be sending a space vehicle to Mars, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Saturday. The plan is to make this possible by 2013 or a few years later.*

Speaking after being felicitated at the eighth anniversary of the CII Institute of Quality, he said the cost factor had to be considered in planning space missions. *Right now, per kg of payload costs $15,000 to $20,000, and we are trying to bring it down to $1,000. Much of it can come from more indigenisation and through being able to reuse the different stages of the rocket taking a vehicle to space,* Mr. Nair said.

*While ISRO would get Rs. 30,000 crore ($ 6 billion) from the Government during the 11th Plan, resources had to be used with care.*

*More research and development for localisation was necessary, he said, adding that 90 per cent of our technology now is home-grown.*

Also felicitated was S. Viji, Managing Director, Brakes India Ltd. and trustee of the Kuruvila Jacob Memorial Educational Trust. Named after the former headmaster of Madras Christian College School, the trust selects schools to help them implement quality control measures for excellence in education.

Tata Steel Managing Director B. Muthuraman, who was felicitated, explained how quality control in steel plants had helped lower the cost of production and made the final product more competitive.

Delivering the annual day lecture, Rajiv Gandhi, Chief General Manager (Production), Maruti Suzuki Ltd., said the automotive sector accounted for 3.5 per cent of the GDP and contributed 17 per cent of total taxes collected by the Government.

Despite the economic slowdown and an uncertain market and volatility in input prices, Maruti could do better than most others in the sector because of consistent quality in our products, he said.

Institute of Quality Chairman K.N. Shenoy said there were several examples of global excellence achieved by Indian corporates. 

The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ISRO sets its sights on Mars


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## Screaming Skull

*Indian flag set to soar high with American astronaut​*
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

CHENNAI: American astronaut Andrew Feustel, who will fly in space shuttle Atlantis on Monday, will carry the Indian national flag with him because he is married to an Indian, Indira Bhatnagar, who belongs to Ambala, Haryana, and he loves India.

Mr. Feustel is a geophysicist who will undertake three spacewalks. This will be the shuttles final maintenance mission to the Hubble space telescope. According to Ashima Bhatnagar, who is related to Indira, Mr. Feustels love affair with India began with his marriage to Ms. Indira and introduction to Indian food. Ms. Indira is the daughter of Dr. Vijay Mohan Bhatnagar of Ambala, now settled in Cornwall, Canada.

Within months of the historic Chandrayaan-1 mission, the Indian flag will again leave the confines of gravity and take its place in space, Ms. Ashima said. Mr. Feustel can speak a few words in Hindi and called his last trip to India in 2007 out of the world, added Ms. Ashima.

Mr. Feustel and Ms. Indira met when they were students at Purdue University in the U.S., said Sandeep Bhatnagar, Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Chennai and father of Ms. Ashima. The shuttle missions commander is Scott Altman.

The Hindu : International / India & World : Indian flag set to soar high with American astronaut


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO to launch re-usable rockets​*
Hyderabad May 12, 2009,

*The Indian Space Research Organisation(Isro) is working on a plan to launch re-usable rockets within next 10 to 15 years that will take off from the ground to orbit and return just like any aircraft carrying people and payload, said G Madhvan Nair*, Chairman of Isro.

*Isro will launch these re-usable rockets within next 10 to 15 years,* Nair told reporters on the sidelines of AV Rama Rao Technology Award Lecture on Advances in Space Materials on the occasion of National Technology Day celebrations at IICT here today.

Nair said the single stage orbit vehicle will take off from ground carrying people or payload and return.

*The concept will be like space shuttle but with a different configuration. For this Isro is working on required technology,* he said.

He said Isro is tuned to developing programmes to solve the peoples problems like better communication system, imaging planet earth, improving resolution capability, improving radar composition, developing technology for satellites, and forecasting weather that will give information to villagers of the type of soil, ocean and fishing activity.

Nair said this year three satellites-home grown cryogenic engine on Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), and two PSLVs will be launched. The PSLV will carry Ocean SAT in addition to Scatrometre that will provide information of the tidal wave heights useful for fishermen, interaction of the ocean with atmosphere besides other ocean related information.

Isro to launch re-usable rockets


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO mulls setting up intermediate base on moon​*
Sunday, May 10, 2009

Bangalore, May 9: *Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is studying the possibility of setting up an intermediate base on the moon so that it can help the space agency to explore other planets such as Mars and Jupiter from that platform.*

*It is also planning to reduce the cost of access to space by half to about $10,000 a kg so that it is cheaper to send more spacecraft to not only mine information but also to extract Helium 3, which is an ideal fuel for atomic plants and certain metals such as magnesium and silica. The moon has deposit of about 2.5 million tonnes of metals*, he said.

The ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, who was felicitated by the CII Institute of Quality at its eighth anniversary here on Saturday, said the countrys first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan has completed more than six months since its launch, and now ISRO has access to features which reveal key information.

Brakes India Managing Director and the trustee of Kuruvila Jacob Memorial Educational Trust, Mr S. Viji, who was felicitated at the anniversary function, said last year, the trust launched a programme for the establishment of three model schools on the QCI framework of quality school governance standards from the first and second cluster.

This accreditation standard aims at providing a framework for effective management and delivery of holistic education programme for the overall development of the students. This initiative was carried out at the request of the Corporation of Chennai.

*School programmes*

Mr Viji said the corporation school programmes have been conducted on a free of cost basis with the entire cost being borne by the trust with training assistance from Confederation of Indian Industrys Institute of Quality in Bangalore. Mr Viji said these activities were part of the Kuruvila Jacob Initiative for promoting excellence in school education. He said this initiative was launched to honour Mr Kuruvila Jacob, a great educationist and humanist on his birth centenary in 2004. Mr Kuruvila was the headmaster of Madras Christian College High School between 1931 and 1962 and later became the principal of Hyderabad Public School and then moved to Mumbai to become the principal of Cathedral and John Connon School, the first Indian to head the school.

*Challenges*

Tata Steel Managing Director, Mr B. Muthuraman, who was also felicitated, said the corporate landscape is set to undergo several changes. Hopefully we will have a more truthful and better world, he said. One of the challenges facing companies was how to energise employees to take on targets, they have not reached before. He said employees usually perform better and try to achieve a target if they realise that they will not be penalised if they fail.

Delivering the IQ Anniversary Day lecture, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, Chief General Manager, casting and engine plants for Maruti Suzuki Ltd, said at the companys car plant, manpower planning is carried out at 95 per cent attendance level with 21 days advance manpower induction for increased volumes. He said to manage absenteeism, workers were being given multi-skill training to prevent quality inconsistencies.

The Hindu Business Line : ISRO mulls setting up intermediate base on moon


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## indiatech

Screaming Skull said:


> *Indian flag set to soar high with American astronaut​*
> Tuesday, May 12, 2009
> 
> CHENNAI: American astronaut Andrew Feustel, who will fly in space shuttle Atlantis on Monday, will carry the Indian national flag with him because he is married to an Indian, Indira Bhatnagar, who belongs to Ambala, Haryana, and he &#8220;loves India.&#8221;
> 
> Mr. Feustel is a geophysicist who will undertake three spacewalks. This will be the shuttle&#8217;s final maintenance mission to the Hubble space telescope. According to Ashima Bhatnagar, who is related to Indira, Mr. Feustel&#8217;s love affair with India began with his marriage to Ms. Indira and introduction to Indian food. Ms. Indira is the daughter of Dr. Vijay Mohan Bhatnagar of Ambala, now settled in Cornwall, Canada.
> 
> &#8220;Within months of the historic Chandrayaan-1 mission, the Indian flag will again leave the confines of gravity and take its place in space,&#8221; Ms. Ashima said. Mr. Feustel can speak a few words in Hindi and called his last trip to India in 2007 &#8220;out of the world,&#8221; added Ms. Ashima.
> 
> Mr. Feustel and Ms. Indira met when they were students at Purdue University in the U.S., said Sandeep Bhatnagar, Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Chennai and father of Ms. Ashima. The shuttle mission&#8217;s commander is Scott Altman.
> 
> The Hindu : International / India & World : Indian flag set to soar high with American astronaut



Excellent. In fact indian artifacts and culture has been taken to space a numerous times. Specially by Mike Fincke , who recently commanded the Expedition 18 of International space station. He has flown to space many times and each time he even did Q&A sessions with school and university students in india. He has even named his son "Chandra"

Here is a link to his recent Q&A with indian students.

The Hindu : Young World : Talking to the astronaut in sky

Here is an interview with his indian wife who also works for NASA

NASA - Interview: Renita Fincke


Saw this recent video of his doing indian dance in space wearing a local gamcha.


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## Screaming Skull

*In Dec, IIT-Ks little Jugnu to find its place in sky​*
May 14, 2009

Kanpur: *The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has finally given the green signal for the launch of the Nano satellite Jugnu  the dream project of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K).*

The nod comes after a second design review was presented by the IIT-K authorities. *The satellite will be launched in the Polar Orbit from Sriharikota in December 2009.*

Sanjay Govind Dhande, the Director of IIT-K, said: *Though the Memorandum of Understanding between ISRO and IIT-K for the project was signed in February, regular review sessions are being carried out by ISRO to check the progress of the ambitious project.*

The first review session of the Nano was carried out by ISRO in April. *On Tuesday, our technical team working on the project apprised the ISRO authorities through video conferencing about the Release Mechanism and Antenna Mechanism,* said Dhande. 

In Dec, IIT-Ks little Jugnu to find its place in sky


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## Screaming Skull

*India to Launch 1st IRNSS Satellite by December​*
*The Indian Space Research Organisation says it is on track to launch the first satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system by the end of the year. The entire constellation will be in place by 2012.*

According to a presentation by A. Bhaskaranarayana to a meeting of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in Montreal on 15 July 2008, *IRNSS will consists of three satellites (called GEOs) on the geostationary arc above India and four (called GSOs) in two highly inclined quazi-zenith orbits.*

The GEOs will be located at 34°E, 83°E and 132°E. The GSOs will be in orbits with a 24,000 km apogee and 250 km perigee inclined at 29 degrees. Two of the GSOs will cross the equator at 55°E and two at 111°E.

*The system is designed to provide 20 metre accuracy over the Indian Ocean and 10 metres over the sub-continent.*

*The GEO satellites will have a 9.4 year lifespan. The GSOs will have a design life of 11 years.*

ISRO will use its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to place the satellites in orbit.

The system will require a sophisticated ground segment. *The space craft control centre will contain two telemetry uplink stations and a navigation centre. A timing centre, a laser ranging centre and 20 ranging and integrity monitoring stations will also be established. A data communications network will connect the entire system.*

IRNSS signals will consist of a Special Positioning Service and a Precision Service. Both will be carried on L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S (2492.08 MHz). The SPS signal will be modulated by a 1 MHz BPSK signal. The Precision service will use BOC(5,2)

*The ground segment will consist of multi-constellation receivers capable of simultaneously receiving both signals from all seven satellites while over Indian territory. It will also receive GPS signals augmented by the Gagan system.*

India to Launch 1st IRNSS Satellite by December :: ASM


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## Screaming Skull

*Some background info on IRNSS*

*India heads for a regional navigation satellite system​*
by, DR ARJUN SINGH AND DR S K SARASWATI

Indian Space Research Organisation has taken up a project called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System for the establishment of an independent regional navigational infrastructure

----------------------------------------------​
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has taken up a project called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) for the establishment of an independent regional navigational infrastructure. The system main objective is to provide high positional accuracy (comparable to the existing constellations) real time position, velocity and time for various users in the region. IRNSS services will be available on a 24x7x365 basis irrespective of the availability of other constellations over Indian airspace. The system leverages the technological competence of ISRO in satellite, ground and other critical technologies 

*Proposed IRNSS Architecture*

The proposed architecture of the INRSS consists of space segment, ground segment and user segment. The space segment consists of three GEOs located at 34° E, 83° E and 132° E and four GSOs. The 4 N-GSOS will be placed in the orbit at an inclination angle of 29° with longitude crossing at 55° and 111° East. The ground segment consists of INRSS ranging and integrity monitoring which will be located at 20 places and most of them will be located in the airports along with GAGAN ground elements. IRNSS will have the two Master Control Stations (MCS), which may be co-located with GAGAN INMCC. The proposed INRSS architecture is shown in Fig. 1. The intended coverage area for IRNSS has been proposed to be over the Indian subcontinent and service area will be primarily on the Indian land mass and adjoining areas. The service area for IRNSS is specified as between longitude 40oE to 140o E and between latitude ± 40o. More specifically the coverage should include the Indian subcontinent plus about 1500 Km beyond the Indian geographical area. IRNSS system provides dual frequency (S & L5 band) usage with a targeted position accuracy of less than 10 meters within India. At present one down link in S-band and three down links in L5 band are planned. The system can be augmented with local area augmentation for higher accuracy.

The error budget of the proposed IRNSS is given below in Table 1.

The proposed IRNSS will be designed indigenously and launched from Indian soil through Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The proposed satellite specifications are given below.

 Dry mass of the satellite ~ 600 kgs
 Power generation 1400 watts
 Fuel loading capacity ~ 785 kgs
 Accommodates navigation payload of weight 102 kgs and 375 watts of power 

The snap shot of IRNSS GEOS & GSOS satellite locations are shown in Fig. 2. 









*IRNSS payload*

It will provide signal generation on board and there will be two downlinks providing dual frequency operation with EIRP of 31.5 dBW at EOC. INRSS payload will have 3 Rubidium clocks and Navigation data up link will be through telemetry command link. The payload beam of GSOS will be steered to take care of the inclination.




*IRNSS Ground Segment Functionality*

The ground segment consists of MCC, INRSS Ranging and Integrity Monitoring (IRIM) Stations and IRNSS telemetry and command stations. The function of MCC is to estimate and predicts the ephemeris; calculate corrections for SV clock & maintain IRNSS time, Ionospheric corrections and Integrity. The function of IRNSS IRIM stations will be receiving the data from the GEOs and GSOs, transmit the data to MCC and one way ranging of the GEOs & GSOs in S band. The function of IRNSS telemetry and command stations will be to receive telemetry from the IRNSS constellation, Telecomm and the IRNSS constellation and navigation updates.

*USER Segment*

The user segment will consist of a specially designed inter operable dual frequency receiver, which may receive the data from other constellation of
navigation satellite. User segment receiver may be called as multi constellation receiver. The user receiver to get the required position accuracy will continuously track all the seven satellites of INRSS. The user receiver will have minimum G/T of -25 dB/K similar to GPS.

*Conclusion*

The INRSS is under planning stage and ISRO is the main agency to design and implement the entire infrastructure required for operation of the system. It has also to do certification and validation of the signal will be before declaring operational for the users.

-------------------------------------------​
*About the authors:*

*Dr Arjun Singh:* Joint General Manager Airports Authority of India

*Dr S K Saraswati:* Executive Director (CNS-P), Airports Authority of India


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## Screaming Skull

A ppt on IRNSS and GAGAN, by A. Bhaskaranarayana, Director SCP/FMO & Scientific Secretary, Indian Space Research Organisation.

*Presentation to COSPAR Meeting, Montreal*


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## Screaming Skull

*GPS India equivalent in three years​*
Saturday, May 16, 2009

Kochi: *The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the U.S., will be operational in three years time*, K. Radhakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has said.

Inaugurating a two-day national seminar on Innovations in electronics technology for futuristic communications, organised by the Institution of Engineers (India) local centre, here on Friday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said a revolution was under way in the field of satellite navigation systems.

India is going in a major way in this area, he said. *The country will have a space-based augmentation of the GPS system Gagan (GPS-aided Geo-augmented Navigation, which the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] has developed with the U.S. defence major Raytheon), to start with. Gagan will be in place in a year and a half, and is primarily meant to aid precise landing of aircraft.*

*However, we plan to have our own IRNSS in three years. Covering the Indian Ocean region, this will provide positional accuracy of about 10 metres and is implemented using seven satellites, three in the geostationary transfer orbits and four in non-geostationary orbits,* he said.

*Importantly, today we also have an international coordinating group under the United Nations Committee on Peaceful use of Outer Space that worries about interoperability among the GPS, the Russian Glonass, the European Galileo and (as it happens) the IRNSS.*

On the major achievements of ISRO, he said *by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan, the country would have at least 500 transponders, a quantum jump from the present 210 made available by 10 satellites.*

Besides the present C-band, extended C-band and Ku-band, we are also getting into the higher frequency Ka-band providing ultra small aperture terminal communication that will revolutionise rural communication  Already, we have been able to connect a large number of hospitals  primary health centres in remote areas  to super-specialty hospitals, he said.

Later, speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Radhakrishnan said that the space agency was all set to test the indigenous cryogenic engine in the next flight of the GSLV (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) in August or September.

We also have a series of PSLV [Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle] flights lined up and its next flight, scheduled for this July, will put a new Oceansat into the orbit to replace the existing one. This will have new payloads with ocean colour monitor and the scatterometer on board will give wind velocity in the Indian seas. This year will also see the launch of Resourcesat-II, besides the second flight of space recovery capsule. Preparations are also afoot to develop GSLV Mark III that can ferry a 4-tonne satellite into the geostationary transfer orbit. The launch will be in 2010 or 2011, he said.

*
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System will cover the Indian Ocean region
*
The Hindu : Front Page : GPS&#8217; India equivalent in three years


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## indiatech

*ISRO, Raytheon complete tests for GAGAN Satellite Navigational System*



Farnborough: An ambitious satellite-based navigation system being developed by India's space agency ISRO and US defence major Raytheon has successfully completed preliminary tests, a top official of the American company announced said.

The preliminary system acceptance test for the Technology Demonstration System (TDS) of the GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan), being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to improve Air Traffic Control, was successful, Raytheon Vice President Andy Zogg told reporters here.

"This test was significant because the Gagan-TDS ground elements supplied by Raytheon were installed and integrated ahead of schedule," he said.

"More importantly, the system functioned properly and exceeded the accuracy requirements."

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to use Gagan to meet the civil aviation industry's growing needs in communications, navigation and surveillance and air traffic management. It will result in greater efficiency and safety in over 100 airports in India.

The Gagan-TDS network monitors Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signals for errors and then generates correction messages to improve accuracy for users. Once in place, the system can also be used by other modes of transport, including rail, road and maritime traffic.

During the test period, average accuracy of Gagan-TDS was better than one metre horizontally and only slightly more than one metre vertically, thus surpassing the 7.6 metre requirement by a significant margin.

"We are very pleased with the cooperative effort among Raytheon, ISRO and AAI that led to this successful test," said Zogg. "The TDS phase of this programme demonstrated how to successfully deploy a SBAS (Satellite-Based Augmentation System) in India, so all of the participants are better prepared for the next stage of the programme."

ISRO awarded a contract in November 2004 to Raytheon to supply and install the ground-based elements of Gagan. India is investing nearly Rs 110 crore in the project.

The Gagan-TDS is the first phase of the project sponsored by ISRO and AAI to implement a space-based navigation system in Indian airspace. Gagan is one of several systems being deployed around the world as part of an initiative endorsed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation to help civil aircraft move to satellite-based signals from ground-based navigation aids.

The technology enhances navigation in all phases of flight, from take-off through landing. Routes are more flexible and efficient, landing safety is increased, and navigation service providers offer better guidance at lower costs.

The Gagan-TDS project consists of an Indian Monitor and Control Centre in Bangalore, an Indian land uplink station also in Bangalore, and eight reference stations distributed across the country.

Raytheon supplied the sub-systems, installed the units in partnership with ISRO and AAI and then integrated the system through data links provided by the Indian agencies.

With the completion of the preliminary system acceptance test, Raytheon will work with ISRO to integrate the ground elements to a geo-synchronous satellite.

After integration, a signal-in-space broadcast of Gagan-TDS messages will be demonstrated.

Raytheon, which clocked sales of $ 21.9 billion in 2005, is a leader in defence electronics, space, Information Technology and special mission aircraft.


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## Screaming Skull

Hi,

Last week, a conference called IISc Centenary International Conference and Exhibition on Aerospace Engineering (ICEAE-2009) was held in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. It was organized by the institute as part of its centenary year celebrations (Yes our beloved IISc is 100 years old!). The second day of the conference was completely dedicated to Indian defence and space industries, r&d labs and organizations. Directors of different DRDO and ISRO labs and project heads of different national programs made interesting presentations, giving away inside info on many national projects, including technical specs, rare pics and videos. 

Speakers & presentation topics-

*BrahMos program*- 
by, P Venugopalan, Director DRDL, Program Director of Integrated Missile Development Program and Programs PJ-10 (BrahMos) and Chairman, PMB of Astra Program. 

*UAV, UCAV and cruise missile research at the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE)-*
by, P S Krishnan, Director ADE

*LCA Navy-*
by, Wing Cdr. C D Balaji, Project Director, LCA Navy

*Airworthiness certification-*
by, K Biswas, CEMILAC

*Chandrayaan I and Chandrayaan-2-*
by, M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan I and Chandrayaan-2, ISRO, Bangalore

*Solid fuel rocket boosters*
by, M C Dattan, SHAR, ISRO

*Indian Remote Sensing Program-*
by, R R Navalgund, SAC, Ahmedabad, ISRO

*Indian Space Launchers: From SLV to GSLV Mk-3*
by, S. Ramakrishnan, VSSC, Trivandrum, ISRO

*Indian Manned Space Mission-*
by, Unnikrishnan Nair, HSFP, ISRO

I l try and post some info on each of these talks whenever I find time. The following links may be useful

IISc Centenary International Conference on Aerospace Engineering and Exhibition (ICEAE?2009)

http://www.aero.iisc.ernet.in/iceae/files/Industry%20Session%20-ICEAE2009.pdf

http://www.aero.iisc.ernet.in/iceae/files/Program_Sch_ICEAE.pdf

Department Of Aerospace Engineering

:: Indian Institute of Science ::

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## Screaming Skull

*The BrahMos program​*
by, P Venugopalan, Director DRDL, Program Director of Integrated Missile Development Program and Programs PJ-10 (BrahMos) and Chairman, PMB of Astra Program.


When the project was conceived in 1994, it was estimated to cost about $250 million. Initially the Russians were very reluctant to put in any funds as they already possessed the scram jet tech for the powerplant and the required tech for the seeker. After intense negotiations it was decided that the project cost would be shared in a 50-50 ratio. But in the end India managed to get 50.5&#37; stake to decide on some key managerial and directorial positions.


The inertial navigation system is a derivative from the Indian Prithvi missile program. It had to be customized for the BrahMos as the reaction time for the system on Prithvi was not acceptable for the BrahMos. The present system on the BrahMos has a reaction time of less than 4mins!


Each BrahMos missile is cased in a canister. Once cased inside a canister, it needn't be touched for another 10 years. A midlife electrical inspection may be required though.


The flight path may be altered based on particular requirements. The normal trajectory includes vertical take off-high altitude cruise-inclined dip-low altitude cruise till target. The seeker is switched off till it reaches the low altitude phase and depending on the size of the target, is only switched on at the final phases to avoid detection. With this trajectory the missile can cover its max range of 300 km. The missile can also be operated in terrain hugging low flying trajectory for targets in the range of 130-150 km.


The terminal homing in the latest BrahMos versions is hybrid GPS and Russian GLONASS enabled. This was done because of a freak incident during testing when the US switched off its GPS. Now, if the GPS is switched off the GLONASS will take over.


The structural design enables the missile to deflect EM waves, imparting considerable stealth capabilities to it.


For demonstration to the IN, the GPS was fitted to an IN warship in inclined configuration. A decommissioned IN vessel was used as target. First a BrahMos was fired without a warhead. The video of the launch and final interception was shown to us. The missile hit the dead center of the ship and caused significant damage even without a warhead. Next a missile with warhead was fired. The ship broke into two pieces and the whole vessel sunk in less than 4 mins. By the time a recce chopper reached the site, even the last particles of the ship had disappeared from the site. The navy was convinced completely after this demo and cleared the way for the induction of BrahMos. DRDO has already started integration of BrahMos with the IN warships with each ship getting 12 missiles. In salvo mode the missiles can be launched one after the other with 2sec intervals.


The land version of BrahMos is very similar to the Naval version except for the fact that they are designed to take on target much smaller than ships. The Army's test target includes a triangular reflector of of roughly 2m edge. The videos showed the BrahMos hitting the dead center of the targets. Another test involved picking up the right target from amongst three different reflectors and hitting it. The BrahMos passed this test too.


The areal version requires some modifications. The areal version of BrahMos will be fitted on to the MKIs. But bad news is that only one missile can be fitted per MKI. Earlier it was believed that three could be accommodated, but now it appears that the MKI wings can not take the BrahMos. Drastic structural changes will be required to the MKIs, which is not deemed feasible.


Total order for BrahMos till date is 1500 pcs.

Only so much for now. I l add more if I remember something. 

ps: All the talks were for half hour durations.

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## Screaming Skull

*India's manned space mission will have IAF men​*
27 May 2009,

NEW DELHI: When India's first manned mission to space takes off, possibly in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on
board.

*"Let me promise you one thing, if there is a (Indian) man on moon (read space), it will be from the Indian Air Force," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told reporters here.*

*According to sources, the IAF is to train two of its personnel for the mission, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).* The proposed manned mission will follow India's successful lunar probe launch last year.

Major added that the *IAF's Institute for Aerospace Medicine is working closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the project.*

The mission is likely to carry a two-member IAF crew. India's Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma, who was part of the joint space programme between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1984, was the first Indian to go into space.

Though ISRO wanted one of its scientists on the mission along with an IAF pilot, the air force proposed that both should be IAF personnel.

*"The crew will consist of two members. We had a meeting with the ISRO scientists and they insisted on sending one scientist and one air force pilot, but we have proposed to depute one of our engineers also with them for training till the mission happens,"* a senior IAF official said requesting anonymity.

Under the ambitious $2.5 billion plan, India's space agency has proposed to put two people into space orbit at 274 km above the earth for seven days.

If the mission takes off, India will be the fourth country - after the US, Russia and China - to send a manned mission to space. India is not the only Asian country in the new space race - Iran recently announced it will attempt a manned space flight by 2021.

Dismissing the criticism of the huge costs involved in the mission, another senior IAF official listed its military advantages. *He said it will help India acquire Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capability.*

*"To place a spacecraft in orbit, we will require a bigger rocket booster. This large rocket booster will help India acquire ICBM capability,"* the senior official added.

He also said it would boost the country's reconnaisance capability. *"To be in constant touch with the astronauts as they revolve around the earth, we will need to interlink our satellites, which in turn will boost our reconnaissance capability. Presently, we are able to get 15 minutes' feed daily from our satellites. The space mission will give us 90 minutes' feed,"* he said.

The decision to send astronauts into space follows the launch last October of India's first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, which signalled the country's entry into an elite club of nations that have reached the moon. Chandrayaan-1 is now orbiting the moon to compile a 3-D map of its surface, among other things. India is planning to launch its second unmanned lunar mission - Chandrayaan-2 - in 2011.

India's decision to go for a manned mission into space comes in the wake of China making great strides in its space pursuits. China completed its first space walk last year, and also shot down one of its own satellites in 2007.

India's manned space mission will have IAF men- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## Screaming Skull

*India's manned space mission will have IAF men​*
27 May 2009,

NEW DELHI: When India's first manned mission to space takes off, possibly in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on
board.

*"Let me promise you one thing, if there is a (Indian) man on moon (read space), it will be from the Indian Air Force," IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major told reporters here.*

*According to sources, the IAF is to train two of its personnel for the mission, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).* The proposed manned mission will follow India's successful lunar probe launch last year.

Major added that the *IAF's Institute for Aerospace Medicine is working closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the project.*

The mission is likely to carry a two-member IAF crew. India's Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma, who was part of the joint space programme between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1984, was the first Indian to go into space.

Though ISRO wanted one of its scientists on the mission along with an IAF pilot, the air force proposed that both should be IAF personnel.

*"The crew will consist of two members. We had a meeting with the ISRO scientists and they insisted on sending one scientist and one air force pilot, but we have proposed to depute one of our engineers also with them for training till the mission happens,"* a senior IAF official said requesting anonymity.

Under the ambitious $2.5 billion plan, India's space agency has proposed to put two people into space orbit at 274 km above the earth for seven days.

If the mission takes off, India will be the fourth country - after the US, Russia and China - to send a manned mission to space. India is not the only Asian country in the new space race - Iran recently announced it will attempt a manned space flight by 2021.

Dismissing the criticism of the huge costs involved in the mission, another senior IAF official listed its military advantages. *He said it will help India acquire Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capability.*

*"To place a spacecraft in orbit, we will require a bigger rocket booster. This large rocket booster will help India acquire ICBM capability,"* the senior official added.

He also said it would boost the country's reconnaisance capability. *"To be in constant touch with the astronauts as they revolve around the earth, we will need to interlink our satellites, which in turn will boost our reconnaissance capability. Presently, we are able to get 15 minutes' feed daily from our satellites. The space mission will give us 90 minutes' feed,"* he said.

The decision to send astronauts into space follows the launch last October of India's first unmanned lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, which signalled the country's entry into an elite club of nations that have reached the moon. Chandrayaan-1 is now orbiting the moon to compile a 3-D map of its surface, among other things. India is planning to launch its second unmanned lunar mission - Chandrayaan-2 - in 2011.

India's decision to go for a manned mission into space comes in the wake of China making great strides in its space pursuits. China completed its first space walk last year, and also shot down one of its own satellites in 2007.

India's manned space mission will have IAF men- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## digitaltiger

Indeed a great news and we know it gonna on day. Way to go ISRO and IAF.


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## pakpower

It's a long road ahead in this field for India it will take some time ang getting to reach at that particular stage.


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## Haanzo

pakpower said:


> It's a long road ahead in this field for India it will take some time ang getting to reach at that particular stage.



keep trying until you succeed ....man first we gotta try right ....and there is nothing for you to laugh here ...if there was something funny indeed please let us know


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## araz

Good step for India. Does any Indian member have any knowledge of the current state of indian space programme?
Replies appreciated.
Regards
Araz


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## Muradk

hit&run said:


> he is from Lahore; chemical used in recent explosion was of nitrous oxide & RDX(PAK news agencies), that is why he is laughing.



Your name fit you hit & run lot of people died in that blast so he is not laughing on RDX new.
you want to know why he is laughing, He is laughing because he knows after spending all that money and sending them into space Russian's or American's will have to bring them down.

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## Energon

Screaming Skull said:


> When India's first manned mission to space takes off, possibly in 2017, it will have Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel on board.


 Isn't this sort of stating the obvious? Astronauts have to have a very specialized pre existing skill set and training which only air force pilots or naval aviators of certain kinds are afforded. Most of NASA's crew comes from the USAF and US Navy for the same reasons; why would it be any different for India? Only certain mission specialists are acquired from outside the realm of the armed forces. 

I would actually venture a guess and say that a lot of the basic training will be sought from the remnant of the Mig25 program.


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## AchtungSpitfire

That's a given. All NASA commanders and co-commanders have been USAF topguns i.e test pilots or extremely gifted aptitude wise. Ditto for the Russians. Even the chinks in their last purported manned orbital exercise had PLAAF commanders.


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## Khajur

Muradk said:


> You name fit you hit & run lot of people died in that blast so he is not laughing on RDX new.
> you want to know why he is laughing, He is laughing because he knows after spending all that money and sending them into space Russian's or American's will have to bring them down.



sir,
We didnt have any such problem when we sent Chandrayaan 1 to moon just few months ago.It most likely we gonna repeat that feat with our manned mission too.


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## Screaming Skull

*India, US to do the moonwalk​*
Sat,30 May 2009

About 400,000 km from planet earth, there are probably chunks of ice trapped inside huge craters on the moons surface. And they have been left untouched by the sun for about two billion years. This has so far been a conjecture.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US are going to find out whether those dark holes actually hold ice and the secret of the solar system.

When it happens, it is going to be a unique experiment and will be the first of its kind, M. Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-I, told Hindustan Times.

ISRO scientists said the details of the experiment manoeuvering the orbiters to cruise along over the lunar poles, ensuring simultaneous operations and exchange of data  would be worked out with NASA in Bangalore next month.

The first such effort by the space faring nations will involve two lunar orbiters, Chandrayaan-I and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRA) of NASA, operating in sync over the moons polar region. They will bounce radar signals off the craters to spot the nether world of ice.

The master plan for the experiment has been chalked out by Prof. Paul D. Spudis of Lunar and Planetary Institute of Houston, who led the team of US scientists in the Chandrayaan-I project.

Our experiment should answer first the broad questions about the existence of lunar polar ice, its extent and purity, says Prof. Spudis in his paper published in Lunar and Planetary Science journal.
As the first step, Indian scientists shifted Chandrayaan-I to a new orbit 200 km away to 100 km from the lunar surface on May 19.

It will also help study the impact of lunar gravity and gather images of a wider swath.

Scientists believe that detection of ice in the moons polar region will be significant in many respects.

First, it could be used for producing propellants to support the deep-space missions that have been planned from the lunar soil.

And second, it will also hold clues to the evolution of the solar system and the composition of the comets that crashed onto the moon over a billion years.

India, US to do the moonwalk- Hindustan Times


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO arm eyes business order worth $100-150 million​*
1 Jun 2009,

BANGALORE: Business in the skies is picking up, at least for Indian space agencies with Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chasing contracts worth $100-150 million back here on earth, this year.

*Demand remains high for its low-cost space solutions not only from the US and Europe, but from emerging countries like Algeria, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Middle East.*

*We hope to clock 8% growth and touch revenue of Rs 1,000 crore. We have a backlog of orders worth Rs 3,000 crore which will be completed in the next 3-4 years,* Antrix managing director, KR Sridhara Murthy, told ET. *Antrixs revenue for 2007-08 was Rs 940 crore. We are in discussions with customers for satellite contracts,* he added.

Experts like Prof Bharat Bhaskar, who worked as principal scientist at Nasas Goddard Space Flight Centre, Maryland, point out that India has a major cost advantage  up to 50-60% compared to the US and Europe. Besides this, new countries have started to trust Indian technologies. *Isro has a limited budget, which is minuscule compared to the funding Nasa gets, says Mr Bhaskar. The only drawback is that ISRO and Antrix do not follow the business model adopted by Nasa and European space agencies,* he adds.

*Antrix, which has more than 150 customers in the telecommunication and broadcasting sectors and 40 customers in remote sensing and imageries, is looking at establishing new businesses such as mobile multimedia communication for which it is building a GSat-6 satellite to provide video to users of hand-held devices.*

*Many people prefer satellite communication, which can bring down telecommunication costs drastrically, says Mr Bhaskar. It is building a navigation satellite called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite, which will track vehicles on the ground and a low-cost powerful satellite launch vehicle  GSLV Mark 3. With GSLV Mark 3, we will be able to save costs more than 30% for not only Indian missions but for our customers also, said Mr Murthy. According to Isro scientist Dr KN Shankara, the new indigenous rocket technology can take up to four tonnes; presently they have the capacity to carry 2.5 tonnes.

Once the GSLV Mark 3 is developed, we dont have to rely on outside countries to launch heavy satellites. Previously, we were dependent on Europe and French Guyana. It will also help in manned missions in future, Mr Shankara, who was director at ISROs satellite centre (ISAC) till last year, said. The GSLV project, worth around Rs 4,000- 5,000 crore, is expected to be completed in 5-6 years.*

And, among the high-profile launches expected this year is that of sophisticated satellite Ocean Sat-2 expected to take off in July-August 2009. The satellite can collect data on oceans, which will be marketed by Antrix and used for scientific investigation of ocean life. *Many agencies from the US and Europe have evinced interest in this, because it can observe the ocean in eight different colours and has a highly-sophisticated data format sharing system, said Mr Murthy. It can observe potential fishing zones, forecast the conditions of the high seas, conduct coastal zone studies and give inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies.*

ISRO arm eyes business order worth $100-150 million- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## xebex

pakpower said:


> It's a long road ahead in this field for India it will take some time ang getting to reach at that particular stage.



^^people said the same thing when India proposed the Chandrayaan-1 mission and laughed out. Guess what now our Flag is already on moon.. Infact we all should be proud that a south asian country is pioneering in Space exploration thus prooving Southasians are not lagging behind anybody.

If this news was about China u wouldnt be posting such a discouraging post.Anyway India is in full throttle with space exploration, If we can pull off a moon mission easily we can put a man on moon thatz for sure.

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## duhastmish

I hope they really get advance and we have our parliament house in a space ship. in future and it gets lost is space. lol that will do Indian science and Indians a great favor.

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## Neo

xebex said:


> ^^people said the same thing when India proposed the Chandrayaan-1 mission and laughed out. Guess what now our Flag is already on moon.. Infact we all should be proud that a south asian country is pioneering in Space exploration thus prooving Southasians are not lagging behind anybody.
> 
> If this news was about China u wouldnt be posting such a discouraging post.Anyway India is in full throttle with space exploration, If we can pull off a moon mission easily we can put a man on moon thatz for sure.



Well said Xebex!
Please introduce yourself in the members intro section.
Thanks!


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## xebex

araz said:


> Good step for India. Does any Indian member have any knowledge of the current state of indian space programme?
> Replies appreciated.
> Regards
> Araz



ISRO is working on a "space shuttle" as a reuseable platform for future missions. I have the url but cant post it bcoz im a newbie to this forum.just google indian space shuttle.


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## xebex




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## Screaming Skull

xebex said:


> I dunno where is member intro section located. It would be great if someone can direct me or is it necessary?.



Hi xebex! First of all welcome to pdf. Hope you have a great time here. Here s the members intro section.

Members Introduction - Pakistan Defence Forum


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## xebex

self delete...


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## xebex

self delete...


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## xebex

Screaming Skull said:


> Hi xebex! First of all welcome to pdf. Hope you have a great time here. Here s the members intro section.
> 
> Members Introduction - Pakistan Defence Forum



Thanks "Screaming Skull" appreciate ur help, I hope what i did in the member introduction is what that is suppose to be done.Anyway let me move on...


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## white_pawn

xebex said:


>



Man your really gone wild


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## applesauce

not surprised that it'll be a guy(girls!?!) from the IAF the first people in space from any space program i can think of has been in or related to the nations air force after all their the ones closest to space


now on a side note--->good to see the world of space exploration is heating up again what with the renewed us moon program, chinese moon program, EU space program, Japanese programs and all. about damn time too, i wanna see a man (woman) on mars before i die!


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## Screaming Skull

*India has to address issues of space security: Kasturirangan​*
Thursday, June 11, 2009

Chennai (PTI): India needs to address the issue of space security as the weapon system deployed there could target civilian satellites, former ISRO Chief K Kasturirangan said on Thursday.

*"We need to address the issue of space security at the earliest as India has already put many satellites in space even as we are developing many. There are weapons system which could target even civilian satellites. So we have to develop systems to safeguard our satellites from any kind of threat,"* Kasturirangan told reporters at an inauguration function of a school at Vallancherry near Chennai.

As India successfully launched Chandrayaan-I and placed more satellites in space efforts are on in the area of developing safeguards, he said.

Asked what should be India's focus in space technology in the coming years he said *there is a need for "improvement in remote sensing for its wider application which could be done using Artificial Intelligence (AI). India should involve in planetary exploration albeit with international cooperation".*

Calling for cost-cutting measures, he said *scientists should explore the possibilities of better propulsion systems and re-usable vehicles for this purpose.*

*A Rajya Sabha MP, Kasturirangan said there was no dearth of funds for space research in India and said that the Centre was "generous" in its grant.* 

The Hindu News Update Service


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## Screaming Skull

*Next ISRO launch in July-August: Nair​*
12 Jun 2009,

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch its indigenously built satellite 'Ocean Sat' on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by July-August, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said here today.

"It will be a unique mission and the satellite would enable us to study the sea surface, wind and also track down the fishing zones," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a national seminar on 'Aerospace Expanding Frontiers-Technologies and Challenges' here.

"We are planning the mission by July end or early August from the launch pad in Sriharikota," he said.

"Chandrayaan has completed its mission and it was a 100 per cent success," Nair said when asked about the country's first moon-mission.

"We have mapped the entire lunar surface and the data collected have been given to scientific community for analysing, results of which will be out soon," he said.

Nair said no trace of water was found on the Moon's surface. "But, we have found traces of magnesium and calcium."

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, Nair said country would be capable of developing its own 'Capsule' to transport human beings to space by 2015.

'Space Travel' is an important part of ISRO's future mission programmes, Nair said, adding developing technology for the same was a big challenge before the country.

Next ISRO launch in July-August: Nair - India - The Times of India


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## Screaming Skull

*Japan, India plan joint space research project​*
Fri Jun 12,

TOKYO (AFP)  Japan and India plan to launch their first joint space research project this year, an experiment in growing plants in zero gravity, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency researcher said Friday.

The two Asian powers are set to launch a small and unmanned Indian-made satellite in October, carrying Japanese laboratory equipment, that is set to orbit for about one week at a height of around 600 kilometres (370 miles).

Aboard the satellite they will seek to grow a type of algae, said Noriaki Ishioka, a professor for Japan's space agency JAXA, who called the experiment "a basic study on photosynthetic activity in space."

"We will retrieve the satellite after a week or so and conduct genetic examinations on how the zero-gravity environment affects photosynthesis."

While the project could eventually pave the way for "space farming," he cautioned that the basic experiment -- using a type of algae called spirulina, not related to the food supplement of the same name -- was an early step.

"Spirulina is edible, but it doesn't taste so good," he said.

Japan already sends astronauts to the International Space Station and has conducted a variety of space experiments in its Kibo laboratory.

But the joint project with the Indian Space Research Organisation aims to allow Japan to diversify its channels for space research.

Japan, India plan joint space research project - Yahoo! News


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## King Julien

*India confident of manned space programme: ISRO*


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Recent successes in Indias space programme have given the country the technological base to confidently approach the challenge of sending man to outer space, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation G. Madhavan Nair has said.

He stated this while inaugurating a national seminar on Aerospace Expanding Frontiers, organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), here on Friday.

The aerospace sector had grown phenomenally during the last decade in terms of technological development. The successful launch and recovery of the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Module had given the country a deep insight into the technological aspects of aerothermodynamics, re-entry heating, navigation, guidance and control strategies pertaining to space vehicles.

Moreover, the Chandrayaan-1 mission had provided the country rich experience in the areas of mission planning, propulsion system, navigation and guidance required to undertake a planetary mission, he said.

Now the time was ideal for the scientists in the country to embark on the development of more challenging technologies such as re-entry systems and re-usable space vehicles.

He listed some of the advanced key technologies that need to be addressed immediately for the manned space mission now on the agenda of the countrys space programme.

Mr. Nair said that the successes in developing space vehicles and missiles notwithstanding, the countrys aerospace industry had fallen behind in developing its own civil aircraft.


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## Screaming Skull

*Indian brains at NASA want to move to ISRO​*
Wednesday, Jun 24, 2009

TIRUCHI: Scientists of Indian origin at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have evinced interest in moving to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after the Chandrayaan  1 success, Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan 1 & 2, said here. 

Scientists have begun to approach the ISRO. Their requests will be considered on a case to case basis in keeping with our requirements.

It will be done without disturbing the equilibrium of motivation among the ISRO scientists, Mr. Annadurai said.

He was hopeful of accomplishing the Rs. 425-crore Chandrayaan  2 project by 2012. The satellite with a payload of 2,700 kg to be launched using Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle will be engineered to send two rovers on moon surface for a duration between six months to one year for carrying out chemical analysis of samples through laser induced heating. 

As of now, 150 scientists and engineers, including Russians, are working on the project. A parallel process is on for accomplishing manned mission to Moon by 2015, Mr. Annadurai said.

On its part, the ISRO was contributing to avoid possibilities for space debris by cataloguing the locations of the existing satellites prior to making launches, propelling geostationary satellites above the orbit before the end of its utility period, and increasing the lifespan of the satellites, he said, responding to another question.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Indian brains at NASA want to move to ISRO


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## Screaming Skull

*CRPF to take ISRO help for precision-guided ops against Maoists​*
Jun 24, 2009

The CRPF will soon approach the ISRO for expeditious satellite imaging and video mapping of all Naxal-infested areas, so that it can carry out special operations against the Maoists with precision.

With the government's thrust on flushing out Naxals, the paramilitary force will take the help of ISRO as also the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) for satellite mapping of forests and hills under control of the Left-wing militants, official sources said.

Aerial videography of the forests and hills in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand is currently underway, they said.

The Global Information System (satellite mapping) will help in organising systematic and precise special operations.

Both NTRO and ISRO were approached by the force a couple of years back to do the job, but now the matter has gained urgency in view of spurt in Naxal violence, described as the biggest threat to internal security by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

CRPF to take ISRO help for precision-guided ops against Maoists

The Hindu News Update Service


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## Screaming Skull

*Satellites help troops in Lalgarh​*
New Delhi: The eyes in the sky are helping security forces flush Maoists out of Lalgarh in the West Midnapore district of Bengal. The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is using satellites to extensively map villages and installations under the control of the rebels to guide the troops on the ground, sources in the security establishment said.

Many of Isro's new-generation satellites can obtain high-resolution imageries, giving details till the last square metre. These visuals are helping the 1,600-strong security team comb the jungles and villages, senior officials said.

Though Isro refused to comment, a senior scientist told DNA that the satellites launched by the agency have capabilities of tracking movement on the ground.

Among the satellites that can take high-resolution images are the recently-launched RISAT-2, also termed spysat, the technology experiment satellite and the Cartosat-2A.

The security forces, drawn primarily from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police, have so far freed half-a-dozen of the 22 villages and one of the 17 government offices taken over by the Maoists.

"The progress (of security operation) is slow but consistent because our men have been continuously walking for the past 60 hours without much rest. These satellite images are helping us identify the areas within the jungles that are dominated by the Maoists," a senior CRPF officer told DNA.

The forces have not yet faced much resistance in Lalgarh, but the final assault is still to begin since the Maoists are entrenched deep in the jungle. "We are trying to corner the Maoists from four different directions with the help of the local police and the Border Security Force, which is acting as a backup for our commandos," the officer said.

Isro is also providing images of Maoist-hit areas in other states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Orissa, CRPF sources said.

The rebels have a presence in 186 districts across 22 states, which account for more than 30% area of the country. They have carried out more than 900 violent attacks in the past six months, killing at least 180 security personnel. --With inputs from Nirad Mudur in Bangalore.

Satellites help troops in Lalgarh


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## ironman

*ISRO working on database to maximise use of rainwater*

Bangalore (PTI): The Indian Space Research Organisation has begun work on creating a national database that would help efforts to preserve and maximise use of rain water, its Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said on Thursday.

This Web-based database can be used by all States, he said at a national conference here on "challenges and opportunities of bio-industrial watershed development for the prosperity of the farming community."

Mr. Nair stressed the need to focus on bio-industrial watershed development in addition to traditional land and water resources-based development to maximise farm income.

"Watershed approach is the only scientific solution for conservation and management of rain-fed areas", he said. "With bio-industrial concept, we can ensure prosperity of rural people and ensure food and livelihood security".

Mr. Nair said that by adding the component of agro-processing to existing components of protection of natural resources, a revolutionary change could be brought about in the situation of 'farming without profits' to 'farming with profits'.


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## Linkin park

*India strides to space, eyes $120 mln/year business*




NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's space agency plans to double its revenues to $120 million a year by increasing satellite launches to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business, the head of its space agency said on Friday.

Last April, India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket, signalling its intention to expand into that business. It also dispatched its first unmanned moon mission last October to join the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China.

ISRO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 26 countries for launching satellites and joint research work, including Russia, France, Germany and Italy, along with South Africa and Brazil.

"We are opening up our market further and by next March we are looking at $120 million worth business," G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

"A mega European launcher has been delayed, so we will have more customers from Europe now," Nair said by telephone from the ISRO headquarters in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

ISRO is also building a low-cost powerful satellite vehicle - GSLV Mark 3, which will help the agency double its capacity of sending payloads from 2.5 tonnes at the moment and would also reduce operational costs by 30 percent.

"We have matured into the space technology and today we have established ourselves as a good service provider for building satellites and launching them," the chairman said.

The space agency is planning to launch five satellites this year, including one for ocean study by July, and at least two from Europe and Africa by the end of the year.

This April, India launched an Israeli-built military spy satellite, highlighting growing defence ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, which is now the second biggest arms supplier to India after Russia.

ISRO, with its low-cost services, is also targetting the United States to launch their spacecraft from its own space station under a commercial agreement, Nair said.

"We are having discussions with the U.S. government and we are trying to open up the market for launching their satellites," Nair said.

The space agency is planning it first manned mission to moon by 2015 following the successful mission of Chandrayaan-1 (moon vehicle), an unmanned cuboid spacecraft it sent to the moon to map the surface and look for precious metals last year.

"We have mapped the entire surface, craters and mountains and we have some idea about where titanium, magnesium and aluminium is present," Nair said.

Link: 

in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-40622720090626?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true


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## Screaming Skull

*Opinion: Searching for water on the Moon​*
Friday, Jun 26, 2009

*
The search for deposits of water is high on the agenda of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. Indias Chandrayaan-1 probe, too, may join the quest.
*​
Forty years after man first set foot on the Moon, the United States has despatched two unmanned lunar spacecraft to Earths natural satellite to pave the way for humans to return there. The search for deposits of water is high on the agenda of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). Indias Chandrayaan-1 probe, too, may well join the quest.

Discovering water on the Moon would be like finding a gold mine, said U.S. space agency NASA in a recent press document. It estimates that getting a bottle of water to the Moon would run to about $50,000 (around Rs. 24 lakh) at current launch costs. So the ability to extract water locally would be immensely useful if humans want to establish bases on the celestial body.

It is believed that water could have been brought to the Moon by comets and meteorites that have crashed on its surface over billions of years. Likewise, hydrogen ions streaming out from the Sun might have combined with oxygen from chemical compounds in the lunar soil and turned into water. The question is whether all this water has boiled off in the face of the Moons scorching day time temperatures and its low gravitational hold.

In a paper published in 1961, three scientists at the California Institute of Technology put forward the idea that water may well be present in appreciable quantities in shaded areas in the form of ice. The paper appeared in the Journal of Geophysical Research around the same time President John F. Kennedy committed the U.S. to landing a man on the Moon.

Some 30 years later, two U.S. space probes that went to the Moon, Clementine and Lunar Prospector, provided evidence that water might persist as patches of ice mixed with soil at the bottom of craters at the poles. Sunlight never reaches the bottom of some craters at the lunar poles, which therefore remain at temperatures far below the freezing point of water. So these would be ideal locations for trapping water ice on the Moon.

But the evidence has been disputed and scientists continue to argue vigorously about whether or not Earths nearest neighbour holds any water.

Last Friday, the LRO and the LCROSS were launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The two spacecraft, along with Chandrayaan-1, will undoubtedly throw a great deal of new light on the issue. The LRO entered the lunar orbit on Tuesday. Once the spacecraft is commissioned, a whole slew of instruments on it will look for signs of water ice and hydrogen in different ways.

Meanwhile, the LCROSS and the spent upper stage of the Atlas rocket that launched the two spacecraft have swung past the Moon for the first time. NASA plans to send the empty upper stage, weighing over 2,000 kg, hurtling into a crater near the lunar south pole at a speed of about 9,000 km per hour. The impact, scheduled for October 9, is expected to hurl vast quantities of soil from the bottom of the crater to a height of several km. The plume of debris will then catch the sunlight, making it possible for instruments on various spacecraft and telescopes on the ground to analyse material that has lain hidden in the crater for billions of years.

The LCROSS will separate from the upper stage some hours before the latters final plunge to the Moon. Following four minutes behind the upper stage, the spacecraft will fly through the debris plume created by the crash and relay the data collected by its instruments to Earth. The spacecraft too will then slam into the Moon, creating a second debris plume.

Chandrayaan-1 is busy surveying the Moon. Looking for water is one of its tasks too. In addition, the Indian lunar probe and the LRO could carry out a complicated radar-based duet.

One body of evidence that favours the presence of water ice on the Moon comes from bistatic radar observations made with the Clementine probe in 1994. In bistatic radar, the radio signal is emitted from one location and the return echo picked up at another place. In the case of Clementine, the radar on the spacecraft aimed its signal at the Moons south pole and the signal that bounced back was received by an antenna on the Earth.

Now with both Chandrayaan-1 and the LRO equipped with radars, for the first time, there is a chance to carry out bistatic radar observations using two satellites in the lunar orbit.

The Mini-RF radar on the LRO is a more advanced version of the U.S.-supplied Mini-SAR on the Indian spacecraft. Moreover, the radars on Chandrayaan-1 and LRO were designed to operate cooperatively in a bistatic mode, with Chandrayaan-1 transmitting and LRO receiving, observed Paul Spudis and others of the Mini-SAR team in a paper published in Current Science earlier this year.

Such bistatic radar observations could provide the best evidence for water ice on the Moon, Dr. Spudis told this correspondent when he was in India for the Chandrayaan-1 launch last year.

Both the U.S. and Indian scientists are known to be enthusiastic about using Chandrayaan-1 and LRO for bistatic studies. But the logistics of how to go about it must first be agreed upon by the space agencies of the two countries.

If both spacecraft are in the same orbit, their radars will be able to work together for extended periods of time, allowing larger areas to be mapped in this fashion. On the other hand, if the satellites are in different orbits, bistatic observations are only possible when the two spacecraft are so aligned that radar emissions from one can bounce off the Moons surface and be received by the other.

Chandrayaan-1 is currently orbiting the Moon at a height of about 200 km. The LRO, on the other hand, is intended to work at a height of just 50 km. Now that the LRO is in the Moons gravitational clutches, NASA plans to initially hold the spacecraft in an elliptical commissioning orbit of 30 km by 216 km for about 60 days. During this period, the spacecraft will be checked out and its instruments tested. One possibility is for the bistatic observations to be carried out some time during this commissioning phase or shortly afterwards.

Although a news report that appeared recently in Nature suggested that bistatic observations using LRO and Chandrayaan-1 would take place this summer, there has so far been no official word on the matter from the two space agencies.

In 1998, NASAs Lunar Prospector spacecraft measured the energy of neutrons coming off the Moons surface and found indications of hydrogen at the poles. The data were consistent with deposits of hydrogen in the form of buried water ice, said William Feldman of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and his colleagues in a paper in the journal, Science.

Last year, Vincent Eke of Durham University in the U.K. and others published research that reanalysed the Lunar Prospector data. When the Lunar Prospector made a map of the hydrogen abundance, it essentially took a blurred image, said Dr. Eke in an email. He and his colleagues had used a sophisticated image reconstruction algorithm to undo the blurring.

The new result that we have found is that the hydrogen, which Lunar Prospector discovered about 10 years ago, is not merely near to the lunar poles but it is actually concentrated in the permanently shadowed polar craters, he told this correspondent in the email.

If hydrogen exists in the form of water, Dr. Eke and his colleagues estimate, the top one metre of soil in the lunar craters could be holding many billions of litres of water. The question now is: what will Chandrayaan-1, the LRO and the LCROSS find?

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Searching for water on the Moon


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## ironman

*IIA developing payload for ISRO's solar mission "Aditya" ​*
Tiruchirappalli (PTI): The Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics was developing a payload for Indian Space Research Organisation's proposed solar mission Aditya to study the Sun's outermost region corona, a scientist of the institute said on Monday.

The payload would be included in Aditya, a mini satellite, being developed by ISRO to study emissions taking place in the Sun during solar maxim, Prof S Chatterjee told reporters here.

On the solar telescope, the country's largest, to be installed by the IIA in the Himalayan ranges to study Sun, he said it would be located in Ladakh District of Jammu and Kashmir and the exact site would be finalised shortly.

He said the IIA was also involved in development of an ultra Violet imaging instrument which would be one of the five science payloads for the country's astronomy satellite ASTROSAT, which would facilitate study of a range of astrophysical objects, proposed for launch in 2011.

The images and data generated by the instrument would lead to new vistas of research in astro-physics, he added.

Chatterjee was in the city in connection with celebration of international year of astronomy at the Anna Science Centre.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Screaming Skull

*India plans to develop reusable spacecraft with Russia: Nair​*
Tuesday 30 June, 2009.

India is keen to expand its ongoing space cooperation with Russia to joint development of a "cheaper" reusable spacecraft, ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair has said.

"India would like to continue strengthening space cooperation (with Russia) and also to expand it by means of development of cheap reusable spacecraft," Nair said in an interview to the government-run RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

ISRO and Russia's federal space agency Roskosmos are currently working on the joint Chandrayan-2 project for which the Russian side would provide a lunar landing craft to put a Moon-rover for the lunar research.

Under the agreement signed in 2007, the Chandrayan-2 lunar mission is planned in 2011-2012 for which ISRO is developing new powerful GSLV-Mark-III space launch vehicle, Nair said.

Russia is also helping India in its first manned space flight due in 2015.

"In December 2008 India and Russia signed an agreement on cooperation in manned space flights. Under this agreement Roskosmos is helping ISRO in preparing for the manned mission," Nair said.

According to the ISRO chief, a space capsule with two astronauts would be launched at low earth orbit of 275 kilometres on about a weeklong orbital flight.

Recalling the history of space cooperation with Moscow, Nair said it began in 1962 with the launching of Soviet meteorological rockets from Thumba rocket range in Kerala and orbiting of first Indian satellites Aryabhatta, Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2 and three IRS series remote-sensing satellites aboard Russian launch vehicles.


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## Linkin park

India to launch ocean monitoring satellite in August

July 1st, 2009

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the launch of its second ocean monitoring satellite in August, along with six European nano satellites as piggy back luggage.

&#8220;The 952 kg OCEANSAT-2 is envisaged as in-orbit replacement to OCEANSAT-1 and will be injected by the stripped down or core alone version of ISRO&#8217;s workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14) in the same polar sun-synchronous orbit of 720 km,&#8221; S. Satish, ISRO&#8217;s director (Publications and Public Relations), told IANS from Bangalore over phone.

According to him, the intended orbit, combined with the wide swath of the satellite&#8217;s footprint, will enable observation of the same area of the ocean every two days.

OCEANSAT-2 will be used for identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies, weather forecasting and climate studies.

Apart from the ISRO-developed Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, the satellite will also have a Radio Occultation sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency.

The Scatterometer with a ground resolution of 50km x 50km is expected to provide accurate information on wind speed and direction.

The eight-band OCM with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 km will provide information about the same area every two days.

According to Satish, the rocket will blast off from the first launch pad at ISRO&#8217;s rocket launch centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh near here.

The designed life span of OCEANSAT-2 will be five years but the actual usage may go beyond that as happened with OCEANSAT-1, which was launched in 1999 but is still working.

ISRO will not decommission OCEANSAT-1. The satellite will go into oblivion once its components start dying.

Piggy backing on OCEANSAT-2 will be six nano satellites from Europe, together weighing 25 kg.

This will be the second time that ISRO will launch a cluster of nano satellites. In 2008 ISRO - launching its cartography satellite (CARTOSAT-2A) and Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) - also sent up eight nano satellites and set a world record of maximum number of satellites sent up in a single launch.

After this ISRO plans to send into orbit a heavier communication satellite GSAT-4 in September or October through another rocket, the Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

GSAT-4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft.

GSAT-4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1400-3200 A wavelengths.


Link:
thaindian.com/newsportal/sci-tech/india-to-launch-ocean-monitoring-satellite-in-august_100211809.html


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## Screaming Skull

*European flavour to India's Oceansat-2 August launch​*
Bangalore (PTI) India's indigenous Oceansat-2 satellite will be launched next month from Sriharikota spaceport on the east coast and will also carry with it a set of six nano satellites, all of European origin.

Besides Rubin 9.1 and Rubin 9.2 nano satellites from Germany, the four cubesats lined up for the mission on board India's workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle are: Beesat, built by Technical University Berlin, UWE-2 (University of Wuerzburg Germany), ITU-pSat (Istanbul Technical University Turkey) and SwissCube-1 (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland).

Oceansat-2 weighing around 970 kg, is an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, which has completed 10 years of service, ISRO Spokesperson S. Satish said. 

"It (Oceansat-2) will carry an OCM (Ocean Colour Monitor) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer. In addition, it will carry Radio Occultation Sounder for Atomospheric studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI)," he said.

Oceansat-2 would help identify potential fishing zones, assist in coastal zone studies and significantly enhance expertise in understanding surface temperature and winds.

"Earlier, we had launched Oceansat (Oceansat-1) which essentially could look at (only) the colour of the ocean. Now, colour alone is not sufficient, we should look at the temperature and surface winds and so on," ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair told PTI. 

The Hindu News Update Service


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## Screaming Skull

*Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2013​*
Kolkata, July 04, 2009

India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-II is likely to be launched by 2013, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said on Saturday.

"Chandrayaan-II should take place by 2013. Our first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-I, has given us a substantial understanding about entering the moon's orbit. But ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the lunar surface is still an obstacle," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony here.

He said: "The moon doesn't have any atmosphere so utilising parachutes will not be possible. We are now exploring other alternatives."

Nair, who was in town to receive M.P. Birla Memorial Award, 2009 for exceptional achievement in the field of astronomy and space science said the biggest impediment to the proposed Chandrayaan-II project was the impact management of the rover.

He said that ISRO would also launch a geostationary satellite to cater to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to record the changing monsoon pattern and cloud shifts.

"This satellite will be handed over to IMD within next 2-3 years. It'll help to track the reading of cloud shifts and changing monsoon patterns," he said.

Nair said that India's Mars mission was suffering due to lack of qualified manpower available.

"The Mars mission could be delayed as we don't have enough scientific ideas coming through. In India, there is a requirement for more students to take up pure sciences and undertake research activities," he said.

Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2013- Hindustan Times


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## Linkin park

*ISRO eyes 25% revenue growth in 2009-10​*

4 Jul 2009, 1911 hrs IST,

KOLKATA: The Indian Space Research Organisation is expecting a 25 percent growth in its revenue in 2009-10, ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair said
here on Saturday.

"We are expecting a 25 percent increase in the total revenue of ISRO this financial year. We had attained a revenue of Rs.10 billion in the last fiscal (2008-09)," Nair told reporters in an interactive session.

He said nearly 15-20 percent revenue of the space agency came from launching satellites on behalf of other countries.

"The budgetary allocation for carrying out space research activities in the country last year was Rs.40 billion. This year, we're waiting for the union budget," he said.

The budget will be presented in parliament on Monday.

He said that the delayed launch of satellites by the European Space Agency might lead to more countries using India's polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs).

Nair said the revenue might also go up by another 10 percent on account of more use of satellite services by direct-to-home (DTH) TV operators and telecom providers. 

Link:
economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-by-Industry/ISRO-eyes-25-revenue-growth/articleshow/4738243.cms


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## Linkin park

Space programme gets boost with 40 percent more funds​

July 6th, 2009,

Pranab Mukherjee New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Indias space research programme will get a boost as the union budget for 2009-10 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday has given a 40 percent hike in fund allocation for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The total funds allocation for ISRO for 2009-10 is Rs.4,959 crore (Rs.49.59 billion or $1.01 billion), up from Rs.3,499 crore, which is an increase of around 41 percent, S. Satish, director (publications), told IANS from the space agencys headquarters in Bangalore over telephone.

He said bulk of the sum will be used in ongoing projects like development of the advanced rocket geo-synchronous launch vehicle (GSLV) Mark III to launch four-tonne communication satellites apart from the existing polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs) and GSLVs.

The space agency has got Rs.230 crore towards its manned space mission.

Though ISRO has worked out the total cost of the mission at Rs.12,000 crore, the sum allocated this year is far more than the Rs.95 crore it got last fiscal for three projects connected with the mission.

According to Satish, Rs.155 crore has been allocated towards development of a semi-cryogenic engine that will use liquid oxygen as oxidiser and highly purified kerosene to fire rocket.

He said the funds will be used to build the necessary infrastructure at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

Link:

thaindian.com/newsportal/business/space-programme-gets-boost-with-40-percent-more-funds_100214254.html


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## Linkin park

Space programme gets boost with 40 percent more funds​
July 6th, 2009 

Pranab Mukherjee New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Indias space research programme will get a boost as the union budget for 2009-10 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday has given a 40 percent hike in fund allocation for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The total funds allocation for ISRO for 2009-10 is Rs.4,959 crore (Rs.49.59 billion or $1.01 billion), up from Rs.3,499 crore, which is an increase of around 41 percent, S. Satish, director (publications), told IANS from the space agencys headquarters in Bangalore over telephone.

He said bulk of the sum will be used in ongoing projects like development of the advanced rocket geo-synchronous launch vehicle (GSLV) Mark III to launch four-tonne communication satellites apart from the existing polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs) and GSLVs.

The space agency has got Rs.230 crore towards its manned space mission.

Though ISRO has worked out the total cost of the mission at Rs.12,000 crore, the sum allocated this year is far more than the Rs.95 crore it got last fiscal for three projects connected with the mission.

According to Satish, Rs.155 crore has been allocated towards development of a semi-cryogenic engine that will use liquid oxygen as oxidiser and highly purified kerosene to fire rocket.

He said the funds will be used to build the necessary infrastructure at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

Link:

thaindian.com/newsportal/business/space-programme-gets-boost-with-40-percent-more-funds_100214254.html


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## ironman

*Sky is No Limit​*
The worlds most advanced navigation system, GAGAN 

By Fred A. Treyz III (Fritz)

At the Paris Air Show Raytheon Company recently announced it is close to reaching an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to deliver a Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). GAGAN is a Hindi word that means Sky, but to Raytheon, ISRO and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) GAGAN stands for the GPS-Aided GEO Augmented Navigation System. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation over the Indian airspace and adjoining areas in Southeast Asia.

*GAGAN is based on very sophisticated SBAS technology. GAGAN will be the most advanced air navigation system available and further reinforces Indias leadership in the forefront of air navigation, said Andy Zogg, Raytheon Network Centric Systems Vice President of Command and Control Systems*. GAGAN will greatly improve safety, reduce congestion and enhance communications needed to meet Indias growing air traffic management needs.
GAGAN was co-developed by Raytheon and ISRO, in conjunction with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Raytheon will continue the work it began several years ago and expects to have the GAGAN system fully functional in 2013.

Benefits of GAGAN
 The Indian civil aviation community will have the highest confidence that pilots, air traffic controllers and passengers will experience all the advantages of the worlds most accurate, flexible and efficient air navigation system.

 Aircraft operators will know with certainty that a navigation signal-in-space certified for safety-of-flight operations will be delivered on time to support their avionics investments.

The Director General Civil Aviation, as the ICAO signatory for India, will have confidence in the integrity and protection of the navigation signal it will certify.

 The AAI, as the air navigation service provider for the Indian Flight Information Region, will have a state-of-the-art navigation system with the full understanding of its operational procedures and maintenance requirements.
Raytheon is the only company that has delivered SBAS technologies that have been certified for safety-of-flight operations. The company developed the Federal Aviation Administrations Wide Area Augmentation System in the United States known as WAAS. The FAA certified the system in July 2003. Raytheon also was engaged with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureaus Multi-Function Transport Satellite Augmentation System, and the system was certified in September 2007. Both systems are based on Raytheons proven SBAS technology

Benefits of SBAS

SBAS enhances the GPS standard positioning service by providing sufficient integrity, accuracy and availability for use in commercial aviation. SBAS provides both en-route and precision landing capabilities. SBAS provides approach capabilities at every airport runway and no additional infrastructure is needed.

Aviation Use of SBAS
In the US, over 37,000 general aviation SBAS receivers have been sold with approximately 1,000 additional units a month being purchased. More than 500 business and regional aircraft have been equipped with SBAS receivers since 2007. In 2009, SBAS avionics will be standard equipment on Cessna CJs. Southwest Airlines is in the process of equipping 200 Boeing 737s with WAAS avionics while FedEx is equipping 253 of its Cessna Caravan aircraft. Horizon Airlines has begun equipping its Bombardier Q400 fleet. Recently, helicopters have also been equipped with SBAS receivers.1

The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) plays an important role in US National Airspace modernisation. It is a key technology for standardising and improving the efficiency of US airspace operations. WAAS provides capabilities, services and applications that are key components of larger, highly complex systems (e.g., Required Navigation Performance and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast). Moreover, with a receiver cost comparable to GPS, WAAS is available to all aviation communities such as general aviation, vertical flight, cargo and regional carriers. Without WAAS, the ability to achieve future efficiencies would be greatly diminished.

For aviation, SBAS offers a huge benefit over existing navigation infrastructure. SBAS accuracy far exceeds the capabilities of existing navigation aids and provides improved safety. SBAS supports the strictest Required Navigation Performance requirements and it provides a natural evolution to new capabilities like Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast.


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## IAF

India can do any thing. 


​


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## Khajur

Aiming high - ISRO set to build own suits for space mission

Tiki Rajwi 
TPuram

*The technology is kept a religiously guarded secret by leading space- faring natin . They wont even show you such a suit, let alone give one to work with materials needed for manufacturing*



THAT white, cocoon-like suit worn by Neil Armstrong as he bobbed up and down on the moon decades ago could prove one of the stiffest challenges for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as it prepares for the human space flight mission. Due to the extreme engineering skill and the astronomical cost involved in making one of these complex suits, the technology is kept a religiously guarded secret by leading space-faring nations. The ISRO is now set to build these suits from scratch using its own technology
Its such a complicated attire, and the costs involved are tremendously high. Space agencies that have them wont even show you such a suit, let alone give you one to work with. The materials needed for manufacturing them are available, though, ISRO sources said
There, in fact, are two suits. The flight suit used inside the spacecraft and the space suit used outside for extra-vehicular activity. The common characteristic to both is that they should withstand extreme environments
They should be pressurised and made of multiple fabric layers designed to recreate the earths atmosphere, the sources said. The suits should be airtight, water-proof and flame-resistant, strong enough to resist gas pressure, flexible at sub-zero temperatures and resilient at high temperatures. It should offer protection from radiation and flying particles
The single-piece, intra-vehicular suit (flight suit) has seven layers to withstand cabin depressurisation, prevent loss of oxygen supply and pooling of blood in the lower body among other things. It weighs 20 kg. The extra-vehicular suit (space suit) used by astronauts outside the spacecraft _ the suits they wear when they float in space _ has 17 layers. Apart from providing an earthlike ambience within, it is a small spacecraft in itself
The two-piece suit weighs 120 kg but out there in space, that wouldnt matter as they would less These suits could cost crores of rupees, ISRO officials said. But then, some special materials go in their making. Like Nomex and Kevlar for instance, which make up the outer, 17th layer. Then there are the auxiliary systems on a space suit. These include soft helmets and visor, communication systems, floating device, pressure regulator, gloves, urine collection garment, anti-gravity pants, camera, lights and oxygen tanks
The Planning Commission had ap- proved the Rs 12,400-crore mission planned for 2015. The ISRO intends to put a two-man mission in orbit which, if successful, would see India make a big leap in its space programme.

:: The NewIndian Express ePaper ::


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## Mig-29

Bangalore, July 12(ANI): G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Sunday expressed satisfaction with the successful collection of data about the moon by Chandrayaan, country's maiden lunar mission.

Madhavan Nair stated this while addressing the 9th convocation of International Institute of Information and Technology at Bangalore on Sunday.

He mentioned that the tracking and detection of several factors by Chandrayaan are important steps in mapping the mineralogical composition of moon's surface which in turn would enable further study in its origin and evolution.

"I think I am happy to say that Chandrayaan has been completely successful in collecting all the data what we wanted. First was the three dimensional of the lunar surface, also getting the mineral content of the surface and then trying to use the extra instruments," said G. Madhavan Nair.

"All this went on very well and we are more or less very happy that the mission is complete," he added.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched on October 22 last year.

Madhavan Nair also added that the second moon mission would be launched by 2012. (ANI)

ISRO chief satisfied with lunar data compiled by Chandrayaan - Yahoo! India News


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## RPK

India Moon probe 'malfunctions' 

India's first mission to the Moon has experienced a technical problem, India's space research officials say.

A sensor of the unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft has "malfunctioned" and steps have been taken to ensure it is able to continue its work, they say. 

It was reported the the spacecraft was no longer orbiting with high precision. 

The mission, which launched last October, is regarded as a major step for India as it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring nations in Asia. 

Scientists belonging to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the "vital star sensor" of the spacecraft had "malfunctioned". 

"The mission is safe, but its lifespan may be affected," ISRO spokesman S Satish told the BBC. 

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft was launched into space from a launch pad in southern Andhra Pradesh last October. 

The robotic probe will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals. 

"We have already got useful information from the pictures beamed," said an ISRO official. 

But he said the "quality of the pictures" had been affected because of the malfunction. 

Powered by a single solar panel generating about 700 watts, the ISRO probe carries five Indian-built instruments and six constructed in other countries, including the US, Britain and Germany. 

The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees (&#163;45m; $78m), considerably less than Japanese and Chinese probes sent to the Moon last year. 

But the Indian government's space efforts have not been welcomed by all. 

Some critics regard the space programme as a waste of resources in a country where millions still lack basic services.


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## destiny

Chandrayaan sensor fails; craft&#39;&#39;s life may be reduced - Yahoo! India News

*Chandrayaan sensor fails; craft''s life may be reduced*

Fri, Jul 17 10:35 AM

Bangalore, Jul 17 (PTI) India''s first moon mission Chandrayaan-I, launched in October last with a two-year life span, has lost a major sensor and may meet a premature end, ISRO said today. "Unfortunately, during the last month we have lost a vital sensor --- the star sensor," ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair said.

"Like in the olden days when one used to look at the stars to fix a direction, likewise an onboard electronic equipment was doing all this and it was required for precise pointing (towards the moon). With its loss we are really worried," he said.

"But to the credit of the ISRO scientific team, they have worked out a very innovative way of overcoming the problem," the ISRO chief said, but added that if some more failures happen, "then we will have problems". Nair, however, said that in the last eight months of the operation of the mission, "we have collected almost all the data that we wanted" and that most of its objectives have already been completed.

Chandrayaan-I was launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on October 22 last year. ISRO Spokesperson S Satish said, "We are not sure how long we will be able to sustain it.

The life of Chandrayaan-I designed for two years may be reduced". He, however, maintained that the mission is not crippled adding, "it is continuing satisfactorily.

" ISRO said it has devised innovative technology and is using antenna pointing mechanism and gyroscopes to overcome the problem. .


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## RPK

Scientists save India's moon mission from failure

NEW DELHI &#8212; India's only satellite orbiting the moon came close to overheating and failure but scientists improvised to save it, officials said Friday

The launch of Chandrayaan-1 last fall put India in an elite group to have lunar missions along with the U.S., Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China.

But last month the satellite lost a critical instrument called the star sensor, said S. Satish, the spokesman of the Indian Space Research Organization.

The sensor helps the $80 million satellite stay oriented so its cameras and other recording equipment are constantly aimed at the lunar surface. Without the sensor, the mission is useless, Satish said.

ISRO chief Madhavan Nair told the NDTV television network that the satellite came close to overheating and failing after it was put into orbit 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the moon.

"The entire spacecraft would have baked and would have been simply lost," Nair said. Many power systems and instruments failed.

The ISRO team then resorted to using other systems such as an antenna mechanism and gyroscope to make sure the satellite was "looking at the moon," Satish told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. The orbit was raised to 120 miles (200 kilometers).

"As a result, the mission is safe and all the systems are working," he said.

As India's economy has boomed, it has sought to convert its newfound wealth &#8212; built on the nation's high-tech sector &#8212; into political and military clout.

Scientists hope the Chandrayaan project will boost India's capacity to build more efficient rockets and satellites, especially through miniaturization, and open research avenues for young Indian scientists.

Chandrayaan, which means "moon craft" in Sanskrit, is scheduled to last two years.

"We hope we will be able to complete two years in this mode. It may or may not last that long," said Satish. "But there is no need for a major concern. We already have got substantial data from the moon," he said.

India plans to follow the mission by landing a rover on the moon in 2011.


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## RPK

Sensor failure not to affect moon mission, says ISRO


BANGALORE: The star sensor failure on board Chandrayaan-1 would not curtail the two-year moon odyssey and more than 90 per cent of the mission's 
scientific objectives had already been achieved, ISRO said on Friday. 

The space scientists were able to recover within a week from the May 16 "anomaly" (star sensor failure) and put the spacecraft back into normal operation, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters here. 

He said the star sensor, one of the prime sensors, was used for determining the spacecraft's altitude. Looking at the stars, this sensor can determine the orientation of the moon spacecraft accurately. 

ISRO is now using gyroscopes, electro-mechanical devices used for Indian Remote Sensing class of satellites, which gives the orientation accuracy quite satisfactorily, he said. 

Nair said more than 90 per cent of the scientific and mission objectives had already been achieved, and dismissed suggestions that the sensor failure might reduce the lifespan of the spacecraft. 

"Life (of the spacecraft) is not dependent on this instrument. This instrument is used only for orientation of the spacecraft," he said. "The sensor cannot be recovered at this stage and we hope that the remaining part of this mission will be completed in the gyromode as expected". 

Nair said ISRO had a meeting a month ago with the Indian scientific community, which stated that about 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the scientific objectives of the mission had been completed. 

"We are happy that almost all the mission objectives which have been set for this (mission) has been achieved," he said. 

"More than 90 per cent of the mission objectives have been completed as on date, and the pending activities are related to collecting more images of the Moon, both for terrain mapping as well as the mineral mapping. These operations also, we plan to complete soon. So, with that we will be completing the entire operation relating to Chandrayaan-1 in a successful manner," he said. 

The ISRO Chairman said the star sensor would have "gone into problem" because of "excessive radiation" from the Sun. 

Asked how long gyroscopes, which have been activated, would survive, Nair said: "...we know electro-mechanic gyros which have been used...they are not susceptible for this kind of radiation and other parameters. So, we hope it will survive the remaining mission duration."


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## Screaming Skull

*Space agreement to help launch India-U.S. 3.0 ​*
Monday, Jul 20, 2009

New Delhi: Despite last-minute wrinkles, India is still looking to sign an end-use monitoring agreement to ease the sale of U.S. military hardware during the visit here of Hillary Clinton, but the highlight of *Mondays discussions between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and the U.S. Secretary of State will be the unveiling of a new strategic dialogue architecture and the signing of an agreement to facilitate the launch of U.S. satellites and satellites with U.S. components on Indian launch vehicles.*

South Block officials say the new dialogue architecture is intended to take Indo-U.S. relations to a higher level, 3.0  to use Ms. Clintons phrase  and will cover areas like nonproliferation, security, education, health and development. Although the U.S. side is keen on India making public the sites where U.S.-supplied nuclear reactors will be located, a final decision has yet to be taken on this in South Block.

*The new Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) to be signed on Monday will cover launches involving satellites owned by U.S. government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have U.S. equipment on board. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with ISROs launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of equipment.*

In March 2006, Frontline reported that the U.S. was insisting on a full-fledged TSA, which included restrictive movement of the payload, constant overseeing presence of U.S. escorts, and impermeable firewalls between civil and military payloads.

According to ISRO officials, the final text of the agreement to be signed follows the standard template the U.S. negotiates with all countries. Its provisions are essentially driven by U.S. law and India did not have much flexibility during its negotiations, an official told The Hindu.

The agreement to be signed is apparently an umbrella one  *similar to the TSA that China and the U.S. signed * with individual licensing by the State Department likely dispensed with, *but India will not yet be able to enter the lucrative market for the launch of U.S. commercial satellites or third country commercial satellites with U.S. components till a separate Commercial Space Launch Agreement (CSLA) is signed. The TSA is a necessary but not sufficient condition for commercial launches, said an ISRO official. India and the U.S. have been working on the draft of a CSLA for some time now but there are still major differences between the two sides.*

Even after a CSLA, however, ISRO will not be able to launch U.S. communications satellites since these figure in the U.S. Munitions List and require separate certification from the State Department.

A second agreement will also be signed by Mr. Krishna and Ms. Clinton on a framework for robust result-oriented cooperation in science and technology for collaborative research and its commercialisation.

Ministry of External Affairs officials say this agreement will build on the October 2005 Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.

The Next Steps in Strategic Partnership of January 2004 envisaged an agreement to allow for the Indian launch of all U.S.-licensed satellites and third country satellites with controlled U.S. items on board but despite the absence of this, the NSSP was declared concluded in July 2005.

The Hindu : Front Page : Space agreement to help launch &#8216;India-U.S. 3.0&#8217;

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## RPK

ISRO plans manned flights to space by 2015

New Delhi: ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair on Sunday said the technical glitch on India's first moon mission (which has been rectified later) would not affect the country's future space missions. 

Asked if the problem would dampen India's future space missions especially when it is planning to send Chandrayaan-II, Nair said, "Not at all."

Star sensor, a critical instrument on board India's only satellite orbiting the moon, failed on May 16 due to overheating and cast doubts on completion of the two-year mission launched on October 22 last year. 

In an interview to a TV channel, the ISRO chief said the organisation is planning to send the first manned flight around 2015.

"There would be two men in human capsule on a seven-day mission. It will be launched from Sriharikota," he said. 

On sending an Indian to moon, Nair said, "At the moment we don't have such plan." 

But he strongly favoured a manned mission to moon by India, saying the US and China have declared they would like to have their men on the lunar surface by 2020. 

"I do not know whether we can afford to lagging behind in that," the ISRO chairman said. 

"Superiority of a nation depends on technology. Space is where the highest level of technology is being demonstrated. Today, I can say we are on par with developed nations as far as technology is concerned," Nair said.


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## Linkin park

ISRO preparing up to launch sun mission Aditya soon​




New Delhi, July 20, 2009: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to launch sun mission Aditya. The outermost region of the sun is called Corona. ISRO is in the process of designing a space craft called Aditya to study it. It is a mini satellite. Its design is just getting completed.

The emission which are taking place in the sun and how it interacts with the ionosphere and atmosphere etc. will be studied. This usually happens during solar maxim, which is happening now.

Aditya is the first space based coronograph to study the corona. It would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating,coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather process. Studying these would give us a greater insight about the solar activity conditions.

The temperature of the solar corona goes beyond million degrees. During Solar eclipse the corona can be seen from the earth. Its due to the bright solar disc and the scattering of the sunlight by the earths atmosphere. To study the corona we have to go beyond the atmosphere and mask the bright solar disc.



Link:

khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23886&Itemid=88


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## Mig-29

Raytheon selected to deliver GPS-aided Indian Air Navigation System

The Indian Space Research Organization has awarded an $82 million contract to Raytheon Company to modernize the Indian air navigation system.

Raytheon will build the ground stations for the GPS-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System, and ISRO will provide the space segment and additional ground equipment. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian airspace and adjoining areas in South and East Asia.

"GAGAN will be the world's most advanced air navigation system and further reinforces India's leadership in the forefront of air navigation," said Andy Zogg, Raytheon Network Centric Systems vice president of Command and Control Systems. "GAGAN will greatly improve safety, reduce congestion and enhance communications to meet India's growing air traffic management needs."

Raytheon plays a major role in designing innovative solutions for air traffic management. The company offers a broad range of automation and surveillance systems in use today in more than 50 countries around the world. GAGAN will be the newest addition to the ATM portfolio.

Raytheon is the only company that has delivered satellite-based augmentation systems that have been certified for safety-of-flight operations. The company developed the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System and was engaged in the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau's Multi-Function Transport Satellite Augmentation System.

"Our GAGAN solution addresses the four essential elements of safe air navigation: accuracy, integrity, availability and continuity," said Fritz Treyz, Raytheon Network Centric Systems director of Business Development who led the Raytheon team pursuing the GAGAN initiative.

Mr. A. S. Ganeshan, GAGAN project director of ISRO Satellite Center, has led the ISRO team.

Raytheon will continue the work it began several years ago and expects to have the GAGAN system fully functional by 2013.

Raytheon Company, with 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.


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## Linkin park

US space deal to put Isro into higher orbit​

The technology safeguards agreement (TSA) signed by India and the US on Monday will expand satellite launch market and boost revenues for Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
The agreement reached between US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and external affairs minister S.M.Krishna will pave way for execution of two major contracts bagged by Isro for launch of satellites having American component and payloads.
Executive director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Isro, K R Sridhara Murthi told Financial Chronicle that the Indo-US pact will enable Isro to launch civilian satellites being deployed for non-commercial purposes by third country that have US-made components. Isro can also license satellite equipment having US components aboard.
The civilian non-commercial satellites are those launched by government-owned agencies to monitor weather, natural calamities, provide health and education coverage and take up other social services through satellite link- ups.
Hitherto, the US was unwilling to allow Isro to launch either civilian satellites with American equipment or third country satellites carrying American payloads. Satellites owned by American universities and other academic institutions can also be launched by Isro.
As per the agreement, the US will retain the right to monitor movement of such satellites to ensure that its equipment having dual use is not misused or diverted for other uses like supporting a war or creating unrest in a particular country.
Murthi said a collaborative scientific mission with French Space agency CNES  the 500-kg Megha-Tropiques satellite  will be launched later this year as per schedule. Similarly, the Algerian 200-kg, remote sensing satellite Alsat-2A having on board US equipment will also be launched in 2009-10 by Isro.
According to Isro officials, the agreement follows the standard template that the US negotiates with all countries. It is similar to the TSA that the US initialed with China recently.
However, they added that India will not be in a position to immediately enter the lucrative market for the launch of `commercial satellites for the US or third country pending conclusion of a separate commercial space launch agreement (CSLA) between the two.
The new dialogue architecture between the US and India with Hillary Clinton and Krishna as co-chairs provides for logically extending the TSA to CSLA.
Isro offers the homegrown PSLV to carry satellites of up to 1,700 kg into low-earth orbit at a cost thats nearly 30 per cent cheaper vis-à-vis competing agencies and private firms such as International Launch Services and two Russian organisations, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and RSC Energia.
Analysts say that the satellite launch market will touch a staggering $ 145 billion by 2016. This is against an earlier estimate of $116 billion.
While India is still a fledgling competitor in the global satellite manufacturing and launch industry -- it entered this field only two years ago -- it is beginning to make a mark with cost competitiveness and flexible time schedules.
According to Antrixs executive director, the Indian space agency has made slow but steady progress in the booming but capital-intensive satellite launch market. The segment contributed over $20 million or 10 per cent of Isros total revenues of Rs 1,000 crore ($208 million) during 2008-09.
Isro has so far put into space 16 foreign satellites from countries like Belgium, Canada, Korea, Germany, Japan and Indonesia, mostly riding piggyback on its own satellites.

Link:

mydigitalfc.com/companies/us-space-deal-put-isro-higher-orbit-802

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## Screaming Skull

*Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft completes 3000 orbits around the Moon​*
Chandrayaan-1, India&#8217;s first mission to Moon, launched on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has completed eight months of successful operation and has made 3,000 revolutions around the Moon. Besides sending more than 70,000 images of the lunar surface which provide breathtaking views of lunar mountains and craters, especially craters in the permanently shadowed areas of the Moon&#8217;s polar region, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is also collecting valuable data pertaining to the chemical and mineral content of the Moon. Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s orbit was raised from 100 km to 200 km circular on May 19, 2009. The high orbital altitude of Chandrayaan-1 reduces the resolution of the imagery but provides a wider swath and the data is of good quality.





The onboard star sensor used for determining the orientation of the spacecraft started malfunctioning on April 26, 2009. To overcome this anomaly, ISRO devised an innovative technique of using redundant sensors &#8211; gyroscopes &#8211; along with antenna pointing information and images of specific location on the surface of the moon, for determining the orientation of the spacecraft. This method has been validated and based on this information, mission operations are being carried out satisfactorily. Other than the failure of the star sensor and one of the Bus Management Units, health of the spacecraft is normal.

Recent review by scientists has confirmed that all primary mission objectives of Chandrayaan-1 have been successfully realised during the eight months of its operation. The spacecraft continues to send high quality data as per planned sequence to its ground station at Byalalu near Bangalore. Detailed review of the scientific objectives and the performance results on the Chandrayaan-1 mission is scheduled within three months after which further operational procedures will be worked out.

It may be recalled that the primary mission of Chandrayaan-1 were:


To realise the complex spacecraft with 11 scientific instruments
To launch the spacecraft in near earth orbit and to carry out orbit raising manoeuvres of the spacecraft from 22,000 km to 3,84,000 km and place the spacecraft in a circular orbit around the moon
To place the Indian Tricolour on the moon
To carry out the imaging operation of the lunar surface and collect data on the mineral content of the lunar surface
To realise the deep space tracking network and implement the operational procedures for travel into deep space

With the successful realisation of these objectives, additional data that will be derived during the remaining part of Chandrayaan-1&#8217;s life will be complementary to already derived information.

The data collected from Chandrayaan-1 instruments have been disseminated to the Indian scientists and also the partners from Europe and USA. The scientific community is extremely happy with the already obtained data and the results of analysis could be expected in about 6 months to 1 year period. 

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft completes 3000 orbits around the Moon

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## sudhir007

*Govt gives green signal to GSAT-11 communication satellite*

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Indian government has approved development of a Rs 500 crore advanced communication satellite to provide telecom links with small Ku-band terminals operating across the country.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday night gave its nod for the design and development of GSAT-11 communication satellite, which is planned to be realised in 30 months.

The GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite which will be a high capacity multi-team Ku/Ka-bank spacecraft.

"The launch of GSAT-11 will augment the Ku-band capacity considerably for telecommunication services in the country," an official release said.

With 16 beams in Ku-band and frequency reuse factor of 4, it can provide 10 GHz effective bandwidth equivalent to about 22 transponders of 36 MHz, it said.

GSAT-11 employs a new 1-4K Bus.

fullstory


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## ironman

*Isro to launch GSAT-11 with 40 transponders in 2012​*Posted: Fri, Jul 24 2009. 9:43 PM IST
K. Raghu

Bangalore: India has approved building its heaviest communication satellite so far for telecom services, with capacity equal to what it currently provides using 11 satellites.

*The 4.5 tonne satellite, GSAT-11, will be launched by 2012 and carry 40 transponders in the Ku-band and Ka-band frequencies, which are 3-6 times more powerful than that used in existing communication satellites.*

New mission: Isro campus in Bangalore. It will be the heaviest communication satellite so far for telecom services. Hemant Mishra / Mint

New mission: Isro campus in Bangalore. It will be the heaviest communication satellite so far for telecom services. Hemant Mishra / Mint
This can provide bandwidth capacity equivalent to as much as 220 transponders by reusing the beams in multiple regions.

*India currently has 211 transponders in the 11 INSAT series satellites at their space home in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit, or GTO, some 36,000km above earth.*

This would help us address growing demand from users, said S. Satish, spokesman for Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, the countrys space agency.

The cabinet on Thursday sanctioned Rs500 crore for the satellite to be built in 30 months, the government said in a statement on Friday.

*The satellite will be launched by a homegrown rocket under developmentGSLV Mk3which can carry satellites of at least 4 tonne.*

Most Indian satellites for telecom services and television broadcasts in orbit use the lower C-band frequency, except two satellites dedicated for direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasts that use the higher Ku-band frequency.

The (Ka-band) beam can be targeted at a specific place. The quality of reception will be much higher, T.K. Alex, director of Isro satellite centre in Bangalore, said in an earlier interview in June.

This (Ka-band) will become very common in few years, he said.

Isro will test the Ka-band technology in its forthcoming experimental satellite GSAT-4, to be launched later this year, he had said.

*India aims to increase its transponder capacity to 500 during the 11th Plan, which ends in March 2012.* The country plans to launch six satellites by then, some to replace its ageing satellites in orbit.

Globally, there are more than 6,000 communication transponders in space. The growth of transponder requirement in the next five years is predicted to be only moderateabout 8,000with multimedia and high-definition television being the growth drivers, a Isro report on the 11th Plan said.


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## ironman

*Arianespace To Launch HYLAS Telecommunications Satellite​*by Staff Writers
Evry, France (SPX) Jul 23, 2009

Avanti Communications Group plc, has chosen Arianespace to launch the HYLAS telecommunications satellite. This new contract is the 11th signed by Arianespace with the major satellite operators.

The launch of the HYLAS satellite is planned for the first semester of 2010, using an Ariane 5 or Soyuz launcher from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

HYLAS is the first satellite entrusted to Arianespace by Avanti Communications, the new European satellite operator. Avanti Communications is Arianespace's 31st new customer.

*HYLAS has been built by the industrial consortium grouping EADS Astrium and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) using an ISRO I-2K platform.* Positioned at 33.5 degrees West, this powerful Ka band satellite will be Europe's first superfast broadband satellite, serving customers all over Europe.

*The satellite will weigh about 2,750 kg at launch, and has a design life exceeding 15 years.*

"We have chosen Arianespace for the launch of HYLAS as they have demonstrated the right combination of reliability, value and performance," said David Williams, Chief Executive of Avanti Communications Group plc.

"Their track record is the best guarantee of success. HYLAS, once in orbit will begin a new era in broadband services for the people of Europe and so a reliable and successful launch is of huge importance."

Commenting on this latest contract, Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said: "Arianespace is proud of this opportunity to serve a new satellite operator and I would like to thank Avanti Communications for its choice.

"This new contract, the 11th signed in 2009 and the 2nd in the United Kingdom, is clear recognition of the quality and competiveness of our launch Service and Solutions offer."


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## Screaming Skull

*Chandrayaan sends photos of total solar eclipse​*
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Bangalore (IANS): India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has captured the shadow of the moon on the earth's surface during the July 22 total solar eclipse, an Indian space agency official said on Tuesday.

The images were captured by the special terrain mapping camera (TMC) on board the spacecraft.

"Chandrayaan tracked the movement of shadow of the moon on the earth's surface during the total solar eclipse. The high resolution images shot by the TMC from 7.45 am shows the moon's shadow spreading from north-eastern China to northern parts of Australia," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director S. Satish told IANS here.

The dark shadow of the umbra region can be clearly seen in the series of images the space agency has released after they were received at ISRO's deep space network (DSN) at Baylalu, about 40 km from this tech hub.

"The digital images were processed and scanned at our space applications centre in Ahmedabad and telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac) in Bangalore. The capturing of the celestial event confirms that the spacecraft is satisfactorily orbiting the moon at 200 km with all its payloads," Mr. Satish said.

The nine-month-old mooncraft suffered a setback in April-May when its star sensor malfunctioned and it lost orientation due to excessive radiation of the sun when it was orbiting at 100 km above the lunar surface.

ISRO scientists overcame the disorientation by using antenna-pointing mechanism and gyroscope on board the spacecraft, which is orbiting around the moon at a height of 200 km. 

The Hindu News Update Service






​


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## Screaming Skull

​


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## ironman

*ISRO co-develops image processing software for satellite data​*July 29th, 2009 - 9:15 pm ICT by IANS

Bangalore, July 29 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has partnered with Ahmedabad-based Scanpoint Geomatics Ltd to develop an integrated geographic information system and image processing software (IGiS) to analyse satellite pictures and data.
The low-cost software is an indigenous seamless geomatics application for geographical information system (GIS), image processing and its integration with the real-time information using the global positioning system (GPS).

It is the first indigenous software which integrates satellite images with information. We have demonstrated our capability to develop IGiS in a niche area for our use, which is the need of the hour, ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair said while launching the software product here.

The unique software can be used to scan, process and study the images and spatial data relayed by the space agencys communication and remote-sensing satellites in the polar and geo-synchronous orbits.

Our Insat and remote sensing satellites transmit digital images to earth stations containing spatial data for drought or flood monitoring, forestry, fisheries and agriculture activity. Demand for data from satellites and usage have multiplied. We need more transponders, train skilled manpower and infrastructure to meet the countrys requirements, Nair said.

The bug-free, versatile and easy-to-use enterprise software (version 1.0) has been tested at the ISRO centre by space scientists and geo-informatics experts along with Scanpoint engineers.

All analytical features come as standard with the software. A suite of tools are provided to customise the product for image processing, terrain analysis, 3D modelling, ICR (intelligent character reading), decision support and uncertainty management, Scanpoint director A.R. Dasgupta said.

Priced at Rs.1.2 million, the proprietary software can be used under licence for defence, telecom, transportation, infrastructure, urban planning, resource exploration, forestry, agriculture, environment, energy, disaster management and healthcare.


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## ironman

*ISRO to launch US satellites​* Correspondent
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 AT 9:07 PM 

BENGALURU: India will be able to launch smaller satellites for United States into space by indigenously developed rockets at one third of the cost charged by American firms. This is one of the significant feature of the space agreement signed with the US during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent visit to Delhi.

"Space cooperation with the US has been the agenda of the government. The pact will enable US made satellites or with components of US to be launched from India," Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Madhavan Nair said on wednesday.

*Nair said the technolgy safeguards agreement with the US will be followed by a commercial space launch agreement later this year.*

"We will be able to launch heavy satellites on a case to case basis" Nair said.

ISRO offers satellite launching services for global customers at cost-effective price.

"We will have more opportunities to get foreign satellites for launch from India. Prior to the agreement, users had to wait for clearance for every case," said Nair.

India expects to bring down the cost of sending a satellite to space by half through its heavier rocket GSLV-MKIII, which will be ready by 2010.

Nair was speaking at a launch of an indigenous GIS mapping software by Scanpoint Geomatics Ltd, a Ahmedabad based firm, which offers software at half of the cost of imported software.

" This agreement will smoothen the arrangement .We will enter into commercial agreements with users. It will be on mutuallly agreeable commercial terms" Nair said.

On the country's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan, which suffered a glitch, Nair said space scientists would hold a review in September.

He said the mission was carrying on with normal experiments and was not crippled.

One of the critical sensors had been damaged which could curtail the mission's lifespan.

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## sudhir007

The Hindu Business Line : US pact not yet a launchpad for ISRO

The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that the Department of Space has signed with the US is a small comforting step, but does not yet fully or readily allow India to tap the global launch services market, according to several well-informed sources that Business Line spoke to. 

The TSA technically opens the gates to Indian launch of only non-commercial satellites made in the US or having US components. 

One beneficiary would be the Indo-French meteorology satellite, Megha-Tropiques, with such components. Due in 2010, it may not need to seek US clearance. 

The real piece of cake would be if &#8211; or when &#8211; the two countries sign the CSLA (Commercial Space Launches Agreement); it is also being discussed since 2005 and could clear the way for bigger and lucrative deals, according to Mr A. Bhaskaranarayana, ISRO&#8217;s Scientific Secretary and Director, SatCom Programme, who signed the agreement last week.

&#8216;One irritant gone&#8217; 


The TSA, he said, should smoothen the way for governments and universities to look at ISRO to launch small experimental satellites. &#8220;It removes the US restriction on only non-commercial launches. Certainly, one irritant is gone, one more [the CSLA] yet to be resolved,&#8221; Mr Bhaskaranarayana said.

While the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre and launch port Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota remain blacklisted by the US as &#8216;entities&#8217;, the TSA&#8217;s benefits are anyone&#8217;s guess. Asked about this, the ISRO Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair, said on Wednesday, &#8220;it&#8217;s a process which goes on [for removing them.]&#8221; 


The pact limits ISRO to some of the 25-30 small satellites that are said to be coming up. Since 1999, when the PSLV rocket entered the low-orbit market at 30-40 per cent price difference over the West, ISRO has been content with lifting micro and nano satellites of sub-100 kg as co-passengers. It has serviced 16 such minor payloads. Now the higher-orbit GSLV is also in the market, but for the US curbs. 

The small contracts ISRO got reportedly felt the heat of US export control checks - against critical US components getting into `dual-use' or missile programmes. The operator of the Italian satellite `Agile' that went on a PSLV in 2007 reportedly got the clearances as a one-off. At least one contract was reportedly lost for the same reason. 

Mr K. R. Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director of ISRO's business arm, Antrix Corporation, said, "[The pact] won't suddenly change our business. Third parties can now come to us for a launch with less uncertainty and more comfort. They do not have to wait for US export control clearance." 

Last year, launch services formed around 12 per cent of the Rs 940-crore turnover of Antrix. "We were not too much worried about this agreement," Mr Murthi said. "It's still early days. The other factor is our capacity to cater to them against internal market needs." 

The TSA comes at a time when ISRO is scaling up towards Moon and Mars missions, human flights and reusable vehicles and needs to test new technology platforms. 

A launch market does exist for ISRO as majors Arianespace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin - with five times bigger capacities to lift 10-12 tonnes - are seen to be too big or busy for lesser payloads. 

A satellite uses thousands of components such as sensors, gyroscopes, memory chips and integrated circuits. US components are 20-40 per cent cheaper than those from Europe. One refrain is: "It is difficult to find satellites without US components."


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## Choppers

Hey guys what happened to the isro's bhuvan project. Any update on that.


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## Screaming Skull

*Latest images of moon surface sent by Chandrayaan-I​*


*Image depicting the details of Leibniz crater on the Moon as seen by TMC of Chandrayaan-1 on July 20, 2009*



*Image showing craters of different sizes on the Moon as seen by TMC of Chandrayaan-1 on July 20, 2009*



*Finer details of Dryden crater on the Moon as seen by TMC of Chandrayaan-1 on July 18, 2009*



*Image of a crater on the rim of another one on the Moon as seen by TMC of Chandrayaan-1 on July 17, 2009*



*Details of Chaffee crater on the lunar surface as seen by Chandrayaan-1 on July 17, 2009*​


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## ironman

*IIT Kanpur develops nanosatellite; to be launched by ISRO​*PTI
New Delhi, August 2, 2009 

Taking a big leap in its technological quest, IIT Kanpur has developed a nanosatellite which is expected to provide real-time data on drought, flood, vegetation and forestation.

The satellite, designed and developed by a group of students of the institute, will be handed over to ISRO, which is expected to launch it by the end of the year.

"This satellite will have specific function of sending imagery on ground conditions. We will set up a tracking station in our institute where we will get the real-time data on drought, flood, vegetation and forestation," IIT Kanpur Director Prof S.G. Dhande said.

The satellite, costing Rs 2.5 crore, has been developed by a team of students led by Santanu Agrawal, an M.Phil student.

The nanosatellite, which will be named 'Jugnu', will have a mass of less than 10 kg. It will piggyback on larger launches, avoiding the need for a dedicated launch.

"There will be no dedicated launch of this satellite. These kinds of satellites are launched from the belly of large satellites," Dhande said.


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## sudhir007

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan

New rules for India's space program are now in effect with respect to India's access to United States space technology and components - thanks to a Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) signed on July 20 by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and India's Foreign Minister S M Krishna. 

However, many are misreading the full scope and impact of this TSA. Yes, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is now considerably closer to launching US commercial satellites - as well as European commercial satellites with US components - but ISRO still has a long way to go. 

According to a US State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) notice last month entitled, "Licensing



Satellite Components for Launch from India," this new TSA, "effectively changes US Government policy to permit the launch of civil or non-commercial satellites containing US ITAR [International Traffic In Arms]-controlled components on Indian space launch vehicles. 

"For the purposes of this policy, 'civil or non-commercial satellites' does not include commercial satellites [communications or otherwise]. Commercial satellites will continue to be subject to a presumption of denial," the DDTC notice stated. 

"Presumption of denial" simply means go ahead and submit a license application for export of a commercial satellite with ITAR content, but do not hold your breath because without a high priority US foreign policy interest - ie, extraordinary circumstances - this application is dead on arrival. 

"The export from the US of ITAR parts and components to India for incorporation by India into an Indian space vehicle was permitted prior to execution of the TSA," said John Ordway, a partner at Berliner, Corcoran and Rowe, LLP in Washington, DC. 

"If misunderstandings were to arise in the DDTC licensing process following execution of the TSA, they would probably arise over what is civil or non-commercial use of a satellite." 

An attempt to clarify matters with Anthony Dearth, the DDTC's chief of the Space and Missile Technology Division, was unsuccessful. 

"The TSA will ensure monitoring by the US side against any diversion or misuse of equipment or technology," said Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow in security studies at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. 

"Negotiations on a possible Indo-US TSA have been underway for the last few years. The US has been insisting on restrictive movement of the payload, constant overseeing and monitoring by the US, and solid firewalls separating civil and military payloads. However, the current agreement is [identical] with what the US has with other countries, [and] is essentially driven by US laws. India did not have much maneuverability in negotiating the details." 

According to Rajagopalan, even with this TSA, the profitable market for the launch of US commercial satellites or even third-country commercial satellites with US components remains off limits to India until a separate Commercial Space Launch Agreement (CSLA) is signed. Negotiations continue, but serious differences are not being successfully resolved. 

"US communications satellites are part of the US Munitions List [USML], and a separate certification from the US State Department will be required to enable ISRO to launch [them]. The CSLA is still insufficient for some purposes because there is another layer of clearance and certification required," said Rajagopalan. 

As David Karl observed in his recent Asia Times Online commentary, "The Clinton trip underscored how the secretary has taken ownership of the India portfolio in the Barack Obama administration, filling an important void at the top levels of the US government that has existed for several years." (See Clinton's India visit a low-key success Asia Times Online, August 5, 2009.) 
However, regardless of who owns the India portfolio, many US space companies want the US State Department to be replaced by the US Commerce Department, as they view the latter as more supportive when it comes to commercial satellite exports. These companies also want many existing rules revised if not eliminated entirely, including the removal of commercial satellites from the USML, a measure which is now under consideration by the US Senate after being recently approved by the US House of Representatives. 

The new TSA, "represents positive progress in reversing the US's obsolete, arrogant, and counterproductive export control regime. However, much remains to be done, particularly in regard to re-evaluating the classification of space hardware in the context of an overall review of the USML," said Mike Gold, the director of Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace's Washington DC office and chair of the US Federal Aviation Administration's Export Controls Working Group under the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. [1] 

However, while India would benefit immensely from this regulatory change, the current legislation on Capitol Hill would still prevent any changes to the USML affecting China. 

"Although I understand the politics of the situation, I question the policy of isolation that we are practicing vis-a-vis China, and believe, if nothing else, we need to have a robust discussion as to if this policy is really helping us to achieve our legitimate foreign policy goals," said Gold. 

"The legislation does not provide for an ongoing review of the USML or establishing a standing entity to conduct such work. Technology is not static, and, after five years, we will find ourselves with the same problems in terms of the obsolescence of the USML that we are facing today. We must provide for an ongoing review process. Technology will not stop changing, and therefore any finite attempt to review and revise a list like the USML is destined to fail." 

Regardless of what happens to the USML, the US government is being constantly pushed and pulled in various directions by different departments which tend to disagree more often than agree on which is the best approach to take in South Asia. 

"There has always been internal bickering between various governmental departments - the departments of Defense, Commerce, State, Energy and the National Security Agency - along with big defense [contractors]," said Rajagopalan. "In fact, the Pentagon maintained that the State Department still had a Cold War approach as it relates to its policies to South Asia. On the other hand, the State Department often argued that any arms transfers to India would adversely impact the military balance of the region. Cooperation on space technology could potentially create similar concerns." 

According to Sourabh Gupta, senior research associate at Washington, DC-based Samuels International Associates Inc, readers should not underestimate the significance of what took place on July 20. 

"Clearly the exchanges between the two countries, rather than the TSA itself, is the more significant factor. The TSA is just an umbrella arrangement that simply opens the door to a host of more specific, contentious but rewarding arrangements," said Gupta. "The exchanges [in the] meantime help build a culture of trust that's value exceeds any one agreement - and can in fact be leveraged across the spectrum of bilateral relations." 

"Getting beyond the technology denial regime, imposed by the West ever since [India's] nuclear test in 1974, has been a touchstone of Indian governments ever since - and not merely for enhancing technological competencies," added Gupta. 

For one of Ordway's clients based in the United Kingdom, the TSA opens the door to an enticing possibility. 

"It means that my UK client that builds remote-sensing satellites that contain ITAR content now can apply for a license from the US State Department to 're-export' such satellites to India for launch on ISRO launch vehicles - again, if the remote-sensing satellites are for civil or non-commercial uses," said Ordway. 

"On the other hand, the TSA and DDTC's implementation of the TSA would not permit the launch on an ISRO launch vehicle of a commercial non-US remote-imaging satellite that contains ITAR content." 

Besides ISRO, beneficiaries of the TSA might also include any foreign universities that build very small, so-called "pico" satellites with ITAR content, although this is a rare event indeed it would provide an alternative to Russian launch vehicles. It is possible, for example, that the TSA could speed India's deployment of a constellation of small, formation-flying earth observation satellites which would mirror what a few other countries have already placed in orbit.


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## ironman

*Approval for GSAT-10 Communication Satellite ​*Thursday, August 06, 2009

The Union Cabinet today approved undertaking design and development of GSAT-10 spacecraft at a cost of Rs.735.00 crores* with a Foreign Exchange component of Rs.634.00 crores.*

GSAT-10 satellite with 12 high power Ku-band transponders, 12 C-band and 12 Extended C band India coverage transponders and a navigation payload, will replace the ageing INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B satellites, create additional capacity for DTH like applications and provide on-orbit back-up for the GAGAN navigation payload.

The spacecraft structure is designed for a lift off mass of about 3337 kg with a dry mass of approximately 1432 kg. The Spacecraft employs a proven 1-3K structure used to realize INSAT-4A and 4B satellites. The spacecraft is configured with 2-sided solar array panels to generate around 6 KW of DC power.

GSAT-10 spacecraft is planned to be realized within 20 months.


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## ironman

*India mulls using nuclear energy to power Chandrayan II: ISRO​*PTI
Friday, August 7, 2009 19:38 IST

Mumbai: India plans to power some parts of the Chandrayaan II--its next unmanned mission to the moon, with the nuclear energy and the feasibility studies that are being carried out by Indian Space Research Organisation and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

"We are thinking of powering some parts of Chandrayaan II with nuclear power and it will power the spacecraft when it revolves aroung the dark side of the moon," Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO, told the media today, before accepting the degree of Doctorate of Science conferred on him at the 47th Convoction of IIT-Mumbai.

He said both ISRO and BARC are carrying out the feasibility studies on this, which will be useful for carrying out further experiments to use N-power for Chandrayaan II.
Asked how safe it is to use nuclear power in the mission, he said, "the safety aspects are being worked and safety is crucial when it is launchedfrom ground level tothe orbit."

"To work out the safety, we have to work on newtechnologies and the feasibility studies will help in developing those," Nair said. On using N-power in the deep space probe, he said, "We need nuclear power in those missions which are outside out solar systems but the challenges are very many."

Asked whether laws relating to use of space will allow use of N-power, he said "we have to take utmost care in launching from to ground to the orbit and this aspect we will work out in future."

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## destiny

Seven eyes in the sky to guard India - Yahoo! India News

*Seven eyes in the sky to guard India*

New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a constellation of seven satellites to give a boost to the country's security apparatus, a top scientist said here Sunday.

ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair said the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) was being developed 'considering security related issues'.

Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Nair said: 'The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a ground support segment. Three of the satellites will be placed in the geostationary orbit and four near the geostationary orbit.

'Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with the Indian control stations. The satellite payloads will consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigational signals,' he said.

'The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of more than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 2,000 km around it,' Nair explained.

The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or deep inside the sea.

The ISRO chief did not say when the system is expected to be operational.


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## dbc

destiny said:


> Seven eyes in the sky to guard India - Yahoo! India News
> 
> *Seven eyes in the sky to guard India*
> 
> 
> The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or *deep inside the sea*.
> 
> The ISRO chief did not say when the system is expected to be operational.



Deep inside the sea?


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## pmukherjee

destiny said:


> Seven eyes in the sky to guard India - Yahoo! India News
> 
> *Seven eyes in the sky to guard India*
> 
> New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a constellation of seven satellites to give a boost to the country's security apparatus, a top scientist said here Sunday.
> 
> ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair said the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) was being developed 'considering security related issues'.
> 
> Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Nair said: 'The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a ground support segment. Three of the satellites will be placed in the geostationary orbit and four near the geostationary orbit.
> 
> 'Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with the Indian control stations. The satellite payloads will consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigational signals,' he said.
> 
> 'The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of more than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 2,000 km around it,' Nair explained.
> 
> The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or deep inside the sea.
> 
> The ISRO chief did not say when the system is expected to be operational.



This is the Indian GPS one has been hearing for a while now? What is the time line for this project?


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## jeet

Seven satellites to guard India 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 August 2009

NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a constellation of seven satellites to 

give a boost to the country's 
security apparatus, a top scientist said here Sunday. 

ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair said the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) was being developed "considering security related issues". 

Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Nair said: "The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a ground support segment. Three of the satellites will be placed in the geostationary orbit and four near the geostationary orbit. 

"Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with the Indian control stations. The satellite payloads will consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigational signals," he said. 

"The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of more than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 2,000 km around it," Nair explained. 

The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or deep inside the sea. 

The ISRO chief did not say when the system is expected to be operational.

Seven satellites to guard India - Science - Health & Science - NEWS - The Times of India


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## AkhandBharat

What is unclear from this article, is that the same set of satellites is being used for military surveillance and commercial GPS triangulation systems. They should be handled by different sets of satellites, IMO.


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## applesauce

AkhandBharat said:


> What is unclear from this article, is that the same set of satellites is being used for military surveillance and commercial GPS triangulation systems. They should be handled by different sets of satellites, IMO.



i dont thinks its gps if it is its pretty crappy gps i mean 20 meters gps resolution for military...... (i am talking about the gps other power used like us, russia 15 meter in for early satellites 5 meter for newer one and these are civilian specs)


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## vinaash

The indian government approved the project in May 2006, with the intention of the system to be completed and implemented by 2012. The first satellite of the proposed constellation, developed at a cost of Rs.1,600 crore (16 billion rupees), is expected to be launched in 2009.

A goal of complete Indian control has been stated, with the space segment, ground segment and user receivers all being built in India.

It is unclear if recent agreements with the Russian government to restore their GLONASS system will supersede the IRNSS project or feed additional technical support to enable its completion. however reports came in May 2009 that India plans to starts launching satellites by December 2009 and whole constellation will in orbit by 2012 



The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a support ground segment. Three of the satellites in the constellation will be placed in geostationary orbit. These GEOs will be located at 34 East 83 East and 132 East longitude. The GSOs will be in orbits with a 24,000 km apogee and 250 km perigee inclined at 29 degrees. Two of the GSOs will cross the equator at 55 East and two at 111 East. Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with Indian control stations. The satellite payloads would consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigation signals.

According to a presentation by A Bhaskaranarayana to a meeting of COSPAR in Montreal on 15 July 2008, IRNSS signals will consist of a Special Positioning Service and a Precision Service. both will be carried on L5 (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.08 MHz) The SPS signal will be modulated by a 1MHz BPSK signal. The Precision Service will use BOC:

The navigation signals themselves would be transmitted in the S-band frequency (2&#8211;4 GHz) and broadcast through a phased array antenna to maintain required coverage and signal strength. The satellites would weigh approximately 1,330 kg and their solar panels generate 1,400 watts.

The System is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of better than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 2,000 km around it.

The ground segment of IRNSS constellation would consist of a Master Control Center (MCC), ground stations to track and estimate the satellites' orbits and ensure the integrity of the network (IRIM), and additional ground stations to monitor the health of the satellites with the capability of issuing radio commands to the satellites (TT&C stations). The MCC would estimate and predict the position of all IRNSS satellites, calculate integrity, makes necessary ionospheric and clock corrections and run the navigation software. In pursuit of a highly independent system, an Indian standard time infrastructure would also be established.


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## maverick2009

Applesauce 

7 satalites with neat to 20 meteres resolution is better than ZERO SATALITES 

Kudos to India AGAIN just like Arihant nuke sub or SU30MKI or Brahmos cruise missles.


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## xebex

Guys, this is *not* GPS.



> The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or deep inside the sea.



How the hell a GPS going to track infiltration and keep an eye on tough terrains. GPS is designed to track only gps equipped objects or devices. Its more like a spy satellies i gues. The article mention about tracking activities across border and surveilling tough terrains, mountains and deep seas. It could be a constallation of spy satellites with more than 20 meters of resolution.


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## Ruag

applesauce said:


> i dont thinks its gps if it is its pretty crappy gps i mean 20 meters gps resolution for military...... (i am talking about the gps other power used like us, russia 15 meter in for early satellites 5 meter for newer one and these are civilian specs)



Hmm.. according to this source - 

http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/archive/p011.pdf

Russia's GLOSNASS has an absolute position accuracy of 30 meters.


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## Skywalker

maverick2009 said:


> Applesauce
> 
> 7 satalites with neat to 20 meteres resolution is better than ZERO SATALITES
> 
> Kudos to India AGAIN just like Arihant nuke sub or SU30MKI or Brahmos cruise missles.



You mean all of them are indegenious products. You must be joking right???

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## Spitfighter

Skywalker said:


> You mean all of them are indegenious products. You must be joking right???




Do you think people on the receiving end of a Brahmos will care about who designed it? 

What matters is that our military is rapidly being modernized. Who cares if we had help or not?


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## ironman

*Five girls on 'team Jugnu' India's First Nano-Satellite Taking Shape At IIT-K​*Abhinav Malhotra, TNN 11 August 2009, 09:41pm IST

KANPUR: It is no more a male bastion. The team of students (under the guidance of the faculty of the IIT-K) which is toiling hard day and night
for the development of India's first nano-satellite 'Jugnu' to be developed by any educational institute, has female members also on board. They are putting in their best efforts for the successful completion of the much admired project of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

Ruchira Chobisa, Shubhali Sachdeva, Ankita Mittal, Shruti Mittal and Nishaan Ponnuru are the girls busy assisting their other team members in the ongoing coveted project. On the one hand where Ruchira has taken over the responsibility of team management, Shubhali is looking after ground station set up on the IIT-K campus. Shruti is managing the control of the satellite, whereas Ankita is working on the Global Positioning System
(GPS) which will provide details about the position of the nano-satellite. Last but not the least, Nishaan is contributing to the project by working on the thermal system (which means to regulate the heat inside the satellite) of the satellite.

"It is a complete team effort but there are female members also in the group. Shubhali (BTech-I electrical department), Ankita and Shruti (both BTech-I student of aerospace department) and Nishaan (MTech-II aerospace department) are vital members of the project who are also working like their male counterparts in the early completion of this satellite mission," said Ruchira Chobisa, senior project associate while talking to TOI.

Weighing less than three kg and with most functionalities of a normal satellite on a small platform, the payload of the satellite will include an indigenously designed camera for near remote sensing and a GPS receiver. Jugnu will transmit blinking signal, at all times-all over the earth.

Ruchira also informed that the Nano satellite Jugnu is getting ready to set new highs in the field of space research. Jugnu will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (also known as SHAR, located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). After its launch, Jugnu will be continuously monitored and controlled by the ground station located on the campus.

A member of the team Jugnu informed: "The images collected will also be useful in studying the vegetation and the water bodies. The satellite design is mostly indigenous. In view of the high cost associated with the launch, special efforts are being made to keep the weight to the lowest minimum."

He further added: "The designed life span of the satellite is proposed to be one year. The aim of the making and launching of Jugnu is to develop a long-term infrastructure and human resources in the IIT-K for future space research programmes in the institute, in collaboration with ISRO.


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## ironman

*Engg students creating India's smallest satellite​*12 Aug 2009, 0539 hrs IST, Sruthy Susan Ullas, TNN

BANGALORE: These engineering students are in no hurry to have fun after classes. They linger in the labs instead of accepting campus placements.

They are on a mission possible: they are busy building the smallest satellite for their country at the Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore.

Forty students from seven engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad are part of a team guided by Isro to create a 'Pico satellite'. The satellite, which resembles a small cube, weighs only 850 gm and has a volume of 1.1 litres. It contains an imaging camera with a 90m resolution and will perform the function of a remote-sensing satellite.

"The challenge is to bring all the features of an ordinary satellite in this miniature form," says Chetan Angadi, one of the team members. The satellite will be launched in December through PSLV to a 700-km orbit.

The students have prepared a ground station. An antenna has been placed on the terrace to detect the position of the satellite. They will control the satellite from this ground station. All the chores - from designing to welding and compiling of structures - are done by the students themselves.

The group is a heterogenous one with students from Nitte, RVCE, BMSIT, MSRIT in Bangalore and IARE, CBIT and VITS in Hyderabad. While the Bangalore students have made Nitte their base, their Hyderabad mates work from their respective college labs.

The students divided themselves into different "sub systems" and carry out the various functions independently. "We did not know anything about it when we began. We learn one step at a time and implement it. That is how we progressed," says Raghavendra S, a core group member.

They are regularly guided by scientists from Isro. "We try out different options and approach the Isro. They decide on which option to follow," he says. The work has proved to be a herculean task. They have been working for the past one-and-a-half years on the project.

The idea was conceived by a group of IV semester students from Bangalore who was inspired by a talk at the
International Astronautical Federation in December 2007.


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## ironman

*US clears ISRO launch of Algerian satellites​*Tue, Aug 11 10:30 PM

Washington, Aug 11 (PTI) The US has given clearance to the India''s space research body to launch Algerian satellites having American components through an Indian launch vehicle following a technical safeguards agreement between the two countries. A Technical Safeguards Agreement was signed between India and the US on the recent visit to New Delhi of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton covering launches of satellites having US components on India launch vehicles.

"Following the signing of the Technical Safeguards Agreement during Secretary Hillary Clinton''s recent visit to India, the US Government has given clearance for launch by Indian Space Research Organisation of Algerian satellites ALSAT-2A and ALSAT-2B, which have US components, on board an Indian space launch vehicle," the Indian Embassy said in a statement.


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## glomex

US clears launch of Algerian satellites atop Indian rocket - India - NEWS - The Times of India


WASHINGTON: In the first significant outcome of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's visit to India, the US has given clearance to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch Algerian satellites with American components. 

This follows the signing of a Technical Safeguards Agreement covering launches of satellites, having US components on Indian launch vehicles, during Hillary Clinton's New Delhi visit. 

"Following the signing of the Technical Safeguards Agreement during secretary Hillary Clinton's recent visit to India, the US government has given clearance for launch by Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] of Algerian satellites ALSAT-2A and ALSAT-2B, which have US components, on board an Indian space launch vehicle," the Indian embassy said in a statement.


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## Gabbar

Engg students creating India's smallest satellite ​
ANGALORE: These engineering students are in no hurry to have fun after classes. They linger in the labs instead of accepting campus placements. 
They are on a mission possible: they are busy building the smallest satellite for their country at the Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore. 

Forty students from seven engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad are part of a team guided by Isro to create a *'Pico satellite'. The satellite, which resembles a small cube, weighs only 850 gm and has a volume of 1.1 litres. It contains an imaging camera with a 90m resolution and will perform the function of a remote-sensing satellite. *
"The challenge is to bring all the features of an ordinary satellite in this miniature form," says Chetan Angadi, one of the team members. The satellite will be launched in December through PSLV to a 700-km orbit. 

The students have prepared a ground station. An antenna has been placed on the terrace to detect the position of the satellite. They will control the satellite from this ground station. All the chores - from designing to welding and compiling of structures - are done by the students themselves. 

The group is a heterogenous one with students from Nitte, RVCE, BMSIT, MSRIT in Bangalore and IARE, CBIT and VITS in Hyderabad. While the Bangalore students have made Nitte their base, their Hyderabad mates work from their respective college labs. 

The students divided themselves into different "sub systems" and carry out the various functions independently. "We did not know anything about it when we began. We learn one step at a time and implement it. That is how we progressed," says Raghavendra S, a core group member. 

They are regularly guided by scientists from Isro. "We try out different options and approach the Isro. They decide on which option to follow," he says. The work has proved to be a herculean task. They have been working for the past one-and-a-half years on the project. 

The idea was conceived by a group of IV semester students from Bangalore who was inspired by a talk at the 
International Astronautical Federation in December 2007.

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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO eyes mission to Mars; govt sanctions Rs10 crore​*
Wednesday, August 12, 2009

New Delhi: *The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said it has begun preparations for sending a spacecraft to Mars within the next six years.*

The government has sanctioned seed money of Rs10 crore to carry out various studies on the experiments to be conducted, the route of the mission and other related details necessary to scale the new frontier, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

*"Already, mission studies have been completed. Now we are trying to collect scientific proposals and scientific objectives,"* Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a day-long workshop of the Astronautical Society of India here. He said *the space agency was looking at launch opportunities between 2013 and 2015.*

Chandrayaan-I, the country's maiden unmanned moon mission, appears to have fired the imagination of young scientists who have taken to space sciences, and Isro plans to
tap this talent for its mission to Mars.

*"A lot of young scientists are being brought into the mission, particularly from the Indian Institute of Space Technology, the Physical Research Laboratory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and other research laboratories,"* K Radhakrishnan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said.

He said *the space agency would use its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to put the satellite in orbit and was considering using ion-thrusters, liquid engines or nuclear power to propel it further towards Mars.*

According to preliminary plans, Isro is likely to send a 500kg spacecraft to Mars and has identified three launch windows -- one each in 2013, 2016 and 2018. Though most Isro spacecraft, including Chandrayaan-I, are powered by solar panels, space scientists feel energy from sunlight may not be sufficient and are exploring alternative propulsion systems.

*"Solar energy may not be sufficient or viable. So we may have to go for nuclear [energy],"* TA Alex, director, Isro Satellite Centre, told PTI.

Isro plans to put the spacecraft in orbit around Mars and is yet to decide on the altitude, details of the experiments it intends to carry out and the duration of the mission.

"We are still discussing whether to launch it as our exclusive mission or to invite international experiments," Alex said, adding that these details would be worked out
soon.

*India plans to land a robot on the moon in 2012 during the Chandrayaan-II mission and is aiming to put humans in space by 2015. An astronaut training centre is likely to be set up near Bangalore to select a crew of four from around 200 to undertake the seven-day human space flight.*

Isro eyes mission to Mars; govt sanctions Rs10 crore - DNAIndia.com

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## EjazR

Thats quite interesting. When Ex-Prez Kalam mentioned it back in 2003, I thought he was going a little over the top, but he clearly knew what he was talking about no doubt being closely involved in this program

Kalam Wants Mission To Mars


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## Gabbar

*There is stickey thread for India's space capabilities.*

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/4373-indian-space-capabilities-56.html


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## applesauce

Ruag said:


> Hmm.. according to this source -
> 
> http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/archive/p011.pdf
> 
> Russia's GLOSNASS has an absolute position accuracy of 30 meters.



hmm interesting didnt know much about russian i only knew that us civilian is very accurate now


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## applesauce

maverick2009 said:


> Applesauce
> 
> 7 satalites with neat to 20 meteres resolution is better than ZERO SATALITES
> 
> Kudos to India AGAIN just like Arihant nuke sub or SU30MKI or Brahmos cruise missles.



i agree, im just saying maybe slightly different from gps? anyone know what it is, some general on board systems?


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## CrazyEagle9

*Isro launches desi version of Google Earth*

MUMBAI: Isro took a leap into satellite imagery of geographical regions with the launch of Bhuvan, a mapping application website like Google
Earth, on Wednesday. The day marks the 90th birth anniversary of the father of Indian space programme Vikram Sarabhai.

Top space scientists were present at the launch ceremony at a workshop organised by Astronautical Society of India in New Delhi. Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), a part of Isro, had a lead role in designing and developing Bhuvan.

NRSA director V Jayaraman told TOI that in November 2008 he picked up young scientists from Isro to work on the project. They were extremely enthusiastic and right from the word go our focus was that it should be useful to users in India, he said.

NRSA scientists developed the content using data provided by Indian satellites like Resourcesat-1. Bhuvan, which in Sanskrit means the earth, also focus on rural and thematic applications like wasteland mapping and terrain profile. It contains weather details like humidity levels. The new portal shows data which has been approved by the government of India. Sensitive information has been kept out of the public domain, said Jayaraman.

Isro chief spokesperson S Satish said compared to Google Earth, Bhuvan is more versatile and provides data about different Indian cities. Its more viewer-friendly, said Satish.

Space officials requesting anonymity said *viewers can zoom into Bhuvan maps up to 10 metres compared to Google Earths 200 metres and Wikemapias 50 metres*. The website can be accessed on http://www.bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in


---------------------------------------
  

It's beta version right now, and only works in IE because some plug in is needed and registration is necessary.

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## glomex

India's human space flight mission gathering momentum

Bangalore (PTI): India has begun the process of building a training centre for astronauts, designing a new launch pad and modifying the rockets as preparations for its ambitious manned flight to space gathers momentum.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has drawn up an outline for the training centre, which would come up near the Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahally on the city outskirts, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair told PTI here.

Forty acres are already in the possession of the Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, which has approached the state government for an additional 100 acres for the centre.

Mr. Nair expects investment for the training centre to be in the range of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore.

"We have to again establish the launch paunch for the crew with reception and servicing facilities and launcher itself has to be modified to handle the humans. So, these modifications and new launch pad is being designed. So, that will be taken up for implementation," he said.

Mr. Nair said facilities to work on technologies associated with the capsule (autonomous orbital vehicle) for the ambitious mission would come up at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Department of Space has carried out a detailed study on the feasibility of undertaking the indigenous mission, expected to take place in 2015-16 timeframe, with an aim to build and demonstrate the capability for carrying humans to low earth orbit and their return to earth.

The programme envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members to 400 km low earth orbit and their safe return.

Mr. Nair said ISRO is exploring the possibility of sending selected Indian astronauts for the mission to Russia for flying in launch vehicles developed by that country before New Delhi's estimated Rs 12,000 crore venture "so that our astronauts' training can be accelerated."

"We are discussing with them (Russia). If they agree on such a proposal, we will pursue that."

Mr. Nair said the assessment of critical technologies required for the mission has been fully completed.

ISRO has started pre-project studies in regard to life support system, the suit required for astronauts and radiation shield, among others.

"The government is really keen and they have funded the pre-project activity. This year, roughly Rs 250 crore has been allotted for this purpose. So, it (the human space flight programme) has got a good head-start," he said.

The Hindu News Update Service


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## arihant

infinite_dreams9586 said:


> It's beta version right now, and only works in IE because some plug in is needed and registration is necessary.



ISRO is not aware that most of next generation use Firefox.


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## CrazyEagle9

arihant said:


> ISRO is not aware that most of next generation use Firefox.



Yep... ISRO's servers are slow, and IE makes loading more slower...


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## shravan

arihant said:


> ISRO is not aware that most of next generation use Firefox.



Maybe donations made by Bill Gates have some End User Agreements..


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## CrazyEagle9

Not only ISRO, all sites from Indian Govt. Dept. are damn slow and hardly work.


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## arihant

infinite_dreams9586 said:


> Not only ISRO, all sites from Indian Govt. Dept. are damn slow and hardly work.



Because they usually run on VSNL Server.


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## destiny

arihant said:


> Because they usually run on VSNL Server.



yes and VSNL comes under tata now ............


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## DesiGuy

jeet said:


> Seven satellites to guard India
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 9 August 2009
> 
> NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a constellation of seven satellites to
> 
> give a boost to the country's
> security apparatus, a top scientist said here Sunday.
> 
> ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair said the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) was being developed "considering security related issues".
> 
> Speaking at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Nair said: "The proposed system would consist of a constellation of seven satellites and a ground support segment. Three of the satellites will be placed in the geostationary orbit and four near the geostationary orbit.
> 
> "Such an arrangement would mean all seven satellites would have continuous radio visibility with the Indian control stations. The satellite payloads will consist of atomic clocks and electronic equipment to generate the navigational signals," he said.
> 
> "The system is intended to provide an absolute position accuracy of more than 20 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 2,000 km around it," Nair explained.
> 
> The system will help in tracking infiltration activities across the border and security personnel maintain better surveillance over tough terrains, mountains or deep inside the sea.
> 
> The ISRO chief did not say when the system is expected to be operational.
> 
> Seven satellites to guard India - Science - Health & Science - NEWS - The Times of India






How many spy military satellites does India currently has?
just curious to know.


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## DesiGuy

Screaming Skull said:


> *ISRO eyes mission to Mars; govt sanctions Rs10 crore​*
> Wednesday, August 12, 2009
> 
> New Delhi: *The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said it has begun preparations for sending a spacecraft to Mars within the next six years.*
> 
> The government has sanctioned seed money of Rs10 crore to carry out various studies on the experiments to be conducted, the route of the mission and other related details necessary to scale the new frontier, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said.
> 
> *"Already, mission studies have been completed. Now we are trying to collect scientific proposals and scientific objectives,"* Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a day-long workshop of the Astronautical Society of India here. He said *the space agency was looking at launch opportunities between 2013 and 2015.*
> 
> Chandrayaan-I, the country's maiden unmanned moon mission, appears to have fired the imagination of young scientists who have taken to space sciences, and Isro plans to
> tap this talent for its mission to Mars.
> 
> *"A lot of young scientists are being brought into the mission, particularly from the Indian Institute of Space Technology, the Physical Research Laboratory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and other research laboratories,"* K Radhakrishnan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said.
> 
> He said *the space agency would use its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to put the satellite in orbit and was considering using ion-thrusters, liquid engines or nuclear power to propel it further towards Mars.*
> 
> According to preliminary plans, Isro is likely to send a 500kg spacecraft to Mars and has identified three launch windows -- one each in 2013, 2016 and 2018. Though most Isro spacecraft, including Chandrayaan-I, are powered by solar panels, space scientists feel energy from sunlight may not be sufficient and are exploring alternative propulsion systems.
> 
> *"Solar energy may not be sufficient or viable. So we may have to go for nuclear [energy],"* TA Alex, director, Isro Satellite Centre, told PTI.
> 
> Isro plans to put the spacecraft in orbit around Mars and is yet to decide on the altitude, details of the experiments it intends to carry out and the duration of the mission.
> 
> "We are still discussing whether to launch it as our exclusive mission or to invite international experiments," Alex said, adding that these details would be worked out
> soon.
> 
> *India plans to land a robot on the moon in 2012 during the Chandrayaan-II mission and is aiming to put humans in space by 2015. An astronaut training centre is likely to be set up near Bangalore to select a crew of four from around 200 to undertake the seven-day human space flight.*
> 
> Isro eyes mission to Mars; govt sanctions Rs10 crore - DNAIndia.com





Wow, go ISRO.


----------



## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

*ISRO to put Algerian satellites in orbit by 2010 *


Express News ServiceFirst Published : 14 Aug 2009 04:03:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 14 Aug 2009 04:05:43 AM IST

BANGALORE: With the US clearing the decks for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch Algerian Satellites with American components, the space agency is planning to put the satellites in orbit by the end of 2009 or early 2010.


The clearance given to launch the Algerian satellites ALSAT-2A and ALSAT-2B -- which have US components on board an Indian space launch vehicle -- comes after the signing of the Technical Safe Guards Agreement (TSA) between the US and India during US Secretary of State Hillary Clintons recent visit to the country.

Now that the clearance has been given, we plan to launch the Algerian satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre by the end of the year or early next year if the weather permits, ISRO spokesperson S Satish.

He added that the space agencys main priority is to launch the Oceansat- 2 in September followed by the GSAT-4 onboard the GSLV in Octobe or November.

The TSA gives an opportunity for the launch of foreign built non-commercial satellite and not the heavy commercial ones which will require India and the US to sign the commercial space launch agreement (CSLA) which is likely to be signed between India and the US during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visit to Washington next month.

ISRO will also launch the Swiss Cube, a mini satellite built by Swiss students later this year; which will be launched by PSLV. The project manager of the Satellite project Muriel Noca along with the Swiss Astronaut Prof Claude Nicollier are currently touring Indian cities, including Bangalore.

The primary objective of developing this satellite is to provide a dynamic and realistic learning environment for our staff in the development of small satellite technology, said Noca.


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## Khajur

*India completes design of Chandrayaan-2*

India has completed the design of Chandrayaan-2, its next mission to the moon -- this time in collaboration with Russia that would have a lander and rover that can collect samples of the lunar soil and analyse them and send back the data. 
"Right now, the design has been completed. We had a joint review with Russian scientists in Bengaluru," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair, told PTI.

According to the Bangalore-headquartered space agency, the Chandrayaan-2 mission would have an orbital flight vehicle constituting an Orbital Craft and a Lunar Craft that would carry a soft landing system up to Lunar Transfer Trajectory.

The target location for the lander-rover would be identified using data from instruments of Chandrayaan-1, India's own and first unmanned mission to the Moon [ Images ] launched on October 22 last year.

While ISRO will be developing the orbiter, it will be Russia's job to make the lander and rover. Additional scientific payloads would be acquired from international scientific community.

"Next (now that design has been completed) we will go towards prototype building, which will be taken up next year," Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said. 

Nair said ISRO has learnt plenty of lessons from Chandrayaan-1 mission, particularly on the thermal and redundancy management fronts and would seek to improve systems in Chandrayaan-2, slated towards the end of 2012.

"I think we have got very valuable inputs on the heat radiation from the moon's surface and so on. Accordingly, the thermal design of the future aircraft can be addressed," he said. 

"Radiation is much beyond our expectations, so we will have to see how the radiation hardening has to be strengthened."

"Then, in redundancy management also, there are some inputs which are available from this (Chandrayaan-1), which we will try to incorporate in Chandrayaan-2."

The ISRO Chairman said contingency operations undertaken by the organisation following the failure of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's onboard star sensor earlier this year have worked well and "this is (now) as precise as it was earlier."

"We are able to locate the cameras at specific locations," he said noting some of the stereo images that have come recently. 

"The fact that we were able to point the spacecraft towards the Earth and capture the (recent) solar eclipse, shows the accuracy of the system."

Nair said 95 per cent of the scientific objectives of Chandrayaan-1 mission have been achieved. "Another five per cent, what's left out, we will try to take up in the next season which is starting in October so that we can complete all the observations." 

India completes design of Chandrayaan-2: Rediff.com news


----------



## Sam Dhanraj

*ISRO-NASA Joint Experiment To Search for Water Ice on the Moon*​
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA performed a unique joint experiment today (Aug. 21, 2009), that could yield additional information on the possibility of existence of ice in a permanently shadowed crater near the North pole of the moon. Known as Bi-Static Experiment, it involved ISROs Chandrayaan-1 and NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. Currently, Chandrayaan-1 and LRO are orbiting the Moon. The two spacecraft passed close enough to one another when they were over the lunar North pole to attempt this interesting experiment.

Both Chandrayaan-1 and LRO are equipped with a NASA Miniature Radio Frequency (RF) instrument that functions as a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), known as Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 and Mini-RF on LRO. Chandrayaan-1 in transmit mode transmitted the signals and LRO received the reflected signals. The experiment used both radars to point at Erlanger Crater at the same time. The Bi-Static observations were made on August 21, 2009 at 00:30 hours (IST). Before the experiment commenced, LRO executed a minor manoeuvre to adjust its orbit to the well-established Chandrayaan-1 orbit. The data was collected for about 4 minutes. MiniSAR of Chandrayaan-1 was fine tuned for making observations in terms of pulse width, range rate sampling as well as its 200 km orbit height. The operations went on as planned.

All Chandrayaan-1 operations related to Bi-Static experiment were executed from Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Peenya. Science Data was immediately downloaded over Johns Hopkins Universitys Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the ground station that had the visibility. Later today morning (August 21, 2009), during Chandrayaan-1s visibility over Indian Deep Space Networks antennas at Byalalu, near Bangalore, the data was again obtained along with spacecrafts orientation information when Bi-Static observations were performed.

For the Bi-Static experiment, the Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1 performed its normal SAR imaging (transmitting and receiving) while the Mini-RF was made to receive only. The two instruments looked at the same location from different angles. Comparing the signal that bounces straight back to Chandrayaan-1 with the signal that bounces at a slight angle to LRO provides unique information about the lunar surface.

Observations from today`s experiment are being analysed by scientists from ISRO and NASA.


*Note: They have changed the ISRO website's look and feel but as usual it takes long time to load up...a common issue with Government Websites*


----------



## EjazR

Small-town woman Khushboo Mirza broke stereotypes to reach ISRO

THE ENTRANCE to Chaugori Mohalla, a small Muslim locality in Uttar Pradesh&#8217;s Amroha town, about 200 km from Delhi, isn&#8217;t the least bit inviting. A sixfoot- wide serpentine stretch, rutted and grimy, lies beyond &#8212; the only way into the neighbourhood. Today, however, it does not deter a stream of people eager to visit the house of the Mirzas, a short distance in. The woman they have come to meet, Khushboo Mirza, opens the door and welcomes them warmly. Khushboo is soon joined by her spirited mother, Farhat, and the mother-daughter duo proceed to smash one stereotype after another in an hour-long chat. &#8220;Hindi or English?&#8221; I ask Khushboo. &#8220;English will be fine,&#8221; comes the confident reply from the 23-year-old, who studied in the local Hindi-medium school till Class 10.

The flow of guests to the Mirza home is growing everyday. &#8220;I had never imagined that I would become such an icon,&#8221; says Khushboo, as her mother glances at their six-seat dining table, now covered with commemorative inscriptions and bouquets. Khushboo, an engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is the youngest member of the team of 12 engineers of the Check-Out Division of India&#8217;s maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan- I. Her task was to carry out the vacuum, thermal and assembly examinations in different simulated conditions on various components of the satellite. &#8220;We had to check and see how the satellite would perform in space,&#8221; says the engineer, who joined India&#8217;s premier body for space research in 2006.

More people have come to congratulate the Mirzas since Chandrayaan- I was launched in October 2008 than have visited the Mirzas on Eid in several years put together. &#8220;Kai log to sochte hain ki Khushboo chaand par gayee thi (Some think Khushboo had gone to the moon and ask her when she returned),&#8221; Farhat chuckles.

A few years back, however, the Mirzas were in very different circumstances. Farhat, widowed at 30 after her husband Sikandar passed away in 1994, worked at the family&#8217;s petrol pump to pay her children&#8217;s school fees and keep the house running. Khushboo was seven at that time; her younger sister Mehak, now a student of engineering at Moradabad Institute of Technology, was four; and her older brother, Khushtar, now a B.Tech graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, was 10. &#8220;My husband was an engineer and it was his dream to see his daughters excel. And I knew it wasn&#8217;t possible without giving them a good education,&#8221; says Farhat. For the Mirzas, education for women wasn&#8217;t a novel idea as Farhat is a graduate from a Moradabad college. Moreover, Farhat&#8217;s sister teaches English at a public school in Dehradoon and her two nieces are doing their PhD in the US. &#8220;I taught my children to reach for the stars,&#8221; states the 45-year-old proudly. They did.

After her Class 10 examinations, Khushboo, a district level volleyball player, joined the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and later applied for a BTech at the same university. She became the first girl to fight an election in AMU. Though she did not win, she managed to encourage other girls to take the plunge, one of whom even won election the following year. Subsequent to her graduation, *Khushboo received a job offer from Adobe Software, but gave it up in October 2006 to join ISRO for a salary much lower than what Adobe offered. Farhat, who accompanied her daughter to ISRO training programmes across the country, says there was no question of rejecting the ISRO offer for the extra money Adobe offered.* &#8220;Khushboo was eager to contribute to Indian science and I was only happy to let her do so,&#8221; she says.

For a year and 10 months, Khushboo says, she worked conscientiously with her team to accomplish the mission. &#8220;I observed my Ramzan fasts, prayed and even celebrated Eid at the testing centre,&#8221; she says, spelling out that she is no different from any other Muslim woman who follows Islam and its customs. However, she acknowledges that she owes her success to her family&#8217;s liberal background.

Back in Amroha for a 15-day winter break, Kushboo is acclimatising herself to the newfound attention. &#8220;I was only a small part of a big mission, of a bigger dream that the country had seen. The praise I&#8217;m getting is overwhelming.&#8221;

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## garibnawaz

Indian Space Research Organisation is all set to launch Oceansat-2, an exclusive satellite to track marine life and identify potential fishing zones in September. 

This was disclosed by Y V N Krishnamurthy, the director of ISRO's Regional Remote Sensing Service Centre while addressing a symposium in Coimbatore on Monday. 

Krishnamurthy mentioned that all pre-launch tests on the functional aspects of the satellite have been successfully completed.

ISRO to launch Oceansat-2 in September: Rediff.com news

GB

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## Sam Dhanraj

Mate..It would have been better if you posted this news in 

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/4373-indian-space-capabilities-57.html

It helps us finding the relevant news in one section of the forum.


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

bro gharib Nawaz it's a very good news! 
Many many congrats to ISRO team


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## RPK

Univ builds first all-Swiss satellite, choose ISRO for launch :: Samay Live

Lausanne, Aug 25 (PTI) Students here have built the first all-Swiss cube satellite to study the upper atmosphere and test low-cost positioning system and have turned to ISRO to put it in orbit.

Built by students at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), the 10x10x10 cm Cubesat -- named as the SwissCube -- weighs less than a kilogram and is equipped with a mini telescope besides over 1,000 components.

Initially, the satellite was to be launched by an European rocket which ran into delays prompting EPFL to opt for ISRO which offered a "reasonable" deal.

The satellite is designed to take photos of the "airglow" -- the faint bands of green and mauve light caused by high-energy radiation from the sun colliding with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere.

"SwissCube was delivered to ISRO earlier this month and would be launched by its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - C14 next month," senior EPFL scientist Anton Ivanov told a group of visiting Indian journalists here.

SwissCube is not only small in size, but also low cost, having been put together from commercially available parts.

"The entire project, including the launch fee, cost us 300,000 euros and a major portion was spent on allowances to students who worked after completing their semesters," Muriel Noca, Project Manager of SwissCube, told PTI.


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## Screaming Skull

*PM inaugurates new campus for Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST)​*






*The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurating the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in Thiruvananthapuram via Video Conferencing, in New Delhi on Tuesday.*​
Functions were conducted simultaneously at the Prime Ministers residence in New Delhi and at Valiamala at the southern end of the country, to mark the occasion. While the Prime Minister and three of his Cabinet colleagues and the top scientific community in the country were present at the function in New Delhi, four of the Kerala Ministers and the Leader of the Opposition and top people of the IIST and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) attended the function in Valiamala.

Besides the formal inauguration of the IIST campus, the functions also featured the distribution of ISRO awards to individual scientists and teams in IRSO and Defence Research Development Organisation for the contributions they had made in 2007 for the advance of Indian Space Science. While a few of the awardees, received the recognition directly from the Prime Minister, many others were honoured at the function at Valiamala.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated a new Space Complex of the ISRO, by tele-link, at Sadiqnagar in New Delhi. This complex would set going ISROs endeavours to popularise space technologys people-oriented and development-oriented services such as tele-medicine, tele-education, disaster management and village resource management in the northern parts of the country, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, said at the function in New Delhi.

The director of IIST, B.N. Suresh, addressing the function at Valiamala, said that the institution would be shifting to the new campus by January 2010. Post-graduate courses in space science disciplines would start at the IIST at the beginning of the next academic year. The institution has just completed admission to the third batch of students in B.Tech. programmes in Avionics, Aerospace Engineering and Physical Sciences.

With the addition of the third batch, this institution, started in 2007, will have nearly 450 students on its rolls. It is now functioning in the campus of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Veli, near here.

The IIST would be having its observatory and associated laboratories at Upper Sanatorium in the Ponmudi Hills in Thiruvananthapuram district. Eight hectares of land in the Ponmudi Hills for the observatory and associated facilities and 22 hectares of land out of the new 40-hectare campus at Valiamala were provided to the institution by the State government free of cost.

The upcoming fully residential campus at Valiamala will house the academic blocks, research laboratories, library, information centre, computer centre, administrative area, convocation hall, residential complex for faculty and support staff, students activity centre, health care centre, health club and sports complex. In addition to hostels for students, there will also be studio type apartments in the campus for research students.

Those who attended the function at Valiamala included Ministers M.A. Baby, K.P. Rajendran, N.K. Premachandran, and M. Vijayakumar and Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy. 

PM inaugurates new campus for IIST @ The Hindu

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## sidharth

*Chandrayaan-2 design review completed *

August 16, 2009, (Sawf News) - ISRO recently completed a joint review of the Chandrayaan-2 design with the Russian scientists.

"Right now, the design has been completed. We had a joint review with Russian scientists here," said ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair.

The Chandrayaan-2 is a joint Indo-Russian project with each agency putting in around Rs425 crore. It is expected to take off towards the end of 2012.

It will consist of an orbiter made by ISRO and a lander made by Russian Space Agency Roscosmos.

The lander will possibly have two robotic moon rovers which will be jointly designed and developed by India and Russia.

The landing site is yet to be identified but will be on the far side of the moon, with South Pole Aitkin (SPA) basin being a prime candidate. Imagery from Chandrayaan-1 is beings used to select the site.

The instrument package on board the orbiter is yet to be finalized. It could consist of Terrain mapping camera, 400-4000nm hyper spectral Imager, Low energy X-ray spectrometer (CCD-array)and Gamma ray, neutron, alpha spectrometer.

Chandrayaan-2 will be launched using a GSLV Mk III. The complete spacecraft will weigh 2,700 kg.

Russian press reports place the weight of the Moon lander at 400 kg.

Chandrayaan-2 design was initially completed in December 2008.

Using the experience gained from Chandrayaan 1, particularly the more than expected radiation heating of the spacecraft, ISRO revised the design of Chandrayaan-2.

ISRO is contemplating the use of nuclear power for the lunar orbiter in collaboration with Bhaba Atomic Research Center.

"We are thinking of powering some parts of Chandrayaan-2 with nuclear power and it will power the spacecraft when it revolves around the dark side of the moon," Madhavan Nair told media in early August.


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

*India loses contact with spacecraft Chandrayaan*

Link : India loses contact with spacecraft Chandrayaan

India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft is lost in space. ISRO has confirmed that radio contact with Chandrayaan-1 was lost at 1.30 am. The Health of Chandrayaan-I subsystems is being analysed, according to ISRO. It was launched in Sriharikota in October, 2008.

Experts say the mission has completed its objective: to reach the moon and place India's flag on the moon. India is the fourth country to accomplish that. Chandrayaan has delivered lots of crucial space data to India. It has also been studying whether there's water on the moon.

NDTV's Science Editor, Pallava Bagla, says "Chandrayaan shold not be written off. ISRO may manage to recover contact with it. But earlier this year, it faced over-heating and other technical problems. Yes, Chandrayaan is on its last legs, but it has met its objective".

The spacecraft has completed 312 days in orbit, making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon. India has spent close to Rs 400 crore on the Chandryaan mission.


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## warlock21

Well acc. to News on some TV channels.... 90&#37; objective of this mission is complete as per the scientific data received till now.....

They are terming this as a " Glitch"... rather then mission failure.

this mission was meant for 2 years in orbit.. as per abv post 312 days completed till now... so its not OK to call it a mission Failur... but offcourse Standards are need to raised for other or I should say upcoming space mission(s)

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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

Warlock21 thanks for you valuable post... But still it's a sad news..now ISRO should maintain good standards chandrayaan II to avoid so called 'glitches'.

Thanks


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## shchinese

warlock21 said:


> Well acc. to News on some TV channels.... 90% objective of this mission is complete as per the scientific data received till now.....
> 
> They are terming this as a " Glitch"... rather then mission failure.
> 
> this mission was meant for 2 years in orbit.. as per abv post 312 days completed till now... so its not OK to call it a mission Failur... but offcourse Standards are need to raised for other or I should say upcoming space mission(s)



however it does demonstrate how unreliable "made in india" product is. 

is such "glitch" systems ready for manned mission? are you going to rely on such "glitch"s for your nuclear weapon delivery system?


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## shchinese

AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer said:


> Warlock21 thanks for you valuable post... But still it's a sad news..now ISRO should maintain good standards chandrayaan II to avoid so called 'glitches'.
> 
> Thanks



under the conditions that:

1. chandrayaan II can actually be launched. where is the rocket for launching such payload? india simply don't have it. 

2. chandrayaan II can actually be built, within less than 30 years. check the history of Arjun/LCA.

3. chandrayaan II actually can contribute to the "space capacity" of india. I mean, when a tiny fighter named LCA takes more than 30 years of design and testing,and you guys still couldn't make it right, do you seriously believe such chandrayaan II done in a few years is more advanced than the LCA?

 

this is just some propaganda to make you guys feel excited, to make you believe your life has some real meaning - propaganda.


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## indiatech

shchinese said:


> however it does demonstrate how unreliable "made in india" product is.
> 
> is such "glitch" systems ready for manned mission? are you going to rely on such "glitch"s for your nuclear weapon delivery system?



shame that you get unbanned again and banned again and keep throwing rubish. 

Are you flying in our manned mission that you are so scared? 

Keep watching for Chandrayaan-2 .


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## shchinese

TheWarriorIndian said:


> Thanks a lot, hope it gives some kind of a relief for you now ...



I am telling you the truth.

You can just have a look at "China's space capacity". We are having some major technical difficulties, all launches have been halted and thus we only had 2 launched this year (was scheduled to have 12 for the whole year and now it is already almost Sept). 

We in general don't see this as insult or "shame", this is just technical difficulties. However, I found Indians are regarding such failures as insult to their "homeland", it is very funny. 

*nationalism is destroying your mind. *


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## warlock21

I think shchinese is recently diagnosed with Loose motions.. thts why spraying BS on every indian Thread only.....

to my Indian Friends..... take a look at his Y-20 thread....I don't think he is chinese either.


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## shchinese

warlock21 said:


> I think shchinese is recently diagnosed with Loose motions.. thts why spraying BS on every indian Thread only.....
> 
> to my Indian Friends..... take a look at his Y-20 thread....I don't think he is chinese either.



I know you are shocked about our Y-20.

have a look at our Y-10, we can start producing such aircraft in just weeks if we want. we had 2 of them built and in successful operation 30 years ago. 
Photos: Shanghai Y-10 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net


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## ratolz

Chandrayaan-1 moon mission over: ISRO - India - NEWS - The Times of India



BANGALORE: Ten months after it was launched, India's maiden moon mission the ambitious Chandrayaan-1 came to an abrupt end on Saturday after ISRO 

lost communication with the spacecraft, cutting short the dream odyssey that was expected to last two years. 

"The mission is definitely over. We have lost contact with the spacecraft," Project Director of the Chandrayaan-1 mission M Annadurai said. 

However, he said: "It (Chandrayaan-1) has done its job technically...100 per cent. Scientifically also, it has done almost 90-95 percent of its job". 

The two-year mission, launched on October 22 last year with much fanfare, was abandoned early today after the after radio contact with the mooncraft was abruptly lost at 0130 hours. 

The Deep Space Network at Byalalu near here received the data from the 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, which carried 11 instruments on board, including six from overseas, during the previous orbit up to 0025 hours. 

ISRO is conducting detailed review of the telemetry data from the spacecraft. "We will analyse as to what happened," Annadurai said.

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## third eye

shchinese said:


> however it does demonstrate how unreliable "made in india" product is.
> 
> is such "glitch" systems ready for manned mission? are you going to rely on such "glitch"s for your nuclear weapon delivery system?



Check these out.

Abstracts: Blasting off: Peking reacts to criticism after failed space launch Too many ships, too little cargo
Analysis: China space launch raises fears
Spacelift Washington: Long March Fails in Military Weapons Test | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

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## ratolz

I think it was excessive radiation which harmed the components too much. But as it was 1st moon mission by ISRO, so ISRO has learned many things from it, which will help alot in 2nd mission.


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

shchinese said:


> under the conditions that:
> 
> 1. chandrayaan II can actually be launched. where is the rocket for launching such payload? india simply don't have it.
> 
> 2. chandrayaan II can actually be built, within less than 30 years. check the history of Arjun/LCA.
> 
> 3. chandrayaan II actually can contribute to the "space capacity" of india. I mean, when a tiny fighter named LCA takes more than 30 years of design and testing,and you guys still couldn't make it right, do you seriously believe such chandrayaan II done in a few years is more advanced than the LCA?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this is just some propaganda to make you guys feel excited, to make you believe your life has some real meaning - propaganda.



shchinese Sir thanks for your encouraging comments.. Mostly I 've noticed you're taking trouble to keep reminding us about our failures...I have read the same comments when ISRO preparing for Chandrayaan I and now your prediciting about Chandrayaan II, But Still we keep on trying, its better to try rather than making movie of "FAKE SPACE WALK"

sorry for my poor english Sir ....


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## ratolz

People, please don't feed the troll.

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## shchinese

AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer said:


> shchinese Sir thanks for your encouraging comments.. Mostly I 've noticed you're taking trouble to keep reminding us about our failures...I have read the same comments when ISRO preparing for Chandrayaan I and now your prediciting about Chandrayaan II, But Still we keep on trying, its better to try rather than making movie of "FAKE SPACE WALK"
> 
> sorry for my poor english Sir ....



 you can calling that fake, I don't have any problem on that part of your civil rights. just like a lot of morons believe the moon landing is faked. 

however, at the end of the day, we are going to launch three shenzhou spaceship and dock them to make our small sized space station next year. you can keep trolling, that won't change any fact.

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## Chanakyaa

shchinese said:


> under the conditions that:
> 
> 1. chandrayaan II can actually be launched. where is the rocket for launching such payload? india simply don't have it.



I really like to reply misleading and Factually incorrect Posts.


You will enjoy This reading.
To make your life eaisier my friend just notice that Chandrayann II is weighing 2700 Kg while GSLV , the successfully tested GSLV can launch 2600Kg.

But India perhaps shall use GSLV MKIII



> 2. chandrayaan II can actually be built, within less than 30 years. check the history of Arjun/LCA.



I guess you are a space scientist understanding the minute efforts of satellite manufacture, if NOT No one can accept this statement.
btw can you explain your estimate of 30 Years.. oh yes "dont talk of east when the talk is about west"



> 3. chandrayaan II actually can contribute to the "space capacity" of india. I mean, when a tiny fighter named LCA takes more than 30 years of design and testing,and you guys still couldn't make it right, do you seriously believe such chandrayaan II done in a few years is more advanced than the LCA?
> 
> 
> 
> this is just some propaganda to make you guys feel excited, to make you believe your life has some real meaning - propaganda.



Oh man dont spoil this beautiful forum with meaningless flaming posts.
How do u compare LCA with Chandrayaan ?
I cant understand how the term "advanced" is being used when comparing a fighter plane with satellite.

These are products of two different departments , If US didnot make a space station like MIR , it never meant it cannot make the F22 Raptor. You get it .. do u ? be careful with comparisons.


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## shchinese

XiNiX said:


> I really like to reply misleading and Factually incorrect Posts.
> 
> 
> You will enjoy This reading.
> To make your life eaisier my friend just notice that Chandrayann II is weighing 2700 Kg while GSLV , the successfully tested GSLV can launch 2600Kg.
> 
> But India perhaps shall use GSLV MKIII



 this is as funny as saying China can use its CZ-5 for launching the Chang'e II. 

actually you guys can hand over the moon satellite to Chinese and launch it using the CZ-2f rocket. 100% success rate in the past decade, 3 manned mission, that can save you a lot of trouble. 



XiNiX said:


> Oh man dont spoil this beautiful forum with meaningless flaming posts.
> How do u compare LCA with Chandrayaan ?



they are all complex systems, am I right?


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## Chanakyaa

shchinese said:


> this is as funny as saying China can use its CZ-5 for launching the Chang'e II.
> 
> actually you guys can hand over the moon satellite to Chinese and launch it using the CZ-2f rocket. 100% success rate in the past decade, 3 manned mission, that can save you a lot of trouble.
> 
> 
> 
> they are all complex systems, am I right?



dude i admire china's great advancement , i admire china's indegenios efforts... but China can do Someting Right DOES NOT imply INDIA will definitely do it wrong....

Rockets capability is about payload, GSLV can launch 3000KG plus in LEO and 2600 Kg in GTO.


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## hack

shchinese said:


> this is as funny as saying China can use its CZ-5 for launching the Chang'e II.
> 
> actually you guys can hand over the moon satellite to Chinese and launch it using the CZ-2f rocket. 100% success rate in the past decade, 3 manned mission, that can save you a lot of trouble.
> 
> 
> 
> they are all complex systems, am I right?



Both China and India are only minor players in the Space age...this is a ridiculous comparison...if you want to compare to someone then compare to the US who is retiring the Spaceships built 30 years ago due to age and till today no country can even dream of making one in the near future.

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## fatman17

india just lost some sort of a satellite sent to the moon!


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## DaRk WaVe

fatman17 said:


> india just lost some sort of a satellite sent to the moon!



yup


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## shchinese

hack said:


> Both China and India are only minor players in the Space age...this is a ridiculous comparison...if you want to compare to someone then compare to the US who is retiring the Spaceships built 30 years ago due to age and till today no country can even dream of making one in the near future.





let me tell you something dude, I don't think China can catch up with your per capita GDP in my life time. however the interesting thing is when it comes to international influence, the per capita data is only useful when on paper. you guys won the WWII not because of your fancy per capita GDP, it is because your population and GDP is higher than the combined Japanese + German GDP. For the same reason, we will have 200&#37; of your GDP when our per capita stat is only half of yours. you know what does that mean. 

then what does half of your GDP per capita means? Look at your backyard Mexico. do you seriously believe we can't catch up with Mexico in terms of GDP per capita? 

for space technologies, yes, the US is the leading power. this situation won't change in the next 30-50 years. but who cares? unless you can get meaningful contact with those little-green-men on Mars first and cut some technology transfer deals, you are not going to change the above mention situation - once our per capita GDP stats is comparable to Mexico, the US will no longer be qualified as a superpower. 

please note, the only assumptions here are:
1. we can catch up with Mexico's GDP per capita. 
2. you can't cut a technology transfer deal with your friends on the Mars in the next 50 years.

*here India is a completely store, many well educated Chinese regard the US as our future ally while India being our biggest enemy. this is so clear to me as once our GDP is twice as much as yours, your "voters" are going to force your government to be our ally, there is the pacific between our two nations, we are the leading force in the west/east, there is not much reason to fight. India is different, India is in our doorstep and we will NEVER tolerate another superpower with more than 1 billion people our doorstep. Please read the history on how we used hundreds of years to completely remove the entire ethnic group that used to rule Korea.*

btw, my father's uncle fought the Vietnam war, shot down a couple of your fighters. hope your spaceship is better than those fancy fighters.

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## paritosh

shchinese said:


> for space technologies, yes, the US is the leading power. this situation won't change in the next 30-50 years. but who cares? unless you can get meaningful contact with those little-green-men on Mars first and cut some technology transfer deals, you are not going to change the above mention situation - once our per capita GDP stats is comparable to* Mexico*, the US will no longer be qualified as a superpower.
> 
> please note, the only assumptions here are:
> 1. we can catch up with *Mexico's* GDP per capita.
> 2. *you can't cut a technology transfer deal with your friends on the Mars in the next 50 years.
> *


what has poor Mexico gotta do with your sinister plans?
and what the heck does point no.2 mean?


> *here India is a completely store, many well educated Chinese regard the US as our future ally while India being our biggest enemy. this is so clear to me as once our GDP is twice as much as yours, your "voters" are going to force your government to be our ally, there is the pacific between our two nations, we are the leading force in the west/east, there is not much reason to fight. India is different, India is in our doorstep and we will NEVER tolerate another superpower with more than 1 billion people our doorstep. Please read the history on how we used hundreds of years to completely remove the entire ethnic group that used to rule Korea.*


really?these are your reasons to brand us as your 'future enemies'?
just because we are at your door step and that we are a billion+ and that we might make it as another superpower?
forget all the boundary issues...our population growth rate and geographical location is an issue...


> btw, my father's uncle fought the Vietnam war, shot down a couple of your fighters. hope your spaceship is better than those fancy fighters.


yeah declare war on America as America will eventually reach a billion+ sometime in the distant future...and I guess the tectonic movements of the continental plates would bring the Yanks closer to Manchuria one day...seriously shchinese I have been going through your posts...and you seemed to post everything in a blind hatred of everything non-chinese.


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## shchinese

paritosh said:


> really?these are your reasons to brand us as your 'future enemies'?
> just because we are at your door step and that we are a billion+ and that we might make it as another superpower?
> forget all the boundary issues...our population growth rate and geographical location is an issue...



sorry, not future enemies, the correct term is "the future enemy", or "the only enemy in the future". 



paritosh said:


> yeah declare war on America as America will eventually reach a billion+ sometime in the distant future...and I guess the tectonic movements of the continental plates would bring the Yanks closer to Manchuria one day...seriously shchinese I have been going through your posts...and you seemed to post everything in a blind hatred of everything non-chinese.



*No, I've clearly told you, the US and China will be allies in the future, there is no such "war" between these two great nations. They are not a threat to us. *

please don't troll, you can't just put your troll words into my mouth.

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## desimorty

and what does pakistan have to say when China warms up to the US? The last time, the US and China were close, they armed Pakistan to the teeth and had THEM fight a proxy war with another superpower. While the US would like good relations, its not gonna happen untill your politicians are held accountable. Its a dog eat dog world. China is scapegoating Japan and Taiwan. The whole manned space mission was just an excuse to spurge nationalism during the tainted milk scandle. The propaganda against India is noticable too. The CCP want to create and image of poverty and failed democracy for India. If you saw the worse in India, you wouldn't want elections either. Bottom line, China is not close to warming up to US because of Taiwan, they want it before the sustainable change to democracy. Yes, CCP knows dictatorships don;t work, just like they knew Communism doesn't work, long.


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## dvk1982

shchinese said:


> sorry, not future enemies, the correct term is "the future enemy", or "the only enemy in the future".
> 
> 
> 
> *No, I've clearly told you, the US and China will be allies in the future, there is no such "war" between these two great nations. They are not a threat to us. *
> 
> please don't troll, you can't just put your troll words into my mouth.




Man... u do have some glorious fancy hallucinations....

Anywyas whatever be ur arguments and jingoism... Just remember this :
lets wait for another 15-20 yrs and see how china stands on it's own in this soon to be multi-polar world... 
_ my theory, India necessarily needn't be anywhere close to china in terms of GDP but still can act as a counter balance, off course it assumes India strengthens its Economy many folds in the mean time even if its second best after china !!!


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## grey boy 2

jatt said:


> and what does pakistan have to say when China warms up to the US? The last time, the US and China were close, they armed Pakistan to the teeth and had THEM fight a proxy war with another superpower. While the US would like good relations, its not gonna happen untill your politicians are held accountable. Its a dog eat dog world. China is scapegoating Japan and Taiwan. The whole manned space mission was just an excuse to spurge nationalism during the tainted milk scandle. The propaganda against India is noticable too. The CCP want to create and image of poverty and failed democracy for India. If you saw the worse in India, you wouldn't want elections either. Bottom line, China is not close to warming up to US because of Taiwan, they want it before the sustainable change to democracy. Yes, CCP knows dictatorships don;t work, just like they knew Communism doesn't work, long.




Is this a thread about the space capabilities of India?

What with the CCP,Taiwan , communism have to do with it?

Do you mean a democracy base on a caste system will benifit to

your space capabilities in the long run?

I don't think so.

Democracy+caste system=??....


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## Chanakyaa

Get back on topic guys.


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## shchinese

dvk1982 said:


> Man... u do have some glorious fancy hallucinations....
> 
> Anywyas whatever be ur arguments and jingoism... Just remember this :
> lets wait for another 15-20 yrs and see how china stands on it's own in this soon to be multi-polar world...
> _ my theory, India necessarily needn't be anywhere close to china in terms of GDP but still can act as a counter balance, off course it assumes India strengthens its Economy many folds in the mean time even if its second best after china !!!



counter balance? 

 how about spend more time to build your own bullets? the bullets used by your army are imported, keep this in your mind dude.

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## beckham

shchinese said:


> counter balance?
> 
> how about spend more time to build your own bullets? the bullets used by your army are imported, keep this in your mind dude.



what ? now you are saying we cant even manufacture bullets ? don't be so ignorant ...  

Ammunition Factory, Khadki 

Monday, January 25, 1999 


PUNE, Jan 24: Making effective use of concurrent engineering to meet the growing requirements of the Indian army, the Ammunition Factory at Khadki, one of the oldest small arms ammunition factories in the country, has set up separate facilities for the manufacture of ammunition for the famous AK-47 weapon systems and the recently introduced 5.56 Indian Small Arms Weapon System (INSAS).
Almost every soldier of the Indian army is equipped with INSAS following the gradual phase-out of the 7.62 rifle. Significantly, Pune will be the only facility to manufacture the required ammunition for both the weapon systems in bulk quantities. At a later stage this year, the Ordnance Factory, Warangaon near Bhusaval, will also be involved in some of the supply process.

The INSAS ammunition, which has a maximum range of 4600 metres and an effective range of 750 metres, can penetrate a 2.45 mm thick steel plate almost 600 metres from the muzzle. It can be fired at the rate of five rounds per second.

*Officials said that in the recent user trials at Mhow, the ammunition was tested against similar imported ammunition from South Africa, Israel, Belgium, France and Spain and was found to be far superior. Another set of trials are expected to be conducted in March this year before the ammunition can be supplied to the armed forces in bulk.*

In the last two decades, the NATO and erstwhile Warsaw Pact countries replaced 7.62 mm rifle with an improved small arms weapon of 5.56 calibre. During the period, most countries formed a belief that instead of causing loss to human life, the other country should be put to burden with the war wounded.

This belief was chiefly the outcome of the immense problems caused by the wounded soldiers in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. As a result most nations shifted from the 7.62 mm rifle to the improved small arms weapon of 5.56 mm calibre.

Soon after the Ordnance factories in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developed the INSAS, which is considered far superior to weapon systems currently in use in NATO and the erstwhile Warsaw Pact countries.

*Ammunition factory completed the development of ammunition for the INSAS in 1992 and commenced limited bulk production in 1993 by conversion of the old 7.62 mm machines for this purpose. The project for creation of capacity of production of 5.56 mm ammunition is now nearing completion.*

Ammunition Factory (Khadki) general manager S Ramaratnam told The Indian Express that concurrent engineering was the buzzword in most defence establishments and, as a result, the factory had taken steps towards utilising the existing machines of 7.62 Rifle for the INSAS ammunition.

``Some of the machines are supplied by HMT but some of them are required to be imported,'' Ramaratnam said. With the use of the existing machines, the factory has managed to save at least five years in the production process.

The factory will manufacture the case, bullet, propellant and primer used for treating the firing at the Khadki facility. During the final phase, the factory will be supplying 160 million rounds of INSAS ammunition.

On the ammunition for the AK-47 weapon systems, Ramaratnam said that these were still being developed and moreover, the Indian army was presently importing these weapon systems to meet its requirements.

AK-47, INSAS rest on AFK shoulders to shoot off


:By the way take a look at the date of the article, before posting anymore of your great observations !


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## hack

shchinese said:


> let me tell you something dude, I don't think China can catch up with your per capita GDP in my life time. however the interesting thing is when it comes to international influence, the per capita data is only useful when on paper. you guys won the WWII not because of your fancy per capita GDP, it is because your population and GDP is higher than the combined Japanese + German GDP. For the same reason, we will have 200% of your GDP when our per capita stat is only half of yours. you know what does that mean.
> 
> then what does half of your GDP per capita means? Look at your backyard Mexico. do you seriously believe we can't catch up with Mexico in terms of GDP per capita?
> 
> for space technologies, yes, the US is the leading power. this situation won't change in the next 30-50 years. but who cares? unless you can get meaningful contact with those little-green-men on Mars first and cut some technology transfer deals, you are not going to change the above mention situation - once our per capita GDP stats is comparable to Mexico, the US will no longer be qualified as a superpower.
> 
> please note, the only assumptions here are:
> 1. we can catch up with Mexico's GDP per capita.
> 2. you can't cut a technology transfer deal with your friends on the Mars in the next 50 years.
> 
> *here India is a completely store, many well educated Chinese regard the US as our future ally while India being our biggest enemy. this is so clear to me as once our GDP is twice as much as yours, your "voters" are going to force your government to be our ally, there is the pacific between our two nations, we are the leading force in the west/east, there is not much reason to fight. India is different, India is in our doorstep and we will NEVER tolerate another superpower with more than 1 billion people our doorstep. Please read the history on how we used hundreds of years to completely remove the entire ethnic group that used to rule Korea.*
> 
> btw, my father's uncle fought the Vietnam war, shot down a couple of your fighters. hope your spaceship is better than those fancy fighters.



You are living in a fantasy land..Americans don't consider China as an ally.Most ordinary Americans think of china as a threat.Why do you think they are giving all they can to India.


----------



## shchinese

hack said:


> You are living in a fantasy land..Americans don't consider China as an ally.Most ordinary Americans think of china as a threat.Why do you think they are giving all they can to India.



 of course we are not ally at this stage. I am talking about "ally in the future".

in general America is a threat to us, but not as big as India -- in other words, the US is not big enough to be qualified to be our biggest enemy. Yes, that also means we see India as a rising power which will quickly overtake the US in a few decades.


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## Khajur

*Stop feeding a freaking lunatic troll!*

*He is destroying this thread.*


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## Khajur

*Did ISRO goof up in predicting Chandrayaan mission life?*


Did Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) goof up when it announced that Chandrayaan-1 would have a mission life of two years as none of the lunar craft launched by other nations lasted that long?

On the hindsight, officials of the Bangalore-based space agency admit that they probably did.

"No lunar spacecraft works for two years. We did a mistake by telling it has a mission life of two years," an official said on condition of anonymity, *noting that lunar craft of other countries had not lasted beyond 6-7 months*. 

"*By saying it has a two-year life, we are caught in a sticky situation," *the official said.

Radio contact with the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft,India's maiden moon mission launched on October 22 last year, was abruptly lost early yesterday, with Project Director M Annadurai saying that the mission is now over.

"*Ten months is a very good life. Mapping-wise everything has been completed, except for a few patches," an ISRO official said, referring to performance of Chandrayaan-1*.

Officials said the antenna is being rotated in all directions to pick up signals but admit "the chances are slim".

Officials said "some catastrophic failure either in transmitter or receiving systems" is the likely cause of the snapping of radio link. "Majority of the electronic systems are okay. Only communication system has failed", they said.

The situation could be compared to a switched-off cellphone wherein incoming and outgoing communication cannot happen, the official said. 

Did ISRO goof up in predicting Chandrayaan's life?: Rediff.com news


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## hack

shchinese said:


> of course we are not ally at this stage. I am talking about "ally in the future".
> 
> in general America is a threat to us, but not as big as India -- in other words, the *US is not big enough *to be qualified to be our biggest enemy. Yes, that also means we see India as a rising power which will quickly overtake the US in a few decades.





Get off the shrooms man...


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## beckham

Khajur said:


> *Stop feeding a freaking lunatic troll!*
> 
> *He is destroying this thread.*


 Nooo.... he is destroying ''ALL'' threads !!


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## shchinese

hack said:


> Get off the shrooms man...




what is so funny here? The US only has 300 million people, thus it is not big enough. 

for example, the US is no longer the biggest car market in the world, why? because there is only 300 million people.


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## hack

shchinese said:


> what is so funny here? The US only has 300 million people, thus it is not big enough.
> 
> for example, the US is no longer the biggest car market in the world, why? because there is only 300 million people.



If more the better is the solution for economic power then China would not enforce a one child policy and India won't be desperately trying to somehow reduce her population.

Your economic thinking has a lot to be desired.


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## shchinese

hack said:


> If more the better is the solution for economic power then China would not enforce a one child policy and India won't be desperately trying to somehow reduce her population.
> 
> Your economic thinking has a lot to be desired.



 there is no such "more the better", however, 300 million is just not enough, otherwise your nation won't keep being an immigration country. 

you just can't deny this.


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## dvk1982

shchinese said:


> counter balance?
> 
> how about spend more time to build your own bullets? the bullets used by your army are imported, keep this in your mind dude.



u r gud at categorical declarations even if u have no idea abt what u r talking.... first manufacturing bullets have nothing to do with counter balancing and secondly ur claim is wrong.. just google it if u have access to it.. I am not going to feed ur ignorance..

Also there is a difference between ally and living together due to necessity !! China may become a necessity to USA, but that also assumes India doesnt develop to contribute or be closer to USA in economic terms...


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## dvk1982

shchinese said:


> there is no such "more the better", however, 300 million is just not enough, otherwise your nation won't keep being an immigration country.
> 
> you just can't deny this.



US keeps immigrating people because for any civilization to survive and grow the birth rate or population replacement rate needs to be close to 2, the lower it is, population grows older, the higher it is .. u face overload in terms of unemployment and likewise...


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## GLOBAL HAWK

shchinese said:


> of course we are not ally at this stage. I am talking about "ally in the future".
> 
> in general America is a threat to us, but not as big as India -- in other words, the US is not big enough to be qualified to be our biggest enemy. Yes, that also means we see India as a rising power which will quickly overtake the US in a few decades.



Wooow!!! 

Mr shchinese, i would recommend you to type with both your hands on the keyboard

NOT with one hand while the other is holding something(u know)...

I do accept India as a rising power, U(china) are already asia's super power.
I donot and will never agree with you when you say India or China is going to overtake USA as the world's superpower..


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## gogbot

GLOBAL HAWK said:


> Wooow!!!
> 
> Mr shchinese, i would recommend you to type with both your hands on the keyboard
> 
> NOT with one hand while the other is holding something(u know)...
> 
> I do accept India as a rising power, U(china) are already asia's super power.
> I donot and will never agree with you when you say India or China is going to overtake USA as the world's superpower..



When exactly did China become a superpower.?
was it when China said it did?
was it when the media said it did?
was it when the US public grew scared and said it did because they perceive it it as a threat to their dominance?
Or was it when they did?, no it inst a super power.

*Its a regional power, and an emerging super power. *

Its not a super power yet, but its on its way.


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## shchinese

GLOBAL HAWK said:


> I donot and will never agree with you when you say India or China is going to overtake USA as the world's superpower..



let me repeat my previous post: when China/India's GDP per capita is equal to the standard of Mexico, the US will just be another UK. 

please note, we are talking about the standard of Mexico in terms of GDP per capita.


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## IndiaNews98

^Ignore the troll. None of my Chinese friends are like him. 
_________________________________________________

*ISRO chief to head International Academy of Astronautics*

August 31, 2009 16:03 IST
Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair is all set to become the first non-American to head the International Academy of Astronautics.

The formal announcement was made on Monday by IAA secretary general J M Contant during an international conference on low cost planetary mission in Panaji.

"Its a great honour. All these years Americans chaired the post, first time a non-American, that too an Indian, is elected is a matter of great honour," Nair told PTI after the announcement.

Nair will formally take over the post during the International Astronautical Congress scheduled to be held in Korea this October. Nair, whose term is for two years, was elected by 94 member countries through postal ballot. IAA was founded in Sweden's capital Stockholm on August 16, 1960.

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## hack

shchinese said:


> let me repeat my previous post: when China/India's GDP per capita is equal to the standard of Mexico, the US will just be another UK.
> 
> please note, we are talking about the standard of Mexico in terms of GDP per capita.



Qatar's GDP per capita is way above the US right now...does that mean Qatar is a superior power?


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## k7x

Dear Chinese Friend 

We understand China is super power... India is no match to it (today)... so what?

Do you want every one around you to beg to you and align to you... First of all you have to understand there is some thing called 

Mother Nature.. and China is playing very hard with her.. And she is the only super power. She can shake any big city to dust.

again India is not any exception ..



Chinese has done some great things in space science ; that doesnt mean others should sit and watch what china is doing. 


India has 700 million poors; yes we agree but by applying information from space science we are able to acchive atleast 1% improvement on their lives.. we consider it good. 

and we are not wasting money on ISRO as you guys claim. for every $1 spent on isro it returns back $2 to the counrty + lot of other valuable info to uplift poor.. that is more than 100% return 


if your point is "Future is Only with China" ; well  .. continue your 

after 20 years your will see .

The basic fact that you guys dont like India ; this shows how fearful you are with Inida.. 


I tell you dont get much scared ... and dont put your hate words in all thread..


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## GLOBAL HAWK

gogbot said:


> When exactly did China become a superpower.?
> was it when China said it did?
> was it when the media said it did?
> was it when the US public grew scared and said it did because they perceive it it as a threat to their dominance?
> Or was it when they did?, no it inst a super power.
> 
> *Its a regional power, and an emerging super power. *
> 
> Its not a super power yet, but its on its way.



Chill brother, I meant exactly what u have opined.
Just termed it as asia's superpower.
pls if u still feel what i have said is inappropraite, I stand to be corrected


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## sidharth

*ISRO Mars Orbiter to search for ground water *

August 31, 2009, (Sawf News) - The Indian Mars Orbiter will join the international effort in assessing the suitability of Mars to life by searching for groundwater on trapped in aquifers on the planet for thousands of years.

The 500kg orbiter will also study the effect of solar wind on the Mars' atmosphere and its surface magnetic field.

ISRO is planning to launch the Mars orbiter using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The Indian Government has sanctioned seed money of Rs 10 crore to carry out various studies on experiments to be conducted.

Mission studies have been completed and ISRO has invited scientific payload proposals from agencies all over the world.

"We have given a call to international agencies to submit their proposals. We will be able to plan our mission depending on the type of experiments they propose to conduct," ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair said on Monday, August 31, at the start of the Eight International Conference on Low Cost Planetary Missions in Panaji.

ISRO is looking at a launch window between 2013-2015.


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## Born In The USA

American astronautical society award for Chandrayaan-1 team

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/aero_general/20090901_chandrayaan1_oneView.html

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 mission as one of the recipient's of its annual, AIAA SPACE 2009, awards, which recognize key contributions to space science and technology.


The awards will be presented on 16 September as part of the AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference & Exposition, 14 September, at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, California.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering and was founded in 1963 from the merger of two earlier societies: the American Rocket Society (ARS), founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society (AIS), and the Institute of Aerospace Sciences (IAS), founded in 1932 as the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences.

The AIAA is the US representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council on the Aeronautical Sciences.

As of 2004, the AIAA has more than 35,000 members and despite its name, it has members among aerospace professionals worldwide.

A release from the institute said the Chandrayaan-1 mission, India Space Research Organization (ISRO), Bangalore, India, will receive the AIAA 2009 Space Systems Award.

Mylaswamy Annadurai, project director, ISRO headquarters, will accept the award on behalf of the team, which is being honoured for its outstanding accomplishments in the design, development, launch and operations of India's first scientific mission, Chandrayaan-1, operating beyond earth's orbit.

The institute will also honour Gird Hirzinger, director, Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics the DLR German Aerospace Center with the 2009 Space Automation and Robotics Award. Hirzinger is being honoured for his outstanding contributions in the field of space automation and robotics, especially for his establishment and leadership of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the DLR German Aerospace Center, and his work on the ROTEX, GETEX, and ROKVISS space robotic programs.

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS-I) Recovery Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and Boeing Space and Intelligent Systems, El Segundo, Calif., will receive the AIAA 2009 Space Operations and Support Award.

Jeffery Gamling, NASA Recovery Team Lead, and Douglas Bender, Boeing Space and Intelligent Systems Recovery Team Lead, will accept the award on behalf of both teams.

The teams are being honoured for their outstanding efforts, innovation and outstanding accomplishments in the recovery of the TDRS-I satellite from its geosynchronous transfer orbit to its placement into the intended orbit resulting in its successful operation supporting spacecraft communications.

The institute will also honour Kenneth Lipartito, professor of history at the Florida International University, Miami, Fla., and Orville Butler, associate historian at the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics, College Park, Md., with the AIAA 2009 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Award.

Lipartito and Butler are being honoured for their work entitled ''A History of the Kennedy Space Center.''

The AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference and Exhibition is co-chaired by NASA and the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, and sponsored by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Additional sponsors include The Boeing Company, SpaceX, United Space Alliance, Stellar Solutions, Ball Aerospace Technologies, Harris Corporation, and The Aerospace Corporation.

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## glomex

*Chandrayaan 2 Design Completed-Expected to be operational in the next two years*

The Indian space program got another shot in the arm with the initial design phase of the Chandrayaan 2 being completed. While this is just the beginning of what is arguably India's most ambitious space project ever, the success of the design phase in itself is an achievement mainly because of its inherent complexity.
The Chandrayaan 2 mission will consist of a lunar rover that will be dropped on to the lunar surface once the craft reaches the lunar orbit. The main duty of the rover would be to collect and analyze lunar soil and transmit the data back to the data centers on earth. Pertinent to note here is the fact that while the spacecraft would be indigenously made, the lunar rover will be made by Russia. 

The Chandrayaan 2 is expected to be operational in the next two years, after the life of the existing Chandrayaan 1 almost comes to an end. India had launched the Chandrayaan 1 in October 2008. Already a successful mission, it had been recently hit by a technical snag that jeopardized its operations. However, the Chandrayaan 1 has already accomplished 95 percent of the objectives assigned to it. Another thing to note is that the Chandrayaan 1 will augment the Lunar landing of the rover as the scientists are using data obtained from the Chandrayaan 1 to decide on the perfect landing schedule for the lunar rover.

Now that the design phase is over, we would be seeing a prototype of the Chandrayaan 2 soon. In the next two years, work on the spacecraft is expected to continue at a steady pace till the day of the launch.


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## GLOBAL HAWK

*India Moon mission is 'mixed success'
*
India has abandoned its inaugural Moon mission, 10 months after it was launched. Science writer Pallava Bagla examines the mission's performance.
So was India's inaugural Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission a success or a failure?
Neither. By all accounts, it has been a mixed performance. Also, a definitive answer is not easy to give - it is possibly as grey as the surface of the Moon.
This was an expensive scientific experiment with many objectives and conducted in full public glare.
Most engineering goals have been fulfilled, but pious promises to deliver "good science" from the mission are still to be met.
Big achievement
India launched its $100m unmanned spacecraft on 22 October 2008 from Sriharikota on the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
First, the spacecraft designed and built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) survived huge odds and successfully reached the Moon's orbit.
This in itself was a big achievement since neither Russia nor America succeeded in their maiden attempts; and there were several failures even before they got anywhere near the Moon.
So did India ride on the shoulders of earlier successes?
Certainly not, since the know-how and technologies to go to the Moon are just not available for the asking. Each nation has to learn on its own. India experimented and did that with complete success.
The only other country to have managed a similar maiden feat was China - its mission Chang'e-1 in 2007 lasted 16 months in space, according to the Chinese National Space Administration.
The Indian mission survived for about 10 months in space; most other missions to the Moon have been much more short-lived.
So did the Indian space agency, in its naivety, over-stretch and over-estimate the craft's life when it planned for a 24-month mission?

The mission lasted 10 months in space
Possibly. The answer may emerge in the findings of the "failure analysis committee" that Isro has put in place after this debacle.
Despite being dubbed by Isro as an "engineering success", the mission had a rough ride around the Moon.
A fuel leak from the rocket almost aborted its lift-off. Within days of reaching the Moon, a power system failed, and a back-up system had to be activated.
Soon, the spacecraft started overheating due to the intense heat on the Moon. Isro scientists say it was deft mission management that saved it from a total burnout.
A few months into the mission the spacecraft lost its fine guidance system when the onboard "star sensor" packed up in the intense radiation around the Moon.
But, every time an instrument on this 1,380kg robot gave way, mission controllers at Isro found an innovative solution to keep the mission alive.
Finally on 29 August 2009, the space agency lost all contact with Chandrayaan after a catastrophic failure - possibly in its power supply system. A day later, the mission was "terminated", although Isro chief G Madhavan Nair declared it had been a "complete success".
'Two-in-one mission'
The Indian mission was in certain respects much more challenging than the Chinese maiden lunar mission which was a simple national orbiter.
Chandrayaan-1 was literally a two-in-one mission, since the main satellite was to orbit at 100km above the Moon and then a tiny gadget the size of a computer monitor was to attempt a "landing" on the Moon's surface.
The mission did this on 14 November 2008. No nation to date had succeeded in both a lunar orbiter and an impactor at the first attempt.

Mr Nair says the mission is a 'complete success' (Photo: Pallava Bagla)
This was more than an experiment. It was also a brave global geo-political statement since the probe that crash-landed on the Moon also permanently placed India's flag on the lunar surface.
India became the fourth space bloc to have done this after Russia, America and the European Space Agency.
This is hugely significant because, if ever the Moon's resources are to be divided, India's rightful share can be claimed having achieved what others have not been able to do.
There are many other firsts to this mission.
In a highly un-Indian trait, the Indian space agency delivered the Moon mission with no cost or time overrun at $100m and within eight years of it first being suggested.
The spacecraft carried 11 different sophisticated instruments, one of the largest suites of experiments ever carried to the Moon.
The objective was to remotely map the resources of the Moon, prepare a three-dimensional atlas of it and look for water.
All instruments worked for about 10 months in the hostile lunar environment. Dr Nair calls it a "more than 100% success of Indian technology".
India also created a new model of international partnership.

Chandrayaan peered into the deepest craters searching for water
On its own initiative, India announced that it would be happy to piggyback instruments from global partners.
After a huge competition, six instruments sourced from the European Space Agency (Esa), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and Bulgaria were chosen.
Bernard Foing, the chief scientist for Space Sciences at Esa, calls the Indian mission "the first multi-continent, multi-country lunar mission ever to be undertaken".
A little known fact is that India did not charge any money to fly these instruments 400,000km away: all got a free ride to the Moon, merely in exchange for sharing the scientific data.
Search for water
Chandrayaan-1 was also the first and the most detailed search for water on the Moon using radars - to date, water has never been found.
A miniature American radar onboard the Chandrayaan peered into the Moon's deepest craters searching for "water ice".
The Moon's surface is so parched that scientists feel the only location where water could exist would be in the permanently shadowed craters on the lunar poles.
But these are so deep and dark that sunlight never reaches them - hence the only way to peep inside is to send a radar signal down into them.
The global collaborative team of the mission is very excited about the findings.
"Never seen before images of the permanently shadowed craters of the Moon have been captured," says Paul D Spudis, of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, US, and principal investigator of the payload sent to search for water.
"The new radar images are not only visually arresting, but they will be extremely useful in unravelling the complex geological history of the Moon as a whole," he says.
Other scientific reports on findings are in the offing. But unless the results are published, questions will continue to be asked about whether the mission fulfilled its exalted scientific objectives.
The termination of the Moon mission will, however, not affect India's plans in space.
The country is already planning a second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2, with Russian collaboration in 2011-12; a mission to an asteroid; an unmanned mission to Mars in 2013 and a human spaceflight in 2015.
Upbeat Isro scientists are saying "Chandrayaan-1 is dead, long live Chandrayaan". The jury will be out - until the scientific papers come in.



BBC NEWS | South Asia | India Moon mission is 'mixed success'

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## IndiaNews98

*Chandrayaan confirms moon was once completely molten: Scientist*
Chandrayaan confirms moon was once completely molten: Scientist- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

PANAJI: Chandrayaan's moon mineralogy mapper has confirmed the magma ocean hypothesis, meaning that the moon was once completely molten, a senior
scientist said Wednesday.

"It proves beyond doubt the magma ocean hypothesis. There is no other way this massive rock type could be formed," said Carle Pieters, science manager at the NASA-supported spectroscopy facility at Brown University in the US.

Pieters, who was in charge of the moon mineralogy mapper on Chandrayaan, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Low Cost Planetary Mission Conference here.

Referring to the presence of anorthite, a calcium-rich iron-deficient layer on the upper crust of the lunar surface, she said this rose to the top as the moon eventually cooled down after a turbulent origin.

Pieters also said that the Chandrayaan mission, which has been abandoned after communication was lost with the satellite, had thrown up a couple of surprise findings, which included identification of a new rock type on the moon.

"All this new information helps us to understand better the history of the moon, which is already the model for all terrestrial planets," the scientist pointed out.

"The evaluation of the moon gives us an indication and an opportunity to study the early evolution of the planets," Pieters said, adding that missions like Chandrayaan would set the foundation for future lunar research and assist in the possible exploitation of mineral resources on the moon in the future.

"Although it is still early days, we are interested in learning about the mineral resources on the moon, which we could utilize in the long term," she maintained.

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## BRAHMOS

glomex said:


> *Chandrayaan 2 Design Completed-Expected to be operational in the next two years*
> 
> The Indian space program got another shot in the arm with the initial design phase of the Chandrayaan 2 being completed. While this is just the beginning of what is arguably India's most ambitious space project ever, the success of the design phase in itself is an achievement mainly because of its inherent complexity.
> The Chandrayaan 2 mission will consist of a lunar rover that will be dropped on to the lunar surface once the craft reaches the lunar orbit. The main duty of the rover would be to collect and analyze lunar soil and transmit the data back to the data centers on earth. Pertinent to note here is the fact that while the spacecraft would be indigenously made, the lunar rover will be made by Russia.
> 
> The Chandrayaan 2 is expected to be operational in the next two years, after the life of the existing Chandrayaan 1 almost comes to an end. India had launched the Chandrayaan 1 in October 2008. Already a successful mission, it had been recently hit by a technical snag that jeopardized its operations. However, the Chandrayaan 1 has already accomplished 95 percent of the objectives assigned to it. Another thing to note is that the Chandrayaan 1 will augment the Lunar landing of the rover as the scientists are using data obtained from the Chandrayaan 1 to decide on the perfect landing schedule for the lunar rover.
> 
> Now that the design phase is over, we would be seeing a prototype of the Chandrayaan 2 soon. In the next two years, work on the spacecraft is expected to continue at a steady pace till the day of the launch.




JAI HIND..

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## BRAHMOS

Chandrayan 2


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## arihant

Rover looks very different. Will tyre survive on the Moon is question.


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## hack

When is the new GSLV launch scheduled?...the one with the indigenous cryogenic engine.


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## arihant

It is on 30th December 2013 (C-2). About test of GSLV III it is likely to be in 2010

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## desimorty

grey boy 2 said:


> Is this a thread about the space capabilities of India?
> 
> What with the CCP,Taiwan , communism have to do with it?
> 
> Do you mean a democracy base on a caste system will benifit to
> 
> your space capabilities in the long run?
> 
> I don't think so.
> 
> Democracy+caste system=??....



A member of the forums believes that the US will warm up to China. iI was sharing my opinon on how far it is from reality. What does Caste System have anything to do with anything YOU just posted? Your baiting like a moron with now valid point. Democracy has to some extent given India good foriegn relations with other nations. A trait missing with China. India on her part recently paid for a launch to the moon with the instruments paid for by third parties interested in the research. Benifiting all, even India. The moon mission was pointless. There is no reason to be expoloring the moon at large costs as these right now. We are decades away from decent space technology. By "we", i mean humanity. Something has to be said about not having embargos on sensetive technology. Beats a lone bidder any day.

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## ratolz

ISRO plans to build two satellites for environment monitoring



BANGALORE: ISRO is planning to build two new satellites especially for environmental monitoring even as it is stepping up efforts to use its 

assessment on agriculture conditions and weather to effectively help people on the ground in co-ordination with other government agencies. 

"One (satellite) is mainly for studying aerosols and related things and another one for trace gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and sulphur dioxide, among others)," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair said. 

He said the satellites are in line with what Union ministry of environment and forests wants. Nair recently had a discussion with Union minister of state Jairam Ramesh, who is now expected to submit a note to Prime Minister on the subject. 

Nair said while Bangalore-headquartered ISRO would build these satellites, it would work with the Ministry to put together a competent team to analyse the data from the missions and study the climate change. 

ISRO has done some "bits and pieces" of work on aerosols from observations from the ground and ship for specific time but now there is a need to consolidate and put them into operational mode.

ISRO plans to build two satellites for environment monitoring - India - NEWS - The Times of India


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## ratolz

Chandrayaan-I masterminds assemble in Bangalore for tech review

Chandrayaan-I masterminds assemble in Bangalore for tech review - India - NEWS - The Times of India

BANGALORE: Key scientists from the country and abroad, who designed the 11 payloads - scientific instruments - on board India's now-defunct

Chandrayaan-I moon mission spacecraft, will meet here tomorrow for a technical review. 

Of the 11 payloads through which Chandrayaan-I intended to achieve its scientific objectives, five were designed and developed in India, three by European Space Agency, two were from the United States and one from Bulgaria. 

"If some of them have got some preliminary findings, we will try to make an assessment," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair said. 

According to Bangalore-headquartered space agency, 95 per cent of the scientific objectives of Chandrayaan-I mission, the country's first effort at deep space exploration, have been completed. 

ISRO had planned to take up the remaining work (five per cent) in the next season, starting in October, so that all observations could be completed. 

But a week ago, the lunar mission, expected to last for two years, met with a premature end, in just over ten months, after radio communication with the craft was lost and all efforts to re-establish it failed. 

Nair said, the foreign players, who flew their payloads, are satisfied with what they achieved. "They have got more than sufficient data with them. They are extremely happy," he said.


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## EjazR

Chandrayaan-I was 'killed' by heat stroke - India - NEWS - The Times of India

PANAJI: The reasons for early termination of the Chandrayaan-I mission are now tumbling out and they reveal that ISRO had kept the Moon
orbiter's problems tightly under wraps.

Contrary to the space agency's explanation that Chandrayaan's orbit around the Moon had been raised from 100km to 200km in May this year for a better view of the Moon's surface, it is now known that this was because of a miscalculation of the Moon's temperature that had led to faulty thermal protection.

Admitting this, Dr T K Alex, director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, said, &#8220;We assumed that the temperature at 100km above the Moon's surface would be around 75 degrees Celsius. However, it was more than 75 degrees and problems started to surface. We had to raise the orbit to 200km."

On May 19, however, ISRO said it had raised Chandrayaan's orbit to "enable further studies on orbit perturbations, gravitational field variation of the Moon and also enable imaging of the lunar surface with a wider swath".

It now transpires that heating problems on the craft had begun as early as November 25, 2008, forcing ISRO to deactivate some of the payloads &#8212; there were 11 in all.

As a result, some of the experiments could not be carried out which raised questions on whether the pre-launch thermal vacuum test done on the spacecraft at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore was adequate.

In early 2009, the situation improved and Chandrayaan-1 started operating normally. However, the snags resurfaced. This time with the two star sensors of Chandrayaan because of high temperature. The sensors are crucial in determining the orientation of the craft in space.

The first star sensor packed up on April 26, and even the back-up sensor failed during the second week of May.

ISRO officials said scientists and engineers used ingenious ways to restore Chandrayaan-I by using gyroscopes. An official requesting anonymity acknowledged: "This was purely a temporary step. It was like a broken car's steering wheel being repaired with scotch tapes. We could not predict how long this arrangement would last," he admitted.

The official said much before the official announcement of the project's end on August 30, it had become clear that the two-year mission would be cut short since 95&#37; of the scientific goals had been accomplished.

Despite the failure of the star sensors, Chandrayaan-1 transmitted excellent images including that of the solar eclipse on July 22. Also at 12.30am on August 21, it flew along with Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for four minutes to detect water ice in the north pole of the moon.

But worse was to follow. At 1.30am on August 29, communication with the spacecraft snapped all of a sudden. ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair has been quoted as saying that due to unforeseen radiation problems the two computers in the spacecraft controlling communication got affected resulting in the breakdown of communications. He has admitted that many of the heat-related problems were not anticipated at all, and it was definitely a learning experience.

"Keeping this in mind, Chandrayaan-2's thermal design will be strengthened to withstand more than 100 degrees Celsius," Alex told TOI on the sidelines of the recently concluded eighth international conference on low cost planetary mission conducted by the International Academy of Astronautics in Goa.

BARC is collaborating with ISRO to strengthen the radiation shield of Chandrayaan-2, slated for lift off in 2013 from Sriharikota. The average day temperature on the Moon's surface is 107 degrees Celsius, while the mean night temperature is -153 degree Celsius.

Although, ISRO claims that 95% of its planned experiments have been completed, it remains to be known whether payloads designed to operate at a 100-km orbit completed their missions. The issue has triggered a fierce debate on whether ISRO should have declared it a one-year mission right at the beginning rather than an ambitious two-year programme.

Among the experiments to be conducted from a 100km orbit were observations in the visible, near-infrared and soft and hard X-rays. Further, the Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument's objective was to provide ranging data for determining the height difference between the spacecraft and the lunar surface. Scientists admit that at an altitude of 200km, the return signal could be too weak for the purpose.

Chandrayaan's objectives also included orbiting around the Moon at a height of 100km for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the surface and its X-ray spectrometer was to use X-rays to map the surface composition of the Moon and help scientists understand its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist there.

The spacecraft's 11 scientific instruments were built in India, USA, UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria. The mission was formally called off on August 30 by ISRO, which said that a failure analysis committee will probe into the matter. ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair also said US and European space agencies who had also taken part in the Indian space mission "were satisfied" with the results.


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## sudhir007

ISRO plans to build two satellites for environment monitoring - India - NEWS - The Times of India

BANGALORE: ISRO is planning to build two new satellites especially for environmental monitoring even as it is stepping up efforts to use its 
assessment on agriculture conditions and weather to effectively help people on the ground in co-ordination with other government agencies. 

"One (satellite) is mainly for studying aerosols and related things and another one for trace gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and sulphur dioxide, among others)," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G Madhavan Nair said. 

He said the satellites are in line with what Union ministry of environment and forests wants. Nair recently had a discussion with Union minister of state Jairam Ramesh, who is now expected to submit a note to Prime Minister on the subject. 

Nair said while Bangalore-headquartered ISRO would build these satellites, it would work with the Ministry to put together a competent team to analyse the data from the missions and study the climate change. 

ISRO has done some "bits and pieces" of work on aerosols from observations from the ground and ship for specific time but now there is a need to consolidate and put them into operational mode.


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## marcos98

1: The Indian Space Research Organisation's concept design for its three crew capsule and its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 2 rocket.

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## ebungo

when it is going to launch??


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## indiatech

*Chandrayaan was a success: Mike Fincke*

The Hindu , Front Page

Saturday, Sep 12, 2009



GUWAHATI: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut *Edward Michael Fincke said on Friday the Chandrayaan Mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was a success, with 95 per cent of the mission being accomplished*. 

Col. Fincke, popularly known as Mike Fincke, a veteran of two long-duration space missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS), said that *though some people had raised speculation about the Chandrayaan Mission, the international scientific community felt the ISRO had accomplished its mission*. 

The astronaut &#8212; who has been selected by NASA as a mission specialist in the six- member crew for the Space Transportation System (STS)-134 for his third space flight in 2010 &#8212; was speaking to reporters on the penultimate day of his 12-day official visit to Assam and Meghalaya. 

Col. Fincke&#8217;s visit and his interaction with students were facilitated by the Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS). 

He interacted with students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati during the annual techno-management festival of IIT-G, Techniche 2009. 

Summing up his experience of the visit, the astronaut said the people of the region were very kind and warm and the students and teachers incredibly capable and intelligent. 

He said that on his return he would speak to NASA officials as to how different channels of communication could be opened for students from the northeast region to take part in space programmes. 

Married to Renita Saikia, an Assamese engineer at NASA, Col. Fincke arrived to a grand welcome as Asomor Jowai (Assam&#8217;s son-in-law). 

He also became popular with the new identity of &#8216;Mike Mama&#8217; (maternal uncle) among the school students. 


Space snack: NASA astronaut Edward Michael Fincke shows a Russian-made biscuit packet which was taken to space, to journalists in Guwahati on Friday.


Mike on his trip to india ,greeted by Assam CM


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## GLOBAL HAWK

Good news!!!

Mick Ficke was highly regarded by our professors at UC, I admire him for his achievements

My hero is Niel Armstrong


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## WarProfessor

GLOBAL HAWK said:


> Good news!!!
> 
> Mick Ficke was highly regarded by our professors at UC, I admire him for his achievements
> 
> My hero is Niel Armstrong



Neil Armstrong? The latest development is the dutch museum moon rock is a piece of petrified wood.


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## indiatech

*ISRO to replace computers on future satellites *


KOCHI: Stung by the finding that the failure of the Chandrayaan was mainly due to the malfunction of onboard computers, the Indian Space Research Organisation has decided to replace the processing units on all future satellites, including two scheduled for immediate launch.


A decision to equip the Oceansat- 2 and GSat-4 with a new bus management unit (BMU) instead of the existing one has already been taken. Currently ISRO uses a standard type of central computer unit in all satellites. This in-house developed system is a time-tested control unit which has flown on many satellites. But following the Chandrayaan fiasco due to poor thermal management, every component was scrutinised and re-evaluated.

Following this a high level decision to re-install the most crucial component was immediately taken.

The urgency was such that the replacement was done on Oceansat while it was waiting to be integrated with the launch vehicle.

(Oceansat-2 will be in orbit by the year end to boost Indias oceanographic studies. This satellite will also aid fishermen by giving them a clear indication of the presence and type of fish at various depths.) Similarly the control unit of GSat-4, a communication satellite, has also been replaced with a new one which features better thermal control facilities. The haste with which the BMUs in both satellites were replaced is further confirmation that Chandrayaan was let down more by internal factors than external temperature vagaries.

Apart from this ISRO has decided to raise the threshold value of all vehicles with immediate effect.

The values of thermvac (thermal and vacuum tests) have been raised four times from the normal practice of testing it under double the temperature and pressure readings in outer space.

A decision to effect certain design changes with a view to ensuring better ventilation of heat generated inside the satellite has also been taken.

With the Chandrayaan failure casting a shadow on the proposed manned mission, ISRO has decided to do three dummy launches of the space capsule in which Indian spacefarers will undertake their voyage. The capsule, being fabricated in Thiruvananthapuram, will be tested for its re-entry dynamics and thermal insulation. Though the capsule and the launch vehicle (GSLVMark III) have already been manrated, the space agency is leaving nothing to chance. "We will do three dummy runs. That will reinforce our confidence," confirmed G Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman. He, however, ruled out any experiment using biological specimens (like a monkey). "We dont want to do that. Weve a fairly good understanding of the challenges that await such a mission.

The three trials are more than enough to evaluate our systems before the actual launch takes place," he said.


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## SinoIndusFriendship

WarProfessor said:


> Neil Armstrong? The latest development is the dutch museum moon rock is a piece of petrified wood.




Niel Armstrong OPENLY LIED about "landing on the moon".... Man, do I love that video where he is sweating bullets in front of the press conference and he is asked questions like "How was the star system?" and he didn't know how to answer... 

Apollo Moon Landing HOAX


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## EyelessInGaza

Uh oh.

You're not another moon -landing -was- a -hoax artist are you?


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## Born In The USA

Launch campaign apace for lift-off of PSLVC14 


*On a mission: ISROs Oceansat-2 undergoing pre-launch tests at Sriharikota. *

CHENNAI: The launch campaign at the spaceport at Sriharikota is accelerating for the lift-off of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14), which will put seven satellites in orbit. The launch is most likely to take place on September 23.

While the 960-kg Oceansat-2 is from India, the remaining six, all from abroad, are micro satellites weighing between one and eight kg. They are four Cubesats and two Rubinsats.
Fully integrated

The four-stage vehicle is fully integrated. We are going through the tests. After the vehicle is fully checked out, we will take in the satellites [that is, the satellites will be married up with the rocket], said a top Indian Space Research Organisation engineer associated with the mission. It will be a core-alone PSLV version that will inject the satellites into orbit. The sleek, chiselled-looking vehicle does not have the six strap-on motors that surround the first stage in the standard PSLV version.

The vehicles fourth stage will fire five satellites, one after another into orbit, akin to the salvo of rockets issuing from a multi-barrel rocket launcher, another ISRO engineer said. After Oceansat-2 is slotted into its orbit first, a spring-loaded action would push the chota fellows out one after another. The two Rubinsats would not be ejected. They would remain permanently attached to the vehicles fourth stage. The Rubins will not be separated. They will do their work while they are attached to the PSLVs fourth stage. There will be no problem in that, he explained.

Oceansat-2 will continue to do the work done by Oceansat-1. It will investigate the interaction between oceans and the atmosphere to facilitate study of climate. It will study the wind above the oceans, and the sea surface temperature. The satellite will help in identifying schools of fish, predicting the state of the sea, keeping a tab on the phytoplankton blooms and studying suspended sediments in water.

S. Satish, Director, Publications and Publications, ISRO, said: Oceans cover about 70 per cent of the earths surface. Considering the importance of oceans as a source of food for humans and their role in shaping the earths weather and climate, and their influence on the biological life cycle, study of oceans is cardinal. In this context, the Oceansat-2 mission acquires added significance.
Study the colour of oceans

One of the payloads of Oceansat-2, called Ocean Colour Monitor, will study the colour of oceans. This will help in effective fishing, an ISRO scientist explained. Another payload, scatterometer, will investigate the interaction between the oceans and the atmosphere. In addition, there is a payload from the Italian Space Agency for studying the atmosphere.

The four Cubesats are from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Technical University of Berlin and University of Wurzburg, both in Germany, and Istanbul Technical University. These Cubesats weigh one kg each. The two Rubinsats, weighing eight kg each, are from Luxembourg and Germany. All the six will test advanced satellite and application technologies.

ISRO created a record in April 2008 when another PSLV core-alone version billeted home 10 satellites including Indias Cartosat-2A

The Hindu : Front Page : Launch campaign apace for lift-off of PSLV&#8211;C14

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## ratolz

India to launch Oceansat-2 on Sep 23: ISRO


BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would launch Oceansat-2 satellite, which would help identify potential fishing zones and in 

coastal zone studies, on September 23 in a mission that would have European flavour. 

The 970-KG spacecraft would set-off by the home-grown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota spaceport on the east coast, where preparations for the launch are in full swing. 

"Oceansat-2 is tentatively scheduled to be launched at around noon on September 23," S Satish, spokesperson of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, said. 

ISRO officials said the launch is expected at 11.56 AM on that day. 

The satellite is intended for identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies and providing inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies. 

It is an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, launched by ISRO in May 1999 and was used to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography. 

"Data from Oceansat-1 (which has completed ten years of service) was widely used by fishermen," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said. 

Besides ISRO, European space agencies would be keenly looking forward for the missions success as a set of six European nano satellites would ride piggyback and accompany Oceansat-2 on its trip to orbit.


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## EjazR

Get to know about space projects here - Hubli - City - NEWS - The Times of India

HUBLI: Want to know more about satellites, rockets, launch vehicles, etc? Then head towards the Mahila Vidya Peet in Vidyanagar here, where a
permanent space exhibition has been set up by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

This is the second such space exhibition in south India, next only to the one in Trivendrum, set up using ISRO's grants. With real-size models and scaled-down models of launch vehicles and satellites, one gets to see here India's achievements in space.

The exhibition, spread on 3,000 sqft hall, was informally opened to the public on Monday. The exhibits include six life-size models of satellite, three launch vehicles, 42 panels and posters of India's space programme. Another set of models, posters, literature and photos is expected shortly.

"The centre has been set up with Rs 5-lakh grants from the ISRO," Mahila Vidya Peet secretary K T Patil told reporters on Tuesday. Explaining how Hubli was chosen for the rare exhibition, Patil credits Rajya Sabha member K Kasturirangan for the same.

He said they had extended invitation to the former ISRO chairman to attend the space exhibitions held at the institute twice (prior to 2008). Somehow he could not make it. But the renowned space scientist made it a point to visit the institute, which also holds the rare distinction as the first Harijan girls' hostel in entire India, sometime later. In February 2008, he visited the institute while he was in the city for a Rotary function.

Moved by the institute's services towards women folk, Kasturirangan announced that he will sanction Rs 25 lakh from his MPLAD fund towards constructing a new building where new courses could be started. He also expressed his willingness to help open a permanent exhibition centre for the institute.

But the college could not receive Rs 25 lakh due to some technical reasons. But Kasturirangan held discussion with the present ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair and ensured the opening of the exhibition.

Patil said the representatives of ISRO, who were in Vidya Peet recently, have trained two physics lecturers of the institute to explain the exhibits to the visitors. "At present, the exhibition will be open to students or other members of the public," he said, adding visitors will be charged a nomial fee of Rs 2.

A separate building to house the exhibits is also being planned. Patil said that they want to invite Nair to inaugurate the new building which would cost Rs 50 lakh.


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## Born In The USA

Additional Indian rover on Chandrayaan-II

KOCHI: A small Indian rover, wheeling the countrys hopes on the lunarscape, will travel to the moon on Chandrayaan-II.

This will be in addition to the Russian rover, one of the main payloads on board the second moon mission, making this one of the first missions to carry two robotic payloads on it.

While the Russian rover weighs about 50 kg, the Indian one is smaller and weighs only 15 kg. The Russian rover, which is significantly more advanced and versatile, will carry out all the major explorations while the Indian one will separately undertake chemical analysis and the search for availability of materials on the surface of the moon.

The design is totally indigenous. And a significant part of the rover, including the crucial communication links, is being fabricated in Kerala. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a twin objective in sending up a desi rover. One aim is to gain experience in robotic payloads but the main idea is to achieve the capability of remotely controlling a system to execute various commands communicated from the Bangalore station. India needs to perfect its deep space communication as the space race is so dependent on effecting transmission of commands to the payloads and reception of data collected by them.

At the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), ISRO scientists are working to develop radio frequency transmitters.

These transmitters will travel on the rover, controlling its movement on the moon and directing it to collect samples. The ISRO, however, is not planning to do serious chemical examination on the rover.

Apart from achieving communication prowess, ISRO hopes to learn valuable lessons in soft landing payloads on alien surfaces through the rover experiment.

The Russians have handed over the design and specifications of its rover for fabrication of its traction in association with ISRO using facilities in ITTs like Kharagpur.

The only experience ISRO has in landing payloads is what it gained through the crash-landing of the moon impact probe (MIP) sent on the ill-fated Chandrayaan-I. Since the MIP was intended to crash on the lunar surface and cause dust displacement for understanding of the terrain, not much thought was given to landing techniques.

With ISRO deciding to carry two rovers, the possibility of flying free payloads remains a moot point. In fact, the decision to carry 11 payloads on Chandrayaan- I and whether it affected its thermal management is being actively debated. Scientists feel that had the spacecraft been less congested internal heat could have been more effectively ventilated. This could restrain ISRO from inviting free payloads from other space agencies or universities.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO preparing for GSAT 4 launch in two months​*
Sat, Sep 19

Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS): *While the preparations for launch of India's ocean monitoring satellite Oceansat 2 and six other nano satellites Sep 23 is on, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready for the bigger launch slated in the next two months -- that of the communications satellite GSAT 4.*

Speaking to IANS over phone from ISRO's launch centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre said: *'Preparations are already on for the launch of GSAT 4 -- the communication satellite using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The rocket assembling process has started.'*

The first stage of GSLV with four strap-on motors has been assembled and assembling of the second stage is to start soon.

*The third stage -- cryogenic stage -- will come from ISRO's Thiruvananthapuram facility, he said.

'GSLV will blast off from the second launch pad with its third stage fitted with an India built cryogenic engine thereby making the country absolutely self reliant in building the bigger rocket,'* S. Sathish, ISRO's director of publications and public relations, told IANS over phone from Bangalore.

For all the five earlier GSLV missions, ISRO had used Russian cryogenic engines.

*Last December, the indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage engine passed the flight acceptance test with the engine tested for 200 seconds.

The development of cryogenic engines involves mastering materials technology, operating rotary pumps and turbines which run at 42,000 revolutions per minute (RPM).*

*Weighing around two tonnes, GSAT 4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft.*

*GSAT 4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 A wavelengths.*

Meanwhile, ISRO officials are gearing up the next week's PSLV launch carrying the 960 kg Oceansat 2 and six nano satellites totalling around 20 kg.

'We conducted the pre-launch rehearsal -- all activities that have to be carried out ten hours before the actual launch -- starting at 2 a.m. Saturday and completed at 12.30 p.m. Everything went off well,' said Prasad. He said the actual 49-hour countdown process will start Monday 8 a.m. The rocket will fly at 11.51 a.m. Wednesday.

According to Satish, Oceansat 2 will be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth.

Prasad added: 'Oceansat 2 will cover the whole earth as the coverage strip will be moving since it is not geostationary satellite. The orbit is designed in such a way that the satellite will cross the Equator at 12 noon near India.'

Along with Oceansat 2, four overseas Cubesats each weighing 1 kg will be ejected from the rocket, while the two Rubinsats each weighing 8 kg will orbit attached to the rocket's fourth stage, he added.

This will be the second time that ISRO will launch a cluster of nano satellites. In 2008 ISRO -- launching its cartography satellite (CARTOSAT-2A) and Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) -- also sent up eight nano satellites and set a world record of maximum number of satellites sent up in a single launch.

'The increased launch of nano satellites from foreign countries is expected to propel Indian universities to follow the footsteps of Anna University to build satellites,' Satish remarked.

Chennai-based Anna University became the first Indian university to build a small satellite Anusat which ISRO launched in April this year.

ISRO preparing for GSAT 4 launch in two months - Yahoo! India News

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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO starts filling liquid fuel for PSLV rocket​*
Chennai, September 21, 2009

*Filling of liquid fuel in the second stage of the Rs.70-crore Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket that would carry the Rs.130-crore Oceansat2  Indias remote sensing satellite  on Wednesday afternoon was progressing smoothly at Indias rocket launch centre in Sriharikota, around 80 km from here.

The PSLV would also carry six other nano satellites. The 51-hour countdown for the sixth flight of PSLVs core alone version (rocket without its six strap-on motors) started Monday 9 a.m.*

Speaking to IANS from Bangalore, S. Satish, director, publications and public relations of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said: The four-stage rocket uses solid and liquid fuel alternatively. The first and third stages are fired by solid fuel and the third and fourth stages are powered by liquid fuel.

While the solid fuel is cast ready, the liquid fuel will be filled in the two days preceding the rocket launch.

According to Mr. Satish, filling of the second stage with 41.5 tonnes of fuel will take around 10 hours.

Into the flight, the second stage fuel will burn for 147 seconds developing a maximum thrust of 799 kilo Newton (kN)  a Newton is a measure of force needed to accelerate one kilogram mass at one metre per second squared.

The first stage carrying 139 tonnes of propellant is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and will burn for 101 seconds to develop 4,817 kN.

The third stage uses 7.6 tonnes of solid fuel (112 seconds burning time; thrust 238kN) and the fourth has twin engine configuration with 2.5 tonnes of liquid propellant that will burn for 497 seconds and the thrust will be 14.6kN  both engines put together.

*According to Mr. Satish, the rocket will blast off the first launch pad at 11.51 a.m. on Wednesday for its flight during which it would earn an unspecified amount of dollars as the carriage fee from the European owners of six nano satellites, piggy backing on the 960kg Oceansat2.*

The Indian satellite will be ejected into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth and it will cover the whole earth as the coverage strip will be moving.

*The orbit is designed in such a way that the satellite will cross the Equator at 12 noon near India.*

A global leader in remote sensing data, India has till date launched 15 remote sensing satellites of which nine are still in operation.

*Even the Oceansat1 launched in 1999 is in service and will go into oblivion slowly.*

*According to Mr. Satish, the design life of Oceansat2 is five years and it may outlast that period like its earlier version.*

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : ISRO starts filling liquid fuel for PSLV rocket


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## BSF

> Niel Armstrong OPENLY LIED about "landing on the moon".... Man, do I love that video where he is sweating bullets in front of the press conference and he is asked questions like "How was the star system?" and he didn't know how to answer...
> 
> Apollo Moon Landing HOAX







> The Terrain mapper camera on board Chandrayaan-1, which had an abrupt end a few days back, has sent the prints of landing site of Apollo 15 and tracks of the lunar rovers used by astronauts to travel on lunar surface, a senior scientist associated with India's lunar mission said during a presentation here.


Here
Not laughing now, are you? !


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## indiatech

* PSLV C-14 launch tomorrow. Pre launch PICS*

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## indiatech

*OCEANSAT-2 to be launched tomorrow*

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## indiatech

PSLV C-14 and OCEANSAT-2 tech brochure

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c14/pdf/Oceansat-2-Brochure-1.pdf


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## manojb

@indiatech, thanks for posting great pics of pslv and isro in action! Thanks

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## Gabbar

ISRO to orbit six nano satellites along with Oceansat-2​







Bangalore/Mumbai: The Indian Space Research Organisation has begun the final countdown for the launch of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying six nano and one major satellite into space. To be launched from the spaceport at Sriharikota, the 51-hour countdown began on Monday at 9am.

The major satellite is the 960 kg Oceansat-2, which will now follow its predecessor, the Oceansat-1, to become the country's second satellite to study the interaction of oceans and atmospheres. 

The Oceansat-2 is also the country's 16th remote sensing satellite. 

In the shape of a cuboid, with two solar panels projecting from its sides, the satellite will map fishing zones around India, measure ocean surface wind speeds, as well as atmospheric temperature and humidity. 

*A unique aspect of the mission will be the fact that the a total of seven satellites will be placed in orbit in the space of 20 minutes - a feat matching the one performed last year in April when ISRO launched 10 satellites.* 

*Of the six nano satellites, four are from Germany, one from Switzerland and another from Turkey. *

While Oceansat-2 will be orbited after 1,055 seconds, four nano satellites will be ejected in the next 45 seconds. Two others are meant to stay with the fourth stage of the rocket.

Staring September 1993, uptill April 2009, PSLV has been launched 15 times of which, fourteen have been successful.


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## sha123

major discovery made by Chandrayaan-I is expected on Thursday. 


Did Chandrayaan find water on Moon?s surface? - India - NEWS - The Times of India


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## Tejas-MkII

The Hindu : Front Page : Water discovered on moon?: &#8220;A lot of it actually&#8221;


*Water discovered on moon?: A lot of it actually *


BANGALORE: Speculation is rife among space scientists that the quest for water on the moon may have reached a climactic end with the discovery of a lot of water by an instrument on board Chandrayaan-I.

A report by the online space news portal, Space Ref, says this discovery, made by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on board the Indian mission, will be the subject of a press conference, *to be addressed by Carle Pieters, planetary geologist and principal investigator of the instrument, at the NASA headquarters on Thursday*. 

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I that came to a premature end on August 29. M3 was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface. 

Hinting at this exciting development, a recent report published by Nature News says: *Results soon to be published will show detailed spectra confirming that, indeed, the polar regions of the moon are chockfull of water-altered minerals*.

Lunar scientists have for decades contended with the possibility of water repositories. They are now increasingly confident that the decades-long debate is over, the report says. The moon, in fact, has water in all sorts of places; not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth. The results from the NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are also offering a wide array of watery signals. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 to those who say Chandrayaan is failure


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## R.A.W.

Tejas-MkII said:


> The Hindu : Front Page : Water discovered on moon?: A lot of it actually
> 
> 
> *Water discovered on moon?: A lot of it actually *
> 
> 
> BANGALORE: Speculation is rife among space scientists that the quest for water on the moon may have reached a climactic end with the discovery of a lot of water by an instrument on board Chandrayaan-I.
> 
> A report by the online space news portal, Space Ref, says this discovery, made by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on board the Indian mission, will be the subject of a press conference, *to be addressed by Carle Pieters, planetary geologist and principal investigator of the instrument, at the NASA headquarters on Thursday*.
> 
> The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I that came to a premature end on August 29. M3 was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface.
> 
> Hinting at this exciting development, a recent report published by Nature News says: *Results soon to be published will show detailed spectra confirming that, indeed, the polar regions of the moon are chockfull of water-altered minerals*.
> 
> Lunar scientists have for decades contended with the possibility of water repositories. They are now increasingly confident that the decades-long debate is over, the report says. The moon, in fact, has water in all sorts of places; not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth. The results from the NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are also offering a wide array of watery signals.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> to those who say Chandrayaan is failure



Any neutral sources because soon we are going to see the demand for it.....


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## warlock21

Congratulation Friends... PSLV lauched sucessfully from Shri harikota.. carrying 7 satellites... DD nEws is showing live... with in 20 mins.. all 7 satellites will be placed in their respective orbits...cheers

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## blueoval79

*ISRO launches Oceansat, six European satellites*

Sriharikota: Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14), carrying India's ocean monitoring satellite Oceansat-2 and six European nano satellites, blasted off from the SHAR Range at 1151 hrs IST at Sriharikota on Wednesday.

The 44.4 metre tall, four-stage 230-tonne PSLV of the ISRO, took off without its six strap-on motors as all the seven satellites put together weighed less than 1000 kg.

The launch is ISRO's first major satellite launch since Chandrayaan 1.

The Oceansat-2 is ISRO's second in the series of Indian Remote Sensing satellites dedicated to ocean research. The satellite will provide continuity to the applications of Oceansat-1, which was launched in 1999.

Oceansat-2 weighs 960kgs and is carrying two devices: the Ocean Colour Monitor and a Microwave Scatterometer, which help in tracking the onset of monsoon by measuring the wind speed over the surface of the ocean.

All data gathered will be made available to the global scientific community in six months.


ISRO launches Oceansat, six European satellites

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## Tejas-MkII

R.A.W. said:


> Any neutral sources because soon we are going to see the demand for it.....



i am waiting for thursday..

"waise bhi khisyani billi khamba nooche".....

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## Tejas-MkII

blueoval79 said:


> *ISRO launches Oceansat, six European satellites*
> 
> 
> Oceansat-2 weighs 960kgs and is carrying two devices: *the Ocean Colour Monitor and a Microwave Scatterometer, which help in tracking the onset of monsoon by measuring the wind speed over the surface of the ocean.*
> All data gathered will be made available to the global scientific community in six months.
> 
> 
> ISRO launches Oceansat, six European satellites




Next time responsible babu should be kicked out if they fail to predict the monsoon...


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## jaunty

ISRO rocks. I hope DRDO learns some work ethics from ISRO.


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## manishmaithani

R.A.W. said:


> Any neutral sources because soon we are going to see the demand for it.....



are you sure ?
there is no Indus river ?
because may be world will face some contradiction in future regarding dam ?

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## Screaming Skull

All 7 satellites placed in orbit. Mission completed Successfully

Launch pics:

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## Born In The USA

_India launches seven satellites_


India has successfully launched seven satellites in a single mission, nearly a month after the country's inaugural Moon mission was aborted.

The rocket was carrying an Indian remote-sensing satellite and six smaller ones, all of them foreign.

The Indian satellite will help spot fishing zones in the sea by monitoring ocean temperatures.

Observers say India is emerging as a major player in the multi-billion dollar space market.

Wednesday's launch, from the Sriharikota space centre off India's east coast, is being described as another milestone for the country's 46-year-old space programme.

This is the 16th mission for India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - a seven-storey-high, 230 tonne rocket.

A spokesman for state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) S Satish told the BBC that the Indian satellite Oceansat-2 is carrying a new instrument which can measure wind speed over the surface of the ocean. He said the device will help track monsoons and cyclones.

The rocket is also carrying six smaller satellites from Germany, Switzerland and Turkey.

Wednesday's launch came as a boost to India's space scientists after the country terminated its inaugural Moon mission last month.

Despite the termination of the mission, Isro chief G Madhavan Nair said that the project was a great success and 95% of its objectives had been completed.

Last year India successfully launched 10 satellites in a single mission, boosting its capabilities in space.

The country started its space programme in 1963, and has since designed, built and launched its own satellites into space.

In 2007, India put an Italian satellite into orbit for a fee of $11m. In January 2008, India successfully launched an Israeli spy satellite into orbit.

Correspondents say that the country is developing its rocket-launching capabilities to reduce its dependence on foreign space agencies, as well as to corner a share of the world's lucrative satellite-launching market. 

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India launches seven satellites


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## pkd

Water discovered on moon?: A lot of it actually 


Divya Gandhi 

BANGALORE: Speculation is rife among space scientists that the quest for water on the moon may have reached a climactic end with the discovery of a lot of water by an instrument on board Chandrayaan-I.

A report by the online space news portal, Space Ref, says this discovery, made by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on board the Indian mission, will be the subject of a press conference, to be addressed by Carle Pieters, planetary geologist and principal investigator of the instrument, at the NASA headquarters on Thursday. 

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I that came to a premature end on August 29. M3 was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface. 

Hinting at this exciting development, a recent report published by Nature News says: Results soon to be published will show detailed spectra confirming that, indeed, the polar regions of the moon are chockfull of water-altered minerals.

Lunar scientists have for decades contended with the possibility of water repositories. They are now increasingly confident that the decades-long debate is over, the report says. The moon, in fact, has water in all sorts of places; not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth. The results from the NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are also offering a wide array of watery signals.


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## Born In The USA

NASA Expected To Reveal Moon Mineral Mapper Shows A Lot Of Water On The Moon

Water on the moon should be used to supply fuel for fuel depots in space to enable colonization and lower cost access to space.

*Reliable sources report that there will be a press conference at NASA HQ at 2:00 pm this Thursday featuring lunar scientist Carle Pieters from Brown University.*

*The topic of the press briefing will be a paper that will appear in this week's issue of Science magazine wherein results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) aboard Chandrayaan-1 will be revealed. The take home message: there is a lot of water on the Moon*. Stay tuned. (H/T Transterrestrial) Water can exist at the lunar poles in the form of ice and could exist further underground in other locations. We will find out on Thursday on the particulars.


The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is one of two instruments that NASA is contributing to India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 (meaning "Lunar Craft" in ancient Sanskrit), which launched on October 22, 2008. M3 is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals of which it is made.

Lets wait for Thursday.

NASA Expected to Reveal Moon Mineral Mapper Shows A Lot of Water on the Moon


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## R.A.W.

Born In The USA said:


> NASA Expected To Reveal Moon Mineral Mapper Shows A Lot Of Water On The Moon
> 
> Water on the moon should be used to supply fuel for fuel depots in space to enable colonization and lower cost access to space.
> 
> *Reliable sources report that there will be a press conference at NASA HQ at 2:00 pm this Thursday featuring lunar scientist Carle Pieters from Brown University.*
> 
> *The topic of the press briefing will be a paper that will appear in this week's issue of Science magazine wherein results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) aboard Chandrayaan-1 will be revealed. The take home message: there is a lot of water on the Moon*. Stay tuned. (H/T Transterrestrial) Water can exist at the lunar poles in the form of ice and could exist further underground in other locations. We will find out on Thursday on the particulars.
> 
> 
> The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is one of two instruments that NASA is contributing to India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 (meaning "Lunar Craft" in ancient Sanskrit), which launched on October 22, 2008. M3 is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals of which it is made.
> 
> Lets wait for Thursday.
> 
> NASA Expected to Reveal Moon Mineral Mapper Shows A Lot of Water on the Moon



Man I not a big techie.... Can some one enlighten me on this simple thing I heard from some one.


The way we are launching satellites and everything our space is almost free for us.... because all the money invested comes back...


Ok i know this sounds stupid but really I dont know about this.


----------



## Born In The USA

_There is A Lot of Water on the Moon_

*Reliable sources report that there will be a press conference at NASA HQ at 2:00 pm this Thursday featuring lunar scientist Carle Pieters from Brown University. The topic of the press briefing will be a paper that will appear in this week's issue of Science magazine wherein results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) aboard Chandrayaan-1 will be revealed. The take home message: there is a lot of water on the Moon. Stay tuned.*

NASA to Reveal New Scientific Findings About the Moon, NASA

"NASA will hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 24, to discuss new science data from the moon collected during national and international space missions. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefing from the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, in Washington. ... The briefing participants are: ... Carle Pieters, principal investigator, Moon Mineralogy Mapper, Brown University ..."


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## SinghIsKing

Good work by ISRO again. We are proud of you ISRO.


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## Born In The USA

M3 AND INDIA'S FIRST MISSION TO THE MOON


The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is one of two instruments that NASA is contributing to India's first mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1 (meaning "Lunar Craft" in ancient Sanskrit), which launched on October 22, 2008. M3 is a state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will provide the first map of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolution, revealing the minerals of which it is made.

Scientists will use this information to answer questions about the Moon's origin and development and the evolution of terrestrial planets in the early solar system. Future astronauts will use it to locate resources, possibly including water, that can support exploration of the Moon and beyond.

Moon Mineralogy Mapper -


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## Born In The USA

R.A.W. said:


> Man I not a big techie.... Can some one enlighten me on this simple thing I heard from some one.
> 
> 
> The way we are launching satellites and everything our space is almost free for us.... because all the money invested comes back...
> 
> 
> Ok i know this sounds stupid but really I dont know about this.


 Sorry man i dint get u there


----------



## R.A.W.

Born In The USA said:


> Sorry man i dint get u there



I mean when we launch satellites for other coutries we get paid for it and this payment makes our space program to almost free of cost. We get return of investment so made.


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## Born In The USA

R.A.W. said:


> I mean when we launch satellites for other coutries we get paid for it and this payment makes our space program to almost free of cost. We get return of investment so made.



IT maybe so I really dont know


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## Born In The USA

Did Chandrayaan-1 confirm ice on the Moon?



*A report in SpaceRef that the Chandrayaan-1, using its Mineralogy Mapper instrument, has found &#8220;a lot of water on the Moon&#8221; has aerospace circles buzzing. There will be a news conference at NASA headquarters this Thursday at 2 PM eastern by Dr. Carle Pieters of Brown University, the principle investigator for the Mineralogy Mapper on the Chandrayaan-1 mission.*

*Professor Pieters has been on the Brown faculty since 1980. Her principle area of research has been remote sensing of the Earth and other planets. Her press conference will concern a paper she is publishing in the next issue of the journal Science concerning the findings of Chandrayaan-1, including lunar ice.*

Chandrayaan-1 recently finished its mission prematurely when all communication with the Indian lunar probe was loss. Chandrayaan-1 spent nearly a year in lunar orbit, mapping the lunar surface and studying its properties with a variety of instruments.

*Indications of water ice in the permanently shaded areas craters at the lunar poles have been found by previous lunar probes, most recently the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, an American lunar probe now in lunar orbit.*

*Confirmation of lunar ice, if it comes, will have profound implications for the future of space exploration. It would make the lunar poles among the most valuable real estate in the Solar System. Ice would constitute a source of water and of rocket fuel for future lunar settlers.*

The possible discovery comes against the backdrop of the Obama administration considering the future direction&#8212;if any&#8212;of American space exploration efforts in the wake of the Augustine Report. Aerospace insiders suggest that the discovery of lunar ice would provide an impetus toward returning to the Moon and making it the first bridgehead for the expansion of humankind into the Solar System. Whether the Obama administration shares that view remains to be seen. The Augustine Committee has stated that no program of exploration will work without a three billion dollar a year increase in NASA&#8217;s budget. The Obama administration may be reluctant to make that commitment, as space exploration has traditionally been a low priority, especially to Democratic White Houses. 

Did Chandrayaan-1 confirm ice on the Moon?


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## shravan

SwissCube, the first all-Swiss satellite, designed by university students and built entirely in Switzerland, has been successfully launched from a site in India. - swissinfo

First Turkish-Made Satellite Launched From India


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## Tejas-MkII

R.A.W. said:


> I mean when we launch satellites for other coutries we get paid for it and this payment makes our space program to almost free of cost. We get return of investment so made.



last time india got 11million dollar= 50-55 crore app. from italy

this nothing copmpare to thousand crore budget of ISRO....

so our space program cannot become free ... just by launching small satellite...

but we can make our space launch like today ... free of cost...

and also when *Avatar* is ready ,which severly decrease the launching cost and increase the usefull payload then we can have a different story...

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## Born In The USA

RePost

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/4373-indian-space-capabilities-64.html


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## hack

The real challenge will be to see if the upcoming gslv launch comes thro ok.It uses the indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time.


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## Tejas-MkII

hack said:


> The real challenge will be to see if the upcoming gslv launch comes thro ok.It uses the indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time.



yeah agree if that is succcessfull....

then next step will be MARK-III....


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## ironman




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## ISRO2

Sir i read that news. ISRO said that on thrusday 11.30pm they will reveal what our chandrayaan I Found on moon. ISRO in touch with NASA. infact when asked to ISRO about mission which was 95percent successful then ISRO told that NASA said it was 100percent successful. Am excited to see what Our chandrayaan I Found on moon. ISRO said its a biggest suprice ever. i wish we found real water or atleast evidence of it.


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## grey boy 2

ISRO2 said:


> Sir i read that news. ISRO said that on thrusday 11.30pm they will reveal what our chandrayaan I Found on moon. ISRO in touch with NASA. infact when asked to ISRO about mission which was 95percent successful then ISRO told that NASA said it was 100percent successful. Am excited to see what Our chandrayaan I Found on moon. ISRO said its a biggest suprice ever. i wish we found real water or atleast evidence of it.



SIR; Do not only get excited; SIR; You need to sacrifice yourself to 

drink the water SIR; Do not ask what your country can do for you 

SIR ; Ask yourself what you can do for your country SIR.


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## Join

FireFighter said:


> Upon witnessing it outside the paradise (since they;re not allowed inside), the reporters and scientists of Chandrayaan had a wet dream and found water on the moon instead.



If pakistan does not have the technology to explore space, it better keep quite as our scientists have done wonders in this field, We did dream of India exploring space andWe did it... But what have u been able to do rather criticise the thoughts, Its a Known Fact that SUPARCO cannot even dream of this which we started nearly 4 decades ago...

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## fryndfire

Join said:


> If pakistan does not have the technology to explore space, it better keep quite as our scientists have done wonders in this field, We did dream of India exploring space andWe did it... But what have u been able to do rather criticise the thoughts, Its a Known Fact that SUPARCO cannot even dream of this which we started nearly 4 decades ago...



lol get ready to be threatened for ban!

on a different note, NASA and ISRO chandrayaan team will hold a press conference on 2 AM EST today and declare the news officially.awesome work by ISRO!! congrats!!

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## pkd

Sorry to spoil the party
*Water on moon can't be confirmed: ISRO chief *

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## jaunty

This is from NY times-
*
In Surprise, Moon Shows Signs of Water *

By KENNETH CHANG
Published: September 23, 2009 

There appears to be, to the surprise of planetary scientists, water, water everywhere on the Moon, although how many drops future astronauts might be able to drink is not clear.

Data from three spacecraft indicate the widespread presence of water or hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom as opposed to the two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms that make up a water molecule. The discoveries are being published Thursday on the Web site of the journal Science.

*Its so startling because its so pervasive, said Lawrence A. Taylor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a co-author of one of the papers that analyzed data from a National Aeronautics and Space Administration instrument aboard Indias Chandrayyan-1 satellite. Its like somebody painted the globe.*

For decades, the Moon has been regarded as a completely dry place. The dark side is more than ice cold, but when it passes into sunlight, any ice should have long ago been baked away. The possible exceptions are permanently shadowed craters near the Moons poles, and data announced this month by NASA verified the presence of hydrogen in those areas, which would most likely be in the form of water.

If water is somehow more widespread, that could make future settlement of the Moon easier, especially if significant water could be extracted just by heating the soil. Oxygen would also be a key component for breathable air for astronauts, and hydrogen and oxygen can also be used for rocket fuel or power generation.

Samples of lunar soil brought back from NASAs Apollo missions about four decades ago actually did show signs of water, but most scientists working with the samples, including Dr. Taylor, dismissed the readings as contamination from humid Houston air that seeped in before the rocks were analyzed at NASAs Johnson Space Center.

I was one of the ones back in the Apollo days that was firmly against lunar water, Dr. Taylor said.






*Images of the Moon captured in 1999 by the Cassini spacecraft show regions of trace surface water (blue) and hydroxyl (orange and green). *

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/science/space/24moon.html?hpw

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## FireFighter

The threads been derailed and the News has been proven false. 



I think its about time Mods should close this thread.


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## jaunty

From the Washington post- good read

*It's not lunacy, probes find water in moon dirt*

By SETH BORENSTEIN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 23, 2009; 5:42 PM 

WASHINGTON -- The moon isn't the dry dull place it seems. Traces of water lurk in the dirt unseen.

*Three different space probes found the chemical signature of water all over the moon's surface, surprising the scientists who at first doubted the unexpected measurement until it was confirmed independently and repeatedly.*

It's not enough moisture to foster homegrown life on the moon. But if processed in mass quantities, it might provide resources - drinking water and rocket fuel - for future moon-dwellers, scientists say. The water comes and goes during the lunar day.

It's not a lot of water. If you took a two-liter soda bottle of lunar dirt, there would probably be a medicine dropperful of water in it, said University of Maryland astronomer Jessica Sunshine, one of the scientists who discovered the water. Another way to think of it is if you want a drink of water, it would take a baseball diamond's worth of dirt, said team leader Carle Pieters of Brown University.

"It's sort of just sticking on the surface," Sunshine said. "We always think of the moon as dead and this is sort of a dynamic process that's going on."

The discovery, with three studies bring published in the journal Science on Thursday and a NASA briefing, could refocus interest in the moon. The appeal of the moon waned after astronauts visited 40 years ago and called it "magnificent desolation."

The announcement comes two weeks before a NASA probe purposely smashes near the moon's south pole to see if it can kick up buried ice. *Over the last decade, astronomers have found some signs of underground ice on the moon's poles. But this latest discovery is quite different. It finds unexpected and pervasive water clinging to the surface of soil, not absorbed into it.*

"It is drier than any desert we have here," Sunshine said.

*The water was spotted by spacecraft that either circled the moon or flew by. All three ships used the same type of instrument that looked at the absorption of a specific wavelength of light that is the chemical signature of only two molecules: water and hydroxyl. Hydroxyl is one atom of hydrogen with one atom of oxygen, instead of two hydrogen atoms in water.

Because of the timing during the daylight when some of that wavelength disappears and some doesn't, it shows that both hydroxyl and water are present, Sunshine said.

This light wavelength was first discovered by an instrument on the Indian lunar satellite Chandrayaan-1, which stopped operating last month. Scientists initially figured something was wrong with the instrument because everyone knew the moon did not have a drop of water on the surface, Pieters said.*

"We argued literally for months amongst ourselves to find out where the problem was," Pieters said. Sunshine, who was on the team, had a similar instrument on NASA's Deep Impact probe, headed for a comet but swinging by the moon in June. So Deep Impact looked for the water-hydroxyl signature - and found it.

Scientists also looked back at the records of NASA's Cassini probe, which is circling Saturn. It has the same type instrument and whizzed by the moon ten years ago. Sure enough, it had found the same thing.

The chance that three different instruments malfunctioned in the same way on three different spaceships is almost zilch, so this confirms that it's water and hydroxyl, Pieters said.

"There's just no question that it's there," Pieters said. "It's unequivocal."

Scientists testing lunar samples returned to Earth by astronauts did find traces of water, but they had figured it was contamination from moisture in Earth air, Pieters said.

Three scientists who were not part of the team of discoverers said the conclusion makes sense, with Arizona State University's Ron Greeley using the same word as Pieters: unequivocal.

Lunar and Planetary Institute senior scientist Paul Spudis called it exciting and said it raises the logical question: Where did that water come from?

Pieters figures there are three possibilities: It came from comets or asteroids that crashed into the moon, those crashes freed up trapped water from below the surface, or the solar wind carries hydrogen atoms that binds with oxygen in the dirt. That final possibility is the one that Sunshine and Pieters both prefer.

If it is the solar wind, that also means that other places without atmosphere in our solar system, such as Mercury or asteroids, can also have bits of water, Sunshine said. 

It's not lunacy, probes find water in moon dirt - washingtonpost.com

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## courageneverdies

R.A.W. said:


> Stick to the topic first
> 
> And second...
> Kashmir is still with India.
> Kargil is still with India.
> Siachin is still with India.
> 
> East Pakistan.............. sorry mate I can understand your pain.
> 
> 
> Anyways no one is calling Islam or Muslims as terrorists so refrain from calling Hindus as terrorists or calling name to the parents of someone.



Kashmir is still with India : September 23, 2009. Three Indian Soldiers, One Major killed. Same stories for last 20 years.

Kargil is Still with India : Offcourse to guard the tombs of martyrs

Siachin is Still with India : Yes, Yes as siachin is a piece of decoration. By the way Pakistan also have it.....

East Pakistan........... Well you must know the pains because we Muslims crushed your Akhand Bharat Ideology in '47. Common pains na.....

KIT Over n Out.


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## Join

When will the press meeting be telecasted guys?


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## Comet

This is going way wrong..... Where are Mods?

*courageneverdies* you are going way out of order, I recommend you behave your self. We are here to discuss, this is a forums. You should join groups on Orkut or other places where this kind of language is accepted.

BTW, the picture you posted is at least 6 years Old. Because I received it in email in 2003 or 2004.

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## duhastmish

*first of all i would request mods to have a look at this thread !!!! 90&#37; posts are offensive and shameful to come from some very good senior members. 

abusing peronally , coutnry , relgion . faith. unacceptable - some of these isiots need to grow up. *

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

a few points to be made !!!

*1. the water is found in molecules - its not as if we found some lake or sea. A football field sized area MAY equate into about 1 cup of water.

2. the water was found - by a tracing device designed by nasa on Indian lunar mission .

3. its a great discovery and not just india and united states but whole world should take credit for it.

4. moon is not property of united states and india. 

5. enough of derailing - some of you idiots - need to cut this bullshyt and get back to topic. 

6.it will give hope for lunar colonisation. 

7. chandra yan was not a failure afterall.

8. pakistani brothers shouldnt make - statment out of jealousy.

9. indian brothers shouldnt make statment our of - too much hype. 

10. we cant even use water from our own sea. this is moon water may contain anythign from virus to some deadly chemical.*

----------------- 

on lighter node .

_*we must all be happy - and lets screw the earth even more - because when we stuff this planet up, then we can go there and stuff the moon up. *_

_and it will be sure fun to go fishing - on moon i would like to catch some lunar trouts and for main course you will get lunar squid. _

*this one goes out to all my yank friends - what a laugh - they been to moon and clain to be super power in space technology. but who found the water ?????? a third world country ay ?????? pffffftt shame ..... loool ( j.k)*

i* think next chandrayan mission should be to find - GOLD!!!!! that will stuff up the whole world economy !*

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## R.A.W.

duhastmish said:


> a few points to be made !!!
> 
> *1. the water is found in molecules - its not as if we found some lake or sea. A football field sized area MAY equate into about 1 cup of water.
> 
> 2. the water was found - by a tracing device designed by nasa on Indian lunar mission .
> 
> 3. its a great discovery and not just india and united states but whole world should take credit for it.
> 
> 4. moon is not property of united states and india.
> 
> 5. enough of derailing - some of you idiots - need to cut this bullshyt and get back to topic.
> 
> 6.it will give hope for lunar colonisation.
> 
> 7. chandra yan was not a failure afterall.
> 
> 8. pakistani brothers shouldnt make - statment out of jealousy.
> 
> 9. indian brothers shouldnt make statment our of - too much hype.
> 
> 10. we cant even use water from our own sea. this is moon water may contain anythign from virus to some deadly chemical.*
> 
> -----------------
> 
> on lighter node .
> 
> _*we must all be happy - and lets screw the earth even more - because when we stuff this planet up, then we can go there and stuff the moon up. *_
> 
> _and it will be sure fun to go fishing - on moon i would like to catch some lunar trouts and for main course you will get lunar squid. _
> 
> *this one goes out to all my yank friends - what a laugh - they been to moon and clain to be super power in space technology. but who found the water ?????? a third world country ay ?????? pffffftt shame ..... loool ( j.k)*
> 
> i* think next chandrayan mission should be to find - GOLD!!!!! that will stuff up the whole world economy !*



I think ISRO will be giving the final verdict and details of the findings over the week. They still have some doubts. As per the report on the page 1 posted by one of Pakistani friends.


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## SinoIndusFriendship

THIS IS TOTAL NONSENSE!

The moon's gravity is too small to retain light molecules such as water vapors. The 'escape velocity' of such molecular motion have long deprived the moon of water for millions of years. 

The water would freeze to ice, thus preventing it from escaping you say?????

WRONG! Please study physics to understand why.


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## R.A.W.

SinoIndusFriendship said:


> THIS IS TOTAL NONSENSE!
> 
> The moon's gravity is too small to retain light molecules such as water vapors. The 'escape velocity' of such molecular motion have long deprived the moon of water for millions of years.
> 
> The water would freeze to ice, thus preventing it from escaping you say?????
> 
> WRONG! Please study physics to understand why.



Correct me if I am wrong. 

If we have ice caps then as we go down there is high possibility of water because of increase in temprature within the surface. 

So there can be a possibility. Along with that lets wait for the weekend when they will give the final word on it. 

It was an american probe which actually did the study. Americans are also claiming the same but it would be sane to get to conclusions only after the final word.


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## Comet

courageneverdies said:


> Yeah Yeah.... But Umair am I merely wrong?? Havent you noticed them?? They themselves have detracked this thread, not I.
> 
> I just want to put one question, Is, what happened maybe 6 years ago, justified by any means???
> 
> KIT



It is not justified.. true.
But the thread is on a different topic and your post about Mother and stuff is not right.

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## ironman

*Spacecraft see 'damp' Moon soils​*By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News 







*A surprising amount of water has been found to exist in the Moon's soil.*

*Data from three spacecraft, including India's Chandrayaan probe, shows that very fine films of H20 coat the particles that make up the lunar dirt.*

The quantity is tiny but could become a useful resource for astronauts wishing to live on the Moon, scientists say.

"If you had a cubic metre of lunar soil, you could squeeze it and get out a litre of water," explained US moon researcher Larry Taylor.

The rock and soil samples returned by the Apollo missions were found to be ever so slightly "damp" when examined in the laboratory, but scientists could never rule out the possibility that the water in the samples got in only after they were hauled back to Earth.

The only safe scientific conclusion they could draw at the time was that the lunar surface was all but bone dry. 

Now a remote sensing instrument on Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to lunar orbit, has confirmed that there is a real H20 signal at the Moon.

*Two other satellites to look at the Moon - the US Deep Impact probe and the US-European Cassini spacecraft - back up Chandrayaan.*

*Both collected their Moon data long before Chandrayaan was even launched (in the case of Cassini, 10 years ago), but the significance of what they saw is only now being realised.*

*Indian success*

The quantity of water is seen to increase the closer the observations are made to the poles - the very places the Apollo missions never went.

Scientists suspect the water is created in the soil in an interaction with the solar wind, the fast-moving stream of particles that constantly billows away from the Sun.

Harsh space radiation triggers a chemical reaction in which oxygen atoms already in the soil acquire hydrogen nuclei to make water molecules and the simpler hydrogen-oxygen (OH) molecule.

The amounts are small, say researchers, but boost the notion that astronauts based on the Moon could use it as a resource.

"If it is a little or a lot, it's easy enough to split into hydrogen and oxygen and then you have rocket fuel," said Professor Taylor, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researcher who has worked on the Chandrayaan data.

The Indian Moon mission was launched late last year but radio communication with it was abruptly lost in August. Nevertheless, the Indian space agency (Isro) will consider the water discovery a major triumph and a vindication of its endeavours.

A US space agency (Nasa) probe is due to impact the Cabeus A crater near the Moon's south pole next month to see if it can kick up sufficient soil so that another satellite and Earth-based telescopes can detect the presence of water vapour in the dusty plume.

Researchers say the latest results, published by the journal Science, give them confidence that the experiment performed by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, known as LCROSS, could have a positive outcome.

They speculate that the water seen elsewhere on the lunar surface may migrate to the slightly cooler poles, much as water vapour on Earth will condense on a cold surface.

This cold sink effect could result in vast quantities of water being retained in permanently shadowed craters in the form of ice, especially if it has being supplemented by water delivered by comets.

'Exciting place'

Nasa's Lunar Prospector probe in the late 1990s saw a strong hydrogen signal at high north and south latitudes. Some scientists on the mission suggested there could be up to 300 million tonnes of water-ice buried in crater soils that never see sunlight.

Chandrayaan made its observations using a US-provided instrument, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3 for short.

The M3 assessed the nature of lunar soils by analysing the way that light from the Sun was reflected off the surface.

It could only see the top few centimetres of soil. Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently circling the Moon, has the capability to see down to nearly a metre. Its data could determine if the presence of water is much more extensive.

Dr Jim Garvin is the the chief scientist at the US space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center.

He was asked if he thought the Moon had become an exciting place again for science.

"I think it always was; it's just we saw this big exciting Solar System and after touching the Moon with six human missions, we moved on - to Mars, to the outer planets, to comets and asteroids.

"And now we are rediscovering the enigmas of the Moon and they're really in our own backyard. They're tantalisingly close," he told BBC News.


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## ironman

*Discovery of water on moon boosts prospects for permanent lunar base​*Ian Sample, science correspondent 
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 September 2009 12.04 BST


Nasa's plans to establish a human outpost on the moon have received a surprise boost following the discovery of large amounts of water on its surface.

Three spacecraft detected a thin sheen of water locked up in the first few millimetres of lunar soil that could be extracted and used to sustain astronauts on expeditions to our nearest celestial neighbour.

Instruments aboard the spacecraft suggest that a cubic metre of soil on the lunar surface could hold around a litre of water.

The discovery of water on the moon will bolster Nasa's long-term goal of establishing a permanently crewed outpost there. The space agency is developing a new generation of rockets and crew capsules capable of reaching the moon which are due to fly within five years of the space shuttle fleet being retired next year.

"From the long-term space exploration point of view, it opens an entirely new option to consider as a water resource," said Carle Pieters, a planetary scientist at Brown University in Rhode Island, who led the study. "It has surprised everyone."

Since the Apollo missions brought back the first clumps of lunar soil and rock in the 1960s, scientists have worked on the assumption that the moon is bone dry. Small traces of water found in some of the samples were dismissed as contamination picked up while the material was being handled on Earth.

*The latest discovery came when scientists analysed sunlight glancing off the moon's surface with detectors aboard the Chandrayaan-1 probe, India's first mission to observe the moon. The reflected light was found to be missing infrared wavelengths that are absorbed by water molecules.*

The results were backed up by further observations from spectrometers aboard Nasa's Deep Impact and Cassini probes. The research will be published in the US journal Science tomorrow.

Writing in the journal, Paul Lucey, a planetary scientist at the University of Hawaii, who was not involved in the study, comments: "The most valuable result of these new observations is that they prompt a critical re-examination of the notion that the moon is dry. It is not. "

The research paper from the Deep Impact team, led by Jessica Sunshine at the University of Maryland, adds: "Observations of the moon not only unequivocally confirm the presence of [water] on the lunar surface, but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated during at least some portions of the lunar day."

The water appears to be more abundant at the moon's frigid poles, suggesting that water forms in the soil and gradually moves to cooler regions.

Scientists believe the moon formed when a Mars-sized body collided with the Earth some 4.4 billion years ago.

In the past 2bn years, asteroids and comets have ploughed into the moon, dumping an estimated ten thousand billion tonnes of water onto its surface.

Water is quickly broken down on the lunar surface, but Roger Clark, who led the Cassini study at the US Geological Survey in Colorado, said the new results "could be indicating the presence of that ancient water".

Data from the spacecraft found the lunar soils became increasingly damp during sunlight hours, but dried out again at the end of the lunar day.

The waves of damp and dry conditions suggest water is created on the moon every day, when hydrogen nuclei in the solar wind slam into oxygen-rich silicate minerals on the moon's surface.

If water is created in this way, it could happen on all airless planets throughout the inner Solar System that have oxygen-rich rocks scattered on their surfaces.

Next month, Nasa will intentionally crash a probe called LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite Mission) into the Cabeus A crater near the lunar south pole, in the hope of finding signs of water in the shower of debris it produces.


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## Srinivas

great news 
Congrats to ISRO and for making us proud of the achievement


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## R.A.W.

Guys I made a thread with a song dedicated to Isro and all the indians please do visit it

http://www.defence.pk/forums/member...ndian-space-program-where-we-stand-today.html


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## Beskar

*Courageneverdies and Kharian_Beast:

**Infractions are being issued to you for posting flamebaits and substandard posts in this thread. Any more of this BS and you two are out of here for good. *

*R.A.W:

**Infraction for you as well. Instead of responding to substandard posts, just report them and we'll take care of it. Do NOT reply to them!
*
*Stick to the topic!*

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## Born In The USA

Discovery of water on moon boosts prospects for permanent lunar base






Nasa's plans to establish a human outpost on the moon have received a surprise boost following the discovery of large amounts of water on its surface.

*Three spacecraft detected a thin sheen of water locked up in the first few millimetres of lunar soil that could be extracted and used to sustain astronauts on expeditions to our nearest celestial neighbour*.

Instruments aboard the spacecraft suggest that a cubic metre of soil on the lunar surface could hold around a litre of water.

The discovery of water on the moon will bolster Nasa's long-term goal of establishing a permanently crewed outpost there. The space agency is developing a new generation of rockets and crew capsules capable of reaching the moon which are due to fly within five years of the space shuttle fleet being retired next year.

"From the long-term space exploration point of view, it opens an entirely new option to consider as a water resource," said Carle Pieters, a planetary scientist at Brown University in Rhode Island, who led the study. "It has surprised everyone."

Since the Apollo missions brought back the first clumps of lunar soil and rock in the 1960s, scientists have worked on the assumption that the moon is bone dry. Small traces of water found in some of the samples were dismissed as contamination picked up while the material was being handled on Earth.

*The latest discovery came when scientists analysed sunlight glancing off the moon's surface with detectors aboard the Chandrayaan-1 probe, India's first mission to observe the moon.* *The reflected light was found to be missing infrared wavelengths that are absorbed by water molecules.*

*The results were backed up by further observations from spectrometers aboard Nasa's Deep Impact and Cassini probes. The research will be published in the US journal Science tomorrow.*

Writing in the journal, Paul Lucey, a planetary scientist at the University of Hawaii, who was not involved in the study, comments: *"The most valuable result of these new observations is that they prompt a critical re-examination of the notion that the moon is dry. It is not. "
*
*The research paper from the Deep Impact team, led by Jessica Sunshine at the University of Maryland, adds: "Observations of the moon not only unequivocally confirm the presence of [water] on the lunar surface, but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated during at least some portions of the lunar day."*

The water appears to be more abundant at the moon's frigid poles, suggesting that water forms in the soil and gradually moves to cooler regions.

Scientists believe the moon formed when a Mars-sized body collided with the Earth some 4.4 billion years ago.

In the past 2bn years, asteroids and comets have ploughed into the moon, dumping an estimated ten thousand billion tonnes of water onto its surface.

Water is quickly broken down on the lunar surface, but Roger Clark, who led the Cassini study at the US Geological Survey in Colorado, said the new results "could be indicating the presence of that ancient water".

Data from the spacecraft found the lunar soils became increasingly damp during sunlight hours, but dried out again at the end of the lunar day.

The waves of damp and dry conditions suggest water is created on the moon every day, when hydrogen nuclei in the solar wind slam into oxygen-rich silicate minerals on the moon's surface.

If water is created in this way, it could happen on all airless planets throughout the inner Solar System that have oxygen-rich rocks scattered on their surfaces.

Next month, Nasa will intentionally crash a probe called LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite Mission) into the Cabeus A crater near the lunar south pole, in the hope of finding signs of water in the shower of debris it produces.


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## Born In The USA

Water Present Across The Moon's Surface, New Research Shows


The molecules and hydroxyl  a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom  were discovered across the entire surface of earths nearest celestial neighbor. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil: harvesting one ton of the top layer of the moons surface would yield as much as 32 ounces of water, according to scientists involved in the discovery.

*Carle Pieters, a planetary geologist at Brown, is the lead author of one paper this week in Science that reports evidence of water in the moons high latitudes  greatly expanding current thinking about where water in any form was presumed to be located.*

*Weve made a very important step with this discovery, and now there are some very important steps to follow up on, Pieters said.
*
*Professor of Geological Sciences Pieters is the lead investigator on the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a NASA instrument that was carried into space on Oct. 22, 2008, aboard the Indian Space Research Organizations Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.* *She said the findings from M3 reveal interesting, new questions about where the water molecules come from and where they may be going. Scientists have speculated that water molecules may migrate from non-polar regions of the moon to the poles, where they are stored as ice in ultra-frigid pockets of craters that never receive sunlight.*

If the water molecules are as mobile as we think they are  even a fraction of them  they provide a mechanism for getting water to those permanently shadowed craters, Pieters said.

She continued, This opens a whole new avenue [of lunar research], but we have to understand the physics of it to ultilize it.

The M3 team found water molecules and hydroxyl at diverse areas of the sunlit region of the moons surface, but the water signature appeared stronger at the moons higher latitudes. The M3 discovery was confirmed by data from two NASA spacecrafts  the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on the Cassini spacecraft and the High-Resolution Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on the EPOXI spacecraft. Data from those missions also are being published in separate papers in Science.

*Pieters credited the Indian space agency for its role in the findings. If it werent for them, we wouldn't have been able to make this discovery, she said.*

Other Brown members listed as contributing authors to the M3 paper include Brown planetary geology faculty James Head III and John Jack Mustard; postdoctoral research associates Rachel Klima and Jeffrey Nettles; and graduate student Peter Isaacson.

Isaacson said the M3 results were a huge surprise. There was no evidence that this was possible on such a broad scale, he said. This discovery turns a lot of the conventional thinking about the lunar surface on its head.

Mustard, who has had major findings of water-bearing minerals on Mars, said the moon discovery is intriguing, because it shows water on a planet that we werent anticipating, and its in a form thats mysterious. The finding may have implications for other planets, such as Mars, but it is different.

From its perch in lunar orbit, M3s state-of-the-art spectrometer measured light reflecting off the moons surface at infrared wavelengths, splitting the spectral colors of the lunar surface into small enough bits to reveal a new level of detail in surface composition. When the M3 science team analyzed data from the instrument, they found the wavelengths of light being absorbed were consistent with the absorption patterns for water molecules and hydroxyl.

*For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to water and hydroxyl-bearing materials, Pieters said. When we say water on the moon, we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimeters of the moons surface.*


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## Born In The USA

Indias lunar mission finds evidence of "WATER ON THE MOON"


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## R.A.W.

Hi guys I got a clipping from the old 1970 movie ..... 

I would like to dedicate it to the indian space program

here is the thread related to it

http://www.defence.pk/forums/member...ndian-space-program-where-we-stand-today.html


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## Born In The USA




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## dabong1

Have they found water on the moon or not...?


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## xebex

*Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft : Large quantities of water found on the Moon*

Large quantities of water have been found on the Moon during Indias first lunar mission, it has been disclosed.
Data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft also suggests water is still being formed on its surface.

It is believed that the water is concentrated at the poles and possibly formed by the solar wind.

The finding was made after researchers examined data from three separate missions to the moon.

The reports, to be published in the journal Science on Friday, show that the water may be moving around, forming and reforming as particles become mixed up in the dust on the surface of the moon.

Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, the missions project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore, told The Times: Its very satisfying.

This was one of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-1, to find evidence of water on the Moon.

The unmanned craft was equipped with Nasas Moon Mineralogy Mapper, designed specifically to search for water by picking up the electromagnetic radiation emitted by minerals.

The M3, an imaging spectrometer, was designed to search for water by detecting the electromagnetic radiation given off by different minerals on and just below the surface of the Moon.

Unlike previous lunar spectrometers, it was sensitive enough to detect the presence of small amounts of water.

M3 was one of two Nasa instruments among 11 pieces of equipment from around the world on Chandrayaan-1, which was launched into orbit around the Moon in October last year.

Carle Pieters of Brown University in Rhode Island and colleagues reviewed data from Chandrayaan-1 and found spectrographic evidence of water. The water seems thicker closer to the poles, they reported.


water on Moon
When we say water on the moon, we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl (hydrogen and oxygen) that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimetres of the moons surface, Pieters said in a statement.

Scientists said the breakthrough would change the face of lunar exploration.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft : Large quantities of water found on the Moon | US Post Today.


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## jaunty

dabong1 said:


> Have they water on the moon or not...?



yes. The last three probes including the one did by Chandrayan confirm the presence of moisture in moons surface. The amount of water present is very less though. *It's still drier than any desert we have here-the Washington post.*

Please refer to the article by the Washington post I posted in the 'Indian space capabilities section'. Its quite detailed and also tells about how the probe was done. Link to the page below-

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/4373-indian-space-capabilities-65.html

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## Beskar

*Threads Merged.*


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## Srinivas

WASHINGTON: NASA on Thursday revealed that India's maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-I had traced water molecules on the moon's surface. It also
"thanked" ISRO for making the discovery possible.

We want to thank ISRO for making the discovery possible. Moon till now was thought to be a very dry surface with lot of rocks, NASA said in a press conference.

Earlier in the day, as news trickled out about Indian maiden lunar mission tracing water molecules on the moon's surface, scientists rejoiced at the discovery and hope that it will pave the way for growing vegetation in the earth's natural satellite in future.

"I am really very happy to know that the NASA payload on Chandrayaan-1 has traced water. If it is true then it will pave the way for growing vegetation in moon surface in five or 10 years from now," renowned scientist Y S Rajan said.

"Even if there is no water in its complete H20 format, still it's a great feat. It will help make human venturing to moon a more enriching experience. Those going to moon can combine the molecule and get water.

"They can also break it and get oxygen which is a major problem for scientists in space," said Rajan, who has written the book India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, along with former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

He said India's moon mission was a "great success" that proved ISRO's capability and efficiency in managing key space projects. "We have received loads of data from moon via our mission. It has certainly enriched the global scientific community."

"The moon has distinct signatures of water," top American scientist Carle Pieters confirmed on Thursday.

"The evidence of water molecules on the surface of the moon was found by the moon mineralogy mapper (M3) of the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on board Chandrayaan-1," M3 principal investigator Pieters said in a paper published in the journal Science.

Amitabha Ghosh, space scientist at NASA, said: "This is a very, very important finding... If somehow water was found on the moon, you could use that water right out there. You could extract it."

"Right now, we don't know what temperature it is, and whether there is a cost effective way of extracting it," he added.

Mila Mitra, a scientist formerly associated with NASA said: "This is truly significant because it will help find any trace of life on moon."

"Now you will see more money being invested in moon missions. There might be manned moon missions. Now you will see more emphasis on such endeavours," she added.

S Chandrasekaran, another leading scientist, said: "Yes, we are very happy. I was not part of the mission so cannot give technical details but yes, the discovery is very significant. It is great and very important."

Last year, former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan had told the news agency: "For me personally, if Chandrayaan-1 manages to find evidence of water on the moon, then that would be the biggest achievement."

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first unmanned lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The spacecraft carried five Indian instruments and six from abroad, including M3 and another from NASA, three from the European Space Agency (ESA), and one from Bulgaria.
Related Articles

* Chandrayaan finds water on Moon's surface
* Need to quantify lunar water resources: Scientists
* Chandrayaan-I data to help second moon mission
* ISRO launches 7 satellites in 1,200 seconds from Sriharikota
* Moon water traces finding path-breaking: Nair


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## jaunty

*From NASA's Official Website---*

*NASA Instruments Reveal Water Molecules on Lunar Surface​*

PASADENA, Calif. -- *NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small.* Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

*NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3, instrument reported the observations. M3 was carried into space on Oct. 22, 2008, aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.* Data from the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS, on NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and the High-Resolution Infrared Imaging Spectrometer on NASA's Epoxi spacecraft contributed to confirmation of the finding. The spacecraft imaging spectrometers made it possible to map lunar water more effectively than ever before.

The confirmation of elevated water molecules and hydroxyl at these concentrations in the moon's polar regions raises new questions about its origin and effect on the mineralogy of the moon. Answers to these questions will be studied and debated for years to come.

"Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. *"This surprising finding has come about through the ingenuity, perseverance and international cooperation between NASA and the India Space Research Organization."*

From its perch in lunar orbit, M3's state-of-the-art spectrometer measured light reflecting off the moon's surface at infrared wavelengths, splitting the spectral colors of the lunar surface into small enough bits to reveal a new level of detail in surface composition. When the M3 science team analyzed data from the instrument, they found the wavelengths of light being absorbed were consistent with the absorption patterns for water molecules and hydroxyl.

"For silicate bodies, such features are typically attributed to water and hydroxyl-bearing materials," said Carle Pieters, M3's principal investigator from Brown University, Providence, R.I. "When we say 'water on the moon,' we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles. Water on the moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimeters of the moon's surface.

The M3 team found water molecules and hydroxyl at diverse areas of the sunlit region of the moon's surface, but the water signature appeared stronger at the moon's higher latitudes. Water molecules and hydroxyl previously were suspected in data from a Cassini flyby of the moon in 1999, but the findings were not published until now.

"The data from Cassini's VIMS instrument and M3 closely agree," said Roger Clark, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist in Denver and member of both the VIMS and M3 teams. "We see both water and hydroxyl. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil. To put that into perspective, if you harvested one ton of the top layer of the moon's surface, you could get as much as 32 ounces of water."

For additional confirmation, scientists turned to the Epoxi mission while it was flying past the moon in June 2009 on its way to a November 2010 encounter with comet Hartley 2. The spacecraft not only confirmed the VIMS and M3 findings, but also expanded on them.

"With our extended spectral range and views over the north pole, we were able to explore the distribution of both water and hydroxyl as a function of temperature, latitude, composition, and time of day," said Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland. Sunshine is Epoxi's deputy principal investigator and a scientist on the M3 team. "Our analysis unequivocally confirms the presence of these molecules on the moon's surface and reveals that the entire surface appears to be hydrated during at least some portion of the lunar day."

*NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the M3 instrument, Cassini mission and Epoxi spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Indian Space Research Organization built, launched and operated the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.*


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## jaunty

*Again from NASA's website-*

*Images by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper onboard Chandrayan-1 that confirm the findings*







These images show a very young lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. On the left is an image showing brightness at shorter infrared wavelengths. On the right, the distribution of water-rich minerals (light blue) is shown around a small crater. Both water- and hydroxyl-rich materials were found to be associated with material ejected from the crater.

Credits: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.


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## jaunty

*And this is what ISRO says. From their website--*

*Chandrayaan-1 detects presence of water on the Moon​*


*Chandrayaan-1, Indias first mission to Moon, was launched with the prime objective of finding traces of water on the lunar surface besides mapping minerals and chemicals on the Moon. Towards this, a host of sophisticated instruments were included in Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, like Moon Impact Probe (MIP) and Hyper-Spectral Imager (HySI) from ISRO as well as Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) through NASA to collect relevant data from the lunar surface. During the mission, excellent quality of data from all these instruments has been obtained. While M3 has covered nearly 97% of the lunar surface, some of the other instruments have covered more than 90%.*

A path-breaking finding has evolved recently from the detailed analysis of the data obtained from M3, which has clearly indicated the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface extending from lunar poles to about 60 deg. Latitude. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, was also found in the lunar soil. The confirmation of water molecules and hydroxyl molecule in the moon's polar regions raises new questions about its origin and its effect on the mineralogy of the moon.

M3 measures the intensity of reflected sunlight from the lunar surface at infrared wavelengths, splitting the spectral colours of the lunar surface into small enough bits revealing finer details of the lunar surface composition. This enabled identification of the presence of various minerals on the lunar surface that have characteristic spectral signature at specific wavelengths. Since reflection of sunlight occurs near the moons surface, such studies provide information on the mineral composition of the top crust of a few millimeters of the lunar surface. The Indian instrument HySI, that covers the wavelength region 0.4 to 0.9 micron, also provided additional data in this regard that helped in better understanding of moons mineral composition.

The findings from M3 onboard Chandrayaan-1 clearly shows a marked signature in the infrared region of 2.7 to 3.2 micron in the absorption spectrum, which provided a clear indication of the presence of hydroxyl and water molecules.

The scientific team, after detailed analysis, has come to the conclusion that there are traces of hydroxyl (OH) and water (H2O) molecules on the surface of the moon closer to the polar region. It is also concluded that they are in the form of a thin layer embedded in rocks and chemical compounds on the surface of the moon and the quantity is also extremely small of the order of about 700 ppm. These molecules could have come from the impact of comets or radiation from the sun. But most probable source could be low energy hydrogen carried by solar wind impacting on the minerals on lunar surface. This in turn forms OH or H2O molecules by deriving the oxygen from metal oxide.

Following these findings, the scientific team revisited the data from NASAs Deep Impact Mission launched in 2005 which carried an instrument similar to M3. Deep Impact Probe observed the moon during the period June 2 and 9, 2009. This, along with some laboratory tests carried out from samples brought from Apollo missions, has confirmed that the signature is genuine and there is a thin layer of surface mineral which contains traces of hydroxyl and water molecules.

The M3 observations are further strengthened by results obtained from the analysis of archived data of lunar observation in 1999 by another NASA Mission, Cassini, on its way to Saturn. This data set also revealed clear signatures of both OH and H2O absorption features on the lunar surface.

*The analysis of the huge volume of M3 data was carried out by a joint team of scientists from US and India. The lead role was taken up by Dr.Carle Pieters, Principal Investigator from Brown University, USA and Prof. J N Goswami, Principal Scientist, Chandrayaan-1 from Physical Research Laboratory of India`s Department of Space.* The findings were published in Sciencexpress in its September 24, 2009 edition.

*Analysis of data from other instruments on board Chandrayaan-1 is in progress. *


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## toxic_pus

duhastmish said:


> *
> 3. its a great discovery and not just india and united states but whole world should take credit for it.*


Not sure if share your enthusiasm and your magnanimity. I wonder why Somalia should also take 'credit' for it.



> *10. we cant even use water from our own sea. this is moon water may contain anythign from virus to some deadly chemical.*


You do realise, that if indeed moon water contains 'virus', it would be the first evidence of life in space, other than earth - the Holy Grail of space research.

Anyway, kudos to the team of CY-1. That this was achieved in the very first attempt and with a ridiculously low budget, make it even more significant. The team deserves all the praise for this double whammy. ISRO has also proved that the Indian space programme is not just for the sake of empty national prestige - like one very big country - but it wants to sincerely and significantly contribute to the world of science.

I doff my hat.


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## Tejas-MkII

it is greaty achivement by ISRO to find water in the first attempt of moon exploration... 

And it is mainly due to the closeness of CY-1 to the moon surface because of that M3 able to get clear view of moon... 

Even NASA is praising CY-1 and ISRO for this effort which first time confirm the presence of water on moon.....

With this discovery, CY-1 and ISRO book their name in the HISTORY OF MANKIND FOREVER....


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## grey boy 2

Tejas-MkII said:


> it is greaty achivement by ISRO to find water in the first attempt of moon exploration...
> 
> And it is mainly due to the closeness of CY-1 to the moon surface because of that M3 able to get clear view of moon...
> 
> Even NASA is praising CY-1 and ISRO for this effort which first time confirm the presence of water on moon.....
> 
> With this discovery, CY-1 and ISRO book their name in the HISTORY OF MANKIND FOREVER....




Congrate. to my Indians friend; way to go !

BTW; Any plan to further collect the water sample or something like

that ?


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## Tejas-MkII

(09-24) 20:12 PDT -- When the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon decades ago, scientists analyzed every precious rock, pebble and dust sample the pioneers had brought back with them to Earth, but found not a trace of water.

*Now, suddenly, everything has changed.*

A new generation of scientists, with the latest instruments sending back fresh signals from three vastly different spacecraft, has discovered chemical proof that water does indeed lie across the moon's surface - molecules of it in only a few parts per million, perhaps, but suggestive that deep in the moon's interior may lie abundant quantities of life-giving H{-2}O.

The news comes little more than two weeks before the spacecraft called LCROSS from NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View will deliberately crash its 2-ton spent launch rocket into a permanently shadowed lunar crater on Oct. 9, hoping that clouds of long-hidden dusty debris, suddenly illuminated by sunlight, will reveal evidence water exists beneath the lunar surface.

Anthony Colaprete, chief scientist for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission, was not surprised by the discovery because other NASA scientists have been sharing their tentative findings with him for months.

*"This is really exciting," he said today. "Although it's not exactly what we're looking for, it's striking that there's water in such wide areas of the moon. Now we're hoping we find much larger quantities in water-bearing rocks from deep inside the crater we're aiming for." *

Friday, in the journal Science, one team of scientists is reporting that signs of water molecules have been detected in lunar rocks, observed from a far-distant spacecraft named Deep Impact that is on its way to sample a comet named Hartley-2 next year.

Another report came from the scientists monitoring the Cassini spacecraft that is orbiting Saturn. They said they had unexpectedly found evidence of water on the lunar surface after they aimed Cassini and its instruments at the moon to collect data.

*Finally, a lunar-orbiting spacecraft named Chandrayaan-1, India's entry into the spacefaring family of nations, has used its radar instrument operating in the infrared region of the spectrum to detect water as well as molecules of Hydroxyl, a chemical related to water, but made of only a single atom of hydrogen plus an oxygen atom.*
In a commentary published in Science today, Paul G. Lucy of the University of Hawaii's Institute of Geophysics and Planetology calculated that water in the moon's interior might be sparse - amounting to at least one-tenth of 1 percent by weight. That amount would be similar to the water content of basalt rocks found in the Earth's mid-ocean ridges.

Lucy said the three reports provide evidence for a "proven source of water on the surface of the moon."

"Perhaps the most valuable result of these new observations is that they prompt a critical re-examination of the notion that the moon is dry. It is not," he concluded. 

Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland led the water-finding team from Deep Impact; Carle Pieters of Brown University led the 30-member lunar group that analyzed data from the Indian satellite; and Roger N. Clark of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver was the sole data analyst from NASA's Cassini team.



Read more: Traces of water in lunar rocks may point to more


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## Tejas-MkII

grey boy 2 said:


> Congrate. to my Indians friend; way to go !
> 
> BTW; Any plan to further collect the water sample or something like
> 
> that ?



yeah may be in the CY-2 in 2012 when we send an our mini rover with russian rover....

Then we can do these type of experiment and collecting data....

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## Srinivas

India's own probe also found water on moon: ISRO
IANS 25 September 2009, 11:40am IST
Print Email Discuss Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: | 
BANGALORE: India's own Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on board the country's maiden lunar craft had discovered water on the moon, a finding confirmed by
US space agency NASA's probe that was also aboard Chandrayaan-1, India's top space scientist G Madhavan Nair said here on Friday.

India's first lunar mission had made a "path-breaking and real discovery" by establishing the presence of water on the moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Nair said.

While expressing pride in the achievement, Nair added: "But the water is not in the form of sea or lake or puddle or drops. It is embedded on the surface in minerals and rocks."

Apart from India's MIP, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) of NASA on board Chandrayaan-1 confirmed the presence of water. The lunar mission had to be aborted Aug 30 after it lost radio contact with Earth.

According to Nair, the "quantity found is much larger than expected".

On whether water can be extracted, Nair said: "Yes, we can. But one tonne of soil may yield half a litre."

Nair said MIP picked up signals about the presence of water as it journeyed down to land on the moon surface.

"One of the main objectives of Chandrayaan-1 was to look for the presence of water. Our MIP confirmed it."

He said they had indications of the finding "way back in June", but waited all these days to make it public as they wanted the findings to come out in a scientific journal first.

"The volume of data collected from Chandrayaan-1 is phenomenal. It may take six months to three years to analyse it."
go ISRO go...


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## Beskar

I didn't get a chance to contribute in this thread, but if Chandrayaan-1 has discovered water on the Moon, I believe it's a great development for mankind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NASA stopped its moon missions decades ago. They didn't get a chance to use their latest machinery up there and I believe that's why Chandrayaan-1 was successful in finding traces of h2o on the moon. 

After this development, I think NASA will show some sort of a "Special" interest in moon missions once again.


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## Srinivas

you are right buddy, but ISRO's achievement is a land mark in our space program


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## warlock21

Bezerk said:


> I didn't get a chance to contribute in this thread, but if Chandrayaan-1 has discovered water on the Moon, I believe it's a great development for mankind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NASA stopped its moon missions decades ago. They didn't get a chance to use their latest machinery up there and I believe that's why Chandrayaan-1 was successful in finding traces of h2o on the moon.
> 
> After this development, I think NASA will show some sort of a "Special" interest in moon missions once again.



They haven't abondoned it fully... but they do have less interest in it .. coz of absence of Atomosphere on its surface... NASA in its intial days was interested in Life on other planet(s)...but later on Energy and other metals become their priority..... Thts the reason .... NASA and european space agency launched various missions for Europa( staellite of Jupitar)..and on other staetllites of Jupitar... coz of presence of methane and other carbon rich gases......


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## Tejas-MkII

Chandrayaan-I mission was a complete success, says ISRO chairman- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

*Chandrayaan-I mission was a complete success, says ISRO chairman*


BANGALORE: Terming the finding of water on the Lunar surface a 'historic' one, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Friday said that the Chandrayaan-I 
mission was a complete success. 

Addressing mediapersons here, Nair said: "**." 

Confirming the presence of water on the Lunar surface, he said: "All over the world people are applauding the Chandrayaan's achievement. The discovery of water on the moon has been acknowledged as a significant discovery. The main aim of the Chandrayaan1 mission has been achieved." 

On the collection of the data, he said that as the data is huge so it would take six months to three years before all of it is analysed and digested. 

Speaking on the finding of water on the Lunar surface, Nair said that quantity of water on moon is more than what was expected. He added that the moon impact probe picked up strong signals of water. 

"The water is not in form of sea, lake, not even as a drop. It is embedded in the surface in the minerals found there. However, the quantity of such molecules is much more than what we were expecting. It can extracted, but the quantity would be very less," he added. 

Commenting on the presence of water on the moon, he said: "We are still wondering how water is present on the moon. But as per initial assessment, it seems that it is due to the solar winds and possibly meteors and asteroids that crash onto the moon surface." 

However, he added that although there was a presence of water molecules doesn't mean the presence of life on the moon. 

On the possibility of the establishment of a permanent lunar base, he further said that after the discovery of water, hopes for such a future endeavour have become more realistic. 

Acknowledging NASA for collaboration in the discovery, he said: "*We truly believe it is a pathbreaking finding. But this is just the beginning*."


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## bhishmar

I was following this thread & was amused at the various responses- clappings & praise from some quarters, rubbishing & pikish/peevish comments from others, and genuine disbelief from some others. The following post summarizes some of the views expressed here.


SinoIndusFriendship said:


> THIS IS TOTAL *NONSENSE!*
> The moon's gravity is too small to retain light molecules such as water vapors. The 'escape velocity' of such molecular motion have long deprived the moon of water for millions of years.
> 
> The water would freeze to ice, thus preventing it from escaping you say?????
> 
> WRONG! Please study physics to understand why.



Well by now the news is well carried by all the press & national/ international news agencies, & out in the open, and needs no efforts at convincing anymore. My indian friends have also put plenty of postings here. Let me share my experiences.

As an Indian it was a proud moment for me. But being an ex- ISRO engineer, who has put in 16 years in ISRO and worked in the PSLV projects, before moving to private sector, I can say definitely more prouder.

Yesterday night (11:30PM) I was watching the press conference by NASA, carried live by all national & private networks here. The press conference lasted nearly more than an hour & kudos to our media, they covered it live all through without interruptions.

It was thrilling to watch Prof Carl Pieters , the NASA lead investigator of the "Moon Minerology Mapper" project associated with Chandrayan. That old lady (perhaps 65-70 years age) was bubbling with youthful  excitement, while presenting the findings in the press conference & answering to questions.

Earlier the press conference was inaugurated by Jim Green, the director for Planetory Science Dvision at NASA headquarters, Washington. He started by complementing ISRO, that the partnership & collaboration with ISRO which made possible this discovery with Chandrayan & the "Moon Minerology Mapper" (M3)sensor. He shared the credit for the findings with the ISRO's chandrayan team along with NASA.

"Water ice on the moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green. "This surprising finding has come about through the ingenuity, perseverance and international cooperation between NASA and the India Space Research Organisation," he said. 

Carl Pieters explained the enthusiasm when images from Chandrayans M3-sensor started pouring in, when she was at the ISRO's Bangalore DeepSpace network Station, during fall of 2008 and early 2009. At first we did not believe it (she said), and suspected the data may be due to sensor calibration issues. But as mounts of data started pouring in and they started analyzing the daily/sesonal variations and spatial variations (moon-equator to poles), the evidence was mounting. This prompted them to revisit the earlier data from earlier satellite Cassini-VIMS, which they have dismissed earlier as calibration issues. Point to note, Cassini was not targeted for moon, but inter-planetary in nature & on its flyby earth nearly a decade ago, its VIMS - spectrometer was pointed to moon from a great distance, & the data generated was put in cold-storage, till chandrayan's M3 data started pouring in & being analyzed by the science team, resulting in a shocker.

But the closeup data from M3, made possible by the low-moon (< 100 km) orbit of chandrayan, was more comprehensive, highly accurate (in resolution) & clinching. Moreover they could map nearly 97&#37; of lunar surface, up close for the first time. One time she even remarked about the huge volume of data send by chandrayan from M3 sensor about 20 Gigabytes of data, requires more than a year to fully analyze. 

She answered to a pointed question, why it was kept secret for the past 6-8 months, that they had to follow proper scientific & patent procedures, like publishing the data in a well reputed Science journal, before going public yesterday. Accordingly a paper was published in the "Science " journal, co-authored by Carl Peiters & from ISRO side, principal scientist of Chandrayan-1, Dr JN Goswamy. 
Character and Spatial Distribution of OH/H2O on the Surface of the Moon Seen by M3 on Chandrayaan-1 -- Pieters et al., 10.1126/science.1178658 -- Science

Today morning another press conference by ISRO team headed by G Madhabvan nair was there. Essentially they were waiting for the NASA conference to be over, before going public with the details. Dr JN Goswamy was explaining the details of the findings. The information presented was very complementary to the NASA press conference, and was interesting watching, for those who want to follow the science & history related to these findings.

_On a Side note:_
After this, there was even mention about chandrayan' s own lunar impact probe MIP (not M3) finding traces of water in November 2008, when it was shuttling towards the impact trajectory to lunar surface to plant the Indian tri-color. But during its downward path it was travelling from equator to polar region sideways, while simultaneously descending. During this path its on-board sensors has sensed the increasing profile of water detection from equator to polar region, as discovered by chandrayan's-M3 when it was switched on later (post Nov 2008).

I suspect the data may be there, but ISRO scientists must have seen it and dismissed it as irrelevant at that point in time, or atleast postponed it for later-analysis, since I don't remember any claims from ISRO at that time. They must have re-visited the data after M3's findings (ofcourse jointly by NASA & ISRO).
Any way this is a finer point & also purely my own speculation. Had they had conviction & courage at that time, they could have comeforward & generated a much bigger & exclusive scoope.


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## Born In The USA

Bezerk said:


> I didn't get a chance to contribute in this thread, but if Chandrayaan-1 has discovered water on the Moon, I believe it's a great development for mankind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NASA stopped its moon missions decades ago. They didn't get a chance to use their latest machinery up there and I believe that's why Chandrayaan-1 was successful in finding traces of h2o on the moon.
> 
> After this development, I think NASA will show some sort of a "Special" interest in moon missions once again.



NASA does have an active moon program in fact another manned mission is scheduled for 2020. The reason why Chandrayaan-1 was successful in finding traces of h2o on the moon was because it looked where no one else had looked before ie the Poles.

check this out

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## Tejas-MkII

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...rayaan-II-experiments/articleshow/5056300.cms

*Water on moons prompt ISRO rethink on Chandrayaan-II experiments*

PTI 25 September 2009, 04:54pm IST


BANGALORE: Discovery of water on moon by Chandrayaan-I has prompted ISRO scientists to rethink on the experiments to be carried by its sequel 
*mission scheduled for launch by 2013*. 

ISRO plans to land *two rovers *on the lunar surface as part of Chandrayaan-II besides conducting several in-orbit experiments. 

"Following findings of Chandrayaan-I, it would have to now look at midcourse correction of its objectives. We have to finetune it. There is some loud thinking on the issue going on," ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair told reporters in Bangalore. 

Nair indicated that scientists were exploring possibilities of equipping the lunar rover with some instruments that could dig the moon surface and carry out in-situ experiments. 

While almost all experiments on Chandrayaan-II will be by Indian scientists, the lunar rover which will land on the moon will be sourced from Russia, Nair said. 

ISRO is also looking at ways to send a smaller indigenous version of the rover to the lunar surface. 

*"Right now Chandrayaan-II is full," *Nair said adding that scientists were looking at how they could accommodate some additional payloads.


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## All-Green

Excellent progress, congratulations to our Indian friends is in order...


Now presently it is too optimistic to suggest a lunar colony, however if Moon can retain moisture in any form, it does present an exciting challenge for all those who dream to terraform the moon and eventually the universe...


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## Khajur

Bezerk said:


> I didn't get a chance to contribute in this thread, but if Chandrayaan-1 has discovered water on the Moon, I believe it's a great development for mankind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NASA stopped its moon missions decades ago. They didn't get a chance to use their latest machinery up there and I believe that's why Chandrayaan-1 was successful in finding traces of h2o on the moon.
> 
> After this development, I think NASA will show some sort of a "Special" interest in moon missions once again.



No,its infact the data collected by *M3 ,a NASA contribution *among several indian and foreign payloads that had piggy ride on the indian space craft chandrayaan-1 confirmed the presense of Water on moon surface.

Yes,its true that NASA had not sent any new spacecraft to moon in recent past ,but its gonna send one in 2010.

*There are lots of data yet to be analized that were sent back by other scientific payloads on board chandrayaan-1,so let hope some more interesting news would emerge out of this mission *.


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## R.A.W.

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation may have stolen the thunder of discovering water on the
Moon.

The Moon Impact Probe on Chandrayaan-I appears to have sensed water earlier than Nasa's Moon Minerolgy Mapper (M3) but protocol did not allow ISRO to declare the discovery. While MIP detected water molecules on November 14, 2008, just 22 days after Chandrayaan-1's launch, M3 did so in March 2009.

J S Goswami, principal investigator for Chandrayaan-1, told TOI: ``We had indications of water on November 14, the day MIP crash-landed on the Moon. It sensed some sort of water molecules. We were absolutely delighted but it had to be corroborated. Without international examination and cross-examination and confirmation of the evidence, it would not have been right on our part to go public about it.''

Mylswami Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-1 and 2, explained why India did not go public with the discovery. ``International protocol requires us to discuss the evidence, cross-calibrate it with experts and it goes through a peer review and gets their approval. After all this, if it's a credible finding comes the go-ahead for its publication. This process can take three to four months, sometimes even seven. Only after publication can we speak about the evidence.''

ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said the MIP showed indications as it was crash-landing - it caught signatures of water. ``As the MIP was landing, it took some pictures that indicated the water molecules eventually found by M3.''

The MIP had picked up strong signals of water particles towards the polar region from 70 degree latitude to 80 degree latitude, according to Goswami. While this was known in November 2008, the M3 discovery of water in March 2009 was confirmed only three months later ^ in June. That's because US scientists wanted to be sure they had indeed found water and it took three months of rigorous cross-examination to confirm it. Publication after the confirmation also took time.

Officials said India scientists waited all this while to make the discovery public as they wanted the findings of such global significance to be first published in a scientific journal.


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## Beskar

All future reports regarding Indian Space capabilities should be posted here and and here only!

*Threads Merged.*

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## ISRO2

Yes sir our ISRO found water on moon in june but NASA requested ISRO to wait till september. They wanted to be sure. ISRO said our impactor which was size of shoe box found water first in june and then ISRO told NASA. Nasa then requested ISRO to wait until they too go through their findings. Date was set september and thats how world came to know.


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## Brisingr

In my perception it should be treated as a joint discovery by both India and US. More credit must go to US for their advanced sensitive equipments on board.

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## sudhir007

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/...4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=


TIRUNELVELI: The first indigenous cryogenic engine that is set to be installed on GSLV Mk II was flagged off from Mahendragiri Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre here to Sriharikota on Monday.


After flagging it off, ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair told reporters, &#8220;We have been using Russian cryogenic engines for the GSLV rocket for taking the satellite to its geo-transfer orbit. With the indigenous engine, we can now become totally self-reliant for GSLV launch.&#8221;

The entire engine has been developed with indigenous technology. The ground test has been successfully completed and it is ready for the fire stage.

&#8220;GSLV Mk II could be launched by December-end. We hope this would be a benchmark event in the ISRO programme for indigenous launching technology. Our next step is to develop a bigger cryogenic engine with a stress of 20 tonnes compared to 7.5 tonnes now,&#8221; he added.

Nair informed that the Oceansat-2 satellite that was launched a few days ago was working well and its first set of images has been received.


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## Brisingr

how much money does it take to build a single cryogenic engine and are these engines reusable...mean are the scientists collecting back the engine ( i don know whether it will fall back to earth after launch!!!) after launch and mounting it to another vehicle for another launch...any idea guys???


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## ironman

*ISRO developing a more powerful cryogenic engine ​*Posted by vkthakur on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (EST) 

​*ISRO, which will flight test its first indigenously developed cryogenic engine in late December this year, is already working on a more powerful followup cryogenic engine. Photo Credit: ISRO​*
September 29, 2009, (Sawf News) - ISRO, which will flight test its first indigenously developed cryogenic engine in late December this year, is already working on a more powerful followup cryogenic engine.

"Our next step is to develop a bigger cryogenic engine with a stress of 20 tonnes compared to 7.5 tonnes now," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), G Madhavan Nair, told PTI.

The current version of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine (ICU) develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provides a payload capability of 2200 Kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) for GSLV.

It will be flight tested on a GSLV Mk 2 launcher which will place the GSAT-4 satellite in a geosynchronous orbit.

ISRO had earlier announced plans to tweak the ICU to step up its thrust to 90 kN.

One of the most powerful cryogenic engines in use is the RS-24. Three of them power the Space Shuttle at lift off along with two solid rocket boosters. Each RS-24, commonly referred to as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), produces almost 1.8 mega-newtons (MN) or 400,000 lbf of thrust at liftoff.

The two-ton GSAT-4 satellite, besides being used to monitor the performance of the CUS equipped GSLV Mk 2, will also serve as a technology demonstrator.

The satellite will feature a communication payload comprising multi-beam Ka-band pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands.

The satellite will also carry a scientific payload, Tauvex, consisting of three ultra violet (UV) band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 angstrom wavelengths.

Amidst the new technologies being tested on board GSAT-4 are stationary plasma thrusters, Bus Management Unit (BMU), miniaturized dynamically tuned gyros, 36 AH Lithium ion battery, 70 V bus for Ka-band and on board structural dynamic vibration beam accelerometer.

GSAT-4 spacecraft will have a power generation capability of 2,500 watts and will be positioned at 82 degrees east longitude in a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth.

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## ironman

*ISRO to test plasma thrusters on GSAT-4 ​*Posted by vkthakur on Thursday, October 01, 2009 (EST) 

​_ISRO is poised to test a plasma thruster on board GSAT- 4 which is slated for launch in late December 2009. Photo Credit: ISRO​_
October 01, 2009, (Sawf News) - ISRO is poised to test a plasma thruster on board GSAT- 4 which is slated for launch in late December 2009.

A plasma engine generates thrust by ionizing a propellant using electrical power and ejecting it from a nozzle. Conventional rocket engines generate thrust from the explosive combustion of a propellant and oxidizer.

Plasma thrusters are characterized by lower thrust, higher efficiencies and sustained operation as compared to conventional rocket thrusters.

ISRO hopes to use plasma thrusters to increase the lifespan of its satellites from ten to fifteen years.

Plasma engines are also useful for long-distance Interplanetary space travel missions. The former Soviet Union first developed a plasma engine to propel its spacecraft to Mars in the early sixties.

More recently ESA's SMART lunar probe, launched on September 27, 2003, used an ion engine as its primary propulsion system, the second spacecraft to do so after NASA's Deep Space 1 probe launched in October 1998.

GSAT &#8211; 4 will be launched using GSLV-D3, a development version of GSLV Mark 2. The two-ton technology demonstrator satellite will feature a communication payload comprising multi-beam Ka-band pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands.

The satellite will also carry a scientific payload, Tauvex, consisting of three ultra violet (UV) band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 angstrom wavelengths.

Amidst the other new technologies to be tested on board GSAT &#8211; 4 are Bus Management Unit (BMU), miniaturized dynamically tuned gyros, 36 AH Lithium ion battery, 70 V bus for Ka-band and on board structural dynamic vibration beam accelerometer.

GSAT-4 spacecraft will have a power generation capability of 2,500 watts and will be positioned at 82 degrees east longitude in a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth.

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## owais.usmani



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## Tejas-MkII

ISRO develops tech to boost satellite life by five years | Deccan Chronicle

*ISRO develops tech to boost satellite life by five years *

For the first time, *India's space scientists have developed electric propulsion technology that is expected to boost the life of geostationary satellites by upto five years. *

*In other words, the satellites which today have a lifespan of ten years, could last upto 15 years. *

The system - plasma thrusters - would be tested in GSAT-4 spacecraft slated to be launched on board GSLV later this year, said Isro chairman Madhavan Nair. 

"*Electric propulsion is going to be a unique thing. It will be used in GSAT-4. This is a concept we are going to prove in this (GSAT-4). Once proven, it can be adopted as standard for future geostationary orbits*", he said. 

So far, Isro had been using chemical propulsion for station-keeping, altitude control, precision spacecraft control, stabilisation and orientation. 

With the use of electric propulsion, the life of the spacecraft can be enhanced, Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said. 

"*Today, most of the geostationary satellites' life is controlled by fuel availability. If it's going to be sustained for two-three years by electric propulsion and the remaining using chemical propulsion again.....so that way 15 years of life what we are targeting can be easily achieved. Right now, the satellite's life is 10 years*", Nair said. Plasma thrusters (using xenol gas as propellants) provide high specific impulse and operate with low fuel consumption, an Isro scientist said. 

Isro spokesperson S. Satish termed electric propulsion "more efficient", while another scientist said that plasma thrusters would be extremely useful for inter-planetary missions.

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## CrazyEagle9

Isro seeks Russian spaceship for manned flight

What the hack....!!! I thought ISRO would develop it's own spaceship for manned flight....


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## indiatech

infinite_dreams9586 said:


> Isro seeks Russian spaceship for manned flight
> 
> What the hack....!!! I thought ISRO would develop it's own spaceship for manned flight....



It says for sending space tourists to ISS . Not sure if it has any relation to Indian human space flight programme.


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## indiatech

Water on Moon is indeed one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st century.

ISRO press conference on finding water on the moon.


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## indiatech

ISRO, plan ahead


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## Born In The USA

ISRO set to shed civilian clothes

BANGALORE: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be providing technical support to the Indian Air force and ground forces in a major offensive against Naxalites in the jungles of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, which the Union Home Ministry will launch after the upcoming Maharastra polls.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai told Express that the various anti-Naxal forces on the ground would be supported by the IAF and ISRO to fine-tune the attacks on Naxal hideouts, which are deep within the dense jungles.

This will be the first time that the space agency will be using its technology for nonpeaceful operations officially.

ISRO will provide muchneeded images of the ground using the radar-imaging satellite (RISAT-2), which the space agency launched in April this year.

The spy satellite carries the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, which can capture images roundthe- clock and in all weather conditions.

The space agency has always maintained that its satellites are only for peaceful applications and has in the past dismissed allegations that it has a spy satellite, claiming that the RISAT- 2 is only for disaster management, managing cyclones, floods, and agriculture- related activities.

The IAF has in a way already conveyed its willingness to take part in the anti- Naxal operations that will begin at the end of October, when it asked permission from the Defence Ministry to open re tal iat ory f ire against Naxals who target IAF planes. IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik has made it clear that the IAF would require foolproof intelligence before using air power against the Naxals, because of the risk that civilians on the ground could be hit.

It is here that the ground forces and the IAF would need the services of RISAT-2, as it can provide images of even the thick jungles, enabling them to carry out surgical strikes on the ground.

The images provided by the satellites will be processed by the National Technology Research Organisation.

ISRO set to shed civilian clothes


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## Ingis

infinite_dreams9586 said:


> Isro seeks Russian spaceship for manned flight
> 
> What the hack....!!! I thought ISRO would develop it's own spaceship for manned flight....



Why should India spend valuable money and time on reinventing the wheel?

The Chinese have to because no one is willing to collaborate with them. India is lucky to have great, reliable friends.


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## gogbot

infinite_dreams9586 said:


> Isro seeks Russian spaceship for manned flight
> 
> What the hack....!!! I thought ISRO would develop it's own spaceship for manned flight....



Read the article
This is only for sending Space tourists into space on ISRO rockets.
India's space ship is very small and basic.

ISRO is interested in making money by sending people into space and using the Russian spaceship provides more space and features.

India will still use its own spaceship for the first manned flight.

But it intends to use the Russian built ship to send paying customers.

another brilliant move by ISRO taking foreign help, but still maintaining Indigenous nature of the agency.

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## CrazyEagle9

gogbot said:


> Read the article
> This is only for sending Space tourists into space on ISRO rockets.
> India's space ship is very small and basic.
> 
> ISRO is interested in making money by sending people into space and using the Russian spaceship provides more space and features.
> 
> India will still use its own spaceship for the first manned flight.
> 
> But it intends to use the Russian built ship to send paying customers.
> 
> another brilliant move by ISRO taking foreign help, but still maintaining Indigenous nature of the agency.



From that article,

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has applied for acquiring a spaceship for sending space tourists, Russian space agency, Roscosmos spokesman Alexei Krasnov said. He said the deal would be commercial and two space travellers could fly in the *non-reusable* Soyuz TMA ship to be piloted by a Russian cosmonaut.


It says the space ship is non-reusable, so for every flight ISRO will have to buy one from Russia. Why doesn't ISRO develop it's own low cost space ship for tourism ?? Isn't it be a better option while ISRO already developing it's own space capsule for manned mission ?


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## brahmastra

Indian Space journey

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## RPK

The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Tirupati News : ISRO to launch YOUTHSAT

TIRUPATI: In a bid to inculcate interest in space-related activities among the younger generation, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will soon launch a micro satellite named &#8216;YOUTHSAT&#8217;.

The satellite is being developed with the participation of youth from universities in India and abroad and hence will be more of a youth-oriented facility. 

Addressing the 13th Convocation of Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) here on Wednesday, Dr. Nair said that it would also provide opportunities for realisation of future payloads for scientific experiments. He also laid emphasis on the opportunities provided to Indian student community to develop, integrate, test and operate nano-satellites, many of which were currently being developed at various universities and institutes. 

Dr. Nair also explained that EDUSAT, the exclusive satellite meant for providing connectivity to schools, colleges and higher levels of education and also to support non-formal education, was being effectively utilised by IGNOU, UGC, NCERT, IITs, IETE and State education departments and universities, forming over 35,000 virtual classrooms in the country. Besides, INSAT-based telemedicine network connected 57 super specialty hospitals in cities and 307 hospitals in rural areas, including the hitherto-inaccessible pockets of Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He gave a clarion call to the students to make the most of every opportunity coming their way in scripting their own success stories.

Vice-Chancellor G. Sarojamma, in her capacity as the acting Chancellor, conferred honorary doctorates on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar (in absentia), a Member of Legislative Council as well as the university&#8217;s former Vice-Chancellor Kola Rajyalakshmi and Chairperson of Infosys Foundation Sudha Murthy.

Ph.D. degrees were announced to 34 science and 39 social sciences/humanities candidates, while gold medals in sciences and humanities were presented to 34 and 40 candidates respectively.

Prof.Sarojamma later presented the annual report, while the Registrar E.Manju Vani proposed a vote of thanks.


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## Screaming Skull

*Oceansat-2 payloads are providing good quality data: ISRO press release​*
All the three payloads on-board the Oceansat-2, namely

* Ocean Colour Monitor,
* Scatterometer,
* Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies, 

have been successfully turned on providing good quality data. It may be recalled that the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14) launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on September 23, 2009 placed India's Oceansat-2 and other six nano satellites for international customers in the desired orbit. All the instruments onboard Oceansat-2 are working satisfactorily.

The Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM), a multi-spectral imaging radiometer, provides information on chlorophyll concentration, and helps locating Potential Fisheries Zones. The Scatterometer, an active microwave sensor, facilitates retrieval of sea-surface wind speed and direction, and monitoring polar sea-ice. The Radio Occultation Sounder measures the parameters pertaining to lower atmosphere and ionosphere.

The data provided by the different sensors on-board Oceansat -2, will also facilitate monitoring of turbidity and suspended sediments, sea-state and sea-surface winds, and meteorological/climatological studies. The satellite collects data over the entire globe once in two days.






*Chlorophyll_a Images of Oceansat-2*

The variation in the ocean colour, of Gujarat cost, depicted in shades of blue to brown, are indicative of increasing chlorophyll concentrations of 0.01 to > 3.00 mg/cubic meter.

The higher chlorophyll concentrations indicate prospective zones for fishing. Such information forms vital inputs for assessing oceanic productivity.






First day image of Oceansat-2 (Northwest India)






First day image of Oceansat-2 - Mosaic of India






First day image of Oceansat-2 - Global Area Coverage






Oceansat-2 Scatterometer - Derived Winds






Oceansat-2 Scatterometer - Sigma-0 and Wind Velocity​

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## adatta

*ISRO eyes more satellite launches from Europe, US *
Wed, Oct 14 10:41 AM

Indian Space Research Organisation has reached an understanding with Arianespace under which the European space consortium would scout for small satellites in Europe to be launched by ISRO.

ISRO is a long-time customer of the European aerospace giant, which has launched 12 Indian satellites from 1988 to 2007. Another heavy Indian satellite in the present series is expected to be launched by Arianespace, but the date has not yet been finalised, ISRO Chairman, G Madhavan Nair said.

Asked if the association with Arianespace would come to an end after the next launch, he said, "No, actually, we are trying to develop it further. They are good for heavy-lift launches. Whenever we have payloads of more than four tonnes, we may have to depend on them".

At the same time, Nair said ISRO is trying to make use of Arianespace to get launch opportunities from Europe.

PTI


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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO find gets European stamp​*
16 October 2009,

MUMBAI: *A European Space Agency atom reflecting analyser on board ISROs Moon Impact Probe has confirmed that the water molecules detected on the moon were generated from within and not from an external source.*

*The water molecules were first found by an indigenous instrument called the Hyper Spectral Imager and NASAs Moon Minerology Mapper on the Moon Impact Probe released from Chandrayaan-1 on November 14 last year.*

The announcement about the discovery of the water molecules was made by NASA and ISRO on September 24. *It instantly triggered a debate on the source of the water molecules with most space scientists veering around to the view that it could perhaps be from an external source like cometary bodies. Now the confirmation has come from the European Space Agencys payload, Sara (Sub-Kev Atom Reflecting Analyser) on Chandrayaan-1.*

Exactly 48 hours later, Chandrayaan-1 project director Mylswamy Annadurai declared that the water molecules which had been detected on the moons polar regions came from the moons surface itself-a major revelation made possible by the lunar mission which was launched on October 22, 2008. Chandrayaan-1 was terminated on August 30 following a communication breakdown.

*The current thinking was that only other planetary bodies were the source of water molecules on the moon.
But, this mission has changed the thinking. The new theory is that the water molecules were not from an outside source, but are being generated then and there,* he said. A jubilant Annadurai told TOI on Thursday from Bangalore that the *discovery by Sara only confirmed the mechanisms we (Indian scientists) had been talking about. *

Isro find gets European stamp - India - The Times of India

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## Screaming Skull

*ISRO, IAF spar over seats on India's maiden space odyssey​*
Monday , Oct 19, 2009

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) are at loggerheads over who will be on board the spacecraft when the countrys first manned mission into space is launched in 2015.

Traditionally, countries that have sent men into space have chosen Air Force pilots as astronauts. Rakesh Sharma, the only Indian to have travelled to space so far, was also from the Air Force. He was a Squadron Leaderwho retired as Wing Commanderwhen he went into space in 1984 aboard Soyuz T-11, the spacecraft of the then Soviet Union. So was his back up, Ravish Malhotra, who retired as Air Commodore.

But ISRO, which will plan and execute the mission, is challenging the conventional wisdom. It wants its own scientists on board the spacecraft. It is not necessary that only men from the Services can be selected to become astronauts. Scientists from within ISRO can also be sent on the spacecraft, says S. Satish, director of public relations at ISRO. 

Satish says several scientists from NASA have travelled to space before and ISRO was not asking for anything unusual. He says even in 1984, a couple of ISRO scientists had trained alongside Rakesh Sharma and Ravish Malhotra and had been standbys for the mission. Besides, scientists are better suited for carrying out experiments in space, he claims. Scientists enjoy a natural advantage in such complicated and highly challenging missions, he says.

The Air Force obviously contests this. It is of the opinion that its officers who are experienced in handling flights are more suited for the job. Besides their aviation experience, Air Force pilots have a very high level of physical fitness and are better prepared to endure the physical demands of space travel, they say.

In fact, the Air Force had staked claim for seats on the spacecraft almost immediately after ISRO announced plans of its manned mission last year. Just before retiring earlier this year, Air Chief Marshal F H Major had said that the manned mission would obviously be led a pilot of the Air Force. When the manned mission is launched into space, there is no doubt that it will be led by Air Force pilots, he had said then.

His views are echoed by senior serving officers of the Air Force who are handling the project with ISRO. We have not begun the selection process yet. It is likely to start sometime next year. However, the understanding is that IAF pilots would be trained as astronauts, a senior officer says.

The tussle has not come a day too soon. If the 2015 schedule for the manned mission is to be adhered to, the selection and training for astronauts have to begin now, possibly in the next few months. It takes about three to four years for the selection and training process to be completed. The final selection has to be completed at least a year before the scheduled launch.

But perhaps there is a way out of this tug of war between ISRO and IAF. Satish says that according to present plans and design, there will be at least two seats on the spacecraft. The seats can even increase in case the design or the mission objectives are modified at a later stage.

Air Chief Marshal (retd) Major indicates that the seats can be split up between the two organisations. The team can consist of scientists but that is not the issue. The issue is that there is a commander of a manned space flight and it has always been a pilot. All manned space missions around the world are commanded by a pilot, he says.

ISRO, IAF spar over seats on India's maiden space odyssey


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## applesauce

send one of each then


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## RPK

(Lunar Libration With Phase

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## EjazR

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India keen on space exploration, considering manned missions

After launching a moon mission, India is now looking at further options to explore the inner and outer space, including sending manned missions to space.

*The Indian space programme is entering into exploration phase mainly to explore inner solar system and build such capabilities for exploring outer solar system, Member of Parliament, Anwar Ali Ansari, said here during a debate of a UN committee on International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space*

India also continues to discuss carrying out human spaceflight programmes, Mr. Ansari said.

Mr. Ansari said India is getting ready to launch several satellites including Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT1).

*Six small satellites built by Germany, Turkey, Switzerland, a YOUTHSAT with participation of Moscow State University, an X-SAT with participation of NTU of Singapore, NLS-6 of Canada and ALSAT-2 from Algeria are also scheduled to be launched as co-passengers in these flights, he said.*

To provide satellite-based positioning, navigation and timing service in the region, India is building Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN) as well as an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system (IRNSS).

Welcoming the addition of Space and Climate to the General Assembly agenda, Mr. Ansari said India placed importance on international cooperation to minimise cost of access to space.

Mr. Ansari also said that the Oceansat-2, scheduled to be launched shortly, would carry a Radio Occultation Sounder from Italy.

Currently, formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Agreements are in place with more than 30 countries and international organisations, he said.

Many of these understandings pave way for sharing our expertise in the use of space-derived geo spatial information for sustainable development, he said.

He also said that India was playing a part in building capacities for other developing countries.

*So far 824 scholars from 31 countries from the Asia-Pacific region and 27 scholars from 17 countries outside the Asia-pacific region have benefited from the educational activities of this Centre, he said referring to the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for Asia and Pacific Region, affiliated to the U.N. and operating from India.*

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## ironman

*ISRO to take 2 Indians on moon ride​*Rohini Swamy
Bangalore, October 23, 2009

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to take two Indians to the moon onboard their next manned mission.

The space agency, which first found traces of water on the earth's natural satellite through the first phase of its ambitious Chandrayaan-series mission, has thrown open its doors for applications from candidates willing to hitch a ride to the moon on board Chandrayaan-II.

Dr T.K. Alex, director ISRO Satellite Centre, said, "He has to be physically good, mentally strong and should be able to take challenges. So there are so many criteria to select an astronaut. Anybody meeting those criteria and passing those tests is a candidate, any Indian."


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## gogbot

ironman said:


> *ISRO to take 2 Indians on moon ride​*Rohini Swamy
> Bangalore, October 23, 2009
> 
> The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to take two Indians to the moon onboard their next manned mission.
> 
> The space agency, which first found traces of water on the earth's natural satellite through the first phase of its ambitious Chandrayaan-series mission, has thrown open its doors for applications from candidates willing to hitch a ride to the moon on board Chandrayaan-II.
> 
> Dr T.K. Alex, director ISRO Satellite Centre, said, "He has to be physically good, mentally strong and should be able to take challenges. So there are so many criteria to select an astronaut. Anybody meeting those criteria and passing those tests is a candidate, any Indian."



This is mistake, it has to be.
"Our next Manned Mission"- where was our first one.

When is CH-2 scheduled to be launched, Like 2013. Our first manned mission is in 2015.

But I did hear that ISRO was going to Buy a Soyus Space ship.
Isro seeks Russian spaceship for manned flight

Could there indeed be some truth to this ?

BUT I highly doubt this article


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## Naradmuni

India offers to share satellite data with ASEAN countries 

PTI 24 October 2009, 06:44pm IST


CHA-AM HUA HIN(Thailand): India on Saturday offered to help southeast Asian nations in management of natural disasters by sharing satellite data for 
the region and launch small satellites built by them. 

"We would be ready to share satellite data for management of natural disasters, launch small satellites and scientific instruments and payloads for experiments in remote sensing and communication for space agencies and academic institutions in ASEAN countries," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here. 

He was addressing the Seventh India-ASEAN Summit in this scenic Thai beach resort town with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

The Indian Space Research Centre (ISRO) has one of the largest constellation of advanced remote sensing satellites in the world which orbit the earth at regular intervals. 

Images of the earth received from these satellites can be utilised for disaster management initiatives in the ASEAN region, parts of which are prone to cyclones and earthquakes. 

In addition, the Prime Minister said, India would be happy to participate in projects under the ASEAN's Work Plan for 2010-15 in areas such as education, energy, agriculture and forestry, and small and medium enterprises.


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## adatta

*K Radhakrishnan named new ISRO chief*
IANS


Thrissur (Kerala): K Radhakrishnan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, was on Saturday named the next chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Armed with a fax copy of his appointment Radhakrishnan, who takes over from G Madhavan Nair, visited the famed Sree Krishna Temple Guruvayoor in Thrissur on Saturday evening.

Radhakrishnan said he was told of his appointment by phone from New Delhi. He then gave the number of the temple board office in Thrissur where his appointment copy was faxed.

"Religion and science go hand-in-hand. And when the two join it is nice," said Radhakrishnan, when asked about the official communication reaching him at the temple.

Radhakrishnan takes over from Nair on October 31.

Radhakrishnan did his electrical engineering degree from Kerala University in 1970. He also holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore and a doctorate from Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur.

He said that his first priority would be to see that the first indigenously developed cryogenic engine be made ready for the launch of the GSLV.

"A huge responsibility has been placed on me and at this moment I would like to thank all my gurus (teachers) and among them are Nair and other former ISRO chairmen like Kasturi Rangan and UR Rao," Radhakrishnan told reporters.

Starting his career with the ISRO as an avionics engineer in 1971, he went on to hold key positions such as director of Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres under the umbrella of National Natural Resources Management System (1989-97).

In 2000-2005, Radhakrishnan was with Department of Ocean Development (presently Ministry of Earth Sciences) as the founder director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and the project director of the Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges.

He was also the vice chairman of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of Unesco 2001-05.

Radhakrishnan is a member of the Indian delegation to the UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space since June 2006.


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## Naradmuni

Realising the cryogenic dream 
​
The cryogenic engine developed by the LPSC will make the GSLV a world-class launcher for putting heavy satellites into the GTO. 









The cryo test and control room at the LPSC's facility at Mahendragiri. 
​

AS the car speeds down a steep slope, past disappearing coconut groves framing the hillocks, and then climbs again, the serene surroundings rise in a spectacular view and a beautiful building comes into focus. `Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala', proclaims a huge board on it in stylish, gleaming type. At the gate, men from the Central Industrial Security Force go about their task with quiet efficiency and on the sylvan campus silence reigns supreme. There are several boards with the same message: "Arise! Awake! Be quality conscious and deliver zero defect liquid propulsion systems for the Indian Space Programme." 

The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is where the indigenous cryogenic engine has been developed, marking a crucial phase in the Indian space programme's march towards self-reliance in launch vehicle technology. The indigenous cryogenic engine will make the Indian Space Research Organisation's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) a world-class launcher for putting heavy satellites into geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 180 km by 36,000 km. 

On May 8, following a perfect launch, the GSLV-2's upper cryogenic stage injected the 1,825-kg GSAT-2 satellite into a perfect GTO at a velocity of 10.24 km a second. The cryogenic engine was Russian. Now, after several years of struggle, India is on the verge of having its own cryogenic stage with its own cryogenic engine. 

Said N. Vedachalam, Director, LPSC: "We are in an advanced state of developing an indigenous cryogenic stage at the LPSC." It would be ready "very soon", he added. Towards this, the LPSC has developed three indigenous cryogenic engines. One of them underwent a long duration endurance test for 1,000 seconds at the LPSC's facility at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu. "In flight, this engine is required to burn only for 720 seconds. However, to show its endurance margin, we tested it for 1,000 seconds," said Vedachalam. 

India will soon be the sixth country to have its own cryogenic stage with its own engine, after the United States, Russia, Japan, China and Europe. (A cryogenic engine is powered by cryogenic propellants - liquid oxygen as oxidiser and liquid hydrogen as fuel. Liquefying oxygen and hydrogen is extremely demanding because the oxygen temperature should be brought down to -900C and that of hydrogen to -2520C. Maintaining and handling these cryogenic fluids at these extremely low temperatures is tough because they are highly volatile.) The cryogenic stage in a launch vehicle consists of the engine kept in a casing and the control, guidance and electronic systems associated with it. The two GSLV flights in 2001 and 2002 were powered by Russian cryogenic engines as will be the next GSLV flight in 2004. The fourth GSLV flight in 2005 will be a truly indigenous vehicle, with the cryogenic stage developed at the LPSC. 

Until it took up the task of developing the cryogenic engine, the LPSC's main mission was the development of liquid engines. Said Vedachalam: " Any engine, be it for launch vehicle or satellite, which burns with liquid propellants, is designed and developed at the LPSC." Its most powerful liquid engine, named Vikas, is world-class and powers both the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) and the GSLVs. The LPSC also makes small liquid engines, called rockets or thrusters, used on satellites. Such thrusters have been used in the Indian Remote sensing Satellites (IRS), the INSAT-2 and 3 series, and the GSAT-1 and 2. The eight satellites so far in the INSAT-2 and 3 series and the GSAT-1 and 2, all geo-stationary satellites, had on board a sophisticated motor (engine) called Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM). The LAM helps take the satellite from its highly elliptical GTO of 180 km perigee and 36,000 km apogee to the circular GSO of 36,000 km. Said Vedachalam: "Every geo-stationary spacecraft developed by ISRO has one LAM engine developed by the LPSC. In every flight, it has given the best performance. It is a world-class engine." 

THE LPSC has three facilities: at Valiamala, about 25 km from Thiruvananthapuram; Mahendragiri; and in Bangalore. 

On the 300-acre campus at Valiamala, LPSC technologists do major research and development (R&D) work on liquid propellant engines for the PSLV and cryogenic propulsion systems for the GSLV. One of the facilities is the Electrical Integration and Checkout Building. It is in this cavernous building - 82 metres long, and many metres tall - that the demanding task of integrating the thousands of sub-assemblies of the PSLV and the GSLV is done. Every sub-assembly must function with precision for a successful mission. 

At the Control Components Clean Room, where one has to take an "air shower" before entering, men and women in white overalls assemble the mechanical components that go into the control systems of the liquid and cryogenic stages, and satellites. Development and assembly of certain critical components for the launch vehicles, too, are done at Valiamala. 

Mahendragiri, on the foothills of the Western Ghats, was selected to house a major facility because safety regulations demanded that handling of energetic and toxic propellants should be done in large open spaces. It is here that liquid rocket engines are assembled and integrated into stages, fired and tested. They include PSLV's liquid and the GSLV's cryogenic engines. Besides storage facilities for liquid propellants such as unsymmetrical demethyl hydrazine, N{-2}O{-4} and MMH (Mono Methyl Hydrazine), liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, there are engine test beds, flow control mechanisms, electro-pneumatic controls, and a sophisticated control room. There are facilities for assembling and testing the satellite engines (thrusters/LAMs) too. 

The full PSLV liquid stage that is to be tested is chained to a tall stand or else it will take off when fired. As the engine fires, with massive yellow flames pouring forth, it tilts and turns at a particular angle exactly as it would in flight. Such static testing is done to experiment and characterise the engine performance. After the different stages are tested, they are cleaned and transported to Sriharikota on trailors that are built to minimise, if not eliminate, vibrations. At SHAR, the stages are stacked up into a full-fledged vehicle, which launches the satellite. At the Bangalore facility, propulsion packages for satellites are made. 

The LPSC has developed an array of engines for launch vehicles as well as satellites. Vikas is the most powerful engine it has developed and is used in the PSLVs and the GSLVs. 

It develops a thrust of 80 tonnes in vacuum. Its cryogenic engine for the GSLV comes next with a thrust of eight tonnes, followed by the liquid engines used in the PSLV fourth stage and first stage roll control, with a thrust of 750 kg. The LAM engine used exclusively on the INSATs and the GSATs, which are built at ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, has a thrust of 44 kg and burns for a duration of 7,800 seconds (cumulatively) aboard the satellite. 

After the INSAT or GSAT is put into the elliptical GTO, the LAM is fired three times to lift the satellite to the circular GSO. The longest duration it was fired was on the heaviest satellites ISRO has built so far: INSAT-3B launched in March 2000 and INSAT-3A in April 2003. As the command went from the ground, the LAM burned for 4,000 seconds during the first spell. The second burn was for 3,000 seconds and the third for 800 seconds. The duration of the burn depended on the weight of the satellite. "So a major development is that we have developed this LAM from INSAT-2A onwards" Vedachalam said. 

The LPSC has uprated the Vikas engine to 80 tonnes thrust from 72.5 tonnes. This uprated engine was used in the GSLV-2 flight on May 8, 2003 and enabled the rocket to put the 1,825 kg GSAT-2 in orbit. The GSAT-1 weighed 1,540 kg. 

The LPSC has initiated advanced R&D in electric propulsion so as to maintain satellites in orbit for a longer period. 

Demanding days lie ahead for LPSC technologists when they will have to develop a cryogenic engine with 25 tonnes of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which unleashes a thrust of 20 tonnes. This engine will form the topmost stage of the GSLV Mark III that will put a four-tonne satellite in GTO. Guiding them in the effort will be their motto: "... deliver zero defect liquid propulsion systems for the Indian Space Programme."


.

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## Naradmuni

ISRO'S SEMI CRYOGENIC AND MARK III CRYOGENIC ENGINES UNDER DEVELOPMENT​

A CURIOUS new budget head in this year's allocations to the Department of Space (DOS) has not attracted the attention and discussion that it merits. This pertains to the Rs.25 crore allocated under the head "Semi Cryogenic Engine/Stage Development". According to the budget document, the objective is to develop and qualify a high-thrust semi-cryogenic engine and stage, using kerosene as fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidiser for the future advanced launch vehicle. The proposal is somewhat baffling because it essentially seeks to revive a 36-year-old project. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), initiated the project shortly before his death in 1971, but it was inexplicably dumped soon afterwards, much to the disappointment of its champions. Had the project been pursued to its logical end, India would have achieved world-class launch capability, complete with an operational, indigenous fully cryogenic engine, by the 1990s. 

A "full" - as against a "semi" - cryogenic engine uses liquid hydrogen (LH) as fuel and LOX as oxidizer. Both the fuel and the oxidizer being gases at ordinary temperatures, their liquefaction requires use of the cryogenics or techniques and systems at sub-zero temperatures. In the case of a semi-cryogenic engine, the fuel kerosene - usually the superior aviation turbine fuel (ATF) - is a liquid at room temperature (an "earth-storable" propellant) and only oxygen requires liquefaction. Rocket propellants, which consist of both fuel and oxidizer, and are earth-storable liquids, are also used; for instance, a combination of unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and red-fuming nitric acid or nitrogen tetra-oxide (N2O4) as oxidizer is used in the second and fourth stages of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the workhorse from ISRO's stable. 

Among the liquid propellants, the cryogenic bi-propellant combination of LH-LOX offers a higher `specific impulse' - a measure of thrust delivered per unit mass of propellant burnt per second - than the semi-cryo or fully earth-storable combinations. As compared to a specific impulse of 360-380 seconds for the LH-LOX combination, the specific impulse of the semi-cryo combination is 290-310 seconds and the earth-storable UDMH-N2O4 combination 270-280 seconds. This implies that a fully cryogenic engine can deliver a higher payload mass as compared to a semi-cryo engine or earth-storable liquid engine for a given weight of on-board fuel. 

It is for this reason that ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which has to deliver an INSAT-II class satellite weighing over two tonnes into the geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above, has a cryogenic final stage as opposed to a UDMH-N2O4 liquid-based final stage of the PSLV, which has to deliver only 1.5-tonne-class satellites in the polar orbit, 800-900 km high. (It is possible to configure the PSLV to deliver geostationary satellites, but of mass much less than two tonnes, as was done in the case of the one-tonne meteorological satellite, METSAT, in September 2002.) 

The cryogenic final stage that was used in GSLV launches so far was not indigenous. It used the imported Russian cryogenic stages as Russia backed out from transferring the cryogenic engine technology under American pressure, violating a 1991 ISRO-Glavkosmos agreement. The 1991 deal had to be renegotiated subsequently in 1994 without technology transfer as the original deal was perceived to be in violation of the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), and ISRO ended up importing off-the-shelf engines and stages. (The MTCR is an informal arrangement among 34 missile-technology capable nations of the West to restrict missile-related technology and equipment transfers to non-member countries.) 

At present, the process of deplyoment of an indigenous 7.5 tonne thrust cryogenic engine and stage based on the Russian design (known as Mark-II) is on, over GSLV's next launch in december 2009 carrying GSAT - 4 satellite. The long-duration (1000 seconds) test of the indigenous cryogenic stage has already being accomplished.* A totally indigenous and more powerful cryogenic engine (Mark-III), which is intended to deliver satellites weighing up to four tonnes in the geostationary orbit, is also under development. *
However, the main core first-stage booster of both the PSLV and the GSLV is still a solid propellant motor, which generally has a specific impulse less than the liquid propellants, and the second stage is the liquid engine `Vikas', which uses earth-storable bi-propellants, based on the French Viking engine technology obtained in the 1970s. Clearly, the payload capabilities of both the launch vehicles can be increased substantially if, instead of a solid motor, a first-stage liquid booster (based on either a cluster of semi-cryo or earth-storable propellant engines or a powerful cryogenic engine) is used like in most advanced launchers of the world today. LOX-kerosene-based semi-cryo liquid engines have propelled many Russian launch vehicles. The world's most powerful liquid engine, the Russian RD-170, which has been used in launch vehicles such as Proton, Zenit and Soyuz, is powered by a LOX-kerosene combination. LOX-kerosene engines have powered several American launchers as well, including Saturn V, which carried men to the moon. 

However, for some reason, ISRO has been reluctant until now to develop a liquid-booster stage that could replace the solid booster and achieve a higher payload capability, notwithstanding the fact that it has mastered the solid-motor technology, which is completely indigenous. As recounted by N. Gopal Raj, the science correspondent of The Hindu in his 2000 book Reach for the Stars on ISRO's rocket development, similar efforts at developing indigenous capability in liquid propellants have been lacking all these years. Nearly all the effort on this front was directed at indigenising the imported Viking engine technology into Vikas and consolidating this capability, including creating industrial capacity to produce Vikas engines to meet the needs of PSLV and GSLV launches. 

One of the chief architects of ISRO's solid propellants programme was Dr. Vasant Gowariker, a chemical engineer-scientist who later became the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and is currently ISRO's Satish Dhawan Professor in Pune. It was Gowariker who pioneered the work on cryogenic engine development in ISRO. In 1971, under Sarabhai's suggestion, he set up the Cryogenic Techniques Project (CTP) with six people and initiated the conceptualisation and design of a semi-cryogenic engine. 

"The project was more like a software kind of work as a step towards fully cryogenic technology," Gowariker says. "It was Sarabhai's idea to use this as a basis to get familiarised with cryogenic technology because while making liquid hydrogen is risky business, liquid oxygen was easily available from the industry. The idea was to make do with whatever systems that were available at that time, get experience with liquid oxygen in its handling and the filling process and develop systems to utilise its full oxidation capacity," Gowariker said. 

"I feel that wisdom has finally dawned on them," says P.R. Sadashiva, an important member and the first recruit in the six-member team under Gowariker, who took voluntary retirement from ISRO in 1992. "After the testing of one small-scale semi-cryo engine, the whole project - costing Rs.3.48 crore then - was shelved and the setting up of a dedicated liquid oxygen plant costing just Rs.16 lakh was stopped," he recalled. In fact, this was the last thing that Sarabhai approved a day before his death in December 1971. According to Dr. Sadashiva, after listening to a presentation on solid propellants for the Defence Research and Development Laboratory that went on well into the night, Sarabhai retired to Kovalam Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram when Gowariker rushed in with the papers on the proposal for a 10-tonne LOX plant. Sarabhai promptly signed it. 

"People connected with Vikas and the proponents of solid propellants pulled it down, in particular one man who was interested in pushing the imported Vikas," adds Sadashiva. Although he refrained from naming the person, it is amply clear that he was referring to Dr. A.E. Muthunayagam, who led the Vikas programme at ISRO's Liquid Propellants Systems Centre (LPSC). 

"Although the Vikas project definitely gave us the liquid propellant technology, semi-cryo [technology] is the cheapest option as compared with earth-storable liquids," he pointed out. He said ATF was available at nominal cost and liquid oxygen was about 20-25 times cheaper than UDMH or N2O4 at that time. 

"The proposal was to develop a 75-tonne thrust semi-cryo engine, similar to the 68.5-tonne Saturn V engine, and we could have easily achieved that. And by clustering four of these, we would have had an extremely powerful booster by now, equivalent to the most advanced rockets, which could have formed the basis for our main version of the PSLV. And in parallel a 7.5-tonne thrust LOX-LH cryogenic engine could have been developed. We have lost valuable time," he observed. 

Sadashiva recounted how they would transport LOX by jeep from Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. in Kochi, where it was obtained as a by-product and was largely wasted, in containers that were so bad that half the content would have evaporated by the time they reached the testing facility near Thiruvananthapuram. 

"The man to blame is [Satish] Dhawan," says Prof. H.S. Mukunda of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, who headed the committee that prepared the report on the semi-cryogenic engine. "He, for some reason, went along with the arguments of people involved with the Vikas engine project and did not even give us a hearing. Even U.R. Rao [former Chairman of ISRO] was extremely unhappy with our proposal." 

"Of course, there was no requirement, or even any ambition, for a payload greater than INSAT-II at that time to say that there was a shortfall [in Vikas's capability] and we lacked an engine with a greater thrust. But our idea was to get hands-on experience with cryogenic systems over three years so that we could be in a position to develop full cryogenic engines on our own, on the basis of this experience," Mukunda adds. 

The curious thing is that ISRO wants to develop the semi-cryo engine now after developing the full cryogenic engine, instead of having done it the other way around. "I don't really know for what kind of payload is the present semi-cryo engine being developed. But the environment now is completely different after the handling of the Russian cryogenic engines and systems. Moreover, much better hardware is available today. So developing the semi-cryo engine should not take more than three years," Prof. Mukunda says. 

Gowariker does try to rationalise Dhawan's decision in retrospect. "The functional requirements of mission [of the time] are important and from that perspective the Viking-Vikas liquid engine route was a good idea. Given limited financial and human resource, the overall performance of a system becomes important and decisions on where and how we direct the development effort become extremely difficult. So, instead of letting too many things go on simultaneously, it must have been felt that a semi-cryo project was less important then," says Gowariker. 

But the price of not following the path of self-reliant technology development has turned out to be dear. It would certainly have been clear even in the 1970s and 1980s that cryogenic engines would eventually be needed. Perhaps it was felt that, like the Viking-Vikas route to developing earth-storable liquid engines, cryogenic engine technology too would be readily available for import. Indeed, that was the logic when the ISRO approached the Soviet Union after the United States and Japan refused and France apparently demanded a very heavy price for its technology. 

In fact, warnings from within against the potential risks of importing technology owing to export controls and embargoes such as the MTCR that emanated from the emerging geo-political alignments were ignored and ISRO signed the deal with Glavkosmos only to be abrogated later. Even if it had signed with France at a higher price, the U.S. would still have imposed MTCR-related sanctions and brought pressure upon France. Having taken the path of imports, India had to go its logical end of importing systems without the know-how. 

Of course, in the absence of technology transfer, ISRO could not go on importing forever and indigenous development became imperative. U.R. Rao had then said that the indigenous engine would be ready by the turn of the century. Clearly, the envisaged time frame was not only very optimistic but it was also unrealistic. In the ultimate analysis, more than the substantial sums of money spent in buying cryogenic stages and related ground systems from Russia, it is the decade and a half lost in the development of high-lift launch vehicles that could impact adversely ISRO's bid to gain a share of the world's launch services market.

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## gpit

Narad said:


> ...Liquefying oxygen and hydrogen is extremely demanding because the oxygen temperature should be brought down to -900C and that of hydrogen to -2520C.
> 
> ....



Are these authors so illiterate in popular physics,  or, their divine mouth only meant to impress/mislead readers?

Sorry, but

Absolute zero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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## gubbi

gpit said:


> Are these authors so illiterate in popular physics,  or, their divine mouth only meant to impress/mislead readers?
> 
> Sorry, but
> 
> Absolute zero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Nice eye, -900C, hahaha!!!


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## Tejas-MkII

India set to join cryogenic club | Deccan Chronicle

India set to join cryogenic clubOctober 27th, 2009 

IANS Tags: cryogenic engines, GSAT-4, GSLV, ISRO, satellites, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Chennai, Oct. 27: After its maiden moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping to cross another milestone in December: take India into the exclusive club of countries that have developed their own cryogenic engines to power satellites in space.

*Isro is hoping to end 2009 in style with the take-off of its fully indigenous geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) carrying an experimental satellite GSAT
4 in mid-December*.

The GSLV-D3 will have an indigenously built cryogenic engine that will be used for the first time in the rocket's upper stage. The GSLV-D3 is slated to be launched from Isro's spaceport Sriharikota, about 80 km northeast of Chennai, to carry the GSAT-4 communication satellite into a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth. The 49-metre-tall rocket will have a lift-off weight of 414 tonnes.

*Only a few countries like the US, Russia, France, Japan and China have developed their own cryogenic engines and India is expected to join this club.*

For all the five earlier GSLV missions, ISRO had used Russian cryogenic engines.

"*The cryogenic engine reached Sriharikota early this month from ISRO's facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The GSAT 4 communication satellite is expected to reach here by the middle of next month. Final tests are being done at Bangalore where it was built*," M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, said on phone from ISRO's launch centre at Sriharikota.

He said the physical inspection of the cryogenic stage is on and the engine's sensors are to be calibrated. It will be fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen.

While GSLVs with Russian cryogenic engines have been designated as operational rockets after two developmental flights, the one that will go up in December is called 'developmental flight 3' (GSLV D3) as it will be fired by the ISRO-developed cryogenic engine.

The last GSLV went up on September 2, 2007, carrying the 2,130 kg INSAT-4CR satellite.

Speaking about how far the three-stage rocket had been assembled, Prasad said: "*The first stage -- solid fuel booster and four strap-on motors -- has been assembled. The assembly of the second stage liquid engine is under progress and will be over in one and a half weeks. The last stage is the cryogenic stage*."

Last December, *the indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage engine passed the flight acceptance test with the engine tested for 200 seconds.*

The development of cryogenic engines involves mastering materials technology, operating rotary pumps and turbines which run at 42,000 revolutions per minute (RPM).

The development of a cryogenic engine is crucial for Isro to build more powerful GSLV rockets that can carry four-tonne satellites.

Further, ISRO is lagging behind in launching its GSAT series for want of a cryogenic engine. GSAT 4 was supposed to have gone up two years back.

Weighing around two tonnes, GSAT 4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. *The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft.*

GSAT 4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1,400-3,200 Angstrom wavelengths.

The GSLV rocket will place GSAT 4 in the geo transfer orbit (GTO) from where the satellite will be taken up to an altitude of 36,000 km and then positioned.

According to Prasad, *ISRO is gearing up to launch six rockets per year and has created a huge liquid fuel storing facility for that purpose at Sriharikota.*


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## brahmastra

INTO THE FUTURE: The ergonomic model of the module, which will carry two Indian astronauts into space by 2016.

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## Tejas-MkII

*ISRO to outsource rocket-work to private companies*
2 Nov 2009, 0350 hrs IST, Peerzada Abrar, ET Bureau

BANGALORE: For the first time since the success of India's maiden unmanned moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to outsource more high-end work to private companies  *everything from building more complicated systems to assembling it. *

According to aerospace industry officials and others familiar with the discussions, proposals are being readied wherein private participation will be invited to build and run competing systems. 

The commercial-aerospace industry is now eager to play a larger role in the space missions and tap the outsourcing work offered by ISRO which has an annual budget of $1.01 billion for 2009-2010. It has a spending blueprint of Rs 12,400 crore ($3 billion) for its manned space exploration and around Rs 425 crore will be spent for the second unmanned lunar mission  Chandrayaan-2. It also has huge spending plans for missions to Mars and various domestic and international satellite launches. 

This is particularly relevant as India has now stepped up the number of satellites it sends into space. ISRO's senior space scientist George Koshy who had also worked on Chandrayaan-1 as mission director for PSLV, says: "*Earlier, we used to do one launch in two-three years. Now, we do three-five PSLV launches alone in a year. For that, we need more low-cost manpower and better collaborations*. Koshy says the confidence other countries are reposing on Indian capability to make good satellites is increasing and they need more private partners to share the work load. "*We work at just 15-20% of the cost spent by the US on their missions*, he says. 

He said ISRO will launch advanced remote sensing and earth observation satellites such as Cartosat along with three other satellites from countries like Algeria and Canada in the first quarter of 2010 and Resourcesat-2, which will monitor resources in the country next year. 

Aerospace firms such as Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (Taal), which counts ISRO among its top customers said that it is seeing more high-end work coming to them. 

SM Kapoor, chief executive (aerostructures) of Taal, said that it had developed a critical structure to be used in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to ISRO last week. This structure was instrumental in taking the load of the vehicle and connecting the various stages of the PSLV. 

*"Earlier, we outsourced smaller work, but now we have stepped up the complexity of the work outsourced to private firms. In space structures, we have got very little margins. One small error or a small weakness in one part can result in the failure of the whole mission*, says George Koshy. 

ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) deputy director PP Sinha said that outsourcing has reached a level where companies are even doing assembling work at the system and stage levels and not just at the component level. "We are moving up the value chain and gearing up to provide avionics and electronics to customers like ISRO. They are efficient in terms of on-time payment and business support, Taal managing director CS Kameswaran said. 

*IT giant Wipro said it is in discussions with ISRO to provide software and electronics for projects like the Chandrayaan-2 mission.*

*"We are in discussions with ISRO to collaborate in the area of robotic design, as they plan to land a motorised rover or robot on the Moon by 2013, *Wipro's vice-president for aerospace and defence Shiva Kumar Tonthanahal told ET. "*We are present in the software, product engineering and R&D spaces and now Wipro is gearing up to be ready in aerospace manufacturing by 2010*, he said. 

People familiar with ISRO's outsourcing strategy said that tech firms such as TCS and Infosys are talking to ISRO to provide their engineering design services. 

Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), India's biggest engineering company, said that it is making significant contributions to ISRO's space launch vehicles. "*We had started by making small components. Today, the complete motor is built by us which includes it testing. We will be making significant contributions to the development of ISRO's next 20 satellites," *says* L&T vice-president Jayant D Patil*. L&T had made significant contributions in the development of the last 15 satellites. 

He said L&T along with DMRL has designed specific reactors for ISRO's plant in Kerala to indigenously produce titanium sponge, which is a scare raw material and has to be imported. "It is used in the production of aerospace grade titanium, which will be one of the strategic materials for important projects in future," he said. 

Genser Aerospace & Information Technologies chief executive Arunakar Mishra says that as ISRO is becoming more of an integrator, they can adopt contract manufacturing model where they need not scout for suppliers and thus concentrate only on the mission. 

Aerospace firm HAL's chairman Ashok Nayak said that even though they manufacture entire outside structure of PSLV and GSLV-II, they are getting strong support from small and medium industries who are getting majority of ISRO's components, while the integration is done at HAL. "*The field is slowly getting open to everyone. We are willing to take the support of the private industry because that is the only way the country can prosper*". 

*PS*:it is good to see that private firms are coming with ISRO now it is very much sure that ISRO will achive more height in future,as private firms are much efficient and well-manged compare to public one..

hope DRDO also follow these footsteps..


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## Naradmuni

*ISRO superstitious before rocket launch?*​

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Sep 23 (IANS) Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) do not just rely on scientific calculations before a rocket launch &#8211; they also seek divine help. 

Prior to every launch, the scientists make a visit to Tirupathi *to have a &#8216;darshan&#8217; of Lord Balaji seeking his blessings by placing a replica of the rocket to be launched. *

It seems the superstition extends to numbers as well. 

*After the 12th commercial launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle termed PSLV-C12 from the spaceport here, ISRO has jumped one number and called its next rocket, that launched Oceansat-2 and six European nano satellites, as PSVL-C14. *

Queried about the fate of PSLV-C13, a high ranking ISRO official told IANS: &#8216;There is no such rocket designated with that number.&#8217; 

He declined to comment when queried whether ISRO considered 13 an unlucky number.


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## Naradmuni

*
Telehealth and education at Sabarmati jail​*

According to the National Crime Records Bureau&#8217;s Prison Statistics India 2003, there are 1,140 jails in India with a capacity of 233,543, whereas the total number of inmates in these jails is 326,519, with 96&#37; of them male.

It is common knowledge that health is a real issues in jails; those who are weak and not influential suffer from various maladies, and those who are rich and well connected use health as a pretext to spend time in hospital. But this sad trend is slowly changing. The Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad has created history by making health and education available right inside the prison, a model that can be emulated nationally. 

&#8220;Quality healthcare is everyone&#8217;s right,&#8221; says Keshav Kumar, inspector general (IG), prisons, Gujarat. &#8220;We have connected the Sabarmati jail, Apollo Hospital and Gujarat Vidyapeeth through an Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) satellite. Apollo Hospital would be providing telemedicine while Gujarat Vidyapeeth would be providing the education inputs to the inmates. This is the first of its kind in the country.&#8221;

Under the law, once a person is in judicial custody, his/her health and well-being becomes the absolute responsibility of the state, supplemented by laws handed down by apex courts. It is with this vision that the Sabarmati jail established the health and education facilities using information technology (IT) tools. The Manthan Award jury this year shortlisted this initiative, hoping that other Indian prisons and prison authorities will follow heed. 

The use introduction of information and communication technology, or ICT, tools inside the jails is not new. Last year, when the Jharkhand government hosted the Manthan Award jury in Ranchi, officials showed the jurors a newly built jail campus on the outskirts of Ranchi. The Ranchi jail has not only made the entire jail IT-enabled in terms of automation, but has also dedicated a centre for ICT skills education with the help of CORE Technologies, a Mumbai-based IT and education solutions company. Yet, I could not see any health services available in the Ranchi jail. 

*The multi-stakeholder model at Sabarmati jail is an indication of how various service providers can enable great service at a very low cost. In this case, Isro is providing the satellite voluntarily to connect Apollo Hospitals to the health centre within the prison campus. IG Kumar explains: &#8220;The Martyr Maj. Ramani Memorial Diagnostic Centre has helped make things smoother for inmates. All basic diagnostic facilities like ECG (electrocardiography), USG (ultrasonography)and X-ray are available on location. The reports from these machines can be transmitted to consultants at Apollo Hospital for expert opinion on the spot.&#8221;*

The Sabarmati jail has spent around Rs5 lakh on various equipment and is spending Rs4,000 per month as the connectivity cost for the usage of the satellite link for two hours daily. *During these hours of connectivity, everybody converges online and in real-time&#8212;the inmate patients, the expert doctors at Apollo, and the jail doctors with all reports and preliminary diagnosis. Test reports, diagnoses and recommendations are exchanged seamlessly. *

*Using the connectivity, the Sabarmati jail also plans to impart vocational skills through virtual classrooms for inmates. Through this distant learning medium ,Gujarat Vidyapeeth is scripting an important chapter in the history of Indian prison reform. *


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## sudhir007

washingtonpost.com

*India's space ambitions taking off*
Nation plans astronaut-training center, manned space mission as it seeks higher profile

In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts. 

Through community-based programs, India's space agency has been partnering with schools in remote areas such as this one, helping to teach students about space exploration and cutting-edge technology. The agency is also training thousands of young scientists and, in 2012, will open the nation's first astronaut-training center in the southern city of Bangalore. 

"I want to be prepared in space sciences so I can go to the moon when India picks its astronauts," said Lakshmi Kannan, 15, pushing her long braids out of her face and clutching her science textbook. 

Lakshmi's hopes are not unlike India's ambitions, writ small. For years, the country has focused its efforts in space on practical applications -- using satellites to collect information on natural disasters, for instance. But India is now moving beyond that traditional focus and has planned its first manned space mission in 2015. 

The ambitions of the 46-year-old national space program could vastly expand India's international profile in space and catapult it into a space race with China. China, the only country besides the United States and Russia to have launched a manned spacecraft, did so six years ago. 

"It's such an exciting time in the history of India's space program," said G. Madhavan Nair, a rocket scientist and the outgoing chairman of the national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "More and more bright young Indian scientists are calling us for jobs. We will look back on this as a turning point." 
The ascendancy of India's space program highlights the country's rising ambitions on the world stage, as it grows economically and asserts itself in matters of diplomacy. 

Politicians once dismissed the space program as a waste. Activists for India's legions of poor criticized additional funding for the program, saying it was needless decades after the American crew of Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. Now, however, the program is a source of prestige. 

Last year, India reached a milestone, launching 10 satellites into space on a single rocket. Officials are positioning the country to become a leader in the business of launching satellites for others, having found paying clients in countries such as Israel and Italy. They even talk of a mission to Mars. 

India's program is smaller in scope than China's and is thought to receive far less funding. It is also designed mostly for civilian purposes, whereas experts have suggested that China is more interested in military applications. (The Communist Party has said its goal is peaceful space exploration.) 

"A human space flight with an eventual moon mission is a direct challenge to China's regional leadership," said John M. Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute. "China is still the leader. India has yet to diminish China's space stature. But India is indeed seeking a higher global profile." 

India now has among the world's largest constellations of remote-sensing satellites. They are sophisticated enough to distinguish healthy coconuts from diseased ones in this region's thick palms. They can also zero in on deadly mosquitoes lurking in a patch of jungle.


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## sudhir007

Bhilai steel plant rolls special steels for space vehicles- Steel-Ind'l Goods / Svs-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

*Bhilai steel plant rolls special steels for space vehicles*

KOLKATA: Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) has for the first time rolled high strength special steels used in construction of space vehicles. While the steel 
slabs were developed by Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani), a defence ministry arm, these plates of 9.5 mm thickness were rolled for the first time at BSP's Plate Mill recently. The rolled plates are used for manufacturing the main body of India&#8217;s indigenous space vehicles. 

"These plates find application across the aerospace sector but its commercial use is largely restricted to critical areas of strategic significance," a top source told ET. 

These plates are much stronger than mild steel sheets that find application in consumer durables and auto sector, for instance. However, in terms of value, these plates are likely to be many times costlier than hot rolled coils. 

Such steels are made out of special alloys and are capable of withstanding metal fatigue which occurs due to tremendous changes in heat and atmospheric pressure on the space craft when it returns to orbit. Steel is widely used in construction of space shuttles along with metals like aluminium, titanium and other high grade materials. 

"Bhilai has also been making special grade plates used to manufacture the hull of India&#8217;s aircraft carrier warships and submarines," a BSP official said. the plant also manufacturers the widest and thickest plates and also exports it to other countries. 

Plates from Bhilai&#8217;s Plate Mill are also used for manufacturing boilers, in hydro-electric projects, heavy machinery equipment and as a base for heavy construction including platforms and bridges, including those on the Jammu-Udhampur rail link. 

As part of its modernisation programme, BSP has installed a new slab caster and a second set of RH degasser and ladle furnace in the secondary refining facilities of its Steel Melting Shop II.

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## sudhir007

The Hindu : Front Page : ISRO, DRDO must step up internal vigilance, say experts

*ISRO, DRDO must step up internal vigilance, say experts *

NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) must step up internal vigilance to prevent India from becoming another &#8220;happy hunting ground&#8221; for Israeli intelligence, a strategic affairs think tank has advised.

In a report following the arrest of Stewart David Nozette on charges of espionage, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) has drawn attention to the U.S. space scientist&#8217;s &#8220;top secret&#8221; security clearance when he was associated with ISRO&#8217;s Chandrayaan project. 

*&#8216;Inquiry would clear the air&#8217; *


While his association &#8220;may not have resulted in the siphoning off of classified information,&#8221; the IPCS feels an inquiry could clear the air of what transpired during the course of his interaction with Indian space scientists as well as about the nature and type of data Dr. Nozette could have extracted.

Dr. Nozette was the &#8220;co-investigator&#8221; of the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR), one of the two American payloads onboard Chandrayaan-1. MiniSAR designed to look for signs of water in the polar regions of the moon was a NASA payload built by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the John Hopkins University and the Naval Warfare Centre, U.S. 

*&#8216;Internal matter&#8217; *


ISRO sources have made it clear that the arrest of Dr. Nozette was an internal NASA matter and ISRO security has not been compromised in any way.

Dr. Nozette visited the Bangalore-based Satellite Centre, the lead agency for Chandrayaan-1 mission, twice and interacted with Indian space scientists. ISRO has said Dr. Nozette was not taken around any critical installations and facilities.

With India having agreed to expand cooperation with the U.S. in several high tech areas, ISRO should exercise a higher level of caution while interacting with visiting American scientists, recommends IPCS which noted that for a long time, the U.S. has remained a favourite playground of Israeli spies and espionage agents.


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## Screaming Skull

*India's space ambitions taking off​*
By Emily Wax

Washington Post Foreign Service 

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts. 

Through community-based programs, India's space agency has been partnering with schools in remote areas such as this one, helping to teach students about space exploration and cutting-edge technology. The agency is also training thousands of young scientists and, in 2012, will open the nation's first astronaut-training center in the southern city of Bangalore. 

"I want to be prepared in space sciences so I can go to the moon when India picks its astronauts," said Lakshmi Kannan, 15, pushing her long braids out of her face and clutching her science textbook. 

Lakshmi's hopes are not unlike India's ambitions, writ small. For years, the country has focused its efforts in space on practical applications -- using satellites to collect information on natural disasters, for instance. But India is now moving beyond that traditional focus and has planned its first manned space mission in 2015.

The ambitions of the 46-year-old national space program could vastly expand India's international profile in space and catapult it into a space race with China. China, the only country besides the United States and Russia to have launched a manned spacecraft, did so six years ago. 

"It's such an exciting time in the history of India's space program," said G. Madhavan Nair, a rocket scientist and the outgoing chairman of the national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "More and more bright young Indian scientists are calling us for jobs. We will look back on this as a turning point."

*The ascendancy of India's space program highlights the country's rising ambitions on the world stage, as it grows economically and asserts itself in matters of diplomacy.*

Politicians once dismissed the space program as a waste. Activists for India's legions of poor criticized additional funding for the program, saying it was needless decades after the American crew of Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. Now, however, the program is a source of prestige.

Last year, India reached a milestone, launching 10 satellites into space on a single rocket. Officials are positioning the country to become a leader in the business of launching satellites for others, having found paying clients in countries such as Israel and Italy. They even talk of a mission to Mars.

India's program is smaller in scope than China's and is thought to receive far less funding. It is also designed mostly for civilian purposes, whereas experts have suggested that China is more interested in military applications. (The Communist Party has said its goal is peaceful space exploration.)

*"A human space flight with an eventual moon mission is a direct challenge to China's regional leadership," said John M. Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute. "China is still the leader. India has yet to diminish China's space stature. But India is indeed seeking a higher global profile."*

*India now has among the world's largest constellations of remote-sensing satellites. They are sophisticated enough to distinguish healthy coconuts from diseased ones in this region's thick palms. They can also zero in on deadly mosquitoes lurking in a patch of jungle.*

In September, a NASA device aboard India's first lunar probe detected strong evidence of water on the moon -- a "holy grail for lunar scientists," as Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA headquarters in Washington, put it. 

The partnership with Americans was particularly gratifying to Indians, given recent bilateral history. After New Delhi conducted nuclear tests in 1998, the United States imposed sanctions denying India access to certain technology in a bid to curb its ability to launch nuclear rockets, said Theresa Hitchens, a space expert who is director of the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva.

*"Space launchers and ballistic missiles are quite similar from a technical perspective,"* she said.

Many of the sanctions have been lifted, and India and the United States last year signed a historic civilian nuclear agreement, lifting a 30-year ban on bilateral nuclear trade.

"The scientists at ISRO and NASA have always had deep respect for each other. But it was politics and bureaucracy that stood in the way of great science," said Pallava Bagla, co-author of "Destination Moon: India's Quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond."

As India's space program barrels ahead, experts fear that NASA is losing ground. The space agency's human spaceflight program is facing budget cuts, as well as basic questions about where to go and how to get there.

After NASA's aging space shuttle retires in 2010, it will be five years before the United States will have another spacecraft that can reach the international space station. 

The United States may have to buy a seat to the moon on an Indian spaceship, said Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut, who in 1984 was aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz T-11 space shuttle. "Now that would be something," Sharma said. "Maybe budget cuts could usher in an era of more cooperation rather than competition and distrust." 

washingtonpost.com

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## Chanakyaa

Im dying to See the Tri Color wave on the Moon !!!
ISRO is the pride of India.

---------- Post added at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:22 PM ----------

Im dying to See the Tri Color wave on the Moon !!!
ISRO is the pride of India.

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## Naradmuni

gpit said:


> *Are these authors so illiterate in popular physics*,  or, their divine mouth only meant to impress/mislead readers?
> 
> Sorry, but
> 
> Absolute zero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



It is -90 "Degree" celcius and not -900 celcius. Not to mention, its -250 "Deg" C and not -2500 C

Its no use Knowing "popluar" physics if u are void of common sense.

Here is the source :
Realising the cryogenic dream

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## Renegade

The world is slowly waking up to Indias technological poweress. Ivestments made in the past in Science & Tech have born fruit. 

Go ISRO!!

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## lockh33d

lol gg gg gg


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## scrumpy

XiNiX said:


> [/COLOR]Im dying to See the Tri Color wave on the Moon !!!
> ISRO is the pride of India.



It is already on the moon. 

A flag will not wave on the moon since there is no wind on the moon. However the Moon Impact Probe did create mechanical waves on the moon surface on impact.


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## gpit

Narad said:


> It is -90 "Degree" celcius and not -900 celcius. Not to mention, its -250 "Deg" C and not -2500 C
> 
> Its no use Knowing "popluar" physics if u are void of common sense.
> 
> Here is the source :
> Realising the cryogenic dream
> 
> 
> P.S : Mods(AM) you are being unfair and biased by deleting my earlier posts clarifying the above issue.



Friend, this is a respected forum, unlike some Indian fancy forums where abusive heehaws are rampant and unchecked.

I reported your post for your self-degrading dirty slur and personal attacks, not your points of subject matter in argument.

Be civilized, and behave properly.


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## Beskar

Narad:

Three of your posts on this page were deleted. In the first one, this is how you addressed the member; 



> DUMB @$$ GPIT, It is not 9 hundred celcious



The other two were "Duplicate posts" and that's why they were removed. Since you're new to the forum, I'm clearing it out here. Next time, contact the management using your PM option. The management does not have to "Clarify" anything. Read the forum rules. 

Thanks.

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## Naradmuni

P S Veeraraghavan takes over as Director, VSSC​




Shri P.S. Veeraraghavan, Distinguished scientist of ISRO and Director, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), assumed the office of Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram. He took over the charge on 31st October, 2009 from Dr. K. Radhakrishnan who has taken over as Secretary, Dept. of Space and Chairman of ISRO from Dr G Madhavan Nair. 

Shri Parivakkam Subramaniam Veeraraghavan has made very significant contributions for the launch vehicle technology of ISRO starting from the first SLV-3 Project. After obtaining his M.Tech. degree from I.I.T., Chennai, Shri Veeraraghavan joined VSSC in 1971. His first assignment was in SLV-3 Project under the leadership of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, as Engineer-in-Charge of Checkout System development. He was responsible for the design and development of the first checkout system for the first SLV-3 Project. 

Shri Veeraraghavan has made pioneering contributions in the area of integration and checkout of ISROs launch vehicles. As Deputy Director of Mechanisms & Vehicle Integration Testing (MVIT), he was instrumental for assembly, integration and checkout of ISROs launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV till 2002. After assuming the charge of the Director, IISU since 2002, *he was responsible for the inertial systems development in ISRO for both launch vehicles and spacecraft. The performance of these inertial navigation systems has been at par with those of the best in the world. The inertial systems in Chandrayaan-1 contributed to its precise orbital maneuvers and very accurate lunar injection. Under his able leadership, IISU has developed a number of advanced inertial sensors and systems for future missions. ISRO has now achieved 100% self-reliance in the crucial technology of inertial sensors and systems.*

Sree Veeraraghavan is a recipient of many prestigious awards including the VASVIK Award for 1997 (Electronics), the Astronautical Society of Indias award for 2002 in the area of Rocket Technology and ISROs Performance Excellence Award for 2007. He has been selected as Fellow for a number of professional bodies including the Aeronautical Society of India. He has also been ominated to the governing council of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi.


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## Naradmuni

India Plans Lunar Landing Using Scramjet Hypersonic Space Plane​









*A scaled down version of AVATAR undergoing aero-elastic test.*​
The United States, Russia, India, Japan and China have all announced plans to send astronauts back to the Moon around 2020. India's space agency, although lacking the level of funding found in the US and Japan, has an ambitious plan for the next decade.

In a statement made by India's then president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the country wants to launch its first lunar orbiter, the Chandraayan-1, in early 2008 and a manned mission to the moon sometime near the end of the next decade.

The Indian space agency is now working on a revolutionary, reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that takes an innovative approach using a scramjet "hyperplane" according to Kalam. India's scramjet RLV, Kalam asserted, will provide the "low-cost, fully reusable space transportation" that has previously "denied mankind the benefit of space solar-power stations in geostationary and other orbits," Technology review reports.

A scramjet is a type of jet that uses a supersonic flow in the combustor and consists of a constricted tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a combustion chamber where fuel is combusted and a nozzle through which the exhaust jet leaves at higher speed than the inlet air.

This new design could offer many applications, like low-cost satellite launching and manned missions to space and will be capable of high speeds, in excess of Mach 10, which means that it could make the flight between Sydney and London in just two hours.

The first flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HTDV), a protoype for the scramjet RLV named Avatar, is scheduled for the end of next year, and if it is successful, it will be a revolution in space exploration.

Avatar will be a light aircraft, weighing only 25 metric tons and to get into space, it will use liquid hydrogen to fuel the turbo-ramjet engines, 60 percent of which will be used to defeat Earth's gravity and ascent to a cruising altitude. *The AVATAR design has already been patented in India and applications for registration of the design have been filed in patent offices in the United States, Germany, Russia and China.*

"The Avatar RLV project will enable the Indian program to leap ahead of the Chinese nostalgia trip. Once low cost to orbit comes alive, it will drive cheaper methods of doing all our unmanned activities in space," said Gregory Benford, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine, and an advisor to NASA and the White House Council on Space Policy.

The idea is to develop a hyperplane vehicle that can take off from conventional airfields, collect air in the atmosphere on the way up, liquefy it, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere. The AVATAR RLV was first announced in May 1998 at the Aero India 98 exhibition held at Bangalore. It is planned to be the size of a MiG-25 fighter and would be capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1000 kg payload to low earth orbit at very cheap rate for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.

AVATAR is proposed to weigh only 25 tonnes in which 60 per cent of mass will be liquid hydrogen fuel. The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion is collected from the atmosphere, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch. AVATAR is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.

AVATAR would take off horizontally like a conventional airplane from a conventional airstrip using turbo-ramjet engines that burn air and hydrogen. Once at a cruising altitude, the vehicle would use scramjet propulsion to accelerate from Mach 4 to Mach 8. During this cruising phase, an on-board system would collect air from the atmosphere, from which liquid oxygen would be separated and stored. The liquid oxygen collected then would be used in the final flight phase when the rocket engine burns the collected liquid oxygen and the carried hydrogen to attain orbit. The vehicle would be designed to permit at least a hundred re-entries into the atmosphere.

Dr. M R Suresh, a senior ISRO official, stated that, "The dream of making a vehicle which can take off from a runway like an aircraft, and to return to the runway after deploying the spacecraft in the desired orbit (or Single-stage-to-orbit or SSTO) can be fulfilled only by the availability of more advanced high strength but low density materials so that the structural mass of the vehicle could be reduced considerably from the present levels. The advent of nano-technology could play a deciding factor in developing such exotic materials. However, the material technology available today can realize a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) vehicle only and the configuration of the vehicle which is being considered. However, the before realizing the RLV-TSTO it is important to perfect many critical technologies pertaining to hypersonic reentry vehicles. Hence a technology demonstrator vehicle (RLV-TD) is being developed." 

Air Commodore Raghavan Gopalaswami, former chief of Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad, is heading the project. He coined the name and made the presentation on the space plane at the global conference on propulsion at Salt Lake City (USA) on July 10, 2001. .

AVATAR is currently in the prototype testing stage. Along with DRDO team development of critical technology components were undertaken by as many as 23 academic institutions (Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of Science etc) along with ISRO in India. *Both the scramjet engine concept and the liquid oxygen collection process have already undergone successful tests at DRDO and at the IISC. *

More on Avatar RLV...

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## Naradmuni

> *India now has among the world's largest constellations of remote-sensing satellites. They are sophisticated enough to distinguish healthy coconuts from diseased ones in this region's thick palms. They can also zero in on deadly mosquitoes lurking in a patch of jungle.*



Well said...


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## Tejas-MkII

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1/04/GR2009110400141.html?sid=ST2009110400142

*India's space ambitions taking off*

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service 
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 

PANNITHITTU, India -- In this seaside village, *the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts. *

Through community-based programs, *India's space agency has been partnering with schools in remote areas such as this one, helping to teach students about space exploration and cutting-edge technology. The agency is also training thousands of young scientists and, in 2012, will open the nation's first astronaut-training center in the southern city of Bangalore. *

"I want to be prepared in space sciences so I can go to the moon when India picks its astronauts," said Lakshmi Kannan, 15, pushing her long braids out of her face and clutching her science textbook. 

Lakshmi's hopes are not unlike India's ambitions, writ small. For years, the country has focused its efforts in space on practical applications -- using satellites to collect information on natural disasters, for instance. But India is now moving beyond that traditional focus and has planned its first manned space mission in 2015. 

The ambitions of the 46-year-old national space program could vastly expand India's international profile in space and catapult it into a space race with China. China, the only country besides the United States and Russia to have launched a manned spacecraft, did so six years ago. 

"It's such an exciting time in the history of India's space program," said G. Madhavan Nair, a rocket scientist and the outgoing chairman of the national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "More and more bright young Indian scientists are calling us for jobs. We will look back on this as a turning point." 

The ascendancy of India's space program highlights the country's rising ambitions on the world stage, as it grows economically and asserts itself in matters of diplomacy. 

Politicians once dismissed the space program as a waste. Activists for India's legions of poor criticized additional funding for the program, saying it was needless decades after the American crew of Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. Now, however, the program is a source of prestige. 

Last year, India reached a milestone, launching 10 satellites into space on a single rocket. Officials are positioning the country to become a leader in the business of launching satellites for others, having found paying clients in countries such as Israel and Italy. They even talk of a mission to Mars. 

*India's program is smaller in scope than China's and is thought to receive far less funding. It is also designed mostly for civilian purposes, whereas experts have suggested that China is more interested in military applications.* (The Communist Party has said its goal is peaceful space exploration.) 

"*A human space flight with an eventual moon mission is a direct challenge to China's regional leadership," said John M. Logsdon,* professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute. "China is still the leader. India has yet to diminish China's space stature. But India is indeed seeking a higher global profile." 

*India now has among the world's largest constellations of remote-sensing satellites. They are sophisticated enough to distinguish healthy coconuts from diseased ones in this region's thick palms. They can also zero in on deadly mosquitoes lurking in a patch of jungle. *(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1/04/GR2009110400141.html?sid=ST2009110400142)

In September, a NASA device aboard India's first lunar probe detected strong evidence of water on the moon --* a "holy grail for lunar scientists," as Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA headquarters in Washington*, put it. 

The partnership with Americans was particularly gratifying to Indians, given recent bilateral history. After New Delhi conducted nuclear tests in 1998, the United States imposed sanctions denying India access to certain technology in a bid to curb its ability to launch nuclear rockets, said Theresa Hitchens, a space expert who is director of the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva. 

"Space launchers and ballistic missiles are quite similar from a technical perspective," she said. 

Many of the sanctions have been lifted, and India and the United States last year signed a historic civilian nuclear agreement, lifting a 30-year ban on bilateral nuclear trade. 

"The scientists at ISRO and NASA have always had deep respect for each other. But it was politics and bureaucracy that stood in the way of great science," said Pallava Bagla, co-author of "Destination Moon: India's Quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond." 

As India's space program barrels ahead, experts fear that NASA is losing ground. The space agency's human spaceflight program is facing budget cuts, as well as basic questions about where to go and how to get there. 

After NASA's aging space shuttle retires in 2010, it will be five years before the United States will have another spacecraft that can reach the international space station. 

*The United States may have to buy a seat to the moon on an Indian spaceship*, said Rakesh Sharma, India's first astronaut, who in 1984 was aboard the Soviet Union's Soyuz T-11 space shuttle. "Now that would be something," Sharma said. "*Maybe budget cuts could usher in an era of more cooperation rather than competition and distrust." *

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## Screaming Skull

From the same WaPo article-

*Linking via satellite*

India has increased the number of satellites it has launched to compete with other space agencies and to help modernize poor villages. The satellites are used to monitor ground resources and farming conditions and to expand telecommunications.




Linking via satellite - washingtonpost.com

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## GLOBAL HAWK

I for one surely appreciate Indian's cost effectiveness in space research

I wonder if their ISRO is allocated bucks similar to NASA, what would they so and aim for

China also seems to be cost effective in space research on its own level.


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## Naradmuni

*India's cryogenic engine comes of age.*​
India&#8217;s growing prowess in space technology is a nearly invisible, softly-softly adventure of notching up small, incremental successes on a continual basis. Yesterday the Prime Minister announced in the Parliament : &#8220;we have been able to successfully develop the cyrogenic engine on our own&#8221;. Behind that terse statement lies a trail thick with geo political intrigue, complex sciences and quiet Indians at their tasks. 
India&#8217;s cryogenic engine initiative began in 1993 but when it carried out its nuclear tests in 1998, it also blew a big hole through its network of international relations in diplomacy and trade. Amidst world-wide condemnation India&#8217;s scientists were tarred with suspicion and most collaborations with them were severed. 
The real reason for withholding cryogenic engine technology was however not &#8216;global security&#8217; but commerce&#8212;big commerce. These engines are required to launch the geo-synchronous satellites that are used in communications. It&#8217;s a lucrative business. Russia, Europe and the US have carved out the launch market. Emergence of India as a low cost launcher would have threatened their shares. 
Faced with the ostracisation, India chose to develop the engine on its own. It&#8217;s GSLV launch programme was kept on course with the essential cryogenic engines sourced from Russia. In all ten were contracted for. On April 18,2001 India bustled into the exclusive GSLV launchers&#8217; club. It successfully launched a 1.5 tonne satellite and parked it at 36,000 km above, in lock-step with earth&#8217;s rotation. That was with a Russian engine. 
At Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, is the Liquid Propulsion System Centre [LPSC]. Here work on developing India&#8217;s own cryo engines has been quietly moving. The system involves materials working at 250 deg below zero and pumps at speeds of 40,000 rpm. There are also complex metering, monitoring, integrating technologies involved. The engines are required to fire for about 700 seconds during the final stage of a launch providing 7 tonnes of thrust. 
First signs of success came on Feb 10,2002 when India &#8216;test-fired&#8217; it&#8217;s home-spun engine for the first time. It ran for a few seconds. Eight months later, on Sep 14,2002 the engine had been run for 1000 seconds on the test bed. This confirmed that the Indian design was sound . And then --March 12,2003-- came the news that the engine is ready for manufacture. 
Only the US, Russia, China, France and Japan have had this technology so far. The next piece of news you may expect to hear is that India has switched to its own engines to power its GSLV launches. The first of such a series is slated for next year. In ten years flat, India would have internalised and commercialised an advanced technology.


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## Naradmuni

*The triumph of Indian space research.​*
_30 year-old ISRO has been bred well by Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan. _

Heard of Antrix Corporation? No, it is not some NASDAQ listed high-tech darling in the US. It is the commercial arm of ISRO [Indian Space Research Organisation] that is racing France and USA to the market for images obtained from space. And with constantly improving quality of its images, Antrix is closing in. Antrix is the new kid on the block let loose by ISRO, itself just 30 years old. ISRO's achievements are something Indians should be proud of. Regrettably however, ISRO is an occasionally noticed, inadequately celebrated silent engine of daring and change. 

A recent occasion when ISRO got some mindshare of media-programmed Indians, was in October,2001. On a fine, cool day India's space work horse, the PSLV C3 lifted off and soared into space. Then it performed a copy book launch placing India's TES and two paying customers' satellites, Belgium's PROBA and Germany's BIRD. 

The world sat up and took notice. For several reasons. One, the Polar Satellitle Launch Vehicle [PSLV] confirmed its reliability with this second successive perfect launch. Two, the Technology Experiment Satellite [TES] designed and built by India was sending many messages between its stream quality images. Read together the messages amount to this: At over a tonne TES is a state of the art eye in the sky. Its cameras with a resolution of 1 metre can pick an umbrella from up there. *Just a few months before, the US had denied India access to the 1m images of Afghanistan from its Ikonos satellite. TES was now in effect saying, 'Never mind - we can manage quite well, thank you' [Incidentally India too will not share TES images: they are for defence purposes only]*. Finally to reason three and the implication of TES's imaging technology: until now, Indian cameras were panned. For high resolutions, cameras need to be fixed. In order to give enough time for light to reach the lens, the moving satellite with its camera has to constantly be pivoting on its axis, its stare fixed on its target with the utmost precision. Indian scientists have with the TES, demonstrated this control. 

*Founding fathers:*

For all its contemporary skills, ISRO is a young colt. It was only in 1972 that it was formed. Its pluck is due to the kind of Indians who came to steer it. 

Indians like Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai. A scion of a wealthy family, he could have been a lotus eater all his life. Instead, he was a man devoted to science, the arts and institution building. Born in 1919, Sarabhai obtained his Tripos in Natural Sciences from St.John's College, Cambridge when he was but 20. Then he worked on cosmic rays, under Sir C V Raman at the Indian Institute of Science [IISc], Bangalore. In 1947, he had founded the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad. PRL turned out to be the seed bed for ISRO. Between 1962 and 1972, Sarabhai was in the inner rooms of Indian decision making, giving shape to his vision. ISRO was no megalomaniac's dream. It was to be instead, a platform --*in Sarabhai's words-- "for the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society". *

The vociferous consensus of the Indian scientific community is that *ISRO's success was assured the day Dr. Satish Dhawan was chosen to head it. Whose inspired decision it was, we will never know but it is one of those that have made India. *

Satish Dhawan merits some of our time. He was born in 1920, in Srinagar, Kashmir and studied in Lahore. There he gathered an odd bouquet of degrees: a BA in Mathematics and Physics, an MA in English literature and a BE in Mechanical Engineering. More were to come. An MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, USA and a PhD from Caltech. At the end of these labours he was barely 27! Add now, his dash and killer good looks, a propensity to take all the blame and share all the honours and a passionate commitment to India and you have a hero. [Read tributes to Satish Dhawan by Roddam Narasimha and Dr.Amulya K N Reddy. ] 

Ponder Sarabhai and Dhawan and you would want to ask with a longing : "Where have all such men gone, my India?" 

*Raising rocketry:*

Dhawan was at heart a teacher. When asked to head the ISRO in 1972, he had been at the IISc for close to 20 years. He accepted the new job only on condition that he would continue as Director of IISc. *The born mentor then set out to build people who would build India's rockets. Abdul Kalam, Roddam Narasimha, U V Rao and K Kasturirangan are but a few of the people who were burnished by Dhawan's hands. *

After spending the early years getting scientists, engineers, vendors and fabrication facilities together, ISRO was ready with its own Apple satellite by 1981. This was a learning exercise and it was launched by the European Space Agency. From that point on, progress has been steady and on two fronts. On the one, India began to design two kinds of satellites: a series -the INSAT- for communications and another -the IRS- for remote sensing. On the other, satellite launching vehicles have been evolving in sophistication and ability. India progressed from solid propelled to liquid propelled rockets. It is now developed cryogenic engines for rockets -the GSLV- that can launch geo-synchronous satellites for communications. It now stands tall, independent and 100&#37; self sufficient in designing, manufacturing and launching satellites.

Of course, India's space adventure has had its share of failures, waste and dependance - but increasingly these years, a series of stunning successes. [Click to browse ISRO]. ISRO is a vast organism today spread all over India. It has dedicated facilities for research, design, fabrication, management and marketing for its many abilities: liquid and cryogenic propulsion, satellites, inertial systems, telemetry, space imaging, control systems and of course launch services. 

*Marketing quality:*

Let us revisit Antrix: It markets $40 million worth of images from ISRO's five satellites. Amongst its clientele are the European Commission [for agriculture and forestry], Japan [volcanic activity], USA [telephone network mapping, rail alignments, Wal-Mart, airlines] and Thailand [information]. Its images are distributed by Space Imaging Inc and Euromap. Along the way *the quality of ISRO's 1 metre resolution images has set back the esteem for those from USA's SPOT and Landsat satellites. The upshot of this situation was that USA --the free-market evangelist --, actually resorted to a price war. It dropped prices from 15 cents to 2 cents a sq. kM! Antrix stood firm at 80 cents and banked on its quality. Well, its business is growing. And to pile on more misery, ISRO will soon offer 0.3 metre resolution. *[Source: 'Outlook', Jan 14,2002] 

Quite apart from the hush-hush images for security from its sixth --and the latest-- satellite ISRO's contribution to India's socio-economic development has been immense. It has modernised India's work with weather, forestry, flood control, agriculture, mining, oil prospecting, archeology, mapping, education, health care, communications, transport, water resources, oceanography, disaster management, .... its a long list. *Sarabhai's vision has been realised. *

ISRO has always been manned by self-effacing, highly qualified and skilled men and women - 32000 of them currently. Many of them have come from small towns with only brilliant minds as their capital. Small, bespectacled and commonplace men you'd pass on the street without noticing. Here they are flailing their arms and giving vent to a brief burst of emotion on achieving another success for India. They get a lot of time on television when they fail; today they will get 10 seconds. It is they who are writing India's name in space. Men who will retire with small pensions. Men who venerate Sarabhai and Dhawan.


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## Chanakyaa

scrumpy said:


> It is already on the moon.
> 
> A flag will not wave on the moon since there is no wind on the moon. However the Moon Impact Probe did create mechanical waves on the moon surface on impact.



Actually It was "Painted" on the MIP, so technically after the impact the Flag would NOT have existed.

I was looking for a day when we can see indian astronauts being seen on the Moon surface we have solved Three puzzles ..

1. Re Entry
2. Path to Moon
3. Reaching Moon Surface

Its an excellent beginning.. in a limited budget.


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## gogbot

More spy satellites.

Where the hell is RAW they should be drooling at the chance to get these sats.

We take enough photos of the borders and outlying areas we may actually find Who is supporting the rebels.


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## gogbot

XiNiX said:


> Actually It was "Painted" on the MIP, so technically after the impact the Flag would NOT have existed.
> 
> I was looking for a day when we can see indian astronauts being seen on the Moon surface we have solved Three puzzles ..
> 
> 1. Re Entry
> 2. Path to Moon
> 3. Reaching Moon Surface
> 
> Its an excellent beginning.. in a limited budget.




*we have to solve more things than that.*

We need to get some one into space first.

we need to make a applicable spacecraft.

We need to be able to perform a EVA

We need to be able to dock Spacecraft in Space.

we need to be able to send something to the moons orbit and then bring it back.

And we need reentry vessles which we don't have.


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## sudhir007

ESA Portal - Hylas payload shipped to India

*Hylas payload shipped to India*


6 November 2009
Hylas, a flexible, broadband Ka-band satellite, is steadily moving towards completion. The communications payload has been shipped from England to India for integration with the platform, marking a key milestone for the project.

This important step was completed in late October by Astrium UK, the prime contractor for the Hylas satellite, supported by Avanti Communications, the satellite customer and operator, and ESA, partner and co-funder of the project. The next phase involves the integration of payload and platform systems and the execution of the satellite-level test programme, prior to launch in 2010. 

The Hylas mission will address the large demand for broadband services in Europe that cannot be met by terrestrial networks. It will provide capacity to serve hundreds of thousands of Internet users, and broadcast up to 30 standard-quality or 15 high-definition TV channels in Ku-band. 

Astrium is leading the design and manufacture of Hylas and is responsible for developing the advanced Ku- and Ka-band payload. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in Bangalore, India, is providing the satellite platform. The communications payload and the platform will be integrated and tested in Bangalore, in preparation for the launch by Arianespace in 2010. Other European and Canadian companies, including TESAT, ComDev and CASA Espacio, are providing essential equipment for the payload. 

&#8220;The Generic Flexible Payload technology, developed by Astrium, is at the heart of the communications module,&#8221; explains Andrew Murrell, Hylas Payload Engineer for ESA. &#8220;It is based on highly integrated equipment that provides in-orbit flexibility to adapt the satellite&#8217;s frequency plan and connectivity to match evolving market demands. The use of the newly developed, flexible travelling wave tube amplifier from TESAT enables further optimisation of satellite resources by allowing power to be reallocated between service regions according to changing needs.&#8221; 

While broadband services for domestic and business customers form the core application for Hylas, the system has been designed to support the provision of other communications applications such as HDTV broadcasting and data contribution and distribution services. 

A contract was signed between ESA and Avanti for the development of Hylas in 2006, providing support for the development of the most innovative elements of this new system. The satellite is designed to have a lifetime of 15 years, and will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 33.5&#176;W.


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## Chanakyaa

gogbot said:


> *we have to solve more things than that.*
> 
> We need to get some one into space first.
> 
> we need to make a applicable spacecraft.
> 
> We need to be able to perform a EVA
> 
> We need to be able to dock Spacecraft in Space.
> 
> we need to be able to send something to the moons orbit and then bring it back.
> 
> 
> And we need reentry vessles which we don't have.



Yes, Agreed.
Thats why i said its a Good "Beginning"


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## brahmastra

Chandrayaan-2 to be complete by 2012-13: Annadurai

Chandrayaan-2 moon mission, which will help in analysis of mineral composition and undertake terrain mapping of the moon, will be completed by 2012-13, Project Director of Chandrayaan, M. Annadurai said today.

The Rs. 425 crore project will be completed by 2012-13. As opposed to Chandrayaan-1 which was a moon orbiter, in Chandrayaan-2, the two moon rovers will actually land on the moon surface, he said inaugurating the sixth National Student Conference at University Visveswaraya College of Engineering.

Chadrayaan-2 will consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with two moon rovers, one from India and one from Russia, which will land on the moon and move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above, Mr. Annadurai said.

Mr. Annadurai, the Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 and 2, said Chardrayaan-1 which was the 70th satellite to go on the moon created history with discovery of water there.

The Rs. 386 crore project (Chandrayaan-1) which took four and a half years to be completed has provided 6 terabits of data which will take the scientists three years to mull over, he said.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : Chandrayaan-2 to be complete by 2012-13: Annadurai


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## brahmastra

Hylas payload shipped to India







*Hylas payload*

Hylas, a flexible, broadband Ka-band satellite, is steadily moving towards completion. The communications payload has been shipped from England to India for integration with the platform, marking a key milestone for the project.

This important step was completed in late October by Astrium UK, the prime contractor for the Hylas satellite, supported by Avanti Communications, the satellite customer and operator, and ESA, partner and co-funder of the project. The next phase involves the integration of payload and platform systems and the execution of the satellite-level test programme, prior to launch in 2010. 

The Hylas mission will address the large demand for broadband services in Europe that cannot be met by terrestrial networks. It will provide capacity to serve hundreds of thousands of Internet users, and broadcast up to 30 standard-quality or 15 high-definition TV channels in Ku-band. 

Astrium is leading the design and manufacture of Hylas and is responsible for developing the advanced Ku- and Ka-band payload. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in Bangalore, India, is providing the satellite platform. The communications payload and the platform will be integrated and tested in Bangalore, in preparation for the launch by Arianespace in 2010. Other European and Canadian companies, including TESAT, ComDev and CASA Espacio, are providing essential equipment for the payload. 

&#8220;The Generic Flexible Payload technology, developed by Astrium, is at the heart of the communications module,&#8221; explains Andrew Murrell, Hylas Payload Engineer for ESA. &#8220;It is based on highly integrated equipment that provides in-orbit flexibility to adapt the satellite&#8217;s frequency plan and connectivity to match evolving market demands. The use of the newly developed, flexible travelling wave tube amplifier from TESAT enables further optimisation of satellite resources by allowing power to be reallocated between service regions according to changing needs.&#8221; 

While broadband services for domestic and business customers form the core application for Hylas, the system has been designed to support the provision of other communications applications such as HDTV broadcasting and data contribution and distribution services. 

A contract was signed between ESA and Avanti for the development of Hylas in 2006, providing support for the development of the most innovative elements of this new system. The satellite is designed to have a lifetime of 15 years, and will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 33.5&#176;W.


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## ironman

*Isro finds little moon magnets *

November 14th, 2009
By Our Correspondent 

Bengaluru, Nov. 13: Indian mooncraft Chandrayaan-I discovered a new facet of the earth&#8217;s nearest astral neighbour: Scores of miniature magnetic bubbles that fend off harmful solar winds and cosmic radiation.

The latest findings could lead to the creation of protective shields for human colonies proposed on the lunar surface, says Dr Anil Bhardwaj, head, Planetary Science Branch at Isro&#8217;s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

Dr Bhardwaj said the mini-magnetic fields were spotted by Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (Sara), an instrument built jointly by scientific groups from Sweden, India, Japan, and Switzerland.

&#8220;We found the first one on the far side and this has confirmed what was theoretically suggested about ten years ago,&#8221; he said at the Platinum Jubilee meeting of Indian Academy of Sciences on Friday.

He said the findings &#8212; of bubbles deflecting solar winds that collide with celestial bodies in the solar system &#8212; will be used by scientists and engineers readying European Space Agency (ESA)&#8217;s Bepi-Colombo mission to Mercury.

The new findings come a month after Nasa scientists announced that Chandrayaan found water on the lunar surface.

Isro finds little moon magnets | Deccan Chronicle


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## ironman

*GSLV Mk III to enhance India's launch capacity ISRO chief ​*Tirupati, Nov 14


Tirupati, Nov 14: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K. Radhakrishnan said here on Saturday that India is developing the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) to enhance the capability of the country to be a competitive player in the multimillion dollar commercial launch market.


Addressing the Andhra Pradesh Science Congress here, Radhakrishnan said: "We are working on a new launch vehicle development GSLV Mark III which is expected to be flying in the coming years. And a major milestone in the development is going to be the static testing of the systems."

*"We could realize the world's third largest propellant boosters H200 with 200 tonnes of propellants mixed in India, in a plant which is mostly automatic, which is situated in Shreeharikota with our own technology, with the ingredients coming from the Indian Industry based on our technology," *he added.

GSLV Mk III is conceived and designed to make ISRO fully self reliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class, which weighs 4500 to 5000 kilograms.

The vehicle envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO, LEO, Polar and intermediate circular orbits.

In his address Radhakrishnan also noted that ISRO is giving stress for the development of miniature satellite system involving Indian Universities.

"Today our universities are enabled to make satellites of 1kilogram and 6 kilograms class. This is one of our major thrust for the future," he said.

In August, students of the Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Kanpur had developed a Nano satellite, 'Jugnu' under the guidance of ISRO.

The satellite weighs less than three kilograms and consists of advanced functionalities that other normal satellites have. The payload of satellite would include a camera, designed with complete indigenous technologies, in the purpose of near remote sensing.

There would be a GPS receiver and finally the satellite will transmit blinking signal while making the rounds over the earth.

The Nano satellite is scheduled to be launched by the ISRO in December.


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## RPK

BBC NEWS | South Asia | No India launch of Iran satellite

India says it has no plans to launch an Iranian satellite, a move which would have angered the United States.

"We received a letter from the Iranians to launch a satellite for them some months ago. We don't plan to give them a response," top Indian officials said. 

Any such launch would be a sensitive issue given that Western nations view with concern Iran's missile programme. 

The remarks from Delhi came as Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki wound up a two-day visit to India. 

Iran launched its first domestically-made satellite into orbit in February, insisting its intentions were peaceful. Western governments voiced concerns the technology used could lead to ballistic missile development. 


Little progress seems to have been made on... bringing a gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan into India 

Any assistance by India in launching Iranian satellites could raise American concerns - the Bush administration, for instance, was dead set against an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. 

India is also more than aware that Iran's nuclear programme is the subject of great international controversy


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## deckingraj

*NASA signs agreement with ISRO for use of Indian satellite*

U.S. space agency NASA has signed an agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to use data from Indian satellite Oceansat&#8212;2, for various American agencies for research activities, including weather forecasting.

Launched on September 23, 2009 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota, Oceansat-2; is designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on Oceansat-1.

The agreement with the ISRO will lead to the use of data from Oceansat-2 for various U.S. agencies for research, education and other activities of public good including weather forecasting.

The Letter of Intent in this regard was signed by Michael H Freilich, Director Earth Science Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Mary E Kicza Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Science of the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Application Centre, ISRO.

The signing ceremony was done in Washington on the sidelines of Sixth Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

The Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian Embassy, Arun K Singh; and Deviprasad Karnik, Counsellor (Space) were also present on the occasion. 

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : NASA signs agreement with ISRO for use of Indian satellite

***********************************************************

ISRO is pride of India

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## Naradmuni

A prayer before the launch of every ISRO satellite​Staff Correspondent 

_Scientists visit Dharmasthala as devotees to offer puja for success _

MANGALORE: Some scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) share a special attachment with Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala situated on the foothills of the Western Ghats in Dakshina Kannada. A group of scientists from the Master Control Facility (MCF), Hassan, under the control of ISRO, visit Dharmasthala before the launch of a satellite and offer puja to Lord Manjunathaswamy praying for the successful launch of the satellite. They bring with them a miniature (model) of satellite to be launched. Puja is offered to the model also. 

The team of scientists return with prasada leaving the miniature satellite in Dharmasthala. And* this tradition has been in practice for the past about 20 years*. Every time ISRO launched a satellite either from Sriharikota or Kourou in French Guyana, the miniatures have been brought to Dharmasthala and left there, sources said. 

And, how did it all begin? Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, told The Hindu on Friday that about 20 years ago a satellite launched by the ISRO developed a snag. "Probably, it was Insat-1B launched in August 1983. After the launch its solar panel did not open. It created tension among scientists and the people," he said. 

Following this, a team of scientists from the MCF visited Dharmasthala as devotees and offered prayers. "Since then they visit as devotees and offer prayers. It is a matter of their faith,'' he said. 

On Thursday, the ISRO launched Insat-4A, a fourth generation telecommunication satellite. Its miniature had been brought to Dharmasthala a few days ago before its launch.


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## Naradmuni

NASA signs agreement with ISRO to use data from Oceasat II​​

Washington, Nov 19 (ANI): The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US has entered an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to use data from the Indian satellite Oceansat-II.

The agreement will pave the way for NASA to use data from Oceansat-II for its research, education, weather forecasting, and other activities aimed at the public good.

The agreement in this regard was signed by Michael Freilich, Director Earth Science Division, NASA and Ranganath Navalgund, Director, Space Application Centre, on the sidelines of Sixth Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

Oceansat-II, which was launched in September, was designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument.

The satellite contains eight bands of the OCM to study ocean biology, Ku band pencil beam, Scatterometer to measure sea surface wind vectors and radio occultation sounder for atmosphere. (ANI)


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## Naradmuni

ISRO adds another feather in its cap on moon mission : mini-magnetosphere found on moon​

Bangalore: After discovering water on moon, ISRO has come out with another major discovery by reporting the presence of mini-magnetosphere on the earth's only natural satellite.

The new finding was made possible by Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer jointly built by ISRO and European Space Agency (EADS).

This was one among the 11 instruments onboard Chandrayaan-I, a top ISRO official from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram said today.

The official, speaking on condition of anonimity, he said the findings had been submitted to International journals for corraboration.

He said after analysing the data obtained by SARA, the large assembly of mini-magnetosphere was discovered on the surface of the Moon.

Stating that the mini-magnetosphere was found near Gerasimovic crater, he said it was formed due to continuous pounding of Solar wind on the Lunar surface, which was not protected by an atmospheric field as in the case of earth.

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## RPK

*Vast scope for research on moon: ISRO scientist*

India, through Chandrayaan, was the pioneer in discovering existence of water on moon and similarly there was possibility of existence of minerals,including titanium , on it, Chandrayaan Project Director Mylswamy Annadurai said here.

On Chandrayaan-II, he said the Rs 425-crore project will be launched in 2012-13 with an orbiter that will take the Chandrayaan-I orbit and two motorised robots which would be soft landed on the moon.

To a question, he said Chandrayaan-II will have more indigenous components and its budget is less like the first mission, compared to smilar missions of other countries.


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## RPK

*More indigenous components in second moon mission: ISRO*

Coimbatore, Nov 23(ANI): Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayan Mission II, ISRO, on Monday said that there would be more indigenous components in country&#8217;s second moon mission. 

Annadurai was in the city to participate in the 30th convocation of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the function, Annadurai said: &#8220;This time we expect more indigenous components will be there. But of course, we don&#8217;t rule out Indo-Russian composition, which is already there, but may not be that many number of instruments what we carried there (Mission Chandrayaan I).&#8221;

&#8220;As of now India and Russia, others also trying to get in, but until we exhaust our own instruments we are not able to do it,&#8221; he added. 

Annadurai further said that country&#8217;s second Moon Mission would consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with two moon rovers.

He added that ISRO would use the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in its second mission, which would be launched in 2012-13.

&#8220;This project is already in place and nearly Rs. 425 crores have been allotted for the budget provision for this Chandrayaan II Mission and scheduled to go for in 2012-13&#8230;another ISRO Mission Chndrayaan I was carried by PSLV whereas Chandrayaan II will be carried by GSLV,&#8221; Annadurai added.

He also informed that as opposed to Chandrayaan-1, which was a moon orbiter, Chandrayaan-II would have moon rovers and would be capable of actually landing on the moon surface.

India terminated its first mission to the moon in August 2009, a day after scientists lost all contact with the unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon.

The 79 million dollar mission was launched amid national euphoria last October, putting India in the Asian space race alongside rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power. (ANI)


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## RPK

Government have proposed to build satellites for monitoring the different aspects of atmosphere and environment, agricultural conditions and different weather related aspects, in coordination with concerned ministries, such as Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation.

These satellites will facilitate understanding the different aspects pertaining to climate and its impact on agriculture. 
*Satellites for Monitoring Environment *

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:19 PM ----------

Oceansat-02 was launched using India&#8217;s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on September 23, 2009 from Sriharikota. The satellite has three instruments on board, namely Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) to monitor chlorophyll in oceans, a Scatterometer to monitor ocean surface wind and a Radio Occultation Sounder for atmosphere. The total cost of the project is Rs. 129.15 crores.

The data from Oceansat-02 will facilitate identification of potential fishing zones; deriving ocean surface wind velocity, forecasting ocean state, study of temperature and humidity of atmosphere etc. 

This satellite will facilitate monitoring of sea, specifically chlorophyll in sea waters and fronts and eddies in the ocean. This satellite will also provide additional data for understanding cloud system and cyclone related studies. 
*Launch of Oceansat-02 *


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## ironman

> *ISRO plans 36 launches during 11th plan​*Thiruvananthapuram, November 26, 2009
> 
> ISRO is planning 36 launches during the 11th plan with more than six a year, a top space official said here on Thursday.
> 
> The expanding horizon of Indian Space Programme, with more number of launches annually and missions like reusable launch vehicle on the anvil, calls for increased productivity with consistent quality and at a competitive cost, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director, P.S. Veeraraghavan said.
> 
> Partnership with aerospace Indian industries was likely to grow multi-fold with the expanding activities of Indian Space Programme and ISROs foray into International Space market, Mr. Veeraghavan told at National Aerospace Manufacturing Seminar
> 
> Presently more than 500 small and medium industries partnered with ISRO, he said.
> 
> Stating that the aerospace industry faces tough challenges, he said it should adapt to advanced manufacturing methodologies to suit the design function flawlessly.
> 
> Referring to the human resource shortage in aerospace engineering field, he said the industry should bring out innovative programmes in tie-up with Academic institutions, to ensure required number of manpower.





> *ISRO to outsource rocket-work to private companies​*
> BANGALORE: For the first time since the success of India's maiden unmanned moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to outsource more high-end work to private companies
>  everything from building more complicated systems to assembling it.
> 
> According to aerospace industry officials and others familiar with the discussions, proposals are being readied wherein private participation will be invited to build and run competing systems.
> 
> The commercial-aerospace industry is now eager to play a larger role in the space missions and tap the outsourcing work offered by ISRO which has an annual budget of $1.01 billion for 2009-2010. It has a spending blueprint of Rs 12,400 crore ($3 billion) for its manned space exploration and around Rs 425 crore will be spent for the second unmanned lunar mission  Chandrayaan-2. It also has huge spending plans for missions to Mars and various domestic and international satellite launches.
> 
> This is particularly relevant as India has now stepped up the number of satellites it sends into space. ISRO's senior space scientist George Koshy who had also worked on Chandrayaan-1 as mission director for PSLV, says: "Earlier, we used to do one launch in two-three years. Now, we do tree-five PSLV launches alone in a year. For that, we need more low-cost manpower and better collaborations. Koshy says the confidence other countries are reposing on Indian capability to make good satellites is increasing and they need more private partners to share the work load. "We work at just 15-20% of the cost spent by the US on their missions, he says.
> 
> 
> He said ISRO will launch advanced remote sensing and earth observation satellites such as Cartosat along with three other satellites from countries like Algeria and Canada in the first quarter of 2010 and Resourcesat-2, which will monitor resources in the country next year.
> 
> Aerospace firms such as Taneja Aerospace and Aviation (Taal), which counts ISRO among its top customers said that it is seeing more high-end work coming to them.
> 
> SM Kapoor, chief executive (aerostructures) of Taal, said that it had developed a critical structure to be used in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to ISRO last week. This structure was instrumental in taking the load of the vehicle and connecting the various stages of the PSLV.
> 
> "Earlier, we outsourced smaller work, but now we have stepped up the complexity of the work outsourced to private firms. In space structures, we have got very little margins. One small error or a small weakness in one part can result in the failure of the whole mission, says George Koshy.
> 
> ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) deputy director PP Sinha said that outsourcing has reached a level where companies are even doing assembling work at the system and stage levels and not just at the component level. "We are moving up the value chain and gearing up to provide avionics and electronics to customers like ISRO. They are efficient in terms of on-time payment and business support, Taal managing director CS Kameswaran said.
> 
> 
> IT giant Wipro said it is in discussions with ISRO to provide software and electronics for projects like the Chandrayaan-2
> 
> "We are in discussions with ISRO to collaborate in the area of robotic design, as they plan to land a motorised rover or robot on the Moon by 2013, Wipro's vice-president for aerospace and defence Shiva Kumar Tonthanahal told ET. "We are present in the software, product engineering and R&D spaces and now Wipro is gearing up to be ready in aerospace manufacturing by 2010, he said.
> 
> People familiar with ISRO's outsourcing strategy said that tech firms such as TCS and Infosys are talking to ISRO to provide their engineering design services.
> 
> Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), India's biggest engineering company, said that it is making significant contributions to ISRO's space launch vehicles. "We had started by making small components. Today, the complete motor is built by us which includes it testing. We will be making significant contributions to the development of ISRO's next 20 satellites," says L&T vice-president Jayant D Patil. L&T had made significant contributions in the development of the last 15 satellites.
> 
> He said L&T along with DMRL has designed specific reactors for ISRO's plant in Kerala to indigenously produce titanium sponge, which is a scare raw material and has to be imported. "It is used in the production of aerospace grade titanium, which will be one of the strategic materials for important projects in future," he said.
> 
> Genser Aerospace & Information Technologies chief executive Arunakar Mishra says that as ISRO is becoming more of an integrator, they can adopt contract manufacturing model where they need not scout for suppliers and thus concentrate only on the mission.
> 
> Aerospace firm HAL's chairman Ashok Nayak said that even though they manufacture entire outside structure of PSLV and GSLV-II, they are getting strong support from small and medium industries who are getting majority of ISRO's components, while the integration is done at HAL. "The field is slowly getting open to everyone. We are willing to take the support of the private industry because that is the only way the country can prosper".





> *ISRO DEVELOPS LOW-COST DEVICE FOR COASTAL SECURITY​*Date: Thursday, November 26 2009
> 
> from BUSINESS LINE, November 26, 2009 Kolkata, Nov. 25 - As the country prepares for observing the first anniversary of 26/11, debates rage over how to make our coastline safe.
> 
> What is perhaps little known is that a low-cost device, Distress Alert Transmitter (DAT) developed by Space Application
> Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, at the behest of Coast Guard for fool proof disaster management at sea, can provide the answer.
> 
> DAT is now commercially available. Manufactured by Delhi-based VTL Technologies Ltd, belonging to the S.K. Birla Group, with know-how from ISRO, about 1,000 pieces of the equipment have already been supplied by the company to ISRO which in turn has provided them to all the coastal States for distribution on experimental basis to fishermen venturing into seas for fishing.
> 
> The result has been encouraging, and ISRO has asked VTL to supply 1,000 more pieces. The Lakshwadeep Administration too has ordered 53 pieces of the equipment on an experimental basis.
> 
> DAT operates via INSAT-3A with full coverage of the Indian sub- continent. It works on Indian Disaster Management dedicated frequency and each equipment has an unique identification number.
> 
> The system works like this: immediately on receipt of distress signal from the boat in sea, the Coast Guard through DAT will be able to identify the boat and its precise location. The signal from the DAT positioned in the boat first goes to INSAT 3A satellite and from there to the Chennai-based Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which is a hub linked to coordination centres in each coastal State.
> 
> MRCC immediately coordinates the rescue operation from air and sea.
> 
> However, each equipment has to be registered with the Indian Coast Guard which is the authorised hub for Search and Rescue Coordination Authority at sea. The equipment has in-built GPS to give precise position and time of information. Most important, compared to similar foreign-made equipment, it is cheap, with each equipment costing around Rs 10,000. Foreign made ones cost more than Rs 50,000 each.
> 
> Besides, foreign equipment require registration with foreign agencies and must operate with international satellites.
> 
> One wonders if 26/11, which claimed 183 lives, could have been averted had there been a DAT positioned on board MV Kuber, the Indian fishing trawler hijacked by the terrorists to reach the Mumbai coast.
> 
> Santanu Sanyal Copyright 2009 Business Line





> *ISRO to use aviation kerosene for semi-cryogenic​*
> Bangalore,
> Nov 26 : Scientists at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were evolving a technology to develop semi-cryogenic propulsion system using aviation grade kerosene to put satellites weighing up to six tonnes, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.
> 
> Once this technology was mastered, ISRO, apart from bringing down the launch costs, would also be able to launch heavier satellites, weighing three times more weight than that of the present satellites launched by ISRO, he said, while delivering the inaugural address at the 23rd National Convention of Aerospace Engineers here.
> 
> With its current capability in boosters and strap-ons, the semi-cryogenic tecnology would enable the home-built GSLV rocket to put six-tonne class satellites in the space, the ISRO Chief noted.
> 
> He said the indigenous cryogenic technology now used hydrogen and liquid oxygen. In semi-cryogenic technology, instead of liquid hydrogen, pure kerosene (aviation-grade) is used.
> 
> The semi-cryogenic technology had been part of ISRO's efforts to bring down the cost of its space launches.
> 
> If this became a success the cost of putting payload in space would become much less. Kerosene gives better density impulse which made it a good fuel for booster rockets, he added.
> 
> He said ISRO was ready for the launch of its GSLV-D3 mission which would put a satellite weighing upto 2.2 tonnes in space.
> 
> The date of launch, slated to happen in the next few weeks, would be made known within few days.



............

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## RPK

*The Hindu : States / Karnataka : ISRO eyes six to eight missions a year*

&#8220;The Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] will aim at launching between six and eight missions every year to meet its objectives in the areas of national development and space science,&#8221; ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said here on Thursday.

&#8220;We must look to create synergy between the space industry and the aircraft, Defence and atomic energy sectors,&#8221; he said in his address at the 23rd National Convention of Aerospace Scientists here. &#8220;The Indian space industry is robust, comprising 500 firms and employing a total of 15,000 people.&#8221; India&#8217;s first launch vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic engine, GSLV-D3 (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) was in the final stages of preparation, said Mr. Radhakrishnan but did not comment on the date of the launch which is scheduled to be in December 2009.

A hypersonic wind tunnel will be ready in a span of between six months and a year in Thiruvananthapuram for testing model launch vehicles. While ISRO&#8217;s unmanned mission to Mars could take place anytime between 2018 and 2030, India will aim to have a &#8220;human presence&#8221; in space within seven years with its manned space mission.

MAVs to the rescue

Delivering the Vikram Sarabhai Memorial lecture, V.J. Sundaram, Adviser (Micro and Nanosystems), National Design and Research Forum, chose to focus on the humble micro air vehicle (MAV), which he said could prove a useful tool in disaster assessment and surveillance.

Weighing between 20 gm and 400 gm and often imitating the flight aerodynamics and optic flow of insects or birds, mini, micro and nano satellites, it could help with search and rescue operations.


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## RPK

*India developing semi-cryogenic tech to launch 6-ton satellite - dnaindia.com*

Bangalore: India's space scientists are developing semi-cryogenic propulsion technology using kerosene that is expected to give the country the capability to launch six-tonne class satellite, almost three times the weight its rockets can currently handle.

The cryogenic technology uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, whereas in semi-cryogenic technology, instead of liquid hydrogen, pure kerosene(aviation-grade) is used, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

"...the cost becomes far, far less (in semi-cryogenic technology using kerosene)," he said in his inaugural address to the 23rd national convention of aerospace engineers with the theme "Infrastructure development for growth of civil aviation and aerospace technology in India" here.

The semi-cryogenic technology, part of ISRO's efforts to cut down costs of space projects, would give a better density impulse which makes it a "good candidate for the booster status".

The technology would enable the home-built GSLV rocket to launch six-tonne class satellites. India's current GSLV-Mk II has the capacity to launch only satellites weighing a maximum of 2.2 tonnes, Radhakrishnan said.

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## RPK

*ISRO to launch 8 foreign satellites; also eyes acquisitions*

India's space agency has in its pipeline eight foreign satellites for launch and is scouting to acquire such spacecraft from abroad to expand capacity in the field of communication transponder back home.

"Today, we have eight (foreign) satellites to be launched. This will be launched over the next two-three years", Managing Director of Antrix Corporation, marketing arm of Bangalore headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), K R Sridhara Murthi, said.
These are a mix of small and bigger satellites, he said but declined to elaborate, noting that the space agency is yet to formally ink some of these contracts.
But one foreign satellite that is being readied for launch is a 150-kg one from Algeria, which is slated to be launched by home-grown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle as a piggyback payload likely in April next year.
Sridhara Murthi said ISRO is looking for opportunities to acquire foreign satellites.
In fact, it, along with its global partners, recently unsuccessfully bid to acquire a satellite, which was put up for auctioning by a company facing bankruptcy, in the United States.

Intelsat won the bid with a price of $210 million. ISRO was ready to shell out $100 million for part of the capacity that it intended to use, Sridhara Murthi said. ISRO's bold move is a sign of its growing confidence, he said.
ISRO has also started integrating Hylas spacecraft, a contract it jointly bagged with EADS-Astrium, and it would be delivered to the customer, UK-based Avanti Screenmedia, in June. Under the contract, EADS-Astrium is the prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and would build the communications payload, while Antrix/ISRO would build the satellite with a lift-off mass of around 2.5 tonnes and power of 3.2 KW.
"This year, we are producing a very sophisticated high definition television satellite (Hylas) -- probably for the first time in the world", he said. ISRO is looking to further scale up the participation of industries in space projects and even mulling to outsource some research and development tasks to them.
"Nearly 400 industries take part in space programme today", he said, noting for example that industries now undertake 70 per cent of work on developing launch vehicles (rockets). "So, when (Indian) rocket is a success, it's not merely ISRO which has to take credit, it is also a large number of industries which have to take credit", Sridhara Murthi said.
In addition, as of March this year, ISRO had transferred 289 technologies to modern industries for commercialisation and provided 270 technical consultancies in different disciplines of space technology.
ISRO endeavours to develop technologies with industries. "In the years to come, even for R & D tasks, ISRO will depend more and more on industries". Sridhara Murthi also spoke about the profitability of space business. Antix today has an annual revenue of over Rs 1,000 crore.
"Each satellite can pay for itself including the cost of launching. If you take a communication satellite, probably we spend about Rs 300 crore to launch one satellite. But, typically, this can pay back Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore over a period of its life".
"If we look at the value chain of space activities, if we invest one rupee in space, there is ten rupee business on ground", he said.


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## RPK

*India a space power: NASA officer *

BANGALORE: India is now looked up as one of the most important space powers, especially after the successful finding of water and ice on the surface of the moon by the Chandrayaan- 1 project said Dr Edward Rogers, chief knowledge officer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre.


He was speaking to reporters after delivering a lecture on &#8216;How NASA Learns and Reapplies Knowledge&#8217;. He said that there was a variety of opportunities in the field of space before India, similar to the kind of opportunities that were before the US in the 1960s and 1970s.

Rogers, who during his visit to Bangalore will be holding discussions with ISRO officials and IT major Infosys, said that he would be looking at cooperation between NASA and the Indian counterparts in the areas of knowledge sharing and education exchange.

&#8220;A few decades ago, space collaboration was considered as part of enhancing political cooperation.

Today it has become a necessity,&#8221; he said.

He added that knowledge circulation was more important and that it should be used to improve lives on Earth


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## RPK

*ISRO earned over Rs 100 crore from foreign satellite launches
*


NEW DELHI: ISRO earned over Rs 100 crore in the last three years by launching satellites of other countries, Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj 
Chavan told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. 

The space agency launched 12 foreign satellites during the last three years, including six nano satellites at a cost of Rs 101.60 crore, he said. 

In reply to a separate query, Chavan said ISRO also plans to launch a Naval satellite in 2010-11 which would provide communication facility to various naval vessels. 

He said the ISRO plans to send human beings in space and undertake planetary exploration within the next decade. 

"The overall thrust of the space programme for the future is to sustain and strengthen space-based services in a self-reliant manner towards national development and develop space technology capabilities in the areas of advanced satellites," Chavan said. 

The space programme also envisages enhancing capabilities in the areas of satellite communications, navigation, earth observation and human space flight in addition to pursuing research in space science, astronomy and planetary exploration, he said. 

ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is capable of putting into orbit a 500 kg payload to undertake a mission to Mars.


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## deckingraj

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Great news... I was about to post it when realized you have already done so ... Though 100 crores is a miniature amount yet it gives an inclination about how much progress ISRO has made...If i can read right...things are looking great for ISRO in future....


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## Skies

Any Indian should proud for ISRO. They've showed how to make pride for the nation and people. I appreciate their all missions and tryings. I think ISRO will be model for follow for other agencies in developing countries.







*"India in the Air"*

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## Tejas-MkII

EADS eyes tie-up with ISRO on hypersonic plane technologies- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

EADS eyes tie-up with ISRO on hypersonic plane technologies

4 Dec 2009, 1812 hrs IST, PTI

BANGALORE: EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services, is keen to forge partnership with ISRO on supersonic and hypersonic 
aeroplane technologies, a top company official said. 

"We are looking very much into the future," Chief Technical Officer of EADS, Jean Botti, said here today on possible collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) going forward. 

*"ISRO has a lot of knowledge," *Botti said, adding EADS also sees potential between ISRO and the Franco-German group in the area of propulsion technology. EADS is looking at the possibility of working with ISRO in the context of "niche aeroplanes", he said. 

*EADS is keen on building "green" aeroplanes acceptable to society and it's here that he sees a partnership role for ISRO with his company. *

EADS group, which includes Airbus, Eurocopter and Astrium, generated revenues of Euro 43.3 billion in 2008 and employed a workforce of 118,000. 

Astrium, EADS' space business entity, already has a partnership with ISRO's commercial arm Antrix on joint building and delivery of satellites of two tonne to 2.5 tonne class. 

Botti said EADS also saw opportunities in the biotech sector in India, adding, it's in discussions with companies in the space. "Biotechnology...we are going to look into very closely". 

*He praised the "lot of brain talent" and English-speaking highly educated youngsters in India, saying it motivated EADS to undertake research in this country. *

Asked about the rejection of a proposed joint venture between EADS and Larsen & Toubro by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board because it would exceed cap on foreign investment, Botti said the issue is being evaluated. 

"*We are still in the understanding mode. Too premature to give information on this. We are trying to understand the situation," he said. *

*EADS-L&T proposal, to supply electronic warfare systems, avionics and radars, was rejected as it did not adhere to the 26 per cent upper limit prescribed for foreign direct investment in companies in the defence sector. *

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## Tejas-MkII

Astrosat all set to be launched next year: Isro

*Astrosat all set to be launched next year: Isro *

Press Trust Of India / Mumbai December 06, 2009, 0:20 IST 



Indias first science satellite Astrosat is all set to be launched next year, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Madhavan Nair said today.

*One more satellite Aditya to study Suns coronal mass ejection (CME) would be launched in two years while the science mission to planet Mars by 2013, Nair said,* addressing a galaxy of scientists from India and abroad and the student community at the Grand Finale function of Bhabha Centenary celebrations, which concluded today.

*The multi-wavelength astronomy mission Astrosat on an Indian remote sensing satellite-class satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit would be launched next year, he said, adding it will be launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from the Sriharikota launchpad. The expected operating life time of the satellite will be of five years*.

Adiyta will be launched in next two years to study the properties of CMEs, that are gigantic bubbles of electrified gas that billow away from the Sun.


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## brahmastra

*First science satellite to be launched next year: ISRO*

Indias first science satellite Astrosat is all set to be launched next year, the former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, Madhavan Nair, said on Saturday.

One more satellite, Aditya, to study Suns coronal mass ejection (CME) will be launched in two years and the science mission to planet Mars by 2013, Mr. Nair said, addressing a galaxy of scientists from India and abroad and the student community at the grand finale of the Bhabha centenary celebrations, which concluded on Saturday.

The multi-wavelength astronomy mission ASTROSAT on an Indian remote sensing satellite-class satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit will be launched next year, he said. It will be launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from the Sriharikota launch pad. The expected operating life time of the satellite will be of five years.

Adiyta will be launched in next two years to study the properties of CMEs that are gigantic bubbles of electrified gas that billow away from the Sun.


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## Screaming Skull

Dr. V Adimurthy, Associate Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Center gave a presentation on Indias future Human Space Flight Programs at the International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, Korea on 15 October this year.

Here are a few of his presentation slides and a complete video of all the presentations. Notice that apart from the publicly announced missions like manned space mission, mars mission and lunar mission, ISRO is also considering missions to Venus and some asteroids like Toutatis, Apollo, Eros, Itokawa and Vesta! 

Enjoy!

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## deckingraj

*India to test world's third largest solid rocket booster* 

The Indian space agency is expected to take a major step in January towards realising its next generation rocket by *ground-firing the world's third largest - in terms of fuel mass and length - solid rocket booster developed in-house.*

An Indian Space Reasearch Organisation (ISRO) official said: *"The large solid propellant booster project was taken up nearly a decade ago and will achieve its first milestone next month."* 

Recently, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the static testing of the booster will happen soon.

The 200-tonne solid propellant rocket booster - designed to power ISRO's next generation (geosynchronous launch vehicle) GSLV Mark III - *will be ground tested at India's space port Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, 80 km from here.*

The stage is *expected to burn for 103 seconds.*  

*In terms of fuel mass and length GSLV Mark III's 200 tonne, 25 metre long solid boosters will rank after US Space Shuttle's booster (fuel mass of 440 tonne, 37.8 metre) and Europe's Ariane (fuel mass 240 tonne, length 31.6 metre).*

Measured in *terms of diametre ISRO's new solid booster will rank second in the world with 3.2 metre while that of Space Shuttle and Ariane measure were 3.6 metre and 3.05 metre respectively.* 

*As to fuel burn time the ranking will be in the order of Ariane (130 seconds), Space Shuttle (123 seconds) and GSLV Mark III (103 seconds).* 

However, the US is developing much larger first stage solid rocket motor for its new rocket Ares1. The diametre is 3.77 metre, length 52 metre with a propellant capacity of 625 tonne with a burn time of 123 seconds.

While the US recovers Space Shuttle booster steel casings for re-use, ISRO has no such plans as it requires parachutes for soft landing on the Indian seas and the issues relating to reuse.

"The steel casing has to be cleaned of salt deposits and refurbished for re-0use," the ISRO official told IANS on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The 42.4-metre-tall GSLV Mark III rocket with a lift off weight of 630 tonne is being designed to reach towards the heavens sometime in 2011 carrying communication satellites weighing upto five tonne thereby making India self sufficient in respect of launch vehicles.

The first stage of the three fuel stage rocket will be two identical solid boosters strapped onto the second stage, the L110 re-startable liquid stage.

*The third stage is the cryogenic stage powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.*

The large payload fairing measures 5 metre in diameter and can accommodate a payload volume of 100 cubic metre.

*ISRO's existing rockets - the three stage GSLV and four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)- has a lower carrying capacity.*

The present GSLV can carry a luggage of 2.5 tonne to be ejected in geo-transfer orbit (GTO) while PSLV can sling 1.6 tonne and 1.1 tonne satellites into polar orbit and GTO respectively.

*Interestingly, January 2010 will be a landmark month in ISRO's calendar for one more reason.*

The space agency will be flying its GSLV powered by its own cryogenic engine.

Solid propellant boosters of different rockets

Parameter Space Shuttle Ariane 5 GSLV MK III

USA Europe India

1. Diameter (metre) 3.6 3.05 3.2

2. Length (metre) 37.8 31.6 25

3. Number of Segments 4 3 3

4. Propellant Type Ap+Al+ HTPB Ap+Al+ HTPB Ap+Al+HTPB

5. Total Mass (tonne) 500 276 220

6. Propellant Mass (tonne) 440 240 200

7. Average Thrust(tons) 1,040 500 400

8. Nozzzle gimballing 8 degree 6 degree 8 degree

9. Firing duration (seconds) 123 130 103

10. Motor case Material Steel Steel Steel 

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India to test world's third largest solid rocket booster

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## sudhir007

*Launching soon: A film on Chandrayaan, starring APJ Kalam*

Mumbai: Former president APJ Adbul Kalam is debuting as an actor, though he will play himself in a half-hour documentary on India's successful Chandrayaan-1 launch on October 22 last year. UTV is making the documentary for the ministry of external affairs.

The movie showcases how the mission made the country a coveted member of the international space club. "It was a first in many ways, when an indigenous spacecraft was launched beyond the earth's orbit. The Chandrayaan documentary by UTV celebrates this successful venture," a statement from the film-makers read.

Rahul Bhatia of UTV Television, said, "It is an honour to be associated with this mission the world is proud of." The film will also show the downside, when India had to abort the mission in August 2009 and the success story -- indicating presence of water on the moon. The film was shot extensively at Isro establishments. Kalam apart, it also features G Madhvan Nair and G Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairmen. Italso talks of Chandrayaan's next phase.

Launching soon: A film on Chandrayaan, starring APJ Kalam - dnaindia.com


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## gogbot

Is it going to be in English or hindi.


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## indiatech

Bell-Bottom blues.

ISROs APPLE satellite being transported on a Bullock Cart in 1981.

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## gogbot

indiatech said:


> Bell-Bottom blues.
> 
> ISROs APPLE satellite being transported on a Bullock Cart in 1981.



dude photoshop

seriously.

I know we had humble beginnings but wtf

Thats just taking it a bit to far.


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## Red Dwarf

gogbot said:


> dude photoshop
> 
> seriously.
> 
> I know we had humble beginnings but wtf
> 
> Thats just taking it a bit to far.



Yes that must be a fake one. More over APPLE was launched from Kourou.


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## Screaming Skull

gogbot said:


> dude photoshop
> 
> seriously.
> 
> I know we had humble beginnings but wtf
> 
> Thats just taking it a bit to far.





Red Dwarf said:


> Yes that must be a fake one. More over APPLE was launched from Kourou.



That image is genuine guys! In fact it is posted on ISRO's official website. Take a look-

Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - Other Images - Image Gallery -

ISRO had very very humble beginnings. Bullock carts and horse carts were used not only to transport equipment but also to perform vibration analysis on them.

There is nothing shameful about it. In fact it makes me really proud as an Indian to see how far ISRO has come since then.

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## Iggy

Screaming Skull said:


> That image is genuine guys! In fact it is posted on ISRO's official website. Take a look-
> 
> Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - Other Images - Image Gallery -
> 
> ISRO had very very humble beginnings. Bullock carts and horse carts were used not only to transport equipment but also to perform vibration analysis on them.
> 
> There is nothing shameful about it. In fact it makes me really proud as an Indian to see how far ISRO has come since then.




The best photo was the rocket being carried in the cycle..looking at that I feel so proud that from a humble beginning we reached to the moon now

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## Screaming Skull

seiko said:


> The best photo was the rocket being carried in the cycle..looking at that I feel so proud that from a humble beginning we reached to the moon now



This one? 




Well moon is just the beginning. Take a look at this thread I started. We are aiming for Mars, Venus and several asteroids too.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/40877-india-s-human-space-flight-programs-detailed.html

And guys please do post on the above thread.

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## gogbot

Screaming Skull said:


> That image is genuine guys! In fact it is posted on ISRO's official website. Take a look-
> 
> Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - Other Images - Image Gallery -
> 
> ISRO had very very humble beginnings. Bullock carts and horse carts were used not only to transport equipment but also to perform vibration analysis on them.
> 
> There is nothing shameful about it. In fact it makes me really proud as an Indian to see how far ISRO has come since then.



But why skull.

How can they make a satellite, and then decide not to use a Motorized vehicle.

Only in India it was that a A bull lugged a satellite to a rocket.

But honestly, How the hell did they Make the Rocket and then forget the truck.

But i must say symbolically, its a Perfect metaphor for India.

We can make the rocket.
We can make the Satellite

But we are the only ones to use a Bullock cart for the In between.


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## Screaming Skull

gogbot said:


> But why skull.
> 
> *How can they make a satellite, and then decide not to use a Motorized vehicle.*
> 
> Only in India it was that a A bull lugged a satellite to a rocket.
> 
> But honestly, How the hell did they Make the Rocket and then forget the truck.
> 
> But i must say symbolically, its a Perfect metaphor for India.
> 
> We can make the rocket.
> We can make the Satellite
> 
> But we are the only ones to use a Bullock cart for the In between.





Yes that s a good question to ask and I was wondering why no one asked me that yet!

They definitely had other means of transportation and didn&#8217;t have to use bullock carts. In fact ISRO had padded up an air-conditioned transport truck for the purpose of transportation of the APPLE. But, soon they realized that the metal in the truck was throwing off reflections which were affecting the satellite's antenna. Also, the static charges within the truck too were a problem. Then somebody in the group hit on the idea of a bullock cart, which is made of wood and they say it worked perfectly. Also, notice that they modified the cart and attached rubber wheels to suppress vibrations &#8211; generally a bullock cart has wooden wheels.

Truly ingenious! Isn&#8217;t it? That s what we call the great Indian &#8216;Jugaad&#8217;!

ps: I hear that Indian profs are teaching concepts of 'Jugaad' to B-School students in the US 

India's Next Global Export: Jugaad

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## gogbot

Screaming Skull said:


> Yes that s a good question to ask and I was wondering why no one asked me that yet!
> 
> They definitely had other means of transportation and didnt have to use bullock carts. In fact ISRO had padded up an air-conditioned transport truck for the purpose of transportation of the APPLE. But, soon they realized that the metal in the truck was throwing off reflections which were affecting the satellite's antenna. Also, the static charges within the truck too were a problem. Then somebody in the group hit on the idea of a bullock cart, which is made of wood and they say it worked perfectly. Also, notice that they modified the cart and attached rubber wheels to suppress vibrations  generally a bullock cart has wooden wheels.
> 
> Truly ingenious! Isnt it? That s what we call the great Indian Jugaad!
> 
> ps: I hear that Indian profs are teaching concepts of 'Jugaad' to B-School students in the US
> 
> India's Next Global Export: Jugaad



Its a pity, we didn't have a Film or document these launches.

Because i would really like to know how that Conversation went down.

I mean how does Some one even get the Idea of Putting a Multi Million dollar piece of equipment(fragile) on the back of cart pulled by an Animal. and then suggest that to his colleagues, who have slaved away for months to build the machine, With out having them think your completely insane.

You see many things that make you go wtf. But knowing the fact that A bull, played a crucial Mission critical role in the deployment of a communication satellite. Is pretty high up on the list of things that make you go wtf.

We are laughing about this now.

But just imagine what was going through the Mind's of everyone at ISRO when it was decided to do this.

They probably thought, It was all going to go horribly wrong. at some point.


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## indiatech

A plenty of things will get a wtf by people( foreigners and indians ) specially working abroad and see indians work their way. Most of which are countries where people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. But things are not same back home.

But it hardly maters why should we give a damn about what westerners or NRIs (no less than foreigners when abroad) think of how things go in india. Hardly maters how hard they laugh.

Indian way of doing things comes from traditional way of observing things, extensive use nature and its products in the form of simple machines which suites the indian environment.

Other way of seeing what went in their minds would be as confidence on things which actualy work since centuries i.e bullock cart.


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## gogbot

indiatech said:


> A plenty of things will get a wtf by people( foreigners and indians ) specially working abroad and see indians work their way. Most of which are countries where people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. But things are not same back home.
> 
> But it hardly maters why should we give a damn about what westerners or NRIs (no less than foreigners when abroad) think of how things go in india. Hardly maters how hard they laugh.
> 
> Indian way of doing things comes from traditional way of observing things, extensive use nature and its products in the form of simple machines which suites the indian environment.
> 
> Other way of seeing what went in their minds would be as confidence on things which actualy work since centuries i.e bullock cart.



Dude regardless of where your from. and what you may think about me.

Do you not see the symbolic humor of using a A bullock cart to transport a multi-Million dollar satellite. To a Multi-million dollar rocket.

I mean sure you are right, they got it to work.
But i just wanted to see, a documentary on this specific launch so i can see how they even got such a orthodox idea.

You really didnt need to give me 
"India we have our way speech"
and then brand me an NRI. 

You and seem to have a different understanding of wtf moments.
to me it's something that make you go "eh, what now ?" 

You seem to see it as something negative.

GEEZ DUDE SERIOUSLY chill out, i was just commenting on what is probably one of the most humerus foot notes in ISRO's history.


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## Naradmuni

Friends, do we have any updates about GSLV MK 2 launch date?? 

If it's scheduled for dec end as planned, then probably ISRO should have issued notification and launch window details uptill now.


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## Red Dwarf

So India going to use its on cryogenic engines. Is there any modification/up gradation needed for this engine when it is going to be used in GSLV Mark 3.


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## Free Tibet

*Studies are underway on interplanetary mission to Mars, Venus ets.,* and possible cooperation with other space faring countries. India continues to participate in various international meetings including United Nations Committee meetings to evolve guidelines to check militarization of outer space.

This was stated by Shri Prithviraj Chavan, the Minister of State (I/C) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences in the Lok Sabha.


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## RPK

Satellites facing parking problems in space - SiliconIndia

Bangalore: Having 12,000 satellites in the space, of which only 20 percent are working, the space faces parking problems due to space debris and other unwanted materials.

While interacting with Dikshant International School's students and staffs at school's media centre, Suresh Naik, Former Group Director of ISRO says that a satellite has a life of 15 to 20 years, after which it gets lost in the space, according to Indian Express. 



Naik also showed a presentation carrying the facts and pictures related to Chandrayaan-I and explained the different stages of making of a rocket and a satellite. He showed the video of the launching of Chandrayaan-I and the visuals of the research centre. 

During the session, Naik also answered the queries of the students. Answering a question Naik said that the Indian Space and Science Technology Centre was situated at Thiruvantpuram and that he had worked under the ISRO scientists with former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, being the Chancellor of the university. 

Answering another question, he said that scientists were seeing Mars as an alternative habitat for humans and by 2035, the first human should be able to reach Mars. He said that according to plans, two years prior to this robot would land on Mars. 

He also educated students about Chandrayaan-II and Chandrayaan-III, the upcoming projects of the ISRO. Chandrayaan-II, which would carry two rovers for the further exploration of the moon is scheduled for 2013 *while Chandrayaan-III is scheduled for 2015. *


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## Red Dwarf

Even though the Chandrayaan-I was successful in many ways and it created many first for India, I'm not all satisfied with the performance, reliability of the satellite and the public relation part from ISRO.

The satellite had faced thermal problems soon after it entered into moon orbit, its main navigation and backup are all gone in a matter of months. Due to this, they had to raise the orbit but what ISRO said is that, they got all information from 100 km altitude so they are raising the orbit to 200km. What more information will you get from equipments which are created to work in 100km range. They could have protected that satellite, if they had better heat insulation and gathered information from other nations.

The instruments which provided the initial data about water and others are all foreign one. The result from the Indian payload are yet to arrive and they are not saying anything about it. Also they haven't released any pictures of the mission other than some here and there.


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## gogbot

Red Dwarf said:


> Even though the Chandrayaan-I was successful in many ways and it created many first for India, I'm not all satisfied with the performance, reliability of the satellite and the public relation part from ISRO.
> 
> The satellite had faced thermal problems soon after it entered into moon orbit, its main navigation and backup are all gone in a matter of months. Due to this, they had to raise the orbit but what ISRO said is that, they got all information from 100 km altitude so they are raising the orbit to 200km. What more information will you get from equipments which are created to work in 100km range. They could have protected that satellite, if they had better heat insulation and gathered information from other nations.
> 
> The instruments which provided the initial data about water and others are all foreign one. The result from the Indian payload are yet to arrive and they are not saying anything about it. Also they haven't released any pictures of the mission other than some here and there.



First signs of water were found using the equipment on the Moon impact probe. These results were latter confirmed by the NASA instruments that ISRO Invited to be placed on CH-1

Sure mishaps happen, ISRO was careless with The Thermal Insulation,
And underestimated the Heat CH-1 would have to withstand from sunlight reflecting on the moon. But lets face it Space travel is still very dangerous, Mis-haps are very frequent in this area of science.
We have no idea of know why ISRO's calculations were off the mark. Any number of factors could have contributed to it.

But they got it to the moon and then kept it running for 10 months.
regardless, and no matter what any one can say some good scientific information was extracted out of the whole venture.

Considering the many number of things that could have gone wrong, ISRO did good job.


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## Red Dwarf

> We have no idea of know why ISRO's calculations were off the mark. Any number of factors could have contributed to it.



It can be due to inadequate modeling. Insufficient thermal vacuum testing or lack of experience with planetary spacecraft or it can also be due to no communication with other successful nations.

Don't forget that LRO works in 50 km.


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## Naradmuni

ISRO to launch GSLV MK2 in January
​

Bangalore, Dec 4: Ushering in a new era of development of space technology, Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) would launch its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV), using its own cryogenic stage and engine, next month.

A top source in ISRO told UNI today that a four-tonne satellite would ride on the rocket powered by the indigenously developed cryogenic engine between January 15 and 23. 

Preparation was underway at brisk pace at ISRO's spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, close to Chennai city. GSLV would be carrying on board GSAT-4 experimental communication satellite.

The success of the launch would mean a major milestone for ISRO, which had carried out the moon mission quite successfully recently.

This will also put India with the select group of nations, who have their own cryogenic technology and make it capable of 'all' aspects of launch vehicle technology, the sources said.

Previously ISRO was depending on Russian cryogenic states but denied the technology under the pressure purportedly put on Russia by the United States. Unperturbed ISRO began to develop its own engine in 1996 and today is ready to demonstrate its capability in the most complex of space launch technology.

According to former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair, who had a major part to play in development of cryogenic technology, development of new materials, handling of fluid fuel at cryogenic temperature and fabrication had been challenging. 


--UNI

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## Tejas-MkII

SuperNova: Ground-firing of S200

*Ground-firing of S200 *


ISRO is supposed to take the first step towards the launch of GSLV-Mk III by ground-firing the S200 booster in January, 2010. S200 is a major component of the Mk-III, providing the thrust at lift-off of the launch vehicle.

*The S200 is the third biggest solid booster of any launch vehicle in active service, after the space Shuttle's SRBs and Ariane-5's EAP. This in a way shows that India is going beyond what was historically thought to be a Soviet-based space program. It's a matter of fact that Soviet and soviet based programs like the Chinese, never use solid propellent on their heavy-launch vehicles. Whereas, it's the western space programs that are famous for their extensive use of solids in heavy-lift vehiclea and crew-launch vehicles.*

The S200 is a expendable stage carrying 200 tons of propellant with a lenght of 25 m and diameter of 3.2 m. The thrust at liftoff should be around 7000 kN. But, the average thrust output should be around 4500 kN to go with the stated burn-time of 103-104 seconds. 

*The ground-firing of the S200 will mark the successful development of 2 stages of the Mk-III, viz the L110 and the S200. The C25 is the final stage that remains. According to reports, ISRO has already finalized the design of CE-20 and that the process of fabrication also seems to have started. Once the engine is completed, its will be tested extensively following which there will be full-stage firing of the C25 stage.*

*Althought ISRO has quoted a launch of 2011 for the Mk-III, it would be an almost improbable task given the status of the upper stage. Fabrication to certication normally takes around 2-3 years. So, it would be safe to assume that the probable launch date of Mk-III would more-likely be 2012-13. *

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## sudhir007

Get our runways running- Hindustan Times

The Delhi airport handles more than 700 flights a day. A big number, you might think, considering the nagging delays and other problems that frequent flyers complain they encounter regularly.

But compare the figure with those of airports in the US and it loses its bite.

The Atlanta International airport, for instance, handles 2,680 flights every day, Chicago&#8217;s O&#8217;Hare International Airport 2,415.

Compared to the three functional runways of Delhi&#8217;s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Atlanta has five and the Chicago airport seven.

How do you think Uncle Sam&#8217;s airports handle the congestion so well?

The experts we talked to pointed at the cutting edge navigational systems they employ.

Air congestion has been well accounted for at IGIA since the third runway was opened last year. The separation between landing aircraft has been reduced from 5 nautical miles to 3 nautical miles.

But the airport has still been unable to handle the growing number of flights seamlessly.

In September last year, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) that handles air traffic at all civil airports in the country introduced a satellite-based Performance Based Navigation System (PBNS) in Delhi and Mumbai airports.

The new system was expected to enhance the flight handling capacity of IGIA from 40 flight movements per hour (the current figure) to 50-60 movements. The system is yet to function properly in Delhi.

PBNS can automatically determine an aircraft's path that makes its approach and landing more precise and faster. The aircraft, however, must be equipped with the system too.



To be on time

&#8220;Only about 45 per cent of aircraft operating from IGIA had the system on board," said a senior air traffic controller (ATC), who didn't wish to be identified.

&#8220;While most aircraft of scheduled airlines have the system, the same is not true of the small aircraft and chartered flights. As a result, we had to constantly shuttle between the old ground-based system and PBNS. This only caused more delays.&#8221;

An AAI spokesman confirmed the system had been &#8220;pushed back&#8221; in Delhi.

&#8220;In Delhi, we had been working in different modes for some time and all runways were not always available,&#8221; the spokesman said.

&#8220;By using the (satellite-based) system, we will be able to precisely monitor an aircraft....&#8221;

Only a shift from the present ground based navigation system to one based on satellite, senior ATCs said, can solve the problem of air traffic congestion for good.



Isro help

This is where the AAI&#8217;s ambitious GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN), jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, comes into play. It will allow for better precision with the GPS-based aircraft position and will allow closer routes and enhanced capacity.

&#8220;GAGAN is in the final operation phase and requires some certifications,&#8221; he said. "We will also need to connect all ground stations before it can be launched.&#8221;


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## RPK

*Russia to help India build manned spaceship*

Moscow: Russia will help India build a domestic manned spaceship by 2020 sharing the technology used in developing Souyz spacecraft, a senior official said today. 

"The Indian side intends to use the experience of building the manned spaceship Soyuz to advance in building their own spaceship. We will build this spaceship on a similar technical scheme, but it will not resemble Soyuz," he said. 

Chief of the department of piloted programmes of the federal space agency (Roskosmos) Alexei Krasnov told Itar-Tass news agency that the Soyuz is heavier and cannot be launched by a light Indian booster. 

"These plans are outlined until 2020," he said. 

President and Designer General of the Russian Aerospace Corporation Energia Vitaly Lopota said the corporation's specialists "possess all space technologies," which they can share with Indian partners. 

"With Roskosmos's appropriate support we will be able to reequip technically and increase the production of the spaceships Soyuz," he noted.


New spaceships Soyuz can also be used for the spaceflights of first Indian astronauts. This issue has already been discussed with India, Krasnov said.

"A flight of Indian astronauts aboard the Soyuz without a mission to the ISS was among the issues, which we discussed with Indian partners," he noted.

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## sudhir007

hEEWy7xhLus[/media] - IAC2009: Human Lunar Exploration


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## RPK

ISRO to launch geo-stationary experimental satellite - Varanasi - City - The Times of India

VARANASI: "The understanding of basic sciences is essential to excel in application sciences, whether it is electronics or photonics," said Prof SK Kak, vice-chancellor, Choudhary Charan Singh Meerut University during the valedictory function of the three-day international conference on emerging trends in electronics and photonic devices and systems (Electro-2009) that concluded at Banaras Hindu University on Thursday. 

As a chief guest of the function, Prof Kak stressed on the need for collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach in physical and basic sciences. While emphasising on stem cell revolution and use of nano technology, he said: "A number of emerging fields in science demand connectivity and integration of system, development biology and synergy of various streams of science can do wonders in this direction." 

Focussing on the fundamentals of basic sciences, scientist Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI) Pilani (Rajasthan) Dr SN Joshi said the future of electronic and photonic devices lie in synergy of semi conductors and vacuum technology that demand strong knowledge of basic sciences. 

On the occasion, coordinator of the programme Prof P Chakrabarti of department of Electronics Engineering Institute of Technology (IT), BHU said the department along with other departments of life sciences has started collaborative research to enrich knowledge in the university. 

Director Development Education and Communication Unit Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr KS Dasgupta streamlined the importance of information and communication technology (ICT). He too focussed on the need for innovation through cross connectivity in application sciences. 

Later, talking to reporters Dasgupta said ISRO was all set to launch a new geo-stationary experimental satellite in the first quarter of next year. It would be a communication and propagation based experimental satellite that would use KA band frequency. 

A number of experts in electronics and photonics from different parts of the country and abroad were present on the occasion.


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## indiatech

*Russia may send spacecraft to knock away asteroid*



MOSCOW  Russia's space agency chief said Wednesday a spacecraft may be dispatched to knock a large asteroid off course and reduce the chances of earth impact, even though U.S. scientists say such a scenario is unlikely.

Anatoly Perminov told Golos Rossii radio the space agency would hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis. He said his agency might eventually invite NASA, the European Space Agency, the Chinese space agency and others to join the project.

When the 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated its chances of smashing into Earth in its first flyby, in 2029, at 1-in-37.

Further studies have ruled out the possibility of an impact in 2029, when the asteroid is expected to come no closer than 18,300 miles (29,450 kilometers) from Earth's surface, but they indicated a small possibility of a hit on subsequent encounters.

NASA had put the chances that Apophis could hit Earth in 2036 as 1-in-45,000. In October, after researchers recalculated the asteroid's path, the agency changed its estimate to 1-in-250,000.

NASA said another close encounter in 2068 will involve a 1-in-330,000 chance of impact.

"It wasn't anything to worry about before. Now it's even less so," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Without mentioning NASA's conclusions, Perminov said that he heard from a scientist that Apophis is getting closer and may hit the planet. "I don't remember exactly, but it seems to me it could hit the Earth by 2032," Perminov said.

"People's lives are at stake. We should pay several hundred million dollars and build a system that would allow us to prevent a collision, rather than sit and wait for it to happen and kill hundreds of thousands of people," Perminov said.

Scientists have long theorized about asteroid deflection strategies. Some have proposed sending a probe to circle around a dangerous asteroid to gradually change its trajectory. Others suggested sending a spacecraft to collide with the asteroid and alter its momentum, or hitting it with nuclear weapons.

Perminov wouldn't disclose any details of the project, saying they still need to be worked out. But he said the mission wouldn't require any nuclear explosions.

Hollywood action films "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon," have featured space missions scrambling to avoid catastrophic collisions. In both movies, space crews use nuclear bombs in an attempt to prevent collisions.

"Calculations show that it's possible to create a special purpose spacecraft within the time we have, which would help avoid the collision," Perminov said. "The threat of collision can be averted."

Boris Shustov, the director of the Institute of Astronomy under the Russian Academy of Sciences, hailed Perminov's statement as a signal that officials had come to recognize the danger posed by asteroids.

"Apophis is just a symbolic example, there are many other dangerous objects we know little about," he said, according to RIA Novosti news agency.


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## RPK

Chennai, Dec 30 (IANS) The Indian and French space agencies have sought research proposals on data to be generated from a payload on a satellite to be launched next year.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d&#8217;Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency have called for research proposals on the data to be generated from AltiKA, a payload in Satellite with ARgos and AltiKa (SARAL).

&#8220;The ISRO built satellite with payloads modules (AltiKa altimeter, DORIS, LRA and ARgos-3, data collection system) provided CNES will be launched by Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle into the sun synchronous orbit (SSO),&#8221; S. Satish, director, Publications and Public Relations, told IANS from Bangalore.

According to ISRO, the objective of the SARAL/AltiKa mission is to realise precise, repetitive global measurements of sea surface height, significant wave height and wind speed for developing operational oceanography, understanding of climate variability and developing forecasting capabilities.

AltiKa will be the first space borne altimeter to operate in Ka band.

Data from the payloads are meant for addressing various research areas, primarily in oceanographic and atmospheric science.

For those Indian researchers who are in need, ISRO will provide the funding support.

The total satellite mass will be less than 450 kg and that of the payload will be less than 200 kg.

ISRO officials are not able to comment on the main luggage that the rocket would carry as PSLV can carry higher weight.

ISRO and CNES had signed an MOU for SARAL in 2007.



Read more: Proposals sought for studying India-French satellite data


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## RPK

The Hindu : News / States : NASA scientist sees bright future for India&rsquo;s space programme

``The future of Space Science in India is bright and India&#8217;s successful lunar Mission, Chandrayan-I, is a testimony to this bare truth,&#8217;&#8217; says Shyam Bhaskaran, scientist attached to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Dr. Bhaskaran who had worked closely with Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore in India&#8217;s maiden Moon Mission was talking to The Hindu during his visit to Mar Athanasios College For AdvancedStudies Thiruvalla (MACFAST) at Thukalasserry near Thiruvalla on Wednesday. 

The landmark achievement of Chandrayan-I was its successful discovery of water molecules in polar regions of the moon. This has been accredited as an important discovery and the whole credit goes to the ISRO-NASA joint venture, said Dr. Bhaskaran. 

``I personally feel that the ISRO-NASA collaboration should continue in the proposed Chandrayaan-II mission too and I will be happy to work for the cause, if my organisation takes a decision to that effect,&#8217;&#8217;he added. 

Born in Mumbai, Dr. Bhaskaran is the supervisor of NASA&#8217;s Outer Planets Navigation Group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He started his career as an orbit determination specialist on the Malileo Mission and since then, he had served as a member of the navigation team for several missions, including Deep Space-I and Mars Odyssey and as the navigation lead for the European Mars Express and JPL&#8217;s MRO missions. 

He was one of the principal architects of NASA&#8217;s autonomous navigation system used on Deep Space-I and is currently a navigator and member of the imaging science team for the STARDUST mission. 

Former President, A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, too appreciated this 48-year old NASA scientist of Indian origin in the Indian Parliament for his achievement as the team leader of the Deep Impact-I Mission that had\successfully smashed into the comet Tempel-I in July, 2005. 

Dr Shyam says the crushing of the comet attains much significance by becoming an important milestone to develop standardised techniques for combating asteroids which may hit the earth in future. 

According to him, the primary goal was to peer beneath the surface of a comet, revealing freshly exposed material for clues to the early formation of the solar system. He said NASA is on an extended missionto image comet Hartley-II on November 4, 2010. 

He says India should be proud of the indigenously developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and its successful lunar mission. 

Dr. Bhaskaran says India is sure to witness a big drive in the overall development of the country by giving thrust on the development of Space Science and Technology. Development of Space Science and 

Technology will further prove as an inspiration for the youth in the modern age of science and reasoning, he adds. 

Dr. Shyam has also made a presentation for the students on `47 Years of space exploration&#8217; at the MACFAST auditorium, later. Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, college principal and Dr Balagopalan, resident dean of Bio-Campus, also spoke.


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## Red Dwarf

I'm tired of seeing satellite launches. I want an Indian in space......


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## balbir pasha

Red Dwarf said:


> I'm tired of seeing satellite launches. I want an Indian in space......



Tired of satellites, eh? Its something that countries like Pakistan are dying to see.

BTW, I hope it would be delivered in time by 2015.


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## gogbot

Red Dwarf said:


> I'm tired of seeing satellite launches. I want an Indian in space......



Wait till 2015.

Or you can give ISRO about 20 billion dollars to speed up the project.

Spaces exploration is an expensive endeavor. ISRO has to work with what it has. 



> Government has allocated Rs. 95 crore (US$10 million) for pre-project initiatives for 2007 through 2008. A manned mission into space would require about Rs. 12,400 crore (US$3 billion) and a period of seven years. Planning Commission estimates that a budget of Rs. 5000 crore (US$1 billion) is required for initial work of the manned mission during eleventh five year plan (2007-12).




Hell we can be on the moon before the end of the decade if we gave them all the cash they wanted.( the Americans did it in 1969 with a Computer as smart as my laptop, I think we have significant advantage over them on that today)(same goes for most space organizations who have a foundation to work on.) .

If the Americans had the money they could be on Mars by 2025. May be even the Chinese.


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## Red Dwarf

gogbot said:


> Wait till 2015.
> 
> Or you can give ISRO about 20 billion dollars to speed up the project.
> 
> Spaces exploration is an expensive endeavor. ISRO has to work with what it has.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hell we can be on the moon before the end of the decade if we gave them all the cash they wanted.( the Americans did it in 1969 with a Computer as smart as my laptop, I think we have significant advantage over them on that today)(same goes for most space organizations who have a foundation to work on.) .
> 
> If the Americans had the money they could be on Mars by 2025. May be even the Chinese.


I'm not sure about the 2015 target. We haven't started anything. We yet build a launch vehicle capable of launching a manned mission. No start on the spacecraft. No astronaut training programs. etc

Btw, just curious; is there any plan for Japan or EU to sent a manned mission.


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## balbir pasha

Red Dwarf said:


> I'm not sure about the 2015 target. We haven't started anything. We yet build a launch vehicle capable of launching a manned mission. No start on the spacecraft. No astronaut training programs. etc
> 
> Btw, just curious; is there any plan for Japan or EU to sent a manned mission.



My friend, astronaut training program has already started in russia. Astrounaut traing facility is under construction in HYD or BLR I am not sure about the place right now. Modified design of soyuz is being worked upon. I think it would be feasible by 2015.


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## gogbot

Red Dwarf said:


> I'm not sure about the 2015 target. We haven't started anything. We yet build a launch vehicle capable of launching a manned mission. No start on the spacecraft. No astronaut training programs. etc
> 
> Btw, just curious; is there any plan for Japan or EU to sent a manned mission.




if we already had a launch vehicle we could be in space by 2012.
The Americans and Soviets did it 1950's-1960's, why cant we do it today

Check out the links.

Plan panel okays ISRO manned space flight

Orbital Vehicle



> ISRO to discuss manned mission to moon - India - The Times of India



And always of course there is wiki

Indian human spaceflight program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also dont read to much into the race. But this is a good way to be informed about Space capabilities in Asia, and their plans for the future.

Asian space race - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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## white_pawn

*1st desi cryogenic engine for GSLV ​* 

Isro Develops Indigenous Tech, To Soon Launch Rockets With It 

Prashanth G N | TNN 

Bangalore: Isro&#8217;s 2010 space dream should be a technological leapfrog. It will soon launch the GSLV-D3 rocket with an indigenous (Indian) cryogenic stage and engine for the first time in the country&#8217;s space history. The space agency has so far been launching GSLV rockets on borrowed Russian technology.

The GSLV launch, if successful, will make India only the fifth or sixth country in the world to launch a rocket with indigenous cryogenic technology. The cryogenic stage is the upper stage of the rocket that will house the cryogenic engine within it. 

&#8220;Cryogenic technology involves the use of super-cooled liquid fuel to launch heavy rockets like GSLV with the fuel being a mix of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. Launching rockets with liquid fuel of the cryogenic kind has never been easy and Isro will do it this time on its own with the stage and engine developed by itself,&#8221; an Isro official said. 

Isro achieved a significant milestone recently when it successfully tested the cryogenic stage. The test was conducted for full flight duration of 720 seconds at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The indigenous cryogenic stage now remains to be tested in actual flight&#8212;on the GSLV-D3. The ground test has validated the design robustness and performance adequacy for its use in GSLV. 

Isro also crossed another major milestone by successfully conducting the Flight Acceptance Hot Test of the indigenous cryogenic engine at Mahendragiri facilities. This engine will be used within the cryogenic stage that has already been developed. 

&#8220;The ground tests have been very good and all parameters have been met. We have completed developing the cryogenic stage and engine. They are in fact being integrated with other stages of the rocket. With the GSLV-D3 launch, we would have achieved our indigenous quest in cryogenic technology. 

&#8220;With the GSLV, we will be able to launch heavy satellites in the range of 2,000 to 2,500 kg. We haven&#8217;t done that before. Placing the satellites successfully in orbit from a GSLV with indigenous cryogenic technology would be a major achievement for us,&#8221; Isro officials said. 

Engine of Growth 

A cryogenic engine is one that uses liquefied gases, mainly liquid hydrogen, as fuel for rockets. Eg, Nasa&#8217;s workhorse space shuttle uses cryogenic hydrogen fuel as its primary means of getting into orbit 

Cryogenic advantage 

Greater thrust to engine Lower fuel consumption Lower fuel costs Faster rocket speed 
The US & the UK always imposed sanctions on transfer of cryogenic technology to India. Russia lent its stage and engine but didn&#8217;t share the knowhow. India has now broken the shackles of such politics


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## Red Dwarf

That GSLV launch postponed to March which was actually scheduled for January.


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## faithfulguy

Red Dwarf said:


> I'm tired of seeing satellite launches. I want an Indian in space......



Indians had been to space before on Suyoz. Read up on Rakesh Sharma


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## Maddy2105

faithfulguy said:


> Indians had been to space before on Suyoz. Read up on Rakesh Sharma



We all know it...He is very famous. We where taught about him in school books


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## Red Dwarf

faithfulguy said:


> Indians had been to space before on Suyoz. Read up on Rakesh Sharma



I meant Indian manned space mission.


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## sudhir007

Indian Space Research Organisation hunt on for vyomanauts &#8211; desi astronauts IDRW.ORG

The hunt for India&#8217;s first astronauts &#8212; &#8216;vyomanauts&#8217; in a desi tweak &#8212; has begun. Two of the four selected vyomanauts (vyoma means &#8216;space&#8217; or &#8216;sky&#8217; in Sanskrit) will finally go on India&#8217;s first manned space mission scheduled to lift off in 2015.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is laying down criteria for short-listing 200 Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilots, from whom four will be selected for the space mission, director-general of medical services, IAF, Air Marshal P Madhusoodanan told DNA.

While two vyomanauts will finally go on the space mission, the other two will remain in reserve.

The reason for choosing vyomanauts from the pool of IAF fighter pilots is that they are already trained to endure high gravity
forces. This makes it easier to train them for space missions. &#8220;The module (for the selection) is being prepared at the moment,&#8221; he said. The run-up to the selection process speeded up after February 2009, when the Union government gave its nod to the Rs12,400-crore manned space flight mission.

India&#8217;s first human space mission envisages a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two vyomanauts into space at an altitude of 300-400 km from sea-level, and safely returning them to Earth. The mission is expected to last between four and seven days.

&#8220;The selection procedure will begin soon. But the final phase (when the four finalists will be selected) will be in 2012 as the selection criteria are very strict,&#8221; Madhusoodanan said.
The candidate vyomanauts will have to answer a Nasa questionnaire before being subjected to physical examination, which would include cardiac, dental, neurological, ophthalmologic, psychological, radiographic, ear-nose-throat (ENT), and other laboratory tests at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) in Bangalore.

The candidates will be tested on the human centrifuge machine at the IAM for endurance while experiencing extreme gravitational forces &#8211; of the kind one experiences during space flights.

Madhusoodanan said the facilities at the IAM were being upgraded in preparation for the tough selection process for vyomanauts.

The final four candidates will undergo astronaut training at the IAM as well as at ISRO&#8217;s astronaut training school. This will be set up on a 100-acre land in North Bangalore by 2012.

The vyomanauts will be trained to survive in the space vehicle environment while enduring micro gravity, pressure and gaseous changes, to keep alert under space flight stresses, to monitor and operate controls and instruments in the case of information failure, to scientifically observe and report beyond what instruments can do, and to control and improve flight systems and sub-systems like a true test pilot.

India has already completed a space capsule recovery experiment (SCRE) in January, 2007, to perfect the art of retrieving the vyomanauts safely after they return from their space mission.

The spacecraft carrying the vyomanauts will be programmed to splash at a predetermined location in the sea before Indian Navy vessels retrieve the vyomanauts for post-mission medical checks.


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## white_pawn

*Chandrayaan-II to take off in 2013: ISRO​*
TIRUCHI: The launch of Indias next moon mission, Chandrayaan-II, will be in the first quarter of 2013 as per schedule, its project head said here on Sunday. 

The project is shaping up as per schedule, Mylswamy Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-I and II of the Indian Space Research Organization, told reporters. 

Chandrayaan II, the second lunar mission, a four-year project under Indo-Russian collaboration, is being executed by ISRO after the success of Chandrayaan I. 

The designs of the rover and orbiter for the mission have been finalized and the fabrication will begin shortly. Chandrayaan-II, also an unmanned mission, will land on the lunar surface and make chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the moon to confirm Chandrayaan-Is findings. 

Unlike the first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-II will not have 11 payloads, but fewer instruments, Annadurai said. It will also investigate the presence of water. 

Chandrayaan-II to take off in 2013: ISRO - India - The Times of India

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## sudhir007

*:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::*

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian defence scientists are readying a weapons system to neutralise enemy satellites operating in low-earth orbit, a top defence scientist said here on Sunday.

"India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites," Defence Research and Development Organisation Director General V K Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress.

However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it. Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit.

Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets.

"We are working to ensure space security and protect our satellites. At the same time we are also working on how to deny the enemy access to its space assets," he said. To achieve such capabilities, a kill vehicle needs to be developed and that process is being carried out under the Ballistic Missile Defence programme.


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## BrahmaChellaney

Red Dwarf said:


> That GSLV launch postponed to March which was actually scheduled for January.



Where did you hear that?


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## Red Dwarf

BrahmaChellaney said:


> Where did you hear that?



Here

The Hindu : National : GSLV, PSLV flights put off

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## sudhir007

*Key tests on next gen ISRO rocket this month*

India will take a key step towards developing a powerful generation-next rocket capable of putting four tonne satellites in orbit when it tests the 200 tonne solid booster later this month.

The test launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is expected next year.

"We are going to test the S-200, the solid booster, in the third week of January," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here.

ISRO scientists will also test the second stage which uses liquid propellant some time this month.

The ground tests are expected to be carried out at India's space port Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The GSLV Mark III will propel India into a select group of nations, including US and European nations, having capability to launch heavier satellites.

fullstory


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## BrahmaChellaney

Red Dwarf said:


> Here
> 
> The Hindu : National : GSLV, PSLV flights put off



It says PSLV launch has been put off till march and GSLV launch date would be decided in january. So maybe Jan end or Feb start, we might expect the GSLV-D3 liftoff.


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## Red Dwarf

BrahmaChellaney said:


> It says PSLV launch has been put off till march and GSLV launch date would be decided in january. So maybe Jan end or Feb start, we might expect the GSLV-D3 liftoff.



Yep. My mistake. I misread PSLV to GSLV.


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## RPK

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4 (PTI) The indigenously built highly sophisticated cryogenic engine is undergoing a final review by ISRO before it is cleared for use in the test launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-D3 later this year.

"We are conducting a final thorough review of the cryogenic engine that will power the GSLV," Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here.

He said a meeting of top scientists involved in the project would be held in Bangalore later this month where the launch date of the GSLV-D3 would also be decided.

Reports had it that ISRO had delayed the launch of GSLV-D3, which would put into orbit the GSAT-4 communications satellite.

"We want to be sure that the cryogenic engine performs as it is designed to.

A slight mistake could put the mission in jeopardy," Radhakrishnan said.


*ISRO reviews cryogenic engine*

fullstory


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## ironman

*Isro to launch Cartosat-2B in March 2010​*PTI
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 14:13 IST

Thiruvananthapruam: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning to launch Cartosat series 'Cartosat-2B' remote sensing satellite in March this year, Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said here today.

The testing of Cryogenic engine system for GSLV will also be held soon, Radhakrishnan said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 'IIST@Schools', an initiative of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) to introduce to schoolchildren, space activities and its social implications.

Inputs received through Cartosat are mainly used to plan development activities in rural and urban areas of the country.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, he said India has outlined a series of challenging and exciting space programmes, including Chandrayan-2 and man-mission to space.

"India is capable of sending a man to space and bringing him back with our GSLV technology," the Isro chief said.

Other developed nations were planning to send men to Mars by 2030. "India's mission of sending a man to space is the first step to be with other nations in space technology," he said.

Radhakrishnan said ISRO now not only launches satellites for the country's use, but also satellites of other nations.

*"Presently, Isro is on the job of making 20 satellites for other countries*. India is one among the six nations that have developed indigenous space technology and also a model to the whole world on how space technology can be used for the development of a nation," Radhakrishnan said.

Speaking on the occasion, IIST director BN Suresh said the institute, which has entered its third year of existence,
was emerging as a world class centre for learning and reasoning.

The IIST campus, which at present functions at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre complex, will be shifted to its own premises at Velliyamala by March-April.

The Institution currently offers undergraduate (B Tech) programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Avionics and Physical Sciences, he said.


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## Tejas-MkII

The Hindu : National : Challenges ahead in putting 2 Indians in space

Challenges ahead in putting 2 Indians in space 

Special Correspondent 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Plans to put two Indians in space by 2015 require cutting edge technologies such as building a robust and reliable launch vehicle, a livable crew capsule, providing life support systems for the astronauts and a 100 per cent reliable crew escape system in case of an emergency, according to S. Ramkrishnan, Chief Executive, Human Space Flight Programme of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

The most challenging part was to ensure that the two-man crew were brought back safely to earth, said Mr. Ramakrishnan on Monday at the Space Summit of the Indian Science Congress, which is under way here.

*The astronauts would remain in low-earth circular orbit at an altitude of 300 km for seven days. The mission called for building a launch vehicle that could safely take two humans into space, navigation, guidance and control systems, plans to pre-empt disasters, etc.* But we have established our credentials for doing very complex missions, he said.

Mr. Ramakrishnan, who is also Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, *said the ISRO was building a technology demonstrator of a reusable launch vehicle, called RLV-TD, similar to the U.S. space shuttle. The RLV-TDs engineering model was ready. A scaled-down model would be flown by the end of 2010. *

*The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III was now in the testing phase. Its two boosters, each carrying 200 tonnes of solid propellants, would be tested after some weeks. It is a three-stage vehicle which, in 2011, would put a satellite weighing four tonnes in geo-synchronous transfer orbit and a 10-tonne satellite in low-earth orbit. *

Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) C.G. Krishnadas Nair made a strong case for establishing universities devoted to aeronautics. The ISRO, CIAL, Airports Authority of India Limited and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were trying to establish an international institute for aeronautical engineering and management in Bangalore. Universities should be established for teaching airport design, construction and management. Very little research was done in aerospace in the private sector in the country. The Union government should devise a pro-active policy in aeronautics and set up an empowered commission on aeronautics.

Lars Prahm, Director-General, EUMETSAT, said weather-induced disasters such as floods and landslips were increasing globally. There was a reduction in the snow cover and a rise in the global sea-level. EUMETSAT, a European organisation with six operating satellites, wanted to forge global partnership, including with the ISRO, in meteorology, oceanography, monitoring of climate and atmospheric composition. 

Director of CNES (French Space Agency) Marc Pircher said the Megha-Tropiques satellite, with payloads from India and France, would be put in orbit from India this year. It would study the tropical atmosphere near the equatorial belt and cyclone formation.

Daring to dream 


The former Chairman of ISRO, U.R. Rao, wanted a new green revolution for better productivity of food grains. This required factors such as better management of agriculture, higher investment in energy sector and more access to marketing for farmers. The countrys food grain productivity of 3.5 tonnes per acre was lower than the world average. The nations challenges lay in ensuring food security, energy security, environmental security, space security and so on.

Professor Rao said colonisation of Mars by humans was possible in thousand years. *It is no more fiction. It is within the realm of possibility. The last 50 years of space has been dramatic. The next 50 years will be spectacular for those who dare to dream.*


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## brahmastra

India May Launch New Cartosat in March


NEW DELHI - India has finished development work on its Cartosat-2B satellite, which will be used for military purposes in addition to remote sensing of rural and urban areas of the country, said a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is building the satellite.

The Cartosat-2B is likely to be launched in March, the scientist said.


Last year, India put into orbit its RISAT-2, a high-resolution military satellite developed and built in India to monitor the country's borders and coastline for terrorist infiltration.

The Indian military currently depends on the Cartosat series of satellites for mapping.

Cartosat-2B, like the U.S. satellite Ikonos, offers 1-meter-resolution images - second in the world only to the Quickbird, which offers an incredibly close 60-centimeter resolution - all of them from a distance of 800 to 900 kilometers in space, the ISRO scientist said.

The Indian military needs satellites for accurate mapping and 3-D modeling of the mountainous Kashmir valley, where terrorists often enter India from Pakistan.

To boost its Navy's network-centric warfare program, India has planned a dedicated satellite to be launched this year. It will have a 1,000-nautical-mile footprint over the Indian Ocean region. ISRO is developing the satellite in collaboration with India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4442658&c=ASI&s=AIR


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## sudhir007

*India to launch satellite to study sea level rise*

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 6 (PTI) With ocean scientists reporting a nine mm rise in sea levels in four years, India will launch an exclusive satellite later this year to study the changes in the environment.

The SARAL-Altika satellite will complement the current observations of the sea made by current satellites like Jason-2 of the French Space Agency and NASA.

"The SARAL-Altika to be launched by this year end will have a high-resolution altimeter in the Ka-band," Marc Pircher, Director of the Centre National d?Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency said on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here.

He said the satellite would be useful in studying the sea state, light rainfall climatalogy, mean sea level and coastal altimetry.

*fullstory*


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## Veer

*India to set up dedicated aeronautics and avionics academy*

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (PTI): *India will get its first dedicated academy in aeronautics and avionics this month to train students in the emerging sector.*

The Indian Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Management, with a campus in Bangalore, will start offering MBA and M.Tech courses in avionics and aeronautics management this month end, G Krishnadas Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited, told PTI on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here.

The institute, affiliated to Jain University, will offer undergraduate courses in six streams including aeronautical engineering and post graduate courses in aircraft production management, aircraft design and development and avionics.

"We will have batches in all streams by July," said Nair, who also heads the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

Currently an academy, run by the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) offers some academic programmes in airport management and aviation business management.

Nair said the Indian Institute of Aerospace Engineering and Management will be the first institute to offer undergraduate, post-graduate, courses in aeronautics and avionics.

*The institute is being set up at a time when the aviation sector is witnessing a boom amid plans of massive expansion in civil aviation infrastructure.*

Senior faculties from HAL and IIT-Kanpur have already joined the institute, which will have representatives from HAL, ISRO, National Aerospace Laboratories and Jain University on its Governing Council.


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## Maddy2105

Veer said:


> *
> 
> Senior faculties from HAL and IIT-Kanpur have already joined the institute, which will have representatives from HAL, ISRO, National Aerospace Laboratories and Jain University on its Governing Council.*


*

Wow........ what i would not do to study there *


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## Veer

self delete


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## Iggy

* India to launch satellite to study sea level rise*


With ocean scientists reporting a nine mm rise in sea levels in four years, India will launch an exclusive satellite later this year to study the changes in the environment.

The SARAL-Altika satellite will complement the current observations of the sea made by current satellites like Jason-2 of the French Space Agency and NASA.

"The SARAL-Altika to be launched by this year end will have a high-resolution altimeter in the Ka-band," Marc Pircher, Director of the Centre National d?Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency said on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress here.

He said the satellite would be useful in studying the sea state, light rainfall climatalogy, mean sea level and coastal altimetry.



fullstory

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## Veer

Mission: SARAL-AltiKa

Last Updated: Jan 07, 2010



The SARAL-AltiKa project is a collaboration between France and India. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellite Saral with its two independent payloads ARgos and ALtika are embarked on a mission to promote the study of environment in space.

The Saral mission is complementary to Jason-2. It is basically focused to understand climate and its forecasting capabilities, operational meteorology. This mission will give a clear picture of repetitive global measurements of sea surface height, significant wave heights and wind speed for developing operational oceanography.

The AltiKa project, which is developed by Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES, a French government space agency), is based on a wideband Ka-band altimeter (35.75 GHz, 500 MHz), which will be the first oceanography altimeter to operate at such a high frequency. This unique technical characteristic of the instrument will offer higher performance both in terms of spatial and vertical resolution.

The high-resolution AltiKa altimeter has a dual-frequency radiometric function which allows the altimetry measurements to be corrected for the effects due to the signal passing through the wet troposphere. This is coupled with the Doris (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositionning Integrated by Satellite) precise orbit determination system, in association with a laser retro-reflector (LRA), which determines the satellite's precise position in orbit. This parameter is essential for measuring sea level.

AltiKa data will play a major role in the development of operational oceanography and its forecasting capabilities.The Saral satellite will be placed on Envisat's orbit, is scheduled to be launch at the end of 2010.

Description:

Mass: 350 / 400 kg

Altika payload: < 65 kg

Dimensions: 1 m x 1 m x 2.6 m

Orbit: Low orbit- 800 km
Polar- 98°
Sun-synchronous- 6:00 / 18:00

Instruments- Altimeter / radiometer
Doris
Laser retroreflector

Status: Phase B/C/D

Nominal operational lifetime: 5 years

*Altika*

A high accurate oceanography altimeter

Satellite radar altimetry is a technique used in oceanography to measure sea level on a large scale. The data obtained is vital to understanding ocean circulation and its variations.

The AltiKa project, which was developed by CNES, is based on a wideband Ka-band altimeter (35.75 GHz, 500 MHz), which will be the first oceanography altimeter to operate at such a high frequency. This unique technical characteristic of the instrument will offer higher performance both in terms of spatial and vertical resolution. The instruments more accurate measurements will lead to improved observation of ice, coastal areas, inland waters and wave height .

The AltiKa project will contribute to operational satellite altimetry by providing round-the-clock data of an accuracy demanded by the user community. When combined with data from Jason-2, they will ensure the continuity of the service presently offered by the 'double act' comprising Jason-1 and Envisat's altimetry payload.

By guaranteeing uninterrupted observations and extending the coverage, CNES is responding to the oceanography community's needs for accurate tools for:

* better characterisation of the mesoscale ocean and coastal areas, 
* seasonal forecasting, 
* climate studies.

The high-resolution AltiKa altimeter has a dual-frequency radiometric function which allows the altimetry measurements to be corrected for the effects due to the signal passing through the wet troposphere. This is coupled with the Doris1 precise orbit determination system, in association with a laser retro-reflector, which determines the satellite's precise position in orbit. This parameter is essential for measuring sea level.

AltiKa data, along with that from other altimetry missions, will thus play a major role in the development of operational oceanography and its forecasting capabilities, as well as improving our understanding of the climate.

Together with instruments from the Argos 3 mission, the AltiKa payload will be carried on the Saral2 satellite, developed jointly with the Indian Space Agency (ISRO), which is providing the platform and overseeing satellite operations, including launch, orbit acquisition and station keeping. CNES is supplying the AltiKa payload and will be responsible for receiving and processing data using the SALP altimetry and precise location service.

The agreement signed by CNES and ISRO in February 2007 will reinforce the working relationship of the two Agencies. The Saral satellite, to be placed on Envisat's orbit, is scheduled for launch end of 2010.

1 Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositionning Integrated by Satellite
2 Satellite with ARgos & ALtika, or "simple" in Hindi

*Altika / Saral *
Initiator CNES
*Participants CNES, ISRO*
Objectives - to study mesoscale ocean variability
- to observe coastal areas
- to observe inland waters
- to observe the surface of continental ice sheets
Status Phase B/C/D
Instruments - Altimeter / radiometer
- Doris
- Laser retroreflector
*Satellite Saral, launch scheduled for end of 2010*
CNES : Altika/Saral at a glance


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

Self deleted


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

*ISRO plans special launch pad at Sriharikotta*

First Published : 10 Jan 2010 03:00:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 


THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The third launch pad planned at ISROs Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, is going to be something special.


While it will meet the space agencys needs for the 2015 Human Space Flight Mission, the launch pad is also being designed to accommodate the proposed Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), Indias dream space shuttle which is on the designing board, ISRO officials said.

The preliminary design for the third launch pad is complete. It will be able to take care of all future programmes of the ISRO, including the Human Space Flight Mission and the Reusable Launch Vehicle, officials said.

ISRO has also started designing a landing strip for the Reusable Launch Vehicle at the Sriharikota Range.

The third pad is coming up one kilometre south of the spaceports second pad, which was used to lift off the PSLV-XL rocket bearing the Chandrayaan-I mission in 2008. It is expected to be completed by 2015, coinciding with the Human Space Flight Mission for which the GSLV rocket is to be used.

Since human beings are to be sent to space, the new pad is specially designed.

It will have facilities such as a Crew Escape Module which could come handy in an emergency during the launch, sources said.

An Reusable Launch Vehicle is expected to save the space agency massively in mission costs.

Today, each kilogram of the payload costs around $ 12,000 to be placed in space.

Three launch pads will also enhance ISROs capability for multiple launches with the space agencys annual number of launches on the rise.

Source : The New Indian Express - Best of South India News, Entertainment, Cricket, Business, Lifestyle plans special launch pad at Sriharikotta .

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## sudhir007

*India to buy Soyuz spacecraft from Russia by 2013 idrw.org*







India plans to buy a Soyuz spacecraft from Russia and to launch its cosmonauts into orbit in 2013, Interfax news agency reported Sunday citing Vitaly Davydov, Deputy Head of Roskosmos.

Davydov said that, by 2013 the Russian space corporation Energia (Energy) is to upgrade its production facilities and will be capable to build 5 Soyuz spacecrafts a year.

Davydov said that besides paying for the spacecraft India will also finance the training of the Russian cosmonaut who is to head the team of Indian cosmonauts. He noted that the project envisages the launch of the Indian cosmonauts into orbit but not the work on the International Space Station.

Roskosmos &#8211; is a governmental organization responsible for managing the Russian space program.

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## gogbot

sudhir007 said:


> *India to buy Soyuz spacecraft from Russia by 2013 idrw.org*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> India plans to buy a Soyuz spacecraft from Russia and to launch its cosmonauts into orbit in 2013, Interfax news agency reported Sunday citing Vitaly Davydov, Deputy Head of Roskosmos.
> 
> Davydov said that, by 2013 the Russian space corporation Energia (Energy) is to upgrade its production facilities and will be capable to build 5 Soyuz spacecrafts a year.
> 
> Davydov said that besides paying for the spacecraft India will also finance the training of the Russian cosmonaut who is to head the team of Indian cosmonauts. He noted that the project envisages the launch of the Indian cosmonauts into orbit but not the work on the International Space Station.
> 
> Roskosmos  is a governmental organization responsible for managing the Russian space program.



If are are already in space by 2013 maybe We can have EVA by 2015 when we do it with the Indian space ship ?


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## sudhir007

*India to launch first manned spaceship in 2013*

India would launch its first manned space flights by sending two astronauts in an orbit in a Russian spaceship in 2013, according to reports.

For this, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to finance the acquisition of a Soyuz spaceship and train its astronauts by a Russian commander.

The Russian cosmonaut would lead the two-member crew on an independent space flight lasting several days, 'Voice of Russia' radio reported.

Quoting deputy chief of Russian space agency (Roskosmos) Vitaly Davidov the radio said the flight of Indian astronauts would not involve a mission to the International Space Station.
fullstory


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## gogbot

sudhir007 said:


> *India to launch first manned spaceship in 2013*
> 
> India would launch its first manned space flights by sending two astronauts in an orbit in a Russian spaceship in 2013, according to reports.
> 
> For this, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to finance the acquisition of a Soyuz spaceship and train its astronauts by a Russian commander.
> 
> The Russian cosmonaut would lead the two-member crew on an independent space flight lasting several days, 'Voice of Russia' radio reported.
> 
> Quoting deputy chief of Russian space agency (Roskosmos) Vitaly Davidov the radio said the flight of Indian astronauts would not involve a mission to the International Space Station.
> fullstory



well it is a Russian Space craft.
And A Cosmonaut has been tanning in that space craft longer than the Indian cosmonauts. It would be unwise to send up a team without enough training, That would mean the team needs to familiarize it self with every aspect of the Soyuz space craft. 

But to spend sever days in space. I am more than convinced now that India will be doing its EVA by 2015.


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## AnGrz_Z_K_Jailer

*ISRO to launch rockets to study solar eclipse*

13 Jan 2010, 1157 hrs IST, IANS

CHENNAI: The Indian space agency will launch a series of rockets from its two centres between Thursday and Sunday to study Friday's solar eclipse 
and its aftereffects. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to send up a series of sounding rockets - rockets carrying instruments to measure the physical parameters of the upper atmosphere - from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and Thumba in Kerala to study the effects of the solar eclipse. 

The solar eclipse Friday will be for a duration of 11.8 minutes. The sounding rockets will be fired before and after. 

"On January 15 and 17, Rohini 560 (RH 560) sounding rockets will be launched in a parabolic flight path to measure various atmospheric and ionospheric parameters connected with the solar eclipse," Satish Dhawan Space Centre Associate Director M Y S Prasad told IANS from Sriharikota. 

The nine-metre RH 560 rockets weigh 1.5 tonnes and carry a 100-kg payload of instruments each. The two-stage rocket will take the instruments 500 km above the earth's surface. 

From Sriharikota, there will be one launch each on Friday and Sunday. 

Most of the rockets will be launched from ISRO's Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in Kerala. 

According to ISRO officials, four rockets will be launched on Thursday from TERLS and five Friday. 

The rockets fired from TERLS are smaller than RH 560. They will reach 75 to 120 km above the earth. 

A similar coordinated experiment was conducted in 1980 and since then ISRO has set up several facilities to study the data. 

Source : ISRO to launch rockets to study solar eclipse- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

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## RPK

GMV Awarded Contract by Raytheon for India&#039;s GAGAN Program | GPS World

GMV, a private, multinational firm headquartered in Madrid, has been awarded a contract with Raytheon Company to develop a prototype algorithm for the detection of ionospheric depletions in the magnetic equatorial region that may be utilized in the user receiver data processing for the space-based augmentation system for the GAGAN program operated by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). This is GMV&#8217;s second contract with Raytheon Company. In 2007, GMV began a contract with Raytheon to provide maintenance and training support for Raytheon&#8217;s commercial ground systems. 

GAGAN (Global Positioning Satellite-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System) is a space-based augmentation system (SBAS) developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Airports Authority of India. "Gagan" is the transliteration of a Hindi word that means sky. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation across South and East Asia, giving India an accurate, flexible, and efficient air navigation system.

The program is in its final operational phase, incorporating critical navigation components.

Raytheon has deployed various elements of the system, both in this and in earlier phases of the program. It has signed a contract with ISRO for incorporating the necessary modifications in the system data processing, message generation, and user receiver processing to increase the availability of precision approach guidance to civil aircraft using SBAS in the equatorial region.

Within this contract, Raytheon has turned to GMV to develop specific elements of the system that related to user-level mitigation of safety problems that civil aircraft may encounter through GMV&#8217;s analysis and modeling.

Because of India&#8217;s location along the equatorial crest, ionospheric effects occur, which makes it difficult to predict and model navigation. GMV is working on a prototype algorithm for the detection of ionospheric depletions in the equatorial region for the receiver the operator uses to retrieve and process information provided by the GAGAN ground segment. This algorithm will then form part of the user receiver of the GAGAN space-based augmentation system, improving the safety performance for GAGAN users.

GMV expects to deliver its portion of the project in June 2010.


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## RPK

ISRO denies Russian report

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has denied reports that the proposed Human Space Flight Mission would lift off in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.


News reports from Moscow, citing a Voice of Russia Radio broadcast, on Tuesday had also claimed that the mission would lift off with two astronauts in 2013. According to the report, the ISRO is to finance the purchase of the Soyuz craft. A Russian cosmonaut will lead the crew, the report said.

&#8220;Quoting deputy chief of Russian space agency ROSKOSMOS Vitaly Davidov, the radio said that the flight of Indian astronauts would not involve a mission to the International Space Station,&#8221; added the report.

According to the ISRO, there is no change in the plans. &#8220;That report is not correct. The mission is on track and will take place during 2015-2016 as planned,&#8221; an ISRO spokesperson said from Bangalore.

The ISRO had earlier announced plans to send a two-member crew to Low Earth Orbit by 2015. The Rs 12,400-crore mission will be lifted off in a GSLV Mk II rocket which is under development.

Recently, a 23-member Russian team, which included Russian cosmonauts, had visited ISRO facilities in Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the proposed space flight.

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## RPK

The Hindu : States / Kerala : India soon to become self-reliant in cryogenic propulsion technology: ISRO chief






ISRO Chairman, K.Radhakrishnan, at Sabarimala Sannidhanam

India is getting ready to launch Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenously developed cryogenic engine, said Dr K.Radhakrishnan, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman.

Dr. Radhakrishnan was talking to reporters at Sabarimala Sannidhanam during his 47th pilgrimage to Lord Ayyappa Temple there on Sunday.

He said ISRO is planning to test GSLV-D3 carrying the communication satellite GSAT-4 with a two tonne payload at Sriharikottah on January 24.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said achieving self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology would boost India&#8217;s image, besides taking it to the league of select countries having the technology. So far, India has been using Russian-made cryogenic engines in its launching vehicles.

He said ISRO was also planning to undertake a space mission to take man to space and bring him back safe after conducting studies for a few days there.

The ISRO chairman also said that the pilgrim facility at Sabarimala has been improved much in recent years.


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## RPK

Indian Space Research Organisation hunt on for vyomanauts - desi astronauts - dnaindia.com

Bangalore: The hunt for India&#8217;s first astronauts &#8212; &#8216;vyomanauts&#8217; in a desi tweak &#8212; has begun. Two of the four selected vyomanauts (vyoma means &#8216;space&#8217; or &#8216;sky&#8217; in Sanskrit) will finally go on India&#8217;s first manned space mission scheduled to lift off in 2015.



The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is laying down criteria for short-listing 200 Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilots, from whom four will be selected for the space mission, director-general of medical services, IAF, Air Marshal P Madhusoodanan told DNA.

While two vyomanauts will finally go on the space mission, the other two will remain in reserve.

The reason for choosing vyomanauts from the pool of IAF fighter pilots is that they are already trained to endure high gravity forces. This makes it easier to train them for space missions. &#8220;The module (for the selection) is being prepared at the moment,&#8221; he said. The run-up to the selection process speeded up after February 2009, when the Union government gave its nod to the Rs12,400-crore manned space flight mission.

India&#8217;s first human space mission envisages a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two vyomanauts into space at an altitude of 300-400 km from sea-level, and safely returning them to Earth. The mission is expected to last between four and seven days.

&#8220;The selection procedure will begin soon. But the final phase (when the four finalists will be selected) will be in 2012 as the selection criteria are very strict,&#8221; Madhusoodanan said.
The candidate vyomanauts will have to answer a Nasa questionnaire before being subjected to physical examination, which would include cardiac, dental, neurological, ophthalmologic, psychological, radiographic, ear-nose-throat (ENT), and other laboratory tests at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) in Bangalore. 

The candidates will be tested on the human centrifuge machine at the IAM for endurance while experiencing extreme gravitational forces &#8211; of the kind one experiences during space flights.

Madhusoodanan said the facilities at the IAM were being upgraded in preparation for the tough selection process for vyomanauts.

The final four candidates will undergo astronaut training at the IAM as well as at ISRO&#8217;s astronaut training school. This will be set up on a 100-acre land in North Bangalore by 2012.

The vyomanauts will be trained to survive in the space vehicle environment while enduring micro gravity, pressure and gaseous changes, to keep alert under space flight stresses, to monitor and operate controls and instruments in the case of information failure, to scientifically observe and report beyond what instruments can do, and to control and improve flight systems and sub-systems like a true test pilot.

India has already completed a space capsule recovery experiment (SCRE) in January, 2007, to perfect the art of retrieving the vyomanauts safely after they return from their space mission. 

The spacecraft carrying the vyomanauts will be programmed to splash at a predetermined location in the sea before Indian Navy vessels retrieve the vyomanauts for post-mission medical checks.


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## RPK

Indian 'vyomanauts' all set to rise up in space - dnaindia.com

London: Reports indicate that the Indian media has branded its astronauts as "vyomanauts", a word derived from the Sanskrit language.


According to a report in New Scientist, the tongue-twisting term comes from the Sanskrit for sky or space - that is - 'vyoma'.

The closest Sanskrit word to astronaut would have been vyomagami, for something that passes in the sky. 

The other word for an Indian spacefarer that had been bandied about was gaganaut, as gagan is also Sanskrit for sky. 

But "vyoma is very good", according to Choudury Upender Rao, a professor of Sanskrit studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. "It's an appropriate choice," he added

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now in the process of choosing four vyomanauts from a pool of 200 fighter pilots, P Madhusoodanan of the Indian Air Force.

India's first crewed space mission is scheduled for 2015, designs for which were unveiled last year by Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO. 

The three-person vehicle will initially carry two vyomanauts into 275-kilometre low-Earth orbit. Before this flight, ISRO will launch its second moon mission in 2013.


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## RPK

Role of VLSI in SATCOM applications






K .S. Dasgupta is the director of DECU at ISRO, Ahmedabad. He highlighted the applications of SATCOM in society in his presentation at the VLSI conference which was part of the session targeted at the theme of the conference: Affordable technologies for the emerging markets

He focussed on the type of devices (primarily FPGA's) required for onboard applications and also the type of devices required for ground systems like telemedicine and tele-education network for societal applications.



SATCOM has many societal applications 
SATCOM has many societal applications like disaster management, tele-medicine, tele-education. Normal VLSI view is to focus on mass production and to make it cost effective but not for space applications. Here one looks for reliability, quick turn around time in proving the concept, low power and remote configurability.

The usage of satellites can be used to reduce the gap between the have and have not's due to its diverse applications. In the modern area it can complement and supplement and co-exist with current technology. He cited various examples of SATCOM applications which have benefited the society.

Tele-education: With Vikram Sarabhai at ISRO's helm in 1975, a Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) covering 2400 villages over 6 states was accomplished with the use of an American satellite, ATS-6. This illustrates it can reach various segments of society.

More recently, the GSAT-3 or EDUSAT based on a high power Ku band transponder with multiple spot beams antenne is designed for educational services. It has a two way interactive method for education.

Distress Management: A distress alert transmitter, a ground GPS device with a satellite link where fishermen can press button located on the device, transmitting a signal with the GPS coordinates to alert the coast guard who can mount a rescue operation.

Tele-medicine: The Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad has been connected to the Apollo hospital via a satellite-link. This system allows a patient at the jail to be monitored by the doctors at the remote hospital and treatment may be administered.

Future for satellite technology 
Now the genesis of the recent satellites involves the trend to maintain service support for longer time as these satellites have multi-features. Each satellite has different spectrums and bandwidths ranging from L to Ka and this also presents different designing challenges. The Ka band is gaining more importance and is more in demand as it has a larger bandwidth. Both GSAT and INSAT are communication satellites but the difference is that GSAT is a GSLV launched satellite.

The conventional paradigm where one has bent-pipe geo stationery satellites will be replaced by intelligent satellite constellations with on-board processing. These satellite systems will have inter-satellite links with beam switching and multi-beam antennas and protocols for satellite networks. The conventional VSAT to VSAT services made use of an earth hub but the GSAT 4 services are hubless. The advantages are many: it will improve channel efficiency, enhance system capacity, reduce errors, increase throughput and it increases system flexibility through network interconnection. Direct access to satellites via small (Handy) terminals without any Gateway Earth stations for multimedia data. Point to point access without spatial or temporal restrictions. To support large capacity demand of cellular structures (multi beam- different coverage)

VLSI's role
VLSI plays a major role in most of these applications as it will be embedded in all applications. Thus the design has to be highly reliable and tolerant of random failures. The need is for the design to be easily adaptable with a fast time to market. Single chip solutions are also needed.

The different VLSI based components that are frequently used both for on-board and ground based SATCOM applications are DSP processors, general purpose and embedded processors, FPGAs and reconfigurable computing, System on Chip &#8212;SoC and System in Package &#8212; SiP.

There is a need to incorporate in VLSI design hard IP-Core alongwith programmable gate array so that newer design can be easily customised in a short time.

For ground application cost and programmability and low power are the prime requirements where as, the key design driving parameters for a space application would be reliability, low power, high frequency and extended life cycle of the product, time to market i.e. it should allow for fast testing and proving of concepts, highly durable and safe, form factor as in a small or large footprint is not of prime importance, functionality and lastly the cost.

Their prime focus will be on highly configurable and reconfigurable software and hardware like the FPGA's due to the uniqueness of the space mission. The programmable element is a key feature as it needs to be easily changed and re-changed as per the change in the mission. Hence there needs to be a balance between programmability and reliability.


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## Choppers

*India to follow $6 bn cosmic path into 2020*

Srinivas Laxman I TNN 

Mumbai: The nearly 40-yearold TIFR at Colaba, the cradle of Indias space and nuclear programmes along with other scientific institutions in the country, is expected to become part of a nearly $6 billion world-class global scientific programme, which will further probe what the universe is made of and provide exciting new insights into how it works. 

In all probability, this project focusing on the critical area of particle physics, will take off in 2020. 

At a media briefing on Tuesday, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, director-general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), said India would be included in the prestigious international scientific project called the International Linear Collider (ILC), which will complement the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva. 

About 200 Indian scientists are attached to the LHC project and the TIFR group as part of a collaboration in the field of detector instruments. 

I was in Mumbai to attend a meeting of the Funding Agencies of the Large Colliders (FALC) and strengthen collaboration between India and these international facilities. I also met the chairman of the atomic energy commission, S Banerjee, and it was a very positive meeting, he said. 

About the ILC, Heuer emphasised that it would be what he called a precision machine and would be truly global, receiving inputs from different nations. The new facility, whose location is yet to be determined, would provide the international scientific community with a new cosmic doorway to explore energy regimes that will be beyond the reach of todays accelerators. 

The ILC would consist of two linear accelerators that face each other. The colliders would hurl about 10 billion electrons and their anti-particles towards each other at the speed of light. Stretching approximately 31 km in length, the beams will collide 14,000 times every second at extremely high energies. 

About the LHC, he said that it started functioning on September 10, 2008. Unfortunately a serious fault developed damaging a number of superconducting magnets. It was restarted in November 2009 but was closed again for Christmas and New Year. 
The LHC will resume operations next month with seven TeV unit in energy, which will be a high intensity collision. Over a period of time, it will be scaled up to 14 TeV. 

According to Banerjee, there were four big experiments in the LHC and India was contributing to two of them. Indian scientists helped in the brain-work and played a major role in restoring the collider. India will also help in analysing data, he said. 

The country will participate in LHC via two experiments. One Indian team is connected with a CMS experiment with the TIFR as the nodal agency. 

The other team is involved in the Alice experiment with the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata as the nodal agencies.


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## Ruag

*India Soon To Become Self-Reliant In Cryogenic Propulsion Technology*



> India is getting ready to launch Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenously developed cryogenic engine, said Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman.
> 
> Dr. Radhakrishnan was talking to reporters at Sabarimala Sannidhanam during his 47th pilgrimage to Lord Ayyappa Temple there on Sunday.
> 
> He said ISRO is planning to test GSLV-D3 carrying the communication satellite GSAT-4 with a two tonne payload at Sriharikottah on January 24.
> 
> 
> Dr. Radhakrishnan said achieving self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology would boost India's image, besides taking it to the league of select countries having the technology. So far, India has been using Russian-made cryogenic engines in its launching vehicles.
> 
> He said ISRO was also planning to undertake a space mission to take man to space and bring him back safe after conducting studies for a few days there.



India Soon To Become Self-Reliant In Cryogenic Propulsion Technology

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## gowthamraj

Ruag said:


> *India Soon To Become Self-Reliant In Cryogenic Propulsion Technology*
> 
> 
> 
> India Soon To Become Self-Reliant In Cryogenic Propulsion Technology



so india going to launch indigenous gslv in jan 24?


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## skyisthelimit

*Towards self-reliance in launch vehicle technology*

GSLV Mk-III, is the most powerful rocket to be built by ISRO, will make India totally self-reliant in launch vehicle technology for launching INSAT class of communication satellites which are now being put in orbit for India by the European launcher Ariane-5.
Towards sustained self-reliance in accessing space, GSLV Mk-III, the next generation launch vehicle, announces a stylish poster on Indias Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, which is currently under development.

The poster, along with a model of the GSLV Mk-III, was prominently displayed in the Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) pavilion, Pride of India, during the Indian Science Congress held recently at Thiruvananthapuram.

The GSLV Mk-III will make India totally self-reliant in launch vehicle technology for launching INSAT class of communication satellites which are now being put in orbit for India by the European launcher Ariane-5.

In the fourth week of this month, the ISRO will cross a milestone in its efforts to develop this aerial powerhouse called the GSLV Mk-III when one of its two gigantic strap-on booster motors, S-200, erupts into life and fires for about 130 seconds. The motor will fire at the massive new test facility built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The motor is called S-200 because it is powered by 200 tonnes of solid propellants.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has designed S-200, and propellant casting has been done in a newly built plant at Sriharikota. The final preparation for ground-testing of the motor is progressing at Sriharikota and test readiness is being reviewed by the Test Authorisation Board chaired by SDSC Director M.C. Dathan.

In February first week, the ISRO will cross another milestone when the GSLV Mk-IIIs core stage (L-110), powered by 110 tonnes of liquid propellants, fires for about 200 seconds at the huge test stand at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu.
Short-duration test

A test for 15 seconds will be done to validate the performance of the engine and the associated ground facilities before the long-duration test is conducted for 200 seconds. The final preparations for testing the L-110 stage are on at Mahendragiri under the guidance of LPSC Director M.K.G. Nair.

Sub-systems are getting ready for undergoing tests at the same facility for the upper cryogenic stage, which will be fuelled by 25 tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

If everything goes on schedule, the first flight of the GSLV Mk-III will take place by the end of 2011. It is the most powerful rocket to be built by the ISRO, weighing 630 tonnes and 43.5 metres tall. It can put a satellite weighing four tonnes in a geo-synchronous transfer orbit with a perigee of about 200 km and an apogee of 36,000 km. It can put a satellite weighing 10 tonnes in a near-earth orbit at an altitude of about 300 km.

It has three stages. The two boosters, S-200, form the first stage. The boosters hug the core/second liquid stage. Above this liquid stage is the cryogenic stage.

S-200 stage is the third largest stage in the world. Preparations are on for the first static test of the S-200 motor at Sriharikota. It will be a milestone in the GSLV Mk-IIIs development, said VSSC Director P.S. Veeraraghavan. S-200 is the third largest booster after the NASA Space Shuttle and Arianespace Ariane-5s boosters.

According to N. Narayana Moorthy, Project Director, GSLV Mk-III, the ISRO executed a massive programme of building the infrastructure needed for the project at Sriharikota, Mahendragiri and in Thiruvananthapuram. Out of Rs. 2,500 crore allocated to the project, Rs. 1,600 crore was earmarked for building infrastructure including facilities for assembling and testing the solid, liquid and cryogenic engines and their stages, and integration halls at Sriharikota, Mahendragiri and in Thiruvananthapuram. A big plant for manufacturing the solid propellants needed for S-200 boosters has come up at Sriharikota.

The ISRO has built big facilities in the launch complex at Sriharikota for handling and integration of the GSLV Mk-III. These include erection of a new mobile launch pedestal since the core vehicles diameter is four metres, said Mr. Narayana Moorthy. Major facilities have come up at the VSSC and Sriharikota for structural testing of different hardware including propellant tanks and light alloy structures.

We have completed building most of the infrastructure and we are starting the testing phase. The launch schedule will depend on the outcome of the ground tests, said Mr. Narayana Moorthy.

GSLV Mk-IIIs motor S-200 will be tested in the last week of January If everything goes on schedule, the first flight will take place by 2011-end 

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : Towards self-reliance in launch vehicle technology

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## RPK

Bangalore, Jan 24 (IANS) India successfully conducted the static test of its largest solid booster for launching heavier satellites using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk III), the space agency said Sunday.
&#8220;The solid booster (S200) will form the strap-on stage for the GSLV-Mark III, which is in advanced stage of development for launching four-tonne class of communication satellites,&#8221; the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.

The test was conducted earlier in the day at ISRO&#8217;s spaceport (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

The successful test makes S200 the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) solid booster of Space Shuttle of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and P230 solid booster of Ariane-5 of Arianespace, a launch service and solutions consortium of European countries.



More at : India tests rocket booster for heavier satellites India tests rocket booster for heavier satellites

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## Red Dwarf

^^^Why it is called the 3rd largest. Why nobody counts the Energia rocket booster.


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## RPK

*ISRO-assisted development project for Haryana*


Chandigarh, Jan 25 (PTI) Haryana is among five states selected for the implementation of a project designed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for carrying out developmental activities through local bodies.

The major Remote Sensing and GIS Application project entitled 'Space Based Information Support for Decentralized Planning (SIS-DP)" of ISRO will be implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and West Bengal as well.

Director, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad V Jayaraman told a meeting of state government officials that the project would provide ICT-enabled geo-spatial platform involving local bodies to carry out developmental activities in a decentralised, speedy and transparent manner.

The project aims at harnessing space technology and information systems at local bodies to create information base and provide services.

The project would be executed and supported by Haryana Space Application Centre.


fullstory


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## RPK

16th NSSS 2010 at Saurashtra University, Rajkot: ISRO | Ub News

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has announced the 16th National Space Science Symposium (NSSS &#8211; 2010) to be held at Saurashtra University, Rajkot during February 24-27, 2010. 

The symposium sponsored by ISRO, in association with the Astronomical Society of India, is organised to provide a scientific forum for the presentation of new results and to discuss recent developments in space science, planetary exploration and space- and ground-based astronomy programmes/projects being pursued at various research institutions and universities in India.

The following broad areas will be covered during the symposium.

Space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics, Planetary science/exploration
Solar radiation and its interaction with earth&#8217;s near and distant environment
Magnetosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere and middle atmosphere phenomena
Space-based oceanography, meteorology, and tropospheric studies
Climate changes and geosphere-biosphere interaction processes


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## RPK

Help! The sun is not hotting up - dnaindia.com


Bangalore: Concerned over the sun&#8217;s apparent cooling down and curious to know how that would affect the earth and its climate, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning its first sun-bound satellite, Aditya-1, which would skirt the outer solar atmosphere to send back crucial data.

The 100kg satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2013. The Rs128-crore Aditya mission received the go-ahead from the government in December 2009. 

&#8220;The focus will be on the low activity of the sun and what happens if the phenomenon were to continue into the next decade,&#8221; said the principal investigator of the mission, Jagdev Singh. &#8220;We included this objective since there is very low activity on the sun. The solar cycle, which by now should have entered the high activity phase or maxima, is not happening. We see sunspots, but very irregularly,&#8221; he said.

The sunspots, which regularly occur as the sun hots up during the solar maximum cycle, appear once in two months and for much shorter periods of three to five days. 

The sun goes through a cycle of 11 years when it cools down and then hots up again, alternatively. In the earlier cycles, the sunspots and active regions appeared continuously and lasted for 15 days to one month, and increased as the sun moved towards the maximum period.

&#8220;The cycle has been delayed by close to three years now. So the satellite, when launched, will observe the sun for five to six years. Based on the data, it will help build a model of what happens during low activity on the sun,&#8221; Singh said.

The scientific community the world over is worried if we are heading towards Maunder minimum, a situation similar to what had happened between 1645 and 1715 when there was minimum activity on the sun. The much smaller sunspots, appearing irregularly in the otherwise active solar regions, is happening again. Back then, only 50 sunspots had appeared as against a normal of 50,000. 

Since the solar data collected by scientists dates back to only 150 years, there is no way of knowing how the Maunder minimum had affected the earth from 1645 to 1715, Singh said. 

&#8220;We will now study the effects on climatic conditions too. But as of now, we are not predicting if we are going to face a similar situation as then. We will have to wait for the observations,&#8221; Singh said.

The Aditya-1 mission will help Indian space scientists estimate how much thermal insulation would be required for Isro spacecrafts carrying astronauts, as India&#8217;s first manned low-orbit space mission is scheduled for 2015. 

The abrupt end of India&#8217;s first unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, due to intense radiation (thermal heating) has led scientists to use the Aditya mission for this purpose, too. The data is also expected to be shared with other countries sending astronauts to the international space station, besides for safety in future space tourism projects.

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## gogbot

rpraveenkum said:


> Help! The sun is not hotting up - dnaindia.com
> 
> 
> Bangalore: Concerned over the suns apparent cooling down and curious to know how that would affect the earth and its climate, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning its first sun-bound satellite, Aditya-1, which would skirt the outer solar atmosphere to send back crucial data.
> 
> The 100kg satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2013. The Rs128-crore Aditya mission received the go-ahead from the government in December 2009.
> 
> The focus will be on the low activity of the sun and what happens if the phenomenon were to continue into the next decade, said the principal investigator of the mission, Jagdev Singh. We included this objective since there is very low activity on the sun. The solar cycle, which by now should have entered the high activity phase or maxima, is not happening. We see sunspots, but very irregularly, he said.
> 
> The sunspots, which regularly occur as the sun hots up during the solar maximum cycle, appear once in two months and for much shorter periods of three to five days.
> 
> The sun goes through a cycle of 11 years when it cools down and then hots up again, alternatively. In the earlier cycles, the sunspots and active regions appeared continuously and lasted for 15 days to one month, and increased as the sun moved towards the maximum period.
> 
> The cycle has been delayed by close to three years now. So the satellite, when launched, will observe the sun for five to six years. Based on the data, it will help build a model of what happens during low activity on the sun, Singh said.
> 
> The scientific community the world over is worried if we are heading towards Maunder minimum, a situation similar to what had happened between 1645 and 1715 when there was minimum activity on the sun. The much smaller sunspots, appearing irregularly in the otherwise active solar regions, is happening again. Back then, only 50 sunspots had appeared as against a normal of 50,000.
> 
> Since the solar data collected by scientists dates back to only 150 years, there is no way of knowing how the Maunder minimum had affected the earth from 1645 to 1715, Singh said.
> 
> We will now study the effects on climatic conditions too. But as of now, we are not predicting if we are going to face a similar situation as then. We will have to wait for the observations, Singh said.
> 
> The Aditya-1 mission will help Indian space scientists estimate how much thermal insulation would be required for Isro spacecrafts carrying astronauts, as Indias first manned low-orbit space mission is scheduled for 2015.
> 
> The abrupt end of Indias first unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, due to intense radiation (thermal heating) has led scientists to use the Aditya mission for this purpose, too. The data is also expected to be shared with other countries sending astronauts to the international space station, besides for safety in future space tourism projects.




That is very Interesting. 

ISRO doing it job


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## sathruvinasakh

so next what India?
converting the S-200 booster into an ICBM just like french did with their Ariane5 booster to get out with M51?


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## white_pawn

*Isro tests third biggest rocket motor *

Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully tested S-200, the worlds third biggest solid rocket motor after the booster rocket of Nasas space shuttle and Arianespaces Ariane-5 launch vehicle. 

The S-20022 mts long and 3.2 mts in diameteris powered by 200 tonnes of solid propellant. The test is a vital step in the development of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III, which will put a satellite weighing four tonnes in the orbit. 

The firing of the motor began at 8 am at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and lasted its full duration of 130 seconds. The performance went off exactly as predicted with nearly 600 parameters being monitored.


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## Ultimate Warrior

Haryana among 5 states selected for ISRO project

CHANDIGARH: Haryana is one of the five states selected under the major remote sensing and GIS application project entitled 'Space-based Information Support for Decentralized Planning' (SIS-DP) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 

Haryana chief secretary Urvashi Gulati said the state, only one from the region, has been selected for the implementation of the project in the first phase besides Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and West Bengal.

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, director Dr V Jayaraman apprised of aims and objectives of the project while deputy director Dr P S Roy gave its detailed presentation during a meeting held on Monday. It was followed by discussions and suggestions from the line department for the effective implementation of the project.

The project would provide ICT-enabled geo-spatial platform involving local bodies to carry out developmental activities under the Panchayati Raj in a decentralized, fast and transparent manner. The project aimed at harnessing the space technology and the information systems at the local bodies to create information base and provide services. The project would include thematic mapping of the state on 1:10 K scale.

The expected output of the project would be a GIS database on various resources and infrastructure, digital resource atlases, reports and development of information system to cater to the needs of various line departments and skate holders.


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## RPK

fullstory

*ISRO begins process for Human Space Flight Mission*

Hyderabad, Jan 26 (PTI) ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota will soon initiate the process of creating Third Launch Pad for human transportation into space, SHRC Director Chandra Datttan today said during Republic Day celebrations.

After unfurling the Tricolour at the SDSC, he said the work may start in six months with an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore.

The Third Launch Pad is required for the 2015 Human Space Flight Mission and beyond, a senior Official of ISRO said adding the launch pad would be designed to accommodate the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), ISRO's dream space shuttle.

The present launch pads would not support human programmes and the third pad would cater to all our future space programmes, the official said. The SDSC has already completed the configuration studies for the Third Pad and the process would be initiated by calling competitive bidding.


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## xebex

sathruvinasakh said:


> so next what India?
> converting the S-200 booster into an ICBM just like french did with their Ariane5 booster to get out with M51?



well building an ICBM would be DRDO's job. But I firmly believe ISRO and DRDO could certainly share the intellectual propperty to benefit the nation as a whole, wether its for exploring outerspace or kicking our enemy's buttt.


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## RPK

fullstory


*ISRO has received 'several' payload proposals*

Bangalore, Jan 27 (PTI) ISRO would finalise in a couple of months the payloads from the international community to be carried on Chandrayaan-II moon mission, the space agency's Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.

"Yes, we have and in a couple of months we would finalise it. There are several of them (proposals received from different countries)," he told reporters here.

The Chandrayaan II mission would have an orbiter which would carry a lander and rover, the Indian Space Research Organisation chief said on the sidelines of a book launch on Moon Mission.

"The lander will bring the rover to the surface of the moon and during the time it is there, it will take samples to be analysed," he said, adding, the data would be sent back to earth through the orbiter.

The orbiter would have "some instruments and we are finalising which are those to be put there.


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## RPK

Remote sensing to track potato productivity in Himachal | My Himachal


Shimla: As food prices spiral and the government faces flak for being unable to keep essential commodities affordable, the task of forecasting productivity of crops like potato assumes importance for which ground observation coupled with satellite imagery is now being applied.

Explaining the process, SK Pandey, director Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) says. &#8220;Our survey teams are presently making ground truth observations which are then co-related with imagery data collected by ISRO satellites that are processed at Space Application Centre, Ahmadabad and by end of January we would be able to make a forecast of expected potato production of the winter crop in the entire Indo-Gangetic belt.&#8221;

Problems of plenty and scarcity plague many perishable crops, says senior scientist PM Govindakrishnan and the objective of forecasting the potato crop, a month before harvest is to provide advance information for all stakeholders to adopt timely interventions in either case.&#8221;

Remote sensing for crop assessment has been explored since very beginning of space applications in the country, but since 2006 Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agrometeorological and Land based observations (FASAL) concept was devised.

Under FASAL, we are using remote sensing for assessing acreage under winter potato in Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar and West Bengal, say the CPRI scientists. As this crop constitutes over 75 &#37; of the total production, which often leads to a glut and distress sales, timely information does help in taking decisions about cold storing a portion of the crop, they add.

Field survey for Punjab has been completed and for other states would be completed soon, says Pandey. The acreage data would be then used in crop growth simulation models to make the expected crop forecast.

The premier institute has not been of the mark for since it started using remote sensing. &#8220;The research and development in forecasting potato crops has been fairly accurate, which is well within a margin error 10 percent, says Govindakrishnan.

FASAL concept of using the multi source data and techniques has been successfully demonstrated and taken up to make national level multiple forecast of crops like rice, wheat, cotton, sugarcane, rapeseed/mustard, rabi-sorghum, winter-potato and jute


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## RPK

domain-b.com : India's manned space mission scheduled for 2016

Bangalore: Six years from now the first Indians will travel to space for a week long mission on indigenously developed launch platforms and space capsules. India's first manned mission has now been scheduled for 2016, and will see two astronauts spending seven days in a low earth orbit, according to a top Indian space agency official. 


Indian Navy frogmen recovering the SRE-1 Capsule after splashdown in the Bay of Bengal 
''We are planning a human space flight in 2016, with two astronauts who will spend seven days in the earth's lower orbit,'' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan told reporters here. 

ISRO officials are currently preparing a pre-project report that will enable infrastructure and facilities for the mission to be created, at an estimated cost of Rs12, 655 crore ($2.76 billion). 

The manned mission has already received in-principle approval from the Planning Commission.

''We will design and develop the space module for the manned mission in the next four years. Two astronauts will be selected to train for the space flight,'' Dr Radhakrishnan said, speaking on the margins of a space event. 

ISRO said it will set up a full-fledged training facility in this city for training the astronauts and will also build a third launch pad at its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

''Spacecraft for the proposed manned mission will have extra facilities like entry into crew capsule and an escape chute,'' Dr Radhakrishnan said on the release of a book titled ''Moon Mission: Exploring the Moon with Chandrayaan-1''. 

The book was authored by SK Das, former member (finance) of the space department. 

ISRO has already demonstrated its command over re-entry technologies through the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE) launched in 2007. This was a 600 kg capsule that was launched by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket and was brought back to Earth for a safe landing and recovery 12 days later


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## RPK

ISRO to finalise payloads aboard Chandrayaan-2 in two months


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will finalise its payloads aboard Chandrayaan 2 in another two months. 


Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a book launch on Wednesday, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said that they had received payload proposals from several countries, but the decision to take payloads would be based on scientific requirements.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon is looking at a 2013 launch and is expected to carry a lander and a rover which will be carrying the payloads. He said a scientific committee, chaired by former ISRO Chairman U R Rao was looking at requirements and possibilities of learning from the Chandrayaan 1 experiment.

Radhakrishnan revealed that the mass of the payloads collectively would not be exceeding 50 kgs and that the committee would decide which of the experiments conducted onboard Chandrayaan 1 would be repeated in the later version.

Hinting at the possibility of a unmanned Mars mission in the coming years, he said that there were three slots available. &#8220;There are three opportune years, but we have to finally decide what instruments we are going to carry, what is the science that you are trying to understand and then build a spacecraft.&#8221; The &#8216;opportune&#8217; years, according to him, were 2013, 2016 and 2018. &#8220;We also have a long journey to reach Mars. We have to finalise the kind of propulsion that we need. It will take a minimum of six months to reach there,&#8221; he added.

Responding to a question from a student on manned space flight, Radhakrishnan responded that the challenge lay in designing a spacecraft that could go into space, allow the astronauts to survive the harsh environment and bring them back. A crew module, an escape system for astronauts and a reliable launch vehicle were all needed to make this a reality, he said. 

ISRO had earlier announced plans to send two astronauts into space by 2016 and Rs 95 crore has already been sanctioned towards this endeavour. Land has already been acquired near Devanahalli for setting up an astronaut training facility and a third launch pad is being built at Sriharikota for this purpose. &#8220;In four to seven years, we should be able to do this in steps&#8221;, he answered. The developmental flight for the GSLV Mark III is likely in two months time and ISRO&#8217;s chairman said that a date is likely to be set next week.

The book

Mission Moon: Exploring the Moon with Chandrayaan 1, authored by honorary advisor to ISRO, S K Das takes a look at ISRO&#8217;s planning, execution of Chandrayaan 1 and discovery of water on the lunar surface. A book primarily aimed at young readers, it is intended to serve a starting to point to build their own careers, according to former ISRO chairman U R Rao. Speaking at the launch, Rao said that the next 20 years would see significant exploration in space.

He touched upon the possibility of building colonies


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## RPK

domain-b.com : ISRO mulls Mars mission, lunar colonies

Bangalore: An ambitious and confident Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is not only planning deeper forays into space, starting with Mars, but also looking at the complications involved in setting up a lunar base. 

"There are three possible time slots to send a Mars mission - in 2013, 2016 and 2018," ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan said Wednesday in Bangalore. "We will be looking at 2016 or 2018."

According to Dr Radhakrishnan, ISRO would utilise either of its launch vehicles &#8211; the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) or the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - to send a satellite into Martian orbit. "It can be done in four or five years, but the challenge is to define what scientific experiments we would conduct there," he said.

Former ISRO chairman, Madhavan Nair, said Chandrayaan-1's discovery of the presence of water near the lunar poles had increased the chances of building the lunar base. "It is going to be the frontier for exploration of the universe," he said. 

According to Nair, analysis of data obtained last year from scientific instruments onboard the Chandrayaan-1 indicated water molecules on the moon. The presence of Hydroxyls - a molecule comprising an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom - in lunar soil was also promising in this regard. 

Offering a contrarian sentiment was former ISRO chairman, Prof UR Rao, who wasn't too sure if establishing a colony on the moon was a good idea. However, he said, the moon was a rich source of Helium-3, a fuel for nuclear fusion, which one day could make the earth energy sufficient for thousands of years.

However, Rao held out a glimmer of hope for lunar colonies pointing out that the Japanese lunar mission, Kaguya's, recent discovery of underground tunnels on the lunar surface offered increased hope for human colonies.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency announced the discovery of skylight-like deep holes on moon which could lead to huge sub-surface tunnels. These tunnels could have been carved out by lava flow. "They could shield human beings from space radiation and other hazards," Rao said.

ISRO is gearing up to finalise mission configuration of its second lunar foray with Chandrayaan-2, due for launch in 2013. The mission involves immense technical sophistication as it will have a lunar orbiter, which will disgorge a lunar lander, which in turn will release a lunar rover to crawl on the surface of the moon.

Dr Radhakrishnan revealed that, globally, scientists were discussing manned missions to Mars and establishing space colonies by 2030. He was confident that India would not lag too far behind. "India's first human space programme, which will have two astronauts in spacecraft orbiting the Earth, should be achieved in about six years," he said.


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## sathruvinasakh

^^^^

Indias ambition is gud.Atleast their IRSO has said that while Obama slashed their future budgets on space programs.

Now the real contestants in race to moon will be India and China.

probably with more money in pockets China might win the race letting Japan and India behind.

Boy,I was always a fan of these races and wars you know. 
These kind of things only show ones real strengths and capabilities.

Afterall, I appreciate Indian progress. Keep going


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## Ultimate Warrior

*New launch pad for human space flights soon: ISRO*

HYDERABAD (PTI): ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota will soon initiate the process of creating Third Launch Pad for human transportation into space, SHRC Director Chandra Datttan said on Tuesday during Republic Day celebrations.

After unfurling the Tricolour at the SDSC, he said the work *may start in six months with an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crore.

The Third Launch Pad is required for the 2015 Human Space Flight Mission and beyond, a senior Official of ISRO said  adding the launch pad would be designed to accommodate the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), ISRO's dream space shuttle.

The present launch pads would not support human programmes and the third pad would cater to all our future space programmes, the official said. The SDSC has already completed the configuration studies for the Third Pad and the process would be initiated by calling competitive bidding.

He did not rule out the possibility of using the pad for commercial purpose.

We are launching private and foreign satellites through our sister concern Antrix Corporation. So there should not be any problems using the pad for sending astronauts belong to other countries, the official said.

The first Launch Pad, which became operational in 1971, is being used for PSLV launches. The Second Pad, which is operational since 2005 would facilitate launching of advanced satellites till the next decade.

New launch pad for human space flights soon: ISRO :: Brahmand.com*


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## RPK

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : ISRO should take steps to reduce cost of payload: Kalam


Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday said ISRO should take steps to bring down the cost of the payload of a space craft from $2,000 per kg now. 

&#8220;One of the main challenges before the space agency was to bring down considerably the cost of the payload from its existing price,&#8221; Mr. Kalam said in his inaugural address at a reception accorded to ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan at his native place in Irinjalakuda. 

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Radhakrishnan said discovery of water molecule in the moon was a major achievement of the organisation. ISRO&#8217;s achievements have given the organisation a prominent place in the space map of the world, he said. 

Research will have to go a long way in finding answers to several intricacies of space. India would be one of the fully developed countries in the world by 2020, he added.


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## Naradmuni

Successful static testing of Solid Propellant Booster Rocket Stage S200 for GSLV Mk III Launch Vehicle on Jan 20: ISRO Press Release​



Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the static test of its largest solid booster S200 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota today (January 24, 2010). The successful test of S200 makes it the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the RSRM solid booster of Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of ARIANE-5. The S200 solid booster will form the strap-on stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) which is currently under advanced stage of development for launching 4 ton class of communication satellites.

S200 solid booster contains 200 tonnes of solid propellant in three segments. The motor measures 22 meter long and 3.2 meter in diameter. The design, development and successful realisation of S200 solid booster were a pure indigenous effort involving Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and Satish Shawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota with the participation of Indian Industries. The S200 solid booster derived its heritage from the solid boosters developed earlier for the ISRO launch vehicle programme. The preparation and casting of S200 solid booster segments were carried out at the newly established Solid Propellant Plant (SPP) at SDSC, Sriharikota.




During the test, the S200 booster was fired for 130 seconds and generated a peak thrust of about 500 tonnes. The performance of the booster was exactly as predicted. Nearly 600 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data indicates normal performance.

Todays successful test of S200 is a major milestone in the solid rocket motor programme of ISRO and a vital step in the development of GSLV Mk III.


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## RPK

India?s own moon walk, Lifestyle - SciTech - Pune Mirror,Pune Mirror

India is set to take a huge leap in space science and Bangalore is once again in the forefront. 

In six months, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will set up a Simulator Lunar Terrain (SLT) in an as yet undisclosed location in the city. India will become the third country in the world to have an exclusive &#8216;extrasurface&#8217; test drive. 

&#8220;This will be a terrain testing facility. Our basic idea is to recreate the moon&#8217;s surface on earth which helps us in getting first-hand information on how a rover works.&#8221; 

&#8220;The SLT will have features like lunar terrain and its gravitational force,&#8221; ISRO&#8217;s Chandrayaan project director M Annadurai told Bangalore Mirror. &#8220;This helps us understand the problems encountered by rovers on the moon&#8217;s surface.

For example, if a rover encounters a problem on simulator, we can adjust its permiter and design so that we do not face the problems in real time. Once the simulator is ready, it will be a test drive similar to that cars currently undergo in its factories,&#8221; he added. 

D Sreekumar, Group Director, Space Astronomy Group, ISRO said, &#8220;We are planning to create a small area which will look like the moon to test the lunar rover. With a simulator in place, it will be easy for us to understand the lunar rover&#8217;s path.&#8221; 

ASTRONAUT CENTRE 
According to ISRO officials, the SLT could be located at the state-of-the-art centre, costing Rs 1,000 crore, that is coming up close to the Bangalore International Airport. Besides housing offices of ISRO, this new facility will have a simulator for astronauts. 

The centre would be like a big swimming pool where astronauts can go below the water and learn to adjust to zero gravity situations. &#8220;Facilities like thermal cycling and radiation regulating chambers will also be established in this centre,&#8217;&#8217; an ISRO official revealed. 

This centre, to be ready in the next couple of years, will also train astronauts in new space technologies, acceleration aspects when the vehicle zooms into space, in dealing with rescue and recovery, study of radiation environments and to cope with long and potentially hazardous space journeys.


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## Abhiras

India knows the investment in space would provide fruits in the future....


----------



## RPK

*The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India building spacecraft to enable use of satellite phones*


India is building a spacecraft for mobile applications that will enable use of satellite phones without dependence on foreign players, a top space scientist said here on Monday. 

Presently, satellite phones used in India are supported by foreign satellites, including Indonesian ones. 

&#8220;We are yet to make an impact on satellite-based mobile communication. But again there are plans to evolve such systems,&#8221; former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair said. 

&#8220;Designs are evolved. They (ISRO) are in the process of building the satellite,&#8221; he told reporters after addressing the India Semiconductor Association&#8217;s Vision Summit. 

&#8220;It requires a huge deployable antenna on board. With that...with reasonable power, we can manage hand held communication systems. Maybe in a year or two, it (the satellite) will be up,&#8221; Nair said. 

He said only the S-band can be used for mobile applications. &#8220;Already ISRO is doing some work on that...almost like PC (Personal Computer) size,&#8221; the scientist said. 

Responding to questions, Nair, who oversaw 25 successful missions during his six-year tenure as head of India&#8217;s space agency, stressed the need to protect India&#8217;s space assets. 

&#8220;Space-based assets are used for national development. We very much depend on that. One has to ensure the security space assets,&#8221; Nair, who is currently the president of the International Academy of Astronautics, added. 

&#8220;One has to work out a strategy for that. I think the Space Department will be working on that,&#8221; Nair said. 

On China having ASAT (Anti-Satellite) programme and declaring that it would weaponise space, he said &#8220;India has a declared policy that space-based assets would be only for peaceful applications. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think the (Indian) government has changed that policy yet,&#8221; Nair said. 

On prospects for space tourism, he said, &#8220;It&#8217;s very, very remote at the moment.&#8221; 

Nair also said India badly needs a semiconductor fab. &#8220;Compared to other countries, we have not invested in this area, and at least now, we should seriously think of (it). In the last two years, a lot of discussions were going on, but nothing concrete has taken place. Looking at the value of business India has got in terms of computers and communication equipment, we need a fab,&#8221; the former ISRO chairman said. 

In this context, the industry should come together and the government should also support the initiative, he said. 

Delivering the keynote address at the two-day conference, Nair strongly advocated a major push in the solar photo voltaic (PV) sector. 

&#8220;A big R&D thrust is needed to bring down the cost of PV systems and improve its efficiency significantly,&#8221; he said.


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## RPK

Sindh Today &#8211; Online News India to make micron chips for space systems, reactors


Bangalore, Feb 1 (IANS) India is developing advanced micron chips for extensive use in space applications and atomic reactors, a senior scientist said Monday.

&#8220;We have developed 0.18 micron chips at the Semiconductor Complex Ltd (SCL) in Chandigarh for space applications such as gyroscopes and navigation systems. The chips can also be used in the electronic systems and controls at nuclear reactors,&#8221; former Indian space agency chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here. 

The 0.18 micron (one millionth of a metre) chips are an advanced version of 0.85 micron chips that were developed and manufactured by the state-run SCL and industry players under technology transfer. 

&#8220;We have signed contracts with some manufacturing firms to produce these memory chips of 0.18 micron. Once they are ready, they will replace the existing chips of 0.85 micron. Nair said after inaugurating the Indian Semiconductor Association (ISA) summit. 

The state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) still use the indigenous 0.3 micron chips in their respective electronic systems. 

&#8220;Though the trend in advanced countries has been to use 64-bit or 40-bit nanometre (one billionth of a metre) chips in high-end technologies, we can still manage with earlier versions of 0.3 micron,&#8221; Nair said on the margins of the event. 

Earlier, Nair told about 200 delegates participating in the two-day summit that India had achieved a great degree of self-reliance in space, atomic energy, defence, IT (information technology) and biotechnology. 

&#8220;In space programmes, chip-based electronic systems and components are used in satellites, rocket launches and remote or ground-based operations. The successful launch of our maiden lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1) and achieving its objectives are evident of maturity and self-reliance in high-end technologies,&#8221; he said. 

Noting that denial of technologies by the developed countries for dual use purposes was a blessing in disguise, Nair said such denials gave a fillip to indigenisation and self reliance in core activities. 

Advocating a public-private partnership (PPP) between academia, industry and state-run research and develop (R&D) institutions for developing advanced chips, he said the potential to tap solar energy and wind energy was immense. 

&#8220;For instance, nano materials can be used to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and generate hydrogen as a fuel from water through chemical process. Though expensive upfront, more research has to be done to reduce the cost of energy through renewable sources,&#8221; Nair added.

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## RPK

*'India to launch high-resolution CARTOSAT-2B soon'*

fullstory

Bangalore, Feb 4 (PTI) India would shortly launch Cartosat-2B, a high-resolution remote sensing satellite, that would aid in infrastructure and urban planning, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.

The launch was expected by March end or mid-April and the exact date would be finalised at the mission readiness review (MRR) meeting on February 10, he told reporters here.

The satellite, which would be launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has a 0.8 metre resolution. This makes it capable to even take pictures of a car on the ground.

"Basically, it's a high resolution satellite," he said.

India launched Cartosat-2 in January 2007 and Cartosat-2A in April 2008. Cartosat-2B would add to the capability of the first two satellites.

"The advantage is when you have three satellites, you get more coverage in a day from different locations.


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## RPK

Sakaal Times

*NASA and ESA to partner for chandrayaan-2*


BENGALURU: Indian Space Research Organisaton Chairman K.Radhakrishnan on Thursday said both NASA and European Space Agency would be sending instruments on board Chandrayaan-2 to be launched in 2013.

Radhakrishnan said NASA and ESA would actively participate in the second unmanned moon mission.

" They have already sent proposals" he said.

NASA and ESA had deployed several instruments on Chandryaan-I.

M.Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan, said foreign agencies which had participated in the first lunar mission were happy with the results achieved.

India had hosted six foreign instruments in its maiden moon odyssey Chandrayaan-I -- three from ESA, two from NASA and one from Bulgaria. 

Among other things , Chandrayaan-I discovered water sources in the moon.

ISRO officials said Chandrayaan-2 will be equipped with lighter payloads and more propellants to enhance its lifespan.



Chandrayaan-I had to be terminated halfway due to malfunctioning of critical components. The satellite lost communicaton links with the earth.





Chandrayaan-2 will have a rover to analyse samples from the moon's surface.



The launch of India's first moon mission has put ISRO on equal terms in planetary mission with international space players.

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## RPK

ISRO Recruitment 2010, ISRO Scientists/Engineers Recruitment | Buzz 7


2010 : ISRO has published an advertisement for Centralised Recruitment to the post of SCIENTISTS/ENGINEERS &#8216;SC&#8217; in the Disciplines of ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL. (ISRO HQ:ICRB:01:2010 DATED 05-02-2010)

Indian space programme is aimed at promoting the development and application of space science and technology for the socio-economic benefit of the country and also providing valuable service to the Nation in a self reliant manner and witnessed several major accomplishments and scaled newer heights in the recent past. The space programme has made a multi-quantum forward leap, making India a major self-reliant space power. The future ISRO programme envisages development of cutting edge technologies for reusable launch vehicle, development of advanced technologies for Human Spaceflight Programme, advanced high efficiency semi-cryogenic propulsion system, advanced communication satellite, air breathing propulsion, satellite based navigation system, hyper spectral imaging sensors, and inter planetary missions.

Challenging opportunities exist at ISRO to undertake development of innovative technologies and establish the advanced infrastructure needed for space exploration and beyond. ISRO offers the position of Scientist/Engineer `SC&#8217; in the pay band of Rs.15600-39100 with grade pay of Rs.5400/- to the young graduates in the following specialized fields.

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## hindesi

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : GSLV Mk III liquid stage to be tested this month: ISRO

After the successful static testing of its solid propellant booster rocket stage, S-200, for GSLV Mk III Launch Vehicle that would put heavier satellites in space, India would test the liquid stage later this month.

&#8220;We are in the final stages of preparation for the test of the liquid stage (two liquid engines each with 110 tonnes of propellants) at the Liquid Propulsion Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu,&#8221; Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters here on Monday.

In a significant milestone in the country&#8217;s space programme, ISRO had successfully conducted the static testing of its GSLV Mk III&#8217;s Solid Propellant Booster Rocket Stage, S200, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the spaceport of Sriharikota, 80 km from here, on January 24.

S200 is the third largest solid booster in the world after the RSRM solid booster of Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of European rocket ARIANE-5.

GSLV-Mk III is currently under the advanced stage of development for placing four tonne class of communication satellites in Geo-Sunsynchronous Orbit.

The vehicle will make India self-reliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class weighing 4,500 to 5,000 kg and enhance its competitiveness in the multi-million dollar commercial launch market.

Speaking after receiving an honorary doctorate at the fifth convocation of SRM University here, Mr. Radhakrishnan said that the initial test of the liquid stage would be for 14 seconds and depending on its outcome a longer trial would be taken up.

&#8220;After analysing the performance, we will have a long duration test for about 200 seconds. It would take about a week or ten days to analyse the test data and after studying it in detail and if all the parameters are successful, we will go for the long duration test,&#8221; Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

He said the significance of the success of S200 solid booster test was that the design and development were a pure indigenous technology effort, including raw materials and entire processing.

During the test, the S200 booster was fired for 130 seconds and generated a peak thrust of about 500 tonnes. The performance of the booster was exactly as predicted. Nearly 600 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data indicates normal performance.

&#8220;We would have another S-200 test in six to eight months from now on at Sri Harikota,&#8221; he added.

On the launch of PSLV-C15, which would be the first for Mr. Radhakrishnan since taking over as the ISRO chief, he said it would take place by the end of March or beginning of April.

PSLV-C15 would put into orbit Cartosat-2B, a high-resolution remote sensing satellite, which would aid in infrastructure and urban planning.

ISRO would also take up the flight testing of indigenous &#8220;cryogenic stage&#8221; onboard GSLV-D3 in April, Mr. Radhakrishnan said. It would carry the GAST-4, a communication satellite.

&#8220;Though we have had several GSLV flights, this will be more significant as it will carry our own cryogenic stage. Till now we are using Russian cryogenic stage,&#8221; he said, adding the process of integrating the cryogenic stage with the vehicle was now underway.

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## RPK

The Hindu : News / National : Tubular structures on lunar surface, ideal landing sites


Terrain Mapping Camera on-board Chandrayaan-1 revealed such a formation in the Oceanus Procellarum area

Remnant tubular structures or tunnel-like formations from lunar volcanic flows in the past, which extend a couple of kilometres on the moon&#8217;s surface, could serve as ideal landing as well as human settlement sites for future missions, including Chandrayaan-II, according to some new findings from India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1. 

These findings were reported on Monday at the Sixth Chandrayaan-1 Scientific Meeting being held at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) here.

Data from the Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC), one of the Indian instruments on-board the spacecraft, has revealed one such volcanic tube in the Oceanus Procellarum area of the moon (central longitude 58.317 deg. W and latitude 14.111 deg. N). 

The remnants of volcanic tubes on the moon whose roofs have capsized and a trench or valley is created are called a rille system, which is a groove or long narrow depression on the lunar surface. The volcanic tube identified by the TMC comprises two cobra hood-shaped rilles, the longer one measuring 3.65 km in NE-SW direction and the smaller one measuring 0.73 km. 

The interesting feature is that these rilles seem connected by an intermediate stretch of a two km-long and 360-metre-wide uncollapsed portion (see picture), which seems to be the roof of the lava tube that did not collapse for some reason, said A. S. Arya of the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, who described the findings at the meeting.

More significantly, the uncollapsed part is very close to the surface, only 160 metre below. Its hollow interiors could be safe spots for lunar habitation, or even parking lunar landers for protection from the harsh impacts of interplanetary material, meteorite showers, solar wind and radiation. 

&#8220;For future missions aimed at creating permanent base stations and human settlements on the moon, there is a need to identify such locales that have survived the onslaught of the past impacts and would provide safe shelters to human beings on the moon,&#8221; Dr. Arya said. 

For instance, the Japanese mission Kaguya discovered a vertical hollow structure, but that is not suitable for habitation, Dr. Arya said. In a horizontal tubular structure, however, any lunar vehicle can just move along the rille into the tunnel structure for safe parking.

But the TMC findings could even become the starting point for identifying suitable locations for immediate missions such as Chandrayaan-II, which plans to land two lunar rovers, said M. Annadurai, Project Director, Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-II. Chandrayaan-II has set itself the ambitious goals of sustaining the two rovers in the harsh lunar environment for as long as six months. All previous missions have landed in the sunlit area and have not been able to survive beyond a few weeks. 

&#8220;We need to see how Chandrayaan-1 data can be used from an engineering point of view in terms of site terrain information and soil interactions to know where to land our rovers from this perspective,&#8221; Dr. Annadurai said. 

Like Chandrayaan-1, its follow-up mission, which is likely to be flown during 2012-13, will also focus mostly on the higher lunar latitudes, Dr. Annadurai said. 

&#8220;From an engineering point of view, we need to look at the rovers spending longer night hours. For optimal power utilisation, they will function in hibernation mode when there is no sunlight for generating power,&#8221; he said. 

&#8220;So a suitable site could be the edge of some crater or a site near such volcanic tubes where they can retreat for hibernation. But a cross comparison of data from different Chandrayaan-1 experiments can tell us much more than just the TMC data. And such a trend has been evident at this meeting.&#8221; 

With Russia already part of the project, Chandrayaan-II is also likely to have international collaboration, especially with all the principal investigators of the various experiments keen on carrying the work forward by collaborating among themselves in the future.


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## RPK

The Hindu : Front Page : *Flight-testing of cryogenic stage of GSLV in April, says ISRO Chairman*

TAMBARAM: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan on Monday said the flight- testing of the indigenous cryogenic stage of the Geo Stationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D3 would be conducted in April. 

The vehicle would carry GAST-4, a communication satellite, he told reporters after receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Science during the 5th convocation at the SRM University in Kattankulathur.

&#8220;Though we had several GSLV flights, we were using the Russian cryogenic stages,&#8221; he said. 

As far as cryogenic engine and stages were concerned, ISRO had tested engines for 7,500 seconds.

&#8220;We have qualified the stage. The entire stage was filled and fired for its entire duration of 720 seconds at [the Liquid Propulsion Centre in] Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and it was very successful,&#8221; Dr. Radhakrishnan said.


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## Mister X

*3-D moon atlas will soon be available
*
DNA
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 11:21 IST

Ahmedabad: A lot of science was brought out and discussed on a cloudy Monday, in the sixth science meeting on the findings of Chandrayaan-1 at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad. The success story of the moon mission echoed vibrantly in the institute designed by the original dreamer Vikram Sarabhai, who was repeatedly mentioned by scientists in their inaugural address.
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Attended by planning commission member K Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO G Madhavan Nair, PRL director JN Goswami and SAC director RR Navalgund, the two-day science meeting is one of the several attempts to analyse and make available the "several terabytes" worth of data gathered by the satellite on the mission. A 3-D atlas of the moon will be made available in the next six months.

In addition to the scientific data, Kasturirangan said the project has succeeded in igniting a million minds. "There are very few projects which succeed in doing this. I wish there are a billion minds that get ignited. We need a planetary research society to bring youngsters into the fold of science. Mars is the next target we hope to conquer by 2015, looking for extraterrestrial life," he said.

And if the celebrations are being taken up with aplomb, the scientists do not dither to admit their failures too. Nair candidly admitted that some functions of the mission failed, because of which they have been able to realise 95% of the set objectives of the mission. However, he asserted that one should not be disappointed as what has been achieved is also quite an achievement.

"Travelling 3,000 km into space is commendable, and if the data generated is seen, one will realise that the experiment has been handled very maturely," Dr Nair said.

3-D moon atlas will soon be available - dnaindia.com


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## RPK

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India to build intelligent satellite for surveillance


India is set to develop a dedicated network-centric communication intelligence satellite for detecting conversations and espionage activities in the region, a top defence scientist said on Tuesday.

&#8220;We are in the process of designing and developing a spacecraft fitted with an intelligent sensor that will pick up conversations and communications across the borders,&#8221; Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) director G. Bhoopathy told reporters here.

The Rs.100 crore satellite will be developed in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and launched in the lower earth orbit &#8212; about 500 km above the earth &#8212; on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

&#8220;The satellite fitted with the electronic sensor will be more powerful than the remote sensing satellites (IRSA) of ISRO. The spacecraft should be ready for launch by 2014,&#8221; Mr. Bhoopathy said on the margins of a preview on the first international conference on electronic warfare (EWCI 2010).

The Hyderabad-based DLRL, which functions under the aegis of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), is also developing a border network-centric electronic warfare sensor for surveillance on the Indian borders in the mountain range and desert areas.

&#8220;The electronic warfare (EW) sensor will be located on the mountain range facing Pakistan, China, Nepal and the northeast to detect troop or vehicular movement across the borders. Some of the sensors can also be deployed in the plains or desert for monitoring the ground situation in border areas,&#8221; Mr. Bhoopathy said.

Code-named &#8220;Divya Drushti&#8221; (foresight), the radars will be installed on the mountain tops from December this year onwards.

The Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE) in Bangalore and DLRL are engaged in the design and development of EW systems indigenously and state-run defence behemoth Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will manufacture the radars and the support systems in collaboration with the private sector.

DARE and BEL have rolled out Tarang radar warning receiver systems and its variants for fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

BEL has orders from the Indian Armed forces to supply EW system to the value of Rs. 710 crore in this fiscal and Rs. 900 crore in fiscal 2010-11.

Over the years, BEL supplied EW systems to the three armed services to the value of Rs.3,500 crore till fiscal 2008-09.


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## RPK

Chandrayaan-1 also found new types of rocks - India - The Times of India


AHMEDABAD: Yet another feather has been added to the cap of India&#8217;s Rs 386-crore lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1; it has not only discovered water 
molecules but also new types of rocks. This was announced on Monday by Carle Pieters, principal investigator of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a Nasa payload on board Chandrayaan-1 which detected water molecules along with indigenous Moon Impact Probe and Hyper Spectral Imager. 

He was addressing scientists associated with Indian moon mission which won international acclaims and awards at the sixth Chandrayaan-1 scientific meeting, organised by Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous organisation, under Isro. The scientific data from Chandrayaan-1 is being analysed at PRL. 

Pieters said: "M3 has discovered new rock types which are very small. They are unusual and we are in the process of analysing them." Significantly, this discovery was made on the far side of the moon. Former Isro chiefs &#8212; K Kasturirangan, Madhavan Nair and U R Rao and a number of foreign delegates including a few associated with the Japanese mission to the moon, Kaguya, were present at the meeting which will end on Tuesday. 

Pieters told TOI the type of minerals found in the new type of rocks is common. "But what is surprising is that their combination is uncommon. This is a very valuable piece of information," she said, adding geo chemists could analyse the data. 

A scientist attached to Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre, A S Arya, told the gathering that an analysis of the high resolution imagery of the indigenous terrain mapping camera (TMC) has resulted in identifying "lunar tubes." He said the opinion among a section of scientists is that these "tubes" could be utilised for a potential human settlement in future. These tubes could provide much-needed protection to a human colony on the moon


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## RPK

Indian scientists discover a large cave on the Moon- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times


AHMEDABAD: Human habitation or a permanent base on the Moon could soon be a reality. After the discovery of water, scientists analysing the data of 
Chandrayaan-I have now found a large cave on the lunar surface, which could possibly act as a natural shelter for humans. 

&#8220;We have discovered a natural tunnel near the equator of the Moon which is even bigger than that discovered by the Japanese,&#8221; said AS Arya, scientist SF of Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre (SAC). &#8220;This is a empty volcanic tube, measuring about two kilometer in length and 360 meters in width. This could be a potential site for human settlement on moon,&#8221; Mr Arya told ET on the sidelines of a two-day conference at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) on Monday. Mr Arya will also be presenting a paper on the discovery at the LPC (Lunar and Planetary Science Conference) scheduled to be held at Houston from March 1-5. 

&#8220;This is a horizontal cave and is much bigger than the Japanese discovery,&#8221; he said referring to the recent findings by a Japanese spacecraft, Kaguya. This spacecraft had discovered a tunnel which was 65 m wide and 80 m deep in the volcanic Marius hill range on the lunar surface. &#8220;This finding would go a long way in India&#8217;s quest to set up a permanent base on the Moon. Such wide tunnels could sustain underground lunar outposts, while the ceilings could help protect astronauts from space radiation, meteoroid impacts and wild temperature fluctuations (up 300 degree centrigrade) that is commonplace on the lunar surface,&#8221; Mr Arya explained. 

The finding comes as a shot in the arm for the Indian scientists after Chandrayaan-I had recently discovered water on the Moon. There are similar lava tubes on Earth. They are formed when molten rock, flowing from a volcanic eruption, cools and hardens on top while the lava underneath continues to flow. If the lava drains completely, a cavern is left. Scientists have long suspected that such rock formations existed on the moon, but lacked evidence until now. 

According to scientists, Lunar lava tubes are a potentially important location for a future lunar base, whether for local exploration and development, or as an outpost to serve exploration beyond the moon. Moreover, the lunar environment neither has an atmosphere nor a magnetic field, so the radiation from the sun can directly affect humans and severely damage our cells. So, on the lunar surface, one needs to get into areas where you can avoid radiation. 

&#8220;The findings happened while the data from the TMC (Terrain Mapping Camera) was being analysed,&#8221; the scientist said. The TMC was one of the five Indian payload that was onboard Chandrayaan-I. &#8220;Moreover, this particular cave is situated near the equator where most of the lunar missions have landed so far,&#8221; he said.

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## fanboi

> India has anti-satellite capability: DRDO



India has anti-satellite capability: DRDO


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## gowthamraj

thats good. . we want to test them soon. .


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## al-hind

why isn't this a sticky anymore??? mods care to elaborate on it please?


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## Indiarox

As results are shown more money will be pumped in
We require less scientists hence reduction in pay related finances
our expertise in composites helps keep costs down


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## Isaq Khan

*Chandrayaan I finds ice near Moon's north pole
*

Washington, March 2, 2010: Using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard *Indias Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits totalling at least an estimated 600 million metric tons near the moons north pole.*

NASAs Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters ranging in size from 2 to 15 km in diameter with water ice, the US space agency announced Monday.

The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon, said Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.

*The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.*

After analysing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit, said Jason Crusan, programme executive for the Mini-RF Programme for NASAs Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.

The Mini-SARs findings are consistent with recent findings of other NASA instruments and add to the growing scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found on the moon, NASA said.

The agencys Moon Mineralogy Mapper discovered water molecules in the moons polar regions, while water vapour was detected by NASAs Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS.

Mini-SAR, a lightweight (less than 10 kg) imaging radar, and Moon Mineralogy Mapper are two of 11 instruments carried by the Indian Space Research Organisations (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1.

The Mini-SAR has imaged many of the permanently shadowed regions that exist at both poles of the moon. These dark areas are extremely cold and it has been hypothesised that volatile material, including water ice, could be present in quantity there.

The main science object of the Mini-SAR experiment is to map and characterise any deposits that exist.

Numerous craters near the poles of the moon have interiors that are in permanent sun shadow. These areas are very cold and water ice is stable there, essentially indefinitely.

Fresh craters show high degrees of surface roughness (high circular polarisation ratio -- CPR) both inside and outside the crater rim, caused by sharp rocks and block fields that are distributed over the entire crater area, NASA said.

However, Mini-SAR has found craters near the north pole that have high CPR inside, but not outside their rims. This relation suggests that the high CPR is not caused by roughness, but by some material that is restricted within the interiors of these craters.

We interpret this relation as consistent with water ice present in these craters. The ice must be relatively pure and at least a couple of metres thick to give this signature, NASA said.

The estimated amount of water ice potentially present is comparable to the quantity estimated solely from the previous mission of Lunar Prospectors neutron data (several hundred million metric tons).

The variation in the estimates between Mini-SAR and the Lunar Prospectors neutron spectrometer is due to the fact that it only measures to depths of about one-half metre, so it would underestimate the total quantity of water ice present, NASA said.

At least some of the polar ice is mixed with lunar soil and thus, invisible to the NASA radar, it said.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : Chandrayaan I finds ice near Moon's north pole


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## xuxu1457

*First step *of real anti-missile technology is finding and tracking the target missile at thousands miles away,this need long-range early warning radar or early-warning satellites,but India have not this system,and this is only the first step;That's why others don't believe of Indian Claims


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## jbond197

xuxu1457 said:


> *First step *of real anti-missile technology is finding and tracking the target missile at thousands miles away,this need long-range early warning radar or early-warning satellites,but India have not this system,and this is only the first step;That's why others don't believe of Indian Claims



Dude, We all know what our strength and weaknesses are but why are you Chineese feeling pains for us. Let us bear our own failures/sucesses. No body is asking any Chinese to believe any of our claims. On the contrary,nobody believe in what CCP claims all the time. so be happy and keep dreaming, buddy..

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## imran iqbal

xuxu1457 said:


> *First step *of real anti-missile technology is finding and tracking the target missile at thousands miles away,this need long-range early warning radar or early-warning satellites,but India have not this system,and this is only the first step



Another enthusiastic green horn joined CCP bandwagon. 

Which anti-missile system are you referring ?To counter SRBM/ MRBM/ IRBM/ ICBM or SLBM ? Endo-Atmospheric or Exo-Atmospheric missile shield ? How much range and RADAR coverage is needed to neutralize warhead ? Is it feasible to neutralize decoy on your or hostile nation territory ? What if US GPS knowingly transfer you wrong coordinates ? How Indian Satellites are not able to track a bogey ? Do you know classified info of Indian sat capabilities ?

Or just for the starters, how many sat assets does India have in space and how can satellites track a cruise missile or srbm? 




xuxu1457 said:


> That's why others don't believe of Indian Claims



Rant without substance.


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## jagjitnatt

jbond197 said:


> Dude, We all know what our strength and weaknesses are but why are you Chineese feeling pains for us. Let us bear our own failures/sucesses. No body is asking any Chinese to believe any of our claims. On the contrary,nobody believe in what CCP claims all the time. so be happy and keep dreaming, buddy..



Buddy its their job. They get paid for this. Read 50 Cent Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

shchinese exposed

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## adatta

jagjitnatt said:


> Buddy its their job. They get paid for this. Read 50 Cent Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> shchinese exposed



grt find jaggi....let us make a point from now onwards schinese will be known as 5mao


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## LCA Tejas

jagjitnatt said:


> Buddy its their job. They get paid for this. Read 50 Cent Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> shchinese exposed



hahahaha poor shchinese.. exposed


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## ADT

india has good space programs


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## Choppers

From ISRO's website:

"Indian Space Research Organisation successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high 
performance sounding rocket today (March 3, 2010) at 08.30 Hrs, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR.

Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01), weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by ISRO. It carried a passive scramjet engine combustor module as a test bed for demonstration of Air- Breathing propulsion technology.

During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6 + 0.5) and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.

The successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion."

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## xebex

jagjitnatt said:


> Buddy its their job. They get paid for this. Read 50 Cent Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> shchinese exposed



By looking at the number of troll posts from him, China must be spending half of its GDP to pay shchinese.

Btw, anyone have more details or update about he ISRO's avatar project?


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## DMLA

News already posted. But I found the original article with the pictures of the same. The scramjet engine is visible in one of the pics!

Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: March 03, 2010

Congrats to ISRO


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## black flame

*Advanced Technology Vehicle successfully flight-tested *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully flight-tested its new-generation, high-performance sounding rocket at the spaceport in Sriharikota, near here.

The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV- D01), weighing three tonnes at lift-off, is the heaviest sounding rocket developed by the ISRO. It carries a passive scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine combustor module as a test-bed for a demonstration of the air-breathing propulsion technology. An ISRO release said the rocket successfully flew at a velocity of more than Mach 6 (six times the speed of sound) for seven seconds. These conditions were required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next ATV flight.

The successful flight-testing is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative from the ISRO in the area of air-breathing propulsion, the release said.

The air-breathing rocket systems used the atmospheric oxygen from their surroundings and burned it with the on-board fuel to produce the forward thrust. This was in contrast to the conventional chemical rocket systems, which carried both oxygen and fuel on board, a rocket technologist said.

The air-breathing rockets, therefore, are much lighter and more efficient than the conventional rockets, leading to reduction in the cost of space transportation. That is, the cost incurred to put a satellite in orbit will be much lower.

The development of scramjet engine was complex and it involved a number of technological challenges. They included mixing of very high speed air (velocity around 1.5 km a second) with fuel, achieving stable ignition and holding the flame in addition to ensure efficient combustion within the length of the combustor, the rocket technologist said. 

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## Choppers

*'Discovery of water on moon accidental'*
Bangalore, Mar 3, DHNS:

_Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair revealed on Wednesday that the discovery of water on the moon by Chandrayaan I was an accident._

Nair said that the purpose of the mission was not to detect water but a mineral detector aboard the moon vehicle by chance discovered the presence of the substance. 

Delivering a lecture on &#8216;National Science Day&#8217; at the Bangalore University&#8217;s Jnana Bharathi campus to commemorate the discovery of the &#8216;Raman Effect&#8217;, Nair said that some of the greatest discoveries of science had been accidents. &#8220;Chandrayaan I was fitted with an instrument to detect the presence of minerals such as Calcium or Iron. But the instrument in the end detected the presence of water on the moon,&#8221; he said. *He called the discovery of water on the moon as India&#8217;s greatest contribution to the space research and scientific community.*

Nair also estimated that the total amount of water on the moon was in excess of one billion tonnes and the total ice on the moon was more than a million tonnes. He added that the possibilities of the discovery was endless and could even extend to the human species setting up colonies on the moon. *Nair said that although India was a late entrant to space research and ISRO itself was operating on a &#8220;shoe-string&#8221; budget, the country was second to none in the field. *

Madhavan Nair urged youngsters to take up research for the sheer joy of it and not be lured by the fat pay packets offered by multi-national giants. &#8220;*Most of the scientists who worked on Chandrayaan I were on normal government salaries. But their commitment and love for research is what made the mission successful,*&#8221; he said. Also present at the event was well-known wildlife and biodiversity conversation scientist, Dr K Ullas Karanth, who said that a scientific approach to conservation and holisitic understanding of the effects of rampant destruction of nature was the need of the hour.

'Discovery of water on moon accidental'


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## Choppers

*Presence of water in Moon path-breaking discovery: Nair*

Fri, Mar 5 12:02 PM
Kochi, Mar 5 (PTI) Describing the recent discovery of thick ice deposits on the Moon as path-breaking, former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said it opens up a vast avenue for human exploration. "This is the first time NASA and ISRO have confirmed the availability of water on moon.

Huge ice sheets were found in the polar regions of the moon. This is a path-breaking finding as it was earlier believed there was a vacuum in the moon," Nair, during whose tenure unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan I was launched, said.

"The presence of water gives many ideas.Water can be split with sunlight to get oxygen and hydrogen.

While oxygen can be used by human explorers, hydrogen can be used as fuel either to generate electricity or use as rocket fuel for the return journey or even attempt a Mars mission from the Moon," he said. This also reduces the need to carry expensive oxygen and fuel payloads by future space missions, he said, addressing the Fedbank Hormis Memorial Foundation lecture on ''Technological Challenges for National Development'' here last night.

The cost of access to moon works out to about 50000 USD a kg and to go round the earth it is 20,000 USD a kg. Recently, the US had to cancel lunar exploration programmes due to the high cost, he said.

Nair said scientists have to evolve new technologies to reduce access to space by making less expensive rocket systems and to use re-useable rocket systems.A host of new systems and materials need to be developed, he said, adding by 2020, the aim was to reduce the cost of launch by half by adopting newer technologies.


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## sudhir007

ISRO conducts static test of liquid core stage of GSLV-MkIII | NetIndian | India News | Latest News from India | Breaking News from India | Latest Headlines

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today said it had conducted the static test of its liquid core stage (L110) of the GSLV Mk III launch vehicle for 150 seconds.

The test was conducted at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri at 1600 hours yesterday, a press release from ISRO said.

While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds, it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters was observed. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test. 

The next static test for 200 seconds will be conducted after analysis of this data, the release said.

The GSLV Mk III launch vehicle is being developed for launching the 4 tonne class of satellites in Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 metres in length and 4 metres in diameter, L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with a propellant loading of 110 tonnes. L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strap-ons of GSLV.

According to the release, while in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-MkIII requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

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## sudhir007

Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: March 06, 2010

Indian Space Research Organisation conducted the static test of its liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle, for 150 seconds at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri at 16:00 hrs yesterday (March 5, 2010). 

While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters was observed. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test. The next static test for 200 seconds will be conducted after analysis of this data. 

GSLV Mk III launch vehicle is being developed for launching 4 tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter, L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes. L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV. 

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-MkIII requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

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## Kinetic

L110 test pic

http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2010/images/L110.jpeg

S200 test few weeks ago was the third largest solid booster in the after Space shuttle and Ariane V.

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## mjnaushad

jagjitnatt said:


> Buddy its their job. They get paid for this. Read 50 Cent Party - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> shchinese exposed


First its personal attack. 

2nd The 50cents are paid to glorify Chinese image but you are saying they are paid to troll. 

Think before you speak.


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## Justin Joseph

mjnaushad said:


> First its personal attack.
> 
> 2nd The 50cents are paid to glorify Chinese image but you are saying they are paid to troll.
> 
> Think before you speak.




sir,

ur wrong, they (50 cent party) was created to glorify communist governments works and now they are recruited for trolling also. 

*If u don't believe me than read BBC news.
*
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China's internet 'spin doctors'

Now, what will u say?

so next time before giving advise to others do some home work.

thanks

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## Kinetic

ATV-D01 on launch pad... (high resolution)

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## mjnaushad

Justin Joseph said:


> sir,
> 
> ur wrong, they (50 cent party) was created to glorify communist governments works and now they are recruited for trolling also.
> 
> *If u don't believe me than read BBC news.
> *
> BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China's internet 'spin doctors'
> 
> Now, what will u say?
> 
> so next time before giving advise to others do some home work.
> 
> thanks


Is this really your evidence. if i'll say anything against India will you not come to defend it. And where in the article say they are paid to troll. 

If Indian media will say something about Pakistan wont Pakisani media defend it. Then you'll say that its paid by govt. If Pakistani media say something about your country wont your media defend it. 

Come on you guys can do better than that. 

And you still cant deny my first post that it is a personal attack. Even if he is 50 cent party. you dont know for sure.

And the article also say 100s of people. All i can see here are 4 or 5.


----------



## Justin Joseph

mjnaushad said:


> Is this really your evidence. if i'll say anything against India will you not come to defend it. And where in the article say they are paid to troll.
> 
> If Indian media will say something about Pakistan wont Pakisani media defend it. Then you'll say that its paid by govt. If Pakistani media say something about your country wont your media defend it.
> 
> Come on you guys can do better than that.
> 
> And you still cant deny my first post that it is a personal attack. Even if he is 50 cent party. you dont know for sure.
> 
> And the article also say 100s of people. All i can see here are 4 or 5.



sir,

why we are talking off topic.

we know nothing for sure.

do u think if one work for 50 cent party he will come to u and show u look bother "mjnaushad" this is my certificate from government of china, then u will believe.

here, we judge people by their works,

anyways u have right to have opinion think whatever u seems suits ur intentions.

thanks


----------



## rajgoynar

mjnaushad said:


> First its personal attack.
> 
> 2nd The 50cents are paid to glorify Chinese image but you are saying they are paid to troll.
> 
> Think before you speak.






first you take care of your country 

and why are you giving lecture on behalf of china.

typical men


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## sab

@ mjnausad

Over 1200 posts you chose one to respond which had nothing to do with the topic. If it is personal attack or off-topic, complain against it. You dont need to policing the forum. Our moderators are active enough.


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## Tejas-MkII

some updates on gagan:

The Hindu Business Line : Raytheon to set up 15 ground stations for GAGAN by 2013

*Raytheon to set up 15 ground stations for GAGAN by 2013 *

Raytheon to set up 15 ground stations for GAGAN by 2013 

K. V. Kurmanath

Hyderabad, March 5

Raytheon, the US-based technology solutions provider, *will complete setting up ground stations for the ambitious GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System) programme, spearheaded by ISRO, by 2013.*

GAGAN aims at providing satellite-based navigation for aircraft over the Indian and South-East Asian airspace. While the Indian Space Research Organisation is handling the satellite side of the system, Raytheon has won the mandate for establishment and *synchronisation of 15 ground stations for $82 million.*

This includes upgradation of eight demo sites and seven new sites across the country, Mr Robert W. Meyer, Business Development Manager (Air Traffic Management), Raytheon, told Business Line on the sidelines of India Aviation 2010.

The company has begun development of algorithms for the sophisticated air navigation system.

It has tied up with the Bangalore-based Accord Software and Systems and GMV Aerospace and Defense of Spain to provide technological solutions for GAGAN. The system is supposed to process the data sent to it from the aircraft via satellites and react very quickly.

Meanwhile, the company is engaged in discussions with GMR, GVK and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the possible deployment of its security solutions in their airports.

The company, which has sold its air traffic management system to a few airports in India, is in the process of upgrading the systems by implementing AutoTrac III. We are working with AAI to upgrade some airports to AutoTrac III while implementing afresh in others, he said.

The new systems at Mumbai and New Delhi have cleared the tests and are on Shadow Mode Operation' exercises, Mr Meyer said.

AutoTrac III adds a new, fourth dimension for air traffic management. It helps the controllers gather intent data' (where the aircraft is headed), improving efficiency and safety.

We have recently won the mandate for AutoTrac upgrade in Chennai. In Kolkata, we will deploy it afresh, he said.

Raytheon has bid for eight radar systems for AAI, he added.

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## sudhir007




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## sudhir007

Nano satellite built by IIT Kanpur handed over to ISRO - Kanpur - City - The Times of India

KANPUR: A nano satellite "Jugnu" built by students and faculty of IIT Kanpur, was today handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation. 

The three kg satellite is one-foot long and 10 centimetre wide and will be launched by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota and take high resolution images. 

IIT scientists said the satellite, which was handed over to the space agency at a function in the presence of President Pratibha Patil to celebrate its golden jubilee, is expected to last for about a year and will help combat drought. 

As it was handed over, the President congratulated the students and the faculty for the accomplishment. 

In 2008, IIT Kanpur and ISRO had signed an MoU under which the engineering institution was to build a nano satellite.


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## mjnaushad

sab said:


> @ mjnausad
> 
> Over 1200 posts you chose one to respond which had nothing to do with the topic. If it is personal attack or off-topic, complain against it. You dont need to policing the forum. Our moderators are active enough.


Same goes for you guys. You dont like my post report it. Dont reply it.


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## mjnaushad

rajgoynar said:


> first you take care of your country
> 
> and why are you giving lecture on behalf of china.
> 
> typical men


I can reply that in good way but as you are a newbie so i just reported it instead of giving you what you need.


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## mjnaushad

*My appologies i came here to get some knowledge and by mistake replied to a personal attack. I should have reported it. Continue with the discussion.*


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## DMLA

Another Pic of ATV test!


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## Choppers

*Isro rocket test fails*
OUR BUREAU

New Delhi, March 6: A static ground test of a core stage of a new-generation heavyweight rocket for the future, planned by the Indian Space Research Organisation, has failed, the space agency announced today.

The liquid-fuelled core stage of the GSLV-Mk3 rocket was to fire for 200 seconds during the ground test at Isro&#8217;s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, but was stopped after 150 seconds, Isro sources said.

India&#8217;s existing Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rockets can ferry a 2,000kg- class satellite towards a geostationary orbit 37,000km above Earth. The GSLV-Mk3 is expected to carry a 4,000kg-class satellite towards a geostationary orbit.

The GSLV-Mk3 can also carry a 10,000kg payload into a low-earth orbit &#8212; an altitude of about 200km &#8212; and is thus viewed as a crucial technology that Isro will need to develop in its bid to launch manned space capsules.

&#8220;The ground test on Friday evening was stopped after engineers detected an unanticipated deviation in one of the parameters being observed during the firing,&#8221; an Isro official told The Telegraph.

While the rocket fires in the static mode, engineers keep track of more than 500 parameters, such as temperatures at various points in the rocket, liquid flow rates and pressure levels, the official said.

The next static ground test will be conducted after analysis of this data, Isro said.

The liquid-fuelled stage has 110 tonnes of propellant and is similar to the liquid stages used in Isro&#8217;s existing GSLV rockets &#8212; only with a greater capacity. In the existing GSLV, it burns for 150 seconds; the GSLV-Mk3 will demand 200 seconds of firing.

The test was aborted after some &#8220;minor leakage in the command system&#8221;, PTI reported, quoting Isro sources. It is a &#8220;very minor problem&#8221; in which a small leak in the command line was detected by a computer, which automatically stopped the test. &#8220;There is absolutely no problem with the engine,&#8221; a source said.

Earlier this year, Isro had successfully conducted ground tests of solid strap-on stages of the rocket.

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Isro rocket test fails

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## Choppers

*Forestry satellite by 2013: Jairam Ramesh​*
A. D. RANGARAJAN






Union Minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh has announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a dedicated forestry satellite in all likelihood in the year 2013.

Against the biennial exercise in vogue, the facility will help to continuously monitor the forest cover, health and diversity. Similarly, efforts are on to launch an indigenous satellite for monitoring greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions next year, which will place India on a rung occupied by a select few in the world.

Speaking to journalists after inaugurating the Indian Climate Observatory Network (ICON) at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) campus near here on Sunday, Mr. Ramesh called the satellite a major afforestation initiative  a key player in tackling climate change issues.

India, one of the largest carbon sinks on the globe, added three million hectares to its forest cover between 1997 and 2007, when Brazil lost 25 million hectres, according to satellite imageries.

Forests mean more than trees to us as they aid in social, economic and ecological sustenance, he noted, adding that 250 million people depended on them for their livelihood.

The National Institute of Climate and Environmental Studies (NICES), a institution, is coming up at Gadanki with the collaboration of the Ministries of Environment and Earth Sciences, Departments of Space and Science and Technology.

The Indian Network of Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment (INCCCA), a project involving 125 research institutions, would present emissions inventory every year starting this May. The facility would measure the impact of emissions on agriculture, water, health and forest by studying the four crucial regions viz., western ghats, northeast, Himalayan ecosystem and the coastal system, before presenting a report in November.

Planning Commission member K. Kasturi Rangan inaugurated the Lower Atmospheric Wind Profiling (LAWP) radar. ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan and NARL Director A. Jayaraman explained the various ongoing projects to the Minister.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Energy & Environment : Forestry satellite by 2013: Jairam Ramesh

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## Justin Joseph

*ISRO puts off Israeli payloads launch*

BY: Tribune News Service

In a blow to the Indian and Israeli researchers, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to leave out TAUVEX (Tel Aviv University Ultra Violet Experiment), an Israeli payload, during the launch of its experimental communication satellite GSAT-4.

We were very disappointed to learn that we were to be removed from the spacecraft. We have worked for this for a long time and were excited by the prospect of getting excellent science. We are now waiting for ISRO to tell us when the next launch opportunity will be, Jayant Murthy, professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics here and the Indian principal investigator of TAUVEX, told The Tribune in an email.

Responding to this reporters query, *Noah Brosch, Tel Aviv Universitys Wise Observatory director, who is the Israeli principal investigator of TAUVEX, said, I have been made aware of the satellite problems, and knew that the panel on which TAUVEX was mounted had been taken off to allow work to proceed on some components (unrelated to TAUVEX) that needed replacing.*

If GSAT-4 will launch without TAUVEX this would be very disappointing indeed. We went through a considerable amount of work and expense to fit TAUVEX to this satellite, and were looking forward to some excellent and unique science that only TAUVEX could have provided.

Brosch added that if GSAT-4 was launched without TAUVEX, he would expect that ISRO would come back to me with an explanation.

An MoU for including the TAUVEX on GSAT-4 was signed on December 25, 2003, by G Madhavan Nair, the then ISRO chairman, and Aby Har-Even, director-general, Israel Space Agency (ISA) at ISRO headquarters here. The MoU followed the cooperative agreement signed between ISRO and ISA in October 2002.

Data from the telescope (TAUVEX) was supposed to help in solving astrophysical questions related to star formation, history of galaxies, physics of giant black holes, etc. It could also help in guiding other space telescopes towards selected interesting objects in the sky.

K Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman, did not respond to an email sent by this reporter regarding leaving out of TAUVEX during the proposed launch of the GSAT-4 satellite.

S Satish, director, publicity and public relations, ISRO, claimed that no final decision had been taken with regard to dropping TAUVEX from the launch. *Our Indian payloads will come first, he said.*

Knowledgeable sources said the ISRO wanted to keep the satellite light and this had prompted it to leave out TAUVEX from the launch. GSAT-4 is slated for launch sometime this year.

ISRO puts off Israeli payload?s launch idrw.org


*There is no need to be generous in this world.

India have allowed NASA's payload on its indigenous Moon Mission free of cost.

What have we gain by this generosity??????????

Because of our lack of PR the credit of discovering water on the Moon was taken by NASA.

As, Madhavan Nair says India's moon mission's on of the main objective was to look out for water on the moon, for this we have special instruments and our instruments have founded water on moon but ISRO takes time in announcing one of the biggest discoveries in the history of Mankind and NASA gets the credits.

Yes, i know we have to make relationships but at what cost, IMO the NASA getting credit was our biggest mistake, and now they are taking NASA instruments on Chandrayaan II.

Why we are exposing our space assets and getting them used free of cost?*

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## Justin Joseph

*Take another example Jagdish Chandra basu invented the Wireless signaling and successfully dispel it in a public event in Calcutta but he refused to take credit or get it patented.*

Lieutenant Governor Sir William Mackenzie witnessed Bose's demonstration in the Kolkata Town Hall. Bose wrote in a Bengali essay, Adrisya Alok (Invisible Light), &#8220;The invisible light can easily pass through brick walls, buildings etc. Therefore, messages can be transmitted by means of it without the mediation of wires.&#8221;[13] In Russia, Popov performed similar experiments. In December 1895, Popov's records indicate that he hoped for distant signaling with radio waves.

*Bose expressed disinterest in commercial telegraphy and suggested others use his research work.*

*So, the credit of " inventing radiotelegraph" goes to a European Marconi. And India lost the benefits and credits*

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## Kinetic

Thanks Justin for posting this. 

*First TAUVEX is not Israeli but Indo-Israeli payload. Its a new generation sophisticated telescope built for scientific purposes. It was scheduled to be launched in 2005/06 but due technical difficulties now its four years delayed. Yes, a dedicated team lead by Prof Jayant Murthy worked hard for TAUVEX. Its really sad to hear that. But its happens in science. I wish they will come up with better system in future.*

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## Justin Joseph

*Poor marketing curtails use of Isro images*

K. Raghu
Bangalore: *The Indian space agencys inability to market its high-quality satellite images or meet basic customer expectations such as standard pricing and timely delivery is curtailing their usage in geophysical applications, experts and clients say.
*

*Poor policy: Delays in receiving images, inconsistent pricing and poor customer care have forced clients such as SatNav to shift allegiance.
*

*For nearly a decade, SatNav Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which makes navigation maps for Nokia phones and other direction-finding products, bought satellite images from the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), for satellite image processing and distribution.
*
But in October, SatNav signed a deal with the Survey of India, the official cartographic agency.

SatNavs founder and chief executive Amit Prasad, who has also used data from global firms such as DigitalGlobe Inc. and GeoEye Inc., said Isros images were on par with their products or even better. *But delays in receiving the images, inconsistent pricing and poor customer care from NRSC forced him to shift his allegiance.*

There is no clear policy from the top (at Isro) to sell these images commercially, said Prasad. So people have very little incentive to market it.

Data from public-funded Landsat satellites in the US is free for users and can be accessed on the Web, but clients have to pay for images from private firms such as GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.

*In April, Isro plans to launch Cartosat-2B, a satellite that can snap high-resolution images of 0.8m, or a scooter on the street.* It will join a group of 10 existing Indian remote sensing, or IRS, satellites in orbit, whose data is used for applications as diverse as identifying water in barren regions, locating potential fishing zones in oceans, monitoring weather, climate research, crop harvest, forestry and urban planning.

By 2020, Isro plans to add eight more satellites in the lower orbit, about 700km above the earth.

About 45,000 images with spatial data are generated by IRS satellites every year, according to NRSC. The agency has been offering them online since 2009 through its portal Bhoo Sampada. It also offers Bhuvan, a virtual globe and geographic information application similar to Google Earth.

That data is being dowloaded in thousands. Because the products are available digitally, we cannot draw (a) comparison, said V. Jayaraman, director of NRSC.

He admitted that its data implementation policy could delay the delivery of some products. *We are still a government entity; procedures that are adopted can contribute to delay. But once the processed data is available, it is put online in less than two hours, he said.*

Analysts said Isro could do more to boost the utilization of IRS products.

Vinay Sehgal, a professor of agricultural physics at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, or IARI, said the use of Isros satellite images by private sector agencies and academia was limited.

He clarified this was his personal view and not that of his organization.

I hope in the years to come, with (a) range of resolutions available and lower prices, many private sector projects, whether small or big, will be utilizing remote sensing data from our satellitesand that would be the real success of our civilian remote sensing programme, he said.

Poor marketing curtails use of Isro images - Economy and Politics - livemint.com

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## Justin Joseph

*Isro asks for more money as spectrum crunch flares up*

Ashish Sinha
Posted: Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 2337 hrs IST

New Delhi: With acute shortage of broadcasting spectrum for both existing and new television channels, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is asking for Rs 50,000 per mega hertz (Mhz) or around Rs 18 lakh per transponder per month from broadcasters for its upcoming satellite, Insat-4G, set to be launched in the second quarter of this year. This is a first by Isro for the broadcast sector, technical experts say.

Insat-4G will carry 24 ku-band transponders and will be helpful for news broadcaster to enhance their DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) operations. DSNG or outside broadcast (OB) vans are used by the news channels to help cover news operations in real time and they use the ku-band transmission for uplink of news broadcasts.

Advance money from interested broadcasters is mainly being asked to deter non-serious players who otherwise apply for additional capacity but do not use it efficiently, a government source involved with the satellite operations pertaining to the broadcast sector said.

Broadcasters and a few DTH operators are lining up to pay and block spectrum for expanding their channel-offering capacity and the overall news gathering operations. This is also significant for the direct-to-home (DTH) operations as most of the current DTH operators are close to exhausting their existing bandwidth of their DTH services.

In order to expand a DSNG operations broadcasters have to furnish proof of their satellite capacity with Isro. And in order to obtain a letter from Isro, broadcasters have to pay for spectrum on Insat-4G, a technical consultants to several media companies said requesting anonymity.

However, due to the proposed location of Insat-4G (55 degrees, east), DTH operators are not too keen to block spectrum on the satellite yet. The location of Insat-4G is such that we may have to provide an add-on antenna to the subscribers and re-tune their existing frequencies, a mammoth task for us, said an existing DTH operator.

*This comes at a time when even the government is reviewing its policy of granting new television licences due to spectrum shortage. Already, 529 TV channels have the permission of operating in the country, while the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) is in the process of clearing an additional 155-plus pending applications for new TV channel licences.* The broadcast sector regulator  the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India --- has been asked by the I&B ministry to study the matter and submit its recommendations.


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## Aryaputra

Blame it on 300 years of British Rule. Indians are emotional and complacent. They prefer 2nd position.

This sounds critical but true. Just count the number of IITians who sell off great research to western firms and quit just for "fast bucks". Count the number of Indian college top rankers who prefer "fast bucks" than believing in their ideas and making it big. They end up selling out early because they lack patience to make it big.

Indians are just like that. Its about psyche, not capabilities. Because in capabilities Indians match Israel, in fact better than Israelis considering how DRDO managed with small funds and technological denial regimes while Israel had "full" access to western R&D. I would rate Indians as first-rate scientists, technocrats in the world but thats not enough. Things are lacking at personal level.

For example, everyone knows FIH(Federation of International Hockey) is filled with racially biased morons, who always discriminate against Asian teams(India, pakistan) but no Indian babu in Hockey India(IHF) has balls to speak openly against this race bias. A good point is the recent case of India-pakistan match where Indian player was banned for 3 matches for no fault. No Pakistani player complained, no match refree complained. But the FIH going against its authority announced after the match decision to ban Shivendra singh. 

Forget Indian hockey officials, they are servants of European dominated agencies anyways, but why no Indian media stood up and defended Indian team position? After such injustice, why they expect broken Indian team to win matches ? 

There was one more incident in 1980s where after a goal against Australian team, refree from apposite side came running and declared it "not a goal" LLOL!! And Indian officials put their heads down and agreed to continue play.

Why to blame Americans when we don't know how to speak up for ourselves?

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## sivadreams

Aryaputra said:


> Blame it on 300 years of British Rule. Indians are emotional and complacent. They prefer 2nd position.
> 
> This sounds critical but true. Just count the number of IITians who sell off great research to western firms and quit just for "fast bucks". Count the number of Indian college top rankers who prefer "fast bucks" than believing in their ideas and making it big. They end up selling out early because they lack patience to make it big.
> 
> Indians are just like that. Its about psyche, not capabilities. Because in capabilities Indians match Israel, in fact better than Israelis considering how DRDO managed with small funds and technological denial regimes while Israel had "full" access to western R&D. I would rate Indians as first-rate scientists, technocrats in the world but thats not enough. Things are lacking at personal level.
> 
> For example, everyone knows FIH(Federation of International Hockey) is filled with racially biased morons, who always discriminate against Asian teams(India, pakistan) but no Indian babu in Hockey India(IHF) has balls to speak openly against this race bias. A good point is the recent case of India-pakistan match where Indian player was banned for 3 matches for no fault. No Pakistani player complained, no match refree complained. But the FIH going against its authority announced after the match decision to ban Shivendra singh.
> 
> Forget Indian hockey officials, they are servants of European dominated agencies anyways, but why no Indian media stood up and defended Indian team position? After such injustice, why they expect broken Indian team to win matches ?
> 
> There was one more incident in 1980s where after a goal against Australian team, refree from apposite side came running and declared it "not a goal" LLOL!! And Indian officials put their heads down and agreed to continue play.
> 
> Why to blame Americans when we don't know how to speak up for ourselves?



Dude I disagree here. Indians as like any other races on this planet are in a path of evolution and blaming the past and blaming others will lead us no where. Yes always frictions do happen when there is change. But change is constant.

Back to topic. At first looking at the post heading I thought it was about some denial of payload due to diplomatic decisions. I still believe that this development is more due to technical feasibility and priority change. Moreover, its a joint venture program and I think it should be seen through a different lens all together.

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## sivadreams

LOL with respect to Hockey you question the media and the hockey management. Then what will you say about the BCCI. It literally rules the ICC through the back channels. 

The point here is economic evolution.


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## Thomas

Justin Joseph said:


> Because of our lack of PR the credit of discovering water on the Moon was taken by NASA.



Any news article I have read in the U.S. has given credit to India. It is a very important achievement to be proud of. Though I think the notion that discovering large quantities of water on the moon is the greatest discovery in mans history is a bit over the top. Water is much more plentiful in the universe then people realize. And there have been far more important discoveries and accomplishments in mans history. 

also just to clarify India didn't discover water on the moon they have the distinction of discovering larger amounts of it then ever known before. which is actually more important then being the first to discover it.

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## Aryaputra

Thomas said:


> Any news article I have read in the U.S. has given credit to India. It is a very important achievement to be proud of.



Claiming credits and getting your credits approved by others, are two different things.

The reason ISRO didn't go public with Water-find discovery on Moon, was that they lacked confidence in their research & calculations and rather waited for approval from Americans. 

And, many ISRO scientists has admitted this blunder of top management in public. They were enraged by the way Americans kept ISRO guys out of Press conference and rather preferred to issue a 'pat on back' to mission leaders(Chandrayaan-1 was ISRO's initiative).

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## Bang Galore

Aryaputra said:


> Claiming credits and getting your credits approved by others, are two different things.
> 
> The reason ISRO didn't go public with Water-find discovery on Moon, was that they lacked confidence in their research & calculations and rather waited for approval from Americans.
> 
> And, many ISRO scientists has admitted this blunder of top management in public. They were enraged by the way Americans kept ISRO guys out of Press conference and rather preferred to issue a 'pat on back' to mission leaders(Chandrayaan-1 was ISRO's initiative).



Have absolutely no idea where you are going with this. The Americans got their data from an American instrument aboard Chandrayan. Without it, there would be no confirmation of water on the moon. Why should they not take credit? A moon mission was a first for us, not for them. India's first moon mission will be remembered for confirming the presence of water on a scale previously unknown. What more credit do you want ? Lets not be cussed about this. Both of our countries benefited from each other. That's how it should be. If we did not like how the Americans did things, then we should make a note of it for the next mission where we both co-operate. Whining about it will not get us anywhere.

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## ouiouiouiouiouioui

the artilce is misleading.......the author seems to have fa*ted BIG.....and the pungent smell he is trying to spread everywhere....i am going out of the room...don't mind...pls....


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## sudhir007

Passage to the Moon: ISRO's official Chandrayaan-1 mission documentary 01 of 03


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## sudhir007

Passage to the Moon: ISRO's official Chandrayaan-1 mission documentary 02 of 03


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## sudhir007

Passage to the Moon: ISRO's official Chandrayaan-1 mission documentary 03 of 03


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## RPK

PIB Press Release


*Developing GSLV MK III *

LOK SABHA 

Indian Space Research Organisaiton (ISRO) is presently developing its heaviest launch vehicle, the GSLV mark III that will have the capability to carry 4 tonne class Communication Satellite into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit. The capability of the presently available GSLV is for carrying 2 tonne class satellite into similar orbit. 

A Sum of Rs. 14.00 crore has been allocated for initiating development-related activities for the Chandrayaan-II Mission during the current financial year. 

This was stated by Shri Prithviraj Chavan, the Minister of State (I/C) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences in the Lok Sabha today.

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## moody

Static testing of L110 liquid core stage of GSLV- MkIII launch vehicle conducted​




Indian Space Research Organisation conducted the static test of its liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle, for 150 seconds at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri at 16:00 hrs yesterday (March 5, 2010). 

While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters was observed. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test. The next static test for 200 seconds will be conducted after analysis of this data. 

GSLV Mk III launch vehicle is being developed for launching 4 tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter, L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes. L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV. 

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-MkIII requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

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## satishkumarcsc

Yes and I think our next mission should be how to ttransport this stuff back to earth

http://www.physorg.com/news63346824.html


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## RPK

NEWS : newsonair, All India Radio, Latest News, AIR, Akashwani, Radio, Prasar Bharti, NSD, News Services Division, Business, RSS , India, Breaking News , Top Headlines, News, World News, National News, State, Sports, Local News, News from States, Hea

*Indigenous Navigation Satellite to be launched on schedule*


Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), being developed will be launched on schedule in 2011. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference by International Telecommunication Union in Bangalore , Dr.Suresh V Kibe, an ISRO Professor informed today that IRNSS will consist of seven satellites and help in Navigation, Positioning and Timing. 

The Civil Aviation, Shipping, agriculture and Fisheries sector will also benefit from this. ISRO Publicity Director Satish informed that first two satellites will by launched by 2011. 

He said the navigation signals that will be provided by these satellites to the aircrafts will be more accurate and also reach inaccessible regions of the country. 

As part of the project, GSLV launch vehicle will place three satellites in the geo-synchronous transfer orbit, while the rest four would be in geo-stationary orbit.


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## Choppers

*Moon and beyond - India's space programme in take-off mode*


New Delhi - As the United States winds down its space shuttle programme, emerging economy India is developing its own reusable launch vehicle that it hopes will make it a space power. The Avatar, a reusable launch vehicle (RLV), would be capable of delivering a 500 to 1000-kilogramme payload into orbit at a fairly low cost.

The Aerobic Vehicle for Hypersonic Aerospace Transportation (Avatar) is just one example of how far India's space programme has travelled since it first launched a sounding rocket in 1963 from a fishing village Thumba in southern Kerala.

India's space scientists have, over four decades, slowly but steadily developed a mature capability despite small budgets and an embargo on high technology transfers because of its nuclear tests.

"With a miniscule budget, we have developed cutting edge technology," said Madhavan Nair, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Today, India's Department of Space encompasses the ISRO, more than a dozen research and development units, and the Antrix Corporation, a state-owned company that markets space products and services. More than 500 small and medium industries contribute to the programmes.

And after years of focusing on applications like telecommunications and remote sensing aimed at economic and social development, India, is now looking at space exploration.

In 2008, India heralded a new operational phase of its space programme with the Chandrayaan-1 moon mission. The mission cost an estimated 83 million dollars, about a third of China's Chang'e-1 and a sixth of Japan's Kaguya moon missions.

Chandrayaan-1 had to be aborted in August 2009, several months before schedule due to communication failure, but ISRO claimed it had achieved 95 per cent of its objectives.

Discovery of water and ice on the moon by NASA instruments on board the Chandrayaan have added to the sense of success of the mission.
But Chandrayaan looks to be just the beginning as India has an impressive string of missions in the pipeline. These include:

- A second moon mission Chandrayaan-II in the first quarter of 2013.

- A manned spaceflight in 2016 in which two astronauts will go on a week-long journey in low-Earth orbit. ISRO estimates the project would cost about 124 billion rupees (2.7 billion dollars). The funding has been approved on principle by the government, but only a small part of it released so far.

- Aditya-1, a satellite to skirt the outer solar atmosphere to gather data on the sun in about 2016-17.

- A planned Mars mission in 2030.

One of the main factors holding back India's space programme has been the paucity of funds. A 50-billion-rupee (a little over 1- billion-dollar) allocation in the budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year was the highest ever, according to current ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan. The amount was a 58 per cent hike from the previous budget, but amounted to just 3 per cent of funding earmarked by the US for its space programme in 2010.

Critics also continue to ask, can a developing country like India, where millions are mired in poverty and disease, afford to spend even this on futuristic space missions?

India's space policy-makers maintain its programmes are not part of a space race with countries like China or Japan, but an extension of its core aim of aiding development.

Currently, India has one of the world's largest constellations of remote sensing and communication satellites. These are used for broadcasting, weather forecasting and geo-mapping applications for mineral prospecting, managing water, ocean and forest resources and disaster management.

India's satellite launch vehicles - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - have good records and earned 1 billion rupees (about 22 million dollars) from launching satellites for other countries over the past three years.

Successful development of the Avatar, a scramjet-powered hyperplane that would take off like a commercial jet, would give India an edge in a competitive market where no country barring the US has yet launched a reusable satellite launch vehicle.

ISRO scientists are cagey about giving details, but from the organization's website and presentations at science fora, it appears the Avatar RLV would be a two-stage-to-orbit vehicle with wings and a tail fin.

Unlike NASA's space shuttle, it would not enter orbit, but launch a satellite into orbit and immediately re-enter the earth's atmosphere to glide back for a conventional landing.

A winged RLV technology demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured which would act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion.

ISRO director in charge of publicity S Satish said no major milestones had yet been achieved in the RLV's development, but a hypersonic flight experiment on a technology demonstrator was likely in 2011.

India's consistent economic growth for several years running and the desire to be seen as a world power have played a crucial role in making Indian politicians more open to pressure from the scientific community to embark on ambitious programmes like the RLV and space exploration missions.

There is a strategic angle too, but scientists the world over have played to the government on defence matters to be able to secure funding for research and development.

India, however, wants to project future space missions as a part of its original human development goal.

Abdul Kalam, the flamboyant scientist who became India's president for two terms, has often outlined his vision where space should be seen as a possible source for water, rare materials and energy.

With more than 1 billion population and growing, India cannot afford to lag behind.

Moon and beyond - India's space programme in take-off mode - Feature : Space Technology


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## MadScientist

It is great to see the sucess in recent years. To those who cry that India is wasting money I would like to remind them that we have acheived following objectives in doing so.
1) Made a sustainable development, in space research, to support the public in both telecommunications, environment, agriculture, mining and weather predictions.
2)Able to achieve productivity by earning more money than spending in space research
3) Able to contribute to world with inventions (able to confirm significant amount of water).
4) Made space market more competitive and affordable to others
5)Proved that if you put you mind u can achieve any things despite having many problems . Helps motivate the public. Now anybody in India can believe in something and can actually achieve such wonderful feets.
6) Space technology is so advanced that any country would not share with others. Any development process as ups and down. Even a child would not learn walking with out falling now and then. It only proves that indias space program and ambitions are genuine and transperent. It takes a brave heart to see and appreciate such things.

I hope these few things can support why India should continue space research. There are so many social and economical set back India has (so is any country) but that should not stop one from dreaming big and stop one from pursuing them as long as they are for good reasons. 

To those who vent hatred, please stop giving hate as you only get the same in return. Do no listen, see and talk bad things.

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## Choppers

*Moon chemistry shows signs of carbon dioxide​*Kalyan Ray, Mar 21, New Delhi, DHNS:

_*It has been scientifically established that there is water on the moon. Now come revelations that Indias maiden lunar expedition last year discovered carbon dioxide on the earths barren satellite*_.

Indian scientists are at the moment wary of making the disclosure about this significant discovery as a complete research paper is yet to appear in a peer-reviewed journal.
However, in a research paper in the latest issue of the journal Planetary and Space Science, a seven-member team from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, and the University of Hyderabad have shown that moon has a large amount of carbon dioxide in its ambiance.

The paper on the discovery of water by the moon impact probe (MIP) skirted the issue of carbon dioxide presence on the moon. But a mass spectrometer image gives away the fact. The image shows two distinct spikes representing discovery of two molecules. The first spike at 18 atomic mass unit (amu) corresponds to water as its molecular mass is 18. The second spike at 44 amu indicates carbon dioxide whose molecular mass is 44.

The sample data we provided in the paper does show carbon dioxide. But I cannot comment anything more, including its origin, because its scientific basis is yet to be published in a journal. A detailed paper on carbon dioxide discovery is being communicated to the journals, team leader R Sridharan at VSSC told Deccan Herald.

Before Sridharan and ISRO make an official disclosure, they want to be absolutely certain that carbon dioxide is definitively a part of the moons ambiance and does not come as a contaminant. The last Apollo mission  Apollo 17 in 1972  also carried a mass spectrometer and detected carbon dioxide as well as other inert gases like helium, neon and argon.

But due to data inadequacy, the Apollo team discarded its carbon dioxide data, dubbing it a contaminant. Researchers familiar with Chandrayaan instrumentation said carbon dioxide cannot be an earthly contaminant because of an inherent property. 

Carbon dioxide has high permeability because of which nature pumps it from the system. It cannot stick on any instrument and get carried to the moon, said a scientist, adding the gaseous substance could not have been be locally generated during the Chandrayaan-Is journey to the moon and the MIPs high-speed crash on the lunar surface.

Moon chemistry shows signs of carbon dioxide


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## Justin Joseph

*Australia, India to conduct ocean research*
March 23rd, 2010 - 3:21 pm ICT by IANS Tell a Friend -

ISRO New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) Australia and India plan to jointly conduct research on climate change and the impact of human population growth on oceans.

The team of researchers from eight Australian institutions and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will use remote sensing technology for the study.

The effects of climate change and the pressures of human population growth are having significant impacts on oceans. Ocean colour helps us understand the interactions between aquatic ecosystems, climatic factors and human impacts, said Arnold Dekker of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Australia has expertise in the areas of ocean science, measurement and modelling, and collaborates with international space research agencies to improve its access to satellite remote sensing capabilities, a statement from the Australian high commission quoted Dekker as saying.

*ISRO has an impressive programme of multiple satellite sensors to detect and monitor changes and trends in ocean systems, he said.*

More at : Australia, India to conduct ocean research Australia, India to conduct ocean research


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## Justin Joseph

*Satellite rocket with indigenous engine to be launched in April*

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India will join an elite club of five nations in April when a rocket carrying a satellite blasts off using an indigenous
cryogenic engine, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said.

"So far we had been using engines from Russia," the official attached to ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here told IANS.

An indigenous cryogenic engine will power the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for the first time, he said. The US, France, Japan, Russia and China have developed their own engines.

The satellite launch vehicle to be used next week, GSLV-D3, will carry the country's advanced communication satellite GSAT-4. The vehicle's assembly is in final stages and the date of launch at Sriharikota will be known in a week, the VSSC official said on condition of anonymity.

According to ISRO, the 49-metre-tall GSLV-D3 rocket will have a lift-off weight of 414 tonnes. It will propel GSAT-4 into orbit about 36,000 km above the earth.

The VSSC official said arrangements were also on for the launch of another satellite vehicle, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C-15), in the first week of May.

It will carry an Algerian satellite, two Canadian satellites and a satellite from a college in Karnataka. 

Satellite rocket with indigenous engine to be launched in April- ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

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## RPK

*Isro unit to start building space capsule for manned mission - Corporate News - livemint.com*







Ensuring the safe return of the occupants of the capsule, which will be launched by a rocket, will be critical

Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will begin building a space capsule to carry two astronauts on its maiden manned mission, scheduled to take place by 2016.

Isro&#8217;s satellite centre will fabricate the three-member capsule using anthropometric data, or information on physical attributes peculiar to Indians. The centre will also bridge the gap in developing key restricted technologies and help plan for future missions to the moon.

Also See Mission Plan (Graphics)

Unlike the US space shuttles that glide in from space to land on a runway on their return, India will follow the Russian and Chinese method of recovering the space capsule after it drops into the ocean.

Ensuring the safe return of the occupants of the capsule, which will be launched by a rocket, will be critical.

&#8220;Reliability should be one order high. We can&#8217;t risk human life. They should be 100&#37; safe,&#8221; said S. Ramakrishnan, chief executive of the human space flight programme at Isro. &#8220;We need to build multiple redundant environments, a crew escape system at every stage to bring them back safe to earth.&#8221;

As part of the preparatory effort, a team of Indian astronauts will take part in one of Russia&#8217;s manned missions, Ramakrishnan said. Rakesh Sharma, India&#8217;s first astronaut, flew on a Soviet space mission in 1984.

The government is yet to give its nod for the Rs10,000 crore project, which will put India in a select club of nations that includes the US, Russia and China, which have undertaken manned space missions. So far, the government has sanctioned Rs380 crore for preliminary work.

&#8220;We are awaiting the project approval. Once we get it, work will begin full swing, &#8221; said S. Satish, Isro spokesperson. The Planning Commission gave its nod to the programme in February last year.

Isro will work with other national bodies such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the National Aerospace Laboratories, the Armed Forces and academic institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institutes of Technology for the manned mission, more than five decades after Yuri Gagarin made the first ever such trip in 1961.

The capsule for the one-week mission in low-earth orbit will have an earth-like atmosphere with oxygen supply and a real-time health monitoring system for the safety of the astronauts. Initial work on a space suit has begun at the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory, or Debel, a unit of DRDO in Bangalore, said C.V. Padaki, director at Debel.

Simultaneously, Isro is validating key systems for life support, rescue and recovery apart from new mission-management and control systems for the programme. Besides the astronaut training centre in Bangalore, a new launch pad for the manned mission is being built at Sriharikota on the eastern coast.

Isro first tested its capsule recovery technology in 2007, which involved heat-resistant materials necessary for the re-entry. Isro will conduct at least two unmanned space missions in the next four years.

&#8220;Building technology takes time, but the confidence we build through this project is enormous. It will take us to the next level,&#8221; said Roddam Narasimha, one of India&#8217;s foremost aerospace scientists.

The Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), a unit of the Indian Air Force in Bangalore, has been studying pilots and the way their bodies behave in fighter jets and test conditions that replicate the vacuum of outer space. In the next two-three years, IAM will shortlist pilots who will be trained to become astronauts, from which the final two will be selected. &#8220;While we do this, we are also upgrading our existing infrastructure to train the astronauts,&#8221; said Air Marshal P. Madhusoodanan, director-general of medical services.

The rocket for the mission, known as the Human Space Flight Programme, is still to be proven. India&#8217;s heaviest rocket will blast off later this year: a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, with an indigenous cryogenic stage&#8212;an engine powered by liquefied oxygen and hydrogen that can hurl large communication satellites into orbit.

Isro&#8217;s challenges include the rocket having to be man-rated, which means having an error of one in 1,000 operations, before it can be used to send up an astronaut. Once proven, it can launch a 10-tonne space capsule in lower-earth orbit carrying three astronauts, said Ramakrishnan.


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## desisoldier

rpraveenkum said:


> *Isro unit to start building space capsule for manned mission - Corporate News - livemint.com*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ensuring the safe return of the occupants of the capsule, which will be launched by a rocket, will be critical
> 
> Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will begin building a space capsule to carry two astronauts on its maiden manned mission, scheduled to take place by 2016.
> 
> Isros satellite centre will fabricate the three-member capsule using anthropometric data, or information on physical attributes peculiar to Indians. The centre will also bridge the gap in developing key restricted technologies and help plan for future missions to the moon.
> 
> Also See Mission Plan (Graphics)
> 
> Unlike the US space shuttles that glide in from space to land on a runway on their return, India will follow the Russian and Chinese method of recovering the space capsule after it drops into the ocean.
> 
> Ensuring the safe return of the occupants of the capsule, which will be launched by a rocket, will be critical.
> 
> Reliability should be one order high. We cant risk human life. They should be 100% safe, said S. Ramakrishnan, chief executive of the human space flight programme at Isro. We need to build multiple redundant environments, a crew escape system at every stage to bring them back safe to earth.
> 
> As part of the preparatory effort, a team of Indian astronauts will take part in one of Russias manned missions, Ramakrishnan said. Rakesh Sharma, Indias first astronaut, flew on a Soviet space mission in 1984.
> 
> The government is yet to give its nod for the Rs10,000 crore project, which will put India in a select club of nations that includes the US, Russia and China, which have undertaken manned space missions. So far, the government has sanctioned Rs380 crore for preliminary work.
> 
> We are awaiting the project approval. Once we get it, work will begin full swing,  said S. Satish, Isro spokesperson. The Planning Commission gave its nod to the programme in February last year.
> 
> Isro will work with other national bodies such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the National Aerospace Laboratories, the Armed Forces and academic institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institutes of Technology for the manned mission, more than five decades after Yuri Gagarin made the first ever such trip in 1961.
> 
> The capsule for the one-week mission in low-earth orbit will have an earth-like atmosphere with oxygen supply and a real-time health monitoring system for the safety of the astronauts. Initial work on a space suit has begun at the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory, or Debel, a unit of DRDO in Bangalore, said C.V. Padaki, director at Debel.
> 
> Simultaneously, Isro is validating key systems for life support, rescue and recovery apart from new mission-management and control systems for the programme. Besides the astronaut training centre in Bangalore, a new launch pad for the manned mission is being built at Sriharikota on the eastern coast.
> 
> Isro first tested its capsule recovery technology in 2007, which involved heat-resistant materials necessary for the re-entry. Isro will conduct at least two unmanned space missions in the next four years.
> 
> Building technology takes time, but the confidence we build through this project is enormous. It will take us to the next level, said Roddam Narasimha, one of Indias foremost aerospace scientists.
> 
> The Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), a unit of the Indian Air Force in Bangalore, has been studying pilots and the way their bodies behave in fighter jets and test conditions that replicate the vacuum of outer space. In the next two-three years, IAM will shortlist pilots who will be trained to become astronauts, from which the final two will be selected. While we do this, we are also upgrading our existing infrastructure to train the astronauts, said Air Marshal P. Madhusoodanan, director-general of medical services.
> 
> The rocket for the mission, known as the Human Space Flight Programme, is still to be proven. Indias heaviest rocket will blast off later this year: a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, with an indigenous cryogenic stagean engine powered by liquefied oxygen and hydrogen that can hurl large communication satellites into orbit.
> 
> Isros challenges include the rocket having to be man-rated, which means having an error of one in 1,000 operations, before it can be used to send up an astronaut. Once proven, it can launch a 10-tonne space capsule in lower-earth orbit carrying three astronauts, said Ramakrishnan.



I quite agree, better safe that sorry, I would go alone with this method too.


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## LCA Tejas

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY, Go ISRO....


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## AZADPAKISTAN2009

While its wonderful post , but hopefully Indians should consider getting US help in this capsule or russians , its the moon mission /space mission , you can't risk it like Dhruv helicopter 

It would not be cool event if the capsule malfunctions in life support in space - 

But its great achivement no doubt for indian space program to be at this stage


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## LCA Tejas

AZADPAKISTAN2009 said:


> While its wonderful post , but hopefully Indians should consider getting US help in this capsule or russians , its the moon mission /space mission , you can't risk it like Dhruv helicopter
> 
> It would not be cool event if the capsule malfunctions in life support in space -
> 
> But its great achivement no doubt for indian space program to be at this stage



Azad, Thanks for ur valuable comment,ISRO knows what to do... ... ISRO is a complete different organization.... And About dhruv, there is already a different thread, do not project ur jealousy here....

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## jha

ISRO doing one helluva job with its budget..


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## gowthamraj

AZADPAKISTAN2009 said:


> While its wonderful post , but hopefully Indians should consider getting US help in this capsule or russians ,] its the moon mission /space mission , you can't risk it like Dhruv helicopter [/COLOR]
> 
> It would not be cool event if the capsule malfunctions in life support in space -
> 
> But its great achivement no doubt for indian space program to be at this stage



taking risk is good azad. . . then only we got success like DHURUV


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## jha

^^^ no need to post under emotion..if you dont like any post , just ignore it or, report it...

i'm sure you have much more to contribute to the topic than replying to a flame..


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## ashisbutt

AZADPAKISTAN2009 said:


> While its wonderful post , but hopefully Indians should consider getting US help in this capsule or russians , its the moon mission /space mission , you can't risk it like Dhruv helicopter
> 
> It would not be cool event if the capsule malfunctions in life support in space -
> 
> But its great achivement no doubt for indian space program to be at this stage


For a moment I though this guy was beign postitive about ISRO. Then came the hidden... 

Good going ISRO. 

But people, FYI,

My childhood friend is now working as a scientist in ISRO. Even last week I had a chat with him for couple of hours. We spoke a lot about ISRO. Though most of the answers that he have comforted me, he said we a way behind China. I know I shuold not compare with them but I'm unable to controle this poor mind. He said that, (as we all know) we have only one launch pad. When I disagreed with him saying one is more than enough he replied saying that a back up launch pad is always necessary. He also spoke several things about the rockets engine etc.,

Friends, if you have any particular question in mind please ask me. I shall get an answer from him (provided he knows ). Or, I will try to biring here.

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## Justin Joseph

*ISRO gearing up for series of launches between April-August*

Posted On: 24-Mar-2010 15:35:29 By: R Venkat

*Puducherry: The launch of GSLV-D3, GSat-4, PSLV-C15, Cartosat-2B and PSLV-C16 will take place between April and August this year, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre P S Veeraraghavan, said today.
*
Inaugurating a national symposium '' Application of Nuclear and Space Technologies for the beneift of Farmers'', jointly organsied by the Consortium of Farmers Association and the Kamarajar Krishivigayan Kendra here he said space technology will provide unlimited benefits both direct and indirect, to the farm sector. It has been proved that such benefits were of great help to farmers.

'' Presently we are in a position to produce sufficient food grains .But there are still areas where Green Revolution should take place in several ways, he said. A remote sensing satellite and cartosat would soon be launched so that the benefits ofspace technology through such initiatives would be accessible to farmers also, he said.

Later, in an informal chat with newspersons, he clarified that GSLV-D3 with an indegenously designed cryogenic engine would be launched in April. Hitherto, Russian made engines were being used.

*He said the cryogenic engine would carry GSAT-4, an advanced communication satalite. He said India's development in communications and media will enable the country to launch at least eight satellites in a year vis-a-vis four presently. The capability would be increased gradually, he added.*


ISRO gearing up for series of launches between April-August


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## ironman

*An Indian Reconnaissance Satellite​*22 March 2010
Radhakrishna Rao
Freelancer, Bangalore
e-mail: rkrao1950@gmail.com 

After hinting at developing the cutting edge technology required for realizing the building blocks of an anti satellite device, Indias state owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has unveiled a plan to build and launch a high performance electronic intelligence satellite capable of monitoring trouble spots along its international borders. In particular, Indian defence forces will be in a position to obtain a fairly good intelligence picture of build up across the border in China and Pakistan by courtesy of this exclusive reconnaissance spacecraft. Indeed, the massive intelligence failure before and during the short lived 1999 Kargil skirmish with Pakistan highlighted the need for a dedicated spy satellite system at the disposal of the Indian defence forces.

*While the payload of this satellite is to be developed by the Hyderabad based Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL), a constituent of DRDO, the satellite bus and launch support would be provided by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).* DRDO is in talks with ISRO to take this project of national importance forward to its logical conclusion. According to G. Boopahty, Director of DLRL, the satellite would be equipped with sensors to pick up conversations and detect espionage activities. The Rs1000million satellite is planned to be launched into a 500kms orbit by means of the four-stage space workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota island on Indias eastern coast. Incidentally, most of the spy and surveillance satellites are placed into near earth and middle earth orbits.

The spacecraft should be ready for launch by 2014 said Bhoppathy. He drove home the point by saying that the focus is now space and we have to equip ourselves for electronic warfare from space too. He also revealed that the proposed satellite will be more powerful than the current genre IRS series of earth observation satellites being operated by ISRO. *As pointed out by sources in DRDO, the electronic intelligence system onboard this satellite would help keep an eye on hostile satellites besides intercepting and jamming satphone communications.*

At the moment, Indian defence forces dont have a dedicated satellite system for surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. Of course, all three wings of the services are in a position to access the constellation of communications and earth observation satellites belonging to ISRO. *With everything going as planned, the Indian navy hopes to get its first exclusive satellite sometime later this year. Last year, Indian defence minister AK Antony had informed that the Indian Navy will get a dedicated satellite system for reliable, robust and foolproof communications in 2010. The satellite, codenamed Gsat-7, is being built by ISRO for launch later this year.* While Indian navy sources have confirmed the launch of this satellite, ISRO continues to maintain its silence. Being a civilian space agency, the ISRO, has no mandate to give a strategic edge to its satellite development programme.

Meanwhile, the Indian defence forces would stand to benefit from the upcoming launch of Cartosat-2B which will feature an earth imaging system of less than one metre resolution. The Cartosat-2B is poised for launch by means of PSLV during the first half of this year. Cartosat series of satellites are built and launched by ISRO though officially meant for cartographic purposes including urban planning and infrastructure development could effective serve as a dual use system. Of course, the Cartosat-series falls short of the 10-15 cm resolution featured by the best of the current genre military satellites.

The TES (Technology Experiment Satellite) launched by ISRO in 2001 with its one metre resolution is capable of distinguishing objects and details on earth as small as one square km and has been perceived to be Indias unofficial reconnaissance satellite. *The TES data has helped the United States with high resolution imageries for its counter terrorism operations in the aftermath of 9/11.* However, the launch of 300-kg RISAT-II satelliterealized by ISRO in association with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)in April 2009 has been viewed as a response to the insecurity complex generated by the 26/11 Mumbai attack by Pakistan trained terrorists. This all weather microwave earth imaging satellite equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is capable of collecting data under conditions of darkness, clouds, haze and dust storm. The Indian earth observation satellites launched so far by ISRO were passive systems in that they were equipped to collect data only under the conditions of brightness.

Though ISRO describes RISAT-II as a civilian space system meant to enhance Indias capability in earth observation with special reference to floods, landslides, cyclones and disaster management, strategic analysts drive home the point that Indian defence forces could easily exploit the potentials of RISAT-II to boost their intelligence gathering capability in a big way. For earth observation and surveillance are considered the two faces of the same coin.

As envisaged now the Indian defence forces could easily use RISAT-II data to keep a tab on troops build up along Indias borders with China and Pakistan. In particular,* RISAT-IIs revisit capability of four to five days is considered advantageous in the dynamic monitoring of the developments of strategic importance. Added to that the highly agile RISAT-II can be maneuvered to change its viewing angle as per the requirements of its users.*

An Indian Reconnaissance Satellite by Radhakrishna Rao | India News and Articles

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## jbond197

&#8216;GSLV-D3 launch will be a landmark in indigenous technology' 

PUDUCHERRY: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), fitted with an indigenous cryogenic stage, from Sriharikotta in April, and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) in May, P. S. Veeraraghavan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said on Wednesday.

Terming the launch of the GSLV-D3 by April-end &#8220;a landmark in indigenous technology,&#8221; he said the vehicle would put into orbit an advanced communication satellite (GSAT- 4).

&#8220;So far we have been using Russian cryogenic engine.&#8221;

Mr. Veeraraghavan was speaking at the inaugural of a seminar on &#8216;Application of nuclear and space technology for the benefit of farmers,' here.

The PSLV-C15 would put into orbit Cartosat 2B, an Algerian satellite, two Canadian nano-satellites and a satellite developed by students of various colleges in Karnataka some time in the beginning of May.

Growing demand

There was a growing demand for more communication satellites, especially from television and cable networks. Now the ISRO was launching four satellites a year. The number of satellite launches had to be increased gradually.

&#8220;The 11th Plan demanded 30 missions. To achieve the objective, at least eight satellites have to be put into orbit every year,&#8221; Mr. Veeraraghavan said.


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## ssheppard

India Set To Launch GSLV | AVIATION WEEK

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to launch Indias first cryogenic rocket engine next month, marking the end of a long effort to develop an indigenous upper stage for its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

The launch vehicle  GSLV-D3  is in the final stages of assembly at the launch center on Sriharikota Island in the Bay of Bengal. In place of the Russian engine that has powered the GLSV upper stage in the past will be Indias Cryogenic Engine. The all-indigenous vehicle will carry the GSAT-4 advanced communications satellite to orbit.

Developed by ISROs Liquid Propulsion Systems Center, the Cryogenic Engine will give the GLSV the ability to lift 2,200 kg. to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). It generates 73 kilonewtons of thrust in vacuum, with a specific impulse of 454 sec., ISRO says.

India was forced to develop its own upper-stage engine after the U.S., worried about missile proliferation, pressured Russia to withhold cryogenic-engine technology from ISRO. As compensation, the U.S. paid Russia the $400 million it had expected to gain from the technology transfer to India for services it provided to NASA during the Shuttle-Mir program that evolved into the International Space Station.

Instead of an Indian engine built with Russian technology, the GSLV flew with a Russian-built KVD-1 engine originally developed in the 1960s for the Soviet Unions N-1 Moon rocket. A successful flight of Indias Cryogenic Engine will mark the end of that arrangement.

Meanwhile, ISRO engineers are evaluating the reason for a premature shutdown of the liquid core stage of the new GSLV Mk III launch vehicle during a static test March 5. The test at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center test facility at Mahendragiri was scheduled to run for 200 sec., but was halted at 150 sec. after a deviation in one of the parameters, according to ISRO. The new launch vehicle is designed to launch 4-ton payloads to GTO with two Indian Vikas engines. In the original GSLV configuration, a single Vikas burns for 150 sec. to power the second stage.


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## Justin Joseph

*ISRO to develop low cost Emergency Locator Transmitters*

STAFF WRITER 16:14 HRS IST

*Chennai, Mar 27 (PTI) To ensure timely help to fishermen in distress in midsea, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to develop low cost version of Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT), a senior official said today.*

"The existing ELT costs about Rs 10,000, which perhaps is unaffordable for fishermen. Hence, ISRO is planning to manufacture low cost ELT on a larger scale so that fishermen could benefit from it," Manager of Bangalore-based Indian Mission Control Centre of ISRO N K Shrivastava said.

The ELTs can be activated anywhere and the signal sent by it would be picked up by INMCC and relayed to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which will inturn alert the Coast Guard, he told reporters here on the sidelines of an Indian Coast Guard rescue exercise.

fullstory


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## Choppers

*India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO​*PTI
BANGALORE, March 28, 2010






_A model of Re entry launch vehicle (RLV)on display at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. File photo_

India is developing a winged reusable rocket and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realising it, the space agency said in a report.

Indias space scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). This is a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The agency said in its latest annual report that a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.

The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX), it said.

Meanwhile, for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, expected by 2012-13, ISRO has received 36 Indian payload proposals for orbiter and lander/rover.

The Scientific Advisory Board of Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-1, is currently in the process of reviewing the payloads proposed for orbiter.

ISRO sources said the space agency has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia.

It would have an Indian orbiter and mini-rover, and Russian lander and rover.

According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year.

It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change.

Considering the strong global demand for data from Megha-Tropiques, ISRO, CNES (French space agency) and NASA have agreed to integrate this satellite into Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) constellation of satellites, ISRO said.

With this, Megha-Tropiques will be one of the eight satellites contributing to the global scientific community to study and understand the dynamics of climate system, it said.

Data from the recently-launched Oceansat-2, which carried an atmospheric sounder ROSA from Italy apart from main payloads -- ocean colour monitor and scatterometer -- is highly sought after by international scientific community.

In this respect, a cooperative programme on sharing the data with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their operational research is expected to be signed shortly, it said.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO

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## Mohan

Wow! India is reaching new heights...


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## RPK

*The Hindu : News / National : GSLV to be launched on April 15*








For the first time GSLV will be powered by home-made cryogenice engine. PSLV will take off on May 5

India&#8217;s GSLV rocket, powered by home-made cryogenic engine for the first time, would be launched on April 15 from Sriharikota to place into orbit GSAT-4 experimental satellite. Previous GSLV flights were fitted with Russian engines.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also fixed May 5 as the date for the launch of the Cartosat-2B by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The mission readiness review conducted by ISRO at Sriharikota yesterday finalised the dates, and gave the go-ahead for the two launches, sources in the space agency said.

Besides the Cartosat-2B, the PSLV would also have on board an Algerian satellite and some small and nano satellites, ISRO sources said.

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## Tejas-MkII

The Hindu Business Line : Space-based navigation to take off in April

*Space-based navigation to take off in April *

Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, March 29

*Civil aviation in the country looks set to take the first step towards modern space-based navigation when GSAT-4, *the country's first satellite carrying a navigational payload, is flagged off in mid-April.

The navigational payload is only a part of the satellite and is part of the Rs 776-crore GAGAN programme initiated by the Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation at least five years ago.

An ISRO official said GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigational system) would herald the country's move towards seamless modern air traffic management.

Higher reliability

Although this was an augmentation of the US-owned GPS, We do not have the space segment now. This may eventually do away with terrestrial navigational aids. It will offer higher reliability and enhanced positional accuracy, besides many improvements to flights, the official told Business Line.

A technology demonstration phase of the project conducted by ISRO and AAI across the country a few years ago proved that GAGAN could indicate aircraft routes and landing points far more precisely than ground based navigation to pilots. Switching into different countries would be smoother.

GPS augmentation

Only the US, Europe and Japan are implementing a GPS augmentation as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

GSAT-4, the satellite that carries the GAGAN payload, is due to be launched on April 15, a PTI report said.

However, these improvements in air cannot be expected immediately, the official said. *At least one or two more satellites will be needed to fully realise its benefits*. The next follow-on satellite carrying the GAGAN payload  the GSAT-8  is due later.

*The GAGAN project was approved in 2008 after a technology demonstration phase.* The satellite made in Bangalore has been moved to Sriharikota for pre-launch testing and preparations.

The ground equipment for the GAGAN system, sourced from Raytheon, US, formed a major component of the cost of the project.

*Meanwhile, ISRO is working on a GPS-independent Indian regional navigation system of seven satellites.*

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## Justin Joseph

*India role model to the world: ISRO Chief*

By Sudarshan Kumar
Tuesday,30 March 2010, 11:44 hrs

Bangalore: Gone are the days, when India used to look after NASA or other satellite centres to launch satellites. *Today, India is the first country to orbit 10 satellites in one single mission and the facilitator for a major discovery of water molecules and water ice on the lunar surface. Also, it is one of the six in the world with capability to make satellites and launch them from its own soil.*

Speaking at 34th Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore convocation, Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Chairman - Space Commission, Secretary - Department of Space and Chairman - ISRO said, "When I entered ISRO, it was in nascent phase, and now the heights we have reached in the space sector, is achieved with a shoestring budget as low as three percent of NASA's expenditures on space programmes." Adding to it, he also said that *India is a front runner in the global comity playing pre-eminent roles in the International forums of space agencies and space-faring nations.*

*According to ISRO's report, India is developing a winged reusable rocket, and the ISRO has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realizing it. Scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), and ISRO believes that it is the first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle.*

The Indian satellite centre has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia. According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year. It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change.

Radhakrishnan, who was conferred Post Graduate Diploma when the first convocation was held 34 years ago, with some of the renowned names like Kiran Karnik, Sudarshan P, Prof S Chandrasekhar (representing IIM-Ahmedabad and Calcutta) and many more, joined ISRO in its nascent phase and saw it evolve into a great team providing valuable and self-less service to the nation. 

India role model to the world: ISRO Chief - SiliconIndia


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## 1nd1a

Choppers said:


> *India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO​*PTI
> BANGALORE, March 28, 2010
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _A model of Re entry launch vehicle (RLV)on display at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba, on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. File photo_
> 
> India is developing a winged reusable rocket and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realising it, the space agency said in a report.
> 
> Indias space scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). This is a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
> 
> The agency said in its latest annual report that a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.
> 
> The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX), it said.
> 
> Meanwhile, for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, expected by 2012-13, ISRO has received 36 Indian payload proposals for orbiter and lander/rover.
> 
> The Scientific Advisory Board of Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-1, is currently in the process of reviewing the payloads proposed for orbiter.
> 
> ISRO sources said the space agency has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia.
> 
> It would have an Indian orbiter and mini-rover, and Russian lander and rover.
> 
> According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year.
> 
> It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change.
> 
> Considering the strong global demand for data from Megha-Tropiques, ISRO, CNES (French space agency) and NASA have agreed to integrate this satellite into Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) constellation of satellites, ISRO said.
> 
> With this, Megha-Tropiques will be one of the eight satellites contributing to the global scientific community to study and understand the dynamics of climate system, it said.
> 
> Data from the recently-launched Oceansat-2, which carried an atmospheric sounder ROSA from Italy apart from main payloads -- ocean colour monitor and scatterometer -- is highly sought after by international scientific community.
> 
> In this respect, a cooperative programme on sharing the data with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their operational research is expected to be signed shortly, it said.
> 
> The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO



I keep hearing AVATAR RLV. Its not a new concept. India is working on it from last couple of years. First test should be completed by next year end....Please find more details at below link

Avatar (rocket) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyone has any recent update on this?


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## Choppers

*Boeing eyes collaboration with ISRO on communication satellites​*PTI, Mar 30, 2010, 12.13pm IST

BANGALORE: Boeing has evinced interest in collaborating with Indian Space Research Organisation in the area of communication satellites, and the two entities are exploring joint opportunities, a senior ISRO official said. 

But the future possible cooperation with Boeing is unlikely in the field of joint-building of communication satellites as the Indian Space agency already has a tieup in this segment with EADS Astrium, Managing Director of Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm, K R Sridhara Murthi indicated. 

"They (Boeing) said they are interested in having collaboration with us in the field of communication satellites. But we (ISRO) already have an alliance with Europeans (EADS Astrium)," he said. 

"May be some new areas of business we (ISRO and Boeing) have to explore. We need to do a lot of homework before we could arrive at collaborative level. Still, it's very preliminary type of exchange," Murthi said. 

ISRO, meanwhile, is expanding its alliance with Astrium, with which it has an agreement to jointly offer communication satellites with a launch mass of two tons to three tons for the international market. 

"We are trying to cooperate in other areas (in addition to communication satellites) such as earth observations. So, we have built along with them (Astrium) some multi-sensor ground systems for the USA and we are also trying to cooperate in other areas and explore what other type of cooperation we can do in the field of earth observations," he said.

Boeing eyes collaboration with ISRO on communication satellites - India Business - Biz - The Times of India


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## sudhir007

Choppers said:


> *Boeing eyes collaboration with ISRO on communication satellites​*PTI, Mar 30, 2010, 12.13pm IST
> 
> BANGALORE: Boeing has evinced interest in collaborating with Indian Space Research Organisation in the area of communication satellites, and the two entities are exploring joint opportunities, a senior ISRO official said.
> 
> But the future possible cooperation with Boeing is unlikely in the field of joint-building of communication satellites as the Indian Space agency already has a tieup in this segment with EADS Astrium, Managing Director of Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm, K R Sridhara Murthi indicated.
> 
> "They (Boeing) said they are interested in having collaboration with us in the field of communication satellites. But we (ISRO) already have an alliance with Europeans (EADS Astrium)," he said.
> 
> "May be some new areas of business we (ISRO and Boeing) have to explore. We need to do a lot of homework before we could arrive at collaborative level. Still, it's very preliminary type of exchange," Murthi said.
> 
> ISRO, meanwhile, is expanding its alliance with Astrium, with which it has an agreement to jointly offer communication satellites with a launch mass of two tons to three tons for the international market.
> 
> "We are trying to cooperate in other areas (in addition to communication satellites) such as earth observations. So, we have built along with them (Astrium) some multi-sensor ground systems for the USA and we are also trying to cooperate in other areas and explore what other type of cooperation we can do in the field of earth observations," he said.
> 
> Boeing eyes collaboration with ISRO on communication satellites - India Business - Biz - The Times of India



PICTURE OF COMMUNICATION SATELLITES


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## Marxist

*Creation of armed forces space cell significant*
New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) The creation of an Integrated Space Cell (ISC) for the armed forces is 'a significant step forward towards modernisation', the defence ministry said in its annual report released Monday.

'The setting up of the Integrated Space Cell (ISC) under the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations) as the nodal point for all space related activities of the tri-services was a significant step forward towards modernization,' the report says.

The ISC has worked out the overall satellite communication requirements of the three services till 2020 in coordination with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the report says.

It also notes that a contract was signed this month to equip two regiments of the Indian Army with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system.

On India's indigenous missile programme, the report says that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) plans soon to conduct the fourth flight test of the long range Agni-III missile that is capable of carrying a 1,500 kg warhead.

The DRDO is also toying with the indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System, based on the Embraer-145 aircraft platform. The first modified aircraft is expected in mid-2011, the report says.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100329/812/tnl-creation-of-armed-forces-space-cell.html


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## In God We Trust

* ISRO conducts scramjet passive flight test *

ISRO conducted the first unpowered flight test of the Scramjet engine that it is developing under the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology demonstrator program.

The test was conducted at Sriharikota space-port using a sounding rocket and described by ISRO as a complete success.

The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) - booster combination weighed 3 tons.

The booster accelerated the passive scramjet to Mach 6 and sustained Mach 6 +.05 and dynamic pressure 80 + 35 kPa for seven seconds. These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.


_ATV-D01 on launch pad. Photo Credit: ISRO_


_ATV-D01 takes off. Photo Credit: ISRO_

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## blueoval79

*India plans to launch 10 satellites every year*


Indian space scientists and engineers are bracing up to launch an average of 10 satellites per year to meet the rising demand for various space applications, including communications and remote sensing, a top space scientist said.

'We are planning to launch 10 satellites per year, beginning fiscal 2010-11. We have a series of satellites and launch vehicles at various stages of preparation,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan told IANS.

Though the state-run space agency was to launch five satellites in this fiscal (2009-10), it could launch only three -- Oceansat-2, Risat-2 (radar imaging satellite) in association with Israeli Aerospace Industries, and Anusat, a micro-satellite. Oceansat-2 also carried six nano-satellites of foreign countries as additional payloads.

The launch of two satellites -- GSAT-4 and Cartosat-2B -- got delayed due to unavoidable reasons, one of them being further flight duration tests of 800 seconds (13.3 minutes) conducted for the indigenous cryogenic engine to be used for the first time in the heavy rocket GSLV-D3 (geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle).

Hitherto, the space agency used Russian cryogenic engines in heavy rockets for launching above two-tonne class spacecraft.

'We have concluded our review meetings to launch satellites for communications and remote sensing. In the immediate, we are launching one satellite in April and another in May. Our target date for launch of GSAT-4 is mid-April and we are working towards it,' Radhakrishnan said.

The space agency is set to keep the window open April 15-19 for launching the 2.2-tonne GSAT-4 onboard GSLV-D3 from its Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

The space centre is scheduled to move the 440-tonne rocket to the second launch pad at the spaceport April 7-8 with the technology demonstrator satellite (GSAT-4).

'Early May, we plan to launch the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C15) to carry Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, and two micro satellites -- Youthsat from Canada and Studsat built by college students from Karnataka,' the chairman said.

The GSAT-4 will be launched into the geo-stationary transfer orbit (GTO) using the cryogenic upper stage of the GSLV-D3.

'As an advanced communication satellite, the GSAT-4 will have multibeam Ka-band regenerative transponders. It will also carry GPS (global positioning system) augmented navigation system in C, L1 and L5 bands as an additional payload,' Radhakrishnan, a rocket scientist, noted.

As part of its advance preparation, ISRO is also working on launching a Resourcesat-2, Risat-1 and Mega-Tropiques in the remote sensing area during the later part of this year.

'In the communications area, we are lining up three heavy satellites -- GSAT-5 and GSAT-6 from Sriharikota and GSAT-8P onboard the Ariane launch vehicle from Korou in French Guayana -- by this year-end or early 2011,' Radhakrishna said.

ISRO plans to put up Hylas satellite of its commercial arm Antrix before March 2011.

Noting that demand for multiple satellites in communications and remote sensing areas would increase in the coming years to meet the diverse needs of a booming economy, the chairman said the space agency was preparing to launch 10-12 satellites a year hereafter.

'In fiscal 2011-12 too, we plan to launch about 10 satellites, including Saral, Insat-3D, GSAT-9, GSAT-12, GSAT-10P, IRNSS 1& 2 (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), Astrosat and Aditya-1,' Radhakrishnan pointed out.

ISRO uses the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) series for telecommunication, television broadcasting and meteorological services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for resources monitoring and management.

The PSLV is used for launching remote sensing satellites into polar orbits and GSLV for launching communication and meteorological satellites into geo-synchronous transfer orbit.

'For launching four-tonne class satellites into GTO, we are developing GSLV-Mark III. We have already carried the static testing of the advance rocket's solid booster, which will be the third largest of its kind in the world,' he added.

India plans to launch 10 satellites every year


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## Kinetic

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)



ISRO annual report 2010

*Space Transportation*

The Indian Space Programme started in a humble way with the launch of modest Rohini sounding rockets from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram in the early 1960s. Initially, these sounding rocket launches were aimed at conducting scientific investigations over the geomagnetic equator passing over Thumba. Since then, India has made rapid strides in launch vehicle technology to achieve self reliance in satellite launch vehicle programme with the operationalisation of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

During the year two PSLV missions PSLV-C12 and PSLV-C14 putting RISAT-2 and Oceansat-2 in the precise orbits along with other small satellites as co-passenger payloads was successfully accomplished. ISRO is now gearing up for launch of GSLV-D3/GSAT-4 with indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) and PSLV-C15/Cartosat-2B launch. 

*PSLV-C12*
In its fifteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on April 20, 2009, PSLV-C12 successfully launched the 300 kg RISAT-2 and 42 kg ANUSAT, a satellite built by Anna University, Chennai, into a 550 km high polar Sun Synchronous Orbit inclined at an angle of 41 deg to the equator. PSLV-C12 was the fourth flight of the PSLV's ' core alone' version. In this flight, two new generation Avionic Systems Advanced Mission Computer (AMC) and Advanced Telemetry System (ATS) were inducted. Weighing 230 tonnes at lift-off, the vehicle was flown without the six 'strap-on motors' used in its standard configuration. PSLV is a four stage launch vehicle employing both solid and liquid propulsion stages. PSLV is the trusted workhorse launch Vehicle of ISRO.






PSLV-C12 lift-off



*PSLV-C14*
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14) carrying 960 kg Oceansat- 2 satellite and six nanosatellites for International customers as auxiliary payloads, was successfully launched on September 23, 2009 into a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 720 km height. During this flight too, PSLV was flown in its 'core alone' version. This was the fifteenth consecuviely successful flight of PSLV.

With the successful launch of PSLV-C14, PSLV once again proved its reliability and versatility by launching 39 spacecraft (17 Indian and 22 for international customers) into a variety of orbits during 1994-2009 period.

Today, PSLV has emerged as a versatile, reliable and cost-effective launch vehicle. Its launch capability has been progressively enhanced from 850 kg to 1500 kg through continuous improvements in the launch vehicle.




PSLV-C14 lift-off carrying seven satellites

*Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)*
ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), in its first operational flight (GSLV-F01), launched 1950 kg EDUSAT, India's first exclusive satellite for educational services, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota on September 20, 2004.

GSLV was declared operational after both its developmental test flights conducted in April 2001 and May 2003 were successful.

For the 49 metre tall, 414 tonne, GSLV first stage, GS1, comprises a core motor with 139 tonne of solid propellant and four strap-ons each with 40 tonne of hypergolic liquid propellants (UH25 and N204). The second stage has 39 tonne of the same hypergolic liquid propellants. The third stage (GS3) is a cryogenic stage with 12.5 tonne of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2). The Composite Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) GSLV payload fairing is 4 m in diameter and is 8 m long.

All the GSLV Missions flown so far utilised cryogenic stage (CS) procured from Russia. The GSLV-D3 is the third developmental Mission of GSLV. The main significance of this mission is the usage of the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) in place of bought out Cryogenic Stage (CS) from Russia.




PAM-G stage undergoing hot test

During the year, Advanced Mission Computer (AMC) and Advanced Telemetry System (ATS) packages were realised, qualified and assembled in the vehicle subsystems. These packages will be inducted for the first time into GSLV programme from GSLV-D3 flight onwards.

All qualification tests of 4m diameter Composite payload fairings were successfully completed. Also hot test of Payload Assist Module GSLV (PAM-G) was successfully completed in August 2009. Launch of GSLV D3 is scheduled during 2010.

*GSLV-F06*
Preparations for the flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) carrying INSAT-3D is in advanced stage of realisation. The GSLV-F06 is expected be launched during 2010-11.




Second stage of GSLV-D3 under preparation

*Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP)*
The major achievement during 2009 was the delivery of Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) in September 2009 after its successful flight acceptance testing during which CUS was hot tested for 720 seconds. The flight model of cryogenic engine was tested for duration of 200 seconds and test results met all the specified parameters.




Indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage

The development of cryogenic engines involves mastering materials technology, operating rotary pumps and turbines that run at 42,000 rpm at cryogenic temperatures. The successful testing of CUS has enabled the country to achieve total self-reliance in launch vehicle technology.

The indigenous cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provides a payload capability of 2200 kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) for GSLV. The Engine works on 'Staged Combustion Cycle' with an integrated turbo pump running at around 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It is also equipped with two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the mission. Another unique feature of this engine is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio, which ensures optimum propellant utilisation for the mission.

*GSLV-Mk III*
GSLV-Mk III is envisaged to launch a four tonne satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. GSLV-Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with a 110 tonne core liquid propellant stage (L-110) and a strap-on stage with two solid propellant motors, each with 200 tonne propellant (S-200). The upper stage will be cryogenic with a propellant loading of 25 tonne (C-25). GSLV- Mk III will have a lift-off weight of about 629 tonne and will be 42.4 m tall. The payload fairing will have a diameter of 5 metre and a payload volume of 100 cubic metre.




L110 development stage

GSLV MkIII programme is presently in the hardware testing and qualification stage. The project has entered the phase of stage level tests for propulsion modules with the successful static test of S200 on January 24, 2010.




CE20 Integrated Turbopump Hot Test in progress

L110 development stage functional integration has been completed. Structural test facility for propellant tanks commissioned at SDSC, SHAR. Preparation and assembly of L110 stage for long duration hot test is progressing well at LPSC, Mahendragiri.

Indigenously developed turbo pump system of CE20 engine was successfully tested in integrated pressure fed mode for 60 seconds. First launch of GSLV Mk III is expected during 2011-12.

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## Kinetic

*
Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2)*
SRE-2 is proposed to be launched onboard PSLV-C19 in of 2010 - 11. The main objective of this mission is to realise a fully recoverable capsule and provide a platform to conduct microgravity experiments.

SRE-2 carries six new payloads - Advanced Isothermal Heating Furnace (IHF) to study the effect of microgravity on liquid phase sintering of powder metallurgy products and processing Carbon nanotube, CCMB Bioreactor to study the effect of microgravity on gene expression of E-coli bacteria, Langmuir Probe for Electron density measurement, Dosimeter for orbital radiation measurement, JAXA payload for Cyanobacteria growth and Biopa payload to study growth and gene expression of seeds.

SRE-2 capsule has four major hardware: Aero Thermostructure (ATS), Spacecraft platform, deceleration and floatation system and six new payloads. New systems developed for SRE 2 include Carbon-Carbon Nose Cone, and indigenous Beacons.

*Sounding Rockets*
The department has developed a series of sounding rockets known as Rohini (RH) with diameters ranging from 200 to 560 mm and capable of carrying upto 200 kg payload to 300-400 km altitude for conducting scientific experiments. Two RH560-MkII, five RH300 MkII and four RH 200 motor systems were launched during the Annular Solar Eclipse of January 2010.

*Semi Cryogenic Engine Development (SCED)*
Semi-Cryogenic Engine development envisages the development of a high thrust engine producing 2000 kN (Vacuum) thrust with Liquid Oxygen and kerosene propellant combination for the Common Liquid Core in Unified Launch Vehicle (ULV). As part of semi-cryo engine development pre-project activities, five designs of single element pre-burner injector were realised and tested. Semi-cryo Project Report was prepared and clearance obtained. Conceptual design of the semi cryo engine has been completed.

*Advanced Technology Vehicles*
Research and development activities in semi-cryogenic propulsion stages, air breathing propulsion and re-usable launch vehicle technology are also being pursued vigorously by the department in an effort towards reducing the cost of access to space.

Air Breathing Rocket Systems use atmospheric oxygen from the surroundings and burn it with the stored on-board fuel for producing the forward thrust in contrast to the conventional chemical rocket systems, which carry both the Oxygen and fuel on board. As a result, air-breathing systems become much lighter and more efficient leading to reduced overall costs.

Air Breathing Propulsion, along with Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology will lower cost of space access drastically. Scramjet engine with supersonic combustion is identified as the most critical element in Air Breathing propulsion technology.

As the Air-Breathing Systems have the capacity to operate only during the atmospheric phase of flight, they always have to be adopted along with conventional chemical rockets for meeting the final orbital velocity requirements. Air-Breathing engines like the turbojet engines used in aircraft have limitations of operating only upto a maximum of Mach number 3. To travel from Mach number 3 to 6, a RAMJET is used. Beyond Mach number 6, SCRAMJET propulsion is the only viable option.

The development of a SCRAMJET System is complex and it involves a number of technological challenges, especially those related to the mixing of very high speed air (velocity around 1.5 km/s) with fuel, achieving stable ignition and flame holding in addition to ensuring efficient combustion within the practical length of combustor. Supersonic combustion was successfully achieved in ground testing.

During the year, hypersonic air intake models were studied in wind tunnels simulating high flight velocities and supersonic combustor configuration was firmed up for first Scramjet flight. Full engine simulation with combustion was also carried out.

*Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV)*
The two stage vehicle with RH560 M motor for first stage (Booster Stage), RH560M motor for the second stage (sustainer stage) with all associated structural systems and payload is having a total length of 10.3 meters with a take-off mass of 3 tonnes.

The first flight aims at vehicle characterisation and performance evaluation. Booster and sustainer motors, structures, separation and destruct system were realised during the year.

*Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator*
As a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle, a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived. For this purpose, a Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured.

The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX).




An artists view of RLV-TD

During the year, aerodynamic characterisation of technology demonstration vehicle was completed at NAL, VSSC and IITK. Trajectory design and Closed Loop Guidance algorithm from lift off to touch down was also completed. Besides, aerodynamic characterisation of ascent and descent configuration, lift off aerodynamic studies at IIT Kanpur and control surface deflection studies at hypersonic Mach numbers by in-house wind tunnel tests were completed.

Engineering model of Airframe and simulation models of avionics packages were realised. HS9 motor static test completed.

*Advanced R&D Projects*
Aerodynamic characterisation of advanced space transportation system needs higher capacity facilities. Towards this, 1m diameter hypersonic wind tunnel and 1 m diameter shock tunnel are in advanced stage of realisation. During the year, vacuum system for Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Project facility was commissioned. Besides, a Higher capacity shaker system is being indigenously realised for environmental vibration testing of future launch vehicle subsystems. And, to simulate the plasma environment faced by reentry modules like SRE-II and HSP Crew module, current 1 MW Plasma tunnel is being enhanced to 6 MW Plasma Tunnel.

*Launch infrastructure*
SDSC SHAR supported two launches of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C12 on April 20, 2009 for RISAT-2 and ANUSAT and PSLV-C14 on September 23, 2009 for launching Oceansat - 2.




S200 at its test facility

Fluid mockup trials on Indigenous CUS were completed using filling software developed in house.

State of the art S-200 Solid Propellant Plant (SPP) with built in automation and safety features has been commissioned successfully at SDSC SHAR. This includes full commissioning of facilities for Hardware Insulation and Lining, Raw Material Preparation, Premix, Mixing and Bowl cleaning, Casting, Curing and Post Curing like Propellant Machining, Inhibition and Tilting and NDT. Static Test of S200 motor, the third largest in the worls was conducted successfully on January 24, 2010. Vehicle Assembly and Test Facilities (VATF), Range Instrumentation and Computer Systems (RICS) and Propellant Servicing Facilities (PSF) required for GSLV-Mk III project are nearing completion.

*Human Spaceflight Programme*
Proposal for a management plan for Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP) was prepared and pre-project activities were approved. The program envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members to about 300 km low earth orbit and their safe return. It is planned to realise the programme in 2015-2016 time frame.

During the year, Crew Escape System (CES) aerodynamic configuration was finalised after CFD studies. Baseline documents were prepared for astronaut selection and astronaut training. Baseline configuration document for human centrifuge, spatial disorientation trainer, hypo/hyperbaric chamber, mission simulator and quarantine was prepared.

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## Kinetic

Communication and Meteorological Satellite System

Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is a joint venture of the Department of Space, Department of Telecommunications, India Meteorological Department, All India Radio and Doordarshan. Established in 1983, INSAT is the largest domestic communication satellite system in the Asia Pacific Region with eleven satellites in operation INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B, INSAT-3C, INSAT-3E, KALPANA-1, GSAT-2, EDUSAT, INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B and INSAT-4CR. The overall coordination and management of INSAT system rests with INSAT Coordination Committee. The latest satellite in the series, INSAT-4CR was launched on September 2, 2007 using GSLV from Sriharikota giving further boost to INSAT capability, especially for Direct-To-Home (DTH) television broadcast.

*Satellites in Service
INSAT-2E*
The last of the five satellites in INSAT-2 series, located at 83 deg E longitude is now in its tenth year of service. It carries the following payloads:

* Seventeen C-band and lower extended C-band transponders providing zonal and global coverage with an Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP)
of 36 dBW.
* Under an agreement with the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (INTELSAT), six 36 MHz equivalent units of C-band capacity
on INSAT-2E which have been leased to INTELSAT earlier are being continued.

*INSAT-3 Series*
Of the five satellites, INSAT-3A through INSAT-3E, planned under INSAT-3 series, four satellites INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B, INSAT-3C and INSAT-3E have already been launched providing satisfactory service.

*INSAT-3A*
The multipurpose satellite, INSAT-3A, has satisfactorily completed six years of operation. It is located at 93.5 degree East longitude. The payloads on INSAT-3A are as follows:

* 12 Normal C-band transponders (9 channels provide expanded coverage from Middle East to South East Asia with an EIRP of 38 dBW, 3 channels provide India coverage with an EIRP of 36 dBW)

* 6 Extended C-band transponders provide India coverage with an EIRP of 36 dBW.

* 6 Ku-band transponders provide India coverage with an EIRP of 48 dBW.

* Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) with imaging capability in the Visible (0.55-0.75 microns), Thermal Infrared (10.5-12.5 microns) and Water Vapour (5.7-7.1 microns) channels, provide 2x2 km and 8x8 km ground resolutions respectively.
*
A Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera provides 1x1 km ground resolution, in the Visible (0.63-0.69 micron), Near Infrared (0.77-0.86 micron) and Shortwave Infrared (1.55-1.70 micron) bands.
*
A Data Relay Transponder (DRT) having global receive coverage with a 400 MHz uplink and 4500 MHz downlink for relay of meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data from unattended land and ocean-based automatic data collection-cum-transmission platforms.
*
A Satellite Aided Search and Rescue (SAS&R) payload having global receive coverage with 406 MHz uplink and 4500 MHz downlink with India coverage, for relay of signals from distress beacons in sea, air or land.

*INSAT-3B*
Launched in March 2000, INSAT-3B is colocated with INSAT-2E at 83 degree East longitude. It carries 12 Extended C-band transponders and three Ku-band transponders that have coverage over the Indian region. INSAT-3B also incorporates a Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) payload with forward link between the hub and mobile station operating in CxS band and return link between the mobile station and the hub operating in SxC band.

*INSAT-3C*
Launched in January 2002, INSAT-3C is positioned at 74 degree East longitude. INSAT-3C payloads include 24 Normal C-band transponders providing an EIRP of 37 dBW, six Extended C-band transponders with EIRP of 37 dBW, two S-band transponders to provide BSS services with 42 dBW EIRP and an MSS payload similar to that on INSAT-3B. All the transponders provide coverage over India.

*KALPANA-1*
KALPANA-1 is an exclusive meteorological satellite launched by PSLV in September 2002. It carries VHRR and DRT payloads to provide meteorological services. It is located at 74 degree East longitude.

*INSAT-3E*
Launched in September 2003, INSAT-3E is positioned at 55 degree East longitude and carries 24 Normal C-band transponders provide an edge of coverage EIRP of 37 dBW over India and 12 Extended C-band transponders provide an edge of coverage EIRP of 38 dBW over India.

*GSAT-2*
Launched by GSLV in May 2003, GSAT-2 is located at 48 degree East longitude and carries four Normal C-band transponders to provide 36 dBW EIRP with India coverage, two Ku-band transponders with 42 dBW EIRP over India and an MSS payload similar to those on INSAT-3B and INSAT-3C.

*EDUSAT*
Configured for audio-visual medium employing digital interactive classroom lessons and multimedia content, EDUSAT was launched by GSLV in September 2004. Its transponders and their ground coverage are specially configured to cater to the educational requirements. The satellite carries a Ku-band transponder covering the Indian mainland region with 50 dBW EIRP, five Ku-band spot beam transponders for South, West, Central, North and North East regional coverage with 55 dBW EIRP and six Extended C-band transponders with India coverage with 37 dBW EIRP.

EDUSAT is positioned at 74 degree East longitude and is colocated with KALPANA-1 and INSAT-3C.

*INSAT-4 Series*

*INSAT-4A*
Launched in December 2005 by the European Ariane launch vehicle, INSAT-4A is positioned at 83 deg. East longitude along with INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B. It carries 12 Ku-band 36 MHz bandwidth transponders employing 140 W TWTAs to provide an EIRP of 52 dBW at the edge of coverage polygon with footprint covering Indian main land and 12 C-band 36 MHz bandwidth transponders provide an EIRP of 39 dBW at the edge of coverage with expanded radiation patterns encompassing Indian geographical boundary, area beyond India in southeast and northwest regions.

*INSAT-4B*
Configured with payloads identical to that of INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B was launched onboard the European ARIANE-5 launch vehicle on March 12, 2007. INSAT-4B carries 12 Ku-band and 12 C-band transponders to provide an EIRP of 52 dBW and 39 dBW respectively. Two Tx/Rx dual grid offset fed shaped beam reflectors of 2.2 m diameter for Ku-band and 2 m diameter for C-band are used. 

INSAT-4B has augmented the high power transponder capacity over India in Ku-band and over a wider region in C-band. INSAT-4B has been colocated with INSAT-3A at 93.5 degree E longitude. 

*INSAT-4CR*
INSAT-4CR was launched on September 2, 2007 on GSLV from Sriharikota. INSAT-4CR is identical to INSAT-4C with 12 Ku-band transponders with an EIRP of 51.5 dBW. It has been positioned at 74 deg E longitude co-located with INSAT-3C, KALPANA-1 and EDUSAT. INSAT-4CR is the third satellite in INSAT-4 series. It carries 12 high-power Ku-band transponders designed to provide Direct-To-home (DTH) television services, Video Picture Transmission (VPT) and Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG).

*ANUSAT*
ANUSAT is a 35 kg micro-satellite, designed by Anna University, Chennai. The main objective is to involve universities in building micro satellites as a means to promote and encourage intra-disciplinary technologies with the help of ISRO.

ANUSAT carries a digital store and forward payload for amateur communication. In addition, a number of technological payloads like digital receiver and turbo coder, MEMS-based gyro and magnetic field sensor were flown on board. Structure, solar panels, chemical battery, sensors and actuators were supplied by ISRO. The payloads and the other satellite subsystems were designed and fabricated at Anna University. The satellite was launched in April 2009 by using PSLV-C12 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.

*W2M*
W2M satellite was developed and built for EUTELSAT, jointly with EADS - Astrium under a contract through ANTRIX. EADS Astrium was the prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and built the communications payload. ANTRIX, lSRO built the satellite bus, based on the flight proven I-3K model, responsible for integration and test of the spacecraft. ISRO was in charge of early in-orbit operations too. The satellite was launched on December 21, 2008 from Kourou using Ariane Launch Vehicle.

W2M carries 24 Ku-band transponders (and upto 32 depending on operational modes). W2M was designed to provide a wide range of services from television broadcasting to data networks and broadband.

W2M spacecraft control is with the customer Eutelsat, which is presently operating communication services through the spacecraft transponders. As per the present plan, 12 transponders will be used.

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## Kinetic

*Forthcoming Satellites*
*GSAT-4*
GSAT-4, envisaged as a technology demonstrator, carries a communication payload consisting of a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe, regenerative transponder and a navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands.




GSAT-4 ready to enter CATVAC

GSAT-4 having propulsion system with four stationary plasma thrusters, Bus Management Unit (BMU), miniaturised dynamically tuned gyros, 36 AH Lithium ion battery, 70 V bus for Ka band TWTAs, on-board structural dynamic vibration beam accelerometer, are some of the new technologies developed for the mission. The satellite weighs around 2200 kg and has a payload power of 1600W. GSAT-4 will be positioned at 82 deg East longitude.

The satellite integration and test activities are in advanced stage. Spacecraft closed mode IST has been completed. The thermovacuum tests have been completed successfully and the Spacecraft Dynamic and CATF tests are in progress. The spacecraft is almost ready for shipment to SDSC SHAR.




GSAT-4 plasma thruster mounted on satellite structure

*AVANTI HYLAS*
Hylas is being developed and built for Avanti Screenmedia, UK jointly with EADS-Astrium under a contract through ANTRIX. EADS Astrium is the prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and will build the communications payload. ANTRIX, ISRO will build the satellite bus, based on the flight proven I-2K model with a lift off mass of around 2550 kg and payload power of 2000 W, integrate and test the satellite. ISRO will also be in charge of Launch and Early Orbit operations. Hylas is designed for an operational lifetime of 15 years and exploits generic, flexible payload equipment.

Avanti Hylas payloads are:

* Ku-Band transponders covering entire Western Europe through 15m deployable reflector

* Ka-band transponders providing eight spot beams through 2.6m x 1.6m

During the year, the satellite bus elements were realised. Integration Readiness Review was completed with the participation of M/s. Astrium. All bus elements except BMU and Inertial Systems have been integrated with the spacecraft. Disassembled mode IST is in progress. The satellite will be ready for shipment by mid 2010.




Hylas Spacecraft during integration

*GSAT-5 PRIME*
GSAT-5P is being planned as replacement for INSAT-3E and will carry 24 Normal C Band and 12 Extended C Band transponders with India Coverage. The spacecraft will be positioned at 55 deg East longitude with a mission life of 12 years.

The spacecraft weighs 2330 kg and payload power requirement is 1700W. Spacecraft configuration and equipment panel layouts are finalised. Payload subsystems and other subsystem packages are under advanced stage of realisation. 

*GSAT-5/INSAT-4D*
Configured as an exclusive C-band communication satellite, GSAT-5/INSAT-4D will carry 12 normal C-band transponders and six extended C-band transponders with wider coverage in uplink and downlink over Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe as well as zonal coverage with a minimum of 35 dBW EIRP.

The spacecraft has a mission life of 12 years. The spacecraft weighs 2330 kg and has a power generation capability of 2000W. The layouts for all equipment panels are finalised. Fabrication of bus system elements have been initiated.

*GSAT-6/1NSAT-4E*
The primary goal of GSAT-6/INSAT-4E, which is a Multimedia broadcast satellite, is to cater to the consumer requirements of providing entertainment and information services to vehicles through Digital Multimedia consoles and to the Multimedia mobile Phones. The satellite carries a 5 spot beam BSS and 5 spot beam MSS. It will be positioned at 83 deg East longitude with a mission life of 12 years.





Stowed





Unfurled

Unfurlable antenna for GSAT-6

The satellite configuration is based on I-2K bus system with a liftoff mass of 2200 kg and payload power of 2300W. Power system is configured with a single bus providing 70V regulated bus for the TWTAs and 42 V regulated bus for the mainframe systems and other payload elements. Multi-junction solar cells for power generation and Lithium-Ion batteries for power storage have been used.

An indigenously developed Unfurlable Antenna(UFA) which provides five beams to cover the entire Indian land mass is the new element in the satellite. The scaled down model (2m dia) of the UFA with the same design and fabrication features has been developed to evaluate its RF performance. Fabrication of all platform systems hardware is in progress and payload subsystem elements are available. The launch is planned on-board GSLV during 2010.

*GSAT-7/1NSAT-4F*
GSAT-7 is a multi-band satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band. It is planned to be launched during 2011 onboard GSLV and positioned at 74 deg East. The satellite weighs 2330 kg with a payload power of 2000W and mission life of 9 years. Structural configuration of the satellite has been finalised and the layout work is completed, detailed design of UHF antenna mechanism is in progress and antenna shock analysis completed. The platform systems are under fabrication and payload subsystem procurement is in progress.

*GSAT -8/1NSAT-4G*
GSAT-8/INSAT-4G is a Ku-band satellite carrying 18 Ku band transponders. It will also carry a GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload. The satellite is planned to be launched during 2010 with a mission life of 12 years and positioned at 55 deg E longitude. This I-3K satellite with a lift-off mass of 3150 kg and a payload power of 5300W will be launched on board ARIANE-5. Fabrication of bus systems is in an advanced stage.

*GSAT-12*
GSAT-12 is being realised as replacement INSAT-3B. Realisation of various sub systems is progressing satisfactorily. The satellite will carry 12 Extended C-band transponders and will be positioned at 83 deg East longitude with a mission life of 7 years. The bus system is based on I-1K platform with ASIC based BMU and 64 Ah Li-ion batteries. The satellite weighs 1375 kg with a payload power of 550W.

During the current year, the Configuration Design Review was completed and all layouts and interfaces were finalised. Payload realisation is in progress. Fabrication of bus systems is in progress and launch is planned onboard PSLV during 2010.

*GSAT-9*
GSAT-9 will carry 6 C band and 24 Ku band transponders with India coverage beam. The satellite is planned to be launched during 2011-12 with a mission life of 12 years and positioned at 48 deg E longitude. This I-2K satellite has a liftoff mass of 2330 kg and payload power of 2300W.

*GSAT-10*
GSAT-I0 will carry 12 Normal C-band, 12 Extended C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders. It will also carry GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload. The satellite is planned to be launched during 2011 with a mission life of 15 years and positioned at 83 deg East longitude. This I-3K satellite with liftoff mass of 3435 kg and payload power of 4500 W will be launched on board ARIANE-5.

Configuration of both platform systems and payload has been finalised and procurement action for long lead items has been initiated. Fabrication of platform systems is already initiated.

*INSAT-3D*
INSAT-3D, a meteorological satellite, carries a 6-Channel VHRR and a 19 channel Sounder. VHRR provides information in the visible (0.6) and near infrared (1.6) with 1 km resolution; MWIR (3.9) with 4 km resolution; Water Vapour (6.7) with 8km resolution; and IR 10.8 and IR 12.0 with 4 km resolution. INSAT-3D Sounder has 18 infrared channels and a visible channel to help cloud detection during daytime.

Many geophysical parameters such as the Outgoing. Long wave Radiation (OLR), Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE), Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Snow cover, Snow depth, Cloud Motion Vector, Water Vapor Wind (WVW), Upper Troposheric Humidity, Temperature, Humidity profile and Total Ozone, aerosols, etc., are expected to provide operational inputs for weather forecasting applications. The satellite has many new technology elements like star sensor, micro stepping Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA) to reduce spacecraft disturbances and Bus Management Unit (BMU) for control and Telemetry /Telecommand function. It also incorporates new features of bi-annual rotation and image and mirror motion compensation for improved performance of the meteorological payloads.




An artists impression of INSAT-3D

The spacecraft weighs 2050 kg with power generation capability of 1200W. The subsystem fabrication is in advanced stage of realisation. FM Sounder payload testing is completed and FM Imager payload system level optimisation is in progress. Mainframe elements, structure along with north and south equipment panels are available. Many of the bus-system elements are in advanced stage of realisation and the launch is planned on-board GSLV in 2010-11.

*SATELLITE NAVIGATION

GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION (GAGAN)*
The Indian Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) is called GAGAN. The Technology Demonstration Phase (TDS) of GAGAN was successfully completed in August 2007. As apart of the TDS, eight Indian Reference Stations (INRESs) have been installed at eight Indian airports. They are linked to the Master Control Center (MCC) located at Kundanhalli near Bangalore. From MCC, the Indian Land Uplink Station (INLUS) transmits correction signals to the space segment having GAGAN navigation payload which translates these signals to the GPS LT bands for reception by a GPS SBAS receiver. In June 2009, the operational phase (FOP) of GAGAN was initiated. The GAGAN system is expected to be ready for testing in about 18 months.

The first GAGAN navigation payload has been fabricated and it is proposed to be flown on GSAT-4 which will be launched in 2010. Two more GAGAN payloads will be subsequently flown, one each on two geostationary satellites, GSAT-8 and GSAT-10. Preparation of sites for INRES installation and third INREE chain on TDS system is in progress.

*INDIAN REGIONAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (IRNSS)*
IRNSS constellation consists of seven satellites. Three satellites will be placed in Geostationary orbit (GEO) at 34°E, 83°E & 131.5°E and two satellites each will be placed in the Geosynchronous orbit (GSO) with equatorial crossing at 55°E and 111.5°E with an inclination of 29° to the equator. Two spare satellites are also planned to be realised. IRNSS will have two types of signals, in L5 and S-Band. IRNSS provides two basic services a Standard Positioning Service (SPS) for common civilian users and a Restricted Service (RS) for special authorised users.

IRNSS Signal and Data structure have been prepared and reviewed. The signal and data structure has been prepared after extensive study by groups at the work centers.




Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)



The civil construction work for the Navigation Control Centre at Bangalore and the Satellite Control Facility at Hassan is in progress. The navigation software for IRNSS is being indigenously developed at ISRO Satellite Centre. As a part of this activity, many modules have been developed and testing is in progress. Coverage Studies, Error Analysis, Up linking scheme for Navigation Parameters and Time Synchronisation have been carried out. Navigation Payload configuration is frozen and Preliminary Design Review (PDR) has been completed. The realisation of the Payload Engineering Model is progressing satisfactorily.

The spacecraft configuration has been finalised and the satellites of the constellation are being configured identically and each spacecraft weighs 1380 kg. Fabrication of six structural cylinders is completed. Most of the standard hardware is productionised. The spacecraft is basically configured with I-1K Bus to be compatible with launch onboard PSLV. After detailed analysis, it was found that it would be possible to launch two numbers of inclined orbit satellites in one flight of GSLV.

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## ek_indian

There is a thread about Indian space programs. You could have referred that.
There was absolutely no need for this one.

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## Kinetic

Earth Observations System

The Indian Earth Observation activities carried out in the institutional framework of the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) under the aegis of the Planning Commission activities are widely acclaimed around the world for their application driven approach. With a host of payloads in the thematic series of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) and the INSAT systems, the Indian EO system has been providing a variety of operational services to the user community in the country. These include thematic series of satellites in the land and water resources management; cartographic and large scale mapping applications; and the ocean and atmospheric research areas has been planned with a view to provide necessary continuity of operational services in an assured manner.

The Planning Committee of NNRMS (PC-NNRMS) oversees the end-to-end programme and provides necessary guidance for implementation of the programme. Nine high-power Standing Committees, viz, (i) Agriculture and Soils (ii) Bio-Resources and environment (iii) Geology and Mineral Resources (iv) Water Resources (v) Ocean and Meteorology (vi) Cartography and Mapping (vii) Urban Management (viii) Rural Development and (ix) Training and Technology constituted under NNRMS address the specific issues pertaining to applications of remote sensing in different thematic areas. Each of these Standing Committees is chaired by Secretary of the respective government departments and includes experts from major user departments/agencies. Many line departments have absorbed and adopted remote sensing technology and they are using the same for various activities. Further, various States have established State Remote Sensing Applications Centres and have been making use of IRS data for various developmental applications. In the recent times, there has also been increased emphasis for taking up of many societal applications with the participation of the community. Many academic institutions have introduced remote sensing and GIS as part of the educational curricula. Also, as part of the capacity building exercise, regular and periodic training programmes are conducted under NNRMS at various levels. Thus remote sensing has already been successfully institutionalised in the country.

Earth Observation Satellites
The Indian Remote Sensing satellite system has one of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation in the world today. Currently nine operational satellites are in orbit  TES, Oceansat-1, Resourcesat-1, CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2, CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1, RISAT-2 and OCEANSAT-2. IRS series of satellites provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. With these and the planned thematic series of satellites in the coming years, such as CARTOSAT-2B, RESOURCESAT-2, RISAT-1, Megha Tropiques, SARAL, CARTOSAT-3 and INSAT-3D, the Indian EO system is expected to continue to provide products and services enabling applications in several areas spanning from cartography to climate.

Indian EO Satellites currently in Operation

*OCEANSAT-2*
Oceansat-2 intended for ocean applications and a follow on to Oceansat-1 was launched on 23 September 2009 by PSLV-C14 from SDSC, SHAR. It has an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer. In addition, it also has a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Considering that Oceansat-2 is a continuity mission to the earlier Oceansat-1, the same polar sun synchronous orbit of 720 kms with the local time of equator crossing of 1200 Hrs±10 minutes has been retained. OCEANSAT-2 will be used for identification of Potential Fishing Zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies and provide inputs for weather forecasting and climatic studies.




Oceansat-2 undergoing dynamic balancing test

*Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM):* An 8-band OCM, similar to Oceansat-1 OCM with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications in Band-6 and 7 based on the experience gained were carried in oceansat-2. As suggested by application scientists Band - 6 (0.66 0.68 micron) and Band-7 (0.745-0.785 micron) of OCM -1 was changed to 0.61-0.63 micron and 0.725-0.755 micron respectively to improve the assessment estimation accuracy of suspended sediment in coastal waters and to avoid oxygen absorption which led to improved accuracy of atmospheric correction. OCM, with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1420 kms, will provide a 2-day repetitivity.




First image from Oceansat-2

*Scatterometer:* This pencil beam Scatterometer works in Ku-band with a ground resolution cell of 50 kms x 50 kms, which will scan the earth surface conically, with a swath of 1400 kms. It provides the wind vector in the range of 4 to 24 meters/second with better than 20% accuracy in speed and 20 deg. in wind direction. The Scatterometer data will be used for deriving the global wind velocity (magnitude and direction) over ocean surface, which will go as on input for weather forecasting, monitoring of cyclones and hurricanes and their trajectory, monitoring of Polar Sea Ice changes and ocean state forecasting.




Ku-band Scatterometer of Oceansat-2

Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric studies (ROSA): ROSA Payload designed and developed by ASI, Italy was flown in Oceansat-2 to study temperature and humidity of the atmosphere. ROSA consists of a Radio Occultation antenna along the satellite velocity vector (VA) and a Navigation antenna (POD).

*Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2)*
A Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) with all weather capability and ability to penetrate clouds realised in association with Israel Aerospace Industries was launched onboard PSLV-C10 from SDSC, Sriharikota on April 20, 2009. RISAT-2 has the ability to enhance country's capability in the management of disasters.

*CARTOSAT-2A*
CARTOSAT-2A, the thirteenth in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series was launched on April 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, Sriharikota. CARTOSAT-2A, much similar to CARTOSAT-2, is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery and carries a single panchromatic camera onboard capable of providing better than 1-meter spatial resolution imagery, with a swath of 9.6 km. The satellite has high agility with capability of steering along and across the track up to + 45° to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently. Data from the satellite could be used for cartographic applications at cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development and management. 

*IMS-1*
IMS-1 was launched along with Cartosat-2A on April 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, Sriharikota. IMS-1 carries a Multi Spectral (MX) camera with 37 m resolution and 151 km swath and Hyper Spectral Camera (HySi) with 505 m resolution and 130 km swath. The data is regularly acquired and used for Natural resources monitoring and management like Agriculture, forest coverage and deforestation, urban infrastructure development, land use and wasteland mapping, coastal features mapping, coral reef mapping, landslide and mineral studies.

*CARTOSAT-2*
CARTOSAT-2, the twelfth in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series, is an advanced remote sensing satellite capable of providing scene-specific spot imagery. CARTOSAT-2, launched on January 10, 2007 by PSLV-C7, carries a single panchromatic camera onboard capable of providing better than 1-meter spatial resolution imagery, with a swath of 9.6 km. The satellite has high agility with capability of steering along and across the track up to + 450 to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently. It was placed in a sun synchronous polar orbit of a nominal altitude of 630 km with a re-visit of 4-5 days and can be brought to a special orbit of 560 km with revisit periods of 4 days and 1 day respectively.

Cartosat-2 satellite has been functioning well, providing operational services to the user community. The data from the satellite is being used for cartographic applications at the cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development and management, as well as applications in Land Information System (LIS).




Phased Array Antenna of Cartosat-2
developed at ISAC

*CARTOSAT-1*
CARTOSAT-1 was launched into a 617 km polar sunsynchronous orbit on May 5, 2005 on board PSLV-C6 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, Sriharikota. The satellite carries two panchromatic cameras PAN (fore) and PAN (aft) with 2.5-meter resolution providing a swath of 30 km. The cameras are mounted with a tilt of +26 deg and -5 deg along the track with respect to nadir so as to provide stereo pairs of images that can be used to generate Digital Terrain Model (DTM) / Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Data from CARTOSAT-1 is used for the preparation of cartographic maps, cadastral mapping updation, land use and GIS applications. An onboard Solid State Recorder provides global data storage of areas not in the ground station visibility.

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## Kinetic

*RESOURCESAT-1*
Resourcesat-1, the tenth satellite in IRS series, was launched on board PSLV-C5 in October 2003. It was placed in an 820 km high polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. Resourcesat-1 carries three cameras:

* A high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-4) operating in three spectral bands in the Visible and Near Infrared Region (VNIR) with 5.8 metre spatial resolution with 70 km (mono) and 23 km (multispectral) swath and steerable up to + 26 deg across track to obtain stereoscopic images and achieve five day revisit capability

* A medium resolution LISS-3 operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one in Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) band with 23.5 metre spatial resolution with 142 km swath

* An Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one band in SWIR with 56 metre spatial resolution and a combined swath of 730 km achieved through two AWiFS cameras

In addition, RESOURCESAT-1 has 120 Gigabits of on-board memory that allows for out-of-contact imaging. Uniqueness of this satellite is the availability of simultaneous multispectral data at three spatial resolutions from the same platform with scene coverage varying from 576 sq km to 19,600 sq km to 5,42,000 sq km.

The images are being used for advanced applications like vegetation dynamics, crop yield estimates, disaster management support, etc.

*OCEANSAT-1*
OCEANSAT-1, intended to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography, was launched onboard PSLV-C2 on May 26, 1999. It carries an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multifrequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR). OCM operates in 402-422, 433-453, 480-500, 500-520, 545-565, 660-680, 745-785 and 845-885 nm bands with 360-meter spatial resolution and 1420 km swath. OCM data is collected over the Indian region and also over International ground stations.

*Technology Experiment Satellite (TES)*
TES was launched on board PSLV-C3 on October 22, 2001. The satellite was intended to demonstrate and validate technologies that could be used in the future cartographic satellite missions. Some of the technologies demonstrated in TES were: attitude and orbit control system, high torque reaction wheels, new reaction control system with optimised thrusters and a single propellant tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder, X-band phased array antenna, improved satellite positioning system, miniaturized TTC and power system and two-mirror-on-axis camera optics. TES carries a panchromatic camera with a spatial resolution of 1 m and swath of 13 km. The satellite has been functioning well even after its intended mission life.

*Forthcoming Satellites*
*CARTOSAT-2B*
The Cartosat-2B satellite, a follow on of Cartosat-2A, weighing around 690 kg, is configured to provide multi-scene imaging capability during a pass. The advanced remote sensing satellite will be carrying onboard a single panchromatic camera providing scene specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications. The satellite is highly agile having a capability of steering along and across the track up to ± 450. It will be placed in a sun synchronous polar orbit of a nominal altitude of 630 km with a re-visit period of 4-5 days. There is a provision to bring the satellite to a special orbit of 560 km with a revisit period of 1 day. The panchromatic camera is designed to provide better than 1 m spatial resolution imageries with a swath of 9.6 km. The satellite is designed for an operational life of 5 years. The spacecraft is under integration and will be launched by PSLV in the first quarter of 2010.

*RISAT - 1*
Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) mission will have a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode. SAR, being an active sensor, operating in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum, provides target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness, and geometry, and has the unique capability for day-night imaging, and imaging in all weather conditions including fog and haze and also provides information on soil moisture. The SAR payload is based on an active phased array technology using Transmit / Receive (TR) modules, which would provide necessary electronic agility for achieving the multi-mode capability, providing spatial resolutions of 1 m to 50 m, and 10 to 240 km swath modes to cater to different applications. The Local Time of RISAT is 06:00 hours at the descending node.

The development of complex technologies pertaining to phased array antenna of 6 m x 2 m size hosting 20736 radiative elements, 288 TR module pairs feeding the radiative elements, a number of power converters supplying power to all these elements, signal distribution and calibration network, range and azimuth compression and data compression as well as handling very high average DC power of 4.7 KW during payload operations etc., form part of the overall mission, hitherto not attempted in IRS satellites. Ground data processing systems with large computational requirements is under development. The satellite weighing around 1850 kg is in the final stages of development for launch by PSLV-XL during third quarter of 2010 into a 536 km orbit with 25 days repetitivity with an added advantage of 12 days inner cycle for CRS mode.

*RESOURCESAT-2*
Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 to provide data continuity. Compared to Resourcesat-1, LISS-4 multispectral swath has been enhanced from 23 km to 70 km based on user needs. Suitable changes including miniaturisation in payload electronics have been incorporated in Resourcesat-2. Resourcesat-2 is slated for launch during 2010. 
*
Megha-Tropiques*
(Megha means cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques means tropics in French) is aimed at understanding the life cycle of convective systems and to understand their role in the associated energy and moisture budget of the atmosphere in the tropical regions. ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2004-05 to proceed with the development and implementation of Megha-Tropiques. The satellite will carry the following scientific instruments:

* Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures (MADRAS), an Imaging Radiometer to be developed jointly by CNES and ISRO

* SAPHIR, a six channel Humidity Sounder

* SCARAB, a four channel Scanner for Radiation Budget Measurement

* GPS-ROS - GPS Radio Occultation System to provide vertical profiles of temperature and humidity of the earth's atmosphere

ISRO is building the Megha-Tropiques spacecraft using IRS platform and launch it using PSLV into 867 km orbit at an inclination of 20 degrees with respect to the equatorial plane. ISRO will also control the satellite in orbit and also receive, process and distribute the scientific data obtained from the satellite. All flight structure elements have been tested and assembled. Mainframe subsystems are in final stages of realisation. The electronic hardware for MADRAS payload is delivered for assembly. Testing of SCARAB and SAPHIR payloads is completed. The launch of Megha-Tropiques is planned during the fourth quarter of 2010.

*SARAL*
The Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL) is a joint ISRO - CNES mission, and will be launched by PSLV into a sun-synchronous, 6 am - 6 pm orbit at an altitude of around 800 km. The Ka band altimeter, ALTIKA, provided by CNES operates at 35.75 GHz. A dual frequency total power type microwave radiometer (23.8 and 37 GHz) is embedded in the altimeter to correct tropospheric effects on the altimeter measurement. Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) on board enable precise determination of the orbit. A Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) helps to calibrate the precise orbit determination system and the altimeter system several times throughout the mission.

SARAL / ARGOS Data Collection System (DCS) represents a joint contribution of ISRO and CNES to the development and operational implementation of the global ARGOS Data Collection System. The main objective is to receive data from Data Collection Platforms and transmit these to the ARGOS Ground Segment, for subsequent transmission to the ARGOS Data Processing and Distribution Centre in Toulouse, France. In addition, ARGOS Payload allows the transmission of short messages directly to Data Collection Platforms equipped with a receiver.

SARAL payload will be accommodated in the mini-satellite bus ranging between 400-450 kg class, named as SSB-1 (Small Satellite Bus). SARAL will provide Data Products to the operational and research user communities, in support of Marine meteorology and sea state forecasting; Operational oceanography; Seasonal forecasting; Climate monitoring; and Ocean, Earth system and climate research. Preliminary Design Review has been completed. SARAL simulator has been delivered to CNES. Spacecraft Mainframe systems are under fabrication and payload delivery is expected in May 2010. The satellite launch is planned during 2011.

*Ground Segment*
ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) with its headquarters at Bangalore is providing TTC and mission control support to launch vehicle missions and near earth orbiting satellites through an integrated network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Sriharikota, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram Mauritius, Tromso and Svalbard (Norway) & Troll (Antartica) and Biak (Indonesia), has a multimission Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore.

*ISTRAC provides:*

* Telemetry Tracking and Command (TTC) support to ISRO launch vehicle missions from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR from lift-off till satellite injection, down range tracking support for satellite injection monitoring and Preliminary Orbit Determination (POD)

* TTC support including house-keeping data acquisition throughout the mission life for low earth orbiting satellites and their health monitoring and control operations

* Scientific payload data reception and processing for payload scientists ISTRAC also provides TTC support to international space agencies under commercial agreements through ANTRIX Corporation. ISTRAC has also established the SPACENET, connecting various ISRO Centres.

During the year, ISTRAC provided the launch, preliminary orbit determination and on-orbit support for the launch of RISAT-2 and OCEANSAT-2 satellites. It continued to track, monitor and control TES, Oceansat-1, Resourcesat-1, CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2, CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1, RISAT-2 and OCEANSAT-2. Remote sensing payload operations were carried out during the year on IRS-1C and IRS-1D over Indian stations at Shadnagar, and also over 15 Foreign Data Reception Stations (FDRS). About 350 to 400 payload operations are carried out per month for each satellite. Payload operations of OCEANSAT-1 were carried out over Indian station. IRS-P3 payload was operated about 250 times per month over Shadnagar in India and Neustralitz (Germany), Wallops (USA) and Maspolamas (Spain). TES Payload (PAN) operations are regularly carried out over India. 

*Satellite Data Acquisition and Processing*
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad is the nodal agency for satellite remote sensing data reception, archival, processing and dissemination in the country. NRSC acquires and processes data from all Indian remote sensing satellites like CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2, RESOURCESAT-1, IRS-1D, OCEANSAT-1, OCEANSAT-2 and IMS-1. NRSC Shadnagar Ground station acquires data from various Indian remote-sensing satellites and few foreign satellites. The station receives around 22 passes regularly at a station efficiency of 99%. As per the Remote Sensing Data Policy, NRSC is the national agency identified for acquisition/distribution of all the satellite data within India. Accordingly, NRSC is disseminating satellites data from Indian and foreign satellites to Indian users. During the year, more than 29,000 data products were disseminated to Indian as well as foreign users.

During the year, the ground segment has been upgraded for reception, processing and product generation. RISAT-1 and RISAT-2 data reception station and a small terminal for IMS satellite data reception have been established. Integrated Multi-mission Ground segment for Earth Observation Satellites (IMGEOS) is conceived, with an objective to have a highly reliable, easily adaptable system to future mission requirements using state-of-art technologies and world class infrastructure towards meeting the requirement of reduced turnaround time for the data product generation.

The preparatory activities for setting up of Oceansat-2 data reception at INCOIS, Hyderabad, a mobile transportable ground receiving station to RISAT-2 data for NTRO has been also developed. The Algiers ground station is being upgraded to receive ALSAT-2A/2B data. Installation and configuring of Resourcesat -1 data processing facility was taken up at Cuiaba station in Brazil as part of the ISRO-INPE (National Institute for Space research, Brazil) co-operative agreement.

*Aerial Remote Sensing*
The aerial remote sensing facility of NRSC offers value-added services like aerial photography and digital mapping, infrastructure planning, scanner surveys, aeromagnetic surveys, large scale base map, topographic and cadastral mapping, etc. Two aircraft with modern navigational aids, aerial cameras and sensors are available to carry out these activities.

NRSC has inducted the Large Format Digital Metric Camera for Aerial Services and Digital Mapping activities. The Ultracam D camera, with its maximum resolution of 3 cm is one of the leading frame type digital cameras and is expected to give a new impetus to digital photo-grammetric applications. Both the existing aircraft were modified for installation of LFDC system and the system was accepted after test sorties.

400 hours of flying was completed during Apr- Dec 2009 and is expected to touch 550 hrs by March 31, 2010. DMSAR flying over Bihar was completed for 85,000 sq kms (post flood). Aerial photography tasks covering Bangalore (2,500 sq kms), Kolkata (2,300 sq kms and Karimnagar district of A.P. (8,000 sq kms out of 15,000 sq kms) were completed. Under NUIS project, Aerial photography has been completed for 67 towns and planned to be completed for 146 towns. Both the existing aircraft were modified for installation of LFDC system and the system was accepted after test sorties. The test data sets were collected and analyzed in different resolutions of 5 & 10 cm Ground Sampling




LFDC system installed in NRSC aircraft

Distance (GSD) for Shadnagar site, 10 cm GSD for Kamareddy town (Nizamabad district, AP), and 30 & 50 cm GSD for part of Hyderabad. Processing of ALTM data of Sabari basin in AP (800 sqkm) and Mahanadi basin in Orissa (8000 sqkm) are in progress and planned to be completed by March 2010. ALTM - DC data survey for Kosi and Bhagmati basin, Bihar (12100 sq km) is in progress. 3D geospatial database generation for NIC in 1:1000 scale from 1:6000 scale aerial photographs for Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata cities are in various stages of completion.

The recently procured Ultracam D Large Format Digital Camera has been successfully put into use during the search and rescue operations of the missing helicopter in Kurnool district for Government of Andhra Pradesh.

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## Kinetic

Space Sciences

Space Science and research has been an important element of Indian space programme. ISRO's space science endeavor is aimed at taking the benefits of science in the form of applications to the people of the country. In addition to space science research activities being pursued at PRL, SPL, NARL, SAID and SSIF at ISAC, specific individual, nationally coordinated and multi-institutional science payload instrumentation and science mission development projects in the atmospheric and space science areas are supported and implemented by ISRO based on the recommendations of ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS). Some of the main activities carried out by the department in space science are summarised below.

*Chandrayaan-1*
Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the Moon successfully launched on October 22, 2008, was aimed at high-resolution remote sensing of the Moon in the visible, near Infrared, low energy X-ray and high-energy X-ray regions, specifically to prepare a 3-dimensional atlas of both near and far side of the moon, conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface for distribution of mineral and chemical elements.

The eleven payloads of Chandrayaan-1 have studied the moon from different perspectives and provided excellent quality of high resolution data. The analysis of the science data has begun.

Some of the significant results of Chandrayaan-1 mission are given below:

*
Data from Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI), Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) and Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) confirmed the hypothesis of lunar magma ocean
* The data obtained from M3 has clearly indicated the presence of Hydroxyl and water molecules on the lunar surface.





Coulomb C crater as viewed
by TMC


Fresh Impact Crater
Damoieasu from HySI data

In the figure above, blue colour indicates 3 micron absorption associated with the presence of OH/H2O. Red indicates absorption at 2 micron due to the presence of iron-bearing minerals. The Green represents reflected brightness at 2.4 micron. During this particular observation, detection of volatiles is most prominent at higher cooler latitudes. The presence of volatiles appears to be a function of the surface radiation and thermal environment.






*
ChACE (Chandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer: Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer) onboard Moon Impact Probe (MIP) indicated possible presence of water molecules along with other molecular species in the lunar environment.
*
Sub keV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) has found the presence of atleast 20% of reflected solar wind particles as well as energisation of solar wind in lunar environment which has been observed for the first time.
*
Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI) covered more than two and a half million valid elevation points and over 75 crater's topography and slope maps have been prepared.
*
Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) observed a C class flare showing the Ca line at 3.6keV in addition to Mg, Al and Si lines. Also identified Mg, Al and Si lines during low illumination conditions of A class solar flare.
*
Radiation Dose Monitor (RADOM) has provided information on the radiation and particle flux dose on the way to moon and in the Earth-Moon radiation environment.





SARA measurements of Hydrogen flux on the Moon





C1XS spectrum showing for the first time well resolved signatures
of Calcium and Iron from lunar orbit

*Chandrayaan-2*
Chandrayaan-2 mission is planned to have an orbiter/lander/rover configuration. The mission is expected to be realised by 2012 - 13. The science goals of the mission is to further improve our understanding of origin and evolution of the Moon using instruments onboard Orbiter and in-situ analysis of lunar samples and studies of lunar regolith properties (remote & direct analysis) using Robots/Rovers.

Thirty six Indian payload proposals have been received for Orbiter and lander/ rover. Currently the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of Chandrayaan-2 is in the process of reviewing the payloads proposed for Orbiter.

*ASTROSAT*
ASTROSAT is a first dedicated Indian Astronomy satellite mission, which will enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies and cosmic sources in X-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500-6000 Å), UV (1300-3000 Å), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5-8 keV; 3-80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft X and hard X ray regions.




An artists impression of Astrosat

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT are: Multiwavelength studies of cosmic sources, monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients, all sky survey in the hard X-ray and UV bands, broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies and stellar coronae, studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources and monitoring intensity of known sources and detecting outbursts and luminosity variations.

The 1500 kg satellite is to be launched by the operational PSLV to an altitude of 650 km with 8-degree orbital inclination in 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The useful life of the mission is expected to be about 5 years.

ASTROSAT will carry a complement of astronomy instruments sensitive over a wide spectral range. The payloads onboard ASTROSAT are:
1. Three Large Area Xenon-filled Proportional Counters (LAXPCs) in 3-100 keV band for timing and spectral studies
2. Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) array with coded mask aperture for hard X-ray imaging and spectral studies in 10-100 keV
3. Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) with CCD camera for timing and variability studies in the X-ray bandwidth of 0.3 to 10 keV
4. Scanning X-ray Sky Monitor (SSM) for timescales and luminosity variations in 2-10 keV using proportional counter system
5. Ultra Violet Imaging telescope (UVIT) will cover visible, near ultra violet and far ultra violet bands, in 130-600 nm bands.
6. Charge Particle Monitor (CPM) is a 10 mm cube of CsI (Tl) crystal viewed by a Photodiode; it aims at detecting high-energy particles during the satellite orbital path and alerts the instrumentation from possible damage.

During the year, the Engineering Model of BDH package has underwent qualification level thermovac tests. The thermal analysis of all payloads, Data Handling and BMU packages has been completed. The status of payloads onboard ASTROSAT are: (i) The Qualification Model of one detector system of the SSM payload, with all live electronics, has been exposed to launch environment loads and successfully qualified. The electronics card fabrication for SSM is in progress, (ii) For UVIT, the fabrication of INVAR tubes, aluminum tubes and focal plane assembly parts for the Engineering Model is completed. Fabrication and testing of various sub-systems and payloads are progressing satisfactorily.

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## Kinetic

*Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX) Programme*
The National programme in the Planetary Science and Exploration, PLANEX (short and long-term strategy) initiated through ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Research (ADCOS) is visualised to undertake research and related activities in the field of Planetary Science and Exploration.

During the year, analysis of the returned data from Chandrayaan-1 payloads TMC and HySi were in progress. Laboratory investigations of meteorites, simulation studies to understand natural and induced nuclear radiations from planetary surfaces are other areas of planetary sciences research conducted under the PLANEX program. Design and development of payloads based on nuclear techniques, for future planetary missions of ISRO is the new activity under this programme.

Two of the lunar swirls, Reiner gamma (centered at 7.90N, 3010) in the basalt and Airy swirl (180S, 5.70) in the highlands have been studied for their maturation trends. The images sent by Moon Impact Probe onboard Chandrayaan-1 were analysed to trace its path on the lunar surface.

On Sept. 12, 2008, around 0830 hrs. Local time, the Sulagiri meteorite fell in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, India. Petrological, chemical, oxygen isotopic, noble gas and cosmogenic nuclide studies have been carried out to classify Sulagiri (LL6) and its exposure age (32 Ma).

The ninth PLANEX workshop on 'Exploration of inner solar system objects' was held at the Rajasthan University, Jaipur, during January 5-9, 2009, for M.Sc/B. Tech students. Currently 15 projects are running under PLANEX and 3 new projects are under review. About 15 publications in both national and international journals have appeared during the year.

The installation of the Multi-Collector Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer (MC-NGMS) has been completed. The sample preparation system has been modified and presently the instrument is being standardised. Initial results were presented at a conference in November 2009.

*Indian RT-2 Experiment onboard Russian CORONAS-Photon Satellite*
RT-2 is a low energy gamma-ray spectrometer experiment aimed to study the solar hard X-rays in the energy range of 15 keV to 150 keV. It was launched onboard Russian CORONAS-Photon mission on 30 January 2009 from Russia. The main goal of the mission is to study solar hard electromagnetic radiation in the wide energy range from extreme UV up to high-energy gamma radiation (~ 2000 MeV). The primary instruments of the mission are high-energy radiation spectrometer NATALYA-2M (developed by Russia) and the low energy gamma ray spectrometer RT-2 (developed by India).

The RT-2 system comprised 3 detector modules namely RT-2/S, RT-2/G (Phoswich detectors), RT-2/CZT (CZT and CMOS detector) and one processing electronics RT-2/E.

RT-2 instruments were switched on during February 20, 2009. Currently, all the three detectors (RT-2/S, RT-2/G and RT-2/CZT) are working satisfactorily.

RT-2/S and RT-2/G detectors discovered a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB 090618) on June 18, 2009. The light curves of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) plot the number of gamma rays detected against time (Fig.2 and 3). The entire data is consistent with the data from other satellites (KONUS-RF, KONUS-WIND and SWIFT) which have co-discovered the Burst. Further analysis on the data received is in progress.




RT-2/G Light curve of GRB 090618

* YOUTHSAT*
YOUTHSAT is a joint scientific space mission between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian Federal Agency. It is a micro satellite carrying scientific payloads with participation from universities at graduate, postgraduate and research scholar level and would participate from testing of the payloads in laboratory to the utilisation of the data from payloads. Participation of young scientists will inculcate interest in space related activities and provide opportunities for realisation of future scientific payloads at the university level. YOUTHSAT is scheduled to be launched as auxiliary satellite along with Indian remote sensing satellite during 2010 with an orbital altitude of 630 km at an inclination of 97.9º.

YOUTHSAT is a participatory scientific mission with payloads from both Russia and India. It would be carrying three scientific payloads one from Russia and two from India.

* The Russian payload is a Sun observing payload called SOLRAD (Solar Radiation Detector), which would detect and monitor the radiation
[Solar flares and X-rays (10-100 keV), Gamma rays (0.02-10.0 MeV)] from the Sun. This payload is developed by Moscow University.
* RaBIT (Radio Beacon for Ionospheric Tomography) consisting of a dual frequency beacon to measure the total electron content of the ionosphere. RaBIT payload is developed by VSSC.
* LiVHySI (Limb Viewing Hyper Spectral Imager) would observe the limb of the atmosphere at the altitude of 80-800 km to image the atmosphere and record the airglow thereby analysing for atmospheric constituents. LiVHySI is jointly developed by VSSC and SAC.




Youthsat Solrad payload testing

SOLRAD will monitor the source i.e, the Sun and the other two experiments will monitor the way in which near Earth space gets effected due to the explosive events in the Sun's Space Weather effects. Hence the cause and the effect could be studied uniquely by YOUTHSAT mission.

*CAWSES-India programme*
Climate and Weather of Sun-Earth System (CAWSES), an ongoing international scientific programme launched by SCOSTEP (Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics) during 2004-2008, is a cooperative effort to bring the world's scientists under one umbrella to study the Sun-Earth interactive phenomena covering all salient aspects.

CAWSES INDIA has been conceived as a national program of ISRO's initiative in line with the international program of CAWSES. CAWSES provides a platform to the Indian scientific community to come together, define common science objectives and make concerted and coordinated efforts of research in the domain of the Sun-Earth system. The Phase I of CAWSES that lasted for four years with four major themes, viz., (a) Solar influence on Climate (b) Atmospheric coupling processes (c) Space Weather: Science and Applications and (d) Space Climatology.

The first phase of the CAWSES-INDIA programme has been successfully completed by bringing together the atmospheric and solar Terrestrial Physics community and executing certain thematic campaigns and also compiling the large available database into an user friendly form. During this Phase, 24 projects were executed involving 15 organisations/institutions in the country. Besides, two major observational campaigns and two science workshops were conducted and several results from these efforts have been published in peer-reviewed journals. A monogram on scientific results of CAWSES Phase-I has been brought out as an ISRO publication. The scheme is unique in that it is supporting several young scientists to carry out frontline research utilising data from satellites and a host of advanced instrumentation leading to their Ph D programme. CAWSES Phase I spanned four years (2005-2008) covering the decreasing phase of the solar cycle 23.

*Microgravity Science/ Experiment
Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2)*
Subsequent to the successful SRE-1 mission, ISRO solicited proposals from scientists and technologists for possible experiments in the SRE-2 mission. The payloads/experiments finalised for SRE-2 would study





Engineering model of JAXA Bioreactor

*
Gravitational effects during liquid phase sintering of powder metallurgy products/ study on tapping phenomenal potential of Carbon nano tubes for composites using Isothermal Heating Furnace Mk II. This experiment is a collaborative effort between IIT, Kanpur and VSSC.
*
Biological effects of Microgravity on E-coli bacteria: A genomic and proteomics approach using Bioreactor developed by CCMB, Hyderabad.

*
Growth of Plant kingdom based microbials (cyanobacteria) under microgravity condition using, JAXA Bioreactor.

*
Effect of Microgravity and high energy radiation on Gene Expression in relation to growth, yield and quality of medicinal plants, vegetables and rice seeds using a Biopan: Kerala Agricultural University and University of Pune collaboration.

*
Space radiations aboard recoverable space capsule using Dosimeter developed jointly by PRL and VSSC.

*
Electron flux density using Langmuir Probe at an altitude of 100-30 km during re-entry of the space capsule jointly by ISAC and BARC.

Currently, the payload accommodation studies have been completed and power, command and telemetry requirements are finalised. Mission design with payload operations and safe mode strategies are worked out.

*CRABEX*
The Indian Coherent Radio Beacon Experiment (CRABEX) has been initiated to investigate the equatorial ionospheric large scale processes like EIA (Equatorial Ionization Anomaly), ESF (Equatorial Spread F) etc., and their interrelationships. A network of ground based stations receiving the 150 MHz and 400 MHz transmissions from the Low Earth Orbiting Satellites (LEOS) is setup along the 77-780E longitude, from Thiruvananthapuram (8.50N) to Delhi (28.80N) covering the trough and crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly region. This network (CRABNET) is shown below. Low Earth Orbiting Satellites (LEOS) like OSCAR, COSMOS, CNOFS, RADCAL, etc., which transmit coherent beacon transmissions at 150 and 400 MHz are used to derive ionospheric total electron content (TEC) along different intersecting ray paths.




Locations of CRABNET stations

The area of maximum ray intersections is also marked. This network is unique as it covers both the northern crest and the trough region of the EIA, thus making it the longest tomography chain in the world.

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## Kinetic

Among the forth coming projects GSAT-4, GSAT-6, GAGAN, INSAT-3D and IRNSS are most important communication satellite projects Specially GSAT-6, I think when modified it can have excellent military applications in terms of netcentric warfare. 

Among EOS, RISAT-1 and CARTOSAT-3 will revolutionize the reconn capabilities of Indian armed forces.


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## Nemesis

Are you trying to show off India's space prowess to our Pakistani members? There is already a sticky thread on Indian Space developments, why on earth are you wasting bandwidth by opening another thread?

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## Kinetic

Nemesis said:


> Are you trying to show off India's space prowess to our Pakistani members? There is already a sticky thread on Indian Space developments, why on earth are you wasting bandwidth by opening another thread?



I don't start ten threads every day! Check it out. Many will be interested in reading aspects of Indian space research thats why I posted this thread. 

Stop thinking about bandwidth! That is not your concern! If the mods feel its not required than they can delete the thread. Your worthless post is a perfect example of wasting bandwidth! If you have nothing to do with the thread than why you need to post? !!!


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## Chanakyaa

@kinetic,

Great and Superb effort.
Will place my thanks once i am on my lappy.

Awesome info. I am saving it and placing on my blog soon.

Thanks a million, keep ur good work going...


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## Kinetic

XiNiX said:


> @kinetic,
> 
> Great and Superb effort.
> Will place my thanks once i am on my lappy.
> 
> Awesome info. I am saving it and placing on my blog soon.
> 
> Thanks a million, keep ur good work going...



You are most welcome bro. But please no need to thank me. I happy that you liked my effort. *It shows the current direction of over all Indian space research.* Many Indians as well as non-Indians may be interested in knowing current aspects of Indian space research.

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## Chanakyaa

I wish i could give u 100 Thanks for each post...
These are Gems of Indian Technological Progress...

Jai Ho.

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## prototype

@kinetic

nice work buddy,keep it up


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## peacekeeper

@kinetic

great work buddy.....


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## KS

@ kinetic


awesoome work bro....nd hats off to ISRO  ......Jai Hind


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## RPK

*The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : India has not made offer to Russia to buy Soyuz-TMA: ISRO*








India has not made any offer to Russia to purchase Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to undertake the country&#8217;s own human space flight slated for 2015-16, a top space department official said.

&#8220;No, that&#8217;s all what the newspapers write,&#8221; Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI here on reports in a section of the Russian media which talked about the &#8220;offer&#8220;.

Russian reports also said China had received technical documentation on various Soyuz-TM systems and used them to develop its own Shenzhou manned spacecraft.

Mr. Radhakrishnan said, &#8220;We have a (human space flight) programme,&#8221; adding, ISRO is going to put two Indians in an orbit around the earth.

&#8220;That&#8217;s our plan. Studies have been conducted. There is a pre-project which is already going on to study some of the critical technologies. And we have a project report which we have given to the Government (for approval),&#8221; he said.

ISRO officials said the proposal for undertaking the human space flight to carry humans to a low earth orbit and ensure their safe return to earth has been prepared and submitted to the government for approval.

The space department has already carried out a detailed study on technical and managerial issues related to undertaking manned space missions with an aim to building and demonstrating the country&#8217;s capability.

The programme envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew&#8212;members to a 300 km earth orbit.


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## RPK

Indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) being used for the first time in GSLV-D3 is fully qualified having undergone the full flight duration test of 800 seconds successfully. The indigenous CUS would be used in place of Russian cryogenic stage employed so far in GSLV.

&#8220;The development of cryogenic engines involves mastering several complex disciplines such as materials technology, operating rotary pumps and turbines that run at 42,000 rpm at cryogenic temperatures. The development of cryogenic technology in the country has given the coveted status of total self-reliance in launch vehicle technology&#8221;, he said.

ISRO conducted previous GSLV flights with the help of readymade cryogenic engines procured from Russia earlier.

&#8220;GSAT-4 is the only payload (to be carried by GSLV-D3). But GSAT-4 contains several payloads. We are getting into Ka-band transponder system there, and we are also having a small payload for the satellite navigation for augmenting the GPS system that is GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation),&#8221; Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

*ISRO is also trying electric propulsion system for the first time. &#8220;Instead of using liquid fuel for station-keeping,* here you are using electric propulsions&#8221;, he said, noting the move would enable the agency to extend the life of satellites by a couple of years.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article372877.ece


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## RPK

*Electric Propulsion in GSAT-4 *


After a geostationary satellite like INSAT is placed in its orbit, it might experience orbital perturbations because of the combined gravitational attractions of the Sun and Moon. A satellite must remain within its prescribed boundaries to satisfy its mission requirements. To keep a satellite within its equatorial and longitude planes, &#8220;North-South" and "East-West" station-keeping maneuvers are performed weekly. "North-South" maneuvers accounts for 95&#37; of total station-keeping propellant consumption. 

A satellite's orientation can be maintained by momentum wheels supplemented by magnetic torquers and thrusters. Ion propulsion systems, are being used increasingly for station-keeping. For the first time, ISRO, is using electric propulsion for its GSAT-4 satellite. 2 indigenously developed and 2 imported SPT (stationary plasma thruster) will be flown on board GSAT-4 to cater for "North-South" station keeping operations. Since less than 5 m/s per year delta velocity needs to be imparted for east&#8211;west station keeping (EWSK), EPS system usage is not advantageous for EWSK, as overheads will negate the benefits. Similarly, use of EPS systems for orbit raising involves months of continuous operation and a very long wait to reach GSO, nullifying the advantage. However, this could be a backup option for conventional chemical propulsion.

Electric propulsion (EP) offers a cost effective and sound engineering solution for space applications. Use of high performance electric propulsion system (EPS) will result into reduced chemical propellant and tankage requirements, in exchange for significant usage of power. Chemical rocket engines, like those on the lower stages of GSLV and PSLV, work by burning two gases to create heat, which causes the gases to expand and exit the engine through a nozzle. These exiting gases produce thrust which lifts the rocket. Instead of relying only on the energy stored in the propellants, if we add external energy using electricity, we can increase the temperature of the gases and thus create more thrust per pound of fuel. This is the basic concept of an electric propulsion or EP. EP provides much lower thrust compared to a chemical rockets but they provide very high specific impulse. This in effect means that though EP must burn for longer durations compared to a chemical rocket to achieve desired thrust, it consumes very less fuel because of higher specific impulse. 

EP systems fall into three major categories: (a) electrostatic propulsion, (b) electrothermal propulsion, and (c) electromagnetic propulsion. GSAT-4 employs electromagnetic propulsion and uses Hall Effect thrusters or stationary plasma thruster (SPT) in particular. 

Soviet Union has done pioneering research work on Hall thrusters. Soviet Union developed two types of Hall thrusters; stationary plasma thruster (SPT) and the anode layer thruster (ALT). They have been using SPT's on their satellites since 1972. A Hall effect thruster was also used by the European SMART-1 probe. 

Four components are needed to make a complete electric propulsion system: a power source, a power processing unit (PPU), a propellant management system (PMS), and a control computer. The power source can be any source of electrical power, but solar and nuclear are the primary options. A solar electric propulsion system (SEP) uses sunlight and solar cells for power generation. A nuclear electric propulsion system (NEP) uses a nuclear heat source coupled to an electric generator. The PPU converts the electrical power generated by the power source into the power required by each component of the Hall thruster. It generates the high voltages required by the Hall thruster channel and the high currents required for the hollow cathode. The PMS controls the propellant flow from the propellant tank to the thruster and hollow cathode. Modern PMS units have evolved to a level of sophisticated design that no longer requires moving parts. The control computer controls and monitors system performance. The Hall thruster then processes the propellant and power to perform work. Hall thrusters use inert gas as propellant. The thrust is generated from the force that the propellant ions impart to the electron cloud inside the thruster. 



GSAT-4, envisaged as a technology demonstrator, carries a communication payload consisting of a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe, regenerative transponder and a navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. GSAT-4 having propulsion system with four stationary plasma thrusters, Bus Management Unit (BMU), miniaturised dynamically tuned gyros, 36 AH Lithium ion battery, 70 V bus for Ka band TWTAs, on-board structural dynamic vibration beam accelerometer, are some of the new technologies developed for the mission. The satellite weighs around 2200 kg and has a payload power of 1600W. GSAT-4 will be positioned at 82 deg East longitude.

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## Ingis

India to test-fly indigenous space shuttle within a year: official

MUMBAI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- India will conduct the first test- flight of a home-built space shuttle within a year, local media reported on Friday.

An India's space shuttle prototype is expected to be launched for the flight-testing from the Sriharikota base off the coast of the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh in a year, the Asian Age newspaper quoted the Indian Space and Research Organization (ISRO) spokesman Radhakrishnan as saying.

It will be a milestone for India, as the shuttle will climb to an altitude of 60 kilometers above the earth and glide back to earth in the first test-flight, said the spokesman.

The ISRO's scientists will evaluate the various advanced technologies during its first test-flight, including the powered cruise flight, digital auto-pilot for the ascent and descent phases and high-temperature resistance for the coating of its structure as re-entering the atmosphere, according to the spokesman.

Once the first test-flight succeeds, the shuttle will go into the outer space for the tests of the reliability and load-carrying capability in longer duration and distance, added the spokesman.

The India's space shuttle will be a combination of a winged aircraft and a booster rocket. The booster rocket will release the winged aircraft following sending the winged aircraft to a specific altitude, and the winged aircraft will go into space.

The spokesman said the shuttle will be used for human space flight or carrying satellites into orbit after its reliability in the subsequent test-flights is proven.

In the end of the 1980s, the ISRO began to plan developing the space shuttle. In December 2008, a ground test of its booster rocket was done.

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## navtrek

Wow  thats cool. Never knew abt that any picture of the prototype ?


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## navtrek

the Hyperplane concept

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## gowthamraj

thats cool, btw i hopeing GSLV with indigenios engine going to launch comeing apirl-15


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## navtrek

*A Journey from Vedic Indias Vimana To Modern Indias Hyperplane*

*The Indian Hyperplane or Avatar Spaceplane (late 1980s) * 



The Hyperplane / Avatar is designed to carry over 60% of its take-off weight as liquid hydrogen. This is made possible by not carrying any liquid oxygen on board at take-off, but collecting the requisite mass of liquid oxygen in high-speed flight. In this way, the spaceplane almost doubles its mass while in hypersonic level flight, while self-refueling by air collection with simultaneous oxygen liquefaction and on-board storage. A small-scale Flight Technology Demonstrator for Hyperplane/ Avatar has also been designed.

The main attribute of the Hyperplane design concept is its geometric scalability, enabling the design be built for a vehicle as small as 25-tonnes take-off weight (the weight of an advanced fighter aircraft). This is possibly the smallest weight feasible for a reusable SSTO spaceplane, and has a 4% payload ratio, enabling delivery of 1-tonne in parking orbit at Mach 26. Unlike the Skylon, the Avatar can be scaled up to heavy-lift capabilities. 

General Comment

The close resemblance between the recent US Falcon and Indian Hyperplane spaceplane designs to the Shakuna and Rukma Vimanas, and the UK Skylon is cigar-shaped, like the Vimana like Vailixi. That the Shakuna, Rukma and Vaillixi were designed and built 12,000-15,000 years ago indicates that once again after a gap of millennia, mankind has embarked on development of systems and technologies for safe, affordable flight direct to space from a runway take-off. 

It is essential that mankind learn from the recorded lessons of the ancient, dangerous past when spaceplane were weaponized and waged from outer space. Mankind must thus ensure, internationally that spaceplanes are not weaponized. These new, revolutionary technologies are to be used for a Second Industrial Revolution for all mankind, and not for domination of the planet by a single nation. Such a Space based industrial Revolution needs to serve space markets in developing countries and south-south cooperation in spaceplane development in partnership with advanced space faring nations would open a new, golden era for all mankind.


No one now in India needs to doubt any longer as to whether we will ever be able master reusable spaceplane technologies and put it to good use for enhancing security and prosperity not only for India, but all humanity. India has done so in the past. As a matter of fact, it is said that Albert Einstein had once remarked

"We owe a lot to Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."

Indias genius will enable it to do it again, in full consciousness that it has to be a globally cooperative mission serving all mankind.

Dear Keith,

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## navtrek

*India Plans Lunar Landing Using Scramjet Hypersonic Space Plane
An ambitious vision of the future*

The United States, Russia, India, Japan and China have all announced plans to send astronauts back to the Moon around 2020. India's space agency, although lacking the level of funding found in the US and Japan, has an ambitious plan for the next decade.

In a statement made this spring by India's then President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the country wants to launch its first lunar orbiter, the Chandraayan-1, in early 2008 and a manned mission to the moon sometime near the end of the next decade.

The Indian space agency is now working on a revolutionary, reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that takes an innovative approach using a scramjet "hyperplane" according to Kalam. India's scramjet RLV, Kalam asserted, will provide the "low-cost, fully reusable space transportation" that has previously "denied mankind the benefit of space solar-power stations in geostationary and other orbits," Technology review reports.

A scramjet is a type of jet that uses a supersonic flow in the combustor and consists of a constricted tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a combustion chamber where fuel is combusted and a nozzle through which the exhaust jet leaves at higher speed than the inlet air.

This new design could offer many applications, like low-cost satellite launching and manned missions to space and will be capable of high speeds, in excess of Mach 10, which means that it could make the flight between Sydney and London in just two hours.

The first flight of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HTDV), a protoype for the scramjet RLV named Avatar, is scheduled for the end of next year, and if it is successful, it will be a revolution in space exploration.

Avatar will be a light aircraft, weighing only 25 metric tons and to get into space, it will use liquid hydrogen to fuel the turbo-ramjet engines, 60 percent of which will be used to defeat Earth's gravity and ascent to a cruising altitude.

"The Avatar RLV project will enable the Indian program to leap ahead of the Chinese nostalgia trip. Once low cost to orbit comes alive, it will drive cheaper methods of doing all our unmanned activities in space," said Gregory Benford, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Irvine, and an advisor to NASA and the White House Council on Space Policy.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Indi...g-Scramjet-Hypersonic-Space-Plane-61391.shtml

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## navtrek



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## navtrek

*India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO*







India is developing a winged reusable rocket and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has configured a Technology Demonstrator as a first step towards realising it, the space agency said in a report.

Indias space scientists have already configured a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). This is a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-reusable launch vehicle, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The agency said in its latest annual report that a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.

The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. First in the series of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX), it said.

Meanwhile, for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, expected by 2012-13, ISRO has received 36 Indian payload proposals for orbiter and lander/rover.

The Scientific Advisory Board of Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-1, is currently in the process of reviewing the payloads proposed for orbiter.

ISRO sources said the space agency has also received foreign proposals evincing interest to send their instruments for hosting by the Chandrayaan-2 which would be jointly developed with Russia.

It would have an Indian orbiter and mini-rover, and Russian lander and rover.

According to ISRO, the Megha-Tropiques satellite, an Indo-French joint mission for the study of the tropical atmosphere and climate related aspects, is expected to be launched later this year.

It is set to join a string of global spacecraft designated to study climate change.

Considering the strong global demand for data from Megha-Tropiques, ISRO, CNES (French space agency) and NASA have agreed to integrate this satellite into Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) constellation of satellites, ISRO said.

With this, Megha-Tropiques will be one of the eight satellites contributing to the global scientific community to study and understand the dynamics of climate system, it said.

Data from the recently-launched Oceansat-2, which carried an atmospheric sounder ROSA from Italy apart from main payloads -- ocean colour monitor and scatterometer -- is highly sought after by international scientific community.

In this respect, a cooperative programme on sharing the data with National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for their operational research is expected to be signed shortly, it said. 

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : India developing winged reusable rocket : ISRO

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## navtrek



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## SinoIndusFriendship

navtrek said:


>



I would be impressed if this actually comes to fruition. Too many "IF", "WILL", and "IN THE FUTURE INDIA WILL...".


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## Join

SinoIndusFriendship said:


> I would be impressed if this actually comes to fruition. Too many "IF", "WILL", and "IN THE FUTURE INDIA WILL...".



Buddy, ISRO Has done what it has said.... so kindly keep you odd thinking away and join the party

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## Justin Joseph

SinoIndusFriendship said:


> I would be impressed if this actually comes to fruition. Too many "IF", "WILL", and "IN THE FUTURE INDIA WILL...".



No need to post troll, we are not doing it to impress you. So if ur impressed or not we don't care.

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## Lilo

Thanks Praveen for the articles.
Can you edit your last post to include the link to it ?


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## SHAMK9

thats kool good for india


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## Kinetic

SinoIndusFriendship said:


> I would be impressed if this actually comes to fruition. Too many "IF", "WILL", and "IN THE FUTURE INDIA WILL...".



You said same thing before Moon mission! All the technologies are in place for RLV. System integration also started. 







Note the RLV-TD in 2010-11




India to test-fly 'indigenous' space shuttle within a year: official

-> Why they need the word 'indegenous' for everything India does? Which country can have space shuttle other than USA? Who is ready to give India space shuttle? Desi media cannot think something without gora touch!

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## bumbgola

SinoIndusFriendship said:


> I would be impressed if this actually comes to fruition. Too many "IF", "WILL", and "IN THE FUTURE INDIA WILL...".



turning green already?


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## aanamehra

ohhhh my dear **** fnd
Use your mind because ISRO did wht it said in past.
So agar unhone kaha hai to vo karke dikkhayenge... 
Hip Hip Hurray for ISRO 
great work .... EVERY INDIAN PROUD ON U .. keep it up


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## faithfulguy

India indeed has a track record of talking about the future but not deliver. However, this might change as India learn from the mistakes and jointly work with other countries to make things possible.


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## Pride

faithfulguy said:


> India indeed has a track record of talking about the future but not deliver. However, this might change as India learn from the mistakes and jointly work with other countries to make things possible.



Yes sir you are absolutely right... lets take some of the deliveries which were "only talks" in past... 
1) Nuclear Bombs without copying or selling from any where in 1974 (long time ago .. huh)
2) Thorium based Civil Nuclear reactors
3) fully capable and self developed ISRO with successful Moon mission 
4) INS Arihant- Nuclear submarine
5) Arjun tank and dozens of missiles.

etc.. etc...


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## Kinetic

faithfulguy said:


> India indeed has a track record of talking about the future but not deliver.



*Don't post BS here. Name one from ISRO....*


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## pop_alsa

Kinetic said:


> Why they need the word 'indegenous' for everything India does? Which country can have space shuttle other than USA? Who is ready to give India space shuttle? Desi media cannot think something without gora touch!



Maybe its their way to say to the west - "see, we did it. **** you." in a diplomatic way?

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## Arik

Personally i feel India must concentrate on unmanned programs rather than manned flights.India can apprach the soviets to send their astronauts(called gaganauts)to space.Or else India can rope in other countries like Brazil,south Africa etc and jointly develop shuttles.


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## Kinetic

Arik said:


> Personally i feel India must concentrate on unmanned programs rather than manned flights.India can apprach the soviets to send their astronauts(called gaganauts)to space.Or else India can rope in other countries like Brazil,south Africa etc and jointly develop shuttles.



Indian shuttle programme is unmanned. It will put satellites in space not human. Brazil and South Africa are way behind in space technology to help India.


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## peacekeeper

Arik said:


> Personally i feel India must concentrate on unmanned programs rather than manned flights.India can apprach the soviets to send their astronauts(called gaganauts)to space.Or else India can rope in other countries like Brazil,south Africa etc and jointly develop shuttles.



well i respect your feelings,But i think that manned flights would be a lucrative business in the near future and with just few players in the arena ISRO could get a large chunk of pie with its cost effectiveness.


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## peacekeeper

Well done ISRO we are proud of u.........


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## liteon

Kinetic said:


> *Don't post BS here. Name one from ISRO....*




India's giant leap over China in moon race - dnaindia.com

"SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is confident of sending the first Indian to the moon by 2015. If successful, it would beat the Chinese in the moon race as that country plans to send its first astronaut by 2017."

another "IF".

can't wait. just 5 more years..haha


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## Kinetic

liteon said:


> India's giant leap over China in moon race - dnaindia.com
> 
> "SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is confident of sending the first Indian to the moon by 2015. If successful, it would beat the Chinese in the moon race as that country plans to send its first astronaut by 2017."
> 
> another "IF".
> 
> can't wait. just 5 more years..haha



You are really funny! This is 2010 not 2015! lol


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## zeus

2015 is first space flight and 2020 for moon flight Desi Media messed upped dates


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## Justin Joseph

*26th anniversary of first Indian in space Monday*






April 3rd, 2010 - 6:00 pm ICT by IANS Tell a Friend -
ISRO New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) India will Monday celebrate the 26th anniversary of its first astronaut Rakesh Sharma&#8217;s trip to space.
The Russian Centre of Science and Culture in the capital will organise an interaction with Sharma, where he will share his experiences.

Sharma, then a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force (IAF), embarked on the historic mission on April 3, 1984, as part of a joint space programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme. He spent seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space.

26th anniversary of first Indian in space Monday

*Rakesh Sharma at present>>>

*

Rakesh Sharma was born in Patiala, Punjab to Tripta and Devendranath Sharma. He underwent schooling at Hyderabad. He graduated from Nizam College[3] in Hyderabad.

Sharma joined the Indian Air Force and progressed rapidly through the ranks. Sharma, then squadron leader and pilot with the Indian Air Force embarked on the historic mission in 1984 as part of a joint space program between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Soviet Intercosmos space program and spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station. Launched along with two other Soviet cosmonauts aboard Soyuz T-11 on the 2 April 1984, was 35-year-old Sharma. During the flight, Sharma conducted multi-spectral photography of northern India in anticipation of the construction of hydroelectric power stations in the Himalayas. In a famous conversation, he was asked by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi how India looked from the space and he replied, Saare Jahan Se Achcha, (better than the whole world).

He was conferred with the honour of Hero of Soviet Union upon his return from space. The Government of India conferred its highest gallantry award (during peace time), the Ashoka Chakra on him and the other two Russian members of his mission.

Sharma and his backup, Wing Commander Ravish Malhotra, also prepared an elaborate series of zero-gravity Yoga exercises which the former had practised aboard the Salyut 7. Retired with the rank of Wing Commander, Rakesh Sharma joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as a test pilot at Nashik Division. He was based at the National Flight Test Center (NFTC) in Bangalore and worked on the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft program.

Sharma has now retired from active employment and is currently the Chairman of The Board for Automated Workflow Pvt Ltd. The Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi displays the original Soyuz T-10 capsule which, along with his space suit and mission journal. His conversation with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi can be heard there as well.

In November 2006 he took part in India's top scientists gathering organized by ISRO which gave the green light to an Indian manned space mission.


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## Choppers

*Rakesh Sharma message from Space*


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## DMLA

It should be noted that this is the RLV-TD (technology demonstrator) which is going to be smaller scaled design of the actual bird.

With all this discussion seemingly going nowhere, I would like to say that though I agree that many dates seem to slip, it does not really matter as the programs are all on track and new programs are being added from time to time by ISRO. So the fact remains that ISRO *"WILL"* launch RLV someday (it is going to be used only for LEO launches and not moon..... scramjet needs airflow for operation!). 

It is also highly likely that the dates for the moon mission and even the manned mission may slip. This has more to do with the intricate technologies involved in the said processes rather than any problem specific to ISRO . People here who are familiar with the first manned space programs and apollo program will know how dates slip despite tens of billions of dollars in funding!

I would say all the best to ISRO and India.

Note: The following has already been posted before but I am putting it here as it is complimentary to the discussion here:

link: Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: March 03, 2010


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## Choppers

*ISRO exploring low-cost access to space​*
STAFF REPORTER
BANGALORE, April 4, 2010






_ON THE ANVIL: K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, with V.K. Aatre (left), former Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, at the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association Science Forum, in Bangalore on Saturday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar_

*Human space flight is the next logical step for India: K. Radhakrishnan*

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is exploring low-cost access to space and has begun taking various measures, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan has said.

He was delivering the inaugural lecture under the Popular Lecture Series organised by the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association Science Forum here on Saturday.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said that by 2012, low-cost access to space would be made possible by ISRO's GSLV Mk3 with indigenous cryogenic technology. &#8220;Right now, the cost per kg is $20,000. With GSLV Mk3, the cost can be reduced by half,&#8221; he added.

India had been applauded for its shoestring budget for space programmes, which was three per cent of NASA's budget, 12 per cent of Europe and one-third of China's, he said. He stressed the need to develop innovative technologies for low-cost access to space. Dr. Radhakrishnan said that the human space flight was the next logical step for India. &#8220;We have a human space flight programme and ISRO is going to put two Indians in an orbit around the Earth,&#8221; he said.

*STUDIES ON*

&#8220;There is a pre-project which is going on to study some critical technologies. A project report regarding the same has been sent to the government for approval.&#8221;

The manned mission programme envisaged development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crewmembers to over 300 km in the Earth's orbit. Dr. Radhakrishnan said that ISRO was getting ready to launch GSLV-D3 with indigenous cryogenic technology this month. &#8220;Preparations are on. The final reviews are also taking place.&#8221;

The Hindu : News / States : ISRO exploring low-cost access to space


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## Choppers

Some snippets & numbers shared by someone who attended Radhakrishnan's talk yesterday.

1) Clarity on CY2 - It'll be a moon lander mission with a rover. The confusion on who is doing what has been cleared up. ISRO will develop the spacecraft. Russia will provide the lander, and another Indian group (IIT-D?) will develop the rover that will explore the moon's surface.

2) Similar Popular science lectures will be held on the second saturday of each month from hereon. All are welcome.

3) ISRO has estimated that its fishing information saves fishermen Rs 6 lakhs/vessel/annum in costs, through saved time & fuel.

4) currently they are trying to surmount technological gaps with sensors & imaging systems for us on imaging & remote sensing satellites.

5) The recent sounding rocket test that was announced was a test of the RLV, where the winged body & passive scramjet modules were aerodynamically tested. Which explains the media attention, since other sounding rocket tests aren't mentioned.

_courtesy:BRF_


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## hembo

*India to cut satellite launch cost by half*
Sun, Apr 4 12:52 PM

Bangalore, Apr 4 (PTI) India plans to cut satellite launch cost by half with the heavy-lift rocket that it is developing, a senior space department official said. The country is also aiming a two-to-three fold increase in the number of spacecraft launches from this year, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan said.

GSLV-Mk III that ISRO is developing now would bring down the satellite launch cost at least by half, at present, the launch cost is pegged at around USD 20,000 per kilogram, he said. GSLV-Mk III, which would have the capability to launch satellites of four tonne class, nearly twice the mass that ISRO can currently carry to space, is expected to be operational in next two-three years.

Delivering the inaugural lecture of IIScAA (Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association) here last evening, he said India currently has 211 communication transponders, including 195 operational. "We need to go up to 500 (transponders) by 2014," Radhakrishan, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Space Commission Chairman, said.


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## Choppers

*The down to earth Rakesh Sharma​*
PANKAJA SRINIVASAN
April 4, 2010





_The first Indian to fly into space, Rakesh Sharma at his home in Coonoor. Photo: K.Ananthan_

*Wing commander Rakesh Sharma takes a walk down memory lane to the day he blasted off to space, becoming the first Indian to do so. Pankaja Srinivasan reports*

Wing Commander (Retd) Rakesh Sharma, recipient of the Ashoka Chakra, fobs off any attempt to glorify him. When I tell him that my family and friends were beside themselves with excitement about my interview with him, he just smiles and says a polite &#8216;thank you'.

Perhaps I look disappointed, so he relents and says, &#8220;I don't mean to burst your bubble. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have gone into space. But, it could have been anyone. It is like a lottery, meri lag gayi (I got lucky).&#8221;

*A place in history*

Of course, the wing commander is being modest. The first Indian to go to space is a sobriquet not many enjoy. &#8220;I am the 128th person to have done that,&#8221; he says.

&#8220;But, the first Indian,&#8221; I insist, and he smiles again. Ace test-pilots of the Indian Air Force were put through a rigorous selection and training process, both in the country and in the erstwhile Soviet Union before he was chosen.

Twenty six years ago in 1984, on this day the then Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma took off from a remote place called Baikonur, now in Kazakhstan, from the world's first and largest operational space launch facility.

He was on Soyuz T 11 spacecraft along with two other Soviet cosmonauts as part of a joint programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the Soviet Intercosmos space programme. He spent the next seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes, on board the space station, Salyut 7. Sharma laughs about how he often has to break the disappointing news to people who think he went to the moon! Obviously, they were very young when he went into space. "It just proves my point that it makes more sense to move on rather than dwell on something that happened so many years ago," he smiles.

*Trained for the job*

&#8220;So much had already been done in space before that, it had all been documented and there were no real surprises in store for us,&#8221; says Sharma, when probed about what his feelings were. Wasn't there anxiety, fear of the unknown&#8230;? &#8220;As pilots in the Indian Air Force, we have faced far more dangerous situations and lived to tell the tale,&#8221; he states.

Incidentally, Rakesh Sharma always wanted to be a pilot. &#8220;Since I was six years old, and a cousin in the Air Force took me around and showed me aeroplanes, their cockpits, etc. If you end up doing what you are passionate about, the journey is so easy,&#8221; he says.

And, the space trip was the cherry on top. Of course, jokes Sharma, he wishes he had more time to peer out of the window into space. &#8220;Every minute in space was accounted for,&#8221; he says and adds that he would love to return there, but this time as a passenger not a crew member!

When Rakesh Sharma returned to earth, it was to celebrity status. Tours, lectures, talks and interviews awaited him. Being a public figure was not something he enjoyed too much. He longed for the anonymity of a squadron pilot. &#8220;But, I did what anyone else representing their country would do&#8212; I put my best foot forward,&#8221; he says. He put on his flying boots once again when he was posted to an operational fighter squadron. He was later absorbed by HAL in Bangalore, where he served as a chief test pilot. He was associated with the evolution of the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) now called Tejas.

Asked if he was in anyway involved in the Indian space programme, he answers, &#8220;Only in an advisory capacity&#8221;. There are many milestones to be reached before we can go ahead, he says, and hopes the programme will evolve into a sound and successful one.

*Peace unto space*

With so much happening in deep space exploration and the talk of colonising the moon, and so on, Rakesh Sharma has one underlying concern.

&#8220;I hope we don't export conflict from this planet into the others. None of the paradigms that define us here on earth&#8212; the borders, the parochialism, the divide, should mar our presence in space&#8221;.

When he talks to young people, he reiterates the fragility of our planet. He says how it looks less blue and greyer than it should from space. Forests are disappearing, water sources are drying up. Of course, he adds, &#8220;You don't have to go into space to know that. It is visible to us right here on earth.&#8221;

Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma now lives a quiet life with his wife Madhu in Coonoor, not too far from where another hero Field Marshal Manekshaw lived.

Just before I leave I ask him about his famous line to Mrs Indira Gandhi when she asked him how India looked from up there and he said &#8216;saare jahan se achcha'.

&#8220;That is not my line, it is Iqbal's&#8221; he laughs. And, he shares another bit of personal information. &#8220;There is one person who sends me three cards every year. One on New Year's, one for my birthday and the third that marks the anniversary of my flight into space. He is a paan wallah in Ahmedabad.&#8221;

The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : The down to earth Rakesh Sharma


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## Choppers

*Climbing into space​*
Huma Siddiqui 
Posted: Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 2046 hrs IST
Updated: Monday, Apr 05, 2010 at 2046 hrs IST

Baghdad: Until now, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has used Russian-made cryogenic engines for putting its satellite launch vehicles into space. The polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) is used for launching remote sensing satellites into polar orbits and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) for launching communication and meteorological satellites into geo-synchronous transfer orbit.

But later this month, if the Indian space agencys attempt to launch its largest rocket, the GSLV-D3 with an indigenous cryogenic engine succeeds, then India will join the elite club of five nations in the world to have successfully developed such technology. For the countrys rocket scientists, the yet-to-be-achieved breakthrough is significant on two frontsone, they will achieve self reliance and confidence in space technology. Two, India will emerge as a serious player in the $4 billion global satellite launch market.

Isro spokesperson S Satish says, An indigenous cryogenic engine will power the GSLV for the first time. This is the maiden flight of a launch vehicle and it will give capability to the country of mastering advanced launch vehicle technology which very few countries have at present.

Till date, the US, France, Japan, Russia and China have developed their own engines for satellite launch vehicles. Confidence levels of ISRO scientists are high as earlier this year, they successfully tested the indigenous cryogenic technology when the engine was tested for the full flight duration of 720 seconds at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Hour of reckoning is round the corner as the indigenous cryogenic engine now remains to be tested in actual flight.

Isros previous GSLV flights carried Russian cryogenic engines procured earlier. In total, seven cryogenic stages were procured from Russia of which five stages have been utilised. The space agency had taken up the indigenous cryogenic engine development programme in 1996 following the technology denial regime in the 1990s. The US had then forced Russia to stop giving India the engine technology.

While the GSLVs with Russian cryogenic engines have been designated as operational rockets after two developmental flights, the one that will go up now is called developmental flight 3 (GSLV D3) as it will be fired by the ISRO-developed cryogenic engine. The 49-metre-tall rocket will have a lift-off weight of 414 tonne and carry the countrys advanced communication satellite GSAT-4. It will carry the communications satellite into the geo-stationary orbit about 36,000 km above the earth. GSAT-4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft. GSAT-4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by

Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky.

The cryogenic stage is technically a very complex system compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to the use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural problems. According to Isro officials, the development of the cryogenic engine involves mastering materials technology, which can work at cryogenic temperature. Such a development takes about 10-15 years, so India initially purchased these from Russia, which were used in the previous flights. Key technological challenges faced during the development stage included development of new materials, composite thermal insulation, new fabrication techniques, handling of cryogenic fluids at cryogenic temperatures, realisation of facilities for assembly, integration and testing and associated safety systems.

Today the country has developed this technology, which will be tried out for the first time for the GSLV. The mission will make the country totally self-reliant in all aspects of launch vehicle technology. At a technical level, a cryogenic stage is the upper stage of a rocket that houses a cryogenic engine within it. Cryogenic technology involves the use of super-cooled liquid fuel to launch heavy rockets like the GSLV with the fuel being a mix of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. If the fuel mix is not in the exact proportions, the rocket could explode in geo-synchronous orbit.

Once in flight, the indigenous cryogenic engine is expected to develop a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provide a payload capability of 2,200 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for GSLV. The engine works on staged combustion cycle with an integrated turbo-pump running at around 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It is also equipped with two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the mission. Another unique feature of this engine is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio, which ensures optimum propellant utilisation for the mission.

Without any doubt, the success of homegrown cryogenic engine technology will bolster the confidence levels of Indian space scientists and engineers as they brace up to launch an average of 10 satellites per year to meet the rising demand for various space applications, including communications and remote sensing. Beginning 2010-11, the Indian space agency is planning to launch 10 satellites per year and has a series of satellites and launch vehicles at various stages of preparation.

Though Isro was to launch five satellites in 2009-10, it could launch only threeOceansat-2, Risat-2 (radar imaging satellite) in association with

Israeli Aerospace Industries, and Anusat, a micro-satellite. Oceansat-2 also carried six nano-satellites of foreign countries as additional payloads. The launch of two satellitesGSAT-4 and Cartosat-2Bgot delayed due to technical complications, one of them being further flight duration tests of 800 seconds (13.3 minutes) conducted for the indigenous cryogenic engine to be used for the first time in the heavy rocket GSLV-D3 (geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle).

Later this year, Isro plans to launch the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C15). This will carry Cartosat-2B, an

Algerian satellite, and two micro satellitesYouthsat from Canada and Studsat built by college students from Karnataka.

Isro uses the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) series for telecommunication, television broadcasting and meteorological services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for resources monitoring and management. The space agency is also working on launching a Resourcesat-2, Risat-1 and Mega-Tropiques in the remote sensing area during the later part of this year. In the communications area, it has lined up three heavy satellitesGSAT-5 and GSAT-6 from Sriharikota and GSAT-8P onboard the Ariane launch vehicle from Korou in French Guayanaby this year-end or early 2011.

Given that the demand for multiple satellites in communications and remote sensing areas would increase in the coming years, Isro is currently developing an advanced version of GSLV called GSLV Mark III which is capable of putting a 4 tonne satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Towards this, Isro is developing an advanced version of cryogenic engine, which contains 25 tonne of cryogenic fuel.

Nevertheless, it is time of reckoning for Indias space scientists as they prepare for their first rendezvous with cryogenic engine technology.

Climbing into space


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## CONNAN

Bengaluru , April 1: In a years time, India will fly an indigenous version of a space shuttle.
On its first flight, the rocket-powered craft, shaped like an aircraft, will climb 60 km into the earths atmosphere and glide back to earth. Over subsequent flights, the journey into outer space will be of longer duration and distances in order to test its reliability and capability to carry satellites into orbit.


There are many advantages but there are several technological challenges involved in this project as well. We have to see how it functions during the first flight and take it forward. We must also look at the critical cost-versus-benefit factor, Dr K. Radhakris-hnan, chairman, Indian Space Research Organi-sation (Isro), told this newspaper. He said Isro would spend about Rs 30 crores on the technology demonstrator  the first flight.
His colleagues explained that the key advantage of such a re-usable rocket will be a drastic reduction in the cost of launching satellites. With a conventional rocket like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the cost of putting a satellite in space works out to about $15,000 to $20,000 a kg. These figures will come down because the rocket can be used for many flights. We will know the exact cost of the launch after a couple of flights of the reusable rocket, they said.
Once its reliability is proven, the rocket will be used for human space flight, Isro scientists said.
During the first flight, various cutting-edge technologies, such as autonomous landing, aerodynamics and powered cruise flight, will be evaluated. On subsequent flights those like re-entry technology will be assessed, the scientists added.

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## CONNAN

Work apace for GSLV-D3 launch on April 15
T. S. Subramanian

Things are getting set for the lift-off of the GSLV-D3 (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle &#8211; Development flight 3) from Sriharikota on April 15 around 4.30 p.m. The three stages of the gigantic vehicle have already been stacked up in the sophisticated Vehicle Assembly Building in the second launch pad on the seashore. It will put in orbit an advanced communication satellite called GSAT-4.

The significance of the mission is that the GSLV will be powered for the first time by India's own cryogenic upper stage. This stage with its engine, electronics and fuel tanks was built at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The previous five GSLV missions from Sriharikota were propelled by the Russian cryogenic engines. Cryogenic engines that use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen at very low temperatures are needed to put heavier, communication satellites in a geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee of 36,000 km. and a perigee of 200 km.

&#8220;Reviews over&#8221;

P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said: &#8220;We have done our best. Detailed reviews have been completed. We have taken all steps to ensure that the launch goes all right.&#8221;

The VSSC has built GSLV-D3 which is 49 metres tall and weighs 419 tonnes. The 2,200-kg GSAT-4 has been built by the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.

Mr. Veeraraghavan said three highlights of the GSAT-4 were its communication system in Ka-band; its GAGAN payload which would help in the landing accuracy of commercial aircraft at airports in India; and the satellite's electric propulsion system which would help in correcting the spacecraft's attitude and ensuring a longer life in orbit. (GAGAN stands for GPS-aided Geo-augmented Navigation System. GPS is short for Global Positioning System. The Ka-band will help in relaying more information).

Big breakthrough

The ISRO achieved a big breakthrough in the &#8220;exotic&#8221; cryogenic technology when it fully qualified its own cryogenic stage with a 720-second full duration test at Mahendragiri on November 15, 2007. ISRO officials said it was not easy to handle liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 260 degrees Celsius; putting them on fire from such low temperatures; and burning the hydrogen in a controlled manner.http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article388761.ece

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## Chanakyaa

I cant wait to see the GSLV roaring in the sky.
Great feat for Isro n India.


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## manish123

connanxlrc1000 said:


> Work apace for GSLV-D3 launch on April 15
> T. S. Subramanian
> 
> Things are getting set for the lift-off of the GSLV-D3 (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle  Development flight 3) from Sriharikota on April 15 around 4.30 p.m. The three stages of the gigantic vehicle have already been stacked up in the sophisticated Vehicle Assembly Building in the second launch pad on the seashore. It will put in orbit an advanced communication satellite called GSAT-4.
> 
> The significance of the mission is that the GSLV will be powered for the first time by India's own cryogenic upper stage. This stage with its engine, electronics and fuel tanks was built at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The previous five GSLV missions from Sriharikota were propelled by the Russian cryogenic engines. Cryogenic engines that use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen at very low temperatures are needed to put heavier, communication satellites in a geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee of 36,000 km. and a perigee of 200 km.
> 
> Reviews over
> 
> P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said: We have done our best. Detailed reviews have been completed. We have taken all steps to ensure that the launch goes all right.
> 
> The VSSC has built GSLV-D3 which is 49 metres tall and weighs 419 tonnes. The 2,200-kg GSAT-4 has been built by the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.
> 
> Mr. Veeraraghavan said three highlights of the GSAT-4 were its communication system in Ka-band; its GAGAN payload which would help in the landing accuracy of commercial aircraft at airports in India; and the satellite's electric propulsion system which would help in correcting the spacecraft's attitude and ensuring a longer life in orbit. (GAGAN stands for GPS-aided Geo-augmented Navigation System. GPS is short for Global Positioning System. The Ka-band will help in relaying more information).
> 
> Big breakthrough
> 
> The ISRO achieved a big breakthrough in the exotic cryogenic technology when it fully qualified its own cryogenic stage with a 720-second full duration test at Mahendragiri on November 15, 2007. ISRO officials said it was not easy to handle liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 260 degrees Celsius; putting them on fire from such low temperatures; and burning the hydrogen in a controlled manner.The Hindu : News : Work apace for GSLV-D3 launch on April 15



Great news for us.


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## Break the Silence

good news !!!!


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## Skies

Everyday there is a good news for India. Really, it's well going. India is a country to follow in context of technological and economical development. 

_*Incredible India* will be *Credible India* someday by getting success after success._

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## BJlaowai

already similar threads running on this.. why one more thread on this topic?


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## Dark Angel

> The ISRO achieved a big breakthrough in the &#8220;exotic&#8221; cryogenic technology when it fully qualified its own cryogenic stage with a 720-second full duration test at Mahendragiri on November 15, 2007. ISRO officials said it was not easy to handle liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 260 degrees Celsius; putting them on fire from such low temperatures; and burning the hydrogen in a controlled manner.The Hindu : News : Work apace for GSLV-D3 launch on April 15




Thx for the update 

Proud to be an Indian


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## KS

brotherbangladesh said:


> Everyday there is a good news for India. Really, it's well going. India is a country to follow in context of technological and economical development.
> 
> _*Incredible India* will be *Credible India* someday by getting success after success._



Good play with words brother...But there is a difference between and *Incredible* and *Uncredible*..Hope u get that...


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## Mirza Jatt

Great news..waiting for human flight project...will be great achievement.
@KarthicSri - good work.


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## Break the Silence

06/04/2010
ISROs cryogenic tech will be a game-changer in space
Success of the *indigenous cryogenic engine technology will bolster India's attempts to become a full-fledged competitor in the $4 billion global satellite launch services market.*

Until now, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has used Russian-made cryogenic engines for putting its satellite launch vehicles into space.

The polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) is used for launching remote sensing satellites into polar orbits and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) for launching communication and meteorological satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit. 

But later this month, if the Indian space agency's attempt to launch its largest rocket, the GSLV-D3 with an indigenous cryogenic engine succeeds, then India will join the elite club of five nations in the world to have successfully developed such technology.

For the country's rocket scientists, the yet-to-be-achieved breakthrough is significant on two fronts--one, they will achieve self reliance and confidence in space technology. Two, India will emerge as a serious player in the $4 billion global satellite launch market. 

ISRO spokesperson S Satish says, "*An indigenous cryogenic engine will power the GSLV for the first time.* This is the maiden flight of a launch vehicle and it will give capability to the country of mastering advanced launch vehicle technology which very few countries have at present." 

Till date, the US, France, Japan, Russia and China have developed their own engines for satellite launch vehicles. Confidence levels of ISRO scientists are high as earlier this year, they successfully tested the indigenous cryogenic technology when the engine was tested for the full flight duration of 720 seconds at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Hour of reckoning is round the corner as the indigenous cryogenic engine now remains to be tested in actual flight. 

ISRO's previous GSLV flights carried Russian cryogenic engines procured earlier. In total, seven cryogenic stages were procured from Russia of which five stages have been utilised. The space agency had taken up the indigenous cryogenic engine development programme in 1996 following the technology denial regime in the 1990s. The US had then forced Russia to stop giving India the engine technology. 

While the GSLVs with Russian cryogenic engines have been designated as operational rockets after two developmental flights, the one that will go up now is called `developmental flight 3' (GSLV D3) as it will be fired by the ISRO-developed cryogenic engine. The 49-metre-tall rocket will have a lift-off weight of 414 tonne and carry the country's advanced communication satellite GSAT-4. It will carry the communications satellite into the geo-stationary orbit about 36,000 km above the earth.

GSAT-4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft. GSAT4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky . 

The cryogenic stage is technically a very complex system compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to the use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural problems. According to ISRO officials, the development of the cryogenic engine involves mastering materials technology, which can work at cryogenic temperature. Such a development takes about 10-15 years, so India initially purchased these from Russia, which were used in the previous flights. Key technological challenges faced during the development stage included development of new materials, composite thermal insulation, new fabrication techniques, handling of cryogenic fluids at cryogenic temperatures, realisation of facilities for assembly , integration and testing and associated safety systems. 

Today the country has developed this technology, which will be tried out for the first time for the GSLV . The mission will make the country totally self-reliant in all aspects of launch vehicle technology. At a technical level, a cryogenic stage is the upper stage of a rocket that houses a cryogenic engine within it. Cryogenic technology involves the use of super-cooled liquid fuel to launch heavy rockets like the GSLV with the fuel being a mix of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. If the fuel mix is not in the exact proportions, the rocket could explode in geo-synchronous orbit. 

Once in flight, the indigenous cryogenic engine is expected to develop a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provide a payload capability of 2,200 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for GSLV . The engine works on `staged combustion cycle' with an integrated turbo-pump running at around 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It is also equipped with two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the mission. Another unique feature of this engine is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio, which ensures optimum propellant utilisation for the mission. 

*Without any doubt, the success of homegrown cryogenic engine technology will bolster the confidence levels of Indian space scientists and engineers as they brace up to launch an average of 10 satellites per year to meet the rising demand for various space applications, including communications and remote sensing*. Beginning 2010-11, the Indian space agency is planning to launch 10 satellites per year and has a series of satellites and launch vehicles at various stages of preparation. 

Though ISRO was to launch five satellites in 2009-10, it could launch only three -- Oceansat-2, Risat-2 (radar imaging satellite) in association with Israeli Aerospace Industries, and Anusat, a micro-satellite. Oceansat-2 also carried six nano-satellites of foreign countries as additional payloads. The launch of two satellites--GSAT-4 and Cartosat2B--got delayed due to technical complications, one of them being further flight duration tests of 800 seconds (13.3 minutes) conducted for the indigenous cryogenic engine to be used for the first time in the heavy rocket GSLV-D3 (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle). 

Later this year, ISRO plans to launch the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLVC15). This will carry Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, and two micro satellites--Youthsat from Canada and Studsat built by college students from Karnataka. 

ISRO uses the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) series for telecommunication, television broadcasting and meteorological services and Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for resources monitoring and management. The space agency is also working on launching a Resourcesat-2, Risat-1 and MegaTropiques in the remote sensing area during the later part of this year. In the communications area, it has lined up three heavy satellites -- GSAT-5 and GSAT-6 from Sriharikota and GSAT8P onboard the Ariane launch vehicle from Korou in French Guayana -- by this year-end or early 2011. 

Given that the demand for multiple satellites in communications and remote sensing areas would increase in the coming years, ISRO is currently developing an advanced version of GSLV called GSLV Mark III which is capable of putting a 4 tonne satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Towards this, ISRO is developing an advanced version of cryogenic engine, which contains 25 tonne of cryogenic fuel. 

*Nevertheless, it is time of reckoning for India's space scientists as they prepare for their first rendezvous with cryogenic engine technology.*

Source: The Financial Express

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## satishkumarcsc

brotherbangladesh said:


> Everyday there is a good news for India. Really, it's well going. India is a country to follow in context of technological and economical development.
> 
> _*Incredible India* will be *Credible India* someday by getting success after success._



Actually this helps country like yours and our other neighbours who want to launch a satellite but cannot afford the launch rates. This is what makes this project a dream come true..."Space is for all"


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## prototype

how many threads on the same topic


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## CONNAN

MODS PLEASE MERGE ANY RELATED THREADS INTO THIS THREAD 

THANK YOU


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## Justin Joseph

*ISRO receives flak for delay in launching Israeli satellite*

Bangalore, Apr 6 (PTI)
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come under criticism from promoters of an Israeli astronomical satellite for allegedly delaying its launch and shifting the blame on schedule slippages.

Tauvex comprises three ultra-violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP), with Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics providing the software and science and mission planning.

Its flight date on board an Indian launcher was first supposed to be in late 2005 and has continually slipped.

Tauvex, whose scientific data would be open to all Indian and Israeli scientists, was scheduled to be launched by ISRO's GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) this month but India's space agency said it would not be part of this mission.

"Yes, it was originally (scheduled to be launched by GSLV this month). But then we are not putting it because it's an astronomy payload. And on review, we found that the signals that we can get from geostationary orbit are far less compared to a lower orbit and sensitivity of the (Tauvex) instrument also had come down", ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

"So, we best thought that we will have a mission later", he said.

But promoters of Tauvex, which aims to conduct ultraviolet imaging experiment that will image large parts of the sky in a particular wavelength region, said on condition of anonymity that even if the sensitivity of the instrument had come down, they could have still had "good science" from GSLV orbit.

"Even if sensitivity drops, we could have made up through increased exposure time and observation time", an official behind the Tauvex project said, adding "Once we go to PSLV (lower orbit), our science focus changes. We can still do excellent science with PSLV. We are concerned by the delay".

The Israeli official said the real reason for postponing the Tauvex launch has to do with GSLV boosters which are not powerful enough to carry additional weight.

This month's GSLV carries GSAT-4 experimental communication satellite, weighing 2200 kg.

According to the official, the 80-kg Tauvex was removed after its integration with GSAT-4 because of the "weight problem."

"We are ticked off because actually GSLV booster is not powerful enough (as GSLV already will carry its optimum capability with GSAT-4). It's a problem with GSLV booster," he said.

The Tauvex consists of three equivalent 20-cm UV imaging telescopes with a choice of filters for each telescope. The main purpose of the instrument is to take deep observations of the sky in three bands of ultraviolet.

Tauvex promoters say they always had very difficult time in the past understanding ISRO schedules and have not been kept in the loop regarding when launch would be.
Meanwhile, Indian Principal Investigator of the Tauvex project, Prof Jayant Murthy said, "We believe that we could still have had good science in the geostationary orbit because we could have compensated for our reduced sensitivity by increased observation time".
"We (the Israelis and I) are disappointed by the delay. ISRO has promised us a new launch on a PSLV and we will take advantage of the opportunity to refurbish the instrument. We are still waiting to hear from ISRO what alternative arrangements will be made and are anxious to begin work", he added.

"We have now been sitting in the ISRO clean room under not very controlled conditions for more than two months and are becoming concerned about further damage to the instrument", Murthy added.

Murthy said the payload was first developed as part of a much larger Russian satellite but, when that mission was indefinitely delayed, the Tauvex promoters proposed a secondary launch by ISRO.

"We would focus on regions of the sky near the poles where we will obtain observations of more than one lakh seconds in selected areas", he said.

"In many ways, this complements the GALEX mission of NASA which observes a much larger area of the sky but with only two bands as opposed to our three and the upcoming ASTROSAT mission which can follow-up with better spatial resolution and sensitivity those objects we discover", he said. 

ISRO receives flak for delay in launching Israeli satellite


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## IndianNuke

Waiting anxiously towards 15th April.

No one can stop us now


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## Choppers

*ISRO aims for the skies, targets space tourism​*
7 Apr 2010, 0956 hrs IST,Peerzada Abrar,ET Bureau

BANGALORE: Even as countries are vying to grab a share of the tourism pie, ISRO is aiming at the skies, literally. They are seriously taking up

the challenge of pursuing space tourism in a big way. 

Newly-appointed chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),* Dr K Radhakrishnan says the space agency is exploring new strategies and technologies for human space flight programmes, low-cost access to space tourism and the colonisation of Mars and the Moon. *

As of 2009, space tourism opportunities have been limited and expensive, with the Russian Space Agency providing this facility. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is $20-35 million. Space tourists usually sign contracts with third parties to conduct certain research while in orbit. This helps minimise their own expenses. 

Countries like the US, Russia and Japan have already started work to have a habitat in Mars by 2030 and are devising a transportation system to reach Mars. 

"Space tourism is something where India can play a niche role with its affordable solutions. However, this will take some time," says Ajey Lele from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). But the fact that this is an achievable challenge was evident when he said: "*Indias Chandrayaan programme was less costly than the private jet gifted by Mukesh Ambani to his wife*." 

A suborbital spaceship owned by aspiring space tourism operator Virgin Galactic was airlifted into the skies over Californias Mojave Desert recently for its debut test flight. The six-passenger ship, VSS Enterprise, remained attached to the center of its carrier aircraft throughout the flight. Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of London-based Virgin Group, has collected about $45 million in deposits and fares from more than 330 amateur astronauts, each of whom will be charged $200,000 to experience a few minutes of suborbital spaceflight. 

Back in India, ISRO was allocated a budget of $1.27 billion for 2009-2010 and the plan allocation for Indias human space flight programme was Rs 5,000 crore. *ISRO scientists have started work to reach Mars, put an orbiter there by using the capabilities of its workhorse launch vehicles like PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mark 3.* 

"There are various strategies to reach Mars. It is a 250-day journey and there will be opportunities in 2030, 2060 and 2080," said Dr Radhakrishnan, an alumni of IIM-Bangalore. 

"The previous experiments were achieved with a shoestring budget, which is just 3% of Nasa's expenditure on space programmes," said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said that ISRO has 2-3 launches a year and in the coming year, they plan 6-8 launches per year. 

Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-I, _Indian space scientists now plan to conquer new frontiers by sending robots to the moon in 2012 *and a spacecraft to Mars the following year*_ which will also see an Indian astronaut in space. 

*ISRO is now developing a heavier cryogenic engine, almost three times powerful than the home-grown cryogenic engine used in GSAT-4, which is going to be launched in April 2010*. 

Dr Radhakrishnan said that if they have to put a payload in the orbit now, they have to pay $20,000 per kg using PSLV and GSLV launch vehicles

but using GSLV Mark 3 this can significantly be pulled at least by half. 

"We also need to use innovative methods such as semi-cryogenic engine developed, in which we replace the liquid hydrogen by purified kerosene. The price comes down drastically," said Dr Radhakrishnan. 

"If we have re-usability, we can improve the cost of putting the satellite in the orbit. We have a system of reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator, using a small solid rocket. We are putting a winged body to an altitude that can fly at hyper sonic speeds and looking at reentry", said Dr Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan said that all the cutting edge technologies as output in Robotics, Biology, Bio-Astronautics, will lead to spin offs which are going to benefit the common people in the area telemedicine, security, navigation, Education, disaster management, cyclone warning systems and emergency communication. 

"More than 200 places in India are disaster prone related to draught, flood, land slides and cyclones", said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said in future, ISRO is going to increase the number of communication transponders from 211 to 500 by 2040, as the demand is increasing. This way more applications can be initiated.

ISRO aims for the skies, targets space tourism-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Choppers

*ISRO aims for the skies, targets space tourism​*
7 Apr 2010, 0956 hrs IST,Peerzada Abrar,ET Bureau

BANGALORE: Even as countries are vying to grab a share of the tourism pie, ISRO is aiming at the skies, literally. They are seriously taking up

the challenge of pursuing space tourism in a big way. 

Newly-appointed chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),* Dr K Radhakrishnan says the space agency is exploring new strategies and technologies for human space flight programmes, low-cost access to space tourism and the colonisation of Mars and the Moon. *

As of 2009, space tourism opportunities have been limited and expensive, with the Russian Space Agency providing this facility. The price for a flight brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft is $20-35 million. Space tourists usually sign contracts with third parties to conduct certain research while in orbit. This helps minimise their own expenses. 

Countries like the US, Russia and Japan have already started work to have a habitat in Mars by 2030 and are devising a transportation system to reach Mars. 

"Space tourism is something where India can play a niche role with its affordable solutions. However, this will take some time," says Ajey Lele from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). But the fact that this is an achievable challenge was evident when he said: "*India&#8217;s Chandrayaan programme was less costly than the private jet gifted by Mukesh Ambani to his wife*." 

A suborbital spaceship owned by aspiring space tourism operator Virgin Galactic was airlifted into the skies over California&#8217;s Mojave Desert recently for its debut test flight. The six-passenger ship, VSS Enterprise, remained attached to the center of its carrier aircraft throughout the flight. Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of London-based Virgin Group, has collected about $45 million in deposits and fares from more than 330 amateur astronauts, each of whom will be charged $200,000 to experience a few minutes of suborbital spaceflight. 

Back in India, ISRO was allocated a budget of $1.27 billion for 2009-2010 and the plan allocation for India&#8217;s human space flight programme was Rs 5,000 crore. *ISRO scientists have started work to reach Mars, put an orbiter there by using the capabilities of its workhorse launch vehicles like PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mark 3.* 

"There are various strategies to reach Mars. It is a 250-day journey and there will be opportunities in 2030, 2060 and 2080," said Dr Radhakrishnan, an alumni of IIM-Bangalore. 

"The previous experiments were achieved with a shoestring budget, which is just 3&#37; of Nasa's expenditure on space programmes," said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said that ISRO has 2-3 launches a year and in the coming year, they plan 6-8 launches per year. 

Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-I, _Indian space scientists now plan to conquer new frontiers by sending robots to the moon in 2012 *and a spacecraft to Mars the following year*_ which will also see an Indian astronaut in space. 

*ISRO is now developing a heavier cryogenic engine, almost three times powerful than the home-grown cryogenic engine used in GSAT-4, which is going to be launched in April 2010*. 

Dr Radhakrishnan said that if they have to put a payload in the orbit now, they have to pay $20,000 per kg using PSLV and GSLV launch vehicles

but using GSLV Mark 3 this can significantly be pulled at least by half. 

"We also need to use innovative methods such as semi-cryogenic engine developed, in which we replace the liquid hydrogen by purified kerosene. The price comes down drastically," said Dr Radhakrishnan. 

"If we have re-usability, we can improve the cost of putting the satellite in the orbit. We have a system of reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator, using a small solid rocket. We are putting a winged body to an altitude that can fly at hyper sonic speeds and looking at reentry", said Dr Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan said that all the cutting edge technologies as output in Robotics, Biology, Bio-Astronautics, will lead to spin offs which are going to benefit the common people in the area telemedicine, security, navigation, Education, disaster management, cyclone warning systems and emergency communication. 

"More than 200 places in India are disaster prone related to draught, flood, land slides and cyclones", said Dr Radhakrishnan. He said in future, ISRO is going to increase the number of communication transponders from 211 to 500 by 2040, as the demand is increasing. This way more applications can be initiated.

ISRO aims for the skies, targets space tourism-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

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## Justin Joseph

*US concerned over Indian satellite communication regulations*

Press Trust of India
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 07, 2010 at 2332 hrs IST
Washington: The United States has expressed concern over Indian rules over the provision of satellite capacity saying the system lacks transparency.

A lack of transparency in the rules governing the provision of satellite capacity in these countries ( China and India ) is also a concern, US trade representative Ron Kirk said. He added China and India both generally require that foreign satellite capacity be sold through an intermediaryChinaDBSat or the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), respectively. These comments were made by the Kirk in his report where he said experts have expressed concern that India and Mexico require mobile satellite operators to install local gateways as a condition for providing satellite services into their territories.

Mobile satellite services (MSS) refers to networks of communications satellites intended for use with mobile and portable wireless telephones. The report named 1377 Review addresses several general themesfixed and mobile call termination rates in El Salvador, Jamaica, Japan, Peru, and Tonga; problems with major suppliers in Australia, China, Germany, India, Mexico, and Singapore.

It also addresses issues affecting the telecommunications equipment trade in Brazil , China , European Union , India , Indonesia , Korea , Malaysia , Mexico , and Thailand and other issues including frequency allocation in Costa Rica and transparency in China .

Commenters consider these requirements burdensome and unnecessary from a technical standpoint to address the security concerns these countries have raised. USTR will continue to raise the commenters concerns with China , India and Mexico regarding these issues, the report said. US has urged the Trai to allow for a full vetting of issues through public consultations.

US concerned over Indian satellite communication regulations


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## Kinetic

Choppers said:


> *
> "Space tourism is something where India can play a niche role with its affordable solutions. However, this will take some time," says Ajey Lele from the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). But the fact that this is an achievable challenge was evident when he said: "Indias Chandrayaan programme was less costly than the private jet gifted by Mukesh Ambani to his wife."
> *


*
I extremely like this kind of words!! He just made a house with $ 2 billion as well while many Indians are still very poor. Any other person would have shame to waste money in such a way. 





Back in India, ISRO was allocated a budget of $1.27 billion for 2009-2010 and the plan allocation for Indias human space flight programme was Rs 5,000 crore. ISRO scientists have started work to reach Mars, put an orbiter there by using the capabilities of its workhorse launch vehicles like PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV Mark 3.

Click to expand...


That is an old news. Just after Chandrayaan-2, ISRO will launch first Mars mission by 2013/14.*

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## Mauryan

^^^,

That is not something new. Considering the unreliable nature of US,GOI has put some regulations in place.If any foreign nation has to do business with India, it has to abide the rules and regulations of this country instead of showing concerns. 

If showing concerns is the known way, then India has to show concerns in each and every thing that US does.

We dont want to screw our domestic operators by trusting in US particularly.So does the need for a regulator.

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## Choppers

Choppers said:


> "There are various strategies to reach Mars. It is a 250-day journey and there will be opportunities in *2030, 2060 and 2080*," said Dr Radhakrishnan, an alumni of IIM-Bangalore.



Correction.



> There are various strategies for reaching Mars. It's a 250 day journey (for Mars). We are working on it. T*he years 2013, 2016 and 2018 offers good opportunity for ISRO to launch Mars mission*," he added.



Link:spacedaily.com India_To_Cut_Satellite_Launch_Cost_By_Half

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## Choppers

*No Russian involvement in developing of cryogenic engine: ISRO​* 
Bangalore, Apr 7 (PTI)







*Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday said there was no Russian involvement in the design and production of cryogenic engine that is developed by New Delhi indigenously and declared that it's a befitting reply to the technology denial regimes.*

India is set to test the home-grown cryogenic stage and technology -- developed after 18 years of research -- in its rocket, GSLV, on April 15 from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Asked at a press conference here if Russians were involved in the development of cryogenic technology, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said India certainly learnt a lot working with Moscow and it was a "good learning experience".

But he asserted: "The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers, our own industry fabricated it, tested...". He added: "It's Indian. You should be proud of it".
ISRO officials recalled that the US exerted pressure on Russia not to provide cryogenic technology and India took a bold decision in 1992 to develop it indigenously.

Of the seven engines supplied by Russia earlier, ISRO has used five. Radhakrishnan said India developing this complex technology is a "befitting reply" to technology denial regimes. 
"About Rs 335 crore is the amount used for the development (of indigenous cryogenic engine and stage)," Radhakrishnan said.

The Rs 175-crore GSLV-D3 would carry the Rs 150-crore, 2220 kg GSAT-4 experimental communications satellite in the proposed mission on April 15. The ISRO chairman said the PSLV mission, which would launch Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two Canadian nano-satellite, and Studsat developed by Indian students, is slated in the first half of May.

No Russian involvement in developing of cryogenic engine: ISRO

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## RadyLeo

self deleted


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## Choppers

*Human habitation possible in tunnels below moon's surface*

Bangalore, Apr 7 (PTI)

India's Chandrayaan-1 mission has identified tunnels below the surface of the moon, a top space scientist said today and maintained that human habitation could be possible in those ''tubes'' in the future.

Director of Indian Space Research Organisation's Space Applications Centre based in Ahmedabad, Dr Ranganath R Navalgund said the terrain mapping camera, an Indian instrument on the lunar mission, has found "new types of rocks" and hollow tunnels.

These tubes were formed after the flow of lava from volcanoes, he contended.

"Tubes which are hollow have been found below the surface of the moon. Such things have also been identified from the Chandrayaan mission ... from terrain mapping camera ... which was our own instrument".

"Now those tunnels which have not collapsed ... which are below the surface of the moon and which have been identified ... are somewhat interesting features," Navalgund told reporters here.

"Not today, not tomorrow but in years to come, they (those tunnels) could be possible areas where one could have certain habitation....", he said, adding that scientists were currently investigating this finding

Human habitation possible in tunnels below moon's surface

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## vimki

*After Chandrayaan, India set to launch GSLV*​
Bangalore: After the success of mission Chandrayaan, ISRO to launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - that will be powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine on April 15.
With the launch India would join an elite club of countries that have this sophisticated technology. The cryogenic engines are more efficient and provide more thrust. It will help ISRO launch heavier satellites in the future. In fact in the 90s, the US had prevented Russia from transferring cryogenic technology to India.

We're talking about a technology that only five countries in the world possess today. Its a technology which one country prevented another country from transferring which are the geo-political ramifications of this technology," said ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan.

For ISRO, developing the technology was critical for its plans to launch more sophisticated satellites.
We got seven stages from Russia but if we have to continue our program and to launch communication satellites, transponders in the orbit, we need to have this technology. So it was imperative for us to develop it and we're realising this in India," added Radhakrishnan.
On April 15, ISRO will launch an advanced communication satellite - the GSAT- 4. With the cryogenic technology now powering it, the space agency will be launching many more sophisticated satellites in the future.

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## blueoval79

*Cryogenic rocket engine to propel India into elite club*


Come April 15, India will join an elite club of five other nations having the cryogenic engine technology that would give enhanced power to its rockets to lift off into space.

On that day, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will demonstrate the indigenously developed cryogenic engine upper stage technology while launching the advanced Rs150-crore GSAT-4 satellite onboard the geo-stationary satellite launch vehicle (GSLV)-D3 rocket, Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said. The lift-off of GSLV-D3 has been scheduled at 4.27 pm on April 15 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.

The cryogenic engine for the Rs175-crore GSLV-D3 will provide almost twice the power to lift-off as compared to the existing capacity of rockets.

Isro scientists said a cryogenic engine was a rocket motor designed to maintain liquid fuels in liquid form at temperatures much below zero degree Celsius.

The engine components are also cooled so that the liquid fuel does not boil to a gaseous state while being fed to the engine. The powerful thrust comes from the rapid expansion from liquid to gas with the gas emerging from the motor at very high speed.

Cryogenic engines are known to be the most powerful rocket engines. The other five countries in possession of this engine technology are the US, Russia, France, Japan and China.

Isro has achieved the feat after 18 years of research in the technology which was initiated when the pact with Russia (to supply cryogenic engines to India) did not go on expected lines, said Radhakrishnan. The technology is expected to reduce Indias dependency on Russia or any other country for the engine technology.

However, it will be two months before we announce that the project has been successful as we have to carry out several tests. It will have a huge application when it will be launched on commercial basis, said RR Navalgund, director, Isro Space Applications Centre (ISAC).

Cryogenic rocket engine to propel India into elite club - dnaindia.com

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## Justin Joseph

*US arm twisting tactics prodded ISRO*

Correspondent
Thursday, April 08, 2010 AT 07:42 PM (IST)

*BENGALURU: Space scientists have cocked a snook at "big brother" US by developing cryogenic technology which it tried to prevent Indian Space Research Organisation from importing from Russia.
*

Undeterred by a US ban in 1992, a team of scientists led by then Chairman U.R.Rao embarked on a plan to develop the technology indigenously.

After 17 years of relentless effort, ISRO is on the verge of launching its first rocket powered by home grown cryogenic engine

"We have done it" is Rao's response, hailing the ISRO team for overcoming hurdles in developing the technology

Most of the work on cryogenic engine was done at Isro's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

The Geo stationary launch vehicle will be fired into orbit from Sriharikota launch pad on April 15. If it is successfully launched, India will join an elite club comprising US.Russia, France , Japan and China which has cryogenic technology.

"It's Indian. You should be proud of it" exclaimed ISRO's Chairman K.Radhakrishnan, who had played a key role in the successful launch of ISRO's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I.

"The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers; our own industry fabricated it and tested it" said Radhakrishnan.

What got Isro's goat was the manner in which America arm-twisted Russia to go back on a deal with India to supply cryogenic engines.

Despite ISRO's assurance that its programmes were civilian related, the US applied pressure, forcing the Russian company Glavkosmos to cancel the deal.

*United States alleged that the sale of cryogenic engines violated the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines since cryogenic technology could be used to propel missiles.

Immediately after deal went sour, Rao hit out at the US, saying India will not cowed down by such tactics.*

Rao called the US action " uncalled for" and indicated that the US did not want India to enter the multibilllion dollar global satellite launch market.

India can launch heavy communication satellites using cryogenic engines at thirty per cent less than the US.

Cryogenic technology will help launch two tonne satellites using GSLV rockets with a greater deal of efficiency.

The development programme of GSLV, considered a major challenge for Isro , had been hit by US sanctions. An embargo was first imposed in 1992. followed by a second ban after India's nuclear tests in 1998. 

Sakaal Times

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## indiatech

GSLV-D3 / GSAT-4 MISSION Background 

http://www.isro.org/news/pdf/GSLV-D3.pdf

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## Mauryan

Justin Joseph said:


> *US arm twisting tactics prodded ISRO*
> 
> 
> Sakaal Times



But isnt it good for India?
Definitely its a blessing in the disguise.Though many people cry foul at the sanctions,but the scientific community is utterly happy with what has happened.
Indians infact suffer with hanumanophobia.which means not knowing thier self standards and often discard thier capabilities.

Because of phokran tests,west sopped selling reactors to india.We started developing our own with more jeal to get sucesses.Today we got our hands on PHWRs,Fast breeders,AHWRs using our very own knowledge and capabilities.And its the very same west that invited India to join ITER.

Same with defence equipment.After 98 everyone stopped supplying them.Started developing our own alternatives and today we are almost there near the self reliance. If the sanctions are even continuing,we might have been developing more and many engineers might have been working in India itself instead of working for those foreign manufacturers.

Same with ISRO.If US have left russia supplying those old cryo engines, we might have been importing them all the way,untill we found a solution of our own.

US sanctioned India from importing of super-computers with a fear that they will be used for the simulation of nuclear detonations.Result of that? India has developed a series of processors and supercomputers of its own for its own nuclear simulations and research in fluid dynamics,...... Today ISRO is a position to design its own processor and can fabricate wapers of nano meters thickness.

Having all said, The losses to US are more than the losses incurred by India.

eye opener:


> *Going Alone on Economic Sanctions Hurts U.S. More than Foes*
> According to the president's Export Council, the United States has imposed more than 40 trade sanctions against about three-dozen countries since 1993.
> The council estimates that those sanctions have cost American exporters $15 billion to $19 billion in lost annual sales overseas and caused long-term damage to U.S. companies--lost market share and reputations abroad as unreliable suppliers.
> 
> Economic sanctions are especially damaging when applied to "duel use" technology. U.S. companies face a web of controls that inhibit exporting high-speed computers and other high-tech goods that, while civilian in nature, could conceivably be used by a hostile regime for military purposes.
> 
> Export controls on high-tech goods suffer from two fatal flaws: The first is that similar technology can often be obtained off the shelf from foreign competitors. Export controls succeed only in cutting U.S. firms out of fast-growing foreign markets without enhancing national security one bit.
> 
> The second flaw is that whatever controls are written into law are quickly outdated by Moore's law of technological advancement. Today's "supercomputer" inevitably becomes tomorrow's high-end PC.
> 
> As well as inflicting economic damage, trade sanctions have been a foreign policy flop. A comprehensive study by the Institute for International Economics found that sanctions have achieved their objectives in fewer than 20 percent of cases. For example, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994 failed to deter India and Pakistan from testing nuclear weapons in May 1998.
> Trade sanctions seldom work because of the competitive global marketplace and the nature of regimes most likely to arouse America's ire. Although the United States is by far the world's largest economy, its global economic leverage is limited. The United States accounts for only 13 percent of the world's merchandise exports and 16 percent of its imports. If Washington seeks to punish another country by unilaterally withholding exports, such as farm products, computers, or oil-drilling services, other global suppliers stand ready to fill the gap.

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## Choppers

*GSLV-D3 ready for launch on April 15​*
T. S. SUBRAMANIAN
CHENNAI, April 9, 2010





*GSLV D3 wich will lift off from April 15 is seen on the laucn pad at Sriharikota on Friday. Photo: V. Ganesan.*

There is an air of expectancy at Sriharikota even as the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) stands gleaming in off-white and grey on the beachside launch pad of the island. It was fitted together at the towering Vehicle Assembly Building and moved to the pad on April 7. The vehicle, 49 metres tall and weighing 419 tonnes, was married up with the satellite GSAT-4 earlier. When the vehicle lifts off at 4.27 p.m. on April 15, it will be a major riposte to the United States' technology denial tactics.

*&#8220;Crucial mission&#8221;*

&#8220;The vehicle has been assembled and is ready for the launch,&#8221; Mission Director G. Ravindranath told journalists at the spaceport on Friday. He called it &#8220;a crucial mission because we are flying our own cryogenic stage for the first time in this flight.&#8221; It was &#8220;the most reviewed vehicle&#8221; and the result of &#8220;our efforts of the last 19 years. We started in 1991 and we have reached this stage despite technology denials.&#8221;

The entire flight from lift-off will last 1,022 seconds. Of this duration, the indigenous cryogenic engine alone will fire for 720 seconds. At the end of 1,022 seconds, the cryogenic engine will catapult the communication satellite GSAT-4 into the orbit at a velocity of 10.2 km a second. It will be a geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 170 km and an apogee of 36,000 km.

The cryogenic stage was built at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Cryogenic engines are crucial for putting communication satellites weighing more than two tonnes into a GTO. Cryogenic technology involves the use of liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees Celsius.

Mohammed Muslim, Project Director, Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP), said the cryogenic technology was the most complex one to be developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). &#8220;It has taken us 15 years to achieve this. It is normal time for any country and we are the sixth country to acquire this technology [after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China]. This is a highly guarded technology.&#8221; The ISRO had not taken chances with this mission and &#8220;the vehicle has been reviewed and checked point by point any number of times,&#8221; he said.

The ISRO built the cryogenic engine from scratch after the U.S. pressured Russia in April 1992 and July 1993 into agreeing not to sell cryogenic technology to India. In January 1991, India and the erstwhile Soviet Union had reached an agreement, under which the Soviet space agency, Glavkosmos, would sell cryogenic stages and transfer the cryogenic technology to India.

*Goes back on pact*

Under U.S. pressure, Russia in July 1993 went back on its agreement to transfer the cryogenic technology. In lieu of the technology, it agreed to sell two additional cryogenic stages to India. The last five flights of the GSLV from Sriharikota were powered by the Russian cryogenic stages. A cryogenic stage includes the engine, propellant tanks, motor casing and wiring.

Mr. Ravindranath said it took the ISRO all these years to develop the cryogenic technology because it had to develop special materials.

(At very low temperatures of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, metals become brittle. The ISRO, therefore, had to develop new alloys, new welding techniques and new types of lubricants).

*7-year mission life*

Satellite Director M. Nageswara Rao said GSAT-4 would have a mission life of seven years. One of the payloads would help passenger aircraft land accurately despite poor visibility.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : GSLV-D3 ready for launch on April 15

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## Mirza Jatt

It a great news..Indian space research scientists are really amazing....just concerned what problem does Us has from this ?? Anyways...good to know that India becoming a big player in this league as well..just think why cant we become superpower very soon.


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## durgs360

Go India Go !! May this mission be a success ! May ISRO match NASA

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## jha

*GSLV-D3 ready for launch on April 15 *










CHENNAI: There is an air of expectancy at Sriharikota even as the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) stands gleaming in off-white and grey on the beachside launch pad of the island. It was fitted together at the towering Vehicle Assembly Building and moved to the pad on April 7. The vehicle, 49 metres tall and weighing 419 tonnes, was married up with the satellite GSAT-4 earlier. When the vehicle lifts off at 4.27 p.m. on April 15, it will be a major riposte to the United States' technology denial tactics.

Crucial mission

The vehicle has been assembled and is ready for the launch, Mission Director G. Ravindranath told journalists at the spaceport on Friday. He called it a crucial mission because we are flying our own cryogenic stage for the first time in this flight. It was the most reviewed vehicle and the result of our efforts of the last 19 years. We started in 1991 and we have reached this stage despite technology denials.

The entire flight from lift-off will last 1,022 seconds. Of this duration, the indigenous cryogenic engine alone will fire for 720 seconds. At the end of 1,022 seconds, the cryogenic engine will catapult the communication satellite GSAT-4 into the orbit at a velocity of 10.2 km a second. It will be a geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 170 km and an apogee of 36,000 km.

The cryogenic stage was built at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Cryogenic engines are crucial for putting communication satellites weighing more than two tonnes into a GTO. Cryogenic technology involves the use of liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees Celsius.

Mohammed Muslim, Project Director, Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP), said the cryogenic technology was the most complex one to be developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has taken us 15 years to achieve this. It is normal time for any country and we are the sixth country to acquire this technology [after the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China]. This is a highly guarded technology. The ISRO had not taken chances with this mission and the vehicle has been reviewed and checked point by point any number of times, he said.

The ISRO built the cryogenic engine from scratch after the U.S. pressured Russia in April 1992 and July 1993 into agreeing not to sell cryogenic technology to India. In January 1991, India and the erstwhile Soviet Union had reached an agreement, under which the Soviet space agency, Glavkosmos, would sell cryogenic stages and transfer the cryogenic technology to India.

Goes back on pact

Under U.S. pressure, Russia in July 1993 went back on its agreement to transfer the cryogenic technology. In lieu of the technology, it agreed to sell two additional cryogenic stages to India. The last five flights of the GSLV from Sriharikota were powered by the Russian cryogenic stages. A cryogenic stage includes the engine, propellant tanks, motor casing and wiring.

Mr. Ravindranath said it took the ISRO all these years to develop the cryogenic technology because it had to develop special materials.

(At very low temperatures of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, metals become brittle. The ISRO, therefore, had to develop new alloys, new welding techniques and new types of lubricants).

7-year mission life

Satellite Director M. Nageswara Rao said GSAT-4 would have a mission life of seven years. One of the payloads would help passenger aircraft land accurately despite poor visibility.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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## shaktiman2010

Congrats to everyone at ISRO behind these gigantic efforts. 

Access to space is a right of every mankind. It can't remain in hands of a few.

Long way to go, India !


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## Join

looking for the successful launch of a rocket which is powered by our own engine, We would be the 6th country to do so....


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## gowthamraj

good luck ISRO. achive this great milestone


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## Choppers

*IAF wants national policy on aerospace technology​*
Sat, Apr 10 07:10 PM

Bangalore, April 10 (IANS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) has called for a national policy on aerospace technology to achieve self-reliance in producing indigenous aircraft and support systems for military and civilian operations, a senior official said Saturday.

'It's high time a national policy on aerospace technology is put on a fast track to achieve self-reliance in the sector and scale up manufacturing various types of aircraft for military and civilian operations, with greater involvement of the private sector,' IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal Pranab Kumar Barbora said here at a national convention on aeronautical technologies.

Regretting that India missed out in developing middle level technologies post-independence, Barbora said though the manufacturing sector was able to produce a passenger car (Landmaster/Ambassador) in 1960s and achieved near self-reliance in space technology in the subsequent decades, the absence of any development in the aerospace industry had created a void.

'Though we are a major economic power to reckon with in South Asia, we have not leveraged it to bargain for greater access to aerospace technologies or attracting overseas investment through joint ventures to develop our state-run or private industry,' Barbora told about 700 delegates participating in the two-day convention.

The event, Frontiers of Aeronautical Technologies, is organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (ASI).

Noting that there was no dearth of brains to achieve self-reliance in aerospace technologies and aviation operations, the officer said the government should invest in research and development (R&D) and manufacturing by the private sector as it had been doing for the defence public sector undertakings.

'The role of aerospace industry is not limited to meeting defence needs but to civilian applications (also) as the aviation sector plays a vital role in the economic growth of the country. While China produced an entire Airbus, some of our state-run firms like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) supply only doors or under carriage for passenger jets,' Barbora lamented.

Pointing out that indigenisation was not happening at the pace it should have for speeding up self-reliance, Barbora said the country was lagging behind in completing projects like the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) or Kaveri engine even two decades after they were taken up.

'The government must encourage the private sector by assuring firm orders to recover investments made in developing the technologies and products. Ban on defence exports by the private sector should be lifted to ensure the industry attracts more entrepreneurs, explore joint ventures with overseas firms and secure technology transfers,' Barbora pointed out.

Admitting developing sophisticated aerospace technologies takes longer time, Barbora said a sound national policy would enable the stakeholders to work in a time frame and deliver the equipment required for the armed forces, especially the IAF, which was spending billions of dollars in buying aircraft and spare parts from global aerospace majors.

'If we don't produce in time, others will take advantage of our delays and sell their products to us. The Indian aerospace industry should not only produce for defence and civil aviation sectors, but also to export,' Barbora said, adding Pakistan exports more than India does.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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## shaktiman2010

Choppers said:


> Noting that there was no dearth of brains to achieve self-reliance in aerospace technologies and aviation operations, the officer said the *government should invest in research and development (R&D) and manufacturing by the private sector* as it had been doing for the defence public sector undertakings.
> 
> 'The role of aerospace industry is not limited to meeting defence needs but to civilian applications (also) as the aviation sector plays a vital role in the economic growth of the country. *While China produced an entire Airbus, some of our state-run firms like Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) supply only doors or under carriage for passenger jets,' Barbora lamented*.



These are words of Indian Airforce(IAF) Chief. So now, its proven that China has beaten India in aviation R&D.

I am sure many of my high-headed colleagues here will find it difficult to admit this. Now even, Boeing has decided to open a full Boeing factory in China.

Its time for us Indians to open eyes and come out of "we are IT superpower" dreams and admit reality.

Better we get humble and admit reality, good for us. Indians should not be embarrassed to admit that China has beaten us in Scientific development. There is nothing wrong in admitting that.

Brave people admit their weakness and work on it, while arrogant people hide it because they are weak inside.

*IAF finally got one brave guy leading it at front.*



Choppers said:


> Admitting developing sophisticated aerospace technologies takes longer time, Barbora said a sound national policy would enable the stakeholders to work in a time frame and deliver the equipment required for the armed forces, especially the IAF, which was spending billions of dollars in buying aircraft and spare parts from global aerospace majors.
> 
> *'If we don't produce in time, others will take advantage of our delays and sell their products to us. The Indian aerospace industry should not only produce for defence and civil aviation sectors, but also to export,'* Barbora said, adding *Pakistan exports more than India does.*



Finally, some honest speech from IAF officer, who has the guts to confess the blunders of his past officers. Otherwise, we only hear "please speed up imports. We will die otherwise."

Now I am convinced that Indian aerospace sector will improve massively in next 10 years, if this guy remains in chair for atleast 5 years.

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## ramu

Shaktiman, This is known for ages but let me tell you the problem. 



> DRDO Scientist 2010 Recruitment
> 
> Introduction
> Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) works under Department of Defense Research & Development of Ministry of Defense. To developing Defense technologies Defense Research and Development Organisation have 51 laboratories. The DRDO have about 5,000 scientists and about 25,000 other scientific, technical staff. The DRDOs headquarter is in New Delhi India. DRDO covering various Defense technologies such as engineering systems, instrumentation, missiles, advanced computing and simulation, aeronautics, armaments, electronics, combat vehicles etc.
> Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC)
> Recruitment and Assessment Centre was Established in 1985 after getting exemption from the purview of Union Public Service Commission provides various recruitment.
> The Recruitment and Assessment Centre promotes 1000 scientists each year in variety of scientific and engineering disciplines.
> Jobs in Defense Research and Development Organisation
> Defense Research and Development Organisation invites application for Group C & D posts for laboratories/ establishments through DRDO Scientist Entry Test -2009.
> 
> Posts: 236 posts in various trades
> Pay scale
> *
> PB-3 Rs.15600-39100 Grade Pay Rs.5400*



Do you seriously think DRDO will attract the best with this pay pack ?

India has to become an economic superpower before it can become self reliant in defence. R&D => huge investment by DRDO, HAL, BHEL, BE, L&T, TATA, ADA and NAL other leading manufactures.


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## Choppers

*Launch of first satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system next year​*
S. ANANDAN
SRIHARIKOTA, April 10, 2010

_*The project is the Indian counterpart of the Global Positioning system.*_

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) intends to launch the first in a constellation of seven satellites envisaged for the ambitious Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) project, GPS' Indian counterpart, by the end of next year.

&#8220;The subsystems [of the satellite] are under various stages of fabrication at ISRO's centres. At least four such satellites [each with a life in excess of seven years] are required to make it operational. After launching the first satellite using a PSLV in the last quarter of 2011, periodic launches would take place every six months. Which means by 2014, we would have the IRNSS optimally functional,&#8221; said ISRO sources here.

*Range of applications*

IRNSS, which will have a range of applications including personal navigation, will be India's answer to the U.S.-operated GPS, Russia's Glonass, European Space Agency's under-development Galileo, and China's emerging constellation, Compass.

&#8220;The problem with the existing constellations is that they are controlled by defence agencies in those countries. While Galileo is a pay-to-use system, Compass is military-controlled. On completion, IRNSS will have all-weather, round-the-clock coverage over the Indian landmass with an extended coverage of about 1,500 km around it,&#8221; said the sources.

Meanwhile, the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload in GSAT-4 which would be placed into the geosynchronous transfer orbit &#8212; before the satellite self-adjusts into its geostationary orbital home at 82 degree east longitude &#8212; by the eagerly-awaited April 15 flight of GSLV-D3 with indigenous cryogenic upper stage will provide a position accuracy of better than 7.6 metres required for precision landing of civilian aircraft.

The navigational payload, operating in C, L1 and L5 bands, will form the space segment of GAGAN Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). &#8220;We are planning the launch of GSAT-8, with another GAGAN payload, by this year-end. A third satellite, GSLV 8 or 9, with GAGAN payload would also be launched in succession,&#8221; the sources said.

*Independent function*

GAGAN and IRNSS, once it comes into being, will function independent of each other. The ground segment of GAGAN comprises Indian Reference Stations (INRES) Indian Master Control Centre (INMCC) at Kundanhalli, near Bangalore, and Indian Land Uplink Stations (INLUS). ISRO has already set up eight such reference stations at eight Indian airports in collaboration with Airports Authority of India during the technology demonstration phase of GAGAN and 14 more are in the pipeline.

GAGAN's user segment consists of SBAS receivers capable of receiving GPS signals and corrections from geostationary satellite.

&#8220;Data from INRES is transmitted to INMCC. This data is processed by INMCC and sent to INLUS. INLUS transmits the corrected GPS information and time synchronisation signal to a geostationary satellite. It then transmits a GPS-like signal with an accuracy of the order of 3 metre horizontal and 4 metre vertical [which can be accessed by GPS SBAS receivers],&#8221; explained an ISRO media hand-out.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article393892.ece

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## Choppers

*Launch of first satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system next year​*
S. ANANDAN
SRIHARIKOTA, April 10, 2010

_*The project is the Indian counterpart of the Global Positioning system.*_

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) intends to launch the first in a constellation of seven satellites envisaged for the ambitious Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) project, GPS' Indian counterpart, by the end of next year.

&#8220;The subsystems [of the satellite] are under various stages of fabrication at ISRO's centres. At least four such satellites [each with a life in excess of seven years] are required to make it operational. After launching the first satellite using a PSLV in the last quarter of 2011, periodic launches would take place every six months. Which means by 2014, we would have the IRNSS optimally functional,&#8221; said ISRO sources here.

*Range of applications*

IRNSS, which will have a range of applications including personal navigation, will be India's answer to the U.S.-operated GPS, Russia's Glonass, European Space Agency's under-development Galileo, and China's emerging constellation, Compass.

&#8220;The problem with the existing constellations is that they are controlled by defence agencies in those countries. While Galileo is a pay-to-use system, Compass is military-controlled. On completion, IRNSS will have all-weather, round-the-clock coverage over the Indian landmass with an extended coverage of about 1,500 km around it,&#8221; said the sources.

Meanwhile, the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload in GSAT-4 which would be placed into the geosynchronous transfer orbit &#8212; before the satellite self-adjusts into its geostationary orbital home at 82 degree east longitude &#8212; by the eagerly-awaited April 15 flight of GSLV-D3 with indigenous cryogenic upper stage will provide a position accuracy of better than 7.6 metres required for precision landing of civilian aircraft.

The navigational payload, operating in C, L1 and L5 bands, will form the space segment of GAGAN Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). &#8220;We are planning the launch of GSAT-8, with another GAGAN payload, by this year-end. A third satellite, GSLV 8 or 9, with GAGAN payload would also be launched in succession,&#8221; the sources said.

*Independent function*

GAGAN and IRNSS, once it comes into being, will function independent of each other. The ground segment of GAGAN comprises Indian Reference Stations (INRES) Indian Master Control Centre (INMCC) at Kundanhalli, near Bangalore, and Indian Land Uplink Stations (INLUS). ISRO has already set up eight such reference stations at eight Indian airports in collaboration with Airports Authority of India during the technology demonstration phase of GAGAN and 14 more are in the pipeline.

GAGAN's user segment consists of SBAS receivers capable of receiving GPS signals and corrections from geostationary satellite.

&#8220;Data from INRES is transmitted to INMCC. This data is processed by INMCC and sent to INLUS. INLUS transmits the corrected GPS information and time synchronisation signal to a geostationary satellite. It then transmits a GPS-like signal with an accuracy of the order of 3 metre horizontal and 4 metre vertical [which can be accessed by GPS SBAS receivers],&#8221; explained an ISRO media hand-out.
The Hindu : Sci-Tech : Launch of first satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system next year

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## Kinetic

> &#8220;The problem with the existing constellations is that they are controlled by defence agencies in those countries. While Galileo is a pay-to-use system, Compass is military-controlled. On completion, IRNSS will have all-weather, round-the-clock coverage over the Indian landmass with an extended coverage of about 1,500 km around it,&#8221; said the sources.



Like others Indian IRNSS will also have different signals for military and civilians. I think the main users will be Indian armed forces with best accuracies. It will ensure much higher accuracy than current civilian GPS signals used by the armed forces and availability at war times.


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## Ruag

GSLV-D3/GSAT-4 MISSION 

GSAT-4 is the nineteenth geostationary satellite of India built by ISRO and fourth in the GSAT series. Its three GSAT predecessors were launched by GSLV during 2001, 2003 and 2004 respectively. After its commissioning, GSAT-4 will join the group of India&#8217;s eleven operational geostationary satellites.

*Some of the new technologies being tested in GSAT-4 include:*

&#8226; Electric Propulsion System
&#8226; Bus Management Unit
&#8226; 1553 Bus for Data Communication
&#8226; Miniaturised Dynamically Tuned Gyros
&#8226; 36 AH Lithium Ion Battery
&#8226; 70 V Bus for Ka band TWTAs

*On-board Structural Dynamics Experiment* to monitor on-orbit structural dynamic behavior of the satellite during various phases of the mission corresponding to various flight/mission and satellite configurations.

*Velocity Measurement Package* to measure the incremental velocity imparted to GSAT-4 during LAM firings and station keeping manoeuvres.

*Thermal Control Coating Experiment* to study the degradation characteristics of thermal control materials in space environment with time.

The cuboid shaped GSAT-4 has a lift-off weight of 2220 kg of which propellants weigh 1155 kg and the dry mass of the satellite is 1063 kg. GSAT-4 structure is based on ISRO&#8217;s standard I-2000 bus. The two solar arrays (each with two panels) of GSAT-4 together generate about 2800 W of power.

GSAT-4 is the first geostationary satellite of ISRO to employ integrated Bus Management Unit (BMU) which combines the functions of Telemetry, Telecommand, Sensor Electronics and Control Electronics. BMU acts as the brain of GSAT-4.

Like its INSAT and GSAT predecessors, GSAT-4 has a conventional chemical propulsion system for orbit raising and station keeping manoeuvres. Besides, GSAT-4 is the first ISRO satellite having Electric Propulsion Sytem (EPS) to perform North South Station Keeping. The satellite will demonstrate the capabilities and advantages (very high Isp, meaning efficiency) of EPS employing state-of-the-art stationary plasma thrusters.

GSAT-4 at a glance:
Structure : I-2000
Overall Size (m) : 2.4 X 1.6 X 1.5
Liftoff mass (kg) : 2220
Generated Power (W) : 2760
Payload Power (W) : 1785
Propulsion (Chemical) : MMH as fuel and MON-3 as Oxidiser
Propulsion (Electric) : Xenon based stationary plasma thrusters (four)
Mission Life : > 7 years
Orbital Location : 82 deg E longitude in GSO

GSAT-4 Payloads:

GSAT-4 carries communication as well as navigation payloads. They are:

&#8226; Ka &#8211; band bent pipe and regenerative transponder
&#8226; GAGAN payload operating in C, L1 and L5 bands

Of these, Ka-band Transponder operates on 30 GHz uplink and 20 GHz downlink. This payload provides 8 spot beams covering entire India. 

Spot beams allow frequency reuse through geographical separation. The payload also comprises beacon transmitters in 30 GHz and 20 GHz to facilitate propagation studies. Ka band payload also has the facility of RF tracking and antenna pointing.

New technologies incorporated in Ka-Band Payload include Multiple Spot Beams (eight) with Frequency Reuse, Double Frequency Conversion, Very High Stability Local Oscillator and Onboard Base band Processing and Switching.

The advantages of using a regenerative transponder are many. It allows the use of smaller ground terminals at the user end by incorporating efficient processing on-board the satellite. Regenerative transponder also increases system flexibility by facilitating network interconnection on-board satellite without the use of a hub, which in turn results in increased capacity, reduced errors and greater throughput.

Each of the 8 beams will have 8 narrow band channels of 64 Kbps and one wide band channel of 2048 Kbps. Interconnectivity between the narrow band channels within the same beam or with any of the other beams is possible.

Similarly, interconnectivity is possible with wide band channels between any of the beams or all beams can be used together in broadcast mode. Another objective of this payload is to develop advanced Digital Signal Processor based subsystems, implement various interface protocols and verify interconnectivity of terminals between multiple beams.

The intended applications for Ka band include Wide band Multimedia Services, Mobile Information System, SPACE LAN, e-Commerce and High Bandwidth Internet.

*The second payload carried by GSAT-4 is GAGAN*, which is a navigational payload operating in C, L1 and L5 bands. Essentially, the GAGAN payload of GSAT-4 forms the space segment of GAGAN Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) developed by India. GAGAN stands for GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation. Through SBAS, the positional information from the GPS satellites is improved by a network of ground based receivers and the same is made available to any user through geostationary satellites.

GAGAN is a Wide Area Differential Global Positioning System (WADGPS) employing a geostationary satellite overlay system. It was conceived to provide a position accuracy of better than 7.6 metre needed for the precision landing of civilian aircraft. The GAGAN system consists of the Space Segment, the Ground Segment and the User Segment. The GPS and Geostationary overlay system form the Space Segment while the Ground Segment comprises Indian Reference Stations (INRES), Indian Master Control Centre (INMCC) and Indian Land Uplink Stations (INLUS). The User Segment consists of SBAS receivers capable of receiving GPS signals and corrections from the Geostationary satellite.

In the GAGAN architecture, Data from INRES is transmitted to INMCC. This data is processed by INMCC and sent to INLUS. INLUS transmits the corrected GPS information and time synchronisation signal to a geostationary satellite. The satellite then transmits a GPS like signal on L-band frequency. Accuracy of the order of 3 meter horizontal and 4 meter vertical is feasible in such a system.

Thus, GAGAN navigation payload of GSAT-4 receives the correction signals sent by Indian Land Uplink Stations in C-band and translates these into GPS L1 and L5 band signals and transmits these navigation signals. These signals can be received by GPS SBAS receivers, thus enabling them to get a highly accurate and reliable navigational fix.

The Technology Demonstration Phase (TDS) of GAGAN was successfully completed in August 2007. As part of the TDS, eight Indian Reference Stations (INRES) were installed at eight Indian airports. They are linked to the Indian Master Control Centre (INMCC) located at Kundanhalli near Bangalore. In June 2009, the final operational phase (FOP) of GAGAN was initiated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The full ISRO report can be found here -

http://www.isro.org/news/pdf/GSLV-D3.pdf

Hoping that the mission goes as per planned and the satellite is successfully put into orbit.

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## illuminatidinesh

Launch of first satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system next year

S. Anandan

SRIHARIKOTA: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) intends to launch the first in a constellation of seven satellites envisaged for the ambitious Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) project, GPS' Indian counterpart, by the end of next year.

The subsystems [of the satellite] are under various stages of fabrication at ISRO's centres. At least four such satellites [each with a life in excess of seven years] are required to make it operational. After launching the first satellite using a PSLV in the last quarter of 2011, periodic launches would take place every six months. Which means by 2014, we would have the IRNSS optimally functional, said ISRO sources here.

Range of applications

IRNSS, which will have a range of applications including personal navigation, will be India's answer to the U.S.-operated GPS, Russia's Glonass, European Space Agency's under-development Galileo, and China's emerging constellation, Compass.

The problem with the existing constellations is that they are controlled by defence agencies in those countries. While Galileo is a pay-to-use system, Compass is military-controlled. On completion, IRNSS will have all-weather, round-the-clock coverage over the Indian landmass with an extended coverage of about 1,500 km around it, said the sources.

Meanwhile, the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload in GSAT-4 which would be placed into the geosynchronous transfer orbit  before the satellite self-adjusts into its geostationary orbital home at 82 degree east longitude  by the eagerly-awaited April 15 flight of GSLV-D3 with indigenous cryogenic upper stage will provide a position accuracy of better than 7.6 metres required for precision landing of civilian aircraft.

The navigational payload, operating in C, L1 and L5 bands, will form the space segment of GAGAN Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS). We are planning the launch of GSAT-8, with another GAGAN payload, by this year-end. A third satellite, GSLV 8 or 9, with GAGAN payload would also be launched in succession, the sources said.

Independent function

GAGAN and IRNSS, once it comes into being, will function independent of each other. The ground segment of GAGAN comprises Indian Reference Stations (INRES) Indian Master Control Centre (INMCC) at Kundanhalli, near Bangalore, and Indian Land Uplink Stations (INLUS). ISRO has already set up eight such reference stations at eight Indian airports in collaboration with Airports Authority of India during the technology demonstration phase of GAGAN and 14 more are in the pipeline.

GAGAN's user segment consists of SBAS receivers capable of receiving GPS signals and corrections from geostationary satellite.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Launch of first satellite for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system next year

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## gogbot

All in good time.

MoD has been taking steps to prepare the private sector.

Navy has already working with the Private sector.

Air forces is trying to work with

Army is doing nothing actually. indigenous ventures seem to be nuisance to them.


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## applesauce

india has no equivalent of GPS and GLONAS, those are global india's is not. also so what if GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO/COMPASS are controlled by the respected defense industries? they all offer a free service to civilians everywhere with the completion of GALIEO and COMPASS civilians everywhere can draw on over 75 plus sats to navigate with at any point on the globe.

but... anyways sats will be good for india at the very least in defense of her immediate areas


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## BJlaowai

applesauce said:


> india has no equivalent of GPS and GLONAS, those are global india's is not. also so what if GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO/COMPASS are controlled by the respected defense industries? they all offer a free service to civilians everywhere with the completion of GALIEO and COMPASS civilians everywhere can draw on over 75 plus sats to navigate with at any point on the globe.
> 
> but... *anyways sats will be good for india at the very least in defense of her immediate areas*



Righto. And I feel the GAGANs coverage is more than just extending 1500Kms. from Indian borders. It should be sufficient to give the missiles pin-point accuracy without depending on foreign GPS.
1500Kms. covers whole of Pakistan and major part of China. This should be quite sufficient.


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## illuminatidinesh

> india has no equivalent of GPS and GLONAS, those are global india's is not. also so what if GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO/COMPASS are controlled by the respected defense industries? they all offer a free service to civilians everywhere with the completion of GALIEO and COMPASS civilians everywhere can draw on over 75 plus sats to navigate with at any point on the globe.
> 
> but... anyways sats will be good for india at the very least in defense of her immediate areas


The GPS and GLONAS consist of around 24 sats.... We r planning atleast 8 buddy. Just for the requirement of our defense forces it is more than enough.



> they all offer a free service to civilians everywhere with the completion of GALIEO and COMPASS civilians everywhere can draw on over 75 plus sats to navigate with at any point on the globe.


Free services to whom? Even at the time of war?????

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## satishkumarcsc

Well these can be linked to GLONASS thus helping the Russians cover south east Asia easily....and GAGAN is an airspace mangement system...


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## shaktiman2010

ramu said:


> *India has to become an economic superpower before it can become self reliant in defence.* R&D => huge investment by DRDO, HAL, BHEL, BE, L&T, TATA, ADA and NAL other leading manufactures.



*Such arguments are used by "imports" lobby in MoD.*

India has enough money. Money is not problem. Problem is "intent". Corrupt babus in MoD and short-sighted fools in IAF,Army are diverting this huge money to "imports".

You need to understand that there is a very strong 40 year old weapons "import lobby" in MoD which keeps these huge funds invested in "imports". While DRDO gets a beggar's bowl of $1 Billion to run every project from tank,guns,submarines to aircraft.

*Problem is imports nexus. Not money.*

We have enough money to produce thousand cruise missles with Pak-FA type planes domestically. But nobody is willing to even fund R&D at massive scale for MCA. Forget about any serious roadmap over next 10 years.

*Fools are comfortable with PAK-FA and Israeli JV. They don't want to invest in domestic projects in big way.* That's the key here.

*We know how Brahmos JV ended up with no ToT on Russian seeker and hypersonic propulsion. Israeli LR-SAM and PAK-FA will end up same way and we will end up with 10 years wasted* with no big domestic effort which could been done easily with same huge money.

The reality is that TATA matured a capable Radar type system(Samyukta) but it was rejected in favour of "imported" Israeli system. This is how it works.

*This "import" lobby is cleverly diverting funds from domestic programs to foreign collaborations* because they know very well, there will be no ToT in these efforts and they will end up just like similar efforts in past. *Purpose is to keep/delay domestic players from serious big R&D projects because these domestic players don't pay them big bribes like Israeli and Russians do.*


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## shaktiman2010

All these talks from IAF fools are talks only. When it comes to showing serious "money" for domestic R&D, IAF runs to "imports".

Indian Navy is much better. They invest their own money in domestic R&D projects.


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## Choppers

*ISRO reviewing few PRL proposals for Chandrayaan-2 mission*

Last Updated: Apr 11, 2010







AHMEDABAD (PTI): Some of the proposals of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) for the Chandrayaan-2 mission are under final review by ISRO's scientific advisory board, a top PRL scientist has said. 

"PRL has submitted few proposals for Chandrayaan-2 mission including the ones for rover and orbiter. Some of the proposals are now under final phase of review by the scientific advisory board (of ISRO)," PRL Chief Prof J N Goswami told PTI on Saturday. 

PRL, located in the city, is the basic science research branch of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

The launch vehicle for Chandrayaan-2 mission is proposed to carry a lander along with a motorised rover besides an orbiter, Goswami said. 

When Chandrayaan-2 lands on lunar surface, the motorised rover will detach from the lunar orbiter. 

The proposed rover shall move on lunar surface to collect rock and soil samples, he said, adding so far the scientific advisory body has reviewed around 30 proposals on scientific payloads for the mission. 

"The scientific advisory board is considering about 30 proposals on different type of scientific payloads to be carried during Chandrayaan-2 and is expected to finalise in next few months which centre of ISRO will develop what payload," according to a senior PRL scientist. 

"Once the proposals on scientific payloads for the missions are cleared by the Scientific Advisory Board, they shall also be discussed with the Advisory Committee for Space," Goswami said. 

PRL had developed the scientific payload called High Energy X-ray spectrometer (HEX) for Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft in collaboration with the ISRO satellite centre of Bangalore. 

The instrument was capable of sensing emission of X-rays from 'heavy' elements that were radioactive, and more importantly in spotting presence of water in polar areas of the moon. 

Chandrayaan-1 mission was successful in finding evidence of ice on the moon, besides discovery of water there. 

The purpose of country's second mission on moon will be to further enhance data collection in this connection, a PRL scientist said. 

Evidence of proper deposits of ice in polar areas of moon were found by Chandrayaan-1, he added.

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## shaktiman2010

ISRO has given a slap on American face. LOL

USA uses sanctions and threats because they are mentally weak and scared of others. Gandhi was right.

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## sudhir007

Chandrayaan-II: PRL proposals under review

Some of the proposals submitted by the city-based Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) for the Chandrayaan-II mission are under final review by the scientific advisory board of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

PRL Director Prof J N Goswami said on Saturday that the Laboratory has submitted few proposals for the mission, including the ones for rover and orbiter. The launch vehicle for the Chandrayaan-II mission is proposed to carry a lander alongwith a motorised rover, besides an orbiter, he added.

After launch, when Chandrayaan-II lands on the lunar surface, the motorised rover will detach from lunar orbiter. The proposed rover shall move on lunar surface to collect rock and soil samples, he said, adding that so far, the scientific advisory body has reviewed around 30 proposals on scientific payloads for the mission.

&#8220;The scientific advisory board is considering about 30 proposals on different types of scientific payloads to be carried in Chandrayaan-II and is expected to finalise it in the next few months,&#8221; according to a senior PRL scientist. 
ISRO expects to launch Chandrayaan-II in 2013. PRL is the basic science research branch of the Organisation.


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## DMLA

Press release from ISRO website. First up, GSLV

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## DMLA

GSAT...

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## Bir_Pratik_Jagjit

great pic.


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## gowthamraj

wow amazing pictures i really proud of ISRO


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## White Dove

my man u made my day bro


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## NSG Commando

Cool photos, Iam proud of them.... ISRO rocks....


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## DMLA

some videos from the press:

reuters:
ISRO to launch GSLV-D3 | Video | Reuters.com

some errors or non hindi/english videos but good footage:

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## HitesH

good


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## HitesH

a small step on moon a giant step for mankind.............


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## mohit

My sister works for ISRO and was part of chandrayan mission.. can't be more proud of her.

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## Prayag

mohit said:


> My sister works for ISRO and was part of chandrayan mission.. can't be more proud of her.



We are proud of her too.

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## prototype

one more thread about the indian space capability anyway 

this time the GSLV will be flying with our own cryogenic engine


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## jha

*GSLV launch to make ISRO self reliant*









Indias hunt for a satellite-based global positioning system is nearing its end. On April 15, a muchawaited GSLV launch will place in orbit a satellite with navigational features and will be followed by three more which will be part of Geo Augmented Navigational system (GAGAN) aimed at enhancing satellite signals to the levels needed for a GPS programme.

The launch will be the first part of a plan that eventually leads to an Indian regional navigational satellite system which is to be in place by 2014. When fully operational, it will cover the entire Indian landmass with an additional range of 1,500 km.

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## shekhar

why pak members don't show interest in Indian space related thread?
i wonder they don't understand its significance or they just ignore it?
10to 15 years down the line its gong to be used by military what pak is doing to counter it?
with this gslv launch we get the capability to launch heavy satelite
i hope space scientist are working on next stage of radar that is space based radar and laser based weapon that can track and hunt down the enemy missile within enemy territory


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## Prayag

shekhar said:


> why pak members don't show interest in Indian space related thread?
> i wonder they don't understand its significance or they just ignore it?



You have to rename this thread as "*Indian Space Jihad*" only then pakistani members will show interest. lol

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## fsoul

Prayag said:


> You have to rename this thread as "*Indian Space Jihad*" only then pakistani members will show interest. lol



Unwarranted.

This thread should be moved to Indian space capabilities.

Great pictures indeed.


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## su-47

shekhar said:


> why pak members don't show interest in Indian space related thread?
> i wonder they don't understand its significance or they just ignore it?
> 10to 15 years down the line its gong to be used by military what pak is doing to counter it?
> with this gslv launch we get the capability to launch heavy satelite
> i hope space scientist are working on next stage of radar that is space based radar and laser based weapon that can track and hunt down the enemy missile within enemy territory



Dude, its ok. Those who are interested will read through and comment. And if they are not interested, it doesn't make a difference to us. 

While I would love to see some constructive discussion on the thread, but for the moment I am glad that this thread has not become another flame war. The fact that crticisms haven't been thrown around itself shows that there are certain things everyone respects.

And our ISRO scientists have earned that.


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## Kinetic

Great job ISRO.   

*GSLV mk-II D3 and GSAT-4 brochure *

http://isro.org/gslv-d3/pdf/GSLV-D3_GSAT-4 Brochure.pdf


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## shekhar

Kinetic said:


> Great job ISRO.
> 
> *GSLV mk-II D3 and GSAT-4 brochure *
> 
> http://isro.org/gslv-d3/pdf/GSLV-D3_GSAT-4 Brochure.pdf
> 
> GSLV mk-II D3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GSAT-4



launch vehicle looks huge


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## Kinetic

GSLV mk-II D3










Indian Cryogenic engine





GSAT-4

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## Choppers

*India to send two astronauts by its own rocket by 2017​*
PTITuesday, April 13, 2010 21:23 IST

New Delhi: India will send two astronauts to space by 2017 in its own spacecraft and the Rs12,400 project is likely to be approved before the Independence Day, Isro chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan has said.

With this achievement, India would join the select club of America, Russia and China which have such human space flight capabilities.

The Isro has submitted the Rs12,400 crore project for indigenous astronaut launch programme which involves launching of Indian astronauts, using an Indian rocket from Indian soil.

The proposal is pending for the last two years but Radhakrishnan hopes the approval may come before the Independence day.

"We expect that the government will give us approval in a couple of months," the Isro chief told NDTV.

"As of now what we have is a pre-project study. The astronaut programme will be implemented in phases," he said.

Asked if an announcement would be made in the prime minister's Independence day speech, the Isro chief said, "The approval and announcement could happen even before that".

The first phase is to test the unmanned crew module - a service module in space four years from now.

After that the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will be used to launch the Indian astronauts, he said.

The Rs12,400 crore will be needed over seven years for setting up of several ground facilities like launch pads, the mission control centre, astronaut training centre and all permanent assets on the ground.

"What goes into the orbit will be (costing) about Rs3000 to 4000 crores," he said.

He outlined the benefits to be rendered by such project.

"When this programme is proved in the human space flight with the long term vision that we have, 30-40 years from now, probably you could have a new source of energy. You will have several technologies which will be giving benefit to the other sectors in the economy," Radhakrishnan said. 

India to send two astronauts by its own rocket by 2017 - dnaindia.com


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## Choppers

*Isro taking satellite pictures of Mahakumbh mela in Rishikesh*

PTI 
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 16:40 IST

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand): India's space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is taking satellite pictures of the Kumbh baths at Haridwar and Rishikesh, a step that will help in the better conduct of the Kumbh mela in the future.

Kumbh mela official Anand Bardhan said the pictures of Baisakhi bath today and the last royal bath tomorrow are being taken through the National Remote Sensing Centre.

The pictures taken by Isro would help in effective conduct of Kumbh melas in future, he added.

Isro taking satellite pictures of Mahakumbh mela in Rishikesh - dnaindia.com


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## Prayag

Choppers said:


> *Isro taking satellite pictures of Mahakumbh mela in Rishikesh*
> 
> PTI
> Tuesday, April 13, 2010 16:40 IST
> 
> Rishikesh (Uttarakhand): India's space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is taking satellite pictures of the Kumbh baths at Haridwar and Rishikesh, a step that will help in the better conduct of the Kumbh mela in the future.
> 
> Kumbh mela official Anand Bardhan said the pictures of Baisakhi bath today and the last royal bath tomorrow are being taken through the National Remote Sensing Centre.
> 
> The pictures taken by Isro would help in effective conduct of Kumbh melas in future, he added.
> 
> Isro taking satellite pictures of Mahakumbh mela in Rishikesh - dnaindia.com




I was hoping for the images.


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## Justin Joseph

*India to send two astronauts by its own rocket by 2017*

New Delhi: India will send two astronauts to space by 2017 in its own spacecraft and the Rs12,400 project is likely to be approved before the Independence Day, Isro chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan has said.

With this achievement, India would join the select club of America, Russia and China which have such human space flight capabilities.

*The Isro has submitted the Rs12,400 crore project for indigenous astronaut launch programme which involves launching of Indian astronauts, using an Indian rocket from Indian soil.
*
The proposal is pending for the last two years but Radhakrishnan hopes the approval may come before the Independence day.

"We expect that the government will give us approval in a couple of months," the Isro chief told NDTV.

"As of now what we have is a pre-project study. The astronaut programme will be implemented in phases," he said.

Asked if an announcement would be made in the prime minister's Independence day speech, the Isro chief said, "The approval and announcement could happen even before that".

*The first phase is to test the unmanned crew module - a service module in space four years from now.*

After that the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will be used to launch the Indian astronauts, he said.

*The Rs12,400 crore will be needed over seven years for setting up of several ground facilities like launch pads, the mission control centre, astronaut training centre and all permanent assets on the ground.*

"What goes into the orbit will be (costing) about Rs3000 to 4000 crores," he said.

He outlined the benefits to be rendered by such project.

*"When this programme is proved in the human space flight with the long term vision that we have, 30-40 years from now, probably you could have a new source of energy. You will have several technologies which will be giving benefit to the other sectors in the economy," Radhakrishnan said. *

India to send two astronauts by its own rocket by 2017 - dnaindia.com


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## lhuang

weeeeeeeeow i thought it was 2013 or sumfinhahahaha

sory im totez having one too many herherh


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## yashchauhan

Pictures of GSLV-D3 courtesy ISRO





















Cryogenic Upper Stage






GSAT

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## Lankan Ranger

*Countdown for India's ambitious rocket mission begins*

Countdown began today for the first flight-testing of indigenous cryogenic engine on homegrown rocket GSLV-D3 that would take India into the elite club of space-faring nations with such capabilities. 

For the first time, India would be using indigenously built cryogenic stage and engine technology, which is crucial to put communication satellites weighing more than two tonnes into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). 

The Indian Space Research Organisation's GSLV-D3 would put in GTO the country's latest communication satellite. The 2,220 kgs GSAT-4 satellite has a seven-year mission life. 

The 29-hour countdown began at 11.27 am and "things were progressing as per countdown", an ISRO spokesperson said. 

The 50-metre tall GSLV-D3 with GSAT-4 is scheduled to blast off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4.27 pm tomorrow. 

It took nearly two decades for Indian scientists to go in for a home-made cryogenic technology after its bid to acquire cryogenic propellant from Russia in 1992 failed in the face of US opposition. 

It did not materialise due to strong US opposition and "technology denial regime of big powers", Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre M C Dathan said. 

"Often in the past, we have purchased completed cryogenic engines from Russia and five of them had been used for our GSLV missions. But we felt that it was important to develop indigenous capability as cryogenic technology is crucial to take our space programme to new heights," he said. 

"It was a 'milestone' for Indian space programme in many ways and proved 'our capabilities and reflects our scientists' determination to take up any challenge," he said. 

Developed by a dedicated team of scientists of ISRO's Liquid Propulsions System Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, the success of this technology will put the country in the elite club comprising the US, Russia, certain European countries, Japan and China which possess the complex cryogenic technology. 

Countdown for India's ambitious rocket mission begins - The Times of India

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## BJlaowai

Good luck ISRO. 
I cannot wait to see tomorrow launch of GSLV-D3. I pray to God that the launch will be 100&#37; successful.


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## Arjun MBT

Yes, Iam waiting for that moment, 100&#37; Indian... Iam proud, Now ISRO can do everything by its own


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## Mirza Jatt

ISRO has proved its worth and has come out as a big player in space science...well done ISRO.


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## Prayag

*No Russian involvement in developing of cryogenic engine: ISRO*​*
Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday said there was no Russian involvement in the design and production of cryogenic engine that is developed by New Delhi indigenously and declared that it's a befitting reply to the technology denial regimes. *





India is set to test the home-grown cryogenic stage and technology -- developed after 18 years of research -- in its rocket, GSLV, on April 15 from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Asked at a press conference here if Russians were involved in the development of cryogenic technology, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said India certainly learnt a lot working with Moscow and it was a "good learning experience".

But he asserted: "The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers, our own industry fabricated it, tested...". He added: "It's Indian. You should be proud of it".
ISRO officials recalled that the US exerted pressure on Russia not to provide cryogenic technology and India took a bold decision in 1992 to develop it indigenously.

Of the seven engines supplied by Russia earlier, ISRO has used five. Radhakrishnan said India developing this complex technology is a "befitting reply" to technology denial regimes. 
"About Rs 335 crore is the amount used for the development (of indigenous cryogenic engine and stage)," Radhakrishnan said.

The Rs 175-crore GSLV-D3 would carry the Rs 150-crore, 2220 kg GSAT-4 experimental communications satellite in the proposed mission on April 15. The ISRO chairman said the PSLV mission, which would launch Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two Canadian nano-satellite, and Studsat developed by Indian students, is slated in the first half of May.


http://www.deccanherald.com/content/62583/no-russian-involvement-developing-cryogenic.html?


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## ao333

Quite an achievement. One step closer towards IRNSS!


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## Choppers

*Globe Sustainability Research Award 2010*

Stockholm

Antrix Corporation Limited, ISRO has been conferred the most prestigious Globe Sustainability Research Award &#8211; 2010 for its outstanding contribution to improve sustainable livelihoods amongst the rural poor while reducing their vulnerability to climate risks. Antrix, ISRO&#8217;s contribution through innovative use of space technology in watershed management has yielded significant benefits with respect to all the three aspects of sustainable development triangle &#8211; Economic, Social and Environmental.

&#8220;It is an excellent application of the sustainomics framework showing how companies can and must act now to make development more sustainable&#8221; &#8211; As quoted by the jury group chairman professor Mohan Munasinghe, Nobel peace laureate 2007 and Vice Chair of the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC).

Brochure On Sustainable Watershed Development

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## desiboy

Best of Luck to ISRO for their marvelous attempt to prove the world that India is still in the Super Power Race. Nothing can STOP us on our way to Success.


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## BJlaowai

*ISRO chief on India's big leap*



> We have with us, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization giving his first ever interview at ISRO's rocket port on the eve of a big launch for India where-in India would be launching the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle- a landmark launch indeed for ISRO.
> 
> Dr. Radhakrishnan is a man of fine tastes- a Kathakalli dancer, a devotional music singer, and also, an engineer par excellence.
> 
> Q: Dr. Radhakrishnan, why is this launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle such a big deal?
> 
> A: See for the first time we are testing the indigenously developed Cryogenic engine and stage which is an essential part of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
> 
> Q. But what is the big deal about it? You have had so many launches here, why should this one be a landmark for people?
> Isro1.jpg
> A: See, this is the culmination of 18 years of research and development by our engineers before we have achieved this. Cryogenics is a very complex technology- you deal with fluids at a very low temperature; and there is a high temperature, then combustion takes place so you have to manage this temperature regime.
> 
> Q. Cryogenic technology immediately brings us back to almost 2 decades ago, when Russia I believe denied us technology because America put pressure on them because of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Now is that correct? Were we really denied technology?
> 
> A: The early days the plan was that we buy the engine and stage, and then we also acquire the technology but that did not materialize. Then what we did was that the ISRO and the country took a bold step that we will develop it internally. And in 1994 the government gave us the approval for going ahead as a project about 350 crores.
> 
> Q. Yes, but it has taken you almost 16- 17 years after the technology was denied. This is not ISRO! ISRO normally does things very quickly. Why did it take you so long?
> 
> A. ISRO is ISRO. It is a great team but it's the technology that is very complex.
> 
> Q. So was it the materials which gave you trouble?
> 
> A. It is material, it is handling of these fluids, there are several such complexities.
> 
> Q. And this technology denial that happened did this come as a blessing in disguise for you?
> 
> A. Anything which happens is for the good. Since it was not available, we took a bold decision and with full determination we got it. That's how today we are the sixth in the world to have this cryogenic engine technology.Isro6.jpg
> 
> Q. So will this help us in breaking into the commercial launcher market because, not just technology denial, at that point when this technology was denied, it was also believed that the U.S. was trying to put pressure on us so that we do not compete with them in the launcher market. Is there any sense in that?
> 
> A. What this provides us or for the country is that we can build the GSLV with our own technology, our own materials, by our own people. That is the kind of infrastructural competence that we have developed for building the own launching vehicles.
> 
> Q. But it almost looks like a Russian engine...
> 
> A. See cryogenics is a liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen. It is a staged combustion cycle that is there. But we have realized it, the Indians have designed it, the Indians have built it, and 75 percent of the materials are from India that is used.
> 
> Q. So it is not reverse engineered?
> 
> A. Absolutely.
> 
> Q. Because it is really one is to one so how do you say it is not reverse engineered? How can you make people believe that you did not copy the Russian design?
> Isro5.jpg
> A. It is not one is to one. But if you see the specifications of putting in at that class of the satellite if you work out what is the velocity that needs to be added by the upper stage of the engine- same number you have to provide. So whether it is a Russian engineer designing or Indian engineer designing, it is to the same specification.
> 
> Q. We did not get any design from the Russians or any plan...?
> 
> A. Not on this.
> 
> Q. Nothing? So you really had to work from scratch on this?
> 
> A. Basics are known from there you design, you build, but yes a few some materials had to be import it.
> 
> Q. Now on this particular launch on the eve of it we are talking, we are also carrying a fine satellite to be placed in the orbit. Is it an experimental satellite? What are the experiments that you are doing?
> 
> A. GSAT-4 which is flying on this GSLV-D3 is an advanced technology communication satellite. Advanced in the sense that for the first time we are seeing the use Ka- band transponders that is a regenerative payload. The second is a payload to augment the GPS system which is called GAGAN. And for the first time we are using in this new electric propulsion. So far we were using chemical propulsion for the station keeping of the satellite throughout its life. This time we have used electric propulsion.
> 
> Q. First time you are using that ...
> 
> A. Yes, which is a very efficient system.
> 
> Q. So this is largely an experimental launch?
> 
> A. True
> 
> Q. It is a landmark experiment. Should- if something goes wrong will you have very long faces or we can you live with that?
> 
> A. See the track record of ISRO is the resilience is very high. We always come back.
> 
> Q. Hopes are very high that everything will go right. You have done the best you can- both for the satellite and for the launch?
> Isromidpic.jpg
> 
> A. We do our best.
> 
> Q. Hope for the best?
> 
> A. Yes
> 
> Q. And work for the best?
> 
> A. Certainly
> Q. Dr. Radhakrishnan you explained to us the cryogenic engine, the G-SAT technology. Now let's come back to the technology denial and what implications are there for this particular launch in the world launcher market? Will this mark India's forceful entry into the world launcher market which is a several billion dollar affair?
> 
> A. India has a niche in the world launcher market for example; using our own PSLV we have already done two dedicated commercial launches. We are also launching on PSLV, some small satellites as co-passengers. This is already on. If we have GSLV, our first priority is to meet the national target. A small percentage could certainly be used for the international market. And that also gives you a benchmarking where you stand in terms of technology, competence, capability with respect to the rest of the agencies.
> 
> Q. Can you tell me more about our costs- are our costs comparable? Are we cheaper than other launchers in this class, are we more expensive, or do we hide the costs?
> 
> A. The independent study by an agency in the country showed that our costs were far less as compared to the other agencies. Coming to this GSLV the vehicle cost is 180 crores or about 175-180 crores. The satellite that is flying GSAT-4 cost about 150 crores. Now if you put such a satellite into the orbit, you would be paying anything- double. That is the kind of scenario on cost. Our engineering costs are far as compared to what many other players in the world.
> 
> Q. So if I understand what you are saying is, the Indian costs are half of what the international market is.
> 
> A. About..
> 
> Q. But you are not paying any insurance on this so that takes a huge chunk away. When you factor that in, what happens?
> 
> A. See for the Indian launchers we do not take insurance because again the Indian insurance company will be paying for that.
> 
> Q. But when you factor that in, what happens to the cost- benefit ratio?
> 
> A. No that will be, of course we are still...
> 
> Q. You are still above half of the cost?
> Isro3.jpg
> A. Half to 75 percent depending upon what we are comparing with.
> 
> Q. So other nations need to worry that India is on the verge of entering the global launcher market?
> 
> A. I won't say that. See, if you see the world launch market we have a niche of the smaller satellites- not for the heavier ones.
> 
> Q. You also have for the first time, I am told, both rocket pads occupied. And people say that you are a very hard task master. You have made ISRO work very hard. PSLV and GSLV will be launched within weeks of each other. Is it really the first time?
> 
> A. It is not that I am a hard task master- ISRO is a great team. It does its work with devotion, dedication, and we have today two launch vehicles sitting on the launch pads of Sriharikota. One is with the satellite, the other is in the final testing phase at Bangalore and we would get it soon- like couple of days. And this is the way we want to do in the rest of the year. We have ten satellites to be launched; we have eight launch vehicles getting ready for launch till March 2011.
> 
> Q. You say you are not a hard task master but you are a dancer- so are you making people dance to your tunes?
> 
> A. It is for them to say (smiles)
> 
> Q. It is for the ISRO community to say? But that is what some people say. Is that justified?
> 
> A. It might be true.
> 
> Q. Will you make them work harder?
> 
> A. They do work. I do not need to make them work.
> 
> Q. This GSLV for which you will have this landmark launch is also going to be used for inter-planetary missions. What is likely to happen on that front?
> 
> A. See when you talk about planetary missions, first and foremost for the moon- Chandrayaan-2 we are planning a satellite, the mass of which will be almost 80 per cent more than Chandrayaan-1. So we will not be able to use PSLV for that. We need to have GSLV which is the first requirement.
> 
> Q. You also have studies done on the Human Space Flight Programme. Now which of the launchers are you going to use for the human space flight programme?
> 
> A. Finally we will be looking at the GSLV mark III as the human rated vehicle for taking our Indians to the orbit. But there are several steps before that. We need to have unmanned flight testing of the crew module- that is the new one that is going to be worked upon. So our plans initially in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) we will test the crew module. That should happen in four year's time. Subsequently in the GSLV we will go through with the unmanned flight testing- that should happen in the next six years. And by the seventh year we should be there with our own human rated GSLV mark III, taking two Indians.
> 
> Q. We are sitting here on India's rocket port at Sriharikota. So when can exactly Indians hope to have an Indian in space from Indian soil, using an Indian rocket?
> 
> A. Seven years from now. We need the following: one we need to have the Human rated launch vehicle GSLV mark III. Second one, we need to have a mission control center, we need to have the launch complex with all the necessary modifications to handle the human being. We need to have the astronauts trained, and the new technology the crew model environmental control and support system and the flight suit on which work has started already. So seven years from now.
> 
> Q. `Now' means what? Because now is an ambiguous term.
> 
> A. Now means when the serious efforts on the project starts. As of now what we have is a pre-project study understanding what is human launch. Now we have a project report which gives the overall plan of the seven years. We are doing that in phases. The first phase that is to put the unmanned crew module; service module in the PSLV four years from now. We expect that the government will give us approval in a couple of months. We are at it.
> 
> Q. In a couple of months you hope to have the approval?
> 
> A. Yes.
> 
> Q. Shall we look forward to a 15th of August announcement?
> 
> A. Yes, even before that.
> 
> Q. Even before that?! That is fairly big news that you are giving then. We can hope to have the announcement of the human space flight programme extremely soon.
> 
> A. Yes we are optimistic, we work for that.
> 
> Q. The government is satisfied?
> 
> A. Yes we went through an exercise in the year 2009. The government had a team of very eminent experts looking at it from various angles- whether India needs to get it, whether India can do it, and if we do it, what are the benefits? And in that process are we compromising our societal focus. This has been done and the convincing answer is, yes we need to go ahead in this area that is put two Indians in an orbit around the Earth in the next 6-7 years.
> 
> Q. How much will it cost us?
> 
> A. This total programme is about 12,400 crore Indian rupees, the first phase of which would be a small one.
> 
> Q. 12,400 crore rupees is a lot of money?
> 
> A. Yes, 12,400 crore Indian rupees over seven years involve setting up of several facilities which are there for a long number of years. Launch pads, the mission control center, astronaut training center- these are all assets on the ground. What goes in the orbit will be about three to four thousand crores.
> 
> Q. Radhakrishnan sahib, we still have 400 million people in India living below the poverty line and you are hoping for the government to foot a 12 and a half crore rupee human space flight programme? Can you keep your hand on your heart and say this is the best expenditure that you can do?
> 
> A. Let me just recall, 46 years ago the country decided to get into the space programme. The same questions were asked at that time. The main focus was that we should use it for the common man. And today, after 46 years we see that we have given back to the common man and the country much-much more than what has been put into the space programme. This is the study by the independent agency. In terms of the direct benefits accruing from the remote sensing satellite, the communication satellites. So when this program is proved in the human space flight with the long term vision that we have, 30- 40 years from now, probably you could have a new source of energy. You will have several technologies which will be giving benefit to the other sectors in the economy. So these are things to be seen. We have a broad understanding of what are those areas which are important.
> 
> Q. So you are not playing with as they say 'toys for big boys'? You are asking for something which at the end of the day, the country would be happy having spent? Is that a fair assessment?
> 
> A. We are talking about something that is a logical step- a step that we can certainly do with our today's capability that will give us immense benefits- tangible, intangible and also strategic in the future. And we will be still having our front ranking position in the world comity in space. Today, if you take every other space portfolios, we are there. In space applications everyone says that India is a role model. In satellite launch vehicle technology, we are there in one of the six. In space science we are there- in planetary exploration we are there with Chandrayaan. Human space flight is one area we have not entered and this would take us there.
> Isro2.jpg
> Q. You found water on the moon, plus you have also helped in many places in India to find water for the poorest of the poor. In all this next.. looking away from the earth, human space flight- will you forget the Aam Aadmi?
> 
> A. This water on the ground- on the Earth is for the Aam admi. The farmer of the country is the beneficiary of the Indian space programme. The fisherman of the country is a beneficiary of the Indian space programme.
> 
> Q. So the Aam admi is on your horizon- you are not forgetting him.
> 
> A. Aam aadmi is our first priority. Whatever we do, whatever decision we take, our first touch stone is how does it benefit the aam aadmi today or tomorrow.
> 
> NDTV: Thanks a lot Dr. K. Radhakrishnan for speaking to us.


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## Trichy

Its the Final Countdown to Lunch our own Rocket with our Engine, go baby give us the proud, best wishes


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## Chanakyaa

Its a real Thriller Guys. Stick to Doorsarshan at 4:00 PM.

Yash.. you have really posted fantastic pics. I am so glad together with all of u.. that we Indians have achieved This.

Wow..Jai. Ho.

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## Kinetic

XiNiX said:


> Its a real Thriller Guys. Stick to Doorsarshan at 4:00 PM.
> 
> Yash.. you have really posted fantastic pics. I am so glad together with all of u.. that we Indians have achieved This.
> 
> Wow..Jai. Ho.



Desperately waiting for the moment. For many reasons I am 500&#37; sure it will be a success. I have seeing good signs from the morning.  Today is a good day. A new day for India's science and technology as well. Jai HIND.


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## Arjun MBT

Let the coutdown begin.....


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## Linkin park

Praying for a successful launch........


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## BJlaowai

Arjun MBT said:


> Let the coutdown begin.....



Already begun since yesterday


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## Justin Joseph

*ISRO to groom young turks*

BANGALORE: India space agency has set its sights on more giant leaps for mankind, but will start with some small steps. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), fresh from the success of its moon mission and water find on the lunar surface, will pass the mantle of leading all future missions including a trip to Mars to its young blood.

*Isro will groom a select group of 225 scientists in the 30-45 age category  young by space research standards  in all facets of leadership for shouldering missions such as a second unmanned moon trip, manned space exploration , and satellite launches, said chairman K Radhakrishnan. We will train them on political, social, strategic and economic perspectives, said Mr Radhakrishnan, who is also the secretary of the space department.*

*The so-called Isro Strategy Group is a pet project of Mr Radhakrishnan, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, who took charge as ISRO head last November.*

*All members of the elite group have been carefully chosen for their ability to manage multi-disciplinary operations and help the organisation interact with industry, said KR Sridhara Murthi, managing director of Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO.*

For ISRO, the move marks a turning point in its human resources management. Private tech companies have long snapped up engineering talent with better pay packages, hobbling the agencys recruitment plans. The agencys stringent hiring process hasnt helped either. Not anymore. ISRO has benefited from three developments, notably the moon mission Chandrayaan-I , said Mr Radhakrishnan.

Chandrayaan-I has drawn the younger generation into space, the government has decided to pay up to 40% rise in salary perks for scientists, and students increasingly think technology is a better bet than monotonous jobs, he said.

*ISRO is also reaping the benefits of an earlier move aimed at addressing the lack of talent. The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, established by the space department, is already training 433 students.*

*ISRO was accustomed to losing a tenth of its employees after induction and training. That number is down to zero, said Mr Radhakrishnan. In fact, people who have gone want to return, he said. The agency has nearly 17,000 employees, of which 11,000 are scientists and the rest administrative staff. The Strategy Group will be mentored by former ISRO scientist YS Rajan. The in-house training will have extensive courses from premier business schools such as IIMs. ISRO is also getting inputs from industries and academia.*

Through the programme, ISRO hopes to pave way for new talent to take on bigger responsibilities. The programme will aim to train young scientists in technical expertise as well as managing aspects such as the relationship with the government, foreign space agencies and Indian corporates, said ISRO director S Satish.

Experts have welcomed the idea. Prof Bharat Bhaskar, who worked as principal scientist at Nasas Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, said targeting youth to drive critical missions has been implemented with great success by Indian corporates such as the Tatas for the Nano car project and the Mahindras for the Scorpio SUV. 

ISRO to groom young turks-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## Justin Joseph

*Bandwidth to improve as GSat-4 heralds Ka band*

*The new Ka band that ISRO is heralding in the country on its latest satellite GSat-4 will improve the bandwidth for the Net user and also drive down the price noticeably.*

But not immediately. The customer has to wait for three more years to feel the effect of its real operation, according to Mr K.R. Sridhara Murthi, Managing Director of ISRO's commercial arm, Antrix Corporation. GSat-4 is an experimental satellite with a multi-beam Ka-band transponder.

The Ku band has got crowded and it is believed that Ka, which can support higher data transmission by at least two or three fold, will be preferred for non-broadcasting applications.

The biggest advantages of Ka band are the higher bandwidth it offers, a 20-30-cm antenna that is almost half the diameter of the present Ku band dishes; and transmission over small areas at higher power. The C-band antenna was 2 metres wide.

On the flip side, Ka transmission is vulnerable to outages during rain. One big issue with the Ka band for our country is attentuation or rain-fade, which is worse than with Ku band. Communication can be impaired during rain, Mr Murthi told Business Line. He was speaking ahead of the launch of the advanced communications satellite slated for Thursday evening from Sriharikota.

With Ka, the entire country can be covered much more efficiently in 20-50 spot beams instead of using one big beam. The same frequency can be re-used for different users without interference. You can use this more amenably for Internet broadband services. It may not be preferred for DTH or broadcasting which needs very big beams, Mr Murthi said. The multiple beams have been tried out with another experimental service, the Edusat.

Potential users are VSAT operators, rural Internet connectivity where cables will not go; for video conferencing and certain user groups.

Ka services may cost more in the beginning because of new equipment that the service provider has to install. But as with Ku band equipment, over time and number of sales, it can get cheaper than Ku. The price of terminals is ruling at $200-$300, which should not be a big constraint for operators, Mr Murthi said.

GLOBAL TREND

By 2013, ISRO plans to have a fully operational Ka-band satellite, the GSat-14. I'm sure Ka will click technologically. It is very much part of future technology. While you may enjoy new recipes, you also cherish the older ones. Ka, when it gets operational, will complement C and Ku bands that we have used so far.

Reports say the world is certainly moving towards Ka, and for new and lucrative applications. Of the 75-plus communications satellites going into service between now and 2014, some 30-35 will have Ka band transponders.

ISRO is building Hylas-1 with Ka transponders for UK operator Avanti. The other large Ka projects include Hylas-2, DirecTV, EutelSat Ka-Sat, Yahsat 1A and 1B; and ABS-2.

Meanwhile, Mr Murthi said, We have to measure the extent of fading. With C and Ku bands, the quality of service was 99.9 per cent. We don't know yet how good this would be for DTH operations. In the West, impaired communication has been managed with some technical solutions, he said.

The Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, which developed the payload, is also understood to be working on solutions for the industry on how to beat the rain fade problem.

The Hindu Business Line : Bandwidth to improve as GSat-4 heralds Ka band

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## sudhir007

the first launch of GSLV


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## sudhir007

Everyone talking about GSLV

ISRO to launch GSLV-D3 | Video | Reuters.com --- Video

India to launch first carrier rocket with indigenous cryogenic engine -- our friend china

Al Jazeera English - Focus - India rocket fires past sanctions -- also on Aljzzeera


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## White Dove

*Its the final countdown*


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## brahmastra

The Live Relay of the launch is on DD National starting from 16:00 Hrs IST

credit : SShridhar


----------



## BlackSonic

Just few more minutes.....


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## Manav

All news channel telecasting this event Live 
any way just 15 min left..


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## sarthak

hey guyz , since i dont live in india, i dont get doordarshan , can anyone post a a link that would provide live streaming of the launch?


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## Manav

sarthak said:


> hey guyz , since i dont live in india, i dont get doordarshan , can anyone post a a link that would provide live streaming of the launch?



hey sarthak search for *NDTV 24x7 Live Television*

i am new here so i am unable to post the link..


----------



## Roby

Watch here...


NDTV 24x7 Live Television


----------



## BJlaowai

perfect lift-off now


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## brahmastra

success! ?


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## BJlaowai

1st stage seperation normal.. text book launch tilll now 

---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:00 PM ----------

cant wait for the CUS to start


----------



## BJlaowai

cryo ignited


----------



## HitesH

Its 4:27 PM GSLV has just been ignited and launched


----------



## BJlaowai

something wrong


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## brahmastra

failed.?


----------



## HitesH

110 Sec passed and first stage is complete


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## HitesH

cryognic stage at work


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## Manav

man something went wrong. its deviating from its path.


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## HitesH

GSLV seems to be a bit deviated from the actual path

---------- Post added at 04:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 PM ----------

velocity 6Km ps


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## HitesH

no data recieved of the last 5 min of flight


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## sudhir007

That my 1000 post


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## HitesH

chairman about to comment somethinhg


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## sudhir007

Successful launch but after mind it will fail to give data. the rocket has span and it was confirm that this launch fail. But ISRO announce that it will test again with in one yr. 

NDTV 24x7 Live Television


----------



## jha

wats the latest update..??


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## holysaturn

GSLV deviates from its path.payload not delivered but cryogenic engine works well........from wat i hear from CNN-IBN.


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## HitesH

cryo state achieved: Chairman
Two burnier stages could not be started:Chairman
GSLV was not a upto expectations, another cryo project will be initiated within a year from now: Chairman


----------



## Zebronic

not successful,diverted from path...


----------



## HitesH

data recieved only for the first 8 min of flight


----------



## sarthak

just getting the reports , it failed


----------



## HitesH

cheeru up guys , it happens 
it wasent a faliure though, just not 100&#37; success


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## holysaturn

test fails....problem with 3rd stage(which contains cryo stage)......next GSLV flight early next year.


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## Zebronic

Failure is part of live..no need to be disappointed mission will be relaunch after one year


----------



## Chill Bihari

Hurray guys Isro just found out a new way that does'nt work.


----------



## Zebronic

dude there is problem in ignition in third stage..


----------



## HitesH

now get ready from getting commented from the other side

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## sudhir007

Total 800 second fight. data lost after 500 second. it is the 3rd stage whr cry. engine fitted.


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## Zebronic

HitesH said:


> now get ready from getting commented from the other side



 O common Hitesh let them comment year.....so let cross our fingers and wait for next years launch..


----------



## dekho

cryogenic propulsion system is a sophisticated technology.
to top that it was the first flight of the indian cryogenic booster.
100&#37; success could not be guaranteed but at least it functioned.
It was not the first faliure of ISRO niether it would be the last. faliures are part of Space Technology.
Let's hope our scientists gathered all the neccessary information regarding the fault.

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## HitesH

well if its a faliure then what about the satellite its carrying, will it be brought back??


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## HitesH

i mean if its a faluire then where the hell the rocket is heading anyway with the whole lot of stuff its carrying??


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## holysaturn

flight as per schedule for 505 seconds....cheer up guys isro will bw back with a bang in a year.......but it was hard to see the faces of the scientists after the test...........then the nation is with them...

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## Zebronic

sat is lost in space HitesH.how they will get it back,thats not possible..


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## holysaturn

HitesH said:


> i mean if its a faluire then where the hell the rocket is heading anyway with the whole lot of stuff its carrying??



GSLV not transmitting altitude and speed.


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## HitesH

Zebronic said:


> O common Hitesh let them comment year.....so let cross our fingers and wait for next years launch..



sure.......


----------



## sudhir007

cheer-up guys it is not 100&#37; failure. it will colaps after 500sec. from the 800sec. flight path. it will 70% success. next time we will daintily get 100% sucess.

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## Zebronic

Indigenous cryogenic engine underperforms
Rocket deviates from path
ISRO chairman: Control ability lost
ISRO: Rocket spun out of control
ISRO: Cryogenic engine may have ignited
Another attempt next year: ISRO chief
GSLV-D3 mission cost Rs 330 crore
source:NDTV


----------



## HitesH

boy..... disappointments yaar..........shouldnt have happened.........waited desperately


----------



## hardcore

the rocket launch was successful
the main cryogenic engine ignited but the two other engines used for flight control failed
# Indigenous cryogenic engine underperforms
# Rocket deviates from path
# ISRO chairman: Control ability lost
# ISRO: Rocket spun out of control
chairman says rocket will be re-launched next year


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## HitesH

1992 USA and USSR refused to give cry tech to india
it was the hard work of 18 yrs since then


----------



## Zebronic

HitesH said:


> boy..... disappointments yaar..........shouldnt have happened.........waited desperately



dude no need to be disappointed...remember when isro launch Pslv first time it too was a not successful and now we are sending multiple satellite through pslv.. no wary...cheer..


----------



## Prayag

What a sad fuckin moment,


----------



## shekhar

now our neighbor will show interest in this thread
anyways hope for the best , prepare for the worst


----------



## Zebronic

today from morning we are getting bad news yaar...


----------



## S.U.R.B.

People are saying that the vernier thrusters that add control stability to the assembly didn't perform, causing the upper stage to tumble out of control out in the space.
the cryo engine might be confused were to go Pakistan ,mars ,moon,China.


----------



## Prayag

Zebronic said:


> today from morning we are getting bad news yaar...



And yes right the day has been very bad. I had taken a leave today.


----------



## HitesH

Prayag said:


> What a sad fuckin moment,



i dont know why but this statement seemed extremely very hilarious to me


----------



## HitesH

shekhar said:


> now our neighbor will show interest in this thread
> anyways hope for the best , prepare for the worst



like i said be prepared
the first blow is about to come


----------



## Prayag

HitesH said:


> i dont know why but this statement seemed extremely very hilarious to me



I guess you do not understand the prospects of Todays launch.


----------



## Zebronic

Bangalore: Indias effort at joining the elite club of space faring nations with indigenous cryogenic fuel technology hit a roadblock on Thursday as the geo-synchornous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) carrying the geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT-4) deviated from its path. 

The rocket was launched at its scheduled time of at 16.27 IST from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan informed those present at the location that though the cryogenic engine ignited, the other two linear, control rockets failed to work up the ignition. 



As a result, the controllability to steer the rocket on its path was lost at an altitude of 60kms. He said Indian scientists had worked hard for the past 18 years and that they would go for another launch within a year. 

The launch was normal till the second stage when after 500 seconds, the rocket tumbled off its path and data link to it was also lost. He said detailed analysis would be carried out to determine what caused the deviation from flight and why the systems did not work at time. 

"Mission objectives were not fully met," he declared.

The crucial launch exercise was about 19-20 minutes, with the first stage taking 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) to lift-off and soar into the sky. The second stage was fired for 290 seconds (4.8 minutes) to zoom further and shut off to fire the cryo stage to enter the higher earth orbit in the next 12 minutes. It is this stage that didnt go as planned. 

Only five countries - United States, Russia, France, Japan and China - have the cryogenic engine upper stage technology to launch heavier satellites in geostationary orbit. 

India is the sixth country to design and develop the cryogenic technology. 

When the US prevented Russia from transferring its cryogenic technology to India in 1992, the state-run ISRO embarked on a mission in 1994 to design and develop the cryo engine for achieving self-reliance in such complex technology at a cost of Rs 335-crore (Rs.3.35 billion) in 16 years. "The technology denial regime has spurred us to develop our own cryogenic upper stage to launching heavier satellites in the higher orbits, about 36,000 km from the earth," Radhakrishnan earlier told reporters here recently. 

India, however, had imported seven cryo engines from Russia but used five to launch heavy satellites (above two-tonne class) in GSLV-Mark I and Mark-II rockets during the last decade. 

The Rs 150-crore GSAT-4 has one Ka-band regenerative transponder and a navigation payload that will operate in C-band and L1 and L5 bands for global positioning system (GPS) aided geo augmented navigation (Gagan). 

Being an experimental mission and wholly funded by the Indian government, there is no insurance cover for the launch as well as the satellite. 

"As a technology demonstrator, GSAT-4 will enable testing of many future communication satellite technologies. After reaching GTO, the satellite will use its own propulsion system to reach its geostationary orbital home and will be stationed at 82 degrees east longitude there," Radhakrishnan noted. 

Besides the cryogenic engine, the GSAT-4 has advanced telemetry system and advanced mission computers and larger composite payload faring. 

The advanced version of the GSLV is a three-stage rocket with solid, liquid and cryogenic stages. The solid core motor of the first stage is one of the largest rocket motors in the world and uses 138 tonnes of propellant (fuel-oxidiser). 


link


----------



## HitesH

Prayag said:


> I guess you do not understand the prospects of Todays launch.



i do , but what else u expect me to do...........cry at the lost that just happened , or try to forget the past by remembering some happy moments in order to come up with something better in future


----------



## Prayag

shekhar said:


> now our neighbor will show interest in this thread
> anyways hope for the best , prepare for the worst



We should least care about the barking of damn eternal losers. What I feel is that even after so much of micro-reviews, it should have been successful.


----------



## S.U.R.B.

REST IN PEACE**


----------



## Zebronic

S.U.R.B. said:


> REST IN PEACE**




Enjoying haaaa good good enjoy enjoy......


----------



## Mirza Jatt

There is nothig to be dissapointed guys...this failure has now made this sure that *India will definitely launch it* cause this has now become a matter of prestige for the ISRO. Infact we dont even have to wait fora year now.

Even God would have rested after 29 continuous successful launches..we should be taking it as a first step toward sucess...


----------



## Abi

That is pretty terrible, hopefully you will join the club next year after a successful launch.


----------



## sivadreams

hmmm i was waiting for GAGAN badly  Cryo or no cryo ... there are alternatives always, but a bit costly ones. The GSAT-4 was technologically advanced in many aspects and was a technology demonstrator in many sense. I was expecting our airspace being more optimized with this launch.


----------



## imran iqbal

Abi said:


> That is pretty terrible, hopefully you will join the club next year after a successful launch.



And you know what US stopped Russia to transfer cryogenic engine tech to India back in 1990's, yeah same country that you refer to as our masters.

But good thing is we are developing our indigenous one now. Those telemetry data will be useful to correct future designs.

Good luck India and ISRO

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## HitesH

Look the war has started


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## jha

once this thing starts working we wont have to look towards any other country for our SATs..i cant believe russia did not give us the tech..well good for them..


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## gogbot

jha said:


> once this thing starts working we wont have to look towards any other country for our SATs..i cant believe russia did not give us the tech..well good for them..



The rocket is a technicality , they will fix it it and send it back,

I am more concerned about the GSAT satellite , how soon can it be replaced.


----------



## sirius4u

gogbot said:


> The rocket is a technicality , they will fix it it and send it back,
> 
> I am more concerned about the GSAT satellite , how soon can it be replaced.



well developing takes time. not re-manufacturing it. they have assured to launch it in a year's time...


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## HitesH

wat abou the satellite and other stuff the reocket was carrying???
has it been lost forever in the space???


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## Choppers

&#8220;*GSLV-D3 failure won't affect Chandrayaan-2&#8221;​*
T.S. Subramanian

We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year, says ISRO chief Radhakrishnan
No plans to recover GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal: ISRO chief

Cryogenic technology is the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion: Ramakrishnan

SRIHARIKOTA: The failure of the GSLV-D3 mission on Thursday will not have an impact on the Chandrayaan-2 mission scheduled for 2013, according to K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The GSLV-D3, which was launched amidst high hopes, having been powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time, ended in failure after the cryogenic engine failed to ignite. As per the ISRO's plans, it is a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will also put a lander-cum-rover on the lunar soil.

The GSLV-D3 mission had three objectives: to develop and launch an indigenous cryogenic stage with the engine and associated systems; to evaluate the performance of the indigenous cryogenic stage and engine; and to put the communication satellite GSAT-4 into orbit. Only the first objective was achieved, the ISRO Chairman said.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the cryogenic technology was the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion. France and the U.S. had also met with failures in using cryogenic engines. &#8220;Failures in cryogenic technology are not unusual. It is difficult to test the cryogenic engine even on the ground. We are disappointed. But we will overcome [the problems],&#8221; said Mr. Ramakrishnan

The GSLV-D3 rocket, including the indigenous cryogenic stage, cost Rs.180 crore. The ISRO spent Rs.36 crore to develop its own cryogenic stage with the engine. GSAT-4 cost Rs.130 crore.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the cryogenic technology, which enabled communication satellites to be put into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, was a highly complex technology. The GSLV-D3 mission was not successful and &#8220;we have to face it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year [by launching GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine] &#8230; We have to work with dedication and I am sure Team ISRO will do it.&#8221; He refuted suggestions that there was a problem with the design of the GSLV because three out of the six GSLV missions from 2001 had failed.

*GSLV-D3 is the sixth GSLV mission.*

Dr. Radhakrishnan said there were no plans to recover the GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal as the ISRO did when its GSLV flight failed in 2006.

*Next flight*

The next GSLV flight would take place in September this year but it would use a Russian cryogenic engine. It would put into the orbit a communication satellite named GSAT-5B. Another GSLV flight, also powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, would put GSAT-6 into the orbit.

*PSLV launch*

Meanwhile, a core-alone Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the ISRO is scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at Sriharikota between May 8 and 10. It has already been fully integrated at the first launch pad. It will put Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two nano satellites from the Norwegian defence establishment and Switzerland, and a Studsat into the orbit.

The Studsat has been built by students of colleges in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The Hindu : Front Page : &#8220;GSLV-D3 failure won't affect Chandrayaan-2&#8221;

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## Prowler

All the best to ISRO for the next launch of GSLV D3


----------



## dekho

HitesH said:


> wat abou the satellite and other stuff the reocket was carrying???
> has it been lost forever in the space???



The rocket could not make it to the space.
It splashed into the Bay of Bengal according to the news reports.


----------



## bumbgola

Indigenous engines bring down GSLV - India - The Times of India

Indigenous engines bring down GSLV

SRIHARIKOTA: In a setback to India's space programme, GSLV D-3, the satellite launch vehicle showcasing its indigenous cryogenic technology, trailed off its designated course and went out of control shortly after lift-off from the spaceport on Thursday. The rocket, along with its two payloads -- satellites GSAT-4 and GAGAN -- crashed into the Bay of Bengal 293 seconds after launch.

The launch was key to India's space programme as it would have become the sixth nation to successfully deploy the cryogenic technology, joining US, Russia, Japan, China and France. The earlier five versions of the GSLV had Russia-supplied cryogenic engine. India's cryogenic upper stage (CUS) engine was meant to replace the Russian engines.

It took scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) around 17 years to develop cryogenic motors after its bid to import the technology from Russia in 1992 failed because of opposition from the US. The project to develop the indigenous cryogenic engine was approved in 1993. The powerful booster technology using supercooled liquid fuel is designed to put heavier satellites into high orbits, about 36,000 kilometres from earth.
This was also the second time in six launches that a GSLV mission has failed.

For Dr K Radhakrishnan, it was not the kind of `Vishu' (Malayali new year) he would have wished on his maiden launch as the head of the space organisation. However, putting up a brave face, Radhakrishnan said the launch would take place again within a year, when the space agency will rectify the mistakes.

"The mission objectives are not met fully. During the flight, everything was fine till the end of the second stage at around 293 seconds. The cryogenic stage is supposed to fire almost half the velocity to give the thrust to inject the satellite in its geostationary arch. We are not sure if the engine ignited," he said. Isro received no communication from the vehicle.

"We have to look at various parameters during the flight. The vehicle was tumbling, lost its control and altitude and finally splashed into the sea," Radhakrishnan told reporters. "In the cryogenic stage, the main engine and the two vernier engines need to ignite. We are not sure whether the main engine ignited," he added.

The Isro team will now look at the telemetry data and try to figure what went wrong. "We will carry out analysis and it will take two to three days to come to a conclusion as to what happened and what are the corrective measures to be taken. The team has all the capabilities and resilience to do the analysis and our target is one year... to do all corrections and have the next flight test," Radhakrishnan said as he turned up as the lone warrior to meet the press while his mission director, project director and other support staff toiled over details of what went wrong.

While the development of an indigenous cryogenic engine would make India self-reliant, it would also bring in tremendous cost advantage to Isro. "Today we are able to realize a cryogenic engine for Rs 36 crore. It would have cost about $18-$20 million for a Russian engine," the chairman said.

Isro has planned 11 launches of the GSLV in the coming years. The next GSLV launch carrying the GSAT-5P, a communication satellite, will soar sometime in September. Isro bought seven cryogenic engines from Russia and has used five of them. It plans to use the remaining two engines for its upcoming GSLV launches, he said.

Asked if Isro was confident of launching the second moon mission, Chandrayaan-II, on time on the GSLV, he said: "If India managed to have its own successful cryogenic engine and the stage tested, we should not have any reasons for a delay on that account."

Isro will also put into orbit the Cartosat-2 and an Algerian satellite, two Canadian satellite and an Indian-built eco-satellite, on its workhorse vehicle, the PSLV, in the first or second week of May.

GSLV Rises, And Falls
4.27:00pm: GSLV-D3 soars into sky from Sriharikota spaceport at the end of 29-hr countdown
4.29:31: First stage separates
4.29:33: Stage two ignites
4.30:48: Heatshield separates
4.31:53: Isro loses contact with launch vehicle as it veers off course
4.32:04: Presumed ignition of cryogenic engine

What Went Wrong

* Failure still being analysed but possibly the two steering engines, which control the rocket's path, may not have ignited in the cryogenic stage

* ISRO chief not sure if main cryogenic engine ignited

Second Failure

* Out of six launches, this is the second time GSLV has failed

* This was first launch using indigenously made cryogenic engine


----------



## gogbot

I have had enough of ToI , those guys lack perspective


----------



## gogbot

Choppers said:


> *GSLV-D3 failure won't affect Chandrayaan-2​*
> T.S. Subramanian
> 
> We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year, says ISRO chief Radhakrishnan
> No plans to recover GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal: ISRO chief
> 
> Cryogenic technology is the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion: Ramakrishnan
> 
> SRIHARIKOTA: The failure of the GSLV-D3 mission on Thursday will not have an impact on the Chandrayaan-2 mission scheduled for 2013, according to K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
> 
> The GSLV-D3, which was launched amidst high hopes, having been powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time, ended in failure after the cryogenic engine failed to ignite. As per the ISRO's plans, it is a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will also put a lander-cum-rover on the lunar soil.
> 
> The GSLV-D3 mission had three objectives: to develop and launch an indigenous cryogenic stage with the engine and associated systems; to evaluate the performance of the indigenous cryogenic stage and engine; and to put the communication satellite GSAT-4 into orbit. Only the first objective was achieved, the ISRO Chairman said.
> 
> S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the cryogenic technology was the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion. France and the U.S. had also met with failures in using cryogenic engines. Failures in cryogenic technology are not unusual. It is difficult to test the cryogenic engine even on the ground. We are disappointed. But we will overcome [the problems], said Mr. Ramakrishnan
> 
> The GSLV-D3 rocket, including the indigenous cryogenic stage, cost Rs.180 crore. The ISRO spent Rs.36 crore to develop its own cryogenic stage with the engine. GSAT-4 cost Rs.130 crore.
> 
> Dr. Radhakrishnan said the cryogenic technology, which enabled communication satellites to be put into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, was a highly complex technology. The GSLV-D3 mission was not successful and we have to face it, he said. We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year [by launching GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine]  We have to work with dedication and I am sure Team ISRO will do it. He refuted suggestions that there was a problem with the design of the GSLV because three out of the six GSLV missions from 2001 had failed.
> 
> *GSLV-D3 is the sixth GSLV mission.*
> 
> Dr. Radhakrishnan said there were no plans to recover the GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal as the ISRO did when its GSLV flight failed in 2006.
> 
> *Next flight*
> 
> The next GSLV flight would take place in September this year but it would use a Russian cryogenic engine. It would put into the orbit a communication satellite named GSAT-5B. Another GSLV flight, also powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, would put GSAT-6 into the orbit.
> 
> *PSLV launch*
> 
> Meanwhile, a core-alone Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the ISRO is scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at Sriharikota between May 8 and 10. It has already been fully integrated at the first launch pad. It will put Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two nano satellites from the Norwegian defence establishment and Switzerland, and a Studsat into the orbit.
> 
> The Studsat has been built by students of colleges in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
> 
> The Hindu : Front Page : GSLV-D3 failure won't affect Chandrayaan-2



This is good to hear. 

Hopefully This means the setback of the recent launch can be minimised.


----------



## Choppers

*IBSA to develop satellites, cooperate on global issues*
Brasilia, Apr 16 (PTI):



*India, Brazil and South Africa have decided to jointly develop two satellites and forged closer cooperation on global issues like UN reforms, climate change and world trade talks.*

This emerged after the fourth India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit here.
The two satellites will be used for studying climate to help agriculture sector in the three countries.

Speaking to media after the summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that IBSA besides the embodiment of south-south cooperation had entered the phase of consolidation and implementation of initiatives.

He said IBSA has immense prospects for the people of the three countries and the right direction was being provided to it by strengthening cooperation in science and technology, energy, ocean's research, which were the hallmark of the forum.

"OBS has developed into a vibrant organisation which will play important role in world affairs," Singh said at the joint media interaction with Brazilian President Lula da Silva and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Singh said the three developing economies and democracies shared similar views with regard to reform of global institutions of governance like the UN.

Zuma said that IBSA has a natural dialogue forum and he has great confidence in its future. He said the decision to develop the satellite jointly was symbolic of the fact that the forum has entered a new phase.

He pointed out that the member countries had common positions on the Doha round of WTO talks. He pressed for early conclusions of the Doha round of trade talks saying it can't be put indefinitely.

Zuma said the IBSA was rapidly emerging as an important forum for engagement. "But we are yet to fully explore the full potential of this forum," he said.

The South African president, whose country will host the next IBSA summit, said there was an opportunity for expanding cooperation in science and technology and reinforcing shared developmental objectives.

Noting that all the three IBSA countries were influential in their own regions, Zuma said, "We are in a position to make contributions to a global debate. This became clear at the Copenhagen Summit on climate change when IBSA and China played a key role in reaching an agreement."

He said the four countries were able to reflect the interest of developing nations at the climate meet.

He said the IBSA countries were key for reform of global bodies like UN to make them more democratic and more responsive to the poor.

Zuma said the three countries needed more coordination on climate change to ensure legally binding agreement on the issue in the next summit in Mexico next year.

"By working together we can build a better world and bring better future," Zuma said.


----------



## ouiouiouiouiouioui

indian rocket farted in the space


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## DMLA

ouiouiouiouiouioui said:


> indian rocket farted in the space



France is the largest contributor to the ESA right!?

Did first Ariane 5 succeed (V-89)? answer- no
The second launch saw an issue with the Cryo engine which failed!

So I would kindly recommend you to go and fart somewhere else.


----------



## PEACEMAKER2010

ISRO to launch Cartosat-2B on May 9 - India - The Times of India

BANGALORE: Undeterred by the GSLV-D3 mission failure, India is going ahead with the launch of an advanced remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B, now tentatively fixed for May 9 from Sriharikota spaceport.

The high-resolution spacecraft, designed for an operational life of five years, is slated to be launched from the first launchpad on May 9 around 10 am, ISRO spokesperson S Satish told said here on Friday.

Thursday's GSLV-D3 mission to flight-test the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage for the first time ended in failure after the rocket veered off course and plunged into the sea.

GSLV and PSLV missions are independent of each other. ISRO officials said there is no change in its earlier announced plans to launch PSLV in the first half of May -- now fixed for May nine.

"It (Cartosat-2B) will give pictures of 0.8 metre resolution," ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has said. In simple terms, the single panchromatic camera on board this cartographic satellite would be able to identify and take pictures of a moving car.

Thus, this highly-agile satellite, weighing around 690 kg, is expected to give a boost to the tasks of infrastructure and urban planning. The camera provides scene specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications.

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## PEACEMAKER2010

ISROS answer to all the critics


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## xman

All The Best!!!


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## DesiGuy

First launch and than make news out of it.

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## genetic_nomad

DesiGuy said:


> First launch and than make news out of it.



x2..all the best to the boys


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## DesiGuy

genetic_nomad said:


> x2..all the best to the boys


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## zeus

DesiGuy said:


> First launch and than make news out of it.



its a plsv launch which is a workhorse of isro , it is carrying all tested components which have been successful in past unlike gslv which was carrying a new engine

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## Roby

DesiGuy said:


> First launch and than make news out of it.



Ditto..ISRO or whatever,first launch and then talk..

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## sudhir007

Rock-on ISRO
One failure can not stop ISRO. Best of luck


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## genetic_nomad

DesiGuy said:


>



what happened dude?


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## yashchauhan

ouiouiouiouiouioui said:


> indian rocket farted in the space



monsier.......eat your anus up!


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## Kinetic

ISRO will do it. Failure is the pillar of success. Every country went through this. Now also advanced space faring countries have so much problems and failures. *If I am not mistaken India has the second highest resolution optical satellites after Israel out side EU and America.*


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## Prometheus

best of luck ISRO............dont mess up the things


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## DesiGuy

genetic_nomad said:


> what happened dude?






why did you quote my post and said "x2..all the best to the boys "??


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## Choppers

*STUDSAT- ISRO's next venture by students*

April 17, 2010 

After the disappointing failure of its recent space venture, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is now planning to launch a satellite in May this year that for the first time will solely be developed by students and would cost around Rs.55 lakh.

The satellite has been developed by a team of students from around seven engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad. It will be used to capture high-resolution images from space that will be made available to students.

The satellite named STUDSAT will be put in the Low Earth Orbit around 680 kilometers above the earth by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The satellite has a volume of just 1.1 litres and weighs just one kilogram.

Source from ISRO has reported that the satellite is in the Pico category and would be attached on the back of the PSLV along with three other satellites.

The STUDSAT has a built in camera to produce high-resolution photographic data for the purpose of remote sensing applications and vegetation studies for six months. This data would be commercially sold and would be inaccessible for students but will be given free to students to conduct research such as land mapping.

STUDSAT- ISRO's next venture by students, Science News - By Indiaedunews.net


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## KS

ouiouiouiouiouioui said:


> indian rocket farted in the space



now please dont do your *brain fart* here.....


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## faithfulguy

DesiGuy said:


> First launch and than make news out of it.


 
Common. what would be the fun of this forum if this is the case. This site would half 1/10th of the traffic and might even not be able to survive if anything happened in India was not announced with a fanfare and a parade.

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## nakodo

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Learning from failure

Opinion - Editorials Printer Friendly Page Send this Article to a Friend

Learning from failure

It is almost a rite of passage that an Indian launch vehicle runs into trouble in its first flight. The country's very first attempt to launch a satellite failed in August 1979 when the SLV-3 rocket went out of control and ended up in the Bay of Bengal. A year later, those problems were sorted out and the rocket put a 35-kg Rohini satellite into orbit. The Indian Space Research Organisation had to cope with two successive failures with the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) before its third flight in 1992 went smoothly. In 1993, a series of technical shortcomings coalesced and the first flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) ended in failure. Those issues were swiftly resolved and the PSLV has become known for its ability to carry out a wide range of missions with rugged reliability. The first launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) nine years ago, using a Russian-made cryogenic upper stage, was, to some extent, the exception. Although the GSAT-1 satellite was put into orbit, a small under-performance of the cryogenic stage meant that it was not the planned orbit. Attempts to move the satellite using its own thrusters were not successful and the satellite was ultimately abandoned.

Despite such a history, the failure of Thursday's GSLV launch with the country's first indigenous cryogenic engine and stage came as a bolt from the blue. The engine and later the full stage have gone through extensive testing on the ground in the course of their development. Moreover, the actual engine that flew on the GSLV was test-fired on the ground for 200 seconds. Exhaustive reviews by experts of the cryogenic stage and the rocket were completed before the GSLV was cleared for launch. After the unsuccessful flight, the ISRO chairman, K. Radhakrishnan, initially suggested that two small cryogenic steering engines, which swivel to maintain the rocket's orientation, might have malfunctioned. Later, however, he indicated that the main cryogenic engine itself might not have ignited. In such a complex system as the cryogenic stage, even a small defect that escapes attention is sufficient to doom the flight. But the space agency would be unwise to confine its analysis to problems encountered with the indigenous cryogenic stage. This is an opportunity for a thorough examination of the entire GSLV rocket and its past five flights. There have, for instance, been problems with the Vikas liquid-propellant engine in previous flights. The procedures for the manufacture, assembly, and pre-flight testing of all liquid propellant engines and stages need particular attention. A comprehensive review would best ensure the future reliability of the GSLV.


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## indopak5

faithfulguy said:


> Common. what would be the fun of this forum if this is the case. This site would half 1/10th of the traffic and might even not be able to survive if anything happened in India was not announced with a fanfare and a parade.



yeah you are right. we enjoy everything in india even our failures. BTW why this giving heat to you?


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## Bang Galore

DesiGuy said:


> First launch and than make news out of it.





Roby said:


> Ditto..ISRO or whatever,first launch and then talk..



Actually guys, this launch is very different from the GSLV launch which was trying out something new. Cartosat-2B is being launched using the PSLV which has had 15 successful launches continuously.

*See below:*

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle,usually known by its abbreviation PSLV is the first operational launch vehicle of ISRO. PSLV is capable of launching 1600 kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1050 kg satellite in geo-synchronous transfer orbit. In the standard configuration, it measures 44.4 m tall, with a lift off weight of 295 tonnes. PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carries 139 tonnes of propellant. A cluster of six strap-ons attached to the first stage motor, four of which are ignited on the ground and two are air-lit.

The reliability rate of PSLV has been superb. There had been 15 continuously successful flights of PSLV, till September 2009. With its variant configurations, PSLV has proved its multi-payload, multi-mission capability in a single launch and its geosynchronous launch capability. In the recent Chandrayaan-mission, another variant of PSLV with an extended version of strap-on motors, PSOM-XL, the payload haul was enhanced to 1750 kg in 620 km SSPO. PSLV has rightfully earned the status of workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO.
Typical Parameters of PSLV
Lift-off weight 295 tonne
Pay Load 1600 kg in to 620 km Polar Orbit,
1060 kg in to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Height 44 metre

*PSLV Milestones
PSLV-C14 l*aunched Oceansat - 2 and Six Nanosatellites on September 23, 2009 (Successful)
PSLV-C12 launched RISAT-2 and ANUSAT on April 20, 2009 (Successfully)
PSLV-C11 launched CHANDRAYAAN-I, on October 22, 2008 (Successful)
PSLV-C9 launched CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1 and Eight nano-satellites on April 28, 2008 (Successful)
PSLV-C10 launched TECSAR on January 23, 2008 (Successful)
PSLV-C8 launched AGILE on April 23, 2007 (Successful)
PSLV-C7 launched CARTOSAT-2, SRE-1, LAPAN-TUBSAT and PEHUENSAT-1 on January 10, 2007 (Successful)
PSLV-C6 launched CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT on May 5, 2005 (Successful)
PSLV-C5 launched RESOURCESAT-1(IRS-P6) on October 17, 2003 (Successful)
PSLV-C4 launched KALPANA-1(METSAT) on September 12, 2002 (Successful)
PSLV-C3 launched TES on October 22, 2001 (Successful)
PSLV-C2 launched OCEANSAT(IRS-P4), KITSAT-3 and DLR-TUBSAT on May 26, 1999 (Successful)
PSLV-C1 launched IRS-1D on September 29, 1997 (Successful)
PSLV-D3 launched IRS-P3 on March 21, 1996 (Successful)
PSLV-D2 launched IRS-P2 on October 15, 1994 (Successful)
*PSLV-D1 launched IRS-1E on September 20, 1993 (Unsuccessful).*

Welcome To ISRO :: Launch Vehicles :: PSLV

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## Dark Angel

Choppers said:


> *STUDSAT- ISRO's next venture by students*
> 
> April 17, 2010
> 
> After the disappointing failure of its recent space venture, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is now planning to launch a satellite in May this year that for the first time will solely be developed by students and would cost around Rs.55 lakh.
> 
> The satellite has been developed by a team of students from around seven engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad. It will be used to capture high-resolution images from space that will be made available to students.
> 
> The satellite named STUDSAT will be put in the Low Earth Orbit around 680 kilometers above the earth by ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The satellite has a volume of just 1.1 litres and weighs just one kilogram.
> 
> Source from ISRO has reported that the satellite is in the Pico category and would be attached on the back of the PSLV along with three other satellites.
> 
> The STUDSAT has a built in camera to produce high-resolution photographic data for the purpose of remote sensing applications and vegetation studies for six months. This data would be commercially sold and would be inaccessible for students but will be given free to students to conduct research such as land mapping.
> 
> STUDSAT- ISRO's next venture by students, Science News - By Indiaedunews.net






Man great to see ISRO helping students not that it hasent done this in the past but is really great to see such a giant and successful org to help a bunch of students great

Jai ho


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## liteon

Kinetic said:


> ISRO will do it. Failure is the pillar of success. Every country went through this. Now also advanced space faring countries have so much problems and failures. *If I am not mistaken India has the second highest resolution optical satellites after Israel out side EU and America.*



bs. there're a lot of optical satellites out there with high resolution but they don't advertise about em..japan, korea, china, russia. japan and korea has very advanced optical & electronics tech..

also resolution don't mean ****. it's the quality of the lens and image sensor that counts as can be seen in a point shoot camera vs. DSLR camera....15 megapixel point shoot looks crappier than a 3 megapixel DSLR when digital zoom to the same 15 megapixel..


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## jbond197

liteon said:


> bs. there're a lot of optical satellites out there with high resolution but they don't advertise about em..japan, korea, china, russia. japan and korea has very advanced optical & electronics tech..
> 
> also resolution don't mean ****. it's the quality of the lens and image sensor that counts as can be seen in a point shoot camera vs. DSLR camera....15 megapixel point shoot looks crappier than a 3 megapixel DSLR when digital zoom to the same 15 megapixel..



Please provide some credible links to prove your point and enlighten us...


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## liteon

jbond197 said:


> Please provide some credible links to prove your point and enlighten us...



anyone owned a DSLR and a point shoot knows the differences in picture quality and that the advertised resolution on paper don't mean ****..

an optical satellites camera still follows the same basic concept as your hand-held camera. nothing new. it's just big heavily mod to survive an shoot from space. still needs high quality lenses and advanced image sensors for superb quality image.

all those countries never disclose info about their spy sats, so claiming india is better is bs when 2 of those countries are amongst the best in the world in optical and electronics...


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## shekhar

liteon said:


> anyone owned a DSLR and a point shoot knows the differences in picture quality and that the advertised resolution on paper don't mean ****..
> 
> an optical satellites camera still follows the same basic concept as your hand-held camera. nothing new. it's just big heavily mod to survive an shoot from space. still needs high quality lenses and advanced image sensors for superb quality image.
> 
> all those countries never disclose info about their spy sats, so claiming india is better is bs when 2 of those countries are amongst the best in the world in optical and electronics...



thats the reason for the sorry state of pak space department
u ppl compare digital cameras with satellite


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## liteon

i am talking about lens quality, image sensor chip, and many others that make a good camera, not an advertised resolution blabla on paper..i've seen an indian high res images taken by their other sats on bharat..images are so blurry when zoom in pics pixelated like craphola.....so whatever you believe..lol


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## DMLA

liteon said:


> i am talking about lens quality, image sensor chip, and many others that make a good camera, not an advertised resolution blabla on paper..i've seen an indian high res images taken by their other sats on bharat..images are so blurry when zoom in pics pixelated like craphola.....so whatever you believe..lol



Where did you see these images? AFAIK, ISRO does not release images at highest resolution for general public! The images put up on their website are of 1/100th to 1/1000th resolution.


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## Justin Joseph

*GSLV mission: Scientists say cryogenic engine had ignited*

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A team of Indian space scientists has established that the indigenously built cryogenic engine had ignited for a second during the failed GSLV mission Thursday.

*"This took place for a second and then the fuel supply to power turbo got blocked. The (Indian Space Research Organisation) chairman and we knew this on Thursday but then we wanted to be doubly sure about it. And now this has been substantiated with the data. By all means this is a great achievement," said a senior scientist who did not wish to be identified.*

Speaking to IANS, senior space scientists said they have with them records to prove that compression had taken place and the cryogenic engine had ignited.

The GSLV D3 blasted off with a GSAT 4 satellite around 5 p.m. Thursday from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh but then stopped emitting signals within minutes.

A high-level meeting began here Saturday to review the flight data of Thursday's failed rocket mission.

The meeting is taking place at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here, a unit of the ISRO.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, who arrived here Saturday night, is leading the discussion.

"The two-day meeting has also decided to constitute a failure analysis committee, where complete reasons would be listed of the failure of the mission. Finer details of the probable causes of failure would be analysed thread-bare. This committee would be headed by our chairman and would have sittings here and in Bangalore and in a month the report would be ready," added the space scientist.

It was at ISRO's centre at Valiyamala, in the city suburbs, that the cryogenic project took shape from the design stage to the assembly stage. 

GSLV mission: Scientists say cryogenic engine had ignited-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

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## liteon

DMLA said:


> Where did you see these images? AFAIK, ISRO does not release images at highest resolution for general public! The images put up on their website are of 1/100th to 1/1000th resolution.



yep, still image looks blurry. scale down image supposed to look crisp and sharper than the original 1:1.

you can have an image with very high resolution and very large size that is poor quality..

*ttp://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2008/images/11.jpg


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## Kinetic

liteon said:


> bs. there're a lot of optical satellites out there with high resolution but they don't advertise about em..japan, korea, china, russia. japan and korea has very advanced optical & electronics tech..
> 
> also resolution don't mean ****. it's the quality of the lens and image sensor that counts as can be seen in a point shoot camera vs. DSLR camera....15 megapixel point shoot looks crappier than a 3 megapixel DSLR when digital zoom to the same 15 megapixel..



500% BS. Comparing your hundred dollar camera with an advanced optical satellite? Don't open yourself too much, people are laughing!! 

*I know when I will ask for a source you will run away!!! *


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## kashith

what do you expect from a pakistani member,they cant send a single satellite,which btw university students are making in India,they will try to downplay ISRO's achievement because they sure can buy missiles but not satellites


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## makikirkiri

liteon said:


> yep, still image looks blurry. scale down image supposed to look crisp and sharper than the original 1:1.
> 
> you can have an image with very high resolution and very large size that is poor quality..
> 
> *ttp://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2008/images/11.jpg


 Now it's clear why pakistan doesn't have a single satellite of it's own make. Dick heads like you who have no knowledge of satellites or even basic image processing try to criticize the work of an institution which has sent satellite to moon ,thus discovering ice on moon.
When you zoom into an image , the number of pixels of screen devoted to a particular portion of the pic increase.If the pic originally has higher pixel density , then these pixels are rendered on the newly available screen pixels.Thus a portion of the pic gets more detailedly rendered.
When a pic is reduced in it's data size/resolution a group of pixels are approximated into one in the new pic.Now even if you zoom into it,you wont see detail .That's because the original pic's details have been destroyed when it's resolution is reduced.
A picture will look sharper when it is reduced in it's dimensions and that too only when the pixel density of your display is greater than that of your pic.However it will always look less detailed when it's resolution is reduced.ie. The data is compressed by approximating a group of pixels and placing a single pixel data in their place.

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## gogbot

liteon said:


> yep, still image looks blurry. scale down image supposed to look crisp and sharper than the original 1:1.
> 
> you can have an image with very high resolution and very large size that is poor quality..
> 
> *ttp://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2008/images/11.jpg



that not even the high res pic what are you on about


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## durgs360

Why argue with a guy who doesnt even know the basics of photography let alone satellites. He doesnt even know what is a pixel .By trying to downplay India's achievements some Pakistani members expose their lack of basic knowledge.


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## DesiGuy

India is building it's infrastructure, military, because their government is forced to. the leaders of Indian government are so lazy, that they do work, because of the fear by china, Pakistan and their own media. 

On the other side, whatever china is doing, their leaders are doing, because they want to rule the world and they want to develop a country and face America in every aspect. 


Now don't get me wrong, there are some Indians who want India to develop and most of them are forgines or educated. However if you look at the Indian government, they spend $, when they see china has built something, or Pakistan has bought something. 

I want the Indian government to do things, because they WANT to . NOT because of the rise of china or Pakistan. 

Therefore before talking so much about it, make sure it's successful and don't make big news from it until it's completely successful. Just keep media away from all that.

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## liteon

resolution size and image quality are two different thing. know the difference first before insulting me..lol go look at the geoeye images at same scaledown and see how crisp and sharp compare to those from crappy indian camera is..lol

a lower res good image quality can be as good or better than a high res when post-processing....an indian satellite has high res but poor quality..lolhah


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## PEACEMAKER2010

Stay committed to space
GSLV D3 failure should not demoralise, but revitalise
Business Standard / New Delhi April 19, 2010, 0:35 IST

GSLV D3 failure should not demoralise, but revitalise

The failure of the GSLV D3 launch and more specifically, the failure of the indigenous cryogenic engine is undoubtedly a major setback for the space programme. It must have been heart-breaking for the development team that slogged 17-odd years. But the crash has to be taken in its stride and written off to statistical probability. Just five nations have reliable cryogenic technology. All have research budgets that dwarf ISRO and all went through decades of tests and experimental failures. Cryogenic engines use super-cooled gases (usually liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) as fuel. As the liquids mix and vapourise in the rocket chamber, they expand explosively, imparting thrust. In theory, it is the most efficient form of rocket propulsion. But while the principles derive from Newtonian mechanics, the technical challenges are staggering. Cooling gases to -190&#186;C and storing them as liquids until the optimum moment is difficult. Things can go wrong at many stages. ISRO will have to work out what exactly did go wrong. There can be no question about staying committed to the programme. Space capability depends on reliable cryogenic engines and India cannot piggyback indefinitely on Russian cryogenics. ISRO possesses only two Russian engines at this instant and there are no guarantees the Russians will sell any more. GSLV D3 with all payloads costs Rs 330 crore. The engine itself costs around Rs 180 crore. These are drops in the ocean of potential returns. India&#8217;s entire space programme spends Rs 5,800 crore per annum, that is around 0.1 per cent of GDP.

The return is already many multiples of expenditure. The potential returns could be much higher. Satellite capability has helped extend the TV-Telecom footprint to remote areas where satellite-based technology costs a fifth of the alternatives. Licensing fees and revenue shares from those services already pay for the entire space programme with plenty to spare. In addition, sat-technology has enabled mapping, remote-sensing and zoning services. Improved road planning, municipal tax collection, safe drinking water and irrigation programmes, as well as better weather and crop forecasting, can be attributed to satellite capability. The potential for use in anti-insurgency exercises also exists. Again, the returns exceed the expenditure by magnitudes. Indigenous cryogenic engines will make India a major player and a possible game-changer in the multi-billion-dollar commercial satellite market. According to estimates published in MIT&#8217;s Technology Review, India may eventually be able to put payloads in orbit at costs of $67/kg. The Russians charge $3,500/kg for a commercial payload and NASA charges even more.

If those estimates are near-credible (they are endorsed by at least one NASA adviser and ISRO has some patents on the designs), an Indian presence would change the market dynamics. Hence, there are sound commercial reasons for the &#8220;haves&#8221; to be reluctant to share technology. Well-vented fears of potential dual-use in the missile programme may just be a convenient excuse. It is true, however, that cryogenic engines are critical to inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) design. From South Block&#8217;s perspective, whether India develops ICBMs or not, possessing cryogenic capability could scarcely hurt.

Given the multitude of reasons to push on with the cryogenic engine development programme, the political establishment should back it to the hilt despite this setback. Give ISRO the time and resources to return to the drawing board and seek solutions.


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## sirius4u

liteon said:


> resolution size and image quality are two different thing. know the difference first before insulting me..lol go look at the geoeye images at same scaledown and see how crisp and sharp compare to those from crappy indian camera is..lol
> 
> a lower res good image quality can be as good or better than a high res when post-processing....an indian satellite has high res but poor quality..lolhah



Cartosat 2B has a resolution of 0.8x0.8m.Get to know the facts before trying to insult others by stupid comments. First try to respect others achievement and then fight here...


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## KS

sirius4u said:


> Cartosat 2B has a resolution of 0.8x0.8m.Get to know the facts before trying to insult others by stupid comments. First try to respect others achievement and then fight here...



leave it bro....those who r impot**nt get a mental satisfaction in seeing 
a pot**t man's wife dying..
But they forget the fact that he can do it again with others...

Sorry for the rude reply.


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## Ecstacy

liteon said:


> resolution size and image quality are two different thing. know the difference first before insulting me..lol go look at the geoeye images at same scaledown and see how crisp and sharp compare to those from crappy indian camera is..lol
> 
> a lower res good image quality can be as good or better than a high res when post-processing....an indian satellite has high res but poor quality..lolhah



and the image quality and resolution provided by any indegeneously developed Pakistani satellite?? oops!!! did i ask the wrong question??
should i ask how many pakistani satellites r there which r actually *capable* of providing services like 
Bhuvan???
Hey kiddo,if u really have an ounce of self -respect left in u then try to realise that u r actually making a complete fool out of yourself.

It is like u meet a beggar down the street,where u have parked ur honda city,and the beggar strikes an uninvited conversation with u suggesting how a mercedes c-class is better than ur car.
Its pathetic,just............pathetic

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## PEACEMAKER2010

India's cryo-engine failure: Beginning not the end

It's time that we, as a nation, stopped fearing failure and waiting for instant success in our space ventures. Let us instead applaud the journey, even if it comes at a certain cost to the taxpayer, argues M D Riti.

It took us almost two decades to develop our own cryo-engine. And when we tried it out the first time, on an Rs 330 crore rupee Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, it failed. To most Indians this is just one day's headline news. The games the scientists play, they say, shaking their heads resignedly, as they walk away into their daily survival battles.

To the men and women who have slaved over building this engine at Valiamala -- and many of them have since retired, passed on the mantle to their successors -- it must have been a huge disappointment. As for the high income tax payer, he has long since stopped questioning India's [ Images ] big spend on space research.

The question that nobody is really raising right now is that the cryo-engine, expensive as it may be, is actually a symbol of Indian nationalism and pride. As is our entire space programme. It has always seemed strange that India, with its meager resources, should put down such a high percentage of its annual budget towards space research.

As A P J Kalam, who was one of the first scientists to work on the Indian space programme, says, 'Many individuals with myopic vision questioned the relevance of space activities in a newly independent nation, which was finding it difficult to feed its population. Their vision was clear if Indians were to play meaningful role in the community of nations, they must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to their real-life problems.'

It was this decision taken almost half a century ago, to invest government money that was hard to spare into space research that stood us in good stead when the US declared a two-year ban on the sale of technology and supplies to the Indian space programme in May 1992. The US's bullying did not stop there. Soon after that, the US actually forced the USSR to back out of its agreement to transfer cryogenic engine technology to India.

The US ostensibly objected to India having this technology at that time because we had not signed the Missile Technology Control Regime. However, the Indian Space Research Organisation always believed that the US's real concern was not that India will use this technology to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, but that our launch vehicle program would speed up and become a threat to its commercial launch services.

ISRO never got worked up about the US sanctions even at that time. The then chairman Dr U R Rao said to this writer, at that time, "We may get some satellite components more easily, once the sanction period ends, but as far as rocketry goes, they were never open with us. We have to be self reliant in critical areas because even if they lift this embargo, they will bring in some other rule."

It really goes to the credit of the Indian space programme that even the US's attempt to twist ISRO's arm by getting the Russian space agency Glavkosmos to back out of its agreement to transfer cryo-engine technology to it did not worry it too much. ISRO immediately began working on developing a cryo engine and simultaneously kept trying to renegotiate its contract with Glavkosmos. Finally, we got some readymade cryo engines from them, but no technology transfer.

ISRO always believed that the US feared its launch vehicle programme for another reason. "Everyone knows that cryogenic technology is not a missile technology," Rao had said to this writer at that time. "I am sure that the embargo is mainly commercially motivated. They want to slow down our launch vehicle development because we will be able to launch satellites for $25 million (about Rs 110 crore), while it costs $75 million (about Rs 330 crore) elsewhere."

Much water has passed under the bridge since then. India's launch vehicle programme has now taken off. We did even launch satellites commercially for other countries, though we are still far from becoming a popular commercial launch seller. Commercial launching is unlikely to ever take off big time in India because the Indian space program has other very clear priorities.

The story of Indian space research really began with Vikram Sarabhai, the man who is called the father of Indian space research. Sarabhai was in his twenties when he returned to India from England [ Images ], where he had gone to study, and began working with C V Raman in Bangalore. In 1962, the Department of Atomic Energy set up a committee headed by Sarabhai to organise a national space programme.

Interestingly, the history of Indian rocketry goes back to long before Sarabhai or even independence. The first Indian rockets were probably the ones used by Tipu Sultan in the battles of Srirangapatna in 1799. Two Indian rockets even found their way to a museum at Woolwich in Britain, and inspired William Congreve to build one more of the same kind there!

The two primary aims of Sarabhai's space programme was that we should develop our own satellites as well as the rockets or launchers to put them into orbit. The satellites would have two main objectives: Remote sensing and communication. The Americans were closely involved with the programme at this stage, and US National Aeronautics and Space Agency engineers actually helped the early ISRO recruits to launch an American sounding rocket from the launching pad on Thumba beach in Kerala [ Images ].

Sarabhai himself had anticipated criticism of the big government spend on the space programme, and had said, 'There are some who will question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation.' He himself believed passionately that only space research would help India 'leapfrog' (his favorite word) into the 21st century, but only if it is concentrated entirely on applying advanced technologies to the real problems of the people. He had actually cautioned the government against 'having the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in exploring the moon or the planets.'

The high budget allocations to space research have always been resented, although covertly, by the rest of the Indian scientific community. But as Rao told this writer, "If space is getting a lot of money and attention from the government, it is only because it provides a lot of essential services to the country. Space is not being given importance because it is hi-tech or glamorous, but only because it takes science to the poor man."

The truth of this statement cannot be denied. We use our cell phones without being under the control of big brother superpowers today because we have an independent space programme. We may not be competing internationally to sell launch services, and we may not have put a man on the moon all on our own yet. But we give our farmers scientific data on weather and soil conditions.

So, aren't we all proud to belong to one of the world's relatively advanced space faring nations? And we are reaping big benefits. We have amazing telecom benefits all of which come from our own indigenously developed satellites that are in orbit.

Well, why can't we just pay other countries that have commercial satellite launching services to put our satellites up into orbit? The answer to this question is that after we became free of colonial rule, we as a nation chose a path of independence in atomic energy and space. We had become tired of being forced to give bigger countries power over us.

India uses its satellites communication network, which is now one of the largest in the world, for applications such as land management, water resources management, natural disaster forecasting, radio networking, weather forecasting, meteorological imaging and computer communication.

Space technology made telemedicine possible by directly connecting patients in rural areas to medical professionals in urban locations via satellites. Rural patients in remote areas are diagnosed and treated by doctors in cities in real time through video conferencing.

India's satellites and satellite launch vehicles have had military spin-offs. In its early years, Sarabhai and even Satish Dhawan, when he was ISRO chairman, opposed space research having military applications. Eventually, however, the Defence Research and Development Organisation borrowed people (Kalam and some of his associates) and technology from ISRO. The IRS and INSAT satellites were primarily intended and used for economic applications, but they also offered military spin-offs.

So can we stop right here, since our space programme is already doing a lot, and not spend more money developing a cryo-engine. Not really. You cannot stop the progress of technology or science research just because it has achieved certain objectives.

It's time that we, as a nation, stopped fearing failure and waiting for instant success. Let us instead applaud the journey towards independence, even if it comes at a certain cost to the taxpayer.

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## Justin Joseph

*Will love to be part of ISRO prog: NASA astronaut trainer*

Bangalore: Michelle Ham, a trainer for astronauts at NASA, has expressed her willingness to extend her support to the ISRO's human space flight programme slated for 2015-16.

"I would be delighted and honoured," Michelle told PTI here today when asked if she was ready to take up the assignment if offered by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

*"I would love to be part of the Indian space programme when you guys start sending people to space....," Michelle, who trains space station and space shuttle astronauts, said.

Besides the US space agency NASA, Michelle has trained astronauts of European, Japanese and Russian space agencies in past seven years.*

Michelle, whose husband is a NASA astronaut, said she was ready to be of help in astronaut training in India but only for a "short time because there is so much of the world I would like to see".

According to ISRO officials, the space agency has already drawn an outline for astronaut training centre which would come up near Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city.

Officials expect investment of about Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore for the training centre.

ISRO has already carried out a detailed study on the feasibility of undertaking the indigenous mission, with an aim to build and demonstrate the capability for carrying humans to low earth orbit and their return to earth.

The programme envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members to about 300 km-low earth orbit and their safe return. 

Will love to be part of ISRO prog: NASA astronaut trainer


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## HitesH

guys im planning to give a seminar sort of thing in my college on ISRO and DRDO can anybody provide me some of the materiels/features/knowledge that i could add in my presentation
help...


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## Ecstacy

HitesH said:


> guys im planning to give a seminar sort of thing in my college on ISRO and DRDO can anybody provide me some of the materiels/features/knowledge that i could add in my presentation
> help...



ISRO
DRDO
DRDO public Interface
ISRO publications
Bhuvan-A Google Earth like observation system by ISRO
--lemme know more specifically if u need anything else.Iwill try to get u some more publicly available data.

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## HitesH

Ecstacy said:


> ISRO
> DRDO
> DRDO public Interface
> ISRO publications
> Bhuvan-A Google Earth like observation system by ISRO
> --lemme know more specifically if u need anything else.Iwill try to get u some more publicly available data.



Thnx for replying
basically its going to be a complete info regarding these organisations.
That includes a brief history.........like establishment year, purpose of establishment, very first initial projects etc, 

Then comes the regular updations that went on..........means what things(setallites, SLVs) have replaced what

Then comes the comparision part with the world........wher does our projects stands as compared to theres .......like PSLVs, GSLVs, aircrafts, all sort of satellites, comparing Brahmos etc with other missiles of the world their +s and -s

Then comes how the students taking educaton in the same field could gain out of it........means the scope of employment in ISRo DRDO

Then comes most important part, the future projects........what isro plans for moon/mars/sun
what drdo plans for future aircrafts or battle equipments(if im not wrong drdo is working on a thing called plasma gun)

videos cant be embedd in presentation though pics are highly appreciated

dont worry i;ll do most of the searching work but it wud be nice if i could just get a litle help coz i see people here are really knowledgeful and attentive
thnx


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## Myth_buster_1

HitesH said:


> guys im planning to give a seminar sort of thing in my college on ISRO and DRDO can anybody provide me some of the materiels/features/knowledge that i could add in my presentation
> help...



Dont forget to add "indigenous" after every other word. I am sure the audience ego will be satisfied with taking all credit away from foreigner technologies.


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## HitesH

Growler said:


> Dont forget to add "indigenous" after every other word. I am sure the audience ego will be satisfied with taking all credit away from foreigner technologies.



didnt ask for it
not much of the use either
but still thnx anyway

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## Ecstacy

Growler said:


> Dont forget to add "indigenous" after every other word. I am sure the audience ego will be satisfied with taking all credit away from foreigner technologies.



surely it will...how 'bout a comparative study of space capabilities of India and Pakistan??U deserve a copy of it..oops..!!! did i just say space *capabilities*??


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## Justin Joseph

*Planning Commission pulled up for hurdles in ISRO project*

*New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel has sternly told the Planning Commission not to interfere in the decision making process of ISRO, particularly in the ambitious Human Space Flight (HSF) programme.*

*"The Committee fails to understand that when the Space Commission, the highest policy making body of the Department of Space, has given the go ahead to this (HSF) programme, why stumbling blocks were created at the government level.* 

"Planning Commission should not come in the way of conception and realisation of a programme only because it is instrumental in providing allocations for the Department."

These strong words are in the 206th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests which was tabled in the Lok Sabha today. The Committee is headed by Rajya Sabha member T Subbarami Reddy.

Government has already approved the pre-project activities for the Rs 12,400 crore human space flight project.

"We are now seeking phase-wise approvals for various steps in the project," an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spokesman said when asked to comment on the report.

The Committee appeared miffed at the drastic reduction in the allocation for the HSF at the Revised Estimates stage in 2009-10.

In its report, the Committee noted that while the HSF was allocated Rs 238 crore at the Budget Estimates stage, the was reduced to Rs 30 crore at the Revised Estimates stage.

It said that the Department of Space had submitted the Budget Report for the HSF which was reviewed and cleared by the Space Commission, as well as, by a high-level Committee chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission.

"However, it was indicated through the subsequent discussions that the Human Space Flight programme could be taken up in phases and the first phase should focus on developing critical technologies such as crew module, service module, crew escape system, environment control and life support systems," the Committee report said.

It noted that the RE provision, therefore, had been reduced in view of the pre-project activities.

The Committee expressed the view that the HSF should not only be taken up in the right earnest but also be made successful at the earliest.

"The Committee strongly recommends that the right to take final decision in scientific and technical matters should be vested with the Department of Space only and financial constraints should not be allowed to come in its way towards progress of these crucial and critical programmes," the report said. 

Planning Commission pulled up for hurdles in ISRO project


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## Renegade

*The New Space Race*. (Must Watch)

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2010/04/201041414835779191.html


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## Bushy

Renegade said:


> *The New Space Race*. (Must Watch)
> 
> Al Jazeera English - INSIDE STORY - The new space race



"Smack in the face of America..."

HAHAHAHAHA !!! That was funny as hell lol 
He went so overboard, made everyone feel so awkward lol


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## bumbgola

The Hindu Business Line : The thruster that fell into sea

The thruster that fell into sea



A file picture of GSat-4 at Sriharikota


M. Ramesh

Chennai, April 24

Amid the din of big rockets and cryogenics, a small but very significant step into space, which plunged into the sea along with the GSat-4 satellite, went completely unnoticed.

Even its mention in the brochures and other publicity literature was so unobtrusive and couched in jargon that perhaps an enthusiast would probably have glossed over its significance.

We are speaking of the plasma thrusters'.

Fuel is the key

First a little background. A satellite is put in a particular orbit the choice of which largely depends upon what the satellite is meant to do. In that orbit, it keeps circling Earth at a particular orbital velocity', which is a function of Earth's gravity acting upon it. But, since in the cosmos a body is acted upon by a number of gravitational forces, a body like the satellite, often swerves from its orbit and could either crash into Earth's atmosphere or slowly spin away into space.

In order to prevent a satellite from thus getting lost, small engines are fitted in and these can be fired by signals from Earth. When a satellite begins to go astray, its trackers on Earth fire one of these engines to nudge it back in line. But once these engines run out of fuel, the trackers can't do this and the satellite goes out of control. Therefore, the fuel these engines contained determines the life of the satellite.

Typically, in a satellite, half the space is occupied by these engines, leaving only the rest for equipment such as transponders or cameras.

The GSat-4 was a little different. Instead of conventional chemical engines, it had four plasma thrusters.' Because of this, the life of the satellite would have been seven years, instead of 4-5. At optimum use, these plasma thrusters could enhance the life of a satellite to even 15 years.

A plasma thruster is an engine that uses the discharge of plasma to propel an object. Plasma is a gas in which some electrons have been ripped off their atoms by the application of external energy. These electrons and the (remainder) ions co-exist, and this state is often referred to as the fourth state of matter, after solid, liquid and gas. Plasma exists everywhere. The sun, for instance, is a huge chunk of plasma.

Plasma, electrically charged gas, is influenced by magnetic field. In a plasma thruster (to put it in very simple terms), you create a magnetic field, with the help of which you can direct a jet of plasma out through a nozzle. A thrust, in the opposite direction, results.

Plasma thrusters are nothing new. They have been used off and on, even as early as the 1960s. There seems to be some resurgence in interest in them now. However, the GSat-4 was the first instance of them being used in India.

4 thrusters

The GSat-4 satellite had four of these thrusters  two made by Russians and two made in India'.

Satellites launched by ISRO in future may be expected to use plasma thrusters for maintaining attitude', or orientation. These thrusters last much longer than the chemical rockets used today, as they are powered by electricity that the solar panels generate from sunlight. Consequently, not only will the satellites live long. Also, more on-board space will be freed for instruments.

The GSat-4 would have been a good learning experience. Alas, it's gone!


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## JamesD

I'm really fed up with those keywords of will, plan,may,,,,in all news about India.


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## zaidkhan1991

lmao funny how none of our Pakistani friends have debated on this one. Shows you how much progress we have made in ISRO

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## Gallion

Need I remind everyone that's so worked up at things Indian to look at the Indian attempts at coming up with a locally designed and produced jet engine, a local trainer for the air force, the cryogenics rocket they just attempted to launch, the Arjun tank, the LCA, the helicopter they cant produce by themselves, the list is rather long but you get the point i am making, sadly in India's case the instructions goes something like this, open package, assemble numbered pieces in the package per instruction, paint and apply Indian decals, last step, call it a locally designed and produced item


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## mrwarrior006

^^^first open ur mouth and introduce urself in members section


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## Mauryan

Gallion said:


> Need I remind everyone that's so worked up at things Indian to look at the Indian attempts at coming up with a locally designed and produced jet engine, a local trainer for the air force, the cryogenics rocket they just attempted to launch, the Arjun tank, the LCA, the helicopter they cant produce by themselves, the list is rather long but you get the point i am making, *sadly in India's case the instructions goes something like this, open package, assemble numbered pieces in the package per instruction, paint and apply Indian decals, last step, call it a locally designed and produced item:cheers*:



So a newbie who just wokeup after reading some rupee news came onto this board and started critisizing the research establishments without even knowing a tiny bit of workculture in there and the capabilitites they incurred.

On behalf of that highlighted part, goto CERN and look for Indian inputs from BEL to ISRO to BARC and DRDO.period.

At the same time take pain to research about the JV of vikings. If ISRO has all dumb folks, then there is no need for CNES to do almost everything in Joint collaboration.
For LHC BARC spent a signigicant R&D and workforce there.

Ohh Mr. AQ.Khan ,can you please take pain to elaborate which ones of the strategic systems were assembled from imported knock-down kits?
One thing that indians should be proud of is,their reluctance to voilate IPR unlike some others who lead their life by continiously voilating IPRs.
can you provide me a solid proof that Russia flight tested those very cro engines which were supplied to India? but ISRO went ahead and got those systems and flight tested taking risk.Did your peanut brain tried to find the logic behind this?
And ISRO took 17 years to develope a cryo engine after receiving bule prints from russia??? That too the final version was put at a much diferent thrust levels?

Jet engine was a different story.Even china(which used to be a copy cat )was still struggling to fly its own turbofan.OTOH,Kaveri development has to be looked with broad spectrum like the spin-offs and provision of technologies which were unavailable untill the project was conceived. failure in the indian pov has two reasons. one is lack of industrial base,while the other is lack of proper project management.

Do you know what it takes to leapfrog from 2nd gen fighter to a 4+ gen fighter with no proper research facilities? and in just 20 years time frame?
Take it as granted ,LCA-MKI inits current form(IOC standard by 2010-dec) is far more capable than the craft its replacing and is going to be a pain the *** for some nations along the borders.Its low RCS and sensor fusion is the key.
When an educated person considers all the impacts of such development under the indian gov administrations(considering the level of facilities available,and the base needed to sustain the development along with paisa needed )and an un-educated who just taught reading sentences will certainly fail to realise the propers.

Critisizing takes just minutes,while thinking outside the box takes time...lot of time.

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## Choppers

*India to be part of 'robotic network' on red planet*
Last Updated: Apr 30, 2010

NEW DELHI (PTI): India has signed a statement of intent with space-faring nations including the US to work on the concept of establishing a "robotic network" on the surface of the Moon to conduct detailed scientific investigations.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said the network called 'International Lunar Network' will carry out detailed scientific investigations on the Moon.

"This is an international cooperative effort and will not constitute any binding commitments on the participating nations," he said.

India to be part of 'robotic network' on red planet :: Brahmand.com


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## Choppers

*India's space program takes a hit​*By Peter J Brown 

In mid-April, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) tested a large, multi-stage rocket which was equipped with a new cryogenic engine that had been designed and developed by Indian engineers. 

Roughly five minutes into this third development flight, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) suffered a third-stage ignition failure and as a result of the malfunctioning launch vehicle, the GSAT-4 communications and navigation satellite on board was lost. 

ISRO could do not dismiss or evade the media onslaught that ensued. 

"After the unsuccessful flight, the ISRO chairman, K Radhakrishnan, initially suggested that two small cryogenic steering engines, which swivel to maintain the rocket's orientation, might have malfunctioned. Later, however, he indicated that the main cryogenic engine itself might not have ignited. In such a complex system as the cryogenic stage, even a small defect that escapes attention is sufficient to doom the flight," The Hindu declared on its editorial page, for example. "But the space agency would be unwise to confine its analysis to problems encountered with the indigenous cryogenic stage. This is an opportunity for a thorough examination of the entire GSLV rocket and its past five flights. There have, for instance, been problems with the Vikas liquid-propellant engine in previous flights. The procedures for the manufacture, assembly, and pre-flight testing of all liquid propellant engines and stages need particular attention. A comprehensive review would best ensure the future reliability of the GSLV." (1) 

Over the last two to three years, the total space budget allocated to India's Department of Space has been growing at a rate greater than any of the other major space faring countries. The latest increase from 2009 to 2010 was approximately 35% - from 41.67 billion Indian rupees (US$934 million) to 57.78 billion rupees this year, just over $1.1 Billion. (2) While this huge spike in funding seems impressive on a percentage basis, it is worth noting that the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration's budget, for example, exceeds $18 Billion in 2010. 

Still, this budgetary surge translates quickly into political pressure from Delhi to perform flawlessly, and certainly does not make this latest incident any easier to digest at ISRO headquarters. 

The GSLV-D3 was launched from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Center, which occupies an island located off India's spectacular southeast coast in Andhra Pradesh. 

The exact cause of the failure is still unknown. ISRO has spent years, indeed decades, working on cryogenic rocket technology in an attempt to match the satellite launch capabilities of top-tier space faring nations. The Europeans, Russians, Japanese, Chinese and the Americans have all successfully incorporated this technology into their space programs. In 2011, if everything proceeds on schedule, ISRO will attempt another cryogenic engine-propelled flight test. 

Russia has supplied India with these cryogenic engines in the past and the next two GSLV flights will use these Russian-built engines, but ISRO considers mastery of this cryogenic technology, which involves super-cooled propellants, as extremely vital to ISRO's future plans to make very low-cost satellite launches a reality. ISRO has frequently declared that it is intent upon offering satellite launch services at bargain rates, but since its first successful launch of an Italian satellite in 2007, ISRO's campaign to become one of the world's top satellite launch service providers has progressed much more slowly than expected. 

Antrix Corp Ltd - the commercial development arm of India's Department of Space - offers civilian launch services via both its existing GSLV and its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Antrix has already established an alliance with the European satellite consortium, EADS Astrium. 

The PSLV is designed to launch payloads weighing up to 1.6 tons into so-called sun synchronous orbits, and it simply lacks the raw power or lift capacity necessary to carry typical communications satellites which can often weigh four tons or more deeper into space. This altitude is needed so these satellites can be stationed in their permanent orbital slots around the earth - 36,000 kilometers above the equator. 

The same is basically true for the existing GSLV, which also is hindered by its carrying capacity. It can only accommodate satellites weighing 2.2 tons or less, which is why India is developing the GSLV-D3 and its successors to serve as India's heavyweight class of launch vehicles capable of lifting satellites and other payloads weighing four tons or more. 

India's next launch attempt - a PSLV mission - was to take place in mid-May. However, in late April, ISRO postponed it and the new launch date has not been announced. The plan calls for PSLV-C15 to launch an Indian earth observation satellite named Cartosat-2B. Besides Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite known as Alsat, two Canadian tiny, so-called nano-satellites and a "Studsat" which is a one-kilogram satellite created by Indian university students, will make the trip, too. 

Despite the GSLV-D3 loss, ISRO and Antrix remain active and seemingly unchanged by this experience. In order to accurately gauge how this incident has impacted ISRO, and to better assess ISRO's current overall status, Asia Times Online reached out to two experts on the Indian space program. 

Professor Asif Siddiqi at Fordham University in New York is writing a book on the Indian space program. He is also one of the co-authors of "The Future of Human Spaceflight: Objectives and Policy Implications in a Global Context", which was produced last year as part of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences project entitled, "Reconsidering the Rules of Space". 

Bharath Gopalaswamy, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's Arms Control and Non-proliferation Program, specializes in space security with a principal focus on India's civilian and military space programs. 

Siddiqi views the loss of the GSLV-D3 as clearly having a psychological impact on ISRO personnel. 

"ISRO has been surging recently with very ambitious plans and expectations that called for some unrealistic schedules. The GSLV-D3 failure will curb some of the lofty rhetoric coming out of ISRO in recent years," said Siddiqi. "The failure of the cryogenic engine has a more direct impact on the payloads manifested for the GSLV in the near future as well, particularly the GSAT satellites." 

It has been widely reported that ISRO is definitely disappointed and that this represents a setback. However, ISRO had a backup plan in place involving Russian cryogenic engines that were obtained long before the GSLV-D3 headed for its launch pad. 

"The setback primarily is because if this launch had been successful, it would have enabled India to launch its own communication satellites, its first manned space flight (now scheduled for 2017) and the Chandrayaan 2 lunar probe in 2012," said Gopalaswamy. "The decision to revert back to using Russian boosters is a prudent one. India has two scheduled launches of GSLV for the fiscal year 2010-2011 and it is quite doubtful if the indigenous cryogenic engines would be ready by then. Hence, this has to be considered a prudent if not an inevitable decision." 

Siddiqi describes cryogenic engines as "notoriously hard to troubleshoot and it may make sense for ISRO to invite Russian cooperation to investigate the failure". 

"From what I have heard there are conflicting accounts of exactly what happened. If it is discovered that the main engine did not ignite at all as some reports suggest, this will be a big setback," said Siddiqi. "If the engine ignited even for one second as other reports suggest, this would be relatively speaking good news." 

The fact that ISRO has taken nearly 20 years to develop its own indigenous cryogenic engine is not the issue here. Instead, the real issue is that all of the other nations who now possess this capability were able to attain this level of competence much quicker than ISRO. 

"So, on the one hand, we should be impressed that ISRO has joined such a select club, but on the other hand, the long development time indicates a general trend in ISRO programs involving chronic delays," said Siddiqi. 

That said, Siddiqi considers ISRO to be a relatively robust organization that has achieved most of the goals it has set out to achieve, although almost none of its goals have been achieved on time. This is neither unusual nor exceptional. Routine delays and constant rescheduling are common to most of the world's space programs. 

"ISRO has mastered technological systems that put it on par with the 'second tier' states such as the European Space Agency and Japan and [with respect to remote sensing, for example] on par with the best in the world," said Siddiqi. 

Amongst ISRO's main challenges right now is encouraging young and bright Indian engineers to join the space program. 

"There is a fundamental shortage of qualified young blood and it remains to be seen how ISRO will meet the demands of the future given that most technically-minded Indians gravitate to the IT industry rather than to the space program," said Siddiqi. "The organizational culture of ISRO is set to a large degree by the ISRO chief. Given that the new ISRO chairman, Dr K Radhakrishnan, has been in his position for a very short time, it is not clear how his leadership and management abilities will affect ISRO. The GSLV-D3 failure will undoubtedly be a big test for him."
There has always been a degree of tension both horizontally



between the many different ISRO centers spread across India, and vertically, that is between ISRO headquarters and the Department of Space in Delhi and the directorate at each of these centers. 

"Any friction between the different centers has been less prevalent since the 1990s," said Siddiqi. 

One cannot rule out the possibility that quality control or "QC" played a role in this incident. It is an issue that is always lurking in the background whenever a spacecraft or rocket falters. The US in particular has been waging an unusually visible and uphill battle against sloppy "QC" for years, and may be finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 

For example in February, Gary Payton, US Air Force deputy under secretary for space programs, used a session sponsored by the Space Foundation to once again call attention to what can result when testing is poorly executed and QC procedures break down. Whenever poor workmanship and spotty managerial oversight prevail, and if substandard and defective parts as well as error-riddled software code somehow find their way to the launch pad, the launch in question is probably doomed from the start. (3) 

In other words, failure to discover problems prior to launch is a common source of headaches in the space realm. 

"As far as quality control, of course, there will always be problems, but ISRO has done an admirable job of trying to limit quality control shortcomings. Their record with the PSLV as well as the recent success of the Chandrayaan mission was exemplary in this regard," said Siddiqi. 

After all the bugs are worked out, Siddiqi is not convinced that the GSLV-D3 will magically provide ISRO with a major competitive advantage in the geostationary launch market. 

"[ISRO] faces undeniably low launch rates and stiff competition from other launch vehicles such as [Russia's] Proton and [France's] Ariane which have a robust record," said Siddiqi. "India's one advantage, pricing, will be compromised by insurance premiums. The failure of the indigenous cryogenic version certainly will not help." 

It is no surprise that Siddiqi describes the PSLV as India's best bet for a commercial launcher, but there is no escaping the fact that PSLV was never designed to compete with the much larger and more powerful Proton, Ariane, or China's Long March and the US's Atlas launch vehicles, to name just a few, which are used routinely. 

Gopalaswamy agrees with ISRO's objectives here. Entry into the commercial satellite launch market poses a considerable challenge, because one major obstacle that hinders any steady progress by ISRO is the wall of restrictions that must be surmounted. This has been put in place by major players, particularly the US which tightly controls all satellite components and satellite exports for launch overseas. 

"Antrix made initial forays by offering launch services in piggyback mode to Germany, Belgium, Argentina and Korea. In 2007, a full-fledged commercial launch was performed by PSLV by carrying an Italian astronomical satellite, AGILE. This was followed by the launch of Tec-SAR, an Israeli spy satellite in 2008," said Gopalaswamy. "So, I am not surprised at this objective of ISRO. However, there may be a point where an international dispute over launch pricing may arise. The nature of how and what that dispute is all about is something quite speculative at this stage." 

Like the deep space probe projects, ISRO's manned program signals what Siddiqi describes as a "major shift" in ISRO's priorities away from those established in the late 1960s which were intended to shape ISRO into an enlightened spearhead for a global development drive using space technology. 

"This shift occurred some time just after 2000. ISRO did not abandon that mandate but it took a very ambitious step in adding projects including deep space and manned missions that have little or nothing to do with development. Given India's growing economic and political clout on the global stage, we can expect that such programs which have no tangible or practical benefits, will continue to be funded," said Siddiqi. "From a purely practical perspective, the manned program seems unnecessary to ISRO's original mandate; it is clear that the manned program is not about the pursuit of scientific or technical knowledge or about alleviating poverty - it is first and foremost about prestige." 

Mandates or not, India's Chandrayaan lunar program warrants closer scrutiny, according to Gopalaswamy. 

"I am not sure if the cost benefits can be adequately justified - nor the strategic priorities in initiating such a program," said Gopalaswamy. "It is somewhat puzzling that a country that is unable to launch its own communication satellites initiates a program in the exploration of the moon." 

Although ISRO's human spaceflight program might be considered a high-risk project, recent information seems to suggest that ISRO is taking a more gradual approach and spacing out the program even more. ISRO projects that its first manned flight will happen by 2017. Siddiqi describes ISRO's total projected $2.8 billion outlay for this manned spaceflight program as conservative. 
"We may expect that either the program will remain at that funding level and increase the risk of accident, or funding will be increased in the next few years, more probably the latter," said Siddiqi. 

Siddiqi remains concerned, however, that ISRO's commitment to a manned spaceflight project may eventually become a major drain on more conventional projects, and, that "those firmly pushing the manned program will have to be careful not to cut into established competences and priorities within ISRO". 

"In terms of budget allocations, ISRO is achieving the right mix of funding for operational launch vehicles and satellites, new launch vehicles and satellites, infrastructure, and experimental technologies," said Siddiqi. "If I had a concern, it would be the manned space program. If not handled prudently, I see it potentially having long-range deleterious effects on other unrelated ISRO operations." 

_Peter J Brown is a satellite journalist from Maine USA. _

(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan


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## gogbot

article lacks perspective


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## sudhir007

ISRO to launch weather satellite Megha Tropiques soon :: Brahmand.com

*ISRO to launch weather satellite Megha Tropiques soon*







NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Space Research Organisation is mulling launching of 'megha tropiques' satellite to study climate in collaboration with France, the government told Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh while replying to a question said that the satellite will provide data on atmospheric humidity, radiation budget and amount of precipitation to help in climate study.

"India and France are jointly developing the scientific payloads of 'megha tropiques'," he said.

The Megha-Tropiques Mission (MTM) is a collaborative effort between French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and ISRO.

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## sudhir007

---------- Post added at 12:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------

http://expressbuzz.com/cities/banga...isro&#37;E2%80%99s-space-missions/172796.html

BANGALORE: The quality of home-grown electronic components, which are integrated to satellites and launch vehicles, is very poor and hence is hampering the process of indigenisation of the Indian Space programme, said Dr D Narayanamoorthy, senior scientist at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

He was delivering the National Technology Day lecture on Indian Space Endeavour on Tuesday. He said that while the percentage of indigenous components in the launch vehicles was very high, the percentage of indigenous components integrated into spacecrafts was about 50 per cent. This, he said, was despite the very poor quality of home-grown electronic components.

He added that in order to encourage young scientists, ISRO was conducting a threemonth Induction Training Programme that will train around 150 students of various universities.

He said the enthusiasm of students to take a career in space was very high as they had already developed small satellites.

&#8220;The Chandrayaan-1 project has aroused a lot of interest and the Chandrayaan-2 mission is expected to attract more youngsters,&#8221; he said.

Development of semi-cryogenic technology and reusable launch vehicles were the future programmes of ISRO, he added.

Celebrating technology

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) celebrated National Technology Day at its premises in the city on Tuesday.

On the occasion, the department organised expert lecture programme, followed by talks from young scientists.

Prof G V Kulkarni of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, who was the chief guest, spoke on the recent developments in Nanotechnology.

He said even a small innovation made at a lab in this field would lead to a major breakthrough in technology for mankind.

Dr SK Patel, scientist who was also present at the event, spoke on the &#8220;Structural Design Analysis of Aero-Engine Components for qualification & development of allied technologies&#8221;.


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## Mogambo

*Global award for Indian space agencys commercial arm*

May 14th, 2010 - 11:16 pm ICT by IANS -

ISRO Bangalore, May 14 (IANS) Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) commercial arm Antrix Corporation bagged the Globe Sustainability Research Award 2010, set up by Stockholm-based Global Forum, for fostering sustainable development, the agency said Friday.

*The prestigious award has been conferred on Antrix for its contribution to improve sustainable livelihood of the rural poor while reducing their vulnerability to climate risks, the state-run ISRO said in a statement here.*

Antrix demonstrated the use of space technology and information technology (IT) solutions in reaching out the rural poor in five districts of Karnataka through the Sujala watershed programme during 2002-09.

Antrix deserved the international award for using space technology innovatively for watershed development in India, yielding significant economic, social environmental benefits, Global Forum jury chairman Mohan Munashinghe said after presenting the award to ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan here Friday.

Munashinghe is the winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2007 and vice-chairman of the United Nations inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC).

Global award for Indian space agency&#8217;s commercial arm


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## username

HitesH said:


> didnt ask for it
> not much of the use either
> but still thnx anyway



cewl reply buddy...


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## jha

*India asks US for help in manned space programme*

Here at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the ongoing countdown to the 132nd space shuttle launch is also counting towards the end of this iconic space programme. Washington has decreed that the Atlanta, which is scheduled to blast off on Friday, will be the third last shuttle mission ever. With a follow-on programme nowhere in sight, Americas space shuttle pioneers stare at an uncertain future.

President Barack Obama has decided that it is wasteful and risky to continue using the space shuttle for transporting US astronauts and stores to and from the International Space Station (ISS); instead, this low-tech, near-earth task should be farmed out to commercial agencies. The cutting-edge capabilities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be directed towards new frontiers in outer space. But there is no new space policy that spells out an alternative task.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------

The US is now considering using cheap Russian launches for sending its astronauts to the ISS. Russia has warehouses full of decommissioned missile rockets called the RD-170; these are re-engineered into RD-180 rockets, which cost a tenth of America&#8217;s.
But, for the longer term, the US is eyeing a closer linkage with the Indian space programme, something that New Delhi has already suggested to Washington. In February, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Radhakrishnan and K R Sridhara Murthi, MD of Isro&#8217;s marketing arm, Antrix, met senior Boeing executives and suggested closer ties. Boeing is the OEM of the space shuttle. Senior Indian leaders and diplomats, including Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, have persistently pressed for closer US-India space cooperation.

Now, senior executives from Boeing Defence, Space and Security (BDS) have divulged the details of cooperation that Isro has sought for building up India&#8217;s capacity for manned space missions. Kevin Hoshstrasser, the head of Boeing&#8217;s operations at the Kennedy Space Centre in Orlando, Florida, reveals that Isro has sought assistance in four specific areas:

A launch escape system (LES) to enable astronauts to escape from a rocket that is undergoing catastrophic failure. Last week, Boeing successfully tested their latest escape vehicle. 

A life support and environmental control system, which creates an environment inside the space capsule in which astronauts can comfortably carry out their functions. This removes carbon dioxide and maintains humidity levels. 

Vehicle Health Monitoring System (VHMS), which keeps a constant check over key systems. 

Reusable space systems and composition cryogenic tanks. These tanks would be used to store fuel for India&#8217;s cryogenic motors.
Senior Boeing executives are in contact with Isro and Boeing has prepared an internal white paper on US-India space cooperation. For discussing substantive, and potentially classified, issues with Isro, Boeing has applied to the US government for a Technical Assistance Agreement.

Boeing&#8217;s Business Development Senior Manager for space systems, Sam Gunderson, is emphatic that Boeing wishes to partner Isro and in building Indian space systems. Brushing away concerns about US export licencing, Gunderson says, &#8220;Dual use restrictions (under the US law: International Traffic in Arms Regulations) in space cooperation would be significant, but we can find a way to work around those.&#8221;

Space partnership has gained momentum since the US-India nuclear pact. In 2009, Isro invited Boeing to a conference in India on robotics. The moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, carried NASA sensors made by Boeing.

As the countdown continues at the Kennedy Space Centre, the excitement that suffuses a shuttle launch is tinged with disappointment at the impending closure of the shuttle programme. Scientists explain that no rocket in the world can send up 7 astronauts to the ISS for extended missions, and also carry 25 tonnes of bulky cargo. The space shuttle is made even more invaluable by its ability to bring back tonnes of cargo to earth from the space station, material that would otherwise be wasted.


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## IndianArmy

its good, You cannot risk a life, so its always better to take the advise of those who are well into this business....


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## gowthamraj

But why not russia, if even USA gives a single part then their media claims the entire spacecraft is theirs. But russians dont publice their help. .

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## navtrek

gowthamraj said:


> But why not russia, if even USA gives a single part then their media claims the entire spacecraft is theirs. But russians dont publice their help. .



I guess the answer is simple. to take the best technology from both the countries


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## peacemaker10

India asks US for help in manned space programme


Here at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the ongoing countdown to the 132nd space shuttle launch is also counting towards the end of this iconic space programme. Washington has decreed that the Atlanta, which is scheduled to blast off on Friday, will be the third last shuttle mission ever. With a follow-on programme nowhere in sight, Americas space shuttle pioneers stare at an uncertain future.

President Barack Obama has decided that it is wasteful and risky to continue using the space shuttle for transporting US astronauts and stores to and from the International Space Station (ISS); instead, this low-tech, near-earth task should be farmed out to commercial agencies. The cutting-edge capabilities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be directed towards new frontiers in outer space. But there is no new space policy that spells out an alternative task.

The US is now considering using cheap Russian launches for sending its astronauts to the ISS. Russia has warehouses full of decommissioned missile rockets called the RD-170; these are re-engineered into RD-180 rockets, which cost a tenth of Americas. 

But, for the longer term, the US is eyeing a closer linkage with the Indian space programme, something that New Delhi has already suggested to Washington. In February, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Radhakrishnan and K R Sridhara Murthi, MD of Isros marketing arm, Antrix, met senior Boeing executives and suggested closer ties. Boeing is the OEM of the space shuttle. Senior Indian leaders and diplomats, including Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, have persistently pressed for closer US-India space cooperation.
Now, senior executives from Boeing Defence, Space and Security (BDS) have divulged the details of cooperation that Isro has sought for building up Indias capacity for manned space missions. Kevin Hoshstrasser, the head of Boeings operations at the Kennedy Space Centre in Orlando, Florida, reveals that Isro has sought assistance in four specific areas:
	A launch escape system (LES) to enable astronauts to escape from a rocket that is undergoing catastrophic failure. Last week, Boeing successfully tested their latest escape vehicle. 

	A life support and environmental control system, which creates an environment inside the space capsule in which astronauts can comfortably carry out their functions. This removes carbon dioxide and maintains humidity levels. 

	Vehicle Health Monitoring System (VHMS), which keeps a constant check over key systems. 

	Reusable space systems and composition cryogenic tanks. These tanks would be used to store fuel for Indias cryogenic motors.

Senior Boeing executives are in contact with Isro and Boeing has prepared an internal white paper on US-India space cooperation. For discussing substantive, and potentially classified, issues with Isro, Boeing has applied to the US government for a Technical Assistance Agreement.

Boeings Business Development Senior Manager for space systems, Sam Gunderson, is emphatic that Boeing wishes to partner Isro and in building Indian space systems. Brushing away concerns about US export licencing, Gunderson says, Dual use restrictions (under the US law: International Traffic in Arms Regulations) in space cooperation would be significant, but we can find a way to work around those.

Space partnership has gained momentum since the US-India nuclear pact. In 2009, Isro invited Boeing to a conference in India on robotics. The moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, carried NASA sensors made by Boeing.

As the countdown continues at the Kennedy Space Centre, the excitement that suffuses a shuttle launch is tinged with disappointment at the impending closure of the shuttle programme. Scientists explain that no rocket in the world can send up 7 astronauts to the ISS for extended missions, and also carry 25 tonnes of bulky cargo. The space shuttle is made even more invaluable by its ability to bring back tonnes of cargo to earth from the space station, material that would otherwise be wasted.


:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## Choppers

*Boeing in talks to work with ISRO on moon mission​*
K.V. Prasad

ORLANDO (U.S.): Seeking to expand cooperation with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its moon mission, the United States is offering assistance through Boeing, which partners with the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) on its space exploration programme.

Having worked with NASA on the Chandryaan mission, the ISRO is in talks with Boeing, which has a commercial crew development contract with NASA, as a key teammate to initiate the design and development architecture of a commercial transport to and from the International Space Station.

We are having an initial conversation with ISRO and attempting to set up a more formal arrangement as to how we can work together in space,'' Sam Gunderson, Senior Manager of Boeing Business Development, told a group of correspondents from India here.

The company's representatives, Roger Krone and Jeff Trauberman, met ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan and Antrix Corporation managing director K.R. Sridhara Murthi in February, Mr. Gunderson said. Mr. Murthi was identified as the point of contact for follow-up work.

On his part, Mr. Krone told TheHindu that Boeing had applied for federal clearance to facilitate its entry into a Technical Assistance Agreement with ISRO. The application was made last month and it took a minimum of 90 days for getting the go-ahead signal, he said.

On commercial crew transportation, the Boeing says it has the expertise to offer the Launch Escape System (LES), Vehicle Health Monitoring System and Abort Triggers (VHMSAT), Life Support System, Crew Accommodations and other areas such as reusable space systems and composite cryogenic tanks.

Although it has had the LES, aimed at providing a means for the crew to escape unharmed from a catastrophic failure during ascent, since the maiden Apollo-11 mission, it has been upgraded. The Pad Abort 1 test was carried out successfully on May 6.

The five-stage launch abort system has an adaptor cone attached to the crew module, followed by an abort motor, jettison motor, forward interstage, attitude control motor (ACM) and the nose cone. The ACM steers the launch abort system and the crew module away from the launch vehicle and then orients the crew module for parachute deployment.

The crew module takes about 90 seconds to touch down from the time when the abort execute command is issued.

In the run-up to the launch, the VHMSAT is designed to constantly monitor the system and command the escape system in case a failure is detected while the Life Support System removes the carbon dioxide and controls humidity.

With India showing more interest in reusable space systems, Boeing is putting that on offer, while the crew accommodation includes seats, pressure suits and other control systems.

In August last, ISRO invited Boeing to a technology conference on robotic space mission. India carried NASA and other international sensors on the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter and partners with Russia in the development of Chandrayaan-II, planned for launch in the 2013-15 time frame.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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## jha

*Nasa sidelining India's moon men?*

MUMBAI: Has the path-breaking discovery of water on the moon by Chandrayaan-1 robbed Indian scientists of their due? Some Indian lunar scientists feel that their role has been completely sidelined by their American counterparts, who were also a part of the Rs 386-crore lunar mission.

The discovery was done by three instruments on board Chandrayaan-1. These were the CHACE (Chandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer), one of the three payloads of the indigenous Moon Impact Probe (MIP), the Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) and Mini-Sar, both belonging to NASA.

Last year, on September 25, Madhavan Nair, who was then chairman of ISRO, declared at a hurriedly-convened media meet in Bangalore that the MIP had detected water on the moon. According to him, the India-made probe, a brainchild of former president A P J Abdul Kalam, picked up the signals about the presence of water during its 25-minute flight to the moon on the night of November 14, 2008.

However, subsequently, there has been a huge debate as to who attained the breakthrough first &#8212; India or the US? Documents made available to TOI show that the MIP was activated on November 14, 2008, the Mini-Sar started functioning 72 hours later on November 17 and the M3 became operational on November 22, eight days after the landing of the MIP on the moon. It became fully active on December 17, 2008.

According to the Indian scientists, who declined to be identified, fearing repercussions on the job front, the sequence of events proves that it was the Indian MIP that made the discovery first. Despite this, they regret, NASA has walked away with the prize and no effort has been made by India to straighten out the facts.
"The 10-month delay in announcing our discovery has proved dear," remarked a scientist.

Nair justified this delay saying that since MIP's was only a 25-minute flight on November 14, 2008 &#8212; from 8.06 pm to 8.31 pm &#8212; ISRO did not want to rush to publicise its achievement without a proper analysis of the data.

But India's part in the discovery of lunar water continues to be downplayed. In a podcast organized by NASA's Lunar Science Institute titled Water on the Moon on April 29, there is no mention of the role played by the CHACE payload on board the MIP, designed and developed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre's Space Physics Institute at Thiruvanathanapuram. The entire credit has gone to NASA.

Last week TOI emailed a questionnaire to Carle Pieters, principal investigator of M3, seeking her comments, but there was no response.

A top scientist connected with the Chandrayaan mission, Syed Maqbool Ahmed, who was the project manager of the CHACE payload, declared openly last week on a website called '365 Days Of Astronomy':
"Our results were rejected by Science journal in March 2009 and Nature in August 2009. Now they have appeared in Planetary and Space Sciences, which is a British journal."

In another comment on the website of the US Planetary Society, he spoke about the agony of waiting till March 2010 to get recognition. "Maybe it was a price we had to pay for not being frontrunners in the field of space." 

Nasa sidelining India's moon men? - India - The Times of India


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## gogbot

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
leave it to TOI to find the negative in everything

TOI has to be run by cynics honestly

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## indiatech

gogbot said:


> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> leave it to TOI to find the negative in everything
> 
> TOI has to be run by cynics honestly



TOI is a gone case. Even they don't bother to watch the language.

If there is some true and real journalism left, the spirit can be found in

THE HINDU.


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## Kinetic

indiatech said:


> TOI is a gone case. Even they don't bother to watch the language.
> 
> If there is some true and real journalism left, the spirit can be found in
> 
> THE HINDU.



The Hindu is a very pro-China newspaper, some named it Chindu! But they most much more accurate info than TOI-let. TOI-let finds negative in everything, I was just thinking about this and 'gogbot' posted it.


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## sudhir007

*India to Launch First Military Use Satellite Under Defence Space Vision-2020*

New Delhi (ABC Live): India has decided to launch its first dedicated military satellite by 2011 under Defence Space Vision-2020.

New Delhi (ABC Live): India has decided to launch its first dedicated military satellite by 2011 under Defence Space Vision-2020.

Information to this effect was shared by Ministry of Defence that Indian Space Research Organization has assured us the naval satellite, with an around 1,000 nautical mile footprint over Indian Ocean, will be launched as slated... The project cost is Rs 950 crore. IAF and Army satellites will follow in a couple of years.''

The dedicated satellite will help Navy network all its warships, submarines and aircraft among themselves as well as with operational centres ashore through high-speed data-links. "Maritime threats can then be detected and shared in real-time to ensure swift reaction,'' said an officer.

Indian armed forces have been already using "dual use'' satellites like Cartosat-I, Cartosat-II and Cartosat-IIA, but after this dedicated military satellite they will get dedicated satellites of their own. 
In cureent time there are 300 dedicated or dual-use military satellites present in earth space, out of these 150 belonged to US followed by Russia and China. 




ABC Live-Online News,Breaking News,World News

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## gowthamraj

^^^ must required one, good job ISRO


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## sudhir007

Ramakrishnan is Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre | NetIndian | India News | Latest News from India | Breaking News from India | Latest Headlines

*Ramakrishnan is Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre*

Mr S Ramakrishnan, Distinguished Scientist of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and hitherto Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has assumed the office of Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

An official press release from ISRO said here today that Mr Ramakrishnan took over the charge from Mr M K G Nair, the outgoing Director, on May 31.

According to it, Mr Ramakrishnan has made significant contribution to the launch vehicle technology in the country starting from the very first SLV-3 project.

After obtaining an M. Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, Mr Ramakrishnan joined VSSC in 1972. His first assignment was in SLV-3 Project, wherein he was responsible for the design and development of Reaction Control Systems. He played a key role in the development of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and was responsible for the development of liquid propulsion stages and their interfacing with vehicle and launch operations.

Under his leadership as Project Director, PSLV Continuation programme (PSLV-C1 to C4), operationalisation of PSLV and enhancing the payload capability from 900 kg to 1500 kg was accomplished. As Project Director, GSLV Mark III, Mr Ramakrishnan steered the Project during the crucial phase of design, engineering and realisation of first-off hardware for development test.

The release said that, as Director (Projects) at VSSC and Chairman, Project Management Council, Mr Ramakrishnan provided technical guidance and programmatic direction to ISRO Launch Vehicle Projects as well as new developmental activities.

Mr Ramakrishnan played a lead role in the formulation of Indian Human Spaceflight Project (HSP) and completion of system concept reviews.

The Government had honoured Mr Ramakrishnan with the Padma Shri in 2003.

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## shaktiman2010

ISRO leadership is too old now.

Younger people must get chance to make decisions for ISRO.

The way Semicryogenic engine project was cancelled during 1980's because some senior buddhas opposed it, has now become biggest mistake in ISRO's history.

We need younger generation in seniormost roles. Not these 50+ buddhas.

Most of senior team leaders in Western MNC's are young people below 40 years and some even below 30 years of age.


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## shaktiman2010

IndianArmy said:


> its good, You cannot risk a life, so its always better to take the advise of those who are well into this business....



That's an stupid excuse.

So, lets invite Lockheed martin to make fighters for India. We can't risk life because we are so scared of loosing life that we didn't even cross borders during Kargil war.


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## shaktiman2010

Regarding news of Western science journals being biased against ISRO and favoring NASA first on moon water finding. Its nothing new.

They were same who stole Indian's invention of radio waves and gave the Nobel prize to wrong guy. 

Racism is alive and a reality. TOI isn't biased but just showing a mirror to reality which soft people(Indians) find hard to accept.


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## nForce

shaktiman2010 said:


> ISRO leadership is too old now.
> 
> Younger people must get chance to make decisions for ISRO.
> 
> The way Semicryogenic engine project was cancelled during 1980's because some senior buddhas opposed it, has now become biggest mistake in ISRO's history.
> 
> We need younger generation in seniormost roles. Not these 50+ buddhas.
> 
> Most of senior team leaders in Western MNC's are young people below 40 years and some even below 30 years of age.




The leader is bound to be some old man.In a knowledge driven Institution like ISRO,the foremost requirement for the leader is experience.ISRO cannot be compared with any business firm,where the requirements are entirely different.Have patience buddy,ISRO has an excellent track record,one of the best in the World,and I believe it will continue to be so.


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## sudhir007

ISRO Makes Technical Leadership Changes After a Series of Launch Mishaps :: Satellite Today

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) appointed S. Ramakrishnan director of its liquid propulsion systems center, the organization announced June 2. 

Ramakrishnan previously served as projects director for ISRO at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, providing technical guidance and program direction to ISRO launch vehicle projects as well as new developmental activities.
Ramakrishnan&#8217;s appointment may be an attempt to shift momentum for ISRO, as the agency has been hindered recently by a series of launch delays and failures due to technical problems. The agency delayed the launch of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15), initially scheduled for May 9. On April 15, ISRO&#8217;s GSLV-D3 rocket carrying the GSAT-4 communications satellite failed due to a third-stage engine malfunction that resulted in total loss of control of the spacecraft. In August, ISRO&#8217;s $82 million unmanned Chandrayaan-1 mission ended after ISRO lost contact with the spacecraft.


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## Tejas-MkII

*MAGNETIC REFUGE FOUND ON MOON*
A mini magnetic field has been detected on the surface of the moon, making it a rare lunar refuge from the harsh solar wind.

A miniature magnetic field has been imaged on the surface of the moon, making it a rare, minimally protective lunar refuge from some aspects of the harsh solar wind.

*The magnetic region could be a great place to site a lunar base, since tomorrow's lunar colonists will not only need water (check!), but some protection from the heavy radiation in the solar wind.*

"You can think of it as kind of a mini umbrella," said Martin Wieser of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. "It will be effective for certain kinds of (space) weather."

But it is very weak in comparison to Earth's planet-wide magnetic field or even compared to the splotchy magnetospheres of Mars.


*The 360-kilometer- (224-mile-) wide magnetosphere was detected by an instrument on the Indian Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.* The mini magnetosphere revealed itself by fewer hydrogen atoms scattering off the surface of the moon. Generally when the solar wind rams into the airless surface of the moon, some hydrogen atoms scatter back into space. Any place with fewer of these atoms rising up from the moon is likely to be shielded magnetically, explained Wieser and his colleagues in their paper published in Geophysical Research Letters.

The researchers also noticed that the dust inside the magnetically shielded zone is brighter than the surrounding areas, which might have something to do with the solar wind weathering that surface differently over the eons.

"I think this is a very exciting observation," said lunar researcher Jasper Halekas of the Space Science Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. "*There have been a number of indications that theses things were taking place. (But) this is the first directed study that really tells you 'they are there.'*"

The lunar magnetospheres are a lot like those on Mars, said Halekas, except that on Mars they are almost certainly the remnants of a global magnetic field that was created by the planet's core. A molten core dynamo on the moon is a bit less likely, however.

"It's still quite possible that there was a dynamo on the moon," said Halekas.

Another possibility is that the mini-magnetosphere was generated by large impacts on the direct opposite side of the moon. Exactly how this works is far from clear, but there does seem to be a correlation between large impact craters and magnetic anomalies at their antipodes, said Wieser.

Ironically, the same magnetic shielding could make these the driest places on the moon. One mechanism believed to generate at least the ingredients for water on the moon are solar protons smacking into the surface, forming hydrogen atoms in the lunar soils. Inside a mini magnetosphere that is less likely to happen, Wieser noted.

Without water, maybe this isn't the best lunar real estate after all.

Magnetic Refuge Found on Moon : Discovery News


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## Kinetic

*India Is A Spacefaring Nation*

India Is A Spacefaring Nation | AVIATION WEEK

watch the video....


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## sudhir007




----------



## Marxist

*India suggests usage of its launch vehicles for ROK satellites*

New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI)India and South Korea today discussed a host of bilateral issues with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is on a official visit there, suggesting that South Korean satellites could be launched by Indian launch vehicles. Describing the 40 minute meeting between Krishna and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak as "constructive and fruitful", the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the two leaders underscored the importance of increasing people-to-people exchanges to bolster the bilateral strategic partnership.

Recalling his "landmark" visit here this year as the chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations, Lee appreciated Krishna''s visit to Seoul for the 6th Joint Commission meeting (JCM), soon after his own, which would give further impetus to bilateral relations and the initiatives announced during his visit to India. Krishna also suggested a bust of Rabindranath Tagore, who had described Korea as the Lamp of the East, be installed at a prominent location in Seoul.

Warming to the idea, President Lee said he would make a strong recommendation to the concerned city authorities to identify a suitable location for installing the of Tagore in 2011, the 150th birth anniversary of the Nobel Laureate. Referring to the MOU for cooperation signed last January between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Krishna suggested ROK satellites could be launched by Indian launch vehicles.

President Lee agreed with the suggestion and asked his officials to do the necessary follow-up. Krishna also interacted with prominent members of the Indian community and apprised them about the strategic partnership between the two countries.

He said bilateral ties were on the cusp of a major take-off and exhorted the Indian community to assist the process as well as to make the best use of emerging opportunities for greater trade and investment. Krishna will be co-chairing the 6th India-ROK Joint Commission Meeting with his South Korean counterpart tomorrow

India suggests usage of its launch vehicles for ROK satellites - Yahoo! India News

---------- Post added at 10:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

*ROK agrees to India&#8217;s space launch use suggestion*

New Delhi, June 17 (ANI): South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday agreed to Indian External Affairs minister S.M.Krishna&#8217;s suggestion to launch ROK satellites on Indian launch vehicles.

A statement issued here on behalf of both leaders said: &#8220;Referring to the MOU of cooperation, signed last January between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Krishna suggested that ROK satellites could be launched on Indian launch vehicles. President Lee agreed with the suggestion and asked his officials to do the necessary follow-up.&#8221;

On Thursday, Krishna called on the President Lee Myung-bak at the Blue House, the official residence of the President.

The two leaders had a constructive and fruitful 40-minute meeting in a warm and cordial atmosphere.

President Lee and Krishna underscored the importance of increasing people-to-people exchanges to bolster the Strategic Partnership between the two countries including in the fields of education, tourism and youth.

Krishna suggested that a bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore , who had described Korea as the &#8216;Lamp of the East&#8217;, be installed at a prominent location in Seoul.

Warming to the theme, President Lee said that he would make a strong recommendation to the concerned city authorities to identify a suitable location for installing the bust of Gurudev in 2011, the 150th birth anniversary of the Nobel laureate.

President Lee, during the meet, fondly recalled his landmark visit to India in January this year, as the chief guest at India&#8217;s Republic Day celebrations.

He appreciated Krishna&#8217;s visit to Seoul for the 6th Joint Commission meeting (JCM), soon after his own, which would give further impetus to bilateral relations and the initiatives announced during his visit to India.

Later in the evening, Krishna interacted with prominent members of the Indian community. He apprised them about the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

Krishna observed that bilateral ties were on the cusp of a major take-off and exhorted the Indian community to assist the process, as well as, to make the best use of emerging opportunities for greater trade and investment.

Krishna will be co-chairing the 6th India-ROK JCM with his ROK counterpart on Friday. (ANI)

ROK agrees to India&#8217;s space launch use suggestion

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## SpArK

Good recognition of our capabilities.. good going ISRO


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## welcome

shaktiman2010 said:


> ISRO leadership is too old now.
> 
> Younger people must get chance to make decisions for ISRO.
> 
> The way Semicryogenic engine project was cancelled during 1980's because some senior buddhas opposed it, has now become biggest mistake in ISRO's history.
> 
> We need younger generation in seniormost roles. Not these 50+ buddhas.
> 
> Most of senior team leaders in Western MNC's are young people below 40 years and some even below 30 years of age.



will u work in isro. u r think just recruit some young people and they will made the cryogenic engine in few days. isro made most complicated machines of the earth(excluding human body) it's is a easy task than pakistan can ever made it. respect ur senior scientist they r working in isro only for india with tiny payment. if they like only money than they can work in nasa but they love india.

isro also give training and also recruit person but half of them after getting training leave isro and they join nasa or other for money.


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## sudhir007

India plans to put 5 satellites into orbit next month-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

BANGALORE: India plans to put five remote-sensing satellites into orbit in the first half of next month after fixing a rocket &#8220;anomaly&#8221; that forced it to delay launches in May.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will carry India&#8217;s Cartosat-2B, Algeria&#8217;s ALSAT-2A and two small satellites from the University of Toronto, PS Veeraraghavan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said over the phone on Thursday from the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram. The fifth unit will be a one-kilogram satellite built by Indian students, he said.

The agency, based in Thiruvananthapuram, has corrected the anomaly which was in the second stage of the rocket, according to Mr Veeraraghavan. The delay had disrupted India&#8217;s challenge to China, Japan, and South Korea as it competes for commercial-satellite launches.

In April, India also failed in its bid to join a group of five nations using their own rocket technology to launch large satellites into higher orbits when scientists lost control of the 50-meter (164 feet) GSLV-D3 spacecraft minutes after blastoff. &#8220;The reasons for the failure are still being analysed and we expect a report in a month&#8217;s time,&#8221; said Mr Veeraraghavan.

India is planning a $2.5 billion unmanned mission to space by 2015 and is slated to launch a second unmanned moon craft, Chandrayaan II, at a cost of $87.5 million before March 2013. India launched its first space rocket in 1963 and its first satellite in 1975. The country&#8217;s satellite program consists of 21 orbiters, of which 11 are currently in service.


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## sudhir007

domain-b.com : India, S Korea explore nuclear, space cooperation

India and South Korea on Thursday agreed to explore possibilities for civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries as well as the launching of South Korean satellites aboard India's space launch vehicles, according to official sources in Seoul. These possibilities were discussed in talks between visiting Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna and his South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-hwan.

South Korea and India hold ministerial talks, dubbed the Joint Commission, since 2002. This year was the sixth such meeting of its kind. Form this year the talks will be an annual affair, as agreed upon by leaders of both nations in January this year.

Both sides said they would pursue a nuclear cooperation deal. South Korea, buoyant after securing a significant contract to build nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, is seeking to participate in India's civil nuclear industry.

In the area of space activities there already exists a memorandum of understanding between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute which allows both sides to explore commercial opportunities with each other. On Krishna's suggestion to the S Korean president that his country could make use of ISRO facilities, president Lee Myung-bak ''asked his officials to do the necessary follow-up,'' an Indian statement noted.

The matter of Korea seeking launch facilities for its satellites assumes critical importance in the face of multiple failures of Koreas newly developed launch vehicle, which it has developed in collaboration with Russia.

Minister Krishna called upon the S Korean president at his residence.

The foreign ministers of both nations noted that after the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement went into effect in January this year, trade volume has picked up 70 per cent. Both countries are targeting a trade volume of $30 billion by 2014.

On the recent sinking of the ROK frigate, Cheonan, by North Korea, Krishna conveyed to president Lee India's appreciation of the ''mature and restrained way'' his country had responded.

An external affairs ministry statement said the two leaders emphasised the importance of enhancing people-to-people contacts to bolster the strategic partnership between the two sides.

Krishna also suggested that a bust of Rabindranath Tagore, who had described Korea as the 'Lamp of the East,' be installed at a prominent place in Seoul. President Lee responded warmly to the suggestion saying he would make a strong recommendation to the city authorities to identify a suitable location for installing the bust in 2011, on the occasion of Tagore's 150th birth anniversary.


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## IndianArmy

shaktiman2010 said:


> That's an stupid excuse.
> 
> So, lets invite Lockheed martin to make fighters for India. We can't risk life because we are so scared of loosing life that we didn't even cross borders during Kargil war.



Mind Your tongue Mr... Go read what was I intending there....


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## praveen007

India plans to put 5 satellites into orbit next m... :: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## praveen007

ISRO satellite to study greenhouse. fullstory


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## Choppers

*ISRO plans to launch satellite to study greenhouse gases*

Chennai, Jun 21 (PTI) With growing importance being placed on climate change and mitigation strategies, India's space agency ISRO is in the process of launching a satellite to study greenhouse gases, 

"In the next 2-3 years, ISRO will carry out the first of the launches which will be dedicated to (studying) greenhouses gases like carbondioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and things of that kind," Planning Commission Member and former chief of ISRO, Dr K Kasturirangan told reporters here today.

The satellite was in design stages and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which will play a substantial role in the funding of this project, has asked ISRO if the measurements relating to the gases could be made globally.

"The US and Japan have already put such satellites and the idea is to see if India can look at the greenhouse gases using satellite sensors," Kasturirangan said.


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## Choppers

*Perfecting the art of balloon science*

*NBF strives to develop advanced balloons even as the &#8216;poor man&#8217;s satellite&#8217; loses favour among scientists*

Samanth Subramanian

Hyderabad: To construct a scientific balloon, first build a really, really long table.

The longest table at the National Balloon Facility (NBF) measures 178m; it would take Usain Bolt a quarter of a minute to run from one of its ends to the other. Covered in spotless white plastic, the table is the most arresting occupant of a long, slender room. This is the balloon fabrication unit, which makes NBF the only facility in the world to design, manufacture and launch its own balloons, tugging along a raft of science experiments as payload.

On this table, the seams of a balloon can be sealed as effectively as its fate. Long stretches of polyethylene film, often as thin as 6 micron&#8212;six thousandths of a millimetre, so thin that even sweat can ruin it&#8212;are heated and joined to each other. Too much heat, and the film will burn; one careless move, and the film will tear. The careful fabrication of a balloon may require 90 days and cost up to Rs50 lakh.

The final, pear-shaped envelope of polyethylene, when filled with hydrogen, can be enormous. &#8220;The largest balloons we&#8217;ve launched,&#8221; says S. Sreenivasan, the scientist-in-charge at NBF, &#8220;have had volumes of 26 million cubic feet.&#8221; NBF balloons have sent up experiments from India as well as from the US, Russia, Japan and Italy, all eager to take advantage of the low magnetic interference this close to the equator.

Now, in a literal instance of pushing the envelope, NBF is developing a balloon that can regularly take payloads more than 50km above the earth&#8217;s surface&#8212;very close to, if not over, the 53km altitude record achieved precisely once by a team in Japan. It&#8217;s harder than it sounds. It requires polyethylene so thin as to be virtually non-existent, and it is a significant leap from NBF&#8217;s present high of 42-43km. If these balloons succeed, they could replace the traditional atmospheric and weather-sounding rockets used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

The history of scientific ballooning is, in a way, as old as modern ballooning itself: In 1783, in one of their very first hot-air balloon flights, the Montgolfier brothers took along a sheep to test the effects of altitude on animal physiology. (The sheep returned unharmed.) But the lifetime of NBF, now beginning its 40th year under the stewardship of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), has coincided nearly exactly with that of the artificial satellite, a fearsome competitor. The satellite can arm itself with far more sensors, and it can stay off the ground for many months, rather than the balloon&#8217;s few hours.

&#8220;The scientific balloon is often called the poor man&#8217;s satellite,&#8221; Sreenivasan says, almost as if he were personally hurt by that description. But it isn&#8217;t strictly true. Scientific balloons have kept themselves busy by collecting the sort of fine-grained data about the lower atmosphere that satellites, floating far above the world, are hard-pressed to provide.

The 50km balloon, as NBF&#8217;s scientists refer to it, is a part of that effort to remain relevant. &#8220;We started designing it,&#8221; says R.K. Manchanda, chairman of the NBF board, &#8220;when somebody at Isro told me, a few years ago: &#8216;Manchanda, why don&#8217;t you give us something for 50km?&#8217;&#8221; A 76m-long table is already being built to shape and seal the special 3.8-micron-thin polyethylene, and Manchanda expects to launch the balloon later this year, during the first of the narrow, two-month launch windows that swing open in November-December and March-April.

How useful a 50km balloon would be beyond Isro is unclear. A few years ago, S. Shivaji, a microbiologist at Hyderabad&#8217;s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, worked with scientists from Isro and TIFR to send up an NBF balloon to collect air samples from a height of 41km. From these samples, Shivaji&#8217;s team isolated three wholly new species of bacteria. But collecting air even at 41km &#8220;was hard enough, because the air is so rare at that altitude,&#8221; he says. &#8220;At 50km, it&#8217;ll be even rarer.&#8221;

Manchanda knows that such atmospheric experiments will not find much use for a 50km balloon, but off the top of his head, he can name at least two other research fields that would. &#8220;Usually, when you don&#8217;t have a tool, you don&#8217;t think of the possibilities,&#8221; he says. &#8220;When the balloon is there, scientists will come up with experiments for it.&#8221;

NBF has a history of pushing against&#8212;and successfully circumventing&#8212;the limits of balloon physics. When TIFR scientists such as Homi Bhabha first began sending up balloons from the Osmania University grounds in the late 1950s to study cosmic rays, and even after NBF was established in 1969, a peculiar problem persisted. At minus 65 degrees Celsius, polyethylene becomes brittle and cracks, so balloons were unable to cross the tropopause, a point between the first two atmospheric layers where temperatures plunge as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius.

Paradoxically&#8212;and unfortunately for Hyderabad&#8212;the problem is most acute above warm latitudes, where the tropopause is at its coldest. A US scientist named Robert Kubara, writing up a report of launches from Hyderabad in 1964, moaned that the city&#8217;s latitude &#8220;further aggravate(d) the already difficult problem of tropopause penetration&#8221;.

In the US, the problem was resolved with the development of a special polyethylene known as Stratofilm. In Hyderabad, scientists jury-rigged a solution by coating their polyethylene with carbon black, which drew heat from the sun and kept the film warm. &#8220;But these balloons would sometimes absorb too much heat, so they would go up very fast and burst, or the film would melt,&#8221; Sreenivasan, who joined NBF in 1971, recalls.

Only in the mid-1970s did NBF begin using imported thin-film polyethylene. The last import of film, says B. Suneel Kumar, a scientific officer in the balloon fabrication unit, came into NBF in 1998. &#8220;After that, we started importing only the resin,&#8221; he says, &#8220;and we found a factory in Daman to make the film.&#8221;

As a large, composite photograph hanging behind Sreenivasan&#8217;s desk shows, the launch of a scientific balloon can be a spectacular sight. It often takes place early in the morning, so the light of dawn and of strobe lamps filter muddily through the gauze-like balloon as it fills with gas. &#8220;The freed balloon rose in slow motion, with a mighty flapping of plastic,&#8221; science journalist Anil Ananthaswamy wrote in his recent book The Edge of Physics, after observing a launch in Antarctica. &#8220;It looked like a giant translucent jellyfish.&#8221;

NBF conducts six-seven such launches every year, down from 10-12 a decade ago. The demand for scientific balloons has been dipping in favour of satellites, and faster abroad than in India. A 2005 strategic road map by the Scientific Balloon Planning Team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) admitted that a &#8220;more reliable means of support for balloon missions is needed&#8221;.

Manchanda acknowledges this challenge. In fact, when he took charge of NBF in 2001, he thought &#8220;it would die unless we did something drastically different. Balloon work has never been fashionable&#8221;. His vision of ballooning&#8217;s future echoes Nasa&#8217;s. He talks of long-duration flights, lasting three-four days, and of super-pressure balloons that stay afloat for weeks.

Sreenivasan thinks of further practical applications: sending up a balloon as a temporary, rapidly functional telecom tower, for instance. Recently, NBF and Tata Teleservices Ltd demonstrated that a scaled-down version of a cellphone tower, flying at a height of 400m, had an operational range of 6,000 sq. km&#8212;an experiment that holds glimmers of promise for rural telephony.

But altitude-wise, Manchanda says, ballooning is nearing a ceiling, a limit that even NBF cannot escape. &#8220;Significantly above 50km, really, you&#8217;re better off making observations with a satellite, and I can&#8217;t think of too many experiments that require further height,&#8221; he says. &#8220;It becomes physically very difficult, very expensive, to use balloons, so finally you have to give up. You&#8217;re checkmated. This is the endgame.&#8221;

Perfecting the art of balloon science - Economy and Politics - livemint.com


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## rajgoynar

*India tells US to remove ISRO and DRDO from blacklis*t
India has asked US to remove its two state-run frontline technology establishments ISRO and DRDO from the entities list, in apparent anticipation of Washington and New Delhi opening cooperation in hi-tech systems.
India has also asked American companies to invest in defence sector in the country with the visiting Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma assuring that the major changes in the liberalisation of FDI policy were under debate.
"Now that the Indo-US relationship has gained a new momentum with the Strategic Dialogue, it makes no sense to keep vital research organisations like Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in the entities list", Sharma said. 



http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-tells-us-to-remove-isrodrdoblacklist/99071/on
In his high level interaction with top US officials, the minister said, "It is high time to remove these organisations from the entities list, keeping in view the fact that DRDO, ISRO and other institutions, which are bold and high in research, are very actively involved in partnership or in co-ordination with the US agencies".

ISRO and DRDO were put on American technology export control blacklist after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear blast.

Saying that India cannot be bracketed with other countries, the Commerce Minister told reporters that New Delhi's record in missile and nuclear non-proliferation was exemplary and "thus our entities particularly the governmental research organisations including ISRO and DRDO should not be on the entities list".

"I must say that they have been very receptive and reassuring," Sharma said in response to a question referring to his meetings here with top US officials in this regard.

On the investments in defence sector, the minister said 26 per cent FDI in the sector was very high, and Government was very hopeful that along with investments the foreign investors would bring in technology collaborations.

He said this technology inflow would not be restricted to defence field only but also have multiple industrial application.

"We are open to foreign investments in defence. India is willing to change. We have friendly investment regime and there is very little negative list", he said.

On the demand to raise the FDI cap in defence sector to 49 per cent, the Commerce Minister said a national debate was on the country which could lead to a change in then policy.


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## soaringphnx

shaktiman2010 said:


> ISRO leadership is too old now.
> 
> Younger people must get chance to make decisions for ISRO.
> 
> The way Semicryogenic engine project was cancelled during 1980's because some senior buddhas opposed it, has now become biggest mistake in ISRO's history.
> 
> We need younger generation in seniormost roles. Not these 50+ buddhas.
> 
> Most of senior team leaders in Western MNC's are young people below 40 years and some even below 30 years of age.



Haven't you heard of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST)?

IIST is India's national institute for the study and development of space science, located at Thiruvananthapuram. IIST is sponsored by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under Department of Space, Government of India. IIST was envisioned to fulfill the shortfall in scientist and engineers at ISRO, by offering undergraduate and postgraduate education in Space Science and Technology and Post Graduate and research programmes in Space Science and Technology and integrated Masters in Space Science. It had an initial investment of Rs. 270 crores and annual recurring cost of Rs. 40 crores by the Union Government, thus the entire expenses of the course is supported by ISRO in the form of scholarships or assistantships, and successful students would be subsequently absorbed into ISRO itself. It is the only institute of its kind in India, which imparts B.Tech. in Space Technology, and subjects suitable the requirements of ISRO.

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess now we can see some real changes in ISRO!!

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## sudhir007

Obama unveils new space policy, to enhance cooperation with India - India - The Times of India

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama unveiled a new national space policy designed to strengthen US' leadership in space and putting emphasis on greater cooperation with India.

Shortly after the policy was announced yesterday, White House officials in a conference call with reporters said the US emphasises a lot on its co &#8212;operation with India, noting the south Asian country has a "very space friendly" programme.

The US greatly values India's emergence as a global player in space and research and aims to deepen its cooperation with India in the field of space, one official said.

"This policy is about the boundless possibilities of the future," Obama said in a statement as the White House unveiled the basic contours of America's New Space Policy.

"That is why we seek to spur a burgeoning commercial space industry, to rapidly increase our capabilities in space while bolstering America's competitive edge in the global economy".

He said the administration is proposing improved observation of the earth, to gain new insights into the environment and the planet.

Noting that the US will engage in expanded international cooperation in space activities, a fact &#8212;sheet issued by the White House said: "The United States will pursue cooperative activities to the greatest extent practicable in areas including space science and exploration, earth observations, climate change research, and the sharing of environmental data; disaster mitigation and relief; and space surveillance for debris monitoring and awareness".

"We set ambitious goals for NASA: ramping up robotic and human space exploration, with our sights set on Mars and beyond, to improve the capacity of human beings to learn and work safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time.

"And this policy recognises the importance of inspiring a new generation of young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For, ultimately, our leadership as a nation &#8212; in this or any endeavour &#8212; will depend on them," Obama said.

The new policy says that all nations have the right to explore and use space for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity, in accordance with international law.

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## Choppers

*Chandrayaan-2 launch as scheduled: ISRO chief​*
ANANYA DUTTA
KOLKATA, June 29, 2010






_K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO addressing the media. File photo: V. Ganesan_


*Indigenous cryogenic engine, that developed snags earlier, to be flight tested again*

*Despite technical snags in the indigenous cryogenic engine that powered the Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV, which was flight-tested in April, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to launch Chandrayaan-2 on an indigenous cryogenic engine on schedule by 2013, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan said here on Tuesday.*

We went through a very detailed analysis of what happened and why it happened. We have come to a couple of scenarios as to how such a technical snag could occur; or next task would be to confirm them through testing on the ground, he said.

The next flight testing of the cryogenic engine would be done about a year later.

Dr. Radhakrishnan was in town for the celebrations of Statistics Day, on the birth anniversary of Professor P.C. Mahalanobis, at the Indian Statistical Institute. The institute as well as the National Sample Survey Organisation are the brainchild of Professor Mahalanobis.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the ISRO was developing a satellite that would have instruments on board to test traces of greenhouse gases to enable a better understanding of atmospheric chemistry. It would be launched in a couple of years

For studying climate change, Dr. Radhakrishnan said several indicators, including those on land, atmosphere and oceans, were identified as essential climate variables. Of these, there were 26 that were best observed through satellite system. Of this, a few were being monitored, but the ISRO would monitor more.

*Virtual technology*

ISRO was studying the virtual technology that would be needed for India's first manned space mission  a project to put humans on an orbit around the earth at a distance of 275 km above it.

Essentially we are looking at the crew module and the environmental controls and life support systems  especially at the time of re-entry  on how to withstand the high temperatures. Another area is the crew escape system  if anything happens in the ascent phase, how do you save the crew members, he said.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech : Chandrayaan-2 launch as scheduled: ISRO chief

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## soaringphnx

*GSLV relaunch with indigenous cryogenic engine in one year: ISRO​*
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to relaunch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with a home-grown cryogenic engine in a year's time after the failure in April this year.

"We have come across a few scenarios after detailed analysis of the failure. Now the immediate task is to test it on the ground and we look forward to relaunch it next year," ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of the 117 birth anniversary celebrations of Professor PC Mahalanobis at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata.

The five earlier versions of the GSLV had Russia- supplied cryogenic engines. India's cryogenic upper stage (CUS) engine was meant to replace the Russian engines.

The GSLV D-3, the satellite launch vehicle showcasing the country's indigenous cryogenic technology, trailed off its designated course and went out of control shortly after the lift-off on April 15.

The rocket, along with its two payloads -- satellites GSAT-4 and GAGAN -- crashed into the Bay of Bengal minutes after blastoff.

The failed mission caused loss of the GSLV-D3 rocket costing about Rs 180 crore and the satellites valued at Rs 150 crore.

The launch was the key to India's space programme as it would have made it the sixth nation to successfully deploy cryogenic technology, joining US, Russia, Japan, China and France.

Meanwhile, Radhakrishnan said Chandrayaan-II will be launched in 2013.

Original Article:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...gine-in-one-year-ISRO/articleshow/6106134.cms


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## soaringphnx

*ISRO to launch university-built nano satellite*​
The Indian space agency will be launching a nano satellite being built by the SRM University in Chennai after testing, an official on Saturday said.

"The satellite is being built by the students. It has to be tested before it can be included as a payload. Perhaps in September, the satellite may be launched," VS Hegde, scientific secretary, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the second edition of Indian Youth Science Congress (IYSC) at SRM University, he also said that ISRO will soon launch Cartosat, a cartography satellite.

About the failure of ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) that flew with indigenously developed cryogenic engine in April this year, Hegde said: "The failure analysis committee is looking into the causes. The committee is expected to submit its report soon."

Original Article:http://calcuttatube.com/isro-to-launch-university-built-nano-satellite/100644/


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## soaringphnx

*Isro satellites to study forest fires​*
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) plans to launch dedicated satellites to study greenhouse gas emissions and forest fires, besides assessing the change in forest vegetation.

Isro former chief Dr Kasturirangan told mediapersons on Monday that the dedicated satellite to monitor greenhouse gases would be launched in the next two to three years. He was here to witness the signing of an MoU between the environment and forest ministry and Anna University to create a national centre for sustainable coastal zone management.

The satellite is in design stage and environment ministry will fund the project, he said. The United States and Japan have already put such satellites. The Isro is also planning a 50 metre geosynchronous altitude-imaging mission to monitor vegetation, flooding and probably even forest fires. There is hope that forest fires can be detected since 50 metres is a fairly good resolution, he said.

In his message, the environment minister, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said that Survey of India had been asked to delineate a hazard line along 7,500 kilometres of Indian coastline. The ministry will allot Rs 200 crore for the project which is expected to be completed in two years, he said.

Original Article:Isro satellites to study forest fires | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-06-22


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## soaringphnx

*ISRO plans to launch satellite to study greenhouse gases​*
With growing importance being placed on climate change and mitigation strategies, India's space agency ISRO is in the process of launching a satellite to study greenhouse gases,

"In the next 2-3 years, ISRO will carry out the first of the launches which will be dedicated to (studying) greenhouses gases like carbondioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide and things of that kind," Planning Commission Member and former chief of ISRO, Dr K Kasturirangan told reporters here today.

The satellite was in design stages and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which will play a substantial role in the funding of this project, has asked ISRO if the measurements relating to the gases could be made globally.

"The US and Japan have already put such satellites and the idea is to see if India can look at the greenhouse gases using satellite sensors," Kasturirangan said.

Original Article: fullstory


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## sudhir007

After two setbacks, Isro set to launch five satellites on 12 July - Technology - livemint.com

Bangalore: After two setbacks this year, India&#8217;s space agency is set to launch five satellites on 12 July, including one that can shoot pictures of small objects on land and compress the time needed for building high-resolution maps by half.

In April, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) lost its fourth-generation communication satellite GSAT-4 when its heaviest rocket yet&#8212;the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), powered by a home-grown cryogenic engine&#8212;plunged into sea within five minutes of launch. The rocket was to put India in an exclusive club of nations capable of hurling communication satellites and offering space launches commercially.

New journey: A file photo of PSLV taking off from the launch pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Isro deferred a scheduled May launch of its workhorse PSLV after it found leaks in the rocket&#8217;s second stage. ISRO





New journey: A file photo of PSLV taking off from the launch pad in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Isro deferred a scheduled May launch of its workhorse PSLV after it found leaks in the rocket&#8217;s second stage. ISRO

Isro then deferred the launch of its workhorse polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) scheduled in May after it found leaks in the rocket&#8217;s second stage. The leaks were detected when pressurized nitrogen was pumped in the rocket as part of tests on the launch pad.

The same rocket will be fired now, following repairs and further tests, said an Isro official from Sriharikota. He did not want to be named.

&#8220;Even if the leak is minor, it takes many days to rectify and certify it fit,&#8221; said U.R. Rao, a former chairman of Isro. &#8220;In space, you don&#8217;t take risks.&#8221;

The rocket will also launch Alsat-2A, a remote sensing satellite from Algeria and India&#8217;s first African customer, two nano satellites from the University of Toronto, and Studsat, a small satellite built by engineering students in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Isro&#8217;s commercial arm, Antrix Corp. Ltd, has already signed a second satellite launch from Algeria for next year.

So far, PSLV has launched 39 satellites, nearly half of them from India, in 16 missions.

Isro expects Cartosat-2B to join two other satellites that are already in orbit&#8212;the Cartosat-2 and 2A&#8212;and return more high-resolution images to earth and provide complete coverage of the subcontinent, said S. Satish, director, Isro.

Cartosat-2B has a high resolution of 0.8 metre, allowing it to photograph objects the size of a typical bicycle.

Typically, satellites that can snap high resolution images can cover a small width or swath of 10km. To cover a larger area, a satellite would have to come back to a specific spot repeatedly, which would take a long time as it would have to complete one orbit of the earth to do this. A constellation of three satellites, on the other hand, can cover the entire country.

&#8220;It is like a camera; you want sharp images you need to be closer. You can go farther to cover a larger area, but you won&#8217;t get minute details,&#8221; said Rao.

As for the GSLV, Satish said a panel that&#8217;s studying what led to its crash is set to announce its report next week.


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## soaringphnx

*Minor setback in ISRO's GSLV Mk-3 development *




March 06, 2010 - A 200 sec test firing of the L-110 core stage of GSLV Mk-3 conducted on Saturday, March 6, had to be aborted after 150 sec.

The test was conducted at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, where a huge test rig has been erected.

The test was aborted after a deviation was observed in one of the 500 parameters being monitored.

The repeat test will be conducted after an analysis of the data.

The GSLV Mk-3 is a three-stage launcher with a 110 ton restartable core liquid propellant stage (L-110) using two Vikas engines, a strap-on stage with two solid propellant S-200 motors, each with 200 ton propellant, and a cryogenic upper stage with a propellant loading of 25 tonne (C-25).




The two Vikas engines used in the L110 stage are well proven as they also serve as the second stage of PSLV and GSLV.

It is likely that ISRO will easily overcome the minor setback today.

Original article: Minor setback in ISRO's GSLV Mk-3 development


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## Fighter488

*After two setbacks, Isro set to launch five satellites on 12 July​*
*One of the five satellites will shoot pictures of small objects on land and compress the time needed for building high-resolution maps by half*

*K. Raghu *


*Bangalore*: After two setbacks this year, *Indias space agency is set to launch five satellites on 12 July, including one that can shoot pictures of small objects on land and compress the time needed for building high-resolution maps by half.*

In April, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) lost its fourth-generation communication satellite GSAT-4 when its heaviest rocket yetthe geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), powered by a home-grown cryogenic engineplunged into sea within five minutes of launch. The rocket was to put India in an exclusive club of nations capable of hurling communication satellites and offering space launches commercially.


Isro then deferred the launch of its workhorse polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) scheduled in May after it found leaks in the rockets second stage. The leaks were detected when pressurized nitrogen was pumped in the rocket as part of tests on the launch pad.

The same rocket will be fired now, following repairs and further tests, said an Isro official from Sriharikota. He did not want to be named.

Even if the leak is minor, it takes many days to rectify and certify it fit, said U.R. Rao, a former chairman of Isro. In space, you dont take risks.

The rocket will also launch *Alsat-2A*, a remote sensing satellite from *Algeria *and Indias first African customer, *two nano satellites from the University of Toronto, and Studsat, a small satellite built by engineering students in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.*

*Isros commercial arm, Antrix Corp. Ltd, has already signed a second satellite launch from Algeria for next year.*

So far, PSLV has launched 39 satellites, nearly half of them from India, in 16 missions.

Isro expects *Cartosat-2B *to join two other satellites that are already in orbitthe Cartosat-2 and 2Aand return more high-resolution images to earth and provide complete coverage of the subcontinent, said S. Satish, director, Isro. 

*Cartosat-2B has a high resolution of 0.8 metre, allowing it to photograph objects the size of a typical bicycle.*

_Typically, satellites that can snap high resolution images can cover a small width or swath of 10km. To cover a larger area, a satellite would have to come back to a specific spot repeatedly, which would take a long time as it would have to complete one orbit of the earth to do this. A constellation of three satellites, on the other hand, can cover the entire country_.

It is like a camera; you want sharp images you need to be closer. You can go farther to cover a larger area, but you wont get minute details, said Rao.

As for the GSLV, Satish said a panel thats studying what led to its crash is set to announce its report next week.

raghu.k@livemint.com

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## Optimus

Fingers are crossed... Hope for the best


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## Fighter488

Optimus said:


> Fingers are crossed... Hope for the best



This will be a clean flight this time, INSHA-A-ALLAH.


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## SpArK

Would be an amazing achievement once its done!!


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## Fighter488

BENNY said:


> Would be an amazing achievement once its done!!


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## Kinetic

I don't get it!!! What are the two setbacks mentioned in the heading? One is the recent GSLV mk2 failure but another one?


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## Guynextdoor

Kinetic said:


> I don't get it!!! What are the two setbacks mentioned in the heading? One is the recent GSLV mk2 failure but another one?


I think the PSLV launch was supposed to take place in May. That postponement is being referred to as a setback


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## CONNAN

we had done in the past and we will do it again


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## Gene

entire country's wishes are with isro.....


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## qwerrty

so there's no more setback? according to the article..this launch is not the same gslv that fell into the sea.


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## Kinetic

Guynextdoor said:


> I think the PSLV launch was supposed to take place in May. That postponement is being referred to as a setback



Postponement of a launch doesn't make it a setback. Its very usual in space launches. K. Raghu is a respected journo, didn't expect such mistake from him.


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## Ahchai Eliminator

*India Hopes To Launch Chandrayaan-2 By 2013*






*The Chandrayaan-2 is the second unmanned lunar exploration mission that ISRO is pursuing.*

by Staff Writers Kolkata, India (PTI) Jul 01, 2010

The Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Radhakrishnan has said India is preparing to launch its second moon mission 'Chandrayaan-2' by 2013.

"The Chandrayaan-2 we are planning to have in the year 2013 and by that time we should have our GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) flying with the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Stage that's the target with which we are working," Radhakrishnan told reporters here.

Radhakrishnan said some snags have been identified in flight-testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine, which is being analysed.

He said this would be sorted out in about a year.

"A flight testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Stage, in April, and as you know we had some snags there. We went through a very detailed analysis as to what happens and why it happens and we have come to a couple of scenarios in which such a snag would have occurred and our immediate task is to confirm that through testing on the ground and then prepare for the next flight testing. This should happen in year from now," he added.

The Chandrayaan-2 is the second unmanned lunar exploration mission that ISRO is pursuing.

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## Dark Angel

Its a PSLV launch yaar nothing can go wrong ....unless aliens from mars shoot their ABM at it .....just a joke


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## gowthamraj

Mmm, this time it have lot of expectation. . Good luck ISRO


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## AbuSalam

YEs..this time it will be successful.. INSHANALLAH !!!


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## Tejas-MkII

Kinetic said:


> Postponement of a launch doesn't make it a setback. Its very usual in space launches. K. Raghu is a respected journo, didn't expect such mistake from him.



I Think they are talking about the GSAT-4..


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## sudhir007

The Hindu : Education / Research : Sounding rocket developed at VITU

Students of the VIT University, Vellore, have developed Rohini-200 (RH200), a sounding rocket, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The sounding rocket &#8212; an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform experiments during its sub-orbital flight &#8212; will be launched from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, on July 7.

&#8220;This will be the first sounding rocket in India that carries a payload developed solely by students,&#8221; states a VIT release.

Ramakrishnan, former Director (Projects), VSSC mooted this idea, and a team headed by mechanical engineering students Dev Sharma and Sunayan Kumar, and comprising Manish Kumar Narnoli and Gautam Alok (Mechanical Engineering), Himanshu Misra (Electrical and Electronics Engineering), Chandresh Mittal (EEE), Ankit Sharma (Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering), and Nitesh Kumar (Electronics and Communication Engineering) and their mentor Geetha Manivasagam, Professor of Mechanical Engineering developed the rocket.

VIT University has fully funded the project and also plans for the second phase, which will include fabrication of the entire rocket with advanced payloads.

The team fabricated the payload and other components for the sounding rocket, which were continuously reviewed by B.V.A. Rao, Advisor to the Chancellor of VIT University, T. Rao, Director, Academic Research, VIT, Rashmi Ranjan Das of VIT, Panciker, Scientist, VSSC and Ratnakar Rao, Project Director (Sounding Rocket, VSSC). The launch of the sounding rocket developed by VIT students would be the 52nd launch of a sounding rocket from TERLS, the release said.


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## Arjun MBT

Thats great, Now our University students By themselves are developing such things.... Good to hear that.... Wonderful.... Thanks for sharing mate


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## merajahmed

This is really a good new for a developing country like India


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## Choppers

*ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle​*
SUNDAY, JULY 4, 2010






_A slide for Dr. B N Suresh's presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System: Present Scenario and Future Directions' at TIFR-Mumbai, 19th June 2009 Credit:ISRO_

In an earlier post Super Nova had reported on the preliminary concept of an Indian Lunar manned mission presented at IAC-2009. That concept envisaged the development of a crew launch vehicle and a Cargo Launch Vehicle with payload capabilities of 31 and 84 tons respectively to Low Earth Orbit.

The above image shows another concept Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) which would be able to haul 100 tons to LEO. What is interesting in this architecture is that no solid stages would be used on the vehicle. 4 SC460 Semi-cryogenic boosters with the SC800 first stage would generate the lift-off thrust for the vehicle. The C100 upper stage would probably serve as an Earth Departure stage (EDS) .

In addition to the HLV, the presentation slide also gives us an idea of the role that the GSLV-Mk III would play in lead up to Lunar manned mission and more importantly in the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.

As we know the present Human Spaceflight concept envisages the development of a crew capsule (Orbital Vehicle) which would be launched by the GSLV-Mk II. This capsule would probably not feature any docking system due to restriction in the payload capacity of GSLV-Mk II (around 5 tons).

Given the greater capability of Mk-III, ISRO plans to use the vehicle to launch a bigger, better equipped crew capsule which would be use to demonstrate rendezvous and docking in addition Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).

SuperNova: ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle

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## Choppers

*Joint Saudi-Indian space research planned​*
By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jul 4, 2010 23:18 Updated: Jul 5, 2010 01:18





_Owais Ahmed, IBF president, presents a memento to Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of Indian mission, at the latter&#8217;s farewell party in Riyadh on Saturday. (AN photo by K. N. Wasif)_

RIYADH: *A Saudi delegation is to visit the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) later this month to sign an agreement to boost cooperation in space science that will help Riyadh develop its indigenous space program for peaceful purposes.*

The delegation will be composed of scientists from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and other scientific institutions in the Kingdom. Details of the visit were disclosed by Rajeev Shahare, outgoing deputy chief at the Indian mission, here on Saturday night.

Shahare was speaking during a farewell party held by the India Business Forum (IBF). The event was attended by a number of businessmen and diplomats, Shahare&#8217;s wife Preeti Shahare, and many IBF office bearers including Owais Ahmed, Nadeem A. Tarin, S. Ziaur Rahman, Tareq Masood, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed and Mir Mahmood Ali.

Asked about the details of the space cooperation between Riyadh and New Delhi, Shahare &#8212; who will be leaving for New Delhi on Monday &#8212; said a memorandum of understanding between KACST and ISRO was signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh&#8217;s visit to Riyadh earlier this year. He said that ISRO, one of the world&#8217;s leading space research organizations, would provide expertise to Riyadh as it has been conducting a variety of operations for both Indian and foreign clients. Shahare also spoke about his time in the Kingdom. &#8220;I personally believe my stay here was a great one, I can&#8217;t say of its successes, but I am going back with a lot of satisfaction &#8230; This is a great country and you have a lot of opportunities, especially business going on with the Saudis,&#8221; he said.

He added that he also felt touched by the farewell party, speakers&#8217; remarks and floral tributes.

Speaking on the occasion, IBF President Ahmed said that Shahare had been instrumental in boosting Indo-Saudi ties. &#8220;In fact, IBF was Shahare&#8217;s brainchild,&#8221; said Ahmed.

This view was echoed by several other speakers who praised him for his catalytic role in improving Indo-Saudi relations, and hoped he would return to the region as an ambassador.

Shahare&#8217;s wife Preeti received her share of encomiums with speakers calling her a &#8220;great&#8221; lady and an embodiment of all that is good and graceful.

&#8220;The Shahares may be leaving for India and we will miss them, but they will always be with us in our hearts and minds,&#8221; said Tarin, another IBF office bearer.

Ahmed also presented a memento to Shahare at the end of the party.

Photojournalist Wasif Bhai presented a memorial CD to Shahare containing a valuable collection of Shahare&#8217;s photos taken during his four-year stay in Riyadh.

Prior to coming to Riyadh, Shahare served Indian missions in Cairo, Aden, Geneva, Bahrain and Mauritius.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article78663.ece


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## Bhim

A great great newss..


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## SpArK

*ISRO rocket carries payload developed by VITU students​*
ISRO has successfully launched RH 200 rocket carrying a payload developed by students of Vellore Institute of Technology University (VITU). The rocket was launched from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). RH200 has achieved its intended altitude of 60 km in 2 minutes.

ISRO has stated it has always encouraged students from universities to become partners for payload development. Towards this, students from Vellore Institute of Technology University (VITU), were being guided by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to develop a part of the payload as a co-passenger in the RH200 technology demonstrator flight. The student's payload comprised of tri-axial accelerometers, power switching module and safe arm relay unit matching the requirements of RH 200 rocket. The tri-axial accelerometer can monitor accelerations in all three directions. The power-switching module is for the power control of the payload. The faculty and students of VITU has taken keen interest during the development and test activities of these payloads at various work centres.

The release also stated, the students of the Indian Institute of Space Technology (IIST) are also progressing well in their attempt to make the first indigenous students rocket with the support of the experts from VSSC. In its continued endeavour to handhold the student community, ISRO has included a picosatellite designed by undergraduate students across India, in its forthcoming PSLV-C15 mission. The major objective of this project is to provide hands-on experience in frontier areas of Space technology such as the design, fabrication and realization of a space mission at a reduced cost.

This launch has successfully demonstrated the performance of super capacitors in flight pyro systems activation. The super capacitors were developed by VSSC.

ISRO said this is the 395th flight of RH 200 rocket. During January, 2010 the RH 200 along with RH 300 MkII and RH 560 MkII rockets made a history with first ever sounding rocket launch campaign with six flights in a day and five flights within a span of 3 hrs 40 minutes from TERLS and within a minimum 2 minutes between flights and tracking two rockets one after the other using the same radar in two minutes time gap. These deployments were for studying solar eclipse effects on atmospheric regions.


ISRO rocket carries payload developed by VITU students

ISRO launches RH-200 Rocket made by VIT Students







*
YOUNGISTAN MERI JAAN *

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## Avatar

Space is the limit

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## mugundhan

proud to be VITU student and indian


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## Dark Angel

Youth has always set examples and made us proud .... great going VITU


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## Dark Angel

A New Sounding Rocket Initiative for Middle Atmospheric Studies 

A Rohini Sounding Rocket, RH-200, was launched onNovember 21, 2002 from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram, marking the commencement of a new series of rocket launches as part of the Middle Atmospheric Dynamics Science (MIDAS) Research programme. It was exactly 39 years ago, on this day, that the first sounding rocket was launched from TERLS, heralding the modern space era in India. 

The MIDAS programme, which was inaugurated by Mr. G Madhavan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre with the first rocket launch, consisted of an elaborate observational programme of regular measurements of atmospheric temperatures and winds using balloons, ground based Radars and Laser instruments in addition to the fortnightly launches of RH-200 rockets for high-altitude wind measurements. During the next five years, the programme will study different aspects of middle atmospheric dynamics including the wave activity, stratospheric response to stratwarm events in the mutual coupling between the break monsoon phenomenon and the Middle Atmospheric


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## Kinetic

Core alone version of PSLV will launch advanced remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2B with 0.8 m resolution and four other satellites from Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh, India on July 12th. 

*PSLV-C15: *











http://isro.org/pslv-c15/pdf/CARTOSAT-2B-brochure.pdf

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## Ammyy

*ISRO Rocks 


Proud to be an INDIAN *





*Jai Ho*

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## Kinetic

*CARTOSAT-2B : 0.8 meter resolution* 











Other satellites are,

*ALSAT-2A
AISSAT-1
TISAT-1
STUDSAT*


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## lhuang

An ISRO official on BRF has stated that calling a satellite 0.8m is a fallacy.


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## Ammyy

After failure of GSLV 3, ISRO work really hard to overcome this failure

best of luck for this launch


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## riCoh

India rOcKs

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## Avatar

ISRO has made us proud and proved that with enough will, anyone can achieve greatness. 
All the best for the launch. 
Jai Hind.


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## Kinetic

lhuang said:


> An ISRO official on BRF has stated that calling a satellite 0.8m is a *fallacy*.



Why??? 

*PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions*

SuperNova: PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions

*Future HLV (Heavy Launch Vehicle)*

In an earlier post Super Nova had reported on the preliminary concept of an Indian Lunar manned mission presented at IAC-2009. That concept envisaged the development of a crew launch vehicle and a Cargo Launch Vehicle with payload capabilities of 31 and 84 tons respectively to Low Earth Orbit.

The above image shows another concept Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) which would be able to haul 100 tons to LEO. What is interesting in this architecture is that no solid stages would be used on the vehicle. 4 SC460 Semi-cryogenic boosters with the SC800 first stage would generate the lift-off thrust for the vehicle. The C100 upper stage would probably serve as an Earth Departure stage (EDS) .

In addition to the HLV, the presentation slide also gives us an idea of the role that the GSLV-Mk III would play in lead up to Lunar manned mission and more importantly in the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.

As we know the present Human Spaceflight concept envisages the development of a crew capsule (Orbital Vehicle) which would be launched by the GSLV-Mk II. This capsule would probably not feature any docking system due to restriction in the payload capacity of GSLV-Mk II (around 5 tons).

Given the greater capability of Mk-III, ISRO plans to use the vehicle to launch a bigger, better equipped crew capsule which would be use to demonstrate rendezvous and docking in addition Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA). 

A slide for Dr. B N Suresh's presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System: Present Scenario and Future Directions' at TIFR-Mumbai, 19th June 2009 Credit:ISRO









*GSLV mk-III flight scheduled for 2011/12 *

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## CONNAN

Kinetic said:


> Why???
> 
> *PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions*
> 
> SuperNova: PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions
> 
> *Future HLV (Heavy Launch Vehicle)*
> 
> In an earlier post Super Nova had reported on the preliminary concept of an Indian Lunar manned mission presented at IAC-2009. That concept envisaged the development of a crew launch vehicle and a Cargo Launch Vehicle with payload capabilities of 31 and 84 tons respectively to Low Earth Orbit.
> 
> The above image shows another concept Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV) which would be able to haul 100 tons to LEO. What is interesting in this architecture is that no solid stages would be used on the vehicle. 4 SC460 Semi-cryogenic boosters with the SC800 first stage would generate the lift-off thrust for the vehicle. The C100 upper stage would probably serve as an Earth Departure stage (EDS) .
> 
> In addition to the HLV, the presentation slide also gives us an idea of the role that the GSLV-Mk III would play in lead up to Lunar manned mission and more importantly in the Indian Human Spaceflight Program.
> 
> As we know the present Human Spaceflight concept envisages the development of a crew capsule (Orbital Vehicle) which would be launched by the GSLV-Mk II. This capsule would probably not feature any docking system due to restriction in the payload capacity of GSLV-Mk II (around 5 tons).
> 
> Given the greater capability of Mk-III, ISRO plans to use the vehicle to launch a bigger, better equipped crew capsule which would be use to demonstrate rendezvous and docking in addition Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).
> 
> A slide for Dr. B N Suresh's presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System: Present Scenario and Future Directions' at TIFR-Mumbai, 19th June 2009 Credit:ISRO
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *GSLV mk-III flight scheduled for 2011/12 *



they should work on the title


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## Choppers

*PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions​*
*The presentation titled 'Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenarion and Future Directions' presented by Dr. B.N.Suresh on 19th June, 2009 at TIFR, Mumbai. Credit:ISRO*


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## Choppers




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## Choppers




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## Choppers



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## Choppers



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## Choppers

*Important Observations:*

Slide 20 gives us an idea of the Indian interplanetary missions on the drawing board. The slide also gives the orbital and fly-by payload capacities of PSLV, GSLV and GSLV -Mk III to Mars, Venus and Asteroid (very vague definition in this case) respectively. The approximate date for robotic missions to Venus and asteroids is mentioned in Slide 34 as 2018 (Interplanetary missions beyond Mars). The Martian mission according to ISRO will take place only after 2015.
Slide 20 mentions the performance specifications of GSLV-Mk III i.e 4.5 tons to GTO and 10 tons to 400 km LEO. In addition it clearly specifies the growth potential to as 5 to 6 tons to GTO, a previously speculated figure. Slide 14 illustrates the flight sequence of Mk III.

Slide 25-Slide 28 gives some information of the RLV program. Slide 25 is the image of RLV-TD. Slide 26 shows the RLV with an air-breathing engine. Slides 27 and 28 shows the configuration and flight profile of an RLV-TSTO (Two Stage to Orbit) version.

Slides 29-33 has information regarding the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The slides give information about the crew vehicle and the human-rated GSLV that would launch it and the mission profile. Slide 33 has already been discussed in detail in an earlier post.

*Posted by Gopala Krishna at 9:39 PM*

SuperNova: PICTURES: Indian Space Transportation System - Present Scenario and Future Directions


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## liberalindian8

joey said:


> I dont think this is needed India DID SEND men in space back in 1984 with russian help.
> sending men in space and getting them back is of no use.
> u gotta send robots or payloads to study planets which has much more scientifical importance.




sending men in space and getting them back is of no use (let them die there)


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## jha

*51-hour countdown for PSLV-C15 to start tomorrow*​
The 51-hour countdown for the 17th flight launch of Indian space agency's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C 15 from Sriharikota spaceport is expected to begin on Saturday morning. Preparations were in full swing for the launch of the PSLV-C-15 on July 12. All the parameters for the launch were
doing well and the 51-hour countdown was expected to start at 6 am on Saturday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISR0) officials said.

"The rocket will put into orbit five satellites  remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B from India, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Studsat built by seven engineering students in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka", ISRO spokesmen S Satish told PTI.

The PSLV launch was to take place on May 9 last but was postponed because of a drop in the pressure in the vehicle's second stage.

This would be the first mission by ISRO after the failure of India's ambitious home-made cryogenic engine powered GSLV-D3 in April last.

He said, "In this flight, PSLV will place the 694 kg Cartosat-2B and four auxiliary payloads in a 630 km Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO)".

The four-stage vehicle had been fully assembled in its launch pad and the mating with Cartosat-2B and other satellites had been completed.

He said the satellite would help in urban planning and infrastructure development such as laying ring-roads and rerouting of highways.

"Cartosat-2B carries a panchromatic camera similar to that of its predecessors - Cartosat-2 and 2A", he said adding it was capable of imaging a swath (geographical strip of land) of 9.6 km with a resolution of 0.8 metre. 

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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## gowthamraj

Have a grand success this time


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## trident2010

*Lack of liquid hydrogen in engine may have caused GSLV failure*








Non-availability of liquid hydrogen supply to the thrust chamber of the main engine could have resulted in failure of the third developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota on April 15, a failure analysis committee has found.

The flight of GSLV-D3 primarily meant for testing of indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage (CUS) had failed to achieve the mission objectives following which ISRO had instituted a two-tier process to carry out an in-depth analysis of the flight performance and identify the causes of the failure and recommend corrective measures.

As per review of the findings by the ?National Group of Eminent Experts?, though the ignition of the CUS main engine and two steering engines were confirmed normal, the thrust build up did not progress as expected ?due to non-availability of liquid hydrogen (LH2) suppy to the thrust chamber of the main engine?, an ISRO release said.

The failure is attributed to the anomalous stopping of fuel booster turbo pump (FBTP). ?The start-up of FBTP was normal. It reached a maximum speed of 34,800 rpm and continued to function as predicted after the start of CUS. However, the speed of FBTP started dipping after 0.9 seconds and it stopped within the next 0.6 seconds,? it said.

Two plausible scenarios have been identified for failure of FBTP, gripping at one of the seal locations and seizure of rotor and a rupture of turbine casing caused probably due to excessive pressure rise and thermal stresses, it said.

As per the review, following a smooth countdown, the lift-off took place at 1627 hrs (IST) as planned. All four liquid strap-on stages (L40), solid core stage (S139) and liquid second stage (GS2) functioned normally, it said.


The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : Lack of liquid hydrogen in engine may have caused GSLV failure


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## CONNAN

*BY EDITOR AT 9 JULY, 2010, 1:56 PM*

*BY :THE HINDU*

The 51-hour countdown for the 17th flight launch of Indian space agencys Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C 15 from Sriharikota spaceport is expected to begin on Saturday morning. Preparations were in full swing for the launch of the PSLV-C-15 on July 12. All the parameters for the launch were
doing well and the 51-hour countdown was expected to start at 6 am on Saturday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISR0) officials said.

*The rocket will put into orbit five satellites  remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B from India, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Studsat built by seven engineering students in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, ISRO spokesmen S Satish told PTI*.

The PSLV launch was to take place on May 9 last but was postponed because of a drop in the pressure in the vehicles second stage.

This would be the first mission by ISRO after the failure of Indias ambitious home-made cryogenic engine powered GSLV-D3 in April last.

He said, In this flight, PSLV will place the 694 kg Cartosat-2B and four auxiliary payloads in a 630 km Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

The four-stage vehicle had been fully assembled in its launch pad and the mating with Cartosat-2B and other satellites had been completed.

He said the satellite would help in urban planning and infrastructure development such as laying ring-roads and rerouting of highways.

*Cartosat-2B carries a panchromatic camera similar to that of its predecessors  Cartosat-2 and 2A, he said adding it was capable of imaging a swath (geographical strip of land) of 9.6 km with a resolution of 0.8 metre.*


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## indiatech

PSLV C-15 monday launch preparations.

PSLV-C15 moving to the launch pad







PSLV-C15 on launch pad







PSLV C15 and CARTOSAT-2B brochure

http://isro.gov.in/pslv-c15/pdf/CARTOSAT-2B-brochure.pdf

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## indiatech

*INSAT-4B Spacecraft Affected by Power Problem 
*
Due to a power supply anomaly in one of its two solar panels, there is a partial non-availability of services on Indias INSAT-4B Communication satellite. The INSAT-4B carries a total of 24 communication transponders (12 Ku-Band and 12 C-Band) and has been in operation since March 2007. On the night of July 7, the satellite experienced a power supply glitch which led to switching OFF of 50% of the transponder capacity (6 Ku and 6 C-Band transponders). An expert team is studying the possibilities of partial utilisation of some of the transponders that were switched OFF and restoring the services at the earliest.

ISRO press release

http://isro.gov.in/news/pdf/INSAT-4B_Glitch.pdf


----------



## indiatech

*GSLV-D3 Failure Analysis Report*


July 09, 2010 

The third developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) conducted on April 15, 2010 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, primarily for the flight testing of indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), could not accomplish the mission objectives. Consequently, ISRO had instituted a two-tier process to carry out an in-depth analysis of the flight performance, identify the causes of failure and recommend corrective measures.

The Failure Analysis Committee comprising multi-disciplinary experts completed the analysis and its findings were further reviewed by a National Group of Eminent Experts. These reviews have brought out that:

Following a smooth countdown, the lift-off took place at 1627 hrs (IST) as planned. All four liquid strap-on stages (L40), solid core stage (S139), liquid second stage (GS2) functioned normally. 

The vehicle performance was normal up to the burn-out of GS-2, that is, 293 seconds from lift-off. Altitude, velocity, flight path angle and acceleration profile closely followed the pre-flight predictions. All onboard real time decision-based events were as expected and as per pre-flight simulations. 

The navigation, guidance and control systems using indigenous onboard computer Vikram 1601 as well as the advanced telemetry system functioned flawlessly. The composite payload fairing of 4 metre diameter inducted first time in this flight, also performed as expected. Performance of all other systems like engine gimbal control systems and stage auxiliary systems was normal. 

The initial conditions required for the start of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) were attained as expected and the CUS start sequence got initiated as planned at 294.06 seconds from lift-off.

Ignition of the CUS Main Engine and two Steering Engines have been confirmed as normal, as observed from the vehicle acceleration and different parameters of CUS measured during the flight. Vehicle acceleration was comparable with that of earlier GSLV flights up to 2.2 seconds from start of CUS. However, the thrust build up did not progress as expected due to non-availability of liquid hydrogen (LH2) supply to the thrust chamber of the Main Engine.

The above failure is attributed to the anomalous stopping of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP). The start-up of FBTP was normal. It reached a maximum speed of 34,800 rpm and continued to function as predicted after the start of CUS. However, the speed of FBTP started dipping after 0.9 seconds and it stopped within the next 0.6 seconds.

Two plausible scenarios have been identified for the failure of FBTP, namely, (a) gripping at one of the seal location and seizure of rotor and (b) rupture of turbine casing caused probably due to excessive pressure rise and thermal stresses. A series of confirmatory ground tests are planned. 

After incorporating necessary corrective measures, the flight testing of Indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage on GSLV is targeted within a year.

In the meantime, the next two GSLVs would fly with the available Russian Cryogenic Stages.


----------



## ARSENAL6

I have got a question 

Does the Indian space agency allow people to see rocket launches like they do in Nasa ?


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## indiatech

ARSENAL6 said:


> I have got a question
> 
> Does the Indian space agency allow people to see rocket launches like they do in Nasa ?



Not really. Hopefully the public viewing from nearby will start with the manned mission.Sriharikota is a secured area. But if you live nearby or you know how to climb a coconut tree, you can get some good views.


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## sudhir007

from 1.5 Isro news
YouTube - Launch Update!


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## lhuang

> But if you live nearby or you know how to climb a coconut tree



AhAHHA, COCONUT TREE 

That made me laugh so hard.


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## gowthamraj

Fingers crossed waiting for moday morning


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## HitesH

Cant they just develop a satellite having sole and the only purpose is to track OSAMA down..............lol


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## Kinetic

HitesH said:


> Cant they just develop a satellite having sole and the only purpose is to track OSAMA down..............lol



Why should we do that?!!!!  Don't we have better priority than this?


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## gowthamraj

One day to go


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## HitesH

Kinetic said:


> Why should we do that?!!!!  Don't we have better priority than this?




but even protection from terrorism is a high priority job

isnt it????


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## nForce

HitesH said:


> but even protection from terrorism is a high priority job
> 
> isnt it????



Right now,the priority of the Govt. of India is to protect its own territorial limits,protect the citizens,and take care of the terrorists *inside *the country.There is no global agenda as of now.


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## Kinetic

All the best to ISRO. Waiting for a good news. Out of 16 PSLV launches 14 was total success while one was partial and another failed. So it must have to be successful but again we have to be careful after GSLV failure and I think they are. 







HitesH said:


> but even protection from terrorism is a high priority job
> 
> isnt it????



Every country has its own terrorism problems and we should think about ourselves first. OBL's first priority is USA and USA's first 'priority' may be also OBL. Its not our matter now. We have cooperative agreements with USA on terrorism but that doesn't mean we run for OBL and USA running after Hafiz Saeed and co.


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## HitesH

nForce said:


> Right now,the priority of the Govt. of India is to protect its own territorial limits,protect the citizens,and take care of the terrorists *inside *the country.There is no global agenda as of now.





Kinetic said:


> Every country has its own terrorism problems and we should think about ourselves first. OBL's first priority is USA and USA's first 'priority' may be also OBL. Its not our matter now. We have cooperative agreements with USA on terrorism but that doesn't mean we run for OBL and USA running after Hafiz Saeed and co.





dude by writing OSAMA i didnt exactly mean osama, but to all terrorists or anti peace groups whether inside or somewhere outside, like mujhaddin in pak occ kashmir

meanwhile best of luck to ISRO 
waiting eagrly


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## gowthamraj

Guys please give live updates of today's launch


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## gowthamraj

Guys what happening, give update here. I really missing it


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## Kinetic

*12 minutes to go. Computer taken over the control.*

Live on DD National, guys don't miss!!!!

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## HitesH

gowthamraj said:


> Guys what happening, give update here. I really missing it





i understand


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## gowthamraj

Kinetic said:


> *12 minutes to go. Computer taken over the control.*
> 
> Live on DD National, guys don't miss!!!!



Thanks man, 


I am in clg attendieg class. 


Please continue your updates


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## HitesH

it fled dude

---------- Post added at 09:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

performance is normal

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## Kinetic

*Just launched!!! Flight normal as of now. *


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## gowthamraj

^ what


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## HitesH

at 2nd stage 
going right on path
1Km per sec speec

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:23 AM ----------

3rd stage started
alls well


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## Kinetic

*First stage separated successfully. The PSLV performing as per scheduled. *


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## HitesH

shield saperated
alls normal

---------- Post added at 09:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 AM ----------

total range 210Km
altitude 170km


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## gowthamraj

Thanks guys, keep updating


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## HitesH

PS2 saperated
PS3 ignited

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## Kinetic

gowthamraj said:


> ^ what



*time: 227+ s
altitude: 168 km*

--------------

Second stage separated. Third stage ie solid stage ignited. 

---------

Just crossed sri lanka!!!

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## Kinetic

*time: 360
altitude: 340 km*

Just crossed sri lanka!!!


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## HitesH

6min flight covered


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## Kinetic

*Third stage separated, fourth stage ignited!!! *

All parameters are normal.

*time: 590 s
altitude: 560 km*


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## gowthamraj

Wonderful news to hear


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## Kinetic

*time: 1060 s
range: 4700 km
altitude: 637 km

CATOSAT-2B separated!!!! * 

*time: 1145 s
range: 5200 km
altitude: 643 km*

*Algerian satellite separated!!! *


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## Kinetic

*1220 s
5720 km range
645 km altitude

all the satellites separated!!!*

Congrats to ISRO.


----------



## RajeHind

Isro launches PSLV-C-15 with 5 satellites - India - The Times of India

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organization on Monday morning launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket carrying five satellites, including one for cartography.

The rocket was blasted off into space from Sriharikota, around 80 km from here, carrying the 694 kg Cartosat 2B and an Algerian satellite Alsat (116 kg).

It also carried three very small satellites - NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2 from Canada and Switzerland, and StudSat - developed by students of engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The countdown started on Saturday morning for the launch of the 44-metre tall, 230-tonne PSLV.

ISRO has been carrying out multiple launches for several years. In 2008, it set a world record by launching 10 satellites at one go.

Built to last for five years, the Rs.200-crore Cartosat-2B is India's 17th remote sensing satellite and is meant to augment ISRO's remote sensing data services along with two other satellites, Cartosat-2 and 2A launched earlier.

The satellites' imagery can be used for preparing detailed forest type maps, tree volume estimation, village/cadastral level crop inventory, town/village settlement mapping and planning for development, rural connectivity, canal alignment, coastal land form, mining monitoring and others.

"With the launch of Cartosat-2B, ISRO will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit - IRS 1D, Resourcesat 1, TES, Cartosat 1, 2 and 2A, IMS 1, RISAT-2, Oceansat 1 and 2," Satish, the director for publications and public relations, said.

India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market, earning a sizeable amount.

"The other remote sensing satellites that are slated for launch are RISAT (end of 2010 or early 2011), Resourcesat and Megha-Tropiques," Satish added.


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## gowthamraj

You guys and ISRO made my day 


It huge success


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## Kinetic

*Project director just mentioned that the CARTOSAT-2B sent first signal and it's being tracked by ISRO's facility at South Pole (Antarctica). Now on wards the satellite will go though multiple maneuvers to get into correct orientation. 

ISRO chief and others also mentioned about GSLV failure and they promised that next year we will see successful launch of GSLV with Indian CUS.*

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## gowthamraj

ISRO facility in antartiac? 

This is new to me


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## BlackSonic

Feeling really Proud...



Thats what ISRO does to Indians....always makes us proud....


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## AbuSalam

BlackSonic said:


> Feeling really Proud...
> 
> 
> 
> Thats what ISRO does to Indians....always makes us proud....



yup..Is a real navratna company !!

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## Ammyy

*This launch is a tight slap on the face of the critics that criticizes ISRO every time *


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## indushek

This is really good news, ISRO has made us proud.


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## aanshu001

gr8 news.......make my day. well done ISRO


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## jha

*Isro launches PSLV-C-15 with 5 satellites*

SRIHARIKOTA: In a textbook launch, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Monday successfully placed into orbit remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B and four other satellites after a perfect lift off from the spaceport here.

*At the end of an over 51-hour countdown, the 44.4 metre-tall four-stage PSLV-C-15, costing Rs 260 crore, blasted off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with ignition of the core first stage and placed the satellites in orbit one after the other.*

Visibly relieved scientists, headed by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, cheered as ISRO's workhorse PSLV soared into clear skies at 9.22 AM from the spaceport in the East Coast in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km north of Chennai.

The PSLV launch assumes significance as it comes about three months after ISRO suffered a major setback on April 15 when the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), which was launched using an Indian-designed and built cryogenic engine for the first time, failed and fell into the Bay of Bengal.

Cartosat-2B is an advanced remote sensing satellite built by ISRO. This is the latest in the Indian remote sensing satellite series and the 17th in this series.

*Cartosat-2B is mainly intended to augment remote sensing data services to the users of multiple spot scene imagery with 0.8 metre spatial resolution and 9.6 km swath in the panchromatic.*

Cartosat-2 and 2A, two Indian remote sensing satellites in orbit, are currently providing such services.

*A set of four satellites including Studsat built by students of seven engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Oceansat 2 accompanied Cartosat 2 on its trip to orbit.
*
Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Montek Singh Ahuluwalia, and former ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan witnessed the launch.

"It has been a wonderful experience. The ISRO has made the country proud," Ahluwalia said, congratulating the scientists after the perfect take off.

Cartosat-2B carries a panchromatic camera similar to that of its predecessors - Cartosat-2 and 2A and was capable of imaging a swath (geographical strip of land) of 9.6 km with a resolution of 0.8 metre.

The multiple spot scene imagery sent by Cartosat-2B camera would also be useful for village/cadastral level resource assessment and mapping, detailed urban and infrastructure planning and development, transportation system planning, preparation of large-scale cartographic maps, preparation of micro watershed development plans and monitoring of development works of village.

Alsat from Algeria, weighing 116 kg, is also a remote sensing satellite. The two nano satellites, NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2, weigh six kg and one kg each. Studsat weighs less than one kg.

Besides launching 17 Indian satellites, PSLV has also launched 22 foreign satellites during 1994-2009 into polar sun synchronous, geosynchronous transfer, highly elliptical and low earth orbits and has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility.

*One important modification compared to the previous flights of PSLV is the use of dual launch adopter to carry two large satellites, ISRO sources said.*

Soon after injection into the orbit and separation from the PSLV C-15 fourth stage, the two solar panels of Cartosat 2B will be automtically deployed, they said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-15-with-5-satellites/articleshow/6157516.cms

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## Markus

Textbook Launch


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## brain_dead

hey jha ji.. is this the latest launch ... that was under speculation for past few days..???


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## HitesH

one question

what happens to the rocket up there in space when its entire work is done?????


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## trident2010




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## Kinetic

ISRO made the nation proud. I really liked the short speeches made by the leadership of ISRO following the launch. It was very inspiring. 

*PSLV project director stated that next mission on October when PSLV will launch Resourcesat-2*. 

*By year end Risat-1 and early next year Megha-Tropiques will be launched by PSLV. *


Risat-1








Megha-Tropiques







Resourcesat-1


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## gowthamraj

What is the purpose of that mega sat


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## Kinetic

gowthamraj said:


> What is the purpose of that mega sat



*Megha-Tropiques is the first satellite joint venture with a foreign country ie CNES (France). It is a mission to study the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere in the context of climate change.*

Operator: *ISRO / CNES*
Major contractors: *ISRO*
Mission type: *Meteorological Research Satellite*

Payload

Instruments fulfill a complementary role to other on geostationary satellites. In this, microwave instruments are essential.

* *MADRAS* is a microwave imager, with conical scanning (incidence angle 56&#176, close from the SSM/I and TMI concepts. The main aim of the mission being the study of cloud systems, a frequency has been added (150 GHz) in order to study the high level ice clouds associated with the convective systems, and to serve as a window channel relative to the sounding instrument at 183 GHz.

* *SAPHIR* is a sounding instrument with 6 channels near the absorption band of water vapor at 183 GHz. These channels provide relatively narrow weighting functions from the surface to about 10 km, allowing retrieving water vapor profiles in the cloud free troposphere. The scanning is cross-track, up to an incidence angle of 50&#176;. The resolution at nadir is of 10 km.

* *ScaRaB* is a scanning radiative budget instrument, which has already been launched twice on Russian satellites. The basic measurements of ScaRaB are the radiances in two wide channels, a solar channel (0.2 - 4 &#181;m), and a total channel (0.2 - 200 &#181;m), allowing to derive longwave radiances. The resolution at nadir will be 40 km from an orbit at 870 km. The procedures of calibration and processing of the data in order to derive fluxes from the original radiances have been set up and tested by CNES and LMD.

Megha-Tropiques Mission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

More details....

http://meghatropiques.ipsl.polytechnique.fr/

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## jha

brain_dead said:


> hey jha ji.. is this the latest launch ... that was under speculation for past few days..???



yes sir/ma'm...this is..


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## Sudesh Lahri

Neighbours, learn something from us.


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## Hulk

I - Indian
S - Spectacular
R - Remarkable
O - Organization

How many agree?

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## SpArK

Great news . Another feather in the cap.


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## Sudesh Lahri

It was not a perfect textbook launch BTW.

There were many slight devaitions in azimuth, range etc as visible on the display. But the mission computer did a splendid job to retrack the vehicle in its course.


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## majesticpankaj

congrats ISRO. u people roxxxxxxxxxx


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## Hulk

Isro launches PSLV-C-15 with 5 satellites - India - The Times of India

SRIHARIKOTA: In a textbook launch, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on Monday successfully placed into orbit remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B and four other satellites after a perfect lift off from the spaceport here.

At the end of an over 51-hour countdown, the 44.4 metre-tall four-stage PSLV-C-15, costing Rs 260 crore, blasted off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with ignition of the core first stage and placed the satellites in orbit one after the other.

Visibly relieved scientists, headed by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, cheered as ISRO's workhorse PSLV soared into clear skies at 9.22 AM from the spaceport in the East Coast in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km north of Chennai.

The PSLV launch assumes significance as it comes about three months after ISRO suffered a major setback on April 15 when the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), which was launched using an Indian-designed and built cryogenic engine for the first time, failed and fell into the Bay of Bengal.

Cartosat-2B is an advanced remote sensing satellite built by ISRO. This is the latest in the Indian remote sensing satellite series and the 17th in this series.

Cartosat-2B is mainly intended to augment remote sensing data services to the users of multiple spot scene imagery with 0.8 metre spatial resolution and 9.6 km swath in the panchromatic.

Cartosat-2 and 2A, two Indian remote sensing satellites in orbit, are currently providing such services.

A set of four satellites including Studsat built by students of seven engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Oceansat 2 accompanied Cartosat 2 on its trip to orbit.

Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Montek Singh Ahuluwalia, and former ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan witnessed the launch.

"It has been a wonderful experience. The ISRO has made the country proud," Ahluwalia said, congratulating the scientists after the perfect take off.

Cartosat-2B carries a panchromatic camera similar to that of its predecessors - Cartosat-2 and 2A and was capable of imaging a swath (geographical strip of land) of 9.6 km with a resolution of 0.8 metre.

The multiple spot scene imagery sent by Cartosat-2B camera would also be useful for village/cadastral level resource assessment and mapping, detailed urban and infrastructure planning and development, transportation system planning, preparation of large-scale cartographic maps, preparation of micro watershed development plans and monitoring of development works of village.

Alsat from Algeria, weighing 116 kg, is also a remote sensing satellite. The two nano satellites, NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2, weigh six kg and one kg each. Studsat weighs less than one kg.

Besides launching 17 Indian satellites, PSLV has also launched 22 foreign satellites during 1994-2009 into polar sun synchronous, geosynchronous transfer, highly elliptical and low earth orbits and has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility.

One important modification compared to the previous flights of PSLV is the use of dual launch adopter to carry two large satellites, ISRO sources said.

Soon after injection into the orbit and separation from the PSLV C-15 fourth stage, the two solar panels of Cartosat 2B will be automatically deployed, they said.

Attributing the success of PSLV C-15 to the entire team behind the mission, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said, "We had an excellent flight. It injected precisely the five satellites. The entire ISRO team is behind the success".

In an apparent reference to the failure of GSLV D3 cryogenic stage, the space agency's first mission after he took over as its chief, he said his team of scientists were inspired to work "especially after the last few weeks after a serious problem that we faced."

*"And I also want to say we have understood the problem with regard to the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage. We will confirm it in a few weeks with a few tests and then we will come back", he said.*

Time has come to hit the sixer it seems, GSLV will be soon.


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## Freedom

a big slap to those who even not able to build a simplest space satellite but in the case of failure of other country space launch, they laugh like mentally disturbed person....

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## afriend

Feels so proud to be an indian..!!!!


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## Kinetic

Freedom said:


> a big slap to those who even not able to build a simplest space satellite but in the case of failure of other country space launch, they laugh like mentally disturbed person....



lol

good one mate. just reminds GSLV thread!!!


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## Freedom

Kinetic said:


> lol
> 
> good one mate. just reminds GSLV thread!!!



we will see after one year....


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## gowthamraj

When is next GSLV launch with russian engines. 

I think two GSLV launch this year


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## Kinetic

Freedom said:


> we will see after one year....



Not needed actually. If someone don't have such capability, ofcourse he/she will be jealous of you.


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## SpArK




----------



## Freedom

Kinetic said:


> Not needed actually. If someone don't have such capability, ofcourse he/she will be jealous of you.



no it's actually needed because someone who have no such capability, always blaming India that their cryogenic engine is not indigenous...


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## majesticpankaj

hey y our pakistani friends not congratulating us???

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## gowthamraj

Guys any videos will be highly apprichated


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## SpArK

_In a textbook launch, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) successfully placed into orbit remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B and four other satellites after a perfect lift off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Monday.

At the end of an over 51-hour countdown, the 44.4 metre-tall four-stage PSLV-C-15, costing Rs 260 crore, blasted off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with ignition of the core first stage and placed the satellites in orbit one after the other._






_Visibly relieved scientists, headed by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, cheered as ISRO's workhorse PSLV soared into clear skies at 9.22 am._

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## Kinetic

Freedom said:


> no it's actually needed because someone who have no such capability, always blaming India that their cryogenic engine is not indigenous...



Than instead of giving reasons we should make fun of him.  He deserves that much only.


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## SpArK

_The PSLV launch assumes significance as it comes about three months after ISRO suffered a major setback on April 15 when the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), which was launched using an Indian-designed and built cryogenic engine for the first time, failed and fell into the Bay of Bengal._





_*Besides launching 17 Indian satellites, PSLV has also launched 22 foreign satellites during 1994-2009 into polar sun synchronous, geosynchronous transfer, highly elliptical and low earth orbits and has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility.*_

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## SpArK

Cartosat-2B is an advanced remote sensing satellite built by ISRO. This is the latest in the Indian remote sensing satellite series and the 17th in this series.





Cartosat-2B is mainly intended to augment remote sensing data services to the users of multiple spot scene imagery with 0.8 metre spatial resolution and 9.6 km swath in the panchromatic.

Cartosat-2 and 2A, two Indian remote sensing satellites in orbit, are currently providing such services.








Alsat from Algeria, weighing 116 kg, is also a remote sensing satellite. The two nano satellites, NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2, weigh six kg and one kg each. Studsat weighs less than one kg.

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## SpArK

gowthamraj said:


> Guys any videos will be highly apprichated









---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

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## ajtr

*'India losing satellites due to failure of imported components'*

Even as Indian space scientists are working on the partial restoration of communications satellite INSAT-4B, they are worried because of the recurring failure of their satellites due to power supply glitches. The reason may be the failure of imported components, according to Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) scientists.

ISRO has lost two of its satellites earlier -- Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 -- and INSAT-4B partially now.

A big setback to the space agency, which is trying to get a foothold in the global communications satellite building market is the failure of the W2M satellite co-built by ISRO and EADS Astrium for Eutelsat Communications in January.

"It seems the culprit is imported components for satellite power systems. The Chandrayaan satellite was lost due to power problems in an imported component. It seems the culprit is the imported components used in supplying power to the satellites," an ISRO official told IANS over phone on condition of anonymity.

The DC to DC converter in the Chandrayaan satellite failed, which in turn heated up other components/equipments and stopped their functioning, ultimately forcing ISRO to junk the mission well ahead of its planned life of two years.

Another ISRO official, on condition of anonymity, said: "The component is imported as its size is small whereas the Indian built one is bigger. In space, every additional gram is important. The problem with INSAT-4B may not be connected to DC to DC converter and it is similar to the problem that afflicted W2M satellite."

The 3.4-tonne W2M, the heaviest built by ISRO, launched by Ariane5 rocket from French Guyana in December 2008, developed a problem in its power supply sub-systems when it was being transferred to its intended orbit from the test orbit and Eutelsat later said the satellite is not available for service.

According to ISRO, the problem with INSAT-4B is a power anomaly in one of the satellite's two solar panels and six Ku-Band and six C-Band transponders were switched off so that there is power for the remaining 12 transponders (six Ku-Band and six C-Band).

ISRO officials said the agency imports the solar cells to make the solar panels that supply power to the satellite.

Queried about ISRO tightening its quality control processes, an official said the agency is now focusing on the component quality.

For ISRO, loss of satellites means loss of revenue opportunities - that is higher than the cost of satellite and the rocket that launched it.

Now eyes are on the successful operation of the to-be launched Hylas communication satellite built by ISRO/EADS Astrium for Britain-based Avanti Communications. Its success is expected to clear any doubts of India's capability in satellite manufacturing.

"We have taken care of the power supply glitches in that," an ISRO official said.

'India losing satellites due to failure of imported components' - Hindustan Times


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## gowthamraj

Kinetic said:


> *12 minutes to go. Computer taken over the control.*
> 
> Live on DD National, guys don't miss!!!!





BENNY said:


> YouTube - ISRO's PSLV-C15 launched from Sriharikota part 1
> 
> ---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------
> 
> YouTube - ISRO's PSLV-C15 launched from Sriharikota part 2



Very thanks mate


----------



## baker

*PSLV rocket launch successful, five satellites put into orbit*



> India's space agency ISRO on Monday successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket that slung into orbit five satellites, including the advanced high resolution cartography satellite Cartosat-2B. "I am extremely happy to say PSLV 16 was a successful flight. All the satellites were injected related stories
> ISRO touches milestone in foreign payload launches
> ," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.
> 
> ISRO's 230 tonne PSLV - standing 44 metres tall - soared towards the heavens from the spaceport here, about 80 km north of Chennai. The five satellites together weigh 819 kg.
> 
> Apart from its main cargo - the Cartosat-2B weighing 694 kg - the other satellites that the rocket put into orbit are the Algerian remote sensing satellite Alsat-2A (116 kg), two nano satellites (NLS 6.1 AISSAT-1 weighing 6.5 kg built by the University of Toronto, Canada and one kg NLS 6.2 TISAT built by University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland) and STUDSAT, a pico satellite weighing less than one kg, built jointly by students of seven engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
> 
> Twenty minutes after blast off, the rocket first released Cartosat-2B followed by Alsat-2A and the three small satellites. Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite Studsat built by seven engineering students of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.


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## gowthamraj

ajtr said:


> *'India losing satellites due to failure of imported components'*
> 
> Even as Indian space scientists are working on the partial restoration of communications satellite INSAT-4B, they are worried because of the recurring failure of their satellites due to power supply glitches. The reason may be the failure of imported components, according to Indian Space Research Organisation
> (ISRO) scientists.
> 
> ISRO has lost two of its satellites earlier -- Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 -- and INSAT-4B partially now.
> 
> A big setback to the space agency, which is trying to get a foothold in the global communications satellite building market is the failure of the W2M satellite co-built by ISRO and EADS Astrium for Eutelsat Communications in January.
> 
> "It seems the culprit is imported components for satellite power systems. The Chandrayaan satellite was lost due to power problems in an imported component. It seems the culprit is the imported components used in supplying power to the satellites," an ISRO official told IANS over phone on condition of anonymity.
> 
> The DC to DC converter in the Chandrayaan satellite failed, which in turn heated up other components/equipments and stopped their functioning, ultimately forcing ISRO to junk the mission well ahead of its planned life of two .
> 
> 'India losing satellites due to failure of imported components' - Hindustan Times



The problem is usa's ban on ISRO to acquire high-end tech. 


But the problem is soon solved in obama visit when he sign free trade of high tech product


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## Sudesh Lahri

Havent seen any pakistani friend congratulate India about the recent successful launch of 5 satellites on PSLV. I assume that pakistani members must not be liking/visiting "Indian space capabilities" section. Plus in order to avoid clogging of the sticky thread with same news again and again for many pages. So started this new thread.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


PSLV launch successful, 5 satellites placed in orbit​
Sriharikota (AP), July 12, (PTI): 

In a textbook launch, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was on Monday successfully placed into orbit remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B and four other satellites after a perfect lift off from the spaceport here. 


At the end of an over 51-hour countdown, the 44.4 metre-tall four-stage PSLV-C-15, costing Rs 260 crore, blasted off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre with ignition of the core first stage and placed the satellites in orbit one after the other.

Visibly relieved scientists, headed by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan, cheered as ISRO's workhorse PSLV soared into clear skies at 9.22 AM from the spaceport in the East Coast in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km north of Chennai.

The PSLV launch assumes significance as it comes about three months after ISRO suffered a major setback on April 15 when the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), which was launched using an Indian-designed and built cryogenic engine for the first time, failed and fell into the Bay of Bengal.

Cartosat-2B is an advanced remote sensing satellite built by ISRO. This is the latest in the Indian remote sensing satellite series and the 17th in this series.

Cartosat-2B is mainly intended to augment remote sensing data services to the users of multiple spot scene imagery with 0.8 metre spatial resolution and 9.6 km swath in the panchromatic.

Cartosat-2 and 2A, two Indian remote sensing satellites in orbit, are currently providing such services.

A set of four satellites including Studsat built by students of seven engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Alsat from Algeria, two nano satellites from Canada and Switzerland, and a pico (very small) satellite called Oceansat 2 accompanied Cartosat 2 on its trip to orbit.

Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Montek Singh Ahuluwalia, and former ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan witnessed the launch.

"It has been a wonderful experience. The ISRO has made the country proud," Ahluwalia said, congratulating the scientists after the perfect take off.

Cartosat-2B carries a panchromatic camera similar to that of its predecessors - Cartosat-2 and 2A and was capable of imaging a swath (geographical strip of land) of 9.6 km with a resolution of 0.8 metre.

The multiple spot scene imagery sent by Cartosat-2B camera would also be useful for village/cadastral level resource assessment and mapping, detailed urban and infrastructure planning and development, transportation system planning, preparation of large-scale cartographic maps, preparation of micro watershed development plans and monitoring of development works of village.

Alsat from Algeria, weighing 116 kg, is also a remote sensing satellite. The two nano satellites, NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2, weigh six kg and one kg each. Studsat weighs less than one kg.

Besides launching 17 Indian satellites, PSLV has also launched 22 foreign satellites during 1994-2009 into polar sun synchronous, geosynchronous transfer, highly elliptical and low earth orbits and has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility.

One important modification compared to the previous flights of PSLV is the use of dual launch adopter to carry two large satellites, ISRO sources said.

Soon after injection into the orbit and separation from the PSLV C-15 fourth stage, the two solar panels of Cartosat 2B will be automtically deployed, they said.

Attributing the success of PSLV C-15 to the entire team behind the mission, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said, "We had an excellent flight. It injected precisely the five satellites. The entire ISRO team is behind the success".

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## t_for_talli

congos ISRO   go india go


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## majesticpankaj

hey where is our all weather freinds s_o_c_o_m, titanium and al zakir.. .. all u people are invited

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## Break the Silence

t_for_talli said:


> congos ISRO   go india go



AAJ *Talli * ho ja !!


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## anathema

Sudesh Lahri said:


> Havent seen any pakistani friend congratulate India about the recent successful launch of 5 satellites on PSLV. I assume that pakistani members must not be liking/visiting "Indian space capabilities" section.
> ----------------------------



Now why would we need that  ..you are happy , all of us are happy ...thats all that matters ...


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## gowthamraj

Why creating new threads against forum rules


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## Sudesh Lahri

^^^
I dont get that. I have already mentioned the intention.

The stick thread must be kept for updates in Indian space capabilities. I wish to avoid like 8-9 pages in the sticky thread just posting same news, congratulations, etc for the same event ie this launch.


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## gowthamraj

self-delete. Double post


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## trident2010

*PSLV C-15 Grand Success !! - Operation Live From SHAAR *

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## trident2010

Good work by ISRO !! Most important thing that it was the commercial launch and was executed by perfection. The Algerian sattelite was having US components in it and now because India signed the space coopration with US during Hilary Clinton's visit to India, we have much more open commercial market fo providing launches.

The maximum range PSLV attained in this mission is around 6000 km and altitude of 646 km (at 22.23 min in video) . It is awsome in sense that India can have a true ICBM whenever it needed. Good day for India.


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## trident2010

*Some snaps of launch:*

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## trident2010

*Some snaps of launch:*

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## Sudesh Lahri

^^^

Excellent pics buddy. !!!


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## Ammyy

*Proud to be an India 
ISRO again make us proud 
*





*Jai ho*

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## Choppers

*This site tracks satellites LIVE in real time on google maps with an easy interface. Here's a link to cartosat 2A*

LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS: CARTOSAT 2A

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## Ammyy

hogwag said:


> *I am waiting for this Beast.*



Me too buddy


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## xuxu1457

trident2010 said:


> *Some snaps of launch:*



Good Job,nice pics~~

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## Choppers

*This site tracks satellites LIVE in real time on google maps with an easy interface. Here's a link to cartosat 2A*

LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS: CARTOSAT 2A

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## MilesTogo

Congratulations ISRO!


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## AbuSalam

WOW..GREAT pics..India is soaring higher and higher in space applications.


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## indian navy

from my side to all member


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## Jade

There is no doubt... ISRO is one of the best in the world.


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## illuminatidinesh

Now days its nice to see ISRO going commercial......


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## Dark Angel

ISRO is a role model for me ....


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## trident2010

Sudesh Lahri said:


> ^^^
> 
> Excellent pics buddy. !!!



Cheers mate !!


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## Mogambo

*ISRO working on sending Indians to space*

*Sriharikota, Jul 12 (PTI) An unmanned test crew module will be put into orbit by ISRO in 2013 as a prelude to the country's maiden manned mission to send two Indians into space.*

ISRO also said today that a third launch pad, at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore, is proposed to be built at Sriharikota, where the rocket that will take the Indian astronauts into space will be assembled and blast off.

*ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the space agency plans to launch the first test unmanned mission with an unmanned capsule on PSLV, which will be put into orbit and recovered soon after the mission.*

fullstory

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## Nav

@ india
congrats . Btw whts the purpose of these sats . ? R they gona use for spying or some other purpose


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## SpArK

Navkhan said:


> @ india
> congrats . Btw whts the purpose of these sats . ? R they gona use for spying or some other purpose




spy satellites are already in place which carries a panchromatic camera to provide 0.5-0.85 micron images at one meter resolution in a swath of 9.6 km.. that means it can scan things upto 3 feet length at any place.


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## Guynextdoor

Mogambo said:


> *ISRO working on sending Indians to space*
> 
> *Sriharikota, Jul 12 (PTI) An unmanned test crew module will be put into orbit by ISRO in 2013 as a prelude to the country's maiden manned mission to send two Indians into space.*
> 
> ISRO also said today that a third launch pad, at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore, is proposed to be built at Sriharikota, where the rocket that will take the Indian astronauts into space will be assembled and blast off.
> 
> *ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the space agency plans to launch the first test unmanned mission with an unmanned capsule on PSLV, which will be put into orbit and recovered soon after the mission.*
> 
> fullstory


Ok, I thought we'll be using the GSLV. GSLV Mk2 was supposed to be the manned vehicle launcher. But with the CRyos still giving us trouble, it's ok to keep the program running with PSLV.

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## trident2010

Guynextdoor said:


> Ok, I thought we'll be using the GSLV. GSLV Mk2 was supposed to be the manned vehicle launcher. But with the CRyos still giving us trouble, it's ok to keep the program running with PSLV.



It will be GSLV MK2 for manned mission as it is more powerful than PSLV. Since first test will be unmanned, they can use PSLV as a launcher. And I think it will give them the sufficient time to perfect the launcher technology for manned mission.


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## Speaker

This is what I saw on the CNN website:

Other smaller devices comprised satellites from a Canadian university, Algeria and STUDSAT, *a light-weight rocket made by Indian engineering students*, the Indian Space Research Organization said.

And from other sources:

Studsat consortium consists of seven Engineering colleges from Hyderabad and Bangalore bound by an MOU in order to sponsor the project financially. The consortium comprises of following colleges.

Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering, Bangalore.
B M S Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad
Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Hyderabad.
Vignan Institute of Technology & Science, Hyderabad.

Anyone from any of these colleges?


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## d14gtc

Burrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa   Excellent Work Dearest Scientists

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## CONNAN

DRDO said:


> *Proud to be an India
> ISRO again make us proud
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Jai ho*


----------



## soaringphnx

*ISRO to launch more satellites this year*​
After successfully placing five satellites in orbit on Monday, India's space agency ISRO said it will launch more satellites this year and efforts were on to put two Indians in space orbit.

"*We will launch GSat-5, a communication satellite, using GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket. The other launch will be Resourscesat-2, a remote sensing satellite, using the rocket PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)*," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan said in Sriharikota.

He was talking to reporters after five satellites, including the advanced high resolution cartography satellite Cartosat-2B, were placed in orbit following the successful launch of the PSLV rocket from the spaceport here, about 80 km north of Chennai.

He said: "*The next PSLV rocket will carry multiple satellites - Resourcesat-2 and two small satellites.*"

According to ISRO officials, the organisation has all the sub-systems to assemble the PSLV rocket. The launch is slated before October this year.

"*The work on assembling the GSLV rocket will start on Wednesday and the launch is expected to be by September-end or October first week*," said PS Veeraghavan, the director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

On the manned mission planned by ISRO, Radhakrishnan said the *space agency has laid the road map to put two humans in orbit for seven days*.

"For manned mission we have to have the orbital capsule-module to carry the humans - life support systems and escape systems for the astronauts in case of an emergency. The systems are being designed and the concept has been reviewed," said S. Ramakrishnan, the director of the ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.

"*The first phase is to design the orbital vehicle. Once it is built the design will be evaluated by launching it in a PSLV rocket.* That will give us confidence. The avionics needed for that rocket is complex and have to be developed."

"The first phase will look at the critical technologies needed for human flight and the second phase is to get the human rating for the rocket and the orbital vehicle," said Radhakrishnan.

*The second phase of the human flight mission is to build a new launch pad and astronaut training centre.
*
"The new launch pad and accompanying facilities needed for human space flight will involve an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore," said MC Dathan, the director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Earlier in the day, five satellites weighing 819 kg were placed in orbit.

Over 20 minutes after the blast off, the PSLV rocket first released the Cartosat-2B followed by Alsat-2A and the three small satellites. This was the first successful launch after Radhakrishnan took over as ISRO chairman last year.

"*With the launch of Cartosat-2B, ISRO will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit - IRS 1D, Resourcesat 1, TES, Cartosat 1, 2 and 2A, IMS 1, RISAT-2, Oceansat 1 and 2*," S. Satish, the ISRO director (publications and public relations), said.

*India is a world leader in the remote sensing data market and earns a sizeable amount. *

Original article: ISRO to launch more satellites this year-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times


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## Gene



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## Ammyy

Mogambo said:


> *ISRO working on sending Indians to space*
> 
> *Sriharikota, Jul 12 (PTI) An unmanned test crew module will be put into orbit by ISRO in 2013 as a prelude to the country's maiden manned mission to send two Indians into space.*
> 
> ISRO also said today that a third launch pad, at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore, is proposed to be built at Sriharikota, where the rocket that will take the Indian astronauts into space will be assembled and blast off.
> 
> *ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the space agency plans to launch the first test unmanned mission with an unmanned capsule on PSLV, which will be put into orbit and recovered soon after the mission.*
> 
> fullstory


*
Recover ?? how they do this ???

I mean by parachute or in aircraft style ??*


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## Indiarox

DRDO said:


> *
> Recover ?? how they do this ???
> 
> I mean by parachute or in aircraft style ??*



The module's designs don't look aerodynamically fit for a shuttle like landing so the only other option would be using a Parachute to bring it safely to the sea and then leave the IN to recover it.


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## mugundhan

Jai ho !!!!!!!


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## ambidex

Norway launches AISSat ship-tracking spacecraft
11:33 GMT, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:33 UK
Science correspondent, BBC News 



> *The Indian PSLV rocket carried five spacecraft into orbit Norway has launched the innovative AISSat-1 spacecraft to monitor shipping in its territorial waters.*
> The small satellite will track vessels over 300 gross tonnes by picking up the signals from their AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders.





> The nano-sat - it is a 20 by 20 by 20cm cube - was one of five payloads launched on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Sriharikota Spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.





> Mr Andersen confirmed that the Norwegian mission team had successfully made contact with AISSat following its separation from the rocket.






> NORAIS is part of a project that could eventually lead to a space-AIS solution for the whole of Europe.





> The satellite bus, or chassis, was provided by the University of Toronto, Canada. The payload was developed by Kongsberg Seatex AS in co-operation with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI).




Hope this launch by India will bring more opportunities and overseas wealth in India.

BBC News - Norway launches AISSat ship-tracking spacecraft


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## Bhim

Choppers said:


> *This site tracks satellites LIVE in real time on google maps with an easy interface. Here's a link to cartosat 2A*
> 
> LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS: CARTOSAT 2A




Wow the application just stunned me.

Could some one post more of the capabilities of Cartosat 2B?


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## SpArK

Bhim said:


> Wow the application just stunned me.
> 
> Could some one post more of the capabilities of Cartosat 2B?



*Cartosat 2A* is a 1,521-pound [690-kg] satellite built to snap images of Earth along with Cartosat 2, a predecessor launched in January 2007. Both craft carry cameras capable of producing images *showing objects as small as about three feet [one meter]*, according to the Indian Space Research Organization, the operator of the satellites. The addition of Cartosat 2A will give the tandem quicker response times and provide more timely imagery to users. The information will be used mostly by civil government agencies and military forces


*CARTOSAT 2B* is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the sixteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series to be built by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched along with the 116 kg Algerian Satellite, one nano satellite each from Canada and Switzerland, and StudSat, a pico satellite on 12 July 2010 in a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota.


*The satellite carries a panchromatic (PAN) camera capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. The highly agile CARTOSAT-2B can be steered up to 45 deg along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently*


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## Bhim

BENNY said:


> *Cartosat 2A* is a 1,521-pound [690-kg] satellite built to snap images of Earth along with Cartosat 2, a predecessor launched in January 2007. Both craft carry cameras capable of producing images *showing objects as small as about three feet [one meter]*, according to the Indian Space Research Organization, the operator of the satellites. The addition of Cartosat 2A will give the tandem quicker response times and provide more timely imagery to users. The information will be used mostly by civil government agencies and military forces
> 
> 
> *CARTOSAT 2B* is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the sixteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite series to be built by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It was launched along with the 116 kg Algerian Satellite, one nano satellite each from Canada and Switzerland, and StudSat, a pico satellite on 12 July 2010 in a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota.
> 
> 
> *The satellite carries a panchromatic (PAN) camera capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. The highly agile CARTOSAT-2B can be steered up to 45 deg along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently*



Highly impressive, but could we have the translation for the dummies, like myself?
Thanks


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## SpArK

Bhim said:


> Highly impressive, but could we have the translation for the dummies, like myself?
> Thanks


*
Cartosat 2A* showing objects as small as about three feet one meter. 

( *meaning don't go naked in the terrace ISRO will see you*)

*CARTOSAT 2B *-camera capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum.
CARTOSAT-2B can be steered up to 45 deg along as well as across the direction of its movement to facilitate imaging of any area more frequently

( *meaning don't go naked in terrace of your house ISRO will see everything in 360 degrees and that too in black and white*)


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## Chanakyaa

Mubarkaa to all Indian Brothers... And Congrats to our Beloved Isro.

Jai Ho.


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## sparklingway

Congrats guys.

Oh SUPARCO !

Damn Cartosat-2.

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## Sudesh Lahri

5 Satellites in one go!!
This is yet another proof that India has MIRV capabilities.


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## Freedom

Navkhan said:


> @ india
> congrats . Btw whts the purpose of these sats . ? R they gona use for spying or some other purpose



it able to spying inside the ISI headquarter..


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## Sudesh Lahri

Navkhan said:


> @ india
> congrats . Btw whts the purpose of these sats . ? R they gona use for spying or some other purpose



Technically cartosat can function as a spy satellite since it has resolution of less than a meter. That is, it can read the number from your cars number plate.

Oficially, it is meant for urban planning, roads, canals and resource optimisations etc.


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## ganimi kawa

trident2010 said:


> *Some snaps of launch:*



Guys, just look at these two pictures. They really symbolize the rising might and aspirations of a billion Indians!!

Real "goosebumpy" stuff this!!

Speaking of great pics of PSLV , this one here is one of the best ever (it's of c9,though).


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## sparklingway

Sudesh Lahri said:


> That is, it can read the number from your cars number plate.



Car number plates cannot be read by any known satellite due to the resolution. Even if higher resolution satellites have been kept secret, the de-convolution involved is extremely complex since the angle is a big problem.

Here's a super long discussion (read the comments) :- Can Spy Satellites read your Car Number Plate?


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## Sudesh Lahri

^^^

Point being it has a very low resoultion, and could be a potential spy sat.


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## footmarks

It will be a parachute aided re entry into earth's atmosphere. Since the module's design is based on Russian spacecraft design (just like the chinese module in their maiden manned spaceflight) it will be re entered and eventually recovered from sea/land after its re entry through parachutes. A/c like re entry tech is limited to US only, which is way too costly also.


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## Dr.Evil

The lander will splash into the sea & will be recovered.

Still a long way to go but we are making a steady progress on that front.


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## kashith

sparklingway said:


> Car number plates cannot be read by any known satellite due to the resolution. Even if higher resolution satellites have been kept secret, the de-convolution involved is extremely complex since the angle is a big problem.
> 
> Here's a super long discussion (read the comments) :- Can Spy Satellites read your Car Number Plate?



nice read.BTW sparklingway i read somewhere one of your article was going to be published somewhere.Can I get the link?


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## anathema

Sudesh Lahri said:


> 5 Satellites in one go!!
> This is yet another proof that *India has MIRV capabilities*.



Sudesh--

Interested in your comment. How does putting 5 satellites in one go equate to MIRV capability ? Can you please let me know.


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## deckingraj

anathema said:


> How does putting 5 satellites in one go equate to MIRV capability ?



I might be wrong but think such analogy confuse people


> For better understanding, parallels could be drawn from the multiple satellite launches undertaken by few states with a single launch vehicle.



Anyways an interesting read...

India Investing in MIRV Technology by Ajey Lele

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## Pasban

Congratulations to India.

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## manojb

Congrats to ISRO and all participants!

A satellite for students, made by students - Videos - Tech - IBNLive


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## S_O_C_O_M

Are these spy satellites?


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## anathema

S_O_C_O_M said:


> Are these spy satellites?



Dont know -- And in all probability India will never official declare so ... so lets keep guessing !!

The first official all weather dedicated armed forces satellite -- is set to be placed next year.


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## Ras

sparklingway said:


> Congrats guys.
> 
> Oh SUPARCO !
> 
> Damn Cartosat-2.



Space is probably a great area where India and Pakistan can collaborate without any issues if sane people make decisions.

---------- Post added at 05:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 AM ----------




Sudesh Lahri said:


> 5 Satellites in one go!!
> This is yet another proof that India has MIRV capabilities.




Er no.......


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## amit27

India will have MIRV with the Agni 5 due to be tested in 2011


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## razgriz19

congrats to all indian members!

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## Kompromat

Nice one - Congratulations.

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## dvk1982

Ras said:


> Space is probably a great area where India and Pakistan can collaborate without any issues if sane people make decisions.



though i am no expert in this field, the first question that comes out of my mind is What will india get out of this i.e collaboration with pak in space and technology ?

There is a benefit for India to collaborate with european partners to get advanced tech and for them to have some cheaper launches and cost cuttings.... but what's the case with pakistan for india....


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## DesiGuy

Congrats ISRO


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## IBRIS

*ISRO's PSLV-C15 launched from Sriharikota part 1*






*ISRO's PSLV-C15 launched from Sriharikota part 2 *


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## jeebus

Awesome ISRO !!


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## Fireurimagination

Congratulations ISRO & India, Awesome achievement, I believe GSLV is the final frontier now, expecting a successful launch of GSLV by year end


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## Markus

S_O_C_O_M said:


> Are these spy satellites?



No, it is not a dedicated spy satellite.

Having said that, it still can be used to take photographs of your military/industrial infrastructure as and when required.

The resolution of those photographs wont be very good though.


----------



## Guynextdoor

Ras said:


> Space is probably a great area where India and Pakistan can collaborate without any issues if sane people make decisions.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 05:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 AM ----------
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Er no.......


Maybe not if you look at this launch in isolation. But looking at highly staggered capabilities across launches, I'd qualify that we at least have the mastery of the principles involved. Apart from multiple launches in space, we've also launched, navigated, reentered and recovered unmanned capsules- and this was quie some time ago. So one can surmise that we understand how it works and that can do it if we want to. I don't know if the government is truly comited to ICBM projects. They were quite ok stopping with ranges covering chinese territories. 
I remember having read reports that they had asked the scientists to stand down on missile projects with ranges beyond 7000 Km. But now the situation is evolving...you wouldn't want your nuke submarines, say, to keep loitering within a certain radius to launch second strike. You may want them to fire at all ranges anywhere in the world. Especially ATV4 and 5 might be big enough to hold larger missiles..so some more work might be happening on the ICBM front.


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## Guynextdoor

Freedom said:


> it able to spying inside the ISI headquarter..


New Clients..Pakistani PM, President etc....


----------



## CONNAN

*The speech that inspired Studsat project*

The Hindu : Today's Paper / NATIONAL : The speech that inspired Studsat project

*T.S. SUBRAMANIAN*

A little over than three years ago, D.V.A. Raghava Murthy, Project Director, Small Satellites Projects, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, was telling a group of college students what a fascinating subject space was and why students should develop an interest in it.

His speech was so inspiring that at the end of the meeting a group of students asked him why ISRO should not help them build a satellite.

Thus began the story of Studsat, a tiny satellite that was built by 35 students belonging to four engineering colleges in Bangalore and three in Hyderabad. Studsat was put in orbit by the PSLV-C15 from Sriharikota on Monday.

Studsat is a pico satellite with an imaging camera and several frontline technologies have been employed in it. The students had built a clean room to test the satellite and a ground station in Bangalore to receive signals.

Studsat is part of the encouragement given by the ISRO to colleges and universities to study space technology and learn how to build, nano, micro and pico satellites, said Mr. Raghava Murthy. Indeed, Shewata Prasad, one of the students from Bangalore, was so fascinated by the Studsat project that she chose it over a well-paying job, her teachers said.

The contagion has caught on and four other nano satellites are in the pipeline, according to Mr. Raghava Murthy. The three-kg Jugnu satellite is being built by the students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. A 3.5-kg satellite called Pradhan is being built by students of IIT-Mumbai. Two more satellites, each weighing less than 10 kg, are being assembled by students of SRM University and Sathyabhama University, both in Chennai.

Anusat, a 40-kg satellite, built by Anna University, Chennai, was put in orbit by an earlier PSLV mission.

Studsat employed several frontline technologies that were designed and developed by the 35 students themselves with ISRO guidance. It was a multi-disciplinary effort, said Professor B.S. Satyanarayana, Principal, and Professor S. Jagannathan, Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, both of R.V. College of Engineering. It took the students about a year-and-a-half to design, build and test Studsat. (The project began in August 2008). The lead institute in the project was Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), Bangalore.

The satellite has a camera which can take pictures in the HAM code. Pictures of the earth taken by the camera can help in predicting the weather. The resolution of the images, taken from an altitude of 637 km, is 90 metres, said H.C. Nagaraj, Principal, and Professor Jharna Majumdar, Department of Computer Science Engineering, NMIT.

The ground station built by the students in Bangalore is one of the achievements of this project, said Professor Satyanarayana.

The NMIT contributed Rs.45 lakh for the project. Six other colleges chipped in with another Rs.45 lakh: Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology and B.M.S. Institute of Technology, all located in Bangalore; and Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Vigyan Institute of Technology and Science, all located in Hyderabad.

The Department of Science and Technology, Karnataka government, gave Rs.5 lakh for the project.

Karunanidhi congratulates ISRO

Chennai Special Correspondent reports:

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch of PSLV C15 from Sriharikota and described it as a wonderful achievement.

In a message, Mr. Karunanidhi said due to the hard work by the scientists, India had become one of the frontline countries in space research. The successful launch had proved to the world the country's capability in space research, he added.

On behalf of the people of Tamil Nadu and on his own behalf, Mr. Karunanidhi congratulated the ISRO scientists for the successful mission, the statement added.


----------



## CONNAN

10 eyes in the sky give India space edge - India - The Times of India

CHENNAI: With the successful launch of Cartosat-2B on Monday, India has reached a `critical constellation' of 10 active remote sensing satellites in space, which gives it a clear edge in the region for monitoring borders and movements across them. 

While mapping and infrastructure development are seen as primary applications of a remote sensing satellite, its use in spying is often underplayed. A combination of four Cartosats (1,2,2A and 2B) hovering 630 km above earth allows India to keep areas under close and prolonged surveillance. Multiple satellites ensure that a particular geographical area can be `revisited' every 48 hours. 

Three of the cartosats now in orbit have a spatial resolution of less than one metre (0.8 m for Cartosat-2B), which means that they can observe and photograph objects smaller than a car. Cartosat-2B's steerability of 26 degrees allows it to stay focused on the object for a longer duration while on the move as compared to the other remote sensing satellites, which have a range of applications. 

"The latest addition enhances our revisit capability and ensures continuity of services. The revisit capability of one such satellite is about 10 days, but with four such satellites, we can revisit an area almost every other day. With Cartosat-1 (launched in 2005) likely to complete its mission in another year, Cartosat-2B ensures there is no break in services,'' Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI. 

China has launched nine remote sensing satellites in the `Yaogan' series since 2006 using its Long March range of rockets. With the addition of Cartosat-2B to the constellation, India has matched if not outdone China in remote sensing. Pakistan, meanwhile, is still working on its first remote sensing satellite PRSSS, which it plans to launch next year with China's help. 

Asked specifically about Cartosat-2B's applications in surveillance, Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said: "Depending on the user's imagination, it can be used for surveillance and intelligence (gathering).'' 

India was working on its indigenous radar imaging satellite Risat-1, an all-weather satellite which uses a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multiple antennas to see through clouds and darkness, when the 2008 Mumbai attacks happened. This prompted the nation to speed up and launch the Israeli Risat-2 satellite with SAR on April 20, 2009. Risat-1 is scheduled for launch late this year. 

Cartosats use panchromatic cameras to take black and white pictures of earth. While cartosat-1 weighed 1560 kg and had a spatial resolution of 2.5 metres and a swathe of 30 km, the later versions had a finer spatial resolution of less than a metre and a swathe of 9.6 km. 

Going around in a 630-km high polar sun synchronous orbit, Cartosat-2B carries a 64GB solid state recorder which stores images which can be later transmitted to the ground station when the satellite comes within the visibility range. The Spacecraft Control Centre, Bangalore will be continuously monitoring the satellite's health with the help of the ISTRAC network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Biak in Indonesia, Svalbard in Norway and Troll in Antarctica.


----------



## CONNAN

The Hindu : Front Page : Plan to send two Indians into space

*T.S. Subramanian
The module for the astronauts has been designed

A third launch pad costing Rs.1,000 crore will be built at Sriharikota*

SRIHARIKOTA: An unmanned crew module will be put in orbit around the earth by a modified Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2013 as a forerunner to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sending two Indians into space, S. Ramakrishnan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO, said here on Monday.

India has plans to send two astronauts in a low-earth orbit and they will stay in space for about a week before returning to the earth. A third launch pad, at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore, will be built at Sriharikota, where the rocket that will take the astronauts into space will be assembled and launched.

Mr. Ramakrishnan told journalists here, after the successful PSLV-C15 flight, that the module for the astronauts had already been designed. The life-support systems, thermal-proofing and the crew escape system in case of an emergency had been defined. We are also planning a launch pad abort for the crew in case of an accident, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

PSLV-C15 Mission Director P. Kunhikrishnan said that the satellites went to their precise orbits. If the mission was to inject five satellites into a polar orbit an altitude of 637 km, the final figure was an apogee of 637.39 km and a perigee of 631 km.

There was no hold in the 51-hour countdown to the launch. The PSLV-C15 lifted off majestically at the appointed time of 9.22 a.m., painting the sky with yellow flames. At the end of 17 minutes and 14 seconds of the flight, the satellites were home and dry.

There was applause when T.K. Alex, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, announced that the Studsat's signals were received at the ground station in Bangalore and those of the Alsat in Algeria.

While the PSLV-C15 cost Rs.80 crore, the Cartosat-2B cost Rs.175 crores.

The PSLV - C15 Vehicle Director was B. Jayakumar and the Satellite Director M. Krishnaswamy.

Speaking on the Human Spaceflight Programme, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said ISRO needed a highly reliable vehicle to take humans into space. Such rockets were called human rated vehicles. Certain crucial facilities such as a new launch pad for sending human beings into space had to be built at the spaceport at Sriharikota.

Facilities to handle the astronauts when they returned to the earth also needed to be built. In the first phase of the programme, these critical technologies, including that of re-entry, would be developed. In the second phase, a human rated vehicle would be developed. In the third phase, astronauts would be trained to go into space. Normally, it took three years to train an astronaut, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

N. Narayanamoorthy, Chief Executive, Human Spaceflight Programme, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said the most important technology to be developed was the crew escape system. In the first phase, the module for astronauts and a PSLV with a modified first stage would be built. It would be an unmanned module but identical to the final module. The location for the third launch pad site had been decided upon, said M.C. Dathan, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It would boast of a vehicle assembly building.

_*Multi-purpose images*_

R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, said Cartosat-2B, launched on Monday from Sriharikota, could be used in a variety of ways, depending on the imagination of the user. The images taken by its panchromatic camera could be used for planning roads in villages, building harbours, preparing accurate maps, keeping a watch on encroachments, and for various infrastructural activities, said Dr. Navalgund.

(Cartosat-2B's images will have a resolution of 0.8 metres, i.e. from a height of 637 km it can take pictures of objects on the earth which are three foot long.)

P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, VSSC, said a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV - F06) would lift off from Sriharikota by September-end or the first week of October this year.


----------



## trident2010

*India-US Space Ties Take Off With PSLV*








Almost a year ago on July 20, 2009, external affairs minister SM Krishna and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton met at Hyderabad House in New Delhi and signed what is known as Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) which strengthens Indo-US space ties.
On Monday, this pact became a reality when PSLV for the first time placed in orbit a satellite with a large number of US components. According to Isro officials, this flight is therefore politically important with regards to Indo-US relationship.

The satellite is nearly 200-kg Alsat (Algerian Satellite), owned by Algerian Space Agency and is built by a French company with several US-made parts. Isro officials said the Alsat launch was significant because it was the first one following the signing of the TSA between India and the US.

TSA facilitates the launch of US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles. It will cover launches involving satellites owned by US government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have US equipment on board.

Soon after the historic Indo-US deal was clinched, executive director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Isro, K R Sridhara Murthy was quoted as saying that the agreement "will open up more satellite launch operations for India. Earlier, satellites built with US-manufactured components were not available for Indian launch vehicles,'' he said.

Officials said the launch of Alsat by India on Monday will inaugurate a new chapter in the country's space programme because it will finally open the way for the country to fly either American spacecraft or spacecraft having US parts.

According to them there were earlier instances when foreign countries were keen on launching their satellites from India primarily because of the low costs. But, American restrictions prevented them from doing so. "With Alsat the scene is now all set to change and India's market share of launching satellites will increase,'' an official told this newspaper.


India-US space ties take off with PSLV - India - The Times of India


----------



## trident2010

*Isros success wins India orders to launch eight foreign satellites*

Indias space agency has won orders to launch eight foreign satellites on the back of its success on Monday, when it launched five satellites into the orbit, including one from Algeria and two from Canada.

Its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, stripped of its strap-on motors, also carried two Indian satellitesCartosat-2B and a 1kg satellite built by students of engineering colleges in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Cartosat-2B, the third in a series of mapping satellites, can shoot images of small objects on land and help compress the time needed for building high-resolution maps by half.

There are some more opportunities we are discussing. There is interest for PSLV with customers, said K.R.&#8195;Sridhara&#8195;Murthi, managing director of Antrix Corp. Ltd, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). 

He did not name the eight foreign customers.

The Algerian space agency has finalized the launch of its second remote sensing satellite with India. 

It paid Antrix around $4 million (Rs18.68 crore) for Mondays launch.

So far, PSLV has launched 44 satellites, more than half of them from India, in 17 missions. 

Now, Isro will standardize the rocket in four models, help farm it to private industry to build systems and reduce the time taken to build the launcher.

With the standard models, we can also customise additional features, like the ability to launch multiple satellites at the same time, said Murthi. Antrix earned a revenue of Rs1,059 crore in 2008-09, according to the latest figures available.

PSLV has been successful consistently. It will be the rocket of choice (to launch satellites in low earth orbit), said B.N. Raghunandan, chairman of the aerospace engineering department at the Indian Institute of Science. Once the GSLV with the indigenous cryogenic engine is ready, you will see GSLV more routinely. People are working on that.

Isro has faced two setbacks this year. In April, its heaviest rocket yet, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) crashed into sea after its home-grown cryogenic engine failed. Isro also lost its fourth-generation communication satellite GSAT-4 in the mishap.

A panel investigating the failure pointed to a snag in the fuel pump. 

The rocket was to put India in an exclusive club of nations capable of hurling communication satellites and offering space launches commercially, which Isro says would be done in a year.

The same month, it deferred a May launch of PSLV following a pressure leak in the rockets second stage. 

It was rectified and launched on Monday.

Isro will launch Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite, on the PSLV rocket and GSAT-5, a communication satellite, on a GSLV rocket later this year. 

The GSLV will be powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, Isro spokesperson S. Satish said.


Isro?s success wins India orders to launch eight foreign satellites - Home - livemint.com


----------



## jha

*10 eyes in the sky give India space edge*

CHENNAI: With the successful launch of Cartosat-2B on Monday, India has reached a `critical constellation' of 10 active remote sensing satellites in space, which gives it a clear edge in the region for monitoring borders and movements across them.

While mapping and infrastructure development are seen as primary applications of a remote sensing satellite, its use in spying is often underplayed. A combination of four Cartosats (1,2,2A and 2B) hovering 630 km above earth allows India to keep areas under close and prolonged surveillance. Multiple satellites ensure that a particular geographical area can be `revisited' every 48 hours.

Three of the cartosats now in orbit have a spatial resolution of less than one metre (0.8 m for Cartosat-2B), which means that they can observe and photograph objects smaller than a car. Cartosat-2B's steerability of 26 degrees allows it to stay focused on the object for a longer duration while on the move as compared to the other remote sensing satellites, which have a range of applications.

"The latest addition enhances our revisit capability and ensures continuity of services. The revisit capability of one such satellite is about 10 days, but with four such satellites, we can revisit an area almost every other day. With Cartosat-1 (launched in 2005) likely to complete its mission in another year, Cartosat-2B ensures there is no break in services,'' Isro spokesperson S Satish told TOI.

China has launched nine remote sensing satellites in the `Yaogan' series since 2006 using its Long March range of rockets. With the addition of Cartosat-2B to the constellation, India has matched if not outdone China in remote sensing. Pakistan, meanwhile, is still working on its first remote sensing satellite PRSSS, which it plans to launch next year with China's help.

Asked specifically about Cartosat-2B's applications in surveillance, Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said: "Depending on the user's imagination, it can be used for surveillance and intelligence (gathering).''

India was working on its indigenous radar imaging satellite Risat-1, an all-weather satellite which uses a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multiple antennas to see through clouds and darkness, when the 2008 Mumbai attacks happened. This prompted the nation to speed up and launch the Israeli Risat-2 satellite with SAR on April 20, 2009. Risat-1 is scheduled for launch late this year.

Cartosats use panchromatic cameras to take black and white pictures of earth. While cartosat-1 weighed 1560 kg and had a spatial resolution of 2.5 metres and a swathe of 30 km, the later versions had a finer spatial resolution of less than a metre and a swathe of 9.6 km.

Going around in a 630-km high polar sun synchronous orbit, Cartosat-2B carries a 64GB solid state recorder which stores images which can be later transmitted to the ground station when the satellite comes within the visibility range. The Spacecraft Control Centre, Bangalore will be continuously monitoring the satellite's health with the help of the ISTRAC network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Biak in Indonesia, Svalbard in Norway and Troll in Antarctica.


----------



## soaringphnx

*Cartosat-2B to become operational in a week*​
Cartosat-2B &#8212; the remote-sensing satellite put in orbit by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) on Monday &#8212; is in fine fettle and will become operational in a week.

The rocket put four other satellites as well in orbit at an altitude of 637 km.

&#8220;The health of the satellite is good. Everything has been checked out. It will become operational in a week's time,&#8221; said P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

The images taken by Cartosat-2B's camera will be available soon after it becomes operational. The satellite's solar panels were deployed soon after it flew out of the fourth stage of the vehicle, Mr. Veeraraghavan said.

Praise for ISRO

He said rocket specialists from other countries had commended the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the PSLV's repeated success with multiple satellite launches.

This is the eighth time that a PSLV has put several satellites in orbit.

&#8220;It is not easy to launch several satellites using the same vehicle. They should be launched in a sequence and ensuring there is no collision,&#8221; Mr. Veeraraghavan said.

On April 28, 2008, the PSLV-C9 put 10 satellites in orbit, one after another, creating a record. The satellites were Cartosat-2A, Indian Mini Satellite-1, and eight nano satellites from abroad.

Mr. Veeraraghavan said the PSLV-C15's countdown was smooth and there was no problem at all. With 16 successes in a row, &#8220;the PSLV has become a reliable workhorse.&#8221;

The PSLV-C15's flawless mission came as &#8220;a morale booster&#8221; to the ISRO after the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle's (GSLV-D3) failure on April 15 this year, he said.


----------



## jha

*Plan to send two Indians into space *


SRIHARIKOTA: An unmanned crew module will be put in orbit around the earth by a modified Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2013 as a forerunner to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sending two Indians into space, S. Ramakrishnan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, ISRO, said here on Monday.

India has plans to send two astronauts in a low-earth orbit and they will stay in space for about a week before returning to the earth. A third launch pad, at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore, will be built at Sriharikota, where the rocket that will take the astronauts into space will be assembled and launched.

Mr. Ramakrishnan told journalists here, after the successful PSLV-C15 flight, that the module for the astronauts had already been designed. The life-support systems, thermal-proofing and the crew escape system in case of an emergency had been defined. &#8220;We are also planning a launch pad abort for the crew in case of an accident,&#8221; Mr. Ramakrishnan said.

PSLV-C15 Mission Director P. Kunhikrishnan said that the satellites went to their precise orbits. If the mission was to inject five satellites into a polar orbit an altitude of 637 km, the final figure was an apogee of 637.39 km and a perigee of 631 km.

There was no &#8220;hold&#8221; in the 51-hour countdown to the launch. The PSLV-C15 lifted off majestically at the appointed time of 9.22 a.m., painting the sky with yellow flames. At the end of 17 minutes and 14 seconds of the flight, the satellites were home and dry.

There was applause when T.K. Alex, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore, announced that the Studsat's signals were received at the ground station in Bangalore and those of the Alsat in Algeria.

While the PSLV-C15 cost Rs.80 crore, the Cartosat-2B cost Rs.175 crores.

The PSLV - C15 Vehicle Director was B. Jayakumar and the Satellite Director M. Krishnaswamy.

Speaking on the Human Spaceflight Programme, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said ISRO needed a highly reliable vehicle to take humans into space. Such rockets were called human rated vehicles. Certain crucial facilities such as a new launch pad for sending human beings into space had to be built at the spaceport at Sriharikota.

Facilities to handle the astronauts when they returned to the earth also needed to be built. In the first phase of the programme, these critical technologies, including that of re-entry, would be developed. In the second phase, a human rated vehicle would be developed. In the third phase, astronauts would be trained to go into space. Normally, it took three years to train an astronaut, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

N. Narayanamoorthy, Chief Executive, Human Spaceflight Programme, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said the most important technology to be developed was the crew escape system. In the first phase, the module for astronauts and a PSLV with a modified first stage would be built. It would be an unmanned module but identical to the final module. The location for the third launch pad site had been decided upon, said M.C. Dathan, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. It would boast of a vehicle assembly building.

Multi-purpose images

R.R. Navalgund, Director, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, said Cartosat-2B, launched on Monday from Sriharikota, could be used in a variety of ways, depending on the imagination of the user. The images taken by its panchromatic camera could be used for planning roads in villages, building harbours, preparing accurate maps, keeping a watch on encroachments, and for various infrastructural activities, said Dr. Navalgund.

(Cartosat-2B's images will have a resolution of 0.8 metres, i.e. from a height of 637 km it can take pictures of objects on the earth which are three foot long.)


----------



## jha

*Blueprint to probe Moon ready, says Isro prof*

AHMEDABAD: India has prepared a blueprint to probe the Moon further and also carry out missions to Mars, comets and asteroids, said chairman, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) council, Isro DOS, Prof U R Rao.

Rao was speaking during the inauguration of two-day international workshop on Advances in Planetary Atmospheres and Exploration' at PRL on Monday. Rao said, "Exploration of atmospheres on planets is going to be future of space science."

The workshop address latest results of different ongoing planetary missions covering the atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere researches of different planets, including planetary missions. S A Haider of PRL said, "Senior scientists from 14 different countries including US, Germany, Japan, China, Netherlands, are participating in the event."

Haider presented a paper on effect of solar X-ray flares on Mars surface. On future mission to Moon, director, PRL, Prof J N Goswami said, "The experiments to be onboard Chandrayaan-2 is in its final stage. The experiments will be focusing on complementing the experiments onboard Chandrayaan-1. This time it will be more in-depth study of Moon."

The objective of the workshop is to provide a forum to planetary researchers and academicians to come together to explore, discuss and present the latest trends, exchange results and opinions and to improve the understanding in the area of planetary sciences.


----------



## Tejas-MkII

Why Indias smallest satellite is such a big deal

*Why Indias smallest satellite is such a big deal*

The ground tracking station at the Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Yelahanka, 20 km from Bangalore, where Indias smallest satellite was incubated over the past two years, is abuzz. 


It has been two days since Studsat, a pico-satellite weighing under 1 kg, developed by students from seven colleges led by NMIT, was successfully launched from Sriharikota on board PSLV-C-15 along with four other satellites, and the amateur tracking and telemetry station is tuned to the satellites HAM frequency. 


*The first beacon from the satellite, signalling its health, was received at 11.07 am on July 12, much to the joy of the 35-40 students*  a majority of them from NMIT, besides students from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, RV College of Engineering and MNS Institute of Technology in Bangalore and three other colleges in Hyderabad  who spearheaded the ambitious project, with guidance and encouragement from the Indian Space Research Organisation. 

*In a few days, images of the earth taken by the on-board camera will start streaming in every time Studsat passes over the station  three to five times a day  and they could be useful in vegetation, soil content and distance studies. *


Measuring just 10 cm X 10 cm X 11 cm and developed at a cost of Rs 55 lakh pooled by the consortium of colleges, Studsat, which has a cubic design that enhances stability and makes optimum internal space available for components, was a student initiative spurred by a lecture by DVA Raghava Murthy, Project Director, Small Satellite Projects, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, at the 2007 International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad. 


*By the time an MoU was signed one-and-a-half years ago, the students had already come up with an initial design.* The fact that Studsat is up there sending signals from space demonstrates their capabilities, Murthy said. 


Vigneswaran, who was responsible for Studsats on-board computing, stayed on at NMIT for a year after he graduated in electronics and communications, and so did eight others who were in charge of various sub-systems such as structure, payload and communication. I had an offer from IBM but this project was important, it was exciting. I am leaving in August for higher studies in the Netherlands, he says. His twin brother Visweswaran led the ground station development before leaving about a month ago for France, where he is studying at the International Space University. 


Most of us had offers from good companies and universities, but nothing would provided the kind of exposure and hands-on experience in space technology that this project has given us, says Chetan Dikshit, who managed the finance side of the project and will go on to do an MBA this year. 


The pico-satellite tested the limits of their knowledge and skill. *Since it is so small, it has no thrusters to orient the camera. To turn the camera to face the earth, we have to perform algorithms that could take days, *says Vigneswaran. 


Chetan Angadi, one of the key technical leaders, says the optics were bought from the market but integration had to be meticulous since a minute difference could result in blurred images. *We expect the first images, which will have a resolution of 93 metres per pixel, to arrive after the satellite stabilises, he says. Sharath, who designed the outer structure of Studsat, says the challenge was to maintain an accuracy of 0.01 mm  A sheet of paper is 0.03 mm thick  in dimensions. *

Besides a tracking station, NMIT set up a clean room for testing, handling and integration of the satellite. Dr Jharna Mazumdar, Director of Research and Development at the institute, says NMIT spent Rs 45 lakh to install the facilities. 


Mamatha, a student of electronics and communication who led the attitude determination sub-system of Studsat, and is in charge of the tracking station, says, We have the requisite equipment now. All we need to do is pass on the passion for space science to our juniors and continue making Studsats. 


While Anusat, a 40-kg satellite built by Anna University, Chennai, was launched last year, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Bombay and SRM University are working on similar student satellites.


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## Tejas-MkII

^^^^^

I must say future of India's science and technology is bright ... the kind of work done by these student is remarkable, even many countries are not able to do these type of work..


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## Choppers

*FIRST LOOK: Wind Tunnel Model Of India's Hypersonic Demonstrator Vehicle*

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## HitesH

Choppers said:


> *FIRST LOOK: Wind Tunnel Model Of India's Hypersonic Demonstrator Vehicle*



whats this ???


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## gowthamraj

^ my dear, that for avatar program


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## Tejas-MkII

Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: July 21, 2010

July 21, 2010 PRINT THIS PAGE 

CARTOSAT-2B Sending High Quality Imagery 

The CARTOSAT-2B satellite, which was successfully launched by PSLV-C15 on July 12, 2010, into a polar sun-synchronous orbit, is working satisfactorily. The initial phase of operations of the satellite has been successfully completed. The camera has been switched on, and images of high quality are being received.


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## INS Shivalik

Carto sat 2 can Even Capture Pictures such as By cycles and Mopeds.... Its resolution is to such a high degree, But why so much for a satellite which according to them would be used for City planning and better urbanization???


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## indushek

INS Shivalik said:


> Carto sat 2 can Even Capture Pictures such as By cycles and Mopeds.... Its resolution is to such a high degree, But why so much for a satellite which according to them would be used for City planning and better urbanization???



Because thats what people are told in our part of the world that we use Satellites with high resolution for town planning  but the uses well can be anything


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## INS Shivalik

indushek said:


> Because thats what people are told in our part of the world that we use Satellites with high resolution for town planning  but the uses well can be anything



Better resolution for Better Planning, is it


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## Aryan2010

INS Shivalik said:


> Better resolution for Better Planning, is it



To see if car is parked at the proper parking slots and if not then read the number plate and fine the owner.


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## INS Shivalik

Aryan2010 said:


> To see if car is parked at the proper parking slots and if not then read the number plate and fine the owner.



Really, Our People Are innovative


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## Pride

Tejas-MkII said:


> Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: July 21, 2010
> 
> July 21, 2010 PRINT THIS PAGE
> 
> CARTOSAT-2B Sending High Quality Imagery
> 
> The CARTOSAT-2B satellite, which was successfully launched by PSLV-C15 on July 12, 2010, into a polar sun-synchronous orbit, is working satisfactorily. The initial phase of operations of the satellite has been successfully completed. The camera has been switched on, and images of high quality are being received.



Thanks for sharing..First image is of my birth city..


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## soaringphnx

Here's the full article:

*Cartosat-2B sends pictures of Allahabad, Madurai*​




VIEW FROM THE SKY:Cartosat-2B's image shows Allahabad, including a fort and the Triveni Sangam. (Right) An image of Madurai with the Meenakshi Temple seen in the centre. 

*Remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B has sent high quality images of the Indian landmass, including Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.*

The images were taken by the satellite's panchromatic camera, which has a *high resolution of 0.8 metre. That is, it can image even small objects such as cycles and mopeds on the road, and sheep and cattle grazing on meadows.* 

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put Cartosat-2B and four other satellites in orbit on July 12. It was launched from Sriharikota.

P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, said Cartosat-2B was in good health and that it has taken a good number of pictures.

He said the images of Madurai included the famous Meenakshi temple with its gopurams (towers), the railway junction and a running train, the airport with parked aircraft, and another temple situated in the centre of a tank.

The images of Allahabad showed a fort in the town and the Triveni Sangam.

*The stacking up of the three stages of ISRO's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) in the second launch pad at Sriharikota had begun on July 14 as planned*, Mr. Veeraraghavan said. The GSLV-F06 would put in orbit a communication satellite called GSAT-5B.

*The integration of the four stages of the PSLV-C16 will begin in the first launch pad in August. The rocket will put in orbit three satellites  Resourcesat  2, Youthsat and a satellite from Singapore. Resourcesat-2 and Youthsat belong to India. Youthsat will carry a Russian payload as well.*

*The launch of GSLV-F06, according to the VSSC Director, would take place in October. The PSLV-C16 would lift off two weeks later.*


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## brahmastra

our all satellites are for peaceful purpose.
its different thing that we can turn them to spy satellite but initial interest is peaceful.


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## indushek

INS Shivalik said:


> Better resolution for Better Planning, is it



Yeah but plans of different nature


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## Bhim

HeHeHeHee, You guys sure are wicked. Why turn a poor benign PEACUFUL satellite into an ugly spy?
The eyes see what the brain knows, here also this studious urban planning satellite can only see defective roads or canals, it has no Brain(Software to see tanks or missiles)


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## INS Shivalik

Bhim said:


> HeHeHeHee, You guys sure are wicked. Why turn a poor benign PEACUFUL satellite into an ugly spy?
> The eyes see what the brain knows, here also this studious urban planning satellite can only see defective roads or canals, it has no Brain(Software to see tanks or missiles)



Why would there be No brains to see tanks?? Well, its not Possible, it captures what ever it can to the distance as little as a Cycle.... May it be a Tank or Something else.... But its Not designed for such a role, but its not that it cannot perform that role, It will be another eye in the Sky for India


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## indushek

INS Shivalik said:


> Why would there be No brains to see tanks?? Well, its not Possible, it captures what ever it can to the distance as little as a Cycle.... May it be a Tank or Something else.... But its Not designed for such a role, but its not that it cannot perform that role, It will be another eye in the Sky for India



Are bhai that was a sircastic reply my dear in a way he is saying the same we are saying. Samjhna hota hai, baaton me asli matlab samjho


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## INS Shivalik

indushek said:


> Are bhai that was a sircastic reply my dear in a way he is saying the same we are saying. Samjhna hota hai, baaton me asli matlab samjho



Oh, You passed on asarcadtic Comment??? then Consider my reply sarcastic too


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## gowthamraj

Good pictures thanks for sharing


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## indushek

INS Shivalik said:


> Oh, You passed on asarcadtic Comment??? then Consider my reply sarcastic too


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO to launch GSLV with cryo engine within an year*


Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 26 (PTI) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a GSLV flight using indigenously developed cryogenic engine within a year after it failed in its attempt to do so earlier, its Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today. "Preparations are on to launch the flight with indigenously developed cryogenic technology within one year," he told reporters here. He said the probe into the failure of GSLV D-3 mission earlier this year was in different stages of progress and some minute details that led to the failure were yet to be identified. Failures were normal in experimental phases, he added. On recently launched PSLV-16, he said the CARTOSAT put into the orbit by the flight was functioning well satisfying all the parameters. With this successful launch, the space agency had been getting a lot of offers from various countries for carrying their payloads, he said. Radhakrishnan said ISRO was also engaged in developing satellites for the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System and it was expected to be completed within two years. He said more PSLV will be launched within the next few months. Radhakrishnan, who arrived here after the successful launch of PSLV 16, was given a reception by the scientists and officials of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, where he served as Director before becoming the chairman of ISRO.




ISRO to launch GSLV with cryo engine within an year, IBN Live News

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## sudhir007

The Hindu : Front Page : Chandrayaan-2 payloads to be decided next month

Bangalore: The mission goal of India's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, will be clearer next month when a meeting will decide upon the payloads, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) director S.K. Shivakumar, said here on Monday.

A meeting here on August 3 would finalise Chandrayaan-2's scientific instruments, which together would weigh between 30 and 35 kg, said Dr. Shivakumar in a lecture on &#8220;Chandrayaan-Deep Space Network,&#8221; organised by the Institute of Engineers.

&#8220;The payloads are currently going through the process of short-listing,&#8221; he said.

Dr. Shivakumar said the probe would &#8220;take forward&#8221; some of the accomplishments of Chandrayaan-1, which had famously established the presence of water on the moon.

Chandrayaan-2, scheduled for a 2012 launch, would have an Indian-made orbiter and rover (to move on the moon's surface and collect soil samples), and a Russian lander.

Three-dimensional map

The data collected from Chandrayaan-1 continued to be analysed and a three-dimensional map of the lunar surface was being created with information received from the Terrain Mapping Camera, one of its 11 payloads, Dr. Shivakumar said.

Retracing the origins of ISRO's ambitious Indian Deep Space Network established in Byalalu (on the outskirts of Bangalore), Dr. Shivakumar said its giant 32-metre antenna had tracked the European Space Agency's missions to Venus and Mars.

&#8220;All calculations show that the antenna will successfully track India's Mars mission,&#8221; he added.


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## lemurian

*How APJ Abdul Kalam finished mission impossible*

Are leaders born?No. Leadership is all about creativity and learning to grapple with failure and success, as former president APJ Abdul Kalam learnt in the course of becoming a leader of the nations scientific community and later of the nation itself.

Kalam headed the Satellite Launch Vehicle mission when it was first attempted in 1979. The mission failed. Kalam did not have any explaining to do as his boss fielded all the questions at the press conference that ensued. But the next mission in 1980 was bang on, and this time Kalam was allowed to announce it to the world.

A creative leader gives credit to his team when there is success, and when there is failure he absorbs it, Kalam said, recalling his days in the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)while delivering a talk on leadership on the campus of SAP Labs in Whitefield on Friday. The global software applications developer had invited Kalam to speak to its employees and motivate them.
Pointing out the difference between how leadership was perceived a decade back and how it changed later, Kalam said that competitiveness was the key to success and it was important for one to work and succeed with integrity. He said vision, power of travelling to the unexplored depths, management skills, courage, nobility, transparency in action and to work and succeed with integrity were a few concrete qualities that make a leader.

Kalam recalled the best advice he had received when in Isro.

One should not let problem be the captain of ones ship. One should be the captain of the problem and defeat and overcome it.
Asserting that pressure could sometimes create wonders, he recalled how, as an aeronautical engineering student, he had to design a low-level aircraft under a nine-month project. The design he had developed after labouring for seven months was rejected and he was told that if he failed to come up with a successful design in three days his scholarship would be in soup. Kalam and his five batchmates lost their sleep and food for the next three days and came up with another design that was appreciated and accepted. He said the experience taught him how valuable time was, as he could accomplish in three days something for which nine months had been reserved


DNA: Bangalore - How APJ Abdul Kalam finished mission impossible

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## rajgoynar

*ISRO space exhibition at TIST*


TocH Institute of Science and Technology (TIST) is organising a three-day exhibition on its campus at Arakkunnam, from August 4 to 6 in association with the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO).

The exhibition on India in Space is being organised by the colleges Science Club. The exhibition will be open for the students of professional colleges, high schools and higher secondary schools and for the general public from 9 AM.

For convenience, security and orderly conduct of the programme, entry for the students from the professional colleges and schools will be allotted time-slots. The last day of the exhibition will be open for the general public.

The exhibition will be a kaleidoscope of various Indian space programmes and milestones, video presentations, cryogenic engines, models and miniatures of Chandrayaan, PSLV, GSLV etc, and many more.

Interactive sessions with the senior scientists of ISRO are also proposed during the three-day programme.

The student Forum for Higher Thinking (FHT) of TIST has arranged talks and debate sessions with the participation of interested students on the subject Independence of India on Space, Science and Technology.

Interested professional colleges and schools can call 0484-2749600, 2748388 before Friday 4 p.m. for registration so that convenient time-slots can be allotted to them. The entry is free.


ISRO space exhibition at TIST | ISRO | TIST | Indian Express


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## sudhir007

Space services may come under tax net, News - City - Bangalore Mirror,Bangalore Mirror

How about collecting tax for transactions in space, for instance, renting out services 40,000 km above the earth? Well, all eyes will be on Supreme Court&#8217;s verdict this month in a case relating to the renting out of satellite services.


The SC will deliver the judgement in a case in which Karnataka is demanding that Antrix Corporation, a commercial arm of ISRO, pay Rs 391 crore for renting its services.

The commercial tax department has asked Antrix to cough up VAT (value added tax) at the rate of 12.5 per cent for services used by the communication channels to uplink or downlink data via satellites, INSAT 3A,3B, 3C and 3E.

Being one of the most high-profile cases fought by the government with none less than Advocate General Ashok Harnahalli representing Karnataka, the SC doesn&#8217;t have a precedence: It hasn&#8217;t handled such a case before.

In its July 17 order, the tax body has demanded Rs 180 crore as tax from Antrix for the period August 2008 to March 2010.
Earlier, the department had issued a notice to the company demanding Rs 210 crore for the period April 2005 to July 2008 on which the apex court will decide this month.

The state government&#8217;s contention is that the agreements between Antrix and its partner firms for the lease of satellite transponders took place in Karnataka. As these services were bought at a price, the department has levied the VAT.

Assistant commissioner of commercial taxes, enforcement wing, Thontadarya who went into the audit of Antrix&#8217;s agreement
deals, found the firm had collected satellite segment charges, access fee and royalty charges from the communication channels.

&#8220;Leasing of bandwidth in space segment amounts to sale of goods. Since all agreements for leasing out transponders are entered into in Karnataka, it amounts to sale,&#8221; says the tax department order.

On the other hand, Antrix seems quite prepared since its agreements have a clause that reads thus,
&#8220;The parties hereto agree that if any commercial or service tax leviable by government authority on providing the leased capacity, then all such taxes shall be borne by the customer&#8221;.

Antrix&#8217;s senior counsel V Sridharan of Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Associates said, &#8220;Like telephone companies using telecommunication network to provide service to the customer, Antrix also has a similar operation. Hence, the company is paying service tax. Since there is no transfer of right to use goods, there can be no sales tax involved. Same transaction cannot be subjected to both VAT and service tax.&#8221;


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## rajgoynar

he ISRO has selected Arianespace to launch the organization's GSAT 10 communications satellite. The launch is slated for the first quarter of 2012, using an Ariane 5, and will take place at the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana. GSAT 10 will be the 15th ISRO satellite to use the European launcher. Starting with the Apple experimental satellite on Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 13 Indian satellites to date. Arianespace has another Indian satellite in its order book, INSAT 4G (GSAT-8).

GSAT 10 is designed, assembled and integrated by ISRO. Weighing about 3,425 kg. at launch, it has payloads for communications, navigation and broadcasting (DTH). Positioned at 83 degrees East, its primary payload comprises 12 Ku-, 12 C- and 12 Extended C-band transponders. GSAT 10 coverage zone will include the entire Indian sub-continent. The satellite's design life exceeds 15 years.


Arianespace + ISRO... The 15th Is Booked (Launch) : Satnews Publishers


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## Guynextdoor

rajgoynar said:


> he ISRO has selected Arianespace to launch the organization's GSAT 10 communications satellite. The launch is slated for the first quarter of 2012, using an Ariane 5, and will take place at the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport, in Kourou, French Guiana. GSAT 10 will be the 15th ISRO satellite to use the European launcher. Starting with the Apple experimental satellite on Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 13 Indian satellites to date. Arianespace has another Indian satellite in its order book, INSAT 4G (GSAT-8).
> 
> GSAT 10 is designed, assembled and integrated by ISRO. Weighing about 3,425 kg. at launch, it has payloads for communications, navigation and broadcasting (DTH). Positioned at 83 degrees East, its primary payload comprises 12 Ku-, 12 C- and 12 Extended C-band transponders. GSAT 10 coverage zone will include the entire Indian sub-continent. The satellite's design life exceeds 15 years.
> 
> 
> Arianespace + ISRO... The 15th Is Booked (Launch) : Satnews Publishers


The first fallout of our GSLV failure. Ok, move on and try again.


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## rajgoynar

*PRL announces VSR awards for four scientists*



The PRL award for the year will be given to Dr A K Patra from the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki (Andhra Pradesh) for his contributions toward understanding the coupling between middle atmosphere and lower theromsphere processes and elucidating the role of gravity waves in neutral atmosphere dynamics., the release said. Each award carries a medal and cash price of Rs 50,000 and will be presented in a ceremony on August 12 by ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan.


PRL announces VSR awards for four scientists, IBN Live News


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## Choppers

I*ndia to launch satellite-based navigation system GAGAN*

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, August 09, 2010First Published: 20:23 IST(9/8/2010)

*A satellite-based navigation system to aid air traffic from Southeast Asia to Africa, including over the high seas in the vast region, would be launched tomorrow, placing India into a select group of nations which possess such a sophisticated technology*. GAGAN or the GPS Aided Geo Augmented 
Navigation to be launched by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel would not only help the civil aviation sector but also help in marine navigation, search and rescue operations, rail and road transport, survey and mapping as well as precision farming.
So far, only the US, Europe and Japan have developed similar capabilities. GAGAN would fill the gap between the European EGNOS and the Japanese MSAS systems to provide seamless air navigation service across regional boundaries, an official spokesperson said.

The system, developed jointly by the Indian Space Research Organisation and Airports Authority of India, would operationalise a satellite-based Indian Flight Information Region in conjunction with all nations from Southeast Asia, Gulf and West Asia and the eastern coast of Africa.

It would be based on a satellite constellation consisting of 24 satellites positioned in six earth-centered orbital planes, she said.

When commissioned, GAGAN is expected to provide civil aeronautical navigation signals consistent with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Panel, as part of the Future Air Navigation System for the aviation sector.

GAGAN would benefit the sector in a major way, including enabling aircraft to fly on direct straight-line routes.

Currently, the planes fly over the land-based radars which are not installed in a straight line. GAGAN would help them navigate on a straight line as it is dependent on satellite route guidance and thus enhance fuel savings.

The system would help in 'precision approach' while landing at all airports in this vast region.

It would not only result in savings on ground-based radar systems, but also improve air traffic capacity through reduced aircraft separation, that is more planes can be accommodated in a limited airspace.

GAGAN would also enhance air-to-air surveillane and provide minimum safe altitude warning, besides facilities for controlled flight into terrain, the absence of which becomes a major cause for aircrashes while landing.

The project involves establishment of 15 Indian Reference Stations, three Indian Navigation Land Uplink Stations, three Indian Mission Control Centers and installation of all associated softwares and communication links.

India to launch satellite-based navigation system GAGAN - Hindustan Times

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## ambidextrous

Hey Everybody i really thank you all for posting all this information 
i had started this forum four days ago just out of curiosity...and i have completed it today.. and really it was great having everything from happiness, success stories, sarcasm..etc ..

Thank you to everyone for their posts... and making this forum lovable...keep posting 
even to you shchinese...it was good to see your bad jokes...


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## jha

*Public interest in space, by the numbers*








The media coverage of the recent World Cup has again led to commentators asking why soccer is far and away the number one sport in the world, but not in America. Often, this question leads into a rant about the wrong-headedness of either America or the world in other matters, or the relative merits of various sports. It probably is true that soccer is number one in the world as a whole, and it is definitely not in the US. But, to do an apples-to-apples comparison, how does America compare to other nations, as opposed to the planet as a whole, on soccer enthusiasm?

Soccer popularity by nation is a challenging question; popularity is hard to define, (Participants? People who watch from the stands? On TV?), and good comparative numbers do not seem to exist. National sport popularity is so contentious that a Wikipedia page that attempted to list sport popularity by country has been repeatedly deleted and reinstated. Of the other sources that attempt rank sport popularity by country, most are battlefields for flame wars, or make claims that are impossible to believe (One out of every six people, including infants, toddlers and the aged, play volleyball, on a regular basis?), although some of it could be considered educational. (Who knew that Kilikiti was big in Tuvalu?)

International aspects of space are also in the news, with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden&#8217;s interview on Al Jazeera (see &#8220;The real message of a controversial statement&#8221;, The Space Review, July 19, 2010), and the White House release of space policy that again highlights international cooperation, both as an instrument for international relations, as well as a necessity for funding future space activities (see &#8220;Parsing the policy&#8221;, The Space Review, August 2, 2010). This raises the question, how popular is space around the world?

Direct measurement of space popularity is even more challenging than soccer popularity. The spending on space by various national governments could be a proxy for popularity. There are two reasons to adopt this measure. First, at least for the world&#8217;s democracies, politicians have to take the popularity of various government efforts into account when spending money, or risk being voted out of office. Authoritarian governments face a different calculus, of course. If a government can get away with criminalizing unrelated men and women holding hands in public, or so restrict access to food that the average citizen&#8217;s height is affected, well, it&#8217;s probably best to leave places like Iran and North Korea out of this analysis.

The second (and perhaps most important) reason for using government spend on space as a measure of popularity is that someone else has done the heavy lifting of assembling credible comparative data. Euroconsult has released figures for governmental spending on space, combining military and civilian programs for 2009, for the world.

At first glance, this can be read as an argument for American Exceptionalism from just two data points: US governmental spending on space of almost $49 billion versus total world governmental spending of $68 billion. America was thus responsible for about 72&#37; of the worldwide governmental space spending. ESA nations, including national programs as well as ESA contributions, came in at $7.8 billion, for 11.5% of the total. And Russia was at $2.7 billion, just behind Japan.
National space spending by GDP and per capita

Although interesting, this doesn&#8217;t get to popularity, as different countries have different levels of resources they can spend on anything, including spaceflight. Using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of available national resources, American space spending was about 0.34% of its $14.3 trillion GDP (which represents about 25% of the world&#8217;s total $58 trillion GDP). Other national spending on space compared to GDP includes Russia at 0.23%, India at 0.07%, Japan at 0.06%, and China at 0.04%. Looking at these numbers, one could perhaps infer that the popularity of space in America led to a commitment to space that is 50% greater than Russia&#8217;s, and five times as great as India&#8217;s, and that India and Japan have roughly equivalent commitments and popularity for space.

Along with differing GDPs, nations also have differing populations, with the combination of China and India alone having about 37% of the world in their borders, while the US has 5%. Calculating government spending per capita on space puts the US at $158, Japan at $24, Russia at $20, China at $1.50, and India at $0.75. The spending of ESA nations present a greater challenge to make comparable to the world, given factors such as the composition of the ESA and the EU are not the same, and the nation where ESA funding comes from and where the money gets spent are not identical. But for ESA members, looking at their contributions to ESA as well as non-ESA space spending, some numbers per capita are $35 for France, $18 for Italy, $14 for Germany, $15 for Sweden, with the English at $6. Using these numbers, it looks like Japan&#8217;s commitment to space is more than thirty times as great as India&#8217;s, and the American commitment is more than six times greater than the Japanese commitment.

*India beyond the numbers
*
However, either of these measures, by GDP or per capita, miss the issue that comes up in many debates about space spending, that of other competing national needs. As an example, the World Health Organization estimates that 665 million Indians currently defecate in the open (they have no access to toilets). That&#8217;s more than twice the entire US population without access to a toilet. Even in the grip of the Cold War, would America have joined the Soviets in a space race without pervasive indoor plumbing, to say nothing of just toilet access?

There are other non-numeric indicators of the popularity of space in India. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, an aerospace engineer widely known as the &#8220;Missile Man of India&#8221;, was able to use that as a springboard to become president of India, a largely ceremonial position; could any former NASA administrator even have contemplated becoming President&#8212;or any other major elected office&#8212;based on their space agency experience? And, at the recent International Space Development Conference in Chicago, more students from India were in attendance to present space settlement designs than any other country, including the US.

To return to the numbers, if GDP is adjusted by subtracting out $2.75 a day per person, as a proxy for basic living needs, India&#8217;s space spending is world-leading at 1.85% of this adjusted GDP. The US is now at 0.35%, Russia at 0.26%, and China and Japan both come in at 0.06%. And, for the quarter of India&#8217;s population (a number roughly equivalent to the US population) that lives below the world poverty standard of $1 a day, $2.75 would be a spectacular boon.

The Indian commitment to space, as evidenced by the people continuing to elect governments that spend the amount of available resources on space in the face of other needs, is spectacular and unmatched in the world. If the rest of the world poured cash into space with even a fraction of that commitment, would you be reading The Space Review in your O&#8217;Neill colony home, or glancing at it after buying T-shirts for the kids from a kiosk at Titan&#8217;s spaceport, after a diving vacation?


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## jha

*Saral Satellite by 2011 *

ndia plans to launch SARAL (Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA) satellite to monitor the sea water level. SARAL satellite will carry an Altimeter (ALTIKA) for studying the sea surface heights; and ARGOS payload, which is a satellite based data collection platform.

SARAL satellite is a joint project of Indian Space Research Organisation and the French National Space Agency. The ALTIKA and ARGOS payloads are built and supplied by the French National Space Agency. The satellite building and launching are the responsibilities of Indian Space Research Organisation.

The satellite bus is under fabrication at Indian Space Research Organisation. Integration and testing of the payloads are ongoing at the French National Space Agency. The satellite is likely to be launched in 2011.

This Information was given by Sh.Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions & Parliamentary Affairs in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha today.


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## Choppers

*Navigation System by ISRO*
12:53 IST
Indian Space Research Organisation is developing its own navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS will have a constellation of 7 satellites and complementary ground infrastructure. The IRNSS system is planned to be made operational by end of 2014. Government has approved the IRNSS project at a total cost of Rs. 1420.00 crores in May 2006 for both space and ground infrastructure. 

This Information was given by Sh.Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions & Parliamentary Affairs in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha today


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## Choppers

*India, Russia squeeze Google Moon racers *

Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO planning to send astronauts to space before 2015-16*


CHANDIGARH: The Indian Space Research Organization is planning to send astronauts to space before the year 2015-16, deputy project director of ISRO's Chandrayaan Mission Jaswinder Singh Khoral said in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Khoral was addressing the students at the Haryana Space Science Congress Programme at Faridabad today which was organized by Space Applications Centre, Hisar on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Dr Vikaram Sarabhai, the father of Indian Space Programme.

About 800 students from 40 schools participated in the day-long programme aimed at sensitizing the students about developing a career in the field of science.

Khoral said ISRO was also working to send an unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-II in 2012-13, an official release quoting him said.

He said that India is in the select league of six nations which have sent their satellites to the moon.

He also informed the students about different details regarding the successful launch of Chandrayaan-I by ISRO.

Director, Haryana Science and Technology Department Sandeep Garg said the State Government has launched the Haryana Science Talent Hunt Scheme for students of class 9th to 12th to promote science among the students.

ISRO's senior scientist Dr P K Champati Ray said that India is one of the leading countries in space technology in the world, having the capability of fabricating and launching its own satellites with indigenous launching vehicles.

He said India had successfully launched 17 remote sensing satellites and 24 geostationary satellites since 1975.

Elaborating on the strength of Indian Space Programme, he said the recently launched Cartosat-2b Remote Sensing Satellite has less than one metre resolution, which is capable of identifying the objects smaller than one metre and would be highly useful for urban and infrastructure planning.



ISRO planning to send astronauts to space before 2015-16-ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

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## jha

A good read for Space junkies...

India, Russia squeeze Google Moon racers


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## rajgoynar

*Moon mission on track: Isro chief*



Hyderabad, Aug. 14: Preparations for India's first unmanned moon mission in 2013 are in full swing. The Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, Dr K. Radhakrishnan, said on Saturday that Isro plans to launch the first test mission with an unmanned capsule on a PSLV, which will be put into orbit and will be recovered soon after the mission.

Delivering the convocation address at IIIT-Hyderabad, in Gachibowli, Dr Radhakrishnan said, "With Chandrayaan-2, the Aditya Mission, the Mars Mission and the Human Space Flight, we have embarked in a new era of Indian space exploration. There are challenging tasks in store for all of us including the young generation. There is a lot of mathematical and statistical modelling, characterisation and analysis to be done for each of these new missions. I invite academia and industry to be our comrades-in-arms to scale new glories for the country."

Explaining ISRO's future plans, he said, "We plan to launch GSLV-F06, which will carry GSAT-5, a communication satellite, in the next two months. Later we will launch PSLV-C16 that will carry Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite."

Also speaking on the occasion, Prof Rajiv Sangal, director, IIIT-Hyderabad, said the placement situation this year was good with 145 companies having registered for placements. Eighty-five of them were given slots and students got job offers from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Rediff, Adobe, Computer Associates, Capital IQ, Nvidia.

"IIIT-H has registered the highest average annual compensation in India for B. Tech (CSE). The institute has consistently been ranked among the top 10 technology schools in the country by a number of national surveys conducted by leading magazines," he added.




Moon mission on track: Isro chief | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-08-15


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO... Gagan Goes (Launch)*





ISRO... Gagan Goes (Launch) : Satnews Publishers


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## rajgoynar

*Vikram Sarabhai: Rockets, atomic power & Bharatnatyam*




We've found water on the moon and have more remote sensing satellites in space than any other country. But without Vikram Sarabhai, the man who founded ISRO, none of it would have been possible. On his birthday, here's a brief look at what he achieved. All of this research is thanks to my colleagues Vivian Fernandes and Sharmila Bhowmick, I'm just writing it down.

Vikram Sarabhai was born on the 12th of August, 1919. Father Ambalal and Mother SarlaDevi were rich and involved in the freedom struggle. Gandhiji and Nehru were regular visitors at home.

After a doctorate at Cambridge and research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Sarabhai worked with Homi Bhabha, the father of India's nuclear programme. He set up a rocket launch station in Thumba, Kerala and launched India's first satellite in 1963. This was the start of the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO. In 1975, Sarabhai set up the country's first satellite television broadcasting service and beamed educational programmes to villages.

But it was his love for the arts that made him fall in love with Mrinalini, a Bharatnatyam dancer. Together, they set up Darpan, a theater group and a home called Premalay.

Sarabhai later became head of the Department of Atomic Energy. Professional rivalry with another legendary scientist, Homi Sethna and his personal views about the dangers of the atom bomb, led to the department being split in two, one for military research and the other for power production.

Vikram Sarabhai also set up the National Physical Research Laboratory and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahemedabad. He died young, at the age of fifty two, a titan among scientists in India.




IBNLive : Jaimon Joseph's Blog : Vikram Sarabhai: Rockets, atomic power & Bharatnatyam


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## INS

*There is a news in last june that Indian will launch a GSLV flight with Russian engine take place in September any one know about its date 

Thanks in Advanced *


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## RPK

ISRO to launch GSLV-F06 this year :: Brahmand.com

*ISRO to launch GSLV-F06 this year*


BANGALORE (BNS): Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch GSLV-F06 this year and said preparation for the unmanned moon mission in 2013 was in full swing with the setting up of one more launch pad.

The premier space agency is all geared up to launch Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06), which will carry GSAT-5 or INSAT-4D, a communication satellite into the space.

The launch campaign for GSLV-F06 has already started and the vehicle will lift-off somewhere during end of September or first week of October.

GSAT-5 is a fully communication satellite, which would have C-band and external C-band transponders, useful for television broadcasting and business communication. This satellite will be positioned at 83&#186; East longitude with a mission life of 12 years. It will also replace some of the ageing vehicles that are currently in orbit.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Trac

rpraveenkum said:


> ISRO to launch GSLV-F06 this year :: Brahmand.com
> 
> *ISRO to launch GSLV-F06 this year*
> 
> 
> BANGALORE (BNS): Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch GSLV-F06 this year and said preparation for the unmanned moon mission in 2013 was in full swing with the setting up of one more launch pad.
> 
> The premier space agency is all geared up to launch Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06), which will carry GSAT-5 or INSAT-4D, a communication satellite into the space.
> 
> *The launch campaign for GSLV-F06 has already started and the vehicle will lift-off somewhere during end of September or first week of October.*
> 
> GSAT-5 is a fully communication satellite, which would have C-band and external C-band transponders, useful for television broadcasting and business communication. This satellite will be positioned at 83º East longitude with a mission life of 12 years. It will also replace some of the ageing vehicles that are currently in orbit.


*
Waiting for the launch 

Best of luck ISRO ...........You rocks *


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## sudhir007

Nigeria keen to partner with India in space programmes :: Brahmand.com

Nigeria has expressed its willingness to partner with India in space technology and space programmes.

&#8220;Nigeria is willing to partner with India in the development of critical space technologies,&#8221; the country&#8217;s Science and Technology Minister Mohammad Abubakar has said.

Addressing the Bengaluru Space Expo-2010 here on Wednesday, the Minister said that Nigeria&#8217;s space programme has immensely contributed to the country&#8217;s scientific, social and economic development.

The country has partnered with other nations to launch its satellites and is exploring ways to partner with India, he said.

The minister, who was the chief guest at the Bengaluru Space Expo-2010 which kicked off in Bangalore on Wednesday, also applauded India&#8217;s capability to launch multiple satellites from its launch vehicles.

Outlining his country&#8217;s roadmap for an ambitious space programme, Abubakar said that Nigeria plans to launch its own satellite in the coming years.


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## sudhir007

India, France to launch SARAL-AltiKa satellite :: Brahmand.com

With ocean scientists reporting a nine mm rise in sea levels in four years, India
in collaboration with the French National Space Agency will launch an exclusive satellite later this year to study the changes in the environment.

The satellite, called SARAl, will carry an altimeter (AltiKa) for studying the sea surface heights and an ARGOS payload, which is a satellite-based data collection platform.

SARAL-AltiKa will have two independent payloads &#8211; ARGOS-3 and Altika &#8211; whose objective would be to promote the study of environment from space.

The satellite would be useful for ocean scientists in studying the sea state, light rainfall climatalogy, mean sea level and coastal altimetry.


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## rajgoynar

*More varsities keen on ISRO programmes*




Following the success of StudSat, which was built by engineering students and launched successfully last month, more and more universities are willing to partner with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

According to ISRO, more than 25 universities want to be part of its launches by building satellites. However, the space agency is unable to accommodate them as it already has four student satellites lined up for launch by the end of next year.

Speaking to reporters, Raghava Murthy, project director, small satellites, ISRO satellite centre, said, "We have received around 25 proposals from universities across India to build and launch satellites. However, we cannot take them up as four launches are already lined up, which we expect to do by the end of 2011."

The satellites set to be launched are: Jugnu of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Pratham of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

The other two are being developed by Satyabhama University and SRM University.

While Jugnu will study the near infrared region, Pratham's objective is to measure the total electron content in the ionosphere. The satellites of the students of Satyabhama and SRM aim to measure the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere of the lower earth orbit.



More varsities keen on ISRO programmes | StudSat | | Indian Express


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## rajgoynar

*Sky is not the limit at Space Expo 2010*



If youre looking for a crash course in Science and Technology in India, Bengaluru Space Expo 2010 is the right place to be. It is the only exhibition in Asia which exclusively focuses on Space, Satellites and its technologies.

Started on August 25, the three-day long exhibition is being held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), located on 10th mile, Tumkur Road. With more than 40 distinguished speakers, of which 16 are international speakers from US, UK, Canada, Nigeria, France, Russia, Hong Kong and Japan, the exhibition is sure to woo the scientist in you.

The exhibition is also a platform to strengthen the base of various sectors like Telecommunications and Broadcasting and Entertainment. With more than 100 participants from 10 countries across the globe, featuring the best from the world of innovation and modern-day technologies, the Bengaluru Space Expo 2010 is a must visit.

We have displayed some of the most unique technologies developed by the ISRO at the exhibit here. Bhuvan, an interface just like the Google Earth, has been displayed along with miniature versions of Chandrayaan, Kalpana, Insat -2E, Insat 4A, etc, says Girish Pujar, scientist, ISRO  Indian Space Research Organisation.

One of the best exhibits at the Space Expo, the ISRO exhibit had the maximum number of technologies and innovations displayed for the public. For instance, we have displayed a screen to explain one of our most eagerly awaited technologies called the IRNSS, the Indian version of GPS, at the ISRO exhibit, says Subramanya Ganesh, scientist, ISRO.

Another must-see exhibit at the exhibition is by students of RV College of Engineering. A 15-student team of the college got together and created an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) named Vyoma in a year.

We are the first student team in the country to have built a composite plane, says Mughilan TR, one of students of the team who contributed to the mechanical and design aspect of the UAV.

We will be participating in the Society of Automotive Engineers, an annual event held in Brazil, this October too, says Pavan Kumar, another student from the 15-member team.

Apart from the main exhibit ISRO, the DRDO, HAL and Brahmos exhibits are also a must see.

While DRDO  Defence Research and Development Organisation, had some of the most fascinating miniature planes like Nishant Tactical UAV and Lakshya Aerial Target on display, HAL proved to be an eye-ball grabber with its select display of the GSLV MK II and III, the Tejas Multirole Combat Aircraft, the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter 1A - 1102 and Intermediate Jet Trainer HJT-36.

Even the Brahmos exhibit was crowded by curious students and scientists from Bangalore as well as other parts of the country because of its brilliant display of missiles.




Sky is not the limit at Space Expo 2010 - Bangalore - DNA


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## Nahraf

Firstly, I support space exploration. Having said that how can India be spending money on space exploration while many people openly defecate in the streets of Bombay ? Is it like caste system where people belonging upper caste live in luxury while non-touchable clean toilets ? There should be middle way where abject poverty should also be tackled.


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## Vikram Morya

Nahraf said:


> Firstly, I support space exploration. Having said that how can India be spending money on space exploration while many people openly defecate in the streets of Bombay ? Is it like caste system where people belonging upper caste live in luxury while non-touchable clean toilets ? There should be middle way where abject poverty should also be tackled.




worry about ur country. I saw in this forum, whenever India develop, expand something, these poor **** guys start wiping about our 
poverty, poors. 


As a country, pakistan living on American Aid from her birth. I think, Pak should spend the 4.5% of their GDP on the poverty, flood instead of begging from 1947.

look at the reports enclosed

UNDP - Pakistan - Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Hunger and poverty in Pakistan - Hunger, Disease & Poverty - Helium

Pakistan - Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Project


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## Nahraf

Vikram Morya said:


> worry about ur country.



Good point. We will watch Indians openly defecating in streets of Mumbai
and just admire the Emperor's New Clothes.


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## airuah

Nahraf said:


> Good point. We will watch Indians openly defecating in streets of Mumbai
> and just admire the Emperor's New Clothes.



dont worry , we are hiring people to clean the faeces are you interested? permanent job,will be pain more that what you earn elsewhere. interested?


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## Nahraf

airuah said:


> dont worry , we are hiring people to clean the faeces are you interested? permanent job,will be pain more that what you earn elsewhere. interested?



Thanks but no thanks. You have enough untouchables to do the job. The whole caste system is designed to allot jobs to different castes and the untouchables are born and die doing this job.


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## gowthamraj

Please atleast dont derail this thread.


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## Desi Sher

Nahraf said:


> Firstly, I support space exploration. Having said that how can India be spending money on space exploration while many people openly defecate in the streets of Bombay ? Is it like caste system where people belonging upper caste live in luxury while non-touchable clean toilets ? There should be middle way where abject poverty should also be tackled.



ISRO's Budget for 2010 was just 3% of that Of NASA's, So You dont need to worry about Us, We are doing Just fine in battling Poverty and Keeping a good Pace In Technological Advancement.... And Hence we are not listed anywhere in the Failed nations List....


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## rajgoynar

*Time ripe for industry, ISRO to be risk-sharing partners'*



60 % of India's space budget goes to industry, says ISRO chief 


CII keen on collaboration with ISRO in R &D: CII chairman

Industry has always been a key participant in ISRO's projects: Radhakrishnan


Bangalore: With as many as 500 private firms actively participating in India's space programme, time is ripe for the industry and the ISRO to become risk-sharing partners' the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan has said.

Around 60 per cent of India's space budget goes into industrial houses today, he added. The private industry's technological and engineering capabilities and ability for mass production are strengths that ISRO leverages.

Mr. Radhakrishnan was speaking at the inauguration of the second Bengaluru Space Expo 2010 on Wednesday. Industry has always been a key participant in ISRO's projects, whether in producing components, electronic systems for launch vehicles or building ground infrastructure, he said.

The three-day event includes an international exhibition and conference on space technologies, equipment and products, and is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with ISRO and the Antrix Corporation.

Vikram Kirloskar, chairman of the CII's National Committee on Technology, said the confederation was eager to strengthen its role in enhancing India's space capability and to collaborate with ISRO in research and development.

The Indian space industry has been largely insulated from the recent global economic crisis and has in fact broadened its horizons considerably during the last two years, said Managing Director of Antrix Corporation K.R. Sridhara Murthi. No other technology can address the increasing needs of middle-class consumers better than space technology.

Mohammed Abubakar, Minister of Science and Technology, Federal Republic of Nigeria, spoke.

Bengaluru Space Expo 2010 will showcase equipment, software solutions, related products and technical services in the space and related sectors.

A concurrent three-day international conference World Space-Biz' will deliberate on topics such as commercialisation of space, remote sensing and navigation. The exhibitors at the Space Expo include Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Larsen & Toubro, EADS Astrium, Glonass-Russia, Dish TV, Godrej & Boyce, Brahmos and Asia Broadcast Satellite.


The Hindu : Front Page : &#8216;Time ripe for industry, ISRO to be risk-sharing partners'


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## Blue Sword

*Chandrayaan 2 to Carry 7 Payloads: ISRO*​

Almost two years after India's maiden moon mission, the Chandrayaan, it is time to turn our attention to the Chandrayaan 2. While we still have three years to go before the launch, a mission as complex as this requires meticulous planning - which is precisely what is happening now.

While many mission related objectives are still under wraps, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to let the world know that the Chandrayaan 2 will carry as many as seven payloads from various countries - including a Russian lunar-lander. The mission would also include a wheeled rover that would be used to scourge the lunar surface for soil and rock specimen. The other payloads include scientific instruments and mappers like the ones included on the Chandrayaan 1.

Here are the details of the same:

* Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Solar X-ray Monitor (XSM) from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for mapping the major elements present on the lunar surface.
* L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad for probing the first few tens of meters of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents including water ice. SAR is expected to provide further evidence confirming the presence of water ice below the shadowed regions of the moon.
* Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from SAC, Ahmedabad for the mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl present.
* Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE2) from Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram to carry out a detailed study of the lunar exosphere.
* Terrain Mapping Camera2 (TMC2) from SAC, Ahmedabad for preparing a three-dimensional map essential for studying the lunar mineralogy and geology.



Unlike the Chandrayaan 1, which was launched using a PSLV rocket, the Chandrayaan 2 would avail the services of the larger GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) launch vehicle. However, with the previous launches of the GSLV being unsuccessful, it is likely that the Chandrayaan mission could be delayed. It is pertinent to note that the GSLV's maiden flight using India's indigenously built Kaveri Cryogenic engine was a failure back in April 2010.


Source : techtree.com Dated: Techtree News Staff, Aug 31, 2010 1443 hrs IST


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## marcos98

Chandrayaan-2 to get closer to moon​
CHENNAI/MUMBAI: India's second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2, a Rs 425 crore project, took a definite shape with Isro on Monday announcing details of payloads or scientific instruments to be flown on the orbiter and the rover. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched in 2013 from Sriharikota.

Hovering 100km above the moon, Chandrayaan-1 had confirmed water ice last year. Chandrayaan-2, equipped with an array of payloads, will probe closer and deeper for several things on the lunar surface, including water.

A series of meetings of experts chaired by UR Rao, chairman of the advisory committee on space sciences, last week decided that the mission would carry five payloads on the orbiter that goes around the moon and two scientific payloads on the rover, which will travel on the moon's surface. Three of the payloads are new, while two others are improved versions of those flown on Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

A geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) will blast off sometime in early 2013 from the Sriharikota spaceport carrying the orbiter, the lander and the rover to the moon, about 3.8 lakh km away. While Russia will provide the lander, Isro will make the orbiter and rover.

"Chandrayaan-1 made observations of the moon from a distance. Chandrayaan-2 will actually get there and probe further. The previous mission found evidence of water in the polar region of the moon. We haven't decided on which part of the moon the lander carrying the rover would land, but it will be to look for water, among other things," said Isro spokesperson S Satish.

Unlike the lunar probe of Chandrayaan-1 which plunged into the moon, the Russian-designed lander will make a soft touchdown and release the rover, which will travel a few metres to collect lunar rocks and other materials. The scientific payloads on the rover will analyse surface elements on the moon and send the data to the orbiter, which eventually sends them to the earth station.

But why a moon mission more than half a century after the Soviet Union landed Luna 2 on the lunar surface in 1959 and 41 years after the US put the first man on the moon in 1969? "The last moon mission was in the 1970s and we don't have access to much of that data. The dozens of moon missions by other countries could not find water on the moon, which Chandrayaan-1 did. So we can rightfully expect some new findings," said Satish.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650kg, including the 1,400-kg orbiter and the 1,250kg lander.


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## marcos98

*Russia To Test Chandrayaan-2 Lander Next Year*​By Neelam Mathews 
BENGALURU, India  Next year, Russian space agency Roscomos plans to test the lander that will be part of Indias second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, Roscosmos Deputy Head Anatoly Shilov says.

Scheduled to be lofted in 2013, Chandrayaan-2 will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is slated to fly on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island.

While the lander will be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

The rover will move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, perform a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above.

The rover will weigh 30-100 kg. (70-220 lb.), depending on whether it is to do a semi-hard landing or soft landing. During its planned one month of surface operations, it will run predominantly on solar power.

Initially two lunar rovers were planned  one from India and a larger one from Russia  but following a cost analysis, the Russians gave up on the rover.

The tasks of the mission are to investigate rock samples at the maximum distance from the landing point and to confirm the presence of water, Shilov said at the recent Bengaluru Space Expo. Today we are talking about moving from research to ... lunar development, he says.

Meanwhile, the payloads to be flown on Chandrayaan-2 have been finalized by a committee of experts from ISRO centers, academic institutions and R&D laboratories, according to a press statement.

The five recommended payloads are:

 Large-Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer from the ISRO Satellite Center (SAC) in Bengaluru, and Solar X-ray Monitor from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, for mapping major elements on the lunar surface.

 L- and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from SAC for probing the first few tens of meters of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents, including water ice. SAR is expected to provide further evidence confirming the presence of water ice in shadowed lunar regions.

 Imaging IR Spectrometer from SAC for mapping of the lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyls.

 Neutral Mass Spectrometer from the Space Physics Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, for study of the lunar exosphere.

 Terrain Mapping Camera-2 from SAC for preparing a three-dimensional map essential for studying lunar mineralogy and geology.

The committee also recommends two scientific payloads on the rover. Inclusion of additional payloads, if possible within the mission constraints, will be considered at a later date following a detailed review, ISRO says. Both instruments are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site:

 Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope from the Laboratory for Electro-Optic Systems in Bengaluru.

 Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope from PRL, Ahmedabad.

The total Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft will weigh about 2,650 kg. at liftoff, with the orbiter comprising 1,400 kg. and the lander about 1,250 kg. Development of the subsystems of the orbiter and the rover is underway at ISRO centers in Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad, ISRO says.


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## RPK

*ISRO to attempt key test for new generation rocket on Sep 8 - The Economic Times*

Topics &#187;test|new generation rocket|isro
BANGALORE: After a failed test six months ago, ISRO is making a fresh attempt on Wednesday to conduct long-duration static test of a crucial liquid core stage for a new generation heavy rocket which is being developed.

"The static test of crucial liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle (rocket) for 200 seconds is slated for 3 pm on September eight," a senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official told here.

A top ISRO team, including Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) S Ramakrishnan and Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) P S Veeraraghavan, held a review meeting in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu yesterday and gave the go-ahead for the test.

Chairman of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, is expected to witness the test at LPSC test facility in Mahendragiri, officials said.

ISRO conducted the test for 150 seconds at LPSC test facility on March five. While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters -- minor leakage in the command system -- was observed.

A small leak in the command line was detected by computer, which automatically aborted the test. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test. ISRO has since analysed the data.

GSLV Mk III rocket is being developed for launching four-tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 metres in length and four metres in diameter, L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes.

L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV.

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-Mk III requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

India's PSLV and GSLV so far used one Vikas engine. But the heavy-rocket GSLV Mk III under development needs much better thrust. And hence, two Vikas engines were being used for the first time, they said.


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## gowthamraj

^ best of luck ISRO. Failiure cannot block your future mega ambition projects


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## Isaq Khan

*ISRO to test a new generation heavy rocket - a decisive Indian edge in Space and missile tech
*

Director of ISROs Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) S Ramakrishnan and Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) P. S. Veeraraghavan decided to give a green signal for the crucial test for Indian missile technology superiority.

The static test of crucial liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle (rocket) for 200 seconds is slated for 3 pm on September eight, according to official ISRO statements.

According to media reports, GSLV Mk III rocket is being developed for launching four-tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). It will also boost Indian nuclear missile technology capabilities carrying far more load and more superior targeting technologies. Measuring 17 meters in length and 54 sq.meters in cross sectional area, L110 is an earth storage capable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 to 120 tonnes. It is ideal for heavier load and superior targeting. L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration. It is the advanced design from the legacy of the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV.

The advantage of this is that the GSLV-Mk III requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration while in in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds. 

IndiaDaily - ISRO proceeds on crucial liquid core stage for a new generation heavy rocket - a decisive Indian edge in Space and missile tech

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## Isaq Khan

MOON DAILY

*ISRO To Conduct Key Test For GSLV Mk III Rocket Next Week*

by Staff Writers
*Bangalore, India (PTI) Sep 03, 2010
After a failed test six months ago, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be making a fresh attempt next week to conduct long-duration static test of a crucial liquid core stage for a new generation heavy rocket which is being developed.*

"The static test of crucial liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle (rocket) for 200 seconds is slated for 3 pm on September eight," a senior ISRO official told PTI here.

A top ISRO team, including Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) S Ramakrishnan and Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) P S Veeraraghavan, held a review meeting in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and gave the go-ahead for the test.

Chairman of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, is expected to witness the test at LPSC test facility in Mahendragiri, officials said.

ISRO conducted the test for 150 seconds at LPSC test facility on March five. While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds, it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters - minor leakage in the command system
- was observed.

A small leak in the command line was detected by computer, which automatically aborted the test. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test.

ISRO has since analysed the data.

The GSLV Mk III rocket is being developed for launching four-tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 metres in length and four metres in diameter, the L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes.

The L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV.

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-Mk III requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

India's PSLV and GSLV so far used one Vikas engine. But the heavy-rocket GSLV Mk III under development needs much better thrust. And hence, two Vikas engines were being used for the first time, they said.

ISRO has already successfully conducted the short-duration static test of the L110 stage, which uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration.

In January this year, ISRO also successfully conducted static test of its largest solid booster S200, which would form the strap-on stage for the GSLV Mk III, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.

The successful test of S200 made it the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the RSRM solid booster of NASA Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of ARIANE-5.

ISRO To Conduct Key Test For GSLV Mk III Rocket Next Week

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## somebozo

now this is one hell of a rocket.!


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## humanfirst

Hats off to smart scientists and engineers of isro,for making a billion people proud.


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## Hulk

I will celebrate after we successfully test it, I do not like to count the chickens before they hatch.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Donatello

humanfirst said:


> Hats off to smart scientists and engineers of isro,for making a billion people proud.



This guy is already talking about something that hasn't happened yet..


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## RPK

VARANASI: The Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO) has joined hands with the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to promote better understanding of vegetation-environment relationship, including development of predictive ability to study the vegetation response to the climate change.

While BHU vice-chancellor D P Singh inaugurated the ISRO-funded automated agromet weather station (AMS) at the Rajiv Gandhi South Campus (RGSC), Barkachha (Mirzapur), on Friday, it also marked the start of the first activity of the newly established Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD) in the university.

As per A S Raghubanshi, coordinator, IESD, BHU, the AMS would work with the help of a 10-metre tall micrometeorological tower, installed at RGSC, that also became functional on Friday.

The data collected through the sensors placed at various sites in the biodiversity park of the RGSC would be uplinked every hour to the AMS transmitter of INSAT/KALPANA-1 satellite and again retransmitted through the extended C-band transponder to the earth station at Ahmedabad, said Raghubanshi.

It may be mentioned here that the installation of AMS at RGSC (BHU) is a part of ISRO-sponsored nationwide 24 automated weather stations. The AMS has sensors capable of measuring radiation, energy and soil-water balance components continuously with a total of 26 quantities at half-an-hour interval.

For this, the sensors for air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, rainfall, solar radiation, atmospheric pressure, soil temperature, moisture and heat flux have already been placed at various sites in the biodiversity park of the RGSC.

According to J S Parihar, deputy director of ISRO-Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, a databank of ISRO-agromet observations is being created at Ahmedabad which would soon be made accessible to the internet users.

He also emphasised that characterising the exchanges in energy, water and carbon dioxide within vegetation and atmospheric surface is important in developing the predictive ability to study the vegetation response to the climate change, which would be done through the station.

R P Singh, a scientist at SAC, said the data generated by the network would help in understanding the effect of vegetation climate using remote sensing and process based modelling.

A number of senior university officials including rector B D Singh and officer on special duty ( OSD) Onkar Singh were also present during the inauguration programme.

Make BHU a world-class varsity: V-C to students, teachers

times news network

Varanasi: Reaching the top is difficult but retaining the top position is even more difficult, said BHU vice-chancellor D P Singh while addressing the students, teachers and non-teaching employees at the RGSC, Barkaccha, in the new academic session (2010-11) on Friday.

Referring to the recent visit of US Ambassador to India, Timothy J Roemer to the university, the vice-chancellor emphasised that the university has attracted worldwide attention and the onus for making it a world-class varsity rests with the students and teachers.

He said that the BHU is the first university to come up with a set of environmental policies.

Earlier, he also inaugurated the BPharma (Ayurveda) laboratory at the RGSC.

A number of senior university officials including director, Institute of Medical Science ( IMS), T M Mohapatra, and dean, faculty of ayurveda, V K Joshi were also present on the occasion.


Read more: V-C inaugurates ISRO-funded agromet weather station - Varanasi - City - The Times of India V-C inaugurates ISRO-funded agromet weather station - Varanasi - City - The Times of India


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## PAKFA

penumbra said:


> This guy is already talking about something that hasn't happened yet..



Whether It happened yet or not at least they scientist , scholars deserve cheer for their sheer hard work.


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## seljuki

it will probably fail like last time.. 

all this money can be used to improve the lives of the poor ppl instead.


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## PAKFA

seljuki said:


> it will probably fail like last time..
> 
> all this money can be used to improve the lives of the poor ppl instead.



This is our problem not yours , you better concentrate on your flood and Taliban.There is famous quote


"If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."


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## jha

seljuki said:


> *it will probably fail like last time..
> *
> all this money can be used to improve the lives of the poor ppl instead.


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## GK2010

seljuki said:


> it will probably fail like last time..
> 
> all this money can be used to improve the lives of the poor ppl instead.



Thank you sooooo much for your appreciation.


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## !!craft!!

if we say we goona build some thing answer is, ''its not yet happened stop dreaming''!!

if we say we goona test it answer is, ''its gonna fail''!!

if we say we goona buy some advanced weaponry answer is ,''its not the machine its the man behind it''!!

if we say we goona spend billion dollars in self defense answer is ''first feed the poor''!!

*and our reply*!!!!!

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## indianpatriot

seljuki said:


> it will probably fail like last time..
> 
> all this money can be used to improve the lives of the poor ppl instead.


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## seljuki

hmm seems like my point stuck like a thorn in the indians side.

such a terrible affair.. all this money wasted down the drain .. instead it could have been put to more positive use like creating jobs or food agriculture improvements for the ppl.


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## Zebronic

seljuki said:


> hmm seems like my point stuck like a thorn in the indians side.
> 
> such a terrible affair.. all this money wasted down the drain .. instead it could have been put to more positive use like creating jobs or food agriculture improvements for the ppl.




HOW DO YOU KNOW ITS WESTED BEFORE LAUNCH AND ITS ARE MONEY COME FROM HARD WORK NOT FROM BEGGING....SO YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS..


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## adatta

*India to build missiles with speed 6,000 kmph
*Press Trust Of India 
Posted on Sep 05, 2010 at 11:21


New Delhi: India will soon become the first country to have cruise missiles with hyper speed of over 6,000 km per hour, as an agreement for their joint development will be signed with Russia during the visit of President
Dmitry Medvedev here in December.
The first unit of Kudankulam nuclear plant, built by Russia in Tamil Nadu, will also be commissioned during the visit slated to begin from December 21.
Medvedev will be undertaking the visit for annual India-Russia Summit with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during which the two sides will discuss ways to further enhance their relations in various fields.

One of the highlights of the visit would be signing of a contract for joint development of hypersonic version of the BrahMos cruise missile, Defence Ministry sources said.
This version of the missile will have a speed of over 6,000 kms per hour, making India the only country in the world to possess such missiles of this speed.
The speed of the existing variant of BrahMos is half than that of the proposed ones.
With a range of 290 kms, the hypersonic missiles are expected to be ready by 2015-16, the sources said.
The much-delayed first unit of Kudankulam nuclear power plant is also expected be made operational during the visit of Medvedev, who will be visiting the site for the purpose, they said.
The commissioning of the 1,000 MW Kudankulam-I, work on which began three years back, will set in motion the roadmap that the two countries are working on in the field of atomic energy cooperation.
Under the roadmap, a number of nuclear reactors would be set up by Russia in India.
Four of the reactors are envisaged to be established in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and one in Haripur in West Bengal, with scope for more in future.
The proposal to set up a Russian nuclear plant in Haripur is facing resistance from local people, but the government is hopeful of convincing them about its utility and allay their apprehensions.
The second unit of Kudankulam power plant will be made operational within six months of commissioning of the Unit-I.
During the visit of the Russian President, a number of other defence deals are also expected to be signed.

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## kaku1

India To Build World's Largest Solar Telescope​


Bangalore, India (PTI) Sep 03, 2010
India is inching closer towards building the world's largest solar telescope in Ladakh on the foothills of the Himalayas that aims to study the sun's microscopic structure.
The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) project has gathered momentum with a global tender floated for technical and financial bidding by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).

The tender that was floated last week calls for expression of interest (EoI) to design, manufacture and install the two-metre class solar telescope at a cost of Rs.150 crore (around $31 million).

'The solar telescope will help study the microscopic structure of the sun and derive specific observations that are speculative in nature,' IIA director Siraj Hasan told IANS here.

Solar telescopes are special-purpose scientific instruments used to study the sun. They are among the biggest fixed telescopes and are equipped with an optical flat mirror system to track the sun rays and direct them on to the telescope.

The sun is the star at the centre of the solar system. Three quarters of the sun's mass consists of hydrogen and the rest is helium. Less than two percent consists of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.

The unique project involves other scientific organisations such as the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational-Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Inter-University Centre. The IIA will be the nodal agency.

'The pre-technical discussion meeting will be held in October,' Hasan said.

Though the 10-metre optical telescope at Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the largest, the Indian instrument will be the largest among solar telescopes.

Currently, the world's largest solar telescope is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, with a diameter of 1.6 metres in Kitt Peak National Observatory at Arizona in the US.

'The larger the diameter and larger the surface available to absorb sunlight, the more rays can be collected per second, enabling researchers to collect data with greater clarity and obtain accurate results,' Hasan noted.

The solar telescope can study particles, which are spread across 50 km on the sun.

'A suitable site has been identified at Merak village near Pangong Lake,' Hasan pointed out. The village is situated in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Initially, three sites - at Hanle and Leh in the Ladakh region and Devasthal near Nainital, Uttarakhand - were explored to set up the telescope.

The proposed telescope, which will be used to observe the sun during the day, will need a location with long hours of clear sunshine and clean visible conditions.

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## kaku1

ISRO To Conduct Key Test For GSLV Mk III Rocket Next Week​
Bangalore, India (PTI) Sep 03, 2010
After a failed test six months ago, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be making a fresh attempt next week to conduct long-duration static test of a crucial liquid core stage for a new generation heavy rocket which is being developed.
"The static test of crucial liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV Mk III launch vehicle (rocket) for 200 seconds is slated for 3 pm on September eight," a senior ISRO official told PTI here.

A top ISRO team, including Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) S Ramakrishnan and Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) P S Veeraraghavan, held a review meeting in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and gave the go-ahead for the test.

Chairman of Bangalore-headquartered ISRO, K Radhakrishnan, is expected to witness the test at LPSC test facility in Mahendragiri, officials said.

ISRO conducted the test for 150 seconds at LPSC test facility on March five. While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds, it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters - minor leakage in the command system - was observed.

A small leak in the command line was detected by computer, which automatically aborted the test. About 500 important parameters were monitored during the static test.

ISRO has since analysed the data.

The GSLV Mk III rocket is being developed for launching four-tonne class of satellites in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Measuring 17 metres in length and four metres in diameter, the L110 is an earth storable liquid propellant stage with propellant loading of 110 tonnes.

The L110 stage uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration and draws its heritage from the second stage of PSLV and GSLV and strapons of GSLV.

While in PSLV and GSLV, the liquid stage with single engine configuration burns for 150 seconds, the GSLV-Mk III requires burning for 200 seconds in a twin engine configuration.

India's PSLV and GSLV so far used one Vikas engine. But the heavy-rocket GSLV Mk III under development needs much better thrust. And hence, two Vikas engines were being used for the first time, they said.

ISRO has already successfully conducted the short-duration static test of the L110 stage, which uses two high-pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration.

In January this year, ISRO also successfully conducted static test of its largest solid booster S200, which would form the strap-on stage for the GSLV Mk III, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.

The successful test of S200 made it the third largest solid booster in the world, next to the RSRM solid booster of NASA Space Shuttle and P230 solid booster of ARIANE-5.


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## gowthamraj

ISRO makes us proud unlike DRDO. Why not we spend additional funds to ISRO. It just 1 billion$ now. Why not 3 billion


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## Dark Angel

*Look at the size of this thing man o man*



http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2010/pdf/S200_STATIC_TEST-01.pdf

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## rajgoynar

*ISRO to launch two more satellites by December*


CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organization ( ISRO) has planned two more launches a PSLV and a GSLV mission in December.

Talking to reporters after delivering the valedictory address at Aarrush-2010', a techno-management Fest organised at SRM University, eminent scientist and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director PS Veeraraghavan said both the launches would take place with a few weeks' gap.

The first would be PSLV-C16 mission which would place Resourcesat satellite and two other satellites -- a 90 kg satellite developed by Singapore University and a 90 kg Youthsat, developed by students of Russian and Indian universities -- in orbit.

This would be followed by a GSLV-F06 mission, using the Russian cryogenic stage, to place Indian Communication Satellite GSAT-5B in the GST orbit.



ISRO to launch two more satellites by December - Chennai - City - The Times of India

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## trident2010

*'We're launching Chandrayaan-2 for a total coverage of the moon'*


On August 30, India's second unmanned scientific mission to the moon, the Rs 425-crore Chandrayaan-2, slated for launch in 2013, a joint Indo-Russian flight, from Sriharikota, took a definite shape with the seven scientific instruments or payloads five on the India-built orbiter and two on the indigenous rover being announced by ISRO. A high-level committee headed by U R Rao , chairman, Advisory Committee on Space Sciences, made the choice of instruments . Srinivas Laxman talks to Rao, who was also chairman of ISRO between 1984 and 1994: 

*India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 had accomplished nearly 95 per cent of its scientific objectives and is considered a success internationally. Why is India returning to the moon? *

There are still a lot of outstanding issues about the moon, which have to be resolved in greater depth. Some of the experiments of Chandrayaan-1, moreover, achieved only 50 per cent to 70 per cent of their objectives. Again, due to power limitations, the Terrain Mapping Camera of Chandrayaan-1 could map only 45 per cent of the moon. We are launching Chandrayaan-2 because we need a total coverage of the moon, employ improved and new technology and obtain better quality photo imageries. The orbiter with the five payloads will be flying at an altitude of 200 km above the lunar surface and we estimate that its lifespan would be for two years depending on the use of the propellant. 

*A significant aspect of Chandrayaan-2 is that the orbiter, unlike in Chandrayaan-1, does not have any foreign payloads even though NASA and the European Space Agency showed interest. Is there any reason why foreign payloads have been removed? *

As per the present plan we do not have any weight in the orbiter for foreign payloads. We were keen on giving an opportunity to our scientists. This is why we decided not to invite international participation this time. Keeping this in view we, unlike in Chandrayaan-1, did not issue a formal Announcement of Opportunity calling for international participation. Even at the last moment if we decide to have foreign payloads on Chandrayaan-2 after making weight allowances, we have to issue an Announcement of Opportunity, an elaborate exercise, which can delay the flight. The total mass of the five payloads on the orbiter is about 40 kg at the moment and we are trying to reduce it, which may be difficult. 

*In Chandrayaan-1 many Indian scientists regretted that their achievements were sidelined especially with regard to the discovery of water and NASA took away the credit. Is this a reason why the committee eliminated foreign instruments on board Chandrayaan-2? *

[ Laughs ] The instruments were chosen based purely on their scientific merit. The weight of Indian rover was earlier stipulated as 15 kg. Has this been finalised and what will be its lifespan? 

It will be more than that. It will function only for a few days on the surface of the moon because of power limitations. It will carry its own power. The design and development of the rover is a new technology for us. For the orbiter we have selected the right altitude of 200 km above the moon's surface for it to fly because too many corrections are not needed at this altitude. (The flight plan envisages the lander with the rover detaching from the orbiter at a certain point near the moon and soft landing on the lunar surface, the place has yet to be finalised. Thereafter, the rover will move out of the lander.) 



'We're launching Chandrayaan-2 for a total coverage of the moon' - Edit Page - Opinion - Home - The Times of India

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## RPK

*Chandrayaan-2 will try out new ideas, technologies Ramnath Shenoy - Hindustan Times*

Chandrayaan-2, the proposed second Indian mission to moon, would undertake "extremely good" experiments and try out new technologies but accommodating foreign payloads on board does not appear to be a possibility at this stage. The first edition of the moon odyssey had six foreign payloads and five Indian ones on board but heavy orbiter (satellite) and lander weight this time has put constraints on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in terms of carry-load of instruments. "One of the problems was weight consideration.

Weight limitation is overall boundary within which we have to work", Prof U R Rao, who chaired the national committee of experts drawn from ISRO centres, academic institutions and R&D laboratories which finalised the payloads to be flown on board Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter and rover), told PTI. 

With a heavy orbiter and lander, the weight of the payloads cannot exceed 40 kg. Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter weight is about 1,400 kg and lander's about 1,250 kg.

The mission, which will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover, is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in 2013. 

While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by ISRO. Prof Rao, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Space Sciences (ADCOS) and former Chairman of ISRO, said there were informal discussions with players from the US and Europe on flying their payloads, even though ISRO had not issued "availability of opportunity" for foreign instruments. 

"Right now, the weight problem is very serious", he said indicating that foreign payloads may not be included at all. "We just don&#8217;t have the weight. We cannot select payloads which cannot go". 

But Rao said one or two additional Indian payloads might be included. "Obviously, we will give preference to Indian payloads now. We have to provide as much opportunities as possible to Indian scientists".

But he said the Russians would conduct experiments with their lander. Rao said Chandrayaan-2 would carry out experiments based on the discoveries of its predecessor. "It will conduct extremely good experiments, try out very new ideas and new technologies."


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## trident2010

Chandrayaan-2 will try out new ideas, technologies







A model of the Chandrayaan space probe displayed by ISRO as part of the Indian Science Congress held in Thiruvananthapuram. File Photo 



Chandrayaan-2, the proposed second Indian mission to moon, would undertake extremely good experiments and try out new technologies but accommodating foreign payloads on board does not appear to be a possibility at this stage.

The first edition of the moon odyssey had six foreign payloads and five Indian ones on board but heavy orbiter (satellite) and lander weight this time has put constraints on the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in terms of carry-load of instruments.

One of the problems was weight consideration. Weight limitation is overall boundary within which we have to work, Prof U.R. Rao, who chaired the national committee of experts drawn from ISRO centres, academic institutions and R&D laboratories which finalised the payloads to be flown on board Chandrayaan-2 (orbiter and rover), said.

With a heavy orbiter and lander, the weight of the payloads cannot exceed 40 kg.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter weight is about 1,400 kg and landers about 1,250 kg.

The mission, which will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover, is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, in 2013.

While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by ISRO.

Prof Rao, Chairman, Advisory Committee on Space Sciences (ADCOS) and former Chairman of ISRO, said there were informal discussions with players from the US and Europe on flying their payloads, even though ISRO had not issued availability of opportunity for foreign instruments.

Right now, the weight problem is very serious, he said indicating that foreign payloads may not be included at all. We just dont have the weight. We cannot select payloads which cannot go.

But Rao said one or two additional Indian payloads might be included.

Obviously, we will give preference to Indian payloads now. We have to provide as much opportunities as possible to Indian scientists.

But he said the Russians would conduct experiments with their lander.

Rao said Chandrayaan-2 would carry out experiments based on the discoveries of its predecessor. It will conduct extremely good experiments; try out very new ideas and new technologies.

A week ago, the committee, after detailed discussions on mission requirements, weight and power availability for scientific payloads, announced that it has recommended five payloads to be flown on the orbiter of which three are new and two are improved versions of the payloads flown earlier on Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

It also recommended two scientific payloads on the rover of the lunar odyssey. All the seven are Indian payloads.

Rao said it is for the first time that India is carrying a lander and rover which would carry out insitu experiments which are always something of great importance.

He pointed to the planned landing right at the point, carrying out in-situ experiments and transmitting from the antenna on the lander.

The US and Russia have undertaken missions involving lander and rover in the past, he said, adding, Certainly we (India) are right there on the top.

Rao said he was sure if China, which has the capability of sending such a mission, has done lunar landing of this type.

Underlining the importance of the proposed moon mission, Rao said India has to get into the business of landers and rovers sooner or later.

He indicated that the mission would contribute to enhancing knowledge as and when New Delhi decides to undertake a manned mission to moon which ISRO officials maintain could be a possibility in next ten to 15 years.

May be in future.....manned moon mission.... We dont know when..., he said.

Rao said India is seeing Chandrayaan-2 mission as an opportunity to develop new technologies in a comprehensive way.

ISRO officials said the five recommended payloads of the orbiter are aimed at mapping the major elements present on the lunar surface and probe the presence of water and various chemicals in the Earths natural satellite.

It also covers mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of presence of minerals, water molecules and various chemicals, and the lunar exosphere besides preparing a three-dimensional map essential for experiments relating to lunar mineralogy and geology.

Both the instruments on Chandrayaan-2 rover are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site, they added.




The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : Chandrayaan-2 will try out new ideas, technologies

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## marcos98

*Data From Chandrayaan Moon Mission To Go Public*​
BY: Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Voluminous scientific data, including rare images of the moon, from Indias maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 will be made public by the year-end.

People will have free access to the huge data obtained from our first moon mission on a web portal that will be launched by this year-end, a senior scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.

The data has been split into two seasons, with the first dealing from November 2008 to February 2009 and the second from March to August 2009. The first season data will be archived by year-end and the second by mid-2011, said ISROs space application centre director B Gopala Krishna.

A total of 26 gigabytes of data and images will be uploaded after archiving the first season.

The archives will include chemical and mineral mapping, high resolution three-dimensional mapping and topographical features.

The state-run ISRO launched the 514 kg mooncraft onboard the polar satellite launch vehicle on October 22, 2008 from its spaceport Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km northeast of Chennai.

The Rs 3.9-billion Chandrayaan was the first mooncraft to have confirmed the presence of water on the moon.

After a 10-month rendezvous with the earths only natural satellite, the mission was terminated Aug 30, 2009 when the space agencys Deep Space Network (DSN) at Bylalu, about 40 km from here, lost radio contact with Chandrayaan after computers onboard became non-functional.

Though the dedicated portal will have a catalogue of the data, specific information will be made available for students and scholars pursuing research in space exploration, Krishna said.

Indian space scientists are currently reviewing the voluminous data, including about 70,000 images relayed to DSN by the 10 scientific instruments Chandrayaan carried to the lunar orbit, about 100 km from the moons surface and over 400,000 km from the earth.

Our scientists from various planetary groups are beginning to peer review the data from 10 of the 11 payloads. The same will be made accessible to the public as the lock-in period for the principal investigators of the mission to analyse will end by December, Krishna said.

Of the 11 instruments, five were Indian and six were from the US and Europe.

ISRO scientists have used the planetary data system, developed by the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for preservation and utilisation of the archived information.

We are also in the process of generating a topographical atlas and a mineralogical atlas of the moon from the data, Krishna noted.

Detailed mapping of moons mineralogy and topography will pave way for further research possibilities.

We will prepare an atlas of the moon with latitude, longitude, colours of areas, ice water, minerals and terrain from the sheets of topography in the data, Krishna added.

Chandrayaan accomplished 95 percent of its scientific and technological objectives before its mission was called off prematurely. It had been programmed to orbit the moon for nearly two years.

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## RPK

*The Hindu : Sci-Tech : ISRO successfully conducts static testing of new age rocket*

GSLV-Mk III, which is currently under advanced stage of development, uses two solid strap-on boosters (S200), L110 liquid stage and a cryogenic upper stage C-25

Six months after a failed test, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the second static testing of its liquid core stage (L110) of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk -III), according to a press release. 

The test lasted 200 seconds at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) test facility at Mahendragiri today (September 8, 2010) at 15:50 hrs. 

L110 is one of the heaviest earth storable liquid stages ever developed by ISRO. L110 stage had two high pressure Vikas engines in a clustered configuration. Nearly 500 health parameters were monitored during the test and the initial data acquired indicates its normal performance. 

Today&#8217;s successful test of L110 for its full flight duration of 200 seconds, is a major milestone in the earth storable liquid rocket programme of ISRO and a significant step forward in the development of GSLV-Mk III launch vehicle. 

ISRO conducted the test for 150 seconds at LPSC test facility on March 5 this year. While the test was originally targeted for 200 seconds it was stopped at 150 seconds since a deviation in one of the parameters - minor leakage in the command system - was observed. 

It may be recalled that GSLV-Mk III, which is currently under advanced stage of development, uses two solid strap-on boosters (S200), L110 liquid stage and a cryogenic upper stage C-25


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO successfully tests propellants system of GSLV-M III*



The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully tested the propellant system of the body's soon-to-be launch mega vehicle, in the Tamil Nadu's Mahendragiri district on Thursday.

In a landmark experiment, a team of eminent scientists and experts from ISRO carried out the static testing of the liquid core stage of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-M III).

Lasting for 200 seconds, the test was deemed a 'success' by the ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan.

Radhakrishnan said there was just one other test that was required to be undertaken before giving the green signal for the final launch of the satellite carrier into space.

"The GSLV-M III, has three propulsion elements that give power to the rocket. The first one is solid motor...solid means solid propellants used in the rocket motors. Two such rocket motors have been used. Then the second stage is the liquid stage that will be tested today, and the third stage is the cryogenic stage which we are developing," explained Radhakrishnan.

The ISRO is using indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) for the first time since the launch of the mega shuttle, GSLV-D3, in April this year.

"We are developing GSLV-M III vehicle to put heavier communications satellites, that is, satellites with mass of four tons into a geostationary transfer orbit," said Radhakrishnan.

The ISRO chief also informed that the indigenous complex cryogenic rocket technology was a remarkable scientific advancement and could revolutionize space vehicles in the future.

The GSLV-M III, which is currently under advanced stage of development, uses two solid strap-on boosters (S200), L110 liquid stage and a cryogenic upper stage C-25. 



ISRO successfully tests propellants system of GSLV-M III


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## redpearl75

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO felicitates Youth Olympics silver medallist Prannoy*



Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 9 (PTI) Youth Olympics silver medallist shuttler H S Prannoy was today felicitated by ISRO for the glory he brought to the country through his sterling performance in Singapore. ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan presented cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a memento on behalf of the Sports Council of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to Prannoy. Radhakrishnan said he was all the more happy that the young achiever was part of Indian Space Research Organisation fraternity since his father is an employee of VSSC. Prannoy, who has to his credit many laurels like bronze medal at Junior World Championship in 2010 at Mexico, said he considered it as a rare privilege being honoured at VSSC. He said his ultimate aim is to bring glory to the country in the Summer Olympics. "Winning the Olympic medal is a dream of any athlete. But it is a realistic dream for me. I will work hard to achieve it," he said. VSSC Director P S Veeraraghavan, K M Nair, Controller of VSSC and C R Thomas, VSSC Sports Council President, spoke on the occasion.



ISRO felicitates Youth Olympics silver medallist Prannoy, IBN Live News


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO felicitates Youth Olympics silver medallist Prannoy*



Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 9 (PTI) Youth Olympics silver medallist shuttler H S Prannoy was today felicitated by ISRO for the glory he brought to the country through his sterling performance in Singapore. ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan presented cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a memento on behalf of the Sports Council of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to Prannoy. Radhakrishnan said he was all the more happy that the young achiever was part of Indian Space Research Organisation fraternity since his father is an employee of VSSC. Prannoy, who has to his credit many laurels like bronze medal at Junior World Championship in 2010 at Mexico, said he considered it as a rare privilege being honoured at VSSC. He said his ultimate aim is to bring glory to the country in the Summer Olympics. "Winning the Olympic medal is a dream of any athlete. But it is a realistic dream for me. I will work hard to achieve it," he said. VSSC Director P S Veeraraghavan, K M Nair, Controller of VSSC and C R Thomas, VSSC Sports Council President, spoke on the occasion.



ISRO felicitates Youth Olympics silver medallist Prannoy, IBN Live News


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## rajgoynar

*Peenya centre of Isro to develop space cameras*



*Three years after former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman Madhavan Nair announced that India is seriously pursuing a space flight mission  Human Space Programme  Isros LEOS facility in Peenya is gearing up to develop some of the vital parts.
*

Laboratory for Electro-Optical System (LEOS) centre in Bangalore is in the final stages of getting the specifications for these products approved before it could formally begin development.

The Indian Human Space Flight Programme is a proposal by Isro to develop and launch the Orbital Vehicle to carry a two-member crew by 2015, which has got a green signal from the Government of India in February last year. The spaceship, once developed, would be launched by Indias GSLV-Mk II launcher, Nair had said.

LEOS Director V Koteswara Rao told Deccan Herald that his team would be developing the vision cameras and port glass panels for the orbit vehicle. He said his team has been doing research on the products and have made a final proposal which is subject to the approval from the head office and authorities concerned.

The port glass panels will be similar to panels used in present-day aircrafts, with some additional applications as the objective of the usage is different. Sources in the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) said it would be equipped with several sensors and nano instrument and could be applied to measure various parameters of temperature and identify spots.

The vision cameras, he said, will have multiple applications on the vehicle. While it would help in collecting images, which would be compiled and studied, it would also help the crew collect information of the vehicle itself, thereby helping in monitoring it.

Given that it will be only a two-member crew, the cameras will aid them in monitoring the vehicle from all positions. For instance, if they are in one module, they will be able to view the status of other modules and positions within the vehicle with the help of these. 



Peenya centre of Isro to develop space cameras

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## rajgoynar

*ISRO gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually*



Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually to increase revenue and meet global technology demand, a top official of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) said today.

"Right now, we have four launches including GSLVs and PSLVs per year. The process is on to launch eight spacecraft a year to meet global demand," VSSC director PS Veeraraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Chennai.

On steps taken by ISRO to double the number of launches, he said, "We need to increase throughout in getting various subsystems from industries and then increase our own internal work."

On the commercial aspect, he said India currently earns about Rs1,000 crore through commercial satellite launches.

"Through Indian remote sensing satellite and through other satellite launches, we are getting revenue of Rs1,000 crore per year. This is growing at the rate of 20 to 30% every year," Veeraraghavan said.

Noting that India has become sixth in the world in space technology, he said ISRO proposed to launch a GSLV and PSLV rocket simultaneously this December within a one week span.

"Schedule launch is going to be in December. Currently, the rocket is getting assembled. PSLV will carry three satellites and GSLV will carry INSAT 5C," he said.

On Chandrayaan-2 mission, he said it would be launched by GLSV instead of PSLV. "We have already started the process and various payloads have been identified. In Chandrayaan-2 there would be a orbiter, lander and a rover," he said.

Veeraraghavan said ISRO is also developing GSLV Mk III to launch a four tonne satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

He also said that ISRO planned to set up its third launch pad for human space mission.

Veeraraghavan was here to receive 'PSOM-XL Motorcase', a device used in the launch of PSLV and Chandrayaan missions, from Chennai-based Ramakrishna Engineering Company. 



ISRO gearing up to launch eight spacecraft annually - India - DNA

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## rajgoynar

*ISRO to launch four satellites in December*



Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch four satellites within a span of one week in December, a top space scientist said Tuesday.

'We will be launching the satellites this December. Currently the two rockets are being assembled,' Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director P.S. Veeraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The two rockets that will fly towards the heavens are the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the heavier Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

According to Veeraghavan, the PSLV will carry three payloads -Resourcesat and two small satellites each weighing around 90 kg made in Singapore and Russia.

The GSLV will launch the INSAT series communication satellite.



ISRO to launch four satellites in December


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## rajgoynar

*World keenly watching ISRO's achievements, says scientist*







Foreign countries are keenly watching the development of launch vehicle technology in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which has made notable achievements in aerospace technology, S. Ananthanarayanan, Director, National Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), has said.

Inaugurating the seventh national seminar on Aerospace and Related Mechanisms (ARMS 2010)'' hosted by the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of the Indian National Society for Aerospace and Related Mechanisms (INSARM) here on Friday, Mr. Ananthanarayanan said that precision and reliability should be the buzz words of research and development activities. These are the absolute necessities for aerospace operations. Setting up of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) was a welcome step in this score. The institute would help to hone the skills of young scientists to work with precision, he said.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director P.S. Veeraraghavan, in his presidential address, said after the launch of sounding rockets in the sixties, great strides had been made during the past four decades. A lot more challenges were awaiting aerospace technology. Aerospace engineers were perfect designers and high reliability was the key to all developments, he said.

VSSC Associate Director (Projects) N. Narayanamoorthy in his address on Advances in aerospace mechanisms and mechatronics'' said limited opportunity for maintenance, difficult environment for rectification and testing on ground were some of the challenges faced in the designing process. Ensuring control of projects and identifying potential hazards were some of the options to overcome the challenges. He stressed the need for developing highly reliable systems by combining mechanical, electronics computer science and all other allied fields of engineering. INSARM founder president M.K. Abdul Majeed traced the evolution of society. IIST director B.N. Suresh released the seminar proceedings. John P. Zachariah, Associate Director (Projects), VSSC, released the souvenir.

INSARM president George Koshy welcomed the gathering and organising secretary B. Sivasubramonian proposed a vote of thanks. The seminar will conclude on Saturday. The next seminar will be held in Hyderabad.


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## marcos98

*Indigenous cryogenic stage in 18 months: VSSC official​*
KOZHIKODE: John P. Zachariah, Associate Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has said that India will be able to develop an indigenous cryogenic stage for launching satellites weighing over four tonnes in a year and a half.

Dr. Zachariah, who was here to inaugurate a show titled Our solar system by the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium on Saturday, told presspersons that the project was on in full swing, and the indigenous cryogenic stage would allow India to launch satellites on its own without depending on other countries. Only the technical expertise of Indian scientists and indigenous technologies would be used.

Dr. Zachariah said the research related to the launch of the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III was nearing final stages. The launch vehicle, designed in three stages with a height of 42.4 m and a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes, would be ready for operation by July 2011.

On the latest research in space technology, Dr. Zachariah said the VSSC had conducted initial experiments with an air-breathing propulsion mechanism, which equipped the satellites to use the air in the atmosphere for oxidisation. A trial experiment using the RX 560 rocket would be held in 2011 to check the efficiency of the system.

He said the VSSC would be able to double the number of launches in the coming years. The plan was to equip the centre with the capacity to launch at least six satellites a year. He said the aptitude of the younger generation in space research was increasing in recent years.

The activities of the VSSC would get a boost with the enrolment of researchers from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Zachariah said.

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## rajgoynar

*Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge*



New Delhi, Sept. 19: A decision by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to keep the operations of a science instrument on Chandrayaan-1 as simple as possible has raised doubts about its surprising discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere.

Senior US scientists have challenged the Chandrayaan-1 missions discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere, contending that crucial instrument calibration data to clinch the discovery is missing from the Indian study.

Isro scientists had earlier this year announced their discovery of water and carbon dioxide molecules in the near-vacuum of the lunar atmosphere as reported in The Telegraph on March 22 and September 6.

The findings, based on measurements by an instrument called Chace on the moon impact probe hurled by Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon on November 14, 2008, were published in a peer-reviewed journal Planetary and Space Science.

But some lunar science researchers say the relative abundance of water and carbon dioxide is so large that calibration data to rule out other sources of these molecules becomes crucial.

Calibration would have generated background data allowing scientists to characterise the instruments performance and rule out outgassing the release of gases embedded within the material of the spacecraft or the instrument in the lunar environment.

Since they didnt do a reliable calibration test ahead of time to rule out outgassing contamination, their results are unfortunately not conclusive, said Kurt Retherford, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, Texas, US, and a member of a team exploring the moon through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft launched by Nasa in 2009.

Five orbits prior to its 44-minute long descent, Isro scientists turned on the Chace instrument, while the moon impact probe was still on Chandrayaan-1. But this single period was not enough to provide reliable calibration measurements.

The extraordinary claims seem only tentatively supported by data, Retherford told The Telegraph. I would look forward to improved experiments in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

Isro sources said the decision not to undertake calibration was taken to keep Chace operations as simple as possible as it was part of the moon impact probe and drew its power from a battery and not from the main spacecraft power source.

Repeated calibration while the spacecraft was in orbit would have required additional power and more complex circuitry. This was a first mission and we didnt want to add more complexity than required, said Rajagopal Sridharan, leader of the Isro team that reported the carbon dioxide discovery.

Any space mission involves trade-offs  here, it was between what we wanted to do as scientists and what was possible, given the overall Chandrayaan-1 missions objectives, Sridharan said.

The Isro team believes the abundance and the consistency of the measurements of carbon dioxide at different altitudes in the lunar atmosphere while the impact probe was falling towards the moon rule out outgassing.

Our measurements cannot be explained through simple outgassing from spacecraft components, said Syed Maqbool Ahmed, who was the project manager of the Chace payload, and has since moved to the University of Hyderabad.



The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge


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## rajgoynar

*First astrosat to be launched by Isro next year*




BANGALORE: Isro's Byalalu campus, 30km from Bangalore off Mysore Road, is a space powerhouse now. It has been readied to undertake India's first astronomy mission, Astrosat, under which Isro will launch the country's first dedicated astronomy satellite in 2011.

Earlier, Byalalu had helped India coast through its first Moon mission Chandrayaan-1. It also houses India's Deep Space Network (IDSN).

S K Shivakumar, director of Isro's ISTRAC centre which oversees the Byalalu campus, said, ''Byalalu is ready for India's first dedicated astronomy mission. The building, technology and equipment to handle the mission are ready. Isro has installed technology for the Astrosat mission that is comparable to the best in the world. Isro developed, designed and installed all infrastructure on its own.'' 



First astrosat to be launched by Isro next year - The Times of India


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## gowthamraj

Guys is govt has any plans to allow private sectors to launch space crafts as it reduce price and increase competition


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## Choppers

*More &#8216;space&#8217; for women*

Chethan Kumar, Bangalore, Oct 10, DHNS::

*Kalpana Chawla may have reached the space via the US but no more will an Indian woman have to take that route. If the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans go well, a woman from the country will soon find herself floating in space in a few years.*

Sources in the ISRO told Deccan Herald that the space agency is planning to have a woman on-board in space shortly after, if not the first, the manned-mission scheduled for 2015. The ISRO&#8217;s Human Space flight Programme, which got a go-ahead from the Centre in February 2009, aims at developing and launching an orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew. In a subsequent mission, the agency planned to carry a three-member crew to space, one of which will be a woman, highly-placed sources from the ISRO said.

&#8220;For a nation that has always seen tremendous potential in its women, this will be a launch pad of sorts that will only see more women take part in such activities,&#8221; a scientist said.The proposal has already taken off with funds coming in from the Centre for pre-project preparations and a three-seater capsule being readied in ISRO&#8217;s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. The mission is indigenous, though the capsule is being developed with Russian technology.

Apart from the technical preparations, efforts to ready manpower are also on. About 250 Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, including women, have been screened though the crew has yet to be handpicked. Once selected, the pilots will be trained to fly an aircraft outside the planet&#8217;s orbit.

&#8220;They will be trained with an accurate simulator and will be checked for the right aptitude and other requirements in line with the international standards,&#8221; a source pointed out.

The mission to have a woman onboard is being widely discussed in the top chambers of Union Science and Technology Ministry, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Space and Research Organisation, could encourage entry of more women into the fields of scientific research and development, largely considered a male bastion.

More space for women

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## trident2010

*India may seek international help on cryogenic engine*









PRAGUE -- India remains committed to perfecting an indigenous cryogenic upper stage for its most powerful rockets, but the leader of the country's space program is not ruling out asking for more Russian help.


File photo of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Credit: ISRO

In the early stages of designing a new booster for communications satellites, India struck a deal with Russia to provide hydrogen-fueled rocket engines and technical know-how.

The agreement was quashed in 1992 after U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on Glavkosmos, the Russian company providing technology to India. The United States feared the transfer of missile technology from the fractured Soviet Union to developing states.

India responded by purchasing seven readymade cryogenic engines from Russia and starting the design of an indigenous upper stage from scratch.

The Russian design would become the third stage for India's first generation of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles, a medium-lift rocket tailored to haul communications spacecraft to orbits high above Earth.

The GSLV first launched in 2001. Five of the rockets blasted off with Russian third stages through 2007.

The Russian stage was blamed for two minor glitches in 2001 and 2007 that stranded payloads in slightly different orbits than planned. A liquid-fueled strap-on booster triggered a dramatic explosion shortly after a launch in 2006.

Three other GSLV flights were successful.

After a $70 million development effort, India placed its first homemade cryogenic stage on the GSLV's sixth flight in April. But the third stage failed during ignition due to an anomaly in a liquid hydrogen turbopump, dooming the rocket and its payload.


File photo of an indigenous GSLV cryogenic third stage. Credit: ISRO

Besides the new upper stage, the GSLV Mk.2 launched in April was nearly identical to previous versions of the booster.

Officials plan to fly another indigenous upper stage within a year. In the meantime, they are turning to a pair of Russian engines left over from the initial purchase nearly two decades ago.

"We ordered seven cryogenic stages," said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague. "Five have been used, and at the moment we have two stages."

The next two GSLV missions will fly with Russian stages, beginning with a launch in December to deploy the GSAT 5 communications satellite. Another GSLV will launch by the middle of 2011 with India's last Russian cryogenic engine, according to Radhakrishnan.

Earlier this year, the United States lifted sanctions levied against Glavkosmos in 1998 for weapons proliferation with Iran. The sanctions imposed for the company's partnership with India were removed in the early 1990s.

Asked whether India would consider requesting Russian assistance or purchasing more Russian engines, Radhakrishnan was non-committal.

"Let us see what we require," Radhakrishnan said. "Let us see the progress of the indigenous cryogenic upper stage."

India is also designing a cryogenic stage for the third-generation GSLV slated to debut in 2012 or 2013. The GSLV Mk.3 will be powered by a third stage consuming double the propellant of the indigenous GSLV Mk.2 engine that is now the focus of ISRO's rocket engineers.



Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | India may seek international help on cryogenic engine


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## Choppers

*Mission to Mars possible in 2030: Kalam*
PTI, Oct 17, 2010, 09.42pm IST

DEHRA DUN: Former President A P J Kalam on Sunday said that India is planning to send its mission to Mars in 2030. 

"We hope that we will be able to send the mission to Mars in 2030," he said at a school function here. 

Significantly, Kalam had made a similar announcement here in 2001 regarding the Chandrayaan-I mission to the moon when he was scientific adviser to the government. 

Answering a question, he said the best way to eradicate corruption in the country is to start a campaign from the home. 

"For a nation of a billion people, if you ask your father, in case he is unfortunately corrupt, to stop corruption, this is the best way to stop corruption from the home itself. If everybody does that, then corruption will stop," Kalam told the school children. 

He said he had been asked this question earlier also at a school function and his answer at that time was the same. 

Later, Kalam also administered an oath asking the young students to fight corruption. 

To another question, Kalam said he does not believe in the brain drain theory and said the Indians used to go to other countries to acquire knowledge and wealth in the past also. 

But as times have changed, the number of IITs, IIMs and similar educational institutes is increasing and now people from foreign countries would also come to India, the former President said. 

When a student asked him the question that how is he a peace-loving person and at the same time a missileman too, Kalam said that strength is necessary to gain respect from other nations. 

He asked the students to acquire knowledge from great books and great teachers stating that "knowledge makes the man perfect." 

Reading books also plays an important role in building of characters, he said.

Mission to Mars possible in 2030: Kalam - The Times of India

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## rash2k2

2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .


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## rikki

rash2k2 said:


> 2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .



what is the time line of china and what about pakistan 2050.


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## Mirza Jatt

> Indigenous cryogenic stage in 18 months: VSSC official



thats a great news. hopefully, we'll be able to launch it successully this time.the best part is that ISRO is not taking much time to test it again.


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## sudhir007

..:: India Strategic ::.. Space: US may outsource lightweight satellite launches to India

Lockheed Martin, the biggest US defence, aerospace and military technology corporation, broached the subject recently with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its export arm, Antrix.

Lockheed Martin&#8217;s India Chief Executive Roger Rose told India Strategic that as the US was moving towards longer distance and more sophisticated probes, it made commercial sense to outsource launching of some satellites. There was a dearth of low-cost launching facilities in the world but ISRO and Antrix had a commendable track record in this regard.

Lockheed Martin was also interested in cooperating with ISRO on India&#8217;s manned space flights. The corporation had substantial technological inputs on many or most of the US space missions, and some of these could be shared with India.

He said that senior executives from Lockheed Martin had visited Bangalore in August and held discussions with ISRO and Antrix. Some of the US satellites assigned to Lockheed Martin could be outsourced to India and they could &#8220;ride piggyback on Indian rockets.&#8221;

Commercially, it would be a win-win situation for both the sides. And if cooperation between the two countries grew substantially, the Indian companies could also become part of a global supply chain with Lockheed Martin, Mr Rose said.

It may be noted that at present, ISRO is on the US &#8220;entities list&#8221; with which US companies cannot share hi-tech dual technology as defined by the Department of Commerce. New Delhi has already asked Washington to remove ISRO, as well as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), from that blacklist, to make bilateral cooperation meaningful.

ISRO uses its workhorse PSLV rockets for most of its single and multiple satellite launches, but for some heavier satellites, it uses the EADS Ariane rockets.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation&#8217;s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.


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## sudhir007

Hylas-1 satellite readied for launch :: Brahmand.com

The Hylas-1 telecommunication satellite which arrived at Europe&#8217;s Spaceport in French Guiana will soon be sent towards space on an Ariane 5 launcher.

The satellite is now undergoing a final series of health checks before being fuelled, encapsulated within its payload fairing and mated to its Ariane 5 vehicle.

The satellite will be launched on 25 November onboard Ariane flight V198, which will be the fifth of six Ariane 5 launches planned for this year, according to a news report by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The satellite was assembled and tested at ISRO&#8217;s facility in Bangalore, India before being flown more than halfway round the world to French Guiana.

While its advanced communications payload was developed in Europe, Hylas-1&#8217;s flight-proven I-2K satellite platform was procured by prime contractor EADS Astrium from Antrix Corporation in India, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Hylas-1 is the first satellite to be developed through a public&#8211;private partnership between ESA and a commercial satellite operator.

The satellite will provide broadband Internet access to consumers and businesses across Europe as well as supporting a range of conventional telecommunications services.


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## mokkaiboy

rash2k2 said:


> 2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .



Pakistan too compares itself to India and yet not just lagging but nowhere near to india in any of the field except propping up terrorism.

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## BB gun

self delete


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## sensenreason

Hope US Federal Reserve also outsource its treasury operations to India !

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## SpArK

*India outwits Nasa in moon findings​*
MUMBAI: India has taken the lead over Nasa in discovering water, carbon dioxide and other elements on the moon through its Chandrayaan-1 mission . The US space agency announced these findings only on Friday, months after ISRO made these discoveries public. 
On October 22, Nasa announced the discovery of water, carbon dioxide and other species through the LRO (lunar reconnaissance orbiter) and LCross (lunar crater observation and sensing satellite) mission at a media briefing in Washington. LCross, a robotic spacecraft operated by Nasa, was launched together with LRO on June 18, 2009. 

On October 9, 2009, the LCross slammed into the dark crater of the moons south pole region at a velocity of 9000km per hour, kicking up a cloud of debris and elements. 

An analysis revealed that it contained water, carbon dioxide and other elements. Chandrayaans discovery was made through a payload known as Chace (Chandra altitudinal composition explorer) on board the indigenous moon impact probe. The MIP detached from the spacecraft and crashlanded on the south pole region of the lunar surface, near the Shackleton crater, on the night of November 14, 2008. 

While zooming towards the moon, Chace detected water vapour and carbon dioxide. The Chace team members announced discovery of water in the British journal, Space and Planetary Science, in March 2010 and about carbon dioxide in September 2010.


India outwits Nasa in moon findings - The Economic Times


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## gowthamraj

sensenreason said:


> Hope US Federal Reserve also outsource its treasury operations to India !



 Sure but they demand all their trillions of debts will be paid by us


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## Firemaster

gowthamraj said:


> Sure but they demand all their trillions of debts will be paid by us


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## rajgoynar

anybody have update of *UMLV* (unified modular launch vehicle) project


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## tigerved

Wish I had joined the forum earlier. 

India plans to create a re-usable launch vehicle named - Avatar. Does anyone have details on that.

I am close follower of Indian Space Programme and also love Fighter jets. Especially the Sukhoi 30 MKI. Would love to see it go up against the F-22 raptor or better yet - F-35. I know its 4th Generation vs 5th. But its not wrong to imagine


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## rajgoynar

self delete


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## rajgoynar

Avatar (rocket) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## RPK

*India plans two rocket launches in December - India - DNA*


India is planning two rocket launches next month that would carry on board home-made communication and remote sensing satellites, along with a Russian payload and a Singaporean micro spacecraft.

The first to go up would be a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), carrying GSAT-5 Prime, a communication satellite, to augment communication services vis-&#224;-vis TV, broadcasting and telecommunications.

The GSAT-5P is equipped with 24 normal C-band transponders and 12 extended C-band transponders.
Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that GSAT-5P, with a mission life of 12 years, is slated to be launched in the second week of December.

As of now, the space agency is looking at December 10 as the likely launch date.

Top ISRO officials are meeting on November 10 in the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, from where the twin launches would take place, to review the upcoming GSLV mission and firm up the date.

Preparations are also in full swing for the launch of the PSLV-C16 which would carry on board India's advanced remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and auxiliary spacecraft of Youthsat and X-sat, expected towards the end of December.

Resourcesat-2 is intended to replace Resourcesat-1, launched in October 2003, which has outlived its designed mission life of five years but continues to work satisfactorily, ISRO sources said.

"Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 to provide data continuity. Suitable changes including miniaturisation in payload electronics have been incorporated in Resourcesat-2", an ISRO official told Press Trust of India.

Resourcesat's images are being used for advanced applications such as vegetation dynamics, crop yield estimates and disaster management support.

Youthsat, a micro satellite, is a participatory scientific mission with one payload from Russia and two from India, carrying scientific payloads with participation from universities at graduate, postgraduate and research scholar level. The universities would participate from testing of the payloads in laboratory to the utilisation of the data.

Participation of young scientists is intended to inculcate interest in space-related activities and provide opportunities for realisation of future scientific payloads at the university level.

X-sat is the first locally made satellite in Singapore. It is designed and built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the city-state.


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## Kinetic

^^^

Good time to prove GSLV. With in next five years it needed for three important missions,
*
Chandrayaan-2
Mars mission
Manned space flight *


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## kingdurgaking

^^^ But i doubt GSLV with indigenous Cryogenic stage


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## CONNAN

*India to launch rockets with Russian, Singapore technologies *

India to launch rockets with Russian, Singapore technologies


BY: PTI

India is getting ready for two rocket launches next month with Russian and Singaporean technologies on-board for strengthening space-based communication and remote sensing services back home. [More...]

First to go up will be Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to augment communication services vis-&#224;-vis television, broadcasting and telecommunications.

Sources in the Indian Space Research Organisation here indicated that this GSLV-5P, an exclusive C-band communication satellite with a 12 year mission life, is slated to be launched in the second week of December. Authorities are looking at December 10 as the likely date

Top ISRO officials are meeting on November 10 in Sriharikota, from where the twin launches will take place, to review the upcoming GSLV mission and finalize the date.

Preparations are also in full swing for launch of the standard PSLV-C16, with six strap-on boosters, which will carry advanced remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2, auxiliary spacecraft of Youthsat and X-sat, towards the end of December.

&#8220;Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 to provide data continuity. Suitable changes, including miniaturisation in payload electronics have been incorporated in Resourcesat-2,&#8221; said an ISRO official.

Resourcesat-2 is intended to replace Resourcesat-1 launched in October 2003. This has outlived its designed mission life of five years and is work satisfactorily, ISRO sources said.

The images generated by Resourcesat-1 are being used for advanced applications such as vegetation dynamics, crop yield estimates and disaster management support.

Youthsat is a participatory scientific mission with a payload from Russia and two from India.

It is a micro satellite carrying scientific payloads. Several universities will participate in the process, from testing the payloads to analyzing the data generated from the loads.

X-sat is Singapore&#8217;s first indigenous satellite. It is designed and built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in the city-state.


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## Kinetic

kingdurgaking said:


> ^^^ But i doubt GSLV with indigenous Cryogenic stage



This up coming flight is not with Indian cryo engine but Russian one. So its Mk-I. We need Mk-II for those future missions and high reliability.

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## HitesH

India on diwali night
satellite pic

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## Choppers

*India Aims High With Satellite Technology​*
Nov 10, 2010

By Neelam Mathews
New Delhi

India is becoming a power in satellite development and a significant player in the use of space for military as well as civil needs.

*A number of Indian-built military satellites with surveillance, imaging and navigation capabilities are planned for launch in the next few years, to both keep &#8220;a watch on the neighborhood and help guide cruise missiles&#8221; should the need emerge*, says V. K. Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defense minister. &#8220;[The satellites] will have tremendous applications.&#8221;

Saraswat&#8217;s statement confirms that India is becoming a space power. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), however, refuses to comment about military satellites, saying its space program is for civilian purposes only. This position has its origins in the fact that some of its programs were stymied when the U.S. imposed trade sanctions against India in 1992 for missile proliferation. Some sanctions remain, and the U.S and India, despite talk of trust and confidence, have yet to sign the Joint Space Cooperation pact.

Nevertheless, Saraswat confirms that a &#8220;roadmap [for development of military satellites] has been given to the ISRO,&#8221; and India has launched satellites under this program. &#8220;Defense satellites are locally built and launched from home soil given the security sensitivity,&#8221; he says. &#8220;The army, navy and air force have their requirements, and it&#8217;s not appropriate to say how many satellites each requires, due to security considerations.&#8221;

A*ccording to a Defense Ministry official, ISRO will launch the first dedicated military surveillance satellite, for the navy, late this year or in 2011*. The multi-band satellite will weigh 2,330 kg. (5,137 lb.), be lofted into a geostationary orbit 1,000 nm. above the Indian Ocean, and network warships, submarines, aircraft and land-based operation centers through high-speed data links. Coverage will be 600-1,000 nm. &#8220;Maritime threats can then be detected and shared in real time to ensure swift action,&#8221; a naval officer says. The projected cost of the satellite is $212 million.

*A new aerospace command is standing up that will provide a space-based military capability for monitoring a vast region, from the Strait of Hormuz in the west to the Strait of Malacca in the east, and from China in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south*.

Many observers say the military is not ready to handle such a capability. &#8220;The space command should be consistent with a strategic aim. We should not venture into it until we cross the threshold of a critical mass, as we are still immature and training is not enough,&#8221; a senior military official says.

It will be some time, of course, before the fledgling aerospace command rivals similar commands of more experienced militaries, such as the U.S. It will, however, oversee surveillance, tracking, early warning and related areas, according to a representative of the Indian Defense Strategic Studies think tank. While initially the air force was to head the command, the three forces will jointly manage it.

India has been launching dual-use&#8212;military and civil&#8212;satellites for a while. One satellite with military uses, but not acknowledged as such by ISRO, was the Earth Observation Technology Experiment Satellite, with 1-meter (3.2-ft.) resolution, weighing 1,108 kg., and put into orbit from Sriharikota Range in 2001 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Cameras in the remote sensing satellite mapped terrain across the northern border of India for possible deployment of troops and weapons.

When Cartosat-2A, the 13th Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, also known to be a military satellite, was launched in 2008, then-ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair told DTI that the military was just &#8220;a launch customer.&#8221; Cartosat-2A is a rugged satellite that provides scene-specific spot imagery for cartography and the armed forces. It carries a panchromatic camera with spatial resolution better than 1 meter and covers a swath of 9.6 km. &#8220;Imagery from this satellite is used for applications such as mapping, urban and rural infrastructure development, and land management,&#8221; says ISRO.

The latest incarnation, Cartosat-2B, launched in July by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, has spatial resolution of 2 meters and covers a swath of 30 km. per camera.

In other satellite developments, ISRO launched Oceansat 2 in September for weather tracking and forecasting, identification of fishing zones and coastal zone studies. Its data is also accessible by the navy for bathymetric studies and antisubmarine warfare. Oceansat-3 is slated for launch in 2012.

Immediately following the Mumbai attacks of December 2008, ISRO launched Risat-2, which it hurriedly bought off-the-shelf from Israel Aerospace Industries for use by the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), as part of the fast-track procurement of critical hardware for strategic deterrence. NTRO is India&#8217;s version of the U.S. National Space Agency. It controls the satellite with the military, especially the navy. Risat-2 is India&#8217;s first satellite with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which provides night and all-weather surveillance. ISRO hailed the satellite&#8217;s &#8220;capability for disaster management.&#8221;

*The indigenous $25-million Communication-Centric Intelligence Satellite (CCI-Sat), being developed by the Defense Electronics and Research Laboratory under the Defense Research and Development Organization, will be operational by 2014. It will reportedly be a test bed for antisatellite weapon technology*. CCI-Sat, which also has SAR, has imaging and communication functions besides surveillance. &#8220;The satellite will orbit Earth at 500 km. and cover hostile regions in the area by passing on surveillance data to intelligence agencies,&#8221; says G. Bhoopathy, director of the Defense Electronics Research Laboratory.

The civil and military need for a national GPS and related applications is also affecting India&#8217;s space program. A pact with Russia on its Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass) satellites would mean easy access to the constellation. One transponder could operate on a military communication frequency to support the air force network.

*ISRO has planned an Indian Regional Navigational Satellite GPS System (IRNSS) of seven satellites. The constellation and ground support will be operational by 2014*. Three satellites will be in geostationary orbit (34, 83 and 132 deg. E. Long.) over the Indian Ocean. Missile targeting could be an important military application for the constellation. The IRNSS will provide a standard positioning service and a restricted service, one in the L5 band and the other in S-band. It is also likely that the IRNSS by next year could be integrated into the Russian Navigation Information System-Glonass system for hybrid applications.

&#8220;The IRNSS system provides the dual-frequency user with targeted position accuracy of less than 20 meters in the coverage area,&#8221; says N. Suryanarayana Rao, ISRO project director.

Simultaneously, Navigation Information Systems (NIS)-Glonass will market, manufacture and jointly propose products in India that draw upon the Russian satellite navigation system.

The multifunctional NIS-Glonass/GPS user telematic terminal, Cyber GLX, is installed on mobile objects and is part of a transport monitoring and fleet management system. It is the first telematic terminal in Russia that simultaneously receives and processes signals from two navigation systems&#8212;Glonass and GPS.

NIS-Glonass recently signed a memorandum of understanding with HBL Power Systems of India to promote its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) for police and rail use. ITS manages automated traffic control, optimization of routes and emergency response.

NIS-Glonass is expected to sign an agreement with Antrix Corp., the marketing arm of ISRO, for navigation and integration of IRNSS into Glonass solutions.

Opportunities would be abundant in India, with 100 cities planning to evaluate ITS in the next 8-10 years. Pune, Kolkata and Chennai have ongoing projects. Mysore and Surat are looking at the system, while New Delhi recently floated a bid for traffic management. The NIS-Glonass system will provide automation for staff control of vehicles in normal and emergency situations; supply personnel with data on vehicle location for decision-making; and display data on vehicle position and other needs on a dispatcher&#8217;s monitor. It will also create and store data archives on vehicle routes and interact with other systems, an official says.

India Aims High With Satellite Technology | AVIATION WEEK


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## Choppers

*Indo-US pact on ISS bolt from the blue for space scientists​*
10 NOV, 2010, 12.36PM IST, SRINIVAS LAXMAN,TNN 

MUMBAI: Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan declared at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague that there is no immediate plan of India partnering with the 17-member US-led International Space Station (ISS). 

But the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama on Monday states just the opposite. 

Radhakrishnans statement at Prague in September said,  As of now there is no programme to get into the ISS. The Singh-Obama statement though said India and the US will  seek ways to colloborate in future lunar missions , international space station and human space flight...  

Isro officials on condition of anonymity admitted to TOI that it was an  embarrassing situation. This blatant contradiction on the important space-cum-foreign policy issue comes around 45 days after the Isro chief s statement at the Prague meet. It has triggered speculation among space officials that there could have been a communication gap between Isro, the prime ministers office and external affairs ministry. 

Officials wondered if the Isro chairman or any senior space agency officials were kept in the loop while the joint statement was being prepared . The decision by India and the US to  seek ways to collaborate in the ISS comes at a time when foreign space agencies, especially the European Space Agency, were keen on India, an important global space power, joining the space station. 

TOI learnt that a senior Isro scientist while interacting with school students in Bangalore 10 days ago, said that India has been invited to partner with the ISS. If his statement reflected a serious development , officials said it should have been announced by Radhakrishnan as its an important matter involving the space sector and the external affairs ministry. It was of global interest, they said. At least, it could have been mentioned in Isros website. 
But nothing was done. This indicated the Isro scientist might have been referring to statements made by space agency chiefs at the International Astronautical Congress that India must become a part of ISS. 

Space expert Taylor Dinerman writing in the  The Space Review on November 17, 2008, said,  One obstacle to India joining the ISS is lack of money. This is what killed Brazils membership and preliminary talks with India should be careful to insure that Isros commitment are compatible with Indias overall budgetary policy. India has the right to be considered a full fledged space-faring nation, he said.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::


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## Kinetic

Isn't the cost of CCI-Sat is to low.


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## RPK

*Hyperplanes for future space missions :: Brahmand.com*

Hyperplanes are multipurpose, fully reusable aerospace vehicles used for passenger or freight transport as well as satellite launching. The era of hyperplanes began with the development of X planes. 

The rocket powered Bell X1 flown in 1947 was the beginning of supersonic era of flights. In 1960&#8217;s during cold war America developed XB-7O Valkyrie. It could fly at Mach 3.08 and achieve an altitude of 74,000 ft. 

The Soviets also developed a plane similar to XB -70 - Su T4. The T-4, also called S100first flew in 1972 and easily achieved Mach 1.28 at 12,000m. The North American X-15 rocket-powered aircraft set speed and altitude records in the early 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. 

The usefulness of the technology is that they can be used as reusable satellite launchers which could replace costly rocket missions and allow seamless entry to space. 

The key enabling technology for hyper planes is scramjet engines which uses air breathing engine technology. It requires a booster rocket which will give it the supersonic velocity required for scramjet operation.

The hyperplanes require normal jet engines for horizontal take off, then a rocket to boost the velocity and a scramjet to sustain the hypersonic speed. They can take-off from any conventional airport. 

To exit the atmosphere and park in Low Earth Orbit, a spacecraft must attain a speed of Mach 26(ouch), where it can either deliver payload which can be a satellite or even another vehicle that will travel further. 

In defence fields, hyperplanes can be used for invincible spy planes and strategic bombers. USAF projects like the Hypersoar are hypersonic craft (Mach 10). 

Many nations including United States, Russia and India are working on hyperplane technology. The only successful hypersonic flight was shown by X-43 of USA. The hyperplane Avatar being developed by India is expected to be used as a reusable missile launcher. 

AVATAR is a single-stage reusable rocket plane developed by DRDO and ISRO for launching satellites at extremely low cost and taking tourists on rides into space.

Avatar will use a combination of turbofan, ramjet and scramjet engines to reach a cruising altitude of 10 kilometres before a cryogenic rocket engine takes over for the final push into space. Avatar is currently in the prototype testing stage. DRDO plans to build and fly a scaled-down version of Avatar, weighing just 3 tonnes at takeoff.

X-43 - In November, 2004, the X-43A demonstrated an advanced form of air-breathing jet engine could power an aircraft nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Data from the unpiloted, 12-foot-long research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at Mach 9.6 (approximately 7,000 mph), as it flew over the Pacific Ocean west of California. The flight was the culmination of NASA's Hyper-X Program which explored alternatives to rocket power for space access vehicles.

BOEING X-51A - During its first flight test in May 2010, after being dropped from a B-52, the solid rocket ATACMS booster ignited and took the X-51A WaveRider to approximately Mach 4.5 at which point the scramjet engine took-over and accelerated the vehicle to a flight speed of approximately Mach 5.0 for approximately 200 seconds. The test was the longest of its kind, beating the previous record of 10 seconds set by the X-41. 

BLACKSWIFT- A joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF), built to take off from a runway and accelerate to Mach 6 before completing its mission and landing again. The project did not receive needed funding and was cancelled in October 2008


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## rajgoynar

*British minister visits ISRO, looks forward to collaboration*



A British minister today said his country was looking forward to collaborate with India in the areas of space technology and academics.

"We are looking forward to closer cooperation with India", British Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts told PTI after visiting the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) here.
This follows the visit of the British Prime Minister David Cameron to India during which the two countries had decided to take the collaboration to a new level, he said.

The UK is looking forward to collaboration in the areas of sharing of space technology and academics, he said.

As a first concrete example of this strengthened partnership, Willetts invited India to partner with the UK in its TechDemoSat programme.

TechDemoSat is an industry-led technology demonstration satellite which aims to provide a low-Earth-orbit test bed to help demonstrate the technical maturity and commercial viability of innovative new space technology.

It is a low-cost satellite platform into which payloads will be packaged from a range of industrial and academic organisations.

Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre Dr T K Alex invited the UK to consider possibility of partnering with India to train the next generation of space scientists through academic exchange between the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific and leading UK universities.

Willetts said it was a great honour to be the first visiting UK Minister to tour ISAC.

He said he was impressed by the facilities and potential of real-world impact of satellites like Resourcesat-2 on areas such as agricultural production and water resource management.

"I am delighted that Dr Alex shares my vision of much closer cooperation and collaboration between the UK and India on space science and innovation and I look forward to welcoming an Indian delegation to the UK in the near future," he said.

Willetts, accompanied by the British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka and officials from the UK Space Agency and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, viewed the construction of Resourcesat-2 and a satellite testing facility at ISAC.




British minister visits ISRO, looks forward to collaboration


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## rajgoynar

*Removal from Entity List facilitates more opportunities for ISRO and DRDO *




Written by Anand 
Monday, 15 November 2010
New Delhi: With US President Barack Obama's decision to remove Indian organisations from the Entities List, India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) among other organisations will no longer need to have a licence for import of certain high technology items.

In addition to this DRDO, with approximately 40 laboratories under it, could take up offset contracts for defence equipment manufacturing from U.S. companies.

"We need to forge partnerships in high-tech sectors like defence and civil space. So we have removed Indian organizations from our so-called 'Entity List',"
said President Obama.

ISRO, DRDO, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Department of Atomic Energy had been on the Entity List. The Entity List, maintained under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) of the US Department of Commerce (DoC), was formulated to control the export of dual-use and strategic materials and systems. US companies need specific DoC licences for supplying specified items to foreign businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations and individuals on that list.

"We will work to reform our controls on exports. Both of these steps will ensure that Indian companies seeking high-tech trade and technologies from America are treated the same as our closest allies and partners," Obama added.

"We have agreed on steps to deepen cooperation on nuclear, defence and other high-end spectrum," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

DRDO has already separated it's military satellite programme from ISRO's civil satellite development and launch programme. Soon DRDO will set up an exclusive organisation for military satellites.

The United States could outsource lightweight satellite launches to India. Lockheed Martin is also interested in cooperating with ISRO on India's manned space flights. Senior executives from Lockheed Martin had visited Bangalore in August and held discussions with ISRO and Antrix. Some of the US satellites assigned to Lockheed Martin could be outsourced to India. There is a dearth of low-cost launching facilities in the world and ISRO has a good track record in this regard. ISRO could soon be a global leader in commercial launches.

This will benefit ISRO, VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre), SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) and other associated organisations. ISRO's satellite launchers are made at VSSC and launched from SDSC.

However it remains to be seen how this would affect the current focus on the indigenous development of technology. To a certain extent, it was the denial of technology that bolstered the introduction of various indigenous research, design and development programmes in the country. 



MACHINIST - Removal from Entity List facilitates more opportunities for ISRO and DRDO


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## rajgoynar

*UK seeks tie-ups with India in space technology*




Close on the heels of US President Barack Obama taking the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) off the Entity List which did not allow transfer of any dual-use technology to it, British Minister for Universities and Science,David Willett has called for closer co-operation between ISRO and UK&#8217;s space programme.

Visiting the ISRO Satellite Centre, he set out his vision for a broader and deeper partnership between the two countries that builds on the complementary strengths of the UK and Indian expertise in space science.
As a first, the concrete example of the new strengthened partnership, Willetts invited India to partner the UK in its TechDemoSat programme. TechDemoSat is an industry-led technology demonstration satellite which aims to provide a low-Earth-orbit test bed to help demonstrate the technical maturity and commercial viability of innovative new space technology. It is a low-cost satellite platform into which payloads will be packaged from a range of industrial and academic organisations.

As a quid pro quo, T K Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, invited the UK to consider the possibility of partnering India in training the next generation of space scientists through academic exchanges between the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific and leading UK universities.

Willetts, who was accompanied by the British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka and officials from the UK Space Agency and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, viewed the construction of Resourcesat-2 and a satellite testing facility at ISAC.

David Willetts said, &#8220;It is a great honour to be the first visiting UK Minister to tour ISAC. I am deeply impressed by the facilities that I have seen and potential real-world impact of satellites like Resourcesat-2 on areas such as agricultural production and water resource management. I am delighted that Dr Alex shares my vision of much closer cooperation and collaboration between the UK and India on space science and innovation and I look forward to welcoming an Indian delegation to the UK in the near future.&#8221;


UK seeks tie-ups with India in space technology


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## rajgoynar

*Resourcesat-2 satellite launch in January: ISRO*



Bangalore, Nov 19 (PTI) India''s premier space agency ISRO will launch Resourcesat-2 advanced remote sensing satellite on board home-made PSLV rocket in January.

The Bangalore-headquartered space agency held a mission readiness review in the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh today during which ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan and top ISRO officials were present.

The standard PSLV-C16, with six strap-on boosters, would carry Resourcesat-2, auxiliary spacecraft of Youthsat and X-sat.

Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 to provide data continuity. Resourcesat-1, launched in October 2003, has outlived its designed mission life of five years and is working satisfactorily, ISRO sources said.

Youthsat, a microsatellite, is a participatory scientific mission with a payload from Russia and two from India. It is a micro satellite carrying scientific payloads.
X-sat is Singapore''s first indigenous satellite.

Meanwhile, ISRO is slated to hold tomorrow a mission readiness review vis-a-vis GSLV mission, which is expected in the last week of December. GSLV would carry on board GSAT-5P, an exclusive C-band communication satellite with a designed mission life of 12 years.



Resourcesat-2 satellite launch in January: ISRO -  National News ? News ? MSN India


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## jha

*ISRO plans twin launches next month*








India is likely to launch a new communication satellite from its spaceport at Sriharikota which will augment existing capacity and services in the field. Indian Space Research Organisation scientists will give the go-ahead for the launch only after a mission-readiness review.

The launch window is 10-20 December.

The satellite, GSAT-5 Prime, is to be launched on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06).

The GSAT-5P carries 24 normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders to augment communication services in areas like television broadcasting and telecom.


Positioned at 55 deg East longitude GSAT-5P will have a designed mission life of 12 years

The satellite weighs 2330 kg and has payload power requirement of 1700W. Satellite configuration and equipment panel layouts have been finalised as are payload subsystems and other subsystem packages.


domain-b.com : ISRO plans twin launches next month


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## jha

*Courting India In Space*






It's a busy time for watching international relations in space. Then again, given the current state of international relations on Earth, it's not surprising that spaceflight looks so dynamic. We have had a short and controversial visit by the Administrator of NASA to China, and recently, new overtures of co-operation between the USA and India on several strategic and economic fronts. Spaceflight has been prominent among these.
The main issue, at least in the short term, has been an easing of restrictions on the export of US satellites for launch on Indian launch vehicles. This has the potential to both delight and disappoint US space firms, some of whom will probably miss out on launch contracts to their overseas rivals.

This article won't explore the full dynamics of this complex subject, but the move represents a major policy shift for the USA. It also suggests that other collaborative space projects could be possible in the future, if relations continue to improve.

How should India and the USA work together in space? It's a question that can't be reasonably answered until the USA decides on exactly what it wants to do with its own space program. Right now, there are plenty of people who could provide a roadmap, but it isn't clear what the volatile mix of America's politics and economics will produce in the near future.

Nevertheless, we can take stock of some of the current elements in play. The USA is about to retire its space shuttle fleet, but continue participation in the International Space Station for an extended period. It's also trying to incubate the development of a new flock of fledging private spacecraft.

The first hatchlings are unmanned cargo carriers, but some could transform into crew transfer vehicles. America is also maintaining a robust unmanned lunar and planetary exploration program.

*India is a highly aspirational space player with a seasoned fleet of satellite buses and launch vehicles. It's pursuing an ambitious robot lunar exploration program, and hopes to fly to Mars in the near future. Most notably, India has begun the development of its own indigenous human spaceflight program, and is developing a capsule spacecraft.*

Like China, India is a major economic and space power that is not a participant in the International Space Station. China has indicated interest in joining the ISS program, but has been rebuffed. Admitting India to ISS while excluding China would be a potentially controversial step. At the present, there is no truly clear message from India or any of the existing ISS partners on where they stand on this.

Until recently, there were plans to fly an Indian cosmonaut on a Soyuz mission, but it's curious to note that the spacecraft was never intended to dock with ISS. This would have been the first Soyuz flight without a mission to the Station since ISS began construction!

The mission plan alone hints at the controversy of admitting India in any deeper role as an ISS partner. Russia recently announced that the joint mission has been canceled, but remains on good terms with India's space program.

*Russia is already strongly entrenched as a co-operative partner with India in spaceflight, and has already launched an Indian cosmonaut on a Soyuz mission to a Salyut space station. Russia is also providing hardware for the upcoming Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission.*

*India is unlikely to reduce its co-operation with Russia in spaceflight, and this may or may not influence the way America transfers technology to India. Then again, Russia already has an advanced grasp of boosters and spacecraft technology. America may feel that anything that isn't too sensitive to be shared with India is also not too sensitive to be blocked from Russian eyes.*

Small steps would probably be a good way to start. *India wants to explore the Moon and Mars. So does the USA. There has already been some co-operation in lunar exploration, with a US instrument flying on the first Indian Moon orbiter*. If technology transfer issues can be resolved, it could be worth sharing more instruments.

At the very least, there could be a pooling of scientific data, and possibly coordinated observations by Indian and US spacecraft at the same target. There was an attempt to co-ordinate some observations between India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter and America's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, but these did not work out for technical reasons.

*India also has a highly developed remote sensing capability, serving both civil and strategic interests. Exactly how or if they will interact further with America on this front is unclear. Commercial remote sensing arrangements are already quite active by both US and Indian companies*.

The ultimate prize would be co-operation in human spaceflight. This is a very fluid situation for both nations. By 2012, neither nation will have an operational astronaut transfer vehicle! *India hopes to fly its own vehicle by 2015, but they will need to work rapidly if they wish to meet this very tight deadline*.

There has been some talk of co-operation with a major US aerospace firm on the development of this spacecraft, but it is not known how or if this will happen. It's not clear when the USA will field its first post-Shuttle manned spacecraft, or what it will be. There could be technology sharing on this front, or at least some effort to promote standards in docking.

The recent release by the USA of an international standard for docking interfaces is a smart move that could shape India's thinking. This could be useful for joint missions outside of the ISS program, or allow for crew rescue in some circumstances.

*US and Indian astronauts could fly together on new space stations in Earth orbit, either as guest astronauts on US vehicles, or with US and Indian transfer vehicles both docking at the same station.*

*Ultimately, both nations would love to send astronauts to the Moon. A collaborative program, possibly with other international partners, could defray the high costs of such a venture. It's probably too early to even draft a basic plan for such a mission, but visionaries in both nations are probably contemplating such a venture.*

Courting India In Space

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## Choppers

*ISRO's communication satellite HYLAS launched successfully
*

An advanced communication satellite HYLAS (Highly Adaptable Satellite), built by ISRO on a commercial basis in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched today (November 27, 2010) at 00.09 hours Indian Standard Time (IST) by the European Ariane-5 V198 launch vehicle.

According to ISRO's press release, the launch took place from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French Guyana.

Thirty-five minutes after its lift-off, HYLAS separated from Ariane-5 launch vehicle after reaching its intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka successfully received radio signals transmitted by HYLAS and the satellite's health is normal.

HYLAS satellite developed for Avanti Communications, UK consists of ten high power transponders that use eight in Ka and two in Ku band frequencies. The satellite is designed to deliver high-speed broadband services through its spot beams over Europe. The satellite is expected to be operated from 33.5 deg. W longitude for European coverage.

The contract for building of satellite was won in the year 2006 after competing along other leading manufacturers of USA and Europe through the strategic alliance worked out between Antrix/ISRO and M/s. EADS Astrium of France. The alliance was formed to jointly develop communication satellites with ISRO platforms and Astrium payloads and market them internationally.

Astrium had the responsibility for overall program management and delivery of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite bus and also performed the satellite integration and testing at ISRO's facility in Bangalore. HYLAS satellite weighing 2541 kg at lift-off is the heaviest satellite built by ISRO for I-2K bus capable of operating for over 15 years mission life as demanded by the customer. The satellite's solar panels generate a maximum of about 3200 Watts of power.

Antrix/ISRO is also responsible for the post launch operations of HYLAS, which are being conducted from the Master Control Facility, Hassan. The operations include firing of the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in three phases to place the satellite in geostationary orbit. The first firing of LAM is scheduled for the early hours of November 28, 2010.


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## rajgoynar

*HYLAS satellite reaches geostationary orbit: ISRO*




HYLAS (Highly Adaptable Satellite), which was launched successfully on November 27 by the European Ariane-5 V198 launch vehicle, has reached the geostationary orbit, an ISRO press release has said.

HYLAS, the satellite jointly built by ISRO/Antrix and EADS/Astrium of Europe for Advent communications of U.K. was initially injected into an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 250 km, apogee of 35,906 km and inclination of 1.99 degree.

ISRO&#8217;s Master Control Facility at Hassan immediately took over the control and command operations of the satellite. The perigee was raised from 250 km to 35,521 km by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of 432 Newton thrust level in three phases on Nov 28th (for 1 hour 19 minutes), on November 29th (for 30 minutes) and on November 30 (for about 4 minutes).

The HYLAS Satellite, presently in an orbit of 35,521 km (perigee) x 35,800 km (apogee) is in good health and in continuous radio-visibility from Hassan. One of its communication antennas has also been deployed successfully. 


The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : HYLAS satellite reaches geostationary orbit: ISRO


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## rajgoynar

*Sarkozy to address ISRO scientists*




Bangalore, Dec 1 (IANS) Indian space agency ISRO is gearing up to host French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni at its headquarters here Saturday and will interact with top scientists.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, Sarkozy will be at ISRO office between 12.30 p.m. and 1.40 p.m. Saturday.

He will be arriving in India Dec 4 on a four-day visit, during which India and France are likely to further increase cooperation in civil nuclear energy.

India and France are jointly developing two satellites that are expected to be launched sometime next year. One of them is Megha Tropiques Mission to study the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere and the other is SARAL (Satellites for Argos and Altika) to monitor the sea water level.

The Argos and Altika payloads are built and supplied by France while the satellite building and launching are the responsibilities of ISRO.

Preparations to launch ISRO's heavy rocket this month are also on at its rocket launch centre at Sriharikota, around 80 km from here, in Tamil Nadu.

ISRO is also steadily gearing up for the launch of communication satellite GSAT-5P around Dec 20 from its rocket port a Sriharikota around 80 km from here.

According to ISRO officials, the 2,300-kg satellite with 36 transponders that will provide continuity of service to our telecom and television channel customers will be blasted into the space by an Indian GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) rocket.

The Madras High Court Tuesday vacated its stay order issued on the rocket launch after ISRO submitted that the ban on fishing will be for only four hours prior to the flight and not for 15-20 days.

The South India Fishermen Federation had filed a case against the rocket launch as they were not allowed to fish for 15-20 days prior to every launch. 




Sarkozy to address ISRO scientists


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## rajgoynar

*Sarkozy to address ISRO scientists*




Bangalore, Dec 1 (IANS) Indian space agency ISRO is gearing up to host French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni at its headquarters here Saturday and will interact with top scientists.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, Sarkozy will be at ISRO office between 12.30 p.m. and 1.40 p.m. Saturday.

He will be arriving in India Dec 4 on a four-day visit, during which India and France are likely to further increase cooperation in civil nuclear energy.

India and France are jointly developing two satellites that are expected to be launched sometime next year. One of them is Megha Tropiques Mission to study the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere and the other is SARAL (Satellites for Argos and Altika) to monitor the sea water level.

The Argos and Altika payloads are built and supplied by France while the satellite building and launching are the responsibilities of ISRO.

Preparations to launch ISRO's heavy rocket this month are also on at its rocket launch centre at Sriharikota, around 80 km from here, in Tamil Nadu.

ISRO is also steadily gearing up for the launch of communication satellite GSAT-5P around Dec 20 from its rocket port a Sriharikota around 80 km from here.

According to ISRO officials, the 2,300-kg satellite with 36 transponders that will provide continuity of service to our telecom and television channel customers will be blasted into the space by an Indian GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) rocket.

The Madras High Court Tuesday vacated its stay order issued on the rocket launch after ISRO submitted that the ban on fishing will be for only four hours prior to the flight and not for 15-20 days.

The South India Fishermen Federation had filed a case against the rocket launch as they were not allowed to fish for 15-20 days prior to every launch. 




Sarkozy to address ISRO scientists


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## rajgoynar

Robotic excavation for Chandrayaan-2




In a significant step towards empowering India&#8217;s space technology, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is considering the use of robotic excavation to extract large scale helium-3 (He-3) deposits on the surface of the moon, said Dr G Madhavan Nair, former chairperson, Isro, on Thursday.

Nair was speaking on the historic discovery of water in the moon by Indian scientists at the inaugural session of the three-day global conference on cosmologies, &#8216;Perspectives of the Universe&#8217;.

&#8220;Finding water on the moon&#8217;s surface by Chandrayaan-1 is a great achievement for human civilisation. Besides that, Chandrayaan-1 also found large-scale presence of He-3 on the moon&#8217;s surface,&#8221; said Nair.

&#8220;Isro will use robotic excavation to extract He-3 in the future. Probably in the next 10-15 years, He-3, which is abundant on the moon&#8217;s surface, can solve the energy requirement of the human population on Earth,&#8221; said Nair.

The non-radioactive He-3 is regarded as having the potential to power future nuclear fusion reactors for hundreds of years. India&#8217;s first scientific mission to the moon&#8212; Chandrayaan-1&#8212;in October 2008, had identified deposits of He-3, along with the presence of water and other minerals, including iron and aluminium on the moon&#8217;s surface.

&#8220;During Chandrayaan-1, the mineral mapper had identified plenty of these areas where such compounds are present. We can further look for exact details of the quantity with our Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2013,&#8221; said Nair. Chandrayaan-2 is set to be launched by Isro in 2013.

The conference was organised by Srinivas Jyotish Vigyan Research Foundation, Tiruchirapalli, at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus and was inaugurated by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.

&#8220;Cosmology, has its roots in ancient civilisations of the world. Bangalore is the hub of astronomical science and several other sciences. Cosmology has its importance for both scientists and philosophers,&#8221; said Yeddyurappa.

The themes at the conference include universe and the solar system, geocentric and heliocentric philosophy (locations of the planets, aspects, among others.





Robotic excavation for Chandrayaan-2 - Sci/Tech - DNA


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## Choppers

*ISRO renews EADS deal on commercial satellites*]

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on the sidelines of the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, announced the renewal of a five-year contract with European space firm EADS Astrium to build commercial satellites to be launched from French space facilities.

ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan announced the renewal of the contract that in its first tenure saw EADS Astrium outsource the building of two private communication satellites &#8212; W2M and the HYLAS &#8212; to ISRO&#8217;s satellite centre while welcoming Sarkozy to ISRO&#8217;s satellite facilities at Bangalore.

The ISRO chairman announced a May 2011 launch date for the Indo French joint satellite programme called Megha Tropiques, intended to study tropical atmosphere in a larger exercise to understand the effects of climate change. ISRO also announced a December 2011 launch date for a second Indo French satellite programme SARAL intended to study oceans.


The Indian space programme, especially launch technologies, had benefited greatly from French technology provided nearly four decades ago, the ISRO chairman said.

Sarkozy said that India and France needed to work together on space technology to prevent space adventure from &#8220;ever becoming the monopoly of just one or two states&#8221;.

&#8220;I would like to pay tribute to the success of ISRO with which we will build and launch the Megha Tropiques and SARAL groundbreaking satellites for climate and ocean observation next year. We will launch Indian satellites from Kourou and European satellites from India. CNES (French space agency) and ISRO will develop a new research programme together,&#8221; said Sarkozy.

ISRO renews EADS deal on commercial satellites


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO signs agreement worth 500 crore rupee with Arianespace*




Indian Space Research Organisation - ISRO - has placed an order worth 500 crore rupee with European Space Agency-Arianespace for the launch of commercial satellites. This was disclosed by ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan in Bangalore yesterday. He said, commercial agreements have been signed with Arianespace the launch of GSAT-8 in 2011 and GSAT-10 in 2012. Arianespace has so far launched 12 Indian satellites. Radhakrishnan said, ISRO has also renewed the five-year contract with Europe's leading satellite system specialist - EADS Astrium - for joint marketing of satellites.

He said, Megha-Tropiques and SARAL satellites, being jointly developed by ISRO and its French counterpart CNES, will be launched in May and December 2011. Radhakrishnan said, ISRO and CNES will continue to work together and explore new domains, including climate change and other frontier areas.




Newsonair : Sports News, Cricket News, Delhi News, Common Wealth Games 2010, News 2010. Business News, Political News, State News, International News, Exclusive News & more...


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## sathya

India and France further cemented their longstanding space ties on Dec. 4 with the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Indian Space Research Organization&#8217;s (ISRO) Satellite Center in Bengaluru.

On the occasion, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said that two more launch contracts have been handed over to French launch provider Arianespace.

&#8220;Two commercial agreements have been signed with Arianespace for the launches [of] GSAT-8 in 2011 and GSAT-10 in 2012,&#8221; Radhakrishnan says. &#8220;To date, Arianespace has launched 12 Indian satellites.&#8221; The contract value is pegged at Rs 500 core ($111 million).

Antrix Corporation, ISRO&#8217;s commercial wing, also renewed its contract with EADS Astrium for another five years for the commercial marketing of communication satellites. &#8220;The Megha-Tropiques and SARAL satellites, jointly developed with our French counterpart CNES, would be launched in next year,&#8221; Radhakrishnan says.

In his address, Sarkozy backed India&#8217;s candidacy for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). &#8220;It is unthinkable that 1.1 billion people are not represented in the UNSC. India deserves a permanent seat in the Security Council,&#8221; he says.

Sarkozy says that the binding factor for future ties between the two countries will be cooperation on nuclear energy. &#8220;It will now be the focus of our cooperation,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We all know how critical it is for India to ensure its energy security. India and France share the belief that nuclear energy can provide an unparalleled response to this challenge.&#8221;

Sarkozy supports India&#8217;s decision to expand nuclear energy by tenfold in the next 20 years. French firm Areva is supporting India in the construction of a civil nuclear plant in Jaitapur in Maharashtra. Sarkozy also lauded India&#8217;s decision to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Speaking to Aviation Week, Hossein Shafife, national executive at Safran Group, says that negotiations with India&#8217;s Defense Research and Development Organization for the co-development of the Kaveri engine for India&#8217;s Light Combat Aircraft are in their final stages. &#8220;This is a very important project for us,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We are offering complete transfer of technology for the design and development of Kaveri. The talks are taking good shape.&#8221;


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO to launch new satellite on December 20*




Indian Space Research Organisation has decided to launch its new communication satellite GSAT-5 Prime from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at around 4 pm on December 20. Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said that the mission readiness review in Sriharikota on Friday, chaired by ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, gave the go-ahead for the mission.

"The satellite is slated to be moved to the launch-pad tomorrow (Sunday)", an ISRO official said.

The 2400-kg satellite, equipped with 24 normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders, would be launched by home-made Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) powered by Russian cryogenic engine.

The exclusive C-band GSAT-5P has a designed mission life of 12 years.



ISRO to launch new satellite on December 20 - Hindustan Times


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## Hulk

rajgoynar said:


> *ISRO to launch new satellite on December 20*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Indian Space Research Organisation has decided to launch its new communication satellite GSAT-5 Prime from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at around 4 pm on December 20. Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said that the mission readiness review in Sriharikota on Friday, chaired by ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, gave the go-ahead for the mission.
> 
> "The satellite is slated to be moved to the launch-pad tomorrow (Sunday)", an ISRO official said.
> 
> The 2400-kg satellite, equipped with 24 normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders, would be launched by *home-made Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) powered by Russian cryogenic engine.*The exclusive C-band GSAT-5P has a designed mission life of 12 years.
> 
> 
> 
> ISRO to launch new satellite on December 20 - Hindustan Times



Home made but powered by Russian cryogenic engine. Does anyone know that the Indigenous GSLV will also have Russian cryogenic engine? In that case we are not going to be self reliant.


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## sathya

i hope this mission will be a success..
i wish all the luck to Indian scientists


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## sathya

oh , i thought its indigenous..
in that case will this be the last russian engine we bought?


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## indushek

sathya said:


> oh , i thought its indigenous..
> in that case will this be the last russian engine we bought?



Actually sometime back we had brought some 7 to 8 engines for this purpose. The plan was to build our own by the time these were finished off. The first GSLV failing has delayed this plan.


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## Kinetic

All the best to ISRO for the flight. Its crucial.


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## rajgoynar

*ISRO's Moon mission on path as envisaged, says former chairman*




Dr G Madhavan Nair, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said the government was supportive of the Mars mission which is currently at a conceptual stage.

Talking to Press Trust of India on the sidelines of the 8th Asia Pacific Conference on Combustion, he said the ISRO's Moon mission is on path as envisaged and the government is supportive of the mission.

He said while there is a need to go for semi cryogenic engines using kerosene and liquid oxygen as it will prove cost effective, the next stage will be reusable rockets and reusable launch vehicles. 


ISRO's Moon mission on path as envisaged, says former chairman - India - DNA

Reactions: Like Like:
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## IND151

*



by sathya
India and France further cemented their longstanding space ties on Dec. 4 with the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Indian Space Research Organization&#8217;s (ISRO) Satellite Center in Bengaluru.

On the occasion, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said that two more launch contracts have been handed over to French launch provider Arianespace.

&#8220;Two commercial agreements have been signed with Arianespace for the launches [of] GSAT-8 in 2011 and GSAT-10 in 2012,&#8221; Radhakrishnan says. &#8220;To date, Arianespace has launched 12 Indian satellites.&#8221; The contract value is pegged at Rs 500 core ($111 million).

Antrix Corporation, ISRO&#8217;s commercial wing, also renewed its contract with EADS Astrium for another five years for the commercial marketing of communication satellites. &#8220;The Megha-Tropiques and SARAL satellites, jointly developed with our French counterpart CNES, would be launched in next year,&#8221; Radhakrishnan says.

In his address, Sarkozy backed India&#8217;s candidacy for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC). &#8220;It is unthinkable that 1.1 billion people are not represented in the UNSC. India deserves a permanent seat in the Security Council,&#8221; he says.
 
Sarkozy says that the binding factor for future ties between the two countries will be cooperation on nuclear energy. &#8220;It will now be the focus of our cooperation,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We all know how critical it is for India to ensure its energy security. India and France share the belief that nuclear energy can provide an unparalleled response to this challenge.&#8221;

Sarkozy supports India&#8217;s decision to expand nuclear energy by tenfold in the next 20 years. French firm Areva is supporting India in the construction of a civil nuclear plant in Jaitapur in Maharashtra. Sarkozy also lauded India&#8217;s decision to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Speaking to Aviation Week, Hossein Shafife, national executive at Safran Group, says that negotiations with India&#8217;s Defense Research and Development Organization for the co-development of the Kaveri engine for India&#8217;s Light Combat Aircraft are in their final stages. &#8220;This is a very important project for us,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We are offering complete transfer of technology for the design and development of Kaveri. The talks are taking good shape.&#8221;

Click to expand...

off coarse France will say so as who did contract with them.i wish these are not hollow words.*


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## jha

*India to launch advanced communication satellite Dec 20*

CHENNAI: India will Dec 20 launch the advanced GSAT-5P communication satellite that will replace the ageing INSAT 2E and ensure continuity of telecom and television services, an official said. 

"The launch window will open at 1600 hours on Dec 20," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director (publications and public relations) S. Satish told IANS. 

Carrying the 2,300 kg GSAT-5P with 36 transponders, India's heavy rocket - the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) - will blast off from ISRO's second launch pad at Sriharikota, around 80 km from here between 4 and 4.30 p.m. 

According to officials, the fully assembled rocket was moved to the launch pad and anchored there Sunday morning around 7.45 a.m. The satellite was placed inside the heat shield last week. 

ISRO officials told IANS that the process of filling the liquid and cryogenic fuel will begin around 30 hours before the actual flight when the countdown begins. 

Prior to the countdown, ISRO will test the rocket's various systems. Its full systems test will be done Monday (Dec 13). 

According to ISRO officials, the launch rehearsal will be held on Dec 17 but without the liquid and cryogenic fuel. 

"If satisfied with the rocket's condition then the final clearance for the flight will be given. Then the rocket will be `armed'- connecting of all pyro systems to the batteries - so that they ignite when the command is given," said an ISRO official. 

ISRO is also likely to begin the New Year with the launch of Resourcesat-2, an earth observation satellite. 

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India is a major player in vending such data in the global market. 

"Resourcesat-2 will be the replacement for Resourcesat-1, launched in 2003. For some time, both will work together," Satish added. 

Piggy-backing on it will be two small satellites made in Singapore and Russia . 

The satellites will be carried by ISRO's another rocket called polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and the launch date is around Jan 20. 

According to ISRO officials the Resourcesat-2 and another small satellite are expected to reach Sriharikota by December end. 

ISRO this year launched two major satellites - communication satellite GSAT-4 and remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2. While the launch of GSAT-4 failed as the GSLV rocket carrying it plunged into the sea due to an engine failure, Cartosat-2 was placed successfully in the orbit.

India to launch advanced communication satellite Dec 20 - The Economic Times


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## SpArK

*ISRO to launch GSAT-5 Prime communication satellite on Dec 20​*

BANGALORE (PTI): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to launch its new communication satellite GSAT-5 Prime from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at around 4 pm on December 20. 

Sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency told PTI that the mission readiness review in Sriharikota on Friday, chaired by ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, gave the go-ahead for the mission. 

The satellite is slated to be moved to the launch-pad tomorrow (Sunday), an ISRO official said. 

The 2400-kg satellite, equipped with 24 normal C-band and 12 Extended C-band transponders, would be launched by home-made Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) powered by Russian cryogenic engine. 

The exclusive C-band GSAT-5P has a designed mission life of 12 years.

ISRO to launch GSAT-5 Prime communication satellite on Dec 20 - Brahmand.com


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## gowthamraj

^ any pictures guys . 

As it already moved to launch pad


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## Ammyy

gowthamraj said:


> ^ any pictures guys .
> 
> As it already moved to launch pad



I think their is a link .... Well i dnt know about language and Google translate is not able to translate it 

????? ????????? ?????? ??????? ???????? 20 ?? &#8212; Kerala Bhooshanam Malayalam News and Entertainment

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Kinetic

gowthamraj said:


> ^ any pictures guys .
> 
> As it already moved to launch pad



Here is GSAT-5P....

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Ammyy

Kinetic said:


> Here is GSAT-5P....



We want real one

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Choppers

*More Money for ISRO* 

*SeaSpace Signs Agreement with Antrix Corporation Ltd to be Provider of Oceansat-2 OCM*​



> *SeaSpace Corporation is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Antrix Corporation Limited, the marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), to be the provider of OCM-2 Ground Station and Processing Systems outside of India. OCM-2 is the Ocean Color Monitor instrument on the Indian satellite, Oceansat-2*. An initial agreement was reached on August 3, 2010, at the SeaSpace International Remote Sensing Conference in Kahuku, Hawaii, between Dr. Murthy Remilla of Antrix and Hyong Ossi, the President of SeaSpace, with the final license agreement being signed on November 5, 2010.
> 
> *SeaSpace Corporation has been the provider of OCM data from Oceansat-1 since 2002. With this new agreement, SeaSpace looks forward to continuing the partnership between itself and India.* *OCM data has been an asset to SeaSpace customers for years, and with this new partnership, I am happy to be able to offer it for years to come, says Hyong Ossi*.
> 
> Customers interested in receiving or processing Oceansat-2 OCM data, can contact the SeaSpace sales department at sales@seaspace.com or (858) 746-1100.


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## Sam Dhanraj

gowthamraj said:


> ^ any pictures guys .
> 
> As it already moved to launch pad



GSAT 5 Prime






GSAT-5P Satellite undergoing prelaunch checks





GSAT-5P undergoing encapsulation





GSLV-F06 on the Launch Pad

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Ammyy

Sam Dhanraj said:


> GSAT 5 Prime
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GSAT-5P Satellite undergoing prelaunch checks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GSAT-5P undergoing encapsulation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GSLV-F06 on the Launch Pad



Hey i want to send additional 52 kg weight into space .... Can our rocket carry these additional weight ????


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## rajgoynar

your weight is only 52 kg .



it's jock plz don't mind


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## Ammyy

rajgoynar said:


> your weight is only 52 kg .
> 
> 
> 
> it's jock plz don't mind



No buddy not me i want to send my GF into space

She always want some space so my last gift .... with love .... if possible

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## 1ndy

someone please explain how ASAT missiles locks on target satellite???  aur haan asaan bhasa mein samjhana


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## 1ndy

DRDO said:


> No buddy not me i want to send my GF into space
> 
> She always want some space so my last gift .... with love .... if possible



 pata chalega usko to ulta latka ke maaregi


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## pulsar220

Indian GSLV rocket now taller, heavier

CHENNAI: India's geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), scheduled to blast off Monday with an advanced communication satellite (GSAT-5P), is now taller by two metres and heavier by four tonnes as compared to its standard configuration. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation's standard configuration for the GSLV rocket is a height of 49 metres and 414 tonnes in weight at lift-off. 

The rocket that would lift off Monday stands 51 metres tall and weighs 418 tonnes. 

P.S. Veeraraghavan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre , told IANS: "This time the fuel quantity for the cryogenic engine has increased and its thrust power has also gone up. The rocket will be carrying a heavier satellite (GSAT-5P) weighing 2,310 kg." 

The Russian made cryogenic engine will be powered with 15.2 tonnes of fuel (liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer), an increase of around three tonnes, and the engine's length has also increased. 

The rocket has a bigger heat shield - four-metres in diameter and made of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) - as compared to the standard configuration of 3.4-metre diameter made of aluminium alloy metal. 

With the changes in rocket's configuration, necessary calibrations have been carried out in the rocket's navigational systems, control dynamics and aerodynamics so that the flight is smooth and the mission is successful, a source associated with ISRO told IANS. 

Over the years, the carrying capacity of the GSLV has also increased -- from 1,530 kg in 2001 for GSAT-1 to 2,220 kg for GSAT-4 in April 2010. 

The latest has a payload of 2,310 kg with 36 transponders -- an automatic receiver and transmitter of communication or broadcast signals. Successful launch of the satellite will take the agency's transponder capacity to around 235 from 200 in orbit now.

Indian GSLV rocket now taller, heavier - The Economic Times


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## rajgoynar

*Indian, Russian scientists discuss rocket launch delay*




Indian and Russian space scientists are discussing the remedial measures that need to be taken after a leak was detected in the cryogenic engine of a rocket that was to place an advanced communications satellite into orbit on Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday decided
to postpone the rocket's launch after it detected the leak in one of the valves of the Russian-made cryogenic engine during the pre-countdown mandatory tests even as the 51-metre tall rocket was on the launch pad.

The rocket, called the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) was to carry GSAT-5P, an advanced communications satellite meant to retire an earlier one sent up in 1999 and ensure continuity of telecom, TV and weather services.

S Satish, a director at ISRO, said: "There is a small team of Russian experts at the rocket port whenever a rocket is flown with their cryogenic engine."

He said the Russians had supplied seven cryogenic engines, of which five were used in the earlier GSLV rockets.

The 29-hour countdown, planned to commence at 11.01 a.m. Sunday, was not authorised by the Launch Authorisation Board. The board met Sunday forenoon at the Sriharikota rocket launch centre to review the results of pre-countdown checks and decided against proceeding with the mission.

According to ISRO officials, the GSLV rocket has three stages. The first stage is fired by solid fuel and hugged by four strap-on motors fired by liquid fuel. The strap-on motors give additional thrust during the lift off and the initial phase of the rocket's flight.

The second stage/engine is fired by liquid fuel and the third and complex stage is the cryogenic engine powered by liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer.

The solid fuel is cast ready while the liquid fuel is filled hours before the rocket's blast-off.

Sources close to ISRO told IANS that there are standard leak rates for valves. Only when this exceeds the minimum level are alarm bells sounded.

ISRO officials said that since the cryogenic engine is supplied by Russia, their expertise and consent will be obtained on how to plug the leak.

If at all the valve has to be replaced, then it has to be supplied by the Russians, the sources said.

"The components of Indian cryogenic engine are of varied specifications and will not fit the Russian made one. The Russians had supplied the seven cryogenic engines long ago," the source told IANS.

According to officials, dismantling of the cryogenic engine with the faulty valve and fitting the rocket with another one will take time.

"The new engine's systems have to be checked and it will take over a month to make it flight ready," a source said.

According to ISRO officials, a delay in the GSAT-5P launch will not affect any of its customers as the earlier satellite INSAT-2E is still operational.




Indian, Russian scientists discuss rocket launch delay - Hindustan Times


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## rajgoynar

*India to launch advanced communications satellite Dec 25*





Chennai, Dec 22 (IANS) With investigations into a leak in a rocket engine's valve providing satisfactory results Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will celebrate Christmas by launching an advanced communications satellite, an official.

'The test results are satisfactory and the rocket's launch is scheduled Dec 25. The launch countdown will begin 11 a.m. Friday,'

S. Satish, a director at ISRO, told IANS.

The rocket carrying the GSAT-5P satellite is expected to blast off from the second launch pad between 4 p.m.-4.15 p.m. Saturday.

The GSAT-5P is meant to retire the INSAT-2E satellite sent up in 1999 to ensure continuity of telecom, TV and weather services and was originally scheduled for Monday.

However, ISRO Sunday decided to postpone the launch of its geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) after it detected a leak in one of the valves of its Russian-made cryogenic engine.

The leak was detected during the pre-countdown tests, even as the 51-metre tall rocket was on the launch pad at Sriharikota, around 80 km from here.

ISRO officials had said some tests would be conducted Tuesday to gauge the extent of the valve leak. They said the tests and discussions with Russian scientists would go hand-in-hand at Sriharikota.

The Russians had supplied seven cryogenic engines, of which five were used in earlier GSLV launches.

Another ISRO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IANS that the tests took around 30 hours and involved filling of liquid oxygen to check the valve. The liquid oxygen had to be later drained. The rocket's ground systems had to be reconfigured for the tests.

The cryogenic engine is fired by liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer.

According to the official, the valve leak was in the liquid oxygen system while all other valves were functioning well.

He said the tests started Tuesday at 4 a.m. and concluded at around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

'The activities undertaken were similar to the ones carried out for a regular rocket launch. Around 100 scientists and technologists were involved in tests,' he said. 


India to launch advanced communications satellite Dec 25


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## rajgoynar

*Countdown begins for GSAT launch Saturday*




Chennai, Dec 24 (IANS) The 30-hour countdown for the launch of advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P started 10.04 Friday morning at the Sriharikota rocket launch centre, about 80 km from Chennai, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The Rs.125 crore (Rs.1.25 billion) GSAT-5P satellite weighing 2,130 kg will serve the needs of the telecommunication, televison and weather sectors. It will eventually retire the INSAT-2E satellite that was sent up in 1999.

If all goes well, the satellite will be blasted off Saturday afternoon.

The GSAT-5P satellite with a life span of over 13 years has 36 transponders - automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals. Successful launch of GSAT-5P will take the agency's transponder capacity to about 235 from the 200 currently in the orbit.

'The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) carrying GSAT-5P will blast off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre Saturday evening at 4.04 p.m.,' S.Satish, an ISRO director, told IANS.

The GSLV rocket is 51 metres tall, weighs 418 tonnes and costs around Rs.175 crore (Rs.1.75 billion).

ISRO officials told IANS that the filling of liquid and cryogenic fuel will be carried out during the countdown till 30 minutes before the actual lift-off.

The GSLV rocket has three stages. The first stage is fired by solid fuel. The four strap-on motors give additional thrust during the lift-off and the initial phase of the rocket's flight.

The second stage is fired by liquid fuel. The third stage, more complex than the others, involves the cryogenic engine powered by liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidiser.

The launch was originally scheduled last Monday, but was aborted Sunday a leak was detected in one of the valves of the Russian-made cryogenic engine. Later, tests ensured the stability of the valve and the ISRO gave the go-ahead for Saturday launch.

The ISRO currently has the following communication satellites in service - INSAT 2E, INSAT 3A, INSAT 3B, INSAT 3C, INSAT 3E, INSAT 4A, INSAT 4CR and INSAT 4B working at 50 percent capability, Satish said.

ISRO launched two major satellites in 2010 - communication satellite GSAT-4 and remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2. GSAT-4 launch failed after the rocket crashed into the Bay of Bengal while Cartosat-2 was placed successfully in the orbit. 



Countdown begins for GSAT launch Saturday


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## MKI

> Countdown begins for GSAT launch Saturday




Any update??


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## Just Yash

DRDO said:


> No buddy not me i want to send my GF into space
> 
> She always want some space so my last gift .... with love .... if possible



That's common problem, in my case i want space but i am bit heavy so i also want to send her. mine is 51 kg so..... that's total 103 KG 

Any one else


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## rofl

lol GSAT-5P satellite launch failed
some problem during the first stage
gslv explodes mid-air


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## rockstarIN

*India plans to launch 30 satellites in next decade
*






BANGALORE (PTI): India is mulling to launch at least 30 earth observation satellites in the next one decade, a senior official at the Department of Space (DoS) said Tuesday.

"We expect not less than 30 satellites," Director of the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), under the DoS Dr V Jayaraman said.

NRSC is responsible for remote sensing, satellite data acquisition and processing, data dissemination, aerial remote sensing and decision support for disaster management.

In a plan already drawn up for the next ten years, Indian Space Research Organisation would launch a series of Resourcesat, Cartosat, ocean and atmospheric satellites. This would include Cartosat-3 with 30 cm resolution, he said.

"We will launch Resourcesat-2 in early February or ending January. It will be a replacement satellite for Resourcesat-1 which gives us 5.8 metres, 70 km multi-spectral data for the first time," Jayaraman told PTI.

He said ISRO was setting up an integrated multi-mission ground segment in Hyderabad at an investment of Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore which is expected to be operational in June next.

In this single ground station (segment), ISRO would be able to receive all the satellite data "making the (space) products in such a way that every day we will supply 1000 products to the users directly."

Now, NRSC is in a position to deliver space products within four-five days of receiving the data. This new ground segment would enable it to do it within 12 hours and supply "emergency products" within one hour.

Earlier, inaugurating a state-level conference on Karnataka State Geospatial Database, organised by the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Jayaraman stressed that GIS (geographic information system) and remote sensing experts need to leverage the power of cloud computing.
India plans to launch 30 satellites in next decade - Brahmand.com


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## rockstarIN

*India, Russia space cooperation reaching new heights
*

Bilateral relations between India and the Russian Federation have always been one of the most important foreign policy priorities of both the countries.

This strategic relationship has served not only in the long term national interests of India and Russia but has also effectively contributed in the space arena including scientific research & developmental programmes.

Today, space and cyber space are the new frontiers of national security. Space is a major key sector of cooperation between India and Russia. Both the countries have been cooperating with each other in the field of space technologies for many years.

In the 1970s-80s, the erstwhile Soviet Union has launched first Indian satellites- Aryabhatta and Bhaskara from its Baikonur cosmodrome. The first Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma has travelled to the Soviet Salyut-7 space station in 1984.

India&#8217;s space ambitions, since its inception in the early 1960s, have been mainly focused on practical applications. The country&#8217;s pioneering space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has worked in favour of applications like communications and remote sensing that promised practical benefits to the Indian people.

But, for the last few years Indian space programme has taken a major leap. It has moved beyond its traditional missions to focus on new areas, like India&#8217;s first lunar mission (Chandrayaan-1), navigation, joint ventures in space science, and others.

Space and Technology is one of the major arenas where India and Russia share a long standing and successful cooperation. Both the countries actively participate together in many fields of exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. Currently it has many operational agreements in the fields of moon exploration, global navigation system, human space flight, spacecraft building for atmospheric studies, etc.

During President Vladimir Putin's visit to India in December 2004, two space related bilateral agreements were signed viz. Inter-Governmental umbrella Agreement on cooperation in the outer space for peaceful purposes and the Inter Space Agency Agreement on cooperation in the Russian satellite navigation system "GLONASS". Subsequently a number of follow up agreements on GLONASS have been signed.

India is a partner in this crucial project, and could be expected to launch some of the satellites for Glonass in the near future.

Russia currently has a total of 26 GLONASS series spacecraft in orbit, but three of them are not operational. Recently, three Glonass-M satellites crashed into the Pacific Ocean after the Proton-M rocket carrying them failed to reach orbit following their launch. Russia has also postponed the launch of its new-generation navigation satellite GLONASS-K until 2011. The satellite atop a Soyuz-2.1.b carrier rocket was to blast off from the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia on Dec 28.

Other than partnership in Glonass navigation systems, in November 2007, the two countries have signed an agreement on joint lunar exploration. The agreement was signed between India and Russia to cooperate on the development of Chandrayaan-2, a mission which features both an Orbiter and a Lander. These space cooperation programmes are currently under implementation.

In the field of human spaceflight programme, ISRO is planning to go ahead with its first manned mission slated for launch in 2017. This manned flight is considered as a calculated move by the country to boost its national prestige and sharpen its technological edge and scientific expertise for deep space missions including a possible lunar human landing by 2020.

India would be requiring about Rs. 12400 crore for the manned mission which ISRO plans to spend on the setting up of several ground facilities like launch pads, the mission control center, astronaut training center, all permanent assets on the ground including what goes into the orbit. The Indian Government is yet to give approval on ISRO&#8217;s proposal.

On December 2008, during the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India, both the countries signed a memorandum of understanding on joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme. According to the accord, an Indian cosmonaut will once again be part of a space mission on board a Russian spacecraft. 

India, Russia space cooperation reaching new heights - Brahmand.com

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## sudhir007

India plans to launch 30 satellites in next decade - Brahmand.com

India is mulling to launch at least 30 earth observation satellites in the next one decade, a senior official at the Department of Space (DoS) said Tuesday.

"We expect not less than 30 satellites," Director of the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), under the DoS Dr V Jayaraman said.

NRSC is responsible for remote sensing, satellite data acquisition and processing, data dissemination, aerial remote sensing and decision support for disaster management.

In a plan already drawn up for the next ten years, Indian Space Research Organisation would launch a series of Resourcesat, Cartosat, ocean and atmospheric satellites. This would include Cartosat-3 with 30 cm resolution, he said.

"We will launch Resourcesat-2 in early February or ending January. It will be a replacement satellite for Resourcesat-1 which gives us 5.8 metres, 70 km multi-spectral data for the first time," Jayaraman told PTI.

He said ISRO was setting up an integrated multi-mission ground segment in Hyderabad at an investment of Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore which is expected to be operational in June next.

In this single ground station (segment), ISRO would be able to receive all the satellite data "making the (space) products in such a way that every day we will supply 1000 products to the users directly."

Now, NRSC is in a position to deliver space products within four-five days of receiving the data. This new ground segment would enable it to do it within 12 hours and supply "emergency products" within one hour.

Earlier, inaugurating a state-level conference on Karnataka State Geospatial Database, organised by the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre, Jayaraman stressed that GIS (geographic information system) and remote sensing experts need to leverage the power of cloud computing.

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## sudhir007

http://www.brahmand.com/news/ISRO-m...99s-X-Sat-satellite-next-month/5958/1/10.html

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to launch Singapore&#8217;s first satellite in orbit next month after a long delay and a four-fold cost overrun.

The launch of the satellite, dubbed X-Sat, has been delayed since 2007.

Experts estimated that the delay has raised the cost of the satellite four-fold to more than 40 million Singaporean dollars from earlier estimates of 10 million, according to a report in The Straits Times.

The satellite was earlier slated to be launched in December 2010. No reasons were given for the delay in the launch of X-Sat and it was not linked to the failure of ISRO&#8217;s Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on Christmas Day.

The X-Sat would ride on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has made 17 launches since its maiden flight in 1993, and has successfully put a total of 38 satellites into orbit out of 40.

The X-Sat, a refrigerator-sized micro-satellite, would be in orbit for three years at a height of 800 km.

It would take photographs to measures soil erosion and environmental changes on Earth, then relay them to a ground station at Singapore&#8217;s Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

&#8220;The experimental micro-satellite is in the final phase of preparation leading to its assembly on the PSLV rocket. Stringent checks would be carried out before the launch,&#8221; the paper quoted a NTU spokesman as saying.

But ISRO has not set a launch date, the spokesman added.
ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan had said that the PSLV was in the assembling stage.

&#8220;We will be doing the flight testing stage later in January, and are expecting it to be launched in the first week of February,&#8221; he was quoted as saying in recent media reports.

The 100-kg X-Sat would be one of the three riding on the PSLV rocket, said Radhakrishnan.

The X-Sat would make Singapore one of the first Southeast Asian countries to have locally-built satellite in space. The satellite is built by NTU, one of Singapore's top universities and research and development centres.

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## sudhir007

ISRO to launch two large communication satellites in 2011 - Brahmand.com

ISRO on Wednesday said it plans to launch at least two large communication satellites within this calendar year to tide over the scarcity of transponders due to the failure of two consecutive GSLV missions.

The space agency has also decided to turn to the tried and tested Arianespace for the twin launches scheduled for March and December 2011.

&#8220;We are going to launch GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 this year. These two satellites will reduce the scarcity of transponders and help us reduce the backlog,&#8221; T K Alex, Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, told reporters on the sidelines of the 98th Indian Science
Congress here.

Alex said the space agency has also been hiring transponders on other satellites as a temporary solution to clear the backlog.

The 51-m tall Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), carrying the 2.3-tonne advanced communications satellite GSAT-5P with 36 transponders, exploded barely a minute after it blasted off from the Sriharikota spaceport last month.

This was the second consecutive failure of a GSLV mission in nine months.

On April 15, the GSLV launched using an indigenously developed cryogenic engine failed to put the GSAT-4 in orbit.

Alex said ISRO also plans to launch the RISAT, Resourcesat-2, Meghtropiques and Youthsat satellites in 2011.

He said another communication satellite GSAT-12 will also be launched using a PSLV rocket sometime in the middle of the year.

On the December failure of the GSLV, he said a committee of scientists was going into the reasons of the failure and ways to correct it.

&#8220;We will go forward with a positive attitude,&#8221; he said.

Alex said ISRO is also developing its own cryogenic engine and ground tests for the same have been planned for this year.

&#8220;There are some very particular issues and we will try to solve them this year and possibly we will come out of it. Then we will be out of the red," he said. "Next year our own GSLV should be able to carry satellites,&#8221; he added.

Alex said ISRO was also helping universities develop smaller satellites &#8211; nano satellites &#8211; which also could be used to demonstrate nascent technologies.

Five institutes &#8211; IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Mumbai, Indian Institute of Space Technology, Sathyabhama Institute and Vellore Institute of Technology &#8211; have been building nano satellites.


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## sudhir007

GSLV?s German-made connectors snapped: ISRO

The 10 connectors that snapped prematurely destroying the Indian rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) &#8211; on December 25 were imported from Germany, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Space Summit session at the 98th Indian Science Congress, TK Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, said: "The connectors are German made."

On Christmas day, a GSLV rocket weighing 418 tonnes and costing Rs 175 crore (USD 38 million) and carrying an advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P veered off its flight path and disintegrated within a minute after lift off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

According to ISRO officials, commands from the rocket's on-board computers - located atop other equipments including the three stages/engines - are relayed through wires.

"As the three stages would separate after their work one after another, it is impossible to have long wires connecting the computers at the top and the stages located below. Hence, we have connectors, sort of plugs and sockets, to relay the commands and peel off smoothly when the stages separate," an ISRO official said.

According to ISRO, 10 connectors located below the Russian made cryogenic engine snapped leading to the rocket's failure.

Asked if it was a failure of the connectors, Alex said: "A committee has been set up to study the reasons for the connectors to snap. Even the back-up connectors snapped."

In July last year, an ISRO official said the failure of imported component for power systems was the reason for its satellites failing.

ISRO has lost two of its satellites - Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 - and INSAT-4B partially due to glitches in power supply systems.

ISRO, which is trying to get a foothold in the global communication satellite building market, suffered a setback as the W2M satellite built along with EADS Astrium for Eutelsat Communcations failed last year.

The Indian space agency imports the solar cells to make the solar panels that supply power to the satellite.


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## NmHqh2JbVo

sudhir007 said:


> GSLV?s German-made connectors snapped: ISRO
> 
> The 10 connectors that snapped prematurely destroying the Indian rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)  on December 25 were imported from Germany, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said on Wednesday.
> 
> Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Space Summit session at the 98th Indian Science Congress, TK Alex, director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, said: "The connectors are German made."
> 
> On Christmas day, a GSLV rocket weighing 418 tonnes and costing Rs 175 crore (USD 38 million) and carrying an advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P veered off its flight path and disintegrated within a minute after lift off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
> 
> According to ISRO officials, commands from the rocket's on-board computers - located atop other equipments including the three stages/engines - are relayed through wires.
> 
> "As the three stages would separate after their work one after another, it is impossible to have long wires connecting the computers at the top and the stages located below. Hence, we have connectors, sort of plugs and sockets, to relay the commands and peel off smoothly when the stages separate," an ISRO official said.
> 
> According to ISRO, 10 connectors located below the Russian made cryogenic engine snapped leading to the rocket's failure.
> 
> Asked if it was a failure of the connectors, Alex said: "A committee has been set up to study the reasons for the connectors to snap. Even the back-up connectors snapped."
> 
> In July last year, an ISRO official said the failure of imported component for power systems was the reason for its satellites failing.
> 
> ISRO has lost two of its satellites - Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 - and INSAT-4B partially due to glitches in power supply systems.
> 
> ISRO, which is trying to get a foothold in the global communication satellite building market, suffered a setback as the W2M satellite built along with EADS Astrium for Eutelsat Communcations failed last year.
> 
> The Indian space agency imports the solar cells to make the solar panels that supply power to the satellite.



Make sure the Germans pay for it. End of story.


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## sudhir007

India to have own satellite navigation system soon: ISRO

Chennai: India will shortly join a select group of nations having its own satellite navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) offering position, navigation and timing (PNT) services, an official of India's space agency said Wednesday.

"The IRNSS is a constellation of seven satellites - to be increased to 11 later - to offer PNT services that could be used by various organisations globally or regionally," said Suresh V. Kibe of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Speaking at the 98th Indian Science Congress held at SRM University in Kattankulathur near here, Kibe said there are two operational space navigation systems in the world -- US-owned Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) belonging to Russia.

He said that Europe's Galileo system and Chinese COMPASS system are also expected to be operational in the next five to ten years.

The PNT services find application in mobile phones, vehicles, aviation, maritime, emergency services, survey and others including military, Kibe said.

In the next 10 years, the number of navigation satellites is expected to be around 100, he said.

On ISRO's GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) project, Kibe said it will be used for landing of aircrafts with an accuracy of six metres and the target date of activating the system is 2012.

With the interests of space faring nations in exploring space colonization, emeritus professor P. Dayanandan said it is time for India to have a comprehensive space biology programme for self reliance and the success of current and planned space explorations.

He said 14 nations of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group hope that someday humans may live in other planets, most probably Mars and the most challenging issue is providing a permanent life support system.


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## SpArK

*NASA map will guide ISRO on Moon​*
The first ever complete map of Moons surface, being developed by US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), will show Indias second unmanned lunar missionChandrayaan-2the way around on Moon. Importantly, the map which is being readied by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Centre by using its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft that is orbiting Moon, will help Indias 2013-scheduled Chandrayaan-2 determine its precise landing point on the lunar surface, sources in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told DNA.

As a member of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group, India is in line to procure NASAs lunar map data when the work is completed somewhere in 2013, in time for Chandrayaan-2.

Chandrayaan-2 will comprise a 1,200 kg Russian-designed and developed moon lander carrying a single 15 kg rover developed by ISRO in collaboration with Russia.

The lander will also carry a 35 kg scientific payload powered by solar panels, equipment to analyse the lunar soil and detect the presence of water, a seismometer, a laser reflector, and will place a beacon to facilitate future Moon landings.

Scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Centre presented the details about the first complete lunar map at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on December 17.

According to scientists at Goddard, the data being compiled will include digital elevations and terrain maps that will act as reference for future scientific and human missions to the moon, beginning with Chandrayaan-2.

Gregory Neumann, geophysicist at Goddard said: After about one year of taking data, we already have nearly three billion data points from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) on board the LRO spacecraftWe expect to make measurements through the next two years.

The data will be used by space scientists for a period of six months before being put into the public domain, RR Navalgund, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre (SAC), told DNA.

Chandrayaan-2 will pick up from where Chandrayaan-1 left off after recording the discovery of water and water ice on Moon, particularly in Moons polar regions.

These regions are not reached by sunlight and not much is known about how deep these craters are near the lunar poles.


http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_nasa-map-will-guide-isro-on-moon_1492634


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## bhagat

Resourcesat-2 launch by end of Feb: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which had a recent setback with the failure of Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-FO6) mission carrying its latest communication satellite GSAT-5P, will launch Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite using PSLV C-16 version rocket by end of February 2011, said a top ISRO official.

&#8220;We will be launching three satellites in the next three months. They are PSLV C-16, PSLV C-17, and Resourcesat-2 and a series of communication satellites during the next year,&#8221; K Radhakrishnan, chairman, ISRO said


He told reporters on the sidelines of IMTEX 2011 here on Thursday he said the expert committee reports commissioned by ISRO on failures of GSLV on December 25 will be submitted by end of January.

ISRO would be launching &#8216;Resourcesat-2&#8217;, an advanced remote sensing satellite, &#8216;Youthsat&#8217;, a participatory scientific mission with payloads from both Russia and India, and X-sat, Singapore&#8217;s first indigenous satellite, onboard the homemade PSLV C-16 during February, March and April.

Resourcesat-2 is meant to replace Resourcesat-1, launched in 2003, to provide data connectivity.


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## truthseeker2010

*Antrix to boost market share in remote sensing data products*

Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), plans to increase its remote sensing data products market share with the launch of Resource-sat-2, a remote sensing satellite using PSLV C-16 version rocket next month.

Murthy Remilla, deputy director, business development (remote sensing) of Antrix said that the number of ground stations which the Antrix has been operating across the world may also go up from 20 at present.

"The number of ground stations will increase and the number of countries we service will also increase. Currently the Indian Remote Sensing data products are reaching around 70 countries either through a reseller or through our own ground station. Now we want to increase our presence in Latin America and Africa with the launch of new satellite. Additionally 2 to 3 ground stations may also come up in these areas," Remilla told PTI at the Geospatial World Forum-2011.

Replying to queries on revenues, Remilla said this year also they are likely to touch Rs 1,000 crore turnover mark.

"We have six operational satellites providing different services to various customers. Currently revenues from remote sensing market are at $20 million (about Rs 90 crore) and thus account for 10 per cent of Antrix revenue. With the launch of Resource sat-2, we are hopeful of increasing the market share," he added.

Speaking about the cost effectiveness of remote sensing products, he said the Antrix products are 20 to 50 per cent cheaper.

Currently Antrix has four satellites serving its customers in both domestic and international markets. The services of Resources sat-1 which is working beyond its term are being used by various international agencies like United States Department of Agriculture.

Antrix to boost market share in remote sensing data products


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## trident2010

We need to sort out the indigenous cryogenic engine as our top priority. Also ISRO should perfect the gslv design. It seems to have few problems without sorting it we cannot progress to manned mission. It was so heart breaking to see two gslv's failed back to back.


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## DV RULES

> *US eases some high-tech export curbs on India*
> 
> WASHINGTON: The US Commerce Department said on Monday it was easing restrictions of exports of high-technology goods to India in recognition of the two countries' stronger economic and national security ties.
> 
> "Today's action marks a significant milestone in reinforcing the US-India strategic partnership and moving forward with export control reforms that will facilitate high-technology trade and cooperation," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement.
> 
> It follows President Barack Obama's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November in New Delhi, where they announced plans to expand cooperation in civil space, defense and other high technology sectors.
> 
> It also contrasts with remarks made by US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit last week to the United States.
> 
> Geithner tied the possibility of increased US high-technology exports to China to movement by Beijing on currency and a number of trade reforms.
> 
> As a first step in implementing Obama and Singh's commitment, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security said it would publish a new rule changing how India was treated under Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
> 
> A key measure removes several Indian space and defense-related organizations from the US Entity List, which imposes extra export licensing requirements on foreign groups or individuals whose activities have aroused concern about the possible diversion of US high-technology products that could be used to build weapons of mass destruction.
> 
> Those removed from the Entity List include Bharat Dynamics Limited, four subordinates of India's Defense Research and Development Organization and four subordinates of the All Indian Space Research Organization.
> 
> The reforms also "realign" India's standing in the US export control regime by removing it from several country groups associated with proliferation concerns. It adds India to a more favorable category consisting of members of the Missile Technology Control Regime.
> 
> "These changes reaffirm the US commitment to work with India on our mutual goal of strengthening the global nonproliferation framework," Under Secretary of Commerce Eric Hirschhorn said in a statement.
> 
> Locke will lead 24 US businesses on a high-tech trade mission to India in February.
> 
> The group includes Boeing, Exelon Nuclear Partners, Lockheed Martin and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.
> 
> The delegation, which also includes senior officials from the US Export-Import Bank and the Trade Development Agency, will make stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
> 
> An administration official, who briefed reporters on condition he not be identified, said less than 1 percent of current US-India trade was affected by export controls.
> 
> However, "the perception of onerous export controls certainly has been a hindrance to high-technology trade over the years," the official said.
> 
> "The goal here is to make sure we are in the best possible place to ensure trade in defense, civil space and high-tech can proceed in an expeditious and ultimately prosperous fashion," the official said.
> 
> Even with the reforms announced on Monday, there will still to be licensing requirements on many sensitive US technologies that go to India, as there on some technologies to all countries, the administration official said.



US eases some high-tech export curbs on India


More opportunities in development of Indian space program.

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## trident2010

*US to provide detailed monsoon data this year*


WASHINGTON: Removal of Indian scientific and defense institutions such as ISRO and DRDO from the US Entity list this week could result in some unexpected riches raining on India. The immediate fall-out of the thaw between the non-proliferation establishments of the two countries is that the United States will begin to transmit from this year itself detailed estimates from an enhanced monsoon forecasting model developed by its experts.

The two countries, which already have exchanges in India's Chandrayaan program, will also enhance collaboration on future lunar missions, the international space station, human space flight, and data sharing, a key US official announced on Monday. "No longer will we treat India's space program as a target; rather, we hope that it will become a close partner," Robert Blake, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said in an address at Syracuse University, adding, "The possibilities of cooperation between the United States and India in space, to advance scientific knowledge and human welfare, are without boundaries and limits."

The US and India had extensive cooperation in space before it tailed off in the 1990s and collapsed in the aftermath of the Indian nuclear test in 1998. It has resumed in fits and starts but was bedeviled by the Entity List which placed four ISRO subsidiaries on partial sanctions. The offer to provide monsoon data, details of which was not revealed, is a little ironic since Washington denied India supercomputers to be used in weather forecasting in 1988, fearing it will be used for other purposes.

But in a sign that most of US proliferation concerns have eased given the geo-strategic changes, US commerce secretary Gary Locke will visit the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore during his visit to India next month to explore what the two governments can do to encourage greater cooperation in the space area. Among the items New Delhi would be interested is the cryogenic engine technology, crucial to India's advanced space missions.

For now though, Blake said as an immediate consequence of changes in the Entity List, "Indian farmers will see the fruits of our collaboration" as US and Indian space scientists work together on climate and weather forecasting for agriculture, navigation, resource mapping, research and development, and capacity building.

The exchange will not all be one-way. India, which is an emerging leader in earth observation with the second highest number of earth observation satellites in orbit, would also provide data for American fishing fleets to increase their catch thanks to the collection of tidal data as part of this initiative.

Beyond the immediate practical benefits, Blake said the United States has sought to ramp up high technology trade and collaboration by supporting India's full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes viz., Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement. All this, coming on top of the US endorsement of an Indian seat on a reformed US Security Council as a permanent member, "reflects our confidence that it is a country with which we will be working ever more closely to advance global security and prosperity," Blake, the top US official for the South Asia region, said.

Offering a military and security perspective of the relationship, the US official said the Indian government had also positioned itself to take on a leading role in enhancing global stability by finalizing a $4.1 billion sale for ten C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift transport aircraft. Once all the aircraft have been delivered, India will have the second largest C-17 fleet in the world behind the United States, which he called "a highly visible manifestation of the US-India defense partnership." The purchase of six C-130J transport aircraft in 2008 had provided the Indian Air Force a strategic airlift and humanitarian response capability that is "unique to the region and emblematic of India's ambitions to play an increasingly global role." 


US to provide detailed monsoon data this year - The Times of India


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## truthseeker2010

*ISRO, SGL JV to develop third version of IGIS*

After a successful launch of the second version of IGiS, India's first indigenous integrated GIS image processing software, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), alongwith its joint venture partner ScanPoint Geomatics Limited (SGL) is now planning to tap the need for microwave data processing. With the country set to witness the launch of a synthetic aperture radar satellite in the second half of 2011, the ISRO-SGL JV intends to develop the third version of IGiS to process microwave data emerging out of the satellite.

"Not many packages combine tools of image processing with GIS like IGiS does. With the synthetic aperture radar satellite to be launched in second half of this year, there will be a need for reading and processing the microwave data that will be generated from the satellite. The current version can only processing optical images and data and not microwave data. The next version of IGiS can focus on that need and create a fresh demand," said RR Navalgund, director, Space Application Centre (SAC), ISRO.


The recently launched second version of IGiS has more than 300 applications including advanced GIS analysis, terrain analysis, 3D modelling, hydrology modelling, raster GIS analysis, GPS tools, zonal tools, tracking analyst, decision support and uncertainty management. The IGiS 1.1 version offers multi-criteria and multi-objective evaluation techniques with decision alternatives. The product also includes image processing tools for automated feature extraction, object segmentation, change detection and time series analysis.

The JV between ISRO and Ahmedabad-based SGL began last year when the former floated a tender for development of an indigenous GIS image processing software which eventually SGL won. While the first version IGiS 1.0 was launched last year, the second version IGiS 1.1 was unveiled on Thursday.

On its part, SGL is also looking at providing software solutions for specific sectors like defence, mining, urban planning, land records and power line management. "We are looking at specific sectors for spatial planning solutions. We intend to provide total software development and support solutions to these sectors," said Arup Dasgupta, director, SGL.


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## truthseeker2010

* Rocket failure: ISRO awaits data from Russia*

Chennai, Jan 28 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is awaiting data analysis from Russia, who supplied the cryogenic engine, to finalise its report on the failure of the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket's failure soon after its December launch, according to a senior official.

An 11-member expert committee was set up to study the reasons for the disintegration of the heavy rocket Dec 25, 2010, shortly after lift-off.

'We are expecting some data from the Russians who had supplied the cryogenic engine. The Russians are expected to provide the data by the end of this month,' former ISRO chief G.Madhavan Nair, who heads the committee, told IANS.

'We have scheduled another meeting of the failure analysis committee (FAC) Feb 7 at Thiruvananthapuram where we hope to come to a conclusion as to the cause of the GSLV's loss,' he said.

The 418-tonne GSLV rocket (cost Rs.175 crore) carrying advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P (weight 2,310 kg, cost Rs.150 crore) veered off its flight path and began disintegrating within one minute after lift-off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

According to the ISRO, the primary cause for the rocket's failure was the snapping of 10 connectors that carry command signals from the onboard computer to the control electronics of the four strap-on motors in the first stage.

The committee is examining why the connectors snapped. It has met once in Thiruvananthapuram early January.

The German made connectors are fixed on a metal plate. The plate, in turn, is fixed to a shroud or cylindrical cover that comes between the cryogenic engine and the lower stage (engine).

According to Nair, the shroud made of composites is part of the Russian cryogenic engine and it got deformed due to the flight load. The committee is yet to conclude why the shroud was not able to bear the load.

Experts told IANS that the first 15 kilometres of a rocket's flight is a very crucial time as it is subjected to heavy atmospheric loads. It is more so when the rocket is escaping the earth's gravitational pull at 330 metres per second.

The flow of air along the rocket will be turbulent at the transonic speed - when the rocket crosses the speed of sound. At that point the air will attach to the rocket at some places and detach at some spots in a haphazard manner, the experts said, preferring anonymity.

The deformation of the cylindrical shroud is a structural failure and the reasons for that is what FAC is looking into.

Nair said some tests are being conducted in that connection.

ISRO has set up various sub-teams to study and analyse the flight data.

Compared to the other Russian cryogenic engines that powered the earlier GSLV's, the one that was fixed to the ill-fated Dec 25 rocket was 1.3 metres longer to contain higher fuel.

According to a retired ISRO official, the GSLV broke most likely due to the instability caused by the heavy satellite it carried.

Dismissing the contention, another ISRO official said: 'The increase in the satellite GSAT-5P's weight is just 90 kg as compared to the GSLV rocket that carried the GSAT-4, weighing 2,220 kg in April. Such marginal increase in weight will make no difference.'

He also discounted the possibility of the rocket becoming unstable because of the two-tonne increase in its overall weight as compared to the April GSLV rocket that weighed 416 tonnes.

'The rocket would have burned around 100 tonnes of first stage fuel by the time the problem started. So a mere addition of two tonnes to the rocket's weight would not make it unstable,' he added.

R.V. Perumal, a retired ISRO rocket scientist, said: 'When the rocket configuration changes, necessary calibrations will be carried out in its navigational systems, control dynamics and aerodynamics to make the mission successful.'

ISRO officials say the rocket's capability will be improved continuously so as to arrive at optimum level.

The GSLV rocket that blasted off in April 2010, powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine, stood 50 metres tall and had a lift-off weight of 416 tonnes. That mission too failed as there was a problem in the cryogenic stage built by the ISRO.

The standard configuration for GSLV is a height of 49 metres and a weight of 414 tonnes at lift-off whereas the rocket that went up in flames was taller by two metres and heavier by four tonnes.

Queried about the ISRO getting GSLV technology right, Nair said that the space agency has got the technology right for individual systems and the problem seems to arise when the systems are integrated into a single rocket. 

Rocket failure: ISRO awaits data from Russia


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## truthseeker2010

* BrahMos Aerospace to Make Cryogenic Rocket Engines for ISRO *

Indo-Russian Joint Venture and cruise missile developers BrahMos Aerospace will manufacture the cryogenic engine once the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) perfects the technology, said a senior official Sunday. The company is also hoping to induct its supersonic cruise missile into the Indian Air Force and develop hypersonic missile in six years' time, chief executive and managing director A.Sivathanu Pillai told reporters in Chennai.

"The ISRO is developing the cryogenic engine to power its GSLV (geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle) rockets. Once ISRO perfects the technology, we will make the engine as the space agency has asked us to do it." Pillai said. The company's wholly owned subsidiary BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvanthapuram Ltd (BATL) that already makes the liquid fuel powered engines and fuel tanks for rockets will make the cryogenic engine, he added.

BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India's Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) that holds 50.5 percent stake and Military Industrial Consortium/MPO Machinostroyenia of Russia holding the remaining stake. According to Pillai, $300 million has gone into the venture. Speaking about the supersonic cruise missile for the Indian Air Force, he said it will be ready next year.

"Our supersonic missile, traveling at Mach 2.8, hits the target with nine times more kinetic energy than other missiles in the world," he said. About the hypersonic missile that would have a speed of Mach 7 - or seven times the speed of sound - he said: "The basic technology is being developed. It will take around six years to come out with a missile." On the localisation levels achieved by the company in making missiles, Pillai said the Russians provide the engine components while Indian industries provide the guidance systems.

Last month BrahMos Aerospace and NPO Machinostroyenia signed an agreement ruling out any price escalation. The Russian partner also committed full support of its specialists so that some of the components that are now imported could be locally manufactured.

BrahMos Aerospace to Make Cryogenic Rocket Engines for ISRO | Aerospace19

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## SpArK

*India to study water on Moon​*
Future Chandrayaan series of India&#8217;s Moon missions will specifically study water and Helium 3 contents on the surface of Earth&#8217;s satellite.

This was the view expressed by Sayed Maqbool Ahmed,scientist at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and principal scientific 
officer at the University of Hyderabad, in the city on Monday.

Ahmed was addressing members of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Pune centre.

Delivering a talk on Chandra&#8217;s altitudinal composition explorer (Chace) used in Chandrayaan-I, he said, &#8220;India&#8217;s lunar missions showcase our engineering and technology skills, national pride and rejuvenates young minds.&#8221;

According to him, though imaging was difficult, Chace had provided direct evidence of water in the lunar environment.

The scientist was of the opinion that the success of Pokhran had inspired Indian scientists to think big and resulted in missions like the Chandrayaan-I.

Explaining Chace, Ahmed said the instrument was made to work at lunar temperatures and pass a thermo vacuum test and vibration test. Ahmed said, &#8220;Chace enabled us to realise that water on the moon was available beneath huge craters found on the southern and northern hemisphere.&#8221;

India to study water on Moon - Mumbai - DNA

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## ajay

NASA Lunar Science Institute

*India to Partner in 'MoonRise' Mission*

NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory has asked ISRO to partner in a proposed robotic mission to the lunar South Pole region

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## Kinetic

There is report on The Hindu that ISRO is ready to launch another *PSLV* with *Resourcesat-2* and couple of other satellites. It will be done within one week.

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## Kinetic

*PSLV already on the launch pad for some days but the launch have been postponed till 20th March as they have undertaken some more precautions regarding second stage. Though the same engine had 16 earlier successful flights but after GSLV failure and S-band scandal ISRO is not taking any risk. 


PSLV launch anytime after 20th March. *




ISRO tests rocket motor, delays satellite launch - Hindustan Times


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## Varad

* Isro likley to launch Resourcesat-2 in April*

NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is likely to launch Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite that will provide information on biophysical and geophysical parameters on the Earth's surface, from Sriharikota Space Centre in April. Youthsat, in collaboration with Russia, and Xsat, a venture with a Singapore laboratory, are the other two satellities that will also be launched then. 

The PSLV mission was earlier slated to be launched in the third week of January, which was postponed to February 24. Isro, which is still smarting under the Christmas Day disaster of the GSLV mission, decided to play it safe as scientists insisted on more tests. Consequently, the launch was called off two days ahead of the D-day. 

"Preparations are in last stages. Resourcesat-2 will be launched in April, but the date has not been fixed. It will be equipped with three advanced cameras that will transmit valuable geospatial data regarding biodiversity, forest cover, soil etc," said a senior official in the department of space. Resourcesat-2 is the first Indian satellite with space-based Automatic Identification System that can provide guidance to ships in distress.

Isro likley to launch Resourcesat-2 in April - The Times of India

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## Varad

*PSLV to be launched around April 10*

After a two-month delay, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) will be launched around April 10 to put Resourcesat-2 and two other satellites into orbit.

The PSLV-C16 was to have lifted off from Sriharikota in the first week of February, but the failure of the Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) on December 25, 2010, and the S-band spectrum scam that hit the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this year have cast a long shadow over it.

Though the four stages of the PSLV-C16 were fully integrated more than two weeks ago, the ISRO wants to play it safe after the GSLV-16 failure. Asked about the reason for the delay, an ISRO official said: &#8220;People are busy dealing with the fallout of the S-band scam and analysing the GSLV failure. The ISRO does not want another failure.&#8221;

ISRO officials said they did not want to take chances with the PSLV-C16 flight because several modules of the PSLV and the GSLV were similar. The GSLV's liquid engine stages and up-rated core solid engine stage are all derived from the PSLV, which has become the workhorse of the ISRO for putting into orbit remote-sensing satellites. The second stages of the GSLV and the PSLV, both powered by liquid propellants, are alike. Besides, the four liquid strap-on booster motors around the GSLV core first stage are derived from the PSLV's liquid stages. &#8220;We will therefore be extra careful. We cannot afford to lose face this time,&#8221; an ISRO rocket engineer said. Tests are under way on the PSLV's second liquid stage, because problems have surfaced there.

The PSLV-C16 will put into orbit three satellites: the ISRO's 1,200-kg Resourcesat-2; the 93-kg Youthsat, with a payload from Russia and two payloads from India; and the 103-kg X-Sat from Nangyang Technological University of Singapore. Resourcesat-2 is a continuation of Resourcesat-1, which was put into orbit on October 17, 2003. Resourcesat-1 is going strong, though it has lasted more than its mission life of five years. The images of the Resourcesat-2 will help in monitoring the health of crops, estimating crop yield, keeping a tab on deforestation and locating the groundwater. Youthsat is meant for studying the effects of the sun on the earth's upper atmosphere.

Two ISRO payloads in Youthsat are from the Space Physics Laboratory of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, and the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.

The X-Sat is a technology demonstrator with remote-sensing and communication payloads.

A standard PSLV version, which weighs 295 tonnes at lift-off and is 44 metres long, will put these satellites in orbit. The satellites will be mated with the rocket in April.

The Hindu : News / National : PSLV to be launched around April 10

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## Kinetic

> ISRO's 1,200-kg Resourcesat-2



Thats a huge satellite!!!! I think largest Indian remote sensing satellite so far.


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## tallboy123

Never mind


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## bhagat

*Isro likley to launch Resourcesat-2 in April*

NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is likely to launch Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite that will provide information on biophysical and geophysical parameters on the Earth's surface, from Sriharikota Space Centre in April. Youthsat, in collaboration with Russia, and Xsat, a venture with a Singapore laboratory, are the other two satellities that will also be launched then. 

The PSLV mission was earlier slated to be launched in the third week of January, which was postponed to February 24. Isro, which is still smarting under the Christmas Day disaster of the GSLV mission, decided to play it safe as scientists insisted on more tests. Consequently, the launch was called off two days ahead of the D-day. 

"Preparations are in last stages. Resourcesat-2 will be launched in April, but the date has not been fixed. It will be equipped with three advanced cameras that will transmit valuable geospatial data regarding biodiversity, forest cover, soil etc," said a senior official in the department of space. Resourcesat-2 is the first Indian satellite with space-based Automatic Identification System that can provide guidance to ships in distress.

Isro likley to launch Resourcesat-2 in April - The Times of India


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## Varad

*Capability to neutralise enemy satellites proved*

The fresh success of the interceptor missile mission on Sunday has demonstrated the country's capability to neutralise adversarial satellites in space, according to V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

India has &#8220;all the technologies and building blocks which can be used for anti-satellite missions&#8221; in the low-earth and polar orbits. However, &#8220;India's policy is that it will not weaponise space, and we are committed to the peaceful uses of outer space,&#8221; he said.

Out of the six interceptor missions conducted so far by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), five have been successful.

&#8220;FANTASTIC SUCCESS&#8221;

Dr. Saraswat, who is also the DRDO Director-General, called Sunday's mission &#8220;a fantastic success.&#8221; The interceptor boasted new technologies such as directional warhead, fibre-optic gyroscopes and a radio-frequency seeker that guided the interceptor to attack the incoming &#8220;enemy missile&#8221; at an altitude of 16 km above the Bay of Bengal.

The incoming missile, a modified Prithvi, blasted off at 9.32 a.m. from the launch complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa. It mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a 600-km range. In no time, radars at different locations swung into action, tracking the &#8220;enemy&#8221; missile, constructing its trajectory and passing on the information in real time to the Mission Control Centre (MCC) to launch the interceptor, an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile. It had a directional warhead to go so close to the adversarial missile before exploding to inflict the maximum damage on it. The interceptor had state-of-the-art guidance systems to achieve a manoeuvrable trajectory.

The MCC identified the attacker as a ballistic missile and assigned it to the Launch Control Centre (LCC) on Wheeler Island. After making quick calculations, the LCC launched the interceptor &#8220;right on the dot at the required instant,&#8221; Dr. Saraswat said. The AAD soared into the sky at 9.37 a.m. from Wheeler Island to take care of the &#8220;threat.&#8221;

The interceptor manoeuvred in the direction of the target, which was called the &#8220;least energy manoeuvre,&#8221; he said. The interceptor raced into the sky at 4.5 Mach. In the terminal phase of the attacker's flight, as it was hurtling towards the earth, the interceptor's radio frequency seeker &#8220;acquired the target, rolled the interceptor in the right direction and, when it was a few metres from the target, gave the command to the directional warhead to explode,&#8221; Dr. Saraswat explained.

The warhead detonated, blasting the attacker to pieces. The ground-based radars and the sensors on board the targeted missile tracked the debris, which rained down over the Bay of Bengal, &#8220;confirming a very good kill,&#8221; the DRDO Director-General said. &#8220;Based on the data from the target, a 100 per cent kill was achieved.&#8221; The radars were located at Konark and Kendrapara, near Paradip, in Orissa.

V.L.N. Rao, Programme Director; Avinash Chander, Director, Advanced Systems Laboratory, DRDO, Hyderabad; K. Sekhar, Chief Controller (Missile Systems and Low Intensity Conflict), DRDO; and S.P. Dash, Director, ITR, were present on Wheeler Island. Defence Minister A.K. Antony congratulated the DRDO missile technologists on the successful demonstration of the ballistic missile defence system.

Dr. Saraswat said the next test would be done later this year to intercept a 2000-km-range incoming missile at an altitude of 150 km. India's plans for putting in place the first phase of the two-layered ballistic missile defence shield by 2012 and the second phase by 2016 were on course. This would be done by integrating it with the Air Defence System of the Indian Air Force and the Army.

Only the U.S., Russia, France, Israel and India have the capability to put in place a ballistic missile defence shield. China is still developing it. It conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on January 11, 2010. The target missile, launched from Xichang, was intercepted and destroyed at an altitude of 700 km by a KT-2 variant missile that took off from near Korla in Xinjiang province.

The Hindu : News / National : Capability to neutralise enemy satellites proved


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## Varad

*Can Bhuvan give Google Earth a run for its money?*


NEW DELHI: Google Earth has competition at hand. Bhuvan, Indian Space Research Organisation's ( ISRO) answer to the Google application, is snapping at its heels. However, Bhuvan, a satellite mapping tool and the geoportal of ISRO that was launched a year and half ago, has to overcome a procedural hurdle. The department of space is awaiting the Union Cabinet's nod for the remote sensing data policy, 2011, that will replace the existing 2001 norms. 

The new policy envisages making public, pictures of upto 1 m resolution against the current 5.8 m. If the norms pass the muster, it will bring Bhuvan close to the 40 cm resolution of images available on Google Earth. Resolution is the technical word used for the minimum distance between two points on earth for them to appear as separate points in the projected image. Hence, smaller the resolution, the clarity of an image is better. 

Officials claim, ISRO has the capacity to produce images that have resolution of upto 80 cm. However, these images are not in public domain due to the data policy. 

"If some government or private institutions want the images for planning or other purposes, they are required to send a request to National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad, which gives due clearances. Images are made available after morphing high security installations," explained a senior official of the department of space. 

Bhuvan displays satellite images of Indian landscape -- in resolutions varying between 5.8 m and 55 m -- that allow surfers to view cities and various places of interest from a perpendicular view or from an angle. Users can navigate these places in 3D. However, unlike Google Earth, Bhuvan imagery doesn't boast of any commercial establishments like hotels. The indigeneous Google Earth also has an in-built weather application. 

"We've the capacity to pan on to the rest of the globe like other applications. As of now, we've limited ourselves to the political boundaries of India," an official explained. 

Bhuvan, official admit, hasn't been a runway success, thanks to its poor image quality. 

Can Bhuvan give Google Earth a run for its money? - The Times of India


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## Varad

*Group believes India will perform anti-satellite test*

The Secure World Foundation (SWF) hosted a special panel discussion on Tuesday to examine India's military space efforts and how their plans could influence overall Asian security.

The event, held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, was a follow-up from a SWF co-sponsored conference held in January in New Delhi intended to understand the primary forces behind India&#8217;s increasingly militarized space program.

India&#8217;s space program, managed by the Indian Space Research Organization, has very strong civil roots and has done much to improve the everyday lives of its citizens. However, India&#8217;s space efforts have taken over a more military tone with help from their own missile defense system.

India has been working on its own missile defense system and has held six test intercepts since November 2006, four were reported to be successful. The most recent test was performed on Sunday. Following that test, India&#8217;s Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, V.K. Saraswat, said India has &#8220;all the technologies and building blocks which can be used for anti-satellite (ASAT) missions&#8221; in the low-earth and polar orbits. ASAT weapons are launched into space to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic military purposes.

&#8220;A missile defense program can very easily be used as a technology demonstartor program for an ASAT capability,&#8221; said Victoria Samson, director of SWF&#8217;s Washington office.

The United States demonstrated this in 2008 when they fired a modified SM-3 missile from a Navy ship and destroyed a military satellite named USA 193 in orbit.

Space security is a growing interest in India.

&#8220;We know how important space has a role today, starting from your cell phones and other gadgets that you use,&#8221; Bharath Gopalaswamy told the audience at the event. Gopalaswamy is a researcher in the Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

In order to take out a 50-foot by 50-foot wall during World War II it would require 12,000 bombs, Gopalaswamy said. With today&#8217;s precision-guided munitions, that use Global Positioning System satellites to navigate, you just need one bomb.

&#8220;Every country values its space assets extremely highly,&#8221; Gopalaswamy said, &#8220;you want to protect them and you want to defend them. If I were the military, I would be saying I want all options on the table.&#8221;

India&#8217;s scientific community is open to having an ASAT test, according to Gopalaswamy. &#8220;They said test it, but be careful, about where you test it and how you test it.&#8221;

&#8220;India might do an ASAT test in the next five to 10 years,&#8221; said Rajeswari Rajagopalan, senior fellow at Observer Reseach Foundation, New Delhi.

But is ASAT development the biggest threat to satellites?

Increasing awareness of space debris and continued efforts to develop and implement international measures to tackle the problem is a major concern for all countries.

Significant on-orbit collisions, such as the collision of the French military satellite Cerise with a portion of an Ariane rocket in 1996, and Russia&#8217;s Cosmos 2251 crashing into Iridium 33 in 2009, have encouraged the recognition of space debris as a significant threat.

&#8220;As it stands today, in space, the probability of debris hitting a satellite is more than an adversary taking your satellite down,&#8221; Gopalaswamy said. 


Group believes India will perform anti-satellite test - Washington DC DC | Examiner.com


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## perplexed

^^ Dont double post


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## sudhir007

The Hindu : Today's Paper / NATIONAL : ResourceSat-2 launch scheduled for April 20

The launch of remote-sensing satellite the ResourceSat-2 has been tentatively scheduled for 10.12 a.m., April 20, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Saturday.

*1,206 kg satellite*

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) will launch the 1,206-kg satellite along with two other satellites &#8212; YouthSat and X-Sat &#8212; from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

ResourceSat-2, built by ISRO, is an advanced remote sensing satellite and designed for the study and management of natural resources.

YouthSat, weighing 92 kg, is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies. X-Sat is a microsatellite for imaging applications built by the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

All the three satellites have been integrated into the launcher, an ISRO release said. After the final phase of vehicle operations assessment is completed, the pre-launch and launch rehearsal procedures will be carried out.

*Board meet on April 16*

The Launch Authorisation Board is scheduled to meet on April 16 and will review the readiness of the launch vehicle, satellites and ground stations before authorising the launch of PSLV-C16.

*Countdown*

The countdown to the launch is expected to begin in the early hours of April 18. 

*# ResourceSat-2 has been designed for study, management of natural resources
# YouthSat is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar, atmospheric studies *


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## rockstarIN

*China, India lack transparency in satellite capacity rules*

WASHINGTON (PTI): US Trade Representative (USTR) has said that a lack of transparency in the rules governing the provision of satellite capacity of India and China is an issue of concern.

"China and India both generally require that foreign satellite capacity be sold through an intermediary ChinaDBSat or the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), respectively.

A lack of transparency in the rules governing the provision of satellite capacity in these countries is also a concern," USTR said in a report announcing the results of the 2011 annual review of operation and effectiveness of telecommunications trade agreements.

With respect to Mexico, commenters question the local presence requirement that Mexico imposes on foreign satellite service suppliers. They note that Mexico's GATS commitments include no such requirement for cross-border telecommunications services, the report said.

"Additionally, with respect to both India and Mexico, commenters express concern that these countries require mobile satellite operators to install a gateway in India or Mexico, respectively, as a condition for providing satellite services into their territories," it said.

Commenters consider these requirements burdensome and unnecessary from a technical standpoint to address the security concerns these countries have raised. USTR will continue to raise the commenters' concerns with China, India and Mexico regarding these issues, the report said.

The report also discusses issues relating to licensing of internet via satellite services and auctioning of mobile spectrum in Costa Rica, classification of value added services in China, and regulatory barriers to providing satellite services in China and India, as well as general problems with providing Voice over IP services in multiple jurisdictions.

"As evidenced by the innovative devices and services now helping drive US economic recovery, a vibrant telecom sector with access to global markets will contribute to our prosperity, and that of companies both big and small," US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, said.

"To ensure that US service and equipment suppliers can excel and contribute to the competitiveness of the US economy, we must continue to focus our efforts on identifying all barriers and encouraging our trading partners to remove them," he said.

The report again highlights concern that US trading partners are seeking ways to increase the rates US telecommunications operators must pay in order to deliver long-distance calls into the foreign operators' countries (the termination rate), resulting in higher costs for US carriers and higher prices for US consumers.

This year's report focuses on problems in Tonga, Ghana and Jamaica.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Indias agriculture sector is set to get a boost with the launch of Resouresat-2, a remote sensing satellite.

*This satellite will play a major role in rejuvenating the countrys farming operations*, a spokesman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, told DNA on Sunday.

Resourcesat-2 along with two other satellites would be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Indias gateway to the skies at Sriharikotta at 10 12 am on April 20, with Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16), ISROs main workhorse onboard.

*Resourcesat-2, weighing 1206 kg, has three electro optical cameras with high resolution. They will provide us information about agricultural crop discrimination, crop acreage and yield information,* he said.

Resourcesat-2, a sequel to Resourcesat-1, which was launched in 2003, will identify the entire arable land in the country. The cameras on the satellite are *capable of detecting pest attacks of any kind on the Indian sub continent*, the spokesperson said.

For the first time, Indian agricultural scientists and policy makers *will be able to monitor the crop in the entire country. The satellite will help them in estimating the annual crop yield, precision farming and water resources*, he said.

The uniqueness of the satellite is that policy makers will get a comprehensive idea about the crop yield well in advance. Any shortfall in yield could be known much earlier so that they will have enough time to get ready with contingency plans, he said.

Prof KC Bansal, senior scientist of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, said the data to be offered by Resourcesat-2 would be of revolutionary in nature. We can plan our farming operations months ahead, he said.

Source:Now, know pest threats in advance - India - DNA

Yeah!!! Go ISRO GO!!!


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## rockstarIN

*ISRO to launch PSLV-C16 carrying three satellites on April 20*

BANGALORE (PTI): Preparations for the launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) carrying three satellites, including RESOURCESAT-2, are progressing well at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 120 km from Chennai.

Besides RESOURCESAT-2, PSLV-C16 will also launch YOUTHSAT and X-SAT satellites.

The Launch Authorisation Board scheduled to meet on April 16, will review the readiness of the launch vehicle, satellites and ground stations and authorise the launch of PSLV-C16/RESOURCESAT-2 Mission.

The countdown is expected to begin in the early hours of April 18 and the launch of PSLV-C16 is tentatively scheduled on April 20 at 1012 Hrs (IST), an ISRO release said.

RESOURCESAT-2 built by ISRO - the primary satellite is an advanced remote sensing satellite weighing 1206 kg for facilitating the study and management of natural resources, the release said.

YOUTHSAT, weighing 92 kg, is a joint Indo-Russian satellite for stellar and atmospheric studies.

X-SAT, weighing 105 kg, is a microsatellite for imaging applications built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.

Integration of all the three satellites to the launcher has been successfully accomplished. After successful completion of final phase of vehicle checkout operations, pre-launch and launch rehearsal procedures will be carried out.

---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:55 PM ----------

*Indian-American plans to mine the moon*

BOSTON (PTI): A Silicon Valley start-up, founded by an Indian-American entrepreneur, plans to mine the moon and is in the process of building robotic rovers that will search the lunar surface for precious metals and rare metallic elements.

Moon Express Inc or MoonEx, co-founded by Naveen Jain, is building the robotic rovers alongside scientists at NASA's Ames Research Centre near San Jose, a report in the Los Angeles Times said.

While there is no guarantee that the moon is "flush" with these materials, MoonEx thinks it "may be a gold mine of so-called rare earth elements."

"From an entrepreneur's perspective, the moon has never truly been explored," the report quoted Jain, chairman and company co-founder, as saying.

"We think it could hold resources that benefit Earth and all humanity."

MoonEx's machines are designed to look for materials that are scarce on Earth but found in everything from a Toyota Prius car battery to guidance systems on cruise missiles, the report added.

"MoonEx should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013," Jain said.

"It's our goal to be the first company there and stay there." MoonEx comprises 25 employees, including former NASA engineers, and has received a NASA contract worth up to USD 10 million.

The company is among several others that hope to win the Google Lunar X Prize 30 million dollar competition that requires a privately-funded team to successfully land a robot on the moon's surface.

The robot must be capable of exploring at least a third of a mile and must also transmit high definition video and images to Earth before 2016.

Jain said the idea of exploiting the moon's resources for private gain is unlikely to be a concern.

"I also think that the moon will be treated no differently than the international water in our oceans," he said.

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## Varad

Acoustic test facility set up for ISRO satellites
_The hi-tech facility will be used to perform qualification and acceptance tests of satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)_


Bangalore: The state-run National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has set up a state-of-the-art acoustic test facility for satellites of the Indian space agency in this tech hub.

"The hi-tech facility will be used to perform qualification and acceptance tests of satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for communications and remote sensing applications," NAL said in a statement.

Located in the space agency's satellite integration and test establishment campus, the nitrogen-based acoustic test facility consists of a reverberation chamber for conducting the tests before a satellite is integrated with the rocket for launch into polar or geo-synchronous orbits from its spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km northeast of Chennai.

As satellites are launched by powerful rockets with very high velocity, the acoustic field created during the launch and trans-atmospheric flight can damage their structure. Once the spacecraft crosses the atmospheric layer, the satellites do not again experience such noise fields during their lifespan.

"It is essential to test all payload packages prior to the launch for mechanical effects under simulated conditions on the ground. The acoustic tests are designed to induce dynamic responses in the test specimen similar to those experienced in flight to qualify them under flight conditions to ensure trouble-free operation," NAL Director AR Upadhya said.

Unveiled by ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishna, the facility can also test the acoustic shielding efficiency of heat shields that are built around the satellite to protect from atmospheric hazards.

Though NAL has hitherto been conducting such tests at its acoustic test facility, the new facility has been located in the ISRO campus to undertake large number of tests at one place. 

"The facility, ninth of its kind the world over, has a control room, data room, ground checkout room air lock area and air handling units," the statement added.

Acoustic test facility set up for ISRO satellites | iGovernment.in

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## SpArK

*India to launch five satellites by June*

17 APR, 2011


CHENNAI: India will launch five satellites by June, including one for advanced remote sensing and two for communications, say officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

*The first launch, scheduled for April 20, will be of Resourcesat-2, intended for study and management of natural resources and sending back pictures and other data, and two other satellites. *

*India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions from better than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market. *

*ISRO will then launch two communication satellites - GSAT-8 from French Guyana and GSAT-12 from India - by June this year. These will serve the needs of the telecommunication and television sectors. 
*
Speaking to IANS, an ISRO official, who did not want to be named, said GSAT-8 will augment the growing demand for communication transponders (automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals). 

With India in the process of developing a rocket that could carry a three-tonne satellite, GSAT-8 will be launched by Ariane rocket from French Guyana some time this May. 

*Following that will be the launch of GSAT-12 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from ISRO's rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from Chennai. 
*
Weighing 1,425 kg, GSAT-12, with 12 extended C band transponders, is expected to be launched some time in June. 

The satellite is expected to serve the Very Small Aperture Terminal ( VSAT )) sector, used to transmit data like point of sale transactions or to provide satellite internet access and others. 

*Though PSLV rockets are largely used by ISRO to launch remote sensing/earth observation satellites, it has also been used to put into orbit communication satellites in geo transfer orbit (GTO). 
*
According to ISRO officials, the PSLV rocket that will carry GSAT-12 will weigh over 300 tonnes - heavier than the standard PSLV rocket that weigh around 290 tonnes at lift off. 

The rocket will be powered with much longer strap-on motors containing more fuel. 

*ISRO is also mulling the launch of another remote sensing satellite, Megha-Tropiques in July, to study and understand the life cycle of convective systems and their role in the associated energy and moisture budget of the atmosphere in the tropical regions. 
*
Pre-launch work is on at Sriharikota for the April 20 flight of the PSLV that will carry three satellites - the 1,200 kg Resourcesat-2 satellite, the 92 kg joint Indo-Russian nanosatellite Youthsat for stellar and atmospheric studies, and a 105 kg microsatellite X-sat for imaging applications, built by the Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University. 

"Everything is progressing well and the launch will be at 10.12 a.m.," S. Satish, ISRO's director, Publications and Public Relations, told IANS. 

*Resourcesat-2 was originally scheduled for launch in January this year but got postponed to February and then to April. 
*
Not wanting to risk a failure, the Indian space agency decided to test a gas motor fitted in the second stage/engine, powered by liquid fuel, for high temperature tolerance levels after dismantling the fully assembled rocket. 

This was the second time within an year that ISRO has dismantled a fully-assembled PSLV rocket to check out a component in the rocket's second stage. 

Last April, prior to the launch of Cartosat-2B satellite and a couple of other payloads, the rocket was dismantled to replace a faulty component. 

The 44-metre tall PSLV is a four-stage (engine) rocket powered by solid and liquid propellants alternatively. The first and third stages are fired by solid propellant and the second and fourth stages are fired by liquid propellant.



India to launch five satellites by June - The Economic Times


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## SpArK

Countdown for PSLV C16 launch to begin on Monday - Brahmand.com


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## bhagat

*Production of systems for satellites to be increased
*

The ISRO Inertial Systems Unit here will step up production of systems for satellites and launch vehicles because of ISRO's plan to increase the frequency of satellite launches to meet the rising demand.

The fabrication of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles is mostly done in Thiruvananthapuram, and various units under ISRO here are gearing up to meet the demand for components.

G. Ravindranath, who recently assumed charge as Director of the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit, said that besides the production of inertial systems, the fabrication of solar arrays and instruments for satellites was being stepped up.

The unit, which boasts facilities for precision fabrication, assembly and integration of systems and testing, is capable of making and delivering inertial systems for the country's entire space programme.
The Hindu : Cities / Thiruvananthapuram : Production of systems for satellites to be increased


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## Varad

*PSLV launch successful, satellites injected into orbit*

India&#8217;s PSLV&#8212;C16 rocket today successfully launched into orbit the latest remote sensing satellite Resourcesat&#8212;2 that would study and help manage natural resources along with two nano satellites.

ISRO&#8217;s homegrown workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle placed in a &#8216;Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit&#8217; Resourcesat-2, Youthsat and X-Sat about 18 minutes after it blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre launch pad here, 90 km from Chennai, at 10.12 am.

&#8220;PSLV-C16 Resourcesat-2 mission is successful,&#8221; a jubilant Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan announced shortly after all the three satellites were hurled into space one after another 822 km above earth in a text book launch.

The ISRO chief&#8217;s announcement was cheered by the battery of scientists at the mission control centre who heaved a sigh of relief as they were gripped by an added anxiety following two successive failures of GSLV missions last year.

The 1,206 kg Resourcesat-2 with a space life of five years replaces Resourcesat-1 launched in 2003 and would provide data with enhanced multispectral and spatial coverage on natural resources.

The GSLV mission in December last year failed when the homegrown GSLV F06 carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P exploded mid-air less than a minute after lift-off and fell into the Bay of Bengal.

GSAT-5P, carrying 24 C-band and 12 extended C-band transponders, plunged into the sea when the destruct command was issued as the rocket veered from its flight path.

Earlier, the GSLV-D3 mission carrying GSAT-4 had also failed in April 2010, dealing a blow to India&#8217;s space programme.

Today&#8217;s PSLV flight was its 17th successive mission after the failure of its maiden voyage in September 1993.

The Hindu : News / National : PSLV launch successful, satellites injected into orbit

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## Abingdonboy

^^^ great news, with NASA cutting back Asia can really fill the void and take the human race to the stars and beyond!!!


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## SpArK

*India puts S'pore-built satellite in space
*tabla!
Fri, Apr 22, 2011









WHILE many in Singapore were tucking into their lunch on April 20, a rocket carrying a small satellite built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in collaboration with DSO National Laboratories blasted off into space from India.

The satellite, called X-Sat and weighing 106kg, will be used for imaging applications.

The successful launch of the satellite (seen below with two other satellites) from India&#8217;s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota makes Singapore the first South-east Asian country to have its own locally-built satellite in space.

Following the launch, NTU president Su Guaning said in a statement: &#8220;We are delighted with the successful launch of Singapore&#8217;s first experimental micro-satellite into space. This represents a huge leap for our local research and development endeavours in space technology and building micro-satellites.&#8221;

The X-Sat, which was launched at 12.42pm Singapore time, will orbit the earth at a height of 800km. Work on it began in 2001. It carries a multi-spectral camera called IRIS which will take photographs to measure soil erosion and monitor environmental changes on earth. The satellite will relay information to a ground station at NTU and is expected to spend three years in space.

The launch of India&#8217;s PSLV C-16 rocket, which carried the X-Sat, was originally scheduled for a January 2011 lift-off. The dates were later moved to February, then March and finally to mid-April citing technical snags in the second stage motor. Over the past several months, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) staff have been working round-the-clock to ensure a picture-perfect mission for the PSLV C-16.

India&#8217;s space agency was under immense pressure owing to recent failures of the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle missions &#8211; on April 15, 2010, and on Dec 25, 2010.

In addition to the X-Sat, the PSLV C-16 rocket also put in space two other satellites &#8211; the Resourcesat-2 and the Youthsat.

The 1,200kg Resource Sat-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite designed by ISRO for the study and management of natural resources. The Youthsat, which is smaller at 95kg, is designed jointly by India and Russia and will undertake stellar and atmospheric studies.


India puts S'pore-built satellite in space


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## Burnz

Update on GSLV MK3

(a) & (b) The first Static Test (ST-01) of the S-200 solid booster stage of GSLV-MkIII, was successfully conducted in January, 2010 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre,Sriharikota. Presently, preparations are progressing for conducting the *second Static Test (ST-02) of S-200 solid booster stage. The test is planned during mid-2011.*
So far, *stage-level tests have been completed for the L110 liquid core stage twice*, at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragiri. The first test was conducted in March 2010 for a duration of 150 seconds; and the second test was for its full flight duration of 200 seconds, in September, 2010.

(c) & (d) *The work towards realization of C25 Cryogenic Engine for the GSLV-MkIII programme is progressing well. **Major sub-systems of the C25 Cryogenic Engine such as Gas Generator, Turbo-pumps for the Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) have been realised and tested.* Preparations for the testing of one of the major subsystem viz., Thrust Chamber are underway. *The integrated test of the C25 Cryogenic Engine is planned for end 2011*.


http://isro.gov.in/parliament/2011/Budget/LUSQ3347.pdf


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## Burnz

IS GSLV MK2 going to Fly this Year?

In a Speech by ISRO:



> After a gap of 2 & ½ years, we flew GSLV, that too with our Indigenous
> Cryogenic Stage on-board GSLV-D3 on April 15th. You may recall that
> performance of the first two stages was excellent in GSLV-D3; but the
> cryogenic stage did not sustain ignition beyond 0.9 sec. We learnt quite a
> lot from it. Corrective actions are underway with a series of static tests *and
> a flight test planned during the year.*



http://www.isro.gov.in/Ourchairman/present/_notes/Addr_Trends-in-Optics-and-Opto.pdf


Does the Flight test of a Cryogenic Engine mean an Actual Flight?


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## sudhir007

Three satellites in good health | idrw.org






The three satellites put in orbit on Wednesday by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) are &#8220;absolutely fine,&#8221; officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Thursday.The Resourcesat-2, the Youthsat and the X-Sat were in good health and working satisfactorily, they said.

The Resourcesat-2, an advanced remote-sensing satellite, will replace the Resourcesat-1, which was put in orbit in October 2003. The Resourcesat-2 has been fitted with three sophisticated cameras, and the first images of the earth are expected on April 28. Though the Resourcesat-1&#8242;s life was five years, it was still sending pictures of the earth.

The images from the Resourcesat-2 will be useful in estimating the acreage of crops and the stress they are under, keeping a surveillance on pests, locating groundwater, identifying schools of fish in the sea, predicting the advance of glaciers, monitoring water bodies and keeping a watch on deforestation or changes in the rural and urban landscape.

They can also be used for estimating the salinity or acidic conditions of the soil owing to the excessive use of fertilizer, and for disaster management, mapping wetlands and categorising wasteland.

The Resourcesat-2 also carries a payload from Canada, which receives signals from ships and provides information about their location and speed. The estimated life of the satellite is five years, and its images will be used by more than 15 countries.

The Youthsat has three payloads &#8212; one from Moscow University and two from ISRO. Together, they will help in investigating the relationship between activities in the sun and the thermosphere-ionosphere above the earth. The X-Sat of the Nangyang Technological University of Singapore is an earth-viewing satellite.

The Resourcesat-2 is India&#8217;s 18th remote-sensing satellite. A series of Indian Remote-sensing Satellites (IRS) have been put in orbit, beginning with IRS-1A in March 1988.

&#8220;The imaging systems in the IRS series have demonstrated India&#8217;s technological leadership at the global level in observing the entire earth,&#8221; an ISRO official said.

The nine IRS in service now are the Technology Experiment Satellite, the Resourcesat-2, the Cartosat-1, 2, 2A and 2B, the Indian Mini Satellite-1, the Radar Imaging Satellite-2 and the Oceansat-2.

They make the IRS system the largest civilian remote-sensing satellite constellation in the world.


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## SpArK

*Resourcesat-2, Youthsat, X-Sat functioning satisfactorily: ISRO​*





BANGALORE (PTI): The country's latest remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and two micro satellites launched by home grown PSLV-C16 rocket on April 20 from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh "are functioning satisfactorily", ISRO said.

"All three satellites were placed in the targeted orbits with high precision," the Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement here.

In its 17th consecutive successful flight, PSLV-C16 injected Resourcesat-2, Youthsat and X-sat (of Nanyang Technical University, Singapore) into polar sun synchronous orbit on last Wednesday.

With the precise injection of Resourcesat-2, about 20 kg of fuel allocated for the probable dispersions in injection was saved which would help enhance the five year operational life of the satellite, it said.

Immediately after injection of Resourcesat 2, its two solar panels were deployed and three Imaging Cameras oriented towards Earth, it said.

Orbital trimming manoeuvre was conducted successfully on April 22 and Resourcesat-2 is now placed in the final orbital configuration in a sun-synchronous polar orbit.

Operation of the Imaging cameras is scheduled to commence on April 28, the statement said.

The first imaging pass on April 28 is expected to cover about 3000 km stretch of Indian land mass from Joshimut in Uttarakhand to Kannur in Kerala.

The statement said the health of Youthsat is normal.

Control and command operations for Resourcesat-2 and Youthsat satellites are being carried out from ISRO&#8217;s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Centre (ISTRAC) at Bangalore, connected to a network of ground stations at Lucknow, Mauritius, Biak (Indonesia), Svalbard (North Pole) and Troll (South Pole).

The Earth Station of National Remote Sensing Centre at Shadnagar (near Hyderabad) has been geared up for Resourcesat-2 data reception on April 28.

Payload data from Youthsat is being processed at the Indian Space Science Data Centre at Bylalu, (near Bangalore).

A report by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore stated that the health of X Sat and performance of various on-board sub-systems are normal.

Resourcesat-2, Youthsat, X-Sat functioning satisfactorily: ISRO - Brahmand.com


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## sudhir007

Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: April 28, 2011

RESOURCESAT - 2 Sends High Quality Images

The Cameras of RESOURCESAT-2, were switched on today and Images of high quality were received at the Shadnagar Earth Station of ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre.

The three Multispectral Cameras onboard RESOURCESAT 2, namely (a) Advanced Wide-Field Sensor (AWiFS) with 56 meter spatial resolution, (b) the Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor (LISS-III) with 23.5 meter spatial resolution and (c) LISS-IV Camera with 5.8 meter spatial resolution were switched on, as planned, during its 115th orbit today (April 28th) at 10.45 hrs IST. The satellite pass covered a 3000 km stretch of Indian landmass from JOSHIMUT (in Uttarakhand) to KANNUR (in Kerala). Images received from the three Cameras were of high quality.

RESOURCESAT-2, launched by PSLV-C16 on April 20, 2011, will ensure continuity of remote sensing data currently being provided by RESOURCESAT-1 launched in 2003. This data will be used for a host of applications and services in the area of agricultural monitoring, natural resources management, disaster management support as well as infrastructure planning.

After due calibration and validation planned during the next few weeks, Resourcesat-2 data will be made available operationally to the user community.


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## RPK

Imagery of Delhi and surrounding areas taken by cameras of remote-sensing satellite Resourcesat-2. Photo: ISRO







Imagery of Surat and surrounding areas taken by cameras of Resourcesat-2. Photo: ISRO






Imagery of Bareilly and its surroundings taken by the cameras of Resourcesat-2. Photo: ISRO






Imagery of Dubai and its surroundings taken by cameras of remote-sensing satellite, Resourcesat-2. Photo: ISRO


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## MumbaiIndians

WOWOWOWOW!!!! pics are so sexy!! specially Delhi! ...


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## trident2010

*ISRO puts on hold moon mission Chandrayaan 2*


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to review the entire Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) programme that involved two crashes last year and one in 2006.

As a result, all major launches, including the second moon mission - Chandrayaan 2 - are being rescheduled. The space agency had earlier announced that it would be using the last of the seven cryogenic engines it had sourced from Russia, but is now uncertain about it.

A meeting of the Space Commission on June 1 is expected to advice the ISRO on the future course of the GSLV, ISRO chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan said on Saturday. "We want to make GSLV a reliable vehicle," Radhakrishnan said, adding that the reassessment of the programme is priority work considering its importance in future missions.

The derailment of the GSLV programme is going to affect the launch of Chandrayaan-2, which now stands postponed by nearly two years. It will now be launched in 2014. The next flight of GSLV with an Indian cryogenic engine is now slated for 2012. If successful, it will be used for the second moon mission in 2014.

A modified version of GSLV is the preferred vehicle for the yet-to-be cleared manned mission to moon too, for which critical technology and human safety features are being developed, scientists said. According to Radhakrishnan, the 2012-GSLV flight will be a litmus test for the space agency. "On that flight we don't want to put a high-technology satellite," he said. He informed that the launch vehicle will carry a two-tonne communication satellite called GSAT 6. If that goes well then another two-tonne satellite, GSAT 7, will be put into orbit using the GSLV.

A panel led by former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair has done a failure analysis of the crash of GSLV-F06 flight on December 25 last year and identified a design problem in the shroud at the bottom of the Russian-made cryogenic stage. Cryogenic technology holds importance as it is crucial for economic and efficient launch of heavy satellites.

The Christmas day fiasco had closely followed the crash of GSLV with an Indian cryogenic phase on its test flight on April 15 last year. "The problem involved a faulty fuel pump and the precision mechanics of its motor is being tweaked by ISRO experts," Radhakrishnan said.

Earlier, the GSLV-F02 that launched INSAT-4C on July 10, 2006 was unsuccessful too. All the seven flights of GSLV so far have been reviewed by a panel led by former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan. The panel submitted its report in the last week of April.

A third panel that includes veteran scientists Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Prof MGK Menon and Prof Yashpal is reviewing the two reports together and will advise ISRO accordingly, Radhakrishnan said. He added that the Russian space agency that supplied the seven cryogenic upper stages has acknowledged ISRO's concern regarding the design problem in GSLV- F06. S. Ramakrishnan, director of ISRO Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiamala, said that the problem had been noticed earlier too, though it did not cause an accident.


:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

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## trident2010

Its good that finally ISRO revewing its entire GSLV programme. What we need a reliable heavy launch vehicle and it is only possible after looking into entire design of GSLV. We waited for that many years few more years wouldn't hurt.

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## MumbaiIndians

Great. Better slow and safe. 

More time spent in design improvisation stage will save many years of work ahead.


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## bhagat

*Bangalore: Launch of Indian satellite put off to May 21
*

Bangalore, May 16 (IANS) The launch of and Indian geo-stationary satellite (GSAT-8) on board an Ariane-V rocket from Kourou in French Guiana has been postponed by a day to May 21, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said late Monday.

"The launch postponement has been necessitated for certain additional inspection by the launch agency Arianespace. The timing of the launch will be confirmed soon," the Indian space agency said in a statement here.

The indigenously built 3.1-tonne (3,100kg) GSAT-8 has 24 Ku-band transponders for direct-to-home (DTH) services by state-run and private broadcasters.

Earlier, the European Space Agency's (ESA) informed the Indian space agency that GSAT-8 would be launched May 20 at 02:27 IST from its Kourou spaceport in South America.

Within 30 minutes after the launch, Ariane will deploy the heavy satellite in a elliptical geo-synchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and the space agency's master control facility (MCF) at Hasan in Karnataka, about 180 km from Bangalore, will take over its command and control.

The satellite will be gradually put in the 36,000km geosynchronous orbit over the subsequent days and its antenna and solar panels will be deployed. The MCF will also test and monitor the health parameters of the payloads by June 1. It will be available for DTH services from next month.

Along with GSAT-8, the space agency is sending the global position system (GPS) aided geo augmented navigation (Gagan) to improve the accuracy of the United States' GPS.
Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!


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## sudhir007

Success of GSAT-8 and Future of India

India's advanced communication geostationary satellite, GSAT-8, was successfully launched on May 21, 2011. The satellite was put in orbit from French Guiana by the Ariane-V launch vehicle. Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s (ISRO) master control facility has already started acquiring signals from this satellite. It would take a few more days for this satellite to become fully operational.

GSAT-8 has 24 transponders to expand India's Ku-band relay potential. This band offers certain advantages to the user. For instance, it requires a smaller dish size of antenna and has cheaper operational cost. Also, television transmission does not get degraded during rains. Presently, India has seven communication satellites in space, which provide 151 transponders. With GSAT-8, India&#8217;s transponder capability has increased to 175. There is a need to boost this capacity further mainly because it has significant commercial utility.

GSAT-8 is also equipped with the two-channel GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) system., which is meant for boosting GPS signals to achieve accuracy of three metres. This would assist civil aviation in a big way. GAGAN has been delayed because of the absence of suitable hardware in space. The first GAGAN transmitter was integrated into the GSAT-4, which was part of the launch mission that failed on April 15, 2010. GAGAN is expected to expand its reach up to Africa and South East Asia.

ISRO has plans for developing an autonomous regional navigation system called the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) consisting of seven satellites to cater for the requirements over the region. GAGAN would support this effort too. It is important for the Indian security establishment to factor the accuracy provided by GAGAN in their planning. At least, theoretically, if India has to conduct an operation on the lines of the US Operation Geronimo in Abottabad, GAGAN offers a better system for location identification and navigational support for flying machines.

In the case of GSAT-8, it was important to depend on France to launch this 3,100 kg made-in ISRO satellite, because India is yet to master the art of putting heavy satellites (say 2500 kg or more) into space. In December 2010, the Indian geosynchronous launch vehicle GSLV-FO6 carrying the 2,310 kg GSAT-5P satellite had failed. Earlier, in April 2010, the GSLV-D3 mission with the first Indian made cryogenic engine had also suffered failure. These twin failures were a significant blow to the Indian space programme because it demonstrated the limitations of India&#8217;s indigenously developed cryogenic technology and has raised questions about the GSLV programme. India has major ambitions in space and has achieved some significant successes in the past. However, the failures in 2010 are expected to cause significant delay in the country&#8217;s space programme, given that ISRO is expected to conduct an overall audit of its GSLV programme to identify vulnerabilities before undertaking any future launches. This appears to be a correct decision in the overall interest of the Indian space programme. However, this means that India&#8217;s second moon mission (Chandrayaan-2) is likely to get delayed further and could also impact some other programmes.

At present the principal question is: what is the future of ISRO&#8217;s indigenous cryogenic programme? How much more time would it take to test this technology again? It looks unlikely that the Russian space agency, which had provided cryogenic engines earlier, is in a position now to do the same given that it has stopped the production of these engines. This leaves ISRO with two options: continue to develop the cryogenic technology; or, continue to rely on outside support for launching satellites.

India has 30-year-old relationship with the French space agency Ariane. Since 1981, Ariane has been launching Indian satellites and could even be called as the unsung hero of India&#8217;s INSAT programme. Till date it has launched 14 satellites for India, and will launch the GSAT-10 as well in 2012.

At this point it is important for India&#8217;s strategic and technological decision makers to take note of two recent events: the success of satellite technology in Operation Geronimo to kill Osama bin Laden and the failure of India&#8217;s satellite architecture to identify the location of the accident site of the helicopter carrying the Arunachal Chief Minister. Bin Laden&#8217;s killing clearly demonstrates the relevance of satellite technology in the era of asymmetric warfare. On the other hand, India missing the signature of the crashed helicopter brings to the fore the limitations of this technology while at the same time raising questions about the quality of India&#8217;s sensor technology and satellite imagery interpretation expertise.

Presently, the security situation in India&#8217;s neighbourhood has become extremely complicated and Indian security agencies are likely to depend more on satellite technologies for the purposes of reconnaissance, communication and navigation. Each of the three Services needs dedicated satellites to cater for its requirements. ISRO was expected to launch a satellite for the Indian Navy in 2011. What is the future of this launch? Will ISRO&#8217;s plans, &#8220;to go back to the drawing board&#8221;, have any impact on India&#8217;s security preparedness? If so, does India have a Plan B in place?


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## hembo

*Build satellite service station, Kalam tells ISRO*
PTI | 10:06 PM,Jun 01,2011 

Bangalore, Jun 1 (PTI): Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today suggested that Indian Space Research Organisation build a space satellite service station in geo-synchronous orbit as he saw an opportunity for it in this field. Kalam, himself an aclaimed rocket scientist, said many satellites in the geo-synchronous orbit face problems relating to power and fuel after three or five years in service. He wanted ISRO to take advantage of this opportunity to service such satellites. Speaking after releasing a book titled "All About Rockets", written by S K Das, at ISRO headquarters "Antariksh Bhavan" here, Kalam also spoke about other opportunities for ISRO in the area of low cost access to space. Noting that globally, it cost USD 20,000 to launch one kg payload, he said ISRO should strive to do this for USD 2,000 using nanotechnology, single-stage and reusable techologies. Kalam also suggested that ISRO work towards building solar-powered satellites. Later, interacting with students, he said living on the Moon and Mars is a must for human beings (in some decades from now). "..because we are about six billion people (global population), going into eight billion. We need more space,more materials, more energy. So we need one more planet (to live)". He said he expects Indians to land on Moon and Mars in the 2025-2035 timeframe


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## hembo

*GSAT-12 to be launched in July second week *

Special Correspondent 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GSAT-12 to be launched from Sriharikota on a PSLV C-17

Built at a cost of Rs.148 crore, it has 12 transponders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BANGALORE: On the heels of the successful launch of its communication satellite GSAT-8, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to launch the next communication satellite GSAT-12 in the second week of July.

Announcing this at a news conference here on Wednesday, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the satellite would be launched from Sriharikota on a PSLV C-17 vehicle.

It would be moved from Bangalore to Sriharikota on Thursday for conducting various pre-launch tests. The assembling of the launch vehicle had also commenced.

GSAT-12, built at a cost of Rs.148 crore, has 12 transponders in an extended C-Band and will help users in the field of tele-medicine, tele-education, social services, etc. The launch vehicle was expected to cost about Rs.100 crore.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the services of GSAT-8 satellite, launched on May 21, was expected to be available for users by June-end. In-orbit tests of transponders of the satellite would be held for three weeks, from Thursday. The satellite had been put on 55 degree east of geo-station orbit on Wednesday. Users of some of the decommissioned satellites would be moved to this, he said.

Referring to the recommendations made by a committee which looked into the failure of GSLV in December 2010 and another committee that examined the entire GSLV programme, Dr. Radhakrishnan said ISRO had now decided to &#8220;put all the focus&#8221; on developing indigenous cryogenic engines that powered Mark-II launch vehicles.

He said there were no major problems with respect to the design.

However, discussions had started with Russia regarding finetuning of the engine procured from them.

Special Correspondent reports:

As a fall-out of the controversial S-Band deal, ISRO's commercial arm &#8212; Antrix Corporation &#8212; is all set to get a full-time Chairman and Managing Director in a couple of weeks. Dr. Radhakrishnan said the Space Commission had cleared the recommendation of the name made by a three-member committee, comprising himself, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India R. Chidambaram, and Space Commission Member (Finance) Venkatesh Bhat and had been forwarded to the Prime Minister for clearance.

He said Antrix would be strengthened by getting more full-time experts with significant experience. Its performance would be reviewed every year by the Space Commission.

Besides, an ISRO team would monitor and coordinate with it, he noted.

Noted Scientist Roddam Narasimha, who is part of the two-member panel which probed the controversial Antrix-Devas deal, said the committee had submitted its report to the Prime Minister, but refused to divulge any details.

&#8220;We have done our duty. Let the Prime Minister take a decision on the report.&#8221;


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## brational

The thread is ok, but what is the use of it in posting in this forum? I hvnt seen any commendable relpy from our neighbour.. 
But yes this is the most potent area where both Pakistan and India can jointly explore as a CBM.. Why dont we try it? We have too many differences, lets try something in common and do something productive.. Do not take it as a troll.. 

PS: Mod, I wanted to put an Indian Flag but its not there.. Arrange for a Flag at the earliest..


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## RPK

*ISRO to flight test indigenous cryogenic stage onboard GSLV-D5* 

ISRO to flight test indigenous cryogenic stage onboard GSLV-D5 - Technology news

Tirunelveli: India will undertake the flight test of its indigenous cryogenic stage on board homegrown rocket GSLV-D5 which will launch GSAT-14 by the middle of 2012, a top ISRO official has said.
ISRO to flight test indigenous cryogenic stage onboard GSLV-D5


A facility for static testing of the cryogenic engine would be ready in another two months at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion's Systems centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in this district, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

The new thrust chamber facility for static testing would be a big boon for the LPSC, Radhakrishnan told reporters at the LPSC yesterday after inaugurating a two-day National Conference on "Expanding Frontiers in Propulsion Technology.

The maiden flight test of the indigenous cryogenic stage by ISRO onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-D3 ended in a failure in May, 2010 after the stage developed some snag and the rocket plunged into sea minutes after liftoff.


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## sathya

Satellite to operate GAGAN sys in position: Official
GAGAN ISRO Aviation 
Posted On: Jun 26, 2011 




A file photo
NEW DELHI (PTI): The satellite to operate the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system that will offer seamless navigation to air traffic over the Indian Ocean and the Indian airspace has been positioned. 

"The initial phase is now over. The satellite is now in position," Airports Authority of India Chairman V P Agarwal said here. 

"We are now going through the certification stage of the Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) and we will have certification of the system by June 2013," he said at a recent workshop on aviation safety organised by the Aviation Watch journal. 

Along with trials, GAGAN's certification process is being carried out with Directorate General of Civil Aviation and other bodies, with the AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developing it. 

India would become the fourth country in the world to adopt this system which would enhance the accuracy and integrity of GPS signals to meet precision approach requirements in the civil aviation, official sources said. 

Others using similar technologies are the US, the European Union and Japan. 

Once operational, GAGAN would provide augmented information for satellite navigation to aircraft flying over Indian airspace and routes over high seas with high level of accuracy, integrity and continuity during the entire flight operations - from take-off to landing, they said. 

The GAGAN transmitter is to be integrated with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to provide an SBAS over Indian airspace. 

The project is currently in the final operational phase and is scheduled to be completed by June 2013.


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## trident2010

*India mulls options on human space flight programme*









India is weighing the pros and cons of going in for collaboration for its ambitious human space flight programme but a final decision would be driven by the extent of technological gains accrued to New Delhi from it.

Different models are possible in undertaking the proposed mission, first mooted nearly a decade ago, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K. Radhakrishnan told PTI.

Mr. Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission, said there is a lot of discussion globally on collaboration in human space flight programmes (not Indiaspecific, but general in nature).

So, then, we should decide what we have to do in this area. There are different models available, he said.

One possibility is to have a human being (Indian) flown in Soyuz (Russian rocket) or some other system. Its like paying the money, getting into it, conduct a small experiment and come back. Thats one part of it, he said.

Another model is to make a crew module indigenously and use a man-rate vehicle (rocket) of a foreign space agency, and the third option for India is to develop the rocket and associated technologies on its own and undertake the mission.

All these things are there. The question is how much technology you will earn, what benefit you will get out of it (in case of collaboration). One has to weigh it because you (India) must have a long-term programme for it (human space flights). We are not doing for the sake of doing it (the human space flight mission) actually, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

The question is when you take it (the programme) into future direction, how does it help you, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

All these models are possible. We are not closed on any of these options. But one has to study as to how does it lead you to the future, he added.

Asked if ISRO would initiate discussions with US and Russian space agencies for possible collaboration, he said, All these discussions will take place, and added that the entire space community is generally interested in such programmes (internationally).

On whether India is open to collaboration on this programme, Mr. Radhakrishnan said there are no hard positions on this. But one has to look at it. We have to weigh pros and cons. Finally, (the decision depends on) what benefit India gets in the immediate term and in the long term. Even as it weighs options, ISRO is busy working on critical technologies needed for this complex mission.

The programme envisages the development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members to about 300 km low earth orbit and their safe return.

Three major areas that ISRO needs to master are, environmental control and life support (ECLS) system, crew escape system and flight suite and its currently working on them, under pre-project studies for which the Government sanctioned Rs 145 crore.

ISRO conducted initial studies for four years from 2002 to examine the technological challenges for the programme, then called manned space mission, and Indian capability.

In 2006, about 80 senior scientists from across the country who attended a meeting convened by ISRO, were highly appreciative of the study conducted by the space agency and unanimous in suggesting that the time is appropriate for India to undertake such a mission.

Since then, the Space department has been engaged in pre-project activities to study technical and managerial issues related to undertaking the mission with an aim to build and demonstrate the countrys capability.

At the time, the preliminary estimated cost for the proposed mission was Rs 10,000 crore spread over a period of eight years, including setting up mission-specific facilities.

Subsequently, it was scaled up to Rs 12,400 crore in 2007-08.

ISRO officials indicated then in private that the mission could take place in 2015-16 time-frame if every thing went as planned but the space agency had never committed itself on the likely dates, always maintaining that seven to eight years are needed once the project is taken up.

Even today, the project, per se, is yet to be taken up though work on various technologies is underway.

The twin-failure of the home-grown rocket, GSLV, last year -- one with indigenous cryogenic engine and stage, and another with the imported Russian one -- has certainly put the clock back by two-three years.

Asked if one could expect the human space flight only towards the end of this decade, Mr. Radhakrishnan refused to commit a time-frame.

See, it takes its own time. You have to have that time. You have to have your vehicle (rocket), he said.

Bangalore-headquartered ISRO said its PSLV (rocket) cannot be used for such a mission as it does not have capacity and GSLV-MK II has a limitation that it can take only two persons. GSLV-MK III which is under development certainly can take three persons with some more space left.

When you have to take up human-rating activity, you have to decide on which vehicle. So the vehicle has to be (first) proved for unmanned flight. We are at that stage now. So, we have to decide whether GSLVMK II or MK III that we will do this human rating, he said.

Then, we can have the mission. Without a vehicle, talking about a mission has not much of a challenge actually, the ISRO Chairman said.

ISRO says it has to have a couple of good flights of GSLV before it could talk about the mission per se. First priority is to have GSLV flight with indigenous cryogenic and meeting the mission requirements, he said.

The next GSLV flight is scheduled only after April next year. Mr. Radhakrishnan said, the human space flight mission can take place seven years from the projects start, which he would not be able to say right now.

Lets not talk about the mission, per se. But critical technologies we are working on, he said.

He said a number of mission-specific facilities, such as one for astronauts, mission control centre and launch pad, need to be established.

The selected astronauts would have to undergo a training course for two-and-half-years.



The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : India mulls options on human space flight programme


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## Kyusuibu Honbu

*
ISRO launches communication satellite GSAT-12

*​


> Sriharikota: India's latest communication satellite, G-SAT 12, was launched today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
> 
> The satellite was launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
> 
> For the present mission, PSLV-XL, a more powerful version of the rocket, was used for the launch.
> 
> GSAT-12, weighing 1,410 kg and equipped with 12 Extended-C band transponders, will augment communication capabilities in telemedicine, tele-education and telephone and other services.
> 
> In PSLV-XL version, six extended solid strap-on motors carrying 12 tonnes of solid propellant in total are being used as against nine tonnes in a standard PSLV variant, K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
> 
> The cost of the rocket is Rs. 90 crore while the satellite, GSAT-12, costs Rs. 80 crore but both are not insured.
> 
> This is the second time such a powerful configuration had been deployed, after it was used to put Chandrayaan-I into orbit in 2008.
> 
> For the PSLV, this will be the 19th mission with the last 17 flights proving successful. This is the second PSLV launch this year after the PSLV-C16 in April when the rocket lofted Resourcesat-2 and two other micro satellites into orbit.
> 
> Two more launches of the PSLV are expected later this year.
> 
> The ISRO was forced to use the PSLV as its other launch system, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), is out of commission due to repeated failures.

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## Firemaster

Self Delete--


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## Firemaster



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## sudhir007

Press Information Bureau English Releases

*Foreign Satellites on Rent*
A Request for Proposal (RFP) has been initiated to obtain the responses from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing setallites with transponders working in Ku and C-band frequencies.

At present Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has 187 transponders from 9 Indian communication satellites including transponders of G-SAT-12. It has taken 86.5 transponders on lease basis, from foreign operators through Antrix Corporation Limited.

It has been planned to increase the transponder capacity by building and launching communication satellite GSAT-9, GSAT-10 and GSAT-11.

The Minister of State in the Prime Ministers office Sh V Narayanasamy gave this information in a written reply to a question by Sh A Elavarasan in Rajya Sabha today.

---------- Post added at 10:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 PM ----------

*Foreign Satellites Launched from India*
Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched 22 foreign satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).These satellites belonged to Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey. About Rs 125 crore has been paid for these services.

The Minister of State in the Prime Ministers office Sh V Narayanasamy gave this information in a written reply to a question by Sh P Rajeeve in Rajya Sabha today. 



---------- Post added at 10:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 PM ----------



*Designing of New Genre of Rockets*
Indian Space scientists are designing a new genre of rockets and their variants to host heavy satellites into space. The rocket is named Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle-Mark-III with capability to launch 4 tonnes class communication satellites into geo-stationary transfer orbit. In the area of Air-Breathing technology, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully conducted the flight-testing of its advanced high performance sounding rocket, fitted with passive scramjet engine combustor module.It is planned to carry out the flight testing of the active scramjet engine combustor module, fitted to the sounding rocket during 2012-13.

The Minister of State in the Prime Ministers office Sh V Narayanasamy gave this information in a written reply to a question by ShJai Prakash Narayan Singh in Rajya Sabha today.


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## Vibs

*Isro initiates RFP for foreign satellite leasing*
Indiantelevision.com's > Digital Edge> Isro initiates RFP for foreign satellite leasing
NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) to obtain responses from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing satellites with transponders working in Ku and C-band frequencies.
Isros move comes in the wake of acute Ku-band transponder shortage that the Indian DTH industry faces as they seek to add channels and offer high-definition (HD) services on their platform.

Market leader Dish TV said early this year that it will be utilising four 54 MHz Ku-band transponders on AsiaSat 5 to enhance its HD and SD offerings. The additional transponder capacity on AsiaSat 5 will enable Dish TV to significantly increase its DTH offerings to more than 30 HD and 320 SD channels.


Tata Sky, a joint venture between Tata Group and Rupert Murdochs Star Group, wants 12 additional transponders for expansion but Isro is unable to meet their needs.

All the DTH operators want more transponder space. Isro has to speed up the satellite launches. There also should be an urgency to allow space on foreign satellites. Then only can the DTH industry expand their channel offerings, a top executive of a leading DTH company said on condition of anonymity.



Isro plans to increase the transponder capacity by building and launching communication satellites GSAT-9, GSAT-10 and GSAT-11.

Isro at present has 187 transponders from nine Indian communication satellites including transponders of GSAT-12. It has taken 86.5 transponders on lease basis from foreign operators through its marketing wing Antrix Corporation Limited.

Minister of State in the Prime Ministers office V Narayanasamy said a RFP has been initiated to obtain the responses from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing of space.

---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 AM ----------

*ISRO to launch 3 nano spacecraft along with Megha-Tropiques*
Bangalore, Aug 24 (PTI) ISRO plans to launch three nano satellites, including one from Luxembourg, and an advanced weather and climate research satellite, on board PSLV from Sriharikota spaceport next month.The other two nano "piggy-back" satellites, which would be co-passengers of Megha-Tropiques, are one from SRM University and the other named "Jugnu" is a research spacecraft from IIT Kanpur, ISRO sources told PTI.The SRM satellite, aimed at monitoring green house gases, is a student-driven research project funded by the university.Megha-Tropiques is a joint atmospheric mission of ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES).Sources said top CNES officials are slated to witness the launch by PSLV, ISRO's work-horse launch vehicle.Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques denoting tropics in French) will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics.
ISRO to launch 3 nano spacecraft along with Megha-Tropiques, IBN Live News


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## sathya

*India Designing New Class Of Rockets*

Indian space scientists are designing a new class of rockets to launch heavy satellites.

The *Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle* *Mark-III* will have the capability to launch 4-ton communication satellites into geostationary transfer orbit, according to V. Narayanasamy, deputy minister in the prime minister&#8217;s office.

*In the area of air-breathing technology*, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully flight tested an advanced, high-performance sounding rocket fitted with a passive scramjet engine combustor module, Narayanasamy told the Indian parliament Aug. 25.* Flight testing of an active scramjet combustor module with the sounding rocket is planned for 2012-2013*, he says.

The government also is seeking proposals from interested foreign satellite operators for leasing satellites with transponders working in Ku- and C-band frequencies. ISRO currently has 187 transponders from nine Indian communication satellites. It has leased 86.5 transponders from foreign operators through Antrix Corporation Ltd.

ISRO has successfully launched 22 foreign satellites from its Satish Dhawan Space Center, Shriharikota, using its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. These satellites belonged to Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey.

&#8220;About 1.25 billion rupees [$26 million] have been paid for these services,&#8221; Narayanasamy adds.


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## angeldemon_007

*International Asteroid Defense Plans Form*

A further step has been taken toward forming an international body that could plan for and respond to the threat of an asteroid impacting Earth.

The late August meeting in Pasadena, Calif., involved NASA, the European Space Agency and national space agencies from Germany and France. These are members of the United Nation&#8217;s Action Team-14, co-organizer of the workshop along with the Secure World Foundation (SWF) and the Association of Space Explorers.

Drawing on meetings last year in Germany and Mexico to discuss the threat of near-Earth objects (NEOs), the Pasadena workshop focused on plans to mitigate the effects of an asteroid strike, as well as developing an international model for the response to these threats.

&#8220;How should we respond to the threat of NEOs?&#8221; asks SWF Executive Director Ray Williamson. &#8220;How shall the space agencies organize themselves to deal with the response side of it? How do we generate the information and do the analysis that will lead to a warning at the appropriate time? What are the steps? There are very serious policy and legal issues about how to deal with these things internationally, and we&#8217;re not there yet. So these are first steps to thinking through a lot of those issues.&#8221;

Another key task will involve setting up a NEO Mission Planning and Operations Group (MPOG) that will plan, organize and conduct missions to threatening asteroids. The MPOG will be modeled along the lines of the inter-space agency group established to monitor space debris, Williamson says.

Action Team-14, part of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, will present recommendations to the U.N. working group at a NEO-mitigation working group meeting in Vienna next February. The group&#8217;s report will then be passed on for review by a full committee meeting in June 2012, prior to completion of a set of recommendations on which the U.N. can act in February 2013.

In the meantime, Williamson says the group also will help get the MPOG started so that when the report to the U.N. is delivered there will be a structure in place to help execute the proposals.

The plan also includes widening the group to involve space agencies from China, Russia, India and others to contribute ideas and hardware. Chinese space officials were invited to the Pasadena meeting but were unable to attend because of visa issues.

The bottom line, Williamson says, is: &#8220;If a threat is detected, who actually says &#8216;Go forth and deal with it?&#8217; It&#8217;s an international issue. Maybe we detect an asteroid that&#8217;s coming toward the U.S. but if we move it, we want to make sure we&#8217;re reducing the risk of dropping it on Europe, for example.&#8221; To help the group plan responses to various contingencies, it is running different NEO scenario simulations, as well as examining a range of potential missions to asteroids that would make safe candidates for experiments in techniques for altering orbital paths.

The group also was briefed on the latest results from NASA&#8217;s ongoing NEO survey, and in particular the alarming number of very small objects measuring less than 140 meters (460 ft.) that are being detected. &#8220;We&#8217;ve known they&#8217;re probably out there, but now suddenly &#8212; oh, gee. It&#8217;s like going down the highway blind, and suddenly the blinders come off and you see there&#8217;s another highway beside you with traffic coming in the other direction,&#8221; Williamson says.

Even this raises an issue. &#8220;How do you deal with the information should we discover one is heading to Earth? How do you handle that?&#8221;

International Asteroid Defense Plans Form | AVIATION WEEK


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## Kinetic

Firemaster said:


>


 
Nice video. Thanks for sharing.

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## SpArK

news.outlookindia.com | ISRO to Launch Satellite Megha-Tropiques in Sept

The Indian Space Research Organisation today said it planned to launch Megha-Tropiques, an advanced weather and climate satellite, onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) later this month.

The satellite would be launched this month-end onboard ISRO's workhorse PSLV from spaceport Sriharikota, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

"The preparations are going on," he said adding the satellite would carry four scientific instruments, developed jointly by ISRO and French national space agency centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) to provide information on rain above the oceans and water vapour content in the atmosphere.

Megha-Tropiques is similar to Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite.

According to ISRO, the agency and CNES were pursuing co-operative programmes since 1993 under which joint satellite missions like Megha-Tropiques were taken up to study the atmosphere and the oceans.

Besides Megha-Tropique, Radhakrishnan said, the PSLV would also carry three nano satellites for monitoring green house gases. While one nano satellite was from Luxembourg, SRM University and IIT Kanpur have developed one each.

To a query, the ISRO chief said the Geo-synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenously-developed cryogenic engine would be launched during "the second quarter of next year."

In December 2010, homegrown launch vehicle GSLV-F06 fitted with Russian cryogenic engine carrying communication satellite GSAT-5P on-board failed in its mission when the rocket was hit by a snag within seconds after lift-off from Sriharikota.


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## bigest

INdia send man to space ,it's a good problem


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## WHITESMOKE

bigest said:


> INdia send man to space ,it's a good *problem*


Could you please explain the bold part?


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## angeldemon_007

ISRO to launch 2 satellites this month - www.daily.bhaskar.com


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## Furqan741

Hmmmm. Good.


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## angeldemon_007

US scientist spy may have worked for ISRO - Hindustan Times


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## kingkobra

*Over 100 students from space varsity join ISRO*

BANGALORE, SEPT. 9: 
It was a small step and a sigh for the space organisation when the first batch of 117 young graduates came out of its captive nursery and joined its various centres last month. At one stroke, they filled nearly half of ISRO's annual recruitment needs. And they kept the space technology talent pool alive and thriving, according to some senior scientists at the Bangalore headquarters.

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology was started in September 2007 as the brain child of the then Chairman, Mr G. Madhavan Nair. That was the time ISRO's eight centres were losing over 100 people or a third of what it hires each year, during 2004-06, and it was mostly to the high-paying Infotech sector.

The tide may not have turned fully but there is a difference. As IIST's Director, Dr K.S. Dasgupta, said, &#8220;At ISRO, our students start out with a package of Rs 40,000 (a month). They get paid better than the best in the industry, or Infosys for that matter. There are many hidden benefits such as staff quarters, loans, medical reimbursement, besides overseas trips.&#8221; It is also the largesse from the Sixth Pay Commission that came into effect in 2008 to fight the private sector which was taking away staff of premier public research organisations.

According to Dr Dasgupta, youngsters now do not think twice about joining the space agency. This year, the Thiruvananthapuram-based institute received 93,000 applications for 150 seats compared to around 80,000 last year.

The four-year State-funded course is entirely free, along with free books, hostel and canteen facilities in the 55-acre campus nestling ISRO's propulsion hub, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala. &#8220;More than meeting our own requirements, we mean to catch young minds and groom them for ISRO,&#8221; said Dr Dasgupta. &#8220;IIT Bombay and a very few other institutes offer aerospace courses but our grooming is definitely different. The IIST graduates have worked at our centres, with our scientists, on projects and are familiar with the system. They are productive from Day 1 while normally we put other new recruits through an induction programme.&#8221;

Other similar organisations like HAL, NAL and DRDO also have a large need for aerospace engineers. But IIST's graduates can land only in ISRO centres and work through a five-year bond. Those who want out have to shell out Rs 10 lakh &#8212; just a couple of lakhs more than what the institution would have spent on each of them.

IIST, whose Chancellor is Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, offers aerospace, avionics and physical sciences &#8212; each stream should keep the organisation's and the nation's R&D fires burning. Rocket dynamics, strong navigational and guidance focus that is normally not covered in other institutions, besides on-board radio frequency systems for satellite communication as well as some acquaintance with astronomy and astrophysics.

These and other newbies will be filling in the vacancies that arise from 200-250 retirements within the 16,000-plus space agency each year. &#8220;Of course we have to wait for the centres' assessments on how good our students are in their work and suitably improve the syllabus,&#8221; he said.

Four years ago, just before the institute was launched, a concerned Mr Nair had lamented that the private sector's wage structure was to blame for the flight of talent from agencies like ISRO. In an interaction with Business Line, he had advocated self-regulation including a ceiling on the maximum salary that the industry pays, in the larger interest. Will the IIST and the new big bucks in the public sector change the story?

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Economy : Over 100 students from space varsity join ISRO


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## Paan Singh

*India to have one more satellite launch site*

New Delhi: Amid requests from various countries for launch of their satellites, India has decided to set up one more launch site to expand its capacity in this aspect.
At a meeting held by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary TKA Nair in New Delhi to review performance of the Department of Space, it was decided that a feasibility study would be conducted for a new site, sources said.
The decision to find a new site was taken after the meeting. ISRO has only two satellite launch pads, both of which are affected during the cyclone season, the sources said
The two launch pads are located at Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR).
During recent years, there have been requests from a number of countries for launching their satellites in India.
The meeting was also informed that despite successful launch of GSAT-8 and GSAT-12 satellites, there is shortage of transponders primarily due to DTH and communication requirements.
It was decided that steps should be taken to meet the gap within two years, the sources said.
At present, Department of Space is leasing transponders and using foreign launch vehicles to meet the needs.
The sources said thrust is being given by the PMO on these spheres as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's desire to see boost in scientific innovation in the current decade.
Pursuant to Prime Minister's keenness, government has decided to push contribution of private sector in scientific research and development from the current 20 per cent to 50 per cent and undertake a number of other crucial steps.
The meeting felt that investments in research and development in the country is "highly skewed" as 80 per cent of contribution comes only from the public sector.
It was noted that in advanced and emerging economies, private sector plays a dominant role in R&D and encourages innovation, the sources said.
Accordingly, it was decided that secretaries concerned would jointly prepare a proposal on private sector investment in R&D by the end of next month, they said.


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## trident2010

Oceansat-2 ground station inaugurated in Hyderabad









A state-of-the-art Oceansat-2 ground station was inaugurated on Monday by Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) here.

The Department of Space and INCOIS established the ground station to receive and process data from Ocean Colour Monitor on-board the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Oceansat-2 in real time.

The Oceansat-2 ground station, fitted with a 7.5 m diameter antenna, could cover an area of 5,000 km diameter circle, covering the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, a note issued by INCOIS on the occasion said.

The ground station consists of various sub-systems like antenna and feed system, radio frequency and tracking, base band, automation, modulation and de-modulation systems, direct archival and quicklook browsing and Oceansat data production generation system.

INCOIS said, the 7.5 meter diameter antenna system at the new ground station could also be used to receive data from satellites launched by ISRO in the future study of oceans.

The chlorophyll data received from OCM at the ground station would be integrated with Sea Surface Temperature from NOAA satellites for providing the Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisory services.

The PFZ advisories generated by INCOIS using Oceansat-2 data advise fishermen on the optimal locations for fishing.

INCOIS said an estimated 65,000 users regularly access the PFZ service, thereby benefiting by 60-70 per cent reduction in search time for fish shoals and 2-3 times increase in net profit.

The recent study, carried out by National Council of Applied Economic Research, on the socioeconomic benefits of PFZ advisory services and ocean state forecasts, has estimated the net annual benefits to be in the range of Rs 34,000 to Rs 50,000 crore due to scientific identification of PFZs based on satellite information, INCOIS said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences Shailesh Nayak, Incois director Satheesh Shenoi and other officials were present on the occasion.



The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : Oceansat-2 ground station inaugurated in Hyderabad

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## Bombay Dude

*India Successfully Repeats Test Of Asia&#8217;s Largest Solid Rocket Booster, The S-200*

AsianScientist (Sep. 14, 2011) &#8211; India&#8217;s space program crossed an important milestone on September 4 this month, when the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully *carried out the second test of the strap-on S-200 solid rocket booster, stated to be the biggest in Asia and the third largest in the world after the ones flown on NASA&#8217;s space shuttle and Arianespace&#8217;s Ariane 5 rocket.*

The primary function of the strap-ons is to provide an initial boost to the rocket.

The success of the test assumes significance because the S-200s will form the strap-on stage for a new rocket known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 3 version which is now in an advanced stage of development. There will be two strap-ons in the rocket.

This vehicle, slated to make its maiden flight either towards the end of 2012 or early 2013, will fly communication satellites weighing four tons. In contrast, the present version of GSLV&#8217;s can carry communication satellites weighing only up to two tons.

Once the GSLV Mark 3 becomes operational, ISRO&#8217;s dependence on Arianespace &#8211; the European rocket organization &#8211; to carry its four-ton class of communication satellites will be drastically reduced.

In the recent test which was conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, the S-200 fired for 130 seconds without any problems. Containing 200 tons of solid propellants, the length of the stage is 21.9 meters and its diameter is 3.2 meters. *The S-200 was first tested on January 24, 2010.*
*
For its maiden flight, the rocket will lift off with the simultaneous ignition of both the stages which will burn for about 130 seconds and separate at 149.3 seconds into the flight.*

In another development, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced last Friday at a media briefing in Bangalore that provisionally, *the launch of the Megha Tropiques satellite &#8211; an Indo-French venture &#8211; has been fixed for October 12, 2011.*

With it three other nano satellites will also be placed in orbit: IIT Kanpur&#8217;s Jugnu, SRM University&#8217;s SRMSAT, and another one from Luxembourg.

India Successfully Repeats Test Of Asia

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## Kaislerlaut

Bombay Dude said:


> *India Successfully Repeats Test Of Asia&#8217;s Largest Solid Rocket Booster, The S-200*
> 
> AsianScientist (Sep. 14, 2011) &#8211; India&#8217;s space program crossed an important milestone on September 4 this month, when the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully *carried out the second test of the strap-on S-200 solid rocket booster, stated to be the biggest in Asia and the third largest in the world after the ones flown on NASA&#8217;s space shuttle and Arianespace&#8217;s Ariane 5 rocket.*
> 
> The primary function of the strap-ons is to provide an initial boost to the rocket.
> 
> The success of the test assumes significance because the S-200s will form the strap-on stage for a new rocket known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark 3 version which is now in an advanced stage of development. There will be two strap-ons in the rocket.
> 
> This vehicle, slated to make its maiden flight either towards the end of 2012 or early 2013, will fly communication satellites weighing four tons. In contrast, the present version of GSLV&#8217;s can carry communication satellites weighing only up to two tons.
> 
> Once the GSLV Mark 3 becomes operational, ISRO&#8217;s dependence on Arianespace &#8211; the European rocket organization &#8211; to carry its four-ton class of communication satellites will be drastically reduced.
> 
> In the recent test which was conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, the S-200 fired for 130 seconds without any problems. Containing 200 tons of solid propellants, the length of the stage is 21.9 meters and its diameter is 3.2 meters. *The S-200 was first tested on January 24, 2010.*
> *
> For its maiden flight, the rocket will lift off with the simultaneous ignition of both the stages which will burn for about 130 seconds and separate at 149.3 seconds into the flight.*
> 
> In another development, ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced last Friday at a media briefing in Bangalore that provisionally, *the launch of the Megha Tropiques satellite &#8211; an Indo-French venture &#8211; has been fixed for October 12, 2011.*
> 
> With it three other nano satellites will also be placed in orbit: IIT Kanpur&#8217;s Jugnu, SRM University&#8217;s SRMSAT, and another one from Luxembourg.
> 
> India Successfully Repeats Test Of Asia


very good news for gslv mk3


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## Firemaster

http://www.nrsc.gov.in/UIW2010/Session-2/Ms.Arundhati%20Mishra.pdf

Hey guys check out this link


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## angeldemon_007

Don't need to mimic China - The Times of India


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## tamygu

*At &#8216;Alice&#8217; in science wonderland, the &#8216;muchness&#8217; of India*

*As senior scientist J Schukraft gives visitors a tour of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (known by its French acronym CERN), its gigantic labs and its complex experiments, the one word that keeps popping up is &#8216;India&#8217;.* *That is because whether it is colliding particles in the 27-kilometre-long Large Hadron Collider (as part of Alice Experiment) or discovering neutrons that travel faster than the speed of light, Indian scientists are at the forefront of research happening inside those massive steel and concrete structures at CERN, nestled 40 minutes from Geneva.*
*&#8220;Apart from so many Indians working with us at important positions, I think whenever we need a particular kind of hardware that either does not exist or is difficult to find, we turn to India, and an obscure factory in Indore or a firm in Chandigarh delivers it,&#8221;* Schukraft says.

*At present 109 Indian scientists are associated with CERN in one way or the other.* *Dr Tapan Naik, who leads the team of Indian scientists involved in Alice (short for &#8216;A Large Ion Collider Experiment&#8217, says the connection between CERN and India is not just about numbers.*

&#8220;*&#8220;At every stage, from constructing labs to every experiment, either Indian scientists or Indian firms are involved. In the Alice experiment, Indian scientists contributed by creating the photon multiplicity detector. It is purely an Indian effort, from conception to commissioning. A firm in Chandigarh gave us the electronics, while electronic chips, silicon detectors and a particular kind of graphite that is able to protect delicate hardware came from Bangalore,&#8217;&#8217; Naik, who is also a member for the CERN Management Board, said.
*

Back home, Naik heads the physics department at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata. &#8220;I worked at CERN from 1994 to &#8216;97, now I come once a month. A huge amount of data collected in Alice is also analysed in Kolkata,&#8221; he says.

Dr Archana Sharma is one of the brightest stars at CERN. Everything that happens in the Alice experiment tunnel 100 metres below the ground &#8212; where attempts are on to re-create the Big Bang, which is believed to have led to creation of the universe &#8212; is at her fingertips.

&#8220;We are trying to understand what happened 13.7 billion years ago, unlock the mysteries of the universe,&#8221; she said, a gleam in her eyes. &#8220;In the tunnel, particles collide 40 million times per second and we record the data. The volume of data collected is so huge that CERN has only 20 per cent capacity to analyse it, the rest is distributed across the world, much of it goes to Kolkata. You will be surprised at the number of Indian universities and institutions that are involved with CERN,&#8221; Dr Sharma said.

Excited about last fortnight&#8217;s discovery of certain neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light during an experiment, Dr Sharma said that if a second experiment proved the same, &#8220;it is going to be a revolutionary discovery&#8221;. &#8220;I am keeping my fingers crossed.&#8221;

Prof Raghav Varma, head of physics department, IIT, Mumbai, has been working at Alice for the past five years. &#8220;Scientists from several countries are here but I think the contributions made by Indians stand out at CERN. At least 70 Indians are involved with Alice in one or the other,&#8221; he said.

To capture 40 million digital photos per second of colliding particles in the tunnel and to send the data of each collision separately, millions of cables are required. It was an obscure factory at Indore took up the challenge and delivered miles and miles of cables thinner than a strand of hair.

Dr Anju Bhasin, department of physics, University of Jammu, who is here since several months, said that in her interaction with students, she is now able to make physics more exciting based on her experience at CERN.

&#8220;Physics is usually dismissed as dull and drab. But when I share my experience, and what we are doing at CERN, with my students, they perk up. The subject has become a lot more interesting now and I receive emails from scores of physics students seeking advice on topics they want to research or pursue,&#8217;&#8217; Dr Bhasin said.

Apart from these institutes, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; the physics departments of Aligarh Muslim University, Bhubaneshwar Institute of Physics, Panjab University, University of Guwahati and Rajasthan University; and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, are involved with CERN work.

President Pratibha Patil, who visited CERN as part of her official tour of the Swiss Confederation, met and interacted with the Indian scientists yesterday. She was taken 100 metres underground to get a first-hand look at the tunnel where the collider is located.


At Alice in science wonderland, the muchness of India - Indian Express

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## russellpeters

As an observer state of CERN, India is collaborating in many aspects of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project - building components of the accelerator as well as constructing detectors for various experiments. In the ALICE experiment, India is participating in the forward di-muon spectrometer (FMS) and in particular has responsibility for the design, fabrication and supply of the custom VLSI chip required for the spectrometer's front-end electronics. ALICE will study lead ion collisions at the LHC, where the production of the heavy quarkonia, such as the upsilon and its excited states, is expected to be suppressed. This is regarded as one of the strongest signals for the formation of a quark-gluon plasma.
Readout cards


Here, the yields of the upsilons will be measured by detecting their decays to two muons and determining the momenta of the muons though their bending in the field of a dipole magnet. The upsilon resonances will show up as "peaks" in the reconstructed invariant mass spectrum over a background of various other sources.

The tracks of the muons through the magnetic field will be measured in the FMS by a set of multiwire proportional chambers with finely segmented cathode pads. Muons passing through the detectors will produce signals on these pads, and their tracks will be reconstructed from a measurement by the front-end electronics of the charges deposited on the pads. Because of the high packing density and low noise required of the electronics readout, it is essential that the front-end electronics is realized in form of a custom-designed VLSI chip - the MANAS (Multiple Analog Signal processor).
Final chip

The design of the MANAS chip, based on the GASSIPLEX chip developed by Jean Claude Santiard at CERN, started in late 1997 at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata, and a memorandum of understanding was signed between SINP and Semiconductor Complex Ltd (SCL), Chandigarh, for the fabrication of the chip. Inside this chip, the signal from the detector is amplified by a charge-sensitive amplifier, processed by a deconvolution filter and shaping amplifier, tracked and stored, then finally read out via a multiplexer.

The final set of masks for fabrication of the MANAS-1.2-1 prototype was released by Bikash Sinha, SINP, in October 1999 and the first prototype ceramic packaged chips were delivered by SCL in March 2000. Extensive bench tests at SINP and CERN on the prototype chips were performed, followed by a beam test of the chip, mounted on a prototype detector for the second of the tracking stations (developed and fabricated at SINP) and exposed to a 7 GeV proton beam. The results of these bench tests showed that the first prototype satisfied most of the design criteria. Two modified iterations of the design then corrected the problems found in the first prototype.

By January 2002, 1500 pre-production chips, MANAS-1.2-3, were sent to several institutes collaborating in the ALICE FMS for more extensive tests, both in the lab and in test beams. The main features of this state-of-the-art chip are the low noise level (640 electrons rms), small gain fluctuations, large dynamic range (500 to -275 fC), radiation tolerance and the low sensitivity of parameters to temperature variations.

The production readiness review for the MANAS chip was held in October 2003, and was based on results from various laboratories. More than 100 000 chips will be delivered by January 2005, after stringent quality and performance tests by the foundry, SCL in Chandigarh.

The MANAS chip is a definite success story for R&D and fabrication for high-technology VLSI development in India. It has already initiated more R&D activity in VLSI technology in India, and a large number of useful applications are being planned, including accurate image processing.

Indian chips on track for ALICE - CERN Courier

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## Night_Raven

Kudos to all people , institutes and centres involved in this gigantic effort @ CERN ..... we all are proud of you !

- Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC)
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP)
- Semiconductor Complex Ltd (SCL)
- IIT Mumbai
- University of Jammu
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Aligarh Muslim University
- Bhubaneshwar Institute of Physics
- Panjab University
- University of Guwahati
- Rajasthan University
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

and many more ....

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## kavish

GSLV mk3

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## RoYaL~GuJJaR

kavish said:


> GSLV mk3



Thanks for video man

Awesome

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## SpArK

*ISRO mulling more launch sites*


ISRO has said it planned to have more launch sites as the frequency of satellite launches is slated to go up in the coming years.


ISRO mulling more launch sites - Brahmand.com


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## raavan

*AVATAAR, KAALI AND DURGA
*
The Brahmos cruise missile programme was perhaps the most hush-hush of India's missile projects. The long-range missile programme Surya is heard of at least through official denials. The reusable missile launcher-cum-hyperplane Avatar, the most ambitious of all projects, is openly talked about. Questions are asked at least in aerospace circles about the 'forgotten' Durga and Kali, though replies are rarely given. Agni-III is a matter of logical conjecture and extension of Agni-II. 


(The defence minister had claimed last November "India has the capability to design and develop an ICBM having a range of more than 5,000 km. However, in consonance with the threat perception, no ICBM development project has been undertaken.") 


But Brahmos is altogether a new name, though there has been talk about a cruise missile programme for some time. The success of Lakshya and Nishant is said to have given the Aeronautical Development Establishment the expertise to work on the cruise missile. However, till recently ADE authorities were claiming that they were engaged only in 'concept studies', and far from developing or even planning a cruise missile. 


The 280 km-range missile, presently configured as an anti-ship weapon, is one of the few supersonic cruise missiles in the world. Ballistic missiles fly in a ballistic trajectory, much like a bullet. Their longer-range versions have to go up into the heavens and face problems when they re-enter the atmosphere. The enemy can also trace their launchers by calculating the ballistic trajectory and destroy them.

A cruise missile, on the other hand, is like an unmanned plane, flying at low altitude. Before launch it is fed information about the terrain over which it has to fly and the missile flies either by comparing the fed-in data with the camera pictures it takes or by constantly identifying its location with the help of global positioning systems. 


Over sea, a cruise missile has a definite advantage over a ballistic one. The enemy ship out at sea can hide behind the earth's curvature against a ballistic missile, which flies straight. On the contrary, a cruise missile can fly long ranges parallel to the surface and, if needed, a few meters above it. Brahmos's supersonic speed gives the enemy very little reaction time. The Indo-Russian Brahmos is learnt to be the starting point of an ambitious cruise missile programme. Studies have been going on for the last three years at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) on the cost-effectiveness of a hypersonic missile (which fly at five or more times the speed of sound). Parallel studies in the US and Europe have concluded that the future belongs to hypersonic missiles. The US is already developing the F-16 into a hypersonic fighter. 

Studies in India, not only at NAL but DRDL (the DRDO's missile lab), IIT Mumbai and ADE, are learnt to be running parallel to and not behind the Euro-American ventures. The hyperplane Avatar, the most ambitious of all, is already reaching the end of the conceptual stage and entering the planning stage. The kerosene-fuelled scramjet-powered vehicle is claimed to be much cheaper than the design concepts worked in the US, Germany, the UK and Japan. 


The idea is to develop a vehicle that can take off from conventional airfields, collect air in the atmosphere on the way up, liquefy it, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere. In fact, Air Commodore R. Gopalaswami, former chairman and managing director of Bharat Dynamics, India's missile factory, had once claimed that it could be developed even into a commercial transporter. Incidentally, it was Gopalaswami who suggested the name Avatar. 

Avatar is primarily intended as a reusable missile launcher, one that can launch missiles, land back and is loaded again for more missions. The vehicle will be designed to permit at least a hundred re-entries into the atmosphere. The vehicle could also act as a satellite launcher at a hundredth of the present cost of launching satellites. A miniature Avatar, which is also being conceived, would be hardly bigger than a MiG-25 or an F-16.


Meanwhile, there is also talk of developing Nishant into a cruise missile. The present vehicle, an unmanned battlefield surveillance vehicle that can carry a payload of 45 kilos, completing test phase at ADE, is powered by a German Alvisar-801 engine. Nishant's cruise missile potential had been pointed out three years ago by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar in a United Services Institution (USI) research paper: "Nishant holds a lot of promise and provides us a take-off vehicle for potential UCAVs (uninhabited combat aerial vehicles) applications as well as (a) cruise missile programme." 

With the limited production of the 200-km Agni-II having already begun, the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme is almost at the end of its fiery run. Indeed, a few of the short-range tactical missiles like Nag, Trishul, Akash, the naval Prithvi (otherwise called Dhanush) and Astra are yet to be fully developed or tested, but it is only a matter of time before they are. Space-based laser weapons are another frontier technology that the military brass is thinking of. Recently the chiefs of staff committee ordered a feasibility study on them.(Incidentally, the Air Force is already demanding that India set up an aerospace command.) The DRDO, however, had anticipated this and already begun research.

One system that has been talked of in a USI paper by Dr V. Siddhartha, officer on special duty in the secretariat of the scientific adviser to the defence minister, is Durga or directionally unrestricted ray-gun array. Though no details on this are available, it is said to be an Indian version of the US's Star Wars project in which in-coming missiles can be shot down, or burnt down, by laser guns based in space. Still less known is Kali or kinetic attack loitering interceptor, a more advanced version of Durga. 

However, all video-game gadgetry presupposes matching advances in space technology, both in launch vehicles and military reconnaissance satellites. Without capable launch vehicles, none of these can be lifted into space. With the recent success of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, the ISRO has acquired heavy-lift capability. Work has already begun on a hypersonic launch vehicle, which would be the forerunner to Avatar. 


The more recent of the IRS series satellites are said to have limited military reconnaissance capability. The recent military exercises in the Rajasthan desert did make extensive use of IRS pictures, but military demands higher resolution pictures. According to Dr Siddhartha's paper, Satish Dhawan [former ISRO chairman] had talked in 1996 of a national early warning and response system (NEWARS), a space-sensor and communications-based integrated space-ground system meant exclusively for peaceful purposes. Siddhartha superposed on Dhawan's techno-scenario diagram a series of operational military reconnaissance satellites named Sanjaya.

Cruise missiles may be the currency of power today. But the currency of future would be Avatar, Durga and Kali.
Caution India: INDIA'S LATEST LASER WEPONS DURGA AND KALI TO KILL THE ENEMY MISSILES AND AIRCRAFTS


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## Varad

*Brazil wants Indian satellites to monitor Amazon*


Brazil is negotiating to use satellites from India to improve the monitoring of deforestation in the Amazon rain forest.

A member of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research says a satellite recently launched by the Indian government could vastly increase Brazil's ability to combat deforestation in the region.

Luis Maurano says the IRS-6 satellite would allow authorities to locate deforested areas much faster than with the satellites currently used.

Maurano said Tuesday that the negotiation with India is complicated but was confident an agreement could be reached.

If not, Brazil will have to wait until the launch of a satellite in partnership with China at the end of 2012.

Brazil wants Indian satellites to monitor Amazon - BusinessWeek


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## Varad

*SUCCESSFUL STATIC TESTING OF S-200 SOLID BOOSTER DONE BY SHAR *

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## Thundersword

when was this done^^^^^


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## sathya

*India developing capabilities to protect space-based assets*
Published November 16, 2011
SOURCETI



Making it clear that it was against the use of space for warfare, India Wednesday said it is developing capabilities to protect its space-based assets such as satellites.

&#8220;We don&#8217;t believe in use of space for warfare. Our philosophy is to use it only as resource&#8230; We have to make sure that our assets are protected and access is not denied. DRDO has a programme to protect our assets in space,&#8221; DRDO Chief VK Saraswat told reporters here.

Noting that India needs to take care of this area in the light of the fact that other countries are gearing up their space based offensive programs, Saraswat said, &#8220;DRDO has a programme to protect our space based assets and to ensure continuity of access there.&#8221;

On new threats emerging in the area of cyber space, he said two DRDO labs are working in this areas to develop suitable technology.

&#8220;There are new threats emerging in the field of cyber warfare. Two DRDO labs are working specially in this area. We are trying to see various ways to make our team competent in this regard so that we can monitor the flow of cyber traffic and look at the ways to encrypt and disrupt them,&#8221; he said.

DRDO took up the project following a number of recent cyber attack on government website from groups of hackers based outside India.

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## Varad

Thundersword said:


> when was this done^^^^^



This was done in early September 2011. It was the 2nd test.


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## sudhir007

ISRO aims at 45 to 50 launches | ISRO

*The 12th five-year plan period will be a busy one for ISROs Sriharikota spaceport. If things pan out as ISRO hopes it would, then 2012-2017 will see more number of missions compared to previous five-year plan periods. ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, addressing the national conference on Space Transportation Systems: Opportunities and Challenges, organised by the VSSC and Indian National Academy of Engineering at Thumba on Saturday, said that the ISRO was targeting 45 to 50 launches during the 12th five-year plan.*
*
In the 11th, the target had been 30, with six missions per year. The 10th five- year plan had witnessed 20 missions. (The Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has at present two launch pads. ISRO is planning a third one which will be able to accommodate advanced launch vehicles).*

No Flaw in GSLV Design: Radhakrishnan said that the GSLV, which had two crashes in 2010, had no flaw in design. There have been problems in implementation which are being corrected. The next GSLV launch will be in the second quarter of 2012, he said.

In March 2012, the ISRO will launch a microwave remote sensing satellite which will be useful for the farm sector as well as disaster management. Cloud cover will not be a problem for this satellite, which gives it an edge over conventional satellites.* The ISRO chairman said the years ahead would be a busy one for ISRO. At present, 170 transponders are in service, but the current requirement is 500.
*
The three-day conference, which focuses on low-cost space transportation, is being attended by a large number of scientists from India and foreign space agencies such as NASA, ESA and JAXA. It will conclude on Sunday.

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## praveen007

*ok this is a bit old news but i dont think it had been posted here.
.
Indian eye in space developed .
.
.*
NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Bent on boosting its military intelligence, India is set to develop a new, cutting-edge surveillance satellite.

The spy craft, called the Communication Centric Intelligence Satellite is expected to be launched into orbit in 2014, keeping a close watch on hot spots in the troubled neighborhood.
CCI-Sat is part of a high-priority plan to develop electronic warfare systems for India's army, navy and air force, G Boopathy, director of the Defense Electronic Research Laboratory, was quoted telling local media.
The laboratory is developing the $25 million satellite and Boopathy said the project was still in its initial phases of planning.
"The focus now, is space; we have to equip ourselves for electronic warfare from space, too," he said.
Beyond surveillance, CCI-Sat is capable of picking up images, even conversations, between satellite phones.
The satellite is expected to orbit Earth at an altitude of 300 miles and keep watch on hostile regions in India's region by passing on surveillance data to intelligence command-and-control centers.
The Hindu newspaper reported the satellite will be fitted with electronic sensors that are more powerful than the Indian Space Research Organization's remote-sensing satellites.
It said the electronic warfare sensor would be "located on on the mountain range facing Pakistan, China, Nepal and the northeast part of the country, to detect troop or vehicular movement across the borders."
Only a select number of countries, including the United States, France and China, are using such electronic spy satellites.
While the payload will be built by India's Defense Electronic Research Laboratory, the satellite's design and development will be made by the country's space research organization.
India is poised to put an other two military Cartosat-2B satellites in orbit in the coming months. Both will also be used for military purposes.
Last year, India launched its generic RISAT-2 military satellite, which is keeping a high-resolution eye on the country's borders and coastline to watch for terrorist infiltration, Defense News reported.
Meantime, the director of Defense Avionics Research Establishment revealed that new electronic warfare technology has been developed for light aircraft and that the system was set to be tested imminently.
Defense scientists told local media that India was focusing research on technologies to intercept and jam satellite phone networks.
"That project is going on," an unnamed official was quoted as saying. "Within a year, it will be ready."
Among other developments, officials said a "penetration aid," that allows Indian military aircraft to penetrate enemy territory without being identified by surrounding radar.






Read more: Indian eye in sky developed - UPI.com

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## Jason bourne

praveen007 said:


> *ok this is a bit old news but i dont think it had been posted here.
> .
> Indian eye in space developed .
> .
> .*
> NEW DELHI, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Bent on boosting its military intelligence, India is set to develop a new, cutting-edge surveillance satellite.
> 
> The spy craft, called the Communication Centric Intelligence Satellite is expected to be launched into orbit in 2014, keeping a close watch on hot spots in the troubled neighborhood.
> CCI-Sat is part of a high-priority plan to develop electronic warfare systems for India's army, navy and air force, G Boopathy, director of the Defense Electronic Research Laboratory, was quoted telling local media.
> The laboratory is developing the $25 million satellite and Boopathy said the project was still in its initial phases of planning.
> "The focus now, is space; we have to equip ourselves for electronic warfare from space, too," he said.
> Beyond surveillance, CCI-Sat is capable of picking up images, even conversations, between satellite phones.
> The satellite is expected to orbit Earth at an altitude of 300 miles and keep watch on hostile regions in India's region by passing on surveillance data to intelligence command-and-control centers.
> The Hindu newspaper reported the satellite will be fitted with electronic sensors that are more powerful than the Indian Space Research Organization's remote-sensing satellites.
> It said the electronic warfare sensor would be "located on on the mountain range facing Pakistan, China, Nepal and the northeast part of the country, to detect troop or vehicular movement across the borders."
> Only a select number of countries, including the United States, France and China, are using such electronic spy satellites.
> While the payload will be built by India's Defense Electronic Research Laboratory, the satellite's design and development will be made by the country's space research organization.
> India is poised to put an other two military Cartosat-2B satellites in orbit in the coming months. Both will also be used for military purposes.
> Last year, India launched its generic RISAT-2 military satellite, which is keeping a high-resolution eye on the country's borders and coastline to watch for terrorist infiltration, Defense News reported.
> Meantime, the director of Defense Avionics Research Establishment revealed that new electronic warfare technology has been developed for light aircraft and that the system was set to be tested imminently.
> Defense scientists told local media that India was focusing research on technologies to intercept and jam satellite phone networks.
> "That project is going on," an unnamed official was quoted as saying. "Within a year, it will be ready."
> Among other developments, officials said a "penetration aid," that allows Indian military aircraft to penetrate enemy territory without being identified by surrounding radar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Read more: Indian eye in sky developed - UPI.com





http://www.defence.pk/forums/india-defence/47471-india-launch-hi-tech-spy-satellite-2014-a.html 

it was posted


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## tomluter

sudhir007 said:


> ISRO aims at 45 to 50 launches | ISRO
> 
> In the 11th, the target had been 30, with six missions per year. The 10th five- year plan had witnessed 20 missions. (The Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has at present two launch pads. ISRO is planning a third one which will be able to accommodate advanced launch vehicles)



The 11th 5 year-plan(3.2007~3.2012) of Indian,there are 30~36 missions in the schedule. By now, 13 missions had been implemented, among them, all 10 PSLV missions succeed, and all 3 GSLV missions fail. success rate 77%

There is one mission remain in the timetable--a PSLV mission in march 2012.

The task fulfillment rate<50%. 

Now,The new great such plans have been pushed out again, Does India really only care about the "PLAN", instead of practise? 
If a PLAN and its drawing up without any seriousness, it is better call it "conjecture". Such as:The 12th 5year conjecture,I think.

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## Shaurya

tomluter said:


> The 11th 5 year-plan(3.2007~3.2012) of Indian,there are 30~36 missions in the schedule. By now, 13 missions had been implemented, among them, all 10 PSLV missions succeed, and all 3 GSLV missions fail. success rate 77%
> 
> There is one mission remain in the timetable--a PSLV mission in march 2012.
> 
> The task fulfillment rate<50%.
> 
> Now,The new great such plans have been pushed out again, Does India really only care about the "PLAN", instead of practise?
> If a PLAN and its drawing up without any seriousness, it is better call it "conjecture". Such as:The 12th 5year conjecture,I think.


First of all there have been two gslv tests not three , second, why are u sticking ur *** in this? It's none of your business, it's norm to plan and then execute the plan.It have been really good if u just shut ur mouth and get some real facts...what a loser


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## tomluter

katwe said:


> First of all there have been two gslv tests not three , second, why are u sticking ur *** in this? It's none of your business, plan and then execute the plan.It have been really good if u just shut ur mouth and get some real facts...what a loser



Hey, take it easy winer guy. The forum is a place that is used for discussing and debating. But don't fouling our forum.

The GLSV missions during the Indian 11th 5-year "plan" (2007~2011):

1, 2/9/2007 INSAT-4CR 2,160 kg, Partial failure,apogee lower and inclination higher than expected, the sat was shortened its life.
2, 15/4/2010 GSAT-4 2,220 kg Failure, Failed to reach orbit.
3, 25/11/2010 GSAT-5P 2,130 kg Failure, destroyed after loss of control of boosters.

You can refute mine sanely with your reasons or theoris, such as the partial failure equal to the success, or the year 2007 is not belong to the 11th 5-year plan. But even so, the fulfillment rate of the " normal plan" is still <50%.


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## qwerrty

what the hell is a partial failure? 

just short of success, almost success, not total success, partial success, nearly success..??


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## Holmes

The new space race: China and India sign up to create world's biggest telescope

100-foot-wide optical telescope is nine times bigger than ones in use today
Will pick out objects 13 billion light years away
Sharp enough to pick out planets orbiting distant suns


Read more: The new space race: China and India sign up to create world's biggest telescope | Mail Online

China and India are catapulting to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join as partners in a Hawaii telescope that will be the world&#8217;s largest when it&#8217;s built later this decade.

China and India will pay a share of the construction cost - expected to top $1 billion - for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time. It&#8217;s the first advanced telescope in which either nation has been a partner. 
China and India have signed on to be partners for a project to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, which will be the world's largest when it's finished in 2018, at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii

China and India have signed on to be partners for a project to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, which will be the world's largest when it's finished in 2018, at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii

&#8216;This will represent a quantum leap for the Chinese community,&#8217; Shude Mao, professor of astrophysics at National Astronomical Observatories of China, said. 

The Thirty Meter Telescope&#8217;s segmented primary mirror, which will be nearly 100 feet long, will give it nine times the light-collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today.

Its images will also be three times sharper.

The telescope, known as TMT, will be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed. It should also help scientists see some 13 billion light years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe. 
The TMT observatory will be so powerful it will allow scientists to see some 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the early years of the universe

The TMT observatory will be so powerful it will allow scientists to see some 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the early years of the universe

&#8216;Many things are manufactured in China, but we want to move up in terms of technology. We want to catch up as fast as we can. We also want to make contributions to world peace,' said Professor Shude Mao

China joined as an observer in 2009, followed by India the next year. Both are now partners, with representatives on the TMT board. Japan, which has its own large telescope at Mauna Kea, the 8.3-meter Subaru, is also a partner. 

TMT may not hold the title of world&#8217;s largest for long, however, as a partnership of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which would have a 42-meter, or 138-foot, mirror.

Mao said Chinese astronomers would likely want to use TMT to study the origin of planets outside our solar system, black holes, dark matter and dark energy.

China has leading theoretical astrophysicists, but it lags in the field of observational astronomy, Mao said. The telescope will help China overcome that. 

&#8216;China is ambitious in terms of its science goals. Really it wants to catch up as fast as we can,&#8217; he said.
Mao said the project will also be valuable for the image China broadcasts to the world.
&#8216;There are many things that are manufactured in China, but we want to move up in terms of technology,&#8217; he said. &#8216;We also want to make contributions to world peace. TMT offers a great opportunity to do this.&#8217;
All astronomers, wherever they are from, look at the same sky, he said.

Read more: The new space race: China and India sign up to create world's biggest telescope | Mail Online

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## zootinali

qwerrty said:


> what the hell is a partial failure?
> 
> just short of success, almost success, not total success, partial success, nearly success..??


 I don`t know but IMO Partial failure means that you have gathered enough data from your current adventure that you would not repeat the same in next launch. Partial success, not total success, partial success, nearly success all means that your payload wasnot delivered exactly like the way you want it, but you had to maneuver it to the designated orbit and thereby decrease it`s life span in orbit.. But then this is my understanding , I could be wrong


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## ptltejas

When shall we r going to launch PSLV


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## Shaurya

*ISRO studying technologies to help spaceflight programmes*
NAGPUR: After the successful launch of the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now studying the possibilities of developing technologies that could help it in the human spaceflight programme in future. The organization has already begun work in this direction through a synergy of institutes in the country as a part of the pre-project phase of the programme the plan for which was first announced by the then ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair in 2007.

Delivering a scientific talk on the 'pre-project phase' of human space flight by ISRO Unnikrishnan Nair from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba, Trivandrum said that ISRO was identifying both the existing technologies that need strengthening and completely new technologies that could be required for an indigenous programme. It is a huge work and would require efforts by different institutes across the country in different specialties as well as industry. The talk was organized by Indian Remote Sensing Society at the Regional Remote Sensing Centre (RRSSC).

These critical technologies include anything and everything that would be required for such a project right from developing a space suit, environmental control system, life support system, crew escape system, human rating of launch vehicle, enhancing reliability and safety equipment. s known the whole process consists of three parts- ascent, orbital and descent. Each part in fact has a subs-set of technologies including selection and training of the crew. It would also require technologies for food and waste management as well.

Though the human spaceflight programme is just in the pre-project phase a network of institutes are expected to be its part. The project likely to be taken up in phases could take 7-8 years after the project is announced. The technology development programme naturally will also be using the experiences and lessons from similar projects by USA, China and Russia.

The SRE experiment by India which sent a 600 kg space capsule recovery launched using the Polar satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket and safe return to earth in 12 days demonstrated India's capability to develop heat resistant materials necessary for re-entry technology. The human spaceflight is expected to send an fully autonomous orbital vehicle, a manned mission.

Earlier the RRSC project in charge A K Joshi introduced Nair. Das proposed a vote of thanks.

ISRO studying technologies to help spaceflight programmes - The Times of India

---------- Post added at 08:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 AM ----------




qwerrty said:


> what the hell is a partial failure?
> 
> just short of success, almost success, not total success, partial success, nearly success..??



partial failure means one or two objectives from a list of several objectives were not met.. looks like copy cat party uses some other convention..


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## Shaurya

tomluter said:


> Hey, take it easy winer guy. The forum is a place that is used for discussing and debating. But don't fouling our forum.
> 
> The GLSV missions during the Indian 11th 5-year "plan" (2007~2011):
> 
> 1, 2/9/2007 INSAT-4CR 2,160 kg, Partial failure,apogee lower and inclination higher than expected, the sat was shortened its life.
> 2, 15/4/2010 GSAT-4 2,220 kg Failure, Failed to reach orbit.
> 3, 25/11/2010 GSAT-5P 2,130 kg Failure, destroyed after loss of control of boosters.
> 
> You can refute mine sanely with your reasons or theoris, such as the partial failure equal to the success, or the year 2007 is not belong to the 11th 5-year plan. But even so, the fulfillment rate of the " normal plan" is still <50%.



LOL, ok now how exactly is that 50% may I know mr genius?? and dont tell me about whinning its you who is whinning quite loud on this forum. At least Indian media posts these failures, ccp cant even do that.. just shows how credible you ppl. are...


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## RPK

*Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: ISRO marshals its forces towards RISAT-1 launch | It will be a huge boost for disaster-management: Radhakrishnan*


Bangalore: It's business hours as usual for the Indian Space Research Oragnisation (ISRO). The message amidst the mess, is to stay focused on immediate missions and not the madness orbiting them, thanks to the Devas-Antrix row. Warming up for a possible mid-March launch is PSLV-C19 carrying the Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1).
Not cowed down by non-stop criticism and direct shelling by the scientific czars, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan has made up his mind not to enter the boxing ring. &#8220;Our onus is on the next launch. So many critical technologies are being readied and I am moving forward in confidence. As I said earlier, only mission matters,&#8221; Radhakrishnan told Express.
&#8220;We are putting everything in place towards this launch. ISRO has a huge work culture that's inspiring. We have our peers to whom we look forward. They are our guiding lights. They advice us ahead of critical mission. All my team assemble in an auditorium to debate and question about various launch preparedness,&#8221; Radhakrishnan said.
According to him, the PSLV-C19 will be the 21st launch of PSLV and in this mission, the 'XL' version of PSLV with six strap-on motors (PSOM-XL) is used. &#8220;These strap-ons are larger than the ones used in PSLV 'standard' version. This will be the third launch of the 'XL' version of PSLV. The 44-metre tall PSLV-C19 will have a lift-off mass of about 320 tonnne and it will carry the RISAT-1 remote sensing satellite into orbit,&#8221; Radhakrishnan said, in the company of his two trusted lieutenants.
The home-grown remote sensing satellite is capable of taking day and night images of Earth even under hostile weather conditions. &#8220;It will be one launch to watch as the disaster-management capabilities of India will increase immensely. Outsmarting the cloud-cover to take images will be a significant achievement, only a few nations can boast of. We are delighted about the prospects of this launch,&#8221; Radhakrishnan said.
The microwave remote sensing RISAT-1 carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating at 5.35 GHz in multi-polarization and multi-resolution mode (ScanSAR, Strip and Spot modes) to provide images with coarse, fine and high spatial resolutions respectively.
&#8220;The SAR, being an active radar sensor, operating in the microwave region of electromagnetic spectrum, has the unique capability of imaging in all weather conditions. The SAR payload is based on an active phased array technology using transmit/receive (TR) modules, which would provide necessary electronic agility for achieving the multi-mode capability, providing spatial resolutions of one m to 50 m, and a swath of 10 to 240 km catering to multiple applications,&#8221; said an aide along with Radhakrishnan, who preferred not to be quoted.
The satellite weighs around 1851 kg and has the power handling capacity of 4.8 kW. The RISAT-1 will be launched into a 476 km orbit. &#8220;After three-axis attitude acquisition, the orbit will be raised to 536 km with 25 days repetitivity with an added advantage of 12 days inner cycle for CRS (Coarse Resolution ScanSAR) mode,&#8221; he said.


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## WHITESMOKE

Chandrayan-2 faces delay after Russian Mars probe failure

The failure of the Russian Mars mission last month will cause a delay in the construction of a Russian lander for India&#8217;s Chandrayan-2 mission to the Moon, said Russia&#8217;s top space official.

As a result, the launch of Chandrayan-2, planned for 2013, may have to be postponed by three years.

Academician Lev Zelyony, head of the Russian Space Research Institute, was quoted as saying that the Luna-Resource lander may not be ready till 2016.

&#8220;There were plans to launch the Luna-Glob and Luna-Resource missions in 2015,&#8221; the Russian scientist told RIA Novosti. &#8220;But the dates may have to be moved, as the technical solutions that were used with NPO Lavochkin&#8217;s Phobos-Grunt were also used in the lunar projects and they clearly need to be reviewed.&#8221;

The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, launched in November to retrieve soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos, became stuck in Earth's orbit after its engines failed to fire and crashed back to Earth last month.

A Russian government commission set up to investigate the probe failure blamed it on a burst of heavy charged space radiation that caused the onboard computers to reboot and go into standby mode.

Academician Zelyony, who took part in the investigation, said the review will not affect scientific instruments of Luna-Resource and Luna-Glob, but only their control systems and the spacecraft. 

While the Luna-Resource lander is to travel to the Moon aboard the Chandrayan-2 spacecraft and put an Indian rover on the lunar surface, the identical Luna-Globe will be an entirely Russian mission, which is to carry a boring system for taking Moon rock samples.


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## Shaurya

*ISRO sets ball rolling for Indian &#8216;GPS' / navigation system*

The first of India's own little regional positioning satellites to better the US military-owned GPS may be put up in sky this year.

The seven-satellite constellation, called the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System, when fully in place over the coming years, will be far more accurate than the GPS that the world depends on. It would be available to users in the sub-continent all the time come rain or shine, according to ISRO.

The space agency along with its other government partners on Wednesday briefed 250 current and potential users, planners, industry and scientists on the uses of navigational systems. The Airports Authority of India co-sponsored the first Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) meet. ISRO's Director, Publicity and PR, Mr S.Satish, said GPS signals and position data received in the country are often wide of the mark. &#8220;When we have our own IRNSS, it will be equal to, if not better than, the GPS.&#8221;

An ISRO release said, &#8220;The regional navigational satellite system over the Indian region will provide the user a position accuracy that is better than 20 meters on a 24/7 all-weather basis.&#8221;

250 USERS AT MEET

It said, &#8220;The user meet aims to link industry, users and service providers enabling them to share information to promote navigation and positioning satellite systems for transportation, disaster management, environment and agriculture.

&#8220;The meet provides industry an exposure to the infinite possibilities of using navigation signals and its spin-offs.&#8221;

&#8220;Navigation has become an integral part of human activity. The space-based navigation system has emerged as a forerunner in providing the position, velocity and timing services. ISRO has identified satellite navigation as an important thrust area by planning GAGAN (GPS-Aided GEO-Augmented Navigation) and the upcoming IRNSS,&#8221; the release said.

Dr T.K.Alex, Member, Space Commission, and Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, inaugurated a technical meet on sat-nav opportunities and an exhibition of related products by Indian industry. Mr E.K.Bharat Bhushan, Director-General of Civil Aviation, and Mr S.K.Shiva Kumar, Associate Director, ISAC, were present.

Mr A.S.Ganeshan, Project Director, Navigation Systems, ISAC, presented the ISRO-AAI GAGAN project and the IRNSS. The users were told about the use of navigational signals for accurate positioning - as in civil aviation, transportation and other services.

GAGAN is a joint project of ISRO and AAI to augment or fine-tune the not-too-accurate GPS data obtained from the US. It will mainly benefit airlines over the country's airspace. GSAT-8, the first satellite carrying GAGAN payload or antenna, has been beaming signals since December 15, 2011.

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Economy : ISRO sets ball rolling for Indian

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## Shaurya

*ISRO to fund Nuclear Fuel Complex's niobium facility*


Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), the main supplier of fuel for India's nuclear power programme, will now set up an exclusive facility to produce niobium, a key material with critical applications in space and nuclear industry. The Rs 30-crore facility will be funded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

To be located in its campus in Hyderabad, the centre will have a capacity to produce a minimum of 3 tonnes a year of niobium and supply it to the ISRO, said Mr R.N. Jayaraj, Chairman and chief executive of NFC.

NFC signed a memorandum of understanding with Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (part of ISRO), Thiruvananthapuram, recently. ISRO has given the financial sanction.A consultant was appointed and the detailed project report completed. Work will begin this month and the project would be ready for commissioning in the next 12-18 months, Mr Jayaraj told Business Line. 

Niobium when combined with hafnium gives us niobhat. This alloy can withstand very high temperatures. It is used in the nozzles of spaceships, which need to be in space for long time. Hence, the critical nature of the product, explained Mr Jayaraj. 

NFC has developed the technology to make both niobium and zirconium. The alloy of niobium and zirconium is used to fabricate coolant channels of nuclear power reactors.These coolant channels (about 306) in the core of the pressurised heavy water reactor carry the fuel rods, whose burn-up results in the generation of power.

NFC has also partnered C-Met and Midhani in getting the final product, niobhat, ready. NFC will make niobium thermite, and C-Met, Hyderabad, will produce hafnium thermite. Finally, Midhani, the defence public sector undertaking, here will manufacture the alloy.

Business Line : Industry & Economy News : ISRO to fund Nuclear Fuel Complex's niobium facility


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## BoB's

DRDO lab to develop spacesuits for Indian vyomanauts



> The Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (Debel), a laboratory of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), will be designing and producing spacesuits for vyomanauts, as the Indian astronauts will be called.
> 
> The Bangalore-based Debel has previously created flight clothing for air crew as well as nuclear biological and chemical (NBC) protection suits. It has now been assigned to develop the highly complex suits to be used by vyomanauts in India&#8217;s first human space mission likely to be launched in 2015-16.
> 
> Dr. W Selvamurthy, DS & CC, R&D (Life Sciences & International Cooperation) with DRDO, told fibre2fashion, &#8220;Debel will design and produce spacesuits for the first vyomanauts of India.&#8221;
> 
> Explaining the unique properties that the spacesuits will have, he says, &#8220;The spacesuit is primarily meant for extra-vehicular activities (EVA) in the open space. Hence, it has to protect the wearer from the harsh environments encountered in open space in the form of enhanced radiation, extreme variations in temperature and orbiting micrometeroid particles.&#8221;
> 
> Continuing further, he says, &#8220;Also, the spacesuit should have a dedicated life support system that provides the inescapable and highly essential liveable atmosphere for the wearer encapsulated in the spacesuit. The suit will also have (a) the waste management system to support the wearer involved in long hours of EVA, (b) communication system, and (c) the inbuilt physiological health monitoring system to monitor the health of the wearer.&#8221;
> 
> Talking about the materials that will be used to make these spacesuits, he says, &#8220;Materials that are used in the making of spacesuits are similar to the ones that are used in the making of the protective systems, but the materials are specifically made to meet stringent specifications in order to ensure protection to the wearer in outer space. Materials that are used include but not necessarily limited to the following: nylon, spandex, nomex, Kevlar, Dacron, Teflon, neoprene coated nylon fabric, polyurethane coated nylon fabric, aluminized Mylar, polycarbonate, and fibreglass composite.&#8221;
> 
> Informing about Debel&#8217;s experience in designing protection suits, he says, &#8220;Debel has designed and developed Life Support Systems and Protection equipment (a) for the fighter pilots, (b) paratroopers, (c) to facilitate escape of the crew from the grounded submarine, (d) for personnel exposed to contaminated environments and (e) for cold conditions. All of these systems utilize one or the many materials that will be used in making spacesuits. However, all the protection suits designed so far have been meant for applications other than space, and hence their testing has not been carried out in space.&#8221;
> 
> Giving an idea about the cost and time factors for making the spacesuits, he says, &#8220;No estimate of the cost has been made for the indigenous development. It may take anywhere between 5-10 years for the indigenous development. Approximate cost of the imported spacesuit is few million dollars and it takes about 5000 man hours or roughly about three months if all the sub-systems are available.&#8221;



India : DRDO lab to develop spacesuits for Indian vyomanauts - Apparel News India

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## IndianArmy

A good development indeed. The Vyomanauts will have Indigenous Space suits.. Hope the DRDO takes Expert Advise from The obvious or the Govt funds a simulated environment to test the Space suit. Overall an Important development.


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## Shaurya

^^^ A little confused, is it a recycled news or a completely new one?? I read the same news about a month ago, in mid Feb. , hope started in mid Feb


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## Yeti

*India ready with all-weather imaging satellite: ISRO*

Bangalore: India is set to launch an indigenous satellite with the "unique" capability to capture images in all-weather conditions that will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, ISRO said today.

India currently depends on images from a Canadian satellite as domestic remote sensing spacecraft cannot take pictures of the ground during cloud cover.

After nearly 10 years of effort, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed -- with a lot of participation from Indian industries -- a microwave satellite that has the unique capability of imaging during day and night and in all weather conditions, it said.

"This (Radar Imaging Satellite or RISAT-1) is about 1,850 kg. So, this will be heaviest satellite lifted by a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)," ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

"It's most likely to be launched on April 26 at 5.45 am," he said. "It has taken about 10 years of efforts in developing this (RISAT-1)". The approved cost of RISAT-1, including its development, is Rs 378 crore, while Rs 120 crore has been spent to build the rocket (PSLV-C19), making it a Rs 498-crore mission. 

RISAT-1 is a "complex satellite", Radhakrishnan said. 


The satellite would be particularly useful in Kharif season when cloud-covered atmosphere is frequent. Images taken from the spacecraft of agricultural crops would enable planners with regard to production estimation and forecast, the space agency said.

During floods, aerial pictures would give a clear idea on the affected region and water level. In addition, this satellite can even "penetrate" the ground and throw light on soil moisture up to a few centimeters, Radhakrishnan said. 

RISAT-1 would be launched into a 536-km orbit by PSLV, which is India's workhorse rocket. 

The satellite carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode to provide images with coarse, fine and high spatial resolutions. 

Radhakrishnan said ISRO had built two SARs in the past but these had been flown on aircraft.



India ready with all-weather imaging satellite: ISRO


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## Bobby

Great news....


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## angeldemon_007

> *India ready with all-weather imaging satellite: ISRO*


Then launch it...i never thought ISRO will cause delays...the sat is already delayed atleast 2-3 years.


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## sudhir007

INSAT-2E completes 13 years of successful operation | idrw.org

After 13 years of operation, INSAT-2E, the last of the five satellites in the INSAT-2 series, has successfully completed its mission life.INSAT-2E was built with a planned mission life of 12 years and continued to function beyond that, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here today.

Launched on April 3, 1999 by the European Ariane-5 launcher, INSAT-2E was positioned at 830 East longitude in the geostationary orbit.

INSAT-2E carried 14 C-band and 5 lower extended C-band transponders for various communication services. The satellite also carried a Very High Resolution Radiometer and a Charge Coupled Device camera for meteorological observation.

The 11 communication transponders of 36 MHz bandwidth onboard INSAT-2E were leased to International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation (INTELSAT), the first such lease from an Indian satellite. INSAT-2E was controlled from Master Control Facility at Hassan.


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## Thundersword

SELF RELIANCE IS FREEDOM FROM CONTROLS AND DENIALS

DRDO Press Release Dated March 31, 2012

DRDO pavilion setup with Self-reliance as the theme was visited by the Honble Raksha Mantri, Shri AK Antony, who earlier in the day, inaugurated the four day exhibition on 29 March 2012 at Pragati maidan. At DRDO pavilion, he took keen interest in various DRDO products and interacted with DRDO scientists and encouraged them. Other prominent dignitaries to the DRDO Pavilion included honble Raksha Rajya Mantri, Dr. MM Pallam Raju and honble Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence Shri Satpalji Maharaj.

An important part of DRDO participation in the event was the DRDO press conference held on 31 March 2012 during the DefExpo 2012. The press conference was addressed by Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, Secretary, Deptt of Defence R&D and DG DRDO. 

Self reliance is freedom from controls and denials stated Dr Saraswat during his opening remarks. He elaborated that self-reliance didnt mean that everything have to be indigenous. Dr Saraswat informed that the production value of DRDO developed items was close to Rs One Lakh Forty Thousand Crores and the figure will go up substantially as many items are in advanced stages of acceptance. 

Answering questions seeking details of Agni 5 long range surface to surface ballistic missile, he said Agni 5 ka launch mid April main hoga, Iski range 5000 km se jyada hogi. Yah ek ballistic missile hai. Iska subse achchha feature yeh hai ki Isme composite motors hain jo sabse achchhi hoti hain. (Agni 5 will be lauchned in mid April, its range is over 5000 km. It has composite motors which are considered the best). He also informed that A5 has highly accurate inertial navigation system and has built-in redundancies in its control systems that make it highly reliable. Comparing Agni 5 with missiles of this range available with other countries, he stated that India was far ahead of other countries, with few exceptions like US, we are quite close to them (referring to DRDO technology vs their technology in this area. This is because the missiles available with most such countries are very old).

When questioned on DRDOs efforts in building technologies for securing our space based assets, Dr Saraswat stated, We are giving major emphasis on space security. We are putting our efforts in building capabilities for ensuring that we can protect against an incoming missile (i.e. coming towards our satellite), He informed that technologies are being built to protect our satellites from attempts to cause damage, both, electronically and physically. For the later, the capability to destroy hostile missile in space had been demonstrated by the successful ballistic missile defence program. We are also having anti-satellite capability in terms of technologies that we have developed in ballistic missile defence system mentioned Dr Saraswat. Engagement of a satellite is a much easier task as compared to the task of engaging a ballistic missile because of the fact that trajectories, timings and altitudes of the satellites are very well defined. What you need is the capability to reach those altitudes and those velocities. After the launch of Agni 4, we have built those capabilities. After the launch of ballistic missile defence, we have the kill vehicles that can take the payload to within few meters of the target. This gives us great advantage, he stated. He also elaborated Launch (of satellite) on Demand, as another kind of capability that DRDO was working on, that will provide support to our armed forces (e.g. communication, navigation and guidance) in case access to our regular satellites is denied. This capability will be based on Agni 4 and Agni 5 missiles and give us capability to launch mini- and micro- satellites within few hours of demand.

When questioned about Arihant, the indigenous nuclear powered submarine, he said, Arihant is in advanced stage of integration and I am sure within few months, we will see its operation. On a question related to progress of K-15 program, he mentioned about recent successful trials and informed that the missile was getting ready for final phase of induction.

Dispelling any concern about the performance of MBT Arjun, he said, Arjun tank has performed very well. There is no ambiguity as far as performance is concerned. In comparative trials with T-90, Arjun tank came out with much better performance. He further stated that maintenance infrastructure in the Army (for the Arjun tank regiments already inducted in army) was getting consolidated, once the consolidation was completed, problem, if any, related to availability of spares from the factory to the units, will also get resolved.

On a question about LCA Tejas, he said, Tejas (program) is in good shape. all the observations made by the Air force during IOC trials have been attended to. On LCA Navy, he informed that its taxi runs have been completed it was about to enter the flight trial phase. Since it has to operate from the deck of the ship, the Naval version incorporates many new features as compared to the air force version.

Replying to a question on DRDOs experience with Tatra vehicles, Dr Saraswat stated Our choice of vehicles is purely based upon what vehicles have been inducted in the armed forces, so that they dont have to have a separate inventory and maintenance infrastructure. We have used them extensively during the past over twenty years on all kind of terrains and we would say that it is one of the very good vehicles already inducted by the armed forces.

Series of meetings were held at DRDO pavilion with high level delegations from leading countries of the world, and resulted in fruitful discussions. The discussions will further enhance DRDOs collaboration with global leaders in the areas of advanced technologies.

Another highlight was the launch of two of DRDO technologies that are among twenty six such technologies developed for defence applications and released for commercialization exploitation under the DRDO-FICCI ATAC (Accelerated Technology Assessment and Commercialization) program. The Explosive Detection Kit (EDK), and The Swine Flu diagnostic kit were launched by Dr Saraswat during a Launch Function on Saturday 31 March 2012. The Explosive Detection Kit (EDK), developed by Pune based High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, can quickly detect and identify even traces of explosives. The handy kit is ideally suited to be carried and used everywhere. The Swine Flu diagnostic kit, developed by Defence Research and Development Establishment, Gwalior, can detect H1N1 virus within an hour. The kit does not need sophisticated instruments and can even be used in villages where electricity is not available.


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## Yeti

NEW DELHI: Is there life out there? This is what India wants to find out by joining a global search for alien life forms.

As part of a new project called 'Detection of Life Forms in Other Planets', India will soon build a near human robotic system - a robonaut -- with capability "for analysis and assessment of air, water and soil and detection of possible life forms".

The Department of Atomic Energy's working group for the 12th five year plan says the quest for detection of life forms existing in other planets than earth will be an interesting and challenging project that India will push to become part of.

"It would be worthwhile to explore partnerships with one of the five space agencies for development of suitable software and hardware for the robotic operations in outer space. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has already expressed its interest in joining the International Space Station programme at the International Astronautical Congress," the group said.

The International Space Station is operated as a joint programme by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency ( ESA).

According to the department, the operational costs for development of a robonaut "may require considerable investments. The contribution from India for the robotic operations will depend on the tasks assigned and agreed to upon by all the partner nations."

It further says that the costs of development and participation for design, modelling of software and hardware for robotic operations for detection of life forms in outer space and for initial studies, simulation, laboratory trials of critical components is expected to be around Rs 500 crore during the 12th five year plan.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center recently unveiled a gold-helmeted robot Robonaut 2 - the first humanoid robot in space that took over 15 years to create. R2 was developed jointly by NASA and General Motors under a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they are astronauts in space or workers at GM manufacturing plants on Earth.

The 300-pound R2 consisted of a head and a torso with two arms and two hands.

"This project exemplifies the promise that a future generation of robots can have both in space and on earth, not as replacements for humans but as companions that can carry out key supporting roles," said John Olson, director of NASA's Exploration Systems Integration Office in Washington while unveiling R2.

He added, "The combined potential of humans and robots is a perfect example of the sum equaling more than the parts. It will allow us to go farther and achieve more than we can probably even imagine today."

Experts say in the future, the greatest benefits of humanoid robots in space may be as assistants or stand-in for astronauts during spacewalks or for tasks too difficult or dangerous for humans. For now, R2 is still a prototype and does not have adequate protection needed to exist outside the space station in the extreme temperatures of space.

Soon, India&rsquo;s robonaut to hunt for aliens - The Times of India


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## i am the knight

After the success story of Chandrayan-1, Bangalore headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is now gearing up for its prestigious mission to Mars. A source in the Isro told The Pioneer that a formal approval from the Government for the Mars mission is expected soon. According to Isro, the Mars Mission will be in 2013 and space scientists are working in this direction to make it possible well within the time frame after the formal approval from the Government.



Isro spokesperson S Satish told The Pioneer that the proposal is awaiting approval from the Government and the Mars mission is targeted for November 2013 which the earliest opportunity is considering earth mars geometry.



The recent annual report of Isro has mentioned that the Mars mission will look at climate, geology, origin from evolution and sustainability of life on the plant. The Mars mission envisages launching an orbiter around Mars using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL). The orbiter will be placed in an orbit of 500x80,000 km around Mars and will have a provision for carrying nearly 25 kg of scientific payloads onboard.



According to the annual report the scientific payloads have been shortlisted by the Isros Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress.



In another development Isro has signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bangalore for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload for its ADITYA-1 project while mechanical configuration of the satellite is in progress. ADITYA-1 is the first space-based solar coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the sun called corona. ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) such as the coronal magnetic field structures and evolution of the coronal magnetic field and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather.

Meanwhile Isro is gearing up to launch its RISAT -1, Radar Imaging Satellite, on April 26 early morning from Sriharikota.



According to Satish, the preparations were on for the launch of this indigenously built satellite which has the capacity to take images of the earth during the day and night as well in any condition.



India had launched RISAT-2, which it bought from Israel for $110 million, on April 20, 2009, and Resourcesat-2 mission took place on the same day last year. Both were successful ventures.

RISAT-1, weighing around 1850 kg, is slated for launch by Isros workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C19 (XL)) into a 536 km orbit. The RISAT-1 will be useful for monitoring of agriculture and water resources management, among other applications. RISAT-1 carries a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode to provide images with coarse, fine and high spatial resolutions respectively.

http://http://dailypioneer.com/nation/59047-isro-flying-high-all-set-for-mars-mission.html


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## Ammyy

What about RISAT-1 launch ??? 

No news for this launch on net ....


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## Bharthi

Sriharikota readying for PSLV launch on Thursday | Deccan Chronicle


*Sriharikota readying for PSLV launch on Thursday*

As the nation is celebrating its Agni-V launch, the Space scientists in Kerala are looking forward to repeat the nation&#8217;s success on *April 26*, when PSLV- C19 satellite will be launched from Sriharikota.

&#8220;This is the first time we are going to launch a microwave remote-sensing satellite into the orbit carrying a synthetic aperture radar (SAR)&#8221;, Dr. P.S. Veeraraghavan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), told DC here.

*PSLV*-C19 will be carrying Radar Imaging Satellite (*RISAT*-1), a microwave remote-sensing satellite weighing around 1,850 kg.

Veeraraghavan said PSLV- C19 will be launched into a 536 km orbit with 25 days&#8217; &#8220;repetitivity&#8221; with an added advantage of 12 days&#8217; inner cycle for receiving images on scan mode. Veeraraghavan is known for his contributions to the launch vehicle technology, specially in the areas of integration and checkout of Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s (ISRO) launch vehicles.

The outstanding feature of PSLV &#8211; C19 is that it can provide images of the Earth for all 24 hours in all weather conditions. Previous satellites could not provide optical images in cloudy conditions. When launched, this would be the heaviest satellite so far. Around 3,000 people from different centres of VSSC, ISRO and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) are working for the successful launch.

Dr. V. Adimurthy, Dean of Indian Institute of Space, Science and Technology in Valiyamala said, &#8220;Whenever there&#8217;s a launch, we keep documenting all the procedures, and do repeated safety checks.&#8221;

Both Dr. Adimurthy and Dr. Veeraraghavan were on their way to Sriharikotta to celebrate the victory of Agni-V launch.

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## Abingdonboy

^^ should give a great boost to intelligence services of RAW/NRTO and shall serve as a great compliment to RISAT-2 which is already serving the nation.


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## Kinetic

India's latest advancements in space technology

ISRO annual report 2011-2012

http://isro.org/pdf/AnnuaReport2012.pdf


Important milestones...... 

Space Transportation: 

*Semi-cryogenic Project:* *India developing 2000 kN thrust semi cryogenic engine for future Heavy Lift Unified Launch Vehicles. * 
Semi cryogenic Project envisages development of a 2000 kN semi cryogenic engine for the future heavy lift Unified Launch Vehicles (ULV) and Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). The semi cryogenic engine uses a combination of Liquid Oxygen and Isrosene as propellants which are eco-friendly and cost effective. Engine design, generation of fabrication drawing of sub systems and integration drawings have been completed. Preliminary Design Review of Engine Gimbal Control system have been completed and technical specification document of both Hydraulic Actuation System and Hydraulic Power System generated. Hypergolic igniter trials have been successfully demonstrated. Single element of pre burner and thrust chamber are realised. 3 tests have been completed for single element Semicryo pre-burner injector.

*Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD):* A series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived towards realising *a Two Stage to Orbit fully re-usable launch vehicle.* For this purpose a winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured.*The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion.*
Major accomplishments of RLV-TD during the period are *the second static test of HS9 motor with Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control system, commissioning of Integration facility and structural qualification tests of all wing fuselage joints.* Four National Expert Committees reviewed various design, testing and manoeuvre aspects. Apart from this, Reaction Control System jet interaction studies and aero characterisation for the vehicle were completed. Elevon and rudder deflection studies were carried out for vehicle and mission. Updated version of on-board software for Digital Auto Pilot Flight Requirements Document and data set documents were released based on National Committee recommendations. All Navigation, Guidance and Control hardware, ceramic servo accelerometer and Hybrid Data Second static test of HS9 motor Acquisition System (HDAS) were realised. Miniaturised Flush Air Data Systems (FADS) electronics was also realised and Advanced Vehicle Imaging System was introduced. The elliptical toroid tank for storing Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control injectant was fabricated and subjected to hydraulic pressure test.

*Air Breathing Propulsion Project (ABPP) :* *Air-Breathing propulsion along with Reusable Launch Vehicle technology is the technological key for low cost access to Space*. Unlike conventional rockets which carry both oxygen and fuel onboard, Air breathing propulsion systems make use of atmospheric oxygen for combustion resulting in substantial improvement in payload fraction and thus reducing overall costs. VSSC has taken up a systematic R&D programme demonstrating stable supersonic combustion through a series of ground tests on the Air-Breathing Propulsion Technology and the flight demonstration is planned with the Advanced Technology Vehicle.

*Development activities towards active scramjet engine and high-pressure gaseous fuel feed system are progressing well for the ATV D-02 Scramjet Gas Monitor Cabin Lights
High pressure gaseous fuel feed system RH 200 launch from TERLS range Characterisation. The flight is targeted in the first half of 2012.* Aero-Thermo-Structural design of Engine module is completed. Engine fabrication is in progress. Complex AB Propulsion testing (air intake and combustor) and analysis (Computational Fluid Dynamics and Thermo Structural) are also conducted. High temperature scramjet combustor ground tests up to 1950 K were successfully carried out at FKPNITsRKP, Russia using Silicon Carbide (SiC) coated Carbon/Carbon leading edges. Detailed scramjet full engine CFD simulations (with and without combustion) were carried out for Mach number window 6.0±0.5 and confirmed discernable change in acceleration and engine flow starting. Integration mockup of high pressure gaseous hydrogen Fuel Feed System
with gas bottles / modules and AA2014 structure were carried out at LPSC. Substantial progress is made towards commissioning of Air Breathing propulsion test facilities at NAL, Bangalore and LPSC, Mahendragiri.

*Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP):* The government has provided funds for pre-project phase activities. During this phase, it is proposed to develop new and critical technologies required for Human Space flight Programme, which includes Crew Module (CM) systems, Environmental Control & Life Support Systems , Flight Suit, Crew Escape System and Service Module Systems.

*GSLV mk III:* The GSLV-Mark III vehicle, a heavy lift launch vehicle, designed for launching 4-5 ton communication satellites of INSAT-4 class is in the advanced stages of development. This vehicle is having three propulsion stages and is 42.4m tall with a lift-off weight of 630 ton. Two identical large solid strap-on boosters with 200 ton of solid propellant are attached on either side of the core stage which is a liquid stage with 110 ton of propellant loading. The next stage is the Cryogenic C25 Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen (LOX/LH2) based cryogenic stage. The Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) payload fairing measures 5 m in diameter. Cryogenic Engine 20 (CE20) thrust chamber test article is ready and interfacing with test stand has been carried out. The avionic packages for proto equipment bay have been delivered for integration and Proto Equipment Bay harnessing was completed and powered. Telemetry, Tracking and Command checks have been completed.

*GSLV mk II and GSLV mk I:* The next two GSLV missions are planned to be conducted as developmental flights. Flight testing of GSLV-D5 with 3.4 m Payload Fairing and indigenous cryo stage is targeted for the middle of 2012 and GSLV-D6 with 4m Payload Fairing and indigenous cryo stage is planned in April 2013.

*Space Capsule Recovery Experiment &#8211;2 (SRE-2) : *SRE-2 Project was formed with the main objective of realising a fully recoverable capsule and to provide a platform to conduct microgravity experiments. Space Capsule Recovery Experiment capsule has four major hardware, namely Aero Thermo-structure (ATS), Space craft platform, deceleration and floatation system and payloads. New technology developments for SRE&#8211;2 include Carbon-Carbon Nose Cap, indigenous Ultra High Frequency Beacons, etc. Aero Thermo Structure with silica tile Thermal Protection System, qualification models of payloads, solar panels, parachutes and floats were realised. Mission Management Unit hardware is ready and On-board Software In Loop tests for de-boost phase completed.

*Advanced Technology Vehicles (ATVP) :* The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) has the unique capability to take a payload of 200-400kg up to an altitude of 800 km. Ascent of the vehicle in a direct vertical profile makes it an excellent platform for space research, best suited for the studies of upper atmospheric features and short period transient phenomena / events in the atmosphere. ATV also provides a cost effective platform for the study of microgravity conditions with up to 10 minutes of microgravity at levels better than 100 g which can be used for microgravity experiments in fluid physics, combustion research, materials sciences, biology as well as to perform precursor experiments for launch vehicles, satellites and manned missions. Post flight data analysis for ATV D-01 was completed. Vehicle systems for ATV D-02 mission are getting ready.

Twelve RH200 flights with *chaff payload* were successfully conducted from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station Range for wind measurement. Two proof motor tests were conducted for the propellant design and evaluation of IIST Student Rocket Flight (Vyom), which is RH200 motor with revised grain design.


*New modern Launch Control Centre (LCC) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota which will be used for future launches. *






*New IRNSS satellite control centre with four 7.2 m antennas and one 11 m antenna has been installed at Byalalu, Karnataka.*

*Satish Dhawan Supercomputing Facility:* 220 teraflop supercomputer unveiled by VSSC.

*Titanium Sponge Production Plant:* A Titanium Sponge Production Plant with a capacity of 500 TPA was set up jointly by ISRO and Government of Kerala at Chavara using the indigenous technology developed by Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad. 

*6 MW Plasma Wind Tunnel Facility:* This facility catering to the system level evaluation of
re-entry thermal protection systems for future missions like Reusable Launch Vehicle, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, Human Spaceflight Programme etc. was fully commissioned in 2011 at a total budget outlay of Rs.21.50 Cr. Characterisation up to a power level of 3.8 MW is completed.

*Thrust Chamber Test Facility for cryogenic engines:* For testing of cryogenic engine thrust chambers, Thrust Chamber Test Facility has been commissioned at LPSC, Mahendragiri.




*Space Science: *

*Chandrayaan-2 updates: *










Chandrayaan-2 mission is planned to have an Orbiter/Lander/Rover configuration. The mission is expected to be
realised by 2014. It is an Indo-Russian collaborative mission. The scientific objectives of the mission are to further
improve our understanding of origin and evolution of the Moon using instruments onboard Orbiter and in-situ
analysis of lunar samples and studies of lunar regolith properties (remote and direct analysis) using Robotics/Rover.

*Orbiter Craft (OC)*
Chandrayaan-2 Structure configuration has been changed from I2K
to I3K configuration due to the revision of payload lift off capacity
by GSLV. This change will enable accommodating larger propellant
tanks. The mission strategy was revised to inject the satellite in a
lower initial orbit (170 X 16980km) with a higher lift-off mass of
3200kg and the Propulsion System Configuration changed to
increase fuel carrying capability of the satellite.
The other activities completed are: finalisation of all electrical and
mechanical interfaces including the payload interfaces; Preliminary
Design Reviews (PDRs) of Bus Systems (Power, Attitude Orbit
Control Electronics, Telemetry, Tracking and Command Baseband
Systems, RF Systems, Data Handling System, Structure, Thermal Control System, Propulsion System); all
systems accommodation studies and initial thermal analysis.

*Rover*
The activities completed so far are: configuration of Rover and Payloads, Preliminary Design of all subsystems
and PDR of all Rover subsystems. Lunar Terrain Test Facility has been established at ISITE for simulation of
reduced &#8216;g&#8217; and Lunar soil.

*Russian-GK Lander Craft (LC) Interfaces: *
Three interface meetings took place with Russian delegates apart
from regular mail communication and teleconferences. OC-LC and LC-Rover Interfaces and Lander-Rover
communication scheme were finalised. Landing site identification has been initiated and schedules/sequence of
activities is worked out.


*Indian MARS Mission*

ISRO is planning to undertake a mission to the planet Mars *during 2013 timeframe.* The Project Report for Indian Mars Orbiter mission has been submitted for approval of Government of India. The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be *to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life
on the planet.*

Scientific payloads have been short-listed by the ADCOS review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress.


*Solar mission: ADITYA-1 space based Solar Coronagraph*

ADITYA-1 is the first space based Solar Coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the sun called Corona. ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc., and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather. 

The activities of ADITYA-1 are: MoU signed with the IIA for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload; preliminary design of the optical systems of ADITYA-1 finalized and design document generated; Preliminary Design Review of the optical design completed; Trade-off studies on the selection of detector system completed and the list of subsystem packages along with power and mass budget generated. Mechanical reconfiguration of the satellite is in progress.
*
Astronomy mission: ASTROSAT *

ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy mission, which will enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies, cosmic sources in X-ray, visible and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500-6000 Å), UV (1300-3000 Å), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5-8 keV; 3-80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft X and hard X ray regions.

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT are: 

*Multiwavelength studies of cosmic sources, 
Monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients, 
All sky survey in the hard X-ray and UV bands, 
Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, 
AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies and stellar coronae, 
Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources and monitoring intensity of known sources and detecting outbursts and luminosity variations.*

*
Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX)*

The National programme in the Planetary Science and Exploration, PLANEX (short and long-term strategy) initiated through ISRO&#8217;s Advisory Committee for Space Research (ADCOS) is visualised to undertake research and related activities in the field of Planetary Science and Exploration.
The activities in the PLANEX program during the year are Centred around investigations on meteorites to understand early solar system processes, analysis of remote sensing data from lunar missions to understand surface features and surface processes on the Moon and development of laboratory prototypes of instruments for planetary exploration.

Unlike most other basins on the Moon, Orientale is relatively less flooded
by mare basalts, exposing much of the basin structure to view. The study concentrated to identify and estimate the mineral abundance in the Orientale basin based on the absorption features and the linear spectral unmixing hyperspectral techniques.

Two payloads for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, scheduled for launch in 2013 are under development. One of the payloads, X-ray Solar Monitor is for the orbiter and the second one, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer is for the rover. A new technology of Wireless Sensor Network for Lunar and Planetary Exploration is also under development.
In addition to the two annual meetings, PLANEX Workshop and the PLANEX PIs annual review meeting, two data analysis workshops (both in collaboration with SAC, Ahmedabad) and a *Brainstorming session on Mars Science and Exploration have been organised.*

more to come......

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## Adnan Faruqi

Thanks to my friend Kinetic for ur effort

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## IPL5

Good job done by ISRO.

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## Bharthi

PSLV 1st flight,20 September 1993.

GSLV 
2012


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## Skull and Bones

ISRO and Kinetic rocks.

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## Firemaster

Nice find Kinetic . You find it even before me

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## Kinetic

THANKS BROS. 

*Very eager to see RISAT-1 and the new Launch Control Centre.*

Can you guy imagine a 2000 kN thrust semi cryogenic engine. thats same as space shuttle's main engine.


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## indushek

Kinetic said:


> THANKS BROS.
> 
> *Very eager to see RISAT-1 and the new Launch Control Centre.*
> 
> Can you guy imagine a 2000 kN thrust semi cryogenic engine. thats same as space shuttle's main engine.



Hey man why were u absent on that Agni V thread??

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## Kinetic

ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan got a new centre....

*some old pics of MCF, Hassan...... *





















*deep space network.... at byalalu*









there were some good pics of byalalu centre, have to find them....

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## Kinetic

indushek said:


> Hey man why were u absent on that Agni V thread??



sorry bro... too busy with office works. could post only once.

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## Firemaster

Hey Kinetic I want to ask an off Topic question Please don't report me for that 

What is the difference between Kinetic Kill vehicle (KKV) And hit to kill Technology and Gimbaled warhead technology in context of ASAT and ABM Missiles???

And
Yes 2000KN Thrust is just awesome for ISRO Rockets. It seems like that we are jumping directly to High Thrust


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## indushek

Kinetic said:


> sorry bro... too busy with office works. could post only once.



I really missed u and Ganimi, Sancho was one more missing i was surprised that u three weren't there. No problem man, u know i will admit shamelessly i skipped my office works as much as possible that day enjoying Agni V and the tamasha on PDF.

P.S: suffering that today was at office till late night to clear back log

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## Firemaster

indushek said:


> I really missed u and Ganimi, Sancho was one more missing i was surprised that u three weren't there. No problem man, u know i will admit shamelessly i skipped my office works as much as possible that day enjoying Agni V and the tamasha on PDF.


 
Hey As far as I know Sancho avoids trolls and Tamasha threads


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## Sergi

Nice post OP. 
Good job ISRO. So anything about space station ??? Or it's still decades away ???

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## indushek

Firemaster said:


> Hey As far as I know Sancho avoids trolls and Tamasha threads



True that no doubt, u need people with technical knowledge to be around to watch overly enthusiastic posters be corrected. Dont u agree??

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## faithfulguy

That launch control center look like a space ship.


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## Kinetic

indushek said:


> I really missed u and Ganimi, Sancho was one more missing i was surprised that u three weren't there. No problem man, u know i will admit shamelessly i skipped my office works as much as possible that day enjoying Agni V and the tamasha on PDF.
> 
> P.S: suffering that today was at office till late night to clear back log



Really jealous of you bro..... yeah, missed the Tamasha. When returned from office in the evening the thread had already more than 50 pages!!! lol 



Firemaster said:


> Hey As far as I know Sancho avoids trolls and Tamasha threads



Bro, now a days I also avoid the trolls, but do not miss the tamasha when they burnv after Bharati successes. lol



Firemaster said:


> Hey Kinetic I want to ask an off Topic question Please don't report me for that
> 
> What is the difference between Kinetic Kill vehicle (KKV) And hit to kill Technology and Gimbaled warhead technology in context of ASAT and ABM Missiles???



You are always welcome bro. 

*KKV is the last remaining part of the missile which is highly agile.... designed for end game ... destruction of the target ballistic missile. It has high speed so kinetic. 

Hit to Kill: Destroying with direct hit instead of using a proximity fuse. Highly accurate PF can also lead to HTK. It needs high speed. It can contain explosive or can be without explosive. it makes sure complete destruction of the target. 

Gimbaled Directional warhead: Used in warhead with proximity fuses. It bursts at 360 degree, gives very high kill probability. * 



> And
> Yes 2000KN Thrust is just awesome for ISRO Rockets. It seems like that we are jumping directly to High Thrust


​
Yeah, it will be used for future heavy lift ULV and RLV.

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## subincb

Semi cryo will replace stage 1 but it is no where near completion. its just still on paper and research is slow in LPSC. GSLV mark III only first and second stage static is completed. they have still lots more test to go. Cryogenic will be only after success of mark 2.


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## Firemaster

Thanks Kinetic

Has India ever tested KKV ( Purely KKV i.e. without any warhead)???


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## Kinetic

Firemaster said:


> Thanks Kinetic
> 
> Has India ever tested KKV ( Purely KKV i.e. without any warhead)???


 
No bro, India did not test KKV so far, only KV.

I think PDV will have a modern dual guidance KKV. It will be tested by the end of this year.

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## Varunastra

development after development in each and every field.................i feel so PROUD!!!* PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN!!! JAI HIND!!*

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## angeldemon_007

@ Kinetic
Thanx man....ISRO is doing the work of future...drdo should learn from them.

Please post something latest about RLV-TD and Air Breathing Propulsion Project...Whats the progress ?? When it suppose to start working ??

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## BlueDot_in_Space

latest propulsion modules under development by ISRO

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## Kinetic

angeldemon_007 said:


> @ Kinetic
> Thanx man....ISRO is doing the work of future...drdo should learn from them.
> 
> Please post something latest about RLV-TD and Air Breathing Propulsion Project...Whats the progress ?? When it suppose to start working ??


 
They have tested the new booster HS9 for RLV-TD twice successfully with Secondary Injection *Thrust Vector Control system*. Apart from this, 

*eaction Control System jet interaction studies and aero characterisation for the vehicle were completed. 
*Elevon and rudder deflection studies were carried out for vehicle and mission. 
*Updated version of on-board software for *Digital Auto Pilot *Flight Requirements *Document and data set documents were released based on National Committee recommendations. 
**All Navigation, Guidance and Control hardware, ceramic servo accelerometer and Hybrid Data Second static test of HS9 motor Acquisition System (HDAS) were realised.* 
*Miniaturised *Flush Air Data Systems (FADS) electronics* was also realised and **Advanced Vehicle Imaging System* was introduced. 
*The elliptical toroid tank for storing Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control injectant was fabricated and subjected to hydraulic pressure test.

First test may be next year. 

Air Breathing Propulsion 
----------------------

Active scramjet engine and high-pressure gaseous fuel feed system are progressing well for the ATV D-02 Scramjet Gas Monitor Cabin Lights High pressure gaseous fuel feed system RH 200 launch from TERLS range Characterisation. The flight is targeted in the first half of 2012. 

*So first flight of our active scramjet engine anytime before July. *

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## ptltejas

@kinegic 
Gretttttttttttttt............

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## Kinetic

*Space Science: *

*Chandrayaan-2 updates: *










Chandrayaan-2 mission is planned to have an Orbiter/Lander/Rover configuration. The mission is expected to be
realised by 2014. It is an Indo-Russian collaborative mission. The scientific objectives of the mission are to further
improve our understanding of origin and evolution of the Moon using instruments onboard Orbiter and in-situ
analysis of lunar samples and studies of lunar regolith properties (remote and direct analysis) using Robotics/Rover.

*Orbiter Craft (OC)*
Chandrayaan-2 Structure configuration has been changed from I2K
to I3K configuration due to the revision of payload lift off capacity
by GSLV. This change will enable accommodating larger propellant
tanks. The mission strategy was revised to inject the satellite in a
lower initial orbit (170 X 16980km) with a higher lift-off mass of
3200kg and the Propulsion System Configuration changed to
increase fuel carrying capability of the satellite.
The other activities completed are: finalisation of all electrical and
mechanical interfaces including the payload interfaces; Preliminary
Design Reviews (PDRs) of Bus Systems (Power, Attitude Orbit
Control Electronics, Telemetry, Tracking and Command Baseband
Systems, RF Systems, Data Handling System, Structure, Thermal Control System, Propulsion System); all
systems accommodation studies and initial thermal analysis.

*Rover*
The activities completed so far are: configuration of Rover and Payloads, Preliminary Design of all subsystems
and PDR of all Rover subsystems. Lunar Terrain Test Facility has been established at ISITE for simulation of
reduced &#8216;g&#8217; and Lunar soil.

*Russian-GK Lander Craft (LC) Interfaces: *
Three interface meetings took place with Russian delegates apart
from regular mail communication and teleconferences. OC-LC and LC-Rover Interfaces and Lander-Rover
communication scheme were finalised. Landing site identification has been initiated and schedules/sequence of
activities is worked out.


*Indian MARS Mission*

ISRO is planning to undertake a mission to the planet Mars *during 2013 timeframe.* The Project Report for Indian Mars Orbiter mission has been submitted for approval of Government of India. The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be *to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life
on the planet.*

Scientific payloads have been short-listed by the ADCOS review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress.


*Solar mission: ADITYA-1 space based Solar Coronagraph*

ADITYA-1 is the first space based Solar Coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the sun called Corona. ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc., and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather. 

The activities of ADITYA-1 are: MoU signed with the IIA for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload; preliminary design of the optical systems of ADITYA-1 finalized and design document generated; Preliminary Design Review of the optical design completed; Trade-off studies on the selection of detector system completed and the list of subsystem packages along with power and mass budget generated. Mechanical reconfiguration of the satellite is in progress.
*
Astronomy mission: ASTROSAT *

ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy mission, which will enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies, cosmic sources in X-ray, visible and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500-6000 Å), UV (1300-3000 Å), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5-8 keV; 3-80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft X and hard X ray regions.

The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT are: 

*Multiwavelength studies of cosmic sources, 
Monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients, 
All sky survey in the hard X-ray and UV bands, 
Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries, 
AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies and stellar coronae, 
Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources and monitoring intensity of known sources and detecting outbursts and luminosity variations.*

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## angeldemon_007

I know this is not the thread for this but i have to ask...

Any updates on HSTDV ??? And any missile planned on this ??


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## punjabimunda

thanks kinetic bhai this was awsome.


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## shree835

Those tracking kharif paddy, among other scenes, can get a clear picture of it this year, thanks to RISAT-1, the all-weather satellite.

The nations second radar imaging satellite will be put into orbit at dawn on Thursday.Its specialty is the SAR or synthetic aperture radar which can see through clouds.

Development and other agencies that track objects, people movements, natural features and disasters on ground using satellite images can now get a round-the-year, all-terrain view of these areas.
SAR has been developed by the ISROs Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad.

A radar imaging satellite is widely believed to have military uses too  a view that ISRO, a civil space agency, ignores.

RISAT-1 will help to give sharp and clear images of kharif crop, especially paddy, during the cloudy months of September-November, said an ISRO official.

Otherwise, rice estimation would have to wait till December or January.

It also beams some very sharp imageries of 1-metre resolution: of persons or objects such as cars that are 1m high or broad.

For all-weather data, national agencies relied on Canadas RADARSATs imageries. That dependence will come down now, the official said.

RISAT-1 will also improve tracking and management during floods, cyclone and other natural disasters. The SAR can also look back and forth with its ScanSAR feature.

Other earlier IRSs (Indian remote sensing satellites) used optical and infrared sensors that failed to see below clouds.

RISAT-1 is led by its Project Director, Ms N. Valarmathi,  the second woman to helm a satellite Project.

It costs Rs 378 crore  almost double an INSAT communications satellite  due to SAR. The launch adds Rs 120 crore to it.

RISAT-1 was due for launch in early to late 2009 but was urgently replaced by a much smaller RISAT-2. (It was in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.)

ISRO built the RISAT-2, of April 2009, with the help of Israel Aerospace Industries and launched it on its PSLV vehicle.

Its special uses are disaster management, forest cover, terrain mapping and what is called species representation.

On Monday morning, launch scientists at ISROs launch port, Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, began counting down three days ahead of the event.

ISRO will launch it on its workhorse PSLV rocket, this one codenamed C19. The Launch Authorisation Board has cleared the launch for 5.47 a.m. on April 26.

The current remote sensing spacecraft weighs an ISRO-regular 1,850 kg. It operates in the C-band. RISAT-2 was around 300 kg and operates in the X-band.

During the 71-hour countdown, liquid propellant will be filled in the rockets second and fourth stages. The tracking radar systems, communication networks and a host of ground systems will be checked.

Mandatory checks on the launch vehicle and spacecraft ( and) charging of batteries and pressurisation of propellant tanks onboard the satellite will be performed.

The rocket codenamed PSLV-C19 will inject RISAT-1 satellite into an initial pole-to-pole orbit at a distance of 480 km from Earths surface.

Once in space, it will be nudged into a final orbit 536 km away by firing the thrusters on the satellite.

With RISAT-1, India will get clear, unclouded picture | idrw.org


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## Abingdonboy

India already has this capabilty with RISAT-2 , RISAT-1 will supplement this capability.


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## solidstate

http://www.aame.in/2011/08/india-space-shuttle-reusable-launch.html

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## angeldemon_007

^^^
Couldn't see the picture....can you post the source ?


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## solidstate

this is an entire presentation of the future development and specific technologies in rlv project ond other isro projects, can someone upload it.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

whole presentation here. very informative.

India&#39;s Space Shuttle [Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)] program - some information - AA Me, IN

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## ptltejas

Sorry buddy the picture cant be pasted gods know why? I tried to paste that. well thnx for info


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## Filmmaker



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## Filmmaker



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## ptltejas

how you posted it i tried but it didnt work............................ thanks very much


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## rajgoynar

what is LVM3. i didn't listen this name ever before... it it GSLV MK3....


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## Sergi

Nice post


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## kaku1

Kinetic said:


> sorry bro... too busy with office works. could post only once.



Kinetic, I want to ask one question- From last six month, I am feeling that the ISRO is not so much serious about the Human spaceflight. Maybe it is possible that govt. is not interested in funding this project because of its high cost.

It is looking that ISRO is closing down this project?--So whats your thinking.


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## i am the knight

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Technology : RISAT-1's radar can see through clouds and work in darkness

More than two decades after India's first operational optical remote sensing satellite went into orbit, the country's space capabilities are poised for a big technological leap with the launch of an entirely indigenous radar imaging satellite, RISAT-1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to send the satellite into space aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle that is scheduled to lift-off from Sriharikota early on Thursday.

The RISAT-1's radar will be able to see through clouds and work in darkness, conditions that hamper optical satellites. Its images will be useful for a variety of applications, from crop forecasting and disaster management to addressing the country's strategic needs.

The RISAT-1 will, however, be the country's second radar imaging satellite. India already operates the Israeli-built RISAT-2, which was launched in April 2009 and appears to have been quickly procured to meet security requirements.

After the ISRO launched IRS-1A in 1988, it sent up well over a dozen earth-viewing satellites bearing a variety of optical imaging cameras. These satellites have created a large user community within the country. Their data is also being received and utilised in several countries.

An important reason for the ISRO's initial emphasis on optical imaging was the far greater complexity of a radar satellite, according to Pramod Kale, who was once director of the ISRO's Space Applications Centre at Ahmedabad that builds payloads carried on Indian satellites.

With RISAT-1, ISRO scientists and engineers demonstrate their mastery of that difficult and closely guarded technology. If the satellite works as its creators hope, it will match and perhaps in some respects even surpass Canada's second-generation RADARSAT-2 that is now operational.

The RISAT-1 uses the synthetic aperture radar' technique. It carries out complex processing of the radar echoes received from the same place on the ground so as to simulate a much bigger antenna than it actually carries. Doing so greatly increases the image resolution that is possible.

Radar images from the satellite will have a resolution that can be varied from 50 metres down to 3 metres. However, as resolution increases, less of the ground can be imaged as the satellite passes overhead.

In a special spotlight mode,' where the satellite will keep looking at a small region on the ground, it will be capable of providing one-metre resolution images. (The best resolution now possible on the ISRO's optical remote sensing satellites is believed to be about 0.8 metres.)

The satellite is equipped with an advanced active phased array' antenna. Instead of a single device generating the microwave signals, the antenna has a large number of modules that collectively produce the radar beam. By suitably adjusting the signals generated by various modules, the beam can be electronically moved around. Even if a few modules fail, the satellite can continue to function albeit perhaps with some degradation in performance.


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## Laughing_soldier

Kinetic said:


> *Chandrayaan-2 updates: *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> more to come......



Chandrayaan-2 on the way, looks cool.


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## Laughing_soldier

thank you. informative.


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## Angad_NSA

RISAT-1 Launch.

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## Angad_NSA



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## kirankumar299

Good going isro


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## Perceptron

*India to ferry heaviest foreign satellite in August*
IANS First Published: 15:51 IST(29/4/2012)
Chennai, April 29, 2012 Last Updated: 15:53 IST(29/4/2012)
India will ferry two foreign satellites - French and Japanese - on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) rocket in August this year for a price, said a senior official. "The next rocket launch will be in August. We will be sending our PSLV rocket with French satellite SPOT 6 (800 kg) and a small Japanese satellite weighing around 15 kg. Though the rocket is called PSLV-C21 it will go before PSLV-C20," P.S. Veeraraghavan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), told IANS.

The Thiruvananthapuram based VSCC is part of India's space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix) has entered into a commercial Launch Services Agreement with Astrium SAS, a company under EADS, France for launching SPOT-6, an advanced remote sensing satellite.

What is interesting is that the 800 kg SPOT-6 built by Astrium SAS will be the heaviest third party payload that ISRO will be carrying after the 350 kg Italian satellite Agile it carried in 2007, officials said.

As the total luggage will be around 815 kg, ISRO will be using its Core Alone variant of PSLV (rocket without its six strap on motors).

The mission will take ISRO's total tally of ferrying foreign satellites to 29.

ISRO has been carrying foreign satellites since 1999 initially as an add-on luggage to its own satellite.

It was with Agile satellite that ISRO started flying a full commercial rocket.

According to Veeraraghavan, the space agency would launch SARAL satellite - an Indo-French initiative - using PSLV-C20 rocket after the August launch.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*RLV-TD animation from VSSC*

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## ptltejas

joey said:


> I dont think this is needed India DID SEND men in space back in 1984 with russian help.
> sending men in space and getting them back is of no use.
> u gotta send robots or payloads to study planets which has much more scientifical importance.



no not exactly, the purpose to send human is for study the effect of human body and to get the knowledge and technical expertise which could be useful to send human on moon or at other places. all country first send their human at space and then think to send them on moon etc. moreover we shall have milestone as in first attempt we send simultaneously two people in space. 

I think lets just play short troll give your opinion, whom u choose for those two lucky fellow to send in space.

my vote. If success. Narendra modi and Barak Obama
Fail Sharad Pawar and Sonia ............


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## -1o1-



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## Bobby

Kinetic said:


> *Space Science: *
> 
> *Chandrayaan-2 updates: *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Chandrayaan-2 mission is planned to have an Orbiter/Lander/Rover configuration. The mission is expected to be
> realised by 2014. It is an Indo-Russian collaborative mission. The scientific objectives of the mission are to further
> improve our understanding of origin and evolution of the Moon using instruments onboard Orbiter and in-situ
> analysis of lunar samples and studies of lunar regolith properties (remote and direct analysis) using Robotics/Rover.
> 
> *Orbiter Craft (OC)*
> Chandrayaan-2 Structure configuration has been changed from I2K
> to I3K configuration due to the revision of payload lift off capacity
> by GSLV. This change will enable accommodating larger propellant
> tanks. The mission strategy was revised to inject the satellite in a
> lower initial orbit (170 X 16980km) with a higher lift-off mass of
> 3200kg and the Propulsion System Configuration changed to
> increase fuel carrying capability of the satellite.
> The other activities completed are: finalisation of all electrical and
> mechanical interfaces including the payload interfaces; Preliminary
> Design Reviews (PDRs) of Bus Systems (Power, Attitude Orbit
> Control Electronics, Telemetry, Tracking and Command Baseband
> Systems, RF Systems, Data Handling System, Structure, Thermal Control System, Propulsion System); all
> systems accommodation studies and initial thermal analysis.
> 
> *Rover*
> The activities completed so far are: configuration of Rover and Payloads, Preliminary Design of all subsystems
> and PDR of all Rover subsystems. Lunar Terrain Test Facility has been established at ISITE for simulation of
> reduced g and Lunar soil.
> 
> *Russian-GK Lander Craft (LC) Interfaces: *
> Three interface meetings took place with Russian delegates apart
> from regular mail communication and teleconferences. OC-LC and LC-Rover Interfaces and Lander-Rover
> communication scheme were finalised. Landing site identification has been initiated and schedules/sequence of
> activities is worked out.
> 
> 
> *Indian MARS Mission*
> 
> ISRO is planning to undertake a mission to the planet Mars *during 2013 timeframe.* The Project Report for Indian Mars Orbiter mission has been submitted for approval of Government of India. The tentative scientific objective for the Mars mission will be *to focus on life, climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life
> on the planet.*
> 
> Scientific payloads have been short-listed by the ADCOS review committee. Baseline, solar array and reflector configuration of the satellite have been finalised. Frequency filing for communication subsystem is under progress.
> 
> 
> *Solar mission: ADITYA-1 space based Solar Coronagraph*
> 
> ADITYA-1 is the first space based Solar Coronagraph intended to study the outermost region of the sun called Corona. ADITYA-1 in the visible and near IR bands will study the Coronal Mass Ejection such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc., and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather.
> 
> The activities of ADITYA-1 are: MoU signed with the IIA for development and delivery of solar coronagraph payload; preliminary design of the optical systems of ADITYA-1 finalized and design document generated; Preliminary Design Review of the optical design completed; Trade-off studies on the selection of detector system completed and the list of subsystem packages along with power and mass budget generated. Mechanical reconfiguration of the satellite is in progress.
> *
> Astronomy mission: ASTROSAT *
> 
> ASTROSAT is the first dedicated Indian Astronomy mission, which will enable multi-wavelength observations of the celestial bodies, cosmic sources in X-ray, visible and UV spectral bands simultaneously. The scientific payloads cover the Visible (3500-6000 Å), UV (1300-3000 Å), soft and hard X-ray regimes (0.5-8 keV; 3-80 keV). The uniqueness of ASTROSAT lies in its wide spectral coverage extending over visible, UV, soft X and hard X ray regions.
> 
> The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT are:
> 
> *Multiwavelength studies of cosmic sources,
> Monitoring the X-ray sky for new transients,
> All sky survey in the hard X-ray and UV bands,
> Broadband spectroscopic studies of X-ray binaries,
> AGN, SNRs, clusters of galaxies and stellar coronae,
> Studies of periodic and non-periodic variability of X-ray sources and monitoring intensity of known sources and detecting outbursts and luminosity variations.*



Wow ...busy days ahead for ISRO....all the best....

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## angeldemon_007

@ -1o1- 
Dude you will get banned....although it was good.


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## DMLA

GSLV mkIII from the launchpad (mock up being used for stability tests).

ISRO's new 'monster rocket'

snapshots:









Uploaded with ImageShack.us

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## Shatterpoint

Hi guys, just wanted to say I am impressed at the giant strides India is taking into space and in tech and science in general, and about time too, we the world need a strong and massive India, India can contribute and is starting to contribute so much to the world.

You guys help all over the world, and you stand for peace and education, I think the world in general looks at India with a sense of awe to watch you guys rising up through peaceful means.

As an outsider and a Frenchmen, I just want to say I am blown away and I can't wait to visit your great country in October/Nov.

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## parkland

DMLA said:


> GSLV mkIII from the launchpad (mock up being used for stability tests).
> 
> ISRO's new 'monster rocket'
> 
> snapshots:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Uploaded with ImageShack.us




i cant tell everyone here how happy i am after seeing this pic. a true fat middle finger in the *** of every country that stopped us from developing a rocket in the past.

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## heartrocker22

-1o1- said:


>



move this to stupid and funny thread ASAP before getting banned ...And ya Lolllllll


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## subincb

parkland said:


> i cant tell everyone here how happy i am after seeing this pic. a true fat middle finger in the *** of every country that stopped us from developing a rocket in the past.


 
Only the easy part is over.. Still cryo for MarkIII is 2 to 3 years away. Testing of cryogenic engine will start after success of Mark II only. L110 and S200 are derived from previous engines but cryogenic engine for Mark III is gonna be totally new.

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## WUDA

It all Started from a Village Church - ISRO in the Early Days

Far from the research stations and labs, India's space programme began at a church in what was once a tiny fishing village called Thumba, not far from Thiruvanathanapuram airport in Kerala.

In 1962, when the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established, father of India's nuclear programme Homi Bhabha, along with Vikram Sarabhai, evaluated a number of sites in Kerala to establish a rocket station. Finally, they zeroed in on Thumba.

But there was a hitch. Fisherfolk of the village, emotionally attached to the place, particularly the St Mary Magadelene's Church had to be convinced to give up the place. The task fell on a former bishop of Thiruvananthapuram. During a Sunday congregation, he spoke to the villagers about the advantages of a space programme. He then asked if they had any objections if the village was handed over to the space department. The villagers paused only a while, and chorused, "Amen", indicating that they were ready to give up their village.

Space experts later commented that that it was an auspicious beginning for India's space missions. The project was initiated with the blessings of the villagers who were resettled. The small place of worship became the mainstay for the team of rocket scientists, including A P J Abdul Kalam. The first drawings of some of the earliest rockets were made in this church, now a space museum.

The conditions were anything but comfortable. Scientists travelled daily from Thiruvananthapuram in rickety buses, carrying lunch bought at the railway station.

Thumba was soon turned into the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. The first sounding rocket, Nike Apache supplied by NASA, was launched in November 1963. After this, many sounding rockets, which study the atmosphere, lifted off from Thumba including those from the US, Russia, Japan, France and Germany.

Many rocket parts were carried by the scientists on bicycles from one place to another within Thumba. Even today, sounding rockets take off every week &#8212; only it is now a modern station.

India hasn't quite gone cycling to the moon, but scientists and villagers will all remember the church where the space expedition began in right earnest.

It all Started from a Village Church - ISRO in the Early Days

Far from the research stations and labs, India's space programme began at a church in what was once a tiny fishing village called Thumba, not far from Thiruvanathanapuram airport in Kerala.

In 1962, when the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established, father of India's nuclear programme Homi Bhabha, along with Vikram Sarabhai, evaluated a number of sites in Kerala to establish a rocket station. Finally, they zeroed in on Thumba.

But there was a hitch. Fisherfolk of the village, emotionally attached to the place, particularly the St Mary Magadelene's Church had to be convinced to give up the place. The task fell on a former bishop of Thiruvananthapuram. During a Sunday congregation, he spoke to the villagers about the advantages of a space programme. He then asked if they had any objections if the village was handed over to the space department. The villagers paused only a while, and chorused, "Amen", indicating that they were ready to give up their village.

Space experts later commented that that it was an auspicious beginning for India's space missions. The project was initiated with the blessings of the villagers who were resettled. The small place of worship became the mainstay for the team of rocket scientists, including A P J Abdul Kalam. The first drawings of some of the earliest rockets were made in this church, now a space museum.

The conditions were anything but comfortable. Scientists travelled daily from Thiruvananthapuram in rickety buses, carrying lunch bought at the railway station.

Thumba was soon turned into the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. The first sounding rocket, Nike Apache supplied by NASA, was launched in November 1963. After this, many sounding rockets, which study the atmosphere, lifted off from Thumba including those from the US, Russia, Japan, France and Germany.

Many rocket parts were carried by the scientists on bicycles from one place to another within Thumba. Even today, sounding rockets take off every week  only it is now a modern station.

India hasn't quite gone cycling to the moon, but scientists and villagers will all remember the church where the space expedition began in right earnest.

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## WUDA

&#8592; Year 2011@ThiruvananthapuramRs.90-crore TRIDA package for Chala Market Thiruvananthapuram &#8594;
Article: Recollection on the Birth of India&#8217;s First Rocket Launching Station
Posted on 02/01/2012 by theevergreencity
Its 21th November 1963. A beautiful day with clear skies. History is about to be created at the small coastal village of Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram. A bicycle carrying a cone-shaped device trundles onto the sandy beach.

A small team of budding scientists soon gets down to business. Among them a frail young man with long hair. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who later went on to achieve great distinction and become the President of India.

Another local boy watches the launch several kilometres away from the terrace of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. The future ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and advisor to various strategic projects.

These two eminent persoanlities are one amongst the many who has graced Thiruvananthapuram with their presence and erudition, while working in the esoteric field of rocket science. Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) evolved into the sprawling, world-class national science facility called Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the biggest research and design center of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Since then it has been a successful 49 years of hard-work and perseverance against all sorts of odds by the scientists to become one of the worlds leading Space research agency.

Thumba, a sea-side suburb of the city is situated near the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, is very close to the magnetic equator of the Earth, making it an ideal location for scientists to conduct low-altitude, upper atmosphere and ionosphere studies.

The genesis of the saga was back in 1962, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established. Dr Homi Bhabha, then the chief of India&#8217;s nuclear program, along with Dr Vikram Sarabhai, took into consideration number of sites situated in Kerala to construct a rocket station. After long discussion they both finalized Thumba as the appropriate place.

But there were others too, less famous, but equally responsible for choosing Thumba as the site for TERLS. Prominent among them are E. V. Chitnis and P. R. Pisharody. E. V. Chitnis retired as the Director of the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, in 1985. P. R. Pisharody born on February 10, 1909, at Kollengode in Kerala, took his doctorate from the University of California. A meteorologist of international repute, Pisharody is widely acknowledged as the one who introduced remote sensing in India.

Thumba was chosen as a launch station because of the term referred to as &#8216;geomagnetism&#8217;. It refers to the fact that earth behaves like a magnet. That is why a compass needle (itself a tiny magnet) always points towards `north&#8217;. In the northern hemisphere, the north-seeking end of a compass needle when freely suspended in the middle, would, in general, dip down. The angle by which the needle dips depends upon the latitude of the place. Similarly, in the southern hemisphere, the south-seeking end dips down. In between is a region where the needle does not dip at all. It remains strictly horizontal signifying that the dip is zero. The line joining all such points on earth where the dip is zero is called the magnetic equator. The magnetic equator differs significantly from the geographic equator.

Directly above the magnetic equator, at altitudes of around 110 km in the atmosphere, a system of electric currents exists. Known as the equatorial electrojet, this has always fascinated scientists. The closer you are to the magnetic equator, the better placed you are to study the electrojet. In the early 1960s, there were very few places in the world close to the magnetic equator with adequate infrastructure to support research in this field. There was talk of finding a suitable place in south India for establishing a U.N sponsored station.

The newly built rocket launching pad was set on the beach, a clearing in the midst of coconut groves. A local Catholic church, the St Mary Magadelene&#8217;s Church served as the main office for the scientists. The small place of worship became the mainstay for the team of rocket scientists, including A P J Abdul Kalam. The first drawings of some of the earliest rockets were made in this church, now a space museum. The bishop&#8217;s house was converted into a workshop. A cattle shed became the laboratory in which the young Indian scientists worked on the first sounding rockets.

Scientists travelled daily from Thiruvananthapuram in buses, carrying lunch bought at the railway station. Many rocket parts were carried by the scientists on bicycles from one place to another within the sprawling range of Thumba.

Thumba was soon termed Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. The first sounding rocket, Nike Apache supplied by NASA, was launched on November 21st 1963. After this, many sounding rockets, which study the atmosphere, lifted off from Thumba including those from the US, Russia, Japan, France and Germany. Upon launching the first sounding rocket Nike-Apache on 21 Nov 1963, Prof. Sarabhai shared with his team his dream of an Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle. After the death of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai on December 30, 1971, the whole space establishment at Thiruvananthapuram was renamed as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in his honor. Over the last four decades VSSC has matured into a centre of excellence in launch vehicle technology.

As the team for India&#8217;s first astronauts is being formed by the Air Force, the vehicle that will be taking them up into space with a growl will be the one that is designed by VSSC. God speed to the brave men and VSSCArticle: Recollection on the Birth of India&#8217;s First Rocket Launching Station | Some Updates&#8230;

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## Night_Raven

Read a poignant conversation b/w Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Navin Patnaik ( the then CM of Orissa ) during time of finalization of Wheeler's Island for India's rocket and missile testing base in his book "Ignited Minds" ... fascinating read.

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## Inqhilab

*The speed at which ISRO is advancing I m convinced that in next decade we will see*







*And in 2030-40*

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## Dharmachakra

subincb said:


> Only the easy part is over.. *Still cryo for MarkIII is 2 to 3 years away*. Testing of cryogenic engine will start after success of Mark II only. L110 and S200 are derived from previous engines but cryogenic engine for Mark III is gonna be totally new.



Would you like to expect some surprises?  This is all I can say ATM.


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## subincb

Dharmachakra said:


> Would you like to expect some surprises?  This is all I can say ATM.


 
i definitely would love ISRO surprise me by sending Cryo this year.. Even static or vaccum test for 3rd stage this year would be enough to surprise me.


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## vijayjha




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## Rang De



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## holysaturn

*ISRO to test indigenous cryogenic engine today*

STAFF REPORTER
SHARE · COMMENT · PRINT · T+ 
Two more, including 1,000-second endurance, tests in coming months: ISRO chief

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will put its cryogenic engine to an acceptance test on Saturday at a special facility at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan has said.

Mr. Radhakrishnan had said earlier that they were confident of using an indigenous cryogenic engine to propel a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) by September.

The GSLV would undergo two more tests, including an endurance test of 1,000 seconds, at the same place in the next few months.

Mr. Radhakrishnan was speaking at the 40-year celebrations of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), where former directors reminisced about the inception of the centre and its initial days, during which it functioned out of a modest shed in Peenya.

&#8220;Whenever someone in the country tunes into a television set, makes an STD call or withdraws money from an ATM, there is an element of ISAC behind it,&#8221; said T.K. Alex, director of ISAC.

Whether forewarning about cyclones, forecasting the monsoon or identifying natural resources, the 60-odd satellites produced in the last four decades had served the nation with distinction, Mr. Alex said.

Among the satellites slated for launch is a six-tonne satellite that would have between 48 and 60 transponders, said Mr. Alex. It could, however take them up to three years to complete the project.
The Hindu : News / National : ISRO to test indigenous cryogenic engine today

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## surya kiran

*ISRO successfully tests indigenous cryogenic engine*

In a major step, ISRO today successfully tested the indigenous cryogenic engine to be used to propel the country's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.

The test was conducted at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district. 

ISRO successfully tests indigenous cryogenic engine - The Times of India

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## Tangent

...Good News.....


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## BlueDot_in_Space




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## 5link

Disregarding your condescending response, I think you have a fair point about questioning India's that its technologies are indigenous. Departments know that Indian nationalism is bolstered by making such claims. However, you must have noted that the Indian Armed Forces make no attempt to hide their wish for other countries to transfer their technology. After India has acquired technology, it should theoretically be able to replicate it.

Then again what difference does it make if Indians are able to defend themselves after all thats the only reason to have a defense industry


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## IndianArmy

Martian2 said:


> *Indian Cheaters*
> 
> I think you Indians are a bunch of cheaters.
> 
> If the DRDO chief hadn't spilled the beans, the world would not have known that the Agni V was using foreign electronics (e.g. Agni V is only 80% indigenous).
> 
> Similarly, you have been cheating with your "indigenous" cryogenic engine. The Russian scientists have been helping you. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if you Indians have a copy of the blueprints for the Russian cryogenic rocket engine.
> 
> It's the same thing with Indian communications satellites. You couldn't build primitive communication satellites and all of a sudden, you're building advanced satellites.
> 
> The same cheating is happening with the Indian balance-beam radar. It takes a lot of hard digging to discover that EADS subsidiary Cassidian is the real designer of the Indian AEW&C.
> 
> I'm going to put an asterisk next to all of the recent Indian civilian and military technological achievements unless you can prove a reasonable history of primitive prototypes and gradual improvements.
> 
> You Indian Cheaters!
> 
> You're using billions of dollars to buy foreign tech and you're calling it indigenous!




Calling us cheaters might help you control your stomach burn but the reality is non of your above quotes even come close to reality. ISRO has a dedicated propulsion research centre and test centre, DRDO has a dedicated Rader Test centre and Laboratory , If Saraswat has told that the missile is 80% indigenous then how the hell are we cheating, we are open on the stuffs which are indigenous and which are partial. saraswat is not only the chief of Missile program but for the entire R&D of DRDO. Dosent your country assemble weapons by importing parts from other countries, so even the United States of America cheats by calling their stuffs indigenous...

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## Martian2

IndianArmy said:


> Calling us cheaters might help you control your stomach burn but the reality is non of your above quotes even come close to reality. ISRO has a dedicated propulsion research centre and test centre, DRDO has a dedicated Rader Test centre and Laboratory , If Saraswat has told that the missile is 80% indigenous then how the hell are we cheating, we are open on the stuffs which are indigenous and which are partial. saraswat is not only the chief of Missile program but for the entire R&D of DRDO. Dosent your country assemble weapons by importing parts from other countries, so even the United States of America cheats by calling their stuffs indigenous...



China spent decades working on its satellites. The Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.

You Indians have no history of evolutionarily developing ever-more sophisticated satellites. Just like the Cassidian-designed Indian AEW&C, your Indian satellite and military technologies are popping out of thin air. If it isn't Cassidian then it's the Russians. None of those technologies are Indian.

You are a bunch of cheaters and I'm going to put an asterisk next to your "indigenous" accomplishments. Either show everyone the step-by-step Indian progress or openly acknowledge Russian or Cassidian work. You Indians should not take credit for someone else's impressive accomplishment.


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## sarthak

Martian2 said:


> China spent decades working on its satellites. Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.
> 
> You Indians have no history of evolutionarily developing ever-more sophisticated satellites. Just like the Cassidian-designed Indian AEW&C, your Indian satellite and military technologies are popping out of thin air. If it isn't Cassidian then it's the Russians. None of those technologies are Indian.
> 
> You are a bunch of cheaters and I'm going to put an asterisk next to your "indigenous" accomplishments. Either show everyone the step-by-step Indian progress or openly acknowledge Russian or Cassidian credit. You Indians should not take credit for someone else's impressive accomplishment.



Hey , no one cares about your opinion of us. You come from a country where 90% of the weapons are cheap Russian copies. Even your stealth craft you boast about came from a downed US fighter. Countries like Russia are afraid to sell you weapons because they know you will reverse engineer them and sell cheap copies abroad. You Chinese are the biggest cheaters. You people are masters in copyright infringements , reverse engineering and piracy. And what you cannot reverse engineer , you send your spies to steal the blueprints . Don't spill all your Bull**** here and don't try to take the moral highground. I can take this bullshit from an american or a russian , but not from a chinese whose country is the biggest cheater on the planet . 

Here's what the world thinks of your research papers.
http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/04/19/0132246/chinas-research-ambitions-hurt-by-faked-results
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/world/asia/07fraud.html?pagewanted=all

90 %of chinese students cheat on applications to US universities. I personally bet you are one of them

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-levy/college-applicants-cheat_b_1074544.html

So just stop calling others cheaters you ***** cheater. If you want to see a cheater , just look in the mirror. Btw , can you tell me how you cheated in your university application, I know a guy whose English is weak and wants to enter a US university. Since you people are expert in this kind of stuff , i ask you.

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## buddyboyyash

Martian2 said:


> China spent decades working on its satellites. The Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.
> 
> You Indians have no history of evolutionarily developing ever-more sophisticated satellites. Just like the Cassidian-designed Indian AEW&C, your Indian satellite and military technologies are popping out of thin air. If it isn't Cassidian then it's the Russians. None of those technologies are Indian.
> 
> You are a bunch of cheaters and I'm going to put an asterisk next to your "indigenous" accomplishments. Either show everyone the step-by-step Indian progress or openly acknowledge Russian or Cassidian work. You Indians should not take credit for someone else's impressive accomplishment.



ok...we are cheaters...at least we arent accused for stealing technology...happy??.....

china china china china....bs


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## Martian2

buddyboyyash said:


> ok...we are cheaters...at least we arent accused for stealing technology...happy??.....
> 
> china china china china....bs



Are you serious? You're really going to bring up that anti-Chinese propaganda?

China works hard for decades to improve its technology. The rumors of "stealing technology" is a nasty anti-Chinese whisper campaign. There is never any proof.

India cannot accomplish in a few years on milestones that took China decades. You Indians are indisputably big cheaters. I have to grit my teeth every time I hear about another Indian "indigenous" marvel. Indian, my foot.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Martian2 said:


> China spent decades working on its satellites. The Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.
> 
> You Indians have no history of evolutionarily developing ever-more sophisticated satellites. Just like the Cassidian-designed Indian AEW&C, your Indian satellite and military technologies are popping out of thin air. If it isn't Cassidian then it's the Russians. None of those technologies are Indian.
> 
> You are a bunch of cheaters and I'm going to put an asterisk next to your "indigenous" accomplishments. Either show everyone the step-by-step Indian progress or openly acknowledge Russian or Cassidian work. You Indians should not take credit for someone else's impressive accomplishment.



Do some research before talking nonsense, Mr communist propaganda bot. search for INSAT, the largest domestic communication system in the Asia Pacific Region. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system was commissioned with the launch of INSAT-1B in August 1983. India launched its first satellite in 1975 called ARYABHATTA. 

Indian Satellite BUS evolution

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## Martian2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Do some research before talking nonsense, Mr communist propaganda bot. search for INSAT, the largest domestic communication system in the Asia Pacific Region. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system was commissioned with the launch of INSAT-1B in August 1983. India launched its first satellite in 1975 called ARYABHATTA.



I'll eventually look into it. It takes a lot of time to ferret out the foreign designers. In the case of the Agni V, if the DRDO chief had remained silent then the Indian official line was the Agni V was 100% indigenous.

You guys are cheaters, but you won't admit it. Cowards.

----------

I knew you Indian guys were a bunch of cheaters. In 1975, Aryabhatta was a 360kg satellite (e.g. a joke). Then you Indians cheated. You purchased an American satellite and called it INSAT-1A. I bet you Indians have been buying American or European satellites after that and shamelessly called them indigenous.





*You Indian guys always make me work hard to identify the foreign source for your Indian technology.*

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_satellites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryabhata_(satellite)


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## gowthamraj

Yes we are cheaters. And we like do that. Happy

Any more your contribution to this thread

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Martian2 said:


> I'll eventually look into it. It takes a lot of time to ferret out the foreign designers. In the case of the Agni V, if the DRDO chief had remained silent then the Indian official line was the Agni V was 100% indigenous.
> 
> You guys are cheaters, but you won't admit it. Cowards.



Mr. Communist propaganda Bot = Top floor empty

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## jbond197

Martian2 said:


> *China works hard for decades to improve its technology. The rumors of "stealing technology" is a nasty anti-Chinese whisper campaign. There is never any proof.
> *



What a clown!!  Russians are wrong when they blame China of stealing/copying its technologies.. US is doing propaganda when it catches Chinese involved in stealing and transferring American tech to China.. Only China is right and off course, India is cheat since it pays to get some of the tech..

You and SinoChallenger are nice entertainment though!!

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## Martian2

gowthamraj said:


> Yes we are cheaters. And we like do that. Happy
> 
> Any more your contribution to this thread



I didn't actually think an Indian would admit it. Okay, I'm going away now.

----------

At JBond, Indians are supposed to spend decades in developing satellite technology too. Not taking shortcuts with foreign suppliers. Very unfair.

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## jbond197

Martian2 said:


> I didn't actually think an Indian would admit it. Okay, I'm going away now.
> 
> ----------
> 
> At JBond, Indians are supposed to spend decades in developing satellite technology too. Not taking shortcuts with foreign suppliers. Very unfair.



You have been stealing/copying all this while.. Stop living in delusions that you invented anything!!

You worked hard to steal the tech and then to reverse engineer it.. That's the only hard work world is aware of.. In any case, I am happy India is not in your league..

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## Roybot

Martian2 said:


> *China spent decades working on its satellites. The Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.*



lmfao. Its a shame China took so long to copy Telstar 1 satellites

China's first two satellites: or - Did it ever occur to you how similar to Telstar-1 they look?








Martian2 said:


> I knew you Indian guys were a bunch of cheaters. In 1975, *Aryabhatta was a 360kg satellite (e.g. a joke).* Then you Indians cheated. You purchased an American satellite and called it INSAT-1A. I bet you Indians have been buying American or European satellites after that and shamelessly called them indigenous.



lmao Chini calling a 360 KG satellite a joke, when the* first two chinese midget satellites* weighed 221 KG and 257 KG respectively. And that too mind you was copied, like everything Chinese

SJ: Chinese communications technology satellite.



> *The SJ-1 was similar in appearance to the American Telstar* and conducted communications technology tests. It used the DFH-1 satellite bus, *weighed 221 kg*, and monitored the space physics environment.
> 
> *SJ-2 was launched on September 20, 1981, weighed 257 kg,* and conducted space physics and environment studies. Also known as SKW-3, the satellite included some technology flight demonstration experiments. It weighed 257 kg,



Everyone knows that INSAT1 series was made by Ford Aerospace in America, but some ISRO made equipments on board.

The Chinese Dong Fang Hong 1 and 2 on the other hand was stolen design of Telstar 1 satellite, and then you lots go on to make a song a and dance about it(quite literally)

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## IndianArmy

Martian2 said:


> China spent decades working on its satellites. The Dong Fang Hong 1 was launched on April 24, 1970. It took 40 years to develop the modern DFH-4 54-transponders-maximum 15-year-lifetime satellite.



Indias first Satellite Aryabhatta was launched on 1974 and the evolution of a satellite like the recent RISAT-1 did indeed take 39 odd years to materialize and just because the former took 40 years does not mean the latter must also...



Martian2 said:


> You Indians have no history of evolutionarily developing ever-more sophisticated satellites. Just like the Cassidian-designed Indian AEW&C, your Indian satellite and military technologies are popping out of thin air. If it isn't Cassidian then it's the Russians. None of those technologies are Indian.



Why is that so, see the list satellites India has launched and you would come to know the R&D put in it by the ISRO and other Indian Public and pvt sector companies.. Indians dont claim the Aircraft to be theirs, we claim the sub systems and the radar as ours, and Cassidian is a partner in system testing and Integration as they have better knowledge and their certification would increase the chances of export. Just like most of the aircraft ejection systems are tested and certified by Martin Baker..

The AEW&C is not our first attempt. We had done a similar project back in the 90's named Airavat with an HAL manufactured Aircraft but the aircraft crashed because we did not have the technology to define the air turbulence the aircraft would undergo with a changed aerodynamics..



Martian2 said:


> You are a bunch of cheaters and I'm going to put an asterisk next to your "indigenous" accomplishments. Either show everyone the step-by-step Indian progress or openly acknowledge Russian or Cassidian work. You Indians should not take credit for someone else's impressive accomplishment.



We are not cheaters, we haven't copied anyone's technology. You name a product, I would try my best to explain its evolution... And if we are cheaters then so is everyone else by your own humor.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Rendition of Indian Orbital Vehicle

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## punjabimunda

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Rendition of Indian Orbital Vehicle



can u send me the link of this pic plzzz thanks

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## BlueDot_in_Space

punjabimunda said:


> can u send me the link of this pic plzzz thanks



Check out the full article: Mission possible

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## punjabimunda

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Check out the full article: Mission possible



thanks but i couldnt figure out when was this article posted??? can u?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

PARAS-3D CFD analysis of LVM3.


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## debashish_j20

Martian2 said:


> Are you serious? You're really going to bring up that anti-Chinese propaganda?
> 
> China works hard for decades to improve its technology. The rumors of "stealing technology" is a nasty anti-Chinese whisper campaign. There is never any proof.
> 
> India cannot accomplish in a few years on milestones that took China decades. You Indians are indisputably big cheaters. I have to grit my teeth every time I hear about another Indian "indigenous" marvel. Indian, my foot.



chinese people like you should be permanently banned from the forum....mods take note of this guy plzzz.

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## conworldus

Let's say I can't wait for some good fireworks when the GSLV launches again...

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## kingkobra

conworldus said:


> Let's say I can't wait for some good fireworks when the GSLV launches again...



kids do enjoy fireworks  but you have to burst your own crackers this time like the one in February 15th, 1996

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## kurup

conworldus said:


> Let's say I can't wait for some good fireworks when the GSLV launches again...



Sinc you love fireworks here is some for you

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## conworldus

octopus said:


> Sinc you love fireworks here is some for you




I know, this is what, 16 years ago?? India however puts up fireworks on annual basis as a homage to China.

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## jayron

conworldus said:


> I know, this is what, 16 years ago?? India however puts up fireworks on annual basis as a homage to China.


Not a laughing matter. It killed a lot of your countrymen.


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## conworldus

jayron said:


> Not a laughing matter. It killed a lot of your countrymen.



China has moved on. It is 16 years already.


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## jayron

conworldus said:


> China has moved on. It is 16 years already.


Moving on is different from making a joke about it.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

conworldus said:


> China has moved on. It is 16 years already.



Are sure?? your spent rocket stages still fall on your country side.


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## kurup

conworldus said:


> I know, this is what, 16 years ago?? India however puts up fireworks on annual basis as a homage to China.



But even after 16 years still it is a great achievement ..
Chinese Space Agency holds the distinction of the only space agency that kills it's own citizens..

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## KRAIT

Instead of mocking each other . we should congratulate each other, one asian country made its own space station, other found water molecules on moon....Both are planning to send an orbital to Mars.....Collaboration (if possible) in space department can do wonders. So in the end, lets don't bring politics in science, like we did with religion.

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## arp2041

*Isro Satellite Centre gets new director*

S K Shivakumar, scientist and associate director, of Isro Satellite Centre (Isac), Bangalore, on Saturday took over as the director of the centre, replacing T K Alex. Isac is Indian Space Research Organisation's premier centre for conceptualisation, design, fabrication, testing, integration and in-orbit commissioning of satellite systems involving various cutting-edge technologies. 

Shivakumar began his carrier in Isro by joining Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in 1976 at Sriharikota and later served Isac for two decades (1978-1998) during which he was involved in mission planning, analysis and operations of several Indian satellite missions including Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS and Insat. He served as mission director for IRS-1B and IRS-1C satellites which successfully completed a decade of operations in orbit. 

From September 1998 to November 2010, Shivakumar was director, Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac), which maintains the large constellation of Indian remote sensing satellites in orbit and provides support to satellite launch vehicle missions with a worldwide network of ground stations. 

Shivakumar was also the project director for realising India's first indigenous deep space network antenna that measures 32 meters (100 feet) in diameter at Byalalu near Bangalore. This antenna was used for communicating with Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the moon, and will also serve future deep space missions. Besides, he played a key role in realising the entire ground segment for Chandrayaan-1 mission including the Indian Space Science Data Centre at Byalalu. 

An postgraduate in physical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Shivakumar has represented Isro in several national and international committees, advisory groups and conferences, including United Nations Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space, Vienna, Inter-Operability Plenary and Inter-agency Operations Advisory Group. His current research interests are in the areas of highly capable space systems, autonomy in space systems and large antenna systems. 

Isro Satellite Centre gets new director - The Times of India

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## conworldus

octopus said:


> But even after 16 years still it is a great achievement ..
> Chinese Space Agency holds the distinction of the only space agency that kills it's own citizens..



Challenger exploded, Americans died, so NASA must suck, too. India must be number one then.

Nearly a hundred Americans have died for NASA missions, and a thousand for the Soviet Missions. Great programs have casualties it is just a part of it, so try get your pea sized brain on it.

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## Vinod2070

kingkobra said:


> kids do enjoy fireworks  but you have to burst your own crackers this time like the one in February 15th, 1996


 
That's all they are allowed to *enjoy*.

Their mothers' and sisters' womb is scraped by the CCP goons if they just want the normal happiness of procreation that is available to people all over the world except you know where.

The pathetic mindset of the spoilt brats is easy enough to understand. We should just let the pathetic beings be.


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## manojb

ISROs Oceansat2 satellite data was used to report greenland ice melt.. gloomy news about melt, but isro-nasa co-op is bearing some good result for mankind!


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## arp2041

manojb said:


> ISROs Oceansat2 satellite data was used to report greenland ice melt.. gloomy news about melt, but isro-nasa co-op is bearing some good result for mankind!



here is the report:


*Eye in sky reveals sudden ice melt in Greenland*

A massive ice sheet in Greenland has melted this month over an unusually larger area, which was detected after analysing radar data from the Indian Space Research Organization's ( ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite. The 'unprecedented' melting is highest in three decades of satellite observation, Nasa said. 
Melting even occurred at Greenland's coldest and highest place, Summit station. The thawed ice area jumped from 40% of the ice sheet to 97% in just four days from July 8 to July 12. Although about half of Greenland's ice sheet normally melts over the summer months, the speed and scale of this year's melting surprised scientists, who described the phenomenon as "extraordinary". 

Son Nghiem of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was analysing radar data from the ISRO's Oceansat-2 satellite last week when he noticed that most of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting on July 12. "This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?" Nghiem said. Nasa said that nearly the entire ice cover of Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its centre, which is 3 km thick, experienced some degree of melting at its surface. "Satellite observations are helping us understand how events like these may relate to one another as well as to the broader climate system," said Tom Wagner, Nasa's cryosphere programme manager in Washington. 

He said that, because this Greenland-wide melting has happened before, Nasa is not yet able to determine if this is a natural but rare event, or if it has been sparked by manmade global warming. 

Scientists believe much of Greenland's ice was already freezing again. Until now, the most extensive melting seen by satellites in the past three decades was about 55% of the area. Ice last melted at Summit station in 1889. 

The news comes days after Nasa satellite imagery revealed that a massive iceberg, twice the size of Manhattan, had broken off a glacier in Greenland.


Eye in sky reveals sudden ice melt in Greenland - The Times of India

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## Supply&Demand

A report from NASA's own site on the above news
============================================================

*science.nasa.com: Satellites See Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt*

July 24, 2012: For several days this month, Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its two-mile-thick center, experienced some degree of melting at its surface, according to measurements from three independent satellites analyzed by NASA and university scientists.

On average in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet naturally melts. At high elevations, most of that melt water quickly refreezes in place. Near the coast, some of the melt water is retained by the ice sheet and the rest is lost to the ocean. But this year the extent of ice melting at or near the surface jumped dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July.









> Extent of surface melt over Greenlands ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right). Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12.



Researchers have not yet determined whether this extensive melt event will affect the overall volume of ice loss this summer and contribute to sea level rise.

"The Greenland ice sheet is a vast area with a varied history of change. This event, combined with other natural but uncommon phenomena, such as the large calving event last week on Petermann Glacier, are part of a complex story," said Tom Wagner, NASA's cryosphere program manager in Washington. "Satellite observations are helping us understand how events like these may relate to one another as well as to the broader climate system."

*Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., was analyzing radar data from the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite last week when he noticed that most of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting on July 12. Nghiem said, "This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?"*

Nghiem consulted with Dorothy Hall at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Hall studies the surface temperature of Greenland using the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. She confirmed that MODIS showed unusually high temperatures and that melt was extensive over the ice sheet surface.

Thomas Mote, a climatologist at the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga; and Marco Tedesco of City University of New York also confirmed the melt seen by Oceansat-2 and MODIS with passive-microwave satellite data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder on a U.S. Air Force meteorological satellite.

The melting spread quickly. Melt maps derived from the three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet's surface had melted. By July 12, 97 percent had melted.

This extreme melt event coincided with an unusually strong ridge of warm air, or a heat dome, over Greenland. The ridge was one of a series that has dominated Greenland's weather since the end of May. "Each successive ridge has been stronger than the previous one," said Mote. This latest heat dome started to move over Greenland on July 8, and then parked itself over the ice sheet about three days later. By July 16, it had begun to dissipate.

Even the area around Summit Station in central Greenland, which at 2 miles above sea level is near the highest point of the ice sheet, showed signs of melting. Such pronounced melting at Summit and across the ice sheet has not occurred since 1889, according to ice cores analyzed by Kaitlin Keegan at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather station at Summit confirmed air temperatures hovered above or within a degree of freezing for several hours July 11-12.

"Ice cores from Summit show that melting events of this type occur about once every 150 years on average. With the last one happening in 1889, this event is right on time," says Lora Koenig, a Goddard glaciologist and a member of the research team analyzing the satellite data. "But if we continue to observe melting events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome."

*More Information:*Nghiem's finding while analyzing Oceansat-2 data was the kind of benefit that NASA and ISRO had hoped to stimulate when they signed an agreement in March 2012 to cooperate on Oceansat-2 by sharing data.

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## RPK

*Satellite imaging keeps close eye on onion crop - The Times of India*


PUNE: The onion crop in Maharashtra and Gujarat is being mapped by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) through satellite imaging.

The eye-in-the-sky has been capturing the crop to provide more accurate estimates about cultivation, the area under the crop and the expected yield. This work is done manually when revenue officials visit farms and collate the data.

The mapping will help the Union agriculture ministry tackle price fluctuations, sanction financial assistance if the crop is damaged and thus prevent political fallouts.

Nashik-based National Horticulture Research and Development Federation (NHRDF) was appointed by the National Crop Forecast Centre (NCFC) under the agriculture ministry to map the onion crop in Maharashtra last October. Other onion producing-states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh will also be mapped from October.

Satish Bhonde, additional director of the federation, said Nashik, Dhule, Pune, Ahmednagar and Satara districts grow onion. "The federation receives satellite images from ISRO's Hyderabad centre. The Union government provided Rs 30 lakh for the exercise in October 2011 and will release another Rs 25 lakh this year for satellite mapping and data processing," he added.

A team visits farms cultivating onion and the latitudes are recorded using global positioning system. The satellite images and latitudes are studied together to identify the change in crop colour, density of crop, and growth pattern.

If the satellite images reveal a slight deviation in the crop colour, generally due to some damage or attack by pests, it will be easier to issue alerts and initiate corrective steps to control the situation. It will be more useful during pest attacks than any natural cause damaging the crops.

"A signature of onion crop is developed after processing the images taken at various times and then its accuracy is checked with fresh satellite images. Though it was used for the first time last year, the accuracy was as high as 75%. Mapping will start again from October and we expect 100% accuracy," said H P Sharma, deputy director of the federation.

More crops like banana, cashew, grapes and oranges are on the mapping list. Some other organizations are looking after their mapping and data processing. Maharashtra and Gujarat were in the first phase, while Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka will be included next. Mapping cannot be done during the monsoon as clouds affect the imaging process.

An ISRO spokesperson confirmed that ISRO and NCFC are sharing satellite images for the Union government's crop forecasting project through the centre at Hyderabad. "Some organizations in other states want satellite images for crop mapping. We provide them," the spokesperson added.

Sources in the Delhi-based centre said, "Our centre operationalizes existing methodologies developed by ISRO on crop forecasts, as part of forecasting agricultural output using space, agro-meteorological and land based observations and drought assessment. More crops would be included in the crop forecast and the sub-district level for a moderate to high-resolution drought assessment in collaboration with ISRO in two years."

NCFC will generate reports on crop cultivation and forecasting of crop production at the national level. The crops which would be mapped include jowar, bajra, rice, wheat, some pulses and regional crops and fruits.

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## Fireaxe888

When's the GSLV-III's maiden flight?


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## karan21

Fireaxe888 said:


> When's the GSLV-III's maiden flight?



could happen anytime, nxt year. The rocket is already assembled and on launch pad. I think they will launch the mk2 to test the cryogenic upper stage, and then finally launch mk3. Cant want for it. India will finally enter the big league, ready to take massive missions and completely independent in space.

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## kurup

India gives go-ahead to Mars mission

NEW DELHI, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The Indian government has approved a mission to send a satellite to orbit Mars next year, officials said.

The Union Cabinet has cleared the Indian Space Research Organization's mission to Mars, set for launch in November 2013, The Hindu reported Friday.

The program, expected to cost about $80 million, will put a spacecraft with a 55-pound scientific payload into an orbit 62 miles above the Red Planet.

A rocket will launch from the southeastern coast of India, taking the satellite into deep space. The satellite will then travel on to Mars to achieve orbit, a senior project scientist said.

The project comes on the heels of the Chandrayaan lunar mission, which four years ago found evidence of water on the moon.

India is also said to be considering putting a wheeled rover on the moon in 2014.

With the approval of the Mars project, India joins the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and China in undertaking such an effort.

India gives go-ahead to Mars mission - UPI.com

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## gslv mk3

> India gives go-ahead to Mars mission


we should focus on manned space mission instead but well mars is ok
i've a question though...
what is the weight of pslv/gslvs payload fairing?
i've seen an image of indias human spaceflight orbital vechicle which have weiht of 10 tonnes including shroud




can we use gslv for this or should have to wait for gslv mk3


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## Fireaxe888

gslv mk3 said:


> we should focus on manned space mission instead but well mars is ok
> i've a question though...
> what is the weight of pslv/gslvs payload fairing?
> i've seen an image of indias human spaceflight orbital vechicle which have weiht of 10 tonnes including shroud
> 
> 
> 
> 
> can we use gslv for this or should have to wait for gslv mk3



According to wiki the GSLV has a payload to LEO of only five tons. You'll have to wait for the -3.


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## Water Car Engineer

HAL makes rocket fuel tank for ISRO


Bangalore, July 19 &#8212; *Stat-run defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has designed and built an indigenous fourth stage rocket fuel tank for the Indian space agency, helping it to save foreign exchange.
"We have delivered the fuel tank (propellant) to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for use in its polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV). The indigenisation effort has resulted in saving of Rs.1.2 crore in foreign exchange," HAL chairman R.K. Tyagi said in a statement here Thursday.*
A propellant tank is a pressurised vessel where liquid fuels are stored for firing a rocket into the space orbit. It is made of composite materials such as aluminium alloy, steel and carbon fibre.
"The fourth stage fuel tank has been built to carry 1.6 tonne of liquid propellant mono-methyl hydrazine as fuel and mixed oxides of nitrogen as oxidizer during the flight," Tyagi said.
The aerospace major built the tank and its components while the space agency's liquid propulsion centre at Mahendragiri in southern Tamil Nadu did the welding work.
The indigenisation of the fuel tank has been achieved by the coordinated efforts of HAL, ISRO and other state-run Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels (BHPV) and Midhani, which are based at Vishakapatnam and Hyderabad.
IANS


HAL makes rocket fuel tank for ISRO - NY Daily News


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## Water Car Engineer

India to launch three satellites next month





> *Chennai, Aug 3 (IANS) India will launch three satellites next month and two more by the end of this year, said a senior official here.
> *
> *&#8220;We will be launching Spot-6, a French satellite and a small Japanese satellite on board PSLV-C21 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket, next month,&#8221; P.S.Veeraraghavan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), told IANS.
> *
> *The third is a communication satellite &#8211; GSAT-10 &#8211; on-board Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
> *
> The Thiruvananthapuram-based VSCC is part of India&#8217;s space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
> 
> *Veeraraghavan said the French satellite is expected to be in India soon while the Japanese satellite is already at ISRO&#8217;s launch centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here.
> *
> *ISRO&#8217;s commercial arm Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix) has entered into a commercial Launch Services Agreement with Astrium SAS, a company under EADS, France, for launching SPOT-6, an advanced remote sensing satellite.
> *
> What is interesting is that the* 800-kg SPOT-6 built by Astrium SAS will be the heaviest third party payload that ISRO will be carrying after the 350-kg Italian satellite Agile it put into orbit in 2007.*
> 
> As the total luggage will be around 815 kg, ISRO will be using its Core Alone variant of PSLV (rocket without its six strap on motors).
> 
> *The mission will take ISRO&#8217;s total tally of ferrying foreign satellites to 29.
> *
> The Indian space agency in order to augment its communication transponder capacity-(automatic receivers and transmitters for communication and broadcast of signals) will be sending up GSAT-10.
> 
> The 3.4 tonne satellite will carry 12 Ku Band, 12 C Band and 12 Extended C Band transponders and GAGAN (global positioning satellite-GPS and GEO augmented navigation) payload.
> 
> According to Veeraraghavan, the space agency would launch SARAL satellite &#8211; an Indo-French initiative &#8211; using PSLV-C20 rocket sometime in October-November this year.
> 
> Agreeing that ISRO normally do not launch any rockets during that period, Veeraraghavan said if the weather is conducive the rocket could be sent up.
> 
> *He said ISRO is also planning to launch GSAT-14 a small communication satellite by this December or January next year using its heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
> *
> The two ton GSAT-14 considered as the replacement for India&#8217;s the education satellite Edusat is configured with six Ku and six Extended C Band transponders.
> 
> In addition, the spacecraft also carries Ka band beacons, which are planned to be used to carry out studies related to rain and atmospheric effects on Ka band satellite communication links in Indian region.
> 
> *ISRO will be flying the GSLV rocket this time with its own cryogenic engine. This will be the second GSLV rocket to fly with indigenous cryogenic engine. The first GSLV rocket that flew with indigenous cryogenic engine in 2010 was a failure.
> *
> Interestingly, ISRO will be flying a GSLV rocket after a gap of two years. In December 2010, another GSLV rocket with Russian made cryogenic engine was destroyed mid-air within a minute after lift off.
> 
> *Veeraraghavan said ISRO will be testing its GSLV Mark III model next March but without the cryogenic engine.
> *
> &#8220;The mission is called X Mission. The rocket will have only the first two stages/engines powered by solid and liquid fuels. The subsystems for the cryogenic engine are being tested. The cryogenic engine is much bigger than the one that will power other GSLV,&#8221; Veeraraghavan said.


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## gslv mk3

Fireaxe888 said:


> According to wiki the GSLV has a payload to LEO of only five tons. You'll have to wait for the -3.


but the manned gslv wont have the usual payload fairing right and the weight including new payload fairing is 10 tonnes

mk3 is delayed on to 2017(first operational flight)
so manned mission by 2020 only


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## kurup

GSLV with indigenous cryogenic engine set for 2013 launch

CHENNAI (PTI): With a series of ground tests already over, ISRO is planning to launch its ambitious GSLV space mission with indigenously built cryogenic engine early next year, a top official has said.

ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said that two major ground tests remained before integrating the GSLV vehicle for launch.

&#8220;A lot of ground tests have already been conducted and we need to do two major ground tests this year, scheduled from September to November. Once the tests are successful the cryogenic stage will be integrated into the GSLV vehicle for launch&#8221;, he told reporters at the sidelines of a convocation here.

The previous two GSLV launches by the premier space agency were unsuccessful.

On India&#8217;s Mars mission, he said ISRO was working to meet the November 2013 launch target. The Union cabinet had recently okayed the space agency&#8217;s proposal to send a mission to the red planet.

Earlier in his address, Radhakrishnan said ISRO&#8217;s budget was only 0.34 per cent of Central government expenditure even as he noted &#8220;we are one of the six space agencies in the world having capability to build and launch satellites from our own soil.&#8221;

GSLV with indigenous cryogenic engine set for 2013 launch

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## manojb



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## arp2041

India&#8217;s Space Agency Conducts 100th Mission | Indian Decade


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## kurup

A timeline of Isro&#8217;s journey


1962 &#8211; Indian National Committee for Space Research set up by the Department of Atomic Energy. Work starts on Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in Kerala.

1963 &#8211; First sounding rocket launched from TERLS Nov 21.

1965 &#8211; Space Science and Technology Centre set up in Thumba.

1968 &#8211; Experimental Satellite Communication Earth Station set up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

1969 &#8211; Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed Aug 15 under the Department of Atomic Energy.

1971 &#8211; Satish Dhawan Space Centre (formerly SHAR Centre) formed in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

1972 &#8211; Department of Space (DoS) established and ISRO brought under it. ISRO Satellite Centre set up in Bangalore and Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad.

1975 &#8211; Satellite Instructional Television Experiment using an US satellite. First Indian satellite, Aryabhata, launched into space April 19.

1977 &#8211; Satellite Telecommuncation Experiments Project (1977-79) using Franco-German Symphonie Satellite.

1979 &#8211; Bhaskara-1, an earth observation experimental satellite, launched. First experimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) carrying the Rohini satellite. The satellite not placed in the orbit.

1980 &#8211; Second experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini. Mission successful.

1981 &#8211; First developmental launch of SLV-3. Rohini placed into orbit. Launch of APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary communication satellite. Launch of Bhaskara-2 by an USSR rocket.

1982 &#8211; Launch of Insat-1A communication satellite by an US rocket.

1983 &#8211; Second developmental flight of SLV-3 placed Rohini into orbit. Insat system commissioned with launch to Insat-1B satellite.

1984 &#8211; First Indian cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma, spends eight days in Russian space station Salyut 7. He flew in Russian rocket Soyuz T-11.

1987 &#8211; First development launch of Augmented SLV (ASLV) with satellite SROSS-1. Mission failed.

1988 &#8211; Launch of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite &#8211; IRA-1A through a Russian rocket. Second developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS satellite. Mission failed.

1991 &#8211; Launch of second operational remote sensing satellite IRS-1B.

1992 &#8211; First successful launch of ASLV placing SROSS-C satellite. Launch of Insat-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-built second generation Insat series, followed by the 3 and 4 series.

1993 &#8211; First development flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with IRS-1E. Mission failed.

1994 &#8211; Fourth developmental flight of ASLV with SROSS-C2. Mission successful. Successful launch of PSLV placing IRS-P2 in orbit.

1996 &#8211; Third developmental flight of PSLV with IRS-P3.

1997 &#8211; First operational launch of PSLV carrying IRS-1D.

1999 &#8211; PSLV started carrying foreign payloads (Korean and German satellites) along with ISRO&#8217;s satellite Oceansat.

2001 &#8211; Successful launch of heavy rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with GSAT-1 satellite. Launch of PSLV with India&#8217;s Technology Experimental Satellite and satellites from Belgium and Germany.

2002 &#8211; Launch of Kalpana-1 satellite on-board a PSLV rocket.

2003 &#8211; Launch of GSat-2 on board GSLV and Resourcesat-1 by PSLV.

2004 &#8211; Launch of Edusat by GSLV&#8217;s first operational flight.

2005 &#8211; Commissioning of second launch pad at Sriharikota. Launch of Cartosat-1 and Hamsat by PSLV.

2006 &#8211; Second operational flight of GSLV with Insat-4C. For the first time, an Indian rocket carried a communication satellite. The mission failed.

2007 &#8211; Launch of Cartosat-2 with Space Capsule Recovery Experiment and two foreign satellites and successful recovery of the space capsule. Launch of Italian satellite AGILE by PSLV and Insat-4CR by GSLV.

2008 &#8211; Launch of Israeli satellite Tecsar by PSLV. Launch of two Indian and eight foreign satellites by a single PSLV. India&#8217;s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 by PSLV.

2009 &#8211; Launch of Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-2) and Anusat from Anna University (first satellite from an Indian university) by PSLV. Launch of seven satellites by PSLV, including India&#8217;s Oceansat.

2010 &#8211; Failure of two GSLV missions. Launch of Cartosat-2B, STUDSAT and three small foreign satellites by PSLV.

2011 &#8211; Launch of Resourcest-2 and two small satellites by PSLV. Launch of GSAT-12 by PSLV. Launch of Megha Tropiques and three small satellites by PSLV.

2012 &#8211; Launch of Risat-1 by PSLV. Launch of French satellite SPOT 6 and Japanese satellite Proiteres.

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## arp2041

*Premature congratulations?*

By successfully putting two foreign satellites into orbit on its 100th mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, may have shown its cost-effectiveness as a commercial satellite launcher &mdash; but has also revealed how far it must yet go to pose a real challenge to its competitors. Isro's satellite-launching cost per kg of satellite weight is reportedly around $20,000 (approximately Rs 11 lakh), on the low side of global average costs for commercial launches &mdash; which are between Rs 11 lakh and Rs 28 lakh a kg depending on the orbit location and other parameters. However, cost is just one of the many criteria for success in the multi-billion dollar international commercial space market. That market is dominated by launchers capable of handling satellites that are much heavier than the ones carried by Isro's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C21 on this 100th flight. This was Isro's heaviest commercial lift so far &ndash; but the two foreign payloads, the 712-kg French earth observation satellite, SPOT-6, and a 15-kg Japanese satellite, PROITERES, are classified as small and micro satellites, respectively. Other organisations' satellite launch vehicles carry loads of several tonnes.

Clearly, Isro's cost advantage is relatively meaningless unless it steps up its load-carrying capacity manifold. This might happen when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), capable of launching satellites weighing more than two tonnes, is operational. Yet tests of the GSLV have not been smooth; its last flight without Russian-made cryogenic engines ended in a fiasco. It landed in the Bay of Bengal soon after take-off due to a component's malfunctioning. Indeed, Isro's 50-year record in space does not survive comparisons not just with advanced countries but also with China, although the People's Republic's space programme is of relatively recent vintage. Admittedly, it has had to deal with limited resource availability and occasional sanctions. In addition, with 12 operational Indian remote-sensing satellites orbiting the earth today, India is among the world leaders in the remote-sensing data market. Much fuss also attended the success of Isro's lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, in October 2008, and its discovery of water crystals on the moon. That did demonstrate Isro's ability to cross over from the earth's gravitational influence and enter into that of another celestial body, and has thus paved the way for a much more ambitious odyssey &ndash; to Mars &ndash; for which preparations have already begun.

Such ambitions, however, require Isro to develop new technology and a more dependable launch vehicle. Some of the new technology may, in fact, come handy even for the planned Chandrayaan-2 mission, a joint Indo-Russian venture, on an Indian GSLV launcher which would have an Indian rover and Russian landing equipment. Congratulations are premature. If India has to come on a par with the other members of the global space club, it appears more attention, resources and focus are needed on its space programme. India's rocket scientists are yet to display that their efforts are truly on a par with those of the rest of the world.

Premature congratulations?

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## gslv mk3

^^^^^^ GSLV mk3 is the answer


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## arp2041

gslv mk3 said:


> ^^^^^^ GSLV mk3 is the answer



we have not yet stabilized GSLV mk2 itself & GSLV mk3 has still not had a single launch. I think in heavier satellite launches ISRO can only be seen competitive in about 5 years time, till than we will continue to launch smaller satellites (of foreign nations) only.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Demystifying the PSLV rocket science
*


High-performing, reliable control systems deliver the precision needed to launch a satellite in its orbit
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, popularly known as the PSLV, is one of the highly successful projects of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and one that has proved to be commercially viable too. Of the 21 launch missions, including last week&#8217;s PSLV C-21, there has been only one complete failure (the first one), and this record is a commendable one for the scale of work and challenges to be faced in space.

Like all science expeditions, space missions too come with a certain degree of uncertainty, countering which is quite a challenge. In the face of these risks, ISRO has gained a reputation as one of the most reliable carriers of artificial satellites and payloads from various countries on its PSLV.

So, how has ISRO achieved this reliability? The PSLVs, like all launch vehicles, are programmed and controlled to launch satellites into their respective orbits with precision. Without precision, satellites will be off their orbits. High-performing and reliable control systems deliver this precision. Control systems are intelligent feedback mechanisms, which, in case of rockets like the PSLV, steer them in space and keep them aligned to their flight path.

DEGREES OF FREEDOM

To get any moving object to twist and turn on any of its axes, understanding the aerodynamics of the object is very important.

Intelligent aerodynamic design allows slowing down and steering of aircraft within the atmosphere; design elements such as the wings and rudders play an important role in this control. With space rockets like the PSLV, aerodynamic control measures are ineffective due to the absence of atmosphere, and they rely primarily on attitude control by manoeuvring the spacecraft about its centre of mass.

For complete control in space, the three &#8216;degrees of freedom&#8217; of the spacecraft &#8211; pitch, yaw and roll &#8212; must be manipulated. Pitch indicates how high or low the rocket should point, yaw is for sideways control on the horizontal plane, and roll is simply the control of roll of the rocket. By controlling these three elements, any spacecraft can be steered to its path precisely.

CONTROL SYSTEMS

The intelligence of a space rocket lies in its control systems. Control systems use various sensors, such as magnetometers and gyroscopes, to sense physical conditions. Based on information gathered from these sensors, the flight computer initiates corrections in attitude of the craft using different actuating mechanisms.

The PSLV, being a four-stage launch vehicle, uses different control mechanisms at every stage to steer the rocket capsule. The initial take-off stage uses thrust vectoring mechanism, by tilting the engine exhaust nozzle in the required direction. With accurate calibration, thrust vectoring is effective in controlling the pitch and yaw of the rocket. At later stages, another interesting mechanism used for attitude control is the engine gimbal, which enables control of pitch and yaw of the spacecraft.

The roll of the craft is controlled using reaction control systems that deploy small thrusters on the body of the rocket, which coordinate in opposite or same directions as necessary to set the mild rolling of the rocket as it ascends, instilling stability in flight.

The tasks involved in attitude determination and control of systems, such as sensing, sending feedback and actuating the thrusters or other controllers, involve elaborate calculations. These systems are modelled mathematically and are implemented using software programmes on the flight computers. Microcontroller-based attitude determination and control systems with a range of sensors and actuators interfaced to them have made implementing these powerful control mechanisms precise by replacing the less flexible and cruder analogue feedback mechanisms.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Technology : Demystifying the PSLV rocket science

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## sudhir007

The Hindu : Today's Paper / NATIONAL : A special

The satellite will be in geo-stationary orbit, always looking over the same region

Imagine an eye far up in the sky that is constantly trained on the country and alerts authorities 36,000 km below of trouble spots, natural disasters, floods and forest fires within, say, five minutes of the event. More importantly it will also keep a watch over our sensitive borders.

The design for one such special &#8216;eye&#8217; &#8212; called the Geo-Imaging Satellite or GISAT &#8212; is taking shape at the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. With a recent approval and Rs. 50-crore allocation this financial year for preliminary work, GISAT should be a reality in a couple of years. The sub-1,000-kg satellite will be put in space by a PSLV rocket.

*Real time imagery*

Previous remote-sensing satellites sent up by the Indian Space Research Organisation also do the same job. However, they go over from pole to pole at a distance of 600-900 km from the ground, view a particular area for barely ten minutes and do not visit the same place for the next one, three or five days. GISAT, on the other hand, will be fixed in a geo-stationary orbit, always looking over the same region and synchronised to the Earth's 24-hour rotation.

A 2012-13 Budget grants document for the Department of Space describes GISAT as a &#8220;multi-spectral, multi-resolution advanced remote sensing satellite.&#8221; Its nearly real-time imagery can speed up authorities&#8217; response to calamities and troubles to almost immediately, Mr. Tapan Misra, Deputy Director at SAC&#8217;s Microwave Remote Sensors Area, told The Hindu .

*A marvel*

Its electronically steerable camera can &#8216;see&#8217; as small as a 60-metre area from its height of 36,000 km. It will be a marvel up there compared to what ISRO&#8217;s low-flying Earth observation satellites can do with their fine resolutions of 2 m, 1m and even less than one metre, Mr. Misra, who was here for the ISRO-CII-sponsored conference, World Space Biz 2012, said.

&#8220;A single early-warning satellite, giving you constant, complete coverage of the country, is unique,&#8221; according to Dr. V.Jayaraman, former Director at ISRO&#8217;s Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre. And a world first, he said.

It will be equivalent to putting a Cartosat &#8212; another of ISRO&#8217;s advanced &#8216;eyes&#8217; but in the lower sky &#8212; at long distance.

It would complement the advanced meteorology and remote-sensing satellite, Insat-3D, due to be launched in December this year, said Dr. Jayaraman, who was earlier Director, Earth Observation, ISRO.

GISAT, Mr. Misra said, will be built on ISRO&#8217;s technologies that went into Cartosat and Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) &#8212; &#8220;both of which were big technology leaps for the country.&#8221;

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## sudhir007

The Hindu : News / National : GSAT-10 launch delayed as Ariane 5 develops

The launch of communications satellite GSAT-10 will be delayed by at least seven days, to September 29 from September 22, owing to a &#8220;small snag&#8221; in the Ariane 5 vehicle at the European launch pad in French Guiana.

&#8220;We will get a clear picture on the situation from [the European launch agency] Arianespace on September 19,&#8221; ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.

GSAT-10, meant to augment the national satellite transponder capacity, carries the C- and Ku-band transponders and the second GAGAN terminal to enhance GPS indicators for local users.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said Arianespace personnel detected a small snag in the upper part of the rocket. One gram of the launcher was unaccounted for, and they were ascertaining whether dust particles of that weight had got inside.

GSAT-10 is set to fly with a European co-passenger, ASTRA-2F, on Ariane-5 ECA.

At 3,400 kg, it is the heaviest satellite the ISRO has built; but the space agency is still fine-tuning its own medium-lift rocket, the GSLV, that can put such a satellite in a geo-synchronous orbit at 36,000 km.

The indigenous cryogenic stage of the GSLV (called GSLV-MkII) had completed many tests in the past few months, and was scheduled for launch in January-February 2013, Dr. Radhakrishnan said. Labelled as GSLV-D5, it would put in orbit GSAT-14, a communications satellite. GSAT-14 would be smaller than the regular ones and would carry 12 transponders in the C- and Ku- bands.

ISRO scientists completed three reviews of the mission and were due to follow them up with a couple more. &#8220;We need to do two important tests. One is the endurance test on the fuel booster pump. The actual flight of this stage is 720 seconds. We want to take it to 1,000 seconds. The second one is to ignite the cryogenic stage at a high altitude in vacuum condition. In the next two months, we plan a vacuum test at Mahendragiri [in Tamil Nadu].&#8221;

The four-tonne satellite lifter, GSLV-MkIII, under development, would be flown by September next year.


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## sudhir007

ISRO to launch 58 missions in 5 years - The New Indian Express



The Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up to launch 58 missions in the next five years, informed ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan.

In a press conference held here on Monday to discuss ISRO&#8217;s future plans, Radhakrishnan said two of the future which missions would be commercial.

&#8220;India&#8217;s first 50 space missions were achieved in 27 years and the next 50 in 10 years -- between 2002 and 2012. Our aim now is to undertake 58 missions in five years,&#8221; he said.

Radhakrishnan said the budget for the current year was `6,700 crore, 36 per cent of which would be allocated for launch vehicles, 55 per cent for communication, remote sensing and navigation satellites and 9 per cent for science missions like Astrosat, Mars Orbiter and Aditya, he added.

He said the missions would include PSLV C20 with Saral satellite, which would be assembled in 20 days at Sri Harikota with the tentative launch date fixed for December 12. GSAT 7 and INSAT 3D, which were communications and meteorology satellites, were almost complete, he added. He said that the launch of Indian IRNSS satellite was planned in early July, 2013, on the PSLV C22.

Referring to the developmental delays in the GSLV D5 indigenous cryogenic engine, Radhakrishnan said ISRO was learning from previous errors and strengthening the fuel booster turbo pump. &#8220;There are two more tests with the cryo stage, which will be completed by November. We will have a flight test in January-February, 2013,&#8221; he added.

The next five years would also see huge capacity addition in terms of transponders to meet the demand of 156 transponders, mostly from DTH companies. &#8220;ISRO will also create a National Database for Emergency Management and focus on other remote sensing databases in order to assist the government in planning,&#8221; Radhakrishnan added

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## sudhir007

Hindustan Aeronautics delivers Mars orbiter mission satellite structure to ISRO - The Economic Times

BANGALORE: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has handed over the Mars orbiter mission satellite structure to the ISRO Satellite Centre here.

The mission is aimed at studying the climate, geology, origin and evolution of the red planet, according to the Navratna defence PSU headquartered here.

"The satellite structure is an assembly of composite and metallic honeycomb sandwich panels with a central composite cylinder," HAL Chairman R K Tyagi said.

The assembly work was carried out at HAL's aerospace division here. ISRO will build the other satellite subsystems and scientific payload onto this structure. The completed satellite will ultimately embark on a voyage to orbit planet Mars, HAL said.

ISRO has already announced that it plans to undertake the Mars mission in November next year.

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## KRAIT

LuCiFeR_DeCoY said:


> 421 million people haven't anything to eat and they are spending on space research
> kinda funny


Don't use internet, send the money for your internet usage to those who are victim of suicide bombers, drone strikes, target killings, kidnapped and dumped dead people in Baluchistan. Isn't it funny that people like you are as different as us who don't care about poor and hungry. 

The reason I am responding to this troll is because even many senior and elite members use this logic.


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## Yeti

NEW DELHI: India may have taken a giant leap into the hallowed club of space research, with leaders like the United States and Russia, increasingly joining hands with Indian space scientists in quest for the unknown. Latest data on India's international collaboration in space sciences has shown an almost 56% increase between 2001-05 and 2006-10. 

Between 2001 and 2005, 629 publications were internationally co-authored between Indian and international space scientists. The output increased to almost 980 publications by 2006-10 &#8212; a growth of 55.8% in raw volume. 

These internationally co-authored publications, which contributed to 45.2% of India's total research output in 2001-05 increased to 47.1% by 2006-10. 

The analysis, done by Thomson Reuters and submitted to the ministry of science and technology, says these levels of international cooperation are the highest among all the fields under analysis. The US was India's most frequent collaborating partner in this field with American researchers co-authoring 465 publications with their Indian counterparts &#8212; 22.3% of India's total research output in space science. 

France was the second most important collaborating partner with India, co-authoring 206 publications with Indian researchers in 2006-10. France accounted for 9.9% of India's total research output in this field, an increase of 1.7% since 2001-05. 

Collaborating in space science as percentage of India's total research output in this field also increased with the UK (+0.8%) and Germany (+1.4%), Russia (+1.9%), Spain (+1.4%), Australia (+0.7%) and the Netherlands (+0.7%). Collaboration has increased substantially across the board with all major countries. 

Consider the case of Russia. Indian and Russian space scientists co-authored 29 papers between 2001 and 2005, and the output increased to 82 papers between 2005 and 2010. Ditto for Germany. As against 98 papers co-authored in 2001-05, the output rose to 175 in 2006-10. 

Similarly, with the UK, the output increased from 107 to 177 during the same period, Italy (from 83 to 119), the US (from 316 to 465), Spain (from 45 to 96), Japan (from 80 to 109), France (from 114 to 206) and Australia (from 51 to 91). 

According to the Planning Commission, the 11th five year Plan witnessed significant progress in international cooperative endeavours in space science. 


India poised for giant leap in space science, 56% jump in collaboration with US, France, Russia - The Times of India

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## KRAIT

^This is what i was explaining to an Indian about what should be India's approach for faster knowledge transfer and increasing research output.

Same steps should be taken in quantum computing, nano-technology and other advanced fields of research.

Collaboration is the best way we can fill the gap which exists.

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## Yeti

KRAIT said:


> ^This is what i was explaining to an Indian about what should be India's approach for faster knowledge transfer and increasing research output.
> 
> Same steps should be taken in quantum computing, nano-technology and other advanced fields of research.
> 
> Collaboration is the best way we can fill the gap which exists.




Nano-technology is the future we need to step up and invest more in this field, I was also reading this article this week:



defence.professionals | defpro.com 


*Shri Antony said today, the world over, endeavours are being made to focus attention on research & development in nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is likely to find applications in various spheres of our life, including defence, energy, transportation, automobiles, health, infrastructure, food and agriculture. *

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## sudhir007

Polarimetric Image from RISAT 1







https://www.facebook.com/isro.org/photos_stream

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## gslv mk3

GSLV D5 is getting ready inside GSLV vehicle assembly facility at Sriharikota

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> GSLV D5 is getting ready inside GSLV vehicle assembly facility at Sriharikota



I did not hear about high altitude test of the cryo engine.


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## gslv mk3

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> I did not hear about high altitude test of the cryo engine.



I got it from ISRO facebook page...


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## Gessler

gslv mk3 said:


> GSLV D5 is getting ready inside GSLV vehicle assembly facility at Sriharikota



When is to scheduled for launch?


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## arp2041

*Looking spaceward, feet firmly on the ground*

Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary, Department of Space, spoke to Madhumathi D.S. on the national space programme&#8217;s present concerns and what is in store for it as it grapples with global competition and rising internal demand. Excerpts:

The national space programme faces a double whammy: a transponder deficit on communication satellites and a delay in achieving the capability to launch our own communication satellites. How is ISRO addressing this problem?

First, I would like to stress that applications are our thrust unlike, say, in Russia, the United States or China which are after human space flights, space stations and such activities. We are very clear about being down to earth.

We have a capacity augmentation plan. Increasing capacity, enhancing capability and creating advanced technologies, these are all taking place in parallel. Thanks to the promotion of satellite communication and new services in it, there is a large demand [for transponders]. One objective is to increase capacity in the Ku and C bands. The other is to enhance capability, for example, with digital multimedia broadcasting on GSAT-6.

To remain state-of-the-art in communication satellites, we are going in for high power and higher frequencies like the Ka band. A multi-beam system with 24 footprints and uplink in the high-power Ka band will come with GSAT-11 in two years. Our target is to be contemporary in this area in five or six years.

Then there are the GSAT-6, 7 and 11 series, and GSAT-15 and 16. In remote sensing, the continuity of services is important for institutional and infrastructure planning, water resources, agriculture, afforestation, disaster management and the like. You need to improve spatial resolution from the present 0.8 metre to 0.6 metre and 0.3 metre. In microwave remote sensing we have to get into L, X and S bands.

We have two established application areas in communication and remote sensing. Now navigation satellites will add a new dimension of location-based services. Gagan is our space-based augmentation to GPS mainly for the civil aviation sector. GSAT-10 carries the second of three Gagan payloads. The first satellite of our own regional navigation system, the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System, will go in 2013.

What is being done to mitigate the transponder shortage on Insat/GSATs for broadcasting and telecommunication purposes? Of the 263 transponders available today, ISRO has leased 95 on foreign satellites.

A [few] weeks ago we released advertisements for leasing transponders because VSAT and direct-to-home (DTH) operators require them. The process may take up to two months.

Today we are not talking about replacements of the leased capacity but about how to meet requirements. We have 168 transponders of our own [provided by the domestic Insat/GSAT fleet].

If you look at the upcoming satellites, you get more than 100 [Indian] transponders [in the short term]. GSAT-10 [launched on September 29] is going to immediately give us 30 transponders from November onwards. GSAT-14 will give another 12 if [its launch vehicle] GSLV performs well. GSAT-9 will mean another 12 transponders, GSAT-15 will add 24 in the Ku band and GSAT-16 another 36.

With these 100 transponders being added, will the leases go back?

I don&#8217;t think they will go back but the usage will be more. There is nothing wrong in using [them] provided they are available at a reasonable price.

Has the queue for DTH levelled out? There are seven DTH operators now and these and new players want more satellite capacity.

India is a large market. Today you have some 600 TV channels and DTH has revolutionised the services. Every [broadcaster] is looking for enhanced capacity, because high-definition TV is coming in. This is a worldwide phenomenon. There will always be some gap between what they want and what is available. This is dynamic. The positive thing is, the demand is very high today.

Where do we stand in the launch vehicle programme, particularly the delayed GSLV?

If you look at the queue, the GSLV cryogenic stage has to get ready and fly. The GSLV Mark III cryogenic stage has to be developed and then the semi-cryogenic stage which is approved. All are progressing. First we have to prove the GSLV. We had problems due to small issues. There is nothing wrong with the vehicle per se, but the problems were attributable to certain components. Of course, GSLV cryogenics have to be developed and tested. The next thing is to improve the reliability of the vehicle which will take us to [a capability to lift] 2.2-tonne satellites to geostationary transfer orbits.

Cryogenic testing for the next GSLV-D5 vehicle is going on. Two crucial tests have to be completed: testing in vacuum and the endurance of the fuel booster turbo pump. If they are successful we can say it is flying on the ground.

GSLV Mk III is making good progress. It will take us to four tonnes. Its cryogenics are to be developed fully. During the 12th Plan period we want to do two to three flights of Mk III.

What improvements are happening with communication and remote-sensing satellites? Our Insat/GSAT communication satellites, for example, are in the 3,000-kg, 36-transponder class, while the world has moved towards spacecraft double and triple that size and capacity.

We, too, have to [do that]. Not [just] larger, it is in terms of power, bandwidth, mass and features like having 100 transponders in one satellite. Whether it is six or ten tonnes is one aspect, how much power it can carry is another.

[Elsewhere] today there are satellites with power levels of 16-17 kilowatts. From the 100-watt Ariane Passenger PayLoad Experiment (APPLE) experiment [in 1981], we moved on to 5,500 watts of power in GSAT-8 [in 2011].

In 1995 we were the best civilian remote sensing satellite operator with IRS 1C and 1D. TES and the Cartosat-2 series have 0.8 m resolution. We, too, are getting to 0.6 m, 0.5 m and better.

You have spoken of nearly 60 satellite and launch missions in the next five years, planetary exploration and more. What are the plans for infrastructure and manpower to make future programmes possible?

ISRO has to enhance capability for the next five years. We also have to sow the seeds now for what we will do 10 years on; for R&D, for future technologies. We need to identify groups in the country and within the organisation for such activity.

The Space Research Complex [coming up] on 540 acres in the Science City near Challakere in Chitradurga will be ISRO&#8217;s resource for the next 25-50 years. What we will do there will evolve in one or two years. It could be planetary explorations, space habitat; astrobiology. The Department of Atomic Energy, the Defence Research & Development Organisation, the Indian Institute of Science, ISRO and the Karnataka government are working together there on a township and common amenities.

Right from the 1980s our manpower has remained around 16,000 while the number of missions has grown because of the industry participation. That number will increase by 2,000-3,000 to both replace and supplement our people.

Because of the actions taken in the 1970s on partnering the industry, today we have almost 500 firms contributing to the space programme. Where things are standardised and operational one can look for a larger role for industry in realising goals or taking responsibility for it. This is a major initiative that we are working on.

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Looking spaceward, feet firmly on the ground

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## ajtr

*17 years on, ISRO spy case comes back to haunt AK Antony*


Ripples created in the state Congress (I) by the recent re-opening of the 17-year-old espionage case centred on the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) appear to be inching towards Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony. 

This follows former Chief Minister K Karunakaran's family raising a demand for a probe into the "political conspiracy" behind the case and action against the three officers in Kerala Police whom the CBI found in 1996 to have fabricated the espionage scandal. 

Though Muralidharan has exonerated Antony, a senior Congress leader M.M. Jacob (85) said that the Union Defence Minister also played a role in the conspiracy and was its direct beneficiary. Muralidharan's immediate target clearly appears to be the present Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who had led the campaign against Karunakaran, leading to his ouster as Chief Minister in 1995, paving the way for Antony. 

Muralidharan has also accused KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala of doing nothing to redeem Karunakaran's name though he enjoyed many privileges as his protege. Antony has refused to say anything on the subject.

The ISRO case re-surfaced recently when the state high court directed the state government to pay Rs.10 lakh as interim compensation to K. Nambi Narayananan, a senior scientist who was an accused in the spy case. Following this K Muralidharan and Padmaja Venugopal - the son and daughter of former Chief Minister K Karunakaran - have asked for an investigation to reveal the "political conspiracy" behind the case. 

At the height of the case Karunakaran was forced to resign as Chief Minister after he was accused of shielding Raman Srivasatava, then IG of Police, an accused in the espionage case. "It was Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao who had asked my father to resign. It is clear that Rao had a hand in the political conspiracy. Rao's goal was to finish off the career of all senior Congress leaders who he thought become Prime Minister" says Muralidharan, MLA and former KPCC President. 

"My father used to forgive all his enemies. But not Rao who he told us should never be trusted" said Padmaja, a KPCC Executive Member. 

Muralidharan has also asked Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to initiate action against three Kerala police officials who the CBI had accused of having fabricated the spy case. The officials include Siby Mathews, a former Director General of Police and presently the state's Chief Information Commissioner. 

"I don't see anything wrong in Muralidharan's demand as he wanted to redeem his father's name. I have handed over the letter to the Home secretary. But it is ridiculous to drag A.K. Antony into this" said Chandy.

A month after the present UDF ministry came to power it had closed the file against the three police officials accepting the Advocate General's report. It was the previous Left Democratic Front government which had sought the AG's report on the issue. 

"It was the last LDF government which first decided to close the file. We have only continued on this stand" said Chandy. The last LDF government had decided in 2010 not to initiate any action against the officers following the report from the Home department and the then Director General of Police. 
Later the Advocate General too endorsed this. 

But Chandy's response has infuriated Muralidharan. 

"Chief Minister should have at least called or given me a reply for my letter instead of handing over the letter to Home Secretary" said Muralidharan. He also said the CM should have consulted him before accepting the AG's report recommending no action against the police officials. 

"For doesn't he know that I have a personal stake in the case as it maligned my father's name" says Muralidharan. "As an inquiry doesn't appear to happen, I will request the Governor for a probe now and the removal of the Chief Information Commissioner" he said. 

Muralidharan has said that it was not right for the UDF government to have dismissed the plea for a re-investigation.

It is now clear what Muralidharan actually wants. He wants Chandy and the "A" (for A.K. Antony) faction which had campaigned in 1995 for their factional rival Karunakaran to quit as CM. The campaign saw Rao asking Karunakaran to step down to pave way for Antony whom was at Delhi at the time. 

Antony was flown down to Trivandrum on a special aircraft owned by the Indian army to be sworn in as CM. 

Karunakaran always used to jeer at Antony's haste to take over his seat. But even though Antony was thus the main beneficiary of the events, Muralidharan who enjoys a close rapport with him now has exonerated the Defence Minister. "I would not even think of Antony as having played any role. But I don't have that attitude about many others" said Muralidharan. 

Muralidharan's demand for an inquiry into the political conspiracy has found many backers in the Congress, like Union Minister Vayalar Ravi who too wants Chandy to be booked. 

Though Ravi also exonerated Antony, another senior Congress leader MM Jacob (85), former Governor and a staunch Karunakaran loyalist, has not spared the Defence Minister. "Everyone knows Antony was the direct beneficiary of the political conspiracy against Karunakaran. His role should be certainly probed". 

Now, many top Congress leaders are running to Antony's defence. P.J. Kurian, Rajya Sabha vice chairman said it was preposterous to accuse Antony. He has actually claimed to reveal something unknown until now. "Antony was actually opposed to the then campaign against Karunakaran. In fact he was not prepared to take over as CM" said Kurian, a long time Antony loyalist. 

But Muralidharan faced a setback when Mullappalli Ramachandran, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who is from Kerala, dismissed his demand for any new probe. For Ramachandran, a staunch Karunakaran loyalist, had recently played a major role in rehabilitating Muralidharan in the Congress in 2011 after he was suspended from the party.

But the Karunakaran family's attempts are not likely to be successful. 

Except a few isolated voices, they are up against a formidable camp led by Antony and Chandy who dominate the state party. Besides, the camp led by KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala, who claims the legacy of the Karunakaran faction, has also distanced itself from Muralidharan. "All the steps taken by Chief Minister were correct. Muralidharan can raise his complaints inside the party" said Chennithala.


Read more at: 17 years on, ISRO spy case comes back to haunt AK Antony : India, News - India Today


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## Azazel

*Isro's centre in Ahmedabad helped track Hurricane Sandy*

MUMBAI: Indian Space Research Organization (Isro)'s Oscat radio scatterometer on board its 960kg Oceansat-2 remote sensing satellite had tracked ocean surface winds of Hurricane Sandy that wrought havoc in eastern US on Monday, a Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory announcement has said. 

Nasa had sought Isro's help as its QuikSat satellite stopped operating in November 2009. QuikSat resembles the Oscat radio scatterometer. 

Officials said Isro's Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre has designed and developed the scatterometer, an active microwave device, which among other things is equipped with one-meter parabolic dish antenna. It has been designed to provide global ocean coverage. 

Isro chief spokesperson Dev Prasad Karnik said Isro, Nasa and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USNOAA) have an agreement regarding sharing Oceansat-2's data. 

"The sharing of data of Hurricane Sandy only reflects the growing collaboration between Isro, Nasa and USNOAA," he told TOI. 

The scatterometer's image of Hurricane Sandy obtained at 9.30 am (IST) on Monday was transmitted to Nasa and USNOAA and shows it heading towards the eastern US coast. 

The satellite was launched from four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on September 23, 2009 and operates at an altitude of 720km in the sun-synchronous orbit. Oceansat-2 is the Isro's sixth remote sensing satellite.

Isro's centre in Ahmedabad helped track Hurricane Sandy - The Times of India

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## KRAIT

^ Must read for those who question India's Space Program. Its great that NASA quickly contacted ISRO. 

Lives saved is worth the Indian space program along with disaster management.


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## trident2010

Good work by ISRO. I am eagerly waiting for the GSLV launch. Once we perfected the cryogenic engine technology, developing more powerful rockets won't be that difficult.


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## kurup

China proposes space collaboration with India

BEIJING (PTI): China on Friday rolled out a red carpet to "Missile man" and ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam on his first visit to the country, proposing a joint collaboration for a space solar power mission with India and inviting him to teach at the prestigious Peking University here.

In a surprise move, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the official body operating host of China's space missions as well as satellite launches, invited Kalam to its headquarters where he was given a "great reception" by the Chinese scientists.

Besides briefing the 82-year-old Kalam about its recent mission to send three astronauts, including China's first woman to space, CAST officials have shown "great interest" in partnering the mission with international collaboration for Space based Solar Power initiative, said V Ponraj, a scientist who is part of Kalam's delegation.

"Wu Yansheng, President of CAST has said his organisation is very much interested to collaborate with India and ISRO on the space mission and would like to establish a formal initiative from both the nations," he said in a statement.

"Kalam assured, certainly he will take up this interest to the Govt of India and ISRO, so that a hard cooperation and collaboration between ISRO, DRDO and CAST is realised on one of the great mission, may be Space-based Solar Power initiative so that both India and China can work for long term association with proper funding along with other willing space faring nations to bring space solar power to earth," the statement said.

"Such a mission will be a great example for the entire world and will bring peace and prosperity to the both the nations as well as to the world," it said.

China proposes space collaboration with India - Brahmand.com

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Exactly four years back Chandrayaan 1 successfully completed the lunar orbit insertion operation on November 08, 2008 at 16:51 IST and become first Indian built spacecraft entering the lunar orbit.

This manoeuvre involved firing of the liquid engine for 817 seconds when the spacecraft passed within 500 km from the Moon. The satellite was placed in an elliptical orbit that passed over the polar regions of the Moon, with 7502 km aposelene (point farthest away from the Moon) and 504 km periselene, (nearest to the Moon). The orbital period was estimated to be around 11 hours. With the successful completion of this operation, India became the sixth nation to put a spacecraft in lunar orbit.







*Poster : Chandrayaan 1 Xray Spectrometer (C1XS)*






*INSAT 3A ASIA SECTOR
Composite Image vs Infrared Image
06:00 AM IST*






*Infrared image of Cyclone Nilam at 11:30 a.m. IST October 31, 2012. ISRO closely monitors Cyclone Nilam with Indian Meteorological Department.*

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## Mirza Jatt

This time GSLV will be a success...dont worry.


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## Gessler

Can anyone tell when GSLV D5 is scheduled for launch?

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## jiki

surely i gonna be between next jan -- march 2013

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## kurup

ISRO planning to acquire Ka-Band Communication satellites for India

The Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] has sought 'Expression of Interest' [EOI] for construction of communication satellites operating in the Ka-band of the frequency spectrum.

The company, whom ISRO would eventually award the contract to, would be required to build one such satellite initially, with the possible option of a follow-on order to build one more. The manufacturer would be required to supply the satellite within three years from the time of signing the contract. With the 'requirement specifications document' being made available on November 6, responders have time up to December 20 to send in their EOI. Thus, assuming it takes one year to execute the various steps prior to the actual inking of the agreement, the first of these satellites would be placed in orbit sometime in 2016 or beyond.

The satellite, identified as 'ISRO Ka Band High Throughput Communication Satellite', is most likely to be placed at the a Geosynchronous Earth Orbit [GEO] orbit between 48o E to 93.5o E longitudes though they mention the 55o East Longitude as being the more probable location [INSAT-3E, launched in 2003, currently occupies that space]. It is required to have coverage over the entire country, including the southernmost islands of Andaman & Nicobar as well as Lakshadweep as its primary objective. Ideally ISRO would also like the satellite's footprint to extend over South-East Asia, Africa & Middle-East Asia, if possible. It is stated that the satellite would be used to ramp up the broadband internet service capability in the country, thus indicating intent to cater to the increasingly internet-connectivity dependant nature of high-technology industries setting up operations in the country [uplink & downlink speeds of 4 Mbps & 10 Mbps respectively with 50 Gbps throughput, at the very least]. Secondary application that ISRO requires the builder to explore, include its use in DTH television broadcast, though with rain fade effect even more severe than that experienced with the current C & Ku-band transmission, it remains to be seen how serious ISRO is about using this satellite for that purpose.

Transmitting in the Ka-band would bring with it many tangible advantages, notable among them being the ability to transfer much larger amount of data within the available spectrum, along with the need to use smaller receiver sets to pick up its signals. This opens up the possibility of wider applications for the use of satellite-based communication. Some existing international communication satellites capable of utilising the Ka-Band are the ViaSat-1, the EchoStar XVII, HYLAS 2 among others. An interesting requirement that ISRO has specified is for the satellite to have the ability to link-up & operate with up to 8 other ISRO communications satellites orbiting over the Indian Ocean region.

*GSAT-11*

It is unclear whether this call to build the satellite is, in fact, in place of its own effort to build the GSAT-11 satellite. The GSAT-11 had been billed as the 1st Indian communication satellite carrying Ka-Band transponders, for commercial applications, to be launched using the GSLV Mark III. The GSAT-4 [a.k.a GSLV-D3] carried a test Ka-Band transponder. Though, being a much lower weight class satellite, it would be carrying fewer number of Ka-band transponders than these that it is looking to buy. In all likelihood, this acquisition is distinct from its own developmental efforts. ISRO, being the sole agency in the country catering to both the civilian &, to a lesser extent, the military requirement, has often been called out for not keeping up with the increasing communication needs of ISRO-Ka-Band-Communication-Satellite-Coverage-Indiathe country. The problem got further exacerbated with the dual failures of the GSAT-4 & GSAT-5P satellites. This forced the organisation to do a rejig, launching the GSAT-12 satellite in double quick time using a lesser used configuration of its own PSLV system, something it does not normally do for its commercial communication satellites [Arianespace is contracted to carry out the launches]. Currently the organisation has had to take on lease 95 transponders on-board foreign satellites.

Even ISRO's stated aim of launching 14 satellites by 2017 would have put in Space not enough transponders for the country's growing needs [it has no plans to give up their leased transponders even after its own satellites are in orbit]. In this situation, therefore, this decision to buy & operate a satellite not of its own making would make for a prudent step. Adding to the country's capacity through concurrent sourcing & deployment. While this would have ideally meant that the responsibility be taken up by yet another Indian satellite builder, the country has only one such constructor & it itself has issued this call. As a result, it is invariably going to be an internationally-located company that would be selling India the satellites. Companies that could possibly respond, having built similar systems for other customers, would include the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company [EADS], Space Systems/Loral, Avanti Communications, among others.

In the worst case scenario, this move could indicate that its own efforts [GSAT-11] have met with some graver-than-trivial roadblocks, leading to slippage in its programme schedule. Not wanting to pile on the country's transponder woes, thus this decision. However, this last possibility, fortunately, seems to be somewhat of a stretch, given that even as recently as towards the end of October [last month], ISRO's Chairman had stated its goal of launching the GSAT-11 by 2013, & as estimated earlier these satellites, that are being purchased, would be ready for launch only by around 2016.

Although, it is to buy the 6-tonne weight-range satellite, instead of building one on its own [though of a lower weight-class, I-4K Bus being the largest it has] as it is its practise, ISRO has made clear that it would like to have a whole range of access to the satellite as it proceeds through its build,

"_ISRO shall get fully involved during the System Engineering, configuration finalization, design, development, fabrication and AIT stages of spacecraft. This means an active interaction and participation of manpower from ISRO during various phases of spacecraft building. The activities like overall configuration finalization, design drivers, system level definitions and configuration ,build plan and process shall be well coordinated , and understood by ISRO team . This may also include some discussions and knowledge sharing on latest technology domains. It is foreseen that a full time participation of a few engineers from ISRO is required during the entire spacecraft realization period. ISRO engineers will be stationed at selected manufacturers premises and should have access to ongoing activities. The bidder shall clearly express their approach on the subject and also propose a mechanism for execution of the same."

"The bidder shall provide ISRO with the right to participate in or execute surveys, audits, reviews, source inspection, test observation, mandatory inspections and any other activity during the contract, or have resident or itinerant personnel at the plants of the bidder, Subcontractors, Suppliers and Manufacturers"_

The bidder would also be required to supply the upgrade hardware & software for ISRO's ground-stations, along with imparting training to its staff, for handling & operating the satellite through its 15 years [minimum] lifespan.

This path taken by ISRO is a significant departure from its normal practise and, among other things, calls for the need to encourage develop indigenous industrial capability to cater to the requirements. ISRO, from recent announcements, does appear to have taken some steps towards addressing this issue. If pursued on a priority basis, this would pay the country great dividends in the future, adding to the country's technology base, also being favourably positioned to bid for similar contracts being awarded by other countries.

ISRO planning to acquire Ka-Band Communication satellites for India [Space] - AA Me, IN

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## arp2041

*India's space program focuses on the needs of the 'base' of human*

India recently put toughest communications satellite in orbit, marking the success of the operation space to the 101 South Asian countries.

The launch complex in French Guiana space, and the satellite is only one indicator that the Indian space program is conducting a major step.

Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] is planning their most ambitious program next year - 30 launch, and ultimately in the form of sending unmanned aircraft to orbit Mars.

Mission to Mars will be a separate exam for engineering keantariksaan India. Only the United States who successfully many times to send a spacecraft there. Russia, China, and Japan all have tried, but failed.

"After 50 years and 100 missions, the Indian space program is now growing faster," the Christian Science Monitor reported on October 1.

"Currently, the space program made in the country India is considered one of the top six in the world."

In the past five years, there will be 58 more planned space mission.

These achievements need to be placed in a wider context. India still have not even managed to put astronauts into orbit the spacecraft of their own. Is still far from the ability to develop unmanned cargo rockets.

Very different from the Chinese, who routinely put at once three taikonaut (Chinese astronauts) in the orbit of the complex space them at Lop Nor. China also successfully landing and ground penginjakan in space. The country also has taken great measures to have its own manned space station in low Earth orbit [LEO].

In comparison, the Indian space program operates from headquarters industrial and scientific research are much smaller, due to the still very lack of scientific and technological infrastructure in the country.

Despite their limited resources compared to the space programs of the United States and China in particular, India's space program has actually grown since originally developed to address the needs of the economy and communications.

'Pragmatic and tight'

Christian Science Monitor reports that ISRO's budget is relatively small, only 7.5 percent of the Agency for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, which is $ 1.3 billion [U.S.] during the fiscal year 2012-13. It was already more than double the budget of the organization which only 591 million dollars [U.S.] in 2004-05. In fact, conservative estimates for all flights on the space program U.S. space shuttle has cost more than $ 1 billion [U.S.].

India Program is focused on efforts to put communication satellites and unmanned reconnaissance in low Earth orbit for the connection of telecommunications and broadcasting, hoping to compensate for the current lack of infrastructure development of India's IT sector and its associated high technology has advanced rapidly.

"Over the past few years, the Indian approach is always pragmatic and tight space," wrote Chaitanya Giri, analyst Rediff.com on 4 October. "The leaders of this country believe that the space program would be acting in line with the socio-economic strategy and will use the space as a means to spur technological infrastructure. Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO], founded in 1969, almost as long as it is limited to problems in the earth. "

Although until now the Indian space program has not been developed in a spectacular, but pretty steady, Like a "vital sector". This program has the experience, reliability, and expertise in operational technology base. CSM reports indicate that India has become one of the countries with the largest satellite communication systems.

Policy direction becomes very important to provide treatment services and distance education for hundreds of millions of poor rural country. Space-based communications to the poor villagers are generally available in just a few years after they receive electric service for the first time.

The use of remote sensing-based system is very important for space weather forecasting. These basic services annually save thousands of lives through flow forecast typhoons and monsoon patterns. Finding new sources of water from space are other important benefits.

Priority ISRO is dedicated to serving the residents

This year ISRO has devoted more than half [55%] budget to various satellite communications, navigation, and remote sensing. 36% is allocated to the launch vehicle, and only 9% to support exploration missions, such as moon mission Chandrayan 2 and Mars orbiters are planned.

The strategy seems contrary to the achievement of the principal sectors of scientific and military research. Indian scientists and engineers among the best in the world, it's just that, as revealed in a special report of The Economist, the numbers are still too few.

"In the issue of October 29 to November 5, the magazine wrote:" A survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors estimates that by 2010 India only have 500,000 more civil engineers but needs 4 million, and 45,000 architects but needs 366 000. "

All of these shortcomings do not directly affect the core capabilities of a world-class scientists and engineers and technocrats of excellence. India may be constrained in their efforts to implement the ambitious program to build a manned space station or perform missions beyond Earth orbit.

ISRO vision and instincts inherited from the founding fathers serve Vikram Sarabhai. He rejected what he called "fantasy to compete with countries whose economies are already well established" in missions to the moon and other planets. Instead, he stressed that the ultimate goal of the Indian space program is the use of space technology for day-to-day needs of ordinary people.

The program indeed has yielded great results and lasting. Nor was there any public pressure on India to cut annual operating budget of the national space program, and gained wide support both the parties in the Lok Sabha, India's national parliament main assembly in New Delhi.

Success in the commercial launch market

India has also been able to utilize the experience and reliability. Call it the country's skill in placing their satellites in low Earth orbit, to enter the international market in the multibillion dollar commercial launch.

In these areas, India is more successful than the United Kingdom and Japan, and a tough competitor even for the United States.

Through Antrix Corporation, the commercial operating company, India "has launched 29 foreign satellites during the past decade, including the simultaneous launch of the satellite and the French SPOT 6 satellite micro Japan in September," the CSM reported. The Indian space industry executives are optimistic that the sector will grow in the coming years.

India developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [PSLV] they themselves are reliable. It successfully sends an average of two satellites per year and has the potential to send up to six per year. However, state control over the production of rocket remains an obstacle to grow even more.

Government rejects proposal for the privatization of manufacturing rockets civilian satellite market. However, some senior executives ISRO has begun signaling that the government should encourage the creation of a consortium of several large companies such as space technology models in the U.S. and Europe.

Some critics, such as Giri, acknowledged that the success of the country's main space is dedicated to a variety of domestic needs are realistic and practical. Even so, Giri pointed out that India's space exploration program lacked focus and discipline, and failed to prioritize resources for the scientific goals are sharp and can be achieved.

"This is the difference in India with other nations that also advanced antariksanya program," said Giri told Rediff.com. "The United States ... China prioritizes prioritizing Mars exploration to the Moon Chang'e program, including orbiters, landers, and a mission to bring back samples. Japanese Hayabusa mission ... and Europe through missions, the European Space Agency's Giotto and Rosetta has allowed them to explore asteroids and comets. All of this will be the important things in the future, when asteroids and comets will be mining resources. "

The defenders of pure Indian Space Research said that plans unmanned mission to the moon and Mars is quite efficient cost. According to them these missions do not deplete resources or divert focus from the ISRO telecommunications programs and resources of the earth in low earth orbit that has long been developed.

PROGRAM ANTARIKSA INDIA BERFOKUS PADA KEBUTUHAN 'DASAR' MANUSIA - Asia-Pacific Defense Forum


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## Kayoze

Edited.............


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## kurup

Kayoze said:


> Edited.............



Man your avatar suck$ .............

It makes me throw up everytime I sees it .

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## kurup

ISRO to miss 12-12-12 launch date for SARAL: sources

BANGALORE (PTI): ISRO may be adept at putting satellites into precise orbit but now appears set to fall flat on its publicly-pronounced date to launch Indo-French spacecraft "SARAL" on 12-12-12.

ISRO sources confirmed on Thursday that with technical issues cropping up and additional tests proposed to improve reliability, the blast-off on December 12 (12-12-12) is ruled out.

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) top-brass are slated to undertake on November 27 mission readiness review vis-a-vis the launch. "The launch is now likely in January-February", an official of the Bangalore-headquartered space agency said.

In September, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said SARAL would be launched onboard PSLV-C20 from the spaceport of Sriharikota on December 12.

"PSLV-C20 will be assembled in about 25 days in Sriharikota and the satellite will be launched on December 12, 2012. As somebody said it's 12-12-12 (launch date)," he said on September 12 at the Bangalore Space Expo 2012 here.

Along with SARAL, ISRO was also slated to launch four foreign micro-satellites on board PSLV-C20.

ISRO officials said SARAL is a small satellite mission with payloads -- Argos and Altika -- from French space agency CNES for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions which are otherwise not covered by the in-situ measurements.

The satellite has been built by ISRO, which would also take care of the launch services.

SARAL will provide data products to operational and research user communities, in support of marine meteorology and sea state forecasting; operational oceanography; seasonal forecasting; climate monitoring; ocean, earth system and climate research, the officials said.

ISRO to miss 12-12-12 launch date for SARAL: sources - Brahmand.com

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## SpArK

*ISRO to launch water rockets at Kakkanad
​*
Nov 25, 2012, 07.08AM IST TNN

KOCHI: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch model water rockets at the Sarabhai Science Park, Kakkanad, as part of the CBSE state youth festival to teach students about space technology and make them familiar with building rockets. 

The rocket will be launched on Thursday and Friday to teach students what rocket technology is. A water rocket is a device which moves by the expulsion of pressurized water through its nozzle. These are working rocket models which are built with pressurized plastic soft drink bottles. 

The CBSE school state youth festival will be held from November 28 to December 1. 

Around 11,000 students from CBSE schools in the state are expected to %participate in the event, said CBSE school managements association secretary and festival general convener Indira Rajan.!

ISRO to launch water rockets at Kakkanad - TOI Mobile | The Times of India Mobile Site

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## ptltejas

any news when the GSLV mark III will be launched.

I am not happy the AMCA design has to be completed in dec-12, hypersonic test was told in jan 12, the Nirbhay missile test don't know where?/?????????????????????????????////


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## Water Car Engineer

Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) of GSLV MK-III Delivered to VSSC : HAL

The first Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) Assembly-V2 version of GSLV MK-III was handed over to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC) of ISRO in Bangalore on November 10,2012.


The Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) is an intricate riveted structural assembly of S200 stage (solid booster stage) of Geo-stationary
Satellite Launch Vehicle MK-III. The S200 solid booster stage is attached to the main core vehicle
through NCA assembly. The assembly is cylindrical in shape, 3200 mm in diameter and 1600 mm in height . The assembly is delivered to ISRO in a record time of six months from the receipt of drawings.

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## IND151

The first Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) Assembly-V2 version of GSLV MK-III was handed over to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC) of ISRO in Bangalore on November 10,2012.


The Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) is an intricate riveted structural assembly of S200 stage (solid booster stage) of Geo-stationary
Satellite Launch Vehicle MK-III. The S200 solid booster stage is attached to the main core vehicle
through NCA assembly. The assembly is cylindrical in shape, 3200 mm in diameter and 1600 mm in height . The assembly is delivered to ISRO in a record time of six months from the receipt of drawings.

Nose Cone Adaptor (NCA) of GSLV MK-III Delivered to VSSC : HAL | idrw.org

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*GSLV's next launch in April: Veeraraghavan*

PUNE: Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) P S Veeraraghavan has said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is *well on course to launching its GSLV space mission with indigenously built cryogenic engine in April 2013.*

"Most of the systems for the launch are ready and we are now into the final leg of certain tests, which will validate the mission involving indigenous cryogenic engine," Veeraraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on 'Aerospace and related mechanisms' here on Thursday. The Thiruvananthapuram-based VSSC is the lead centre of ISRO for development of satellite launch vehicles and associated technologies.

The GSLV mission's first flight, 'D3', using ISRO designed and built cryogenic engine, had failed in April 2010 due to the malfunctioning of fuel booster turbo pump. The launch vehicle was carrying a 2,200 kg GSAT-4 payload.

"We did a thorough analysis of the D3 flight and identified the reasons behind its failure," Veeraraghavan said. "The analysis called for a redesign of certain components in the cryogenic propulsion system and the same has now been addressed and is being put through multiple testing," he said.

"*Most tests have been completed except for the high altitude test, which validates the mission of our cryogenic engine. We hope to complete this and launch the GSLV mission by April 2013*," Veeraraghavan said.

Asked about the *Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission*, Veeraraghavan said, "The immediate focus is on the launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission that is expected to happen in October/November 2013. We have to ensure that the launch happens by the targeted slot. Otherwise, we won't get a slot for another two years," he said. India plans to send a spaceship near Mars and collect important scientific information as part of the orbiter mission.

He said, "Chandrayaan-2, which is a joint programme with the Russian Federal Space Agency, has been delayed due to some major reversals suffered by Russia in their launch vehicles, including their mission to Mars, last year. *The Russians have decided that they will give a lander, which is the most complex of the Chandrayaan-2 elements, only after flying the same at least once*."

Initial plans chalked out under the joint programme, provided for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 by using a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), in 2014. It includes a lunar orbiter and a lunar rover to be made by the ISRO centres and a lander built by the Russian space agency.

The mission will use and test various new technologies and conduct new experiments. The wheeled rover will move on the lunar surface and will pick up soil or rock samples for on-site chemical analysis. The data will be sent to earth through the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter.

Veeraraghavan said, "Developing high temperature thermal protection system; new materials with lower weights, higher strength, guidance and control; and air-breathing propulsion system are major challenges in the efforts to reduce the cost of launching a space mission. For now, the cost of launching 1 kg of payload into an orbit is $ 20,000 and very few countries can afford that."

He said, "Ongoing efforts in the US, Europe and India are aimed at reducing this cost initially to $ 2,000 per kg payload and eventually to $ 200 per kg payload. This requires good quality high temperature thermal protection system, particularly for situations like a hypersonic re-entry where the material has to take very high temperature and load."

"The VSSC is working on the next variant of GSLV Mark III launch vehicles that will make India totally self-reliant in the area of launch vehicles, Veeraraghavan said. The centre is further working on development of resusable launch vehicles that can deliver a spacecraft into the orbit and return for a repeat use. This will bring down the cost of space transport."

Nearly 450 delegates from premier research labs, defence and academic organizations and industry are participating in the seminar that will address some of the current issues related to aerospace mechanisms that are critical for satellite launch vehicles, spacecraft, missiles and combat aircraft, among others. The Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) is hosting the event, organized by the Indian National Society for Aerospace and Related Mechanisms (INSARM).

Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge; Prahalada, vice-chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology; George Koshy, national president of INSARM; Anil Datar, director of ARDE and several other prominent persons were present on the occasion.

GSLV's next launch in April: Veeraraghavan - The Times of India

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gsLVM3 on the launch pad during a mock launch drill






S200 boosters and L110 stages of gsLVM3 vehicle during integration drill

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## Gessler

The S200 is Asia's largest solid rocket booster and the 3rd largest in the world.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*S200 booster test*






*Plasma wind tunnel test on 1:28 scaled model of Human Space Program Crew Module*

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## jimmydefence

Whats the speciality of plasma wind tunnel ? Is that only applicable for space vehicles ?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

jimmydefence said:


> Whats the speciality of plasma wind tunnel ? Is that only applicable for space vehicles ?



Ya, plasma wind tunnels are used to demonstrate performance and evaluate the Thermal Protection System (TPS) material on reentry vehicles like crew modules. The crew module when re-enters the atmosphere will be subjected to severe heating. To survive such an environment, crew module is provided with an outer TPS made of ablative materials. To test the characteristics of such TPS materials, scaled model of crew module is subjected to plasma wind tunnel testing with very high air temperature, heat flux and pressure.

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## Water Car Engineer

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> gsLVM3 on the launch pad during a mock launch drill
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> S200 boosters and L110 stages of gsLVM3 vehicle during integration drill



Blue, these are recent? Freakin awesome bhai!

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Water Car Engineer said:


> Blue, these are recent?



No, Jan 2012, ISRO did mock launch drill of gsLVM3 that involved integration, structural tests, fueling the liquid stages, count downs etc. 



Water Car Engineer said:


> Freakin awesome bhai!



Yeah!!! just to watch it on the launch pad gives goosebumps, wonder what the launch will do.

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## Water Car Engineer

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> No, Jan 2012, ISRO did mock launch drill of gsLVM3 that involved integration, structural tests, fueling the liquid stages, count downs etc.
> 
> 
> 
> *Yeah!!! just to watch it on the launch pad gives goosebumps, wonder what the launch will do.*



You have the date?? I forgot.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Water Car Engineer said:


> You have the date?? I forgot.



Launch date? tentative was April, but not possible any more. They have PSLV and GSLV Mk2 in line to be launched by April-May. After that comes the most important mission of Mangalyaan by Nov. May be they will try between May and Nov.

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> gsLVM3 on the launch pad during a mock launch drill
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> S200 boosters and L110 stages of gsLVM3 vehicle during integration drill



 This baby will make my nation proud and depress some neigbours on the east and west

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Plasma wind tunnel test on 1:28 scaled model of Human Space Program Crew Module*


 Hey Blue is this Indian human crew vehicle. Because I though this program is cancelled and India no longer is working on sending humans in space. Is this program still on??



BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Plasma wind tunnel test on 1:28 scaled model of Human Space Program Crew Module*


 Hey Blue is this Indian human crew vehicle. Because I though this program is cancelled and India no longer is working on sending humans in space. Is this program still on??

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## ajtr

karan21 said:


> This baby will make my nation proud and depress some neigbours on the east and west


Oh bhai saheb pahale salamat se uda to lo isse tab depress karna east aur west main.kahi pata chala ke 2010 ki tarah diwali aur Christmas ka fireworks ka display ho raha ho south-eastern skies main


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## karan21

ajtr said:


> Oh bhai saheb pahale salamat se uda to lo isse tab depress karna east aur west main.kahi pata chala ke 2010 ki tarah diwali aur Christmas ka fireworks ka display ho raha ho south-eastern skies main



Atleast we have the capability to conduct such fireworks. 

Anyways we will see a success.

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## ajtr

karan21 said:


> Atleast we have the capability to conduct such fireworks.
> 
> Anyways we will see a success.


Hamaew pass bhi hai fireworks ki capability....hope ke recent ghuari test did light up indian radars on western frontier............

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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> Hey Blue is this Indian human crew vehicle. Because I though this program is cancelled and India no longer is working on sending humans in space. Is this program still on??



Yup, its Indian human crew module prototype. Program is very much on and the current phase is technology development phase, where necessary technologies are being developed and tested. Isro has successfully developed reverse flow multiple nozzles solid rocket motor and performed its static tests. This motor will be used as Low altitude Escape Motor (LEM). Isro has also developed and tested a parachute system for Crew Module (CM) deceleration system. Mesh for unfurlable Space Antenna on service module or crew module for high gain communication has been realized. First major milestone activities of the Human Space Project (HSP) are: 1) pad abort test that will demonstrate the performance of crew escape system (CES) and 2) Drop test of crew module from various heights to demonstrate the performance of its deceleration characteristics.

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Yup, its Indian human crew module prototype. Program is very much on and the current phase is technology development phase, where necessary technologies are being developed and tested. Isro has successfully developed reverse flow multiple nozzles solid rocket motor and performed its static tests. This motor will be used as Low altitude Escape Motor (LEM). Isro has also developed and tested a parachute system for Crew Module (CM) deceleration system. Mesh for unfurlable Space Antenna on service module or crew module for high gain communication has been realized. First major milestone activities of the Human Space Project (HSP) are: *1) pad abort test that will demonstrate the performance of crew escape system (CES) and 2) Drop test of crew module from various heights to demonstrate the performance of its deceleration characteristics.*


When will be these tests. I read Isro annual reports and they mentioned those tests and sad will happen sometime next year.
Thanks for the info. Btw who are you?? Are you working for Isro or in contact with them?

Asking because how do you know that the parachute for deceleration has bee realized??

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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> When will be these tests. I read Isro annual reports and they mentioned those tests and sad will happen sometime next year.
> Thanks for the info. Btw who are you?? Are you working for Isro or in contact with them?
> 
> Asking because how do you know that the parachute for deceleration has bee realized??



Most probably by end of 2013. I dont work for ISRO, but read alot from different ISRO sources.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Acoustic suppression test (acoustic suppression will be used during launch of gsLVM3): massive acoustic shock waves and rocket exhaust can bounce off the launch platform and hit the LVM3, to prevent this ISRO will be using flood of water, very similar concept is used in the launches of Ariane 5 and Space shuttle.






Similar tests for space shuttle launch platform

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*RLVTD-S9 Booster Stage Separation System*

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Missions Planned by ISRO *

The missions planned by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the next one year include - 3 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles, 1 Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, 2 Communication Satellites, 1 Earth Observation (Ocean) Satellite, 1 Meteorological Satellite, 1 Navigation Satellite and Mars orbiter.

ISRO is planning to accomplish Eight missions by September 2013 which include &#8211; 

(i) 2 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (C20, C22);
(ii) 1 Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (D5); 
(iii) 2 Communication Satellites (GSAT-7, GSAT-14); 
(iv) 1 Earth Observation (Ocean) Satellite (SARAL); 
(v) 1 Meteorological Satellite (INSAT-3D); 
(vi) 1 Navigation Satellite (IRNSS-1A). Two (2) missions, which include PSLV-C25 and Mars Orbiter, are planned for October 2013. 

The above information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and in the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office, Shri V. Narayanasamy to the Parliament. 

Press Information Bureau English Releases

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## BlueDot_in_Space

NO RLV-TD, gsLVM3


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## IND151

The I_ndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) _is *planning *to* accomplish 10 space missions *in the *next one year,* parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office V Narayanasamy told the Lok Sabha that eight of these are planned by September 2013 and the remaining two by 2013-end.

The missions are *three polar satellite launch vehicles, one geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, *two communication satellites, one earth observation (ocean) satellite, one meteorological satellite, one navigation satellite and Mars orbiter.

ISRO planning 10 space missions in 2013 | idrw.org


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## Mujraparty

*No plans of sending an Indian on moon*



India has no plans to put an astronaut on the moon, as of now. Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday said this.

The minister also said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had no plans in the immediate future to launch space labs and manned spaceships or set up space stations.

"However, ISRO has undertaken the development critical technologies required for manned missions in the Earth's orbit," he said in a written statement.

ISRO has also initiated studied on Near Earth Objects and deflection strategies for Near Earth Astroids, he added.


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## Kinetic

ajtr said:


> Hamaew pass bhi hai fireworks ki capability....hope ke recent ghuari test did light up indian radars on western frontier............



This is 100 tims more powerful than even what you can imagine. So don't say you have fireworks capability of this kind. Than Afghanistan will compare themselves with RPGs they have.


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## ajtr

Kinetic said:


> This is 100 tims more powerful than even what you can imagine. So don't say you have fireworks capability of this kind. Than Afghanistan will compare themselves with RPGs they have.


so that mean the fireworks pakistan saw in 2010 around diwali and around christmas now can be seen beyond pakistan borders in west too....


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## Azazel

*ISRO planning 10 space missions in 2013*

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to accomplish 10 space missions in the next one year, parliament was informed Wednesday.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy told the Lok Sabha that eight of these are planned by September 2013 and the remaining two by 2013-end.

The missions are three polar satellite launch vehicles, one geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, two communication satellites, one earth observation (ocean) satellite, one meteorological satellite, one navigation satellite and Mars orbiter.

ISRO planning 10 space missions in 2013 - Sci/Tech - DNA

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



What is this man and can you please give the source.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> What is this man and can you please give the source.



these are main and drogue chutes of the crew module deceleration system under testing from AN-32.

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> these are main and drogue chutes of the crew module deceleration system under testing from AN-32.



ohh and what is this going to be used for SRE2 or the manned space capsule.


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## IndoUS

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> these are main and drogue chutes of the crew module deceleration system under testing from AN-32.



I was thinking that the ISRO was working on a space shuttle type of design that would re-enter the atmosphere and land like an aircraft, or is this wrong??

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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> ohh and what is this going to be used for SRE2 or the manned space capsule.



Manned space capsule or crew module.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

IndoUS said:


> I was thinking that the ISRO was working on a space shuttle type of design that would re-enter the atmosphere and land like an aircraft, or is this wrong??



As of now, the capability to handle reentry of a winged vehicle at hypersonic speeds and later a controlled maneuver to the landing site is not possessed by ISRO. SRE-1 was a controlled reentry followed by a ballistic fall very similar to the contemporary crew modules like soyuz and orion. So, ISRO crew module will be of contemporary design as shown in the image below. In the RLV-TD experiment, ISRO means to achieve reentry expertise for a winged body, but its proposed application is only for a reusable cargo vehicle. May be in the future ISRO may consider a winged body for a manned mission.

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## conworldus

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> As of now, the capability to handle reentry of a winged vehicle at hypersonic speeds and later a controlled maneuver to the landing site is not possessed by ISRO. SRE-1 was a controlled reentry followed by a ballistic fall very similar to the contemporary crew modules like soyuz and orion. So, ISRO crew module will be of contemporary design as shown in the image below. In the RLV-TD experiment, ISRO means to achieve reentry expertise for a winged body, but its proposed application is only for a reusable cargo vehicle. May be in the future ISRO may consider a* winged body for a manned mission. *



My friend. A space shuttle built in the early 90s cost nearly 2 billion dollars (so now it would probably cost about 5 billion). Each launch costs nearly half a billion dollars. It is not that other countries don't have the technology. It is just a matter of proper metallurgy. However, the cost is forcing every country to adopt the Soyuz style design which is much more economical.

China's Shenzhou 6 program cost just about 110 million.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

conworldus said:


> My friend. A space shuttle built in the early 90s cost nearly 2 billion dollars (so now it would probably cost about 5 billion). Each launch costs nearly half a billion dollars. It is not that other countries don't have the technology. It is just a matter of proper metallurgy. However, the cost is forcing every country to adopt the Soyuz style design which is much more economical.
> 
> China's Shenzhou 6 program cost just about 110 million.



US, Europe and Japan, all are considering or working on developing technologies for building a reusable manned winged body vehicle.

just for example:


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## Shatterpoint

Is India and France doing any R&D, France had some pretty good research institutes as well, Indian and French partnership and friendship is very strong and there are so many ways we can make it stronger and much deeper.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Shatterpoint said:


> Is India and France doing any R&D, France had some pretty good research institutes as well, Indian and French partnership and friendship is very strong and there are so many ways we can make it stronger and much deeper.



Actually alot of collaboration is going on between Indian and France in space technology particularly in satellites. Both the countries also launch each others satellites on Ariane and PSLV.

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## Type 055

France gives the technology to India.


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## The A-5

Type 055 said:


> France gives the technology to India.



And in the end India has the technology and the know-how at hand.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

ISRO Space suit's engineering models successfully complete various tests. Next step is development of qualification models with refinements of critical functional elements based on the ground testing results of engineering models.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*ISRO Electric propulsion:stationary plasma thruster *

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *ISRO Electric propulsion *



Yoo you little ****** can you tell me where you get all these pics . And will you add me on Fcb, you seem to be one hell of an informer.



BlueDot_in_Space said:


> ISRO Space suit's engineering models successfully complete various tests. Next step is development of qualification models with refinements of critical functional elements based on the ground testing results of engineering models.




Source and I need a pic of the suit.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> Yoo you little ****** can you tell me where you get all these pics . And will you add me on Fcb, you seem to be one hell of an informer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Source and I need a pic of the suit.



 ...............................the suit is still under development, i have the pic of engineering model, but not the right time to reveal it.

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> ...............................the suit is still under development, i have the pic of engineering model, but not the right time to reveal it.



Please please plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


I beg pleaszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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## karan21

@BlueDot_in_Space Bro if you have the pic of the suit please post it here or email me at karan21126@yahoo.ca. I really wanna see it so I know that Indian manned space program is still alive and kicking.


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## Water Car Engineer

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> ...............................the suit is still under development, i have the pic of engineering model, but not the right time to reveal it.



*@BLUE*

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## karan21

@BlueDot_in_Space I see you on this thread but you are not posting the picture. Don't troll us.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guys I am really sorry, I cannot post it. My source gave me permission to only talk about the progress. No posting of any pics that are not already officially revealed. i don't intend to loose my source.

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## IndoUS

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Guys I am really sorry, I cannot post it. My source gave me permission to only talk about the progress. No posting of any pics that are not already officially revealed. i don't intend to loose my source.



Ok mate, but atleast tell me if the new suit looks similar to the current US astronaut suits or the older versions suits that they used to use?


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## satishkumarcsc

Well I have seen that plasma thruster...are you sure it is Indian.....because the one i saw was a bit different.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

IndoUS said:


> Ok mate, but atleast tell me if the new suit looks similar to the current US astronaut suits or the older versions suits that they used to use?



Its has similarities with the current ones.



satishkumarcsc said:


> Well I have seen that plasma thruster...are you sure it is Indian.....because the one i saw was a bit different.



Its very much indian.

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## karan21

@BlueDot_in_Space When are you planning to post the pic of the space suit?? Bro very desperate to see it. Kindly understand.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

karan21 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space When are you planning to post the pic of the space suit?? Bro very desperate to see it. Kindly understand.



I understand, but the person who gave me the pics also gave me strong instructions not sharing them.



karan21 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space When are you planning to post the pic of the space suit?? Bro very desperate to see it. Kindly understand.



I understand, but the person who gave me the pics also gave me strong instructions not sharing them.

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## Dandpatta

Don't share. Let's have an orgasm when we actually see it on a manned mission in the future 

(this is NOT a troll)


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Ergonomic model of ISRO crew module.*







*Scaled model under going testing in plasma wind tunnel to characterize the thermal protection system to be used in the manned mission.*

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Ergonomic model of ISRO crew module.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Scaled model under going testing in plasma wind tunnel to characterize the thermal protection system to be used in the manned mission.*



Bro how recent are these pics. And how far are we actually in developing crew module capsule. And when r u showing us the space suit. 
Thanks

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Artist concept of Manned LVM3*

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## SOHEIL



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## SOHEIL



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## Azazel

*ISRO lines up SARAL for February, restored GSLV for April*





An artistic impression of SARAL satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has slated its first launch of the year &#8212; ocean study spacecraft SARAL &#8212; for February 14.

It will herald the 8 to 10 missions, including satellites and launch vehicles, which ISRO has planned this year,

Flights of the GSLV rocket would be resumed and the first of the navigational spacecraft would be sent up, an ISRO official told The Hindu.

Along with the 450-kg Indo-French SARAL, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will put into orbit six small experimental satellites built by western universities for a fee.

SARAL would be one of the very few such ocean-centric satellites and a vital cog in studying sea surface heights and other aspects, the official said.

It would be similar to ISRO&#8217;s Oceansat-2, but with an altimeter (named &#8216;Argos&#8217; here) to measure heights.

In October 2012, NASA relied on Oceansat-2 to get finer details of Hurricane &#8216;Sandy&#8217; that wreaked havoc on the eastern U.S.

SARAL is short for Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa, the two main devices on it which have been provided by French space agency CNES. Besides building the spacecraft, ISRO will launch and operate it through its life.

SARAL will come up two months later than the earlier planned fancy date of 12-12-12.

The December launch was put off to complete a few tests and validations, the official said.

Around April this year, ISRO expects to resume flying the GSLV rocket. The GSLV-D5 will lift the communications satellite GSAT-14 into orbit.

ISRO had put the GSLV programme on hold after it suffered two successive failures in April and December 2010. The lapses were analysed and corrections made, the official said.

NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE

May will see the first of the national navigational satellites or navsats &#8212; the IRNSS-1 &#8212; which will fly on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. IRNSS or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System with its seven satellites is tipped to be India&#8217;s own regional Global Positioning System.

&#8220;We hope to complete the navigation constellation during 2015-16,&#8221; by following this up with two more navsats in 2014 and the remaining a year later, the official said.

&#8220;For all these launches from the Sriharikota launch centre, we normally need an interval of 45 days between two launches since we have two launch pads,&#8221; he said.

GSAT-7, a dedicated satellite for the Navy, is also set to be launched around May on a European Ariane rocket. Two other larger satellites, INSAT-3D and GSAT-10, will also use &#8216;procured&#8217; or foreign launches on separate Ariane vehicles in the second half of this year.

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Science : ISRO lines up SARAL for February, restored GSLV for April


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## kurup

Soheil said:


>



Is this the booster of GSLV MK III ???


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## The A-5

kurup said:


> Is this the booster of GSLV MK III ???



Yes, its called the S200.

Its the largest solid-fuel rocket booster in Asia and the 3rd-largest in the world.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Majestic PSLV with a Crown of condensation cloud*

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## kurup

Ex-Isro chief to join satellite hall of fame






In a boost to the country&#8217;s credentials in space research, an Indian is being honoured by an American space society for the first time. The Society of Satellite Professionals International(SSPI) is inducting Prof U R Rao, former Isro chairman and secretary, department of space, as a member of the prestigious &#8216;Satellite Hall of Fame&#8217; in Washington on March 19. 

Rao was chairman of Isro between 1984 and 1994 and was responsible for the establishment of satellite technology in India since 1972. Beginning with the launch of the first Indian satellite, Aryabhatta, in 1975, he was a key figure in the design and development of over 18 satellites. He also played a key role in choosing the five scientific instruments for India&#8217;s Mars Orbiter Mission, slated for lift-off in October-November 2013.

Speaking to TOI from Bangalore, Rao said he was very happy on hearing the news. &#8220;I will be attending the function in Washington,&#8221; he said.

Since 1987, the SSPI Hall of Fame has been recognizing the contribution of visionaries who have transformed life on planet earth for the better through satellite technology. As a member of the Hall of Fame, Rao joins over 40 illustrious space scientists such as Sir Arthur C Clarke, Dr James Van Allen, Dr William Pritchard, Dr Harold Rosen, Dr Fredric d&#8217;Allest, Dr Takayashi Yoshida, Dr Peter Jackson and Dr Olof Lundbserg.

Ex-Isro chief to join satellite hall of fame | idrw.org

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## IND151

*India&#8217;s second lunar mission will be undertaken with Russian participation though it has got delayed, a top official of an ISRO lab said today amidst reports that &#8216;Chandrayaan 2&#8242; will be a solo mission.*

Chandrayaan 2, an Indo-Russian joint project, is going ahead but it has got delayed, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Director J N Goswami said here.

Ahmedabad-based PRL is part of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

*&#8220;The Indo-Russian mission is going ahead. The project has got delayed. Currently, we are whole-heartedly working for the Mars project scheduled for November. The moon mission, for the time being, has got delayed,&#8221; *Goswami told PTI.

Roskomos, Russia&#8217;s space agency, and ISRO had signed an agreement on November 12, 2007. Under the pact, Roskomos had assumed the vital responsibility of providing both the orbiter and the rover, while its Indian counterpart was to design and build the lander for the ambitious mission.
*
&#8220;The failure of Roskosmos Phobos-Grunt mission (in December 2011) has, for the time-being, delayed the moon mission,&#8221; *he said, adding the construction of lander for the combined mission has been delayed.

Chandrayaan 2 will have five primary payloads on the orbiter, two of which will be improvements on instruments that were onboard Chandrayaan 1, launched in October, 2008.

Also, the rover will carry two additional instruments. Chandrayaan 2, originally scheduled in 2015, will be launched by a GSLV-powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine.

Reports had appeared in a section of media quoting a scientist of PRL S V S Murty as saying India will go it alone in the Chandrayaan 2 mission. Despite repeated efforts, he was not available for comments on the issue.

PRL is involved in designing indigenous payloads for Chandrayaan 2.

Chandrayaan 2 will be Indo-Russia mission: ISRO lab director | idrw.org


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## kurup




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## kurup

India&#8217;s next venture is Mars orbiter: ISRO chairman








Describing prospects of India&#8217;s space programme as exciting and challenging, ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan today said the country&#8217;s next venture would be the Mars orbiter mission while the first navigation satellite is slated to be launched by June this year.

Mars has played a major role in evolution of life on earth and the next mission is the Mars orbiter mission, Radhakrishnan said during an interaction with students of KIIT University here.

India&#8217;s next venture is Mars orbiter: ISRO chairman | idrw.org


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Planned Earth observation sat missions*

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*LVM3 acoustics suppression system*







*LVM3 on mobile launch pad*

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## KRAIT

We need more money pumped into this organization. They are among the most professional Governmental Organizations. They have saved billions and thousands of lives.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

KRAIT said:


> We need more money pumped into this organization. They are among the most professional Governmental Organizations. They have saved billions and thousands of lives.



ISRO urgently requires more human resources if we really are serious about space exploration. ISRO projects currently share human resources that is causing delays in many projects like RLV-TD.

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## KRAIT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> ISRO urgently requires more human resources if we really are serious about space exploration. ISRO projects currently share human resources that is causing delays in many projects like RLV-TD.


For that we have to lure more people by offering competitive salaries as private companies give.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

KRAIT said:


> For that we have to lure more people by offering competitive salaries as private companies give.



Ya but the problem is that our policy makers are not serious about increasing the salaries. 



KRAIT said:


> For that we have to lure more people by offering competitive salaries as private companies give.



Ya but the problem is that our policy makers are not serious about increasing the salaries. 



KRAIT said:


> For that we have to lure more people by offering competitive salaries as private companies give.



Ya but the problem is that our policy makers are not serious about increasing the salaries.

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> ISRO urgently requires more human resources if we really are serious about space exploration. ISRO projects currently share human resources that is causing delays in many projects like RLV-TD.




Dont worry bro just 6 more years. I will be there.

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## kurup

*PSLV C-11, the XL version of the rocket that sent Chandrayaan to the moon*

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## Abingdonboy



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## IND151

Launching a change?


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## sudhir007

Indo-French satellite set for launch | idrw.org

Indo-French space cooperation is all set to soar to new heights with the scheduled launch of a satellite to study changes in the environment soon after the visit of French President Francois Hollande here next week.

The SARAL-Altika satellite, a joint project of the space agencies of India and France, will complement the observations of the seas made by current satellites.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has identified a launch window between February 22 and February 25 for putting the 450 kg Indo-French satellite into orbit from its spaceport at Sriharikota, official sources said here.

India&#8217;s warhorse rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will put the satellite into orbit.

SARAL is short for Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa, the two main devices on it which have been provided by French space agency CNES. Besides building the spacecraft, ISRO will launch and operate it through its life.

SARAL would be one of the very few ocean-centric satellites and a vital cog in studying sea surface heights and other aspects.

Earlier, the launch was scheduled for December last year but it had to be put off to complete a few tests and validations.

AltiKa is an Ka-band altimeter system, dedicated to accurate measurement of the rise in the sea levels.

The satellite would be useful in studying the sea state, light rainfall climatalogy, mean sea level and coastal altimetry.

The satellite would help ocean scientists gather accurate data on the rise in the sea level which could threaten the low lying and coastal areas of the country.


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## trident2010

When are we going to launch GSLV?


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## S-DUCT



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## IND151



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## IND151



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## trident2010

GSLV Mk IV looks beastly !!


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## Shatterpoint

Hey guys is France and india working together on space research? I mean we are very close friends now and I know India helps Israel in the space department so why not our two countries.?

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## KRAIT

Shatterpoint said:


> Hey guys is France and india working together on space research? I mean we are very close friends now and I know India helps Israel in the space department so why not our two countries.?


Yup. India going to launch a French satellite in coming days. French also launched our satellites.


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## Sergi

KRAIT said:


> Yup. India going to launch a French satellite in coming days. French also launched our satellites.



Just business and economics buddy. I won't call it working together 



Shatterpoint said:


> Hey guys is France and india working together on space research? I mean we are very close friends now and I know India helps Israel in the space department so why not our two countries.?



I think it's other way around. Israel helped India with the spy sat. 

I think India will welcome all the co operation and JVs in space research. But it's not gona happen till Indian GSLV prove its metal. Few more months

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## subincb

Shatterpoint said:


> Hey guys is France and india working together on space research? I mean we are very close friends now and I know India helps Israel in the space department so why not our two countries.?



France and India are the closest Allies in terms of space. Even the PSLV vikas engine is a derivative of Viking engine. When ISRO was hit by sanctions They had to look for new suppliers and the french was providing materials including computers for ISRO and VSSC.
Israel and India has not much to do together with rockets.


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## Shatterpoint

That's good news imagine the possibilities of France India Israel and the USA combine our muscle into space research.

Also France has some great R&D I think the time is right for both nations to form a alliance? What do you guys think? Is it feasible and would Indians like that idea or not?


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## IND151

*The Indian space agency on February 25 will put into orbit, seven foreign satellites including an Indo-French collaborative satellite SARAL and thus earn the much wanted and required revenue.*

The* launch *of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C20 (PSLV-C20) *is currently fixed for the evening of February 25,* sources in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS.

The rocket will blast off from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre (around 80km from Chennai) carrying *seven satellites, totally weighing around 700kg* a source in ISRO said.

According to* ISRO*, the* rocket *is* expected* to *escape* the* earths gravitational force* at* around 6pm* and * inject the satellites* in *sun synchronous orbit (SSO) *at around 785km.

Officials told IANS that assembly of satellites began Thursday afternoon and is expected to be completed by Friday night.

After mating the satellites with the rocket, a full system check  rocket and satellites  will be carried out before fixing the heat shield, the protective gear that safeguards the satellites against damages when the rocket crosses the atmosphere.

The launch window will be open February 22-25. During the 59 hour countdown, the systems will be checked and the rocket will be fueled.

Speaking about SARAL (Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA), Indian officials said the French gave the two payloads  ARGOS and ALTIKA) while ISRO provided satellite bus (satellite frame) and built the satellite.

*The data generated by SARAL will be shared by France and India whereas the other five satellites would be launched on commercial basis,* an ISRO official told IANS.

The SARAL will carry an Altimeter (ALTIKA) for studying the sea surface heights and ARGOS payload, which is a satellite based data collection platform.

Interestingly, PSLV-C20 will sling into orbit two Canadian satellite NEOSSat (Near Earth Object Space Surveillance Satellite), the worlds first space telescope designed by Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Sapphire satellite built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA).

According to CSA, the satellite NEOSSat will detect and track asteroids and satellites circling the globe every 100 minutes and scanning space near the Sun to pin point otherwise almost invisible asteroids.

The satellite will also be useful in tracking resident space objects including space debris.

On the other hand Sapphire will look for resident space objects that includes functioning satellites and space debris circling between 6,000km and 40,000km above the earth.

The other four satellites to be carried by PSLV-C20 are BRITE and UniBRITE (both Austria), STRAND (Britain) and AAUSAT (Denmark).

ISRO to launch seven satellites on Feb 25 | idrw.org


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## BlueDot_in_Space

UniBRITE , BRIte-Austria and AAUSAT3 ready for launch.

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## S-DUCT

ISRO Plans Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD) Test Flight in 2013






ISRO will test its Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) this year, VSSC director (research and development) John P Zachariah told the TOI recently.

ISRO is developing fully Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology for two stage to orbit (TSTO) capability.

The first stage will be powered by a semi cryogenic winged booster capable of flying back and landing on a runway near the launch site like a conventional aircraft after burnout.

The second stage will be cryogenic. It will deliver its payload into orbit, de-orbit and re-enter the atmosphere, and parachute down to a soft landing on balloons.

The RLV TSTO has been conceived by ISRO as a space launch system that will significantly cut down launch cost from the present level of around $12,000 / kg.

As a first step towards developing TSTO capability based on RLVs, ISRO will flight test a Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) that will serve as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion.

ISRO displayed a scale model of the RLV-TD at Aero India 2009.





The RLV-TD will possess wings and tail fins, and will be launched atop a 9 ton solid booster called S-9, similar to the ones on the PSLV.

RLV-TD is reported to be 9m long, with its wing span also measuring 9m.

ISRO Plans Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) Test Flight in 2013

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## sudhir007

*SARAL*

















*PS4 integration*




*PS2 integration*

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## suren

trident2010 said:


> GSLV Mk IV looks beastly !!



Mark IV?
What? Where? We are still working on Mark III i think


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## subincb

suren said:


> Mark IV?
> What? Where? We are still working on Mark III i think



Mark 4 is with 4 strapons instead of 2. just like PSLV, PSLV XL and PSLV HP


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## suren

SARAL literally means Chill wind in Tamil, would have been good if the satellite is for weather monitoring


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## suren

Can you explain how reusable launch vehicle works?
Like to some altitude RLV and from their using boosters?


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## S-DUCT

suren said:


> Can you explain how reusable launch vehicle works?
> Like to some altitude RLV and from their using boosters?







DETAILS OF RLV-TD:

Introduction

ISRO is developing fully Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology for two stage to orbit (TSTO) capability.

The first stage will be powered by a semi cryogenic winged booster capable of flying back and landing on a runway near the launch site like a conventional aircraft after burnout.

The second stage will be cryogenic. It will deliver the satellite into orbit, de-orbit and re-enter the atmosphere and parachute down to a soft landing on balloons.

The RLV has been conceived by ISRO as a space launch system that will significantly cut down launch cost from the present level of around $12,000 / kg.

RLV-TD

As a first step towards developing TSTO capability based on RLVs, ISRO will flight test a Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) that will serve as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion. 

ISRO displayed a scale model of the RLV-TD at Aero India 2009.

The RLV-TD will possess wings and tail fins, and will be launched atop a 9 ton solid booster called S-9, similar to the ones on the PSLV. 

RLV-TD is reported to be 9m long, with its wing span also measuring 9m.
Design Approval

On January 5, 2012, DNA reported that the National Review Committee had approved the design of the RLV-TD.

An Isro official said design-related issues have been addressed and presented to the National Review Committee and clearance obtained to go ahead to build the RLV-TD.

Wind Tunnel Tests

ISRO has a hypersonic wind tunnel facility at VSSC, Trivandrum installed by Hind High Vacuum (HHV) Bangalore. The system comprises three Horton Spheres, each 16.3m dia. and 2200 cu m capacity. The system has two parallel pumping trains, each with two mechanical booster pumps with pumping speed of 30,000 cu m / hr backed successively by a 14,000 cu m / hr and 7,000 cu m / hr booster pump and finally by three rotary piston pumps, each with a pumping speed of 1325 cu m / hr.

As in January 2012, the facility was in the process of being commissioned.

Phased Development

Reusable Launch Vehicle technology will be developed in phases through a series of trial flights.

The first in the series of trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).
Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX)

Flight testing will start with RLV-TD (HEX). During the mission, a booster rocket will take the RLV to a specific altitude and release it. The booster rocket will fall back into the sea. The lofted RLV will re-enter the atmosphere independently and be guided for a controlled landing in the sea.

In the first trial-flight, the RLV will not be recovered from sea because it will not be cost-effective to do so. ISRO will instead use telemetry data data on the re-entry, deceleration and return. 

Landing Experiment (LEX)

In the second phase RLV will be tested without its scramjet engine. After burnout, the booster will separate and fall away, and the RLV-TD will go on to make an unpowered ascent.

The RLV-TD will then re-enter the atmosphere at hypersonic speed and use aerodynamic breaking to decelerate. It will be brought to a gliding, unpowered cruise speed of about 0.8 mach, and slowed down further to make a horizontal landing.
Return Flight Experiment (REX)

In this phase, the RLV-TD will be launched to orbit and then de-orbited for a landing on a runway.

Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX)

Eventually, the RLV will be powered by an air breathing scram jet which is being developed under a separate project called Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV).

Target Completion Date

When initially announced, it was hoped that RLV technology will mature by 2015, by which time the solid rocket booster capable of being recovered and reused would have been developed, as also the scramjet engine to power the RLV.

In June 2011, ISRO Chairman Dr. Radhakrishnan indicated that the program is behind schedule.

First flight of RLV, initially planned for 2010-2011 will now take place in 2012-2013.

&#8220;We have to understand a gamut of technologies and also prove many new systems. We have to study the aerodynamics of a winged body, the auto pilot, the aero-thermo dynamics, thermal protection system, the de-boost operations for re-entry, navigation and guidance to land precisely on the ground. Of course, some of the lessons learnt from the space shuttle will be incorporated in this vehicle,&#8221; Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) - Indian Space Projects

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## suren

Thanks, so the first flight will be tested this year?


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## IND151

*The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has plans to launch GSLV with its indigenous cryogenic engine in May this year.*

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle on the sidelines of the national propulsion conference at IIT Madras on Thursday*, S. Ramakrishnan*, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), said Isro had done extensive review of what went wrong in the cryogenic stage in the Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV). *&#8220;We also did a detailed analysis of the booster pump which failed during the mission&#8221;,* he said.

Pointing out that Isro had already conducted one of the crucial tests at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri, Ramakrishnan said they would soon do the high altitude test in vacuum to check the engine&#8217;s stability in upper space.

*&#8220;Once this test is over we will integrate the cryogenic stage in GSLV rocket for launch in May this year, which will carry one of GSATs, India&#8217;s advanced communication satellite. Now we have addressed all issues, including the failed booster pump, and we are certain that we will have a successful mission in May&#8221;,* he added.

Listing out launches to be made by Isro this year, the VSSC director said PSLV would soon place SPOT 7 satellite in orbit after which there would be couple of launches with foreign satellites.
*Ramakrishnan *noted that *India would demonstrate its technology in re-entry launch vehicles segment.* &#8220;Every country is doing re-entry launch vehicles as a demonstration vehicles. We have been working re-entry launch vehicles technology. Currently we have a small vehicle. We will attempt for a bigger one in one year&#8221;, he said.

Saraswat: India&#8217;s tech gap with other countries widening

Scientific advisor to the defence minister and DRDO&#8217;s director general V.K. Saraswat on Thursday lamented that India had to depend mostly on foreign nations for technology and the ap between India and other developed nations had widened in the recent past.

Delivering the inaugural address at the national propulsion conference at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Dr Saraswat said even though India had made greater advancements in technology based on solid and liquid rocket propulsion it needs to develop a lot in tactical missile propulsion system.

&#8220;The present state of engine technology in our country is not up to the mark and the aerospace industry in our country is at crossroads. We have achieved partial success with Kaveri engine flight tested in flying test bed abroad&#8221;, he said.

Raising concern over the dependence on foreign technology in aircraft, both defence and civilian, Dr Saraswat said the import cost of technology would cripple national economy and endanger national security, if the country&#8217;s scientists didn&#8217;t&#8217; develop indigenous technology.

&#8220;We don&#8217;t have state-of-the-art indigenous system worth mentioning. Even simple fuel injection systems are not made on par with international standards&#8221;, he added.
Dr Saraswat pointed out that Indian war tanks had no engine manufactured in India and the defence forces had to rely on foreign technology for it.

Desi engine to power GSLV In May | idrw.org

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## suren

Someone give me thread link for SARAL launch discussions


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## kurup

suren said:


> Someone give me thread link for SARAL launch discussions



http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...es-up-saral-february-restored-gslv-april.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian-defence/235298-isro-launch-seven-satellites-feb-25-a.html

http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...h-indo-french-satellite-saral-12-12-12-a.html

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## kurup

59-hour countdown for ISRO's PSLV-C20 begins







PSLV-C20 on first launch pad with Umbilical Tower to its left. An ISRO photo.


CHENNAI (PTI): The 59-hour countdown for the February 25 launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to put into orbit seven satellites, including Indo-French spacecraft SARAL, commenced at 6.56 am on Saturdayat the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the spaceport of Sriharikota.

The Launch Authorisation Board earlier cleared the launch schedule for February 25 at 5.56 pm from the first launch pad in Sriharikota, about 90 kms from here, Indian Space Research Organisation sources said.

PSLV-C20, the 23rd PSLV Mission of ISRO, would put the 400 kg Indo-French satellite and six others into orbit.

SARAL refers to Satellite with ARgos and ALtika. The French space agency CNES has developed ARgos and ALtikameter for analysing the ocean.

The rehearsal launch of PSLV - C20 with the primary satellite SARAL and six other foreign satellites has been completed satisfactorily, the sources said.

The other six auxiliary payloads are -- two each from Canada, Austria and one each from Denmark and the United Kingdom.

President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to witness the launch along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

59-hour countdown for ISRO's PSLV-C20 begins - Brahmand.com


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## S-DUCT



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## S-DUCT

Live Telecast from Doordarshan and Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - Home Page of Launch will be available on Feb 25, 2013 from 17:30 hours (IST) onwards




*A view of PSLV-C20 second stage liquid engine*


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## ChennaiSKing

PSLV-C20 launches 7 satellites - Hindustan Times



> Indo-French oceanographic study satellite 'SARAL' and six foreign mini and micro spacecrafts were succesfully launched on Monday by ISRO's PSLV-C20 rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
> 
> Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) workhorse Polar Satellite Launch
> 
> 
> Vehicle(PSLV) lifted off from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre at around 6 pm at the end of the 59-hour countdown and placed in the orbit the satellites about 22 minutes later.
> President Pranab Mukherjee witnessed the launch from the mission control centre in Sriharikota, about 110 km from Chennai.
> 
> The lift-off was rescheduled to 6.01 pm, a five-minute delay, to avoid probability of collision with space debris, a normal precautionary step in a launch mission, ISRO sources said.
> 
> The 410-kg SARAL with payloads - Argos and Altika - from French space agency CNES is meant for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions.
> 
> Besides SARAL, two micro-satellites UniBRITE and BRITE from Austria, AAUSAT3 from Denmark and STRaND from United Kingdom as also one micro-satellite (NEOSSat) and one mini-satellite (SAPPHIRE) from Canada were launched by PSLV, which yet again proved its versatality recording its 22nd succesful flight in a row in its 23 missions of which the first one had failed.
> 
> SARAL was injected first into the space about 18 minutes after the lift-off followed by other satellites in the space of about four minutes.



* Well-done ISRO you always make the country proud*


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## SOHEIL

*Indian Reusable Launch Vehicle Program*

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## S-DUCT

*The acceptance test of the indigenous cryogenic engine for the forthcoming GSLV-D5 *

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## Water Car Engineer

*Payloads Of The Indo-French Satellite Megha-Tropiques Satellite Being Tested Before The PSLV-C18 Launch Mission*


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## r1MM0n

ISRO plans to push more satellites this year - The Hindu

Mars Orbiter Mission launch slated for October

The coming year&#8217;s Rs.5,615-crore outlay for the Department of Space has no new or big-ticket projects even as it levels the allocation exactly with what was earmarked originally for 2012-13.

The prestigious Mars Orbiter Mission &#8212; floated some two years back and slated for October this year &#8212; looks the fanciest, while the launch vehicles continue to get their proud slice of the pie.

This year, apart from the Mars project estimated at Rs.450 crore, the space agency wants to push its first navigational satellite (NSS), the dedicated GSAT-7 spacecraft (costing Rs. 462 crore with launcher) for the Navy; and the four-tonne advanced communications satellite ACTS or GSAT-11, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation official told The Hindu.

The ACTS will be the heaviest satellite to be built to date by ISRO.

The advanced Geo-Imaging Satellite GISAT to be put in the medium Earth orbit is on the to-do list.

The completion of the GSLV rocket with its indigenous cryogenic engine and GSLV Mark-III &#8212; its big brother version for lifting 4-tonne satellites &#8212; remain priorities, the official said. Mk-III is slated for the first trial in the second half of this year without the cryo-stage.

These two, along with the semi-cryogenic programme, get about Rs. 420 crore.

NON-PLAN PROVISION

Last year&#8217;s outlay is now revised to Rs.5,615 crore from Rs.3,880 crore.

This year, DoS gets a non-Plan provision of Rs.1,177 crore.

An upgraded PSLV rocket will lift the 1,300-kg Mars spacecraft to the longest space haul that India has ever travelled &#8212; after the 4-lakh-km Chandrayaan-1 mission of 2008.

An outlay of Rs.167.5 crore has been set apart for the Mars mission in the budget.

In the absence of the GSLV to lift communications satellites above 2,000 kg, three procured or foreign launches have been factored in for the ACTS, GSAT 15 and 16.

Chandrayaan-2 and the human flight plan, which get relatively small outlays, have been put on the backburner for now, the official said.

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## kurup




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## kurup



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## IND151

*The coming year&#8217;s Rs.5,615-crore outlay for the Department of Space has no new or big-ticket projects even as it levels the allocation exactly with what was earmarked originally for 2012-13.*

The prestigious Mars Orbiter Mission &#8212; floated some two years back and slated for October this year &#8212; looks the fanciest, while the launch vehicles continue to get their proud slice of the pie.

This year, apart from the Mars project estimated at Rs.450 crore, the* space agency *wants to push its *first navigational satellite (NSS), *the dedicated *GSAT-7 spacecraft *(costing Rs. 462 crore with launcher) for the *Navy*; and the* four-tonne *advanced communications satellite* ACTS or GSAT-11*, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation official told The Hindu.

*The ACTS will be the heaviest satellite to be built to date by ISRO.*

The advanced Geo-Imaging Satellite GISAT to be put in the medium Earth orbit is on the to-do list.

The completion of the GSLV rocket with its indigenous cryogenic engine and GSLV Mark-III &#8212; its big brother version for lifting 4-tonne satellites &#8212; remain priorities, the official said. *Mk-III is slated for the first trial in the second half of this year without the cryo-stage.
*
*These two, along with the semi-cryogenic programme, get about Rs. 420 crore.
*
*NON-PLAN PROVISION*

Last year&#8217;s outlay is now revised to Rs.5,615 crore from Rs.3,880 crore.

This year, DoS gets a non-Plan provision of Rs.1,177 crore.

An *upgraded PSLV rocket *will lift the* 1,300-kg Mars spacecraft* to the longest space haul that India has ever travelled &#8212; after the* 4-lakh-km *Chandrayaan-1 mission of 2008.

An outlay of Rs.167.5 crore has been set apart for the Mars mission in the budget.

In the absence of the GSLV to lift communications satellites above 2,000 kg, three procured or foreign launches have been factored in for the ACTS, GSAT 15 and 16.

Chandrayaan-2 and the human flight plan, which get relatively small outlays, have been put on the backburner for now, the official said.

ISRO plans to push more satellites this year | idrw.org

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01382/TH_Slice_2013-14_b_1382885f.jpg





*The coming year&#8217;s Rs.5,615-crore outlay for the Department of Space has no new or big-ticket projects even as it levels the allocation exactly with what was earmarked originally for 2012-13.*

The prestigious Mars Orbiter Mission &#8212; floated some two years back and slated for October this year &#8212; looks the fanciest, while the launch vehicles continue to get their proud slice of the pie.

This year, apart from the Mars project estimated at Rs.450 crore, the* space agency *wants to push its *first navigational satellite (NSS), *the dedicated *GSAT-7 spacecraft *(costing Rs. 462 crore with launcher) for the *Navy*; and the* four-tonne *advanced communications satellite* ACTS or GSAT-11*, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation official told The Hindu.

*The ACTS will be the heaviest satellite to be built to date by ISRO.*

The advanced Geo-Imaging Satellite GISAT to be put in the medium Earth orbit is on the to-do list.

The completion of the GSLV rocket with its indigenous cryogenic engine and GSLV Mark-III &#8212; its big brother version for lifting 4-tonne satellites &#8212; remain priorities, the official said. *Mk-III is slated for the first trial in the second half of this year without the cryo-stage.
*
*These two, along with the semi-cryogenic programme, get about Rs. 420 crore.
*
*NON-PLAN PROVISION*

Last year&#8217;s outlay is now revised to Rs.5,615 crore from Rs.3,880 crore.

This year, DoS gets a non-Plan provision of Rs.1,177 crore.

An *upgraded PSLV rocket *will lift the* 1,300-kg Mars spacecraft* to the longest space haul that India has ever travelled &#8212; after the* 4-lakh-km *Chandrayaan-1 mission of 2008.

An outlay of Rs.167.5 crore has been set apart for the Mars mission in the budget.

In the absence of the GSLV to lift communications satellites above 2,000 kg, three procured or foreign launches have been factored in for the ACTS, GSAT 15 and 16.

Chandrayaan-2 and the human flight plan, which get relatively small outlays, have been put on the backburner for now, the official said.

http://idrw.org/?p=19256

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## S-DUCT

> *vikas 2 STAGE:strapons THRUST(kn):680 LV:GSLV*









> *vikas 4 STAGE:strapons THRUST(kn):725 LV:GSLV,PSLV*









> *vikas 4+ STAGE:2nd THRUST(KN):804 LV:GSLV MK2*









> *Vikas X STAGE:1st THRUST(KN):1592 LV:LVM3*









> *CE-7.5 STAGE:3rd THRUST(kn):73.6 LV: GSLV MK2*







CE-20 STAGE:2nd THRUST(kn):200.6 LV:LVM3







> *LVS STAGE:4th THRUST(KN):14.8 LV: PSLV*


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## Ankit_Pujari

cross-posting @arp2041's post


arp2041 said:


> *An interactive, animated model, highlighting important sub-systems of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [PSLV] & their operations:*
> 
> Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [PSLV] - How It Functions - AA Me, IN
> 
> @Dillinger please have a look buddy.

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## ANPP

The Indian Space Research Organisation is to build a remote sensing satellite, *Cartosat-3*, capable of taking images of the earth with a *resolution of 0.25 metres.*

Currently, *GeoEye-1 produces the highest resolution* earth images taken by a commercial satellite. The American spacecraft, launched in September 2008, is capable of taking *panchromatic images with 0.41 metre resolution.* WorldView-2, another satellite operated by the same company, DigitalGlobe, offers a best resolution of 0.46 metres. However, in accordance with U.S. regulations, commercially released images from these satellites are degraded to 0.5 metre resolution.

*DigitalGlobe plans to launch WorldView-3 next year, which will supply images with a resolution of 0.31 metres.* Cartosat-3&#8217;s camera would better that performance. In the words of one expert, this satellite's images could allow a scooter to be distinguished from a car.

In the &#8216;Notes on Demands for Grants, 2013-2014&#8217; from the Department of Space, which forms part of the budget documents presented to Parliament recently, Cartosat-3 figures as a *separate item with an allocation of Rs. 10 crores.* &#8220;Cartosat-3 is an advanced remote sensing satellite with enhanced resolution of 0.25 metre for cartographic applications and high-resolution mapping,&#8221; the document said.

*IN 1988, ISRO launched India&#8217;s first operational remote-sensing satellite, IRS-1A. The best resolution its cameras could provide was about 36 metres. Seven years later, IRS-1C went into space, with a panchromatic camera that had a resolution of 5.8 metres.* It supplied the highest resolution images available from any civilian satellite in the world till Ikonos, an American satellite launched in 1999, began taking images with better than one-metre resolution. India launched the Technology Experiment Satellite in 2001, followed some years later by the *Cartosat-2 series of satellites that could take images with 0.8 metre resolution.*

ISRO plans a new high-resolution earth satellite - The Hindu


Thats good news

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## S-DUCT

From ISRO facebook page.
Three big missions this year...

PSLV C22 with IRNSS 1 - the first navigation satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) scheduled to lift in May, 2013.

GSLV D5 with the India make cryogenic stage, lift off from the second launchpad in Sriharikota the same month.

And another PSLV will lift off with the Mars mission in October, 2013.

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## S-DUCT

Some info on india's manned space mission using GSLV MK2

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## kurup

From ISRO facebook page.

On March 17, 2013, India will attain the milestone of *25 years of successful operations of Earth Observation services* by the Indian Remote Sensing Satellites, ever since the launch of *IRS 1A on March 17, 1988*.

https://www.facebook.com/isro.org

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## IND151

^^ good news

hope GSLV Mk II launch,too, becomes successful


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## kurup

Model of ISRO&#8217;s launch vehicle handed over

Speaker G Karthikeyan on Wednesday handed over an &#8216;executive&#8217; model of the GSLV Mk III launch vehicle of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to GSLV Mk III project director S Somanathan of the Vikram Sarabhai Centre (VSSC) at a function here.

The model has been constructed by Intimate Machines Pvt Ltd, a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) unit which manufactures aerospace components.

According to a statement issued by Intimate Machines, the launch vehicle model was so precisely made that it can be used for conducting wind tunnel tests for determining aerodynamic characterisation. The company had won its first order for building aerospace components for PSLV and GSLV launch vehicles in 2006.

Model of ISRO


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## Astra-2013

ISRO said they launched risat-2 for disaster and crop management. but here they provided pics of karachi airport i think they are more interested in Pakistani crops


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## ANPP

Astra-2013 said:


> ISRO said they launched risat-2 for disaster and crop management. but here they provided pics of karachi airport i think they are more interested in Pakistani crops



Its depend who is paying for their services.....


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## Astra-2013

kurup said:


>



ISRO said they launched risat-2 for disaster and crop management and it will help indian gov to astimate argriculture output. But in this poster they given pics of karachi airport i think they are more interested in Pakistani crops.



ANPP said:


> Its depend who is paying for their services.....



risat-2 is for only indian gov use not for commercial use


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## kurup

Some pictures of GSAT-10 launched in September 2012

*The shipping container that protected GSAT-10 during its travels from India to French Guiana is removed inside the Spaceport's S5 payload preparation facility.*






*GSAT-10 &#8220;spreads its wings&#8221; in preparation for Arianespace&#8217;s next Ariane 5 launch on 21st Sept.*


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## suren

Can someone explain me?

What's the difference between GSLV markII and GSLV markIII? both will be using Indian made cryogenic engine so what are differences?
What is GSLV D5 as it mentioned on ISRO facebook page will lift of on May.
GSLV MarkII
GSLV MarkIII
GSLV D5
how these 3 differ?


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## S-DUCT

suren said:


> Can someone explain me?
> 
> What's the difference between GSLV markII and GSLV markIII? both will be using Indian made cryogenic engine so what are differences?



GSLV mk2 uses CE-7.5 engine that produces around 75kn of thrust while,GSLV mk3 uses CE-20 engine .It works on Gas generator cycle,and produces thrust of 200KN.







> CE-20









> CE-7.5


 





> What is GSLV D5 as it mentioned on ISRO facebook page will lift of on May.
> GSLV MarkII
> GSLV MarkIII
> GSLV D5
> how these 3 differ?



Its GSLV mk2.
GSLV is technological successor of GSLV mk2 however is not derived from its predecessors.GSLV mk3 is different from GSLV starting form booster stage to cryogenic stage.

*Booster * *1st stage* *2nd stage* *3rd stage *
GSLV mk2 4*vikas 2 S-139 Vikas 4 CE-7.5

GSLV mk3 2*S-200 L-110 CE-20 None

Payload of GSLV mk3 is 4-5 tonnes to GTO,compared to 2.2 GTO of GSLV mk2

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## arp2041

suren said:


> Can someone explain me?
> 
> What's the difference between GSLV markII and GSLV markIII? both will be using Indian made cryogenic engine so what are differences?
> What is GSLV D5 as it mentioned on ISRO facebook page will lift of on May.
> GSLV MarkII
> GSLV MarkIII
> GSLV D5
> how these 3 differ?



Actually, ISRO names each of it's rockets acc. to technological leap it has taken.

GSLV Mk-2 is the general name given to GSLV rocket whose payload capacity 5 tonne to LEO (2-3 tonne to GTO) & uses an Indian cryogenic engine, this is the difference from GSLV mk-1 where the payload capacity was same but the cry. engine was that of Russia.

GSLV Mk-3 on the other hand is completely different rocket than GSLV, just like the difference b/w PSLV & GSLV, but ISRO has kept the name as it is. While it uses an Indian cry engine, but it's payload capacity will be much more than mk-1 & mk-2 as it will be able to carry 5 tonne sats to GTO & 10 tonne sats to LEO. It has completely different design than GSLV with reduced height & increased weight.

GSLV D-5 is nothing but a specific flight name given to a Mk-2 rocket by ISRO that will launch GSAT 14 into the orbit.

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## suren

Exactly what i was looking for..Thanks


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## Water Car Engineer



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## xuxu1457

Water Car Engineer said:


>



Is this recoverable reconnaissance satellite? Just as Fanhui Shi Weixing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## kurup

xuxu1457 said:


> Is this recoverable reconnaissance satellite? Just as Fanhui Shi Weixing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Nope..........Prototype of a manned capsule.


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## quranak343

Indian space capability is very high.ISRO's first moon craft, Chandrayaan-1, is being built for launch next year. Chandrayaan-1 ("Moon Vehicle" in Hindi) costs the ISRO just 2% of its annual budget for a period of five years for this mission. The ISRO says the moon probe will map the lunar surface at resolutions down to 5 meters, for the first time in human history.


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## kurup

India to launch first navigational satellite in June








India plans to launch its first navigational satellite in June, a top official of the Department of Space (DoS) said today.

The first Satellite of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, *IRNSS-1 will be launched by PSLV-C22*, said DoS Secretary and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Radhakrishnan. According to ISRO officials,* IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system, designed to provide position accuracy of better than 10 metres over India and the region extending about 1500 km around the country.*

&#8220;It is designed to provide an accurate real time Position, Navigation and Time (PNT) services to users on a variety of platforms with 24×7 service availability under all weather conditions,&#8221; an ISRO official said.
*
IRNSS provides two basic services &#8212; standard positioning service for common civilian users and restricted service for special authorised users, the official said*.

&#8220;We are planning for June launch,&#8221; Radhakrishnan told reporters after addressing a symposium on &#8216;Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) Series: A Saga of 25 years&#8217;.

IRNSS-1 would be tested in orbit for three-four months once it&#8217;s launched, he said. *ISRO has planned to have a constellation of seven satellites under IRNSS.*

Speaking at the event, marking the 25th anniversary of the launch of India&#8217;s first operational Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-1A, Radhakrishnan said India has planned 12 missions (both launch vehicles and satellites put together) in the next one year.

These include the Rs 450 crore Mars orbiter mission in October-November aimed at demonstrating India&#8217;s technological capability to reach Martian orbit and paving the way for future scientific exploratory missions, and GSLV-Mk III experimental venture.

*The GSLV-Mk III is conceived and designed to make ISRO fully self-reliant in launching heavier communication satellites of INSAT-4 class, which weigh 4500 kg to 5000 kg.*

Radhakrishnan said *India&#8217;s remote sensing satellites are able to take images with a resolution of less than a metre (0.8 metres to be precise, according to an ISRO official). *This means in those images, the official said, even ground features which are a little less than a metre wide can be recognised.

Radhakrishnan said *ISRO proposed to launch remote sensing satellites with 0.6 metre resolution in two years and 0.25 metre in five years.*

Former ISRO Chairmen U R Rao and K Kasturirangan spoke about the origin, growth and emergence of India as a world leader in the realm of satellite-based remote sensing in the past 25 years, at the two-day symposium, organised by Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) in partnership with other professional societies.

*India today has 11 functioning remote sensing satellites*, some of which are serving the country as well as the global community, according to ISRS.

India now has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the civilian domain, dedicated to three main themes &#8212; land & water, cartography, oceanography and environment, including meteorology and weather monitoring, it was noted.

India to launch first navigational satellite in June | idrw.org

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## IND151

*Scientific payloads *for India&#8217;s *Mars Orbiter *will be *received *in the* end of this month* for integration with *Mars-bound spacecraft* which is scheduled to be launched on* November 27* this year, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman, K Radhakrishnan has said.

The* Mars Orbiter mission* is the *country&#8217;s most ambitious mission so far *as it would be the first time that any* Indian satellite *would have gone as far as the* Red Planet *which is estimated to be about *54.6 million Kilometers* away, taking a journey time of nine months for it to reach Mars.

Radhakrishnan said preparations are in full swing at Master Control Facility (MCF) in Hassan, in Karnataka, and the Deep Space Network (DSN) at Bylalu, about 35 Km from Bangalore.

The Mars Orbiter will carry onboard nine scientific instruments with a scientific objective to study the Martian surface, its atmosphere and sustainability of life.

The* Mars orbiter* will be *placed *in an *orbit *of *371 x 80,000 km* around Mars and will have a provision to carry 14.49 kg of scientific payload on- board. (Initially, a 25 kg payload was planned, but it was later scaled down.)

ISRO had initially planned to use the Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to launch a 500 kg Mars orbiter, but then decided to launch the mission on board Isro successful workhorse, the Polar-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) due to back-to-back failures of the GSLV in 2010. The PSLV was also used to launch India&#8217;s Chandrayaan-1 mission, the unmanned lunar mission which ended up with a breakthrough discovery of water molecules on the lunar surface.

The *orbiter payload*, the* Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM)* that will propel it to Mars and the* rocket motor* that* will slow it down for Mars orbit insertion*, will together *weigh 1.35 tons.*

According to the planned mission profile, the* LAM *will be fired* six times* *to progressively raise the orbit* of the *Mars Orbiter *around Earth before sending it on its 55 million Km journey to Mars, much like a slingshot used by farmers to shoo away birds and scavengers from eating crops.

According to the Indian space scientists, the Mars orbiter would be launched over a month before it begins its journey towards the red planet to give mission planners sufficient time to raise its orbit to gain the momentum required to propel the Mars Orbiter towards its destination.

The *rocket engine* on the* Mars orbiter *that will be used to slow it down for orbital insertion around Mars is capable of generating a* 440 Newton thrust.
*
The space scientists had determined three launch windows for the mission: between November 2013 and January 2014; between Jan and April 2016; and between April and May, 2018.

Finally November 27, 2013 was chosen as the day as it would give the space scientists the first opportunity of taking a crack when Mas would be closest to Earth nine months later at a distance of 54.6 million Km.

The Mars mission would estimated to cost Rs450 crore and a budgetary allocation of Rs125 crore has been made specifically for it.

*India will be the sixth country to launch a mission to Mars after the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and China.
*
Isro readies to take a crack at Mars | idrw.org

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## vanhel

good luck isro


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## IND151

ISRO now designing GEO Imaging Satellite called GISAT









The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, is now designing a GEO Imaging Satellite called GISAT. It will be launched in 2016-17.

GISAT will carry a GEO Imager with multi-spectral imaging instruments. It will be placed in geostationary orbit of 36 thousand kilometers above the earth. The total expense on the project is 392 crore rupees.

The remote sensing satellites launched by ISRO revisit the same area once in every 2 to 24 days for geological mapping. *GISAT will provide the best pictures of the entire Indian landmass every thirty minutes. T*his information was given in the Lok Sabha today.

ISRO now designing GEO Imaging Satellite called GISAT | idrw.org

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## IND151

India and the US have agreed to cooperate on future missions to the Moon and Mars after successful collaboration in Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission.

*&#8220;Building on NASA&#8217;s collaboration in India&#8217;s highly successful Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission in 2008, NASA and ISRO agreed to explore further cooperative space exploration work, including future missions to the Moon and Mars.*

&#8220;To this end the working group agreed to continue discussions in planetary science and Heliophysics to identify areas of potential cooperation,&#8221; Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) said in a joint statement.&#8221;The value of bilateral cooperation was well reflected, for instance, through the inclusion of two NASA instruments on the successful Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, which led to significant discoveries about lunar surface characteristics,&#8221; NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said at the fourth US-India Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting here.
According to the statement, existing cooperation, in the use of US and Indian earth observation satellite data, has produced information yielding a broad range of societal benefits including improved weather and monsoon forecasting, disaster management and response, improved agricultural and natural resource use and better understanding of climate change.

India, US agree on future cooperation in Moon, Mars missions | idrw.org


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## S-DUCT

*RLV updates:*

Major highlights of RLV-TD during the year include:

mission analysis based on static test propulsion performance, updating of autopilot design
in RLV-TD ascent phase and Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) descent phase, 6D simulations through COMETS & SITARA to validate Navigation and Guidance Control (NGC) design, liftoff studies and wind turbulence studies. Guidance and Autopilot designs were modified based on simulation results.

Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) structural model was realised. Fuselage and inter stage assemblies are realised for structural testing. Flush Air Data System (FADS) test article realised and integration procedure, FADS algorithm, avionics and leak tightness for pressure pick up assembly were validated through 1:1 FADS wind tunnel test at IIT, Kanpur.

*Qualification model of Radar Altimeter was realised and balloon test conducted at TIFR, Hyderabad. Carbon-carbon (C/C) laminates for nose cap were realised through a new route. Functional qualification test of Launch Hold and Release System (LHRS) with dual pyro initiation carried out with simulated interfaces. 

The testing of HS9 booster stage separation system along with hydraulic line separation system was completed successfully. High altitude test of the 2 kN retro rocket developed for jettisoning spent HS9 motor was successfully conducted at SDSC SHAR.


The Integrated Technical Review (ITR) of RLV-TD by the National Review Committee in October 2012 has concluded that launch of RLV-TD HEX-01 mission in September 2013 is feasible*

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## karan21

S-DUCT said:


> *RLV updates:*
> 
> Major highlights of RLV-TD during the year include:
> 
> mission analysis based on static test propulsion performance, updating of autopilot design
> in RLV-TD ascent phase and Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) descent phase, 6D simulations through COMETS & SITARA to validate Navigation and Guidance Control (NGC) design, liftoff studies and wind turbulence studies. Guidance and Autopilot designs were modified based on simulation results.
> 
> Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) structural model was realised. Fuselage and inter stage assemblies are realised for structural testing. Flush Air Data System (FADS) test article realised and integration procedure, FADS algorithm, avionics and leak tightness for pressure pick up assembly were validated through 1:1 FADS wind tunnel test at IIT, Kanpur.
> 
> *Qualification model of Radar Altimeter was realised and balloon test conducted at TIFR, Hyderabad. Carbon-carbon (C/C) laminates for nose cap were realised through a new route. Functional qualification test of Launch Hold and Release System (LHRS) with dual pyro initiation carried out with simulated interfaces.
> 
> The testing of HS9 booster stage separation system along with hydraulic line separation system was completed successfully. High altitude test of the 2 kN retro rocket developed for jettisoning spent HS9 motor was successfully conducted at SDSC SHAR.
> 
> 
> The Integrated Technical Review (ITR) of RLV-TD by the National Review Committee in October 2012 has concluded that launch of RLV-TD HEX-01 mission in September 2013 is feasible*



Can I know the source bro???


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## S-DUCT

karan21 said:


> Can I know the source bro???


Actually this info was posted by antriksh in Nasaspaceflightforum.

RLV-TD program Update:00

RLV-TD
Structural Model has been realised, which consists of fuselage nose body, fuselage straight body, a pair of double delta wings and two vertical tails. This structural assembly incorporates all the complexities of an aircraft and rocket embedded in it. 

S9 booster static tests: second static test of RLV-TD HS9 motor with Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) system was successfully conducted. 

RLVTD-S9 booster stage separation system qualified.










Credit:Antriksh @NSF

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## Choppers

ISRO Annual REPort 2012-2013. Lots of Info

http://www.isro.org/pdf/Annual%20Report%202012-13.pdf

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## IND151

karan21 said:


> Can I know the source bro???



Reusable Launch Vehicle

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## S-DUCT

Updates on programme from ISRO annual report:

1) *GSLV*: All the
recommendations from Failure Analysis Committees of GSLV-F06 and GSLV-D3 have been incorporated and implemented. *Modifications in Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP) and Oxidiser Booster Turbo Pump (OBTP) were carried out along with improvements in Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) elements.The CUS lower shroud was redesigned and strengthened. Wind tunnel configuration was modified by extending its length. The lanyard connector mounting bracket was relocated from the lower shroud to truss member*.

All the motor segments of S139 stage were realised and cleared for flight. All the four L40 stages are positioned at SDSC, SHAR.GS2 stage is under preparation at LPSC Mahendragiri Facility (LMF). Assembly of cryogenic flight stage is in advanced stage of completion after successful completion of acceptance test and post test inspection of flight engine at LPSC Mahendragiri. *To emonstrate cryogenic engine ignition under vacuum condition,preparation for the test in High Altitude Test (HAT) facility at LPSC Mahendragiri is progressing well. In parallel, assembly of GSLV-D5 at Vehicle assembly building of Second Launch Pad commenced on January 31, 2013 and the launch is targeted for June 2013*.

2) *GSLV MK3*: The first experimental flight with passive cryogenic stage (GSLV-MkIII-X flight) is targeted in the *last quarter of 2013*. Towards this mission, all six segments of two S200 flight motor have been cast and are stored in magazines. All flight hardware of L-110 is positioned at LPSC, Mahendragiri and flight stage integration is in progress. For passive C25 stage, propellant tanks for the flight stage have been realised and stage integration activities have been initiated. 

3) *SEMI-CRYOGENIC PROJECT*: Design of single element thrust chamber was completed and single element thrust chamber injector elements realised and cold flow tested. A rubber composition resistant to ISROSENE was also qualified. Rectangular rings, gaskets and O-rings for control components and turbo pump of semi cryogenic engine
as well as Tri-ethyl aluminum (TEA) based hypergolic igniter have also been developed. Hot test was carried out with LOX step injection mode on semi cryogenic pre-burner injector at high pressure after completing cold flow trials and sequence validation tests.* Further tests with step injection for ISROSENE and LOX are planned*. 

3)* Reusable Launch VehicleTechnology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)*:A winged Re-usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured to act as a
flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion towards realising a Two Stage to Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle.Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) structural model was realised. Fuselage and inter stage assemblies are realised for structural testing. Flush Air Data System (FADS) test article realised and integration procedure, FADS algorithm, avionics and leak tightness for pressure pick up assembly were validated through 1:1 FADS wind tunnel test at IIT, Kanpur.Qualification model of Radar Altimeter was realised and balloon test conducted at TIFR, Hyderabad. Carbon-carbon (C/C) laminates for nose cap were realised through a new route.Functional qualification test of Launch Hold and Release System (LHRS) with dual pyro initiation carried out with simulated interfaces. The testing of HS9 booster stage separation system along with hydraulic line separation system was completed successfully. High altitude test of the 2 kN retro rocket developed for jettisoning spent HS9 motor was successfully conducted at SDSC SHAR.
The Integrated Technical Review (ITR) of RLV-TD by the National Review Committee in October 2012 has concluded that launch of* RLV-TD HEX-01 mission in September 2013 is feasible*.

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## kurup



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## S-DUCT

*HEX-01 FLIGHT PROFILE*

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## RPK



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## S-DUCT

@BlueDot_in_Space:

What's purpose of fitting ABP(air breathing propulsion) on RLV-TSTO and hence objective of SPEX experiment.AFAIK TSTO will take of vertically using Semicryogenic Booster stage and at an altitude of 100KM, Orbitor will separate from winged body and using its cryogenic stage(Orbitor) it will place Payload and re-enter atmosphere land using Air-bags.Winged body willt then conventionally lands on Air-strip.

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## Genesis

Indian space technology is impressive. I understand a Mars mission is either in the works or done? Man space flight is next and so on so forth.

When the manned mission is done, India would be the fourth nation to do so? Asian countries leading the way. Maybe one day Asian countries can work together and work faster and achieve better results. One can hope.

Finally unlocking the Mysteries of Mars and perhaps even manned missions or unmanned missions outside of Solar system?

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## karan21

Genesis said:


> Indian space technology is impressive. I understand a Mars mission is either in the works or done? Man space flight is next and so on so forth.
> 
> When the manned mission is done, India would be the fourth nation to do so? Asian countries leading the way. Maybe one day Asian countries can work together and work faster and achieve better results. One can hope.
> 
> Finally unlocking the Mysteries of Mars and perhaps even manned missions or unmanned missions outside of Solar system?



First of all the work on manned mission is going on quietly, but it is stuck in approvals by the govt. 

The problem is that India currently has no rocket that can take maned capsules in space. India was supposed to get the clearance for the manned mission in 2010 but Mk2 failed twice that year. Since then there has been no progrss. Gslv mk2 has a payload capacity of upto 5000 to 6000kg to leo but has failed 4 times. Next launch is in july. If its a success we are back on track. 

Now coming to the Gslv mk3 with payload of 10000 to 15000 kg to leo, its first launch is in 2013 as well in sept, if its a success then Isro can finally claim the approval for the manned mission with full confidence. \

Just to let you know the Planning commision of India has already approved the manned mission just the central govt approval is required. 



Indian perspective on Manned Space Missions - reasons & necessary Technologies [Aero India 2011] - YouTube


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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space:
> 
> What's purpose of fitting ABP(air breathing propulsion) on RLV-TSTO and hence objective of SPEX experiment.AFAIK TSTO will take of vertically using Semicryogenic Booster stage and at an altitude of 100KM, Orbitor will separate from winged body and using its cryogenic stage(Orbitor) it will place Payload and re-enter atmosphere land using Air-bags.Winged body willt then conventionally lands on Air-strip.





There are two parts to achieving low cost of access to space:

1) A reusable launch vehicle: the hardware contributes a major chunk (70-80 % that includes manufacturing + materials) to the cost of a launch vehicle that is expended after one use in present launch vehicles. By reusing the same hardware for multiple launches, a major cost saving can be achieved and thus launch cost can be reduced. 

To achieve this ISRO is developing reusable technologies through RLV-TD and SRE programs. 

2) Air breathing propulsion: A major fraction of launcher mass are propellants. A major part of propellants is oxidizer. ABP precludes the need to carry all of the oxidizer as air is used for the purpose after a certain point in the flight profile. This cuts cost and also improves payload fraction of launch vehicles. 

To achieve this ISRO is developing duel mode ramjet-scramjet engine. The engine technology will first be demonstrated on advance technology vehicle (ATV is a sounding rocket, ATV D2 will feature active scramjet engine and is under construction) and ones the engine matures, which will take a long time, its bigger version will be tested on RLV-TD vehicle. *SPEX is all about testing matured ABP engine on a RLV TD sized vehicle.* 


*As far as use of ABP goes, The RLV-TSTO wont have ABP and will consists of stages as you have described. Its the SSTO or AVATAR that will feature ABP. *

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## S-DUCT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> There are two parts to achieving low cost of access to space:
> 
> 1) A reusable launch vehicle: the hardware contributes a major chunk (70-80 % that includes manufacturing + materials) to the cost of a launch vehicle that is expended after one use in present launch vehicles. By reusing the same hardware for multiple launches, a major cost saving can be achieved and thus launch cost can be reduced.
> 
> To achieve this ISRO is developing reusable technologies through RLV-TD and SRE programs.
> 
> 2) Air breathing propulsion: A major fraction of launcher mass are propellants. A major part of propellants is oxidizer. ABP precludes the need to carry all of the oxidizer as air is used for the purpose after a certain point in the flight profile. This cuts cost and also improves payload fraction of launch vehicles.
> 
> To achieve this ISRO is developing duel mode ramjet-scramjet engine. The engine technology will first be demonstrated on advance technology vehicle (ATV is a sounding rocket, ATV D2 will feature active scramjet engine and is under construction) and ones the engine matures, which will take a long time, its bigger version will be tested on RLV-TD vehicle. *SPEX is all about testing matured ABP engine on a RLV TD sized vehicle.*
> 
> 
> *As far as use of ABP goes, The RLV-TSTO wont have ABP and will consists of stages as you have described. Its the SSTO or AVATAR that will feature ABP. *


So duel mode ramjet-scramjet engine will suck air at hypersonic speed ,and separate and liquify oxygen at the same time.But incoming air would have temperature of around 1000 celsius and to liquify it will not be an easy task, Air condenser will increase engines weight.


> One issue with the Liquid Air Cycle Engine system is that in order to appreciably reduce the mass of the oxygen carried at launch, a LACE vehicle needs to spend more time in the lower atmosphere to collect enough oxygen to supply the engines. This leads to greatly increased vehicle heating and drag losses, which therefore increases fuel consumption to offset the drag losses and the additional mass of the thermal protection system. This increased fuel consumption offsets somewhat the savings in oxidizer mass; these losses are in turn offset by the higher Isp (Specific impulse) of the air-breathing engine. Thus, the engineering trade-offs involved are quite complex, and highly sensitive to the design assumptions made.



1)Is there is any program parallel to ABP in the case ISRO fails to develope ABP (Like Precooled jet engineengines)?

2)Can you specify main difference between SABRE and ABP?

Thanks in advance.


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## kurup



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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> So duel mode ramjet-scramjet engine will suck air at hypersonic speed ,and separate and liquify oxygen at the same time.But incoming air would have temperature of around 1000 celsius and to liquify it will not be an easy task, Air condenser will increase engines weight.



There is no liquification in ramjet-scramjet. 



S-DUCT said:


> 1)Is there is any program parallel to ABP in the case ISRO fails to develope ABP (Like Precooled jet engineengines)?
> 
> 2)Can you specify main difference between SABRE and ABP?
> 
> Thanks in advance.



1) There is no parallel program to ABP based on dual mode ramjet-scramjet in ISRO. 

2) SABRE is a combined cycle or hybrid (*pre-cooled ABP + rocket*) engine. It either uses stored liquid oxygen or compressor fed gaseous air to burn the liquid hydrogen in the thrust chambers. No liquification takes place.

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> There is no liquification in ramjet-scramjet.
> 
> 
> 
> 1) There is no parallel program to ABP based on dual mode ramjet-scramjet in ISRO.
> 
> 2) SABRE is a combined cycle or hybrid (*pre-cooled ABP + rocket*) engine. It either uses stored liquid oxygen or compressor fed gaseous air to burn the liquid hydrogen in the thrust chambers. No liquification takes place.



Dude...when will you post the pics of the space suit...it's about time bro  .

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## S-DUCT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> There is no liquification in ramjet-scramjet.
> 
> 
> 
> 1) There is no parallel program to ABP based on dual mode ramjet-scramjet in ISRO.
> 
> 2) SABRE is a combined cycle or hybrid (*pre-cooled ABP + rocket*) engine. It either uses stored liquid oxygen or compressor fed gaseous air to burn the liquid hydrogen in the thrust chambers. No liquification takes place.



Mate am I right about operation of Avatar SSTO?

1)It would take-off horizontally using conventional *turbo-rocket*.After it has reached cruise speed of mach 1-1.2, vehicle would use DMRJ dual mode ramjet-scramjet engine to accelerate to mach 3-10.

2)During this cruising phase, an on-board system would collect air from the atmosphere, from which liquid oxygen would be separated and stored. The liquid oxygen collected then would be used in the final flight phase when the rocket engine(turbo-rocket) burns the collected liquid oxygen and the carried hydrogen to attain orbit.


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## S-DUCT

Ukraine is developing the engine for the Indian launch vehicle, the press service of the government of the country. "*The implementation of the joint Ukrainian-Indian project" Jasmine ", which aims to develop a rocket engine for the Indian launch vehicle for space purposes," - said in a statement.*

Prospects of cooperation in the space sector discussed the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Alexander Pinsky and chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

The Indian side expressed its support for the holding in Kyiv in 2016. International Astronautical Congress. Head ISRO has confirmed that in the near future to complete the formation of the Indian bilateral working group on space, and Indian experts will focus on Ukraine to concretization of bilateral cooperation programs.

From 19 to 22 March, the Ukrainian delegation headed by A.Pinskim was in India as part of the second meeting of the working group on trade and economic cooperation in the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation.

Óêðàèíà ðàçðàáàòûâàåò äâèãàòåëü äëÿ èíäèéñêîé ðàêåòû-íîñèòåëÿ - ÂÏÊ.name


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## karan21

S-DUCT said:


> Ukraine is developing the engine for the Indian launch vehicle, the press service of the government of the country. "*The implementation of the joint Ukrainian-Indian project" Jasmine ", which aims to develop a rocket engine for the Indian launch vehicle for space purposes," - said in a statement.*
> 
> Prospects of cooperation in the space sector discussed the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Alexander Pinsky and chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
> 
> The Indian side expressed its support for the holding in Kyiv in 2016. International Astronautical Congress. Head ISRO has confirmed that in the near future to complete the formation of the Indian bilateral working group on space, and Indian experts will focus on Ukraine to concretization of bilateral cooperation programs.
> 
> From 19 to 22 March, the Ukrainian delegation headed by A.Pinskim was in India as part of the second meeting of the working group on trade and economic cooperation in the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation.
> 
> Óêðàèíà ðàçðàáàòûâàåò äâèãàòåëü äëÿ èíäèéñêîé ðàêåòû-íîñèòåëÿ - ÂÏÊ.name



Which engine and which launch vehicle?? Never heard of this before. India is alreay building cryogenic engiens and semi cryogenic for the big rockets in the future.


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## S-DUCT

karan21 said:


> Which engine and which launch vehicle?? Never heard of this before. India is alreay building cryogenic engiens and semi cryogenic for the big rockets in the future.



Ukraine is ahead of us in semi-cryogenic engines,as they have inherited these tech from Soviet union. 
ISRO should develope SC engines with ukraine assitance as they the world's most powerful SC engine RD-170 for Booster stage of our RLV-TD

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Mate am I right about operation of Avatar SSTO?
> 
> 1)It would take-off horizontally using conventional *turbo-rocket*.After it has reached cruise speed of mach 1-1.2, vehicle would use DMRJ dual mode ramjet-scramjet engine to accelerate to mach 3-10.
> 
> 2)During this cruising phase, an on-board system would collect air from the atmosphere, from which liquid oxygen would be separated and stored. The liquid oxygen collected then would be used in the final flight phase when the rocket engine(turbo-rocket) burns the collected liquid oxygen and the carried hydrogen to attain orbit.



The first part would be very much the same, but I cannot say much about liquification. There is no indication of liquid oxygen separation system in ISRO literature. May be after a decade, ISRO might start such a program because APJ Sir has hinted such a system as a requirement for SSTO.

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## karan21

@BlueDot_in_Space Bro any updates about the space suit?? Bro when are you going to show the pics of the suit??


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## S-DUCT

*Key Attributes*




HTV(*HYPERSONIC TEST VEHICLE*)
1)Gross takeoff weight :3500kg.
2)Unmanned,fully reusable.
3)Horizontal takeoff & Horizontal landing.
 @BlueDot_in_Space:
Here are some Preliminary designs of an In-flight Air-liquefaction and Oxygen seperation System for HTV (Hypersonic Test Vehicle).These papers were presented during "*High Speed Transatmospheric Air and Space Transportation* organised by the Aeronautical & Astronautical Societies of India on June 29-30, 2007.

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## S-DUCT

Successful ignition of indigenous cryogenic engine - The Hindu

Successful ignition of an indigenous cryogenic engine on Wednesday at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Kanyakumari district, in conditions simulating the high altitude atmosphere, has boosted the confidence of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to go ahead *with the launch of a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) in July*.

The hot-test took place in the newly-built high altitude test facility (HAT) at ISRO&#8217;s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri.

&#8220;The test was held at 7.55 p.m. on Wednesday, simulating the high altitude conditions to see whether ignition of the indigenously developed cryogenic engine takes place smoothly, as per the expected temperature, pressure and flow parameters,&#8221; said Director of LPSC M.C. Dathan.

&#8220;*The ignition was perfect and it gave all the parameters as per our predictions and it has given us an excellent confidence to go ahead with the GSLV-D5 launch from Sriharikota in July,&#8221; he noted. The engine, which uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants and develops a thrust of 7.5 tonnes, powers the GSLV&#8217;s upper stage*.

With the successful test, the indigenous cryogenic engine would be fully assembled and the cryogenic stage itself delivered at Sriharikota in a month&#8217;s time. &#8220;Once it reaches Sriharikota, it may take more than two months to fully assemble the vehicle and conduct all tests. *So we are planning to launch the GSLV-D5 in the second half of July*,&#8221; said Mr. Dathan.

GSLV-D5, with the indigenous cryogenic engine, will put into orbit a communication satellite called GSAT-14.

Mr. Dathan said the HAT facility was realised in a record time of one year. &#8220;This facility is a unique one in the country for testing cryogenic engines, simulating the high altitude conditions.&#8221;

The launch of a GSLV-D3 with an indigenous cryogenic engine in April 2010 ended in failure. Although the engine ignited in vacuum in space, the ignition could not be sustained.

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## sudhir007

Google Translate

Ukraine is developing the engine for the Indian launch vehicle, the press service of the government of the country. "The implementation of the joint Ukrainian-Indian project" Jasmine ", which aims to develop a rocket engine for the Indian launch vehicle for space purposes," - said in a statement.

Prospects of cooperation in the space sector discussed the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Alexander Pinsky and chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

The Indian side expressed its support for the holding in Kyiv in 2016. International Astronautical Congress. Head ISRO has confirmed that in the near future to complete the formation of the Indian bilateral working group on space, and Indian experts will focus on Ukraine to concretization of bilateral cooperation programs.

From 19 to 22 March, the Ukrainian delegation headed by A.Pinskim was in India as part of the second meeting of the working group on trade and economic cooperation in the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation.


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## S-DUCT

I have compiled some info on HTV using http://www.aesi-hyd.com/hypersonic_conference/contents/Souvenir_June_2007.pdf

*OBJECTIVE*
It was seen that the minimum take-off weight of 25T with 4% Payload fraction required for SSTO hyperplanes(AVATAR).But before achieving this,many critical systems and design elements would require experimental ground and In-flight testings.

For this purpose,a small (3.5T take-off WT),unmanned,Non-orbital Hypersonic transportation technology demonstater vechicle has been designed.

*OPERATION*
1)HTV will use *light weight,dual fuel (Kerosene-hydrogen) turbojet for takeoff and at altitude of 30Kms Altitude Hydrogen fuelled DMRJ would take over it for hypersonic cruise for more than half an hour*.HTV will descend by Aerodynamic braking and finally would use Turbojet engine for landing.

2)In later flight tests,HTV will be equiped with In-flight air collection and oxygen liquefication system,i.e FLOX system (It's essential to maximize payload fractions to LEO by SSTO vehicles).This is also called "*Aerobic*" system. 
 @BlueDot_in_Space:Mate, It looks like AVATAR will have in-flight LOX separation system.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> I have compiled some info on HTV using http://www.aesi-hyd.com/hypersonic_conference/contents/Souvenir_June_2007.pdf
> 
> *OBJECTIVE*
> It was seen that the minimum take-off weight of 25T with 4% Payload fraction required for SSTO hyperplanes(AVATAR).But before achieving this,many critical systems and design elements would require experimental ground and In-flight testings.
> 
> For this purpose,a small (3.5T take-off WT),unmanned,Non-orbital Hypersonic transportation technology demonstater vechicle has been designed.
> 
> *OPERATION*
> 1)HTV will use *light weight,dual fuel (Kerosene-hydrogen) turbojet for takeoff and at altitude of 30Kms Altitude Hydrogen fuelled DMRJ would take over it for hypersonic cruise for more than half an hour*.HTV will descend by Aerodynamic braking and finally would use Turbojet engine for landing.
> 
> 2)In later flight tests,HTV will be equiped with In-flight air collection and oxygen liquefication system,i.e FLOX system (It's essential to maximize payload fractions to LEO by SSTO vehicles).This is also called "*Aerobic*" system.
> 
> @BlueDot_in_Space:Mate, It looks like AVATAR will have in-flight LOX separation system.



Gr8 Info, Thanks!!!. So it seems that second phase of AVATAR will be using in flight LOX separation system. It would take some time to develop these techs and that is why multiple efforts like RLV-TD, HSTDV and HTV are running in India for the purpose of developing technologies for hyperplanes. We can hope to see RLV-TD and HSDTV flights within 1-2 years.

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## S-DUCT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Gr8 Info, Thanks!!!. So it seems that second phase of AVATAR will be using in flight LOX separation system. It would take some time to develop these techs and that is why multiple efforts like RLV-TD, HSTDV and HTV are running in India for the purpose of developing technologies for hyperplanes. We can hope to see RLV-TD and HSDTV flights within 1-2 years.


If you don't mind,Why HS9 booster in your avatar has weird flame colour ,is it photoshopped?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> If you don't mind,Why HS9 booster in your avatar has weird flame colour ,is it photoshopped?



the pic in my avatar is a CG.

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## kurup

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



So they are testing two wind tunnel models for RLV. Did they selected the final congfig ??

Also , Isn't the size of the wing too small compared to the fuselage ??


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## arp2041

*DOCUMENTARY ON DR. VIKRAM SARABHAI*

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## S-DUCT

RLV-TD program Update:02

*Wind Tunnel test of 1:1 model of FADS, Balloon Test of qualification
model of Radar Altimeter, Iron Bird Simulation test of Control actuators and Control electronics, Vibration test of avionics bay module in flight configuration and dynamic characterization testing of Avionic bay  Engineering model sub assembly were completed.*

*Iron Bird facility*: This facility is second of its kind in the country
to simulate the actual flight profiles using the actuators, control electronics, the entire NGC hardware with built in NGC
software. The actual flight hydraulic lines will be truly represented and the control surface actuator movements also will
be simulated. This facility is used to carry out the Actuator in Loop Simulation runs for RLV-TD.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

kurup said:


> So they are testing two wind tunnel models for RLV. Did they selected the final congfig ??
> 
> Also , Isn't the size of the wing too small compared to the fuselage ??



They have selected the yellow config. Wing size is sufficient for producing required lift to maneuver to a landing site.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Semi-cryo engine update:
*
1. The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for Semi-cryogenic engine development has been completed.
Preparation of fabrication drawings of subsystems have been completed. A MOU has been signed with NFTDC for the realisation of copper alloy for Thrust chamber. Single element Pre-Burner (PB) injector realised and injector spray charaterisation using PIV was carried out. Test facility for single element pre-burner commissioned at PRG facility, VSSC. Semi Cryo Test facility design by M/s
Rolta has been completed.

2. Design of Semi Cryo Engine including heat exchanger and ejector is competed. Fabrication drawings and documents are generated based on the PDR and joint reviews. Configuration design of subscale engine is completed. Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of Hydraulic Actuation System (HAS) and Hydraulic Power System (HPS) for Engine Gimbal control is completed and Technical specifications are finalized.

3. Single Element Pre-Burner injector element has been hot tested successfully. Ignition of LOX/Isrosene propellant with hypergolic slug igniter and flame holding, demonstration of safe handling of pyrophoric fluid TEA, validation of start sequence, characterization of injector elements and qualification of Hayness-214 material are the major achievements of the tests.

4. Design of single element thrust chamber is completed and fabrication drawings are generated. Single element thrust chamber injector elements are realized and cold flow tests were carried out. Special pre burner which will provide hot gases for testing the single element thrust chamber has been realized.

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## kurup

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> They have selected the yellow config. Wing size is sufficient for producing required lift to maneuver to a landing site.



This is the RLV for TSTO ...... right ??

What about SSTO ?? Will they use the same design or a new one ??


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## S-DUCT

kurup said:


> This is the RLV for TSTO ...... right ??
> 
> What about SSTO ?? Will they use the same design or a new one ??


IMO,this is for RLV-TD.RLV-TSTO's 1st stage will be enlarged and not radically different from RLV-TD





1st stage:derived from RLV-TD.
2nd stage:derived from SRE-1/2.

SSTO is a different ballgame all together. It will be based on HTV.





@anymember:
In which LV, ISRO is going to test and equip semi-cryogenic engine?

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> @anymember:
> In which LV, ISRO is going to test and equip semi-cryogenic engine?



Unified launch vehicle (ULV) and RLV-TSTO

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## suren

What is difference between TSTO and SSTO?


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## S-DUCT

suren said:


> What is difference between TSTO and SSTO?


SSTO vehicles reaches required orbit without jettisoning any hardware on the other hand a proposed TSTO LV will jettisions its hardware once to reach orbit.
You can think SSTO as a space plane,that takes from and delivers the payload and returns and then lands.
Till this date,No earth launched SSTO lv has been contructed


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## kurup

S-DUCT said:


> IMO,this is for RLV-TD.RLV-TSTO's 1st stage will be enlarged and not radically different from RLV-TD
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1st stage:derived from RLV-TD.



TSTO 1st stage looks like having vertical stabilizers on the wings while in RLV-TD slanted vertical stabilizers are attached to the fuselage .

Why was 1st stage of TSTO selected to be a winged body ?? Why not a rocket body like the 2nd stage which can be recovered using parachutes ??


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## S-DUCT

kurup said:


> TSTO 1st stage looks like having vertical stabilizers on the wings while in RLV-TD slanted vertical stabilizers are attached to the fuselage .
> 
> Why was 1st stage of TSTO selected to be a winged body ?? Why not a rocket body like the 2nd stage which can be recovered using parachutes ??


Mate just look at this pic and look at size of SRB.




X-37 has loaded weight of 4.9T and its quite comparable to RLV-TD weight of 3-4T.
But in the context of RLV-TSTO total lift off weight will less than 700T, more precisely 500T with payload fraction of 2% i.e 10T to LEO/GTO.

So to launch RLV-TSTO as you have mentioned .it would require very large SRB or multistage SRBs just like in Space shuttle and recovering this will be almost impossible.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

kurup said:


> TSTO 1st stage looks like having vertical stabilizers on the wings while in RLV-TD slanted vertical stabilizers are attached to the fuselage .
> 
> Why was 1st stage of TSTO selected to be a winged body ?? Why not a rocket body like the 2nd stage which can be recovered using parachutes ??



What you are suggesting is currently being developed by Spacex called Grasshopper RLV. The first stage of grasshopper lands down vertically using a rocket engine. 






As S-Duct pointed out, the choice to some extent depends on the size of the first stage. A small stage would be easy to be recovered by parachutes or landing bags like ISRO does in the case of SRE. When the size goes up, a threshold will come where using a winged body would be operationally easier and economically cheaper.

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## S-DUCT

Isro makes strides in pre-project plans

Sources in the agency told Deccan Herald that as part of the pre-project activities, *drop test of full-scale Crew Module were conducted successfully* &#8220;to understand the deceleration characteristics and validate the estimated values of &#8216;G&#8217; level, touchdown velocity and depth of penetration.&#8221;

Another source pointed out that the* flight suit had been successfully tested in vacuum chamber for leak rate assessment and material compatibility under vacuum conditions, adding that this was a key aspect for the programme.*

The objective of the programme, *which is proposed to be implemented in defined phases beginning 2017, is to undertake a human spaceflight mission to carry a crew of two to Low Earth Orbit (LEO)* and return them safely to a predefined destination on earth. *Currently, the pre-project activities are progressing with a focus on the development of critical technologies for subsystems such as Crew Module (CM), Environmental control and Life Support System (ECLSS), Crew Escape System, etc.*

Sources also said that the m*ortar-based parachute ejection and deployment tests carried out in single and clustered configuration were a success and the environmental simulation chamber has been realised for testing of ECLSS functional modules and flight suit systems were satisfactory*. Updating autopilot on re-suable vehicle . Further, considerable progress has been made in the area of the Re-usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), critical for such a programme. 

The RLV-TD has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, *hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion towards realising a Two-Stage-to-Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle*.

Developments in this regard include updating of autopilot design in RLV-TD ascent phase and technology demonstration vehicle (TDV) descent phase.

*The validation and navigation and guidance control (NGC) design, liftoff studies et al have been realised through 6D simulations.

&#8220;Guidance and Autopilot designs were modified based on simulation results,&#8221; a source said*.
@BlueDot_in_Space: Which engine is going to power RLV-TD in cruise flight in sub-sonic regime.?

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space: Which engine is going to power RLV-TD in cruise flight in sub-sonic regime.?



No main engine, but 200N mono propellant RCS thrusters.

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## SR-91

Hey bluedot, a hello from a New Yorker

I spoke to Dr Radhakrishnan this morning and he said its ok to post a pic of the space suit.What do u think?


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## RPK

State of the art Mission Control Centre with two Launch Control Centres, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR

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## 1ndy

Look like some serious R&D. Go ISRO Go.


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## RPK

*GSLV-Mk III experimental flight in 2014: ISRO chairman Radhakrishnan*


New Delhi: India plans to launch a next generation rocket to put heavier satellites and more astronauts into outer space within a year, a top official said on Wednesday. "The first experimental flight of the GSLV Mark III will take place one year from now," K Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation told the Annual General Meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi.
The new rocket, which can put a four tonne satellite in orbit, will help Antrix Corporation, ISRO's commercial arm, to offer cheapest space launches in the niche market. The regular GSLV can put 2.2 tonne satellites in orbit.
The GSLV Mark III will enable ISRO launch heavier satellites, an activity for which it has to turn to foreign launch vehicles like Arianspace, based in Kourou in French Guiana. The GSLV Mark III will also help ISRO put more Indians in space at one go.
GSLV Mark III is designed to be a three-stage 42.4 m tall vehicle, with a lift off weight of 630 tonnes. First stage comprises two identical S200 Large Solid Booster with 200 tonne solid propellant, that are strapped on to the second stage, the L110 re-startable liquid stage.
The third stage is the cryogenic upper stage loaded with 25 tonnes of propellant. The large payload fairing measures five meters in diameter and can accommodate a payload volume of 100 cubic meters.

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## Mujraparty

RPK said:


> State of the art Mission Control Centre with two Launch Control Centres, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR




Mission Control Centre

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## RPK

uccessful ignition of an indigenous cryogenic engine on Wednesday at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu&#8217;s Kanyakumari district, in conditions simulating the high altitude atmosphere, has boosted the confidence of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to go ahead with the launch of a Geo synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV D5 in July.

The hot test took place in the newly built high altitude test facility (HAT) at ISRO&#8217;s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri. &#8212;

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## anonymous_bot

Higher res please


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## RPK

eowyn said:


> Mission Control Centre








Launch Control Centres, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR

Both LCCs, exactly identical in hardware configuration, are colocated with the Mission Control Centre. These can be easily reconfigured for all types of missions like PSLV, GSLV, GSLV MK III, RLV, HSP etc and can support launch activities both from First Launch Pad (FLP) and Second Launch Pad (SLP).

The features of the new LCCs are...

» Functional consoles with three industrial PCs (prime PC, redundant PC, and data analysis PC) connected through 100 Mbps full duplex ethernet LAN
» Network interface card redundancy in each console PC
» Data analysis PC of each console connected to an independent data network
» Dual redundancy for ethernet switches at LCC and Checkout Terminal Room (CTR)
» Hard line Multiplexing System (HAMS) for reducing hard line requirements between LCC and remote systems
» Display node for data presentation to system experts at experts&#8217; gallery
» Transmission of data packets at 100 ms periodicity
» Fully dual redundant systems &#8212;

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## IND151

*The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) *will *flight-test* the* Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III)*, its heaviest rocket so far, on an *experimental flight next year.*

The *first* of the heavy-duty rockets is expected to take to the sky *next January *on an* experimental flight *whose *later versions could be used to send humans on space missions, ISRO said.*

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III), a launch vehicle currently under development by the ISRO, would be used to put in orbit heavier communication satellites weighing up to five tones and pack more transponders.

It would also enhance the capability of the country to be a competitive player in the multimillion dollar commercial launch market. *The vehicle envisages multi-mission launch capability for GTO, LEO, Polar and intermediate circular orbits, ISRO said in a web site release.*

GSLV-Mk III is designed to be a three-stage vehicle, with a height of 42.4 metres and a lift off weight of 630 tonnes.

The first stage comprises two identical S200 large solid booster that uses 200 tonne solid propellant that are strapped on to the second stage, the L110 re-startable liquid stage*. The third stage is the C25 LOX/LH2 cryo stage.* The large payload fairing measures 5 m in diameter and can accommodate a payload volume of 100 cu m.

ISRO to flight-test heavier GSLV-MK III rocket next year | idrw.org

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## IND151

The *Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) *will make a fresh attempt at launching the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the last two flights of which have ended in failure, in July this year, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.

*The GSLV will carry a communication satellite GSAT-14 to be put into the space.
*
GSLV is the second satellite launch vehicle developed by ISRO, the other one being PSLV, or Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, which has just completed the 22nd successful launch in a row. The GSLV has been less lucky, with four of its 10 attempted flights, ending in failure.

*&#8220;GSLV is an excellent vehicle, a beautiful vehicle. As compared to the PSLV, it is much less complex, except for one stage. It is far simpler to handle, though it has a large number of control components,&#8221;* Radhakrishnan said at a public lecture at the Indian National Science Academy.

The GSLV to be launched in July will be run on an indigenous cryogenic engine. Its assembly has started at Sriharikota facility on January 31, Radhakrishnan said. *The cryogenic stage is being integrated and one more test is planned to be conducted later this month.*

Radhakrishnan said the next generation of the GSLV, called GSLV-Mark III, which is expected to revolutionise India&#8217;s space capabilities, would be launched in January next year. *The GSLV-Mk III would be the heaviest Indian rocket to fly off, and would be capable of putting large satellites, weighing up to 5 tonne, into space.*[Either it is a typo or the 5 ton payload is wrt to SSO. According de website of ISRO, MkIII can carry upto 4 tons to GTO] The present GSLV can carry up to 2.5 tonne.


*GSLV-Mk III is also planned to be used for human space flights in future.* &#8220;We are targeting an experimental flight of the GSLV-Mk III in January. Further development will happen after that,&#8221; Radhakrishnan said.

The project director of GSLV-Mk III, S Somnath, said simulation of the flight were being done. &#8220;But there are certain tests that cannot be performed on the ground. So an experimental launch is required,&#8221; he said.

Fresh GSLV launch attempt in July | idrw.org


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## kurup

ISRO planning first privately built PSLV launch in 5 years









Moving forward on its plans to rope in the industry in its activities, ISRO is looking towards the launch of the first privately built rocket in the next five years.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has embarked on hiving off production of communication satellites and polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs) to the industry. 

&#8220;We are now setting up a national committee to work out the modalities on how to go about it,&#8221; ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan told PTI when asked about the agency&#8217;s plans to rope in the industry for producing PSLVs and communication satellites.

He said the space agency had told the industry representatives at a meeting in Ahmedabad in January that it was looking at PSLVs and communication satellites produced by them.

&#8220;My target is five years from now on. Five years from now the first PSLV will roll out from that entity,&#8221; Radhakrishnan said.

He said the proposed national committee would look at various steps in this regard including the revenue model, technology transfer and related matters.

The space agency is keen to focus on unique science projects, develop remote sensing satellites and do more research and development instead of engaging in the repititive exercise of building communication satellites and launch vehicles.

The industry participation in development of communication satellites is upto 80 per cent. If satellites and launch vehicles can be produced by industry players, ISRO scientists will be able to concentrate on research-oriented activities, and have greater involvement of academic institutions.

ISRO planning first privately built PSLV launch in 5 years | idrw.org


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## S-DUCT

ISRO Tests Human Spaceflight Program (HSP) Crew Module (CM) in Plasma Wind Tunnel




April 10, 2013, (Sawfnews.com) - ISRO recently conducted a Plasma wind tunnel test on a 1:28 scaled model of the Human Spaceflight Program (HSP) Crew Module (CM).

The test was conducted at the 6 MW high enthalpy facility at VSSC to check the performance and evaluate the erosion characteristics of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) material of the CM.

The CM would encounter temperatures in the range of 6,000 K to 10,000 K during re-entry. At such temperatures, the air gets dissociated and ionised and gets into a hyper reactive state.

Light weight, high performance TPS is employed to protect the vehicle in such a hostile environment.

The Plasma wind tunnel facility simulates the re-entry thermal regimes for the qualification of TPS.

In the PWT facility, an air stream is converted into plasma at temperature ranging from 8,000 K to 10,000 K. Scaled down models of the TPS are exposed to the plasma stream in the test chamber, where pressure corresponding to the altitude also is simulated. The performance of the TPS in the simulated re-entry conditions is evaluated.

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## IND151

Isro


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## BlueDot_in_Space

IND151 said:


> Isro



just making a correction: the LVM3-X mission that is supposed to take place in jan 2014, ISRO will be using a passive cryo engine with liquid nitrogen to simulate real engine weight. The experimenter wont involve testing the CE20 engine. it is only to collect data of LVM3 journey through the atmosphere.


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## RPK

*ISRO Conducts Functional Qualification Test of GSLV Mk-3 S200 Separation System*







April 17, 2013, (Sawfnews.com) - ISRO is making steady progress towards the debut launch in April 2014 of its GSLV Mk-3 launcher, which will be capable of inserting a 10 ton spacecraft in low earth orbit.

It recently tested the separation system of the S200 strap on motors of the launchers from the core vehicle.

The first stage of the GLSV Mk-3 consists of two 200 ton, S200 solid rocket motors, strapped around the 110 ton restartable core liquid propellant second stage (L-110) using two Vikas engines.

The separation system consists of two joints viz fore end joint and aft end joint, which attaches the L110 stage of the core with S200 motors. The thrust developed by the S200 motors are transferred to the core vehicle through the fore end joint while the aft joint takes care of the lateral loads.

The S200 separation system is used to dump the two spent S200 motors at about 145 seconds after take off allowing the second stage to kick in.

The third stage of the GSLV Mk-3 would be an ISRO developed cryogenic rocket motor with a propellant loading of 25 ton (C-25).

The first flight of the Mk-3 will be a sub-orbital flight test, sans the cryogenic third stage.

For more details on ISRO's GSLV Mk-3 please visit link below.

GSLV Mk-3 - Indian Space Projects

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## BlueDot_in_Space

RPK said:


> *ISRO Conducts Functional Qualification Test of GSLV Mk-3 S200 Separation System*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> April 17, 2013, (Sawfnews.com) - ISRO is making steady progress towards the debut launch in April 2014 of its GSLV Mk-3 launcher, which will be capable of inserting a 10 ton spacecraft in low earth orbit.
> 
> It recently tested the separation system of the S200 strap on motors of the launchers from the core vehicle.
> 
> The first stage of the GLSV Mk-3 consists of two 200 ton, S200 solid rocket motors, strapped around the 110 ton restartable core liquid propellant second stage (L-110) using two Vikas engines.
> 
> The separation system consists of two joints viz fore end joint and aft end joint, which attaches the L110 stage of the core with S200 motors. The thrust developed by the S200 motors are transferred to the core vehicle through the fore end joint while the aft joint takes care of the lateral loads.



This was done in Nov 2011


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## RPK

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> This was done in Nov 2011



S200 firing test done in Nov2011. they tested the separation system of the S200 strap on motors of the launchers from the core vehicle.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

RPK said:


> S200 firing test done in Nov2011. they tested the separation system of the S200 strap on motors of the launchers from the core vehicle.



 this tests was conducted in Nov 2011. Even the fairing separation has been tested.


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## S-DUCT

LVM3-X will have a crew module as payload(credit:antriksh@NSP)

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## RPK

Condensation Clouds over PSLV in Flight

While watching the live coverage of PSLV / GSLV, the sudden formation of a cloud around the heat shield during the transonic and low supersonic regimes, might have aroused curiosity.

The clouds result from condensation, which denotes the formation of water droplets suspended in the atmosphere just like dew on the blades of grass. Condensation takes place when the local temperature becomes equal to or less than the dew point. In aircrafts and launch vehicles, the local flow aerodynamics causes reduction in local temperature leading to condensation

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## RPK

All these images are obtained today April 22, 2013, through INSAT Satellites... Happy Earth Day...!






PSLV C16 Flight Profile

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## S-DUCT

*IRNSS Architecture*

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## S-DUCT

Antariksh: ISRO Unified Launch vehicle

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Antariksh: ISRO Unified Launch vehicle



What is the territorial range of the IRNSS? And isn't S-200 in development and the SC 160 too- how much of the ULV have we realized so far?


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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> What is the territorial range of the IRNSS? And isn't S-200 in development and the SC 160 too- how much of the ULV have we realized so far?







functional qualification test S-200 SRB has been complete,so i guess it is completed.SC 160 is a semi-cryogenic engine that uses staged combustion cycle to generation 2000KN.Check page 167 for its current status.
Parts status
S-200 SRB: developed
CE-20: 2017(targeted)
SCE-2000 2016(Targeted)
Building blocks of ULV are current in development so IMO,ULV 1st flight will occure in next decade.

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## rosstaylor

Lilo said:


> Iam sure that ISRO 's missions are quite economical..
> ..but i seriously think the reporter missed adding one or two zeros at the end of the 50 crore figure
> 
> even In the same article the total cost of the manned flight was stated to be 10,000 crores....and a figure of 50 crore/year jus doesnt seem right ...
> 
> do u have any other source to verify the above article...?
> 
> Here's another albeit older article which madhavan nair says that the cost of the manned space mission will be between 10000-15000 crore ($2.2-$3.3 billion) over eight years



I would like to ask you one question.... What is the most important objective of ISRO?


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## kurup

S-DUCT said:


> Antariksh: ISRO Unified Launch vehicle


 @S-DUCT : Is this ULV based on MKIII ??



rosstaylor said:


> I would like to ask you one question.... What is the most important objective of ISRO?



Although the question is not aimed at me , IMHO , the most important objective of ISRO right now will be to master the cryogenic technology.Rest all of our space advancements will be based on how successfull we will be able to master the technology.


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## S-DUCT

@kurup: Not entirely,but SRB and CE will be derived.

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## RPK

Development of Flight Suit in ISRO
Left - Functional elements of flight suit
Right - Fabric layup in flight suit and LCG

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## BlueDot_in_Space

RPK said:


> Development of Flight Suit in ISRO
> Left - Functional elements of flight suit
> Right - Fabric layup in flight suit and LCG



 hmmmmmmmmmmm


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## RPK

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> hmmmmmmmmmmm



 No?........

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## S-DUCT

Cryo Engine Hot Test
The cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kN (vacuum) with a specific impulse of 454 s. The engine works on stage combustion cycle in the pump fed mode with an integrated turbo pump operating at 40,000 rpm. It is also equipped with two steering engines, each developing a thrust of 2 kN, to enable three axis stability of the launch vehicle during the mission. Another unique feature is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio which ensures optimum propellant management for the mission.

Source:ISRO FB

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Cryo Engine Hot Test
> The cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kN (vacuum) with a specific impulse of 454 s. The engine works on stage combustion cycle in the pump fed mode with an integrated turbo pump operating at 40,000 rpm. It is also equipped with two steering engines, each developing a thrust of 2 kN, to enable three axis stability of the launch vehicle during the mission. Another unique feature is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio which ensures optimum propellant management for the mission.
> 
> Source:ISRO FB



Can I borrow one to roast kukads/chicken/Murga?



RPK said:


> No?........



YES!!! under going testing. Is of same color, Saffron, (I hope I know colors) as in the cgi.

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## lepziboy



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## BlueDot_in_Space

lepziboy said:


>




One of the first few flight suit engineering models. in the pic, it undergoing test for leakages.

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## S-DUCT

Indigenous GSLV to be moved to Sriharikota by May 15 - The Hindu

Ahead of its crucial and long-awaited launch in July or August, *fully indigenous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-D5 is being readied to be shifted to the Sriharikota launch port by May 15, according to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.*

GSLV-D5, powered by indigenous cryogenic upper stage, is being given final touches at the Mahendragiri centre in Tamil Nadu. GSLV-F06, launched in December 2010 and powered by a Russian cryogenic stage engine, failed. Before that, the GSLV-D3, flown with a home-grown cryogenic stage engine, also failed in April 2010. Since then, ISRO has made many modifications and corrections in the engine. I*t has conducted 35 ground tests and a simulated high-altitude test till as recently as March, Dr. Radhakrishnan said in his lecture in memory of Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre on Saturday.*

An Indian GSLV that can lift communication satellites weighing up to two tonnes into orbit is badly needed to keep up the satellite capacity for different users and the country&#8217;s self-reliance in launching its own communication satellites. Dr. Radhakrishnan said *mid-June would see the launch of the first regional navigational satellite, R1A, [R one A] on PSLV-C22 rocket. After a review next week, the spacecraft would be moved to Sriharikota. This would be followed by launch of meteorology satellite INSAT-3D and advanced communication spacecraft GSAT-7 &#8212; from Kourou, French Guiana.*

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## peaceful

can't wait for the next GSLV fireworks performance. 

the one we saw 3 years ago was just amazing.

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## dekho

peaceful said:


> can't wait for the next GSLV fireworks performance.
> 
> the one we saw 3 years ago was just amazing.



That's not a nice thing to say.


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## S-DUCT

GSLV D3 failed due to some problem in turbopumps supplied by MTAR pvt .

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## SR-91

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> One of the first few flight suit engineering models. in the pic, it undergoing test for leakages.


 @BlueDot_in_Space Our space suit,is it anything close to this pic above?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

SR-91 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space Our space suit,is it anything close to this pic above?



The pic is of an engineering model. The space suit will be based on it, but will look far better than the engineering model like this

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## SR-91

im horrible in visualization, can u show a illustration 

Thank you sir


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## S-DUCT

> Clear Pic of RLV-TD under construction

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## S-DUCT

S-DUCT said:


>


 @BlueDot_in_Space:Why they are constructing two RLV-TD prototypes for HEX mission?>


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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space:Why they are constructing two RLV-TD prototypes for HEX mission?>



3 HEX missions, HEX01,02,03, have been planned. HEX01 & 02 are to be conducted by 2017 and work on HEX03 will start in 2014-15.

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## S-DUCT

Orbiter for Human Spaceflight Project (HSP)

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Orbiter for Human Spaceflight Project (HSP)



Nice!!! they have modified the PSLV PS4 stage into an orbital vehicle with addition of a service module and crew reentry module.

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## S-DUCT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Nice!!! they have modified the PSLV PS4 stage into an orbital vehicle with addition of a service module and crew reentry module.


Is it completely indigenous or is it based on USSR soyuz manned capsule.?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Is it completely indigenous or is it based on USSR soyuz manned capsule.?



its indigenous design.

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## buddyboyyash

S-DUCT said:


> Is it completely indigenous or is it based on USSR soyuz manned capsule.?



completely indigenous but inspired from soyuz....

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111762082825574187840/posts/HASx3jC9c8z

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## S-DUCT

ISRO to launch two student satellites - Sci/Tech - DNA

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has collaborated with the student community to develop and launch satellites, is overseeing the development of two more student satellite.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which has collaborated with the student community to develop and launch satellites, is overseeing the development of two more student satellite.

Among them will be STUDSAT-2 ,which will be built by a consortium of multiple engineering colleges affiliated to Visveswaraya Technological University (VTU). The STUDSAT-2, according to the STUDSAT team, is a twin satellite mission that aims to demonstrate inter-satellite communication and increasing temporal resolution for remote-sensing applications.

STUDSAT-2 is the second satellite to be launched by the consortium of engineering colleges after the STUDSAT-1, which was launched in 2010. The objective of the first satellite was to see to it that educational institutions develop miniature satellites and communication link between the satellite and ground station, capturing the image of earth with a resolution of 90 metres and transmitting the payload and telemetry data to the earth station.

The STUDSAT-2&#8217;s objective will be to demonstrate inter-satellite communication with twin nano satellites. Another student satellite to be launched by Isro would be Pratham, which has been under development for some time by the IIT-Bombay. The student satellites will piggyback with other big satellites launched by the space agency.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

buddyboyyash said:


> completely indigenous but inspired from soyuz....
> 
> https://plus.google.com/u/0/111762082825574187840/posts/HASx3jC9c8z



How do you define inspired from soyuz?? Having a service module and a crew reentry module doesnot mean its inspired by soyuz. If thats the case, the design is more similar to gemini or apollo. 

Gemini







Apollo







soyuz






The Crew modules comparison: Crew module is more similar in shape to US designs.


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## buddyboyyash

@BlueDot_in_Space

guess u r right but thats wat i had found on net....


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Possible ULV configurations*

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## IND151

* India's space agency is planning to have a total of five rocket launches in 2013 *from its rocket launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here. This will include a mission to Mars later this year.

*Four of the launches are expected to happen between June and December, including the launch of communication satellite G-Sat 14 using heavier rocket &#8211; Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) &#8211; powered with a domestic cryogenic engine. *

*&#8220;Between June 10 and 15 we are planning to launch the first navigational satellite, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-R1A (IRNSS-R1A) and it will be followed by the launch of G-Sat 14 some time in July,&#8221;* a senior official at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, preferring anonymity.

According to officials, the assembling of two rockets is going on at a good pace at the rocket launch centre. *The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) version that will carry the navigation satellite is being assembled at the first launch pad.*

&#8220;The assembling of the first stage/engine and the strap on motors has been completed. The second stage is under preparation. The satellite is expected soon from the satellite centre in Bangalore,&#8221; officials said.

The *IRNSS-R1A* satellite will be the *first* of *seven satellites* to be launched into earth orbit to provide* real-time position, navigation and time services to multiple users.* The space agency plans to *launch* the *second* navigation satellite* three months *after in-orbit tests of the first one and the* remaining five satellites over a 14-month period by 2014-15.*

These two launches will be followed by the mission to Mars later this year. The launch of one more remote sensing satellite is also being planned before the end of this year.

In February this year India launched the Indo-French Saral satellite and six other small foreign satellites using the PSLV rocket.

India started putting into space third-party satellites for a fee in 1999 on its PSLV-C2 rocket. Since then India has been successful in launching medium-weight satellites for overseas agencies. Initially ISRO started carrying third-party satellites atop PSLV rockets as co-passengers of its own remote sensing/earth observation satellites.

In 2007 ISRO for the first time launched an Italian satellite &#8211; Agile &#8211; as a standalone for a fee.

India has earned a revenue of $17.17 million and euro 32.28 million by launching 35 foreign satellites till date, parliament was told recently by V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office.

&#8220;Some customers paid in dollars and some in euros and hence we are giving it separately,&#8221; an ISRO official said.

India to have 5 rocket launches, including Mars mission, in 2013 | idrw.org

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## AUTOBOTS

HOPE INDIANS GET SUCCESS

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## karan21

AUTOBOTS said:


> HOPE INDIANS GET SUCCESS



Why do you??


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## AUTOBOTS

karan21 said:


> Why do you??



means what??


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## abhishekayyagari

Hi everyone i have some classfied info about indo-ukraine cooperation on the development of the proposed development of 2mn semi cryogenic engine info

i will post it if there is sufficent intrest


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## abhishekayyagari

please read the timeline of events as i post it


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## abhishekayyagari

the first step is isro decleration of intent to develop a huge 2 mega newton extremely efficent staged combustion first stage semi cryo engine

its details goes as follows

In 2008, ISRO initiated a program to develop
semi cryogenic engine technology to allow
low cost access to space. The program aims
to complete the engine design, fabrication
and testing within 6 years. The goal is to
develop an extremely efficient, high-
pressure staged combustion cycle engine
with a vacuum thrust of 2000 kN. The semi
cryogenic engine uses a combination of
liquid Oxygen and Kerosene (ISRO uses
ISROSENE) as propellants which are eco-
friendly and cost effective. Using this
engine, a semi cryogenic stage will be
developed that will constitute the core stage
of ISRO&#8217;s future launch vehicles (unified
launch vehicle (ULV) and re-usable launch
vehicles (RLV)).

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## BlueDot_in_Space

abhishekayyagari said:


> the first step is isro decleration of intent to develop a huge 2 mega newton extremely efficent staged combustion first stage semi cryo engine
> 
> its details goes as follows



ISRO is developing 2 mega newton sermi cryo engine


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## abhishekayyagari

ISRO has plans for a Semi Cryogenic Stage
(SC160) with 160 ton propellant loading
powered by the 2000 kN semi cryogenic
engine to be used in place of L110 stage of
GSLV Mk III. This will enhance the GTO
payload capability from 4 T to 6 T. In the
12th FYP this stage development will be
initiated.
Updates:
Annual report 2011-2012: Engine design,
generation of fabrication drawing of sub
systems and integration drawings have been
completed. Preliminary Design Review of
Engine Gimbal Control system have been
completed and technical specification
document of both Hydraulic Actuation
System and Hydraulic Power System
generated. Hypergolic igniter trials have
been successfully demonstrated. Single
element of pre burner and thrust chamber
are realised. 3 tests have been completed for
single element Semi cryo pre-burner injector.

yes it is doing it now

now comes the classfied part

these are the classfied communications that took place in between ukraine and USA EMBASSY regarding this joint development

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## abhishekayyagari

sorry to keep u guys waiting its comming

SUBJECT: UKRAINE: APPEAL FOR USG
FORBEARANCE ON INDIA SPACE
PROGRAM COOPERATION
Classified By: Political Counselor
Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d)

1. (C) This is a request for
guidance. Request that the
Department provide the U.S. position
regarding Ukraine
company Yuzhnoye's contract to
prepare blueprints for a
semi-cryogenic, liquid-oxygen/
kerosene-fueled rocket engine
for the Indian Space Research
Organization, as detailed
below, and especially whether the
U.S. would have any
objections to fulfillment of the
contract.


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## abhishekayyagari

2. (U) We met September 5 with
National Space Agency of
Ukraine (NSAU) Deputy Director
General Eduard Kuznetsov at
Ukrainian request. He was joined by
NSAU Division Director
Ihor Chuprin; NSAU International
Cooperation Department
Deputy Director Volodymyr Fedotov;
Yuzhnoye Construction
Bureau Department Director for
Marketing, Export Control, and
Licensing Hennadiy Varyanychko; and
MFA Arms Control and
Military Technical Cooperation
Counselor Oleh Belokolos.
Kuznetsov began his presentation by
stressing Ukraine's
scrupulous observance of Missile
Technology Control Regime
(MTCR) requirements.

Ukraine's
strict adherence to MTCR had
led the Ukrainian government to
cancel Pavlohrad Chemical
Plant's export license to provide
mixers to Cyano Chemisive
Systems of India. As a result,
Cyano Chemisive Systems sued
Pavlohrad Chemical Plant, and
Pavlohrad Chemical was blocked
from conducting business in India
for a 7-year period, losing
numerous potential business
opportunities. Furthermore,
Pavlohrad Chemical's competitors in
the tender, U.S.
companies Mayers and Thiokol, had
stepped in to secure
Pavlohrad Chemical's contract.

(SBU) With this painful
experience and in the spirit of
openness, Kuznetsov continued, NSAU
was sharing the details
of a contract between Yuzhnoye and
the Indian Space Research
Organization (INSRO) for Yuzhnoye to
supply plans and
technical specifications for the
construction of a
semi-cryogenic, liquid-fuel rocket
engine. Realizing the
MTCR sensitivities of the contract,
Kuznetsov stressed the
number of safeguards that the
Ukrainian government had built
into the contract, as detailed in
the non-paper in para 5.

In a conversation after the
meeting, Varyanychko
specified that the contract was for
delivery of blueprints
for the rocket engine that ISRO
would use to build its own
engine; Ukrainian companies simply
did not have the
capability actually to construct the
engine themselves. He
stressed that the information would
allow ISRO to build only
one model of engine and reiterated
the point that Yuzhnoye
would not provide any engineering or
technical details on how
the plans had been developed.
Belokolos noted that, if
Ukraine lost the contract, Russian
companies would step in


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## BlueDot_in_Space

go here

07KYIV2245, UKRAINE: APPEAL FOR USG FORBEARANCE ON INDIA SPACE | Wikileaks: Ukraine

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## abhishekayyagari

and warned that the U.S.-Ukraine
relationship would be very
negatively affected if the public
and government officials
were to learn that the U.S. had
prevented the deal from going
through. Varyanychko said the State
Export Control Service
had earlier authorized a license to
negotiate the deal, but
was now holding up the export
license to fulfill the
contract. He appealed for a speedy
and positive U.S.
response.

you are the boss


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Actually this cooperation with Ukraine is not a secret as one can also find that here 

Joint Statement issued during the State Visit of President of Ukraine on


Its all about getting knowledge that will help ISRO to expedite the engine development process.

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## S-DUCT

Hmm,I always suspected Ukraine's hand in SCE project.So now its clear that they are helping us.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Hmm,I always suspected Ukraine's hand in SCE project.So now its clear that they are helping us.



they will provide blueprints of a semi cryo engine nothing more, as they themselves cannot manufacture it. It must be a USSR relic that fell into their hands. Plenty of other stuff will still have to be done by ISRO, Blueprint will help in expediting the process of developing indigenous engine.

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## Nisha

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> they will provide blueprints of a semi cryo engine nothing more, as they themselves cannot manufacture it. It must be a USSR relic that fell into their hands. Plenty of other stuff will still have to be done by ISRO, Blueprint will help in expediting the process of developing indigenous engine.






Hence why China is smart. They put so much effort into Cyberwarfare, they are able to steal all this info from the former USSR. Guess what? Nothing happens to them. Nothing at all.


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## S-DUCT

Nisha said:


> Hence why China is smart. They put so much effort into Cyberwarfare, they are able to steal all this info from the former USSR. Guess what? Nothing happens to them. Nothing at all.


Ukraine being a member of MTCR sold Turbofan engine design for Y-20 strategic lifter.Guess what.? no one including USA raised objections.While in 1993 USA blocked cryo-technolgy assitance from russia to India.It seems that, Rules are made only for non P-5 countries.

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## IndoUS

S-DUCT said:


> Ukraine being a member of MTCR sold Turbofan engine design for Y-20 strategic lifter.Guess what.? no one including USA raised objections.While in 1993 USA blocked cryo-technolgy assitance from russia to India.It seems that, Rules are made only for non P-5 countries.



You have to also look at this way, till now US was an ally of Pakistan, and we were/are allied with the Soviets/Russians and since US and the Russians were at odds they wouldn't want any high level technology falling into the hands of theirs enemy's friend. But now that the playing field are different and the US is not a pro Pakistan or China, they are rapidly trying to win support in India by pulling deals such as Nuclear deal and the international waiver for India.

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## Nisha

IndoUS said:


> You have to also look at this way, till now US was an ally of Pakistan, and we were/are allied with the Soviets/Russians and since US and the Russians were at odds they wouldn't want any high level technology falling into the hands of theirs enemy's friend. But now that the playing field are different and the US is not a pro Pakistan or China, they are rapidly trying to win support in India by pulling deals such as Nuclear deal and the international waiver for India.





Exactly, the ever changing geo political game. People nee dto realize those were different times, different perceptions. Times are changing in this constantly revolving environment.


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## S-DUCT

IndoUS said:


> You have to also look at this way, till now US was an ally of Pakistan, and we were/are allied with the Soviets/Russians and since US and the Russians were at odds they wouldn't want any high level technology falling into the hands of theirs enemy's friend. But now that the playing field are different and the US is not a pro Pakistan or China, they are rapidly trying to win support in India by pulling deals such as Nuclear deal and the international waiver for India.


Yeah.But still,they will not sell critical technologies to us.Suppose even if we were ally to USA in 1990s,then still they would'nt let ISRO to get Cryo-technology.

US stepped backed form giving TOT of Javelin ATGM,while Russia helped us design PWR for INS Arihant.


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## abhishekayyagari

the vital info of any thing is not stored in the computers that are connected to the internet.
They are all stored in the old fashioned way in the form of documents in safe vaults


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## S-DUCT

*Manned Space Mission*


> The Government is nierher planning a manned mission to space by 2015 nor it has any plan at present to set up a space station in future. However, the Government has approved development of a few critical technologies relevant for manned mission.
> 
> The Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions and in the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office Shri V. Narayanasamy Gave this information in reply to a written question in the Lok Sabha today.


Via PIB

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## sudhir007

Marketing arm of Isro loses plea in SC

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition by the Isro&#8217;s marketing arm challenging arbitration proceedings initiated against it by private company Devas Multimedia in Singapore under international laws over the cancellation of a satellite deal.

Antrix Corporation can appeal today&#8217;s judgment or face proceedings in Singapore under the rules of the International Chambers of Commerce.

The Centre had in 2011 cited national interest and cancelled the 2005 deal under which Antrix was to provide transponders aboard Isro satellites to Devas for multimedia and video services to mobile users on the ground.

Antrix had planned to invest about Rs 800 crore on two satellites and provide 90 per cent of their capacity to Devas. But two government probes raised suspicions that former Isro officials engaged in &#8220;collusive behaviour&#8221; to load the deal in favour of Devas and exposed the Centre to financial risk.

When Devas sought to initiate proceedings in Singapore, Antrix had insisted they be held in India and moved the Supreme Court. In April last year, the bench of Justice (now Chief Justice) Altamas Kabir and Justice S.S. Nijjar had stayed Antrix&#8217;s participation in proceedings in Singapore. Today, however, the bench dismissed Antrix&#8217;s plea.

Antrix is involved in marketing India&#8217;s space technology capabilities &#8212; hardware, software, satellites and launch services &#8212; to foreign customers. Several meetings between Antrix officials and Devas after the decision to cancel the deal remain unexplained elements of the row, space department insiders had said last March, more than a year after the contract was cancelled.


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## sudhir007

Comet unlikely to affect Mars Orbiter mission: ISRO - The Hindu

The scheduled launch of Mars Orbiter mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in October-November this year is unlikely to be affected by a comet approaching the red planet.

Delivering the National Technology Day lecture at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) on Friday, M. Annadurai, Director, IRS & SSS, ISRO Satellite Centre, said the implications would be studied as the comet approached Mars but there would not be any problem with the orbiter&#8217;s launch.

Ready for first mission

He said the spacecraft for ISRO&#8217;s first interplanetary mission was getting ready and it would be injected by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle .

It would reach Mars after a nine-month journey and keep going around it in an elliptical orbit.

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## buddyboyyash

does any1 remember GSLV cryogenic going to sriharikota in 2-3 days??..... m so excited


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## RPK

Reverse Flow Multiple Nozzle Solid Rocket Motor Static Test

Crew Escape System (CES) of Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP) calls for the design and development of a different class of special purpose motor. Crew Escape System (CES) is a reverse flow motor with multiple nozzles mounted on the forward end so as to keep hot exhaust gases as far from the crew module as possible. Low altitude Escape Motor (LEM) has to produce enough thrust to pull the crew module away from the launch vehicle within milliseconds of initiation. Low altitude Escape Motor (LEM) is part of a critical system that allows the astronaut in crew module to safely separate from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency during launch pad operation or in the initial ascent phase of launch. The design of reverse flow solid rocket motor with multiple nozzles is a new and innovative task for ISRO.

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## Abingdonboy

Yes it is an Israeli satellite that was only launched by India but still, an interesting watch (for me anyway).

+apparently Israeli shares some of the data with India.

++India's own RISAT-2 is based on the TecSAR.

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## jiki

Sorry x posting frm a separate thread but it sud be in space category 

*India to use geo-stationery satellites for missile defence* 
India to use geo-stationery satellites for missile defence - The Times of India

Then GOI is trying actually this kindaa thng *DSP(Defence support program)
*Defense Support Program - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


.it has a big cylinder pointing to earth with a infra red sensor inside. can detect missile and space launches as well as large explosions. We can easily put 7-10 of dem in 5yrs bcoz these are just 2.3 ton machines .....normal GSLV-D5 can do dis work but only concern is the sensors and thermal sensing devices we r not much shining in producing high end desi therml imager .....we might need israeli help on the main sensor from the likes of rafael or litening type airborne product.

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## RPK

GSLV MKIII Payload Fairing - Boattail Test

The PayLoad Fairing (PLF) of GSLV MKIII made out of CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic) has 5 m diameter and 10.65 m height. The PLF halves are joined together in a vertical plane by Linear Bellow System (LBS) and attached to the core vehicle by a separable band joint system. The PLF separation is achieved by simultaneous actuation of horizontal and vertical separation. A series of boattail level separation tests were successfully conducted in three different phases as part of the qualification of PLF.

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## S-DUCT



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## arp2041

Abingdonboy said:


> Yes it is an Israeli satellite that was only launched by India but still, an interesting watch (for me anyway).
> 
> +apparently Israeli shares some of the data with India.
> 
> ++India's own RISAT-2 is based on the TecSAR.



Yes, i had heard in news that it was part of the deal, India would launch the sat & Israel will share it's data with India.

+ RISAT - 2 is built by the same Israeli company that built TecSAR (IAI) with it's SAR tech.

India bought it from Israel.

The indigenous satellite with SAR tech is name RISAT-1 & is much more heavier than RISAT-2/TecSAR.

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## RPK

New Terminal with 11 m Antenna for ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) Ground Station at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS)

The ISTRAC Ground Station was set up in TERLS, VSSC, in 1986, as a Space diversity station for ASLV and PSLV missions. It also plays a critical role as an intermediate down range station, when visibility gap is considerable between the ground stations at SHAR and Mauritius. This ground station has provided support for ASLV missions, and also S band telemetry support as in Sooryagrahan 2010 programme. The station now provides support for PSLV mission and on site tracking for RH 200 and RH 300 missions. 

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## S-DUCT

*France posts space counsellor in Bangalore*
France posts space counsellor in Bangalore | idrw.org
INSAT-3D will be launched in july-august and GSAT-7 in december from Kourou in French Guiana.

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## r1MM0n

ISRO Navigation Centre near Bangalore unveiled - The Economic Times
BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation today unveiled its Navigation Centre in Bangalore Rural District for the proposed Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), a constellation of seven spacecrafts that will enable users to know their location and time accurately. 

Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanaswamy inaugurated the centre in the presence of ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, other space scientists and officials of the space department. 

INC, established at the Indian Deep Space Network complex at Byalalu, about 40 kms from here, will be responsible for the time reference, generation of navigation messages and monitoring and control of ground facilities including ranging stations, Radhakrishnan said on the occasion. 

"INC will host several key technical facilities for supporting these navigation functions and the key to the navigation support is the time reference to which all ground based systems and the satellite clocks are synchronised," he added. 

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1A is slated to be launched on board home-grown rocket, PSLV-C22 XL at 1.01 AM from Sriharikota spaceport on June 12, Radhakrishnan said. 

The 1,425-kg IRNSS-1, which will have a life span of about ten years, will provide satellite-based terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services, and also help in disaster and fleet management and vehicle tracking, he said. 

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system, and once all the spacecrafts become operational, it would provide position accuracy, similar to Global Positioning System, of better than 10 metres over India and the region extending about 1,500 kms around the country. 

It is designed to provide accurate real time Position, Navigation and Time services to users on a variety of platforms with 24x7 service availability under all-weather conditions. IRNSS will provide two basic services -- standard positioning service for common civilian users and restricted service for special authorised users.


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## r1MM0n

Designed to provide accurate real time Position, Navigation and Time services - ISRO's Satellite Navigation Centre for IRNSS | The Economic Times


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## RPK

In Pic: Scientists work from the Indian Space Research Organisation work in the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) control room at the Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013.






n Pic: View of satellite dish antennas and facilities of communication facilities that support india's spacecraft missions, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO, Navigation Centre was inaugurated at Indian Deep Space network at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013.






In Pic: View of technical complex at Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013.






In Pic: View of ISRO Navigation Centre which was inaugurated at Indian Deep Space network at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013. 

INC, established at the Indian Deep Space Network complex at Byalalu, about 40 kms from here, will be responsible for the time reference, generation of navigation messages and monitoring and control of ground facilities including ranging stations, Radhakrishnan said on the occasion."INC will host several key technical facilities for supporting these navigation functions and the key to the navigation support is the time reference to which all ground based systems and the satellite clocks are synchronised," he added.






In Pic: (Left) View of ISRO Navigation Centre which was inaugurated at Indian Deep Space network while scientists work from the Indian Space Research Organisation work in the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) control room at the Indian Deep Space Network, at Navigation Centre, which was inaugurated at Indian Deep Space network at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013. 

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1A is slated to be launched on board home-grown rocket, PSLV-C22 XL at 1.01 AM from Sriharikota spaceport on June 12, Radhakrishnan said.

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## RPK

In Pic: View of technical complex at Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO, at Byalalu outskirts of Bangalore on May 28, 2013. 

The 1,425-kg IRNSS-1, which will have a life span of about ten years, will provide satellite-based terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation services, and also help in disaster and fleet management and vehicle tracking, he said.

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## RPK

Ahmedabad






Part of Amazon Forest, South America

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## kurup

opt blue star said:


> i saw a video of a seminer an guy talking about isro misson to astoroid......anybody have any idea????



Please post the video .


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## IND151

http://www.defence.pk/forums/centra...ro-s-pslv-bags-new-clients-launch-orders.html

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## kurup

opt blue star said:


> kurup i found the video in this very thread....page78
> 
> fast forward the video to 16min listen from here carefully......from 19:35 he will talk about some kinda asteroid mission.....I ALSO FOUND ORIGINAL VIDEO OF SMILING BUDDHA TEST [OUR FIRST NUCLEAR TEST]
> wanna know more guys?????



Will look into it.

Video of smiling budha , afaik , there are only pictures.

Whatever you know , if in open domain , please share.


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## Abingdonboy



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## Guynextdoor2

opt blue star said:


> kurup sir unlike those utube fan boys THIS TIME ITS 100% REALand yes it is in open domain the cracks of the crater are perfect match......no missfart this time....but i have not yet posted my first 30 posts so im unable to post links..as soon i complete my posts i will post a thread abt it..i want all members to visite the thread..



Post some, nonsense, whatever, wanna watch that video!!!


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## RPK

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C22 flight delayed by a fortnight

IRNSS 1A, the first Indian Navigation Satellite, was scheduled for launch onboard PSLV C22 on June 12, 2013 at 01:01 hrs. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. IRNSS 1A Satellite has gone through all electrical checks and is ready for propellant filling. The PSLV C22 vehicle was fully integrated and was undergoing electrical checks. 

During the electrical checks of the launch vehicle, an anomaly was observed in one of the electro hydraulic control actuators in the second stage. It has been decided to replace this actuator. 

The replacement of the control actuator needs two weeks of activity at the Launch Pad and the Vehicle Assembly Area. Accordingly, the launch of PSLV C22 / IRNSS 1A is delayed by a fortnight with respect to the original scheduled date of June 12, 2013.

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## SR-91

Its not easy to check and recheck thousands and thousands of moving parts.But these guy can launch PSLV with their eyes closed. Waiting for the BIG DADDY, GSLV, to take off. ISRO pride of our nation!!!

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## arp2041



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## kurup

ISRO puts off navigation satellite launch due to glitch







An electrical glitch in the rocket Saturday forced the Indian space agency to put off its first regional navigation satellite (IRNSS-1A) launch June 12 by two weeks.

&#8220;During the checks of the polar launch satellite vehicle (PSLV-C22), an anomaly was noticed in one of the electro-hydraulic control actuators in the second stage,&#8221; the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.

As the replacement of the actuator will need two weeks of activity at ISRO&#8217;s spaceport at Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal, about 90 km from Chennai, the launch of the satellite has been delayed by a fortnight to June 26.

&#8220;Though the satellite has gone through all electrical checks after it was fully integrated with the rocket and ready for propellant filling, the timely detection of the glitch has made us revisit the critical component,&#8221; the statement added.

ISRO puts off navigation satellite launch due to glitch | idrw.org


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## RPK



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## BlueDot_in_Space

*CUS-5 at high altitude test facility*

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## karan21

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *CUS-5 at high altitude test facility*



Beautttttt

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## Ankit_Pujari

India's Space Programme - A Socially Responsible Endeavour


> Maintaining a YouTube Channel with a special focus on Science & Technology, one often comes across comments posted by a too clever by half individual.
> 
> The common refrain of these smart alecks is that instead of "spending money on a Space programme", India must instead uplift the "trillions of poor, hungry Indians" [their words & figures (trillions)], indicating, perhaps, that the two are somehow mutually exclusive. These "concerned individuals" conveniently disregard the fact that the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO], has been earning the country millions in revenue, an upward trend with much greater earning potential, by building & launching satellites for International customers. In addition, the organisation's commercial arm, the Antrix Corporation Ltd, has for long been offering its other services & sharing satellite data on a commercial basis. Incidentally, all this earning has been made possible by investing in the development of the very technology that these individuals contend India must not spend resources developing.
> 
> The fact of the matter is that societal upliftment & development of the Indian society has been the primary motivating force for it to embark on this hi-tech path since the 1960s. This statement of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, considered the 'Pioneer of India's Space Programme' beautifully encapsulates this objective,
> 
> "Technology is not an objective to be aimed at, but a tool to be used for the benefit of the common man".
> 
> India conducted what was one of the largest sociological experiments in the world in the 1970s, with the initiation of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment [SITE]. Using the services of an American satellite, the ATS-6, it began broadcasting educational programmes to around 2500 villages in India, putting forth the first step in undertaking a mass education initiative, thus setting the trend of leveraging Space for rural upliftment. Today, with its own INSAT-series satellites in orbit, it is able to broadcast two 24-hour Educational T.V. channels - DD Gyan Darshan 1&2, providing quality teaching remotely to even the most far-flung reaches of the country, mitigating the effect of absence of physical presence of quality teachers in those areas.
> 
> Data from ISRO's IRS series of satellites, on the other hand, with their precise early disaster warnings & weather forecasting, has been invaluable in saving several thousands of lives in regions faced with the prospect of a natural calamity striking. Much-needed data, like crop yield estimation, soil health & characteristics monitoring, among others, that aid agricultural planning are also obtained from these satellites. These areas of application - disaster management & agricultural production are especially significant to Indian concerns.
> 
> The two presentations, below, elaborate on these aspects of India's Space programme & the benefit being reaped as a result, reinforcing the criticality of Space technology in the Indian scenario.
> 
> These are, but, a few areas of application that have benefitted from the use of Space technology. Thus, given the enormous advantages the country has been reaping as a result of its endeavours in this field, it is, therefore, quite unintelligent to argue against India's goal of pursuing development of Space-related capabilities.
> 
> Godspeed
> 
> Related: ISRO planning to acquire Ka-Band Communication satellites for India [Space]



India's Space Programme - A Socially Responsible Endeavour - AA Me, IN

couldn't find the embed code to share the presentations there :|


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## S-DUCT



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## keerthan

When is dedicated communication satellite for navy will be launched


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## Dillinger

keerthan said:


> When is dedicated communication satellite for navy will be launched



Don't know about that but the glitch in the first nav sat was fixed..launch will take place early next month...in fact July 1st..India's first navigation satellite set for July 1 launch - The Economic Times Won't need GPS after this..well once the IRNSS constellation is complete.


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## S-DUCT

keerthan said:


> When is dedicated communication satellite for navy will be launched


GSAT-7 will launched atop Ariane 5 ECA in august.

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## kurup

Arianespace to launch India's INSAT-3D spacecraft on July 26







INSAT-3D being removed from its shipping container. Photo: Arianespace


BANGALORE (PTI): European space consortium Arianespace would launch India's INSAT-3D, an exclusive meteorological satellite, from its spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana on July 26.

INSAT-3D is configured with advanced meteorological payloads - a six Channel Imager, 19 Channel Sounder along with data relay transponder and satellite aided search and rescue payloads, an official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told PTI here today.

"The spacecraft platform is adopted from the standard I-2K bus with a power handling capability of around 1100 W with a lift off mass of 2090 kg," the official said.

India has also contracted Arianespace to launch (expected in August) GSAT-7, a multi-band satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band. The satellite employs the standard 2000 kg class bus (I-2K) platform with power handling capability of around 3000 W and lift-off mass of 2550 kg.

ISRO sources said preparations are on at the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota for the launch of GSLV-D5 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Development flight 5) in August.

GSLV-D5 aerodynamic characterisation has been revisited following the back-to-back failure of GSLV flights -- one with indigenous cryogenic engine and another with a Russian-made one in 2010.

Force measurements, steady and unsteady pressure measurements and aero elastic tests have already been conducted using wind tunnel models at National Aerospace Laboratory, Bangalore and Glavkosmos, Russia.

Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been carried out in-house for incremental effects on protrusion, overall aerodynamic load distribution and distribution on protrusions, according to ISRO.

GSLV-D5 would carry GSAT-14 satellite with six extended C band and six Ku band transponders, envisaged to enhance communication transponder capacity.

The satellite employs the standard 2000 Kg class bus (I-2K) with a power handling capability of around 2.5 KW and a lift-off mass of 1980 kg, the space agency added.

Arianespace to launch India's INSAT-3D spacecraft on July 26 - Brahmand.com

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## Cyberian

NASA Spaceflight Forum now has a dedicated sub forum for India's Space Program.

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## S-DUCT

Thrust (vacuum) - 2000 kN
Isp (vacuum) - 3285 N-s/kg
Chamber Pressure - 18 MPa
Mixture Ratio - 2.65
Thrust Throttling - 65-105 (% of nominal thrust) 
Engine gimbal - 8 degrees (in two planes)
Credits for pic and info:Antariksh

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## S-DUCT



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## S-DUCT

*ISRO's Reusable Technology Demonstration Programs*
In the quest of developing a reusable launch vehicle to enable low cost access to space, ISRO has been working on three technology development programs. These programs strive to demonstrate necessary technologies like high temperature reusable materials, hypersonic aerodynamics etc., that will form building blocks of ISRO's future RLVs. The three technology demonstration programs are following: 1) Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), 2) Dual Mode Ram Jet Flight Technology Demonstrator (DMRJ-FTD) and Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD).





*SRE* program aims to develop and demonstrate ballistic reentry and recovery technologies that translates into the capability to safely recover an orbiting spacecraft back to earth on a particular location. This capability is crucial in the development of TSTO RLV. Key technologies being developed in the SRE programs are reusable thermal protection system, deceleration and flotation system, re-entry control and propulsion systems, space qualified parachute systems, locating aids, etc.




*DMRJ-FTD* program aims to develop and demonstrate Air Breathing Propulsion that will be an important part of the ISRO RLV. Initial goal of the program is to demonstrate a 0.1-ton class ram-scramjet engine, after which one-ton class of turbojet, ramjet and scramjet engines are planned to be used in the (RLV-TD) program. This would pave the way for subsequent development of bigger air breathing engines (of 10 ton class and above) for advanced TSTO-RLV.
The current focus of the project is on the development of scramjet engine and flight-testing in a unique mission providing necessary dwell time within defined &#8220;Mach number&#8211;dynamic pressure&#8221; window for demonstrating the technology. The project is also establishing a scramjet propulsion test facility, the biggest of its kind in the country, for testing and qualification of combustors in scramjet/ramjet conditions.






> ISRO's Advanced Technology Vehicle with two scramjet engines


*RLV-TD* program aims to develop and demonstrate technologies required for the first stage of TSTO RLV. The program consists of a series of technology demonstration missions that is a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. A Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion. 





Credits:Antariksh

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## kurup

@S-DUCT :

AFAIK , We have already completed the SRE program.

Any idea when the DMRJ-FTD will be tested ??

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## S-DUCT

kurup said:


> @S-DUCT :
> 
> AFAIK , We have already completed the SRE program.
> 
> Any idea when the DMRJ-FTD will be tested ??


The goal of SRE program is to develope to demonstrate reusable tech like ,hypersonic reentry and NC&G tech, recovery for 2nd stage of RLV-TSTO.
Isro tested SRE-1 way back 2007.They further conduct SRE-2 .

DMRJ stands for Dual mode ramjet,means ramjet & scramjet engine in same powerpack.IIRC DMRJ was tested in 2007 using advanced technology vehicle,It must be .1T version of DMRJ.

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## kurup

S-DUCT said:


> DMRJ stands for Dual mode ramjet,means ramjet & scramjet engine in same powerpack.IIRC DMRJ was tested in 2007 using advanced technology vehicle,It must be .1T version of DMRJ.



The ATV test was in 2010 and the vehicle carried passive scramjet engine.

According to the news , they were planning an active test of scramjet engine in the next flight but no news so far , afaik .

Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: March 03, 2010

Welcome To ISRO :: Newsletter :: SpaceIndia :: January 2010 - March 2010

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## S-DUCT

kurup said:


> The ATV test was in 2010 and the vehicle carried passive scramjet engine.
> 
> According to the news , they were planning an active test of scramjet engine in the next flight but no news so far , afaik .
> 
> Welcome To ISRO :: Press Release :: March 03, 2010
> 
> Welcome To ISRO :: Newsletter :: SpaceIndia :: January 2010 - March 2010


Thanks for this info.Did'nt knew that they had put passive scramjet engine.
from ISRO annual report 12-13


> Functional qualification testing of the air intake cowl opening mechanism of scramjet engine with flight load simulation was carried out. Prior to this, numerous full-scale air intake wind tunnel tests were carried out at NAL, Bangalore and for the first time cowl opening and closing have been demonstrated during a wind tunnel blow down. Pyro actuation tests were also carried out with equivalent resisting load for the fine-tuning of actuation time.
> 
> A high frequency data acquisition unit was developed for scramjet flight-testing. In order to measure &#8220;change in vehicle acceleration&#8221; during the scramjet experiment, a ceramic servo based acceleration measurement package was developed.
> 
> Scramjet engine fabrication with super alloy Inconel 718 and Aluminium alloy AA2014 involving complex geometry is in advanced stage. A high feed machining technique (using special inserts) was evolved to improve machining of Inconel 718. First set of engine frame assembly and nozzle segment has been realised. Also, realised Kevlar wound Titanium gas bottles for high-pressure gaseous hydrogen application. Fabrication of Fuel Feed System flight structure has been carried out at an external agency.
> 
> Towards scramjet combustor ground testing facility, vacuum brazing of critical air heater modules with intricate milled cooling channels were carried out for the scramjet combustor ground testing facility. Functional testing of gaseous Hydrogen &#8211; Oxygen based pilot flame igniter was also carried out.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*IRNSS-1A*

















*PSLV C22*

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## RPK



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## RPK



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## kurup

India prepares to establish navigation satellite system

About nine years back, the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s scientists and engineers began to look at the possibility of establishing a navigation satellite system for the country, rather like America&#8217;s Global Positioning System (GPS).

Like the GPS, the Indian satellites would continually transmit data that allowed suitably equipped receivers to establish their location with considerable precision. The GPS requires a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites, supported by a global network of ground stations, to cover every part of the world. That kind of global system is expensive.

ISRO had a more limited goal &#8212; creating a system wholly in India's control for providing navigation signals over this country and surrounding areas. The cost of such a system was a major consideration.

&#8220;We looked at many thousands of configurations,&#8221; said one person who was involved in those early studies. The configuration that was finally chosen for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) required just seven satellites.

All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of about 36,000 km, taking a whole day to circle the Earth. Three of the satellites will be placed over the equator, in what is known as the geostationary orbit, where they match the Earth's rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position in the sky. The remaining four satellites will be in pairs in two inclined geosynchronous orbits. From the ground, these satellites will appear to travel in figures of &#8216;8&#8217; during the course of a day.

The project to establish the IRNSS at a cost of Rs. 1,420 crores was approved by the Union Government in June 2006. The primary service area for the system covers India and up to 1,500 km beyond its borders.

If necessary, the coverage area around India could be enhanced by adding four satellites, the ISRO Chairman, K. Radhakrishnan, told The Hindu.

The first of the IRNSS satellites is scheduled go into space aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on July 1.

Navigation satellites periodically transmit their precise position in orbit along with the exact time when each transmission takes place. Since these microwave signals travel at the speed of light, the delay between a signal&#8217;s transmission and its reception allows a receiving device to compute its distance from the satellite involved. With data from four satellites, the receiver can then work out its own position.

Navigation satellites therefore need to carry extremely accurate clocks. Each IRNSS satellite is equipped with three rubidium atomic clocks, which keep precise time down to a few tenths of a trillionth of a second in an hour. Although currently these sophisticated clocks are imported, research efforts to make them indigenously are in progress.

But for the atomic clocks to function properly, they have to be kept at within one degree Celsius of their optimum operating temperature. They must also be protected from excessive vibration and electromagnetic interference. The IRNSS satellites had therefore to be designed to ensure such an environment.

Using the time provided by the clocks and taking into account the satellite&#8217;s own position in orbit, an onboard navigation payload generates the signal that will be broadcast.

IRNSS satellites transmit signals in two microwave frequency bands known as L5 and S. The system will provide two types of services, the &#8216;Standard Positioning Service&#8217; that will be accessible to anyone and an encrypted &#8216;Restricted Service&#8217; that will be available only to the military and other government-authorised users.

The system &#8220;is expected to provide a position accuracy better than 20 metres in the primary service area,&#8221; according to an ISRO brochure. However, the space agency&#8217;s technical personnel believe its actual performance is likely to be better than that and match single-frequency U.S. GPS receivers&#8217; position accuracy of about 15 metres.

Those who wish to use the IRNSS will need receivers equipped to pick up and utilise the data transmitted by the Indian satellite system. A standard GPS receiver will not do.

ISRO's Space Applications Centre at Ahmedabad, along with industry, were in the process of developing suitable receivers, said the space agency&#8217;s chairman.

India prepares to establish navigation satellite system - The Hindu

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## Gessler

kurup said:


> India prepares to establish navigation satellite system
> 
> About nine years back, the Indian Space Research Organisation&#8217;s scientists and engineers began to look at the possibility of establishing a navigation satellite system for the country, rather like America&#8217;s Global Positioning System (GPS).
> 
> Like the GPS, the Indian satellites would continually transmit data that allowed suitably equipped receivers to establish their location with considerable precision. The GPS requires a constellation of 24 orbiting satellites, supported by a global network of ground stations, to cover every part of the world. That kind of global system is expensive.
> 
> ISRO had a more limited goal &#8212; creating a system wholly in India's control for providing navigation signals over this country and surrounding areas. The cost of such a system was a major consideration.
> 
> &#8220;We looked at many thousands of configurations,&#8221; said one person who was involved in those early studies. The configuration that was finally chosen for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) required just seven satellites.
> 
> All seven IRNSS satellites will be at a height of about 36,000 km, taking a whole day to circle the Earth. Three of the satellites will be placed over the equator, in what is known as the geostationary orbit, where they match the Earth's rotation and therefore appear from the ground to remain at a fixed position in the sky. The remaining four satellites will be in pairs in two inclined geosynchronous orbits. From the ground, these satellites will appear to travel in figures of &#8216;8&#8217; during the course of a day.
> 
> The project to establish the IRNSS at a cost of Rs. 1,420 crores was approved by the Union Government in June 2006. The primary service area for the system covers India and up to 1,500 km beyond its borders.
> 
> If necessary, the coverage area around India could be enhanced by adding four satellites, the ISRO Chairman, K. Radhakrishnan, told The Hindu.
> 
> The first of the IRNSS satellites is scheduled go into space aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on July 1.
> 
> Navigation satellites periodically transmit their precise position in orbit along with the exact time when each transmission takes place. Since these microwave signals travel at the speed of light, the delay between a signal&#8217;s transmission and its reception allows a receiving device to compute its distance from the satellite involved. With data from four satellites, the receiver can then work out its own position.
> 
> Navigation satellites therefore need to carry extremely accurate clocks. Each IRNSS satellite is equipped with three rubidium atomic clocks, which keep precise time down to a few tenths of a trillionth of a second in an hour. Although currently these sophisticated clocks are imported, research efforts to make them indigenously are in progress.
> 
> But for the atomic clocks to function properly, they have to be kept at within one degree Celsius of their optimum operating temperature. They must also be protected from excessive vibration and electromagnetic interference. The IRNSS satellites had therefore to be designed to ensure such an environment.
> 
> Using the time provided by the clocks and taking into account the satellite&#8217;s own position in orbit, an onboard navigation payload generates the signal that will be broadcast.
> 
> IRNSS satellites transmit signals in two microwave frequency bands known as L5 and S. The system will provide two types of services, the &#8216;Standard Positioning Service&#8217; that will be accessible to anyone and an encrypted &#8216;Restricted Service&#8217; that will be available only to the military and other government-authorised users.
> 
> The system &#8220;is expected to provide a position accuracy better than 20 metres in the primary service area,&#8221; according to an ISRO brochure. However, the space agency&#8217;s technical personnel believe its actual performance is likely to be better than that and match single-frequency U.S. GPS receivers&#8217; position accuracy of about 15 metres.
> 
> Those who wish to use the IRNSS will need receivers equipped to pick up and utilise the data transmitted by the Indian satellite system. A standard GPS receiver will not do.
> 
> ISRO's Space Applications Centre at Ahmedabad, along with industry, were in the process of developing suitable receivers, said the space agency&#8217;s chairman.
> 
> India prepares to establish navigation satellite system - The Hindu



The launch is closing in...

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## RPK

PSLV C22 / IRNSS 1A Mission Status »

# Launch rehearsal is in progress
# Global checks completed successfully

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## RPK

IRNSS 1A was getting ready for Themal Vacuum Test

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## Guynextdoor2

*THANK YOU CONGRESS FOR YOUR VISIONARY LEADERSHIP IN GIVING INDIA ISRO AND SUCH EXCEPTIONAL SPACE CAPABILITIES!!!!!*


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guynextdoor2 said:


> THANK YOU CONGRESS FOR YOUR VISIONARY LEADERSHIP IN GIVING INDIA ISRO AND SUCH EXCEPTIONAL SPACE CAPABILITIES!!!!!



A major correction. It was not congress but Dr Vikram Sara bhai who was the force behind creation of ISRO

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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> A major correction. It was not congress but Dr Vikram Sara bhai who was the force behind creation of ISRO



COngress nurtured it for decades after his founding, gave it support and funding, did not relent even when there were failures, stood up to international sanctions when needed. ISRO is not a private body, it's chairman is a Govt. Secretary just like any other govt. body.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guynextdoor2 said:


> COngress nurtured it for decades after his founding



Congress has nothing to do with ISRO, BARC or for that matter any successful Indian Institution. Congress only promotes nepotism, cronyism and corruption, it is devoid of vision, hard work and merit, which is in contrast to what ISRO stands for. Dont try to steal the credit of Dr Vikram sara bhai and successive ISRO directors. These ppl worked hard and nurtured a vision for india to become a leader in application of space science and technology for the benefit of Indians. Current ISRO scientists are living that vision not your stupid congress that cannot think beyond votes, caste and religion. 



Guynextdoor2 said:


> gave it support and funding, did not relent even when there were failures, stood up to international sanctions when needed.



Are fu**king joking here??? It was ppl in ISRO like Dr APJ Kalam Sir, who worked strenuously in the midst of all kind of sanctions, technology denial and meager funding from GOI. They faced many failures, but in the end built a strong base on Which todays ISRO is standing. 

On the other hand your dear congress leaders were busy with imposing emergency, commiting sikh genocide and hatching arms scandals etc, that they still continue to promote and propagate.

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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Congress has nothing to do with ISRO, BARC or for that matter any successful Indian Institution. Congress only promotes nepotism, cronyism and corruption, it is devoid of vision, hard work and merit, which is in contrast to what ISRO stands for. Dont try to steal the credit of Dr Vikram sara bhai and successive ISRO directors. These ppl worked hard and nurtured a vision for india to become a leader in application of space science and technology for the benefit of Indians. Current ISRO scientists are living that vision not your stupid congress that cannot think beyond votes, caste and religion.
> 
> 
> 
> Are fu**king joking here??? It was ppl in ISRO like Dr APJ Kalam Sir, who worked strenuously in the midst of all kind of sanctions, technology denial and meager funding from GOI. They faced many failures, but in the end built a strong base on Which todays ISRO is standing.
> 
> On the other hand your dear congress leaders were busy with imposing emergency, commiting sikh genocide and hatching arms scandals etc, that they still continue to promote and propagate.



WTF do you mean 'people like abdul kalam sir'? He was a government employee. His job was to implement govt policy. Where do you think all these labs and the billions of $$ in funding that ISRO gets every year?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guynextdoor2 said:


> WTF do you mean 'people like abdul kalam sir'? He was a government employee. His job was to implement govt policy. Where do you think all these labs and the billions of $$ in funding that ISRO gets every year?



Congress is not doing a favor to anyone by funding ISRO or for that matter any other government institution. When they get mandate from people of India, its their duty, responsibility, RAJ DHARM to serve the people and promote policies that are favorable to the republic of India. 

Also Dont behave as if funding comes from your dear party. it comes from Taxpayer i.e., citizen of India. ISRO has a vision, it takes initiative of coming up with a policy, works hard to get it approved and implements it.

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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Congress is not doing a favor to anyone by funding ISRO or for that matter any other government institution. When they get mandate from people of India, its their duty, responsibility, RAJ DHARM to serve the people and promote policies that are favorable to the republic of India.
> 
> Also Dont behave as if funding comes from your dear party. it comes from Taxpayer i.e., citizen of India. ISRO has a vision, it takes initiative of coming up with a policy, works hard to get it approved and implements it.



Yeah, bring Mamta Banerjee into department of space and you'll see how easily Raj Dharam can go down the gutters. Fact is congress has visionary apprroach, nurtured ISRO, kept it away from political interference even if failures occur. ISRO is ENTIRELY the achievement of congress. It's vision is the vision that GOI has given it.The tax Payer has not told the congress to put a space program in place, no govt. ever came to power simply by winning in space. COngress has ignored that and continued nurturing ISRO because of the great potential. They can very well put the same amount in a 100 other projects but they haven't.


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## sankranti

Guynextdoor2 said:


> Yeah, bring Mamta Banerjee into department of space and you'll see how easily Raj Dharam can go down the gutters. Fact is congress has visionary apprroach, nurtured ISRO, kept it away from political interference even if failures occur. ISRO is ENTIRELY the achievement of congress. It's vision is the vision that GOI has given it.The tax Payer has not told the congress to put a space program in place, no govt. ever came to power simply by winning in space. COngress has ignored that and continued nurturing ISRO because of the great potential. They can very well put the same amount in a 100 other projects but they haven't.



Congress tatta is claiming success for ISRO  ..........Congress is also responsible for building the Railways in India. After all if the congress had not given money the Raiways could not have been built. 

The congress is also reponsible for introducing Maruti car into india....after all if Sanjay gandhi had not taken money and got maruti here we would all be still driving fiat and ambassador cars. 

Let us also not forget to thank congress for the film industry as they had not put sanction on it and let it flourish.

We all should also thank the congress for having Sunday as a holiday. After all they could have made it a 7 day working week. 

Did I miss anything else guynextdoor ?

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## Guynextdoor2

sankranti said:


> Congress tatta is claiming success for ISRO  ..........Congress is also responsible for building the Railways in India. After all if the congress had not given money the Raiways could not have been built.
> 
> The congress is also reponsible for introducing Maruti car into india....after all if Sanjay gandhi had not taken money and got maruti here we would all be still driving fiat and ambassador cars.
> 
> Let us also not forget to thank congress for the film industry as they had not put sanction on it and let it flourish.
> 
> We all should also thank the congress for having Sunday as a holiday. After all they could have made it a 7 day working week.
> 
> Did I miss anything else guynextdoor ?



Maggot....


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## sankranti

Guynextdoor2 said:


> Maggot....



Awww ...... . don't hurt my feelings


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guynextdoor2 said:


> Yeah, bring Mamta Banerjee into department of space and you'll see how easily Raj Dharam can go down the gutters. *Fact is congress has visionary apprroach*, nurtured ISRO, kept it away from political interference even if failures occur. ISRO is ENTIRELY the achievement of congress. It's vision is the vision that GOI has given it.The tax Payer has not told the congress to put a space program in place, no govt. ever came to power simply by winning in space. COngress has ignored that and continued nurturing ISRO because of the great potential. They can very well put the same amount in a 100 other projects but they haven't.



.......congress only vision is how to remain in power.

It doesn't matter which politician is in the department of space because his/her advisers are the secretary and the Chairman of Space Commission, both come from ISRO. These two persons head the committees that formalize the policies. So my dear frnd, stop your nonsense rants about your mai/baap congress.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Joint Statement on Fourth U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue *

The Secretary and the Minister welcomed the expanded work plan endorsed by the U.S.-India Civil Space Joint Working Group in a number of areas, 

1) including measures that will improve the use of earth observation data to promote sustainable development 

2) and the compatibility-interoperability between the U.S. Global Positioning System and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. 

3) They applauded agreement by the Indian Space Research Organization and the U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Agency to explore further cooperative space exploration work, including future missions to the moon and Mars. 

4) They welcomed the announcement of NASA support through its Deep Space Network facilities to ISRO&#8217;s Mars Orbiter Mission, and 

5) *the ISRO-NASA technical discussions to integrate a U.S. L-band and Indian S-band synthetic aperture radar on an Indian spacecraft for earth observation studies. *

6) Both sides intend to cooperate bilaterally and in multilateral forums to promote efforts to ensure the long term sustainability of outer space. To this end, both sides plan to undertake discussions on areas of mutual interest such as space situational awareness, and collision avoidance as part of a Space Security Dialogue.

Source: Joint Statement on Fourth U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue | IIP Digital

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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> .......congress only vision is how to remain in power.
> 
> It doesn't matter which politician is in the department of space because his/her advisers are the secretary and the Chairman of Space Commission, both come from ISRO. These two persons head the committees that formalize the policies. So my dear frnd, stop your nonsense rants about your mai/baap congress.



No they don't. And you're just full of BS. Don't cook up stuff on your own. ISRO if a GOVT. body, budgets, slaries, policies everything needs to be approved by GOI. Every year the ISRO chairman flies down to the GOI with budgets and suggested programs. When the GOI gives approval, he begins to pay for salarie, starts/stops projects and stuff. He can't move his pencil without this.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Guynextdoor2 said:


> No they don't. *And you're just full of BS. Don't cook up stuff on your own.* ISRO if a GOVT. body, budgets, slaries, policies everything needs to be approved by GOI. Every year the ISRO chairman flies down to the GOI with budgets and suggested programs. When the GOI gives approval, he begins to pay for salarie, starts/stops projects and stuff.



Again stop peddling nonsense, congress has got no vision, except how to remain in power. That is what they have been doing for the last 60 yeras.


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## Guynextdoor2

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Again stop peddling nonsense, congress has got no vision, except how to remain in power. That is what they have been doing for the last 60 yeras.



yeah, and when 3 GSLVs fail and the chief wants money (400 Crores) to go for the next one, or when they want to create space suits they just sprinkle pixie dust and expect fairies to bring large bags of cash. Every single penny with ISRO is provided by the Union Budget. When you talk of moon missions manned missions and mars missions, that's not the GOI's vision that they are backing with real cash, but it just pops out of the sky? Fact is that in India, you have a govt. that recognizes the true complexity of the missions and never interferes- I can assure you that in other countries when a program has seen multiple failures (like GSLV that's cost us no less than 1 Billion USD in losses till now over a DECADE), they'll immedeately do the rambo act, sack scientists to show 'results'. (and eventually see their programs in the dust-bin). It is an enormus accomplishment of the congress to promote a risk taking agency. In India, all that GOI does is ask them to go back to the drawing board, guarantees non interfrence, and publicly supports them AT ALL TIMES. Your manned mission is funded by GOI too:

Development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew into a low-Earth orbit (LEO) has already begun. ISRO sources said the flight is likely to be in 2016. Government had allocated 950 million (US$16.3 million) for pre-project initiatives for 2007 through 2008. A manned mission into space would require about 124 billion (US$2.1 billion) and a period of seven years. Planning Commission estimates that a budget of 50 billion (US$860.0 million) is required for initial work on the manned mission during the eleventh five-year plan (2007&#8211;12). A project report prepared by ISRO has been cleared by space commission.[5][

And you think the congress is not showing 'vision'? Where possible, isn't it making money available for such long term projects?

Fighting for tech in MTCR (when the whole world was against us), fighting for Cryo tech, continuing with the program even when the world made fun of us (for decades)- all these were integral elements of congress wantign to make India a space power. When you talk about all these big accomplishments remember it was because of decades of support and funding by the congress that has made ISRO what it is today.

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## Star Wars

People.....please take your political nonsense out of this thread..i don't care who it is ...BJP or congress or something

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## Gessler

@Guynextdoor2

Enough of your political BS.

I thought you were dead but it seems otherwise now.

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## Guynextdoor2

Gessler said:


> @Guynextdoor2
> 
> Enough of your political BS.
> 
> I thought you were dead but it seems otherwise now.



Feeling's mutual newbie


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Chandrayaan 2 rover prototype *

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## RPK



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## Manindra

@Guynextdoor2 @BlueDot_in_Space 

Please , stop your fight in the serious thread
BJP & Congress both are national parties & both policy in defence , foreign , finance , Science & technology etc. are same

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## SRP

Countdown begins for PSLV-C22 carrying IRNSS-1A - Brahmand.com

CHENNAI (PTI): The 64-and-a-half-hour countdown for the launch of PSLV-C22, carrying India's first dedicated navigation satellite IRNSS-1A on July 1, began on Saturday at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 80 km from here.

"The 64-and-a-half-hour countdown for the launch of PSLV-C22, which will carry IRNSS-1A started this morning at 7.11 AM. We are on schedule and everything is normal," ISRO spokesman Deviprasad Karnik told PTI.

ISRO said the satellite, with navigation and ranging payloads, would provide accurate positional information to users as well as the whole region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary.

IRNSS-1A has already been mounted on an 'XL' version of the launch vehicle, ISRO's 24th mission of a PSLV.

IRNSS-1A, which will be launched at 11.41 PM on July 1, is one of seven satellites constituting the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) space segment.

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## RPK



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## sudhir007

RLV

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## li0nheart

IRNSS-R1A launched by PSLV C22.











Next missions planned are-







Best of luck ISRO!

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## agamdilawari



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## halfilhal

Can anybody tell me what is the propellant/mixture used in Indian boosters/rocket versus that used by other countries? Indian ones leave a trail of heavy smoke whereas when you see the latest launch by China, the one a few months ago by South Korea, etc., they emit a small blue flame (similar to kerosene stove) with a tadtadi sound.

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## Nan Yang

halfilhal said:


> Can anybody tell me what is the propellant/mixture used in Indian boosters/rocket versus that used by other countries? Indian ones leave a trail of heavy smoke whereas when you see the latest launch by China, the one a few months ago by South Korea, etc., they emit a small blue flame (similar to kerosene stove) with a tadtadi sound.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

halfilhal said:


> Can anybody tell me what is the propellant/mixture used in Indian boosters/rocket versus that used by other countries? Indian ones leave a trail of heavy smoke whereas when you see the latest launch by China, the one a few months ago by South Korea, etc., they emit a small blue flame (similar to kerosene stove) with a tadtadi sound.



Currently, India uses solids for its first stage and boosters thats why the smoke. China uses earth storeable liquids, so not that much smoke . SK uses semi cryo, blue flame and cleaner. Both India and china planing to swicth to semi cryos

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## S-DUCT

Nan Yang said:


>


GSLV-MK1 was launched in 2001 that had 1.5T payload capacity of GTO using russian cryo engines ,GSLV MK2 that has indian cryoengine had 1st unsuccessful flight in 2010.
GSLV-MK3 payload to GTO is 4T not 5T.

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## RPK

Indus River Valley, Pakistan
This image is obtained through Resourcesat 2's Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS 3). The LISS 3 instrument is multispectral in the visible to mid infrared region with a spatial resolution of 24m and swath width of 140km.






Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang, China
This image is obtained through Resourcesat 2's Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS 3). The LISS 3 instrument is multispectral in the visible to mid infrared region with a spatial resolution of 24m and swath width of 140km.






White Sands, New Mexico, United States 
This image is obtained through Resourcesat 2's Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS 3). The LISS 3 instrument is multispectral in the visible to mid infrared region with a spatial resolution of 24m and swath width of 140km.






Sundarbans
This image is obtained through RISAT 1

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## RPK

India Mosaic
This image is obtained through RISAT 1

IRNSS 1A Mission Update » 

# Orbit raising manoevers completed with fifth Apogee Motor Firing (AMF) on July 06, 2013 at 16:57 hrs (IST) and performance is normal.
# Satellite is in Geo Synchronous Orbit (GSO) with 27 deg inclination at 44 deg E longitude.
# Present orbital parameters are : apogee 35870 km, perigee 35484 km and orbital period is 23h 50m.
# All the spacecraft subsystem are evaluated and functioning normal.

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## Manindra

*ISRO begins tests on indigenous Cryogenic Engine for the much awaited GSLV D5 Mission​*

GSLV Mark II




The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has commenced testing the indigenously developed cryogenic engine, which has been mounted on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) &#8212; MK II.

Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan had announced earlier that the GSLV D5 mission, carrying GSAT-14, the communication satellite, would be launched on August 6 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

&#8220;Vehicle integration is going on at present. The cryogenic engine has been mounted on the launch vehicle, and elaborate checks are on,&#8221; Isro spokesperson Deviprasad Karnik said.

After a series of successful high-altitude tests at Isro's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Thiruvananthapuram in the last few months, the engine was moved to Sriharikota, from where the GSLV will be launched.

The GSLV is a three-stage vehicle &#8212; the first stage has solid fuel, and the second stage is an engine carrying liquid propellant. The third stage, the indigenously built cryogenic upper stage, uses cryogenic propellants. According to senior Isro officials, the cryogenic stage enhances India's indigenous capability to launch communication satellites and other ambitious space missions.

This launch is crucial for India as the previous two GSLV missions in 2010 were unsuccessful. Of the two previous missions, one of the launch vehicles was fitted with the Indian cryogenic engine.

The cryo-powered GSLV rockets are important for the country's future space programmes like Chandrayaan-2. All the initial GSLV missions were fitted with cryogenic engines purchased from Russia. In 1992, when the United States pressured Russia to deny India the cryogenic technology, India decided to build the engine on its own.

Since then scientists at Isro have been working on developing an indigenous cryo engine, tested in a previous GSLV mission in 2010, which ended in failure.

Source:- ISRO gets busy with GSLV launch - The Hindu

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## IND151

ISRO gets busy with GSLV launch | idrw.org


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## invincible

when is rlv-td is going to be launched? anybody


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## RPK

Arrival of INSAT 3D Satellite in Kourou, French Guiana

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## S-DUCT

invincible said:


> when is rlv-td is going to be launched? anybody







HEX-01 test is planned in 2014,Previous date was sep. 2013.

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## gslv mk3

*Salt Lake City, Kolkata
This polarimetric image is obtained through RISAT 1*

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## S-DUCT



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## RPK

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10200719854812327










Arianespace&#8217;s upcoming Ariane 5 launch set for July 26, 2013, INSAT 3D will be orbited along with European Space Agency's Alphasat satellite. INSAT 3D which has a mass at liftoff of approximately 2100 kg, is designed to provide enhanced meteorological observation and the monitoring of land / ocean surfaces. Also carried a data relay transponder, along with a system to assist in satellite aided search and rescue operations. INSAT 3D will be riding as the Ariane 5 mission&#8217;s lower payload, located under Alphasat inside the SYLDA dispenser system.

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## RPK

Salt Lake City, Kolkata
This polarimetric image is obtained through RISAT 1


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## RPK

Delhi
This image is obtained through RISAT 1


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## RPK

INSAT3D satellite transfered to Final Assembly Building of Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana. Ariane Flight VA214 is set for July 26, 2013, between 1.23 AM and 2:41 AM IST.


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## RPK



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## RPK

# IRNSS 1A is positioned in the designated equatorial cross over longitude of 55 deg E.
# All operations are normal.
# In Orbit Test is in progress.


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## RPK

Final payload integration is underway for Arianespace&#8217;s next flight, with the INSAT 3D weather satellite now integrated atop its Ariane 5 launcher at the Spaceport in French Guiana. Ariane Flight VA214 is set for July 26, 2013, between 1.23 AM and 2:41 AM IST.


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## RPK

INSAT 3D is installed on Arianespace's Ariane 5 launcher, integration steps were performed inside the Spaceport&#8217;s Final Assembly Building in French Guiana. Ariane Flight VA214 is set for July 26, 2013, between 1.23 AM and 2:41 AM IST.

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## IndoCarib

*India plans to launch first Mars mission, test large rocket this year*

India plans a feverish schedule of satellite launches in the second half of this year, including liftoff of the country's first robotic Mars mission and a crucial test of an indigenous rocket designed to loft large spacecraft to high-altitude orbits and deep space.

If the missions launch successfully and on schedule, 2013 could be a banner year for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which has matured at a measured pace over the last few decades, debuting environmental and communications satellites and an unmanned mission to the moon.

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), respectively tailored for light- and medium-class payloads, give ISRO independent access to space. They are also sometimes sold commercially to foreign operators to loft those nations' satellites. [Indian Rocket Launching 7 Satellites at Once (Photos)]

"This year is going to be one of the most important milestone years for ISRO's program," said M. Chandradathan, director of India's Liquid Propulsion Systems Center, in remarks following a successful launch in early July. "We plan to have five successful launches this year, and two launches have already gone."

*India's ambitious year in space*

India has never conducted more than three space launches in a single calendar year. But in 2013, including satellites and rockets, India could launch up to 12 space missions before the end of December.

The year began with the launch of seven satellites aboard India's PSLV, including a French-Indian ocean-research craft, a Canadian asteroid detection mission and a tiny CubeSat run by a computer borrowed from a smartphone.

India completed its second launch of the year July 1, lofting the first spacecraft dedicated to the country's satellite navigation system, which seeks to improve GPS positioning coverage over India and neighboring regions.

Three more satellites for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) are being manufactured and tested for launches next year.

While India's workhorse PSLV has amassed 23 straight successful launches, development of the country's more capable GSLV has hit setback after setback.

*India's big rocket: GSLV*

Steeper challenges await Indian engineers in the second half of 2013, beginning with the next launch of the country's largest rocket, the GSLV, as soon as Aug. 6.

First developed in the late 1990s to reduce India's reliance on foreign rockets, the GSLV has a troubled track record. In seven launches since 2001, it has delivered its payload to the correct orbit only twice.

India purchased Russian engines to power the third stage on the first five GSLV missions, but India is trying to perfect its own third-stage engine to make the GSLV an all-Indian rocket. The Russian and Indian upper stages burn liquid hydrogen fuel stored at cryogenic temperatures.

The first test flight of the Indian-built upper-stage engine, a configuration known as the GSLV Mk.2, fell short of Earth orbit in April 2010, after the cryogenic engine stopped working moments after it ignited. India launched another GSLV in December 2010 with a Russian upper-stage engine, but the rocket exploded less than a minute after liftoff.

The GSLV has been grounded since then, while officials conducted a comprehensive review of the program and subjected the Indian-built upper stage to extensive testing.

"We are sure that with the adjustments we have made and the meticulous reviews we have gone through, this [GSLV upper stage] should perform precisely and we'll have a very successful GSLV mission," said S. Ramakrishnan, director of India's Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, which oversees rocket developments. "We have a great challenge ahead, but I'm sure that one day GSLV will be operational and as reliable as PSLV."

ISRO is putting the GSAT 14 communications satellite on the GSLV for the rocket's upcoming test flight.

*Indian satellites*

As workers at ISRO's launch base at Sriharikota Island on India's east coast prepare the GSLV for this next test flight, another team of Indian engineers are fueling two satellites for launch on European Ariane 5 rockets this summer.

The INSAT 3D satellite, scheduled for an Ariane 5 launch July 25, will modernize India's weather satellite system. The next Ariane launch, set for late August, will loft the GSAT 7 communications satellite, intended to serve the Indian Navy.

India has relied on Europe's Ariane rockets to launch its largest satellites since the 1980s, but officials hope successful test flights of the GSLV Mk.2 next month and a larger GSLV Mk.3 rocket next year will bring those satellite launches back to Indian soil.

Two more PSLV launches will round out the year.

India's first Mars orbiter is set for launch in late October, when it will begin a journey to Mars, set to arrive in September 2014.

Reportedly costing $76 million, the robotic mission will mark India's first launch to the Red Planet, primarily serving as a test of technologies and techniques required for deep space probes.

The Mars orbiter's five scientific instruments will study the Martian surface and atmosphere, map mineralogy and attempt to detect the presence and concentrations of methane.

India plans another PSLV mission at the end of 2013, carrying France's Spot 7 Earth-observation satellite, an example of inroads made by ISRO's commercial sales division in marketing Indian rockets for the launch of foreign satellites.

"It's going to be full of activity, and we should be able to do everything correctly," said S.K. Shivakumar, director of ISRO's satellite center, in a speech to Indian engineers. "With support from all of you, we should be able to really deliver the goods in the proper way and keep the country abreast with all these developments."

India plans to launch first Mars mission, test large rocket this year - NBC News.com


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## RPK

The National Emblem of India is placed on Ariane 5's payload fairing inside the Final Assembly Building of Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana. Ariane Flight VA214 is set for July 26, 2013, between 1.23 AM and 2:41 AM IST.






ISRO's logo is placed on Ariane 5 payload fairing by launch team members working inside the Final Assembly Building at Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane 5 liftoff with INSAT 3D and Alphasat is set for July 26, 2013, between 1.23 AM and 2:41 AM IST at the spaceport&#8217;s ELA3 launch complex.

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## rajgoynar

inset 3d successfully launched...


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## kurup

^^^^^ http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian-defence/266961-insat-3d-launched-successfully.html


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## S-DUCT

GS2 - Cryo Integrated Separation test successfully done in early 2013. The test simulated the temperature at interfaces by filling liquid nitrogen (LN2) in the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank. The test results confirmed normal separation.

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## RPK

The blue curtain is pulling out...! Now can you guess the name of that satellite which is going into orbit within next month...?


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## SRP

RPK said:


> The blue curtain is pulling out...! Now can you guess the name of that satellite which is going into orbit within next month...?



GSAT-7 I guess.


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## S-DUCT

RPK said:


> The blue curtain is pulling out...! Now can you guess the name of that satellite which is going into orbit within next month...?


GSAT-14 on GSLV-D5.?


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## sudhir007

ISRO steps in after red flag over Thai satellite for crime-tracking system - The Hindu

Warned by intelligence agencies that using a foreign satellite in the proposed nationwide Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) could make critical databases vulnerable to eavesdropping by other countries, the Union Home Ministry has decided to take the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to make the project fully indigenous.

When fully operational, the much-delayed CCTNS project will connect 14,000 police stations across all the 28 States and seven Union Territories, thus creating a nationwide networking infrastructure for the evolution of an IT-enabled, state-of-the-art tracking system for crime investigation and detection of criminals.

The CCTNS is a group of some 820 VSATs (two-way ground satellite systems) that will be networked by a satellite.

BSNL was the original agency in charge of providing ground services. Since, the intelligence agencies raised objections to the proposed use of the IPSTAR satellite managed by Thaicomm in the project, the BSNL diverted to this project some 400 VSATs that it had for other services.

The remaining VSATs are to be installed by the BSNL working with the ISRO, and the satellite would be provided by the ISRO.

A recent note exchanged between the Home Ministry and the Department of Telecom says: &#8220;For the implementation of CCTNS project, a Memorandum of Agreement between the BSNL and the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau under the Home Ministry) was signed for the countrywide connectivity on October 24, 2011.&#8221;

A recent note exchanged between the Home Ministry and the Department of Telecom says: &#8220;On subsequent deliberations within the Ministry on the concerns and security risks involved in using a foreign satellite for the premier and highly secured CCTNS network in consultation with IB and NTRO, later BSNL was asked by the (Home) Ministry to deploy the CCTNS network on an Indian satellite.&#8221;


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## li0nheart

*Nasa, Isro in talks for jointly developing satellite for first time*

BANGALORE: US space agency Nasa and India's premier space agency Isro are in talks for jointly building a satellite for the first time.

"Now, there is a feasibility study going on whether we can jointly make a satellite, with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads working on two frequency bands - L-band and S-band", Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Radhakrishnan told PTI here.

Charles F Bolden Jr, Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) of United States, visited the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of Isro in Ahmedabad on June 25.

He had a meeting with Radhakrishnan, also Secretary, Department of Space, along with senior officials of Isro to discuss the ongoing cooperative activities between ISRO and NASA and also the potential areas of future cooperation.

"...the joint satellite mission is an important step. It's not making an instrument and plugging it actually. It's working together. That's what we are discussing. It (working together) should happen in the next few months", Radhakrishnan said.

"Both organisations are coming together and saying let's develop it together...use your strength, use my strength. That's a good way of working", he said.

"It (the proposed satellite) is interesting from scientific point of view, it's interesting from normal resource management point of view," he said.

Radhakrishnan said Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory would make the radar system "if it (in case of Nasa, Isro deciding to work together on the mission) is getting through".

On Isro's role, he said, "We will be working together. Some will be built by us, some will be built by them. So, this (work-sharing) has to be finalised", adding, data generated by the mission would be used by both Isro and Nasa.

Radhakrishnan hinted at the possibility of Isro making the satellite for the joint mission, with launch from Indian soil.

In this context, he pointed to the Indo-French joint satellite missions Megha-Tropiques and Saral, with Paris opting for Indian satellites for the ventures with 'desi' rockets.

India's 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission had two instruments from USA.

Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) was from Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory and Naval Air Warfare Centre, USA through Nasa. MiniSAR was mainly intended for detecting water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles up to a depth of a few meters.

Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer from Brown University and JPL through Nasa, was intended to assess and map lunar mineral resources at high spatial and spectral resolution.

M3 aboard Chandrayaan-1 helped to find the existence of water molecules on the lunar surface.

"They (Nasa) had two instruments (on Chandrayaan-1). It worked and they got good return out of it", Radhakrishnan said, noting the finding.

He also hinted that Isro might contribute to NASA's new asteroid initiative, which includes work to identify and characterise asteroids of all types and a mission to capture and redirect an asteroid into an orbit closer to Earth so that astronauts can visit it.

Radhakrishnan said Nasa is looking at international space community regarding its perception on the subject (asteroids).

"Maybe some joint work will emerge at a later stage. But it's in a very nascent stage", he hastened to add. "Nasa has a plan to see how they can manage asteroids, and whether they can do some manipulation of its orbit, etc".

Isro officials noted that India and United States pursue active civil space cooperation mainly in the areas of earth sciences, space exploration, satellite navigation and professional exchange.

Last month's visit was the first by Charles F. Bolden Jr. to any Isro centre after he took over as Nasa administrator in July 2009. Bolden is only the third Nasa chief to visit Isro in the past four decades.

Nasa, Isro in talks for jointly developing satellite for first time - The Times of India

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## RPK

Cryogenic Upper Stage A4 engine mounted for cold start test at the Thrust Chamber and High Altitude Test Facility in early 2013. The launch of GSLV D5 with indigenous cryogenic engine carrying communication satellite GSAT 14 will take place on August 19, 2013.

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## RPK




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## RPK

Dongla Observatory, Ujjain
Telescope : 20 inch Plane Wave CDK 
Coordinates of are : Latitude 23° 26' 42.91" N, Longitude 75° 45' 43.31" E, Height 515 meters
The observatory dome is of 5 metres in diameter and installed at a height of 10 metres above the ground level

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## zilahumafazal

i really await for you r next best

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## RPK

One of the 30 fully steerable gigantic parabolic, 45m diameter dishes of Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune.

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## RPK

Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope » www.gmrt.ncra.tifr.res.in

National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) has set up a unique facility for radio astronomical research using the metre wave lengths range of the radio spectrum, known as the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), it is located at a site about 80 km north of Pune. GMRT consists of 30 fully steerable gigantic parabolic dishes of 45m diameter each spread over distances of upto 25 km. GMRT is one of the most challenging experimental programmes in basic sciences undertaken by Indian scientists and engineers. 

GMRT System Parameters and Current Status :
http://mutha.ncra.tifr.res.in/ncra/gmrt/gtac/GMRT_status_doc_June_2013.pdf/

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## gslv mk3

*ISRO Rendezvous & Docking experiment Update
*

As mentioned previously on this blog, ISRO has been working on a rendezvous and docking (RVD) experiment mission involving two IMS (Indian Micro Satellite) series spacecrafts. ISAC, a ISRO centre, has been involved in developing navigation and guidance algorithm for RVD. In this experiment, two IMS Spacecrafts, one designated as target and the other designated as chaser, will be launched by a PSLV launcher into two slightly different orbits. There will be no communication link between the target and chaser during the far range rendezvous phase in which relative separation between the spacecrafts will be around 50km to 5km range and this phase will be a ground guided phase. In the docking phase of the mission, docking sensors such as Laser Range Finder during the relative separation of 5 km to 0.25km, Docking Camera during the relative separation of 300m to 1m ,Visual Camera for real time imaging during the relative separation of 1m to docking will be used respectively.

For the purpose of testing and verification of vision based docking algorithms before a real world implementation is carried out, ISRO has developed a 3D simulation environment that is being used to simulate docking phase of the mission. A snap of the simulation is presented in the Figure below.






3D Simulation of Chaser and Target to test vision based RVD. (credit ISRO, [1])
Targeted Applications of RVD: RVD technology is one of many enabling technologies for ISRO's human space flight program. Another promising application of this technology will be increasing age of ISRO's satellites like that from IRS, INSAT and IRNSS systems. RVD technology will allow a resupply (fuel, power pack etc) spacecraft to dock with a satellite in orbit and allow for replenishment of fuel and power pack, thereby increasing satellites age. To facilitate this, as per my research, ISRO has been designing its newest satellite bus called I-6K, which is a unified bus with modular design ,multi EV panels and scalable structure (Bus module & payload module). A modular design will allow easy and fast replacement of bus module in the orbit by the resupply space craft. The resupply spacecraft might itself be a new bus module (with fuel, power pack etc.) that will dock with the payload module in the orbit after the old bus module undocks. 






I-6K Concept Art.

http://antariksh-space.blogspot.in/2013/07/isro-rendezvous-docking-experiment.html

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## Gessler

gslv mk3 said:


> *ISRO Rendezvous & Docking experiment Update
> *
> 
> As mentioned previously on this blog, ISRO has been working on a rendezvous and docking (RVD) experiment mission involving two IMS (Indian Micro Satellite) series spacecrafts. ISAC, a ISRO centre, has been involved in developing navigation and guidance algorithm for RVD. In this experiment, two IMS Spacecrafts, one designated as target and the other designated as chaser, will be launched by a PSLV launcher into two slightly different orbits. There will be no communication link between the target and chaser during the far range rendezvous phase in which relative separation between the spacecrafts will be around 50km to 5km range and this phase will be a ground guided phase. In the docking phase of the mission, docking sensors such as Laser Range Finder during the relative separation of 5 km to 0.25km, Docking Camera during the relative separation of 300m to 1m ,Visual Camera for real time imaging during the relative separation of 1m to docking will be used respectively.
> 
> For the purpose of testing and verification of vision based docking algorithms before a real world implementation is carried out, ISRO has developed a 3D simulation environment that is being used to simulate docking phase of the mission. A snap of the simulation is presented in the Figure below.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 3D Simulation of Chaser and Target to test vision based RVD. (credit ISRO, [1])
> Targeted Applications of RVD: RVD technology is one of many enabling technologies for ISRO's human space flight program. Another promising application of this technology will be increasing age of ISRO's satellites like that from IRS, INSAT and IRNSS systems. RVD technology will allow a resupply (fuel, power pack etc) spacecraft to dock with a satellite in orbit and allow for replenishment of fuel and power pack, thereby increasing satellites age. To facilitate this, as per my research, ISRO has been designing its newest satellite bus called I-6K, which is a unified bus with modular design ,multi EV panels and scalable structure (Bus module & payload module). A modular design will allow easy and fast replacement of bus module in the orbit by the resupply space craft. The resupply spacecraft might itself be a new bus module (with fuel, power pack etc.) that will dock with the payload module in the orbit after the old bus module undocks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I-6K Concept Art.
> 
> Antariksh: ISRO Rendezvous & Docking experiment Update



Great work by Indian scientists. This will greatly enhance the service life of a satellite, without the
need for building and launching a whole new satellite from time to time.

What are the other nations currently pursuing such technology?


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## gslv mk3

*Cryogenic Engine Hot Test *
The indigenously built cryogenic engine was successfully tested in High Altitude Test Facility (HAT) at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragir in early 2013. GSLV D5 with indigenous cryogenic engine carrying communication satellite GSAT 14 will lift off on August 19, 2013.






cc:https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/isro

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## RPK

GSAT 7 Multiband Telecommunications Satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S band, C band and Ku band will be flown to its orbit on Arianespace&#8217;s Ariane 5 Flight VA215 from French Guiana at the end of August, 2013.

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## RPK

Radar Imaging of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 
Resolution of the image is 1m

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## RPK

GSLV D5 is already integrated with Cryogenic Upper Stage and set to launch India&#8217;s communications satellite GSAT 14, the launch time has been scheduled for 04.50 PM IST, August 19, 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.






Arianespace&#8217;s Ariane 5 Flight VA215 is shown inside the Guiana Spaceport&#8217;s Launcher Integration Building, where it was assembled by Astrium Space Transportation. India's GSAT 7 Multiband Telecommunications Satellite scheduled for launch by Ariane 5 Flight VA215 in early morning of August 30, 2013.






GSAT 7 is a multi band satellite carrying payloads in UHF, S band, C band and Ku band. The satellite employs the standard 2000 Kg class bus I2K platform with a power handling capability of around 3 KW and lift off mass of 2550 Kg. The satellite is planned to be orbited by Arianespace&#8217;s Ariane 5 Flight VA215 and schedule for launch is early morning of August 30, 2013.






GSAT 14 satellite with 6 Extended C band and 6 Ku band transponders is envisaged to enhance communication transponder capacity. The satellite employs the standard 2000 Kg class bus I2K with a power handling capability of around 2.5 KW. The spacecraft will be launched onboard GSLV D5 Mission, the second development flight of GSLV with the indigenous cryogenic stage at 04:50 PM IST on August 19, 2013.






Launch of GSLV D5 with indigenous cryogenic engine carrying communication satellite GSAT 14 will take place around 04:50 PM IST on August 19, 2013.

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## IND151

*In a crucial launch, India&#8217;sGSLV-D5, powered by indigenouscryogenic upper stage and carrying communication satellite GSAT-14, is set for lift off at 4.50 pm on August 19 from the spaceport of Sriharikota*.

The launch time had been fixed at 4.50 pm for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D-5 from the the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 90 km from here in Andhra Pradesh, ISRO spokesperson B R Guruprasad told PTI today.

This will be the second attempt by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to flight test the indigenous cryogenic stage after the failure of the previous mission of GSLV-D3 on April 15. The next GSLV flight with a Russian cryogenic stage also failed in December 2010.

The vehicle had been moved to the launch pad and other preparations were underway, ISRO sources said.

After the unsuccessful launch in April 2010, the failure analysis committee had concluded that the thrust build up did not progress as expected due to non-availability of liquid hydrogen supply to the thrust chamber of the main engine.

This failure was attributed to the anomalous stopping of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump (FBTP).

In the last three years, ISRO conducted extensive failure analysis studies and reviews. Cryo stage FBTP was modified as per GSLV-D3 failure analysis committee recommendations and qualification tests carried out.

GSLV-D5 launch fixed for 4.50 pm on August 19 | idrw.org


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## BlueDot_in_Space

*GSLV D5 on the LAUNCH PAD!!!!!!
*

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## gslv mk3

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



many subsystems have been redesigned ,so I hope this will be a success..looks superb too

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## SOHEIL

​

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## SOHEIL



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## IND151

India to go alone with Chandrayaan 2 | idrw.org

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## Daedalus

*Human space flight mission off ISRO priority list *

India's proposed human spaceflight programme that generated considerable excitement in the second half of the last decade is off the priority list of ISRO, with the mission being ruled out before 2017.

The ambitious venture that could have electrified the entire space programme and given New Delhi a vantage position as a human space transportation provider after Russia and China does not figure in the Space Department's 12th plan (2012-2017).

The US is out of business with decommissioning of its space shuttle programme. Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation K Radhakrishnan says "very good progress" has been made in terms of developing critical technologies for the mission (which has been on the drawing board since 2002) but refuses to commit a time-frame for the launch. "We have not declared it as a programme. We must have a reliable, man-rated vehicle (GSLV).

oth are important", Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission, told PTI here. "We are not going to see the human spaceflight as a programme in the 12th plan. We will see may be later. It has to be seen after that".

"Even for you to talk about it, you have to have certain new technologies which are involved in the human space flight programme. That&#8217;s what we are addressing". The programme's objective is to undertake a mission to carry a crew of two or three members to 300 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and return them safely to a predefined destination on Earth.

Currently, the pre-project activities to study technical and managerial issues related to the mission are progressing with a focus on development of critical technologies for sub-systems such as Crew Module (CM), Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and Crew Escape System.

In 2006, ISRO organised a meeting to discuss the issues related to the mission, which was attended by about 80 senior scientists from across the country.

The concept for the mission included development of an autonomous orbital vehicle which could be launched by India's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-Mk II or GSLV-Mk III. ISRO has maturity in many technologies required for the mission but new developments are required in life support systems, improved reliability and safety and crew escape system, among others.

While some of the facilities required are available in the country and could be used with augmentation, a few had to be established afresh. The preliminary estimated cost at the time for the mission was Rs 10,000 crore, spread over a period of eight years, and the scientists were unanimous in suggesting the time is appropriate for India to undertake such a venture.

Radhakrishnan said good progress has been made on development of critical technologies for the programme, including in ECLSS, crew module, crew escape system and flight suite.

"We have done some good tests on the ground on the rocket motors required for the crew escape system. We are going to have pad abort test soon in Sriharikota", he said.

He rejected suggestions that the proposed mission is losing momentum, arguing it boils down to priorities, adding the focus now is to first have the operational rocket. "Today, it's about GSLV and our ability to put larger communication satellites from India. Our priority is cryogenic engine".

"We are not losing momentum.When you decide on having the programme, you will be in a good condition to start. You don't start from zero", he said.

Radhakrishnan pointed out when the scientists had given the go-ahead for the mission in 2006, ISRO had undertaken two good flights of GSLV but the rocket suffered failures twice in 2010, one with indigenous cryogenic engine and another with the imported Russian one. "Today, we don't have a vehicle (rocket)".

Incidentally, ISRO has proposed to flight-test GSLV with indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time in more than three years on August 19 from the spaceport of Sriharikota. ISRO also plans to undertake the Mars mission later this year.

Human space flight mission off ISRO priority list - India - DNA

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## SHAHED

> Human space flight mission off ISRO priority list



 Really sad

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## Gessler

R0SC0SM0S said:


> Really sad



Yes, but I think there are presently more important missions to be done first.

Good thing is that eventhough the actual mission is off priority list right now, development of the
needed technology is well underway - some latest news -

*Flight Suit for India's manned space mission*

*Preparations underway to safely propel the second Indian into outer Space, the first from within the country.*

The forthcoming flight of the Indian Space Research Organisation's [ISRO] Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle [GSLV] this August 19, using an indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage [CUS] engine, brings our attention, be it somewhat tangentially, to yet another one of its landmark goals - its Human Spaceflight programme. Upon validation of the GSLV's performance parameters, and more importantly reliability, ISRO would be in a position to carry out the task of human rating the Launch Vehicle [LV]. Although initially planned to carry it out with the current configuration of the GSLV, Mark II, delays in the programme, have lead some to speculate that the task may now be carried out with the more advanced Mark III variant, expected to make its maiden flight in 2014. 

*Highly complex that unmanned missions already are, manned missions, understandably, pose an altogether new set of more imposing challenges, primarily that involving ensuring safe & comfortable operating conditions for the human space farers.* 

This would require the myriad of ISRO's laboratories, involved in the manned programme, to undertake numerous projects to develop a number of completely new systems & technologies that weren't remotely required in any of its previous mission of the past 50 odd years of its marking India's presence in Space.

*One such critical piece of system, unique only to manned Space mission is the Flight Suit for Indian Vyomnauts [Cosmonauts/Astronauts] would need to wear during their mission.* Primarily to be worn during the lift-off & re-entry phases. This suit would be especially life-saving in case of any emergency, caused by failure of the Spacecraft's Life Support System [LSS], by cocooning the Vyomnaut in a pressurised micro-environment within which life can be sustained, with additional ability to communicate with the outside. *This flight suite, currently under development, is believed to be 4 layered, each with specific purpose,*

*Layer 1 [innermost] - ensuring containment of the supplied oxygen within the suit, preventing it from leaking out.
Layer 2 - providing structural support to the innermost layer
Layer 3 - thermal insulation
Layer 4 [outermost] - provide physical protection, including flame retardant*

*In addition, work is also underway to develop a liquid-cooled garment to be worn underneath the flight suit which would dissipate the generated body heat & remove sweat*. This three-layered garment would function by passing water through pipes sandwiched between two layers. When worn under normal circumstances, the it would simply allow the passage of air & environmental control as carried out by the Craft's LSS. In the the event of a catastrophe, it would function as the aforementioned cocoon, sealing in the human from the outside hazards. 

Equally critical it is to ensure that the human operator, even when wearing the suit in the pressurised state, is able to move his/her arms & limbs in a manner that allows him/her to perform the tasks expected. *The expected limitation in vision & mobility can be judged from the fact that the suit is to be equipped with a mirror attached around the wrist region to ensure visibility of the front portion of the suit, by looking into the mirror.*

Naturally, such suits would require ensuring fool-proof, leak-resistant fabrics & air-tight sealing between itself & outer attachments like pressure gauges & regulator, glove joints, helmet visors etc. 

The task of ensuring sealing is made even more difficult considering that one would move around wearing the suit. Based on the requirements drawn up, two prototype flight suits have initially been put together, that are being put through a battery of tests that include testing degree of freedom when the suit is pressurized, electrical connectivity for attachments like communication & crew health monitoring equipment, checking continuity of the cooling water channels &, highly critical, checking the pressurised suit for possible leaks in vacuum conditions. It is to be expected for the suit to undergo further refinement, based on the results of these tests.

*It could be argued that a well-designed flight suit is one of those technologies that would lend the greatest confidence to ISRO & its Astronauts in undertaking the country's maiden Manned Space mission from within is borders - a red-letter day, it promises to be.*

Godspeed

Flight Suit For India's Manned Space Mission - AA Me, IN

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## Echo_419

R0SC0SM0S said:


> Really sad



Well sad but i think we need to focus more on Un manned space programs 
& later join Russia or China in manned exploration


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## SR-91

someone on this forum has a pic of the spacesuit,can u plz share it with your buddies here.


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## AMCA

SR-91 said:


> someone on this forum has a pic of the spacesuit,can u plz share it with your buddies here.



Here you go buddy

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*GSLV D5 Integration*






*The Coolest Hot Engine*

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## Dillinger

@S-DUCT @Hyperion @arp2041 @Abingdonboy @Gessler @kurup 

A detailed look into the GSLV MK.2:-

http://isro.org/gslv-d5/pdf/brochure.pdf

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## Gessler

*Inside assembling building...*





*Being rolled out of assembling building...*





*Rolled onto the launching area from the building...*

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## SHAHED

Live broadcasting needed !


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## Gessler

R0SC0SM0S said:


> Live broadcasting needed !



Be sure to keep a tab on ISRO's official website - they are likely to show it live.

Some news channel's websites will also be streaming live feed of the launch.

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## SHAHED

Best of luck

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## skysthelimit

> *ISRO aborts GSLV-D5 launch after fuel leak*
> 
> Following the detection of a fuel leakage barely an hour from lift-off, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) aborted its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the GSLV-D5 mission that was to place in orbit the advanced communication satellite GSAT-14, from the Sriharikota spaceport.
> 
> The leakage was reportedly noticed during the loading of liquid propellants for the second stage. The 49-metre tall GSLV-D5 adopts a three-stage fuel cycle---the core solid stage, four liquid propellant strap-ons and second stage and a cryogenic upper stage.
> 
> This is the third straight time that the ISRO is being caught up in a cryogenic nemesis with its previous two GSLV missions with a home-wired cryogenic upper stage -- in April and December 2010 -- ending in failure.
> 
> "The countdown was progressing well, but about two before lift-off, we observed a leak in the fuel systems. Because of this, we are calling off the launch," ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan later told a press conference.
> 
> A new date, Dr. Radhakrishnan said, would be finalised only after the ISRO team undertook a detailed assessment to identify the cause of the leak and the actions that need to be taken.
> 
> The immediate task of the ISRO team was to drain out the liquid propellants that was loaded for the second stage and the four liquid L40 strap-ons of the rocket. The GSLV-D5 has been hauled back to Vehicle Assembly Building.
> 
> ISRO aborts GSLV-D5 launch after fuel leak - The Hindu



Crap - more bad news


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## buddyboyyash

skysthelimit said:


> Crap - more bad news



chill....it would have been bad if the rocket ended up in bay of bengal....

i myself have been waiting for this launch for the past 1 year...and was disgusted to hear this

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## IND151

*It would be at least two months before the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle D5 (GSLV D5) blasts off from Sriharikota *despite a dismayed Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) working overtime to figure out what went wrong last Monday.

&#8220;Even if the defect is found to be a minor one, it would take at least two months. The stages (GSLV is a three-stage rocket) have to be dismantled for examination. If it&#8217;s a major problem, it might take longer,&#8217;&#8217; an ISRO source said from Sriharikota.

Another factor that will have a say in deciding the new launch date is the forthcoming north-east monsoon. The August 19 launch had to be aborted less than two hours to lift-off after a fuel leak was detected in the second stage.


GSLV re-launch will take several months | idrw.org


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## kurup

IND151 said:


> GSLV re-launch will take several months | idrw.org



That is a bummer ......


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## SOHEIL

Oh WTF !!!


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## proud_indian

kurup said:


> That is a bummer ......



girte hain sheh sawar hi maidan e jung mein........ 

have faith man

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## senkakudefender

IND151 said:


> *It would be at least two months before the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle D5 (GSLV D5) blasts off from Sriharikota *despite a dismayed Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) working overtime to figure out what went wrong last Monday.
> 
> &#8220;Even if the defect is found to be a minor one, it would take at least two months. The stages (GSLV is a three-stage rocket) have to be dismantled for examination. If it&#8217;s a major problem, it might take longer,&#8217;&#8217; an ISRO source said from Sriharikota.
> 
> Another factor that will have a say in deciding the new launch date is the forthcoming north-east monsoon. The August 19 launch had to be aborted less than two hours to lift-off after a fuel leak was detected in the second stage.
> 
> 
> GSLV re-launch will take several months | idrw.org



They will strip it and check it. Good , I don't want a F%^&*(g Long March fiasco in India.


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## kurup

proud_indian said:


> girte hain sheh sawar hi maidan e jung mein........
> 
> have faith man



I know they will correct it overtime .

But I am just sad that we will have to wait some more months to see the launch again .

According to ISRO it will take *atleast* 2 months , even if the defect is minor .


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## senkakudefender

kurup said:


> I know they will correct it overtime .
> 
> But I am just sad that we will have to wait some more months to see the launch again .
> 
> According to ISRO it will take *atleast* 2 months , even if the defect is minor .



That or this :

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## TheIndian

India is sending manned ships to the space? 

Great... but it will take some time, still much ahead of neighbors

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## Beast

senkakudefender said:


> They will strip it and check it. Good , I don't want a F%^&*(g Long March fiasco in India.



China long march rocket is one of safest in the world. The last mishap is in 1996 while the last US rocket blow up in 2008, Russia in 2013 and India in 2011.

There is even EUROPE space agency intending to ask China rocket for manned mission to ISS in case Russia rocket screw up. Only the biased US is the one opposing it.



senkakudefender said:


> That or this :


 Trying to use a 1996 old mishap to serve your agenda? Let me ask you is that any Chinese rocket blow up after that?

Let me update you. 2011 Indian rocket blow up. We chinese rocket are far safer and mature than yours. Agenda fail


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## kbd-raaf

Beast said:


> China long march rocket is one of safest in the world. The last mishap is in 1996 while the last US rocket blow up in 2008, Russia in 2013 and India in 2011.
> 
> There is even EUROPE space agency intending to ask China rocket for manned mission to ISS in case Russia rocket screw up. Only the biased US is the one opposing it.
> 
> 
> Trying to use a 1996 to serve your agenda?
> 
> Let me update you. 2011 Indian rocket blow up. We chinese rocket are far safer and mature than yours. Agenda fail



Mate, there's a difference between a launch failure.

And a launch failure causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

Please don't draw a parallel when there isn't one.

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## kurup

Beast said:


> China long march rocket is one of safest in the world. The last mishap is in 1996 while the last US rocket blow up in 2008, Russia in 2013 and India in 2011.
> 
> There is even EUROPE space agency intending to ask China rocket for manned mission to ISS in case Russia rocket screw up. Only the biased US is the one opposing it.
> 
> 
> Trying to use a 1996 old mishap to serve your agenda? Let me ask you is that any Chinese rocket blow up after that?
> 
> Let me update you. 2011 Indian rocket blow up. We chinese rocket are far safer and mature than yours. Agenda fail



Your rockets blowed up in 2010 and 2011 .

And the last Indian rocket failure was in 2010 .

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Beast said:


> China long march rocket is one of safest in the world. The last mishap is in 1996 while the last US rocket blow up in 2008, Russia in 2013 and India in 2011.
> 
> There is even EUROPE space agency intending to ask China rocket for manned mission to ISS in case Russia rocket screw up. Only the biased US is the one opposing it.
> 
> 
> * Trying to use a 1996 old mishap to serve your agenda? Let me ask you is that any Chinese rocket blow up after that?*
> 
> Let me update you. 2011 Indian rocket blow up. We chinese rocket are far safer and mature than yours. Agenda fail



Are you really that naive?? you think CPC propaganda machinery will allow such news to get out? They were unlucky in 1996 due to presence of foreign delegates from the sat company. 

*I wonder how can one be so careless to build a rocket without range safety measures when the launch complex is situated inland with civilian population in the surroundings??*

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## kurup

@BlueDot_in_Space , @S-DUCT

I had this doubts watching the last PSLV-XL launch . Please clarify it .

1. Between the 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th stage (I don't remember correctly where) , there was a coasting phase. The rocket was flying without any power for almost 200sec. Is this phase present in every launch or just limited to the XL version ??

2. Also the shroud of the rocket covering the satellite was removed at a height of some 120+ km . Is it because the atmosphere ends there and rest is vacuum , So the shroud is a dead weight without any purpose ???

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## S-DUCT

kurup said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space , @S-DUCT
> 
> I had this doubts watching the last PSLV-XL launch . Please clarify it .
> 
> 1. Between the 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th stage (I don't remember correctly where) , there was a coasting phase. The rocket was flying without any power for almost 200sec. Is this phase present in every launch or just limited to the XL version ??
> 
> 2. Also the shroud of the rocket covering the satellite was removed at a height of some 120+ km . Is it because the atmosphere ends there and rest is vacuum , So the shroud is a dead weight without any purpose ???



1.I have the same question too bro,let's hope that Blue has some explanation.

2.Exactly.Shroud protects the payload during ascent phase against the impact of the atmosphere so outside the atmosphere it's removed.

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## Beast

kurup said:


> Your rockets blowed up in 2010 and 2011 .
> 
> And the last Indian rocket failure was in 2010 .



Prove it... ranting without proof will only make you Indian desperate.

Chinese long march rocket is one of the safest in the world. Last mishap is donkey years of 1996.


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## Beast

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Are you really that naive?? you think CPC propaganda machinery will allow such news to get out? They were unlucky in 1996 due to presence of foreign delegates from the sat company.
> 
> *I wonder how can one be so careless to build a rocket without range safety measures when the launch complex is situated inland with civilian population in the surroundings??*



It is more than one and half decade things. Of cos. we learn from mistakes. Chinese rocket is one of the safest. And there is no way to cover up mishap. American is active tracking any of our launch. No way , we can cover up any of our mishap launch. American will be quick to come in and embarass us but our rocket quality is so superior that no blow up after 1996. The American can't do anything about our superior rocket launch success.


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## Beast

kbd-raaf said:


> Mate, there's a difference between a launch failure.
> 
> And a launch failure causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
> 
> Please don't draw a parallel when there isn't one.



Stop talking nonsense. This is no launch failure then is what? You mean Indian rocket is not a failure? 
You mean you stand on top of those Indian rocket blow up debris and you will not get killed?  Probably success to Indian  Bitter pill hard to swallow? You last blow up is so recent while ours last in 1996. Our track record prove Chinese rocket is far superior and safe. Indian rocket shall try emulate Chinese. Fancy you come in here mocking Chinese rocket. If Chinese rocket is lousy then Indian rocket shall be 10 times worst. Last blow up is only 3 years ago, what crap technology you Indian used?


----------



## kbd-raaf

Beast said:


> Stop talking nonsense. This is no launch failure then is what? You mean Indian rocket is not a failure?
> You mean you stand on top of those Indian rocket blow up debris and you will not get killed?  Probably success to Indian  Bitter pill hard to swallow? You last blow up is so recent while ours last in 1996. Our track record prove Chinese rocket is far superior and safe. Indian rocket shall try emulate Chinese. Fancy you come in here mocking Chinese rocket. If Chinese rocket is lousy then Indian rocket shall be 10 times worst. *Last blow up is only 3 years ago, what crap technology you Indian used?*



But did anybody die? Nobody is denying that the Chinese space program is ahead of the Indian.

However, safety is the priority, the ISRO puts safety first, wheres it is clearly not the highest priority for the Chinese, success is.

Edit: Are you really saying that there has been no Chinese launch failures in the last 17 years. Impressive if true, please provide a source.

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## Beast

kbd-raaf said:


> But did anybody die? Nobody is denying that the Chinese space program is ahead of the Indian.
> 
> However, safety is the priority, the ISRO puts safety first, wheres it is clearly not the highest priority for the Chinese, success is.
> 
> Edit: Are you really saying that there has been no Chinese launch failures in the last 17 years. Impressive if true, please provide a source.



That is not truth for some of your compatriot. See how I get involved in this thread when one of your joker claim Indian rocket wouldn't not want to end up like a failure of Chinese using a 16 years old example where he forget just 3 years ago, one of your own rocket end up like fireworks. Such is the arrogant of Indian who don't even look into mirror of their own standard before talking about some other who are more successful.

Of cos Chinese space launch puts safety on top priority. Using a 16 years old example to gauge Chinese current space standard is a joke! You want to bring up 100 years old thing and talk? How many people get killed in space chinese rocket launch since the 16 years old mishap? Do not forget, we have 5 manned success space mission in our pocket.


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## kbd-raaf

Beast said:


> That is not truth for some of your compatriot. See how I get involved in this thread when one of your joker claim Indian rocket wouldn't not want to end up like a failure of Chinese using a 16 years old example where he forget just 3 years ago, one of your own rocket end up like fireworks. Such is the arrogant of Indian who don't even look into mirror of their own standard before talking about some other who are more successful.
> 
> Of cos Chinese space launch puts safety on top priority. Using a 16 years old example to *gauge Chinese current space standard* is a joke! You want to bring up 100 years old thing and talk? How many people get killed in space chinese rocket launch since the 16 years old mishap? Do not forget, we have 5 manned success space mission in our pocket.



What I believe the poster was implying is that he would prefer there to be a launch delay rather than a launch failure causing deaths like the Long March incident.

Okay I'll give you that, chances are the erroneous planning that was done for the 1996 event has probably been corrected. However it is of interest that at the time, proper trajectory planning wasn't done so that in the event of a failure the debris from the launch vehicle would fall into the sea. You cannot deny that this is a massive failure on the part of the Chinese space organisation. Could you educate me, what was the fallout of the event in China?

If the same had happened in India it can be guaranteed that ISRO would have been shut down and its scientists defamed.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

kurup said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space , @S-DUCT
> 
> I had this doubts watching the last PSLV-XL launch . Please clarify it .
> 
> 1. Between the 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th stage (I don't remember correctly where) , there was a coasting phase. The rocket was flying without any power for almost 200sec. Is this phase present in every launch or just limited to the XL version ??
> 
> 2. Also the shroud of the rocket covering the satellite was removed at a height of some 120+ km . Is it because the atmosphere ends there and rest is vacuum , So the shroud is a dead weight without any purpose ???



1. Coasting phase is between 3rd and 4th stage. Only 4th stage has RCS controls for coasting. The phase is present in every launch, but the coast duration varies depending upon the final orbit to be attained. For GTO, its normally around 150-160 secs and in case of SSO, its 10-15 secs.

2. Yep. heat shield is only required for the period of flight through dense atmosphere. beyond that no need.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Beast said:


> It is more than one and half decade things. Of cos. we learn from mistakes. *Chinese rocket is one of the safest. And there is no way to cover up mishap*. American is active tracking any of our launch. No way , we can cover up any of our mishap launch. American will be quick to come in and embarass us but our rocket quality is so superior that no blow up after 1996. The American can't do anything about our superior rocket launch success.



*Do you recognize this fire ball??*







LOL!! America is not interested in your rocket launch, they have got their hands full with latest initiatives.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*GSAT7 or INSAT 4F NAVAL communication and recon Satellite !!!!*

*satellite is configured to provide a wide range of spectrum ranging from low bit rate voice to high bit rate data communication. The satellite with a service life of 15 years will provide communication capabilities to users over a wide oceanic region as well as the Indian subcontinent.*

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## kurup

Beast said:


> Prove it... ranting without proof will only make you Indian desperate.
> 
> Chinese long march rocket is one of the safest in the world. Last mishap is donkey years of 1996.




Lets see who is embarrassed now .


Chinese Rocket failure in *2009* ,

Global Times - Chinese rocket fails to put satellite into orbit


Chinese rocket failure in *2011* ,

http://www.defence.pk/forums/chines...cz-2c-rocket-launch-failed-aug-18-2011-a.html


Looks like in china 2009 and 2011 comes before 1996 .......

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## walle990

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Do you recognize this fire ball??*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LOL!! America is not interested in your rocket launch, they have got their hands full with latest initiatives.



Where is the fireball?, That's just empty booster and escape pod release. That is a manned rocket, most probably shenzhou 9 or 10. I recommend you watch the chinese launch videos on youtube before posting such nonsense.

China is with out a doubt ahead of India in space, but why do Indians like to get so defensive? Acknowledge where you are lacking and work to close the gap, slandering the other party is childish since the facts speak for themselves.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

walle990 said:


> Where is the fireball?, That's just empty booster and escape pod release. That is a manned rocket, most probably shenzhou 9 or 10. I recommend you watch the chinese launch videos on youtube before posting such nonsense.
> 
> China is with out a doubt ahead of India in space, but why do Indians like to get so defensive? Acknowledge where you are lacking and work to close the gap, slandering the other party is childish since the facts speak for themselves.



They are not empty booster, but escape pod release causing the fire ball most probably due to fuel leak. You should be aware that escape pod release on shenzhou happens much before the release of boosters. As far as morale lessons are concerned that better suits your CPC trolls. 

And china should be ahead with 8 times GDP.

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## walle990

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> They are not empty booster, but escape pod release causing the fire ball most probably due to fuel leak. You should be aware that escape pod release on shenzhou happens much before the release of boosters. As far as morale lessons are concerned that better suits your CPC trolls.
> 
> And china should be ahead with 8 times GDP.



And you know this based on?

I am basing the claim based on the successful and live broadcast of Shenzhou 9 and 10. At such a velocity a fuel leak would have meant an explosion.


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## applesauce

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> They are not empty booster, but escape pod release causing the fire ball most probably due to fuel leak. You should be aware that escape pod release on shenzhou happens much before the release of boosters. As far as morale lessons are concerned that better suits your CPC trolls.
> 
> And china should be ahead with 8 times GDP.



so your telling me that they broadcast a live manned launch that failed, but the *entire world* covered it up? all the (real)experts, the americans, russians, japanese, all covered up this incident? and your calling him a troll? lol indians, they cant beat you so they make up lies about you lol


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## BlueDot_in_Space

applesauce said:


> so your telling me that they broadcast a live manned launch that failed, but the *entire world* covered it up? all the (real)experts, the americans, russians, japanese, all covered up this incident? and your calling him a troll? lol indians, they cant beat you so they make up lies about you lol



Ahhhh chinese troll I am saying that your astronauts were lucky last time. A short lived fire ball did not cause a blast, you should be concerned about the safety of your Manned launch vehicle.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Crew Module Drop Test*








*Isro OV*

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## gslv mk3

@BlueDot_in_Space

Any other progresses in manned space mission front?When would we see an Indian manned space mission?

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space
> 
> Any other progresses in manned space mission front?When would we see an Indian manned space mission?



Yeah, crew module environment simulator has been commissioned. My guess, Indian manned mission after 2020. Unmanned orbital vehicle mission by 2018-19.

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## Nan Yang

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Ahhhh chinese troll I am saying that your astronauts were lucky last time. A short lived fire ball did not cause a blast, you should be concerned about the safety of your Manned launch vehicle.




The image is of the Shenzhou 10 launch. At about 1:13. The launch escape tower is jettison at 120sec after launch.
Video: China launches manned Shenzhou-10 craft to experimental space station - YouTube

Here is the video of Shenzhou 9 launch. At 2.55, when the escape tower pod is jettison, there is also an increase in the size of the thrust flame
Shenzhou 9 launch, China rocket, June 16, 2012 - YouTube

Soyuz Launch. At 2:35 the escape tower is jettison. Observed the thrust and you also see unusual jet stream emitting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8I7xJ0MBpg


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## RPK

GSLV D5 Flight Profile






Cryogenic Upper Stage of GSLV D5






Atop the 2540 meters high Devasthal Peak in Uttarakhand, northern India, the largest telescope in the country (3.6m aperture) will open eyes in close future. The site has been nicknamed as ***, or Devasthal Optical Telescope. This photo sequence has captured the startrails over the *** construction.






First image of INSAT 3D Imager






ogos for Ariane Flight VA215&#8217;s GSAT 7 and EUTELSAT 25B / Es&#8217;hail 1 satellites are shown on the completed Ariane 5 inside Final Assembly Building of Guiana Spaceport.







Launch Poster of Ariane Flight VA215 by Guiana Space Centre. India&#8217;s GSAT 7 Telecommunications Satellite to be orbited along with the EUTELSAT 25B / Es&#8217;hail 1 Satellite on August 30, 2013.

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## RPK



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## RPK



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## RPK

Restoration of GSLV D5 Mission 
Press Release, August 30, 2013

The launch of GSLV D5 with Indian Cryogenic Stage, scheduled for 16:50 hrs on August 19, 2013, had to be called off due to a leak observed in the UH25 Fuel system of the Liquid Second Stage, during the last lap of the countdown. At the time of calling off the Countdown, the GSLV Vehicle was loaded with 210 tons of liquid and cryogenic propellants. About 750 kg of UH25 Fuel had leaked out, leading to contamination of the area around the launch pad. It took 6 days of round the clock operations before the contamination could be reduced to the safe level to enable movement of the GSLV D5 back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The GSLV D5 Launch Vehicle has been safely moved back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on the early morning of August 26, 2013. The Vehicle has been destacked. 

Chairman, ISRO constituted a High Level Task Team on August 20, 2013, chaired by Shri K. Narayana, (former Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre) to identify the cause of the leak and to work out an action plan for quick restoration of the Mission, taking into account the safety, reliability and life of the Liquid Second Stage and the four Liquid Strap on stages, which were wetted with liquid propellants. The leak is suspected to be in the lower portion of the propellant tank or the fluid lines between the tank and fuel filling system of the Second stage. Detailed investigation of the leak is underway.

The following action plan is put in place: 

A new Liquid Second Stage (GS2) is being assembled to replace the leaked stage. All the four Liquid Strap on Stages are being replaced with new ones. The First Stage (Solid) and core base shroud are being inspected and the elements that are affected will be replaced. The Satellite Assembly, Avionics Equipment Bay and the Cryogenic Stage will be preserved, following prescribed practices. 

Based on current availability of hardware and components, the GSLV Vehicle assembly and checkout is expected to be completed at the Vehicle Assembly Building by the first week of December 2013 and the launch could take place by December 2013.


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## Echo_419

RPK said:


> Restoration of GSLV D5 Mission
> Press Release, August 30, 2013
> 
> The launch of GSLV D5 with Indian Cryogenic Stage, scheduled for 16:50 hrs on August 19, 2013, had to be called off due to a leak observed in the UH25 Fuel system of the Liquid Second Stage, during the last lap of the countdown. At the time of calling off the Countdown, the GSLV Vehicle was loaded with 210 tons of liquid and cryogenic propellants. About 750 kg of UH25 Fuel had leaked out, leading to contamination of the area around the launch pad. It took 6 days of round the clock operations before the contamination could be reduced to the safe level to enable movement of the GSLV D5 back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The GSLV D5 Launch Vehicle has been safely moved back to the Vehicle Assembly Building on the early morning of August 26, 2013. The Vehicle has been destacked.
> 
> Chairman, ISRO constituted a High Level Task Team on August 20, 2013, chaired by Shri K. Narayana, (former Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre) to identify the cause of the leak and to work out an action plan for quick restoration of the Mission, taking into account the safety, reliability and life of the Liquid Second Stage and the four Liquid Strap on stages, which were wetted with liquid propellants. The leak is suspected to be in the lower portion of the propellant tank or the fluid lines between the tank and fuel filling system of the Second stage. Detailed investigation of the leak is underway.
> 
> The following action plan is put in place:
> 
> A new Liquid Second Stage (GS2) is being assembled to replace the leaked stage. All the four Liquid Strap on Stages are being replaced with new ones. The First Stage (Solid) and core base shroud are being inspected and the elements that are affected will be replaced. The Satellite Assembly, Avionics Equipment Bay and the Cryogenic Stage will be preserved, following prescribed practices.
> 
> Based on current availability of hardware and components, the GSLV Vehicle assembly and checkout is expected to be completed at the Vehicle Assembly Building by the first week of December 2013 and the launch could take place by December 2013.




That's what i like about ISRO less talk more work kind of like Chinese


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## peaceful

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Ahhhh chinese troll I am saying that your astronauts were lucky last time. A short lived fire ball did not cause a blast, you should be concerned about the safety of your Manned launch vehicle.



yeah, yeah, this is from a nation with a <70 years life expectancy, from a nation with 50% rocket launch success rate. 

shall we go over your fancy GSLV safety record? 6 out of 8 launches failed.


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## peaceful

Echo_419 said:


> That's what i like about ISRO less talk more work kind of like Chinese



No, they are talking way too much and there is unbeliable corruption in ISRO. 

e.g., leaking was identified in the second stage of the GSLV rocket a few weeks ago. surely the rocket was checked before moving to the launch pad. tell me why the investigation didn't report the cause of the leaking? why the investigation doesn't name of person who was responsible for the examination of the rocket before moving it to the launch pad? 

not saying the person involved should be removed, however you need to establish the system so good bahavious get rewarded and such bad ones get exposed, examined.



RPK said:


>



nice rocket. but the indians won't be able to get such kind of rocket in the next 50 years.


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## BlueDot_in_Space

peaceful said:


> yeah, yeah, this is from a nation with a <70 years life expectancy, from a nation with 50% rocket launch success rate.
> 
> shall we go over your fancy GSLV safety record? 6 out of 8 launches failed.



Chinese troll failures happen, but unlike your nation, we dont hide our failures and our failures dont kill our own ppl. SO quit trolling and first have guts to question CPC.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Phased Array Prototype *

*50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km
30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant range of 800 km*

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## shrivatsa

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Phased Array Prototype *
> 
> *50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km
> 30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant range of 800 km*


what is this???

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## BlueDot_in_Space

shrivatsa said:


> what is this???



L band Phased Array Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) Prototype. In its full version, it would be equivalent of AN/MPS-39, but with better capability.








It would be used to track space debris, spacecrafts and launch vehicles in flight. This Radar technology can be used by DRDO in its BMD program for Long Range Tracking Radar.

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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> L band Phased Array Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) Prototype. In its full version, it would be equivalent of AN/MPS-39, but with better capability.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It would be used to track space debris, spacecrafts and launch vehicles in flight. This Radar technology can be used by DRDO in its BMD program for Long Range Tracking Radar.



is that indian thing??

wow

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## Echo_419

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> L band Phased Array Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) Prototype. In its full version, it would be equivalent of AN/MPS-39, but with better capability.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It would be used to track space debris, spacecrafts and launch vehicles in flight. This Radar technology can be used by DRDO in its BMD program for Long Range Tracking Radar.




DRDO wale bhe itna acha kam kyu nahi karte

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## GURU DUTT

Echo_419 said:


> DRDO wale bhe itna acha kam kyu nahi karte


lack of funds , corruption and reservation (thats the main issue most bright brains go away cause they dont get there deu respect they deserve)

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## he-man

GURU DUTT said:


> lack of funds , corruption and reservation (thats the main issue most bright brains go away cause they dont get there deu respect they deserve)



i will leave this country too,,,i suppose

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## GURU DUTT

he-man said:


> i will leave this country too,,,i suppose



Good Luck ...paaji

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## Echo_419

he-man said:


> i will leave this country too,,,i suppose



Nahi Paaji sabhi aise soche ge to desh ka kya hoga 
Himat rakho sab theek hojayaga

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## BlueDot_in_Space

he-man said:


> is that indian thing??
> 
> wow



No. Thats AN/MPS-39

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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> No. Thats AN/MPS-39



i suspected that...........was hoping against the hope though



Echo_419 said:


> Nahi Paaji sabhi aise soche ge to desh ka kya hoga
> Himat rakho sab theek hojayaga



theek hai yaar tu kehta hai to ruk jaata hoon


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## Gessler

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Phased Array Prototype *
> 
> *50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km
> 30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant range of 800 km*



The picture shows the Indian radar right?

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## he-man

Gessler said:


> The picture shows the Indian radar right?



looks pretty indian to me


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## SOHEIL

he-man said:


> looks pretty indian to me



why !?

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## he-man

SOHEIL said:


> why !?



i don't know........pretty ordinary(in looks)


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## SOHEIL

he-man said:


> i don't know........pretty ordinary(in looks)



Sure !!!  ...

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Gessler said:


> The picture shows the Indian radar right?



Yes, its a prototype. Real one will be huge like the AN/MPS-39.


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## SOHEIL

​

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## Type 052D

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *RLV-TD animation from VSSC*



Is this the Indian civillian version of the X-37B (USAF space command) and Chinese Shenlong?



BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *RLV-TD animation from VSSC*



Is this the Indian civillian version of the Chinese shenlong and USAF X-37B spacecraft?


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## gslv mk3

Type 052D said:


> Is this the Indian civillian version of the X-37B (USAF space command) and Chinese Shenlong?
> 
> 
> 
> Is this the Indian civillian version of the Chinese shenlong and USAF X-37B spacecraft?



That one is the technology demonstrator for Reusable launch vehicle.This one below is the real one that will be used to launch satellites.
ISRO is already in process of developing the Engines - a 2000 kN semi cryo & 600 kN cryo engine.
















For more http://www.defence.pk/forums/indian...launch-vehicle-rlv-td-test-flight-2013-a.html

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Type 052D said:


> Is this the Indian civillian version of the X-37B (USAF space command) and Chinese Shenlong?
> 
> 
> 
> Is this the Indian civillian version of the Chinese shenlong and USAF X-37B spacecraft?



No and yes. No because the intended goal of this TD vehicle is to develop a reusable glide back booster for RLV. Yes because the TD can easily be converted into something like the USAF X-37B.

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Phased Array Prototype *
> 
> *50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km
> 30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant range of 800 km*



Are the stated detection ranges already achieved? Got any write up on this? How tight is the resolution and noise level reduction? 

Its a liquid cooled radar, how did ISRO get the liquid cooling challenges done with before CABS/DRDO?
@gambit doesn't look like a liquid cooled system, does it? Since mine amateur eyes can't gauge anything could you perhaps be of some assistance?

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> Are the stated detection ranges already achieved? Got any write up on this? How tight is the resolution and noise level reduction?
> 
> Its a liquid cooled radar, how did ISRO get the liquid cooling challenges done with before CABS/DRDO?
> @gambit doesn't look like a liquid cooled system, does it? Since mine amateur eyes can't gauge anything could you perhaps be of some assistance?


Pic is a bit small to make out the details but it looks to me like a typical poled (di- or mono-) system. These are usually much larger than solid state systems that are compacted for airborne use. Poled designs do not need liquid cooling but then higher power poled systems may. It all depends on power out.

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> Pic is a bit small to make out the details but it looks to me like a typical poled (di- or mono-) system. These are usually much larger than solid state systems that are compacted for airborne use. Poled designs do not need liquid cooling but then higher power poled systems may. It all depends on power out.



This apparently is a L-band active electronically scanned array radar. To the best of my knowledge, so far we have only an operational air cooled S-band AESA for the AEW&C designed and built by us, liquid cooling solutions are yet to be seen in any existing indigenous AESA sensor.

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## Gessler

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Phased Array Prototype *
> 
> *50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km
> 30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant range of 800 km*



I don't know yet what wavelength this radar operates in, but it certainly appears to be tracking
targets in the air (obviously).

If I still remember some maths, 50cm x 50cm makes for an object that is 0.5 square meters in size, are the figures concerning
detection range or tracking range?

The radar appears to be for space applications, which means it has to be able to track it's targets as
early as possible after detection is achieved.

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## Dillinger

@gambit Ideally how much time does it take to graduate from air cooled systems to liquid cooled ones? Is it a very complex process?


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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> This apparently is a L-band active electronically scanned array radar. To the best of my knowledge, so far we have only an operational air cooled S-band AESA for the AEW&C designed and built by us, liquid cooling solutions are yet to be seen in any existing indigenous AESA sensor.


The L-band is often used for poled designs.

Russian / PLA Low Band Surveillance Radar Systems (Counter Low Observable Technology Radars)

The APA source above have a few good pics of a typical poled array. Disregard the claim to be good against 'stealth'. They have their opinions and I have mine. We will just have to wait for an actual engagement to know for certain.

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> The L-band is often used for poled designs.
> 
> Russian / PLA Low Band Surveillance Radar Systems (Counter Low Observable Technology Radars)
> 
> The APA source above have a few good pics of a typical poled array. Disregard the claim to be good against 'stealth'. They have their opinions and I have mine. We will just have to wait for an actual engagement to know for certain.



You will have to excuse my ignorance. What is the difference between a poled AESA and an Israeli Greenpine like AESA?

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> @gambit Ideally how much time does it take to graduate from air cooled systems to liquid cooled ones? *Is it a very complex process?*


Yes, it is.

If you want to talk about a true and pure indigenous design, look at approximately 10 yrs, from R/D to deployment, assuming you have all the necessary components of high quality and we are talking about down to how to manufacture solid state components. Right now, Iran or even the Saudis can have a true indigenous poled array design.

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> Yes, it is.
> 
> If you want to talk about a true and pure indigenous design, look at approximately 10 yrs, from R/D to deployment, assuming you have all the necessary components of high quality and we are talking about down to how to manufacture solid state components. Right now, Iran or even the Saudis can have a true indigenous poled array design.



The thing is we have already manufactured the TRMs and MMIC for S-band and X-band. But our first operational system is an air cooled one.
















Source of images- TRISHUL: EMB-145I AEW & CS Walkaround

From this to a compact X-band AESA for fighter aircrafts will take 10 years, right?

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## Dillinger

@gambit 

The above developments went into the L-star sensor-






Which has been used then it the Indigenous AEW&C program-







*SO HOW FAR BEHIND WOULD YOU SAY WE ARE, A DECADE PERHAPS TWO?*

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> You will have to excuse my ignorance. What is the difference between a poled AESA and an Israeli Greenpine like AESA?


A poled design is exactly the descriptor 'pole'. The array consists of precisely length-ed and oriented rods arrayed to create a certain beam shape. A true square array would have a conical beam. Deviate from that square and you begin to have a more fan shaped beam.

The Israeli Greenpine system, from all descriptions and images available, seems to be a solid state system consists of solid state T/R modules. It is a more advanced design in terms of beam precision, from shape to direction. The antenna itself may have a few mono-poles in precise locations to create several 'anchor' main beams -- when needed -- for multi-beams operations. But this hybrid is generally from older AESA designs. Still useful, though, for development purposes.

Poled designs are not good for when the target is as dynamic as an aircraft or a descending ballistic warhead and it is because of the radiation pattern of a rod. After all, the rod or pole was the first foundation of wireless transmissions in the first place, and the pattern is omni-directional in azimuth (horizontal). The US Pave PAWS early warning system is a phased array composed of thousands of di-pole transmitters and all of them are against a back plane so all the poles' transmissions are directional. The working wavelength is in the mhz bands so the system was high power and long range detection of incoming targets. Good to know direction and coarse resolutions of speed and altitude of the target.

For example...

By 'coarse' I mean target updates are in meter intervals, as in timestamp 00:00 the target is at 1000 meters altitude, and in timestamp 00:10, the target is at 900 meters altitude.

By 'fine', as in solid state design quality, target updates are sub-meter intervals, as in timestamp 00:00 the target is at 1000 meters, and in timestamp 00:00:01 the target is at 999.99 meters altitude.

See the difference?

As the target gets closer and closer, the threat quotient increases, meaning you are going to die soon if you do nothing. So if you are going to do something, either you move out of the way, or you send an interceptor, you want to give yourself and your interceptor as fine grained information about the threat as possible. That is why long range detection can get by with coarse information from easily designed poled systems operating in the meter length wavelength, while tracking and targeting radars must or should have fine and very fine grained data from solid state systems in the centimetric or even millimetric bands.

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## he-man

gambit said:


> A poled design is exactly the descriptor 'pole'. The array consists of precisely length-ed and oriented rods arrayed to create a certain beam shape. A true square array would have a conical beam. Deviate from that square and you begin to have a more fan shaped beam.
> 
> The Israeli Greenpine system, from all descriptions and images available, seems to be a solid state system consists of solid state T/R modules. It is a more advanced design in terms of beam precision, from shape to direction. The antenna itself may have a few mono-poles in precise locations to create several 'anchor' main beams -- when needed -- for multi-beams operations. But this hybrid is generally from older AESA designs. Still useful, though, for development purposes.
> 
> Poled designs are not good for when the target is as dynamic as an aircraft or a descending ballistic warhead and it is because of the radiation pattern of a rod. After all, the rod or pole was the first foundation of wireless transmissions in the first place, and the pattern is omni-directional in azimuth (horizontal). The US Pave PAWS early warning system is a phased array composed of thousands of di-pole transmitters and all of them are against a back plane so all the poles' transmissions are directional. The working wavelength is in the mhz bands so the system was high power and long range detection of incoming targets. Good to know direction and coarse resolutions of speed and altitude of the target.
> 
> For example...
> 
> By 'coarse' I mean target updates are in meter intervals, as in timestamp 00:00 the target is at 1000 meters altitude, and in timestamp 00:10, the target is at 900 meters altitude.
> 
> By 'fine', as in solid state design quality, target updates are sub-meter intervals, as in timestamp 00:00 the target is at 1000 meters, and in timestamp 00:00:01 the target is at 999.99 meters altitude.
> 
> See the difference?
> 
> As the target gets closer and closer, the threat quotient increases, meaning you are going to die soon if you do nothing. So if you are going to do something, either you move out of the way, or you send an interceptor, you want to give yourself and your interceptor as fine grained information about the threat as possible. That is why long range detection can get by with coarse information from easily designed poled systems operating in the meter length wavelength, while tracking and targeting radars must or should have fine and very fine grained data from solid state systems in the centimetric or even millimetric bands.



Can u pls tell me why we use the word SOLID STATE AESA??

Are their other types of aesa too??

pardon my ignorance but i have had this for a long time.................

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> Are the stated detection ranges already achieved? Got any write up on this? How tight is the resolution and noise level reduction?
> 
> Its a liquid cooled radar, how did ISRO get the liquid cooling challenges done with before CABS/DRDO?
> @gambit doesn't look like a liquid cooled system, does it? Since mine amateur eyes can't gauge anything could you perhaps be of some assistance?



The detection range is official figure. Its a liquid cooled radar. ISRO is operating SAR satellites in space, so its obvious they have sorted out the thermal management challenges of such systems. Regarding DRDO AEWC, RAM air cooling is normal.

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## HariPrasad

Echo_419 said:


> Nahi Paaji sabhi aise soche ge to desh ka kya hoga
> Himat rakho sab theek hojayaga



Modi ke liye vote karo aur das sal main transformed India me raho.

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> The detection range is official figure. Its a liquid cooled radar. ISRO is operating SAR satellites in space, so its obvious they have sorted out the thermal management challenges of such systems. Regarding DRDO AEWC, RAM air cooling is normal.



Arre yaara air-cooling is not an issue for the CABS product, ye toh mai bhi chilla raha hoon pata nahi kabse. What I meant is that abhi take ek bhi liquid cooled S-band ground based sensor operational nahi hua hai through DRDO.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> This apparently is a L-band active electronically scanned array radar. To the best of my knowledge, so far we have only an operational air cooled S-band AESA for the AEW&C designed and built by us, liquid cooling solutions are yet to be seen in any existing indigenous AESA sensor.



We also have C band on Risat-1

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> We also have C band on Risat-1



And where is ISRO sourcing its MMICs from, in country foundry for industrial level production toh exist nahi karti?


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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> @gambit
> 
> The above developments went into the L-star sensor-
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Which has been used then it the Indigenous AEW&C program-
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *SO HOW FAR BEHIND WOULD YOU SAY WE ARE, A DECADE PERHAPS TWO?*



It all depends on the money we pour into it............by the way i think we should spend more on r&d as by the time we get GaA X-BAND world would have already moved on to GaN

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> The thing is we have already manufactured the TRMs and MMIC for S-band and X-band. But our first operational system is an air cooled one.
> 
> From this to a compact X-band AESA for fighter aircrafts will take 10 years, right?


Liquid cooling is problematic as the T/R module gets smaller. We simply cannot compress the liquid's molecule and if the liquid is a composite, like salted water compared to pure water for example, then it gets even more problematic for cooling small structures.

This is basic chemistry. If you 'dope' water with salt, for example, you raised its boiling temperature and lowered its freezing temperature. No big deal there.

But here is the problem...If you want to use this composite liquid to remove or absorb heat from a structure, you must leave them in contact with each other for a longer time than if you had use pure water.

Look at the cooling system for your car. If you use pure water, the engine's heat would overwhelm it and all the water would rapidly boil off.

Now you do three things:

- Use a composite liquid.

- Pressurize the closed system.

- Regulate the flow. Not too high because you want to keep the liquid in contact with metal long enough to absorb/remove heat. Not too low because you do not want to overheat the liquid.

This combination will allow you to minimize the amount of liquid to be just enough to keep your engine cool but not too cool.

It is no different with cooling a solid state AESA array -- in principle.

The problem lies in miniaturization and you cannot compress the liquid's molecules. You make the T/R modules smaller and smaller. You put them closer and closer, as much as radiation physics will allow so you can create a functional beam. But you are stuck with the same liquid formula.

A more advanced AESA design may require less liquid cooling than yours because of more advanced T/R modules manufacturing thanks to super-duper secret materials. So even if both yours and his have the same T/R modules because of radiation physics limits on a fixed array dimension, his will have a more refined beam, better multi-beams operations, and less cooling requirements.

So to answer your question of going from air to liquid cooling: Yes, it can take up to a decade to develop a true and pure indigenous compact liquid cooling AESA system. It all depends on finance and budgeting.

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## he-man

gambit said:


> Liquid cooling is problematic as the T/R module gets smaller. We simply cannot compress the liquid's molecule and if the liquid is a composite, like salted water compared to pure water for example, then it gets even more problematic for cooling small structures.
> 
> This is basic chemistry. If you 'dope' water with salt, for example, you raised its boiling temperature and lowered its freezing temperature. No big deal there.
> 
> But here is the problem...If you want to use this composite liquid to remove or absorb heat from a structure, you must leave them in contact with each other for a longer time than if you had use pure water.
> 
> Look at the cooling system for your car. If you use pure water, the engine's heat would overwhelm it and all the water would rapidly boil off.
> 
> Now you do three things:
> 
> - Use a composite liquid.
> 
> - Pressurize the closed system.
> 
> - Regulate the flow. Not too high because you want to keep the liquid in contact with metal long enough to absorb/remove heat. Not too low because you do not want to overheat the liquid.
> 
> This combination will allow you to minimize the amount of liquid to be just enough to keep your engine cool but not too cool.
> 
> It is no different with cooling a solid state AESA array -- in principle.
> 
> The problem lies in miniaturization and you cannot compress the liquid's molecules. You make the T/R modules smaller and smaller. You put them closer and closer, as much as radiation physics will allow so you can create a functional beam. But you are stuck with the same liquid formula.
> 
> A more advanced AESA design may require less liquid cooling than yours because of more advanced T/R modules manufacturing thanks to super-duper secret materials. So even if both yours and his have the same T/R modules because of radiation physics limits on a fixed array dimension, his will have a more refined beam, better multi-beams operations, and less cooling requirements.
> 
> So to answer your question of going from air to liquid cooling: Yes, it can take up to a decade to develop a true and pure indigenous compact liquid cooling AESA system. It all depends on finance and budgeting.



Bhai what is SOLID STATE??

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> Liquid cooling is problematic as the T/R module gets smaller. We simply cannot compress the liquid's molecule and if the liquid is a composite, like salted water compared to pure water for example, then it gets even more problematic for cooling small structures.
> 
> This is basic chemistry. If you 'dope' water with salt, for example, you raised its boiling temperature and lowered its freezing temperature. No big deal there.
> 
> But here is the problem...If you want to use this composite liquid to remove or absorb heat from a structure, you must leave them in contact with each other for a longer time than if you had use pure water.
> 
> Look at the cooling system for your car. If you use pure water, the engine's heat would overwhelm it and all the water would rapidly boil off.
> 
> Now you do three things:
> 
> - Use a composite liquid.
> 
> - Pressurize the closed system.
> 
> - Regulate the flow. Not too high because you want to keep the liquid in contact with metal long enough to absorb/remove heat. Not too low because you do not want to overheat the liquid.
> 
> This combination will allow you to minimize the amount of liquid to be just enough to keep your engine cool but not too cool.
> 
> It is no different with cooling a solid state AESA array -- in principle.
> 
> The problem lies in miniaturization and you cannot compress the liquid's molecules. You make the T/R modules smaller and smaller. You put them closer and closer, as much as radiation physics will allow so you can create a functional beam. But you are stuck with the same liquid formula.
> 
> A more advanced AESA design may require less liquid cooling than yours because of more advanced T/R modules manufacturing thanks to super-duper secret materials. So even if both yours and his have the same T/R modules because of radiation physics limits on a fixed array dimension, his will have a more refined beam, better multi-beams operations, and less cooling requirements.
> 
> So to answer your question of going from air to liquid cooling: Yes, it can take up to a decade to develop a true and pure indigenous compact liquid cooling AESA system. It all depends on finance and budgeting.



Makes sense. But then the US has been using something akin to polyalphaolefin (PAO) as a radar coolant, yes?

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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> And where is ISRO sourcing its MMICs from, in country foundry for industrial level production toh exist nahi karti?



We must prioritize the chip making industry.......

and not uncle chips!!


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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> We must prioritize the chip making industry.......
> 
> and not uncle chips!!



You must stop with the staccato post firing.


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## Firemaster

he-man said:


> Bhai what is SOLID STATE??


I think he is referring to semiconductor radiators.


----------



## gambit

he-man said:


> Can u pls tell me why we use the word SOLID STATE AESA??
> 
> Are their other types of aesa too??
> 
> pardon my ignorance but i have had this for a long time.................


The other type is the poled or 'rod' design.

You can see that design here...

Russian / PLA Low Band Surveillance Radar Systems (Counter Low Observable Technology Radars)

To be 'solid state' mean you make those transmitters smaller and smaller on a silicon foundation.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> And where is ISRO sourcing its MMICs from, in country foundry for industrial level production toh exist nahi karti?



Everything done in house by ISRO.

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> The other type is the poled or 'rod' design.
> 
> You can see that design here...
> 
> Russian / PLA Low Band Surveillance Radar Systems (Counter Low Observable Technology Radars)
> 
> To be 'solid state' mean you make those transmitters smaller and smaller on a silicon foundation.



What's with the Nebo SVU radar being termed as a solid state system?

"The Nebo SVU departs from the Nebo SV in many respects. It is a solid state phased array with electronic beamsteering in azimuth and elevation, it is considerably more accurate, it has much better mobility, and incorporates a wide range of improvements. It retains the VHF element design, but uses vertical polarisation."







Above:- poled AESA radar. @he-man

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## he-man

gambit said:


> The other type is the poled or 'rod' design.
> 
> You can see that design here...
> 
> Russian / PLA Low Band Surveillance Radar Systems (Counter Low Observable Technology Radars)
> 
> To be 'solid state' mean you make those transmitters smaller and smaller on a silicon foundation.



and is or was there any aesa which was not solid??

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Everything done in house by ISRO.



ISRO has a chip foundry? 

Yeh kab ho gaya?


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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Everything done in house by ISRO.



seriously!!

pls provide a link and make me happy for drdo at least once



Dillinger said:


> ISRO has a chip foundry?
> 
> Yeh kab ho gaya?



na bhai,,,bahar ka maal hoga pakka

and remember the risat launched by israel 5 years ago in 2008 has SAR resolution of 1 m

The one launched by us later on has a resolution of 2-10m


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## Firemaster

Dillinger said:


> And where is ISRO sourcing its MMICs from, in country foundry for industrial level production toh exist nahi karti?


Gallium Arsenide Enabling Technology Centre @gambit ji
would the chips made on 0.5um process be efficient for making liquid cooled AESA?

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## he-man

Firemaster said:


> Gallium Arsenide Enabling Technology Centre



MMIC'S not the T/r modules

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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> MMIC'S not the T/r modules



MMICs are fabricated using GaAs.

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> Makes sense. But then the US has been using something akin to polyalphaolefin (PAO) as a radar coolant, yes?


PAO is basically good for liquid cooling of any small structures but high density array of said small structures. We in semiconductor have some uses for it in certain test equipment. In reliability testing, we basically inject/erase data until we literally physically fail the silicon structure, as in punching physical atomic scale holes in a transistor or capacitor. All the while, we collect data on how goes the degradation of the structure from being fully functional to being completely dead. Certain test platform does it in real time and that hardware do generate a lot of heat and PAO is used precisely because of its heat absorbent quality that minimize the quantity required. I never had personal experience with it myself but I have worked with those who do.

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## sms

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Everything done in house by ISRO.





Dillinger said:


> ISRO has a chip foundry?
> 
> Yeh kab ho gaya?



ISRO/ BEL have foundries of old tech to manufacture chip with approx. 130~250 nM. Not sure if they have upgraded these to today&#8217;s tech with <19 nM.

But that is not necessary for their application at least for next decade.

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## Mujraparty

Dillinger said:


> ISRO has a chip foundry?
> 
> Yeh kab ho gaya?



this ..?



> DRDO has successfully developed 12 GHz MMIC technology, an ion implanted technology which uses MESFETs as active devices and spiral inductors, nitride and polyamide capacitors, transmission lines and implanted resistors as passive components. The gate length, which primarily governs the operating frequency, is 0.7 m. The ohmic and gate metallisation are Au/Ge/Ni and Ti/Pt/Au, respectively. A third layer of metallisation is used for interconnection of both active and passive devices. Silicon nitride is used for final passivation. Two types of MESFETs have been developed for amplifier and switching applications.
> 
> The important steps in the MMIC technology developed are: (i) process simulation and optimisation, (ii) modelling of active and passive components and integrated circuits, (iii) design and layout of active and passive components, (iv) process integration, and (v) DC and RF charcterisation.
> 
> The technology has been successfully implemented by fabricating MESFETs with a cutoff frequency of 18 GHz. Apart from the DRDO, the other potential users of these MMICs are institutions like, CSIR and ISRO. Besides, the commercial sector also has a bulk requirement of MMICs for DBS, mobile phones, etc.
> 
> It is for the first time in the country that an MMIC technology based on GaAs has been indigenously developed and is undergoing production in the country. It is a definite step forward in attaining DRDOs aim of increasing self-reliance in this strategic area.



self

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> *What's with the Nebo SVU radar being termed as a solid state system?*
> 
> "The Nebo SVU departs from the Nebo SV in many respects. It is a solid state phased array with electronic beamsteering in azimuth and elevation, it is considerably more accurate, it has much better mobility, and incorporates a wide range of improvements. It retains the VHF element design, but uses vertical polarisation."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Above:- poled AESA radar. @he-man


No idea. The problem is that the phrase 'solid state' have been broadly used and meant to include computers and everything else made small enough.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> Arre yaara air-cooling is not an issue for the CABS product, ye toh mai bhi chilla raha hoon pata nahi kabse. What I meant is that abhi take ek bhi liquid cooled S-band ground based sensor operational nahi hua hai through DRDO.



What about Swordfish?

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## Dillinger

eowyn said:


> this ..?
> 
> 
> 
> self



Officially over my head now-
@gambit @Hyperion EXPLAIN!!

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## confound thinker

Gessler said:


> I don't know yet what wavelength this radar operates in, but it certainly appears to be tracking
> targets in the air (obviously).
> 
> If I still remember some maths, *50cm x 50cm makes for an object that is 0.5 square meters in size*, are the figures concerning
> detection range or tracking range?
> 
> The radar appears to be for space applications, which means it has to be able to track it's targets as
> early as possible after detection is achieved.


i think it will be.25 m2 and not .5 m2


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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> No idea. The problem is that the phrase 'solid state' have been broadly used and meant to include computers and everything else made small enough.



Isn't that true.

*But transitioning from vacuum/klystron tubes to semiconductor diodes and transistors would constitute stepping into the solid-state envelope, no?*

Or is it strictly meant to be used to refer to components like the integrated circuit or LEDs- which are more modern examples of solid-state components?

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## sms

Dillinger said:


> Isn't that true.
> 
> *But transitioning from vacuum/klystron tubes to semiconductor diodes and transistors would constitute stepping into the solid-state envelope, no?*
> 
> Or is it strictly meant to be used to refer to components like the integrated circuit or LEDs- which are more modern examples of solid-state components?



Generally speaking most semi conductor based electronics devices are called solid state devices.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*ISRO MOTR cooling arrangement*

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Gessler said:


> I don't know yet what wavelength this radar operates in, but it certainly appears to be tracking
> targets in the air (obviously).
> 
> If I still remember some maths, 50cm x 50cm makes for an object that is 0.5 square meters in size, are the figures concerning
> detection range or tracking range?
> 
> The radar appears to be for space applications, which means it has to be able to track it's targets as
> early as possible after detection is achieved.



L band. Tracks 10 targets simultaneously. Will be used for tracking space debris and launch vehicles. Can be used to track Asat weapons.

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> Officially over my head now-
> @gambit @Hyperion EXPLAIN!!


The key words are 'MMIC'...

self


> DRDO has successfully developed 12 GHz MMIC technology...



MMIC...

Monolithic microwave integrated circuit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


> A Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit, or MMIC (sometimes pronounced "mimic"), is a type of integrated circuit (IC) device that operates at microwave frequencies (300 MHz to 300 GHz). These devices typically perform functions such as microwave mixing, power amplification, low noise amplification, and high frequency switching. Inputs and outputs on MMIC devices are frequently matched to a characteristic impedance of 50 ohms. This makes them easier to use, as cascading of MMICs does not then require an external matching network. Additionally most microwave test equipment is designed to operate in a 50 ohm environment.


Monolithic mean every device is made on the same base structure. Your car is *NOT* a 'monolithic' device, for example. It is a device made up of many smaller devices from elsewhere.

What this mean is that DRDO is getting into the semicon field, just like how the American DARPA dabbles in many fields, providing either financing or technical expertise or both, to instigate exploration and at least experimental development.

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## Dillinger

sms said:


> Generally speaking most semi conductor based electronics devices are called solid state devices.



So a radar using semi-conductor diodes would be termed as a solid state radar? 

Although in the generic layman/jingo usage in terms of AESA radar we take solid-state to mean the GaAs based ICs being employed.

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## gambit

Dillinger said:


> Isn't that true.
> 
> *But transitioning from vacuum/klystron tubes to semiconductor diodes and transistors would constitute stepping into the solid-state envelope, no?*
> 
> Or is it strictly meant to be used to refer to components like the integrated circuit or LEDs- which are more modern examples of solid-state components?


APA was using the phrase 'solid state' broadly probably because the writers regards the entire system as 'solid state' despite the first stage of detection is based on a poled design. When the process move from detection to tracking and finally to targeting, the more advanced arrays takes over and they are the true solid state arrays.

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## Dillinger

gambit said:


> APA was using the phrase 'solid state' broadly probably because the writers regards the entire system as 'solid state' despite the first stage of detection is based on a poled design. When the process move from detection to tracking and finally to targeting, the more advanced arrays takes over and they are the true solid state arrays.



So many doubts cleared, which as a layman means a lot to me albeit I shall still not be able to comprehend much of the technical principles and jargon.

Pardon my boldness, but I could almost kiss you out of sheer gratitude.



BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *ISRO MOTR cooling arrangement*



Where did you get this from, where do you get these things? 

Someday I'll find out.

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## Hyperion

Dilli, kaminay..... leave your CA, and get into IIT.... 

@Dillinger








And this what I was barking couple days back...... 




Dillinger said:


> So many doubts cleared, which as a layman means a lot to me albeit I shall still not be able to comprehend much of the technical principles and jargon.
> 
> Pardon my boldness, but I could almost kiss you out of sheer gratitude.
> 
> 
> 
> Where did you get this from, where do you get these things?
> 
> Someday I'll find out.

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## gambit

Firemaster said:


> Gallium Arsenide Enabling Technology Centre @gambit ji
> would the chips made on 0.5um process be efficient for making liquid cooled AESA?


I think there are limits -- *PHYSICAL* -- on how small we can make these T/R modules. Right now, for NAND memory where I am at, that physical limit looks like it may be at the 10 nm node. Am not sure. That belongs to Product Engineering and those fellas ain't talking. But when you are talking about creating wireless transmitters, radiation physics may have its own limitations. At that scale, I think signal contamination will be an issue.

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## S-DUCT

@Dillinger
LRDE has recently(in 2013) released some tenders related to the development of X-BAND AAAU with Liquid cooling system and a separate tender to "develope compact airborne liquid cooling system".

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## Echo_419

HariPrasad said:


> Modi ke liye vote karo aur das sal main transformed India me raho.



Paji i am first time voter will vote for Delhi elections & general elections 
& i give you my word 

Haat kta longa magar Congressio ke liye nahi vote karonga 
Will vote for modi only

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *ISRO MOTR cooling arrangement*



Be nice and pass on the tech to DRDO. Or is that not required? 

Good to know that in-house MMIC fabs exist, One wonders if the fab units are up-to contemporary standards.



Hyperion said:


> Dilli, kaminay..... leave your CA, and get into IIT....
> 
> @Dillinger
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And this what I was barking couple days back......



Yes because ab engineering toh mujhe mere sasur ji sikhaenge.

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## confound thinker

Echo_419 said:


> Paji i am first time voter will vote for Delhi elections & general elections
> & i give you my word
> 
> Haat kta longa magar Congressio ke liye nahi vote karonga
> Will vote for modi only


What about in Assembly elections????


----------



## Gessler

*ISRO Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR)*








> ISROs future missions will need tracking of multiple objects. For this purpose, a Multi-Object Tracking Radar or MOTR is being realized indigenously, which will contribute to *Range safety, Impact point monitoring, recovery and re-entry missions*. The MOTR will track different stages of launch vehicles simultaneously during nominal and non-nominal missions. The tracking data will be used for computing the Instantaneous Impact Points (IIPs) of the descending/separated objects of the launch vehicle, more accurately.
> 
> The configuration of MOTR is derived based on *long range tracking requirement of 50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant range of 1000 km for objects and 30 cm x 30 cm size at a slant range of 800 km in LEO for space-debris*. The MOTR operates in L-band frequency (1.3 to 1.4 GHz) with *active phased array antenna*, capable of tracking ten objects simultaneously. The radar is designed to have a *maximum peak power of 830 kW with 4608 radiating antenna elements*.
> 
> Further, MOTR will also provide the data related to close approach of space debris to the remote sensing satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and to plan the collision avoidance manoeuvres of these satellites, thus contributing to the safe operation of ISROs *Space Assets and Space Situational Awareness*.



isrohq.vssc.gov.in

^^ That website has some interesting information in it.

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## he-man

Gessler said:


> *ISRO Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR)*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> isrohq.vssc.gov.in
> 
> ^^ That website has some interesting information in it.



tell them to help drdo out atleast!!


----------



## S-DUCT

*ISROs Scramjet combuster Test module *

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> *ISROs Scramjet combuster Test module *



What happened to this, news has completely died on this. A limited ground test was conducted and then kaput no news?! Any updates and/or news?


----------



## he-man

S-DUCT said:


> *ISROs Scramjet combuster Test module *



looks like made of wood!!


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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> tell them to help drdo out atleast!!



Who do you think fabricated the TRM and validated the process?


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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> What happened to this, news has completely died on this. A limited ground test was conducted and then kaput no news?! Any updates and/or news?



when s h i t hits the fan

1)drdo starts barking
2)isro starts working

i hope u got ur answer

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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> when s h i t hits the fan
> 
> 1)drdo starts barking
> 2)isro starts working
> 
> i hope u got ur answer



Oh yes. 

A very succinct and apt answer.

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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> Who do you think fabricated the TRM and validated the process?



no idea man............drdo??

dil hai ke maanta nahi..


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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> no idea man............drdo??
> 
> dil hai ke maanta nahi..



Did you get your answer from Gambit sir? Found some clarity or are we still in shoot and scoot mode?

There is only one authority on fabrication of airborne sensor components. So it shouldn't be a difficult proposition to find out the answer.


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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> Did you get your answer from Gambit sir? Found some clarity or are we still in shoot and scoot mode?
> 
> There is only one authority on fabrication of airborne sensor components. So it shouldn't be a difficult proposition to find out the answer.



yaar drdo ke maaze lene do mujhe plzzzzz


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## sms

gambit said:


> I think there are limits -- *PHYSICAL* -- on how small we can make these T/R modules. Right now, for NAND memory where I am at, that physical limit looks like it may be at the 10 nm node. Am not sure. That belongs to Product Engineering and those fellas ain't talking. But when you are talking about creating wireless transmitters, radiation physics may have its own limitations. At that scale, I think signal contamination will be an issue.



NAND tech still hovering between 15~29 nm. There are many industries working to break 15nm barrier. So far they are facing high failure rate, inconsistent performance. 
It will take another year or two to make commercially feasible and technically consistent product with <15nm tech

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> What happened to this, news has completely died on this. A limited ground test was conducted and then kaput no news?! Any updates and/or news?


Design of Air intake and supersonic combuster has been completed.Scramjet-engine fabrication with superalloy Inconel 718 and aluminium alloy is in advance stage.
Groundtesting of scramjetcombustor is yet to happen..

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## he-man

S-DUCT said:


> Design of Air intake and supersonic combuster has been completed.Scramjet-engine fabrication with superalloy Inconel 718 and aluminium alloy is in advance stage.
> Groundtesting of scramjetcombustor is yet to happen..



all the words sounded awesomeeeee!!

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## Dillinger

he-man said:


> yaar drdo ke maaze lene do mujhe plzzzzz



It gets irritating when all the posts being generated are either sans substance or more in the sphere of collating data.

I see your still stuck on the S-duct issue despite being given ample nuggets of information pertaining to LO/VLO shaping and the solutions employed under different projects.

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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> It gets irritating when all the posts being generated are either sans substance or more in the sphere of collating data.
> 
> I see your still stuck on the S-duct issue despite being given ample nuggets of information pertaining to LO/VLO shaping and the solutions employed under different projects.



sorry to waste ur time.....won't post anything anymore,,,,cheers

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## Dillinger

sms said:


> NAND tech still hovering between 15~29 nm. There are many industries working to break 15nm barrier. So far they are facing high failure rate, inconsistent performance.
> It will take another year or two to make commercially feasible and technically consistent product with <15nm tech



Whats the MMIC manufacturing resources like in India, I was able to confirm that industrial scale S-and TRM production is not possible at the moment. The Hyderabad foundry is part of ISRO affiliated labs or has it been working in concert with other orgs.?



he-man said:


> sorry to waste ur time.....won't post anything anymore,,,,cheers



And the whole point just flies past. I believe my answer to what you are insinuating in the above post was already provided to a certain member who took umbrage to your posts and became hostile.

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## he-man

I don't care........its a free country

if u don't like a post then don't comment,whats the point in an argument over nothing!!
and come what may i am not convinced with capabilities of drdo.........i am just not

this post is not for u but that hostile member


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## sms

Dillinger said:


> Whats the MMIC manufacturing resources like in India, I was able to confirm that industrial scale S-and TRM production is not possible at the moment. The Hyderabad foundry is part of ISRO affiliated labs or has it been working in concert with other orgs.?



The govt. sector had decent (enough to meet their requiements but bit out dated) setup to manufacture things required of their own consumption. I knew their capabilities when I was working with BEL, HAL and 2 vendors for ISRO as technical consultant. But I'm not in touch with them for a while and I do not have ant info on current status.

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## Dillinger

sms said:


> The govt. sector had decent (enough to meet their requiements but bit out dated) setup to manufacture things required of their own consumption. I knew their capabilities when I was working with BEL, HAL and 2 vendors for ISRO as technical consultant. But I'm not in touch with them for a while and I do not have ant info on current status.



Enough capability to produce the sort of MMIC required for contemporary sensors en mass?

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## sms

Dillinger said:


> Enough capability to produce the sort of MMIC required for contemporary sensors en mass?

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## Dillinger

sms said:


>



Its pathetic that ISRO and DRDO have had to create their own ecoshpere of high-end tech suppliers from scratch for enabling their projects.

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## Gessler

Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - space science activites

The above link has detailed information regarding the results of research
carried out by various ISRO experiments and space missions.

*This is a source not to be missed.*

@Dillinger @Abingdonboy @S-DUCT @Roybot @hinduguy @Hyperion @gambit @Oscar @nuclearpak
@AhaseebA @Jungibaaz @he-man @sandy_3126 @sancho @BlueDot_in_Space @Dreamreaper @Aeronaut

@ all the others

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## Hyperion

Yara, if it's open source, why not someone spend sometime and put it up on PDF??? We always have these measuring contests going on in ISRO related threads.... this will put a nice little cork in them all.... consult with the source and management of PDF, and get someone to spend the time and "copy paste", all matter that comes under discussion.



Gessler said:


> Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - space science activites
> 
> The above link has detailed information regarding the results of research
> carried out by various ISRO experiments and space missions.
> 
> *This is a source not to be missed.*
> 
> @Dillinger @Abingdonboy @S-DUCT @Roybot @hinduguy @Hyperion @gambit @Oscar @nuclearpak
> @AhaseebA @Jungibaaz @he-man @sandy_3126 @sancho
> 
> @ all the others

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## Gessler

Not just the link, but the entire website is full of information I never thought existed on public domain. Guess ISRO has decided it's time to put some of the less-secretive stuff on the line for
access by students/enthusiasts.

This (isrohq.vssc.gov.in) appears to be the beta version for ISRO's new website. There are 4 different design options in which you can see the same information -

1.
Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - HOME

2.
Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - HOME

3.
Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - HOME

4.
http://isrohq.vssc.gov.in/isr0dem0v4/

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*We need this all over the country with enhanced detection and tracking capabilities (40-60 objects at the same time)*

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## Echo_419

confound thinker said:


> What about in Assembly elections????



Patannahinconfused btw AAP & BJP 
I think AAP should get a chance though 

What do you think ?

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## S-DUCT

Echo_419 said:


> Patannahinconfused btw AAP & BJP
> I think AAP should get a chance though
> 
> What do you think ?


Wrong thread bro.wrong thread.

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## Dillinger

@BlueDot_in_Space @S-DUCT Any chance you know when the ATV's second flight with the active scramjet combustor module will take place? Its been three years since ATV-D01 was tested.

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## S-DUCT

@Dillinger:
No idea,but it may take atleast 1 year after they have ground tested combustor for 7 seconds.
DRDLs Scramjet project is current leading now,with its flight in 2014.

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> @Dillinger:
> No idea,but it may take atleast 1 year after they have ground tested combustor for 7 seconds.
> DRDLs Scramjet project is current leading now,with its flight in 2014.



Why are there two separate scramjet projects? Isn't that sort of like duplication of efforts? Has the DRDL product been ground tested? When was the ISRO product ground tested, all I know of is the passive scramjet test back in 2010?

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> Why are there two separate scramjet projects? Isn't that sort of like duplication of efforts? Has the DRDL product been ground tested? When was the ISRO product ground tested, all I know of is the passive scramjet test back in 2010?


One is for Civilian space use while later will be used for future longrange 1500km cruise missiles.DRDLs scramjet project has been ground tested for around 7 seconds.
An interesting paper by DRDLs director about our scramjet project.
http://www.combustioninstitute-indiansection.com/pdf/SCRAMJET%20COMBUSTOR%20DEVELOPMENT.pdf
http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl3002/stories/20130208300205300.htm

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> One is for Civilian space use while later will be used for future longrange 1500km cruise missiles.DRDLs scramjet project has been ground tested for around 7 seconds.
> An interesting paper by DRDLs director about our scramjet project.
> http://www.combustioninstitute-indiansection.com/pdf/SCRAMJET%20COMBUSTOR%20DEVELOPMENT.pdf
> Missile designer



So the HSTDV test will occur next year?

His paper says that the test lasted for 25 seconds in the lab?

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## gambit

sms said:


> NAND tech still hovering between 15~29 nm. There are many industries working to break 15nm barrier. So far they are facing *high failure rate, inconsistent performance. *
> It will take another year or two to make commercially feasible and technically consistent product with <15nm tech


Yes, we are. The industry saw it coming, actually, but we had to experience the failures in terms of mechanisms and rate in order to explore the alternatives.

Just in case anyone wonders why...

What is tunnel injection? - Definition from WhatIs.com


> Tunnel injection, also called Fowler-Nordheim tunnel injection, is the process by which data is written to NAND flash memory.
> 
> *Fowler-Nordheim tunneling* involves electrons passing through a barrier in the presence of a high electric field. During write operation on NAND flash media, the electrons tunnel through a thin dielectric material to change the electronic charge of a floating gate associated with a memory cell. A memory cell&#8217;s bit state depends upon whether or not the floating gate is charged or uncharged. When electrons are present on the floating gate, the bit state is 0. When electrons are removed from the floating gate, the bit state is 1.
> 
> The process by which data is erased from NAND flash memory is called Fowler-Nordheim tunnel releasing.


Volatile memory is the DRAM in your 'putah. If you remove power, you lose data, as in DRAM memory.

Non-volatile memory retains their data by physically moving the electrons through the barriers that make up a cell, as in the highlighted tunneling mechanism. At smaller and smaller scaling, these barriers are getting so thin that the 'pass through' count decreases to the point where the barriers are physically destroyed.

This is where we get what is called the 'write' or 'erase' limit...

SSD Performance Review - 270TB Written | StorageReview.com - Storage Reviews


> ...degrades as it nears its program/erase (P/E cycle) limit. For this particular drive that limit is around 5,000 P/E cycles using 32nm Toshiba MLC Toggle NAND.


You have to insert electrons to create data, then you have to remove them to erase data. Through time, eventually you will wear out the walls that separate the structures that create a memory cell. If you make those walls thinner in order to cram more cells into a finite area, inevitably you lower those P/E limits because of thinner and thinner and thinner walls. The low 10s nm scaling is giving everyone problems. Thinner walls increases operation speed and give higher capacity (gb) but decreases useful life.

This issue is in all things miniaturized at the atomic scaling level, even if there is no tunneling involved. An antenna created at this scaling may contaminate neighboring structures when it radiate. Or may not. We just have to find out.

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> So the HSTDV test will occur next year?



Hopefully.Scramjet technology may help Brahmos-2.


> B]His paper says that the test lasted for 25 seconds in the lab?[/B]


It looks like they have finaly broke 20 seconds envelope.

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Hopefully.Scramjet technology may help Brahmos-2.
> 
> It looks like they have finaly broke 20 seconds envelope.



You know at that projected speed and altitude- a 25 second burn is approximately 50 Km covered- rough math with a margin of error of 1 km or so. You could cover 1500km in 12.5+-1 minutes.

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> You know at that projected speed and altitude- a 25 second burn is approximately 50 Km covered- rough math with a margin of error of 1 km or so. You could cover 1500km in 12.5+-1 minutes.


Sustaining 12 minutes scramjet propulsion will be challenge,but'll be worth taking.X-51A can sustain supersonic combustion inside its combustor for around5 minutes,that's 300 sec.

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Sustaining 12 minutes scramjet propulsion will be challenge,but'll be worth taking.X-51A can sustain supersonic combustion inside its combustor for around5 minutes,that's 300 sec.



2 minutes should do the job if the weapon can be suitably sized to be viable as a standoff system- But seriously I want to see this baby even more so than the manned mission or anything else. I don't even care if its weaponised or not- I am in it for the science. Just once I want to see the cutting edge achieved.

Obviously my calc had to take speed as a constant, since variations and their specific duration have not been mentioned.

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> 2 minutes should do the job if the weapon can be suitably sized to be viable as a standoff system- But seriously I want to see this baby even more so than the manned mission or anything else. I don't even care if its weaponised or not- I am in it for the science. Just once I want to see the cutting edge achieved.
> 
> Obviously my calc had to take speed as a constant, since variations and their specific duration have not been mentioned.


Brahmos-2 with 300KM is very much feasible if combustor can sustain around 60 sec burntime(D=By booster+scramjet).
ISROs version is a bit different though.Ramjet+scramjet both coupled in one engine=DMRJ.

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Brahmos-2 with 300KM is very much feasible if combustor can sustain around 60 sec burntime(D=By booster+scramjet).
> ISROs version is a bit different though.Ramjet+scramjet both coupled in one engine=DMRJ.



That last one is scary, any ground tests even. Was the passive scramjet component tested on the the ATV part of this amalgamated ISRO engine? What's the tentative schedule for it, if any?

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## Dillinger

@S-DUCT The US patent description of a DMRJ throws up something else- the commentary is limited to attaining high supersonic speeds and nothing more- have a look and let me know what's it about.

Patente US20090071120 - Combined cycle integrated combustor and nozzle system - Patentes do Google

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> That last one is scary, any ground tests even. Was the passive scramjet component tested on the the ATV part of this amalgamated ISRO engine? What's the tentative schedule for it, if any?


Frim what i have read from the souvneir.They'll 1st develope DMRJ then after mastering it they'll integrate DMRJ for Hypersonic test vehicile(HTV).
1)It would take-off horizontally using conventional turbo-rocket.After it has reached cruise speed of mach 1-1.2, vehicle would use DMRJ dual mode ramjet-scramjet engine to accelerate to mach 3-10.then it will land using its turborocket engine.
HTV is going be predecessor of AVATAR SSTO.









Development of inflight air liquification is being done in IITs and IISC.

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> @S-DUCT The US patent description of a DMRJ throws up something else- the commentary is limited to attaining high supersonic speeds and nothing more- have a look and let me know what's it about.
> 
> Patente US20090071120 - Combined cycle integrated combustor and nozzle system - Patentes do Google


Since Scramjet engines only work in around 4-5 mach numbers,It is generally developed with turbofan+ramjet engine to remove the need of Solid rocket boosters.
So basically Hypersonic space plane will have:1)Turbofan:for horizontal takeoff.Then after attaining M2 speed engine will be switched over to Ramjet and then to scamjet when adequete speed for supersonic combustion is achieved.

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## confound thinker

Echo_419 said:


> Patannahinconfused btw AAP & BJP
> I think AAP should get a chance though
> 
> What do you think ?


me too because i dont think Vijay Goel will be any better than Sheila Dixit.Besides in d past BJP has had some significant victories right??? Have they done some thing significant??Is their performance satisfactory???


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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## Gessler

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



What is this now? Looks peculiar.

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## peaceful

a plan, a proposal, a dream, a vision, a plan, just no outcome. 

how about stop all these non-sense, just make GSLV work first? 

honesty is what you need, big mouth won't solve the problem. talk less, deliever more. your nation is failing because most indians are not honest hard working people. 

IQ is of course another good reason.

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## AMCA

peaceful said:


> a plan, a proposal, a dream, a vision, a plan, just no outcome.
> 
> how about stop all these non-sense, just make GSLV work first?
> 
> honesty is what you need, big mouth won't solve the problem. talk less, deliever more. your nation is failing because most indians are not honest hard working people.
> 
> IQ is of course another good reason.



How about you mind your own business first? Lets start a change that way. Anyways, we love the way we are and we yield results accordingly and we are happy about it. So how about closing your big mouth and stop ranting about India in every other thread.

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## S-DUCT

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>


Is it a KKV.?

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## Dillinger

@S-DUCT What's a KKV?

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## S-DUCT

@Dillinger:
It is kinetic kill vehicle.




AFAIK,ISRO was incharge of developing KKV for DRDO.KKV is generally there is all exoatmospheric inteceptors and ASAT missiles.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*RISAT-3 L Band SAR*

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *RISAT-3 L Band SAR*



When shall we be seeing a high resolution X-band SAR like the one on RISAT-2?

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## Dillinger

@BlueDot_in_Space A few questions-

1) When will ISRO's L-band radar be operational?

2) When will the follow on launch to the ATV-D01 occur, its been nearly three years now since that test?

3) Is that, the pic that S-DUCT picked out, really a KKV?

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## SR-91

> It is kinetic kill vehicle.
> 
> AFAIK,ISRO was incharge of developing KKV for DRDO.KKV is generally there is all exoatmospheric inteceptors and ASAT missiles.



Can u plz explain what is kinetic kill vehicle used for? thx in adv

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## S-DUCT

SR-91 said:


> Can u plz explain what is kinetic kill vehicle used for? thx in adv











To achieve outside atmospheric kill and it destroys incoming Warhead by its shear kinetic energy.
Tube like structures are there to control KKV in the space and mode of work is similar to Reaction control system.

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> To achieve outside atmospheric kill and it destroys incoming Warhead by its shear kinetic energy.
> Tube like structures are there to control KKV in the space and mode of work is similar to Reaction control system.



But the article in the picture posted by blue doesn't look like the examples of KKVs you've posted. I am in total layman mode here, so help a brother out.

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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> But the article in the picture posted by blue doesn't look like the examples of KKVs you've posted. I am in total layman mode here, so help a brother out.


Was feeling a bit sleepy when noticed that image.So it is not a KKV. @BluedotinSpace:What is it.?

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Was feeling a bit sleepy when noticed that image.So it is not a KKV. @BluedotinSpace:What is it.?



Btw check out the latest PSK post. 

Nag engaged 8 out of 8 (both static and moving) designated targets in the recent trials, apparently DRDO was able to integrate a miniature cryogenic cooling system into its LWIR sensor, apparently the last failure had occurred due to the lack of this and such failures are bread and butter for un-cooled IR sensors. The NAMICA, which was delayed as specifications were changed in the last moment 1-2 years ago has also been successfully reconfigured.

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## Gessler

Dillinger said:


> Btw check out the latest PSK post.
> 
> Nag engaged 8 out of 8 (both static and moving) designated targets in the recent trials, apparently DRDO was able to integrate a miniature cryogenic cooling system into its LWIR sensor, apparently the last failure had occurred due to the lack of this and such failures are bread and butter for un-cooled IR sensors. The NAMICA, which was delayed as specifications were changed in the last moment 1-2 years ago has also been successfully reconfigured.



It also says India & US are planning to build new thermobaric munitions?

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## Dillinger

Gessler said:


> It also says India & US are planning to build new thermobaric munitions?



Its been on the cards for 3-4 years and the ONLY reason for the delay is the MOD and our Honorable "stick my head underneath the sand" RM.

The US has over the years offered many opportunities, now mind you they didn't do this out of the goodness of their hearts, which could have been exploited but our RM was busy cleaning his lungi- being Mr. Clean and all.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> When shall we be seeing a high resolution X-band SAR like the one on RISAT-2?



X band Sar will come after RISAT 3, probably around 2016-17.

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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> X band Sar will come after RISAT 3, probably around 2016-17.


 @BlueDot_in_Space

bhai sab kushal mangal hai??

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space A few questions-
> 
> 1) When will ISRO's L-band radar be operational?
> 
> 2) When will the follow on launch to the ATV-D01 occur, its been nearly three years now since that test?
> 
> 3) Is that, the pic that S-DUCT picked out, really a KKV?



1) 3 years.

2) Not sure. Last I know, engine and other components were under manufacturing.

3) Nop. Thats phased array X-band antenna for communication on RISAT1.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

S-DUCT said:


> Is it a KKV.?



Phased Array X band antenna for satellite communication using beam forming. Remote sensing sats are highly agile, so PAA antenna is used to keep the data bean focused on the receiver station on earth, while the satellite is maneuvered.



he-man said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space
> 
> bhai sab kushal mangal hai??

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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Phased Array X band antenna for satellite communication using beam forming. Remote sensing sats are highly agile, so PAA antenna is used to keep the data bean focused on the receiver station on earth, while the satellite is maneuvered.



nana sab theek ho jayega.............no one should resort to suicide


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## BlueDot_in_Space

he-man said:


> nana sab theek ho jayega.............no one should resort to suicide

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## S-DUCT

> ISRO's Semi-cryogenic Engine specifications :
> 
> Thrust (vacuum) - 2000 kN
> Isp (vacuum) - 3285 N-s/kg
> Chamber Pressure - 18 MPa
> Mixture Ratio - 2.65
> Thrust Throttling - 65-105 (% of nominal thrust)
> Engine gimbal - 8 degrees (in two planes)


More info:Will have staged combustion power cycle with single preburner.

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## he-man

S-DUCT said:


> More info:Will have staged combustion power cycle with single preburner.



they must get cryogenic working in gslv next year

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## S-DUCT

he-man said:


> they must get cryogenic working in gslv next year


Next year or in this december.?

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## gslv mk3

@BlueDot_in_Space

Is there a C 50 cryo stage underdevelopment?Do ISRO has any plans to replace the L 110 stage on LVM3 with a semicryo one?What will be the LEO and GTO capability in that case?

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## he-man

S-DUCT said:


> Next year or in this december.?



just giving them one more month...........


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## S-DUCT

@gslv mk3
In mission mode | Frontline


> You asked about the Unified Launch Vehicle. It is a future expendable launch vehicle concept. It is modular in shape, comprising semi-cryogenics as booster, a cryogenics as upper stage and strap-ons of different magnitudes made of solid rockets. It can be S-200, S-139 or S-9, depending on the payload requirement. The ULV is slightly futuristic.


ULV Upper stage might consist of CE-7.5,CE-20,CE-60 cryoengines.The choice of CE wil depend upon the type and payload.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space
> 
> Is there a C 50 cryo stage underdevelopment?Do ISRO has any plans to replace the L 110 stage on LVM3 with a semicryo one?What will be the LEO and GTO capability in that case?



The only cryo stage presently under development is C25. Regarding LVM3, Yes ISRO plans to replace the L110 with SC160 semi-cryo stage. GTO will be 6tons and LEO willl be close to 15 tons.

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## HariPrasad

We need following for heavy lift capability.

1) Composite motors like Agni Series Missile.(Second and third stage If not possible in First stage)
2) Advance fuel (Like used in Bulava Missile of Russia) in first stage motor. Can it be NEPE?
3) Kerosene cryogenic boosters in first stage. 

My 2 cent.

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## RPK

ISRO&#8217;s Thrust Chamber Test Facility for high thrust Cryogenic Engines
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragir

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Flush Air Data System for RLV-TD. A key technology for RLVs and Stealth fighters*

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## kurup

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



Is it the nose cone of RLV-TD ????

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## Water Car Engineer

Wind tunnel model?

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## he-man

BlueDot_in_Space said:


>



bhai bata to de.........whats that??

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## BlueDot_in_Space

*Mangalyaan*

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## BlueDot_in_Space



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## S-DUCT

he-man said:


> bhai bata to de.........whats that??


It is flush air data system.
Air data system collects air-velocity,type of air flow,pressure that arises in front of the nose via pilot-tube in front of the fighter,then this data goes into FBW control system but long pilot tube tube increases the drag in hypersonic vehicles while it increases the RCS of supersonic fighter.
In FADS,tiny sensors are embedded all around the Nosecone so that the problem of drag and RCS is solved.

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> *Flush Air Data System for RLV-TD. A key technology for RLVs and Stealth fighters*



Are the flush air sensors operational or still in the design phase? 

Hypersonic wind tunnel set up ho gaya?

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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> Are the flush air sensors operational or still in the design phase?
> 
> Hypersonic wind tunnel set up ho gaya?


nai hoya taan kara dinne aa


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## S-DUCT

Dillinger said:


> *Are the flush air sensors operational or still in the design phase? *
> 
> *Hypersonic wind tunnel set up ho gaya?*


Yes.


> Re-entry missions like the Reusable Launch Vehicle missions, spend a major part of the mission in hypersonic flow regimes where many critical aero thermal events take place. In order to characterise the aero thermal properties and to optimise the launch vehicle design to ensure safe return of the Vehicle during re-entry, 1 metre Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and 1 metre shock Tunnel are established at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. Hypersonic Wind Tunnel up to Mach 6 and Shock Tunnel up to Mach 8 are commissioned and the facility is operational in fully auto mode.











BTW,Congo for becoming JTT,

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## Dillinger

S-DUCT said:


> Yes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW,Congo for becoming JTT,



Thanks man, aadhi info jo use karta hoon woh tum sab logon se hi collate karta hoon.

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## Dillinger

@S-DUCT btw the government has finally made a move on the Semi conductor fab unit after a 2-3 year gap and silence on the matter.

Should aide in future SAR options for ISRO payloads.

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## kbd-raaf

S-DUCT said:


> Yes.
> 
> 
> BTW,Congo for becoming JTT,



Aeronautics is such an interesting field of engineering. Especially in the relatively under researched hypersonic dimension. Flight characteristics take a whole new meaning beyond the point where aerodynamic coefficients become independent from velocity.

I wish Australia had hyper sonic research facilities.



Dillinger said:


> @S-DUCT btw the government has finally made a move on the Semi conductor fab unit after a 2-3 year gap and silence on the matter.
> 
> Should aide in future SAR options for ISRO payloads.



YUS. I'd posted earlier that semi-conductor research in India isn't actually non existent as told to me by a visiting professor from IIT Bombay.

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## S-DUCT

@Dillinger:
Better late than never.After 10-15 years from now,GOI should aim to make a fab that can challenge TSMC and Global-foundaries.
It will also aid in the develpment of small but powerful TRMM for Radars.

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## Dillinger

kbd-raaf said:


> Aeronautics is such an interesting field of engineering.
> 
> I wish Australia had hyper sonic research facilities.
> 
> 
> 
> YUS. I'd posted earlier that semi-conductor research in India isn't actually non existent as told to me by a visiting professor from IIT Bombay.



Consider the case of developing L, X , S band MMICs in country BUT industrial scale manufacturing is indeed missing.

So we very much can and have done quite a lot of work in that field. The S-band LSTAR AEW&C radar is a product of that research. 

The IIT professor isn't exactly incorrect since semi-conductor research is limited to specialized institutions like GAETEC and non existent in the higher education institutes like IIT (most engineering institutes of a high caliber will have on-going student and researcher led projects in the field or professors who are running projects under government or private grants- industry oriented research is very low due to policies and structural issues).



S-DUCT said:


> @Dillinger:
> Better late than never.After 10-15 years from now,GOI should aim to make a fab that can challenge TSMC and Global-foundaries.
> It will also aid in the develpment of small but powerful TRMM for Radars.



What will be the private fabs like when they are setup say 2-4 years down the line- will they be capable of catering to the demands of mil-grade MMICs for our sensors?

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## kbd-raaf

Dillinger said:


> Consider the case of developing L, X , S band MMICs in country BUT industrial scale manufacturing is indeed missing.
> 
> So we very much can and have done quite a lot of work in that field. The S-band LSTAR AEW&C radar is a product of that research.
> 
> The IIT professor isn't exactly incorrect since semi-conductor research is limited to specialized institutions like GAETEC and not existent in the higher education institutes like IIT (*most engineering institutes of a high caliber will have on-going student and researcher led projects in the field or professors who are running projects under government or private grants- industry oriented research is very low due to policies and structural issues*).
> 
> 
> 
> What will be the private fabs like when they are setup say 2-4 years down the line- will they be capable of catering to the demands of mil-grade MMICs for our sensors?



Oh yeah. I am not aware of any industrial scale production of MMICs in India. I believe the professor (a Dr Ranade or Rawade) was talking about defense research. He was a consultant for DRDO in a lab with a confoundingly long acronym.

Industry/private sector research expenditure is fairly low in India across the board anyway, so it comes as no surprise that they are taking a back foot here. 

Regarding the bolded part: UWA (my university) is ranked 84th in the world and as far as I'm aware has no ongoing research in the field. That being said most semi-conductor research in the West (as with the rest of the world) is done by industry.

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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> Are the flush air sensors operational or still in the design phase?
> 
> Hypersonic wind tunnel set up ho gaya?



FADS employing neural network are ready for HEX01. 

*NEURAL NETWORK BASED FLUSH AIR DATA SYSTEM (FADS) FOR REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES*
*Abstract*
Flush air data systems (FADS) are gaining importance for use in measurement of air data parameters like angle of attack, sideslip angle, Mach number and dynamic pressure for reentry and reusable vehicles, advanced aircrafts, interplanetary space probes etc. These air data parameters are critical for successful mission management of the vehicle during the flight phases dominated by complex aero thermal effects.

Flush Air Data System makes use of a matrix of flush pressure orifices located on the nose region (or stagnation region) of the vehicle to estimate air data parameters. The surface pressures are sensed using highly accurate absolute pressure transducers. The multivariable relationship between the pressure measurement and the output air data parameters is complex and highly nonlinear. Different methods are proposed in literature for the estimation of air data parameters using surface pressure measurements. Some of the earlier semi-empirical model based approaches used to process FADS pressure data have experienced numerical instabilities resulting in momentary degradation in system performance. 

In this paper a neural network based FADS algorithm is developed for a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator. FADS is proposed to be used for the flight regime from Mach number 2.5 to 0. Neural networks, which require large quantities of training aerodynamic data set offer a simple, flexible and accurate solution for such complex applications. Neural network systems allow for the correlation of complex nonlinear systems without requiring explicit knowledge of the functional relationship that exists between the input and output variables of the system. Further, algorithms with neural network techniques are inherently stable for the calibration of nonlinear data involving more number of independent parameters.

The pressure port configuration used in this paper consists of nine pressure ports located on the nosecone of the vehicle. The pressure ports are arranged in a crucifix fashion with five ports located in the vertical meridian and four in the horizontal meridian. The pressure ports are connected to the pressure transducer using pneumatic tubing designed to satisfy frequency and thermal response requirements. The developed algorithm is validated using calibration data generated from wind tunnel tests. Back propagation technique is used to train the neural network to achieve the desired level of accuracy. The present study shows that with properly trained networks, the neural network can be used effectively for real-time prediction of air data states during the critical flight phases.

Kab ka hogaya bhai 



S-DUCT said:


> It is flush air data system.
> Air data system collects air-velocity,type of air flow,pressure that arises in front of the nose via pilot-tube in front of the fighter,then this data goes into FBW control system but* long pilot tube* tube increases the drag in *hypersonic vehicles* while it increases the RCS of supersonic fighter.
> In FADS,tiny sensors are embedded all around the Nosecone so that the problem of drag and RCS is solved.



And Pitot tubes wont survive the heat during hypersonic flights.

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## Dillinger

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> FADS employing neural network are ready for HEX01.
> 
> *NEURAL NETWORK BASED FLUSH AIR DATA SYSTEM (FADS) FOR REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES*
> *Abstract*
> Flush air data systems (FADS) are gaining importance for use in measurement of air data parameters like angle of attack, sideslip angle, Mach number and dynamic pressure for reentry and reusable vehicles, advanced aircrafts, interplanetary space probes etc. These air data parameters are critical for successful mission management of the vehicle during the flight phases dominated by complex aero thermal effects.
> 
> Flush Air Data System makes use of a matrix of flush pressure orifices located on the nose region (or stagnation region) of the vehicle to estimate air data parameters. The surface pressures are sensed using highly accurate absolute pressure transducers. The multivariable relationship between the pressure measurement and the output air data parameters is complex and highly nonlinear. Different methods are proposed in literature for the estimation of air data parameters using surface pressure measurements. Some of the earlier semi-empirical model based approaches used to process FADS pressure data have experienced numerical instabilities resulting in momentary degradation in system performance.
> 
> In this paper a neural network based FADS algorithm is developed for a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator. FADS is proposed to be used for the flight regime from Mach number 2.5 to 0. Neural networks, which require large quantities of training aerodynamic data set offer a simple, flexible and accurate solution for such complex applications. Neural network systems allow for the correlation of complex nonlinear systems without requiring explicit knowledge of the functional relationship that exists between the input and output variables of the system. Further, algorithms with neural network techniques are inherently stable for the calibration of nonlinear data involving more number of independent parameters.
> 
> The pressure port configuration used in this paper consists of nine pressure ports located on the nosecone of the vehicle. The pressure ports are arranged in a crucifix fashion with five ports located in the vertical meridian and four in the horizontal meridian. The pressure ports are connected to the pressure transducer using pneumatic tubing designed to satisfy frequency and thermal response requirements. The developed algorithm is validated using calibration data generated from wind tunnel tests. Back propagation technique is used to train the neural network to achieve the desired level of accuracy. The present study shows that with properly trained networks, the neural network can be used effectively for real-time prediction of air data states during the critical flight phases.
> 
> Kab ka hogaya bhai
> 
> 
> 
> And Pitot tubes wont survive the heat during hypersonic flights.



So what are the technological barriers that ISRO has breached?

FADS is here- has a working model been tested? On what platform would it be tested? 

But seriously this is a large volume of work being undertaken. 

Has ISRO been able to work out proficiency with Al-li alloys? A lot of these alloys aren't just difficult to produce but also difficult to work with. What sort of teach sharing exists in between ISRO and the DPSUs IF any given that that might raise eyebrows?

Any plans for extending the IRNSS coverage in the neighborhood?


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## SAFIR

Great stuffs

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## kurup

@Dillinger , @BlueDot_in_Space , @S-DUCT , @kbd-raaf


India Gives Initial Approval to Set Up Two Semiconductor Factories - WSJ.com

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## he-man

kurup said:


> @Dillinger , @BlueDot_in_Space , @S-DUCT , @kbd-raaf
> 
> 
> India Gives Initial Approval to Set Up Two Semiconductor Factories - WSJ.com



bhai what about the company who has to set up here??

it was intel and one more...............unse bhi to koi pooch le


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## kurup

he-man said:


> bhai what about the company who has to set up here??
> 
> it was intel and one more...............unse bhi to koi pooch le



Yaar , I don't know the adcd of semi-conductors and this field .

I just posted it because those guys were discussing about it few pages back .

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## he-man

kurup said:


> Yaar , I don't know the adcd of semi-conductors and this field .
> 
> I just posted it because those guys were discussing about it few pages back .



main to maze le raha tha yaar

actually our govt floated this idea even in 2007 but intel rejected it as
1)we could not gurantee continous power
2)unavailability of pure water on large scale

thats why i am keeping fingers crossed this time

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## kurup



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## kurup

Life on Mars? We will seek to reveal: ISRO








BANGALORE (PTI): India's upcoming Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) seeks to reveal whether there is methane, considered a "precursor chemical" for life, on the Red Planet, key officials behind the ambitious venture said.

A Methane Sensor, one of the five payloads (scientific instruments) onboard the spacecraft, would look to detect the presence of the gas, MOM Project Director Arunan S said.

He said the sensor was aimed at understanding whether life existed on Mars or if it would have life in future.

"Methane is fundamentally base for life on any planet," he said.

M Annadurai, Programme Director, IRS & SSS (Indian Remote Sensing & Small, Science and Student Satellites), said: "Most probably we will be able to answer whether there is presence of Methane. If it's there, yes; if it's not, not there. If it's available, where it's available".

After a media preview of the Mars orbiter at ISRO Satellite Centre here, where it is being given final shape, officials of the space agency indicated that the aim is to launch the mission on October 21, weather permitting.

The launch window is from October 21 to November 19.

MOM is a Rs 450 crore mission -- Rs 110 crore for building PSLV-C25 that would launch the Rs 150 crore spacecraft, with the remaining amount spent on augmenting ground segment, including those required for deep space communication.

Once launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota, the spacecraft would go around the earth for 20-25 days before embarking on a 9-month voyage to Mars. The minimum life of the spacecraft around Mars is six months but it would certainly outlive it, as similar satellites orbited by other countries have sometimes lasted six-seven years, Arunan said.

Life on Mars? We will seek to reveal: ISRO - Brahmand.com

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## Sher.Khan

*Isro to make new stage for GSLV*






The high-level task team constituted to probe the August 19 failure of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-D5 (GSLV-D5) is yet to submit the final report on the reasons for the glitch, but the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has decided to assemble a new second stage for the rocket.

A senior Isro official, while stating that the exact date for the launch of GSLV-D5 can only be set in November, added that the launcher would be launched into space in December, carrying the GSAT-14.

Going by the availability of hardware and components, the GSLV assembly and checkout is expected to be completed at the vehicle assembly building by the first week of December, said a note issued by Isro.



Although the exact reasons for the leakage in the second stage of the engine, which prevented the launch on August 19, are being probed by the team headed by K Narayanan, it has been decided that a new liquid second stage (GS-2) will be assembled to replace the leaked stage, said the official.

He added that the process of assembling has begun, and that besides the GS-2, all the four liquid strap-on stages are being replaced with new ones.

Another official, while stating that the team is also inspecting the first stage (solid) and core base shroud, added that if any of the elements are found to be affected, we will replace even those.

The satellite assembly, avionics equipment bay and the cryogenic stage will be preserved, following prescribed practices, said an official note issued by Isro.
Isro to make new stage for GSLV | idrw.org

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## gslv mk3

@BlueDot_in_Space @Gessler @Dillinger @kurup @S-DUCT

Any more pics of this one?

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space @Gessler @Dillinger @kurup @S-DUCT
> 
> Any more pics of this one?



This is the IIT-k one, right? here is the rendering of ISRO' rover

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## gslv mk3

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> This is the IIT-k one, right? here is the rendering of ISRO' rover



I had seen a ISRO protoype with 4 wheels,but coudnt find the pics.

Thanks for the pics mate,Any idea about the dimensions?


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## BlueDot_in_Space

Dillinger said:


> So what are the technological barriers that ISRO has breached?
> 
> FADS is here- has a working model been tested? On what platform would it be tested?
> 
> But seriously this is a large volume of work being undertaken.
> 
> Has ISRO been able to work out proficiency with Al-li alloys? A lot of these alloys aren't just difficult to produce but also difficult to work with. What sort of teach sharing exists in between ISRO and the DPSUs IF any given that that might raise eyebrows?
> 
> Any plans for extending the IRNSS coverage in the neighborhood?



Working model tested only tested in a wind tunnel and within one year it will be tested in flight. FADS allows the extreme hypersonic heating caused by the small radius of a flow-sensing probe (like pitot tube or a deployable probe) to be avoided that allows extending the useful range of the airdata measurement system to the hypersonic flow regime.

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## RPK

A spectacular view of the RH 200 Sounding Rocket Launch from TERLS

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## IND151

âMinerals extraction is also part of space programme goalsâ: ISRO | idrw.org


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## Gessler

RPK said:


> A spectacular view of the RH 200 Sounding Rocket Launch from TERLS



What are the specifications of this rocket?


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## kurup

Gessler said:


> What are the specifications of this rocket?








RH-200

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## HariPrasad

he-man said:


> main to maze le raha tha yaar
> 
> actually our govt floated this idea even in 2007 but intel rejected it as
> 1)we could not gurantee continous power
> 2)unavailability of pure water on large scale
> 
> thats why i am keeping fingers crossed this time



Gujarat can certainly provide that.


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## IND151

Spacecraft for Mars to reach Sriharikota today for tests | idrw.org


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## RPK



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## RPK




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## BlueDot_in_Space

Cabin Environment Simulation System (CESS) will be used for test and evaluation of space modules under regulated environmental conditions that may arise during various phases of manned mission.


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## kurup

Any idea about the effect Phailin cyclone is going to have on the Mars Mission ???


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## BlueDot_in_Space

kurup said:


> Any idea about the effect Phailin cyclone is going to have on the Mars Mission ???



Its a one month long launch window, so dont worry.

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## Vinod2070

Guys, two thirds of the Mars missions have failed so far. It is a very tough mission.

Japan and China failed in their Mars mission as well.

Wishing ISRO the best for success in a very very tough mission.

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## Vinod2070

The Mangalyaan mission is a planned Mars orbiter to be launched in 28 October 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This will be India's first mission to Mars. If this mission would become successful, India will become the third nation in the world to reach Mars before Asian powers China and Japan which earlier had failed attempts.

Exploration of Mars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Godspeed...

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## gslv mk3

@BlueDot_in_Space

Got any info on launch date of SRE 2?

Also,this link says LVM 3 would undergo first development tests,18 months after the experimental suborbital flight in 2014.
I have also heard thay C 25 would be ready only in 2016..really confused....

India&#39;s first manned space flight trial in 2015 - Deccan Herald


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## kurup

MARS MISSIONS _untill now_

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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> @BlueDot_in_Space
> 
> Got any info on launch date of SRE 2?
> 
> Also,this link says LVM 3 would undergo first development tests,18 months after the experimental suborbital flight in 2014.
> I have also heard thay C 25 would be ready only in 2016..really confused....
> 
> India's first manned space flight trial in 2015 - Deccan Herald




My guess, SRE-2 will be launched along with Cartosat 2c in the last quarter of 2014 or early 2015. LVM3 D-1 will take place in 2017.


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## gslv mk3

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> My guess, SRE-2 will be launched along with Cartosat 2c in the last quarter of 2014 or early 2015. LVM3 D-1 will take place in 2017.



Well,would that be protype Indian OV?I heard that it'll have solar panels too


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## BlueDot_in_Space

gslv mk3 said:


> Well,would that be protype Indian OV?I heard that it'll have solar panels too



Nop, SRE-2 is not prototype of indian OV. Its meant for performing cheap microgravity experiments and testing technologies that will allow developing second stage of TSTO-RLV. If you recall, TSTO rlv has a cryogenic upper stage that will go into the orbit, deploy sats and later perform reentry to be recovered at sea. These profiles are very similar to SRE mission profiles. Only some of the technologies being tested on SRE will go into OV like space grade cameras etc. 

As far as solar panels are concerned, SRE1 also had solar panels on its base that is why its base was always sun facing.


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## gslv mk3

BlueDot_in_Space said:


> Nop, SRE-2 is not prototype of indian OV. Its meant for performing cheap microgravity experiments and testing technologies that will allow developing second stage of TSTO-RLV. If you recall, TSTO rlv has a cryogenic upper stage that will go into the orbit, deploy sats and later perform reentry to be recovered at sea. These profiles are very similar to SRE mission profiles. Only some of the technologies being tested on SRE will go into OV like space grade cameras etc.
> 
> As far as solar panels are concerned, SRE1 also had solar panels on its base that is why its base was always sun facing.



Mate,which kind of tests for RLV TSTO?? I am really interested.


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## IND151

Capacity of rockets could increase if a Polar Satellite Launch Station (PSLN) was established in Kanyakumari or Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu, which were close to the Equator, a former ISRO scientist said here Wednesday.

Talking to reporters here, former ISRO scientist N Sivasubramaniam said, *&#8220;Now our PSLV is carrying 1.25 tonne to 1.5 tonne capacity. Technically, we can say the capacity of rockets being launched can increase if we establish PSLN somewhere in Kulasekarapattinam or in Kanyakumari as these places were close to the Equator*. It could carry up to two tonne.

Capacity of rockets could increase if PSLN comes in TN | idrw.org


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## IND151

Capacity of rockets could increase if a Polar Satellite Launch Station (PSLN) was established in Kanyakumari or Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu, which were close to the Equator, a former ISRO scientist said here Wednesday.

Talking to reporters here, former ISRO scientist N Sivasubramaniam said, *Now our PSLV is carrying 1.25 tonne to 1.5 tonne capacity. Technically, we can say the capacity of rockets being launched can increase if we establish PSLN somewhere in Kulasekarapattinam or in Kanyakumari as these places were close to the Equator*. It could carry up to two tonne.

Capacity of rockets could increase if PSLN comes in TN | idrw.org


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## kurup

New set of images of *Kedarnath* area released by *Indian National Remote Sensing Centre* collected using the *RISAT-1*

New high resolution images of Kedarnath - the cause of the debris flow disaster is now clear - The Landslide Blog - AGU Blogosphere


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## RPK




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## HariPrasad

IND151 said:


> Capacity of rockets could increase if a Polar Satellite Launch Station (PSLN) was established in Kanyakumari or Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu, which were close to the Equator, a former ISRO scientist said here Wednesday.
> 
> Talking to reporters here, former ISRO scientist N Sivasubramaniam said, *Now our PSLV is carrying 1.25 tonne to 1.5 tonne capacity. Technically, we can say the capacity of rockets being launched can increase if we establish PSLN somewhere in Kulasekarapattinam or in Kanyakumari as these places were close to the Equator*. It could carry up to two tonne.
> 
> Capacity of rockets could increase if PSLN comes in TN | idrw.org


Hi Guys,

My suggestions for increasing Rocket's weight lifting capacity.

1) Advance fuel in first stage main motor (The one which is perhaps used in BULVA by Russians)
2) Composite motor in Second stage and beyond. (And all the possible measures which were tested and validated in Agni IV and V program as a part of weight reduction measure.)
3) Kerosene cryogenic boosters in first stage.

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## RPK



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## kurup

*First launch of PSLV on* *September 20, 1993*

*



*

http://www.aame.in/2013/09/1st-ever-flight-of-polar-satellite.html

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## RPK



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## IND151

http://idrw.org/?p=28768


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## IND151

http://www.frontline.in/cover-story/mission-to-mars/article5280848.ece?homepage=true

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## li0nheart

*Mangalyaan a historic mission that will make India proud: ISRO chief*


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## IND151

http://idrw.org/?p=28790

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## Agent_47




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## IND151

*Almost 28 hours prior to the historic moment of launching its Orbiter to Mars, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said that it has started preparing for propellant filling operation of Second Stage (PS2) in the spacecraft*, which will carry Mangalyaan to the Mars.

“Mandatory checks and preparation for propellant filling operation of Second Stage (PS2) of PSLV C25 launch vehicle for ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission are in progress,” said Isro officials.

*On Sunday, at 6.08 am sharp at Sriharikota, the final 56-and-a-half-hour countdown for the launch of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) started*. The Rs 450-crore Mars mission is slated for lift-off at 2.38pm on November 5 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located on the island of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. On November 1, Isro’s launch authorisation board had given the final green signal for the launch of the MOM.

Despite the cyclone threat on the southern coast of Tamil Nadu, which is heading towards Sri Lanka, the spacecraft will take off as planned as the weather is fine in the Andhra Pradesh coast, where Sriharikota located. Isro officials added weather is fine.

India will be the sixth country, after US, Russia, China, Japan and the European Union, to launch a Mars mission. Once launched, the satellite is expected to take more than 40 minutes to get injected into Earth’s orbit.

The orbiter will remain in Earth orbit till December 1 when it starts its 300-day voyage to Mars. It is expected to reach the orbit of the red planet on September 24, 2014, after traversing 400 million km.

http://idrw.org/?p=28912


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## Aamna Ali

This is the latest ISRO documentary showcasing the MOM

http://isro.org/mars-decu.aspx#
http://isro.org/mars-decu.aspx#

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## IND151

*India is all set for its maiden Mars mission with its satellite, Mangalyaan, scheduled for a lift-off in the afternoon today* from the balmy space port of Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
The countdown for the launch is progressing normally. With the weather forecast clear and no space debris expected to come in the way of the satellite,* the lift-off is likely to take place on time at 2:38 pm*. The rocket is fully fuelled and health checks are being undertaken even as hundreds of scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO spent a sleepless night toiling to work against a stiff deadline. Some 1000 scientists worked during Diwali to ensure all systems are fully ready. (India’s mission to Mars: full coverage)
The Mars orbiting mission is an unmanned space craft costing Rs. 450 crore and this first inter-planetary mission by India will study the thin Martian atmosphere after its year-long journey of more than 780 million kilometres.

The mission was fast-tracked and completed in a record 15 months. It was ISRO’s 100 metre dash and it now embarks on the long marathon to Mars.

The satellite will be hurled into

space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on an unconventional trajectory where it will first circle the earth and then spend nine months on its long journey to rendezvous with Mars. After a tricky operation it will be captured by the gravity of Mars where it will spend six months studying Mars and announcing to the world India’s arrival near the Red Planet.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 15, 2012 announced the bold conception of Mangalyaan from the ramparts of the Red Fort while addressing the nation on Independence Day. “Our spaceship will go near Mars and collect important scientific information. This Mangalyaan will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology,” he had said.

Some critics of the mission believe the government is being profligate by going to Mars when there is rampant poverty in the country. “We have heard these arguments since the 1960s about India being a poor country, not needing or affording a space program. If we can’t dare dream big it would leave us as hewers of wood and drawers of water! India is today too big to be just living on the fringes of high technology,’ said a top government official.

ISRO says the satellite which will be placed in an elliptic orbit around Mars and will carry 15 kg of scientific instruments. According to ISRO, the objectives of the mission are to focus on remotely assessing “life, climate, geology, origin and evolution and sustainability of life on the planet”. “This is a technology demonstration project, a mission that will announce to the world India has the capability to reach as far away as Mars’ says K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO.

Since 1960, there have been 51 missions to Mars with just about a third of them being successful; attempts have been made by the former USSR and Russia, USA, Europe, Japan and China. The first Chinese mission to Mars called Yinghuo-1 failed in 2011 so some believe that India is trying to march ahead in what has been described as the twenty first century ‘Asian Space Race’.

After the successful maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 the natural stepping stone for India was to try to reach Mars. K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of ISRO, Bangalore said: “This mars mission is a historical necessity, after having helped find water on the moon, looking for signatures of life on mars is a natural progression. India is now demonstrating its capability to undertake inter-planetary travel with end to end technological prowess in space”.

http://idrw.org/?p=28940


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## Gessler

ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission has been launched successfully.


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## Vinod2070

Congratulation to all!

Still a long way to go but an excellent start to the mission.


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## IND151

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 







“We have put all our efforts for the development of GSLV”, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said. “*The assembly of GSLV is going on at Sriharikota*. It started on October 18. *Now, the launch is scheduled for December 15th”. *

The maiden flight testing of the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage conducted in GSLV-D3 on April 15, 2010, failed.

ISRO made another attempt on August 19 this year but the the launch was called off as a leak was observed in the UH25 fuel system of the liquid second stage during the pre-launch pressurisation phase on the vehicle just two hours before the scheduled lift-off.

GSLV is a three stage vehicle. GSLV is 49 metre tall, with 414 tonne lift off weight. First stage comprises S125 solid booster with four liquid (L40) strap-ons. Second stage (GS2) is liquid engine and the third stage (GS3) is a cryostage.

*The cryostage is more efficient compared to the liquid stage in PSLV. This means that the thrust developed by burning each kg of propellant is higher in cryo engine*, hence can place larger payloads with higher weight into orbit. “Cryo stage as final stage is hence essential for a launcher with higher payload capacity”, an ISRO official said.

*PSLV* is capable of launching 1600 kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and *1050 kg satellite* in* geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO)*.

“This poses a serious limitation on launching communication satellites which are heavier. *The GSLV will be capable of launching satellites which are 2000 kg – 2500 kg which matches with the GSAT class of Communication satellites*”, it was noted.

Currently, India is forced to outsource the heavy launch services from abroad which is not a cost effective solution The establishment of a proven GSLV launcher is the need of the hour. The successful development of indigenous cryostage will boost India’s confidence in terms of its self reliance in the launch capability, ISRO officials said.

http://idrw.org/?p=28952 http://idrw.org/?p=28960


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## thesolar65

kurup said:


> MARS MISSIONS _untill now_


Quite informative.


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## IND151

The *Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO*) on *Wednesday *rehearsed a *series* of six manoeuvres, simulating the raising of the apogee of its Mars orbiter which the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) put into earth-bound orbit of 247 km x 23,566 km on Tuesday.


The rehearsal took place from the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) station in Bangalore. These manoeuvres were rehearsed without actually firing the 440 Newton engine on board the Mars orbiter. In reality, the first of these orbit-raising manoeuvres will take place at 1.50 a.m. on Thursday and the last on December 1. Commands will go out from the ISTRAC station to the spacecraft to fire the 440 Newton engine for raising the apogee.



*The engine will be fired when the Mars orbiter is at its perigee so that the apogee will become more elliptical*. The D-day is on December 1 when a prolonged firing of the 440 Newton engine will catapult the Mars orbiter out of the earth-centric orbit into the sun-centric orbit. Then the orbiter will coast around the Sun for nine months and finally captured into the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014.



M. Annadurai, Programme Director, Indian Remote-Sensing Satellites (IRS) and Small Satellites Systems (SSS), ISRO, said on Wednesday, “We did the rehearsal of everything today in a controlled way except firing the engine and we have come back to the normal.” India’s Mars Orbiter Mission comes under the IRS programme. When the 440 Newton engine aboard the Mars spacecraft is fired on Thursday at 1.50 a.m, the apogee will be raised to 28,793 km. However, its present perigee of 247 km will more or less remain the same. “The six firings will be done when the orbiter is in the perigee. The whole sequence has been rehearsed. We monitored whether everything went well,” he said.



*Spacecraft’s health normal*



“The overall health of the spacecraft is normal. Systems on the orbiter such as gyros, accelerometer and star-sensors have been calibrated. In the spacecraft, everything is working normally,” Dr. Annadurai said. ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told a press conference at Sriharikota on October 30 that after the Mars orbiter’s apogee is raised first on November 7 to 28,793 km, the second firing of the engine will take place on November 8 early morning. This second firing will take the orbiter’s apogee to about 40,000 km from the earth. The third orbit-raising operation will take place on November 9 when the apogee will be boosted to about 70,656 km. The fourth orbit-raising operation will take place on November 11 when the apogee will reach about one lakh km. The fifth manoeuvre will be done on November 16 when the apogee will reach 1.99 lakh km from the earth.



Dr. Radhakrishnan added: “We will then a have a crucial event — the trans-Martian injection [of the orbiter] from the earth-orbit towards Mars, which will take place at 0042 hours on December 1. This is the immediate action programme for the Mars orbiter. We have a long voyage of 300 days.



On September 24, 2014, we are planning to have the Mars orbit insertion of the spacecraft. Once it is successfully done, we will go for the experiments.”



The orbiter has five scientific instruments for analysing the Mars’ surface features, to find out whether it has methane and to study its mineralogy and the atmosphere.

ISRO rehearses orbit-raising manoeuvres for Mars orbiter | idrw.org


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## pyr0bee

Congratulations to India, all the best as the mission progresses

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## IND151

*The third of the total of five orbit raising manoeuvres of the Mars Orbiter spacecraft was performed early this morning, raising its apogee, the farthest point from Earth, to over 71,000 km.*

The manoeuvre started at 2:10 AM today and raised the spacecraft’s apogee from 40,186 km to 71,636 km with a burn time of 707 seconds, ISRO said.

The space agency had performed the first two manoeuvres in the last couple of days, in the series of five scheduled on the Mars mission.

*The fourth and fifth operations would be performed on November 11 and 16 to raise the apogee to 1,00,000 km and 1,92,000 km respectively.*

After the successful completion of these operations, the mission is expected to take on the “crucial event” of the trans-Mars injection around 12.42 AM on December 1.

ISRO’s PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg Mangalyaan Orbiter (spacecraft) into orbit around Earth about 44 minutes after a textbook launch at 2.38 PM from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Tuesday, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.

Third orbit raising manoeuvre on Mars Orbiter performed | idrw.org

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## he-man

i still think we should have invested this 450 crore in gslv


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## Vinod2070

he-man said:


> i still think we should have invested this 450 crore in gslv



We can invest in both. Doesn't have to be one or the other.

The learnings from this mission can help in larger/more complex missions later.


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## he-man

u think s


Vinod2070 said:


> We can invest in both. Doesn't have to be one or the other.
> 
> The learnings from this mission can help in larger/more complex missions later.



really??

because isro's budget is only 1 billion dollars and its far too small to keep on doing everything.
and by the way gslv is india's future..................without it we are dependant on others,,,,so all the teams should have been working on that only,we can always plan these missions in the future but gslv is needed for heavier satellites as soon as possible.

besides payload on mom is only like 20 kg or something so in reality it would have been better had we done this mission with gslv in 2016 window as it would have used way bigger and useful payload.


anyone is free to disagree but the fact remains that this mission has little importance except for the pride


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## Vinod2070

he-man said:


> u think s
> 
> 
> really??
> 
> because isro's budget is only 1 billion dollars and its far too small to keep on doing everything.
> and by the way gslv is india's future..................without it we are dependant on others,,,,so all the teams should have been working on that only,we can always plan these missions in the future but gslv is needed for heavier satellites as soon as possible.
> 
> besides payload on mom is only like 20 kg or something so in reality it would have been better had we done this mission with gslv in 2016 window as it would have used way bigger and useful payload.
> 
> 
> anyone is free to disagree but the fact remains that this mission has little importance except for the pride



All the teams can't work on any single program. There are separate teams that would be working on the rocket programs, the satellites programs and others. These are specialized skills.

I do hope the teams are working in parallel and this mission has not taken away resources from the GSLV program. I agree that is critical for the future.

I don't think this project was a huge part of ISRO's budget to put on hold everything else.


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## he-man

Vinod2070 said:


> All the teams can't work on any single program. There are separate teams that would be working on the rocket programs, the satellites programs and others. These are specialized skills.
> 
> I do hope the teams are working in parallel and this mission has not taken away resources from the GSLV program. I agree that is critical for the future.
> 
> I don't think this project was a huge part of ISRO's budget to put on hold everything else.


actually this constituted 10 percent of the budget.................the rest is usually for satellites only so the r and d stuff for gslv and others is affected.

please don't get me wrong,,,i just wanted the mission in 2016 with gslv as it would have easily lifted with an orbiter at least twice the size of current one with much more instruments and payloads than the current one,,,,,,,,,thats my point

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## Vinod2070

he-man said:


> actually this constituted 10 percent of the budget.................the rest is usually for satellites only so the r and d stuff for gslv and others is affected.
> 
> please don't get me wrong,,,i just wanted the mission in 2016 with gslv as it would have easily lifted with an orbiter at least twice the size of current one with much more instruments and payloads than the current one,,,,,,,,,thats my point



I think the current mission will give a lot of learnings for the future larger programs.

It's a good first step and a small one. That is how I would look at it.


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## Echo_419

Vinod2070 said:


> All the teams can't work on any single program. There are separate teams that would be working on the rocket programs, the satellites programs and others. These are specialized skills.
> 
> I do hope the teams are working in parallel and this mission has not taken away resources from the GSLV program. I agree that is critical for the future.
> 
> I don't think this project was a huge part of ISRO's budget to put on hold everything else.



Jab koi Maya chips ka flavor taste Kare toh ho toh 20 ka packet karidte ho ya 5 ka 

With this launch we will be able to gain knowlage for a mars mission 
It is a long journey million things can go wring 
So why not send a small rocket for testing first then send the biggies


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## jaguar151

India has much much better Air power than ours but they just lack one thing Called as GUTS....


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## k7x

jaguar151 said:


> India has much much better Air power than ours but they just lack one thing Called as GUTS....




Its not that... We don't have some thing other called "NEED" . Why should we attack others. there is no need for it. after all it will hurt others..

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## Daedalus

*Mars craft’s orbit boosted again.*

Early on Saturday, spacecraft specialists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) succeeded again in boosting the apogee of the Mars spacecraft, which had been put into earth-orbit on November 5.

It was the third time that the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) at Bangalore had commanded the 440-Newton engine on board the Mars orbiter to fire. The engine promptly swung into action, using its liquid propellants, from 2.10 a.m. At the end of nearly 12 minutes, the spacecraft’s apogee had been raised from 40,186 km to 71,636 km.

The ISRO had already boosted the Mars spacecraft’s orbit twice, first on November 7 and again on November 8. Three more orbit-raising manoeuvres remain — on November 11 and 16, and December 1.

On December 1 — “the D-day”, as ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan called it — the Mars spacecraft will be slung out of its geo-centric (earth-bound) orbit into a helio-centric (sun) orbit, and the spacecraft will cruise around the sun for the next nine months. On September 24, 2014, when the spacecraft is closest to Mars, it will be manoeuvred and captured in the Martian orbit with a peri-apsis of 377 km and apo-apsis of 80,000 km by firing the engine again and reducing the spacecraft’s velocity.

The restart of the spacecraft’s propulsion system after it has hibernated for about 300 days in deep space will be one of the biggest challenges that the ISRO will face in its maiden interplanetary mission. The ISRO has done a series of tests at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, to simulate the re-start of the engine in deep space.

There is also provision for mid-course corrections of the spacecraft’s trajectory.

Mars craft’s orbit boosted again - The Hindu: Mobile Edition


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## he-man

jaguar151 said:


> India has much much better Air power than ours but they just lack one thing Called as GUTS....


are u sane??

what guts are u talking about??
like when 93000 of ur soldiers surrendered instead of fighting??

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## Vinod2070

jaguar151 said:


> India has much much better Air power than ours but they just lack one thing Called as GUTS....



This thread is not about air power.

And yes, Hamne Bangladesh ko hanste khelte bana diya, Didn't need any guts.

The opposition just threw the guns to the ground and hands in the air at the first sight of our soldiers.

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## he-man

some ppl are delusional............its fine

but what do u do when whole nation is delusional??


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## jaguar151

he-man said:


> are u sane??
> 
> what guts are u talking about??
> like when 93000 of ur soldiers surrendered instead of fighting??


YA ya your motto is "BY THE WAY OF DECEPTION"...! Come on head to head.


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## Dillinger

jaguar151 said:


> YA ya your motto is "BY THE WAY OF DECEPTION"...! Come on head to head.



All warfare is deception...fools beat on about bravery..the victors plant a blade in the fool's back and carry on.

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## he-man

Dillinger said:


> All warfare is deception...fools beat on about bravery..the victors plant a blade in the fool's back and carry on.


haha maja aa gaya

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## Chronos

he-man said:


> are u sane??
> 
> what guts are u talking about??
> like when 93000 of ur soldiers surrendered instead of fighting??





Dillinger said:


> All warfare is deception...fools beat on about bravery..the victors plant a blade in the fool's back and carry on.



I was going to post a similar quote.

You stole my thunder, along with my virginity.

YOU FIEND!!!!!

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## IND151

*While India’s Mars Mission has set off on its maiden journey, here’s another space project on the cards. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) are in talks to jointly develop a dual frequency radar satellite.*

The project will augment remote sensing technology infrastructure, say senior Isro officials. “In what will be a first-of-its-kind endeavour, the satellite will be able to operate in two frequencies, both in bands lower than KU-Band or AA-Band,” a senior scientist at the space agency said.

Stating that Isro has already conducted preliminary talks with Nasa’s space communications and navigation program office for the project,* another scientist said that Isro will provide the spacecraft for the project. While the US will supply the L-band, India will take care of the S-band.*

Commenting on the project, expected to see the light of day sometime in 2020 or later, Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said: “It’ll be a synthetic aperture radar. It’ll change the way things are done.”

Nasa, while confirming that its office has had “…initial discussions on a potential deep space communication programme,” maintained that the talks are in too preliminary a stage for the US agency to comment further.

Sources in Isro said the *satellite will help enhance remote sensing by improving the resolution of images. *Isro also plans to develop remote sensing satellites with more autonomy, enabling them to identify areas of focus. “Today, satellites send us an array of images and we have to pick areas of importance. In future, we would like to have smart satellites,” a senior official said. The exact application of the L-Band is being worked out, the official added.

The space agencies are also exploring possible co-operation in the fields of heliophysics (physics of the Sun). *Isro has Aditya-1, a proposed scientific mission designed to study the solar corona, in the pipeline. *“The objective of the project is to achieve a fundamental understanding of the physical processes that heat the corona, accelerate the solar wind and produce coronal mass ejections,” Isro said.

Once cleared, *Aditya-1 will be launched into an 800-km polar orbit*, and the agency will again use the trusted Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) platform, given the designated orbit.

Isro, Nasa in talks to develop radar satellite | idrw.org

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## thesolar65

Breaking News : Source NDTV

Mangalayan encounters its 1st hurdle. The space craft failed by 25% for its velocity to touch 10000KMS. But ISRO said it can be corrected by tomorrow...@IND151, @Vinod2070


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## IND151

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has lined up 18missions over the next 15 months. The upcoming launches include Chandrayaan-2, GAGAN (which will improve accuracy of GPS), Astrosat and others. Isro is also planning to launch a spacecraft to study microwave remote sensing along with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Isro said, “No mission in the previous years or the missions in the future were affected because of the accelerated way of working (on MOM). In fact, we have had the accelerated way of working everywhere”.

He was responding to a question, on whether Isro has diluted its new launches, because of Mars Oribiter Mission (MOM), which was launched on November 5, after 15 months of preparation.

Isro has 18 missions lined up to March 2015, in 15 months, and there is a clear future direction till 2020. (Refer table below for the launches)

“There’s been a quantum jump in other programmes in the last 3-4 years,” said Radhakrishnan. Isro has had 82 launches in 35 years, but in the last four years alone there were 27 launches.

“We have not compromised. Each programme will have its own problems like technology or project issue,” he said.

*Tie-up with NASA*

Isro along with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is planning to launch a spacecraft to study microwave remote sensing.

Radhakrishnan said the project is about the study of pulse to know what is not normally visible in cloudy conditions. In remote sensing, depending on the frequency one can identify what’s there by depending on the frequency characteristic change. For instance, the ‘L’ band studies vegetation. Another one, the S band gives another study. Or, the X band gives another feel, he said.

“We have done studies with the C Band. In the project with JPL, we will look at both L and S band,” he said.

“The spacecraft will be made by us. There’s a very large antenna required which will be a 12 metre diameter antenna. This will be launched by 2019-20. In the second phase, we do the project report preparation. Then, we work on the satellite together, ” he said.

He said that in case of Chandrayaan, NASA brought the instruments. In this case, it will be a collaboration and both the agencies will work together. There could be also be collaborations in the areas of lunar exploration, and for exploring the sun and Mars explorations.

“We can have a larger mission. We are able to do that. The next one has to be a more complex mission. We did a joint project of building a satellite with the French called Megha Tropiques a while ago. We had worked with the French on developing two landers. We have now done a joint study with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),” said Radhakrishnan.

*Isro projects from 2012-2020*


*Portfolio
*
Satellite Communications
Satellite Navigation
Satellite Remote Sensing
Space Science and Exploration
Space Applications

*Launch Vehicles 

2012-14

* Production of PSLV
* Reliable GSLV
* Cryogenic Stage

2014-17

* GSLV Mk III development
* PRoduction

2017-20
*
 Semi-cryogenics
* Re-usability
* Air-breathing

*Satellite Communications

2012-12
*
Augment capacity of Transponders in C, Ext-C and Ku band

*2014-17

*Multi-beam- Data communication
*Digital Multi-media
2017-20

* 6 ton-class, high power 12 kW Satellite (Ka band)
* Higher Frequency bands*

*Satellite Navigation*

*2012-14
*
*GAGAN (improved accuracy of GPS signals over India)

*2014-17*

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

*2017-20
*
Augment IRNSS coverage (11 Satellites)

*Satellite Remote Sensing*

*2012-14
*
* C-band Radar
* Sounder
* High Resolution-0.6 m

*2014-17
*
* X-Band Imaging
* Hyper-spectral
* Geo-Imaging

*2017-20*

* S and L Bands Imaging
* Very High Resolution – (0.25m)

*Space Science and Exploration
*
*2012-14
*
*Mars Orbiter
*ASTROSAT

*2014-17
*
* Mars Observation
* Chandrayaan-2
* ADITYA

*2017-20*

* Astrobiology
* Space Habitat Studies
* Near-Earth Objects
*
Space Applications 

2012-14

* Natural Resources
* Disaster management
* Dev Commn*

*2014-17*

* Climate & Environment
* Navigation Service
* Strategic applications

*2017-20
*
* Sensor-web Access
* Adaptive Imaging

Isro lines up 18 missions over the next 15 months | idrw.org

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## Chronos

thesolar65 said:


> Breaking News : Source NDTV
> 
> Mangalayan encounters its 1st hurdle. The space craft failed by 25% for its velocity to touch 10000KMS. But ISRO said it can be corrected by tomorrow...@IND151, @Vinod2070



Yep, the craft hit 78,000 Kms instead of 100,000 as planned. Supplementary burn will be done on 12th.

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## IND151

@Zakii @WebMaster > is there any way to post tables on the forum in their original form? currently if I try to do so, it results in mess

ON Topic> Best luck to ISRO for December 15.


----------



## kurup

IND151 said:


> @Zakii @WebMaster > is there any way to post tables on the forum in their original form? currently if I try to do so, it results in mess
> 
> ON Topic> Best luck to ISRO for December 15.



Easiest way I can think is to use Print Screen technique .


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## jaguar151

Dillinger said:


> All warfare is deception...fools beat on about bravery..the victors plant a blade in the fool's back and carry on.


This is all about your heroes Well on our side The Quote is such as "Every thing Should be fair in love and war " Rather than All is fair in............. What you CHANKIEAYZ know about fairness

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## Dillinger

jaguar151 said:


> This is all about your heroes Well on our side The Quote is such as "Every thing Should be fair in love and war " Rather than All is fair in............. What you CHANKIEAYZ know about fairness



I just had to thank your post, naivete has a satiating effect on me...


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## jaguar151

Dillinger said:


> I just had to thank your post, naivete has a satiating effect on me...


We all know What we are so Chill & enjoy The game ...


----------



## Guynextdoor2

Hass anyone posted the test videos of S 200 monsters?

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## cirr

What's the latest on MOM?


----------



## SR-91

*Everything is under control, says ISRO*



*The fourth firing of the propulsion system of the Mars spacecraft on Monday morning was among the six exercises planned by the ISRO and aimed at achieving an apogee of 1.92 lakh by the fifth move, scheduled for November 16.

The craft must leave the Earth orbit on November 30/December 1 if it has to meet Mars as planned for mid-September next year.

The release said the spacecraft was in good health and its apogee had been moved to 78,276 km now.

The other point or perigee remains at nearly 250 km from Earth.

In the latest engine burn, the ISTRAC team managed to impart an incremental velocity of 35 metres/second as against the required 130 m/second.

The ISRO described the performance shortfall as part of ongoing trials that its scientists performed to ensure all systems would be in order later during the orbiter’s long journey to Mars.

‘No reason to panic’

An official involved in the building of the Mars spacecraft said, “Everything is safe and under control. There is no reason for panic.”

ISRO scientists explained to The Hindu that the 440-Newton engine onboard is equipped with a primary and a redundant electrical coil that enable the fuel and the oxidiser to flow through two valves of the spacecraft.

During the firing on Monday morning, the team was trying to use both the primary and the redundant coils together as part of a trial. However, there was no fuel flow in this mode and the orbiter could not pick up the required velocity or reach the desired higher orbit.

Meanwhile, the time slot for firing the engine had expired as the spacecraft had moved away.

A senior engineer involved in the process said, “Both the coils are working independently (but not if they are switched on together.) Tomorrow we will use the primary coil (as they did on November 7, 8 and 9.) It’s a very minor issue. We are confident that we will overcome it.”

He explained: “In the last three firings we operated only the primary coil. Today we wanted to conduct a trial. We first operated the primary coil and the redundant coil later, and both worked independently. We then switched on both together in the test firing today but the system did not work in that mode. So we went back to using them separately and they worked well.”

The release said, “In the fourth orbit-raising operation conducted on November 11, the apogee (the farthest point to Earth) of the Mars Orbiter spacecraft was raised from 71,623 km to 78,276 km by imparting an incremental velocity of 35 metres/second (as against 130 m/second originally planned to raise the apogee to about 1,00,000 km). The spacecraft is in normal health. A supplementary orbit-raising operation is planned tomorrow (November 12) at 0500 hrs.”
*


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## kurup

cirr said:


> What's the latest on MOM?



Glitch removed, supplementary orbit raising operation of Mangalyaan successful


----------



## IND151

@kurup > million thanks my friend Mangalyaan healthy, back on track | idrw.org Mangalyaan healthy, back on track | idrw.org

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## kurup

IND151 said:


> @kurup > million thanks my friend


Happy to help .....


----------



## Cyberian

IND151 said:


> *Isro projects from 2012-2020*
> 
> 
> *Portfolio
> *
> Satellite Communications
> Satellite Navigation
> Satellite Remote Sensing
> Space Science and Exploration
> Space Applications
> 
> *Launch Vehicles
> 
> 2012-14
> 
> * Production of PSLV
> * Reliable GSLV
> * Cryogenic Stage
> 
> 2014-17
> 
> * GSLV Mk III development
> * PRoduction
> 
> 2017-20
> *
> Semi-cryogenics
> * Re-usability
> * Air-breathing
> 
> *Satellite Communications
> 
> 2012-12
> *
> Augment capacity of Transponders in C, Ext-C and Ku band
> 
> *2014-17
> 
> *Multi-beam- Data communication
> *Digital Multi-media
> 2017-20
> 
> * 6 ton-class, high power 12 kW Satellite (Ka band)
> * Higher Frequency bands*
> 
> *Satellite Navigation*
> 
> *2012-14
> *
> *GAGAN (improved accuracy of GPS signals over India)
> 
> *2014-17*
> 
> Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
> 
> *2017-20
> *
> Augment IRNSS coverage (11 Satellites)
> 
> *Satellite Remote Sensing*
> 
> *2012-14
> *
> * C-band Radar
> * Sounder
> * High Resolution-0.6 m
> 
> *2014-17
> *
> * X-Band Imaging
> * Hyper-spectral
> * Geo-Imaging
> 
> *2017-20*
> 
> * S and L Bands Imaging
> * Very High Resolution – (0.25m)
> 
> *Space Science and Exploration
> *
> *2012-14
> *
> *Mars Orbiter
> *ASTROSAT
> 
> *2014-17
> *
> * Mars Observation
> * Chandrayaan-2
> * ADITYA
> 
> *2017-20*
> 
> * Astrobiology
> * Space Habitat Studies
> * Near-Earth Objects
> *
> Space Applications
> 
> 2012-14
> 
> * Natural Resources
> * Disaster management
> * Dev Commn*
> 
> *2014-17*
> 
> * Climate & Environment
> * Navigation Service
> * Strategic applications
> 
> *2017-20
> *
> * Sensor-web Access
> * Adaptive Imaging



Are there any plans to train astronauts in India or abroad by 2020? Any such dedicated program / facility in progress inside India to date regarding this?

India seems to have a lot of potential in space exploration but I've not heard much about India planning to send its first astronauts into space.


----------



## President

what is this S 200 monster?? where will it be used?


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## IND151

President said:


> what is this S 200 monster?? where will it be used?



https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...WATGH0I2Hbo4oVLonau6iFA&bvm=bv.56343320,d.bmk

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## 1ndy

SUPARCO said:


> Are there any plans to train astronauts in India or abroad by 2020? Any such dedicated program / facility in progress inside India to date regarding this?
> 
> India seems to have a lot of potential in space exploration but I've not heard much about India planning to send its first astronauts into space.


A failed manned flight will put a permanent end on our space exploration program, that is why ISRO is going very slowly and carefully on this front.

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## IND151

Mangalyaan successfully completes its last earth bound manoeuvre | idrw.org

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## Vinod2070

1ndy said:


> A failed manned flight will put a permanent end on our space exploration program, that is why ISRO is going very slowly and carefully on this front.



I think ISRO needs to master several key technologies (some of them have already been tested) before we have Indian manned space flights. It it still at least 4-5 years away.

The priorities of ISRO seem to have changed quite a bit under he new leadership.

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## Cyberian

Vinod2070 said:


> I think ISRO needs to master several key technologies (some of them have already been tested) before we have Indian manned space flights. It it still at least 4-5 years away.
> 
> The priorities of ISRO seem to have changed quite a bit under he new leadership.


Are you suggesting India will be able to send its first astronaut into space by 2018?


----------



## 1ndy

SUPARCO said:


> Are you suggesting India will be able to send its first astronaut into space by 2018?


 If everything goes well as planned then yes otherwise there is no hurry. Robotic missions are effective than manned and cheap as well.


----------



## Vinod2070

SUPARCO said:


> Are you suggesting India will be able to send its first astronaut into space by 2018?



As far as I think, the answer is no. It will likely take more time than that.


----------



## romia

Vinod2070 said:


> As far as I think, the answer is no. It will likely take more time than that.


If everything going well as the schedual,India will take their manned space mission firstly at about 2020 to 2023,the most likely 2022

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## kurup

2 days old news ....

*It's 50 years today since India launched its first rocket from Thumba*







India today entered the golden jubilee of the launch of its first rocket from the sylvan settings of the coastal hamlet of Thumba near here, marking the decisive step of the country's space odyssey which has witnessed landmarks like Chandrayaan and Mars mission. The sleepy palm-fringed village became part of modern India's quest to scale dizzying heights of scientific research when an American-built rocket Nike-Apache was fired on November 21, 1963.

The launch site in due course came to be known as Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) and later became Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a major centre of ISRO named after pioneer of Indian space programme Vikram Sarabhai.

It was Sarabhai who gathered a team of young scientists and engineers for the mission and sent them to the US for hands-on training in sounding rockets.His early recruits included former President APJ Abdul Kalam. According to scientists, Thumba was identified for locating the launch station as the magnetic equator passes through South Kerala making it an ideal spot for the launch.

The Union Government took the first step in its space programme in August 1961 by entrusting the Department of Atomic Energy with the task of conducting space research and peaceful uses of outer space.

In 1962, a national committee on space research was formed under the chairmanship of Sarabhai for carrying on the mission and the next year on November 21 the first sounding rocket, a US-built Nike Apache was launched from Thumba. The launch facility was prepared by shifting several fishermen families from Thumba to an adjacent coastal stretch with the then Catholic Bishop playing a vital role in persuading the villagers. A church in the locality has been retained as such and later converted into a space museum.

It's 50 years today since India launched its first rocket from Thumba - Sci/Tech - DNA

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## IND151

The Indian space agency will decide on the need for a second rocket launch site after doing a detailed study on the cost-benefit and other aspects like the trend in remote sensing satellites, said its chief on Monday.

*“A study is being undertaken on the need for a second launch site and the report is expected in couple of months*,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan said.

DMK president M.Karunanidhi has been demanding building of second rocket launch site at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin district as it is an ideal location and could save rocket fuel or increase the rocket’s carrying capacity.

“*A rocket launch site should be on the east coast and near the equator. And Tuticorin district satisfies that condition*,” a former ISRO official said.

A senior ISRO official, who did not want to be identified, said that Tuticorin is a good location for a rocket that needs to fly towards south. “As a matter of fact, long back Tuticorin was considered for locating a rocket launch site but the locals opposed it.”

Radhakrishnan said that for all eastward launches, the current site at Sriharikota is the best.

“We send the remote sensing (earth observation) satellites southwards. But the global trend in the remote sensing satellites is reduction in their size.”

“*The size of remote sensing satellites is coming down while that of communication satellites is going up. A new rocket launch site for remote sensing satellites, normally launched southwards, has to take into account the capital expenditure involved and the savings in fuel burnt by the rocket. For launching communication satellites the current site is the best*,” he added.

According to him, a study is being undertaken on constructing third launch pad at Sriharikota capable of launching upgraded geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) Mark III.

Meanwhile, ISRO has decided to construct a new rocket assembly building in order to increase the frequency of rocket/satellite launches and use the exiting two launch pads effectively, he said.

At present, ISRO has two rocket assembly facilities and two launch pads at its Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

It needs over a month’s time to ready a launch pad after each rocket blast-off.

During the 12th Plan Period,* the Indian space agency has planned 58 missions for realization — 33 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicle missions (17 PSLV, six GSLV Mark II missions and two GSLV Mark III including the experimental one)*.

ISRO officials said that there is sufficient land at Sriharikota for building the new launch pad and other facilities.

Second rocket launch site depends on satellite size, cost-benefit: ISRO | idrw.org

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## Guynextdoor2

SUPARCO said:


> Are you suggesting India will be able to send its first astronaut into space by 2018?



What's it to you? You seem needlessly interested in the progress of Kaafir space agencies.

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## Chronos

Guynextdoor2 said:


> What's it to you? You seem needlessly interested in the progress of Kaafir space agencies.



That was unnecessarily aggressive? Is he a troll?


----------



## li0nheart

*Men behind Mars dreams*

*Kurian Mathew
Principal investigator, Methane Sensors for Mars (MSM)

Mathew is aware of the keen gaze of the World space community on the methane sensors his team put together at Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. He however, wears the attention with rare grace and nonchalance. The sensors will measure methane levels in the Mars atmosphere.





"This is the first time that a differential radiometer based on Fabry-Perot Etalon filters will be used for remote sensing of a planetary atmosphere. Such a complex payload was realized in one-and-a-half years and the credit goes to the payload team who worked day and night under the leadership of associate project director S S Sarkar, and deputy project director A R Srinivasan," says Mathew.

Mars Orbiter Mission has a highly elliptical orbit which is generally not suitable for remote sensing. But this apparent drawback was made an advantage by a suitable imaging strategy. "At the apogee of the orbit, satellite altitude is about 80,000 km while the ground track velocity is less than 20m per sec. This means the MSM will look on the same ground scene for longer periods. By integrating the MSM signal for longer time intervals it is possible to increase the signal-to-noise performance of the sensor. So, even though the expected methane concentration in the Martian atmosphere is extremely low, we may detect it." Mathew said. "Retrieval of methane concentration from MSM data is a challenge as it requires correcting the data for absorption by carbon dioxide gas which constitutes about 95% of the Martian atmosphere," he added.

The MSM's sensitivity will be calibrated during the Earth-bound phase of the mission. "By measuring reflected solar radiation from the Earth surface it is possible to estimate methane concentration in the atmosphere which will validate the performance of the sensor."

Somya Sarkar

Associate project director (Payloads, Mars Mission)

For Sarkar and his team, lessons from Chandrayaan I moon mission helped them improvise and innovate in the Mars mission. The aim was to improve technology, curtail total payload weight and economic use of fuel in the Mars mission. "Chandrayaan-I prepared us for the Mars mission. It helped us take corrective steps where necessary and also build in a degree of autonomy for emergency situations."

"While conceptualizing and designing the payloads, we took many factors into consideration including the distance the payloads travel before hitting the Mars orbit, extreme temperature conditions which range between -22 and 50 degrees celsius and also the harsh environmental conditions around Mars," says Sarkar.

The weight of three payloads designed by SAC Ahmedabad was 7.5kgs of the total 15 kg. The challenge for Sarkar's team was to keep the payloads compact while not compromising the scientific objectives of the mission. "We tested new technology with the payloads where to reduce the time, we used many off-the-shelf components and tested them critically to ascertain if they were fit for the space mission. They were then put to use for designing the payloads," says Sarkar.

He adds "The entire team worked round-the-clock to meet the deadline and put in their utmost effort to provide the best technology for the mission. We are excited about the mission and are confident of its success," he said.





Ashutosh Arya

Principal Investigator, Mars Colour Camera (MCC)

When the Mars Colour Camera aboard Mangalyaan sends back the first colour images of the Martian surface in September next year, Ashutosh Arya and his team will heave a sigh of relief at Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. These will be India's first colour images from space by a camera developed indigenously by ISRO. The MCC will also record Mangalyaan's 10-month journey.

The size of a shoe box and armed with a high-resolution camera, the MCC's job is to click images of the red planet surface from the nearest and farthest points of Mangalyaan's orbit. Interestingly, Mangalyaan will enter its Mars orbit a few days before the ISON comet whizzes past the red planet. "Developed countries plan exclusive space missions to click images of comets. Mangalyaan will be there before the comet arrives near Mars. This gives us a unique opportunity to click images of the comet's tail," says Arya. Besides capturing the comet, the MCC will capture images of geological features on Mars - like rivers, valleys, delta, and dune structures. "MCC will work in synergy with the many sensors aboard Mangalyaan," says Arya.

Arya's team faced many challenges when designing the camera. The principal one was weight reduction and the stringent environmental tests. "The optics and the mechanical components were subject to severe thermoware and vibration tests and the camera remained intact. Another challenge was to make the camera meet our weight budget. We succeeded in both," says Arya. When MCC is 370km away from the Mars surface it provides a frame image of 25m x 25m. At the farthest point on the orbit, 80,000 km away, MCC provides a 4km x 4km field of view.
Men behind Mars dreams - Times Of India
*


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## li0nheart

NASA's "Eyes on the Solar System" (eyes.nasa.gov) has now added Mangalyaan to its virtual environment!

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## thesolar65

@Guynextdoor2 

Off the Topic. I was just trying to tell you a sad news. *"Brian" your lovable Avatar has died on November 24. RIP*. But there is a petition to bring him back. Meanwhile they are bringing Vinnie another dog into the serial!!

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## Guynextdoor2

Ravi Nair said:


> That was unnecessarily aggressive? Is he a troll?



He's worse than a troll. A troll is full of BS. THis guy has deep convictions that even Abdus Salam should be thrown into the dustbin because he's a Kafir. Then why be interested in an Indian agency of Kafir's anyway? I have no respect for people who do not value people for who they are. He reminds me of Nazi physicists who attacked Einstiein for his 'jew theories' of E=MC2. A scientific turth is truth, you can't try to change it because the man who discovered it belongs to a relegion or a sect.



thesolar65 said:


> @Guynextdoor2
> 
> Off the Topic. I was just trying to tell you a sad news. *"Brian" your lovable Avatar has died on November 24. RIP*. But there is a petition to bring him back. Meanwhile they are bringing Vinnie another dog into the serial!!



WAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! Shucks I hav not been watching the latest season- now I will have to hunt for those damn ******** !!!!

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## he-man

seriously??
last season he was fine
now the only such think left on tv would be klaus from american dad


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## Chronos

Guynextdoor2 said:


> He's worse than a troll. A troll is full of BS. THis guy has deep convictions that even Abdus Salam should be thrown into the dustbin because he's a Kafir. Then why be interested in an Indian agency of Kafir's anyway? I have no respect for people who do not value people for who they are. He reminds me of Nazi physicists who attacked Einstiein for his 'jew theories' of E=MC2. A scientific turth is truth, you can try to change it because the man who discovered it belongs to a relegion or a sect.
> 
> 
> 
> WAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! Shucks I hav not been watching the latest season- now I will have to hunt for those damn ******** !!!!



Wait, why do they hate Abdus Salam? Because he is an Ahmedi?

I have watched his interviews and have found nothing objectionable in his views. Abdus Salam seems a quiet and reserved person. You never realise he is a Nobel prize winner


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## Guynextdoor2

Ravi Nair said:


> Wait, why do they hate Abdus Salam? Because he is an Ahmedi?
> 
> I have watched his interviews and have found nothing objectionable in his views. Abdus Salam seems a quiet and reserved person. You never realise he is a Nobel prize winner



More than just 'they hate', this guy (Suparco) specifically hates him because he's an Ahmedi and 'Kafir'. ANd pointing out to him all the good that Abdus Salam has done for his people, including the founding of Suparco, only enrages this guy. He would have preferred a 'purer' muslim to have founded it I guess.


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## Chronos

Guynextdoor2 said:


> More than just 'they hate', this guy (Suparco) specifically hates him because he's an Ahmedi and 'Kafir'. ANd pointing out to him all the good that Abdus Salam has done for his people, including the founding of Suparco, only enrages this guy. He would have preferred a 'purer' muslim to have founded it I guess.



But Abdus Salam along wit) CV Raman has been an inspiration to scientists in this region.

I don't care if Abdus Salam was a blasphemer. A brilliant mind should be appreciated regardless.

Did Abdus Salam make controversial statements. Interviews on YouTube make him out to be quiet, shy and academically. The guy seems really harmless

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## Guynextdoor2

Ravi Nair said:


> But Abdus Salam along wit) CV Raman has been an inspiration to scientists in this region.
> 
> I don't care if Abdus Salam was a blasphemer. A brilliant mind should be appreciated regardless.
> 
> Did Abdus Salam make controversial statements. Interviews on YouTube make him out to be quiet, shy and academically. The guy seems really harmless



I don't think there was any such statement from him. It was only his faith that got him into trouble.

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## Black Widow

Ravi Nair said:


> But Abdus Salam along wit) CV Raman has been an inspiration to scientists in this region.
> 
> *I don't care if Abdus Salam was a blasphemer*. A brilliant mind should be appreciated regardless.
> 
> Did Abdus Salam make controversial statements. Interviews on YouTube make him out to be quiet, shy and academically. The guy seems really harmless





Nothing is above God.. A Blaspheme has no right to live.. (Wajib-e-Quatl)

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## Chronos

Black Widow said:


> Nothing is above God.. A Blaspheme has no right to live.. (Wajib-e-Quatl)



If a god says that a man who has done no wrong except advance the human condition and our search for knowledge,

I refuse to worship such a god. Even if I it means eternal damnation.

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## IND151

Mangalyaan set to escape Earth’s influence on Dec 1 | idrw.org

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## Chronos

IND151 said:


> Mangalyaan set to escape Earth’s influence on Dec 1 | idrw.org



Off topic, your avatar is awesome. Though I preferred the moving one


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## IND151

The first Indian Mars mission began its last orbit around the Earth on Wednesday morning, even as its controllers prepared for the big night three days away.

*On the night of November 30-December 1, the spacecraft will be finally thrust away from the Earth, and all the way towards the Red Planet*, after gathering a total escape speed of around 11.4 kms a second.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s Scientific Secretary V. Koteswara Rao told a pre-event briefing at the control centre at the Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) on Wednesday, “We are planning for the Mars spacecraft to depart the Earth in the early hours of December 1.”

*‘SECOND BIG CHALLENGE’*

Dozens of controllers at the Mission Operations Complex at ISTRAC were getting set for what the space agency’s chairman, K. Radhakrishnan, earlier termed ‘the second big challenge in the Mars mission’: the day when they must precisely increase the spacecraft’s velocity and slingshot it exactly towards Mars.

Saturday’s trans-Mars insertion (TMI) is set for 12.49 am.* The spacecraft has been orbiting the Earth once in almost four days or 91.3 hours, since November 16.*

About the TMI, Mr. Rao said, “*On that day we must burn the liquid engine for roughly 23 minutes, which will impart to it an incremental velocity of 648 metres per second. Then begins a journey of 680 million km over 300 days*.”

Once it nears Mars, we will have another major operation in September 2014 to make it orbit the planet, he said.

*In six orbit-raising operations from November 7 to November 16, the spacecraft has gradually been given its present velocity of 873 metres a second* and *it reached an apogee (farthest point) of 1.92 lakh km.*

Once it moves beyond 2 lakh km, ISTRAC’s Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu would come into the picture with its two large antennas which can track huge interplanetary missions.

The spacecraft carrying five instruments to study Mars was launched on November 5 from Sriharikota.

Mars mission’s D-day in three days | idrw.org

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## li0nheart

*ISTRAC: Nerve centre of India's Mars mission*

*A slideshow on ISTRAC...*

ISTRAC: Nerve centre of India's Mars mission - ISTRAC: Nerve centre of India's Mars mission | The Economic Times

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## IND151

*HYDERABAD —* The count down has begun. *Tonight is the night Isro's scientists are eagerly waiting for*.

Not with their fingers crossed but with the confidence that they can get on the feeling that they have done their job right. It's not going to be a nail-biting time but an hour and time that they are looking for to. 

*India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will leave earth's gravity at 12.49 am tonight (past midnight on Novevmber 30)*. This would make it 00.49 hrs on Sunday morning (December 1). 

"Everything is ready. The team of scientists is on the job," an Isro spokesperson said explaining the different stages that are to take place operationally. 

With 'MOM' fans looking forward to the time when the spacecraft will leave the earth's gravity tonight, they are flooding Isro scientists with questions. 

Isro had explained that the two doughnut shaped blankets that shroud the Earth with highly charged plasma particles comprising of electrons, protons and nuclei are called Van Allen Radiation belts and that MOM has successfully sustained several passes of these lethal radiation belts speculated to have been formed by furious solar winds and harmful cosmic rays.

Scientists had explained that *these belts are a part of Earth's inner magnetosphere and stretch from an altitude of 1000 km to 60,000 km above Earth*.

They had also said prolonged exposure to these belts poses a significant threat to various sensitive components of a spacecraft. ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft is designed with sufficient safeguards against such fatal particles. 

The question now is: Does Mars also has similar radiation belt(s)? Responding to the query by Arun K Desai, I*sro replied that scientists think that Mars had a global magnetic field like that of Earth, which disappeared billions of years ago*.

*Without the protection of this magnetic field, most of the water and atmosphere escaped from Mars*. In the absence of Magnetic field, radiation belts also won't sustain. 

To another question by Madhuri J Madhuri, scientists said MOM has to survive the radiation belt while moving at the natural velocity of the orbit. MOM fires its Liquid Engine only for making orbit changes. 

It has also been clarified to MOM fans that the spacecraft does not take a longer time to reach Mars because of the extra burn as a result of the fifth orbit raising manoeuvre .

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...zgPdMe1tmyndgrJpOUVkeOw&bvm=bv.57155469,d.bmk

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## thesolar65

IND151 said:


> *India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) will leave earth's gravity at 12.49 am tonight (past midnight on Novevmber 30)*.



So Some body will have to set the Alarm at 01.00AM to post the good news....

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## Gessler

All the best guys! Hats off to ISRO for their wonderful work!

Godspeed.


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## he-man

thesolar65 said:


> So Some body will have to set the Alarm at 01.00AM to post the good news....



i will be there

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## thesolar65

he-man said:


> i will be there



All the best, Hope for good news in the morning!! If I remain awake, will get acidity next day..

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## trident2010

Fingers crossed for tonight. I will be sipping beer at a pub though. If successful, one more pint

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## KRAIT

Liquid Engine propels MOM into Mars Transfer Trajectory and India into interplanetary space !

Trans-Mars injection has been completed successfully.

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## he-man

phad di bhai india ne sabki

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## Gessler

Congratulations guys! Congrats to ISRO scientists!!

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## KRAIT

Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations completed successfully. The liquid engine burn time was 1328.89 sec and the imparted incremental velocity was 647.96 m/sec.
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations in progress.
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operation began at 00:49 hrs (IST) on Sunday Dec 01, 2013.
Forward rotation of spacecraft, to put it into the right orientation to perform Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operation has been completed successfully at 00:30 hrs IST on Dec 1, 2013


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## Gessler

Another milestone passed in the mission. Now waiting for the MOM to reach Mars.

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## he-man

Gessler said:


> Another milestone passed in the mission. Now waiting for the MOM to reach Mars.


isro's budget should be at least 2 billion$
it has done wonders in 1 billion only though

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## Chronos

he-man said:


> isro's budget should be at least 2 billion$
> it has done wonders in 1 billion only though



The budget that government of India allocates to the sciences should be increased IMO

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## Cyberian

Guynextdoor2 said:


> What's it to you? You seem needlessly interested in the progress of Kaafir space agencies.



I just appreciate space exploration regardless whether it comes from Kafiristan or Islamistan.


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## he-man

SUPARCO said:


> I just appreciate space exploration regardless whether it comes from Kafiristan or Islamistan.


appreciate


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## shuntmaster

*Mangalyaan successfully cruising towards Mars as it leaves Earth's orbit*











Mangalyaan being launched from Sriharikota

*New Delhi: * India's maiden spacecraft to Mars has successfully left the Earth's orbit and is now cruising towards Mars after a crucial and tricky midnight operation. The complex operation began as planned at 49 minutes after midnight and lasted 23 minutes in which the spacecraft was given a nudge so that it escapes the Earth's gravity. 
Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO says the operation went off successfully and the Mangalyaan has left the Earth's embrace and is now on course on the highway to Mars. 

"The trans-Mars injection has been completed successfully," K Radhakrishnan, Chairman of ISRO, told NDTV.

Launched on November 5, 2013 from Sriharikota, the Mangalyaan had till now been rotating around the Earth. It was given that final extra kick through a sling shot mechanism as it began its over 750 million kilometer journey to Mars. Each day, the Mangalyaan will cover over 2.5 million km hurtling into space till it is slowed down to be captured by Mars.

About 250 scientists from ISRO monitored its health. The command for the spacecraft to leave the Earth's orbit and head into the Sun-centric orbit was executed from the Mission Operations Center in Bangalore.

The success of the mission can be assessed only when the spacecraft reaches the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014. Once it reaches Mars, the Mangalyaan will revolve around the 'Red Planet' for six months and announce India's triumph. 

However, the risks are many and no country till date has succeeded in reaching Mars on its maiden attempt. More than half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China's in 2011 and Japan's in 1998.

The Rs 450-crore mission to Mars has made international headlines, at least in part for its cost-efficiency.

*From ISRO Website *
01-12-2013

*Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations completed successfully. The liquid engine burn time was 1328.89 sec and the imparted incremental velocity was 647.96 m/sec.*
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations in progress.
Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operation began at 00:49 hrs (IST) on Sunday Dec 01, 2013.
Forward rotation of spacecraft, to put it into the right orientation to perform Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operation has been completed successfully at 00:30 hrs IST on Dec 1, 2013
16-11-2013

The fifth orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 01:27 hrs(IST) on Nov 16, 2013, with a burn Time of 243.5 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 118642km to 192874km.
12-11-2013

Fourth supplementary orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 05:03:50 hrs(IST) on Nov 12, 2013, with a burn Time of 303.8 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 78276km to 118642km.
11-11-2013

In the fourth orbit-raising operation conducted this morning (Nov 11, 2013), the apogee (farthest point to Earth) of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was raised from 71,623 km to 78,276 km by imparting an incremental velocity of 35 metres/second (as against 130 metres/second originally planned to raise apogee to about 100,000 [1 lakh] km). The spacecraft is in normal health. More..
09-11-2013

The third orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:10:43 hrs(IST) on Nov 09, 2013, with a burn time of 707 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 40186km to 71636km.
08-11-2013

The second orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 02:18:51 hrs(IST) on Nov 08, 2013, with a burn time of 570.6 seconds has been successfully completed. The observed change in Apogee is from 28814 km to 40186 km.
07-11-2013

The first orbit raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, starting at 01:17 hrs(IST) on Nov 07, 2013 has been successfully completed More..
05-11-2013

PSLV-C25, in its twenty fifth flight, successfully launches Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft from SDSC SHAR Sriharikota

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## trident2010

*Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission successfully placed in Mars transfer trajectory*

CHENNAI/BANGALORE: Crossing a major milestone in the country's space history, Isro'sMars Orbiter Mission on Sunday ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence for the first time in an attempt to reach the red planet's orbit. 

The critical manoeuvre to place the Mars orbiter spacecraft in the Mars transfer trajectory was successfully carried out almost an hour past midnight. 

During this manoeuvre, which began at 00:49 hours, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 metres/second to the spacecraft. 

"Following the completion of this manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun," the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement. 

Isro performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended for hurling its Mars orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the Sun, marking the first step towards the 300 day voyage to reach the orbit of the red planet after crossing roughly 680 million kilometres. 

"The Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations, which began at 00.49 hours (IST) completed," Isro said. 

Isro has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit. 

The space agency is scheduled to make four corrections in the course of the spacecraft's voyage to Mars before it is expected to reach the orbit of the red planet in September 2014. 

It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh kilometres, before it performed the "mother of all slingshots". 

The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu here, the space agency added. 

Isro's PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter (Mars craft) into the orbit around the earth some 44 minutes after a text book launch at 2.38 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.


Isro's Mars Orbiter Mission successfully placed in Mars transfer trajectory - The Times of India

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## Guynextdoor2

SUPARCO said:


> I just appreciate space exploration regardless whether it comes from Kafiristan or Islamistan.


 
But we don't appreciate certain kinds of people 'appreciating' us. In the priesthood of science, you are not welcome, you are a kaafir that needs to be kept out of all bounds, everywhere. We don't want you.


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## li0nheart

I was trying to find how ISRO is going to track MOM; now that it has gone into heliocentric trajectory.

*ISTRAC* won't be able to track MOM continuously, as it'll have smaller and smaller window period when it can see the MOM.

Searching online, I found that NASA's *Deep Space Network *(more specifically it's *Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex- CDSCC) *has two of it's 34 m antennas scheduled to track MOM in next week. Further schedule is not displayed on website (link below).

MOM is not tracked by *Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex- MDSCC *(link below), and I can't find schedule of *Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex* (*GDSCC*).

One thing I noticed is that MOM tracking by CDSCC is intermittent. (only 4 days of 01 to 08 December), and never with bigger 70 m antenna.

If you compare it with Maven tracking schedule, which is daily and with bigger antenna, MOM tracking by CDSCC is very sporadic.

So, now the questions arise--

1) Is CDSCC working in collaboration with ISTRAC? Or is it for NASA's own interest?
2) Will having intermittent tracking decrease the probability of MOM's successful Mars orbit insertion?

Insights, expert views from anyone?


Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex - NASA's Deep Space Network
MDSCC Seguimiento Online


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## Guynextdoor2

^^^ ISRO Deep Space Network is in Bayalalu in Karnataka. Others may be to track it when India is facing off Mars.


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## li0nheart

Guynextdoor2 said:


> ^^^ ISRO Deep Space Network is in Bayalalu in Karnataka. Others may be to track it when India is facing off Mars.



By others you mean to say NASA's DSN, which I reviewed in previous post. But somehow it doesn't look sufficient...


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## IND151

CHENNAI/BANGALORE: Crossing a major milestone in the country's space history, ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission today ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence for the first time in an attempt to reach the red planet's orbit. 

The critical manoeuvre to place the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out almost an hour past midnight. 

During this manoeuvre, which began at 00:49 hours, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 metres/second to the spacecraft. 

"Following the completion of this manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun," the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement. 

ISRO performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended for hurling its Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the Sun, marking the first step towards the 300 day voyage to reach the orbit of the red planet after crossing roughly 680 million kilometer. 

"The Trans Mars Injection (TMI) operations, which began at 00.49 hours (IST) completed," ISRO said. 

ISRO has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit. 

The space agency is scheduled to make four corrections in the course of the spacecraft's voyage to Mars before it is expected to reach the orbit of the red planet in September 2014. 

It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh kilometers, before it performed the "mother of all slingshots." 

The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu here, the space agency added. 

ISRO's PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter (Mars craft) into the orbit around the earth some 44 minutes after a text book launch at 2.38 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space 
Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450 crore mission. 

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...tIC4Dg&usg=AFQjCNEMoWHDx3KbzrW3PwQB59vh_q-0EQ

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## thesolar65

he-man said:


> phad di bhai india ne sabki



Arre Bhai, Bhagwan ne toh sabko phadke yahan bheja hai... I mean sabaka toh pahele phada hua hai...

BTW Great News!!


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## Vinod2070

Can we track the current location of MOM Vs. its planned trajectory somewhere?


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## Dash

Guynextdoor2 said:


> But we don't appreciate certain kinds of people 'appreciating' us. In the priesthood of science, you are not welcome, you are a kaafir that needs to be kept out of all bounds, everywhere. We don't want you.



Bro, chill...an appreciation is good i guess..

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## Guynextdoor2

^^^ ISRO Deep Space Network is in Bayalalu in Karnataka. Others may be to track it when India is facing off Mars.


Dash said:


> Bro, chill...an appreciation is good i guess..


 
Context of conversation is different here


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## RPK

The command and control of Trans-Mars Injection will be done from this Mission Operations Complex of ISTRAC, at Bangalore.

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## IND151

*New Delhi, Dec. 1:* Fisherman Nubin Roy felt a surge of pride when he heard about India’s Mars mission that some activists have criticised as a project that prioritises esoteric science over basic needs in an unequal society.

But blind nationalism wasn’t driving his pride.

Twice a week, Roy sails into the North Andaman Sea on his 12-metre-long motorised boat to haul in groupers, mackerel, red and white snappers, and tuna for dinner tables on the islands, elsewhere in India or in foreign lands.

*Roy knows exactly where to anchor, guided by a strip of paper with latitude and longitude readings generated by scientists in Hyderabad *who use *India’s Oceansat-2 satellite* to *pinpoint marine zones abundant in fish*.

*Since Roy began to rely on satellite-based potential fishing zone (PFZ) advisories three years ago, his boat has been returning with 400kg to 500kg fish from each trip, against the typical 200kg catch earlie*r. He’s bought a refrigerator, a TV and a cellphone.

“I don’t waste fuel, I sell more fish, and life is better,” said Roy, 29, who grew up in Port Blair but has spent the past 10 years as a fisherman-sailor in Shibpur, a village on the east coast of the island of North Andaman.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) Mars orbiter spacecraft, launched on November 5, was nudged out of Earth orbit early today to begin its 10-month journey towards Mars.

The Mars mission has led some activists to question the wisdom of a planetary exploration mission by a nation struggling with poverty, inadequate drinking water, and health care.

“This mission is symbolic of misplaced policy and scientific priorities in an unequal society,” said Harsh Mander, a social worker and director of the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi. “This mission will not help India’s poor in the short or medium term.”

But senior Isro officials point out that the Mars mission has cost only about Rs 450 crore over three years, less than a tenth of the Rs 4,880 crore Isro spent during fiscal 2012-13 alone.

*Besides, they say, the space programme has helped millions of people across India in ways that are not always, or widely, appreciated*. Its projects have helped put fish on the table, ensure bank ATM machines reliably roll out cash, save lives through search-and-rescue operations and early cyclone warnings, and arm many domestic industries with superior quality-control mechanisms.

*Some economic gains from the space programme* — such as the amount of boat fuel saved or extra fish sold — are relatively easy to quantify. *A study by the National Council for Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, suggests the annual economic benefits from satellite-based identification of PFZs is over Rs 34,000 crore*, a sum close to what India’s space agency has spent over the past 10 years.

“You just can’t put a value on some impacts,” said Satheesh Shenoi, director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (Incois), Hyderabad, the institution that sends PFZ advisories thrice a week to 225 fishing harbours along India’s coastline.

PFZ advisories are forecasts of fish abundance based on parameters such as ocean temperature, currents and plankton concentrations.

Isro’s satellite-aided search-and-rescue system, responding to seven mid-sea distress calls, helped save 61 people last year. *The success rate of finding hidden groundwater reservoirs has risen to 80 per cent with the use of satellite imagery, from the earlier 50 per cent when conventional methods were employed*, Isro scientists say.

Satellites allowed the Forest Survey of India to quickly detect several thousand forest fires in northern India last year.

Isro officials say the space agency will continue to promote space technology for economic and social development, as envisioned by its earliest architects including the late Vikram Sarabhai and evident through the nationwide reach of space applications.

“The Indian programme was developed under the conviction that space capabilities should be used to uplift the lives of people,” Bhupendra Jasani, a professor and space policy expert at King’s College London, told *The Telegraph*.

“To a large extent, these ideals have been fulfilled and it would be natural to move forward and use the technology for exploration. The Mars mission should be viewed in this light.”

Isro officials point out that 90 per cent of the space budget goes into the development of telecommunications, weather, and Earth-observation satellites and launch vehicles.

Since its early years, the space programme has been encouraging Indian industry to develop components and subsystems for its satellites and launch vehicles. Isro officials estimate that some 500 companies are now contributing to the programme.

The rigorous demands placed by the space agency has helped industries improve manufacturing processes and quality control.

“*These gains have enabled many private companies to bid for outsourcing contracts for the global aerospace industry*,” said V. Siddhartha, a former space department official who has also had nearly two decades of experience in the department of research and development organisation.

“The technological experience that HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) gained from its work with Isro has been a significant factor in HAL’s ability to forward-engineer into the stringent reliability and quality-control requirements of the fighter aircraft Tejas.”

Last year, India’s finance ministry and a consortium of public-sector banks contracted nine service providers to install and manage 63,000 bank ATMs across urban and rural India, many operating through satellite-based services.

Hughes Communications India, a company contracted for 27,000 offsite ATMs, said in a media release last year *that the secure satellite connectivity would provide uptimes (the durations for which the ATMs are operational) higher than 99.9 per cent*.

Outside the strategic or economic domains, satellite imagery is also used to predict yields of crops such as rice, wheat, potato and sugarcane.

“*In less than four weeks, we can get a reliable estimate of the area under potato (cultivation) across the Indo-Gangetic plains*,” said Islam Ahmed, a mathematician at the Central Potato Research Institute, Meerut. “*Without satellites, reliable estimates aren’t available*.”

A satellite-based telemedicine network connects 60 speciality hospitals to over 300 remote rural, district or mobile clinics. Doctors who have assessed one of these telemedicine hubs in Karnataka, however, say technical and non-technical factors are hampering the efficient use of the telemedicine services.

The doctors from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, observed that fluctuating satellite bandwidth had led to breakdowns in tele-pathology and tele-radiology services.

Their study, published last month in the _Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine_, also found that some doctors in remote clinics are at times reluctant to consult experienced doctors in the specialty hospitals.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...ye7qBwbMsHf7doXUwJPf-GA&bvm=bv.57155469,d.bmk

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## luckych

Mangalyaan crosses Moon's orbit; travelling 10 lakh km a day ​
ISRO's Mars Orbiter, which was placed in inter-Mars trajectory in the early hours yesterday, has crossed Moon's orbit and is travelling beyond Earth's natural satellite. 

"The Mars Orbiter spacecraft has crossed the Moon orbit. So technically after crossing our Chandrayaan's orbit, it is now travelling beyond the Moon. It is crossing around 10,00,000 km per day," ISRO sources told PTI. 

This is the first time an Indian-made object is being sent into deep space, they said. 

ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission had ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence yesterday, beginning its 300-day journey to the Red planet, marking a major milestone in India's space history. 

ISRO performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended to hurl its Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the sun at around 00.49 hours on Sunday. 

It has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit before its expected arrival in the orbit of the Red planet in September 2014. 

It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the Apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh km before it performed the "mother of all slingshots." 

The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network ( IDSN) antennae at Byalalu here. 

ISRO's PSLV C 25 injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter into the orbit around Earth about 44 minutes after launch at 2.38 PM from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-cro .. 

Read more at:
Mangalyaan crosses Moon's orbit; travelling 10 lakh km a day - The Economic Times

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## Gessler

MOM’s Navigation Challenge

“*If you go outside (in Bangalore) and hit a golf ball towards Los Angeles, the golf ball has to come straight into the cup, exactly to the hole, that’s how accurate you have to come in. And to make it a little bit more challenging; the hole is moving.*”

–*Dr. Charles Elachi, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA*

*Mars is moving and so is the Earth !
After 680 million kilometers of travel, the target is to arrive within a tiny circle of less than two kilometers, at the right epoch.*

source-- FB

--

The objective of tracking MOM & maneuvering it accordingly in the 4 expected course-corrections while en-route to Mars is an extraordinary effort. Congratulations to all concerned!

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## kbd-raaf

Gessler said:


> MOM’s Navigation Challenge
> 
> “*If you go outside (in Bangalore) and hit a golf ball towards Los Angeles, the golf ball has to come straight into the cup, exactly to the hole, that’s how accurate you have to come in. And to make it a little bit more challenging; the hole is moving.*”
> 
> –*Dr. Charles Elachi, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA*
> 
> *Mars is moving and so is the Earth !
> After 680 million kilometers of travel, the target is to arrive within a tiny circle of less than two kilometers, at the right epoch.*
> 
> source-- FB
> 
> --
> 
> The objective of tracking MOM & maneuvering it accordingly in the 4 expected course-corrections while en-route to Mars is an extraordinary effort. Congratulations to all concerned!



Such a laymans explanation.

Poor guy has to dumb it down for the masses.

What he has described is the easy part.

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## HariPrasad

ISRO's Mars Orbiter, which was placed in inter-Mars trajectory in the early hours yesterday, has crossed Moon's orbit and is travelling beyond Earth's natural satellite.

"The Mars Orbiter spacecraft has crossed the Moon orbit. So technically after crossing our Chandrayaan's orbit, it is now travelling beyond the Moon. It is crossing around 10,00,000 km per day," ISRO sources told PTI.

This is the first time an Indian-made object is being sent into deep space, they said.

ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission had ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence yesterday, beginning its 300-day journey to the Red planet, marking a major milestone in India's space history.

ISRO performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended to hurl its Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the sun at around 00.49 hours on Sunday.

It has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit before its expected arrival in the orbit of the Red planet in September 2014.

It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the Apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh km before it performed the "mother of all slingshots."

The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu here.

ISRO's PSLV C 25 injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter into the orbit around Earth about 44 minutes after launch at 2.38 PM from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.


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## IND151

ISRO's GSLV D5 likely to be launched in early January 2014

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## Vinod2070

Gessler said:


> MOM’s Navigation Challenge
> 
> “*If you go outside (in Bangalore) and hit a golf ball towards Los Angeles, the golf ball has to come straight into the cup, exactly to the hole, that’s how accurate you have to come in. And to make it a little bit more challenging; the hole is moving.*”
> 
> –*Dr. Charles Elachi, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA*
> 
> *Mars is moving and so is the Earth !
> After 680 million kilometers of travel, the target is to arrive within a tiny circle of less than two kilometers, at the right epoch.*
> 
> source-- FB
> 
> --
> 
> The objective of tracking MOM & maneuvering it accordingly in the 4 expected course-corrections while en-route to Mars is an extraordinary effort. Congratulations to all concerned!



Just boggles the mind!


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## KRAIT

*Mangalyaan-1's c.$75m Budget Equates to:*

c.15% of NASA's budget for its comparable MAVEN mission
2.1 % ofIndia's c.$3.5bn aid contributions to other nations
Less than *2% of the estimated £2.5bn in salaries paid to UK employees by Indian companies*
*0.3 % of India's $24bn IMF bailout contribution to the Eurozone crisis*
0.02% of India's total government expenditure in 2013
Mars is a 'Red' Herring: Why India's Space Programme Is a Global Role Model | Abhaey Singh

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## Vinod2070

KRAIT said:


> *Mangalyaan-1's c.$75m Budget Equates to:*
> 
> c.15% of NASA's budget for its comparable MAVEN mission
> 2.1 % ofIndia's c.$3.5bn aid contributions to other nations
> Less than *2% of the estimated £2.5bn in salaries paid to UK employees by Indian companies*
> *0.3 % of India's $24bn IMF bailout contribution to the Eurozone crisis*
> 0.02% of India's total government expenditure in 2013
> Mars is a 'Red' Herring: Why India's Space Programme Is a Global Role Model | Abhaey Singh



While we have nothing against the UK, their jingoism is only pathetic and shows the last vestiges of memories of a colonial past.

Such people who make these noises are just second rate, third class jingoists.

I liked it when Chinese media reminded them of this reality. Some Indian politicians have done that in the past as well.

UK nothing but an ‘old European country for travel and study’ – Chinese media — RT News

They need us more than we need them.

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## KRAIT

I am wondering if UK will be taking help of ISRO because of storm that hit it. 

That will be seriously a bad joke played by Nature.


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## KRAIT

*MARS MISSION PAYLOADS*

*Lyman Alpha Photomoter (LAP)*: measures amount of hydrogen and deuterium which will help scientists understand the loss of water from Mars

*Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)*: Studies the neutral composition of the upper atmosphere

*Mars colour camera*: Takes images of the surface of Mars and its satellites Phobos and Deimos

*Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer*: Measures thermal emissions and helps map surface composition and minerals
BBC News - How the Mars mission helps India


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## RPK



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## indiatester

KRAIT said:


> I am wondering if UK will be taking help of ISRO because of storm that hit it.
> 
> That will be seriously a bad joke played by Nature.


They had taken the help of our railway engineers to help with some of their old rail tracks and signals.

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## li0nheart

Mars Orbiter: ISRO to carry out first trajectory correction manoeuvre on December 11

India’s first interplanetary mission, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), will get its first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) on December11, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday.
As Mangalyaan continues its fuel-less journey to the Red Planet, the Indian space agency will carry outthe first trajectorycorrection manoeuvreon December11.
Although the Mars spacecraft is travelling in the intended trajectory,ISRO has planned four trajectory corrections to fine tune it so as to keep it in the correct intended track. The second TMC is happening in April 2014,then in August2014, and then in September2014.
“We have already imparted the velocity required by MOM to reach Mars during the Trans-Mars Injection (on December1) and now MOM is cruising with a velocity of about32.8 km/s. The first TCM is scheduled on December11,” ISRO sources said.
The propulsion system of MOM, which is to travel a total distance of about 680 million km, will be using monomethyl hydrazine as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide as oxidizer during all the four TCMs, they said.
MOM was not taking the shortest route to the Red Planet,since accelerating and later decelerating to match the planet’s speed would require an extremely large amount of fuel in that option,said ISRO while interacting with space enthusiasts in its official page on social networking site Facebook.
“The route which requires the least amount of fuel is an elliptical orbit which forms a tangent to the Mars’ and Earth’s orbit around the Sun. MOM is travelling a distance of about 680 million km in this elliptical trajectory. This kind of transfer is called a Hohmann transfer,”ISRO said.
ISRO also said that the targeted mission life of MOM was six months after Mars Orbit Insertion.
“Fuel is required even in Martian orbitfor orientation control of the spacecraft.The mission can be extendedif suchnon-renewable resourcesin the spacecraft last longer,” it added.
The Mars Orbiter was launched into Earth orbit from the First Launch Pad at Sriharikota,Andhra Pradesh on 5 November,2013,by ISRO’s PSLV-C25 rocket.

Mars Orbiter: ISRO to carry out first trajectory correction manoeuvre on December 11

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## indiatester

From ISRO: Mars Orbiter Mission
The first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) of Spacecraft was carried out successfully at 06:30 hrs (IST) by firing the 22 Newton Thrusters for a duration of 40.5 seconds. The spacecraft is travelling at a distance of about 29 lakh (2.9 million) km away from Earth.

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## bloo

*Isro to decide December 27 on GSAT-14 launch date*
IANS | Dec 16, 2013, 01.50 PM IST

CHENNAI: The Indian space agency Dec 27 would decide the date for the launch of communication satellite GSAT-14 using its heavier rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), said a senior official. 

"The GSLV launch will be in January. The exact date will be decided Dec 27 at a meeting," MYS Prasad, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), told IANS over phone from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. 

A couple of hours before the rocket was all set for launch Aug 19, to put into orbit GSAT-14, the mission was aborted after the liquid fuel started leaking from its second stage/engine. 

The mission's important aspect is that the rocket's cryogenic third stage/engine is designed and built by Isro. 

A cryogenic engine is more efficient as it provides more thrust for every kilogram of the propellant burnt. 

The successful flight of this rocket is crucial for India as it will be the first step towards building rockets that could carry heavier payloads, up to four tonnes. 

For Isro, perfecting the cryogenic engine technology is crucial as it can save precious foreign exchange by launching communication satellites by itself. 

The 49.13 metres tall GSLV, weighing around 414 tonnes, is a three-stage/engine with four strap-on motors hugging the first stage. 

The first stage is powered by solid fuel, while the four strap-on motors and the second stage are powered by liquid fuel. The third is the cryogenic engine powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. 

According to Prasad, currently tests are being conducted on the rocket systems. 

Earlier, the re-launch was expected to happen in December but the Indian space agency decided to carry out full fledged tests on all systems which consumed time. 

Isro officials told IANS that the rocket would be moved to the launch pad Dec 28 or 29 and after that around 10 days would be needed to ready the rocket for its flight. 

The cuboid shaped GSAT-14 is India's 23rd geostationary satellite built by Isro. It has a life span of 12 years. 

The 1,982-kg satellite carries six extended C-band and Ku-band transponders (receivers and transmitters of signals) and two Ka-band becons. The satellite will be used for tele-medicine and tele-education services. 

Isro to decide December 27 on GSAT-14 launch date - The Times of India


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## IND151

Isro to decide December 27 on GSAT-14 launch date | idrw.org

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## Aegis DDG

kbd-raaf said:


> Such a laymans explanation.
> 
> Poor guy has to dumb it down for the masses.
> 
> What he has described is the easy part.


Not everyone is an physics or engineering student like you !


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## kbd-raaf

Aegis DDG said:


> Not everyone is an physics or engineering student like you !



No but that doesn't mean you should have to present misleading information, amirite?


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## IND151

Mars Orbiter spent 55% of the total fuel so far: ISRO scientist | idrw.org

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## KRAIT

IND151 said:


> Mars Orbiter spent 55% of the total fuel so far: ISRO scientist | idrw.org


For a nation obsessed with mileage, it is great.


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## HariPrasad

Ye ISRO walon ne space expidition ko majak bana diya hain. khali 15 mahine main ais acompex mission conceive kar ke bhej bhi diya.

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## Dash

HariPrasad said:


> Ye ISRO walon ne space expidition ko majak bana diya hain. khali 15 mahine main ais acompex mission conceive kar ke bhej bhi diya.



Jugaad bhai, "Jugaad"

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## HariPrasad

Dash said:


> Jugaad bhai, "Jugaad"




Jugaad Innovation: Is Your Startup Doing It? @Technori



Dash said:


> Jugaad bhai, "Jugaad"




Vinay Dabholkar has co-authored book titled '8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad to Excellence' in March 2013. The book offers a unique eight-step process for creating a systematic innovation capability, which can be transplanted across the board to any business or region.

Rishikesha Krishnan set to take over as IIM-I new director - Times Of India


Kuldeep Singh, a villager of Chhota Narangwal in Ludhiana district, has created ripples by inventing a machine he has named jugaad, Punjabi for improvised device. The machine is apparently giving Canadian automakers a run for their money.

Punjabi's 'jugaad' floors Canada - Times Of India

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## Genesis

So I been hearing some conflicting reports on manned missions for India.

Some say 2015 India is going up, others say 2017 because the manned mission is not in the current 5 year plan, while still others say it will be beyond* 2017 and not in this decade due to financial difficulties?

Then there is of course talk of the 2020 moon landing.

What's accurate here?

*edit: wrong word


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## kbd-raaf

Genesis said:


> So I been hearing some conflicting reports on manned missions for India.
> 
> Some say 2015 India is going up, others say 2017 because the manned mission is not in the current 5 year plan, while still others say it will be behind 2017 and not in this decade due to financial difficulties?
> 
> Then there is of course talk of the 2020 moon landing.
> 
> What's accurate here?



There will be no manned mission until the GSLV Mk3 proves itself to be a successful and reliable launcher.

The other technologies, life support, etc are already present.


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## Genesis

kbd-raaf said:


> There will be no manned mission until the GSLV Mk3 proves itself to be a successful and reliable launcher.
> 
> The other technologies, life support, etc are already present.



Any schedule on when that might be?


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## HariPrasad

Genesis said:


> So I been hearing some conflicting reports on manned missions for India.
> 
> Some say 2015 India is going up, others say 2017 because the manned mission is not in the current 5 year plan, while still others say it will be beyond* 2017 and not in this decade due to financial difficulties?
> 
> Then there is of course talk of the 2020 moon landing.
> 
> What's accurate here?
> 
> *edit: wrong word





Man Mission is not in the ISRO's priority list. So it will be taken only after 2017, I gauze.


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## kurup

Genesis said:


> So I been hearing some conflicting reports on manned missions for India.
> 
> Some say 2015 India is going up, others say 2017 because the manned mission is not in the current 5 year plan, while still others say it will be beyond* 2017 and not in this decade due to financial difficulties?
> 
> Then there is of course talk of the 2020 moon landing.
> 
> What's accurate here?
> 
> *edit: wrong word



_"He said it would take 10 years for India to undertake human space flight. “Manned space missions would require more powerful launch vehicles like the GSLV Mark 3 currently under development.”_

ISRO gearing up for space capsule recovery experiment


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## IND151

kbd-raaf said:


> There will be no manned mission until the GSLV Mk3 proves itself to be a successful and reliable launcher.
> 
> *The other technologies, life support, etc are already present*.



GSLV Mk III will be tested with cryo engine in 2017.

It will be tested without cryo engine next year.



> The *GSLV-III* or*Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle mark III* a current launch vehicledevelopment project by theIndian Space Research Organization that got underway in the early-2000s and *is now scheduled for its first suborbitaltest launch of the GSLV booster stage in 2014*.[5] It is intended to launch heavy satellites intogeostationary orbit, and will allow India to become less dependent on foreign rockets for heavy lifting.





> With first flight now scheduled for April 2014; *it is likely the first orbital flight will take place in 2016*.[_citation needed_] ISRO would then need several more successful launches to declare the launcher safe for manned flight. *First manned flight is unlikely before 2020, possibly 2–3 years later*



https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...oICYCw&usg=AFQjCNFyresH6y1j96S-XKBMXqtFRUWdBw


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## Chronos

Genesis said:


> Any schedule on when that might be?



My estimation is that it won't be for another decade.

For the sheer fact that it is so cost prohibitive.


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## kbd-raaf

IND151 said:


> GSLV Mk III will be tested with cryo engine in 2017.
> 
> It will be tested without cryo engine next year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosynchronous_Satellite_Launch_Vehicle_Mk_III&ei=kUq1Uou1HIHOrQfZoICYCw&usg=AFQjCNFyresH6y1j96S-XKBMXqtFRUWdBw



One successful mission doesn't a manned space flight launcher make. Once the GSLV becomes a workhorse like the PSLV, only then will a manned mission become feasible.


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## IND151

*





The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to carry out a space capsule recovery experiment in 2014 to test some of the critical technologies for manned space missions in future.*

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director S. Ramakrishnan said here on *Friday* that the operation would involve the launch of a spacecraft that would later re-enter the earth’s atmosphere. The capsule would be recovered from the sea off Andamans.

Fielding questions after delivering the foundation day lecture of the Kerala Academy of Sciences (KAS) here on Friday, *Dr. Ramakrishnan said the operation was scheduled to take place before April 14*. Efforts were on simultaneously to develop a crew vehicle and space suit for astronauts.

*He said it would take 10 years for India to undertake human space flight. “Manned space missions would require more powerful launch vehicles like the GSLV Mark 3 currently under development.”* Dr. Ramakrishnan said the mission readiness review of the indigenous cryogenic engine was scheduled for December 28. The GSLV 2 powered by this engine was expected to be launched on January 5.

Dr. Ramakrishnan said the feedback from the Mars Orbiter Mission would help ISRO plan bigger space missions.

Earlier, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy conferred the honorary fellowship of the Kerala Academy of Sciences on three eminent scientists, namely ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan, executive vice-president of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, and outstanding scientist of CSIR-NIIST A. Ajayaghosh. M. Vijayan, IISc, Bangalore, was conferred the honorary fellowship in absentia. Mr. Chandy also conferred fellowships on 27 scientists.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Chandy said the country was watching ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission with great enthusiasm. He exhorted the scientific community to imbibe the spirit of enquiry and direct their research towards newer ways of making life simpler. In his reply speech, Dr. Radhakrishnan said the Mars Orbiter Mission had enthused the younger generation. He said ISRO had come out successful in precisely directing the spacecraft towards mars through complex manoeuvring. Dr. Rajasekharan Pillai, in his address, stressed the need for Kerala to build up a critical mass of scientists in different areas to achieve great things in science. He highlighted the importance of networking scientists and creating the right ambience for bright students to take up a career in science. Dr. Ajayaghosh, who won the Infosys prize in 2012, said science education and research had achieved momentum in India. He said students today had ample opportunities to take up science for study and research.

KAS president Oommen V. Oommen and general secretary K.G. Ajitkumar spoke.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/isro-gearing-up-for-space-capsule-recovery-experiment/article5485272.ece&ei=GEm1UqjlAoKIrQfms4GACA&usg=AFQjCNEAI--P1Jr834epR6k7tGiqXctx0A

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## adwityagrata

IND151 said:


> GSLV Mk III will be tested with cryo engine in 2017.
> It will be tested without cryo engine next year.



I believe you are mistaken. The cryo engine will be used in the next GSLV flight scheduled by Jan 2015. 

What is going to be tested in 2017 is the new 20 Ton thrust LOX engine that is under development.


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## kurup

adwityagrata said:


> I believe you are mistaken. The cryo engine will be used in the next GSLV flight scheduled by Jan 2015.
> 
> What is going to be tested in 2017 is the new 20 Ton thrust LOX engine that is under development.



GSLV Mk2 test in Jan next year will use CE7.5 cryogenic engines with 73KN power .

GSLV MK3 is scheduled to be tested with a cryogenic engine in 2017 , afaik . The cryogenic engine will be CE20 with 200KN power .

Next year there will be a sub-orbital flight test of GSLV MK3 without cryo engine .

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## IND151

The *Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)* would be* shifting* the *northern boundary *of its *satellite launch range* at Sriharikota to allow a *consortium* of *Cairn India, Tata and Oil & Natural Gas Corp *to explore *oil* and *gas* in the *Bay of Bengal*.

The Department of Space (DoS) wrote to the petroleum ministry on Tuesday that *ISRO would shift the boundary of the "prohibited zone" seven kilometers south to permit exploration drilling by operator Cairn which claims that a site in the zone has "best chance of establishing petroleum system".*

The consortium has put in $31 million in exploring block PR-0SN-2004/1 in Palar basin and has stopped "effective exploration" in last two years as DoS refused to give drilling permission as the site was within 10-km radius of Satish Dhawan Space Centre — a strategic zone in terms of national security.

Citing grounds of safety and security, the DoS had maintained for years that there was a vulnerability of radio frequency interference as well as the risk of space debris falling on any installations that come up for exploration. But following the Prime Minister's Office intervention, it set out conditions for coexistence.

The DoS said in March 2012 that coastal security of the centre must be ensured and there should not be radio frequency interference in its operations. It also wanted that ISRO not to be made liable for any loss due to falling debris and that all ships and rigs should be vacated whenever a notice for a launch was issued.

Cairn found it impossible to conduct operations within these conditions and sought "unrestricted access". In June 2012, it asked for a shift of the northern boundary seven kilometers south. This was denied by DoS a year later saying that the "prohibited area cannot be modified as it is derived based on the rocket launch criteria".

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...voCQDA&usg=AFQjCNE9FshOe8nlMBgbLQUofp_BXJRlaA


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## Cohen1984

For when is the GSLV sattelite launcher planned to get launched ?


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## li0nheart

Cohen1984 said:


> For when is the GSLV sattelite launcher planned to get launched ?



If you are asking about GSLV D5, it is scheduled to be launched on 5th January.

http://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-d5/pdf/brochure.pdf

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## IND151

Cohen1984 said:


> For when is the GSLV sattelite launcher planned to get launched ?



5th January, 2014.



Shiv Chatrapati said:


> GSAT 14 vibration test
> View attachment 12483



Kindly give source for images

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## IND151

GSLV D 5







http://www.isro.org/gslv-d5/pdf/brochure.pdf


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## IND151

GSLV-D5 integrated with GSAT 14 satellite | idrw.org

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## Agent_47

GSLV D5 has been moved from the vehicle assembly building to the second launch pad today.

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## kurup

Lets hope that the launch is successfull and we get to the see the video from on board cameras from the GSLV .


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## IND151

LAB clears GSLV D5 launch; countdown from Jan 4 | idrw.org


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## cloud_9



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## IND151

ISRO Gears Up for GSLV D5 Launch | idrw.org












Hoisting of GSLV-D5 Second Stage during Vehicle Assembly









indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage is being integrated with GSLV-D5 Second Stage













Fully integrated GSLV-D5 in the Vehicle Assembly Building












GSLV-D5 at the Second Launch Pad (Umbilical Tower)

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## romia

I have two question:
1, IS the "D5" a series of the GSLV MK2?
2,If so ,then any success record of the MK2 before,or the first launch so far?


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## kurup

romia said:


> I have two question:
> 1, IS the "D5" a series of the GSLV MK2?
> 2,If so ,then any success record of the MK2 before,or the first launch so far?



1. Yes .

2. No . This is the second launch of MK2 . First one failed .


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## Juice

Beautiful rocket. When's the launch?


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## kurup

Juice said:


> Beautiful rocket. When's the launch?



January 5th .

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## romia

kurup said:


> 1. Yes .
> 
> 2. No . This is the second launch of MK2 . First one failed .


Thx,hope a success of GSLV D5
I hear another rocket MK3 which in future would carry out an Indian manned mission is about to launch this month too,right?


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## kurup

romia said:


> Thx,hope a success of GSLV D5
> I hear another rocket MK3 which in future would carry out an Indian manned mission is about to launch this month too,right?



Only the sub-orbital launch of GSLV MK3 will take place this year .

The exact date of launch has not been published .


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## SRP

Any latest news about Mars mission? I meant Whats the distance it covered till now?


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## SOHEIL



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## Daedalus

*Will 2014 place ISRO in cryo club?*

Will 2014 see a 20-year-old Indian space dream come true? January 5 should tell whether years of ISRO’s toil and tears will fructify and usher India into a select club of countries — those with their own cryogenic rocket engine technology, which can launch their communication satellites from their soil.

Space agency ISRO, flush from launching its Mars Orbiter Mission, will face its acid test on Sunday when it flies the GSLV-D5 launch vehicle with the indigenously built cryogenic upper third stage. To succeed, the launcher must place GSAT-14, a two-tonne-class satellite, in the planned orbit.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told _The Hindu_ that the GSLV flight with an indigenous cryogenic stage would be a priority mission for 2014.

The upcoming launch is said to be extremely vital for the organisation morally and operationally. The first such bid failed in April 2010. A second attempt was called off in August 2013, an hour before the launch, after a fuel leak was detected. In the last four or so months, the organisation had done everything to ready a “refurbished” vehicle, Dr. Radhakrishnan said. Significant changes were made, including new fuel tanks, systems and material, based on the recommendations of the K. Narayana committee that went into the August leak episode.

The teams started re-assembling the current vehicle on October 18, 2013. The three-stage GSLV rocket has a first stage (S139) propelled by solid fuel; its four strap-on (L40) boosters use liquid fuel. The second stage GS2 uses liquid propellants. The third cryo stage uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. While D5’s cryo stage was found healthy after August, ISRO had to work anew on the other two.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said: “We got a new S139 solid first stage. Its four liquid strap-on stages have a lot of avionics, so we refurbished them at Mahendragiri and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. We also made a new second stage. When the launch was called off in August, the liquid stage had to be drained of fuel and washed with much water. This might have affected the electronics systems, so we replaced them, too.”

More importantly, the fuel tank material has been changed, fully phasing out the traditional but corrosion-prone aluminium-zinc combine, called AFNOR 7020. The new alternative, aluminium-copper alloy called AA2219, is now the material for all PSLV and GSLV tanks.
*http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/will-2014-place-isro-in-cryo-club/article5527391.ece*


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## RPK

*PSLV C24/ IRNSS 1B Mission*
*

While the stage is set for the launch of GSLV D5 this sunday, ISRO has already commenced the integration of PSLV for the next launch-PSLV C24/IRNSS 1B Mission.

The first segment of the core stage of PSLV C24 pictured at the first launch pad at Sriharikota.





*

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## scientien

Agent_47 said:


> GSLV D5 has been moved from the vehicle assembly building to the second launch pad today.


thanks for posting one of the most AWESOME pics it will be on my DESKTOP.



RPK said:


> *PSLV C24/ IRNSS 1B Mission
> 
> While the stage is set for the launch of GSLV D5 this sunday, ISRO has already commenced the integration of PSLV for the next launch-PSLV C24/IRNSS 1B Mission.
> 
> The first segment of the core stage of PSLV C24 pictured at the first launch pad at Sriharikota.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *



wow that's a Good news and i was expecting it, i think ISRO is on RAMPAGE,wishing for success for all the missions.
thanks poster.
but can any one tell me how many launch ISRO will carry out this Year.


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## kurup

scientien said:


> but can any one tell me how many launch ISRO will carry out this Year.

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## Guynextdoor2

kurup said:


> 1. Yes .
> 
> 2. No . This is the second launch of MK2 . First one failed .



'D5' means 'Developmental Flight 5' of GSLV


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## kurup

Guynextdoor2 said:


> 'D5' means 'Developmental Flight 5' of GSLV



Yes . The interesting thing is D4 , F03 and F05 of GSLV are missing .


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## Guynextdoor2

kurup said:


> Yes . The interesting thing is D4 , F03 and F05 of GSLV are missing .



Of course they are not. I remember the first 4 flights of GSLV were designated 'D' those were MK1. And then in MK2, the series is just continued coz primary difference between Mk 1 and 2 are only upper stage cryo engines.


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## kurup

Guynextdoor2 said:


> Of course they are not. I remember the first 4 flights of GSLV were designated 'D' those were MK1. And then in MK2, the series is just continued coz primary difference between Mk 1 and 2 are only upper stage cryo engines.



You can look it up my friend . Those 3 designations are missing .

*GSLV MK1* 
GSLV D1 (April 18, 2001)
GSLV D2 (May 8, 2003)
GSLV F01 (September 20, 2004)
GSLV-F02 (July 10, 2006)
GSLV-F04 (September 2, 2007)
GSLV F06 (December 25, 2010)

*GSLV MK2*
GSLV D3 (April 15, 2010)
GSLV D5 (January 5, 2014)


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## IND151

India will develops a new series of SLV


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## IND151

Can ISRO pull off GSLV-D5 launch this time? | idrw.org


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## SRP

GeoSynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle with India Cryogenic stage is all set to soar into the skies from Sriharikota this Sunday. Launch rehearsal has just been completed satisfactorily.

ISRO FB page

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## Daedalus

desert warrior said:


> Any latest news about Mars mission? I meant Whats the distance it covered till now?



*Keep rocking, MOM !*
*MOM has already covered a distance of **80 million kms**. Bravo !*
*Another 600 million kms to go for a rendezvous with The Red Planet . Keep sailing MOM.*

ISRO reported today on FB.

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## ni8mare

can any body give the time of future isro launches from 2014 to 2018


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## SRP

Daedalus said:


> *Keep rocking, MOM !
> MOM has already covered a distance of **80 million kms**. Bravo !
> Another 600 million kms to go for a rendezvous with The Red Planet . Keep sailing MOM.*
> 
> ISRO reported today on FB.



I read that. Anyway thanks.


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## kurup

ni8mare said:


> can any body give the time of future isro launches from 2014 to 2018



ISRO release the road map as 5 year plans .

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## RPK

Unveiling a raw image of the Indian cryogenic engine, slated to fly on board the GSLV D5 this Sunday; using the insider’s camera !


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## IND151

Isro successfully completes the launch rehearsal of GSLV-D5 | idrw.org

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## ni8mare

kurup said:


> ISRO release the road map as 5 year plans .



thx

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## kurup

ni8mare said:


> thx



Always happy to help .....


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## ni8mare

*Integration of GSLV-D5 and GSAT-14 video*

*Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation -Mars Orbiter Mission*



kurup said:


> Always happy to help .....


so we will be having two gslv or only one --D5


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## kurup

ni8mare said:


> so we will be having two gslv or only one --D5



What do you mean , Didn't get it ??


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## ni8mare

kurup said:


> What do you mean , Didn't get it ??


oh sorry  i am asking we will have two GSLV launch in 2014 or only one just D5


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## kurup

ni8mare said:


> oh sorry  i am asking we will have two GSLV launch in 2014 or only one just D5



GSLV MK2 D6 is scheduled for 2014-15 . Whether it is 2014 or 2015 , only ISRO knows .

Moreover the sub-orbital test of GSLV MK3 will take place in 2014 .

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## IND151

kurup said:


> GSLV MK2 D6 is scheduled for 2014-15 . Whether it is 2014 or 2015 , only ISRO knows .
> 
> *Moreover the sub-orbital test of GSLV MK3 will take place in 2014 *.



Without cryogenic engine, off-coarse.


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## romia

all the best.India buddy
D5,the first launch in the new year of all the world,hope a big success to join the upper space club of cryo engine on earth.

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## IND151

Nation Keeps Fingers Crossed as ISRO Prepares for GSLV-D5′s Sunday Launch | idrw.org


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## IND151



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## kurup



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## IND151

After GSLV launch, PSLV C24 with IRNSS-1B likely in March | idrw.org

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## cloud_9

*GSLV-D5 / GSAT-14 Videos*

Welcome To Indian Space Research Organisation - GSLV-D5/GSAT-14 Mission


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## SOHEIL



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## IND151

*Pre-Launch Updates*

*Jan 05, 2014*

*Propellant filling operation of GSLV-D5 Cryo Stage is in progress. Chilling and filling of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) into Cryo Stage is in progress*
*Propellant filling operation of GSLV-D5 Cryo Stage has commenced at 11:42 hrs (IST). Chilling and filling of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) into Cryo Stage is in progress*
*Preparations for Propellant filling operation of GSLV-D5 Cryo Stage is under progress*

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## SOHEIL

What is the local time now !?


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## Guynextdoor2

2.48 PM


SOHEIL said:


> What is the local time now !?


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## IND151

SOHEIL said:


> What is the local time now !?



14:48 PM


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## cloud_9

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/419748637162229760


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## IND151

GAGAN System Certified for RNP0.1 Operations | idrw.org


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## jiki

here we can watch live
Indian Space Research Organisation:Webcast


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## SOHEIL

1:30


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## IND151

Link for Live Webcast

Indian Space Research Organisation:Webcast

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## IND151

Webcast started


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## RoYaL~GuJJaR

IND151 said:


> Link for Live Webcast
> 
> Indian Space Research Organisation:Webcast




@SOHEIL 

In case you are interested in watching the live telecast of the launch. Launch is just 9 Minutes away.


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## cloud_9

Youtube

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## IND151

Indian Space Research Organisation:Webcast

T-1 plus minute

@Capt>Popeye @sancho

GSLV MK D 5 blasted off


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## gslv mk3

Solid stage burnt out.

second stage is fired


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## IND151

First stage seperated........second stage ingnited


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## SOHEIL

RoYaL~GuJJaR said:


> @SOHEIL
> 
> In case you are interested in watching the live telecast of the launch. Launch is just 9 Minutes away.



**** ... i missed the launch !


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## IND151

Altitude is 127 km now

second stage separated

Cryo engine is performing as per planned

Everything is going as planned

Time 600 plus seconds

Range is 2403 KM

Rel Vel as of now> 6.677 KM/S

Cryo engine is generating thrust of 7.5 tons

Altitude is 149 KM as of now.

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## IND151

Time is 1000 seconds now

Shut off command is issued..........cryo upper stage is shut off.............satellite separated

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## Water Car Engineer

*SUCCCCCCCCCEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

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## IND151

*Indigenous cryogenic engine and upper stage performed as planned*- Radhakrishnan confirms.

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## Gessler

MISSION SUCCESS.

Cryogenic stage did it's job good and proper. Satellite has been separated, both solar panels deployed.

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## cybertron

ISRO did it!!! Congrats everyone!!!

aaj tho bass band baaja baarath

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## Star Wars

LAUCNCH Success !!!!


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## ni8mare

INDIA DONE IT...








gslv mk3 said:


> Solid stage burnt out.
> 
> second stage is fired



OH MY GSLV...

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## IND151

@Abingdonboy @sancho @jaunty @Srinivas @gslv mk3 @DRAY @Dash @MohitV @Skull and Bones @[Bregs] @acetophenol

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## gslv mk3

@IND151 

That was truly thrilling man...OMG what an achievement!!!!

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## dray

A proud moment for us!!! Jai Hind.

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## gslv mk3

*Indi-genius!!!!*
*




*

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## IND151

Congrats U.S  

GSLV Mk II D % Successful! | Pakistan Defence

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## jarves

What after Gslv mk3?Are we planning bigger launch vehicles......

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## Guynextdoor2

IND151 said:


> Congrats U.S
> 
> GSLV Mk II D % Successful! | Pakistan Defence


 
Trrrrrrrrrrroooooooooolllllllllllllllll!!!!!


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## IND151

GSLV Mk II D % Successful! | Page 2 | Pakistan Defence



Guynextdoor2 said:


> Trrrrrrrrrrroooooooooolllllllllllllllll!!!!!



Finally someone got it!!!!!!!



jarves said:


> What after Gslv mk3?Are we planning bigger launch vehicles......



ULV 










https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...zbgfgwhMS4WP3niczvpzffw&bvm=bv.58187178,d.bmk

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## trident2010

*The Launch of GSLV-D5 / GSAT-14 Mission*

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## Gessler

*Indian GSLV successfully returns to Flight after three-year Break*






India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle has performed a successful Return to Flight Mission on Sunday, delivering the GSAT-14 Communications Satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. GSLV blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's East Coast at 10:48 UTC and completed a seemingly flawless 17-minute flight making its orbital delivery. 

*Marking the first success of the Mk II variant of GSLV, hopes are high that GSLV will finally establish its reliability and assume the role of India's workhorse launcher, opening up access to Geostationary Transfer Orbit without India having to rely on foreign launch providers.*

The GSLV D5 launch was a long time in the making since the vehicle's last flight on December 25, 2010 that ended in failure and left GSLV with a mere two successes in seven flights. Following a series of failed launches, the Indian Space Research Organization ordered a thorough review of the launch system to increase its reliability and eliminate possible design flaws that caused a number of failures. Over the course of 2.5 years, GSLV was put through its paces in numerous ground tests, reviews and extensive re-design operations.

The focus of attention was the Indian-built Cryogenic Upper Stage and its engine that had proven troublesome during its two flights. *The turbopumps of the ICE (Indian Cryogenic Engine, CE-7.5) were re-designed and the propellant feed system was improved. Also, the interstage interfaces were re-designed and GSLV underwent structural ground testing, and aerodynamic characterization.* 

The Upper Stage and its engine were put through *35 ground tests and vacuum tests including endurance tests *on the engine to ensure the system worked as advertised with the expected reliability.

With re-design and testing complete, ISRO approved the launcher for its next Demonstration Mission on August 19, 2013. Late in the countdown that day, a significant fuel leak on the second stage was observed and the countdown was stopped. It later became clear that the launch would suffer a long delay due to repairs on the vehicle that required de-stacking and because of work force limitations as India's Mars Orbiter Mission had priority in the last months of 2013. 

*To get ready for the next launch attempt, many components of the GSLV had to be replaced. The leaky second stage was replaced with a new one, the four boosters were refurbished and had their avionics replaced, and the core stage was also replaced by a different unit. The launcher was integrated again in December and officials approved the vehicle for rollout and launch. *

Sunday's GSLV launch was preceded by a 29-hour countdown that was initiated at 5:48 UTC on Saturday to prepare the 49-meter tall rocket for flight. *During the countdown, the second stage was loaded with 39,400 Kilograms of hypergolic propellants and each of the four boosters was filled with about 42,000kg of hypergolics. Final hands-on work was completed by technicians performing close-outs on the launch vehicle and its service structure.*

As part of final countdown operations on Sunday, teams started *loading the cryogenic upper stage with 12,800 Kilograms on liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.* Once reaching flight level, cryogenics were replenished until late in the countdown. Also, the GSLV was put through electrical testing and communication checks were run before the flight software was loaded into the flight computer.

In the final minutes of the countdown, the *GSAT-14 payload was switched to internal power and transitioned to flight mode. GSLV also switched to internal power and began propellant tank pressurization as the strap-ons, the second stage and the Cryogenic Upper Stage pressurized their propellant tanks for liftoff. For the final crucial countdown steps, GSLV was handed to onboard control.* Computers and launch controllers were closely watching over data coming from the vehicle to ensure all steps were completed properly without any systems problems.

At T-4.8 seconds, *the four L40 boosters were commanded to ignite their Vikas 2 engines to allow the engines to build up thrust before S139 ignition.* Computers were monitoring engine performance to verify all four powerplants were operational before the launcher was committed to lift off.

*S139 ignition and blastoff came on-time at 10:48 UTC and the 414,000-Kilogram GSLV started a short vertical ascent. Lifting off with a thrust of about 800 metric tons, the S139 core stage provided about 61% of that. After a short vertical ascent, the vehicle completed its pitch and roll maneuver to start flying East, headed for a trip across the Indian Ocean on its way to a low-inclination orbit.*

Performance of the launcher was nominal throughout the early portion of the flight as the S139 fired to provide extra-thrust to the stack. *S139 burnout came at T+1 minute and 47 seconds after the large solid-fueled rocket stage consumed 138,000 kilograms of propellant.* The four L40 boosters continued to propel the vehicle, carrying the dead weight of the empty first stage with them. 

*Each of the L40 boosters was carrying 42,000kg of propellants being 2.1 meters in diameter and 19.7 meters long powered by a single Vikas 2 engine that provided 77,800kg of thrust. Booster shutdown came at T+2:29. Staging between the first and second stage of the GSLV was accomplished in hot-staging mode - igniting the second stage prior to firing the stage separation system to enable the spent first stage to be pushed away by the engine exhaust of the second stage.*

Stage separation occurred at T+2:31 and the Vikas 4 of the second stage was continuing to power the vehicle on its way uphill. The second stage of the GSLV is 2.8 meters in diameter and 11.56m long with a liftoff mass of about 45,000kg. *It is equipped with a Vikas 4 engine that is optimized for operation in vacuum delivering 81,500kg of thrust over the course of its 158-second burn.*

At T+3:46 when the vehicle was 115 Kilometers in altitude and aerodynamic forces could no longer harm the GSAT-14 spacecraft, the protective payload fairing was jettisoned. *GSLV D5 used the 3.4-meter fairing while the D6 mission is expected to demonstrate the larger 4-meter fairing to verify the vehicle can cope with the changed aerodynamic load.*

The second stage continued to burn until T+4:49 at which point the Vikas engine had done its job and shut down followed three seconds later by stage separation.

*The ignition of the Cryogenic Upper Stage at T+4:53 was the moment of truth for many engineers that worked two and a half years to overhaul the CUS design and increase its reliability. The Indian Cryogenic Engine started up as expected and throttled up to about 9,500 Kilograms of thrust for the initial portion of its burn before throttling back to about 7,500kg of thrust. India's first cryogenic stage is 2.8 meters in diameter and 8.7 meters long - equipped with a single fixed main engine and two 2-Kilonewton vernier engines that were gimbaled for vehicle control. *

Tensions were high as the third stage performed its long burn that was 12-minutes and 6 seconds in duration. Throughout the burn, the stage showed good performance and was sticking right to its planned ascent trajectory. Shutdown of the cryogenic stage took place as expected and injected the vehicle into the expected orbit.

Just seconds after shutdown, *the launch vehicle released the GSAT-14 Communications Satellite that is now on its way to start an eleven-year mission to provide communications services to India. *The achieved orbit was 180 by 36,000 Kilometers at an inclination of 19.3 degrees which is very close to the target orbit marking a successful injection and with that, the successful completion of the D5 mission.

*The GSLV launcher is planned to take its next step 2014 with the inauguration of the Mk III version that will feature two large solid rocket boosters, a large hypergolic core stage and a 200-Kilonewton cryogenic upper stage. Mk III will be able to deliver payloads of up to 5,000kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.* 

The D6 mission of the GSLV Mk II launch is expected to take place early in 2015 and deliver GSAT-6 to orbit.

*GSAT-14 Payload Information*






GSAT-14, actually the 13th GSAT spacecraft to fly, is a Communications Satellite developed and built by the Indian Space Research Organization. The satellite is based on the I-2K satellite bus that has been used for a number of ISRO satellites of the 2,000-Kilogram weight-class. 

GSAT-14 weighs *2,050kg at liftoff *featuring the conventional I-2K bus section with two deployable solar arrays and batteries along with avionics and data handling equipment as well as a propulsion unit and navigation equipment. GSAT-14 is 2 by 2 by 3.6 meters in size featuring a 2-meter and a 2.2-meter shell shaped reflector antennas. 

The satellite is equipped with a Liquid Apogee Motor. It provides a thrust of 440 Newtons and uses Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen as fuel and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine as oxidizer. The engine operates and an mixture ratio (O/F) of 1.65 and has a nozzle ratio of 160. 

The engine’s injector is a co-axial swirl element made of titanium while the thrust chamber is constructed of Columbium alloy that is radiatively cooled. The engine is certified for long firings of up to 3,000 seconds. The Propellants are stored in spherical tanks that are pressurized with Helium.

The satellite payload consists of six Ku-Band and six C-Band transponders that will provide coverage across India. *Also, a Ka-Band payload is installed on the vehicle which will transmit signals at 20 and 30 GHz to study the use of Ka-Band for satellite communications with focus on cloud and rain effects on signals.* In addition, the GSAT-14 satellite is outfitted with a number of technological experiments for evaluation including* fiber optic gyros, an active pixel sun-sensor, round-type bolometers and field programmable gate array based earth sensors.* New thermal control materials are used on the satellite for evaluation. 

GSAT-14 will be stationed at 75 degrees East in Geostationary Orbit with a life expectancy of 11 years.









*Source:*GSLV GSAT-14 Launch Updates - SPACEFLIGHT101

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## bloo

NEXT UP GSLV Mk3.....

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## bloo

ISRO needs to plan a robotic lunar sample return mission.


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## gslv mk3

bloo said:


> ISRO needs to plan a robotic lunar sample return mission.



After 2020 maybe...


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## SRP

Scroll.in - Things that Matter

Why ISRO works, Others don't.

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## IND151

ISRO carries out first orbit-raising manoeuvre of GSAT-14 | idrw.org

Isro’s expects 15% growth in turnover, to launch satellites for Germany and UK | idrw.org

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## RPK

Mission Status: GSLV-D5/GSAT-14 mission 

The Second Orbit Raising Maneuver has been SUCCESSFULLY executed from ISRO's Master Control Facility, Hassan... The planned incremental velocity of 824 m/s has been imparted to GSAT-14. The initial data shows the orbit of GSAT-14 as 32,160 km (Perigee) by 35, 742 km Apogee with 0.6 degree inclination.

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## IND151

GSLV Mk II D % Successful! | Page 2 | Pakistan Defence

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## RPK

Mission Status: GSLV-D5/GSAT-14 mission 

The Third Orbit Raising Maneuver has been SUCCESSFULLY executed from ISRO's Master Control Facility, Hassan. The initial data shows the orbit of GSAT-14 as 35,462 km (Perigee) by 35, 741 km Apogee with 0.25 degree inclination.

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## IND151

Isro inches closer to manned mission | idrw.org

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## Daedalus

*Isro to send orbiter, lander and rover to Moon by 2016*

*New Delhi: *The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) is planning to launch India’s mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2, by 2016, which would include an orbiter, lander and rover, an Isro spokesperson said on Friday.
Earlier, Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan had said that the space agency will launch Chandrayaan-2 by 2016-17, according to _Press Trust of India_.
“Isro aims to demonstrate its capability to *soft-land on the lunar surface* with this mission,” said the Isro spokesperson.
The broad objectives of the mission would include the extension of scientific experiments carried out by Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the moon which included a lunar orbiter and impacter.
Scientists had last year announced that using data from instruments aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, they had found evidence of water locked in mineral grains on the surface of the moon.
“Chandrayaan-2 would be launched by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) powered by an indigenously developed cryogenic engine,” said the Isro spokesperson.

Isro to send orbiter, lander and rover to Moon by 2016 - Livemint

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## RPK

GSLV-D5

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## IND151

India to test human crew space module | idrw.org


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## SOHEIL



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## IND151

Russia remembered with gratitude as India joins elite space club | idrw.org

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## Android

How abou


SOHEIL said:


>


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## IND151

The Indian space saga | idrw.org


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## Juice

That capsule looks very clean. Glad the launch was a go. Good luck!


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## SOHEIL

Juice said:


> That capsule looks very clean. Glad the launch was a go. Good luck!



Clean ! what do you mean ?


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## Juice

SOHEIL said:


> Clean ! what do you mean ?


Lol, old man. I mean the capsule has few perturbations of the kinetic indecency. How you been, guy? So you are doing OK these days? Just turned 48...feeling old as snot. How are things in the outskirts of the Tragic Kingdom?

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## SrNair

Now the next important mission is GSLV MKIII in April. looking forward



SOHEIL said:


> Clean ! what do you mean ?



@SOHEIL can you give latest updates of Iranian space missions

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## Chronos

Juice said:


> Lol, old man. I mean the capsule has few perturbations of the kinetic indecency. How you been, guy? So you are doing OK these days? *Just turned 48.*..feeling old as snot. How are things in the outskirts of the Tragic Kingdom?





Out of curiosity, what makes you hang out with us South Asian youngsters.

Apart from anthropological curiosity.

You are not a Masochist are you?

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## Juice

Ravi Nair said:


> Out of curiosity, what makes you hang out with us South Asian youngsters.
> 
> Apart from anthropological curiosity.
> 
> You are not a Masochist are you?


Well, I actually gave my reason for being here a few weeks ago. When I joined...it was one of those frequent Pakistani-US rough spots since 9/11. I typed in "Pakistan Sucks"....and this was one of the sites that came up. Plus....I like debate, and debating an issue with those involved is more satisfying than with those that care nothing about the issue. Tried a few others (and I am sure you all know there are a few other Pakistani "defense" sites). Followed this site to "Chinese, Indian, Israeli, etc. sites. This site has waaaay more traffic than all others (including the "US" site, at least in this ring). basically, same reason many are here.

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## Chronos

Juice said:


> Well, I actually gave my reason for being here a few weeks ago. When I joined...it was one of those frequent Pakistani-US rough spots since 9/11. I typed in* "Pakistan Sucks"..*..and this was one of the sites that came up. Plus....I like debate, and debating an issue with those involved is more satisfying than with those that care nothing about the issue. Tried a few others (and I am sure you all know there are a few other Pakistani "defense" sites). Followed this site to "Chinese, Indian, Israeli, etc. sites. This site has waaaay more traffic than all others (including the "US" site, at least in this ring). basically, same reason many are here.





I was actually Anti -U.S. in my teens.

When my Atheism strengthened my sympathies for the West grew, I became more critical of the Middle East and South Asia I suppose.

Call it an inferiority complex, call it bigotry, whatever.

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## Juice

Ravi Nair said:


> I was actually Anti -U.S. in my teens.
> 
> When my Atheism strengthened my sympathies for the West grew, I became more critical of the Middle East and South Asia I suppose.
> 
> Call it an inferiority complex, call it bigotry, whatever.


I have some German Heritage, was born in Nurnburg, etc. When I was younger, tended me against many old interpretations of WWII, etc....pro German (ala @Desert Fox...etc. ). As I've got older...(and served in the US military....which doesn't give you the jingo view you think it would); I tend to take the view that what helps me best, is good. Do you take the zero-sum view? Or the rising tide view?

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## Guynextdoor2

sreekumar said:


> Now the next important mission is GSLV MKIII in April. looking forward
> 
> 
> 
> @SOHEIL can you give latest updates of Iranian space missions


 
I've found he can give latest updates of INDIAN space missions better than most Indian members can do too

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## SrNair

Guynextdoor2 said:


> I've found he can give latest updates of INDIAN space missions better than most Indian members can do too



He actually like accomplishments of our ISRO.We need a space co-operation between India and Iran

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## SOHEIL

Juice said:


> Lol, old man. I mean the capsule has few perturbations of the kinetic indecency. How you been, guy? So you are doing OK these days? Just turned 48...feeling old as snot. How are things in the outskirts of the Tragic Kingdom?









Don't feel like that ... this is too bad for a dirty person from texas ! 



sreekumar said:


> @SOHEIL can you give latest updates of Iranian space missions



We have another sub-orbital mission in 2015 ... a bigger capsule + a bigger creature !

We are going to test flight Safir-1C in Feb ...

& Safir-2A in spring 2014

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## SrNair

SOHEIL said:


> Don't feel like that ... this is too bad for a dirty person from texas !
> 
> 
> 
> We have another sub-orbital mission in 2015 ... a bigger capsule + a bigger creature !
> 
> We are going to test flight Safir-1C in Feb ...
> 
> & Safir-2A in spring 2014



All the best .Good luck

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## Chronos

Juice said:


> I have some German Heritage, was born in Nurnburg, etc. When I was younger, tended me against many old interpretations of WWII, etc....pro German (ala @Desert Fox...etc. ). As I've got older...(and served in the US military....which doesn't give you the jingo view you think it would); I tend to take the view that what helps me best, is good. Do you take the zero-sum view? *Or the rising tide view*?



You mean the absorption of the white race by the so called 'colored' races? This was the first year when minority babies were more than white babies in United States.

Just as how Britain played the role of Greece as torch bearer of their culture to Rome In this case the new Rome is United States (in many ways I imagine), and their subsequent literature was saved from obscurity by Islam (before they became more intolerant).

I believe western ideals must travel beyond 'white skin.'

The spirit of scientific inquiry, Human rights, the notion of egalitarianism and the creative spark nurtured by free speech and expression are values that should disseminated and understood more.

I think the problem is, for that to work you need institutions, rather than persons to be powerful.

I think the 'colored' folk would be butchering themselves.

But the Western ideals, education should travel beyond western minds. You see the hybridization in the elite of many countries. It hasn'r percolated that well to the grassroots I am afraid.

Sorry for meandering and not answering your question.

I half believe in rising tide. But I also believe in Multi multiculturalism being a reactionary force. It has allowed groups like Muslims to take advantage of Western freedoms and calls for integration as acts of racism.

I am not calling for a monolithic world, but a defense of the western ideals and thoughts and propagation of it through dialogue, media would be good.

I don't necessarily believe in white supremacy neither (because I am brown  )


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## Juice

I am ohhh so dirty. Got the flu 3 days ago....no shower since then. But this morning fo sho!

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## SOHEIL

*& in 2018 :*








Juice said:


> I have some German Heritage, was born in Nurnburg, etc. When I was younger, tended me against many old interpretations of WWII, etc....pro German (ala @Desert Fox...etc. ). As I've got older...(and served in the US military....which doesn't give you the jingo view you think it would); I tend to take the view that what helps me best, is good. Do you take the zero-sum view? Or the rising tide view?



So German !

I have very good relation with german people !

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## SOHEIL

Guynextdoor2 said:


> I've found he can give latest updates of INDIAN space missions better than most Indian members can do too



I love space !

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## Water Car Engineer

SOHEIL said:


> *& in 2018 :*
> 
> View attachment 13477




 
 
 

We will see about that...


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## SOHEIL

Juice said:


> I am ohhh so dirty. Got the flu 3 days ago....no shower since then. But this morning fo sho!



Elaborate ...







Water Car Engineer said:


> We will see about that...



Don't get so excited ... this is not orbital ... suborbital ... one person aboard ...


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## Water Car Engineer

SOHEIL said:


> Don't get so excited ... this is not orbital ... suborbital ... one person aboard ...



 

We'll see about that.


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## Guynextdoor2

Juice said:


> That capsule looks very clean. Glad the launch was a go. Good luck!



Don't think that's going up. We're still testing a lot of interim tech (I may be wrong) . 


SOHEIL said:


> I love space !



It's very evident

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## Daedalus

As on today Mars Orbiter is almost 11.04 Million km away from planet Earth, a signal from ground control station is taking almost 36.8 seconds to reach MoM.

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## shashank

Even though it's 11.04 million km away from Earth, MOM has traveled over 120 million km so far. Since earth also moving at great speed around the sun the distance is 11.04 million km.

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## romia

SOHEIL said:


> *& in 2018 :*
> 
> View attachment 13477
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So German !
> 
> I have very good relation with german people !


As u said,Iran may carry out the first manned space mission in 2018?
It's really hard to believe,Do u have the qualified rocket such as LM-2F or GSLV MKIII to sent Iranian astronaut to space rather than sub-orbit that time?I don't think Iran could get the ability before 2025.
Any way ,Best wishes to Iranian friends.If u successfully achieve this in 2018,then ur country will be the fourth one to carry out manned space mission indigenously on earth,that really a great achievement,also far ahead of India

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## SOHEIL

romia said:


> As u said,Iran may carry out the first manned space mission in 2018?
> It's really hard to believe,Do u have the qualified rocket such as LM-2F or GSLV MKIII to sent Iranian astronaut to space rather than sub-orbit that time?I don't think Iran could get the ability before 2025.
> Any way ,Best wishes to Iranian friends.If u successfully achieve this in 2018,then ur country will be the fourth one to carry out manned space mission indigenously on earth,that really a great achievement,also far ahead of India





SOHEIL said:


> Don't get so excited ... this is not orbital ... suborbital ... one person aboard ...


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## SOHEIL

For interested people ... our brand new SLV is ready !

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## kurup

SOHEIL said:


> For interested people ... our brand new SLV is ready !



Links please .....

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## jarves

SOHEIL said:


> For interested people ... our brand new SLV is ready !


Congratulations.....
Open a thread so that we can know more about it...

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## SOHEIL

kurup said:


> Links please .....





jarves said:


> Congratulations.....
> Open a thread so that we can know more about it...



Not yet ... have patience !

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## IND151

Now, ISRO Well on Course to Test Launch Rocket Giant | idrw.org

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## Daedalus

For all those who throw the Indian poverty at ISRO projects, check out this video from 4:10 forward. This has explained it in layman terms.

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## kurup

*ISRO heroes recount the chequered cryo mission*





Felicitation: ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan is felicitated by P Ratnakara Rao, Chairman, Aeronautical Society of India, Thiruvananthapuram chapter, at a function in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. S Ramakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, looks on. 


The team behind the recent GSLV-D5 mission with a cryogenic engine met here the other day to unwind and reflect on the ‘glorious moments.’

The GSLV-D5 launch vehicle put communication satellite GSAT 14 perfectly into orbit on January 5.

“It is difficult to believe we are meeting here after 20-odd days after the mission,” said S. Ramakrishnan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

“It is as if we have become immune to both successes and failures, Ramakrishnan said recollecting the not-so-smooth journey to the launch pad.

*HORRIFIC MOMENTS
*
While explaining the uniqueness of what he called a remarkable launch, he also recalled the horrific moments when the team was literally playing with fire.

“For the first time in our launch history, we saw fire engulf the launch pad on August 19 last year,” he said.

The mission, then in an advanced stage of launch, had to be aborted. It sent ISRO team back to the drawing board.

“We found out what exactly happened. We had made very small errors but in space science, margin between success and failure is very, very thin,” Ramakrishnan said.

The failure gave the team a valuable lesson that nothing practically can be left to chance. The failure strengthened its resolve to go to any length for success.

“The text book launch on January 5 shows this,” Ramakrishnan said. The team was able to predict the mission performance and flight diagnostics to the T.

*GOOD HANDLE
*
“We now have a very good handle on the specifics that will be carried to the GSLV Mk III mission next,” he added.

MYS Prasad, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, recalled that 800 litres of highly volatile propellants had to be drained out in a dangerously tricky operation on August 19.

Hundreds of ISRO staff worked without rest for 24 hours to salvage the launch vehicle and, more importantly, the cryogenic engine and wheel them back to the vehicle assembly.

MC Dathan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Mahendragiri, said success of the mission shows how important it is to extract the best out of team members.

K. Sivan, Mission Director, GSLV D5, said the mission revealed to the world a mature cryo engine and a most reliable launch vehicle.

Master Control Facility in Bangalore has reported that the GSAT 14 is the best tracked geostationary satellite ensconced firmly in its intended orbit, he added. 

ISRO heroes recount the chequered cryo mission | Business Line

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## Vinod2070

ISRO is a model for how Indian public institutions should be run. Hopefully others can learn from them.


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## typoerror

Dont be so sure, its plagued by politics, spies and sabotage. Unkil has a hand in all three. ISRO needs to be rebuilt from scratch and be cleansed of its mallu dominance. Our best engineers come from Bihar and UP. They all go to IIT and then the US. Very small footprint of north Indian scientists in ISRO.


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## Vinod2070

typoerror said:


> Dont be so sure, its plagued by politics, spies and sabotage. Unkil has a hand in all three. ISRO needs to be rebuilt from scratch and be cleansed of its mallu dominance. Our best engineers come from Bihar and UP. They all go to IIT and then the US. Very small footprint of north Indian scientists in ISRO.



It is producing results and that is what matters.

I am a North Indian and it doesn't matter to me what is the composition of ISRO as long as it is Indian. I find such thinking quite shallow and offensive.

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## typoerror

Vinod2070 said:


> It is producing results and that is what matters.
> 
> I am a North Indian and it doesn't matter to me what is the composition of ISRO as long as it is Indian. I find such thinking quite shallow and offensive.



No it is not producing results fast enough. It is just as lousy as DRDO. The cryo engine is 20 years late. We are still decades behind. A private company like SpaceX built a rocket from scratch without boosters and sent a higher payload to GEO (Not GTO) in just 5 years. I am grateful to the scientists, but when we have hoax stats like 40% of Nasa scientists ar Indians, its s shame that we will need at least 2 more decades before we build a rocket that has the same capabilitites as the Atlas rocket that the US built almost 6 decades back.


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## Vinod2070

typoerror said:


> No it is not producing results fast enough. It is just as lousy as DRDO. The cryo engine is 20 years late. We are still decades behind. A private company like SpaceX built a rocket from scratch without boosters and sent a higher payload to GEO (Not GTO) in just 5 years. I am grateful to the scientists, but when we have hoax stats like 40% of Nasa scientists ar Indians, its s shame that we will need at least 2 more decades before we build a rocket that has the same capabilitites as the Atlas rocket that the US built almost 6 decades back.



These comparisons can be meaningless. America has a bunch of very experienced Scientists and a history of space exploration. So "starting from scratch" means very different there.

India is the first Asian country to Mars, that is some achievement.

May be ISRO can do better but it is still better than most government institutions.

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## kbd-raaf

Vinod2070 said:


> These comparisons can be meaningless. America has a bunch of very experienced Scientists and a history of space exploration. So "starting from scratch" means very different there.
> 
> India is the first Asian country to Mars, that is some achievement.
> 
> May be ISRO can do better but it is still better than most government institutions.



India has not yet reached Mars. The injection into Mars orbit is the most difficult part of the mission.

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## typoerror

Vinod2070 said:


> These comparisons can be meaningless. America has a bunch of very experienced Scientists and a history of space exploration. So "starting from scratch" means very different there.
> 
> India is the first Asian country to Mars, that is some achievement.
> 
> May be ISRO can do better but it is still better than most government institutions.


We started from scratch before China. Whats the excuse there?


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## gslv mk3

typoerror said:


> Dont be so sure, its plagued by politics, spies and sabotage. Unkil has a hand in all three. ISRO needs to be rebuilt from scratch and *be cleansed of its mallu dominance. Our best engineers come from Bihar and UP.* They all go to IIT and then the US. Very small footprint of north Indian scientists in ISRO.



Please spare this thread.Go take regionalism somewhere else.



typoerror said:


> We started from scratch before China. Whats the excuse there?



You're wrong.

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## Vinod2070

typoerror said:


> We started from scratch before China. Whats the excuse there?



Why should I make any excuse?

Pakistan started before India, what have they done?

It is a matter of priorities and funding. May the Chinese had better of both.

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## kurup

typoerror said:


> We started from scratch before China. Whats the excuse there?



China got immense help from the Soviet Union in space field including cryogenic engine technology .


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## typoerror

kurup said:


> China got immense help from the Soviet Union in space field including cryogenic engine technology .


Thats nonsense, Russia's first cryo engine was tested on the Indian GSLV.


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## kurup

typoerror said:


> Thats nonsense, Russia's first cryo engine was tested on the Indian GSLV.



You must be kidding

RD-0120 (rocket engine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Look at the date .

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## jarves

typoerror said:


> Thats nonsense, Russia's first cryo engine was tested on the Indian GSLV.


????????????


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## typoerror

gslv mk3 said:


> Please spare this thread.Go take regionalism somewhere else.
> 
> 
> 
> You're wrong.


No regionalism bro. Im just giving you an insider view of ISRO. Please tell me by what stretch of imagination is it ok to have nearly 30% of ISRO scientists as makkus and a further 20% as tamils? south india contributes to more than 80% of ISRO scientists. Now compare that to intake at IIT's. Nearly 70% of intake comes from Bihar, UP, WB and Andhra of late. If thats not odd, I dont know what is.



jarves said:


> ????????????


welcome to the real world.



kurup said:


> You must be kidding
> 
> RD-0120 (rocket engine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> Look at the date .



its an american ripoff sorry. fuurther, the KVD 1 was older and was first tested on the gslv. you are welcome.


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## Guynextdoor2

typoerror said:


> Dont be so sure, its plagued by politics, spies and sabotage. Unkil has a hand in all three. ISRO needs to be rebuilt from scratch and be cleansed of its mallu dominance. Our best engineers come from Bihar and UP. They all go to IIT and then the US. Very small footprint of north Indian scientists in ISRO.


 
What BS

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## gslv mk3

typoerror said:


> No regionalism bro. Im just giving you an insider view of ISRO. Please tell me by what stretch of imagination is it ok to have nearly 30% of ISRO scientists as makkus and a further 20% as tamils? south india contributes to more than 80% of ISRO scientists. Now compare that to intake at IIT's. Nearly 70% of intake comes from Bihar, UP, WB and Andhra of late. If thats not odd, I dont know what is.



Where is the data?




> welcome to the real world.



You are wrong.


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## jarves

gslv mk3 said:


> Where is the data?


He is completely wrong actually.......
Most no. of students get selected from Andhra Pradesh.

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## typoerror

gslv mk3 said:


> Where is the data?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are wrong.



ISRO has open houses every 6 months in all itsmajor locations. If you were really interested you would go. IIT entry data state wise is also made available every year. if you were interested you would check.


and no, i am not wrong. the first russian cryo engine to ever fly was the kvd 1 on the gslv. dont hate me for being the messenger.



jarves said:


> He is completely wrong actually.......
> Most no. of students get selected from Andhra Pradesh.


I mentioned Andhra.


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## jarves

typoerror said:


> .
> 
> 
> I mentioned Andhra.


Dude ISRO takes students from mains exam and not from IIT so all you theory is wrong.....


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## typoerror

why wont you guys understand that far from deridingg our achievements I am pointing out how far behind we still are. irrespective of the reasons we are decades behind. and al little bit of organizational introspection will show the disparity. my engineering project was done in MCF, hassan. It was a mathematical model to predict the decay of old satellites and how to safely bring them back to earth thereby preventing space clutter. that was 12 years back and there was a very obvious disparity in staffing back then even.


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## gslv mk3

typoerror said:


> ISRO has open houses every 6 months in all itsmajor locations. If you were really interested you would go. IIT entry data state wise is also made available every year. if you were interested you would check.
> 
> 
> and no, i am not wrong. the first russian cryo engine to ever fly was the kvd 1 on the gslv. dont hate me for being the messenger.
> 
> 
> I mentioned Andhra.



The Energia one ?


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## typoerror

jarves said:


> Dude ISRO takes students from mains exam and not from IIT so all you theory is wrong.....




what theory sir. all i am saying is there is a disparity in intake. its not possible that the brightest engineering talent in the country does not find its way into our premier defence and strategic institutes.

more perspective: 
china is currently building a launch vehicle with a GTO payload of 100 tonnes
india is currently building a launch vehicle with a GTO payload of 12 tonnes

The entire debate started with someone saying ISRO is a model organization. Actually, the model research org in India is BARC. Nuclear energy is the only field where we are actually at par or ahead of the others. this is in two parts

1) fuel cycle theory, where we are ahead of many others in fission and at par with most others in fusion
2) technology and materials, where we are not more than a decade from being at par

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## typoerror

KVD-1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the wiki entry of KVD 1, Russias first cryo engine, whcih itself was a modified system.

The thing is cryo's are not the bees knees of spaceflight, semi-cryos are. So we are no where near the pinnacle of heavy launch


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## Vinod2070

typoerror said:


> what theory sir. *all i am saying is there is a disparity in intake. its not possible that the brightest engineering talent in the country does not find its way into our premier defence and strategic institutes.*
> 
> more perspective:
> china is currently building a launch vehicle with a GTO payload of 100 tonnes
> india is currently building a launch vehicle with a GTO payload of 12 tonnes
> 
> The entire debate started with someone saying ISRO is a model organization. Actually, the model research org in India is BARC. Nuclear energy is the only field where we are actually at par or ahead of the others. this is in two parts
> 
> 1) fuel cycle theory, where we are ahead of many others in fission and at par with most others in fusion
> 2) technology and materials, where we are not more than a decade from being at par



Well it may be that many of the bright Engineers from UP and Bihar are more interested in IAS and such things rather than organizations like ISRO.

In fact I have seen this tendency personally.

Also the fact that ISRO doesn't pay so well so the best and the brightest don't necessarily go there. Most of the talent there gets groomed within.


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## typoerror

Vinod2070 said:


> Well it may be that many of the bright Engineers from UP and Bihar are more interested in IAS and such things rather than organizations like ISRO.
> 
> In fact I have seen this tendency personally.
> 
> Also the fact that ISRO doesn't pay so well so the best and the brightest don't necessarily go there. Most of the talent there gets groomed within.


I am not speculating on the reasons for the situation, just an observation that it is not ideal.


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## kurup

*Isro's Mahendragiri centre elevated, gets more powers*

TIRUNELVELI: The liquid propulsion systems centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli will henceforth be called as the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Propulsion Complex, according to Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan, who made the official announcement at a function held in Mahendragiri on Friday.

With this, the long-pending demand of the scientists and stakeholders of the LPSC in Mahendragiri, one of the three such centres in the country, has been met with. The move would now help the complex to get autonomous power and would function as a separate department of Isro. The Mahendragiri centre, which was functioning under LPSC in Valiyamala near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, would henceforth directly report to the Isro chairman.






D Karthikesan, associate director of LPSC, Mahendragiri, who was described as outstanding scientist by Radhakrishnan during the programme, would take charge as the director of the newly-elevated Isro Propulsion Complex from February 1. He would have autonomous powers as head of the department.

Addressing the scientists, Radhakrishnan said that the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Liquid Propulsion System Centres, Isro Propulsion Complex and Sriharikota would be working together as a single unit in launching the vehicles. "We need coordination to launch the vehicles and cryogenic engine development. Considering the need for effective coordination between Isro Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, LPSCs and Isro, a team has been formed. Director of LPSC will chair it, director of Isro Propulsion Complex will be member secretary, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the additional secretary and scientific secretary in department of space will be the members," he said.

To ensure clean records, a team consisting of joint secretary in the department of space, director launching vehicle programme office, controller of LPSC, group director of programme validity evaluation group of LPSC and two senior representatives of Isro Propulsion Complex has been constituted, the chairman also said.

The Mahendragiri centre has been instrumental in assembling and testing as many as 125 engines made by Isro so far. The elevation would be a challenge to the scientists working in the centre. They should take up the challenge and develop themselves. In another five to 10 years the complex should develop a lot, the chairman insisted.

Talking about the recently launched GSLV-D5 rocket Radhakrishnan said that Isro is developing very fast. The GSLV was launched with great precision and well positioned. It is performing well as expected, he said.

Meanwhile, minister of state in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said on Friday that the third rocket launching pad is being considered in Kulasekaranpattinam of Tuticorin district by the central government. Talking to reporters at Mahendragiri, the minister said that there has been a demand for setting up the launching pad in Kulasekaranpattinam, as it is found to be a vantage point. He praised the scientists in Isro for taking the country to the next level in space research. The elevation of the Mahendragiri centre would further help in the development, he said.

Isro's Mahendragiri centre elevated, gets more powers - Times Of India

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## typoerror

kurup said:


> *Isro's Mahendragiri centre elevated, gets more powers*
> 
> TIRUNELVELI: The liquid propulsion systems centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli will henceforth be called as the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Propulsion Complex, according to Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan, who made the official announcement at a function held in Mahendragiri on Friday.
> 
> With this, the* long-pending *demand of the scientists and stakeholders of the LPSC in Mahendragiri, one of the three such centres in the country, has been met with. The move would now help the complex to get autonomous power and would function as a separate department of Isro. The Mahendragiri centre, which was functioning under LPSC in Valiyamala near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, would henceforth directly report to the Isro chairman.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> D Karthikesan, associate director of LPSC, Mahendragiri, who was described as outstanding scientist by Radhakrishnan during the programme, would take charge as the director of the newly-elevated Isro Propulsion Complex from February 1. He would have autonomous powers as head of the department.
> 
> Addressing the scientists, Radhakrishnan said that the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Liquid Propulsion System Centres, Isro Propulsion Complex and Sriharikota would be working together as a single unit in launching the vehicles. "We need coordination to launch the vehicles and cryogenic engine development. Considering the need for effective coordination between Isro Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, LPSCs and Isro, a team has been formed. Director of LPSC will chair it, director of Isro Propulsion Complex will be member secretary, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the additional secretary and scientific secretary in department of space will be the members," he said.
> 
> To ensure clean records, a team consisting of joint secretary in the department of space, director launching vehicle programme office, controller of LPSC, group director of programme validity evaluation group of LPSC and two senior representatives of Isro Propulsion Complex has been constituted, the chairman also said.
> 
> The Mahendragiri centre has been instrumental in assembling and testing as many as 125 engines made by Isro so far. The elevation would be a challenge to the scientists working in the centre. They should take up the challenge and develop themselves. In another five to 10 years the complex should develop a lot, the chairman insisted.
> 
> Talking about the recently launched GSLV-D5 rocket Radhakrishnan said that Isro is developing very fast. The GSLV was launched with great precision and well positioned. It is performing well as expected, he said.
> 
> Meanwhile, minister of state in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said on Friday that the third rocket launching pad is being considered in Kulasekaranpattinam of Tuticorin district by the central government. Talking to reporters at Mahendragiri, the minister said that there has been a demand for setting up the launching pad in Kulasekaranpattinam, as it is found to be a vantage point. He praised the scientists in Isro for taking the country to the next level in space research. The elevation of the Mahendragiri centre would further help in the development, he said.
> 
> Isro's Mahendragiri centre elevated, gets more powers - Times Of India




This is awesome news. Please put this in perspective to what I said earlier about Mallu dominance. There is some level of politics in every organization, but in ISRO it had started to get detrimental. Look at the statement - the long pending demand - says a lot does it not? Please dont stone me for this. I spent time in ISRO centres, I am not exagerrating. If you know an ISRO scientist ask him and he will tell you.

We have to accept our shortcomings before we can become the best. I think our current chairman understands that. Awesome.


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## kurup

typoerror said:


> This is awesome news. Please put this in perspective to what I said earlier about Mallu dominance. There is some level of politics in every organization, but in ISRO it had started to get detrimental. Look at the statement - the long pending demand - says a lot does it not? Please dont stone me for this. I spent time in ISRO centres, I am not exagerrating. If you know an ISRO scientist ask him and he will tell you.
> 
> We have to accept our shortcomings before we can become the best. I think our current chairman understands that. Awesome.



LPSC is also dominated by Mallus , afaik .


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## typoerror

kurup said:


> LPSC is also dominated by Mallus , afaik .


Dominated yes, but not majority. They are less than 50%.


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## amitkriit

jarves said:


> Dude ISRO takes students from mains exam and not from IIT so all you theory is wrong.....


ISRO and DRDO make campus visits. At least that was the case at IIT Kharagpur. ISRO even has a small office inside the campus. The recruitment team did not manage to get any one interested, not one person turned up for the interview despite all the persuasion. Reason is not money but the following:
A. These organizations are not controlled by the domain experts but by the bureaucrats who love to be reminded about their special status by the "cattle class" working under them, this might involve little coercion from time to time. Working conditions are not good.
B. Internal politics. People concentrate less on work and more on leg pulling. There is a strong South Indian lobby.
C. Copycats. There is little scope for innovation. Bosses do not like failure and bad press. They love to get inspired by the product brochures and specs published by the phoren organizations. They take the principle of "not reinventing the wheel" very seriously and mostly overstretch it.
D. Government Apathy. I know instances when the government pressurized the management to water down the specs so as to make room for the foreign suppliers even though the technology and manufacturing capability was locally available.

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## Supply&Demand

Update from ISRO on Mars Orbiter Mission:

_*Another 233 days for MOM to reach Mars. MOM is 144 million km away from earth and moving at a velocity of 31.3 km/s with respect to Sun. As of now; a signal traveling at the speed of light takes around 48 seconds to reach MOM.*_

ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission - Bangalore, India - Government Organization | Facebook

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## HariPrasad

SOHEIL said:


> For interested people ... our brand new SLV is ready !




Pl provide details. it is very interesting.


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## RPK

*
GSLV-linked facilities | Frontline*







Behind the January 5 triumph of the GSLV-D5 with an indigenous cryogenic stage are some massive facilities that ISRO has built at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

*The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota* features the spaceport with its two launch pads; propellant filling centres near the first and second launch pads; a bulk storage facility for liquid propellants; and a world-class Mission Control Centre.

The *bulk storage facility* can house 400 tonnes of liquid propellants of unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide, which are highly toxic. “The tanks should be absolutely leak-free,” said M.Y.S. Prasad, Director, SCDC. “There are so many pumps, heat exchangers; flow meters; temperature, pressure and flow sensors; safety relief valves, water drenching systems to quench a fire, and so on.”

The two *propellant-filling centres* are situated 10 km away from the launch pads and filling is done remotely with the help of optical links, computer networks and remotely controlled valves. While the mass of the liquid propellants loaded into the launch vehicle is measured by the mass flow meter, in the case of cryogenic propellants—liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen—the mass is measured by their temperature, pressure and other parameters. Yet, about 10.85 tonnes of liquid oxygen should be filled into the GSLV’s cryogenic stage with an accuracy of 70 kg, and 1,900 kg of liquid hydrogen should be pumped in with an accuracy of 12 kg, said Prasad. “Besides, we have to condition the storage tanks, circuits, tubes and valves by cooling them to –252° C so that there is no gas formation,” he added.

The sophisticated *Mission Control Centre*, inaugurated in January 2012, features more than 50 computers. It coordinates and conducts the launch operations during the countdown phase and until the injection of the satellite into orbit.

At Mahendragiri, near Nagercoil in the foothills of the Western Ghats, is the *Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, *where the liquid stages (PSLVs) and the cryogenic stages are built. Also in Mahendragiri is the *High Altitude Test* (HAT) *facility*. It was set up for the GSLV-Mk III rocket—currently under development—but was modified to test the cryogenic engine of the GSLV-D5 and the subsequent GSLV-Mk II flights. “We modified the storage facilities, ejectors, support systems, etc. This took one year. It was challenging work. We worked day and night,” said M.C. Dathan, Director, LPSC. Vacuum conditions, simulating the space environment, have been created in the HAT for igniting the cryogenic engine. Dathan added that a Main Engine Test facility and a facility to ensure that the turbo-pump received clean fuel, without any contamination, had also been set up at Mahendragiri.

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## nik22

Kudos to ISRO


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## SOHEIL

HariPrasad said:


> Pl provide details. it is very interesting.



Still waiting for official release !

But it would be interesting for you ... Iranian KM concept !

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## HariPrasad

SOHEIL said:


> Still waiting for official release !
> 
> But it would be interesting for you ... Iranian KM concept !
> 
> View attachment 15794




interesting. What is KM Concept.


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## gslv mk3

SOHEIL said:


> Still waiting for official release !
> 
> But it would be interesting for you ... Iranian KM concept !
> 
> View attachment 15794



What is the LEO payload?


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## SOHEIL

HariPrasad said:


> interesting. What is KM Concept.



KM = Kick Motor !



gslv mk3 said:


> What is the LEO payload?



No information ...

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi



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## IND151

India to launch four foreign satellites in 2014-15 | idrw.org

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## IND151

Mangalyaan completes 100 days in space | idrw.org

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## shuntmaster

*ISRO unveils space capsule that will fly Indian astronauts*

*



*
On behalf of HAL, quality documents were handed over by Dr. Jeyakar Vedamanickam, GM, Aerospace Division, HAL (left) to Shri John. P. Zachariah, Director (R&D), VSSC in the backdrop of the Crew Module Structure. (Photo credit: HAL)



*New Delhi: *After its Mars mission, India now aims to puts humans into space. The first steps towards flying Indian astronauts into space could be taken in weeks.

The Indian astronaut capsule has been unveiled for the very first time. If all goes as per plan in the first experimental flight of India's latest monster rocket, the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III is likely to be tested as early as May or June from Sriharikota.

It could see this astronaut module being flown into space for the very first time, but in a sub-orbital flight. In its first test flight no crew or any animals are likely to be flown.

"Only re-entry technologies and flight dynamics will be tested and the capsule will be recovered 400-500 kilometers away from Port Blair in the Bay of Bengal," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Radhakrishnan told NDTV.

ISRO has been dreaming of putting an Indian into space using an Indian rocket launched from India soil. ISRO has sought funding worth Rs. 12,500 crores from the government for the program. It says once the approval comes, an Indian astronaut can be flown in a low Earth orbit in about seven years from the time the approval comes from the government.

When it happens, India's human space capsule could be sent on a seven day mission for two-three astronauts in a low Earth orbit of 300-400 kilometers above earth.

Till date only Russia, USA and China have successfully flown astronauts into space with the latest entrant being China in 2003.

The outer skeleton of Indian human space capsule has been fabricated by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore and was handed over to ISRO which developed it. HAL says the first Crew Module will be further equipped with systems necessary for crew support, navigation, guidance and control systems by ISRO for experimentation in the forthcoming GSLV-MK3 launch.

"HAL takes pride in the India's space programmes and our Aerospace Division has produced this Crew Module in a record time to meet the requirements of ISRO", said Dr RK Tyagi, Chairman, HAL.

While the government has hesitated to clear a hefty bill of Rs. 12,500 crores as desired by ISRO for its human space flight program, but so that there are no delays in the development work the Indian government has already sanctioned Rs. 145 crores for the development of what it calls 'critical technologies'.

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## IND151

ISRO’s twin deals: PSLV to launch bigger satellites | idrw.org


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## shuntmaster

*ISRO’s twin deals: PSLV to launch bigger satellites*
_*I*ts commercial arm bags contracts from U.K., Singapore_
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) reliable PSLV seems to be getting bigger satellites to launch from foreign customers than earlier, going by the two deals struck in the last two weeks.

ISRO recently said it would launch these four satellites, from two clients, in the next two years.

In significant twin contracts, ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, has bagged a deal to launch three 350-kg Disaster Management Constellation (DMC) satellites from the U.K.-based DMCII — a group company of European space and defence major EADS.

The second deal is for Singapore’s first Earth observation satellite, the 400-kg TeLEOS-1. So far, excluding two instances, small experimental satellites of between five and 100 kg have dominated the 35 foreign launches that ISRO has made on the PSLV. The three DMC satellites are planned to be launched in one go, on a PSLV by year-end or early 2015, according to an ISRO official. TeLEOS-1 is also planned for 2015-end, as a primary passenger.

Smaller clients

Nearly half-dozen smaller client satellites that signed up with Antrix apparently await a PSLV flight. ISRO will have to match them with a primary co-passenger and tuck them in suitably on a future PSLV, depending on their orbital distance, inclination and satellite features.

ISRO has not mentioned the fee it will charge for these launches; in 2012, it reportedly earned around Rs. 90 crore for launching its heaviest customer satellite, the 720-kg French SPOT-6. France’s space agency CNES is using the PSLV once again around to launch SPOT-7 around May or June this year.

The two deals that Antrix signed, on January 29 and February 5, are prestigious, the official said. After doing more than 25 flights, each time with single or multiple passengers, the workhorse PSLV rocket’s standing has risen in the highly competitive global market for launchers. The launcher has also put in space the Indo-French Megha Tropiques and SARAL satellites, but above all, “after it launched the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission [in November 2013] its credibility is very high,” the official, who is familiar with these developments, told _The Hindu_ .

“It is perceived as a versatile delivery vehicle that can meet almost any launch requirement, whether polar, low inclination, equatorial [as with Megha-Tropiques], a geostationary transfer orbit or multiple launches.”

Capacity

The PSLV can take single or multiple satellites, with a combined weight of 1,900 to 2,000 kg, to a distance of around 600 km from Earth. Its key competitors in this sphere are the European Vega, and Russia’s old ballistic missiles converted into launchers, such as Dnepr, Rokot and Shtil.

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## IND151

For India, even a trip to Mars won’t break the bank | idrw.org

ISRO unveils ambitious plans | idrw.org


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## RPK




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## errant

An interesting article about ISRO and it's low budget achievements when compared to other nations expenditure. A feather in the cap for Indian scientists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/b...ip-to-mars-doesnt-have-to-break-the-bank.html

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## kurup

Daily chart: Ye olde space race | The Economist

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## Firemaster

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


>


any Idea about the payload?


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## kingdurgaking

errant said:


> An interesting article about ISRO and it's low budget achievements when compared to other nations expenditure. A feather in the cap for Indian scientists.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/b...ip-to-mars-doesnt-have-to-break-the-bank.html



Every Indian will not only forego a cup of tea but even an entire day meal if they want to see our country achieve some thing and our head always raised above among other countries...

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## kurup

*Landing spots for Chandrayaan-2 identified*







Preparations are in full swing for India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, as potential landing spots on the lunar surface for the spacecraft have been identified. The spots for landing the craft were zeroed in on the basis of photographs taken by Chandrayaan-1, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in 2008.

Chandrayaan-2 is an advanced version of Chandrayaan-1, and it aims to demonstrate Isro’s capability to soft-land on the lunar surface. Minister of state for PMO V Narayanaswamy recently announced in the Parliament that the mission, which is likely to take place in 2016-17, is progressing well with Isro having identified landing spots on the lunar surface.

The two scientific payloads onboard the Chandrayaan-1 terrain mapping camera had captured a number of images of the lunar surface, which have been used for zeroing in on the designated spots. Chandrayaan-2 is configured as a two module system comprising an orbiter craft module and a lander craft module carrying the rover.

According to Isro, the orbiter craft with payloads onboard will orbit around the moon and perform the objectives of remote sensing the moon. The payloads on the orbiter will conduct mineralogical and elemental studies of the Moon’s surface.

The lander craft with scientific payloads will soft land on the lunar surface. A rover released by the lander craft will perform mobility activities on low gravity and vacuum of the Moon’s surface with semi-autonomous navigation and hazard avoidance capability. The spacecraft will be launched onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Landing spots for Chandrayaan-2 identified | idrw.org

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## IND151

Landing spots for Chandrayaan-2 identified | idrw.org

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## trident2010

Waiting eagerly for its launch !


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## IND151

ISRO’s Crew Module Flight in May-June | idrw.org


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## kurup

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*ISRO’s Crew Module Flight in May-June*






ISRO is inching closer to launch its ambitious human space mission with the first experimental unmanned flight of the crew module on the newly developed Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III in May -June from Sriharikota, said Dr K Radhakrishnan, chairman ISRO and secretary, Department of Space. The GSLV-MK-III is being developed as a heavy-lift vehicle capable of placing satellites weighing up to 5,000 kg in geosynchronous orbit.

“The experimental flight of GSLV Mark-III with a passive cryo stage will be flown to study the performance of the launch vehicle during the crucial atmospheric phase. This opportunity is used to study the re-entry characteristics of crew module,” Dr Radhakrishnan who was here for launching of Village Resource Centre of ISRO in Puducherry, told Express.

The indigenously developed crew module is planned to be launched on ISRO’s advanced launch vehicle GSLV MK-III.

Speaking about the manned mission, Dr Radhakrishnan said “Currently no programme has been fixed for the manned mission. We are studying the critical new technologies for subsystems such as crew module (CM), environmental control and life support system (ECLSS), crew escape system and other requirements for undertaking the manned mission.”

The manned mission envisages carrying two or three crew members on the crew module to about 300 km low earth orbit and their safe return to a predefined destination on earth.

India’s maiden spacecraft to Mars – Mangalyaan – is healthy, on track and at a distance of 2.5 crore kilometer from earth and is expected to be placed on orbit by September 24, said Dr Radhakrishnan. The velocity has to be reduced for placing it in the orbit, which will be the challenge of the scientists, he added.

The IRNS-IB satellite will be launched on PSLV -C 24 in the last week of April or March first week, he said.

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## IND151

Experimental launch of GLSV Mark III in May or June: ISRO | idrw.org


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## IND151

NASA to launch satellite in collaboration with ISRO | idrw.org

Isro developing technologies to put human payload into space: Isro chief | idrw.org

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## IND151

MANGALORE: While there is no approved programme to put human payload in to space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is however working on several areas of new technology that can make this possible, said K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Isro. One such technology - that is the crew module - will be tested with the experimental flight of GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle that will be launched in late May or early part of June, Radhakrishnan noted. 

Interacting with media on the sidelines of 32 ndconvocation of Mangalore University, where he was the chief guest, Radhakrishnan said in *2006-07*, a *study was taken up on possibilities and capabilities of putting human beings into space, that is around 275-400kms from Earth, keep them for a week, and bring them back safely to Earth*. GSLV Mk-III launch will enable Isro to test how the rocket minus the cryogenic stage and the module will work. 

Noting that Isro has carried out model testing of the crew module in the lab, he said there is need to do it in actual condition. "We are working on the environment control and life support systems," he said adding work is also going to develop the space suit. To safeguard lives of crew, steps are also being taken to detect failures on board a proposed flight so that the crew can be ejected to safety in time and a crew escape system is being worked on. 

On the vital question of which vehicle system is ideally suited for such an endeavour, he said *a PSLV can carry one human, a GSLV two humans, and GSLV Mk-III three humans and space for experiment*. Observing that the last named vehicle offers future expansion potential, he said short of describing it human rated vehicle, Isro is working on technologies related to it. The sized down versions of the crew module are being tested in the laboratory. 

Noting that the GSLV Mk-III is being integrated at Sriharikota, and the crew module at Thiruvananthapuram, he said th*e **GSLV Mk-III* provides* three times higher thrust* than* GSLV* flown earlier in January. "Isro has carried out three tests of this new engine," he said, adding that the *first development flight of GSLV Mk-III will be carried out latest in 2016*. This will enable us carry a payload of around four-tonnes, Radhakrishnan added. 

On collaborative programme with NASA, he said work is on to develop synthetic aperture radar. "Both are working on details of the project," he said, adding the development work will start once the government approvals are received. 

While ISRO will work on S Band synthetic aperture radar, NASA will work on L Band synthetic aperture radar. ISRO will develop the satellite and also facilitate the launch that will take place in 2020, he said. 

*Isro on YouTube*

Acknowledging the massive boost that social media - Facebook and Twitter did to bring Gen Y to discuss and exchange ideas about space programme, Radhakrishnan said Isro is also planning to tap the potential that You Tube offers for it is live and dyamic. The entry into FB with the Mars Orbiter mission brought 3 lakh likes, and the GSLV launch 50,000+ likes, he said, adding encouraging thing is Gen Y is discussing and talking science. 

With a maximum of youth in the age-group of 18-34 years on social media, it is imperative to utilise medium this generation uses to communicate, Radhakrishnan said. Observing that Mars Orbiter is a one-year Mission, Radhakrishnan said Isro's foray into social media is to tap into interest that Mars Orbiter mission has created beyond the mission period. Isro incidentally webcasts live its various launch programmes, Radhakrishnan added.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...uHCdZaZCOLID16w3GW9bgjw&bvm=bv.61965928,d.bmk

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## kurup

*NASA to launch satellite in collaboration with ISRO*






US space agency NASA today said it would launch a water-related satellite in collaboration with India’s ISRO.

The NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation Synthetic Aperture Radar mission is a part of its plan to launch in the next seven years a series of satellite related to water and draught, the agency said.

Among others include the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2); Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-on and Surface Water Ocean Topography mission.

“These satellite missions join more than a dozen NASA airborne sensors focused on regional-scale issues, understanding detailed Earth science processes and calibrating and validating NASA satellites,” the space agency said.
“NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing,” it said.

“The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet,” it said.

NASA said it is scheduled to launch three new Earth science missions this year, which will contribute to water cycle research and water-related national policy decisions.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint satellite project with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scheduled for launch Thursday, February 27, will inaugurate an unprecedented international satellite constellation that will produce the first nearly global observations of rainfall and snowfall.

The new information will help answer questions about our planet’s life-sustaining water cycle, and improve water resource management and weather forecasting.

“ISS-RapidScat, scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in June, will extend the data record of ocean winds around the globe. The data are a key factor in climate research, weather and marine forecasting and tracking of storms and hurricanes,” NASA said.

“The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), launching in November, will inform water resource management decisions on water availability. SMAP data also will aid in predictions of plant growth and agricultural productivity, improve short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate change projections, and advance our ability to monitor droughts and predict floods and mitigate their related impacts on people’s lives,” the space agency said.

NASA to launch satellite in collaboration with ISRO | idrw.org

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## kurup

*India poised to emerge as a player in global space business*






Despite being among the small number of space powers in the world, India has very few entrepreneurs who have built companies recently in this domain.

When it comes to building a good international business, this number reduces to nearly one, if you exclude those who have minor contracts. The lone exception, however, was created just six months ago, when a Hyderabad-based space entrepreneur decided it was time to go international. What Subba Rao Pavuluri then did was inconceivable even a year ago: he took the first steps towards becoming an international satellite operator, by signing a $300-million deal (about `1,800 crore) with Russian company Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems.





Pavuluri is a hardened space entrepreneur. He was a former employee of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the government’s primary space agency, and had set up two companies in 1993. One was to sell value-added remote sensing data, and the other, Anant Technologies, to develop avionics for ISRO launch vehicles.

In 2011, he set up one more firm, AOneSat Communications, as a joint venture with the Swiss group INDEN. Anant Technologies participated closely in the moon and mars missions of ISRO by building satellite components. It is now a large company with 1,200 employees, 400 engineers and sophisticated facilities for space engineering. But the 62-year-old Pavuluri had an overarching ambition.

“We want to become one of the largest satellite operators in the world,” he says. Becoming a satellite operator from India is not easy. ISRO, the dominant player in India, does not give this job as a package to others, and so Pavuluri followed the next best option: build, own and operate satellites himself. AOneSat will do the system design and engineering for its first satellite, which will be built in Russia and launched by a Russian rocket over the Americas in 2016.

He has tied up thfinancing for this venture through exim (export-import) banks of various countries. AOneSat is already working on another satellite to be launched over the Americas, and a third one over the middle-east and India. The international satellite services market is expanding rapidly, and there is good busi-ness to be done. “India’s strength is the ability to churn out technology at a competitive price,” says Aman Pannu, global consultant, aerospace, defence and security practice, Frost & Sulliva a consultancy.

*ISRO As One-Stop Shop*

While Pavuluri builds his international business, his former employer isn’t keeping quiet. ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, has been increasing its business steadily in recent times. Last year, it grew by 10% to `1,295 crore. It is expecting to close at roughly `1,500 crore this year, a growth of 15%.

Antrix is now looking for a jump in business that will take it to the big league quickly, to 3,000-4,000 crore, in the next few years. According to its officials, this isn’t difficult to accomplish, as Antrix has one capability that no competitor has.

“Antrix, operating through ISRO, is the only company in the world that can become a one-stop shop in this industry,” says BV Hegde, its managing director. The company has had one such jump in its history, about 10 years ago. Antrix—a company 100% owned by the government of India—was set up in the early-1990s to transfer ISRO’s technology to industry as well as channel private participation into the agency’s space programme. Later, it started selling remote sensing data— used for applications like natural resource mapping and planning—from ISRO’s satellites through its resellers around the world.

In 2001-02, Antrix had revenues of only `42 crore. It went up to `100 crore the next year, and over Rs 300 crore in 2003-04. This jump in business happened when ISRO started leasing its satellite transponders— a device that gathers and transmits signals back to earth—to private companies.

Its future rise in revenues, likely over the next few years, will come when it increases its satellite launch services. It might take a big jump when it decides to build satellites for overseas companies or countries, probably in the near future
For building these satellites, Antrix can either use ISRO’s spare capacity—what is left after meeting national needs—or set up facilities of its own.

*Business Of Satellites*

ISRO has so far launched 35 foreign satellites, all through its workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). With 25 consecutive successful launches, this vehicle has built a reputation around the world for its reliability. PSLV has been continuously upgraded in its two-decade history, and now comes in three variants.

Although its name suggests launch capability for polar orbits (orbiting pole to pole), it is now an extremely versatile launcher that can do much more. A recent upgrade in its avionics makes it good for any kind of orbit: polar, equatorial (over the equator), or low inclination (close to the equator). It is good for moon shots or mars missions, provided the payload (weight of the satellite) is small enough.

Then, there is ISRO’s latest rocket, the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which had one flawless launch two months ago. It needs two more launches to soothe the minds of potential customers, but enquiries about GSLV have already started coming ISRO’s way.

Apart from the cryogenic engine, the GSLV is built mostly using tested components from the PSLV, and so there is no reason to suspect that it will be anything less successful. ISRO is also currently developing its next version of this rocket, the GSLV Mark III. These rockets together will give the organisation a good range of capabilities that should be enough to launch satellites weighing up to four tonnes (4,000 kg).

Making and operating satellites constitute about 60% of the global space industry industry.The global satellite market is growing at a good pace now, and this growth is expected to continue for a long time. Frost and Sullivan estimated recently that 1,213 satellites will be launched between 2012 and 2021—a growth of 26% over the preceding nine-year period. Of this, 355 will orbit over Asia-Pacific, servicing businesses and facilities in the region; the region also shows the largest increase in satellite traffic (See graphic: The Global Picture).

Many of them will be small satellites, sometimes weighing as little as a few kilograms. In fact, ISRO has launched a satellite that weighs only 1 kg. Although the launch costs are not substantially lower for India, as compared to other countries, the development costs are quite low. No satellite builder has launch capability, and so ISRO can build a package that is nearly unbeatable in the global market. It would mean substantial revenue not just for Antrix, which pays ISRO for costs and deposits the surplus with the Space Commission, under which ISRO operates.

It is godsend for public and companies working with ISRO, who will otherwise find it difficult to crack the global space market on their own.*

Private Ride On ISRO *

When ISRO began its operations in the 1960s, its leaders quickly took an important decision: to involve industry right from development. Over the last four decades, this has led to the development of a flourishing industry consisting of over 400 companies. Some of these companies have built a solid technology foundation, and are now getting more ambitious and looking to move on to larger projects in this area. Some of them—Godrej and Boyce, L&T Aerospace, Walchandagar Industries— have used this foundation and gone on to build larger businesses in defence and aeronautics. Most of these companies look at space as a small but highly specialised business that is useful as a stepping stone to larger businesses. While the space engineering skills will continue to provide expertise that is useful in defence and aviation, the space business itself could expand if ISRO decides to ramp up in a big way.

Consider L&T Aerospace, for example. L&T began its association with ISRO early, making segments for the Satellite Launch Vehicle. Currently it makes these segments to enclose the solid propellants for PSLV and GSLV. Recently, it has started doing manufacturing as well as pressure testing for these rockets. The next step for the company, which it wants to pursue intensely, is to integrate these segments.

This integration is currently done by ISRO. To do this job, L&T needs to set up extensive facilities. “These facilities are not always required,” says MV Kotwal, president ( heavy engineering) of L&T, “but there are other opportunities with them.” L&T and other companies have enjoyed spin-off benefits from space for some time, and they will increase over the years. Building a satellite system provides spin-offs in military radars. Making satellite structures helped it to work with the Brahmos missile. It is now setting up wind tunnel facilities in Thumba, Kerala, but might use it for the Defence Research and Development and Organisation (DRDO) as well.

Amidst all this, L&T is hoping to become an integrator that works with other companies and puts their components together. It is precisely what ISRO also wants its partners to do, but it could take some time.

Godrej and Boyce, to take another example, makes engines for the PSLV and GSLV. One GSLV flight would involve, for the company, five Vikas engines in full and a cryogenic engine in part. According to the 12th Five Year Plan (2012 to 2017), ISRO is planning 40 launches, which translates to over 200 engines. An increase in launches would obviously mean larger business for Godrej Aerospace (part of Godrej and Boyce), but there are other plans in the air as well.

There are early talks about setting up a special economic zone (SEZ) near the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Shar) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. There are plans to set up a separate entity to do international and domestic space business, leaving ISRO to focus on research. “We have to look at the overal market before setting up a separate entity as we need volumes,” says ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan.

An organisation or company different from ISRO—with the exclusive mandate to do business—can accomplish many things for domestic industry. At the moment, ISRO’s partners work exclusively for the space organisation. There are demands for the technology from companies outside India, but ISRO owns the intellectual property and so companies cannot use them for other business.

Even if ISRO allows them to use the intellectual property, setting up infrastructure is a big issue for companies. “Setting up infrastructure for small volumes is not competitive,” says SM Vaidya, executive vice-president of Godrej Precision Systems. ISRO has the infrastructure for a lot of the engineering and testing, but does not have the human resources to take on additional work.

This is where a separate entity is expected to help. Antrix itself can moot the idea, which will involve private companies for manufacturing and ISRO for technology. Radhakrishnan’s own aims lie in this direction, as it would free ISRO to focus on its original goal: research. The next few years should bring in this change, which will finally remake ISRO true to its name: a space research organisation.

India poised to emerge as a player in global space business | idrw.org

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## jarves

Walchadnagar industries has also built gear boxes for IAC1??

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## kurup

*Indian Space Suite
*


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## kurup

jarves said:


> Walchadnagar industries has also built gear boxes for IAC1??



Nope . It was Elecon Engineering which built gearbox for IAC1 .

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## jarves

kurup said:


> Nope . It was Elecon Engineering which built gearbox for IAC1 .


In colloboration with German company??


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## kurup

jarves said:


> In colloboration with German company??



Yes , In collabration with German company Renk AG .

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## karan21

kurup said:


> *Indian Space Suite
> *


 Why red colour??? Never seen this before.


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## IndoUS

karan21 said:


> Why red colour??? Never seen this before.


It's orange, it's also called the launch and entry suite. There are three different type of suite.


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## karan21

IndoUS said:


> It's orange, it's also called the launch and entry suite. There are three different type of suite.


 Where is all this information about this suit?


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## IndoUS

karan21 said:


> Where is all this information about this suit?



The suite for ISRO, they haven't released any info regarding the life support/monitoring system on the suite. But here is what it will be used for.
Launch Entry Suit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Parul

*Isro's mission to probe Sun before 2020*

CHENNAI: Indian Space Research Organization has lined up over a dozen missions, including its first probe on the Sun,Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said on Friday. 

Though, the mission to probe the Sun was already on the cards, the agency now has a clear picture of its plan and had put a timeframe within which it hoped to undertake it, Radhakrishnan said, while addressing students at a private University here. 

He said the "Aditya" mission to the Sun had been planned between 2017 and 2020. 

"The mission would be around the Earth. A few equipment are being planned for that. We hope for the launch between 2017 and 2020," Isro chairman said. 

Apart from Aditya, space habitat studies were also being planned in these three years. 

Before that, Isro would focus on Astrosat — a project aimed at design, development, fabrication and launch of an astronomical observatory for studies of cosmic sources — and Chandrayaan-II between 2014 and 2017. 

"We are planning to have an indigenous lander and rover for Chandrayaan-II mission," he said. 

However, later during an interaction, he declined to comment whether the Union Cabinet had cleared the project. 

Isro's next in line was IRNSS 1-B, the second of seven satellites, which form the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System — an Indian equivalent of USA's Global Positioning System. 

The launch of IRNSS 1-B was likely in April first week, while the experimental launch of GSLV Mark III was expected in the last week of May or in the first week of June, he said. 

On the capacity of launching vehicles, he said Isro aimed at increasing the capacity of GSLV by four tonnes between 2014 and 2017 and further enhancing to six to 10 tonne before 2020. 

Detailing on the utility of Isro satellites in tackling natural disasters, he said three satellites, including Kalpana and Insat-3D were very helpful during the recent "Cyclone Phailin", sending over 400 images during crucial four days. 

"With their inputs, we were able to predict the velocity, intensity and the date of landfall almost accurately," he said adding the loss of life was only six or seven due to the cyclone. 

Updating on Isro's ambitious inter-planetary mission to the Mars, he said the Mars Orbiter Mission, launched on November 5 last year, had travelled over one third of the total distance of 680 million kilometres.

Isro's mission to probe Sun before 2020 - The Times of India

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## IND151

Isro’s mission to probe Sun before 2020 | idrw.org





ISRO Gears Up for String of Launches in Three Months | idrw.org

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## HariPrasad

jarves said:


> In colloboration with German company??




Elecon is a very good company. I had an offer of costing head in one of its division.

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## kurup

*GSLV Mk-lll launch vehicle development cost increases*


India today approved the revised cost estimates of Rs.2962.78 crore for completion of the development programme of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV Mk-lll) and to carry out an experimental flight called LVM3-X. The additional fund requirement is Rs. 464.78 crore to complete the scope of the project including one experimental flight called LVM3-X and two developmental flights called GSLV Mk-lll D1 and GSLV Mk-lll D2. 

The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-lll) project was approved in 2002 with a budget of Rs. 2498 crore. The developmental budget was increased in view of cost escalation in the project elements, modifications in design, new elements and other factors required to complete the scope of the project including two development flights. The scope of the project is also required to be augmented to include an experimental flight (Launch Vehicle Mark-Ill – Experimental: LVM3-X) to validate the critical atmospheric regime of the flight.

The Experimental flight of GSLV Mk-lll (LVM3-X) with flight versions of Solid Stages (S200), Liquid Stage (L110) and a passive cryogenic stage (C25) is planned in 2013-14, to validate some of the new systems and flight sequences, hitherto not demonstrated in PSLV/GSLV flights.

The first development flight (GSLV Mk-lll D1) with an operational cryogenic stage is planned in 2016-17. The second development flight (GSLV Mk-lll D2) is planned after one year of GSLV Mk-lll D1 flight in 2017-18.

Development of the GSLV Mk-lll launch vehicle is expected to augment the capacity of the Indian space programme to launch 4T class satellites to Geo¬synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)and thereby significantly reduce the demand-supply gap of transponders in the country. 

GSLV Mk-lll launch vehicle development cost increases

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## IND151

Cabinet okays extra funds for GSLV programme | idrw.org

Isro’s second satellite system soon | idrw.org

Navy fine-tunes war doctrine under country’s first military satellite’s gaze | idrw.org


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## kurup

*Parameters of Mars Orbiter are normal*

All health parameters of the Mars Orbiter Mission are normal and a mid-course correction manoeuvre is likely to be carried out in early April, according to S. Arunan, Project Director, Mangalyaan.

“The second of the four trajectory correction manoeuvres will be made, probably on April 9, to make minor changes that may be required owing to the solar radiation pressure on the spacecraft,” he told journalists here on Saturday, on the sidelines of Probe-2014, a symposium at the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchi (NITT).

The mission boasted several new technologies, and the onboard autonomy was an important feature. Since there would be a communication delay in view of the long distance involved, the autonomy enabled the spacecraft to take decisions on its own. This option could be incorporated in the future missions of the ISRO as it would help to cut ground complexities and improve the reliability of satellites, he said.

The success of Mars Orbiter Mission, he said, enhanced the image and brand of the country in space technology. The ISRO proposed to bring India’s science laboratories under a wider umbrella to develop scientific payloads for more elaborate studies and investigations on planets, even possibly for a landing mission.

Later, in a presentation at the symposium, hosted by the Electronics and Communication Engineering Association of the NITT, Mr. Arunan said the Mars Orbiter Mission proved the country’s capabilities in deep space communication, navigation, mission planning and management.

Presiding over the inaugural ceremony, NITT Director S. Sundarrajan said that under the changing educational scenario, innovation and inspirational teaching was the key. Competencies had to be shared among institutions and the curriculum must meet industry requirements.

Parameters of Mars Orbiter are normal - The Hindu

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## IND151

Isro likely to announce launch date of IRNSS 1-B next week | idrw.org


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## kurup

*Indian Space suite*






Every time I try to upload this picture it ends up a failure or image gets removed from the image hosting site after a day ...... So I am uploading and attaching it ..... Not to loose it again .....

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## kurup

*India’s Mars mission 200 days away from reaching destination*






India’s ambitious maiden inter-planetary voyage Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched in November last year, has covered over 21 million km and as of today is exactly 200 days away from reaching the red planet’s orbit on September 24.

The MOM probe was travelling with a helio-centric velocity of 29km per second and radio signals sent from Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) ground stations near Bangalore takes 142 seconds to reach the spacecraft and return, Isro said. 

“If everything goes as planned, MOM will get inserted into its Martian orbit around, exactly after 200 days from today,” the space agency said in a posting on its social networking site Facebook page.

“MOM team switched ‘ON’ and checked all the five scientific instruments on-board MOM in February 2014. The health parameters of all these instruments are normal,” Isro said.

The agency has performed six orbit raising manoeuvres around the Earth following the launch of the mission on November 5 last year from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 100 km from here.

It further performed the Trans Mars Injection (TMI) manoeuvre on December 1 last, which gave the necessary thrust to the spacecraft to escape from Earth and to initiate the journey towards Mars, in a helio-centric Orbit.

The first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre was conducted on December 11 last year and three such exercises are planned — next month, in August and in September.

If India succeeds in sending its mission to the Mars’ orbit, it would become only the sixth in the world after the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and China to have achieved the feat.

India’s Mars mission 200 days away from reaching destination | idrw.org

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## kurup

*ISRO new temple of modern India: Tharoor*







Indian Space Research Organization is the new temple of modern India, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor today said.

Tharoor said that in last few years India has advanced in the space technology and has contributed very efficiently internationally.
Talking about the developments of India’s space agency he said “like Nehru said dams are the temples of modern india, today ISRO has become the temple of modern India.” 

Tharoor praised the recent launch of the Mars orbiter and GSLV D5 by the space research organization.

He was attending the launch of India’s first space odyssey thriller movie ‘The Strategist’ directed by Prasanth Panamoottil.

“The scientific history of India which is never written collectively even today, we are going to write it. There was such a rich background of ancient scientific history which has somewhere got lost. The movie is about the struggle of the scientists and the visionaries,” Panamoottil said.

“A larger part of the movie is in English but ‘Brahmi script’ that had existed centuries back will also be used in the movie. The movie’s budget what we are expecting is about 250 crores.” he said.

The release of the movie is planned for January 26 next year and the announcement of the cast and crew will be made at the music launch of the movie.

The film promises to be a classical thriller and revolves around personalities who played an important role in India’s space programmes–Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Indira Gandhi, Satish Dhawan, APJ Abdul Kalam and many more.

ISRO new temple of modern India: Tharoor | idrw.org

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## IND151

India’s Mars mission 200 days away from reaching destination | idrw.org


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## IND151

Space programme has benefited country: S Radhakrishnan | idrw.org


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## kurup

*How Isro got an indigenous cryogenic engine*







Mission director K. Sivan kept his fingers firmly crossed in the mission control room at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the morning of 5 January as the moment drew closer for the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, or GSLV-D5.

The rocket, powered by India’s indigenous cryogenic engine, had been tested and reviewed numerous times in the four months since its aborted launch on 19 August due to a crack in the fuel tank. After the 5 January launch, every step that the rocket cleared made Sivan a happier man. But he also became more anxious—after all, of the seven GSLV launches earlier, five had failed. It was only when the satellite GSAT-14 onboard the GSLV-D5 was inserted into a precise orbit that Sivan relaxed. “It was like the rebirth of GSLV,” he said.

*The search for cryogenic engine*
The GSLV programme was started by Isro in response to India’s mounting communications needs. By 1987, the government had approved the development of the second generation INSAT-2 series of satellites, weighing more than 2 tonnes. Isro wanted to develop a 2.5-tonne class of satellites and put them into a geostationary transfer orbit at 36,000km from Earth’s surface.

Isro also wanted to make a vehicle that would be bigger, lighter and more efficient than its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). There were three fuels options: earth storable, semi-cryogenic, and cryogenic.

Cryogenic engines, which use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel and give the most thrust, are usually prepared for the “upper stages”—the last stage of the rocket—because this stage provides 50% of the velocity of 10.2km per second needed at the point of injection of a satellite. In 1986, at a cost of Rs.12 crore, Isro scientists began developing a one-tonne cryogenic engine to try and understand how to handle liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At the same time, a design team was formed at Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu to come up with the design of a seven-tonne turbo-fed engine. Although this development boosted the confidence of Isro engineers, Isro knew that it couldn’t wait much longer to develop the indigenous engine.

*The Russian deal*
It was then that Isro thought of procuring cryogenic engines from other countries. After rejecting offers from the US and France for both the sale of engines and transfer of technology, India approved an offer by the Soviet Union’s Glavkosmos space agency in 1990. India sent eight scientists to Moscow to work with Soviet scientists. They worked there for 15 months, but did not have access to everything.

“The Russians were very secretive about everything, even though they had signed the technology transfer agreement. Discussions were limited, and the Indian scientists were never allowed to walk the labs freely; they needed clearance to move around the lab,” said B.N. Suresh, former director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. “Hence they couldn’t learn very much.”

Then, 15 months after the deal was signed, the US raised objections citing a violation of the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). The West feared that cryogenic technology could be used by India to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is rejected by Indian scientists.

Eventually, in 1993, Glavkosmos backed out of the deal and revoked the transfer of cryotechnology agreement. Under a renegotiated deal, Russia decided to provide four fully functional engines and two mock-ups. It also agreed to supply three more cryogenic engines at a cost of $9 million.

At this point, the Space Commission, which formulates and implements the Indian space programme, approved a Rs.280 crore project to develop an Indian cryogenic engine, the C12.

“We had to get back our people who were already working with the Russian scientists. Then we had to start on our own. They had made some sorts of drawings and designs and they were already working on the engines and fabrication processes with the Russian scientists,” said U.R. Rao, former chairman at Isro. “But still, many things cannot be on paper since there are various processes we go through to make every step as accurate as possible.”

*Practical steps*
Preparations were made for the first developmental flight of the GSLV-D1 with a procured Russian cryogenic third stage, planned for early 2001. A cryogenic upper stage (CUS) project had also speeded up the design and development of an indigenous engine to replace the Russian one.
“A lot of theoretical studies were conducted under E.V.S. Namboodiry, a propulsion expert who was in charge of studying the cryogenic engine with a team of experts. Something like 18 reports came out regarding cryogenic engine. But theories cannot give you a stage,” said Suresh.
Isro scientists had to become adept in areas such as materials technology, powder metallurgy, welding technology and fabrication technology.

*2009-14: Road to success
*





Even as scientists gained experience from GSLV launches with a Russian cryogenic upper stage engine, they worked feverishly on the indigenous version. In 2009, Isro concentrated on developing infrastructure like the propellant casting facility for solid boosters. That year, Isro reached a landmark when the indigenous cryogenic engine was tested at the Mahendragiri and cleared for a full flight.

But the launch of the flight—the first with an indigenous engine—the GSLV-D3 in April 2010, with a GSAT-4 satellite on board, failed.

The rocket deviated from its path and the vehicle was seen “tumbling” down by Isro scientists. “The thing with rocket launches is that there is not much difference between success and failure. We succeeded (in 2014), but a tiny glitch and we could have ended up in the Bay of Bengal,” said R.V. Perumal, former director of the GSLV project.

The failure, a major disappointment to the nation, was caused by the fact that the cryogenic upper stage could not sustain ignition because the fuel booster turbo pump stopped working 293 seconds into the flight. The second developmental launch of the GSLV D-3 in December 2010 ended in an explosion due to a technical snag in the first stage.

“After the first failure (in 2010), the problem was that we could not recreate the cause of the failure, so it was hard to correct the problem,” said Sivan. “So we listed out possible failures, all feasible reasons for the stopping of fuel booster pump, and took corrective actions for all of them.”

“Even though we would test the engine and the ignition sequence on the ground, the conditions on the flight would be much different,” said Sivan. For Isro, it now became necessary to create those conditions for testing. A high altitude test facility was built in Mahendragiri in 2012 to demonstrate successful ignition for simulated flight conditions. And after testing the system in those conditions, Isro modified the ignition sequence.

Still, in August 2013, a GSLV-D5 launch was aborted at the eleventh hour after a leak was detected in the fuel booster pump. After decades of dogged engineering pursuit, this was an easier problem to solve for Isro.

“When we went ahead with the flight after testing the engine in every possible condition, we were confident of success. We had arrived,” said Sivan.

How Isro got an indigenous cryogenic engine | idrw.org

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

*Gagan System to Save $10 mn a Year on Fuel Costs*
'Gagan System to Save $10 mn a Year on Fuel Costs' -The New Indian Express

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

*Successful testing of Parachute Recovery System for Human Space Programme*

Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Agra, successfully conducted testing of Parachute Recovery System for Human Space Programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 18 January 2014 by para dropping *simulated load weighing 5 ton* against actual* system requirement of 3.6 ton* at Agra Drop Zone using IL-76 Aircraft. 

The trial preceded a series of eight successful sub-systems level air-drop tests from AN-32 aircraft. *The system has been designed for safe landing of a crew module of 3.6 ton weight class on sea surface. The recovery system consists of a pilot parachute, a drogue parachute and a main parachute.*

In this simulated test, with integrated parachute system, the simulated load was extracted from IL-76
aircraft by extractor parachute. Subsequently a drogue parachute was deployed which in turn deployed the
main parachute. This test successfully verified the sequence of parachute deployment, configuration of the
parachute, deployment bag and other sub-systems using onboard instrumentation. ADRDE has also successfully demonstrated this technology by recovering a 500 kg class actual module for ISRO in 2007. The successful test was backed by various technologies, viz., high performance textiles, aerodynamic design, configuration optimisation, fabrication, integration, testing, validation, etc.

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## kurup

*ANU ties up with ISRO for radar design*






Acharya Nagarjuna University will now partner Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)-SHAR, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in designing a Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) to be used in defence surveillance.

Vice-Chancellor K. Viyanna Rao said on Friday that ANU has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with SDSC-SHAR to design the MOTR, becoming the first university in the country to have a tie-up with SDSC-SHAR in designing indigenous radars. India is the fourth nation in the world, after the US, Japan and Germany to design MOTRs, he said.

*MoU signed*

Associate Director of SHAR and Project Director, MOTR, V. Seshagiri Rao signed the MoU with Dean of ANU Engineering College and principal investigator of the project, P. Siddaiah.

“Conventional radars are designed to track one object but the MOTR is being designed to track multiple objects simultaneously from a distance of 1,000 km. It is also used in tracking the path of satellites in various stages,” said Dr. Siddaiah.

*A first*

The radar, the first-of-its-kind in the country, is being designed with 4,600 antennas at a cost of Rs.253 crore.

Dr. Siddaiah said the university would provide high frequency structural simulator software for designing the radar. The ISRO had allotted three research fellows and one technical officer, besides a grant of Rs.28 lakh to execute the project.

It is being designed to track multiple objects from a distance of 1,000 km .

ANU ties up with ISRO for radar design | idrw.org

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## kurup

*Missing jet: Isro awaits govt nod to deploy space assets*






With sleuths probing the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 bound for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur having proposed that the aircraft could have crashed in the Bay of Bengal or somewhere in the deep southern side of the Indian ocean, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) might assist in the search for the plane.

Top Isro officials told Deccan Herald: “Isro would be ready to assist in the search if the highest authority in the country asks it to do so, and also if a specific request comes from Malaysia, again subject to approval of the Government of India.” 

Asked who the competent authority would be to permit Isro to deploy its space assets, the officials said, “It would be the people in charge of space. This may include in the least the prime minister, the Isro chairman and the Department of Space secretary. There may also be consultations with other important people of the government.”

The officials added that India is a signatory to the International Treaty on Space and Disasters—a worldwide charter for sharing satellite transmission with countries and agencies involved in humanitarian work in the wake of disasters.

Whatever inputs the satellites get, they would be shared with co-signatories to the treaty, which came up in 2000 due to initiatives taken by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Space Agency CNES. The disasters could be any kind—earthquake, tsunami, oil spill, hurricane, landslide, excessive snowfall, floods, volcanic eruption, etc.

“Members of this treaty can invoke it and forward a request for sharing information from satellites to help mitigate the disaster. But the only issue is whether a plane crash can be defined as a disaster in terms of natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. That’s a call the member countries will have to take. This will involve discussions and consultations, but countries may not be very strict when it comes to a crisis like a plane crash.”

Missing jet: Isro awaits govt nod to deploy space assets | idrw.org

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## kurup

*CSIR-NAL's contribution to the GSLV-D5 programme*









































The Indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage was successfully flight-tested onboard GSLV-D5 launch vehicle on January 05, 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. In this successful flight of GSLV-D5, a communication satellite - GSAT-14 - was launched very precisely to its intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. CSIR-NAL is proud to have been associated with the programme. A gist of the contribution made from CSIR-NAL is outlined here.

Contributions from NTAF for the GSLV D5 configuration

In year 2010 after GSLV failure, VSSC came up with an urgent requirement of unsteady pressure measurements in ITS region with simulated wire tunnels for post – flight failure analysis. One of the force models was modified for the above studies and results were supplied in a month’s time which has given a valuable input to the project.

Later in year 2011, it was decided to complete aerodynamic re-characterization of the GSLV D5 vehicle with fully simulated wind tunnel model. The major challenge was to design, manufacture and test models for force measurements, steady and unsteady pressure measurements in a very short time frame. It was decided to design the models at CSIR-NAL and manufactured at VSSC. The design project team worked in two shifts and completed the design of three models and model components were manufactured at VSSC within a record time. Final assembly of the force model, instrumentation of about 160 pressure ports on steady and about 45 unsteady pressure ports on models were carried out at CSIR-NAL. To complete aerodynamic characterization of the vehicle about 1000 runs were carried out on the complete force model, truncated unsteady and steady pressure in CSIR-NAL 0.6m and 1.2m wind tunnels. For detailed unsteady pressure measurements, the existing 24-channel high-speed data acquisition and processing system was upgraded to 48-channel system and about 80 runs were conducted. For steady-pressure measurements on GSLV model of about 150 pressure ports were instrumented. All these activities were carried out within a record time.

V Nagarajan

CSIR-NAL ATF & ISRO's GSLV programme

ATF at NAL has been involved in the dynamic environment qualification of stages, subsystems and components from the very beginning of the GSLV programme. 30 major acoustic test programmes on the GSLV were completed at ATF, spreading over the years 1995 to 2013 with a total of 515 blowdowns. Considering the fact that ATF conducts acoustic tests on full scale launch vehicle hardware with some of the hardware being actual systems used for flight, this has been a mammoth task. The GSLV Heat Shield – both metallic as well as CFRP, the Core base shroud, the 1/2 & 2/3 interstages, the strapon nosecones, the L40 engine bay and the strapon nosecone avionic decks are the major stages/subsystems qualified at ATF. The earlier GSLV launches used the Russian cryogenic stages and hence these stages did not undergo acoustic tests at ATF. During the initial acoustic test programmes at ATF on GSLV subsystems, several vital design issues were detected , fixes incorporated and retested. It is worth noting that for each flight of the GSLV, several flightworthy subsystems, such as the Strap on Nose Cone and the avionic decks of each of the strapon boosters underwent acoustic tests at ATF.

ATF has established an excellent work culture in tune with the requirements of ISRO for providing seamless support for the acoustic qualification of the GSLV. Necessary infrastructure has been established for the purposes of handling , assembly, instrumentation, testing and post test inspections of the large sized test specimen. The infrastructure at ATF has been continuously evolving to keep pace with the increasing size of the test specimen. For the GSLV programmes, ATF has added additional unloading and assembly areas which have helped meet the requirements of bigger sized test specimen. The GSLV programme required ATF to develop certain highly unconventional test methodologies. In the initial days of the GSLV cryogenic stage development programme, designers required to test the homogeneity of the temperature insulating material which was bonded to the the shell of the cryo stage under acoustic loads. The challenge was to simulate the acoustic environment and at the same time, simulate,the low temperatures which the cryo stage shell would have to endure and maintain a homogenous bond. ATF provided a very unconventional test methodology which allowed simulation of the required low temperatures with liquid nitrogen and generation of the acoustic levels to which the panel would be subjected (see image above).

This test provided valuable inputs to the VSSC and LPSC teams involved in the design of the indigenous cryogenic stage. Several such “unconventional” acoustic tests continued throughout the GSLV qualification programme and over the last year, the indigenous cryo engine/stage subsystems underwent a number of these tests, the results of which were very closely linked to the actual integration of the flight stage. It is very heartening to note that the results / observations of the acoustic tests conducted on several subsystems of the cryo stage at ATF had a direct impact on the integration and assembly processes of the stage. In addition, changes incorporated in the assembly processes of the stage were also being verified for integrity under acoustic loading. For such acoustic tests, very high acoustic levels of the order of 164 dB were required to excite very localized areas on the specimen. The wire tunnel , umbilical connector units , the cryo stage vent valves , the LH2 vent and relief line and the protection plates in the ITT region were required to be subjected to such localized, high acoustic levels.In order to provide such high acoustic levels, ATF had to carry out extensive mapping of acoustic amplitude and frequency in the immediate vicinity of the exponential horns and provide specimen mounting interfaces at these locations . This work needed to be carried out in almost real time since the test requirements were continuously changing based on various considerations and recommendations of test and evaluation committees. The image below shows the wire tunnel of the cryo stage mounted at a height of 11.5 metres near the 25 Hz exponential horn to carry out an acoustic test at a level of 164 dB at low frequencies. A similar test was also conducted on the umbilical connector unit which houses the interfaces (both electrical as well as cryo fuel) between the launch pedestal and the cryogenic stage. The entire umbilical connector unit assembly was also acoustic tested near the 25 Hz horn at 11.5 metres height. The series of acoustic tests also involved assembly of the wire tunnel and the umbilical connector unit , as on the flight stage and testing the combination near the 80 / 160 Hz horns of ATF at levels of 162 dB. The test sequence involved , simulation of a variety of fastening techniques and also the use of teflon, metallic inserts and washers to determine torque retention in the fastened assemblies. The results of these tests played a major role in the finalization of fastening techniques for a large number of assemblies. Tests were also carried out on the carbon composite cover plates used in the inter tank truss region of the cryo stages to provide protection to the various gas line interfaces located there. An acoustic test was also carried out on the Liquid Hydrogen Vent Pipe and the vent valve assembly. This is also a very crucial subassembly of the cryogenic stage.

A major acoustic test programme involved tests on a subassembly of the cryogenic stage consisting of the liquid oxygen tank, the lower shroud covering the the truss region, truncated main cryogenic engine, the steering engine, the wire tunnel in the tank and shroud portion, the Inter Stage 2/3L and the separation plane connectors. The principal purpose of this test was to determine the integrity of the shroud, verify separation connector mating status and to determine the induced vibration response for the specified acoustic loading. This test was conducted at 156 dB. This test simulated , redesigned and upgraded hardware to overcome issues in the unsuccessful GSLV-F06 flight where the lower shroud failed and the separation plane connectors snapped leading to loss of connectivity and subsequent destruction of the vehicle from ground.

ATF has designed and fabricated unique test fixtures for all the GSLV test programmes. Since the test specimen are all unique, suitable fixtures and interfaces to mount the test specimen on the existing specimen trolley at ATF require to be designed, load tested and approved by a combined ATF-VSSC test and evaluation team , before being used for the actual tests.

The ATF team has also significantly contributed to the several Environmental Test Level Committees, Test and Evaluation Committees and other forum in ISRO which decide the acoustic test specifications as well as the test configuration , test sequence and inspection parameters.

Most of the acoustic test programmes mentioned were specifically for the GSLV-D5 mission. The extensive test programmes spread over the last year and a half catered to the redesign and qualification of major subsystems and assemblies of the indigenous cryogenic stage. The team at ATF is proud to be associated with ISRO’s GSLV programme and the years of dedication and hard work , sometimes stretching over months with very little personal time has ultimately paid off with the hugely successful flight of the GSLV-D5 and the excellent performance of the indigenous cryogenic engine.

K N Arun Kumar

NAL-Information Pasteboard

_From D-F-I _

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## Gessler

kurup said:


> *ANU ties up with ISRO for radar design*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Acharya Nagarjuna University will now partner Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)-SHAR, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in designing a Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) to be used in defence surveillance.
> 
> Vice-Chancellor K. Viyanna Rao said on Friday that ANU has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with SDSC-SHAR to design the MOTR, becoming the first university in the country to have a tie-up with SDSC-SHAR in designing indigenous radars. India is the fourth nation in the world, after the US, Japan and Germany to design MOTRs, he said.
> 
> *MoU signed*
> 
> Associate Director of SHAR and Project Director, MOTR, V. Seshagiri Rao signed the MoU with Dean of ANU Engineering College and principal investigator of the project, P. Siddaiah.
> 
> “Conventional radars are designed to track one object but the MOTR is being designed to track multiple objects simultaneously from a distance of 1,000 km. It is also used in tracking the path of satellites in various stages,” said Dr. Siddaiah.
> 
> *A first*
> 
> The radar, the first-of-its-kind in the country, is being designed with 4,600 antennas at a cost of Rs.253 crore.
> 
> Dr. Siddaiah said the university would provide high frequency structural simulator software for designing the radar. The ISRO had allotted three research fellows and one technical officer, besides a grant of Rs.28 lakh to execute the project.
> 
> It is being designed to track multiple objects from a distance of 1,000 km .
> 
> ANU ties up with ISRO for radar design | idrw.org



I have friends who study in ANU, really good university.


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## Rahul9090

The Space Review: India’s 2014–15 space budget: an assessment


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## RPK

*‘Botanists Should Help ISRO on Agri Sat’ -The New Indian Express*


Botanists and biologists must join hands with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch an ‘Agri Satellite’ for increasing yield on the lines of China’s ‘Space Seed Experiment,’ said former secretary and ex-member (Finance) of Atomic Energy Commission V V Bhat on Monday.

He was speaking at a workshop ‘A Day With Farmers’ organised by the Department of Studies in Botany of University of Mysore in the city.

He said China has increased its agricultural yield by 25 per cent through ‘Space Seed Experiment’. “Under the concept, seeds are sent to space in satellites in order to develop new crop breeds by identifying mutation through space radiation,” he said.

Though India has manpower, it requires integration and team work involving faculty and experts of varsities and institutions to make it possible, he felt.

“ISRO is ready to take up the project. Botanists and biologists should find out which crop the natural transmutation can be done easily, thus helping the scientific revolution,” he said.

Bhat said only such measures can increase food production in the country.

“There is a need to grow crops that are less resource intensive, cause less damage to the environment and increase nutrition. The sorry state of agriculture is due to lack of integrated vision and various crop research institutes are working in isolation,” he said.

Due to lack of sponsorship from government agencies, research is carried out by many institutes in a few areas that are sponsored by private firms.

“Hence, India has not been able to remain an agriculture-based country. Other fields are generating more jobs. We are creating a situation where people are weaned away from agriculture,” he said.

Stating that the National Sample Survey shows many people are ready to take up agriculture if they get an opportunity, he stressed the need to focus more on agriculture.

Prof S Shankar Bhat, founder of Plant Clinic, stressed the need to set up mobile plant clinics to reach out to the farmers.

Plant clinics will help find the exact cause of plant disease and suggest measures to prevent them.

UoM Vice-Chancellor K S Rangappa and Dr Vasanthkumar Thimakapura, director of Greenlife Science Technology Pvt Ltd, were present.


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## kurup

*We trust our cryogenic engine , capability to launch heavier satellites now been established’ : ISRO Chief*







_In this Walk the Talk on NDTV 24×7 with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan speaks about the indigenous cryogenic engine that launched GSLV-D5 and why the Mars Orbiter Mission is crucial for India._

*I’m at Antariksh Bhavan in Bangalore, the headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where you see many smiles wherever you go and nobody is smiling more happily than its Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan. One can’t find a space scientist with a more diverse portfolio — the Mars mission, the lunar mission, GSLV and then your own Tsunami Warning Centre, and the 24×7 Disaster Management Centre. You are a man of many parts.*
The Indian space programme is people-centric and application-centric. That’s our USP, that whatever we do, it should finally find a place for the common man.

*And you have had about eight launches in seven months?*
Yes, since July 2013, we have had eight successful missions — PSLVs, a few satellites, the Mars Orbiter Mission and the latest GSLV-D5 with the Indian cryogenic engine and stage.

*Teach us some rocket science… explain to people who can’t tell the difference between geostationary and polar.*
Essentially, when we talk about a satellite doing remote-sensing, it has to go above the Earth from pole to pole. As the Earth rotates, and the satellite goes from pole to pole, the cameras in the satellite would be able to see the entire Earth. It can take pictures, as and when you require or periodically. In the case of communication satellites, what we do is put a satellite at an altitude of 36,000 km above the equator. The satellite would take 24 hours for one revolution, which is equal to what it takes for the Earth too (to rotate on its axis). So the satellite would be geostationary, that is, a stationary object with respect to us on the Earth. So these are the two things we generally talk about. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle can launch remote-sensing satellites, satellites for space science experiments, satellites for communication, it has also launched Chandrayaan and the Mars Orbiter. So in the PSLV family, we have three vehicles. Now, GSLV is a more powerful vehicle. The core stage of PSLV is used in GSLV too. The second stage of PSLV is adapted and used in GSLV.

*More or less replicated?*
Yes, and here you will see large strap-ons, liquid engine-based strap-ons.

*And I believe each one of them carries 200 tonnes of fuel?*
Each of them carries 40 tonnes and the core has 139 tonnes of solid propellant. But the most important and crucial element of GSLV is the cryogenic upper stage and that’s what we tested successfully.

*Sir, now that I am getting my tutorial on rocket science, tell us the meaning of cryogenic. I know ‘cryo’ is something that is cold.*
There are three varieties of propulsion used for rockets. One is the solid propellant base. That means you have got the solid fuel and the solid oxidiser, plus a few additives. This can be used in the lower stages of the vehicle. It’s easy to handle once you prepare it. But when you talk about the liquid engine, there is an oxidiser and fuel. The fuel can be kerosene or liquid hydrogen. When it is liquid hydrogen, we call it cryogenic.

*And now you go on to your next GSLV.*
If you look at GSLV Mark III, which we are now developing, it is far more powerful compared to GSLV. In GSLV, we can put a 2,200 kg satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit — that means in an orbit where the apogee is 36,000 km and perigee is 200 km — whereas in GSLV Mark III, we can take to the orbit a satellite of 4,000 kg. So that’s almost double the capacity.

*Sir, if you can explain perigee and apogee…*
Perigee means the distance closest to the Earth and apogee is the farthest point.

*So, as it goes into elliptical orbit around the Earth, sometimes it will be closer, sometimes it will be farther?*
Exactly. So using the propulsion system in the satellite, we move it into a 36,000 km circular orbit and take it to a place above the equator.

*So when are you planning this launch, the next landmark?*
The first landmark is an experimental mission where we will look at the atmospheric phase of this flight and we will use a passive ignition stage, in the sense that it won’t ignite. But all the lower stages will perform and we will monitor the performance of this vehicle in the crucial atmospheric phase. This is going to happen by April 2014.

*By testing out its response to atmospheric conditions, you mean that in the first 30-40 km, it will face winds and pressures which don’t exist in outer space?*
Right.

*So when do you expect the full launch of this?*
The full launch should be possible by 2016-17. What we have done now is testing of the engine. Some of the stage components have also been tested. So for the next two years, we will go through a qualification programme for the engine as well as the stage. Once it is completed, then we will be able to release this vehicle.

*Then we can launch much bigger satellites for which we today have to go overseas?*
We will be able to launch communication satellites weighing about 3,500 kg to 4,000 kg. Today we do it through Ariane-5 rockets.

*So, what happened in the past? Why has GSLV given us such trouble?*
There are two reasons. GSLV, of course, is a beautiful vehicle and a simpler vehicle, except for the complex cryogenic stage. GSLV derives its heritage from the sub-systems of PSLV, in terms of the solid core stage and the liquid strap-ons and the second stage. It uses liquid propulsion where we need to get a lot of controlled components. During the flight or during the preparation phase, it can leak a little bit. The second part is incidental — in the first GSLV flight that was done in 2001, one of the strap-ons did not ignite, it did not get the fuel. But there was an inbuilt system for aborting the flight… that worked beautifully and the flight was aborted. Within 22 days — it was a record — our people brought it back to the launch pad.

*And the whole thing was saved?*
Yes. But the satellite did not stay there for more than two months because the Russian cryogenic stage at that time did not perform to its required level. It was underperformance of that stage but nevertheless it is a first developmental flight of GSLV and a very crucial milestone for the country. The second and third flights of GSLV worked very well. It launched GSAT2 and GSAT3, what you call Edusat. In the GSLV flight that we did in 2006, one of the components in a strap-on did not perform properly. That means the vehicle had to go with only three strap-ons. It was a failure. The next flight that we undertook in 2007, the control system of one of the strap-ons failed. However, the vehicle was able to put the satellite into an orbit very close to where we wanted it. And then the satellite propulsion system was used to take the satellite, INSAT-4CR, into the right place. So nothing was basically wrong with GSLV but component failure resulted in these few failures. In 2010, we had two flights. The first one was to test our Indian cryogenic engine and stage. Here too the vehicle beautifully performed up to the end of the second stage. The cryo stage ignited and we were very happy at that time. But immediately after that, a fuel booster turbo pump stopped.

*Why did that happen?*
We investigated and found there are three possibilities. One, of course, is contamination. It is sitting in a liquid hydrogen tank. It is at very low temperature and…

*How low?*
It is 20 Kelvin or -253°C. There are dissimilar materials used in the pump and the contractions will not be uniform. We also had a possibility of a casing of the pump coming out, so these two had to be corrected. But later we found out that the most probable cause was contamination from a propellant acquisition system kept in the liquid hydrogen tank. So we replaced that, redesigned it and got a new one. We also tested this pump extensively in this low temperature condition and ensured that it works. The second part of it was, had this pump worked, are we sure that the rest of the functions would take place? We did a lot of analysis and simulation. And one thing we wanted to make sure before we took off again was to see that this cryogenic engine ignites and we are sure about it at this high altitude condition where there is vacuum. We had not tested this in the past on the ground. So we created a test facility at Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu) and then we tested it and saw to it that we are confident about it.

*So that’s why this launch with an Indian cryogenic engine is such a landmark?*
It’s three years of work, during which we did 45 tests on the ground on the cryogenic engine and stage. Also, why did the GSLV configuration fail? Is there something fundamentally wrong it? We did nearly 850 wind tunnel tests.

*But now you don’t have that doubt?*
Now, we don’t have that doubt.

*So we can take the view that your successful GSLV with your own cryogenic engine is an even bigger landmark than the Mars Mission, which was ahead of the lunar mission.*
Both are landmarks. One, in terms of technology, cryogenic technology is complex and we have done it.

*It greatly increases your range and payload.*
Yes, and the capability of India to launch heavier satellites has now been established. The Mars Orbiter Mission is critical for space exploration. It also shows India’s capability to take a spacecraft to a distance of 400 million km, control it properly there and then conduct experiments

*But sir, there is also scepticism. After so many rovers, so many landers, what will this bring back?*

The objective of this mission is to prove our technological capability to precisely orbit a satellite around Mars. There have been 51 Mars missions; only 21 were successful. Secondly, the scientific objective is to study the presence of methane. Why is methane important? We want to understand the existence of life on Mars.

*Could we find something that has not already been explored, given so many missions that have been successful?*
The presence of methane or otherwise, and the origin of that, whether it is geological or biological, that is something that this mission is going to look at. Also, the atmospheric processes on Mars…

*Well, the remarkable thing is the cost of the mission.*
Cost and time, both. We have done it at 1/10th the cost.

*There is one more reason why this cryogenic is important. Because I was a sort of a participant in the tamasha that went on more than two decades earlier, of how this programme got a setback (the spy scandal). I used to then work for India Today and I had done a story saying these allegations of spying were wrong. Have you reflected very much on that? Was it a setback to ISRO?*
The programme goes on. We have come out of all those and today we have the technology with us.

*What is it that makes ISRO different? Somehow, ISRO manages to do more tangible work than most other government organisations.*
When we conceive a programme, we look at how it is going to be useful for people, how to reach it to people and how to build systems so that it becomes part of the value chain of those people.

*But you also have a better industry interface.*
Yes, we had decided from the seventies that Indian industries, both public and private, are going to be part of us. We also make the best use of the academic community in doing research activities.

*You got your MBA from IIM-Bangalore before you got your PhD from IIT-Kharagpur.*
That’s true.

*So you are a businessman as well as a scientist. What made you go for an MBA before you went to research?*
Because of the uncertainty involved in high-technology programmes like space, they had to use several of these management techniques.

*But your commercial arm Antrix has been struggling a little bit?*
If you look at the turnover of Antrix, it has been going up. We recently launched a SPOT 6 satellite, one of the best remote sensing satellites in the world, and SPOT 7 is ready to be launched.

*I know remote-sensing is your own special field of interest.*
That’s true. Antrix has been contributing a lot to the communication satellite programme. A number of satellites of foreign countries are lined up for launch using our PSLV. The recently launched microwave remote sensing satellite… is also going to be used by foreign customers through an arrangement with Antrix.

*But Antrix also got an undue share of controversy for getting into an arrangement with a private company. Two things appeared, one the word ‘spectrum’; second, the word ‘private company’. And somebody even put a figure of Rs 2 lakh crore, because we can’t settle for less than that for a scandal now.*
Yes, much has been talked and written about this subject. Over the last three-and-a-half years, we have done what is best for the country, what is best for the government of India, what is best for research.

*Was the controversy avoidable? Because there was no scandal.*
I don’t want to get into the merit of it because it is going through a legal process at the moment. But what has been done is best for the country.

*You have done the damage control?*
Yes.

*Kiran Karnik was on this show and he said that having seen so much of the government of India, so much of India, he has never found another Indian organisation with a commitment and integrity to match ISRO’s, which is a high compliment.*
Thank you. We have done what we thought and what we think is best for the country.

*And you have a track record to deserve the highest of compliments. Dr Radhakrishnan, thank you very much. I know you have many more frontiers to climb and they wait— one in April and one in a couple of years from now. And towards the end of this year, you put your Mars Orbiter in space.*
September 24, 2014 is a crucial day for the Mars Orbiter, when we have to precisely reduce the velocity of the spacecraft and make it orbit. If we miss that, then we lose the mission. But we are hopeful.

*I am sure you will take no chances. Because one thing that intrigues me all the time is how religious many of your scientists are — you find coconuts being broken, pujas, mantras…*
We are all Indians…

*So, science or no science… you see no contradiction?*

We don’t see any contradiction.

We trust our cryogenic engine , capability to launch heavier satellites now been established’ : ISRO Chief | idrw.org

*‘India made Aryabhatta have more weight at then Soviet Union’s insistence’*






The weight of the first Indian satellite Aryabhatta could have been lighter than the Chinese satellite launched beforehand had the then Soviet Union didn’t convince India of making it more than the Chinese one, says K Kasturirangan, former director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO 1994 to 2003) while sharing insights about the space organization during his talk on theme ‘Aryabhatta to Mangalyan – India’s tryst with Science and Technology’ in Jaipur on Saturday. 

“The Soviet Union wanted our satellite size bigger than those of Chinese despite the fact we had designed a much lighter one. Finally, we end up making a 360 kg satellite making it much more weightier than that of Chinese which is 160 kg,” the former director said without revealing much of the details at a private university here.

Kasturirangan was conferred the JK Lakshmipat University Laureate Award 2013 in recognition of his phenomenal contribution to the field of science and innovation. The award was given away by chancellor of the university Bharat Hari Singhania. The talk he delivered was on the occasion of the first Hari Shakar memorial oration series.

He also revealed how satellite Chandrayan-1, India’s first unmanned lunar probe to the moon, was named and conceptualized. “ISRO gave a presentation to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpaee who readily accepted the proposal. At that time, the project was named Somyana which Vajpayee changed to Chandrayan while announcing it on August 15, 2003,” said Kasturirangan, also a Padma Bhushan awardee. Later, when ISRO learnt that the name was changed by the prime minister as he find Chadrayan more expressive, it added ’1′ to make a series of satellites to the moon instead of only one.

He said India is among leaders when it comes to space exploration. Talking about the accuracy of the Indian satellites, Kasturiangan said, “Satellite images of Cyclone Phailin helped the administration to avert huge damage.” The scientist also said India is at a par with the US and France in 1980s in terms of advanced cameras while images from the space and height to which they send satellites.

He attributed India’s space program to Vikram Sarabhai who has first undertook the initiative and explained to leaders of the country that space explorations can be helpful to humanity in education, disaster management, health and agriculture, which all came true today. Kasturiangan encouraged students saying explorations in space are the just tip of an iceberg and students with zeal can have a bright career in the field.

‘India made Aryabhatta have more weight at then Soviet Union’s insistence’ | idrw.org

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## Sam Manekshaw

MOM update

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## IND151

kurup said:


> *How Isro got an indigenous cryogenic engine*
> 
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> 
> 
> 
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> Mission director K. Sivan kept his fingers firmly crossed in the mission control room at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the morning of 5 January as the moment drew closer for the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, or GSLV-D5.
> 
> The rocket, powered by India’s indigenous cryogenic engine, had been tested and reviewed numerous times in the four months since its aborted launch on 19 August due to a crack in the fuel tank. After the 5 January launch, every step that the rocket cleared made Sivan a happier man. But he also became more anxious—after all, of the seven GSLV launches earlier, five had failed. It was only when the satellite GSAT-14 onboard the GSLV-D5 was inserted into a precise orbit that Sivan relaxed. “It was like the rebirth of GSLV,” he said.
> 
> *The search for cryogenic engine
> The GSLV programme was started by Isro in response to India’s mounting communications needs. By 1987, the government had approved the development of the second generation INSAT-2 series of satellites, weighing more than 2 tonnes*. Isro wanted to develop a 2.5-tonne class of satellites and put them into a geostationary transfer orbit at 36,000km from Earth’s surface.
> 
> Isro also wanted to make a vehicle that would be bigger, lighter and more efficient than its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). There were three fuels options: earth storable, semi-cryogenic, and cryogenic.
> 
> Cryogenic engines, which use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel and give the most thrust, are usually prepared for the “upper stages”—the last stage of the rocket—because this stage provides 50% of the velocity of 10.2km per second needed at the point of injection of a satellite. In 1986, at a cost of Rs.12 crore, Isro scientists began developing a one-tonne cryogenic engine to try and understand how to handle liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. At the same time, a design team was formed at Isro’s Liquid Propulsion Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu to come up with the design of a seven-tonne turbo-fed engine. Although this development boosted the confidence of Isro engineers, Isro knew that it couldn’t wait much longer to develop the indigenous engine.
> 
> *The Russian deal*
> It was then that Isro thought of procuring cryogenic engines from other countries. After rejecting offers from the US and France for both the sale of engines and transfer of technology, India approved an offer by the Soviet Union’s Glavkosmos space agency in 1990. India sent eight scientists to Moscow to work with Soviet scientists. They worked there for 15 months, but did not have access to everything.
> 
> “*The Russians were very secretive about everything, even though they had signed the technology transfer agreement. Discussions were limited, and the Indian scientists were never allowed to walk the labs freely; they needed clearance to move around the lab*,” said B.N. Suresh, former director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. “Hence they couldn’t learn very much.”
> 
> Then, 15 months after the deal was signed, the US raised objections citing a violation of the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). *The West feared that cryogenic technology could be used by India to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, which is rejected by Indian scientists*. [Dont we all know why US wanted to deny cryo tech to us?]
> 
> Eventually, in 1993, Glavkosmos backed out of the deal and revoked the transfer of cryotechnology agreement. Under a renegotiated deal, Russia decided to provide four fully functional engines and two mock-ups.* It also agreed to supply three more cryogenic engines at a cost of $9 million*.
> 
> At this point, the Space Commission, which formulates and implements the Indian space programme, approved a Rs.280 crore project to develop an Indian cryogenic engine, the C12.
> 
> “We had to get back our people who were already working with the Russian scientists. Then we had to start on our own. They had made some sorts of drawings and designs and they were already working on the engines and fabrication processes with the Russian scientists,” said U.R. Rao, former chairman at Isro. “But still, many things cannot be on paper since there are various processes we go through to make every step as accurate as possible.”
> 
> *Practical steps*
> Preparations were made for the first developmental flight of the GSLV-D1 with a procured Russian cryogenic third stage, planned for early 2001. A cryogenic upper stage (CUS) project had also speeded up the design and development of an indigenous engine to replace the Russian one.
> “A lot of theoretical studies were conducted under E.V.S. Namboodiry, a propulsion expert who was in charge of studying the cryogenic engine with a team of experts. Something like 18 reports came out regarding cryogenic engine. But theories cannot give you a stage,” said Suresh.
> Isro scientists had to become adept in areas such as materials technology, powder metallurgy, welding technology and fabrication technology.
> 
> *2009-14: Road to success
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Even as scientists gained experience from GSLV launches with a Russian cryogenic upper stage engine, they worked feverishly on the indigenous version. In 2009, Isro concentrated on developing infrastructure like the propellant casting facility for solid boosters. That year, Isro reached a landmark when the indigenous cryogenic engine was tested at the Mahendragiri and cleared for a full flight.
> 
> But the launch of the flight—the first with an indigenous engine—the GSLV-D3 in April 2010, with a GSAT-4 satellite on board, failed.
> 
> The rocket deviated from its path and the vehicle was seen “tumbling” down by Isro scientists. “The thing with rocket launches is that there is not much difference between success and failure. We succeeded (in 2014), but a tiny glitch and we could have ended up in the Bay of Bengal,” said R.V. Perumal, former director of the GSLV project.
> 
> The failure, a major disappointment to the nation, was caused by the fact that the cryogenic upper stage could not sustain ignition because the fuel booster turbo pump stopped working 293 seconds into the flight. The second developmental launch of the GSLV D-3 in December 2010 ended in an explosion due to a technical snag in the first stage.
> 
> “After the first failure (in 2010), the problem was that we could not recreate the cause of the failure, so it was hard to correct the problem,” said Sivan. “So we listed out possible failures, all feasible reasons for the stopping of fuel booster pump, and took corrective actions for all of them.”
> 
> “Even though we would test the engine and the ignition sequence on the ground, the conditions on the flight would be much different,” said Sivan. For Isro, it now became necessary to create those conditions for testing. A high altitude test facility was built in Mahendragiri in 2012 to demonstrate successful ignition for simulated flight conditions. And after testing the system in those conditions, Isro modified the ignition sequence.
> 
> Still, in August 2013, a GSLV-D5 launch was aborted at the eleventh hour after a leak was detected in the fuel booster pump. After decades of dogged engineering pursuit, this was an easier problem to solve for Isro.
> 
> “When we went ahead with the flight after testing the engine in every possible condition, we were confident of success. We had arrived,” said Sivan.
> 
> How Isro got an indigenous cryogenic engine | idrw.org



Thanks for Info.

Isro to launch IRNSS 1-B on April 4 | idrw.org


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## RPK



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## Sam Manekshaw



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## Vinod2070

^^ Accuracy better than 10 m will be for civilian users I guess.

Does it also have a military version with better accuracy like the GPS system?


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## Gessler

Vinod2070 said:


> ^^ Accuracy better than 10 m will be for civilian users I guess.
> 
> Does it also have a military version with better accuracy like the GPS system?



It does have an encrypted version for restricted/authorized users. Which could mean the military and
certain national services.

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## Vinod2070

Gessler said:


> It does have an encrypted version for restricted/authorized users. Which could mean the military and
> certain national services.



Any idea of it's accuracy?


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## Gessler

Vinod2070 said:


> Any idea of it's accuracy?



Should be better than the civilian channel.


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## Sam Manekshaw

Vinod2070 said:


> Any idea of it's accuracy?


IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) and is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area. 
Welcome To ISRO :: Navigation Satellite

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## kurup

*GSLV Mark III ready for mission*







India took the first step on Friday towards the liftoff of the experimental mission of its gigantic Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III when the rocket’s core stage, weighing more than 110 tonnes, was flagged off from the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Mahendragiri, near Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, to Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The significance of the mission is that it will be a forerunner to India sending its astronauts to space. For, the GSLV-Mk III in this flight will carry a crew capsule without astronauts. The capsule will return to earth with the help of parachutes. The mission will take place in June or first week of July.

The Indian Space Research Organisation calls its mission to send Indian astronauts to space the Human Space Flight (HSF) programme.

K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO, said the crew capsule will weigh 3.5 tonnes. It will carry no astronauts, he stressed. It was a replica of the crew module that would be put into orbit in a real mission. “The module is undergoing structural engineering tests” at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

M.C. Dathan, Director, LPSC, emphasised that it will be an experimental mission. The rocket will do a sub-orbital flight, that is, reach an altitude of less than 100 km. Its upper cryogenic stage will not fire. It is “a passive flight,” Mr. Dathan said. Instead of cryogenic propellants, the cryogenic stage would carry liquid nitrogen, which would be inert.

GSLV-Mk III is the “muscular sibling” of GSLV-Mk II which has an indigenous cryogenic engine. GSLV-Mk III can put a communication satellite weighing four tonnes into geo-synchronous transfer orbit or a 10-tonne satellite into low-earth orbit.

Mr. Dathan said GSLV-Mk III’s core stage was flagged off from Mahendragiri on Friday. It would reach Sriharikota on Sunday evening. It will be married up with the other stages there.

“The assembling of one booster stage, weighing more than 200 tonnes, has already been completed at Sriharikota. The assembly of another booster stage is under way.”

GSLV Mark III ready for mission | idrw.org

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## kurup

*ISRO to NASA delegation to the Chat seal projects*







A high-level delegation led by icts of ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan Will visit the U.S. Between April 12 and 24 to seal the Chat satellite projects with NASA. This Was Announced by Radhakrishnan falling on a 15-minute interaction with RA Mashelkar, Chairman of Marico Innovation Foundation on Tuesday night at the Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium in Nariman Point, Mumbai.

Earlier Radhakrishnan HAD beens presented with the Marico Innovation Foundation award. TOI That He Told Those Accompanying him to the U.S. Will Be director of ISRO’s Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre Kiran Kumar and director of the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore SK Shiva Kumar.

He Said the group Will Make presentations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena in California and Washington. The focus of Their talks Will Be the seal Isro-Nasa satellite project, Which Will study water and drought and “possible future communication activities. “ Radhakrishnan Said the Satellite Will Be Launched by ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. 

Nasa is already Providing communication back up for the March Orbiter Mission through icts Deep Space Network facilities at Goldstone in California, Madrid and Canberra. It Gave this carrier odd falling on the U.S. government shutdown in November 2013 HAD All which affected other NASA centers.

ISRO to NASA delegation to the Chat seal projects | idrw.org


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## RPK



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## RPK



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## HariPrasad

kurup said:


> Nope . It was Elecon Engineering which built gearbox for IAC1 .




Yes So far as I know, it is elecon engineering. I had an offer to head costing department in one of its division.

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## Sam Manekshaw



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## RPK




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## RPK

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1492135554343135


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## RPK

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1492212291002128


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## Daedalus



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## Gessler

Daedalus said:


> View attachment 23963



Congrats to the guys who designed it's algorithms.

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## indiatester

^^^
The fuel saved by avoiding the above will be useful in extending the life of the mission (if TMI goes well)

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## IND151

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission to cross a major mile stone on Wednesday | idrw.org


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## SRP

*Mars orbiter spacecraft crosses half-way mark*

*(ISRO release | Unedited)*

Today (April 09, 2014) at 9:50 am IST, India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft crossed the half-way mark of its journey to the Red Planet along the designated helio-centric trajectory.

Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was launched onboard PSLV-C25 on November 05, 2013. On December 01, 2013, Trans Mars Injection manoeuvre was conducted successfully and the Spacecraft was set in its course towards Planet Mars through a helio-centric trajectory. Soon after the Spacecraft crossed the sphere of influence of Earth, a Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) was performed successfully on December 11, 2013.

ISRO has been continuously monitoring the Spacecraft using its Deep Space Network complemented by that of NASA-JPL. As the Spacecraft is on its designated trajectory, the TCM planned for April 2014 is not considered essential. If required, the next TCM is planned to be carried out in June 2014.

Mars Orbiter Spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health. Periodic tests are being done on the different levels of autonomy built into the Spacecraft for managing contingencies.

At present, the radio distance between the Spacecraft and the Earth is 39 million km. A signal from the Earth to the Spacecraft and back to Earth takes 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Soon, the High Gain Antenna of the Spacecraft will be put in service for handling communications with the ground stations.

The Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre would be performed on September 24, 2014.

*Source: Tarmak007*


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## IND151

Need For Cost-Effective Travel to Space: Ex-ISRO Chief | idrw.org

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## IND151

Mars Mission Cruises Past Half the Total Distance | idrw.org


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## IND151

GSLV to soar into sky with crew capsule in June | idrw.org

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## IND151

Mangalyaan Doing Well, Will Reach Martian Orbit on September 24: ISRO Chairman | idrw.org







India and human space mission | idrw.org

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## IND151

Preparations on for commercial rocket launch : ISRO | idrw.org

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## HariPrasad

desert warrior said:


> *Mars orbiter spacecraft crosses half-way mark*
> 
> *(ISRO release | Unedited)*
> 
> Today (April 09, 2014) at 9:50 am IST, India's Mars Orbiter Spacecraft crossed the half-way mark of its journey to the Red Planet along the designated helio-centric trajectory.
> 
> Mars Orbiter Spacecraft was launched onboard PSLV-C25 on November 05, 2013. On December 01, 2013, Trans Mars Injection manoeuvre was conducted successfully and the Spacecraft was set in its course towards Planet Mars through a helio-centric trajectory. Soon after the Spacecraft crossed the sphere of influence of Earth, a Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM) was performed successfully on December 11, 2013.
> 
> ISRO has been continuously monitoring the Spacecraft using its Deep Space Network complemented by that of NASA-JPL. As the Spacecraft is on its designated trajectory, the TCM planned for April 2014 is not considered essential. If required, the next TCM is planned to be carried out in June 2014.
> 
> Mars Orbiter Spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health. Periodic tests are being done on the different levels of autonomy built into the Spacecraft for managing contingencies.
> 
> At present, the radio distance between the Spacecraft and the Earth is 39 million km. A signal from the Earth to the Spacecraft and back to Earth takes 4 minutes and 15 seconds. Soon, the High Gain Antenna of the Spacecraft will be put in service for handling communications with the ground stations.
> 
> The Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre would be performed on September 24, 2014.
> 
> *Source: Tarmak007*




The Important thing is that some of the trajectory correction maneuvers planned are found unnecessary. this mean that fuel will be saved so long life of spacecraft.


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## IND151

Trajectory Correction of Mars Mission Likely by June 11 | idrw.org

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## IND151

Experimental mission of GSLV Mark III in July/August | idrw.org

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## RPK

MOM Status Update

ISRO's Mars Orbiter spacecraft has traveled more than 460 million km distance in its 680 million km elliptical trajectory around Sun. 
MOM is now at a distance of about 100 million km from planet Earth. The two way radio communication delay is approximately 11 minutes.

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## Sam Manekshaw




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## RPK

*IIT-Gn, SAC of ISRO sign MoU for research collaboration | Business Standard*


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## Rahul9090

*ISRO's Mission to Mars Gears up for a Tricky Manoeuvre*


*




*


In this season of soccer, the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO is gearing up to play a bit of football of its own -- albeit of the celestial variety -- with its Mars mission Mangalayaan.

At 4.30 pm today, the space agency will gently nudge India's Mars Orbiter Mission a tad closer to the red planet.

It is a risky operation; if things go wrong, theRs.450 crore mission launched on November 5, 2013 from Sriharikota could well get lost.

Nearly 20 per cent of the 51 missions headed for Mars, launched by various countries, have been lost en-route. 

ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan told NDTV, "It is not a routine operation. Great precision is required in calculating and correctly firing the four small rocket engines on board the spacecraft in the exact direction,"

He added that the ISRO team working on the project was 'confident' about executing the command.

Mangalayaan has so far covered nearly 466 million kilometres or nearly 70 per cent of its arduous 680 million kilometre-long journey.

For the last six months, since it was launched, the spacecraft has been in a state of induced slumber.

Today, its rocket engines will be fired for a mere 16 seconds, but this is a tricky manoeuvre as the rocket engines have to be fired in the right direction.

Among the factors that can affect the outcome of the operation is solar wind, which can make inter-planetary spacecraft drift from course. If the firing goes awry, the spacecraft can easily get lost.

Today's gentle nudge will help Mangalyaan score a goal on September 24, 2014, when it is supposed to finally rendezvous with the red planet.

Mangalyaan is currently travelling with a velocity of 28 km/s or about 100,800 kilometres per hour. It is now the fastest and farthest ever-traveling Indian object in space. It is so far away that it takes a radio signal almost five minutes to travel from Bangalore to the Mangalyaan.

If the Mars mission manages to reach within 440-560 km of the red planet's surface after its epic marathon, India will become the third country in the world to achieve such an exacting target on a maiden journey. 

ISRO's Mission to Mars Gears up for a Tricky Manoeuvre - NDTV

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## HariPrasad

1 hour to go for this tricky maneuver. 

Best of Luck ISRO. 

Slight Mistake may result into loosing of aircraft.


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## RPK




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## RPK

> Yes it’s 4:30 PM now. The TCM2 firing should have started! We’ll know for sure when the antenna is reoriented back towards Earth post-firing and not to forget, an additional 5 minutes 40 seconds signal delay.





> A missive from MOM confirms TCM2-Firing completion. Team MOM is busy crunching numbers to determine the post-TCM2 trajectory.


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## trident2010

*Trajectory corrected, Mars Orbiter now on precise path*

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received another shot in the arm in its ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission when its ground controllers successfully corrected the spacecraft’s trajectory on Wednesday.
This complex trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM), as it is called, puts the spacecraft on the right celestial path to reach Mars on the scheduled day of September 24. The ground controllers at the ISRO Tracking, Telemetry and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, corrected the trajectory by radioing commands to the four thrusters of the Orbiter to fire for 16 seconds from 4.30 p.m. The thrusters did so, imparting an incremental velocity of 1.57 metres a second to the spacecraft for its rendezvous with Mars.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the TCM was “precisely done” and “we operated four out of 22 Newton thrusters for 16 seconds” which gave the spacecraft an incremental velocity of 1.574 metres a second. “Reviews are under way. All systems on the Mars Orbiter are normal,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

“Everything went perfectly well,” said M. Annadurai, Programme Director, Indian Remote-sensing Satellites and Small Satellites Systems, ISRO. “We are happy because this is, in a way, a simulation for the crucial Mars Orbit Injection (MOI)” that would take place on September 24.

“The MOI will be exactly similar to this except that we fired four small Newton thrusters today. But we will fire the 440-Newton liquid engine [propulsion system] of the spacecraft for the MOI,” he said.

Dr. Annadurai added: “We could not watch today’s manoeuvre because the spacecraft’s orientation will not allow us to see what is happening. Telemetry was not available. The entire manoeuvre was done in the auto mode.”

S. Arunan, Project Director, Mars Orbiter Mission, said: “All the health parameters of the Mars Orbiter are all right. Its payloads have been operated and checked. They are doing well. All the systems and sub-systems are doing well.”


Trajectory corrected, Mars Orbiter now on precise path - The Hindu

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## IND151

Mission Mars: ISRO nudges orbiter on course | idrw.org

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## HariPrasad

trident2010 said:


> *Trajectory corrected, Mars Orbiter now on precise path*
> 
> The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) received another shot in the arm in its ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission when its ground controllers successfully corrected the spacecraft’s trajectory on Wednesday.
> This complex trajectory correction manoeuvre (TCM), as it is called, puts the spacecraft on the right celestial path to reach Mars on the scheduled day of September 24. The ground controllers at the ISRO Tracking, Telemetry and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, corrected the trajectory by radioing commands to the four thrusters of the Orbiter to fire for 16 seconds from 4.30 p.m. The thrusters did so, imparting an incremental velocity of 1.57 metres a second to the spacecraft for its rendezvous with Mars.
> 
> ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the TCM was “precisely done” and “we operated four out of 22 Newton thrusters for 16 seconds” which gave the spacecraft an incremental velocity of 1.574 metres a second. “Reviews are under way. All systems on the Mars Orbiter are normal,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said.
> 
> “Everything went perfectly well,” said M. Annadurai, Programme Director, Indian Remote-sensing Satellites and Small Satellites Systems, ISRO. “We are happy because this is, in a way, a simulation for the crucial Mars Orbit Injection (MOI)” that would take place on September 24.
> 
> “The MOI will be exactly similar to this except that we fired four small Newton thrusters today. But we will fire the 440-Newton liquid engine [propulsion system] of the spacecraft for the MOI,” he said.
> 
> Dr. Annadurai added: “We could not watch today’s manoeuvre because the spacecraft’s orientation will not allow us to see what is happening. Telemetry was not available. The entire manoeuvre was done in the auto mode.”
> 
> S. Arunan, Project Director, Mars Orbiter Mission, said: “All the health parameters of the Mars Orbiter are all right. Its payloads have been operated and checked. They are doing well. All the systems and sub-systems are doing well.”
> 
> 
> Trajectory corrected, Mars Orbiter now on precise path - The Hindu




Important thing is that a little fuel was consumed. MOM TCM was carried in auto mode.MOM is in Good health.

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## RPK

ISRO is continuously monitoring Mars Orbiter Spacecraft using Indian Deep Space Network, IDSN. The spacecraft and its five scientific instruments are in good health.

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## $@rJen

Mars Orbiter Mission Updates - SPACEFLIGHT101


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## RPK



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## skysthelimit

*The radio dishes tracking MoM*





*DSS-43 and DSS-34 dishes tracking Mars Orbiter Mission*The 70-meter DSS-43 and 34-meter DSS-34 dishes of the Canberra Deep Space Network station point toward ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission as the spacecraft prepares to perform a trajectory correction maneuver on June 11, 2014.

DSS-43 and DSS-34 dishes tracking Mars Orbiter Mission | The Planetary Society

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## Daedalus

*ISRO planning to launch French satellite SPOT 7 on June 26*
ISRO is planning to launch its next rocket PSLV C23 carrying a French remote sensing satellite SPOT 7, along with four others from Sriharikota spaceport on June 26, a senior official said today.

"As of now, we have scheduled the launch of PSLV C23 at 9.50 am on June 26. A 52-hour countdown has been planned, which would commence at 6 am on June 24," the ISRO official told PTI.

SPOT 7 is an Earth observing satellite, similar to Indian Remote Satellite System (IRSS), he said, adding four other satellites would also be launched on the same day.

This time around, ISRO would use the core-only edition of the launch vehicle PSLV, he said.
Asked if there would be any change in the date of launch, he said the date and time also depend on the availability of VIPs, if any, witnessing the launch.

The satellites would be integrated with the launch vehicle on June 16 and heat shield check would be performed on June 18.

Known for its expertise in launching PSLVs with smaller payloads up to 1,600 kg, the national space agency ISRO has earned a name in the space industry, attracting huge sum to the country as foreign exchange.

ISRO planning to launch French satellite SPOT 7 on June 26 | Business Standard


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## gslv mk3

@Vinod2070 

Found this from NAL's website.

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## Vinod2070

gslv mk3 said:


> @Vinod2070
> 
> Found this from NAL's website.
> 
> View attachment 35128



Thanks. We don't have to worry about insecure haters. They are doing what they think is their job.

Though good to expose their pathetic propaganda.

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## HariPrasad

gslv mk3 said:


> @Vinod2070
> 
> Found this from NAL's website.
> 
> View attachment 35128




Can you pl explain what is this?


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## Sam Manekshaw



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## RPK



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## HariPrasad

98 days are left


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## gslv mk3

HariPrasad said:


> Can you pl explain what is this?



SLV 3 being tested on NAL windtunnel,1970s.

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## RPK



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## RPK



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## RPK




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## trident2010

PLSV is massive. Good luck ISRO !!


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## RPK




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## IND151

PM Narendra Modi to witness PSLV-C23 rocket launch on June 30 | idrw.org


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## gslv mk3




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## egodoc222

PM narender modi arrives at sriharikota!

modi wants isro to get involved in defence related activities...
source: times now

t-19mins


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## HariPrasad

Can anybody enlight me about how much weight carrying capability of our launch vehicle will increase if we put semi cryogenic in second stage?


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## egodoc222

per kg launch cost charged is 20k dollars

t-15mins

launch sequence begins!!

t-10 mins

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## TejasMk3



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## egodoc222

t-5mins

t-1min

andddd we haveee aa lift offff!!!!

all parameters normal!!!

ps1 seperated

ps 2 seperated

heat sheild seperated!

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## egodoc222

ps 3 solid stage ignited

range 656
alt 357
vel 3.6 km/s

nw
range 1000
alt 460
vel 5.8 km/s

stage 3 seperated!!

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## egodoc222

ps4 shut off
ran 4600
alt 660
vel 7.6 km/s

spot 7 seperated!!

a i sat seperated!!!

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## TejasMk3

Spot 7 successfully separated!

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## egodoc222

nls7 1 separated
nls7 2 sep
velox sat seperated

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## chhota bheem

success ? Congrats to all the Indians

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## TejasMk3

Yaay success!!! Gratz to isro!

Modi speech time

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## ranjeet

chhota bheem said:


> success ? Congrats to all the Indians


Congrats to you too ?

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## egodoc222

modi gives speech in ENGLISH!!!


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## trident2010

Job well done !! 



egodoc222 said:


> modi gives speech in ENGLISH!!!



Since it has international satellites on it, so makes sense.


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## ranjeet

Modi is speaking in English  
What have you Southern Indians did to him

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## egodoc222

trident2010 said:


> Job well done !!
> 
> 
> 
> Since it has international satellites on it, so makes sense.


yes!!
this is first time I've seen him gvng speech in english!!

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## Brahmos_2

ranjeet said:


> Modi is speaking in English
> What have you Southern Indians did to him



Amma Effect...

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## trident2010

Now back to Hindi

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## egodoc222

Brahmos_2 said:


> Amma Effect...


sriharikota is in andhra!!


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## Geek

Congratulations of all Indians and great work by ISRO 


ranjeet said:


> Modi is speaking in English
> What have you Southern Indians did to him


Bhai Hindi bhi bol raha hai bich bich me 



trident2010 said:


> Now back to Hindi


Modi Ji ki English thodi weak hai meri tareh

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## egodoc222

egodoc222 said:


> sriharikota is in andhra!!


no amma gimma here!!!

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## Brahmos_2

egodoc222 said:


> sriharikota is in andhra!!



But just 100 km from Chennai....Well within the range of Amma Missiles....



Geek said:


> Congratulations of all Indians and great work by ISRO
> 
> Bhai Hindi bhi bol raha hai bich bich me
> 
> 
> *Modi Ji ki English thodi weak hai meri tareh*



But far better than A K Antony's...

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## ranjeet

Brahmos_2 said:


> But just 100 km from Chennai....Well within the range of Amma Missiles....


He went there from Chennai if I am not wrong. 
He mentioned Jat raja Todar Mal ... bus pure ho gaye Modi ki jai !!!

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## egodoc222

announces saarc satellite!

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## sanddy

Modi said the mars mission costed lesser then making the movie Gravity !!!

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## Brahmos_2

OMG!! did you hear that.....SAARC SATELLITE....

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## chhota bheem

He has proposed a saarc satilite,a gift to saarc countries


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## Jason bourne

Asked students to visit BHUVAN portal ...


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## Geek

Brahmos_2 said:


> But far better than A K Antony's...


I never listen speeches of Congress or any other parties 
Only Modi 



ranjeet said:


> He went there from Chennai if I am not wrong.
> He mentioned Jat raja Todar Mal ... bus pure ho gaye Modi ki jai !!!


Yes bro he went there from Chennai even Amma came there to Welcome him 
What and Why he said about Raja Todar Mal?

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## egodoc222

he says scale skill speed are mantra of isro

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## Jason bourne

Geek said:


> I never listen speeches of Congress or any other parties
> Only Modi
> 
> 
> Yes bro he went there from Chennai even Amma came there to Welcome him
> What and Why he said about Raja Todar Mal?




Some thing about farm land testing

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## chhota bheem

GR!FF!N said:


> if anybody got the video of launch,please tag me.I watched the program after it was launched.


Someone please post the link please


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## ranjeet

Geek said:


> I never listen speeches of Congress or any other parties
> Only Modi
> 
> 
> Yes bro he went there from Chennai even Amma came there to Welcome him
> What and Why he said about Raja Todar Mal?


He said that Todar Mal started the land records system and space technology is going to further help to maintain them.

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## Geek

sanddy said:


> Modi said the mars mission costed lesser then making the movie Gravity !!!


Yes it is the budget of Gravity movie was 100 million dollars and Mars Mission cost nearly 75 Million dollar
25 Million dollars is a huge difference


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## HariPrasad

egodoc222 said:


> per kg launch cost charged is 20k dollars
> 
> t-15mins
> 
> launch sequence begins!!
> 
> t-10 mins




What is the time of Launch. Did Modiji reached there?


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## Jason bourne

HariPrasad said:


> What is the time of Launch. Did Modiji reached there?



Bhai modi was there from yeasterday read the above post he gave speech for more the 45 minutes in hindi and english ...

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## egodoc222

times now claims that modi asked isro to increase its role in defense related projects..

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## Jason bourne

egodoc222 said:


> times now claims that modi asked isro to increase its role in defense related projects..




Is it possible to merge ISRO and DRDO ..?


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## ranjeet

HariPrasad said:


> What is the time of Launch. Did Modiji reached there?


Ramayan kab ki khatam ho gayi .. aur tum puch rahe ho Sita kiska baap hai?


----------



## egodoc222

Jason bourne said:


> Is it possible to merge ISRO and DRDO ..?


i don't think they will merge them...
but isro may play increased role in missile projects!!!


----------



## Water Car Engineer

egodoc222 said:


> i don't think they will merge them...
> but isro may play increased role in missile projects!!!



Im sure they've been playing a role for some time.







SLV 3's air frame is similar to early Agnis.

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## HariPrasad

egodoc222 said:


> yes!!
> this is first time I've seen him gvng speech in english!!




In chennai, he had given one hour speech in English.



ranjeet said:


> Ramayan kab ki khatam ho gayi .. aur tum puch rahe ho Sita kiska baap hai?




Ok Man.

I was off line and see one alert. I responded to that post without further reading the thread ahead.



egodoc222 said:


> i don't think they will merge them...
> but isro may play increased role in missile projects!!!




ISRO is preparing Kinetic kill vehicle for DRDO.

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## ranjeet

HariPrasad said:


> In chennai, he had given one hour speech in English.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ok Man.
> 
> I was off line and see one alert. I responded to that post without further reading the thread ahead.


tu toh serious hi ho gaya yaar ...


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## HariPrasad

ranjeet said:


> tu toh serious hi ho gaya yaar ...




No man not at all. Just explaining what happened.

Baki mazama chho ne?

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## ranjeet

HariPrasad said:


> No man not at all. Just explaining what happened.
> 
> Baki mazama chho ne?


le re hai sawaad, tu bata ke rach ra hai !!


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## Jason bourne

HariPrasad said:


> No man not at all. Just explaining what happened.
> 
> Baki mazama chho ne?




Ani mane gujju ... kon bol ta he gujju ?

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## HariPrasad

ranjeet said:


> le re hai sawaad, tu bata ke rach ra hai !!




Mazama!!!!



Jason bourne said:


> Ani mane gujju ... kon bol ta he gujju ?


Enjoy this news and High light of Modi saheb's speech.

*PSLV-C23 launch is global endorsement of our space capability, says PM Modi*
IndiaToday.in Chennai, June 30, 2014 | UPDATED 11:18 IST







Indian rocket costs less than Hollywood movie 'Gravity': Modi 

10:34 am: Continued progress in space must remain a national mission. We must keep enhancing our space capabilities: PM.

*10:33 am:* I also ask you, to enlarge the footprint of our satellite-based navigation system, to cover all of South Asia: PM.

*10:32 am:* Today, I ask our space community, to take up the challenge, of developing a SAARC satellite: PM.

*10:31 am:* India's space program, is driven by a vision of service to humanity. Not by a desire of power: PM.

*10:31 am: *I urge Department of Space, to proactively engage with all stakeholders, to maximise use of space science in governance and development: PM.

*10:30 am: *Accurate advanced warning, and tracking of Cyclone Phailin, saved countless lives recently: PM. 

*10:29 am: *Satellite communication channels, often end up being the only mode of communication: PM.

[img src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014JUNE/modi-pslv-650_063014100831.jpg" align="left" alt="Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessing the launch of PSLV-C23." title="Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessing the launch of PSLV-C23." border="0" valign="top" hspace="0" vspace="0" >
Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessing the launch of PSLV-C23.


*10:28 am:* GIS technology has transformed policy planning, implementation. Space imaging enables modern management, conservation of water resources: PM.

*10:26 am:* Technology has a critical role in realising the vision of a Digital India - the power of 125 crore connected Indians: PM.

*10:25 am: *Such technology is fundamentally connected with the common man. As a change agent, it can empower and connect, to transform his life: PM.

*10:23 am:* I congratulate the scientists. This 'Sadhna' (penance) you have done in the lab has the power to change the lives of millions of people: PM.

*10:22 am: *Our space journey has come a long way from the humble beginnings: PM.

*10:20 am: *We are proud that our programme is indigenous. Generations of scientists have worked to make India a self-reliant space power: PM.

*10:18 am: *Our ancestors had conceived of ideas like 'Shunya' (zero) and 'flying objects', long before others: PM.



PM Narendra Modi at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.


*10:17 am: *This is a global endorsement of India's space capability: Narendra Modi.

*10:15 am:* I feel specially privileged to witness the launch in person: Narendra Modi.

*10:13 am: *PM Modi congratulates scientists for successful launch of PSLV-C23. 

*09:55 am: *Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauds ISRO for successful launching of PSLV-C23.

*09:54 am:* PSLV C23 rocket carrying five satellites, including French Earth observation satellite SPOT 7, lifts off from Sriharikota.

*09:53 am: *PSLV-C23 is carrying five satellites from four countries - France, Germany, Canada and Singapore.

*09:52 am: *PSLV-C23 lifts off from Sriharikota in PM Narendra Modi's presence.

*09:45 am: *Countdown for PSLV C-23 underway at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

*09:40 am: *PM Narendra Modi reaches Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to witness PSLV launch.

An Indian rocket carrying a French earth observation satellite and four other foreign satellites blasted off from the rocket port.
Exactly at 9.52 am, the rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C23 (PSLV-C23) - standing around 44.4 metres tall and weighing around 230 ton tore into the bright morning skies with orange flames fiercely burning at its tail.

The rocket port is around 80 km from Chennai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, space scientists and other invitees at Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket mission control room intently watched the rocket's upward flight with one way ticket.

This is the first space mission of the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

The five satellites are being launched under commercial arrangements that Antrix Corporation - ISRO's commercial arm - has entered into with the respective foreign agencies.

ISRO officials are hoping that the agency's around 20 minute crucial space mission will turn out to be a grand success.

As per the mission plan, the rocket will first spit out its heaviest and costliest luggage - SPOT-7 - around 18 minutes after the blast off.

India had launched another French satellite SPOT-6 in 2012. The latest in the SPOT family of satellites is the SPOT-7.

The ejection of SPOT-7 will be followed by AISAT (German), NLS7.1, NLS7.2 (both from Canada) and VELOX-1 (Singapore).

Starting from 1999 India has launched 35 foreign satellites till date using its PSLV rocket. The successful launch of five satellites Monday would take the tally to 40.

India began its space journey in 1975 with the launch of Aryabhatta using a Russian rocket and till date, it has completed over 100 space missions including missions to moon and mars.



Read more at: PSLV-C23 launch is global endorsement of our space capability, says PM Modi : South, News - India Today

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## SamBahadur

The Iconic photo of ISRO Scientists carrying India's First Satellite *Aryabhatta* on a bullock cart






ISRO employee carrying *Rocket parts* for Launch , on a Bicycle (1963)

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## IND151

PM Modi asks Indian space scientists to develop Saarc satellite | idrw.org


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

IND151 said:


> PM Modi asks Indian space scientists to develop Saarc satellite | idrw.org



Wats the hit per day?


----------



## IND151

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> Wats the hit per day?



?????


----------



## Bhasad Singh Mundi

IND151 said:


> ?????


idrw.org impressions/day?


----------



## AUz

Good to see some solid space capabilities from India.

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

AUz said:


> Good to see some solid space capabilities from India.

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## kaku1

*Modi asks scientists to develop satellite for SAARC countries*












This is a "global endorsement of India's space capability", said Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the successful launch of an Indian rocket that carried five foreign satellites.
Modi said: "Congratulations to everybody."

"I feel specially privileged to witness this event in person," said Modi who clapped as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C23 (PSLV-C23) - standing around 44.4 metres tall and weighing around 230 ton - tore into the bright morning skies with orange flames fiercely burning at its tail.

The rocket's main luggage is the 714 kg French earth observation satellite SPOT-7. *Also read: Space buff Modi wants scientists to build digital space museum *

Piggybacking on the main luggage are the four small satellites viz: 14-kg AISAT of Germany; NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) from Canada each weighing 15 kg; and the 7-kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.

He described it as "global endorsement of India's space capability".

*10:37 am: *India's space programme is a perfect example of my vision of scale, speed and skill: PM.

*10:36 am: *Can we also think of developing, a state-of-the-art, interactive, digital Space Museum: PM.

*10:36 am: *Technology is central to development. It touches one and all, and is an important instrument of our national progress: PM.

*10:36 am: *I have got to meet four generations of scientists and this is a big sign of progress: PM.

*10:35 am: *I was very pleased to meet our young scientists here. I admire their work and their achievements: PM.

*10:35 am: *India has the potential, to be the launch-service provider of the world. We must work towards this goal: PM.

*10:34 am: *Continued progress in space must remain a national mission. We must keep enhancing our space capabilities: PM.

*10:33 am:* I also ask you, to enlarge the footprint of our satellite-based navigation system, to cover all of South Asia: PM.

*10:32 am:* Today, I ask our space community, to take up the challenge, of developing a SAARC satellite: PM.

*10:31 am:* India's space program, is driven by a vision of service to humanity. Not by a desire of power: PM.

*10:31 am: *I urge Department of Space, to proactively engage with all stakeholders, to maximise use of space science in governance and development: PM.

*10:30 am: *Accurate advanced warning, and tracking of Cyclone Phailin, saved countless lives recently: PM.

*10:29 am: *Satellite communication channels, often end up being the only mode of communication: PM.






*10:28 am:* GIS technology has transformed policy planning, implementation. Space imaging enables modern management, conservation of water resources: PM.

*10:26 am:* Technology has a critical role in realising the vision of a Digital India - the power of 125 crore connected Indians: PM.

*10:25 am: *Such technology is fundamentally connected with the common man. As a change agent, it can empower and connect, to transform his life: PM.

*10:23 am:* I congratulate the scientists. This 'Sadhna' (penance) you have done in the lab has the power to change the lives of millions of people: PM.

*10:22 am: *Our space journey has come a long way from the humble beginnings: PM.

*10:20 am: *We are proud that our programme is indigenous. Generations of scientists have worked to make India a self-reliant space power: PM.

*10:18 am: *Our ancestors had conceived of ideas like 'Shunya' (zero) and 'flying objects', long before others: PM.






*10:17 am: *This is a global endorsement of India's space capability: Narendra Modi.

*10:15 am:* I feel specially privileged to witness the launch in person: Narendra Modi.

*10:13 am: *PM Modi congratulates scientists for successful launch of PSLV-C23.

*09:55 am: *Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauds ISRO for successful launching of PSLV-C23.

*09:54 am:* PSLV C23 rocket carrying five satellites, including French Earth observation satellite SPOT 7, lifts off from Sriharikota.

*09:53 am: *PSLV-C23 is carrying five satellites from four countries - France, Germany, Canada and Singapore.

*09:52 am: *PSLV-C23 lifts off from Sriharikota in PM Narendra Modi's presence.

*09:45 am: *Countdown for PSLV C-23 underway at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

*09:40 am: *PM Narendra Modi reaches Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to witness PSLV launch.

An Indian rocket carrying a French earth observation satellite and four other foreign satellites blasted off from the rocket port.
Exactly at 9.52 am, the rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C23 (PSLV-C23) - standing around 44.4 metres tall and weighing around 230 ton tore into the bright morning skies with orange flames fiercely burning at its tail.

The rocket port is around 80 km from Chennai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, space scientists and other invitees at Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket mission control room intently watched the rocket's upward flight with one way ticket.

This is the first space mission of the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

The five satellites are being launched under commercial arrangements that Antrix Corporation - ISRO's commercial arm - has entered into with the respective foreign agencies.

ISRO officials are hoping that the agency's around 20 minute crucial space mission will turn out to be a grand success.

As per the mission plan, the rocket will first spit out its heaviest and costliest luggage - SPOT-7 - around 18 minutes after the blast off.

India had launched another French satellite SPOT-6 in 2012. The latest in the SPOT family of satellites is the SPOT-7.

The ejection of SPOT-7 will be followed by AISAT (German), NLS7.1, NLS7.2 (both from Canada) and VELOX-1 (Singapore).
Starting from 1999 India has launched 35 foreign satellites till date using its PSLV rocket. The successful launch of five satellites Monday would take the tally to 40.

India began its space journey in 1975 with the launch of Aryabhatta using a Russian rocket and till date, it has completed over 100 space missions including missions to moon and mars.



Read more at: Modi asks scientists to develop satellite for SAARC countries : South, News - India Today

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## skysthelimit

*India’s PSLV successfully lofts SPOT 7 and companions*

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has successfully deployed the French SPOT-7 imaging satellite on Monday. Liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre was on schedule at 09:52 local time (04:22 UTC). The satellite – along with some smaller companions – was delivered to a sun-synchronous orbit around 655 kilometres (407 miles, 355 nautical miles) in altitude at an inclination of 98.23 degrees. 

*Indian Launch:*
The SPOT-7 satellite is identical to SPOT-6, which was deployed by another PSLV launch in September 2012. Both satellites are designed for ten years’ service, and were constructed by Airbus Defence and Space (formerly EADS Astrium), around the AstroSat-500 Mk.II bus.
SPOT-7 has a mass of 714 kilograms (1,574 lb) and is powered by twin solar arrays which generate 1,450 watts of power.
Two imaging systems aboard the spacecraft, the New AstroSat Optical Modular Instruments (NAOMI), are capable of producing panchromatic images at a resolution of 1.5 to 2.2 metres (4.9-7.2 feet), and multispectral images at a resolution of 6.0 to 8.8 metres (19-29 feet). These instruments can cover a swath of 60 kilometres (37 miles).






SPOT-7 is the seventh spacecraft in France’s SPOT, or Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre, programme. The first satellite in the series, SPOT-1, was placed into orbit by an Ariane 1 rocket in February 1986 and operated for four years before it was replaced by SPOT-2. Identical to its predecessor, SPOT-2 was launched by an Ariane 4 in January 1990. A third satellite was also orbited by an Ariane 4, in 1993.
In 1998 a larger satellite – SPOT-4 – was launched. This mission added a new infrared imager to the optical imaging payload carried by its predecessors. SPOT-5, which was orbited in May 2002, featured further modifications which enabled it to return higher-resolution images and produce stereoscopic images for three-dimensional mapping.
The SPOT satellites are operated by a commercial contractor, Spot Image, on behalf of the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, or CNES. Operated in the same orbit as France’s high-resolution Pleiades satellites, SPOT offers a lower-resolution, wider-angle view of the Earth’s surface to compliment the images which Pleiades returns.






Five small satellites joined SPOT-7 for its journey into orbit; Canada’s CanX-4 and CanX-5, Germany’s AISSat-1, and Singapore’s two-satellite experiment VELOX-1.
The two CanX satellites form part of the University of Toronto’s Canadian Advanced Nanospace Experiment programme.
Identical in design, the two spacecraft are based on Canada’s Generic Nanosatellite Bus, which was first demonstrated by the CanX-6 satellite which launched in 2008.






Cubic in shape, each spacecraft has a mass of around seven kilograms (15 lb) and sides measuring 20 centimetres (8 inches). Solar panels affixed to the body of the spacecraft will be used to generate power for its instruments, with a rechargeable lithium ion battery being used to store up to 5.3 amp-hours of current for use when the panels are not exposed to sunlight.
The primary objective of the two CanX satellites is technology demonstration. The satellites are both equipped with the Canadian Nanosatellite Advanced Propulsion System (CNAPS), a cold-gas three-axis stabilisation system which will enable manoeuvring and formation-flying in orbit.
The satellites will test the Formation-Flying Onboard Nanosatellite Algorithm (FIONA), a piece of software which engineers hope will allow the satellites to maintain formation once deployed. The satellites also carry GPS receivers which will be used for calculating their positions and velocities.






AISat-1 is a 14-kilogram (31 lb) satellite to be operated by the German Aerospace Centre, the DLR. Equipped with a four-metre-long (13 foot) helix antenna the satellite will be used to pick up identification and search-and-rescue signals from ships at sea and relay them to its ground stations.
The mission will also provide on-orbit testing for the Clavis satellite bus developed by the DLR, and fulfil other technology development objectives for Germany.
Singapore’s VELOX-1 consists of two satellites which will be deployed together. The smaller of the two satellites, PSAT, will be deployed from the larger, NSAT, which is a three-unit CubeSat. Destined for a two-year mission, NSAT is a 4.25 kilogram (9.37 lb) satellite. Its primary instrument is a small camera which will be used for Earth observation.
The PSAT spacecraft, which has a mass of 250 grams (8.82 ounces), will be deployed from NSAT during its mission in order to test intersatellite communications. The smaller satellite has dimensions of 3 by 6 by 7 centimetres (1.2 by 2.4 by 2.8 inches) and a life expectancy of one year.






Monday’s launch marked the twenty-seventh flight of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The workhorse of India’s space programme, the PSLV made its maiden flight in September 1994 with a failed attempt to orbit the IRS-1E remote sensing satellite. For the SPOT-7 mission, flight C23, the PSLV will fly in the Core Alone (PSLV-CA) configuration.
The Core Alone variant of the PSLV first flew in April 2007, with Monday’s launch marking its tenth flight.
The rocket consists of the same four stages as the standard PSLV, but without the six PS0M boosters which the standard configuration attaches to the first stage.
The flight of PSLV C23 began with the ignition of the first stage’s solid-fuelled S-138 motor at the T-0 point in the countdown, propelling the rocket into the sky above Sriharikota.
The powered phase of first stage flight lasted around 102 seconds, with separation occurring at 110.6 seconds after liftoff.
The second stage ignited two tenths of a second after staging, at the start of a burn which lasted around 150 seconds. Separation of the payload fairing occurred at the 176.7-second mark, with the PSLV at an altitude of 131.5 kilometres (81.7 statute miles or 71.0 nautical miles) – taking it clear of the Earth’s atmosphere.






The second stage, which is liquid-fuelled and powered by an L-40 Vikas engine burning unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide, separated 262.2 seconds into flight, making way for the solid-fuelled third stage to fire 1.2 seconds later.
The motor used on the third stage, an S-7, utilized a burn time of 110 seconds.

Ignition of the fourth stage occurred eight minutes, 51.2 seconds after liftoff, ten seconds after the rocket jettisoned its spent third stage.

The PSLV’s fourth stage was powered by a pair of L-2-5 engines, fuelled by monomethylhydrazine and mixed nitrogen oxides. Its single burn lasted eight minutes and 25.5 seconds, placing the satellites into their planned orbit at 655.1 by 657.7 kilometres (407.0 by 408.7 miles, 353.7 by 355.1 nautical miles), with inclination of 98.23 degrees.

SPOT-7 was the first of the payloads to separate, thirty seven seconds after the end of powered flight. Forty seconds later AISat-1 was released, with CanX-4 and 5 being deployed thirty and sixty seconds after that.

The final separation event was for VELOX-1-NSAT, twenty five seconds after CanX-5. The PSAT spacecraft was deployed from NSAT at a later date.






The venue for the launch of PSLV C23 was the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island.
India’s only orbital launch site, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre is named after a former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation who died in 2002. The facility was previously known as the Sriharikota High Altitude Range, or SHAR.

Despite its name, the First Launch Pad is not the oldest complex at the centre; abandoned complexes to the south were used by the Satellite Launch Vehicle and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, while the site also includes sounding rocket facilities which predate the current orbital pads.






Two orbital launch complexes are currently used at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The First Launch Pad is primarily used for PSLV launches, while the newer Second Launch Pad serves a mixture of PSLV and GSLV missions.
The second pad is currently being prepared for a suborbital launch which will mark the maiden flight of India’s newest rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.III. That mission is currently scheduled for late July or early August.

India’s next orbital launch will be made at an unspecified date later this year, with a PSLV carrying the third satellite in India’s IRNSS navigation system. Another such launch is also believed to be scheduled for the end of the year.

Overall, the PSLV launch was the thirty-fifth orbital mission of the year. Of the preceding thirty-four launches, all but one have been conducted successfully – the failure being May’s attempt by a Russian Proton-M to deploy the Ekspress-AM4R satellite.

India’s PSLV successfully lofts SPOT 7 and companions | NASASpaceFlight.com


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## HariPrasad

5 satellites in one go. Neighbor's envy owner's pride.


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## Gessler

HariPrasad said:


> 5 satellites in one go. Neighbor's envy owner's pride.



We sent 10 sats in one go in a previous mission. World record.

But these are small satellites, it would be really interesting when we transfer multiple medium/heavy sats into
orbit using GSLV Mk-2/3 in near future.

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## Parul



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## Chronos

AUz said:


> Good to see some solid space capabilities from India.



I, what the hell.

I can't comprehend this post.


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## Jason bourne

Sidak said:


>




Oye tu jinda he  me socha 282 dekh k khusi k mare nikalli hongi ...)

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## Parul

Jason bourne said:


> Oye tu jinda he  me socha 282 dekh k khusi k mare nikalli hongi ...)



With every passing day, Forum's quality is touching new heights. Hence, I don't spend much time here.


----------



## Sam Manekshaw



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## Sam Manekshaw



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## Agent_47



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## Gessler

Agent_47 said:


>



Are newer statistics available (2013 & 2014) ??


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## kaku1

Gessler said:


> Are newer statistics available (2013 & 2014) ??



They are actually low, we only seeing 7-8 launches in a year from Indian launch vehicles/


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## Parul

The world map of PSLV:





The Polar satellite launch vehicle has so far orbited 40 satellites from 19 foreign countries. With a record of 26 successive successes behind it, our workhorse PSLV is certainly a reliable launcher that has the confidence of the international space fraternity. Antrix corporation limited, ISRO’s marketing wing, continues to take PSLV to the world.

The world map of PSLV

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## gslv mk3

*NAL India performs Dynamic testing of RLV-TD models

*





*RLV Concept (Credit ISRO)*[


Reusable Launch Vehicle is envisioned by ISRO as an alternative to expendable launch vehicles to cut down the cost of space transportation. To achieve this goal, ISRO is currently developing a _Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator _(RLV-TD) to act as a platform to demonstrate various technologies like
1) hypersonic flight, 

2) autonomous landing, 

3) flush air data measurements,

4) Re-entry thermal protection systems, etc.





*RLV-TD Ascent and Descent configuration models (Credit NAL)*

ISRO is utilizing various NAL facilities to perform tests on scaled model of RLV-TD. Dynamic tests were performed by NAL using forced oscillation rig to determine the pitch/yaw damping characteristics of a scaled model of RLV-TD configuration. This will help in building flight stability augmentation system for both ascent and descent configuration of RLV-TD. These tests were carried out in the 1.2 m trisonic wind tunnel facility. 






*RLV-TD Ascent configuration model in wind tunnel testing at NAL.*
*





RLV-TD Descent configuration model in wind tunnel testing at NAL.

*

*ISRO Air Breathing Propulsion*
















Extensive CFD analysis has been going on to understand various phenomena that occurs inside scramjet engine in a flight.






*CFD Analysis of scramjet inlet @ ISRO.*





*CFD Analysis of scramjet inlet @ ISRO.*






*Scramjet Engine Intake CFD flows @ ISRO.*

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## IND151

GSLV Mark 3 gets Rs 161 crore boost | idrw.org

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## Gessler

Some pics of PSLVs with shock condensation collar during launch...it's nothing strange, just a regular phenomenon, but
interesting.

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## samy1618

gslv mk3 said:


> *NAL India performs Dynamic testing of RLV-TD models
> 
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *RLV Concept (Credit ISRO)*[
> 
> 
> Reusable Launch Vehicle is envisioned by ISRO as an alternative to expendable launch vehicles to cut down the cost of space transportation. To achieve this goal, ISRO is currently developing a _Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator _(RLV-TD) to act as a platform to demonstrate various technologies like
> 1) hypersonic flight,
> 
> 2) autonomous landing,
> 
> 3) flush air data measurements,
> 
> 4) Re-entry thermal protection systems, etc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *RLV-TD Ascent and Descent configuration models (Credit NAL)*
> 
> ISRO is utilizing various NAL facilities to perform tests on scaled model of RLV-TD. Dynamic tests were performed by NAL using forced oscillation rig to determine the pitch/yaw damping characteristics of a scaled model of RLV-TD configuration. This will help in building flight stability augmentation system for both ascent and descent configuration of RLV-TD. These tests were carried out in the 1.2 m trisonic wind tunnel facility.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *RLV-TD Ascent configuration model in wind tunnel testing at NAL.*
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> RLV-TD Descent configuration model in wind tunnel testing at NAL.
> 
> *
> 
> *ISRO Air Breathing Propulsion*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Extensive CFD analysis has been going on to understand various phenomena that occurs inside scramjet engine in a flight.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *CFD Analysis of scramjet inlet @ ISRO.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *CFD Analysis of scramjet inlet @ ISRO.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Scramjet Engine Intake CFD flows @ ISRO.*


These details r old one..any one has the latest info on these...RLV


----------



## Nan Yang

kaku1 said:


> They are actually low, we only seeing 7-8 launches in a year from Indian launch vehicles/



Here are more details of all launches including new comers such as Iran and S Korea.

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## IND151

Isro to launch GSAT-15 and GSAT-16 by mid-2015 | idrw.org


----------



## IND151

Brazilian earth station to get data from Indian satellites | idrw.org

India plans another Mars mission in 2017-20 | idrw.org

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## HariPrasad

Gessler said:


> Some pics of PSLVs with shock condensation collar during launch...it's nothing strange, just a regular phenomenon, but
> interesting.




Look at the power of the Motor. Flame of the rocket motor is an indicator of that.


----------



## IND151

HariPrasad said:


> Look at the power of the Motor. Flame of the rocket motor is an indicator of that.



The flame of the Mk 3 will be much bigger than this.

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## HariPrasad

IND151 said:


> The flame of the Mk 3 will be much bigger than this.




Flame of PSLV should be 100 M Long. My guise.


----------



## acetophenol

http://www.isro.org/

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## he-man

acetophenol said:


> You have to like this post in
> order to see this linkYou have to like this post in
> order to see this linkYou have to like this post in
> order to see this linkYou have to like this post in
> order to see this link




i fell for it,,,**** i fell for that stupid trick

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## indiatester

acetophenol said:


> You have to like this post in order to see this link


Here you go. *I like this post*.

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## he-man

indiatester said:


> Here you go. *I like this post*.



dammit i feel stupid,,,i may be actually but i never felt that before

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## indiatester

he-man said:


> dammit i feel stupid,,,i may be actually but i never felt that before


It was actually pretty funny
I didn't get @acetophenol 's context though.

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## acetophenol

indiatester said:


> It was actually pretty funny
> I didn't get @acetophenol 's context though.





he-man said:


> i fell for it,,,**** i fell for that stupid trick



Nothing guys,just messing around

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## he-man

acetophenol said:


> Nothing guys,just messing around



u will pay,,,oh yeah.
i am coming for u

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## ANPP

he-man said:


> u will pay,,,oh yeah.
> i am coming for u


 
hey He-man
.
.
.
We should gift you she-man.
.
.
combo.....marti nhi hai and marati nhi.

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## he-man

ANPP said:


> hey He-man
> .
> .
> .
> We should gift you she-man.
> .
> .
> combo.....marti nhi hai and marati nhi.



i accept all kinds of gifts

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## ANPP

he-man said:


> i accept all kinds of gifts


 
Take it light hearted yar.......just a joke.


----------



## IND151

????????????????

Why I have to like this post


----------



## he-man

ANPP said:


> Take it light hearted yar.......just a joke.



damn meaning no gift for me??
u lied through ur teeth..................


----------



## indiatester

he-man said:


> dammit i feel stupid,,,i may be actually but i never felt that before


What do you know... it was a bug on the forum (or a feature) So you can blame PDF like you do about DRDO


----------



## he-man

indiatester said:


> What do you know... it was a bug on the forum (or a feature) So you can blame PDF like you do about DRDO



na man,,i am a reasonable fellow.
i am against only repeat offenders


----------



## Military fancier

Contrarian said:


> *India takes giant leap in space initiative*
> Friday, March 2, 2007 (Thiruvananthapuram):
> 
> For the first time ever, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has allocated Rs 50 crore for ISRO's manned space initiatives in an indication that India is very serious about its manned space faring ambitions.
> 
> If all goes according to plan, a 50 metre tall and more than 400 tonne rocket will put an Indian in space.
> 
> The Geostationary Launch Vehicle is being fine tuned by ISRO for India's first manned space flight, possibly in 2014 from Sriharikota.
> 
> The new national effort was announced by the Finance Minister in his budget speech.
> 
> ISRO is also developing a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew into a low Earth orbit.
> 
> Crew module
> 
> The mission, which will place India in the league of Russia, USA and China, is estimated to cost about Rs 10,000 crore but will be a boon for the domestic industry.
> 
> "We have carried out a detailed feasibility study of carrying humans into orbit and bringing them back using existing vehicles. We feel by using the GSLV Mark II it is possible to undertake this mission but a lot more technology has to be developed. This is quite exciting and challenging for our youngsters who are joining and hopefully we feel we will be able to do it by 2014," said B N Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvananthapuram.
> 
> Work has begun at the highly guarded facilities at Thiruvananthapuram. NDTV was shown the first drawings of the crew module and the escape vehicle if something goes wrong in the manned flight.
> 
> It is the life support system that will take most development.
> 
> Hardware like heat resistant tiles to protect astronauts on the return to Earth have already been developed and the success of the satellite recovery experiment earlier this month demonstrated India's capability in re-entry technology.
> 
> Finally a capsule six times heavier will take Indians into space.
> 
> A new race to space has begun with India and China vying to find their place. All what happens at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre will decide how soon and how fast India moves in this demanding area.
> 
> Untitled Page


Words without actions are of little use.


----------



## gslv mk3

Military fancier said:


> Words without actions are of little use.



Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.

@Military fancier need more info ?


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?



there is no manned mission without gslv mk3


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> there is no manned mission without gslv mk3



Earlier it was planned with mk2


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Earlier it was planned with mk2



didn't know that


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> didn't know that



Yes it was.But with mk3,we can do it with a three men crew.


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Yes it was.But with mk3,we can do it with a three men crew.



first mk3 needs to be successful in at least 3-4 attempts to be deemed safe for human flight.
lets wait for that


----------



## Military fancier

AgNoStiC MuSliM said:


> *The road to India's Cryogenic Engine*​
> Armies tend to herald their victories with the blowing of bugles. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chose to announce its entry into the exclusive club of nations capable of building cryogenic engines with a thunderous sound of a rocket test that lasted 12 long minutes.
> View attachment 39194
> View attachment 39196
> View attachment 39195
> View attachment 39197
> View attachment 39198
> View attachment 39200
> 
> 
> The sound, equivalent to that of 10 Jumbo jets taking off simultaneously, reverberated across the Mahendragiri hills in Tamil Nadu where Indias ultra-modern liquid engine test facility is located.
> 
> It signalled the culmination of ISROs 13-year quest to build engines using cryogenic fuels that are super-cooled to around minus 250 degrees. (Cryo originates from the Greek word Kryos which literally means ice-cold.)
> 
> The quest began in 1993 when Russia, under pressure from the US, reneged from an agreement to supply India with the technology to build such engines. The Americans successfully argued that it would give India the capability to launch Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
> 
> ISRO needed cryogenic engines to power the upper stages of its Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) which is capable of putting two-tonne INSAT-class communications satellite into a geo-synchronous orbit at 36,000 km above the earth.
> 
> Cryogenic engines that use a mixture of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen as propellants are highly efficient providing more bounce per ounce of fuel.
> 
> The thrust these engines generate is usually 50 per cent more than that provided either by liquid or solid rockets for the same weight of fuel (see graphic). In doing so, it gives a space-faring nation the flexibility to put heavier satellites or other payloads into space.
> 
> So as not to delay its GSLV programme, ISRO renegotiated the agreement with Russia for outright purchase of two cryogenic engines.
> 
> It simultaneously began designing and building an indigenous cryogenic engine similar to the Russian one for future flights. ISRO had hoped to complete the indigenous project within five years but the sheer complexity of building such an engine frustrated scientists for many years.
> 
> Barring the performance designs given by the Russians, the fully assembled engines purchased by them were, as one scientist put it, like a blackbox.
> 
> That meant that ISRO had to do everything from scratch. Given that the rocket has to withstand extremely hostile temperatures that vary from super-cooled temperatures before ignition to superhot ones when it fires, metallurgy was a key hurdle that had to be overcome.
> 
> The right alloys had to be developed that could take these massive temperature fluctuations and also keep the weight of the engine down.
> 
> There were other complications. The problem with liquid hydrogen is that it has a tendency to return to its gaseous form rapidly and is highly inflammable.
> 
> 
> Cryogenic engine under testIt ignites spontaneously when it comes in contact with atmosphere. So the temperature has to be tightly monitored and the pipelines and pumps through which liquid hydrogen is fed have to be totally leak proof. This meant that joints had to be welded rather than screwed tight.
> 
> The cryogenic engines project director Mohammed Muslim says, There is absolutely no margin for error. Other major hurdles were developing the thrust chamber, which required intricate grooves to be machined, and the high speed turbo pumps.
> 
> Initial efforts by ISRO engineers met with little success. The first test that took place in 1999 ended in abject failure when one of the gas generators blew on the test stand.
> 
> With delays inevitable, in 2001 ISRO negotiated with the Russians to supply five more cryogenic engines to power its GSLV flights at a cost of $5 million (Rs 20 crore) each.
> 
> It was only in 2006 that the ISRO team felt it had, to an extent, mastered the range of technologies needed for the test. The first firing of the engine in October 2006 went off smoothly for the planned 50-second duration.
> 
> Emboldened, the scientists tried for a longer duration in January 2007 but had to abort it within 30 seconds as an extraneous fire occurred in one of the pipelines. More recently in August this year, the system fired smoothly for 500 seconds but because of a technical glitch, it had to be aborted before completion.
> 
> After identifying the problem, the scientists felt that it was a minor issue and so scheduled another test for mid-November. They waited anxiously at the Mahendragiri test stand to watch as the countdown began for the engine. This time the test was flawless.
> 
> ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair, who was there too, told India Today: For ISRO, it is the culmination of the development of rocket technologywe are now totally self-reliant in the entire range of rocketry whether solid, liquid or cryogenic.
> 
> Nair points out that the development was critical not just because of the foreign exchange it saves but also because getting cryogenic engines from the international market is proving increasingly difficult.
> 
> He says, Not only were other nations asking for the moon in terms of price but they were also not available for the next five years. He denies that India took Russian help to develop the engine as alleged by some scientists and points out that ISRO not only indigenously developed a host of new materials needed for the engine but also the various critical components for it.
> 
> Much more though needs to be done. The research organisation is in the process of building the more powerful GSLV Mark III launch vehicle capable of putting a four-tonne INSAT class satellite in orbit, almost twice the weight of its current capacity.
> 
> For this, an all new heavy cryogenic engine is being developed. The first test is being planned next year. Even the recently tested cryogenic engine has to be modified if it has to fly for a future mission to carry slightly heavier satellites than the existing two-tonne class.
> 
> More importantly, the proof of ISROs capability would be demonstrated only when the cryogenic engine that it has developed flies on the GSLV and performs perfectly. Till then, ISRO scientists can take the much deserved credit while keeping their fingers firmly crossed.
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Russian tech assistance to India has been outstanding - no wonder India is loath to damage such ties over Gorshkov's - though we'll have to wait and see....





zeus said:


> we should thank Russia for providing Cryogenic engine which was never tested in russia it self ,was not up to the mark and was hard casing you open it you will never be able to put it back ,thank god our Cryogenic engine will be more tested and reliable then those





gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?





gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?





gslv mk3 said:


> Earlier it was planned with mk2





gslv mk3 said:


> Yes it was.But with mk3,we can do it with a three men crew.


That year, colonel yang liwei orbited the earth 14 times aboard the shenzhou5 space capsule.









Two years later, the shenzhou vi carried two astronauts into space on a five-day mission.


he-man said:


> didn't know that





gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?


That year, colonel yang liwei orbited the earth 14 times aboard the shenzhou5 space capsule


he-man said:


> first mk3 needs to be successful in at least 3-4 attempts to be deemed safe for human flight.
> lets wait for that





gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?


That year, colonel yang liwei orbited the earth 14 times aboard the shenzhou5 space capsule.








Two years later, the shenzhou vi carried two astronauts into space on a five-day mission.




China shenzhou 7 first space walk-coole commercials.










The unmanned shenzhou 8 mission is planned to dock with tiangong 1 in late2011


----------



## Military fancier

gslv mk3 said:


> Its already underway.but the government haven't allocated much for a manned mission.
> 
> @Military fancier need more info ?


china shenzhou 10


----------



## gslv mk3

@Military fancier

So what ? post these threads in relevant threads - Chinese Space Capabilities | Page 38


----------



## Military fancier

gslv mk3 said:


> @Military fancier
> 
> So what ? post these threads in relevant threads - Chinese Space Capabilities | Page 38


All talk and no action is useless.


----------



## gslv mk3

Military fancier said:


> All talk and no action is useless.



Nothing can be done until funds are allocated.learn that first.


----------



## Bhasad Singh Mundi

Military fancier said:


> All talk and no action is useless.


We will take our time. Unlike you, We dont have funds to buy russia technology like soyuz etc.


----------



## Military fancier

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> We will take our time. Unlike you, We dont have funds to buy russia technology like soyuz etc.


This could be a good excuse.


----------



## IND151

ANPP said:


> hey He-man
> .
> .
> .
> We should gift you she-*man*.
> .
> .
> combo.....marti nhi hai and marati nhi.



Woman..................


----------



## IND151

Military fancier said:


> This could be a good excuse.



Not too long ago you guys (all India bashers) were laughing at us for problems in GSLV .

Then came the day of 5th January 2014.

Most trolls didn't dare to come on that the thread.

So be careful when you utter words, as far as our human space mission is considered, it is not priority as of now.

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## gslv mk3

old images...

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## ANPP

IND151 said:


> Woman..................



Are yaar She-male


----------



## IND151

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> We will take our time. Unlike you, We dont have funds to buy russia technology like soyuz etc.



Ignore him.

He will be pinkwasi soon.


----------



## he-man

Even russians are struggling now,,,,proton m has crashed 2 times in the previous attempts,they have no money for r&d and result is before everyone.

I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch.

Second problem is due to bad metallurgy our cryo has an inferior t/w ratio compared to global counterparts,,,we need to speed up research there too

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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
> currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch.



Ever heard of CE 20 & SC 200 ?

inferior t/w ratio ?


----------



## Echo_419

he-man said:


> Even russians are struggling now,,,,proton m has crashed 2 times in the previous attempts,they have no money for r&d and result is before everyone.
> 
> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
> currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch.
> 
> Second problem is due to bad metallurgy our cryo has an inferior t/w ratio compared to global counterparts,,,we need to speed up research there too



& well govt has indeed increased the spending on Our nuclear & space programs 
Let's wait for next budget govt will have a lot more money to spend on R&D

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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Ever heard of CE 20 & SC 200 ?
> 
> inferior t/w ratio ?




Man here is a difference between trying to produce and a thing that has been produced,,,are u too naive to even understand this??

U thought t/w is only for fighter engines??
sorry no.


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Man here is a difference between trying to produce and a thing that has been produced,,,are u too naive to even understand this??



And what does this mean ?



he-man said:


> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos...



If we can make a staged combustion cycle cryogenic engine,we can do the same with a much easier gas generator cycle engine 



he-man said:


> U thought t/w is only for fighter engines??
> sorry no.



Tell me,how much is the weight of an engine a fraction of total mass of final stage of GSLV ?


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> And what does this mean ?
> 
> 
> 
> If we can make a staged combustion cycle cryogenic engine,we can do the same with a much easier gas generator cycle engine
> 
> 
> 
> Tell me,how much is the weight of an engine a fraction of total mass of final stage of GSLV ?



U are the most arrogant fanboy i have come across,,,,we have produced a small fucking 75 kn cryo after trying to copy a russian one for 20 years,,,and u are going bananas on this achievement!!
We had the blueprints of russian cryo,everyone knows that and it still took us 20 freaking years,,,all right still its a good achievement but u are constantly laughing at china which has a far far superior cryo and launch vehicle at its disposal which irks me.
U see i have allergy to fanboys like u

And what the hell are u babbling??
When we get to 600 kn then u can say shit,,till keep quiet and stop behaving like drdo.


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> U are the most arrogant fanboy i have come across,,,,we have produced a small fucking 75 kn cryo after *trying to copy a russian one* for 20 years,,,and u are going bananas on this achievement!!
> *We had the blueprints of russian cryo*,everyone knows that and it still took us 20 freaking years,,,all right still its a good achievement but u are constantly laughing at china which has a far far superior cryo and launch vehicle at its disposal which irks me.
> U see i have allergy to fanboys like u
> 
> And what the hell are u babbling??
> When we get to 600 kn then u can say shit,,till keep quiet and stop behaving like drdo.



  

Nothing about the questions I asked.


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Nothing about the questions I asked.



Anyone reading knows what i have written is correct,,the answers u seek are in public domain,,i can just download it from the isro site,,there is nothing secret in that super fanboy.


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Anyone reading knows what i have written is correct,,the answers u seek are in public domain,,i can just download it from the isro site,,there is nothing secret in that super fanboy.



No replies,again..


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> No replies,again..



a stupid answer again,,expected only from u
keep on propagating shit here,,,good for u


----------



## gslv mk3

Basically, both engines use the “staged combustion cycle”. That is one approach compared with gas generator cycle, which we are using for the C20 engine to be used in GSLV MkIII.* There are several other differences, conceptually also, especially the igniter system that we are using, which is totally different from what has been used in the Russian engine. [In MkII liquid oxygen (LOX) and gaseous hydrogen (GH2) are ignited by pyrogen-type igniters in the pre-burner as well as in the main and steering engines during initial stages, as against pyrotechnic ignition in the Russian engine.*] But in the staged combustion cycle, similarities can be found in the way the engine is started and the steering engines are used for controllability.

*ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan*



he-man said:


> a stupid answer again,,expected only from u
> keep on propagating shit here,,,good for u



Take your whining elsewhere false flag.


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Basically, both engines use the “staged combustion cycle”. That is one approach compared with gas generator cycle, which we are using for the C20 engine to be used in GSLV MkIII.* There are several other differences, conceptually also, especially the igniter system that we are using, which is totally different from what has been used in the Russian engine. [In MkII liquid oxygen (LOX) and gaseous hydrogen (GH2) are ignited by pyrogen-type igniters in the pre-burner as well as in the main and steering engines during initial stages, as against pyrotechnic ignition in the Russian engine.*] But in the staged combustion cycle, similarities can be found in the way the engine is started and the steering engines are used for controllability.
> 
> *ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan*
> 
> 
> 
> Take your whining elsewhere false flag.



Dosen't change the fact that we had russian engine and blueprints for reference,,i never said its a complete copy.



gslv mk3 said:


> Basically, both engines use the “staged combustion cycle”. That is one approach compared with gas generator cycle, which we are using for the C20 engine to be used in GSLV MkIII.* There are several other differences, conceptually also, especially the igniter system that we are using, which is totally different from what has been used in the Russian engine. [In MkII liquid oxygen (LOX) and gaseous hydrogen (GH2) are ignited by pyrogen-type igniters in the pre-burner as well as in the main and steering engines during initial stages, as against pyrotechnic ignition in the Russian engine.*] But in the staged combustion cycle, similarities can be found in the way the engine is started and the steering engines are used for controllability.
> 
> *ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan*
> 
> 
> Take your whining elsewhere false flag.




every indian and pakistani on this site knows fully well that i am an indian,,,don't bring it up again sucker


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Dosen't change the fact that we had russian engine and blueprints for reference



I guess you know what is the meaning of 'conceptual differences'



he-man said:


> every indian and pakistani on this site knows fully well that i am an indian


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> I guess you know what is the meaning of 'conceptual differences'



really thats it??
u wanna challenge i am an indian now u drdo super troll??

If u are in delhi,,just give me ur adress and the black eye on ur face will prove that i am an indian.
What a low life,,,are u a clerk or peon in drdo/hal??


----------



## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> really thats it??
> u wanna challenge i am an indian now u drdo super troll??
> 
> If u are in delhi,,just give me ur adress and the black eye on ur face will prove that i am an indian.
> What a low life,,,are u a clerk or peon in drdo/hal??



F*ck off whiner.


----------



## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> F*ck off whiner.



So that settles it then,,u are a clerk in hal/drdo.
Good for u


----------



## Bhasad Singh Mundi

he-man said:


> Even russians are struggling now,,,,proton m has crashed 2 times in the previous attempts,they have no money for r&d and result is before everyone.
> 
> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
> currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch.
> 
> Second problem is due to bad metallurgy our cryo has an inferior t/w ratio compared to global counterparts,,,we need to speed up research there too



Thats the problem, meager funding. We can accelerate many programs like RLV-td, ATV etc with more funds. Currently, many of these programs share resources. CE20 engine development got delayed because the program was test facility with CE7.5 program. Only recently, ISRO created a dedicated test facility for CE20.

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## he-man

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> Thats the problem, meager funding. We can accelerate many programs like RLV-td, ATV etc with more funds. Currently, many of these programs share resources. CE20 engine development got delayed because the program was test facility with CE7.5 program. Only recently, ISRO created a dedicated test facility for CE20.



I know this very well,,last year the budget was sub 1 billion$ and most of it goes to making satellites and launching them,,,hardly anything for r&d.

It need to be jacked to at least 2-3 billion$,,we can easily afford it and secondly the pslv needs to be delegated to private players fully and isro should be fully focussed on gslv.

I know this is not possible suddenly but should be done in phases in next 5 years.


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

he-man said:


> I know this very well,,last year the budget was sub 1 billion$ and most of it goes to making satellites and launching them,,,hardly anything for r&d.
> 
> It need to be jacked to at least 2-3 billion$,,we can easily afford it and secondly the pslv needs to be delegated to private players fully and isro should be fully focussed on gslv.
> 
> I know this is not possible suddenly but should be done in phases in next 5 years.



The problem is socialists in India will start crying over any more money being allocated to space prgram.


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## he-man

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> The problem is socialists in India will start crying over any more money being allocated to space prgram.



**** the socialists,,,i don't give one flying **** to them.


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> So that settles it then,,u are a clerk in hal/drdo.
> Good for u









Talk about t/w ratio..

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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> View attachment 39517
> 
> 
> Talk about t/w ratio..



My god really??
I was comparing t/w between our ce 7.5 and other cryogenic engines................damn i expected something better from u man.


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> My god really??
> I was comparing t/w between our ce 7.5 and other cryogenic engines................damn i expected something better from u man.



Dude how much difference it is going to make ? The payload capacity of gslv mk2 is more than mk1!.Weight of stages can be reduced by other means -like a FRP payload fairing.

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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Dude how much difference it is going to make ? The payload capacity of gslv mk2 is more than mk1!.Weight of stages can be reduced by other means -like a FRP payload fairing.



Its about having a better engine,everything matters.
And seriously we are a huge huge amount behind.

U see this engine??
YF-75 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was made by china in 1994,,,exactly 20 years back with almost same specs as our ce-7.5

And now they use this monster
YF-77 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

They made this in 2007,,,7 years back meaning they are on to something even bigger than this.

Look at the japanese one
LE-7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dude we are nowhere in the picture,,,while we catch up they will be on to something even bigger

And i am yet to post american ,russian and european engines here,,,damn that would be utter embarrasment


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Its about having a better engine,everything matters.
> And seriously we are a huge huge amount behind.
> 
> U see this engine??
> YF-75 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> It was made by china in 1994,,,exactly 20 years back with almost same specs as our ce-7.5
> 
> And now they use this monster
> YF-77 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> They made this in 2007,,,7 years back meaning they are on to something even bigger than this.
> 
> Look at the japanese one
> LE-7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> Dude we are nowhere in the picture,,,while we catch up they will be on to something even bigger
> 
> And i am yet to post american ,russian and european engines here,,,damn that would be utter embarrasment



Dude its an evolution,next up is the CE 20- &SCE 200.


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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Dude its an evolution,next up is the CE 20- &SCE 200.



i know all that,,i am mere pointing out that to reach their level we have to outspend them,,,which is not really possible at this point.
But we should at least allocate 1 billion$ seperately for cryogenics every year,,its well worth it.

I can gurantee u that with such money we will have 1000 kn cryogenic running in 5 years time but yeah i know we are not aiming for bigger cryos,,after ce 20 we will move into semi cryos probably.


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> which is not really possible at this point.



We are not in a space race,are we? We have set our priorities.


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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> We are not in a space race,are we? We have set our priorities.



We are in a race,indeed we are


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## Echo_419

he-man said:


> We are in a race,indeed we are



I agree with this one
we don't want to be caught with our pants down again 
1st time it was the lack of navy becauz of which we were colonized & Humiliated by the Brits 
Never again shall our children should share the same fate that our ancestors did

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## he-man

Echo_419 said:


> I agree with this one
> we don't want to be caught with our pants down again
> 1st time it was the lack of navy becauz of which we were colonized & Humiliated by the Brits
> Never again shall our children should share the same fate that our ancestors did



Indeed,who knows what happens next,,,space may be weaponized.
We need to be prepared


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## samy1618

gslv mk3 said:


> We are not in a space race,are we? We have set our priorities.







he-man said:


> We are in a race,indeed we are


I don't know what you both r fighting for or about . Rather than working in tandem we r bitching each other.. Not good .. And by the way we r hell in a race ..a race to achieve greatness, as this cruel world is not belong to loosers as they will perish like the way you both know whome... But is for the winners who helps in change this world to their Wants... As life itself is a race..isn't it

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## ANPP

he-man said:


> Anyone reading knows what i have written is correct,,the answers u seek are in public domain,,i can just download it from the isro site,,there is nothing secret in that super fanboy.



Lower T/W always doesn't meat to be inferior quality if products......................Lower efficiency of GSLV is due to because its lower power. I mean if you develop 100cc engine of 100kg weight than it doesn't mean that 200cc engine weight would be 200kg. Definitely bigger engine would have efficient T/W ratio.
If your intentions were to bring ISRO's technical backwardness to public, than everybody know about that. Your humble contribution really doesn't contribute here.

And few days earlier you were admiring ISRO on its achievements............................you evoked too much early from your fantasy boy.


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## he-man

ANPP said:


> Lower T/W always doesn't meat to be inferior quality if products......................Lower efficiency of GSLV is due to because its lower power. I mean if you develop 100cc engine of 100kg weight than it doesn't mean that 200cc engine weight would be 200kg. Definitely bigger engine would have efficient T/W ratio.
> If your intentions were to bring ISRO's technical backwardness to public, than everybody know about that. Your humble contribution really doesn't contribute here.
> 
> And few days earlier you were admiring ISRO on its achievements............................you evoked too much early from your fantasy boy.




I posted the figures on how far we are behind and there is nothing wrong in knowing that,,,,achievements are good and all but we need to do better.

The discussion here was on our cryogenic tech and i just posted that china developed a similar cryo with 78 kn thrust in 1994 itself and uses a 700 kn one now,,,so we better buck up


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> china developed a similar cryo with 78 kn thrust in 1994 itself and uses a 700 kn one now



So it took 20 years.


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

gslv mk3 said:


> So it took 20 years.



theres no 700kn engine in use.

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## IND151

he-man said:


> Even russians are struggling now,,,,proton m has crashed 2 times in the previous attempts,they have no money for r&d and result is before everyone.
> 
> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
> *currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch*.
> 
> Second problem is due to bad metallurgy our cryo has an inferior t/w ratio compared to global counterparts,,,we need to speed up research there too



They have pumped much more money than us.



> The CE-20 is the first Indian cryogenic engine to feature a gas-generator cycle.[3] The engine produces a nominal thrust of 200 kN, but has an operating thrust range between 180 kN to 220 kN and can be set to any fixed values between them. The combustion chamber burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen at 6 MPa with 5.05 engine mixture ratio. The engine has a thrust-to-weight ratio of 34.7 and a specific impulse of 444 seconds (4.35 km/s) in vacuum.



Be assured, power of Indian cryogenic engines will only increase in coming years.


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## he-man

IND151 said:


> They have pumped much more money than us.
> 
> 
> 
> Be assured, power of Indian cryogenic engines will only increase in coming years.



Who denies they have not pumped money.
Point is can't we even pump 1billion$ extra per year on research??

Thats the whole point man


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## IND151

he-man said:


> Who denies they have not pumped money.
> Point is can't we even pump 1billion$ extra per year on research??
> 
> Thats the whole point man



As our economy improves and crosses the mark of two trillion dollars, you will see many pleasant changes.

Right now lack of funds is holding back may projects.


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## he-man

IND151 said:


> As our economy improves and crosses the mark of two trillion dollars, you will see many pleasant changes.
> 
> Right now lack of funds is holding back may projects.



We have no problem in giving 1 billion$ extra to isro at all if we can afford(which i doubt) 15-20 billion per year on food security and god knows how much more in stupid schemes.

As i stated earlier,,its all about vision,,don't expect shit when fools are sitting at the top


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## indiatester

he-man said:


> We have no problem in giving 1 billion$ extra to isro at all if we can afford(which i doubt) 15-20 billion per year on food security and god knows how much more in stupid schemes.
> 
> As i stated earlier,,its all about vision,,don't expect shit when fools are sitting at the top


As the saying goes... *if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys*

A few of my friends actually quit ISRO & BEL just for pay!

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## he-man

indiatester said:


> As the saying goes... *if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys*
> 
> A few of my friends actually quit ISRO & BEL just for pay!



Everyone knows this man,,i have been saying this for a year now.
Pay them well and see what happens in 5 years.

Also can't we spare just 1 billion$ for research per year??
damn

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## bloo

Can't wait for the maiden launch of the crew module on board the GSLV Mk3........
Is the launch this month or the next????

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## Sam Manekshaw



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## Parul



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## bloo

This year too will be great for ISRO if the crew module and GSLV Mk3 and MOM succeed.

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## gslv mk3

@he-man


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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> @he-man



Too small...............we need a capability of at least 4500---5000 kg in geo....................so that we can launch our own heavier communication satellites based on 1-4k bus series.

So minimum requirement is gslv mk3


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Too small...............we need a capability of at least 4500---5000 kg in geo....................so that we can launch our own heavier communication satellites based on 1-4k bus series.
> 
> So minimum requirement is gslv mk3



I wanted you to note the icrease in payload.Yes,mk 3 will come around 2016

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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> I wanted you to note the icrease in payload.Yes,mk 3 will come around 2016



It hasen't been tested fully...........even ce 7.5 needs to be successful 3-4 times continuously to be deemed a real success


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> It hasen't been tested fully...........even* ce 7.5 needs to be successful 3-4 times continuously to be deemed a real success[*/quote]
> 
> Thats why I said 2016-2017 .Don't agree about the bold part though.


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## he-man

Really??!!
To be considered reliable a launch vehicle has to be successful multiple times,,whats so difficult to grasp here?


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> Really??!!
> To be considered reliable a launch vehicle has to be successful multiple times,,whats so difficult to grasp here?



Check how many times pslv was tested before it was declared operational.other systems on gslv are flight proven anyway


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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> Check how many times pslv was tested before it was declared operational.other systems on gslv are flight proven anyway



There is a difference between terms operational and reliable
I used the word reliable here


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> There is a difference between terms operational and reliable



operational=proven as per ISRO


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## he-man

gslv mk3 said:


> operational=proven as per ISRO



No its not,,,for human space flight,it needs to be reliable.
For satellites its fine though


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## gslv mk3

he-man said:


> No its not,,,for human space flight,it needs to be reliable.
> For satellites its fine though



Let the government approve $1 billion budget for HSP.Anyway we would use gslv mk3 for that.

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## Chanakya's_Chant

gslv mk3 said:


> operational=proven as per ISRO





he-man said:


> There is a difference between terms operational and reliable
> I used the word reliable here



Hey you guys - why don't you join us at Defence Addicts? Facebook - A FB group of PDF members out here - you both will be valuable addition to the group!  Please do consider to join!

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## he-man

Chanakya's_Chant said:


> Hey you guys - why don't you join us at Defence Addicts? Facebook - A FB group of PDF members out here - you both will be valuable addition to the group!  Please do consider to join!



Are u there already??


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## Chanakya's_Chant

he-man said:


> Are u there already??



Yes of course - me and some 55 regular PDF members - real ID's!

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## he-man

Chanakya's_Chant said:


> Yes of course - me and some 55 regular PDF members - real ID's!


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## Chanakya's_Chant

he-man said:


>



Kya hua?


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## he-man

Chanakya's_Chant said:


> Kya hua?



Nothing man.............i may join,,,depends.

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## RPK



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## bloo

Our humble MOM amidst the sea of American, Russian and Soviet launches.

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## The A-5

bloo said:


> Our humble MOM amidst the sea of American, Russian and *Chinese* launches.
> 
> View attachment 41364



Where is Chinese one? Those are Soviet flags.


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## The A-5

bloo said:


>



Guys, why do you quote and popularize lowlife trolls like him? Just report their posts, the intention is to keep
the threads clean, now even if the mods remove his post, the content will stay back in your quotes, the thread will
be made dirty regardless of removing his posts or banning him.

So, don't quote trolls, report them & ignore them. By quoting them, you are actually helping them spread their stupid,
lowlife messages around.

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## Indischer

@Emmie @Jungibaaz Guys, a little clean-up needed here. Too many off-topic posts ruining an otherwise informative sticky thread.


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## Emmie

Cleaned! Please don't feed a troll.

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## HariPrasad

he-man said:


> Too small...............we need a capability of at least 4500---5000 kg in geo....................so that we can launch our own heavier communication satellites based on 1-4k bus series.
> 
> So minimum requirement is gslv mk3




GSLV MK3 will launch 4 to 5 ton Satellite in geo orbit. GSLV with 2nd stage cryo will be much more efficient and will put much more weight in Geo.

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## kurup

he-man said:


> Even russians are struggling now,,,,proton m has crashed 2 times in the previous attempts,they have no money for r&d and result is before everyone.
> 
> I just hope we pump more money in cryogenics and semi cryos................we need bigger engines.
> currently usa has a cryo with 2900 kn thrust,,,china with 700 kn and we are still at 75 kn and that too only 1 successful launch.
> 
> Second problem is due to bad metallurgy our cryo has an inferior t/w ratio compared to global counterparts,,,we need to speed up research there too



So what is the weight of our cryogenic engine ??


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## Sam Manekshaw



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## The A-5

Sam Manekshaw said:


> View attachment 41588



Excellent! This means more fuel saved. MOM was already following the lines so closely that
the planned 2nd TCM also was rescheduled earlier. And also, when the TCM did occur later, deal could be done with less fuel than planned because of the accuracy of the heliocentric approach. The guys who plotted it's algorithms did a wonderful job, I must say! Only 3 out of four intended TCMs needed to be conducted.

The additional fuel reserves will provide more back-up options during Trans-Mars Injection, if not, allow ISRO to send the satellite out still deeper into space after the intended mission around Mars is complete some years down the line...

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## Supply&Demand



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## Dillinger

@BlueDot_in_Space @gslv mk3

Any updates on the MOTR which ISRO was building? Any idea of the dimensions of the radar itself?


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## IND151

ISRO has sorted out GSLV launch problems: Govt | idrw.org


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## RPK




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## trident2010

Waiting for next month !!


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## IndoCarib

India identifying site for third satellite launch pad

New Delhi: India is considering setting up another satellite launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to boost the launching frequency of Indian satellites, it was stated Wednesday in the Lok Sabha.

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## Echo_419

IndoCarib said:


> India identifying site for third satellite launch pad
> 
> New Delhi: India is considering setting up another satellite launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to boost the launching frequency of Indian satellites, it was stated Wednesday in the Lok Sabha.



Great news,they should also accelerate the development of the new United Launch Vehicle system


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> Great news,they should also accelerate the development of the new United Launch Vehicle system



ULV is not a new series of Rocket, nor can it be a successor to GSLV Mk3. Its just the capability to integrate different propulsion systems based on the mission requirement. We will attain this capability when the development work of Semi Cryogenic Engine (SCE) and the the Indian Cryogenic Engine (ICE) is complete.

We already have the ULV capability in Medium lift category. PSLV XL is a classic example.

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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> ULV is not a new series of Rocket, nor can it be a successor to GSLV Mk3. Its just the capability to integrate different propulsion systems based on the mission requirement. We will attain this capability when the development work of Semi Cryogenic Engine (SCE) and the the Indian Cryogenic Engine (ICE) is complete.
> 
> We already have the ULV capability in Medium lift category. PSLV XL is a classic example.



Then we should start the dev of next gen launch vehicles,our launch capabilities when compared to the likes of US,Russia & China are laughable


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> Then we should start the dev of next gen launch vehicles,our launch capabilities when compared to the likes of US,Russia & China are laughable



We are fulfilling our nation's demands at a far cheaper rate than the above three, besides, the ULV concept will employ advanced propulsion systems which would give our Rockets an equal reach.

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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> We are fulfilling our nation's demands at a far cheaper rate than the above three, besides, the ULV concept will employ advanced propulsion systems which would give our Rockets an equal reach.



Yes but don't you think this Space Race is very similar to the Naval race before,i don't know about you but i don't want India to be caught on the wrong side of history again.As our economy recovers it is Imperative that we invest more in Space & ISRO gets results so not even 1 penny will be wasted


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> Yes but don't you think this Space Race is very similar to the Naval race before,i don't know about you but i don't want India to be caught on the wrong side of history again.As our economy recovers it is Imperative that we invest more in Space & ISRO gets results so not even 1 penny will be wasted



Its not always about the capability, but in a country like India even the requirement matters. Did you not see how much criticism ISRO had to face when they launched mission to moon and Mars despite being successful?

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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> Its not always about the capability, but in a country like India even the requirement matters. Did you not see how much criticism ISRO had to face when they launched mission to moon and Mars despite being successful?



there are 1.2 billion people,any idiot will free time will jump to crtises ISRO,these fake A$$ concerns should be brushed aside & we should invest heavily in Space & Nuclear Energy


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> there are 1.2 billion people,any idiot will free time will jump to crtises ISRO,these fake A$$ concerns should be brushed aside & we should invest heavily in Space & Nuclear Energy



True,, But we are still a poor country and cannot afford to invest like the west does.


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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> True,, But we are still a poor country and cannot afford to invest like the west does.



To hell with the poor,an extra billion $ each year on a Org which delivers is not going to hurt anybody,we need to be ahead in space if this country wants to walk with it's head held high & good night Shubh Ratri


----------



## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> To hell with the poor,an extra billion $ each year on a Org which delivers is not going to hurt anybody,we need to be ahead in space if this country wants to walk with it's head held high & good night Shubh Ratri



We are not going to fatasize the the future and invest on technology to colonize space. Our space technology is dedicated to common man and thats something we all should be really proud of. I am not denying the need of space technology, but thats one among 1000 departments India needs to invest.

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## bloo

Ten years ago, on 14 January 2004, Mars Express took its very first images of Mars in colour and in 3D.

To mark the occasion, the Mars Express team produced a fly-through movie of the ancient flood plain Kasei Valles. The movie is based on the 67-image mosaic released as part of the ten-years-since-launch celebrations in June 2013.

The scene spans 987 km in the north–south direction, 19–36°N, and 1550 km in the east–west direction (280–310°E). It covers 1.55 million square kilometres, an area equivalent to the size of Mongolia.

Kasei Valles is one of the largest outflow channel systems on Mars, created during dramatic flood events. From source to sink, it extends some 3000 km and descends 3 km.

Kasei Valles splits into two main branches that hug a broad island of fractured terrain – Sacra Mensa – rising 2 km above the channels that swerve around it. While weaker materials succumbed to the erosive power of the fast-flowing water, this hardier outcrop has stood the test of time.

Slightly further downstream, the flood waters did their best to erase the 100 km-wide Sharonov crater, crumpling its walls to the south. Around Sharonov many small streamlined islands form teardrop shapes rising from the riverbed as water swept around these natural obstacles.

The Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) on-board ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from lyman-alpha emission in the Martian upper atmosphere. Measurement of D/H (Deuterium to Hydrogen abundance Ratio) allows us to understand the loss process of water from the planet. 

The Planetary Science and Remote Sensing Group at Freie Universität Berlin produced the movie. The processing of the High Resolution Stereo Camera image data was carried out at the DLR German Aerospace Center.

(Video credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum)
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">Post</a> by <a href="ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission - Bangalore, India - Government Organization | Facebook">ISRO&#039;s Mars Orbiter Mission</a>.</div></div>


----------



## RPK



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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> We are not going to fatasize the the future and invest on technology to colonize space. Our space technology is dedicated to common man and thats something we all should be really proud of. I am not denying the need of space technology, but thats one among 1000 departments India needs to invest.



I am not saying that we should put all our money in space,but we should invest more in space specially when it is the next frontier


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## bloo

As per today's calculations: (August 7 2014)

Mars Orbiter Mission has completed more than 86% of its Journey,

Days remaining - 49 days
Distance travelled daily - 1900800 kms
Distance travelled per hour - 79200 kms
Distance travelled per minute - 1320 kms
Distance travelled per second - 22 kms

Therefore, speed of the vehicle is 22 km/sec

One way delay is around 8 minutes = 480 seconds.
Round Trip Light Time = 16 minutes = 960 seconds.

Distance from earth is more than 117 million km (or) 117000000 km.
Distance between Mars and Mars Orbiter is less than 24 million km (or) 24000000 km.
Total Distance Travelled is more than 656,577 million km.

Mars Orbit Insertion is planned on 24th September 2014.

Note-All information are not accurate, the give light time is arguably different than mentioned here.


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> I am not saying that we should put all our money in space,but we should invest more in space specially when it is the next frontier


 USD 1 Billion is a Big amount for ISRO. Its equivalent to every 5 Billion NASA Invests.


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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> USD 1 Billion is a Big amount for ISRO. Its equivalent to every 5 Billion NASA Invests.



We need that money,even with that we are not close to what NASA spends & keep in mind we are very far behind them


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## AMCA

Echo_419 said:


> We need that money,even with that we are not close to what NASA spends & keep in mind we are very far behind them


We are not in any Race here. We are not economically strong yet to establish ourselves in space science. We can only play catch up until our millennium goals are fulfilled.


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## Echo_419

AMCA said:


> We are not in any Race here. We are not economically strong yet to establish ourselves in space science. We can only play catch up until our millennium goals are fulfilled.



That's why i said as the economy grows


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## bloo

*AVATAR Reusable Launch Vehicle*

*



*

*



*

The cost of access to space is the major deterrent in space exploration and space utilization. A reusable launch vehicle is the unanimous solution to achieve low cost, reliable and on-demand space access.

Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration Program or RLV-TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that have been considered as a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. A Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion.

These technologies will be developed in phases through a series of experimental flights. The first in the series of experimental flights is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX). Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator Hypersonic Experiment (RLV-TD HEX1) wherein the hypersonic aero-thermo dynamic characterization of winged reentry body along with autonomous mission management to land at a specified location and characterization of hot structures are planned to be demonstrated.
*
Welcome to Indian Space Research Organization-ISRO - Reusable Launch Vehicle
*


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## kurup



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## SOHEIL

Still waiting for MK3


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## kurup

SOHEIL said:


> Still waiting for MK3



You will have to wait till 2017

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## SOHEIL

kurup said:


> You will have to wait till 2017



what happend to 2014 sub orbital test !?


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## Echo_419

kurup said:


>




Damn we need to move more faster,our launch capability is laughable


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## kurup

SOHEIL said:


> what happend to 2014 sub orbital test !?



That will be conducted on schedule .

I was talking about the full version test .

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## TejasMk3

kurup said:


> You will have to wait till 2017



It should be anytime from september to december. It was scheduled for the end of August, now some news articles have come out saying it has been pushed to Sept 2014. The ISRO report says 3rd quarter 2014.



> An experimental sub-orbital flight (LVM3-X) with passive cryogenic stage is targeted during the third quarter of 2014, to validate the entire vehicle configuration during the complex atmospheric regime of flight including its controllability


ANNUAL REPORT 2013-14

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## gslv mk3

TejasMk3 said:


> ANNUAL REPORT 2013-14



When was this released ?  got pdf ?


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> When was this released ?  got pdf ?



Link shows it as report of 2009-10

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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> Link shows it as report of 2009-10



Nopes,it is 2013-2014 one.


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## HariPrasad

SOHEIL said:


> Still waiting for MK3




I am awaiting for MK3 with kerosene cryogenic engine as the second stage.


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> Nopes,it is 2013-2014 one.



Yes , the page shows 2013-14 but the link shows 2009-10 ..... 

:: ISRO ::Annual Report 2009-2010


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## TejasMk3

gslv mk3 said:


> When was this released ?  got pdf ?


No pdf, only web linky 
Havent noticed a date on the page, the last time the page was modified was Aug 5th 2014.

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## kurup

HariPrasad said:


> I am awaiting for MK3 with kerosene cryogenic engine as the second stage.



Most probably will not materialise because of ULV


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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> Yes , the page shows 2013-14 but the link shows 2009-10 .....
> 
> :: ISRO ::Annual Report 2009-2010



????






From the annual report..






_Mobility tests of the Six wheeled Rover on the Lunar Soil Simulant Test Bed under reduced gravity_



kurup said:


> Most probably will not materialise because of ULV



Both appear similar

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## HariPrasad

kurup said:


> Most probably will not materialise because of ULV




Kerosene cryos are comparatively easy to made. India is already working on that. I do not know UVL and why it won't succeeded.


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> ????



Just a mix-up by site , I guess .



> Both appear similar





HariPrasad said:


> Kerosene cryos are comparatively easy to made. India is already working on that. I do not know UVL and why it won't succeeded.



Ooops sorry guys ....... let me rephrase it .

MK3 with kerosene semi-cryogenic engine as the first stage is ULV .

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## Echo_419

gslv mk3 said:


> ????
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From the annual report..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Mobility tests of the Six wheeled Rover on the Lunar Soil Simulant Test Bed under reduced gravity_
> 
> 
> 
> Both appear similar



Don't you think that sending these rovers & all is a waste of money,I mean it is important but don't you think we should give more Importance to developing more powerful & new types of Launch vehicles


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## gslv mk3

Echo_419 said:


> but don't you think we should give more Importance to developing more powerful & new types of Launch vehicles



We are alredy doing it-It all depends on SCE 200 & CE 20.

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## Echo_419

gslv mk3 said:


> We are alredy doing it-It all depends on SCE 200 & CE 20.



well we should speed it up we are really behind in this Launch Systems stuff

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## gslv mk3

From the annual report.
*Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-Mk III)
*
GSLV-Mk III is the next generation launch vehicle of ISRO capable of delivering 4 ton class spacecraft to Geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).


GSLV-Mk III is a three stage launch vehicle with three propulsion stages and has a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes and a height of 42.4 m. The GSLV-Mk III vehicle configuration is two Solid strap-on boosters Stages (S200), One Liquid Stage (L110) and One Cryogenic Stage (C25). The spacecraft is accommodated in a 5 metre diameter composite payload fairing of 110 m3 volume.

GSLV-Mk III is in the advanced stage of development with the completion of static firing of the S200 solid strap-on motor, stage testing of L110 liquid stage, completion of development tests of the engine subsystems of the C25 cryogenic upper stage and development and qualification tests of major sub-systems.






_CE 20 Thrust Chamber Hot Test_
The major development and qualification tests conducted during the year include structural and separation tests of payload fairing, acoustic test of Strap-on Base Shroud, Strap-on Nose Cone and S200 Flex Nozzle Control (FNC) tank, vibration tests of Proto Equipment Bay and Proto Strap-on Nose Cone, ground resonance test for the full vehicle configuration, system level functional test of satellite separation system and hot test of CE 20 thrust chamber. The Critical Design Reviews of S200 solid strap-on motor, L110 liquid stage and avionics systems have been completed.





_L110 Flight Stage for X Mission_
An experimental sub-orbital flight (LVM3-X) with passive cryogenic stage is targeted during the third quarter of 2014, to validate the entire vehicle configuration during the complex atmospheric regime of flight including its controllability. Towards this mission, two S200 flight motors, L110 flight stage, avionics packages, flight actuator and control electronics are ready for integration for the experimental flight. The passive cryogenic stage is in the final stages of assembly and integration and the vehicle avionics is undergoing system-level simulations.

*Semi-cryogenic Project
*
The semi-cryogenic Project envisages the design and development of a 2000 kN semi-cryogenic engine for a future heavy-lift Unified Launch Vehicle (ULV) and Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The semi-cryogenic engine uses a combination of Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and ISROSENE (propellant-grade kerosene), which are eco-friendly and cost-effective propellants.


Realisation of semi-cryogenic engine involves the development of performance-critical metallic and non-metallic materials and related processing technologies. 23 metallic materials and 6 non-metallic materials have been developed. Characterisation of injector elements and hypergolic slug igniters with different proportion of Tri-ethyl Aluminium and Tri-ethyl Boron has been completed. Sub-scale models of thrust chamber have been realised and ignition trials have been carried out successfully. Single element thrust chamber hot test in stage combustion cycle mode was also conducted successfully.

Establishment of test facilities like Cold Flow Test Facility and Integrated Engine Test Facility are under various stages of realisation. Fabrication drawings are realised for all sub-systems and fabrication of booster turbo-pump and pre-burner subsystem commenced.

*Pre Project activities of Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP)
*
The objective of Human Spaceflight Programme is to undertake a human spaceflight mission to carry a crew of two to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and return them safely to a predefined destination on earth. The programme is proposed to be implemented in defined phases. The pre project activities are progressing with a focus on the development of critical technologies for subsystems such as Crew Module (CM), Environmental control and Life Support System (ECLSS), Crew Escape System, etc., and performance demonstration of major systems through Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) and crew escape system through Pad Abort Test (PAT).


Preliminary design reviews for most of the systems pertaining to CARE for LVM3-X mission and PAT have been completed. Configuration, layout, and structural analysis of Crew Module for CARE mission have been completed. Design of re-entry trajectory for CARE mission corresponding to launch vehicle ascent trajectory has been carried out. Crew Module structure is in advance stage of realisation for flight test in GSLV-MkIII Experimental Mission.





_Human Space flight Programme Crew Module undergoing a test_

Functioning of newly developed Head-end Mounted Safe Arm (HMSA) for solid motors in Crew Escape System was successfully demonstrated. A parachute ejection test with Mortar was carried out at Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh wherein sequential deployment of pilot parachute and drogue parachute was demonstrated. As part of deceleration system qualification, main and drogue parachutes, in modified and improved pack cover configuration, was drop tested at ADRDE, Agra. Parachute Reefing Line Cutter [RLC] of main parachute was realised and development tests were also carried out.


Gas analysers for environment monitoring of crew cabin, cabin lighting system with intensity control and MEMS based barometric sensor have been developed. Wind tunnel testing of Scale model of Crew escape system was completed in National Aerospace Laboratories, Bengaluru.

A unique state-of-the-art test facility – Environment Simulation Chamber (ESC) has been realised and commissioned at VSSC for stand-alone and integrated testing of Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) functional modules and Flight suit systems. A Variable length-to-diameter [L/D] Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) proto-canister has been realised as part of air re-vitalisation system development. An integrated thermal performance test setup was realised for testing of crew cabin thermal and humidity control system and tests are in progress.

*Air Breathing Propulsion Project (ABPP)*

Air Breathing (AB) propulsion along with Reusable Launch Vehicle technology is the key for low cost access to Space. Unlike conventional rockets, Air Breathing Propulsion system makes use of atmospheric oxygen for combustion thus resulting in substantial improvement in payload fraction and reduction in overall cost.

ISRO has taken up a systematic R&D programme for demonstrating stable supersonic combustion through a series of ground tests on the Air-Breathing Propulsion Technology. The flight demonstration of this technology is planned with Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV).

Towards Scramjet flight testing, mission studies have been carried out and feasibility established. Qualification and flight model of the Scramjet Engine Avionics Module with High Frequency Data Acquisition Units and its sub-systems were realised. Test and evaluation of these packages for flight were also successfully carried out.

Functional tests of the ignition system of scramjet with different mixture ratios of Gaseous Hydrogen – Gaseous Oxygen were carried out. High pressure gaseous hydrogen flow control module and a module for operating the start valves of Fuel Feed System for scramjet engine flight testing were realised.

The scramjet engine frame assembly for flight and the flow duct segments made out of super alloy Inconel-718 have been realised. Qualification test to demonstrate sliding capability of scramjet engine and vehicle interface was successfully carried out. The Scramjet Characterisation flight is targeted in 2014.

*Space Capsule Recovery Experiment–2 (SRE-2)*
SRE-2 Project was formed with the main objective of realising a fully recoverable capsule and to provide a platform to conduct microgravity experiments. SRE capsule has four major hardware, namely, Aero Thermo-structure (ATS), Spacecraft platform, Deceleration & Floatation system and Payloads.

ATS base structure has been realised. Six plasma wind tunnel tests were conducted to validate repair scheme of the silica tile. To qualify new elements mounted in the base region of SRE-2, an integrated test of annular deck was successfully completed. Carbon-Carbon cap has been processed as 4D composite through Hot Isostatic Pitch Impregnation and Carbonisation (HIPIC) route. Processing of Carbon-Carbon shell through 2D Pitch Impregnation and Carbonisation route is in progress. Interface design of Carbon-Carbon cap and shell was revisited based on the new thermo-mechanical properties. SiC coated Carbon-Carbon samples have been validated at plasma wind tunnel facility.





_Aerothermo-structure of SRE-2_

​

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## gslv mk3

*Communication and Navigation Satellite System*

*GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A
*
GSAT-6 is a high power S-band communication satellite.The spacecraft is configured around I-2K bus with a lift-off mass of 2200 kg. It is configured with CxS and SxC transponders. This spacecraft will also provide a platform for developing technologies such as demonstration of large unfurlable antenna in satellites, handheld ground terminals and network management techniques that could be useful in future satellite based mobile communication applications. GSAT-6 is planned to be launched by GSLV.

All the subsystems like structure, transmitter package, magnetic torquer, SADA cone, power packages, propulsion elements, and payloads systems have been delivered for the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT). Payload integration and preparation for second phase of disassembled mode of Integrated Satellite Testing (IST) is in progress.

GSAT-6A will be a follow-on satellite planned to be launched by the end of 12th Five Year Plan.
*GSAT-16*
GSAT-16 is a communication satellite configured around I-3K Extended bus with a lift off mass of 3150 kg and 6500 W power generation capacity with mission life of more than 12 years. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Transponders in Ku and C-band. GSAT-16 is aimed at further augmenting communication services in the country.

Major reviews of GSAT-16 were completed and Mainframe Structure was delivered to AIT. Payload elements and Electrical Systems integration is in progress. Fabrication activities of other subsystems are in progress. The satellite will be launched onboard a procured launcher, the contract for which is in place.
*




GSAT-16 structure positioned in clean room

GSAT-15
*
GSAT-15 is a communication satellite of 3150 kg lift-off and 6500 W power generation capacity. It is designed for a mission life of more than 12 years. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Ku-Band transponders and a two channel GAGAN payload. The satellite will be launched onboard a procured launcher, the contract for which is in place.

Major project reviews, viz., Payload PDR, subsystem and systems CDR, are completed. Mainframe structure is delivered to AIT. Subsystem fabrication activities are in progress.
*GSAT-9
*
GSAT–9 spacecraft, configured to augment the growing need of Ku-band transponders. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Ku band transponders. The spacecraft employs the standard I-2K structure with the power handling capability of around 3000 W, with a lift off mass of 2195 kg. It is designed for a mission life of more than 12 years.

Subsystem and spacecraft level CDR are completed. Subsystem fabrication activities are in progress. Payload systems are available. The satellite is planned for launch onboard GSLV.

*GSAT-11*

GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite employing a new class of bus weighing 4000-6000 Kg. The commercial payload includes Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka band Return Link Transponders. Spacecraft configuration, sub system design and interfaces are finalised. Spacecraft level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) has been completed. Activities for the development of structure and subsystem-qualification models are in progress.






_GSAT-11 Deployed Configuration
_
*Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)*

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) and is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

The IRNSS system mainly consists of Space Segment, Ground Segment and User Segment. The space segment consists of a constellation of seven satellites. Three satellites will be located in suitable orbital slots in the geostationary orbit and the remaining four will be located in geosynchronous orbits with the required inclination and equatorial crossings in two different planes. All the satellites of the constellation are being configured identically. The satellites are configured with I-1K Bus to be compatible for launch on-board PSLV. 

The Following are the significant milestones in the year towards the realisation of the IRNSS Space Segment: 

IRNSS-1A, the first of the 7 satellites of the IRNSS Constellation, was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C22 on July 01, 2013. In Orbit Tests (IOT) of Navigation Payload, Ranging Payload and TT&C transponder have been successfully completed during July 15-31, 2013. IOT committee cleared the IRNSS-1A spacecraft for Navigation activities from August 1, 2013.

IRNSS-1A carries a navigation payload as well as a C-band ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1A transmits navigation service signals in L5 band and S-band. A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation payload of the satellite. The ranging payload consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1A also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.The spacecraft employs the standard I-1K structure with a power handling capability of around 1660W and a lift off mass of 1425 Kg and is designed for a mission life of around 10 years.





_IRNSS-1A Satellite after its Integration with PSLV-C22_

*IRNSS-1B*
IRNSS-1B satellite is in the advanced stage of fabrication and the spacecraft is expected to be ready by the end of the year.

Ground SegmentGround Segment is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the IRNSS constellation. The Ground segment of IRNSS comprises Spacecraft Control Facility, Navigation Centre, Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations, Network Timing Facility, CDMA Ranging Stations, Laser Ranging Service and Data Communication Network.

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## gslv mk3

Meteorological Satellites under Development

*INSAT-3DR / 3DS*
INSAT–3DR will be a follow-on satellite to INSAT–3D and it is planned to be positioned at 74 deg East longitude in the geostationary orbit. Readiness of spacecraft is planned during June 2015. INSAT-3DS, the ground spare is also under development.






_GISAT-Deployed Configuration_

*GISAT*

GISAT will carry a GEO Imager with multi-spectral (visible, near infra-red and thermal), multi-resolution (50 m to 1.5 km) imaging instruments. GISAT will be placed in the geostationary orbit of 36,000 km height to provide near real time images of large areas of the country, under cloud free conditions, at frequent intervals. That is, selected sector-wise image every 5 minutes and entire Indian landmass image every 30 minutes at 50 m spatial resolution.

Future Earth Observation Missions

*Cartosat-2C/2D/2E*

Cartosat-2C mission is similar to Cartosat-2A/2B with a few technological enhancements and with the mission objective of providing high resolution scene specific spot imagery. It would carry Panchromatic and Multispectral cameras operating in Time Delay Integration (TDI) mode. The spacecraft is capable of along track and across track steering up to ±45 deg and ±26 deg respectively. The spacecraft is planned to be launched by PSLV into a nominal altitude of 500 km, with a mission life of 5 years. Cartosat-2D and Cartosat-2E will have similar configuration of Cartosat-2C. The readiness of the first satellite is planned during 2015-16.








_Cartosat-2C-structure positioned in clean room_

*Resourcesat – 2A*

Resourcesat-2A, a follow on mission to Resourcesat-2, is intended to provide continuity of data to the users. The configuration is similar to Resourcesat-2 having three-tier imaging capability, with a unique combination of payloads consisting of three solid-state cameras, viz., a high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor – LISS-IV, a medium resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor – LISS-III and an Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS). The readiness of the satellite is planned during 2015-16.

*Satellite Data Acquisition, Products and Services
*
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad is the nodal agency for satellite remote sensing data reception, archival, processing and dissemination in the country. NRSC Shadnagar ground station receives data from eleven Indian remote-sensing satellites and two foreign satellites at a station efficiency of 99%.

In order to improve the throughput of data product generation, Integrated Multi-mission Ground Segment for Earth Observation Satellites (IMGEOS) is implemented at NRSC, Shadnagar and the data products are regularly generated at IMGEOS facility, as part of user services. Complete ground station activities, right from payload programming and data acquisition to data product generation and dissemination in multi-mission mode, are automated. With the implementation of IMGEOS, processing capability has increased to 1000 products/day and data product delivery time is reduced to within an hour for emergency needs and 24 hours for normal needs (Standard products). NRSC is also operating a ground station (Svalbard, Norway) near North Pole through KSAT since 2007 for acquiring global data from IRS satellites.

NRSC has also established a ground station for IRS data reception at Bharati, Base Station of National Centre for Antarctica and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Antarctica. A polar Earth station has the advantage of visibility of maximum 10-11 satellite passes of polar orbiting satellites facilitating global coverage. During 2013, Data Reception System (DRS) to acquire satellite data and Data Communication System (DCS) and high speed satellite communication link to relay data to NRSC Shadnagar for data processing were established by a team consisting of NRSC and ECIL experts in April 2013 during the 32nd Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA). 

NRSC is hiring a transponder for services including (a) Raw data transfer using satellite link from Bharti-Antarctica to NRSC Shadnagar (b) Station monitoring & control from Shadnagar (c) Communication link between NRSC - NCAOR (Goa) – Antarctica.

_



_
_DRS antenna terminal installation at Antarctica_
The station has been made operational for Resourcesat-2 and RISAT-1 satellite data acquisition. Currently, an average 6-7 passes of Resourcesat-2 and 2-3 passes of RISAT-1 are being acquired daily. Automated data acquisition, data transfer chain and data integrated with IMGEOS for product generation were implemented for Cartosat-1, Resourcesat-2, Oceansat-2 and RISAT-1.

In summary, Remote Sensing Satellite data is acquired at (i) Shadnagar (ii) Svalbard & Tromso (iii) Other Indian Ground Stations at INCOIS & DEAL (iV) International Ground Stations - 5 Nos and (iv) Antarctica. The total downlink time in all these station is 1430 Hrs and 48 m.

*Satellite Data Dissemination:* NRSC, Hyderabad as the national agency, acquires and disseminates all the satellite data within India. As per the Remote Sensing Data Policy (RSDP 2011), all satellite remote sensing data of resolutions up to 1 m is distributed on a non-discriminatory basis and on “as requested basis”; and all data of better than 1 m resolution is screened and cleared by the appropriate agency prior to distribution. 

Satellite data dissemination in the financial year 2013-14 was 1,10,575 products. In addition, 9411 products were downloaded directly by the user through user ground stations in India.

Free satellite data download to facilitate academia and research students is also enabled through BHUVAN portal and NRSC Website. Accordingly, select data sets of LISS-3, AWiFS, CartoDEM data with latency period of 2 years and Oceansat-2 (OCM and Scatterometer) data were made available for free downloads from NRSC. OCM GAC data is also made available for eight day cycles. 

During the year 2013-14, free downloads through Bhuvan was 94,719 products and Oceansat-2 data through NRSC website was 2,76,492 products, thus making total data dissemination in the year 2013-14 as 4,91,197. 

*Customer Relationship Management (CRM):* NRSC is in the process of implementing CRM application s/w (to be an integral part of IMGEOS) to improve operational efficiency, enhance the productivity, enable customer satisfaction & growth strategy. It will also facilitate to improve the business efficiency thereby increasing supply capabilities, discover new customer, analysis of feedback/ complaint, forecast demand, etc. The implementation is planned in the first quarter of 2014.

*Online data ordering and product delivery through FTP:* Online data ordering facility introduced to non-DOS users since April 2011 has shown increased data orders/ utilisation. FTP product delivery chain has also found good response from the users.

Orbit-wise Scatterometer data is downloaded, processed and the data products are disseminated through National Remote Sensing Centre website within 90 minutes and also through EUMetCast system of EUMETSAT, Darmstadt to the global users within 150 minutes of data acquisition. Further, the scatterometer wind vectors are uploaded to WMO GTS through India Meteorological Department.

The data from three payloads (SAPHIR, SCARAB and ROSA) of Megha-Tropiques satellite are opened to global users from January 15, 2013. Everyday data is being processed and uploaded to NRSC website in near real time. 

*Bhuvan Services:* Bhuvan Geo-portal has entered its fifth year of operations in August 2013. During this period, Bhuvan has grown both in terms of the content and features besides speed and access. The portal had an average of 19,000 visitors per month during the last one year. During the last four years of its operations, Bhuvan has recorded about 9.5 lakh unique visitors, more than 43,000 registered users and about 1.7 lakh downloads. With the addition of applications on Bhuvan and consistent releases, Bhuvan is witnessing approximately 8 million hits every month. 

During the year 2013, new versions of Bhuvan-2D, NRSC Open Earth Observation Data Archive (NOEDA) and Disaster Management Information Support have been hosted in the Bhuvan Geo-portal. High resolution Cartosat-1 data (2.5m) for 28 States/ UTs and Cartosat-2 data (1m) for 42 Cities/Towns has been uploaded in Bhuvan for visualisation. Bhuvan can also be accessed through mobile phones. The second edition of pocket Bhuvan (locate and track in Bhuvan mobile) was released on July 2013. 

In addition to visualisation, Bhuvan has been providing selected satellite data sets of 23 m and coarser spatial resolution with latency period of 2 years and several information products like CartoDEM, OCM based Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Vegetation Fraction, Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential, Albedo (Visible, Broad Band), IMS-1: Hyper spectral Imager (Radiance and TOA Reflectance) data, etc., as free downloads through NRSC Open Earth Observation Data Archive (NOEDA). 

Various thematic layers generated under different national missions are being made available as OGC Web Services. Some of the important updates during the year 2013 include Satellite based monitoring of Irrigation Projects (AIBP) for Central Water Commission, Integration of Land use/ Land cover thematic information on 1:250,000 scale, and Geomorphology and Lineaments on 1:50,000 scale, etc. Disaster specific information is also showcased on Bhuvan. Important activities in the year 2013 include Uttarakhand 2013 Flood (Kedarnath floods and damage assessment). Bhuvan also provides a platform to users to showcase their applications through spatial mashups, from map centric to user centric applications like second edition of Amritsar tourism, agriculture pest/disease surveillance, Himachal Pradesh forests, etc.

Towards supporting damage assessment and restoration activities in Uttarakhand, a multi-institutional initiative on “Mapping the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand” (MANU) has been initiated by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, primarily to map the extent of devastation and damage in Char-Dham (Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath) and Pinder Valley areas, covering about 8000 sq.km. In this programme, it has been decided to use crowd sourcing/collaborative mapping approach for field data collection by the students and teacher community of the hill universities/ institutes, and integrate field data with ISRO’s Bhuvan geo-portal. Bhuvan 3D viewer for MANU has been especially designed for this activity. The data for over 19,000 point locations reporting damage to different kinds of structures, natural resources and land cover landslides, river bank erosion, and points of public interest, are uploaded in the Bhuvan geo-portal so far.





_Mapping the Neighbourhood in Uttarakhand (MANU) in Bhuvan_

*MOSDAC Services:* The new version of Meteorological and Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre (MOSDAC) has been released. Megha-Tropiques & SARAL data products are made available in MOSDAC. Cyclogenesis, a track forecast with Intensity, was released in MOSDAC under Satellite based Cyclone Observations and Real-time Prediction over the Indian Ocean (SCORPIO) page. Web application for generating sea state atlas was released. CALVAL Website providing ground measured data for MeghaTropiques and SARAL also was released.

*NRDB Services:* Natural Resources Database (NRDB) is a systematic archive of thematic layers generated under various National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) programme, which includes wasteland, Natural Resource Census (NRC), wetland, desertification, National GIS, etc. The number of layers in NRDB is 1353 and the new layers added are 128. The layers are made available as Web Map Services (WMS). The metadata of the NRDB content has been shared with National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).

*Geophysical and Special Products:* During the year 2013, a major thrust has been given for the development of geophysical products. Some of the important products are described hereunder:


*OCM Global Area Coverage (GAC) Software:* Geophysical products require accurate relief corrected images for cloud composite to monitor the vegetation and other geophysical parameters. Automated software was developed to generate relief corrected NDVI, Vegetation Fraction (VF), and Albedo products for the entire globe from Global Area Coverage (GAC) as shown in the following figure. The products were realised at 1 km resolution but posted at 5 km for better accuracy in terms of multi-temporal variability analysis. The OCM (Local Area Coverage and Global Area Coverage) products that are being generated are - (a) National (visibility circle – 1 km resolution; 15 day cycle): NDVI, Vegetation Fraction (VF), Albedo and (b) Global (+/- 70 degLat–5 km resolution; monthly cycle): NDVI, VF, Albedo





_(a) Global FCC-Ortho image (b): Global NDVI Image (c) Global Albedo product_
*OSCAT:* Global Coverage - Virtual Reality: A unique microwave OSCAT (13.5 MHz frequency with 2 day repitivity) 3D-Digital Earth was developed by combining multiple orbit pass data, geometric rectification and mosaicking. This 2.5 km land product is very useful for climate change studies and was made available in the public domain. The OSCAT data draped on Google Earth is shown in the figure




_OSCAT data draped on Google Earth_
*Geo-rectified RISAT-1 MRS data products:* RISAT-1 data processing uses Range-Doppler model to generate standard geo-rectified product with 100 m geo-location accuracy. The Range–Doppler model was replaced with the Rational Polynomial Coefficient (RPC) model (by refining with additional GCPs) to generate 
Ortho-rectified base map for RISAT-1 MRS ground range products as shown in the figure below. The model can be extended to generate 1:25000 and 1:10000 base map products with FRS and HRS data (5 m and 1 m spatial resolution) respectively







_Ortho-rectified base map of RISAT-1 MRS data (1:50000)_

*Radiometric Terrain Correction of RISAT-1 data:* Variable terrain height causes both radiometric and geometric distortions within most slant or ground range image products. The SAR backscatter has strong dependency on the slope and aspect of the terrain. Radiometric Terrain Correction (RTC) approach was adopted using slope and aspect parameters of the DEM derived for a given scene and a sample product is shown below







_Left: Level-2 product, Centre: RTC corrected image, Right: Optical 
(LISS-3 ortho) as reference image_
*Earth Observation System*​
*Space Sciences and Planetary Research*

*Chandrayaan-2 Mission
*
Chandrayaan 2, India’s second mission to the Moon, is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission. It consists of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover configuration. It is planned to be launched as a composite stack into the Earth Parking Orbit (EPO) of 170 X 18,500 km by GSLV-Mk II. The Orbiter carries the combined stack up to moon till the Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI). The combined stack is then inserted into a lunar orbit of 100 km x 100 km. The Lander is separated from the Orbiter in this orbit.


The Orbiter with scientific payloads will orbit around the moon. The Lander will soft land on the Moon at a specified site and deploy the Rover. The scientific payloads onboard the Orbiter, Lander and Rover are expected to perform mineralogical and elemental studies of the lunar surface.





Chandrayaan-2 Artisitic View
During 2010, it was agreed that Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS would be responsible for lunar Lander and ISRO will be responsible for Orbiter and Rover as well as Launch by GSLV. Later, due to a shift in the programmatic alignment of this mission, it was decided that the Lunar Lander development would be done by ISRO and Chandrayaan-2 will be totally an Indian mission.

The payloads onboard Orbiter and Rover are finalised and the payload development is progressing at various ISRO centres/laboratories. A six wheeled Rover has been realised and initial tests on the Lunar terrain test facility has been carried out. Since the Lander development is a new technology for ISRO, Lander configuration and feasibility study has been carried out for Chandrayaan-2 mission in a GSLV-Mk II vehicle. The Lander payloads are shortlisted for further review. Landing site identification, soft landing strategy, hazard avoidance, preliminary design of lander subsystems, new technologies required for safe and soft landing are being worked out.





_Mobility tests of the Six wheeled Rover on the Lunar Soil Simulant Test Bed under reduced gravity_

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## Sensei

so HEX test flight will happen in 2014?


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## gslv mk3

Sensei said:


> so HEX test flight will happen in 2014?



That is what the annual report say.

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## Echo_419

gslv mk3 said:


> That is what the annual report say.



Let's hope all goes well & Govt allocates more money to ISRO


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## bloo



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## gslv mk3

bloo said:


>



GSAT 11 in 2014-2015..yaay...40 transponders!!


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## bloo

Amazing reusable spacecraft Dragon from SpaceX.
I hope ISRO's crew module evolves into something like this.


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> That is what the annual report say.



How is that possible ?? afaik semi-cryogenic engine is not yet ready .


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## narcon

gslv mk3 said:


> GSAT 11 in 2014-2015..yaay...40 transponders!!





> The 4.5 tonne satellite, GSAT-11, will be launched by 2012 and carry 40 transponders in the Ku-band and Ka-band frequencies, which are *3-6 times more powerful* than that used in existing communication satellites.



India has 211 Transponders, how many Pakistan got?


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## Echo_419

bloo said:


> Amazing reusable spacecraft Dragon from SpaceX.
> I hope ISRO's crew module evolves into something like this.



ISRO is mulling Private companies to launch PSLVs,Privatization of Indian space sector is happening but not at the scale at which U is doing


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## Dillinger

gslv mk3 said:


> *Communication and Navigation Satellite System*
> 
> *GSAT-6 and GSAT-6A
> *
> GSAT-6 is a high power S-band communication satellite.The spacecraft is configured around I-2K bus with a lift-off mass of 2200 kg. It is configured with CxS and SxC transponders. This spacecraft will also provide a platform for developing technologies such as demonstration of large unfurlable antenna in satellites, handheld ground terminals and network management techniques that could be useful in future satellite based mobile communication applications. GSAT-6 is planned to be launched by GSLV.
> 
> All the subsystems like structure, transmitter package, magnetic torquer, SADA cone, power packages, propulsion elements, and payloads systems have been delivered for the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT). Payload integration and preparation for second phase of disassembled mode of Integrated Satellite Testing (IST) is in progress.
> 
> GSAT-6A will be a follow-on satellite planned to be launched by the end of 12th Five Year Plan.
> *GSAT-16*
> GSAT-16 is a communication satellite configured around I-3K Extended bus with a lift off mass of 3150 kg and 6500 W power generation capacity with mission life of more than 12 years. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Transponders in Ku and C-band. GSAT-16 is aimed at further augmenting communication services in the country.
> 
> Major reviews of GSAT-16 were completed and Mainframe Structure was delivered to AIT. Payload elements and Electrical Systems integration is in progress. Fabrication activities of other subsystems are in progress. The satellite will be launched onboard a procured launcher, the contract for which is in place.
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GSAT-16 structure positioned in clean room
> 
> GSAT-15
> *
> GSAT-15 is a communication satellite of 3150 kg lift-off and 6500 W power generation capacity. It is designed for a mission life of more than 12 years. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Ku-Band transponders and a two channel GAGAN payload. The satellite will be launched onboard a procured launcher, the contract for which is in place.
> 
> Major project reviews, viz., Payload PDR, subsystem and systems CDR, are completed. Mainframe structure is delivered to AIT. Subsystem fabrication activities are in progress.
> *GSAT-9
> *
> GSAT–9 spacecraft, configured to augment the growing need of Ku-band transponders. The spacecraft's commercial payload includes Ku band transponders. The spacecraft employs the standard I-2K structure with the power handling capability of around 3000 W, with a lift off mass of 2195 kg. It is designed for a mission life of more than 12 years.
> 
> Subsystem and spacecraft level CDR are completed. Subsystem fabrication activities are in progress. Payload systems are available. The satellite is planned for launch onboard GSLV.
> 
> *GSAT-11*
> 
> GSAT-11 is an advanced communication satellite employing a new class of bus weighing 4000-6000 Kg. The commercial payload includes Ka x Ku-Band Forward Link Transponders and Ku x Ka band Return Link Transponders. Spacecraft configuration, sub system design and interfaces are finalised. Spacecraft level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) has been completed. Activities for the development of structure and subsystem-qualification models are in progress.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _GSAT-11 Deployed Configuration
> _
> *Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)*
> 
> IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) and is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.
> 
> The IRNSS system mainly consists of Space Segment, Ground Segment and User Segment. The space segment consists of a constellation of seven satellites. Three satellites will be located in suitable orbital slots in the geostationary orbit and the remaining four will be located in geosynchronous orbits with the required inclination and equatorial crossings in two different planes. All the satellites of the constellation are being configured identically. The satellites are configured with I-1K Bus to be compatible for launch on-board PSLV.
> 
> The Following are the significant milestones in the year towards the realisation of the IRNSS Space Segment:
> 
> IRNSS-1A, the first of the 7 satellites of the IRNSS Constellation, was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C22 on July 01, 2013. In Orbit Tests (IOT) of Navigation Payload, Ranging Payload and TT&C transponder have been successfully completed during July 15-31, 2013. IOT committee cleared the IRNSS-1A spacecraft for Navigation activities from August 1, 2013.
> 
> IRNSS-1A carries a navigation payload as well as a C-band ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1A transmits navigation service signals in L5 band and S-band. A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation payload of the satellite. The ranging payload consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1A also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.The spacecraft employs the standard I-1K structure with a power handling capability of around 1660W and a lift off mass of 1425 Kg and is designed for a mission life of around 10 years.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _IRNSS-1A Satellite after its Integration with PSLV-C22_
> 
> *IRNSS-1B*
> IRNSS-1B satellite is in the advanced stage of fabrication and the spacecraft is expected to be ready by the end of the year.
> 
> Ground SegmentGround Segment is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the IRNSS constellation. The Ground segment of IRNSS comprises Spacecraft Control Facility, Navigation Centre, Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations, Network Timing Facility, CDMA Ranging Stations, Laser Ranging Service and Data Communication Network.




STILL NO UPDATE ON THE MULTI OBJECT TRACKING RADAR (MOTR)?


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## bloo

kurup said:


> How is that possible ?? afaik semi-cryogenic engine is not yet ready .



I don't think it'll happen in 2014.
The semi-cryo is not ready, which will most probably take a few years, and will eventually be replaced by the scramjet which too is not ready.





*ATV-D01*


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

kurup said:


> How is that possible ?? afaik semi-cryogenic engine is not yet ready .



HEX only involves RLV-TD vehicle.

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## kurup

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> HEX only involves RLV-TD vehicle.



@gslv mk3  Again sorry guys ..... a 2 month absence from the forum and I have to start to forget everything .... 

HEX is powered by a solid motor and I misplaced it for a SC stage .

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## Juggernautjatt

* ISRO plans more powerful communication satellites *

Hyderabad, August 10
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to develop communication satellites in higher frequency bands and power and data handling capacity in the range of 100 Gigabits per second to meet the growing demands of broadband Internet and rural telecom connectivity, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.

Radhakrishnan also said the premier space research organisation is looking for suitable foreign partners to acquire the technology and upgrade ISRO’s current satellite platforms to meet the future demands.

“For the future, we are looking for communication satellites in the higher frequency bands with about 15 KW of power and data handling capacity in the range of 100 Gigabits per second that can meet the ever growing demand in the country towards broadband internet, rural telecom connectivity etc,” the ISRO chief said.

He was speaking at the convocation of BITS-Pilani Hyderabad campus.

Besides launching new satellites, the organisation has also plans of replacing the ageing satellites and enhance the observation capability to the level of 0.25 m spatial resolution and provide new capability for imaging from geo stationary orbit with 50 m spatial resolution, he said.

*ISRO is also partnering with Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA to jointly develop a dual frequency microwave imaging satellite by 2020*, Radhakrishnan said.

“In this scheme of alliance, ISRO is responsible for the overall satellite platform, S Band synthetic aperture radar and the launch of the satellite by GSLV,” he explained.

*On the moon mission, he said India is in the process of developing its own Lander-module and lunar rover as well as orbiter craft for Chandrayaan-2 that is targeted for launch by GSLV within the next three years.*

Elaborating on the Mars mission, the ISRO head stated that the Mars orbiter space aircraft has traversed nearly 88 per cent distance along its designated path to the red planet. “The next operational milestone is the insertion of the spacecraft into the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014. If successful, India will be the first Asian country to orbit a spacecraft around planet Mars and the first country in the world to achieve this in the first attempt,” he said. — PTI

* Looking for foreign partners*



ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said they planned to develop communication satellites having higher power and data handling capacity

They also planned to replace ageing satellites and enhance the observation capability besides providing new capability for imaging from geostationary orbit

He said they were looking for suitable foreign partners to acquire the technology and upgrade ISRO's current satellite platforms.

 The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation

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## bloo

*A helium balloon is attached to the rover during tests to simulate reduced weight and traction under lunar gravity.*





















The 20kg Rover is built to collect soil samples and analyse them. It would carry two scientific payloads weighing 2-kg:


Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems ( LEOS), Bangalore. (In English, a laser ablation tool for spectral analysis of rocks and soil.)

Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from PRL, Ahmedabad.
Both instruments are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site.

Powered with a small solar panel, the rover features semi-autonomous navigation and hazard avoidance capability. It is built to communicate with Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) using the Lander Rover Communication System on-board the Lander, or through the Orbiter Rover Communication System on-board the Orbiter.

The Rover would be loaded with commands for turning to the left and right, for going forward and backward.
Through the Chandrayan-2 mission, ISRO scientists hope to hone their deep space communication technology - transmission of commands to the payloads and reception of data collected by them - for future planetary exploration.

The rover would move about on the moon for one lunar day (14 earth days.)

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## Echo_419

bloo said:


> *A helium balloon is attached to the rover during tests to simulate reduced weight and traction under lunar gravity.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The 20kg Rover is built to collect soil samples and analyse them. It would carry two scientific payloads weighing 2-kg:
> 
> 
> Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems ( LEOS), Bangalore. (In English, a laser ablation tool for spectral analysis of rocks and soil.)
> 
> Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from PRL, Ahmedabad.
> Both instruments are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site.
> 
> Powered with a small solar panel, the rover features semi-autonomous navigation and hazard avoidance capability. It is built to communicate with Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) using the Lander Rover Communication System on-board the Lander, or through the Orbiter Rover Communication System on-board the Orbiter.
> 
> The Rover would be loaded with commands for turning to the left and right, for going forward and backward.
> Through the Chandrayan-2 mission, ISRO scientists hope to hone their deep space communication technology - transmission of commands to the payloads and reception of data collected by them - for future planetary exploration.
> 
> The rover would move about on the moon for one lunar day (14 earth days.)



aren't these very small,just 2 kg of payloads


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## he-man

Echo_419 said:


> aren't these very small,just 2 kg of payloads



waste mission just like mars one,,,meh


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## bloo

Echo_419 said:


> aren't these very small,just 2 kg of payloads



Well there are only 2 payloads(there was news of a seismometer also to be included in the rover payload to study moon quakes) aboard the 20kg rover and this is ISRO's first try, so it will serve more as a technology demonstrator rather than an attempt at groundbreaking finds.

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## Echo_419

he-man said:


> waste mission just like mars one,,,meh



Actually Mars mission was not a waste,you learn driving on a old car not a new car

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## samy1618

Juggernautjatt said:


> * ISRO plans more powerful communication satellites *
> 
> Hyderabad, August 10
> The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to develop communication satellites in higher frequency bands and power and data handling capacity in the range of 100 Gigabits per second to meet the growing demands of broadband Internet and rural telecom connectivity, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.
> 
> Radhakrishnan also said the premier space research organisation is looking for suitable foreign partners to acquire the technology and upgrade ISRO’s current satellite platforms to meet the future demands.
> 
> “For the future, we are looking for communication satellites in the higher frequency bands with about 15 KW of power and data handling capacity in the range of 100 Gigabits per second that can meet the ever growing demand in the country towards broadband internet, rural telecom connectivity etc,” the ISRO chief said.
> 
> He was speaking at the convocation of BITS-Pilani Hyderabad campus.
> 
> Besides launching new satellites, the organisation has also plans of replacing the ageing satellites and enhance the observation capability to the level of 0.25 m spatial resolution and provide new capability for imaging from geo stationary orbit with 50 m spatial resolution, he said.
> 
> *ISRO is also partnering with Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA to jointly develop a dual frequency microwave imaging satellite by 2020*, Radhakrishnan said.
> 
> “In this scheme of alliance, ISRO is responsible for the overall satellite platform, S Band synthetic aperture radar and the launch of the satellite by GSLV,” he explained.
> 
> *On the moon mission, he said India is in the process of developing its own Lander-module and lunar rover as well as orbiter craft for Chandrayaan-2 that is targeted for launch by GSLV within the next three years.*
> 
> Elaborating on the Mars mission, the ISRO head stated that the Mars orbiter space aircraft has traversed nearly 88 per cent distance along its designated path to the red planet. “The next operational milestone is the insertion of the spacecraft into the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014. If successful, India will be the first Asian country to orbit a spacecraft around planet Mars and the first country in the world to achieve this in the first attempt,” he said. — PTI
> 
> * Looking for foreign partners*
> 
> 
> 
> ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said they planned to develop communication satellites having higher power and data handling capacity
> 
> They also planned to replace ageing satellites and enhance the observation capability besides providing new capability for imaging from geostationary orbit
> 
> He said they were looking for suitable foreign partners to acquire the technology and upgrade ISRO's current satellite platforms.
> 
> The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation


Wtf.... I don't understand we need.. I mean The ISRO is looking for foreign help for acquiring technologies and upgeades .. As I know that ISRO had acquired TOT of INSAT n remote sensing...but still they need hhelp and again... So that means ISRO is also a Typical PSU who can't innovate but just know how to copy just like HAL..who is coping fighter jets but can't innovate by them selves...ISRO made me ashamed now...


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## HariPrasad

kurup said:


> MK3 with kerosene semi-cryogenic engine as the first stage is ULV .




Pl elaborate. What is ULV? Is the proposed semi cryo to be be used in first stage or second?


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## kurup

HariPrasad said:


> Pl elaborate. What is ULV? Is the proposed semi cryo to be be used in first stage or second?



ULV = Unified Launch Vehicle .

ULVs goal is to replace PSLV, GSLV mk2 & mk3 with a LV having common core stage [semi-cryo stage (SC-160) & cryo stage (C25)] and solid boosters with variable fuel loading.

Stage 1 = Different Solid Boosters

Stage 2 = Semi-Cryogenic SC160

Sage 3 = Cryogenic C25












GSLV MK3

Stage 1 = 2 Solid Boosters S200

Stage 2 = Liquid stage L110

Sage 3 = Cryogenic C25






-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a doubt as to can the solid boosters be called a stage ??

Is it called stage 1 or stage 0 ??

@gslv mk3

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

kurup said:


> ULV = Unified Launch Vehicle .
> 
> I have a doubt as to can the solid boosters be called a stage ??
> 
> Is it called stage 1 or stage 0 ??
> 
> @gslv mk3



For GSLV MK3, they act as first stage. Second stage is the clustered engine L110 that starts burning after 100 secs into the flight.

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## kurup

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> For GSLV MK3, they act as first stage. Second stage is the clustered engine L110 that starts burning after 100 secs into the flight.



In wiki the solid boosters of MK3 are noted as stage 0 ..... hence the doubt .


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## bloo

Maybe someday......................

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## Sergi

Any update on GSLV test launch ?????


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## Chanakya's_Chant

ISRO in Antarctica!

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## bloo

Born 12 August 1919






Most well-known among the institutions established by Dr. Sarabhai :

1. Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad 
2. Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad 
3. Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad 
4. Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad (along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai) 
5. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram 
6. Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad (This institution came into existence after merging six institutions/centres established by Sarabhai) 
7. Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam 
8. Varaiable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta 
9. Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad 
10. Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Bihar

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## HariPrasad

Salute to Dr. Sara bhai.

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## ANPP

HariPrasad said:


> Salute to Dr. Sara bhai.


 He is the true Bharat Rtna, rather than Gandhi, Bose and Dhyanchandra.

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## Echo_419

bloo said:


> Born 12 August 1919
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Most well-known among the institutions established by Dr. Sarabhai :
> 
> 1. Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad
> 2. Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad
> 3. Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad
> 4. Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad (along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai)
> 5. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
> 6. Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad (This institution came into existence after merging six institutions/centres established by Sarabhai)
> 7. Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam
> 8. Varaiable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta
> 9. Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad
> 10. Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Bihar



Give this man Bharat Ratna

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## Sahasranama

Echo_419 said:


> Give this man Bharat Ratna




Give Bharat Ratna to Homi Bhabha AND Vikram Sarabhai. Both were truly the jewels of India. 

Far more deserving than "tendulkar" who's only skill was to hit a ball with a wooden stick and make tons of money from this circus act.

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## ANPP

Sahasranama said:


> Give Bharat Ratna to Homi Bhabha AND Vikram Sarabhai. Both were truly the jewels of India.
> 
> Far more deserving than "tendulkar" who's only skill was *to hit a ball with a wooden stick* and make tons of money from this circus act.



To bhai why didnt you able to do that if it is so easy and how many Tendulker are in there in world.

Although I personally think that it was too earlier for him for consideration of Bharat Ratna.


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## Echo_419

Sahasranama said:


> Give Bharat Ratna to Homi Bhabha AND Vikram Sarabhai. Both were truly the jewels of India.
> 
> Far more deserving than "tendulkar" who's only skill was to hit a ball with a wooden stick and make tons of money from this circus act.



Tendulkar is surely great,but Homi baba & Vikaram Sarabhai


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## Sahasranama

ANPP said:


> To bhai why didnt you able to do that if it is so easy and how many Tendulker are in there in world.
> 
> Although I personally think that it was too earlier for him for consideration of Bharat Ratna.



I never said a circus act is easy, I only said circus acts do not deserve Bharat Ratna. 

Why do you assume I want to be in a circus ? easy or otherwise.



Echo_419 said:


> Tendulkar is surely great,but Homi baba & Vikaram Sarabhai



Paris hilton is great too ............. but maybe Bharat Ratna should be given to people who actually make considerable contribute to Society and helps it develop?

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## Echo_419

Sahasranama said:


> I never said a circus act is easy, I only said circus acts do not deserve Bharat Ratna.
> 
> Why do you assume I want to be in a circus ? easy or otherwise.
> 
> 
> 
> Paris hilton is great too ............. but maybe Bharat Ratna should be given to people who actually make considerable contribute to Society and helps it develop?



No ofcorse Bharat Ratna should be given to Vikram & Homi Baba first


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## bloo

*India's Mars orbiter to reach red planet in 33 days: Isro*
PTI | Aug 23, 2014, 10.27 AM IST





The ambitious Mars mission, under a Rs 450-crore project,
was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board
the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 last year.

CHENNAI: India's ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission is just nine million kilometres away from the red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Saturday. 

"Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is just nine million km away from Mars and 189 million kilometres away from the Earth. 33 more days to Mars," ISRO said on its social networking site profile. 

Early this month, Isro scientists ruled out Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre originally planned for August as the spacecraft was on track. 

The ambitious Mars mission, under a Rs 450-crore project, was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24.

The project is expected to provide the scientific community better opportunities in planetary research. 

India's Mars orbiter to reach red planet in 33 days: Isro - The Times of India

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## Echo_419

bloo said:


> *India's Mars orbiter to reach red planet in 33 days: Isro*
> PTI | Aug 23, 2014, 10.27 AM IST
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The ambitious Mars mission, under a Rs 450-crore project,
> was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board
> the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 last year.
> 
> CHENNAI: India's ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission is just nine million kilometres away from the red planet, Indian Space Research Organisation said on Saturday.
> 
> "Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is just nine million km away from Mars and 189 million kilometres away from the Earth. 33 more days to Mars," ISRO said on its social networking site profile.
> 
> Early this month, Isro scientists ruled out Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre originally planned for August as the spacecraft was on track.
> 
> The ambitious Mars mission, under a Rs 450-crore project, was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 last year with an aim to reach the red planet's atmosphere by September 24.
> 
> The project is expected to provide the scientific community better opportunities in planetary research.
> 
> India's Mars orbiter to reach red planet in 33 days: Isro - The Times of India



I can't wait when it reaches there,so many folks are gonna burn

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## bloo

Echo_419 said:


> I can't wait when it reaches there,so many folks are gonna burn



Oh believe me I'll be quoting every single one of them.......

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## Echo_419

bloo said:


> Oh believe me I'll be quoting every single one of them.......



don't forget to invite me to the party


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## bloo

Echo_419 said:


> don't forget to invite me to the party


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## Echo_419

bloo said:


>



Jam kee lenge pakistanio ki


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## The_magnificent

Echo_419 said:


> Jam kee lenge pakistanio ki


 jaane do yaar. Dont compare ISRO to that space agency. What is its name ? ummmm .. Supari ?

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## TejasMk3

Echo_419 said:


> I can't wait when it reaches there,so many folks are gonna burn



I remember some people from that thread were saying reaching mars was no achievement, the JF-17 could easily do it  (or something like that)


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## kaykay

Our MOM is just 9 million kms away from Mars and around 189 million kms away from Earth. 33 more days to go.


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## Echo_419

The_magnificent said:


> jaane do yaar. Dont compare ISRO to that space agency. What is its name ? ummmm .. Supari ?


 Lol,Supari

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## Astra-2013

Echo_419 said:


> Jam kee lenge pakistanio ki


that's why most of the Indians are here in PDF......we can not flaunt about our development, scientific progress , military power , economy to Chinese, they are ahead of us. and banglades,nepali, bhutan walo ki lene me to maja bhi nahi aata
bache bechare pakistani.....saare indian lene me lage rahte hai inki

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## thesolar65

Echo_419 said:


> don't forget to invite me to the party


@bloo me too.


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## bloo

*RISAT-1 RADAR image of the meteorite Impact crater near Lonar, Maharashtra. Recent datings indicate that, this saline soda lake could be almost half a million years old !*

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## RPK



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## RPK




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## Parul

ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission status update: Completed 90% of the journey towards Mars.

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## thesolar65

Sidak said:


> ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission status update: Completed 90% of the journey towards Mars.



I just want to see a photo of that Planet...shot by our own "Mangalayan"....It may be hazy/or blurred, but I will not mind. Just want to tell the world (other world) that we have also arrived!!

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## Parul

RISAT-1 image of crop area near Dholka, Gujarat.

RADAR images from RISAT-1 are used to estimate farmland hectares, to assess crop health and predict total yield.


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## IndoCarib

Next Moon Mission, Chandrayaan-II, in 2017


Chandrayaan-II, the country's second lunar exploration mission will be launched in 2017, M Annadurai, project director of Chandrayaan-I and Chandrayaan-II missions said on Sunday.


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## kurup

2012 mock LVM3 Assembly





L-110 transported on Transportation cum tilting Trailer to Solid Stage Assembly Building (SSAB)






L-110 integrated with S200 solid stages






Cryo stage integrated with L-110 and S200 solid stages






Fully integrated GSLV Mk-III moved to Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for static testing






Fully assembled GSLV-MKII on second launch Pad (SLP)






From VAB GSLV Mk-III moved to Second Launch Pad (SLP)


SSAB = Solid Stage Assembly Building
VAB = Vehicle Assembly Building
SLP = Second Launch Pad

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## kurup

*LVM3 on launch pad*




*LVM3 acoustics suppression system



*

*LVM3 on mobile launch pad



*

*LVM3 wind tunnel model



*

*LVM3 S200 solid boosters



*

*LVM3 wind tunnel test



*

*LVM3 L110 liquid stage test*

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## kurup

Actual LVM3 test










ISRO crew module

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## Sam Manekshaw

@sancho @Abingdonboy @kurup @SarthakGanguly @BDforever @SarthakGanguly @levina @sandy_3126



TejasMk3 said:


> I remember some people from that thread were saying reaching mars was no achievement, the JF-17 could easily do it  (or something like that)


And offcourse they can shoot the satelite by jf-17....may be they will shoot moon by jf-17 block 2 ...their claim is hilarious.

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## Levina

Sam Manekshaw said:


> @sancho @Abingdonboy @kurup @SarthakGanguly @BDforever @SarthakGanguly @levina @sandy_3126
> 
> 
> And offcourse they can shoot the satelite by jf-17....may be they will shoot moon by jf-17 block 2 ...their claim is hilarious.


Whoa!!!
At Rs 11.25 per Km Mangalyaan uses less fuel compared to an autorikshaw. 
BOWDOWN!!!
To those 10 headed geniuses sitting in ISRO.


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## Sam Manekshaw

levina said:


> Whoa!!!
> At Rs 11.25 per Km Mangalyaan uses less fuel compared to an autorikshaw.
> BOWDOWN!!!
> To those 10 headed geniuses sitting in ISRO.


Facepalm to the criticizers


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## arp2041

levina said:


> Whoa!!!
> At Rs 11.25 per Km Mangalyaan uses less fuel compared to an autorikshaw.
> BOWDOWN!!!
> To those 10 headed geniuses sitting in ISRO.



If you wanna go to Mangal, I can send you for FREE 

BTW, to answer your post, SPACE ME TRAFFIC BHI TOH NHI RAHTA MADAM!!


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## cloud_9

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/506379321116606464

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## IND151

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...9YKQCA&usg=AFQjCNHTFNe8QnkBDPtlCb8bNpuJSnK5bQ

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## TejasMk3

ISRO gearing up for date with Mars - The Hindu






If action clicks, orbiter will be the first to reach planet in the first attempt
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is on top gear for the high-octane morning of its Mars rendezvous of September 24.

With three weeks to go, the space agency has begun a vigil for its most challenging moment, ever. In the coming days, all mission-related activities will get top priority.

The date was set long back for the daunting manoeuvre, called the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI). It is the day the first Indian spacecraft is slated to greet the Red Planet.

“We are going to have the MOI on the September 24 morning. The engine firing is planned to start at 7.18 a.m. and last 28 minutes,” ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told _The Hindu_. “We want all our plans to work, especially the propulsion system. We are preparing for it with necessary simulations and tests.” The Sequence of Events manual will detail a Plan B, should any action fail.

On that day, the spacecraft’s controllers sitting in Bangalore — over 200 million km across space — will turn the Indian spacecraft, retard it in space and hook it around Mars.

If the action clicks, India will join the very few nations that have achieved a Mars outing. It would be the first to reach there in the first attempt.

The ultimate moment, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, will be “when we get the message at 8.15 that morning that the orbiter has captured the Mars orbit. Theoretically, that fructifies the objective of this mission. But today, our job is to gear up for the orbit insertion.”

The spacecraft enters the Martian range of influence on September 22. ‘The action’ starts two days later when it would be about 700 km from the planet. First, at 6.50 a.m., the spacecraft will be turned or re-oriented.

The most crucial act is to fire the engines on it to slow the spacecraft from a velocity of 22 km a second to 1.5 km a second. ISRO plans to fire all nine ‘guns’ on board: the main ‘LAM’ or liquid engine and eight small thrusters.

The challenge is to activate the LAM. “We last used the liquid engine on December 1, when the spacecraft left Earth’s orbit,” Dr. Radhakrishnan said.


----------



## gslv mk3

kurup said:


>



I love this one so much...tat I even named my avatar after it..!!

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## Daedalus



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## karan21

Daedalus said:


> View attachment 46933


Comparing the American mission the Indian one is not a good idea. India mars mission is a little tin can compared the American.

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## danger007

karan21 said:


> Comparing the American mission the Indian one is not a good idea. India mars mission is a little tin can compared the American.


If you compare the budget ... yes it is great achievement for us.... USA can't achieve it for sure...


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## liall

Just found this on internet:

NASA's budget for 2013 is about $ 18 Billion, which is approximately be 0.5% of the total US budget.

ISRO's allotted budget for fiscal year 2013-14 is $ 950 Million and is about 0.33% of the total Indian budget.

India needs to increase space budget if we want to get anywhere in the space race. China has a manned space program we dont West has ISS we dont. Lets get working!


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## cloud_9

> ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry,Tracking and Command Network)

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## HariPrasad

I do see 2 hurdle in spacecraft. 1 malfunction of motor. 2 Lots of fuel is consumed. This may shorten the spacecraft life in martin orbit. everything dependes on how precisely the spacecraft is captured in martin orbit. Let us hope that everything goes as per the plan Fingers crossed.


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## TejasMk3

HariPrasad said:


> I do see 2 hurdle in spacecraft. 1 malfunction of motor. 2 Lots of fuel is consumed. This may shorten the spacecraft life in martin orbit. everything dependes on how precisely the spacecraft is captured in martin orbit. Let us hope that everything goes as per the plan Fingers crossed.


Why do you see hurdles?  Any info?
Lets just hope it all goes well. Say good things. tathasthu


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## HariPrasad

TejasMk3 said:


> Why do you see hurdles?  Any info?
> Lets just hope it all goes well. Say good things. tathasthu




Yes,

ISRO has some doubts. Corrosive nature of fuel might have damaged valve. ISRO wants to test motor first prior to last trajectory correction so that a contingency plan may be executed if things go wrong. Let us wish them best of luck.


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## TejasMk3

HariPrasad said:


> Yes,
> 
> ISRO has some doubts. Corrosive nature of fuel might have damaged valve. ISRO wants to test motor first prior to last trajectory correction so that a contingency plan may be executed if things go wrong. Let us wish them best of luck.


oh  Where did you hear this? Through someone you know or a website?

Anyway hope things go well.


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## HariPrasad

Scroll few 


TejasMk3 said:


> oh  Where did you hear this? Through someone you know or a website?
> 
> Anyway hope things go well.




pages back you may find that on same thread.


----------



## bloo

Disassembled mode testing of Mars Orbiter Spacecraft





The oxidizer tank photographed while assembly with MOM Spacecraft.
MOM's propulsion system runs on a combination of MonoMethylHydrazine (MMH) as fuel and Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidiser.






Integration of fuel tank with Mars Orbiter Spacecraft

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## Daedalus

*We love ISRO: an educational campaign by Function Space*

The reason that led to the inception of the campaign is the prominent disconnect between common man and the significance of ISRO, its missions and their impact and the lack of awareness about the objectives and milestones achieved by ISRO. Function Space initiated the campaign with the following purposes
· Revive the passion and zeal of science learning.
· To honor scientists and researchers who have worked selflessly and are responsible for taking ISRO from a cow shed (in1962) to Mars (2014).
· To make the people of India realize the value of innovation and creation.
· To encourage the people by throwing light on the adventurous journey ISRO has travelled in the past 50 glorious years.
· To enhance the learning of pure sciences in India and set a one-stop portal for learning science on the web.
· To educate the people in applied sciences and developing indigenous inventions.

We ♡ ISRO!

We love ISRO: an educational campaign by Function Space

PS:


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## kṣamā

HariPrasad said:


> Yes,
> 
> ISRO has some doubts. Corrosive nature of fuel might have damaged valve. ISRO wants to test motor first prior to last trajectory correction so that a contingency plan may be executed if things go wrong. Let us wish them best of luck.


Hmm only problem they may face is if they use "MechJeb" for the landing !! 

PS: People who understand this comment are awsome !!!

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## Daedalus

*Ahead of Modi's US visit, NASA, ISRO mull joint Mars Working Group*

The US space agency NASA and its Indian counterpart ISRO are in talks for setting up a Joint Mars Working Group, a report said on Thursday.

"NASA is in discussions with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) regarding potential scientific collaboration with their Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)," the report said quoting James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.

MOM is due to enter Mars orbit about two days after MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter, which will arrive at Mars later this month.

"With multiple data sets being collected, NASA and ISRO scientists will have a wealth of information to help solve mysteries regarding the Mars atmosphere," he said before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space Committee.

"In addition, NASA and ISRO are talking about setting up a Joint Mars Working Group, under the auspices of the State Department's US-India Civil Space Joint Working Group, that would coordinate our two agencies' plans for studying one of the Earth's nearest neighbors," Green said.

Both the missions of NASA and ISRO will arrive at the Red Planet just in time to join the fleet of Mars-based spacecraft that could witness the effects of comet Siding Spring, Green told lawmakers.

The emergence of the Chinese and Indian space programs and the continued successes of the European and Japanese programs illustrate that robotic exploration of space is an international priority, he said.

Ahead of Modi's US visit, NASA, ISRO mull joint Mars Working Group : World, News - India Today


----------



## Nova2

could someone answer this

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## TejasMk3




----------



## HariPrasad

kṣamā said:


> Hmm only problem they may face is if they use "MechJeb" for the landing !!
> 
> PS: People who understand this comment are awsome !!!




I am not awesome. Pl explain.



TejasMk3 said:


>




What happened to the motor which was to be operated for 5 seconds for testing? is it working satisfactorily?


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## kurup

Nova2 said:


> could someone answer this



Hope this helps .

Trans-Mars injection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


ISRO: Mars Orbiter Mission

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## TejasMk3

HariPrasad said:


> I am not awesome. Pl explain.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What happened to the motor which was to be operated for 5 seconds for testing? is it working satisfactorily?


Test will happen for 4 seconds on 21st as per article from TOI (above post 3732)

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## HariPrasad

TejasMk3 said:


> Test will happen for 4 seconds on 21st as per article from TOI (above post 3732)



Yes I read it.


----------



## kṣamā

HariPrasad said:


> I am not awesome. Pl explain.


It's nothing special. It was a reference to *Kerbal Space program* (KSP) mod which we use to land on its moons:- Mün/Minmus and other astronomical bodies. And trust me when I say it, It will screw-up on the most crucial landings. On easier missions it will work flawlessly but on highly critical moments it is bound to screw up. It's like a rule of thumb.

Play the game. It has a large following. Also one can understand few nitty grities of space exploration and inter-planetary travel.


----------



## RPK



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## kurup

Data about all the 114 missions by ISRO till now ,

http://www.isro.org/publications/pdf/114 missions Brochure.pdf

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## Supply&Demand

Isro Announces Contingency Plan for Mars Orbit Insertion | NDTV Gadgets

The Indian space agency has a contingency plan to insert its spacecraft into Martian orbit September 24 in case its main engine fails to restart and fire, a senior official said Monday.
"In case the main liquid engine of 440 Newton (power) fails to re-start and fire to put the spacecraft (orbiter) into the intended Mars orbit, we will use the small eight thrusters of 22 Newton each located beneath the engine for orientation to salvage the mission," Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) Scientific Secretary V. Koteswara Rao told reporters in Bangalore.

The 475kg spacecraft, with five scientific experiments on board, will enter the Mars sphere of influence on September 22 after a 300-day voyage from the earth.

The liquid apogee engine (LAM) was switched off December 4, 2013 after the spacecraft left the earth's sphere of influence and entered into the heliocentric (sun's) orbit to cruise 666 million km towards Mars during the past 9 months.

The Rs. 450-crore ($70 million) ambitious Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launchedNovember 5, 2013, on board a polar rocket from spaceport Sriharikota off Bay of Bengal, about 80km north-east of Chennai, and inserted into the trans-Martian orbit (solar orbit) December 1.

The space agency uses the LAM engines to insert its communication and other utility satellites in the geosynchronous orbits.

"If we miss the opportunity to insert the spacecraft into the Mars orbit using the LAM engine in 24 minutes, we will use the eight thrusters to carry out the contingency in a longer duration though the spacecraft may not get into the intended orbit," Rao noted.

Of the 51 missions to Mars by the American, Russian and European space agencies over the decades, at least nine of them failed to insert their spacecraft into the Martian orbit.

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## TejasMk3

ISRO advances GSAT-16 launch by 6 months - The Hindu

*December launch plan to improve transponder supply*
National space agency ISRO has decided to launch one of its upcoming communication satellites, GSAT-16, six months earlier than planned.

The 3,100-kg spacecraft, meant to support public and private television and radio services, large-scale Internet and telephone operations, was originally planned to be flown up around June 2015 on a European Ariane-5 launcher.

The decision to advance GSAT-16 launch came after the older INSAT-3E expired in March this year, according to ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan.

The plan to move an ISRO mission ahead is almost unprecedented. “GSAT-16 will replace INSAT-3E [in the same space orbit at 55 degrees East longitude]. It was planned to be launched in the middle of 2015. After 3E was decommissioned in April, we advanced GSAT-16, which will now go in December this year,” he told _The Hindu_ recently.

The assembly venue in Bangalore, the ISRO Satellite Centre or ISAC, is ready with the spacecraft. “Advancing a satellite by five to six months is a difficult job, but we did it. We also got a slot from Arianespace (launch company) and as of now, we are talking of a launch (around) December 6,” he said. An earliest launch would otherwise have been April 2015.

GSAT-16 will offer 24 transponders in the C-band, 12 in the extended C-band and another 12 in the Ku band.

*Transponder shortfall*

Over the last couple of years, the space agency has been trying hard to augment transponder capacity — which is about 190 on its own fleet — to meet increasing demand from commercial and public service users. It also had to lease 90 transponders on foreign satellites to meet its shortfall.

Last year, the government approved an allocation of Rs. 865.5 crore towards building GSAT-16, the fee for its foreign launch and insurance; the latter is taken when ISRO uses a foreign launch.

ISRO had to opt for an outside launch as Indian rockets PSLV and the present GSLV cannot lift satellites weighing above 2,000 kg. ISRO is developing the next big launcher, GSLV-MkIII, which can put satellites of up to 4 tonnes in orbit.

The first test flight of MkIII is to be taken up after the ongoing Mars Orbiter Mission reaches its crucial milestone, that of orbiting Mars, on September 24.


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## IND151

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&r...EEXX7O0byaWHRh7Uuds8XNA&bvm=bv.75097201,d.c2E


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## saint

Don't know if these videos have been shared. Wonderful insight into ISRO.....


----------



## gslv mk3

LAM firing was successful.

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## indiatester

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/513980079169232896

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## samy1618

gslv mk3 said:


> LAM firing was successful.


Any authentication. On this


----------



## SRP

samy1618 said:


> Any authentication. On this



Please check previous post.

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## Daedalus




----------



## SOHEIL

*Congratulations*

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## SOHEIL

Any update ! ?


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## TejasMk3

SOHEIL said:


> Any update ! ?


About the orbiter? Yup it posted the first picture of mars from the camera:
1st image of Mars, from a height of 7300 km; with 376m spatial resolution. And they are carrying out experiments and receiving data. The data center website should be opened soon.


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## kurup

SOHEIL said:


> Any update ! ?



1st image of Mars, from a height of 7300 km; with 376m spatial resolution.

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## SOHEIL

Thanks


----------



## TejasMk3

GSLV Mark-III test flight before December | Business Standard News

If one is going to think scientists at Isro are going to take a break after successfully conducting the Mars Orbit Insertion, then one is wrong. The Indian space agency has lined up a series of launches, including test flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - an advanced version of the current GSLV - which will have double the capacity of the current launch vehicle.

GSLV MARK-III will be Isro's next major event, said K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Isro. He said the vehicle is an advanced launch vehicle and it can launch a four-tonne communication satellite into geostationary orbit.

*The Indian space agency is planning to launch an experimental mission, with a passive cryogenic engine, which means the cryogenic stage will not be operational. The significance of the flight is that it will test the crew compartment as it re-enters earth and splashes into the Bay of Bengal.*

Once this vehicle gets ready, India need not depend on European space consortium, Arianespace, to carry its four-tonne class of Insat communication satellites. This rocket will also be used to fly astronauts from Sriharikota.* It may be noted that the Narendra Modi government has increased its budgetary allocation from Rs 10 crore to Rs 171 crore to develop this vehicle, according to reports.*

Radhakrishnan said the vehicle would go up to an altitude of 120 km and reach a velocity of nearly 5.3 km per second. During this ascent phase, the aerodynamic characterisation, control system will be tested. "We are also using the opportunity to test the re-enter characteristics of the crew module, by flying unmanned crew model in this," he said.

*As on date, all the stages are in Sriharikota, said Radhakrishnan adding that reviews and integration process are on. "The launch of this would be after the PSLV C26. It could be late October or November, based on the weather conditions,"* he said. With MARK-III, Isro can launch satellites up to four tonne as compared to the current capacity of 2-2.2 tonne.

*Speaking about cryogenic engine, required for Mark III, Radhakrishnan said ground test will be conducted at Mahendragiri soon. "A complete engine has been assembled, and we are going to start the ground testing of the engine in a few months from now. This engine will have a thrust level of nearly 20 tonnes, compared to 7.5 tonne of the GSLV we flew in January 2014," he said.* 

This engine has to be taken through a series of ground test and then the cryogenic stage will be integrated to it and it will be tested on the ground. Once it qualifies, Isro will use it for the flight. "By the time the cryogenic stage is ready for the flight we will also study from the experimental mission about the vehicle's configuration and aerodynamic behaviour, and if any marginal improvement is needed, we can will do that," said Radhakrishnan.

Before MARK-III, Isro is planning to launch PSLV C26, with IRNSS 1B satellite, which will be India's third navigation satellite.

Radhakrishnan said by December the fourth navigation satellite will be launched. Three more such satellites will be launched in 2015,.

*The GSLV that was flown in January successfully will have its next flight in the second quarter of 2015, and that will be used to launch GSAT 6 satellite.* A few more communication satellites are also lined up, said Radhakrishnan

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## Agent_47

*GSLV Mark-III test flight before December*

If one is going to think scientists at Isro are going to take a break after successfully conducting the Mars Orbit Insertion, then one is wrong. The Indian space agency has lined up a series of launches, including test flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - an advanced version of the current GSLV - which will have double the capacity of the current launch vehicle.

GSLV MARK-III will be Isro's next major event, said K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Isro. He said the vehicle is an advanced launch vehicle and it can launch a four-tonne communication satellite into geostationary orbit.

The Indian space agency is planning to launch an experimental mission, with a passive cryogenic engine, which means the cryogenic stage will not be operational. The significance of the flight is that it will test the crew compartment as it re-enters earth and splashes into the Bay of Bengal.

Once this vehicle gets ready, India need not depend on European space consortium, Arianespace, to carry its four-tonne class of Insat communication satellites. This rocket will also be used to fly astronauts from Sriharikota. It may be noted that the Narendra Modi government has increased its budgetary allocation from Rs 10 crore to Rs 171 crore to develop this vehicle, according to reports.

Radhakrishnan said the vehicle would go up to an altitude of 120 km and reach a velocity of nearly 5.3 km per second. During this ascent phase, the aerodynamic characterisation, control system will be tested. "We are also using the opportunity to test the re-enter characteristics of the crew module, by flying unmanned crew model in this," he said.

As on date, all the stages are in Sriharikota, said Radhakrishnan adding that reviews and integration process are on. "The launch of this would be after the PSLV C26. It could be late October or November, based on the weather conditions," he said. With MARK-III, Isro can launch satellites up to four tonne as compared to the current capacity of 2-2.2 tonne.

Speaking about cryogenic engine, required for Mark III, Radhakrishnan said ground test will be conducted at Mahendragiri soon. "A complete engine has been assembled, and we are going to start the ground testing of the engine in a few months from now. This engine will have a thrust level of nearly 20 tonnes, compared to 7.5 tonne of the GSLV we flew in January 2014," he said.

This engine has to be taken through a series of ground test and then the cryogenic stage will be integrated to it and it will be tested on the ground. Once it qualifies, Isro will use it for the flight. "By the time the cryogenic stage is ready for the flight we will also study from the experimental mission about the vehicle's configuration and aerodynamic behaviour, and if any marginal improvement is needed, we can will do that," said Radhakrishnan.

Before MARK-III, Isro is planning to launch PSLV C26, with IRNSS 1B satellite, which will be India's third navigation satellite.

Radhakrishnan said by December the fourth navigation satellite will be launched. Three more such satellites will be launched in 2015,.

The GSLV that was flown in January successfully will have its next flight in the second quarter of 2015, and that will be used to launch GSAT 6 satellite. A few more communication satellites are also lined up, said Radhakrishnan.
GSLV Mark-III test flight before December | Business Standard News
@gslv mk3

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## SOHEIL

Nice


----------



## ni8mare

TejasMk3 said:


> *Speaking about cryogenic engine, required for Mark III, Radhakrishnan said ground test will be conducted at Mahendragiri soon. "A complete engine has been assembled, and we are going to start the ground testing of the engine in a few months from now. This engine will have a thrust level of nearly 20 tonnes, compared to 7.5 tonne of the GSLV we flew in January 2014," he said.*
> 
> /quote]


this is the best part

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## Astra-2013

now our space suit is ready. and with this test our Crew capsule will also be tested. so when will our human space flight happen, after or before 2020.


----------



## kurup

Astra-2013 said:


> now our space suit is ready. and with this test our Crew capsule will also be tested. so when will our human space flight happen, after or before 2020.



It will happen in 2020-30 time frame .

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## RPK

Meanwhile at Sriharikota

PSLV C26 stage-2 stacking completed.The launch window opens in October 2014. Payload: IRNSS 1C navigation satellite

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## IND151

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQqQIwAA&url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/gslv-mark-iii-test-flight-before-december-114092500031_1.html&ei=jzUlVJyLN5C68gWj_4KABw&usg=AFQjCNF81NPzjSu5S-F8vRM46ZMYZWKc3g&bvm=bv.76247554,d.dGc


*GSLV Mark-III test flight before December*

If one is going to think scientists at Isro are going to take a break after successfully conducting the Mars Orbit Insertion, then one is wrong. The Indian space agency has lined up a series of launches, including test flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - an advanced version of the current GSLV - which will have double the capacity of the current launch vehicle.

GSLV MARK-III will be Isro's next major event, said K Radhakrishnan, chairman, Isro.* He said the vehicle is an advanced launch vehicle and it can launch a four-tonne communication satellite into geostationary orbit*.

The Indian space agency is planning to launch an experimental mission, with a passive cryogenic engine, which means the cryogenic stage will not be operational. The significance of the flight is that it will test the crew compartment as it re-enters earth and splashes into the Bay of Bengal.

Once this vehicle gets ready, India need not depend on European space consortium, Arianespace, to carry its four-tonne class of Insat communication satellites. This rocket will also be used to fly astronauts from Sriharikota. It may be noted that the Narendra Modi government has increased its budgetary allocation from Rs 10 crore to Rs 171 crore to develop this vehicle, according to reports.

*Radhakrishnan said the vehicle would go up to an altitude of 120 km and reach a velocity of nearly 5.3 km per second*. During this ascent phase, the aerodynamic characterisation, control system will be tested. "We are also using the opportunity to test the re-enter characteristics of the crew module, by flying unmanned crew model in this," he said.

As on date, all the stages are in Sriharikota, said Radhakrishnan adding that reviews and integration process are on. "The launch of this would be after the PSLV C26. It could be late October or November, based on the weather conditions," he said. With MARK-III, Isro can launch satellites up to four tonne as compared to the current capacity of 2-2.2 tonne.

*Speaking about cryogenic engine, required for Mark III*, Radhakrishnan said ground test will be conducted at Mahendragiri soon. "A complete engine has been assembled, and we are going to start the ground testing of the engine in a few months from now. This engine will have a thrust level of nearly 20 tonnes, compared to 7.5 tonne of the GSLV we flew in January 2014," he said.

*This engine has to be taken through a series of ground test and then the cryogenic stage will be integrated to it and it will be tested on the ground*. Once it qualifies, Isro will use it for the flight. "By the time the cryogenic stage is ready for the flight we will also study from the experimental mission about the vehicle's configuration and aerodynamic behaviour, and if any marginal improvement is needed, we can will do that," said Radhakrishnan.

Before MARK-III, Isro is planning to launch PSLV C26, with IRNSS 1B satellite, which will be India's third navigation satellite.

Radhakrishnan said by December the fourth navigation satellite will be launched. Three more such satellites will be launched in 2015,.

The GSLV that was flown in January successfully will have its next flight in the second quarter of 2015, and that will be used to launch GSAT 6 satellite. A few more communication satellites are also lined up, said Radhakrishnan.
GSLV Mark-III test flight before December | Business Standard News

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## Astra-2013

kurup said:


> It will happen in 2020-30 time frame .


I have read on chinese defence forum site that ISRO may launch it by 2018 on GSLV-MK2. i also feel we should do it before 2020 , and GSLV-mk2's payload is enough......Koi hathi ko thodi hi bhejana hai


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## 风之南国

India really surprising, you will become a cosmic power.


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## tomluter

"The pride of India, as well as Asia"------China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson 2014/09/25





Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on September 24, 2014

*Q: Today, India successfully launched its Mars orbiter, the 1st Asian country to do so. What is your comment on the launch? Does China see any room for working with India on space exploration in the future? *
A: We have noted relevant report. We congratulate India on its successful launch of the mission Mangalyaan into the Mars orbit. This achievement is the pride of India, as well as Asia, and also represents a major step in humanity's peaceful exploration and utilization of outer space.
China is committed to peaceful utilization of outer space, and supports international cooperation in this area. We maintain that the international community should work together to promote peaceful utilization of outer space, uphold enduring peace and sustainable development of the outer space.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on September 24, 2014

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## kurup

Astra-2013 said:


> I have read on chinese defence forum site that ISRO may launch it by 2018 on GSLV-MK2. i also feel we should do it before 2020 , and GSLV-mk2's payload is enough......Koi hathi ko thodi hi bhejana hai



For that MK2 should have few more successful launches to ascertain it's reliability .


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## TejasMk3

ISRO head quarters lit up for celebrations! Cheers guys! hope they had a great party, totally deserves it!

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## Skull and Bones

TejasMk3 said:


> View attachment 89191
> 
> 
> ISRO head quarters lit up for celebrations! Cheers guys! hope they had a great party, totally deserves it!



Diwali jaldi aa gaya isbar.

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## IND151

kurup said:


> For that MK2 should have few more successful launches to ascertain it's reliability .



Exactly.....................


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## sms

I hope you'll Like it.

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## ni8mare

mars in 3d

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## yalesaraat

guys i wana say my deepest congrats for u and your peoples for your space and military achivements. good for india.

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## SOHEIL

yalesaraat said:


> guys i wana say my deepest congrats for u and your peoples for your space and military achivements. good for india.



Hard work deserves success! 

Viva India

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## Azhman

Excellent!!
Congrats To Indian!

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## Vinod2070

Thanks to all Iranian brothers and best of luck for their space program.

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## kaku1

*Bilawal Bhutto promises Pakistani space mission to the Sun*

*Islamabad*: In a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal Bhutto, the son of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, promised a Pakistani space shuttle to the Sun.




“Yes, we can”

In view of the recent success of the ISRO’s Mars Orbiter in reaching Mars, Mr. Bilawal said that Pakistan was not in a race with India, and so, it would send a rocket to the Sun. He claimed that the objective of the mission is to check for life forms on the sun and regain back the PoS – Pakistan occupied Sun.

The PISS-RO, the Pakistani International Space and Science Research Organisation, confirmed the news. The Director of PISS-RO, in an exclusive interview to Faking News said that Pakistan had got a rocket engine from Bajaj Scooters for the Solar mission. Pakistani scientists were seen tilting the rocket to one side and kicking it to make it start in the PISS-RO center.

On being asked how the Solar Rocket would avoid getting burnt in the Sun’s heat, Mr. Bhutto, chuckled and said, “We are not fools, we will send it in the night.”

Bilawal Bhutto promises Pakistani space mission to the Sun | My Faking News

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## SOHEIL

kaku1 said:


> *Bilawal Bhutto promises Pakistani space mission to the Sun*
> 
> *Islamabad*: In a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal Bhutto, the son of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto, promised a Pakistani space shuttle to the Sun.
> 
> 
> View attachment 104559
> 
> “Yes, we can”
> 
> In view of the recent success of the ISRO’s Mars Orbiter in reaching Mars, Mr. Bilawal said that Pakistan was not in a race with India, and so, it would send a rocket to the Sun. He claimed that the objective of the mission is to check for life forms on the sun and regain back the PoS – Pakistan occupied Sun.
> 
> The PISS-RO, the Pakistani International Space and Science Research Organisation, confirmed the news. The Director of PISS-RO, in an exclusive interview to Faking News said that Pakistan had got a rocket engine from Bajaj Scooters for the Solar mission. Pakistani scientists were seen tilting the rocket to one side and kicking it to make it start in the PISS-RO center.
> 
> On being asked how the Solar Rocket would avoid getting burnt in the Sun’s heat, Mr. Bhutto, chuckled and said, “We are not fools, we will send it in the night.”
> 
> Bilawal Bhutto promises Pakistani space mission to the Sun | My Faking News



Please don't...

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## kaku1

SOHEIL said:


> Please don't...



what? It just a satire.


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## SOHEIL

kaku1 said:


> what? It just a satire.



It would start a flame war!

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## oFFbEAT

High Resolution picture of mars......courtesy ISRO.




Regional dust storm activities over Northern Hemisphere of Mars - captured by Mars Color Camera on-board Mars Orbiter Spacecraft from altitude of 74500 km on Sep 28, 2014

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## SOHEIL

Nice


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## Vinod2070

oFFbEAT said:


> High Resolution picture of mars......courtesy ISRO.
> View attachment 105300
> 
> Regional dust storm activities over Northern Hemisphere of Mars - captured by Mars Color Camera on-board Mars Orbiter Spacecraft from altitude of 74500 km on Sep 28, 2014



It is like a dream come true for me. To see the Mars pictures taken by an Indian satellite! It still seems like a dream.

It is an achievement not only of India but all of Asia and in fact all of humanity, especially the developing countries.

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## SRP

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/519103678871904257


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## Inqhilab

*India, Japan, the United States, China, and Canada to build the world’s biggest telescope.
*





An image provided by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan shows what the world's biggest telescope, known as the TMT, will look like when it is completed in March 2022. | KYODO
​Japan, the United States, China, Canada and India are scheduled to launch work Tuesday to build the world’s biggest telescope, known as the 30-meter telescope, or TMT, near the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano on Hawaii Island.

They plan to complete the construction in March 2022. Japan will cover about a quarter of the construction costs, or about ¥150 billion.

To mark the start of construction, some 100 astronomers and officials from the five countries were scheduled to attend a ceremony held Tuesday at a location 4,012 meters high on Mount Mauna Kea.

The TMT will be larger than Japan’s Subaru Telescope, one of the world’s biggest, which was also built on the summit of Mauna Kea and started observation in 1999.

The Subaru Telescope’s single main mirror measures 8.2 meters in diameter, while the TMT will be composed of 492 hexagonal mirrors, each measuring 72 cm across.

The TMT’s light-condensing capabilities will be 13 times greater than the Subaru telescope’s, enabling the identification of an object as small as a ¥1 coin from a distance equivalent to that between Osaka and Tokyo.

Astronomer Masanori Ie, a professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan who leads the Japanese team on the TMT project, said the new telescope will broaden the understanding of the cosmos.

A telescope with greater light-condensing capabilities can search for stars that are less bright or farther from Earth. The most distant and oldest star observed to date was born some 800 million years after the Big Bang.

The TMT will help astronomers observe stars which were born 200 million to 400 million years after the Big Bang.

The TMT will also have the potential to help identify whether planets outside the solar system have atmospheres that are capable of supporting life.

*Japan, four other countries to build world's biggest telescope in Hawaii | The Japan Times*

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## ni8mare

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


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## Supply&Demand

_*Another brilliant full disk image taken by the Mars Color Camera, from an altitude of 66,543 km. 

Dark region towards south of the cloud formation is Elysium - the second largest volcanic province on Mars.:*_

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## SRP

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/520133733702062080


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

*



Cyclone Hudhud from ISRO’s INSAT 3D Satellite*

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## he-man

@RiazHaq


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## Nova2

he-man said:


> @RiazHaq


Hehe.....let the genious know ,why Indian space mission is useful  waise bhi hamesha rondoo bana rehta hai banda

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

Volcanic eruption of Mount Sinabung on the western island of Sumatra, Indonesia from ISRO RISAT-1

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## Vinod2070

he-man said:


> @RiazHaq



Don't give him more pain and destroy the thread at the same time by inviting him. 

He is living in his fantasy world and we should let him be there. Comfortably passing the retirement in delusions.

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## he-man

We need to improve the cameras,,not very impressed but yeah things get done.
Maybe in a couple of years


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## Vinod2070

he-man said:


> We need to improve the cameras,,not very impressed but yeah things get done.
> Maybe in a couple of years



I thought RISAT had one of the best panchromatic cameras in the world?


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## he-man

Vinod2070 said:


> I thought RISAT had one of the best panchromatic cameras in the world?



clearly u were wrong

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

Vinod2070 said:


> I thought RISAT had one of the best panchromatic cameras in the world?


 its one of the best radar imaging satellite out there

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## he-man

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> its one of the best radar imaging satellite out there


one of the mind u


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## SOHEIL

Any upcoming launch?


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## Water Car Engineer

SOHEIL said:


> Any upcoming launch?



10/15/14 will launch irnss-1c.











The satellite will help augmenting the satellite based navigation system of India which is currently under development. The navigational system so developed will be a regional one targeted towards South Asia. The satellite will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services.

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## ni8mare

SOHEIL said:


> Any upcoming launch?


New Launch Date for PSLV-C26
The launch of ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C26, is now scheduled on Thursday, *October 16, 2014 *from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. The launch window of the mission opens at 0132 hrs IST and lasts till 0147 hrs IST. The lift-off is scheduled at the opening of the launch window at 0132 hrs IST. PSLV-C26 will carry the 1425 kg Indian Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1C. 

IRNSS-1C, the third satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, has already been integrated with PSLV-C26 and the final phase of checks is progressing. The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) Committee and the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) met on October 07, 2014 to review the progress of prelaunch activities and cleared the launch for October 16, 2014. The 67 hour count down for the mission will commence at 0632 hrs IST on October 13, 2014.



Water Car Engineer said:


> 10/15/14 will launch irnss-1c.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 128275
> 
> 
> The satellite will help augmenting the satellite based navigation system of India which is currently under development. The navigational system so developed will be a regional one targeted towards South Asia. The satellite will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services.


*ITS ON October 16, 2014 *

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## Water Car Engineer

ni8mare said:


> *ITS ON October 16, 2014 *




*OKAYY*


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## SOHEIL

So in Thursday!


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## SRP

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/522279483827425280


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi



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## karan21

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> View attachment 134826


Seems like the crew capsule. Where did you get this from??


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

karan21 said:


> Seems like the crew capsule. Where did you get this from??


It is crew module with silica tiles.


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## IndoCarib

*India Prepares to Launch Third IRNSS Navigation Satellite Early Thursday | NDTV Gadgets*

The 67-hour countdown for the Thursday launch of India's third navigation satellite is progressing smoothly though a thunder storm Wednesday delayed some operations, a senior space agency official said.

"Today (Wednesday) morning we moved the mobile service tower (MST) backwards. The operation was delayed by around two hours owing to thunderstorm in the morning. There is sufficient time cushion built in for such unforeseen delays in the countdown period," M.Y.S. Prasad, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, told IANS.

"At 10pm IST, based on the climatic conditions like thunderstorm, we will decide on the launch. Currently everything is normal," he added.

Prasad said the filling of propellants in the second stage/engine would be completed by 2pm IST.

Following that the gases in the various stages would be pressurised.

At 1.32am IST Thursday, the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C26) carrying the 1,425-kg navigational satellite badged as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1C (IRNSS-1C) will launch. The 44.4 metres tall rocket, weighing around 320 tonnes, is expected to spit out the satellite into the space around 20 minutes after the blast-off.

*Once the satellite is successfully placed in its orbit, India will be just one more satellite away from having its own satellite-based navigation system*

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## TejasMk3

Crew module dispatched to Sriharikota - The Hindu


In the run-up to the lift-off of India’s gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) in November 2014, the unmanned crew module it will put into orbit and the vehicle’s equipment bay were flagged off on October 17 from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, to Sriharikota.

The crew module and the equipment bay had undergone elaborate checks and tests at the VSSC before they were dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, said VSSC director M.C. Dathan. They would reach the spaceport at Sriharikota on Sunday night. The equipment bay houses the vehicle’s electronic packages for issuing various commands to it.

Crucial mission

This maiden GSLV-MkIII flight is an important mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) because it will put the unmanned crew module into orbit. It is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space.

The crew module will return to the earth the same day. It will splash down in the sea, off the Andaman archipelago and will be recovered by the ISRO and the Coast Guard personnel.

“The integration of the GSLV-MkIII is going on in full swing at Sriharikota,” said Mr. Dathan. The vehicle’s two huge strap-on booster motors, each with 200 tonnes of solid propellants, have been assembled and strung around the core stage, which will use 110 tonnes of liquid propellants. Above this liquid core stage will be the indigenous cryogenic stage, which will use 25 tonnes of propellants. In the coming mission, the cryogenic stage will not fire. It will be a passive stage. It will not carry cryogenic propellants. It will carry 25 tonnes of simulated fuel.

“Next weekend, the cryogenic stage will be moved to the vehicle and integrated with it. The 3.65-tonne crew module will undergo checks for 16 to 20 days. By mid-November, the unmanned crew module will be integrated with the vehicle. Then, it takes another two weeks for the launch,” Mr. Dathan added. If the weather does not help, the lift-off will be in the first week of December.

The entire flight will last 1,109 seconds. At an altitude of 126 km, the crew module will get separated and start descending towards the earth. Three huge parachutes, made by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, will open up in a sequence to decelerate the crew module. The GSLV-MkIII is the biggest and heaviest rocket built by the ISRO, standing 42.4 metres tall and weighing 630 tonnes.


GSLV-MkIII flight is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space

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## karan21

TejasMk3 said:


> Crew module dispatched to Sriharikota - The Hindu
> 
> 
> In the run-up to the lift-off of India’s gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) in November 2014, the unmanned crew module it will put into orbit and the vehicle’s equipment bay were flagged off on October 17 from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, to Sriharikota.
> 
> The crew module and the equipment bay had undergone elaborate checks and tests at the VSSC before they were dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, said VSSC director M.C. Dathan. They would reach the spaceport at Sriharikota on Sunday night. The equipment bay houses the vehicle’s electronic packages for issuing various commands to it.
> 
> Crucial mission
> 
> This maiden GSLV-MkIII flight is an important mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) because it will put the unmanned crew module into orbit. It is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space.
> 
> The crew module will return to the earth the same day. It will splash down in the sea, off the Andaman archipelago and will be recovered by the ISRO and the Coast Guard personnel.
> 
> “The integration of the GSLV-MkIII is going on in full swing at Sriharikota,” said Mr. Dathan. The vehicle’s two huge strap-on booster motors, each with 200 tonnes of solid propellants, have been assembled and strung around the core stage, which will use 110 tonnes of liquid propellants. Above this liquid core stage will be the indigenous cryogenic stage, which will use 25 tonnes of propellants. In the coming mission, the cryogenic stage will not fire. It will be a passive stage. It will not carry cryogenic propellants. It will carry 25 tonnes of simulated fuel.
> 
> “Next weekend, the cryogenic stage will be moved to the vehicle and integrated with it. The 3.65-tonne crew module will undergo checks for 16 to 20 days. By mid-November, the unmanned crew module will be integrated with the vehicle. Then, it takes another two weeks for the launch,” Mr. Dathan added. If the weather does not help, the lift-off will be in the first week of December.
> 
> The entire flight will last 1,109 seconds. At an altitude of 126 km, the crew module will get separated and start descending towards the earth. Three huge parachutes, made by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, will open up in a sequence to decelerate the crew module. The GSLV-MkIII is the biggest and heaviest rocket built by the ISRO, standing 42.4 metres tall and weighing 630 tonnes.
> 
> 
> GSLV-MkIII flight is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space


Ultimate achievement of Independent India is the day Indian Gaganauts raise Indian flag in Space, in a capsule launched by an Indian rocket. day is not far brother.


----------



## Morphine

TejasMk3 said:


> In the run-up to the lift-off of India’s gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mark III) in November 2014, the unmanned crew module it will put into orbit and the vehicle’s equipment bay were flagged off on October 17 from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, to Sriharikota.
> 
> The crew module and the equipment bay had undergone elaborate checks and tests at the VSSC before they were dispatched to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, said VSSC director M.C. Dathan. They would reach the spaceport at Sriharikota on Sunday night. The equipment bay houses the vehicle’s electronic packages for issuing various commands to it.
> 
> Crucial mission
> 
> This maiden GSLV-MkIII flight is an important mission for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) because it will put the unmanned crew module into orbit. It is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space.
> 
> The crew module will return to the earth the same day. It will splash down in the sea, off the Andaman archipelago and will be recovered by the ISRO and the Coast Guard personnel.
> 
> “The integration of the GSLV-MkIII is going on in full swing at Sriharikota,” said Mr. Dathan. The vehicle’s two huge strap-on booster motors, each with 200 tonnes of solid propellants, have been assembled and strung around the core stage, which will use 110 tonnes of liquid propellants. Above this liquid core stage will be the indigenous cryogenic stage, which will use 25 tonnes of propellants. In the coming mission, the cryogenic stage will not fire. It will be a passive stage. It will not carry cryogenic propellants. It will carry 25 tonnes of simulated fuel.
> 
> “Next weekend, the cryogenic stage will be moved to the vehicle and integrated with it. The 3.65-tonne crew module will undergo checks for 16 to 20 days. By mid-November, the unmanned crew module will be integrated with the vehicle. Then, it takes another two weeks for the launch,” Mr. Dathan added. If the weather does not help, the lift-off will be in the first week of December.
> 
> The entire flight will last 1,109 seconds. At an altitude of 126 km, the crew module will get separated and start descending towards the earth. Three huge parachutes, made by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, will open up in a sequence to decelerate the crew module. The GSLV-MkIII is the biggest and heaviest rocket built by the ISRO, standing 42.4 metres tall and weighing 630 tonnes.
> 
> 
> GSLV-MkIII flight is a precursor to ISRO’s ambitious plans to send two Indian astronauts into space


Is there any official launch date yet?


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## TejasMk3

Morphine said:


> Is there any official launch date yet?


Explained in the article  Anytime in the next 45 days


----------



## TejasMk3

ISRO’s Baby Steps at Cheaper Missions -The New Indian Express

: Six years after the Union Cabinet gave it the formal go-ahead, a project that will give India cheaper access to space is finally picking up steam at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).

Officials at the LPSC HQ, Valiyamala, said they hoped to run the first major test in connection with the ‘semi-cryogenic’ engine project by November-end. What is special about the engine is that it uses kerosene as fuel instead of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2), the propellant used in cryogenic engines.

“This will be the first sub-system level test and we will be testing the booster pump for the oxidiser used in the engine,’’ LPSC director K Sivan said on Friday. In both cryogenic and the semi-cryogenic engines, Liquid Oxygen is used as oxidiser, which helps the fuel to burn. In addition to being a low-cost technology, the use of highly refined kerosene (RP-1) will enable easier storage and handling.

The cold flow test facility at the LPSC unit in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, where the test is to be conducted, is expected to be completed shortly, Sivan said. In fact, LPSC has had to postpone the test to November owing to the delay in its completion. An integrated test facility also is planned at Mahendragiri where the ‘hot test’ of the semi-cryo engine - in a hot test, the engine is fired - will be performed.

Employing kerosene as rocket propellant is not a new idea as spacefaring nations such as Russia and the US have been doing it for years. It was in 2008 that the Union Cabinet approved ISRO’s semi-cryogenic engine project at an estimated cost of `1,798 crore. Then, the idea was to have the engine ready by 2014.

“The semi-cryogenic engine will facilitate applications for future space missions such as the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), Unified Launch Vehicle (ULV) and vehicles for interplanetary missions,’’ the government had said in 2008.

However, indications are that it may take a few more years before this technology gets fine-tuned. ‘’We will have clarity by the end of next year as to when we can complete the project,’’ Sivan said.

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## SOHEIL



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## bloo

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) provides mission support to low-earth orbit satellites as well as launch vehicle missions. ISTRAC has its headquarters and a multi-mission Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore. It has a network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Sriharikota, Port Blair and Thiruvananthapuram in India besides stations at Mauritius, Bearslake (Russia), Brunei and Biak (Indonesia).

ISTRAC activities are organised into network operations, network augmentation, mission operation and spacecraft health monitoring, communications and computers and control centre facilities and development projects. Programme planning and reliability groups support ISTRAC activities.

The Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN), commissioned during the year 2008, at Byalalu village near Bangalore forms the Ground segment for providing deep space support for India's prestigious and first Lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1.The technical facilities in IDSN include a 32 metre Deep Space Antenna, an 18 metre Antenna Terminal, an 11 metre Antenna Terminal, Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) and a Technical Services complex.

The IDSN is the first of its kind project in the country that provides ISRO the capability to handle deep space missions of India and also provides cross support to other deep space missions of external space agencies because of its inter-operable features and state-of-the-art capabilities.

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## TejasMk3

All set to put unmanned crew module into orbit - The Hindu



There is frenetic activity at Sriharikota for the maiden lift-off of India’s newest and the biggest launch vehicle in December, which will put an unmanned crew module into orbit.

The mission is a stepping stone to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) ultimately sending astronauts into space in the module.

The 3.65-tonne module will get de-mated from the topmost cryogenic stage at an altitude of 125 km and return to the earth. At an altitude of 15 km, there will be an “aerial ballet,” featuring three huge parachutes which will open up one after the other to slow down the module’s descent. The module is expected to splash down in the sea near the Andaman archipelago and will be recovered by the Indian Coast Guard and ISRO personnel. The entire flight from the lift-off to the splash-down will last about 20 minutes. It is a passive, experimental and sub-orbital mission.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said, “Everything is progressing well” for the GSLV-MkIII launch in December. The rocket weighs 630 tonnes and is 42.4 metres tall.

“We are ready. Everything is pucca,” said M.C. Dathan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, which has built both the GSLV-MKIII and the unmanned crew module. Two gigantic strap-on motors, each of which will use 200 tonnes of solid propellants, have been strapped around the core stage in the second launch pad. The core stage will use 110 tonnes of liquid propellants. Above the core stage is the cryogenic stage. The module will be “encapsulated” with the cryogenic stage on November 26, said Mr. Dathan.

S. Somanath, Project Director, GSLV-MKIII, called it India’s “biggest, heaviest and the next generation” launch vehicle.


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## sathya

*The entire flight from the lift-off to the splash-down will last about 20 minutes. It is a passive, experimental and sub-orbital mission.*


Wow, entire flight + decent with parachute , all takes only 20 minutes?

That's going to be one hell of a show..


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## karan21

sathya said:


> *The entire flight from the lift-off to the splash-down will last about 20 minutes. It is a passive, experimental and sub-orbital mission.*
> 
> 
> Wow, entire flight + decent with parachute , all takes only 20 minutes?
> 
> That's going to be one hell of a show..


I hope they put cameras at strategic locations on the rocket for a better view.


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## kurup



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## TejasMk3

kurup said:


>



Thanks, was too lazy to use this new img posting system


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## kurup

TejasMk3 said:


> Thanks, was too lazy to use this new img posting system



I have used the old image tagging system ..... it is back ...


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## karan21

kurup said:


>



Looks good. I hope this achieves the desired perimeters.


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## TejasMk3

kurup said:


> I have used the old image tagging system ..... it is back ...


Ahhh okay!


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## Daedalus

India to Push Next Space Frontier, With Launch of Crew Module in mid-December

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## Water Car Engineer

*ISRO's crew module, named CARE, which will be launched on board the GSLV-Mark III in mid-December.*


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## Juggernautjatt

*GSAT-16 launch on Dec 5 aims at improving telecom services 
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service *
Bangalore, November 29
​Indian Space Research Oraganisation’s (ISRO) communication satellite GSAT-16 is all set for launch from Kourou in French Guiana on December 5. The satellite aims at increasing the number of transponders that in turn enhance the satellite-based telecommunication, television, VSAT services in India.

ISRO has hired the French company Arianespace for launching the satellite. The satellite will be launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) by Ariane-5 VA-221 launch vehicle. After its injection into the orbit, ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka will take control of the satellite and perform the initial orbit raising manoeuvres using its Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM). Finally, it will be placed in the vicinity of circular geostationary orbit.
Following this, the deployment of appendages such as solar panels, antennas and three axis stabilisation of the satellite will be performed.

With 48 transponders, GSAT-16 has the potential of carrying to the space more transponders than what the other ISRO’s communication satellites have been able to achieve to date. The satellite will have 12 Ku band transponders each with 36 MHz usable bandwidth with a footprint covering the Indian mainland and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

* About the satellite*


GSAT-16 will be the 11th among GSAT series of Indian communication satellites and will have a lifespan of 12 years

It is similar to GSAT-15 with each satellite weighing 3,150 kg and having power generation capacity of 6.8 kW

GSAT-16 will offer 24 transponders in the C-band, 12 in the extended C-band and another 12 in the Ku band

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation


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## sathya

that ll increase the total number of transponder to 248


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## Water Car Engineer



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## sathya

Why the payload looks inverted ?

So that it can face earth when released ?


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## Water Car Engineer

CGI coming from a Indian company, let alone a public one that's decent. :O

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## indiatester

sathya said:


> Why the payload looks inverted ?
> 
> So that it can face earth when released ?


Must turn like a shuttle cock so that the heat shield faces maximum resistance. They'd be testing if the capsule has any issues that may cause danger during this test. 
If it doesn't turn, then trouble.


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## Force-India

Eagerly waiting for manned mission :-D


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## karan21

The S-200 rocket motor can generate a thrust of over 500 tonnes. Well, I ain't no rocket scientist, but the actually capacity of this rocket should be far more than just 10 tonnes to Leo?

And why do they have only 2 S-200 boosters. Why not 4?? If will double the payload capacity?


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## skynet

Water Car Engineer said:


> CGI coming from a Indian company, let alone a public one that's decent. :O



I think launch would look something like this


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## sathya

karan21 said:


> The S-200 rocket motor can generate a thrust of over 500 tonnes. Well, I ain't no rocket scientist, but the actually capacity of this rocket should be far more than just 10 tonnes to Leo?
> 
> And why do they have only 2 S-200 boosters. Why not 4?? If will double the payload capacity?



Way to go for making the space shuttle ?


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## Water Car Engineer

karan21 said:


> The S-200 rocket motor can generate a thrust of over 500 tonnes. Well, I ain't no rocket scientist, but the actually capacity of this rocket should be far more than just 10 tonnes to Leo?
> 
> And why do they have only 2 S-200 boosters. Why not 4?? If will double the payload capacity?



They'll add 2 more, will be called mark 4.

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## Juggernautjatt

*HAL to make cryogenic engines for ISRO*
*Isro will provide Rs 139 cr for setting up the facility, which will be built at HAL's campus in Bengaluru*

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is setting up a facility to manufacture cryogenic engines for ISRO’s heavy light rockets in Bengaluru.

ISRO will provide Rs 139 crore for setting up the facility and it will be built at the HAL campus in Bengaluru with HAL’s personnel manning it once its ready. Meanwhile, ISRO will provide Rs 139 crore for the facility.

“Our plan is to establish the Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing (ICEM) facility in the next two years,” said HAL Chairman, R K Tyagi.

“Our plan is to establish the ICEM facility in the next two years,” added Tyagi. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Radhakrishnan said: “We remember HAL every time we succeed in our missions, the Mars Orbiter Mission being the latest. We have been partners in progress and will continue to be so in future too.”

A cryogenic rocket engine is a rocket engine that uses a cryogenic fuel or oxidizer (or both) liquefied and stored at very low temperatures.These engines were one of the main factors of Nasa’s success in reaching the moon by the Saturn V rocket.

India has been working for many years on developing a cryogenic engine.

The major facilities planned at this upcoming ICEM unit include rotary vacuum brazing facility, machinery for sheet metal forming, CNC machines (mainly five axis) for complex geometry machining, tungsten inert gas/metal inert gas welding, the heat treatment facilities for special materials and testing facilities. The facility is expected to have a turnover nearly Rs 9 crore per annum.

HAL to make cryogenic engines for ISRO | Business Standard News


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## Water Car Engineer

*GSAT-16 to be launched from French Guiana*






Long Term Persective

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## Force-India

Good luck to our ISRO 

BTW NASA Orion starting preparations for manned Mars mission


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## Iggy

*Heard that Insat launch is postponed..*


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## sathya

GSLV Mark-III launch on Dec. 18 - The Hindu

Payload is a drop capsule...

Even if the rocket veers off., we can still drop the capsule and experiment I think..

Hopefully nothing wrong will happen this time..

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## SOHEIL



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## SR-91

Unmanned crew module to be tested - The Hindu


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## ravi kiran

sathya said:


> GSLV Mark-III launch on Dec. 18 - The Hindu
> 
> Payload is a drop capsule...


article dosent state anything about payload


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## SOHEIL




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## Daedalus

The Gaint rolls out.

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## Supply&Demand

Another picture!!!!!!!!!!


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## karan21

Jai Mata diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


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## Juggernautjatt

*GSLV MK-III launch date to be fixed on Tuesday*
*Tribune News Service *
Bengaluru, 
December 13
The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) of the experimental flight of GSLV MK-III — the most powerful rocket built by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to date — will meet at Sriharikota on December 16 and take a call on the date of its launch. 
ISRO sources said the launch was expected to take place two days later on December 18. “If everything was found satisfactory, the countdown for the launch will begin after the meeting of the MRR on December 16 and the launch will take place in the morning of December 18,” the sources said. 
The launch will be from the ISRO’s spaceport at Sriharikota near Chennai. The GSLV MK-III is designed to put four-tonne communication satellites into orbit. If the experiment is successful, it will ensure that India does not need to hire foreign commercial launch service any more for putting its heavier communication satellites in space. 
For future manned mission, this launcher will carry the Indian astronauts to space. Taking this into account, the forthcoming launch will also carry the crew module payload (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment or CARE). 
The rocket weighing about 640 tonnes is now being subjected to tests. The rocket will be equipped with a dummy cryogenic engine that will simulate the weight and other characteristics of the flight version. The crew module will separate at a height of 125 km from earth and then descend in the Bay of Bengal near the Andaman Islands.

GSLV MK-III launch date to be fixed on Tuesday


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## sathya

Juggernautjatt said:


> *GSLV MK-III launch date to be fixed on Tuesday*
> *Tribune News Service *
> Bengaluru,
> December 13
> The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) of the experimental flight of GSLV MK-III — the most powerful rocket built by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to date — will meet at Sriharikota on December 16 and take a call on the date of its launch.
> ISRO sources said the launch was expected to take place two days later on December 18. “If everything was found satisfactory, the countdown for the launch will begin after the meeting of the MRR on December 16 and the launch will take place in the morning of December 18,” the sources said.
> The launch will be from the ISRO’s spaceport at Sriharikota near Chennai. The GSLV MK-III is designed to put four-tonne communication satellites into orbit. *If the experiment is successful, it will ensure that India does not need to hire foreign commercial launch service any more for putting its heavier communication satellites in space. *
> For future manned mission, this launcher will carry the Indian astronauts to space. Taking this into account, the forthcoming launch will also carry the crew module payload (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment or CARE).
> The rocket weighing about 640 tonnes is now being subjected to tests. The rocket will be equipped with a dummy cryogenic engine that will simulate the weight and other characteristics of the flight version. The crew module will separate at a height of 125 km from earth and then descend in the Bay of Bengal near the Andaman Islands.
> 
> GSLV MK-III launch date to be fixed on Tuesday



I think they forgot about cryo engine ...

That will take some time..

Btw march next year they launching gslv ... With what engine ?


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## Juggernautjatt

sathya said:


> I think they forgot about cryo engine ...
> 
> That will take some time..
> 
> Btw march next year they launching gslv ... With what engine ?


Yes this rocket will not have the critical cryogenic engine.The cryogenic engine is under development and it will take another two years to be ready.
GSLV - Mark III test launch scheduled for Dec 18: ISRO | Business Standard News


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## sathya

sathya said:


> I think they forgot about cryo engine ...
> 
> That will take some time..
> 
> Btw march next year they launching gslv ... With what engine ?




Gslv mk2 is going to be launched in March 2015


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## kurup

sathya said:


> I think they forgot about cryo engine ...
> 
> That will take some time..
> 
> Btw march next year they launching gslv ... With what engine ?



That launch is of GSLV MK2 using the CE-7.5 cryogenic engine .

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## SOHEIL



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## SOHEIL

joey said:


> I dont think this is needed India DID SEND men in space back in 1984 with russian help.
> *sending men in space and getting them back is of no use.*
> u gotta send robots or payloads to study planets which has much more scientifical importance.



A comment from 8 years ago ! 

Things changed ...

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## SOHEIL



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## Water Car Engineer



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## karan21

LIve Webcast!1

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## Sam Manekshaw



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## gslv mk3



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## unbiasedopinion

@gslv mk3 , Dude how is the view from outerspace?

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## sathya

unbiasedopinion said:


> @gslv mk3 , Dude how is the view from outerspace?



they gave him parachute , kicked him mid way , and booked under drunken drive!

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## SOHEIL

Congratulations

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## unbiasedopinion

sathya said:


> they gave him parachute , kicked him mid way , and booked under drunken drive!


Or may be he was kicked because he was releasing lots of gas...

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## SOHEIL



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## SrNair

SOHEIL said:


>





Thanks @SOHEIL

But according to this data GTO capacity is 5 ton .But some says 4 ton.
Actually which is right.


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## HariPrasad

sreekumar said:


> Thanks @SOHEIL
> 
> But according to this data GTO capacity is 5 ton .But some says 4 ton.
> Actually which is right.




The most conservative estimate is 4 ton. Once Semi cryo engine will come in second test, It will go upto 6tons + in Geo and 15 tons+ in leo.

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## karan21

sreekumar said:


> Thanks @SOHEIL
> 
> But according to this data GTO capacity is 5 ton .But some says 4 ton.
> Actually which is right.


Its 5 ton to GTO, but it will be used to launch 4 ton class sats by ISRO. ISRO builds some sats weighing over 4 tons.

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## SOHEIL

sreekumar said:


> Thanks @SOHEIL
> 
> But according to this data GTO capacity is 5 ton .But some says 4 ton.
> Actually which is right.



It's all depends on the cryogenic upper stage & the future programs for a semi-cryo core stage !

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## karan21

HariPrasad said:


> The most conservative estimate is 4 ton. Once Semi cryo engine will come in second test, It will go upto 6tons + in Geo and 15 tons+ in leo.



ISRO is not too clear about its future missions right now. We can't predict the true potential of this rocket. 

ISRO is working on a 2000 kN semi cryogenic engine. Replacing the second or first stage of the core with a semi cryogenic engine should boost the capacity of this rocket by almost 10 tons or even more. Look at the space x rocket Falcon-9 or any Russian or American rocket for example. Most of those rockets use semi-cryo engines as their first or second stage. 

ISRO says the semi-cryo is for ULV. I am not sure what that ULV is but it looks like it is a much more modified version of MK3 with semi-cryo engines.

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## HariPrasad

karan21 said:


> ISRO is not too clear about its future missions right now. We can't predict the true potential of this rocket.
> 
> ISRO is working on a 2000 kN semi cryogenic engine. Replacing the second or first stage of the core with a semi cryogenic engine should boost the capacity of this rocket by almost 10 tons or even more. Look at the space x rocket Falcon-9 or any Russian or American rocket for example. Most of those rockets use semi-cryo engines as their first or second stage.
> 
> ISRO says the semi-cryo is for ULV. I am not sure what that ULV is but it looks like it is a much more modified version of MK3 with semi-cryo engines.




Yes but to be eligible to be as the core engine, it has to evolve further in big size. Yes, It can be used as the booster and in IInd stage. Third stage need to be Cryogenic to last for a long time and to take Payload to desire elevation.


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## SOHEIL

*







*
(Unified Launch Vehicle) *ULV*

*Indian Space Research Organisation*​
India will develops a new series of SLV, which will replace both the PSLV and GSLV. The ULV (Unified Launch Vehicle) marks the renunciation of India for N2O4/UDMH as propellant for space launch vehicle systems.

The ULV is a future expendable launch vehicle concept on base the GSLV MkIII design. It is modular in shape, comprising semi-cryogenics as core stage, a cryogenics as upper stage and strap-ons of different magnitudes made of solid rockets. It can be S-200, S-138 usw., depending on the payload requirement. 

The various configurations of the ULV have an identical first and upper stage. The first stage uses kerosene/LOX. The used engine *RD-810** from Yuzhnoye (Ukraine) with 200 t of thrust, is in development and should be ready in four to six years. In the first time the CE-20 engine from the GSLV MkIII is used for the cryogenic upper stage of the ULV. Planned is a more powerful engine CE-60 with 600 kN thrust .

The smallest version of the ULV uses six S-12 booster and has a launch mass of 274 t. The payload is 1.5 t for GTO and 4.5 t for LEO.

The second version uses two S-60 booster and has a launch mass of 340 t. The payload is 3 t for the GTO or 10 t for LEO.

The third version uses two S-138 booster and has a launch mass of 560 t. The payload is 4.5 t for GTO and 12 t for LEO.

The most powerful variant is to use the S-200 booster of GSLV MkIII and has a launch mass of 700 t. The payload is 6 t for GTO and 15 t for LEO.

**SCE-200 in India's project*




*Yuzhnoye RD-810 (SCE-200)*
*









*
*****

*Cryogenic engine CE-20*

*



*​

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## Not Sure

*India debuts GSLV Mk.III with prototype crew capsule*




December 17, 2014 by William Graham








The Indian Space Research Organisation has launched the first test flight of its newest rocket – the GSLV Mk.III – on Thursday, conducting a suborbital flight that also demonstrated a prototype crew capsule (CARE) for India’s proposed manned missions. Liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre occurred at 09:30 local time (04:00 UTC).

*ISRO Launch:*

India’s new rocket, which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) refers to by the names GSLV Mk.III and LVM3, is a completely new vehicle marking the third generation for India’s orbital launch systems.

*The two-stage rocket is designed to place around 10 tonnes (9.8 Imperial tons, 11 US tons) of payload into low earth orbit or four tonnes (3.9 Imperial tons, 4.4 US tons) to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.*






For Thursday’s mission only the first stage and boosters were live, while the inert second stage was loaded with liquid nitrogen to simulate propellant.

India made its first attempt to launch a satellite on 10 August 1979, with its Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) carrying the Rohini Technology Payload, or RTP, in a launch from the Sriharikota Range (now known as the Satish Dhawan Space Centre).

Control of the rocket was lost following a valve failure in the second stage thrust vectoring system, with the rocket falling into the bay of Bengal.

India’s first successful launch came on 18 July in the following year, with the second Satellite Launch Vehicle orbiting the Rohini or RS-1 satellite.

In all, four Satellite Launch Vehicles were flown, with the third flight a failure and the fourth, in April 1983, a success.

With a capacity of only around 40 kilograms (90 lb) the SLV was unable to carry any significant payloads so an upgraded version, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) was introduced.

Based around the SLV, the ASLV added two more solid motors, burning together as the rocket’s first stage, to the sides of the vehicle. A modified version of the four stage SLV served as the second, third, fourth and fifth stages of the ASLV.

The ASLV made its first flight from a new complex at Sriharikota, located close to the SLV pad, on 24 March 1987. The first two launches failed to achieve orbit, while the third left ISRO’s SROSS-C satellite in a lower-than-planned orbit.

Funding for the ASLV was cut in favour of the more capable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which by then under development, with the final ASLV launch on 4 May 1994 successfully carrying SROSS-C2 into orbit.






The PSLV began a new generation for India’s rockets; the only significant commonality PSLV and its predecessors was the use of S-9 motors – which had made up the first stage of the SLV and the first and second stages of the ASLV – as boosters attached to its first stage.

Far larger than its predecessors, the PSLV introduced a large solid first stage, with liquid second and fourth stages and another solid for the third stage. *In its standard configuration it can place up to 3,700 kilograms (8,200 lb) of payload into low Earth orbit.*

Having made 28 launches since September 1993, the PSLV has been used for two thirds of India’s orbital launches to date. In addition to being India’s most-flown rocket it is also the country’s most reliable, having suffered only one failure – during its maiden flight – and one partial failure in two decades of service.

Two additional configurations, the PSLV-CA (or Core Alone) and PSLV-XL have been developed to accommodate smaller and larger payloads respectively. The Core Alone configuration eliminates the boosters from the first stage, while the PSLV-XL replaces them with larger S-12 motors.







The most recently-developed orbital launch system in India’s fleet is the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, or GSLV. This vehicle was introduced in 2001 with the aim of enabling India to deploy its own communications satellites without relying on foreign rockets – providing a payload capacity of up to 2,200 kilograms (4,900 lb) to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Based on the PSLV, it replaces the solid rocket boosters with larger liquid boosters and introduces a cryogenically-fuelled third stage. Early flights of the GSLV Mk.I used a Russian KVD-1M engine on the third stage, however the Mk.II configuration, first flown in April 2010, has an Indian-built engine in its place.

Despite ISRO’s hopes for the vehicle, the GSLV has proven unreliable with a success rate of only 37.5 percent. Only three of its eight launches to date have reached their planned orbits, with one additional launch reaching a usable, though lower-than-planned, orbit. January’s successful deployment of GSAT-14 was the GSLV’s first flawless mission in almost ten years.






The LVM-3 or GSLV Mk.III is completely new development, a two stage rocket with twin solid boosters augmenting an all-liquid core vehicle.

The first stage, or L110, is powered by two Vikas engines, derived from France’s Viking series used on Ariane rockets between 1979 and 2004. Burning Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) propellant oxidised by dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), the L110 will be air-lit almost two minutes after the rocket lifts off under the power of its two booster rockets.

Each of the two S200 boosters will burn 207 tonnes (204 Imperial tons, 228 US tons) of solid propellant – a mixture of ammonium perchlorate, aluminium and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB).

*The rocket’s second stage, which was not tested on Thursday’s mission, is designated the C25. It was powered by a CE20 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen; however for the maiden flight the second stage was inert, loaded with liquid nitrogen to simulate propellant.*

The name of the new rocket remains unclear, with ISRO continuing to refer to the rocket as both the LVM3 and GSLV Mk.III.

The payload for Thursday’s maiden launch was the Crew Module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE), which demonstrated the crew capsule which ISRO has been developing for its manned programme. The primary objective of CARE’s mission wa to validate the reentry and recovery of the prototype spacecraft.

The 3,735-kilogram (8,234 lb) spacecraft flew without the service module that will eventually accompany it on manned missions; instead it was attached to the second stage of its carrier rocket upside-down, inside the payload fairing.





*
By launching upside-down, ISRO hope to simplify the CARE mission and increase the chances of success; eliminating the risk of having to modify the capsule’s heat shield to interface with the rocket and removing the need for the spacecraft to manoeuvre to reentry attitude following launch.*

With the CARE mission, ISRO’s manned vehicle becomes the second such spacecraft to undergo a flight test this month; on 5 December NASA launched its Exploration Flight Test 1 mission to demonstrate its Orion spacecraft.

Although a more sophisticated flight than CARE, with the Orion spacecraft making two orbits of the Earth and entering at greater velocity from a higher apogee, EFT-1 had similar objectives to India’s mission – testing the spacecraft’s performance during reentry and validating recovery procedures.






The GSLV Mk.III launched from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, a complex constructed in the early 2000s for the PSLV and GSLV Mk.I. Thursday’s was the thirteenth launch from the pad, which was first used for the May 2005 launch of CartoSat-1 on a PSLV.

The second pad has been used for all GSLV launches since its completion, along with a handful of PSLV launches. The majority of PSLV missions are conducted from the nearby First Launch Pad.

For launches from the second pad, rockets are assembled vertically atop a mobile platform in an integration building about a kilometre southwest of the launch pad. The GSLV Mk.III prototype was rolled out a week ahead of launch to allow testing and rehearsals to be conducted in advance of liftoff.

Despite its name, the Second Launch Pad was not the second pad to be constructed at the centre; the numbering system does not take into account the two disused complexes which once hosted the Satellite Launch Vehicle and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, nor does it include several sounding rocket pads.






The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, which was formerly known as the Sriharikota Range, is named after former ISRO chairman Satish Dhawan. The facility was renamed in 2002 following the death of Dhawan in January of that year. It has been the site for all of India’s orbital launches. A third launch pad is currently under construction at the site to accommodate future missions, particularly for India’s manned space programme.

The rocket that flew Thursday’s mission has been designated GSLV Mk.III X1, or LVM3-X1. *It flew in what ISRO consider a typical GSLV Mk.III flight profile up to the end of first stage flight, after which a series of simulated flight events will occur and the CARE spacecraft will be deployed for its reentry experiment.*

*The launch began when the countdown reaches zero, with ignition of the two S200 solid rocket motors. The rocket climbed away from its launch pad, flying on an azimuth of 120 degrees.*

*The first stage engines ignited 114.71 seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of 43.43 kilometres (26.99 miles, 23.45 nautical miles). The boosters burned together with the first stage until the 148.98 second mark in the launch, at which point they separated from the vehicle. Each booster was fitted with six separation motors which fired to take it clear of the core vehicle.*





*
Three minutes and 52.7 seconds after liftoff the payload fairing separated from around the CARE spacecraft. The GSLV Mk.III used a fairing with a diameter of five metres (16 feet) designed to encapsulate the payload and protect it from atmospheric friction during its ascent to space.

First stage flight ended with the Vikas engines shutting down five minutes and 17.62 seconds after liftoff. The spent first stage separated from the second stage mockup 2.8 seconds later. Eleven tenths of a second after staging, the second stage simulated its own shutdown and spacecraft separation occurred four seconds later.

The GSLV accelerated CARE to a velocity of around 5.3 kilometres per second (3.3 miles per second, 12,000 mph) and a projected apogee of 126 kilometres (78 miles, 68 nautical miles), plus or minus one kilometre, which was achieved around the time of stage separation.*

*Immediately after separating from the rocket, CARE activated its control systems, consisting of six reaction control system thrusters each capable of delivering 100 newtons of thrust. The RCS was used to provide three-axis control, guiding the spacecraft for the first two minutes and eleven seconds of free flight, before being deactivated around the time of entry interface as the spacecraft performed an unguided ballistic descent.*






*Following entry interface, deployment of CARE’s drogue parachutes occurred nine minutes and 40 seconds into the mission, at an altitude of 15.4 kilometres. The drogue chutes slowed the capsule as it continued its descent, until the main parachutes were deployed around 202 seconds later with the spacecraft three kilometres above the Indian Ocean.

Splashdown occurred around 180 kilometres south of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where CARE will be recovered by the Indian Coast Guard. In all the mission lasted nineteen minutes from liftoff to splashdown.*

Thursday’s mission concluded ISRO’s launch activities for 2014, following four successful orbital launches earlier in the year. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle began the year on 5 January with the deployment of GSAT-14 – the first successful launch of the GSLV Mk.II and the first for any GSLV configuration since 2004, ending a string of four consecutive launch failures.

PSLV launches in April and October deployed IRNSS navigation satellites, while a further PSLV launch in June orbited France’s SPOT-7 imaging satellite along with several miniature satellites.

India’s first launch next year will be of a PSLV-XL with another IRNSS spacecraft. This will be the first of several IRNSS launches in 2015, with missions to deploy a trio of British imaging satellites and ISRO’s AstroSat astronomy spacecraft also tentatively planned.
*
A development flight of the GSLV Mk.II is scheduled for around the end of the first quarter, carrying the GSAT-6 military communications satellite.*

The GSLV Mk.III is not expected to fly again until 2016 or early 2017, when the rocket will make its first orbital flight – designated D1 – with the GSAT-19E spacecraft.

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## trident2010



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## SOHEIL



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## kaku1

SOHEIL said:


> View attachment 177092​


wow, you are great with graphics.

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## Guynextdoor2

SOHEIL said:


> View attachment 177092​


 
Thanks Soheil. Final config with escape tower and realigned capsule is clear. Hope the next test launches go well too so that we can finally start sending up them Astronauts

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## SOHEIL



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## kaku1

SOHEIL said:


> View attachment 177092​



BTW crew module design going to change to accommodate 3 astronaut from 2. This crew module designed for Mk.2, not for mk.3.


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## SOHEIL



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## ashok321

These are Medium density ablative (MDA) tiles:

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## SOHEIL



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## indiatester

Any pics of the crew module during recovery and its status?


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## Not Sure

Pretty cool @SOHEIL 

Thank you so much, such a nice gesture and the graphics too a very appreciable!

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## SOHEIL

Not Sure said:


> Pretty cool @SOHEIL
> 
> Thank you so much, such a nice gesture and the graphics too a very appreciable!


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## Not Sure

SOHEIL said:


>



I don't know what is your stream of interest, but I think if you continue it with same level of detail, it won't be long before you become a rocket scientist yourself 

P.S. I hope you do not think that I am trivializing your efforts. Your work is of great value!

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## SOHEIL

Not Sure said:


> I don't know what is your stream of interest, but I think if you continue it with same level of detail, it won't be long before you become a rocket scientist yourself
> 
> P.S. I hope you do not think that I am trivializing your efforts. Your work is of great value!



I know ... in fact i am a pilot !

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## Not Sure

SOHEIL said:


> I know ... in fact i am a pilot !



I should have guessed that!

If you happen to fly east some time, please honor us with your presence.

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## SOHEIL

Not Sure said:


> I should have guessed that!
> 
> If you happen to fly east some time, please honor us with your presence.

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## proud_indian

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/545585308410986496

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## kurup



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## SrNair

SOHEIL said:


> View attachment 177092​



Impressive .Nice Bro 
You have much interest in Space technology.

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## Screambowl

proud_indian said:


> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/545585308410986496


I have one question ... where are the atmospheric friction burn marks, during reentry phase , on the capsule?

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## Whiplash

Screambowl said:


> I have one question ... where are the atmospheric friction burn marks, during reentry phase , on the capsule?


Here's the orion capsule from it's first test launch two weeks ago. No burn marks. I don't have much knowledge, but it may be because of the materials used, or the fact that this was a suborbital test.


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## Screambowl

Whiplash said:


> Here's the orion capsule from it's first test launch two weeks ago. No burn marks. I don't have much knowledge, but it may be because of the materials used, or the fact that this was a suborbital test.


There are marks, see , taken from different angle


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## gslv mk3

*Godrej Aerospace to make semi-cryogenic engines*

*Has been supplying the Vikas engines for ISRO’s rockets*

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 18: 


Godrej Aerospace, a division of Godrej & Boyce Ltd, has been mandated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to produce the more powerful and environment-friendly semi-cryogenic engines for it, the company’s Executive Vice-President and Business Head, SM Vaidya told _BusinessLine_.

*Godrej has been supplying the Vikas engines for ISRO’s rockets, including two for the GSLV Mk III that flew today. Vaidya said the company has supplied over a hundred Vikas engines* (which are, incidentally, named after Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, India’s renowned space scientist.)

*Long delay*

While cryogenic engines use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, semi cryogenic engines (SME) use a combination of liquid oxygen and kerosene.

These engines have been used in American and Russian rockets for long. They powered the Saturn V rockets that took Americans to the moon; the Russian RD-180 engines have been used in Boeing’s Atlas V rockets.

The SME project was approved by the Government of India in January 2009 at a sanctioned cost of ₹1,798 crore. Department of Space’s Outcome Budget for 2014-15 says that the project is “in the initial stages”.

It expects the engine to be fully developed “after six years”.

Till the end of March 2013, ISRO had spent Rs 155 crore on the project. *Godrej will make six engines for ISRO. Vaidya said the company had begun work on three.*

*The SME is meant to power the future GSLV Mk III rockets as well as the heavy-life Unified Launch Vehicles, or ULV, which is today only a concept. The ULV will be a modular vehicle where the number of engines used will be based on the weight of the satellite or spacecraft.*

*The rocket will feature a combination of SME and an Indian cryogenic engine.*

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## proud_indian

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/545881248124502016


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## kurup

*CARE module during recovery process by the Coast Guard team after reentry.*

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## kurup

Guys , ISRO has come up with a new cool website ...... check out ,

ISRO - Government of India

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## Levina

kurup said:


> Guys , ISRO has come up with a new cool website ...... check out ,
> 
> ISRO - Government of India


The page is still under construction as in when I tried to enter the "timeline" it lead me to a broken link. Why does ISRO always 've such glitches whether on their site or in their videos???
I think such social media activity is not maintained by the real ISRO team.

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## TejasMk3

levina said:


> The page is still under construction as when I tried to enter the "timeline" it lead me to a broken link. Why does ISRO always 've such glitches whether on their site or in their videos???
> I think such social media activity is not maintained by the real ISRO team.


Timeline works, it took me about 3 refreshes, but it does work.

Here is something cool:

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## Levina

TejasMk3 said:


> Timeline works, it took me about 3 refreshes, but it does work.
> 
> Here is something cool:



great!!!
but its still not working for me


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## Water Car Engineer



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## Levina

@TejasMk3

you have shown me the launcher's page from that site.That works for me too
Launchers - ISRO






I want you to open this page 
http://isro.org/about-isro/isros-timeline-60s-to-today


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## TejasMk3

levina said:


> @TejasMk3
> 
> you have shown me the launcher's page from that site.That works for me too
> Launchers - ISRO


I wanted to post that launchers pic, I thought the comparisons to HM Ambassador cars was cool 



> View attachment 177842
> 
> 
> I want you to open this page
> http://isro.org/about-isro/isros-timeline-60s-to-today



this works for me, had visited the page earlier, and even now! Just refresh it a few times.

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## Levina

TejasMk3 said:


> I wanted to post that launchers pic, I thought the comparisons to HM Ambassador cars was cool
> 
> 
> 
> this works for me, had visited the page earlier, and even now! Just refresh it a few times.


Nope its still not working.


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## TejasMk3

levina said:


> Nope its still not working.


Your link has the wrong url
Try this one:
ISRO's Timeline from 1960s to Today - ISRO

There is some real funny stuff going on.

The on isro.org, the url is correct, but the timeline doesnt load!
on isro.gov.in the URL pointing to the page is wrong, but the timeline loads okay, once the URL is corrected

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## Levina

TejasMk3 said:


> Your link has the wrong url
> Try this one:
> ISRO's Timeline from 1960s to Today - ISRO
> 
> There is some real funny stuff going on.
> 
> The on isro.org, the url is correct, but the timeline doesnt load!
> on isro.gov.in the URL pointing to the page is wrong, but the page loads okay!


Didnt I tell you that theres technical snag.


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## TejasMk3

levina said:


> Didnt I tell you that theres technical snag.


Yeah I didnt realize I had 2 different sites (org and gov.in) on, and somehow got it to work while copy pasting stuff lol.

Dont know why they want two websites with pretty much the same content (from what I've seen).

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## kurup

levina said:


> The page is still under construction as in when I tried to enter the "timeline" it lead me to a broken link. Why does ISRO always 've such glitches whether on their site or in their videos???
> I think such social media activity is not maintained by the real ISRO team.



It is working fine for me .

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## TejasMk3

ISRO’s unmanned crew module reaches Chennai - The Hindu


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## CONNAN

TejasMk3 said:


> ISRO’s unmanned crew module reaches Chennai - The Hindu

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## Supply&Demand

CONNAN said:


>




will the real crew module be bigger than this or the same size?


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## CONNAN

Supply&Demand said:


> will the real crew module be bigger than this or the same size?



We are just seeing the reentry capsule here as this is just an experimental mission. LVM3 has enough capacity to accommodate a orbital module in addition to the service and return modules similar to Soyuz and Shenzhou. 
The service module for the OV was finalized to be based on modified 4th stage of PSLV a couple of years back. Also, notice that the capsule is being launched backwards whereby the imaginary astronauts will be facing the ground instead of the sky. This a purely scientific mission. A normal OV stack would be very different from this. The aim of this launch is to test the re-entry tech.

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## Levina

TejasMk3 said:


> Yeah I didnt realize I had 2 different sites (org and gov.in) on, and somehow got it to work while copy pasting stuff lol.
> 
> Dont know why they want two websites with pretty much the same content (from what I've seen).


Some of the ISRO policies gets me flummoxed.


kurup said:


> It is working fine for me .


Great!
But its still not working here.

@sreekumar 
Remember that day we were talking about on board cameras?
Most of us do know that there're on board cameras,what we dont know (or atleast I didnt know was) that cameras must be installed onboard as its mandatory according to the international space treaty.Also that all the videos taken by on board camera is available with the ISTRAC(ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) and MCF(Master Control Facility) ground stations located at Bangalore and Hassan respectively. Because their work is to track rockets and satellites.
So as suspected they show us poor quality videos intentionally. Lol

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## kurup

levina said:


> Remember that day we were talking about on board cameras?
> Most of us do know that there're on board cameras,*what we dont know (or atleast I didnt know was) that cameras must be installed onboard as its mandatory according to the international space treaty*.Also that all the videos taken by on board camera is available with the ISTRAC(ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) and MCF(Master Control Facility) ground stations located at Bangalore and Hassan respectively. Because their work is to track rockets and satellites.
> So as suspected they show us poor quality videos intentionally. Lol



That is new information .

ISRO or DRDO has never released any video of their rocket or missile launch from on-board cameras .

The videos that we see are the ones taken by DD-1 ....... and they mess up most of the time .

Atleast the videos released by DRDO are better ..... they perfectly track the missile .


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## SrNair

levina said:


> Some of the ISRO policies gets me flummoxed.
> 
> Great!
> But its still not working here.
> 
> @sreekumar
> Remember that day we were talking about on board cameras?
> Most of us do know that there're on board cameras,what we dont know (or atleast I didnt know was) that cameras must be installed onboard as its mandatory according to the international space treaty.Also that all the videos taken by on board camera is available with the ISTRAC(ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) and MCF(Master Control Facility) ground stations located at Bangalore and Hassan respectively. Because their work is to track rockets and satellites.
> So as suspected they show us poor quality videos intentionally. Lol




Wow.That is a new information.
I dont think there will be a security problem if they releases that video.CNSA,NASA,ESA etc dont have any problem with it.
Then why should we hesitate for it?



levina said:


> Some of the ISRO policies gets me flummoxed.
> 
> Great!
> But its still not working here.
> 
> @sreekumar
> Remember that day we were talking about on board cameras?
> Most of us do know that there're on board cameras,what we dont know (or atleast I didnt know was) that cameras must be installed onboard as its mandatory according to the international space treaty.Also that all the videos taken by on board camera is available with the ISTRAC(ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) and MCF(Master Control Facility) ground stations located at Bangalore and Hassan respectively. Because their work is to track rockets and satellites.
> So as suspected they show us poor quality videos intentionally. Lol




Wow.That is a new information.
I dont think there will be a security problem if they releases that video.CNSA,NASA,ESA etc dont have any problem with it.
Then why should we hesitate for it?

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## kaku1

levina said:


> Some of the ISRO policies gets me flummoxed.
> 
> Great!
> But its still not working here.
> 
> @sreekumar
> Remember that day we were talking about on board cameras?
> Most of us do know that there're on board cameras,what we dont know (or atleast I didnt know was) that cameras must be installed onboard as its mandatory according to the international space treaty.Also that all the videos taken by on board camera is available with the ISTRAC(ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network) and MCF(Master Control Facility) ground stations located at Bangalore and Hassan respectively. Because their work is to track rockets and satellites.
> So as suspected they show us poor quality videos intentionally. Lol



Nope, there is no clause for cameras in Outer Space Treaty. Remember, one thing OST was signed in 67.


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## Screambowl

is there any reenetry video?


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## Levina

kaku1 said:


> Nope, there is no clause for cameras in Outer Space Treaty. Remember, one thing OST was signed in 67.


But for their own tracking purposes ISRO does install cameras like any other space agency whether in the treaty or not, like in this video where clouds through an enclosure 're visible (most prolly through the camera on board at some where 48:43 and 48:53 on the timeline of video). 







The subject in hand is why ISRO doesnt show us those videos when other agencies 're pretty open about it?

....

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## kaku1

levina said:


> But for their own tracking purposes ISRO does install cameras like any other space agency whether in the treaty or not, like in this video where clouds through an enclosure 're visible (most prolly through the camera on board at some where 48:43 and 48:53 on the timeline of video).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The subject in hand is why ISRO doesnt show us those videos when other agencies 're pretty open about it?
> 
> ....



Because they dont need to. Even you seen any of the cameras in missile? Missile, are also eligible under OST, even 
Brilliant Pebbles was.


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## Water Car Engineer



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## proud_indian

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/550267995038031872

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/550269276436058113

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/550269847091695617


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## The Last of us

I am so proud of my Indian brothers and sisters. This space capability is beyond awesome 
One day, Iranian program will also shine like yours too 

Keep up the great work my brothers.

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## Echo_419

The Last of us said:


> I am so proud of my Indian brothers and sisters. This space capability is beyond awesome
> One day, Iranian program will also shine like yours too
> 
> Keep up the great work my brothers.



With your well wishes we will surely do & all the best for your space program too

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## CONNAN

*Chandrayaan-II in full progress: Isro ex-chief*

K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), said on Saturday that work on Chandrayaan-II was in full progress and the nation can expect it to land an indigenously-built spacecraft with a rover on the surface of the Moon within three to five years.

Mr Radhakrishnan was speaking during the plenary session on Mars mission soon after the inauguration of the 102nd Indian Science Congress at the Kalina campus of the University of Mumbai.

Fielding questions on Mangalyaan, the first independent space orbiter successfully sent up by India in its first attempt, Mr Radhakrishnan said that India was rated as one of the top six countries in the world by Futron, an American agency that rates nations for its progress in space research and development.

He further elaborated that Mangalyaan had completed 100 days in orbit and all its instruments were functioning well.

“We are sure that the orbiter will complete the six months estimate. The images and data it is sending is being processed and the results are very encouraging,” said Mr Radhakrishnan, who retired as chairman of Isro on December 31, 2014.

He added that the test for Mangalyaan would be during the 15 days when Isro would be out of touch with it due to an alignment of the Sun, Mars, Moon and the Earth that will cut off all communications with the orbiter. “The Mars mission has been possible due to the industries that have been working with Isro. There are around 300 industrial firms that have contributed to the orbiter and they will be partnering with Isro in future space ventures too,” he said.

Chandrayaan-II in full progress: Isro ex-chief | The Asian Age


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## SOHEIL



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## haman10

keep up the awesome job .

we iranians are extremely interested abt space developments 

love to see a neighbor reaching the stars

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## Not Sure

Fixed space satellite demand by region:

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## $@rJen

*India to launch radar satellite in 2020*
Published January 8, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: MANORAMA ONLINE






India will launch in 2020 an advanced satellite equipped with synthetic aperture radar, the first of its kind in the world, that the country is developing in collaboration with NASA, said Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) former chairman K.Radhakrishnan. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) director Dr G.Satheesh Reddy said the “smart soldier” concept for the country’s armed forces was at a critical stage in its development. The two were showcasing India’s scientific achievement at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

The radar satellite was a key link in India’s space research collaboration with NASA. The satellite will incorporate advanced instruments to study in detail climate change, the melting of ice and glaciers, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and volcanoes, among others. The studies are important as these phenomena are still not fully understood or can by accurately predicted.

The satellite will use two different radar frequencies. The launch vehicle, the launch, the satellite bus, etc. will be India’s responsibility. NASA will develop the radar, the communications sub-system, and the GPS receiver, among others.

Radhakrishnan said India now occupies the top spot in several areas of space research. The country’s 25 satellites now orbit the earth. He said with the Mark III engine- which was successfully tested recently — getting ready, the country will become self-sufficient in launching heavy satellites. He was greeted with thunderous applause by the audience when he said he can foresee a time when delegates from Mars will attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet.

Satheesh Reddy’s smart soldier concept can revolutionise warfare. It includes a battlefield attire incorporating technologies that can spot and neutralise the enemy’s moves and launch a counter-attack. Reddy said the “robo soldier” concept, which aims to field bots in the battlefield, was also in the works.

From one that possessed zero capability to build missiles, India has now transformed itself into a country that has top-notch missiles in all categories, he said. Earlier, with each achievement, scientists used to take pride in the fact that the country was one of the five, or one of the four, possessing that technology. Then DRDO chief Dr APJ Abdul Kalam used to ask at those times, “Funny fellows, don’t we have to be first in the world?” Today, the country is top on supersonic missiles and anti-missile technologies, and have fulfilled Kalam’s dreams, Reddy said.

Union science and technology minister Dr Harshvardhan introduced Dr K Radhakrishnan to the delegates of the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet as “the great man.” In the special session to describe India’s scientific achievements, the minister took special care to praise ISRO. He also wondered if it was correct to call someone who had retired just a few days back as ISRO’s former chief. He invited Radhakrishnan for his lecture with the introduction that the scientist will not be allowed to “retire and rest”.



haman10 said:


> keep up the awesome job .
> 
> we iranians are extremely interested abt space developments
> 
> love to see a neighbor reaching the stars



Ya... i always wondered why most of the Iranian in pd seems to be in love with ISRO??? why don't you guys collaborate with ISRO in space science ?

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## greatone

If I am not wrong Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR) is a dual use technology which US was releuctant to share with India recently.

Does anyone know what would be military applications of SAR ?


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## amardeep mishra

greatone said:


> Does anyone know what would be military applications of SAR ?



Hi
SAR is basically a kind of radar that lets you convert the echo into meaningful images.in Modern era, this mode is implemented in fighter jets as well. As in conventional radio telescope,the gain and hence magnification power depends on the aperture,in the same manner in SAR, the aperture is intelligently increased to obtain a better picture or mapping.The aperture virtually becomes the size of vT(where v is the velocity of the platform and T is the duration for which the images are integrated).
PS- please note the word "virtually".

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## amardeep mishra

Here is an excerpt from one of DRDO's slide that was presented at IISC bangalore. This one shows 3 basic modes of SAR
(a)Stripmap
(b)Spotlight
(c)Scan


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## $@rJen

*Isro-Saarc satellite to be a communication vehicle*
Published January 12, 2015 | By admin
SOURCE: DHNS






The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has decided the Saarc satellite would be a communication-cum-meteorology satellite to aid the neighbouring countries with their need for satellite transponders for communication and weather forecasting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mooted the idea of a Saarc satellite almost six months ago.

“It would be a communication satellite and Indian industry would be roped in for making it,” reliable Isro sources told Deccan Herald. The satellite’s configuration would be similar to the INSAT series satellites that had dual purpose. The launch is likely in 2016.

While visiting Isro in June, Modi proposed the idea of a Saarc satellite. Its genesis, however, was in an alert from the external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing that warned the government about the Chinese plan of boosting space cooperation in India’s neighbourhood.

In the last three years, Beijing launched two satellites from Sri Lanka and Pakistan and signed an agreement for a third launch.

In November 2012, the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) ferried a five-tonne communication satellite from a Sri Lankan private firm SupremeSAT (Supreme SAT-1) to the orbit. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Rohita, played a key role in developing the satellite as he is the technical director of the firm.

The same Sri Lankan company in 2013 signed a $ 215 million agreement with the CGWIC to launch a second satellite, Supreme Sat-II in 2017. The CGWIC also launched Pakistan’s first communication satellite PakSat-1R from its Xichang base in Sichuan province in 2011.

At the Saarc summit in Kathmandu in November, 2014 Modi said India’s Saarc satellite would be launched by December, 2016 (Saarc day). “We will also host a conference in India for all South Asian partners next year, to strengthen our collective ability to apply space technology in economic development and governance,” he said.

Though Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation signed agreements with many countries to launch lighter satellites with PSLV, there are barely any discussions within Saarc, where only India and Pakistan have satellites.

As Isro does not have a reliable indigenous launch vehicle to ferry heavy 3-5 tonne class satellites (GSAT) to the geosynchronous orbit at an elevation of 36,000 km, the space agency sends its own communication satellites using the French ArianeSpace rockets.

The Saarc satellite would benefit education, tele-medicine, disaster response, resource management, weather forecasting and communication sectors.
DH News Service


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space25-February, 2015 15:53 IST
11 Indian and 13 foreign satellites launched during January 2012-February, 2015
During the last three years (January 2012-Februrary, 2015), India has successfully launched 24 satellites consisting of 11 Indian satellites and 13 foreign satellites. The details of the satellites are as follows:

a) 11 Indian satellites: RISAT-1, Satellite for Argos and Altika (SARAL), IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1C, INSAT-3D, Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft, GSAT-14, GSAT-10, GSAT-7 and GSAT-16;


b) 13 foreign satellites: SPOT-6 (France), PROITERES (Japan), SAPPHIRE (Canada), NEOSSat (Canada), NLS 8.1 (Austria), NLS 8.2 (Austria), NLS 8.3 (Denmark), STRaND-1 (UK), SPOT-7 (France), NLS 7.1 (Canada), NLS 7.2 (Canada), AISat (Germany) & VELOX-1 (Singapore).

The expenditure incurred on the launching of each of these eleven Indian satellites into the space is given below:

* (` *_in crores*)*_


1 . RISAT-1 PSLV-C19 90.00

2 SARAL PSLV-C20 85.00

3 GSAT-10 Procured Launch 406.82

4 IRNSS-1A PSLV-C22 90.00

5 Mars Orbiter Spacecraft PSLV-C25 108.34

6 GSAT-14 GSLV-D5 173.00

7 GSAT-7 Procured Launch 485.29

8 INSAT-3D Procured Launch 485.15

9 IRNSS-1B PSLV-C24 90.00

10 IRNSS-1C PSLV-C26 90.00

11 GSAT-16 Procured launch 581.00


There was no satellite failure in the process of launching during the above mentioned period.

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Lok Sabha today.

****

Department of Space
25-February, 2015 15:51 IST

*27 satellites operational in the country and action has been taken towards developing 26 indigenous satellites*

There are 27 satellites that are operational in the country currently. This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to Lok Sabha today.

These are as follows:

(i) 11 Communication Satellites namely, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3C, INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B, INSAT-4CR, GSAT-7, GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-12, GSAT-14 and GSAT-16.

(ii) 12 Earth Observation Satellites namely, Resourcesat-2, RISAT-1, RISAT-2, Cartosat-1, Cartosat-2, Cartosat-2A, Cartosat-2B, Oceansat-2, SARAL, Kalpana-1, Megha-Tropiques and INSAT-3D.

(iii) 3 Navigational Satellites namely, IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-1C

(iv) 1 Mars Orbiter Mission

(a) As part of XII Five Year Plan (2012-17), action has been taken towards developing 26 indigenous satellites, which includes (i) 6 Communication satellites namely GSAT-15, GSAT-9, GSAT-6, GSAT-6A, GSAT-7A and GSAT-11 (ii) 13 Earth observation satellites namely, Resourcesat-2A, Cartosat-2C, Cartosat-2D, Cartosat-2E, GISAT-1, GISAT-2, INSAT-3DR, INSAT-3DS, Cartosat-3A, Cartosat-3B, Technology Demonstrator Micro Satellite (TD-MS), Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite and RISAT-2A; (iii) 4 Navigation satellites namely IRNSS-1D, IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F and IRNSS-1G; (iv) 3 Space science satellites namely Astrosat, Chandrayaan-2 and Aditya.

95 Ku-band (a part of K band) transponders onboard indigenous communication satellites are being utilized for various communication applications. Replying to the discussion, the minister said that the government is also working on resolving the connectivity issues in the hilly areas.

****

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## Water Car Engineer

*India Chandrayaan -2 , indigenous Orbiter, Lander and Rover shown at Aero India 2015 by ISRO *






*Chandrayaan -2 Orbiter & Lander*






*Chandrayaan -2 Rover*

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## A$HU

Water Car Engineer said:


> *India Chandrayaan -2 , indigenous Orbiter, Lander and Rover shown at Aero India 2015 by ISRO *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Chandrayaan -2 Orbiter & Lander*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Chandrayaan -2 Rover*


The rover looks quite primitive.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
26-February, 2015 15:28 IST 

*Agreement in space technology for peaceful uses of outer space *

Government of India and its national space body, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of Department of Space (DOS) has signed agreement with other developing/ developed countries and their space bodies for peaceful uses of outer space including Research and Development (R&D) in space science, technology and applications. 

Currently, such cooperative arrangements are in place with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela. 

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Rajya Sabha today.


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## lasttry

A$HU said:


> The rover looks quite primitive.



CNC cut aircraft grade billet aluminium wheels. Yeah, looks quite primitive Mr scientist!!


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## A$HU

lasttry said:


> CNC cut aircraft grade billet aluminium wheels. Yeah, looks quite primitive Mr scientist!!


Arre i meant the design not the components.


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## Vaishnu

Does India have any plan for ASAT missile/weapon?


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## Gessler

Vaishnu said:


> Does India have any plan for ASAT missile/weapon?



Yes. Working on it as we speak.

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## ashok321

A$HU said:


> Arre i meant the design not the components.



Talking about design?
its CAD; Computer aided design, not CNC machines.


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## Dillinger

Gessler said:


> Yes. Working on it as we speak.



ASAT weapons, much like a nuclear deterrent, require a clear demonstration to announce to the world at large, and our potential opponents in particular, that we can cause severe damage to their space-based assets. For us this is not a matter of technology but of political will and considerations. Will our government consent to a proper test where an old sat will be targeted and destroyed? If yes, then we need to prepare for the international reactions and play our cards right.


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## TejasMk3

PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Mission - ISRO
New pics from Mangalyaan!

*Spectacular 3D view of Arsia Mons, a huge volcano on Mars*





*Close-up view of a portion of the gigantic Valles Marineris Canyon of Mars.*





*Eos Chaos area, part of the gigantic Valles Marineris Canyon of Mars*





*Phobos, one of the two natural satellites of Mars silhouetted against the Martian surface*

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## Aamna Ali

ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation




ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission payload views the albedo of Mars

Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) payload onboard MOM intends to detect the presence of Methane and measure the column density of the same. One of the secondary objectives of this payload is to measure the reflectance of Martian surface in 1.65 micron. MSM has two channels, Methane and reference to measure the radiance from the surface of Mars.
All planets in the Solar system receive Sun’s radiation to varying degrees depending on their distance from the Sun. Observing the surface of the planet depends on how this radiation is reflected back. Reflected solar radiation from Mars is a diagnostic signal of the planet which provides lot of information about the planet’s surface as well as its atmosphere. When we measure the radiance in a specific wavelength of light (in this case, 1.65 micron), then we can generate a reflectance map.
The map presented here shows the surface reflectance of Mars as viewed at 1.65 micron from the reference channel of MSM till December 16, 2014. In the map, the blue colour indicates low albedo features and the red shows high albedo features on the Martian surface.
The map resolution is 0.5°x0.5° in Latitude-Longitude. By correcting the data for CO2 absorption, a major part of atmospheric effects is taken care of. This data along with the reflectance measured by Mars Colour Camera will be useful to study the surface properties of Mars.
(Image credit: SAC, ISRO)

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## Aamna Ali

*India's maiden Sun mission gets a boost*
Srinivas Laxman
Indian Space Correspondent

">Srinivas Laxman, Indian Space Correspondent
03 March 2015, 19:19 UTC

Sen—India’s first mission to study the Sun designated as 'Aditya-1' received a major boost in the national budget for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) presented on Feb. 28, 2015.

Budget papers show that the allocation for the solar project has gone up from a mere U.S. $1.1 million to U.S. $3.2 million. The total cost of the project is about U.S. $16.2 million.

ISRO officials who spoke to Sen said that the hike only showed that India had accorded high priority to this project, and *if it is successful then India will join the elite club of space-faring nations like the U.S., Japan and members of the European Space Agency which have launched missions to the Sun*.

Slated for launch in 2018 with the highly-proven four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the mission will study the highly dynamic nature of the solar corona including the small scale coronal loops and large coronal mass ejections. Officials explained that these studies will enhance knowledge of the solar corona which in turn will help in providing data relating to space weather.

With a launch mass of 400 kg, the spacecraft will be placed in earth orbit at an altitude of nearly 800 kms positioned at Lagrangian point L1 which will be 1.5 million kms away from the earth. The advantage of locating it at this point is that it will allow the spacecraft to observe the Sun continuously and relay data.

*The main payload will be the advanced solar coronagraph. The others are: Ultraviolet imager telescope, a high energy x-ray spectrometer, a wind particle detector, a soft ray spectrometer and a variable emission coronagraph.*

The earlier plan envisaged it being launched in 2015-2016. But it got rescheduled to 2018 when it was decided to put additional payloads and place the satellite at the Lagrangian point L1. 

According to Isro officials, it is is an extremely challenging mission because the spacecraft will be positioned at a point where the gravity of the Sun and that of the earth will play a role to keep the satellite in its place.

The project was conceptualised in January 2008 and was announced on Nov. 10, 2008—just four days before India landed on the moon on Nov.14, 2008.

T*he other important feature of the budget is that for the first time it has allotted a sum of Rs two crores for a Saarc satellite which was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he addressed the space scientists at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Jun. 30, 2014, after the successful launch of the PSLV-C23 mission.*

The satellite will be designed and developed by ISRO and will cater to the needs of the seven-member Saarc countries.






_Illustration of Aditya-1. Image credit: ISRO_

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
12-March, 2015 14:40 IST

*ISRO proposes to set up a new launch pad, referred as Third Launch Pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.*

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) proposes to set up a new launch pad, referred as Third Launch Pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

The Third Launch Pad is intended to support increased launch frequency, launching requirements of future advanced launch vehicles and also serve as a redundant launch pad for the GSLV MIII class of vehicles. Detailed studies on possible concepts /options and preliminary configuration have been carried out.

The possible site for the Third Launch Pad has been identified in Sriharikota taking into account the safety distances and maximal utilisation of existing launch pad facilities. However, further work on design of the launch pad will be taken up at an appropriate time after finalising the configuration of the advanced launch vehicle, operationalisation of GSLV MIII, programmatic requirements and resource availability.

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today.

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## CONNAN

*Hot Test of Cryogenic Engine Successful, Says ISRO *

TIRUNELVELI:GSLV MK-3, high power integrated cryogenic engine, was hot tested successfully at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tirunelveli district on Saturday.

IPRC Director D. Karthikesan said as part of an important milestone in developing a heavy lift launch vehicle, GSLV MK-3, for the next generation, a major milestone was achieved when the cryogenic CE-20 engine was hot tested.

It was successfully tested for 20 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex(IPRC), Mahendragiri on Saturday.

“It is yet another milestone achievement on the road map of developing a bigger and more powerful indigenously built high thrust cryogenic upper stage for GSLV MK3 rocket for the Indian Space Programme,” said Karthikesan.

The Cryogenic CE-20 engine was a fully indigenous engine of ISRO and delivered a thrust of 20 tonnes. All the major parameters of CE-20 engine were normal and further tests were planned in the coming months, he added.

IPRC scientists said it was tested at around 3-45pm.

Various subsystems of CE-20, such as injector, thrust chamber, gas generator, LOX and LH2 turbo pumps were tested earlier at IPRC, Mahendragiri.

Hot Test of Cryogenic Engine Successful, Says ISRO -The New Indian Express

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## Hindustani78

Ministry for Development of North-East Region
16-March, 2015 16:04 IST 

*India and Canada discuss possible joint-ventures of mutual interest *

The Canadian High Commissioner in India, Mr. Nadir Patel called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh here today and discussed some of the possible joint-ventures of mutual interest between the two countries. The Ambassador was accompanied by two NRI Canadian entrepreneurs Mr. Mukund Purohit and Mr. Vikram Khurana. The Canadian Ambassador expressed his government’s keenness to collaborate with India at various levels and in different areas. He said, the people of Canada were looking forward with great excitement and enthusiasm to the forthcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to Canada next month. 

Mr. Patel was appreciative of the rapid strides made by India in space technology. He referred to the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) reported plans to develop capability for heavy and high throughput satellites. In this context, Canadian scientists are eager to share their technical know-how with the Indian counterparts, he added. 

In response, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, most of the recent Space Missions by ISRO were more or less totally indigenous and lived up to Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s inspiring concept of “Make in India”. To cite an example, he referred to Mars Orbiter Mission which had been 100% indigenously developed with 100% Indian infrastructure and human resource. This Mission, he said, had not only established India’s supremacy in Space technology but also paved the way for more advanced Space Missions to the Mars in the years to come. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh also took up the issue of Northeast with the Canadian delegation and spelt out a number of plans envisaged for future with a view to promote outside investment in the region which could generate revenue as well as employment opportunities. 

In response, the Canadian representatives assured the DoNER Minister that they would come back to him with a concept paper about several new ideas , schemes and trade ventures that they have been contemplating in the context of Northeastern region of India.


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## IND151

Mangalyaan — the country’s first spacecraft to Mars —* will complete its six-month mission next week on March 24, but will remain operational even after its assignment duration expires*.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Dr Kiran Kumar told HT the mission would technically end next week. “*The spacecraft will remain operational even after that as there is no fuel constraint. This will help us delve deeper into the seasons and climate on Mars. We have been able to capture some beautiful images of Mars and have got ample data. Analysis of the data is being done and once this is final, it will be made public*,” Kumar said.

On September 24 last year, India created history by becoming the first country to succeed on its first Mars mission when the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) slipped into the orbit of the Red Planet after a few nail-biting moments.

The *country* joined the *United States, European Space Agency and the former Soviet Union *in the* elite club* of *Martian explorers *with the MOM. The five payloads on the spacecraft were scheduled to carry out experiments for six months.

The Isro chief said a lot would depend on the blackout period for Mars in June. “The next challenge for the spacecraft will be in June next year when all three – Mars, Earth and Sun-will be in one line. There will be no communication (blackout period) with the spacecraft for nearly 14 days.”

The blackout would be experienced between June 8 and 22 as the Sun would come between Earth and Mars. During the blackout period, the spacecraft would be in fully autonomous mode and no data would be transmitted to or from it.

*Isro* is* planning *the *launch* of the *fourth *out of *seven* in the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) series of satellites after IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-IC. The satellite would provide navigational services. The launch, earlier planned for March 9, had to be postponed after it was found that one of the telemetry transmitters was not working properly.

mission ends March 24, but spacecraft will remain operational | idrw.org

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
18-March, 2015 16:56 IST 
*

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is the most economical interplanetary mission in the world and paved way for cost-effective access to deep space *

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has various achievements to its credit after it was inserted into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. The details of significant achievements of MOM include –

i. First interplanetary mission realized by India and first Indian spacecraft to incorporate full scale on-board autonomy to overcome the long distances and the communication gaps due to non-visibility periods. 

ii. First Indian spacecraft to successfully survive Van Allen belt crossing 39 times. 

iii. First mission to use Ship Borne Terminals to track the launch vehicle and satellite over Pacific Ocean by ISRO. 

iv. First Indian spacecraft to escape the Sphere Of Influence of Earth and orbit Sun. 

v. First Mars mission in the world to succeed Mars Orbit Insertion in first attempt. 

vi. Most economical interplanetary mission in the world and paved way for cost-effective access to deep space. The launch vehicle, Spacecraft and Ground Segment have been realised with a budget of Rs 450 Cr. 

The planned life span of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) after its insertion into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 is 6 months. The planned life span (6 months) of MOM is completing on March 24, 2015. One of the life limiting parameters of a spacecraft, under nominal orbital conditions, is the availability of propellant to maintain its orbit and orientation. In case of MOM, a reserve of 37 kg of propellant is available in the satellite. Since the health parameters of all critical systems of the satellite are very satisfactory, it is expected that MOM willoutlive its planned life span of 6 months. The increased duration of observation of Mars by five scientific payloads will enhance the planetary science data. It would also enable coverage of Mars in different seasons. 

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has been awarded “Space Pioneer Award” for science and engineering category for the year 2015 by the US based National Space Society. The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is awarded to ISRO in recognition of its path-breaking achievement, culminating in Mars Orbiter Mission, its significant contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space. 

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to unstarred questions in Lok Sabha today. 

*****

************************

Department of Space
18-March, 2015 16:54 IST 
*

Department of Space’s strategy on realisation of space systems indigenously, by partnering with Indian Industries, is in total synchronization with the mission ‘Make In India’ *

Since inception in 1972, the Indian Space Programme has been guided with the main objective of indigenous development of space systems for national development with strong involvement of Indian industries in realising space grade hardware, software and test systems. ISRO involves itself in mission definition, system engineering studies, design and development activities, quality assurance and project management with its own indigenous resources and develop, enhance and utilise the skills and resources available in the Indian Industries in realising the missions. The Department has drawn up a long term strategy to develop many more Indian Industries and encourage them to stake bigger claims in the Indian Space Programme with a vision of expanding India’s Space ecosystem. The development of Indian industries to support Indian Space Programme is a continuous effort on the part of the Department. The Department has also developed a novel method of developing industries through investments to support establishment of technical infrastruture, defining the quality and reliability standards and to encourage industries to enhance the skills of the human resources to match up to the requirements of the Space. The Departmental strategy on realisation of space systems indigenously, by partnering with Indian Industries, is in total synchronisation with the mission ‘Make In India’, a major national programme designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, protect IPR and build best manufacturing infrastructure in the Country. 

This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha today. 

****

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## Hindustani78

ISRO plans to launch navigation satellite on March 28 : South, News - India Today
IANS Chennai, March 20, 2015 | UPDATED 09:42 IST

India is likely to put into orbit its fourth regional navigation satellite on March 28, with the country's space agency now in the process of loading the rocket with the satellite, an official said on Thursday.

"The process of integrating the IRNSS-1D (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) is underway and it is expected to be completed today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday)," an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS, preferring anonymity.

India's rocket port is located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here.

"The rocket launch is tentatively fixed at 5:19 pm on March 28. However, a final decision will be taken after testing the rocket and the satellite and everything is found sound," he added.

Following that, ISRO's Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) will meet and give the final nod for the rocket's blast-off.

The 1,425 kg IRNSS-1D will zoom into the space atop the Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL).

Originally the satellite was to be launched on March 9.

However, on March 4, ISRO deferred the launch after it found that one of the telemetry transmitters in the IRNSS-1D was not working properly.

India has so far launched three regional navigational satellites as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.

Though the full system comprises nine satellites -- seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by -- the navigation services could be made operational with four satellites, ISRO officials said.

Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore.

The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.

The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third on October 16, 2014.

Once the regional navigation system is in place, India need not be dependent on other platforms.

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## Hindustani78

Mars Orbiter still going strong - The Hindu







*As it outlives its mission life, module to be assigned new tasks by ISRO*
The Mars Orbiter will complete half a year around the Red Planet on Tuesday and is going strong.

The orbiter has been designed for six months of work. A few more months of wait is needed to know what it has seen and sensed on Mars since September 24 last year. The feat of accomplishing its mission life deserves applause, as was noted in Parliament on Wednesday.

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) teams will meet later in March to take stock of its status and plan the next steps that have come as a bonus.

“We need to consolidate and review the data so far, and also make the next plans,” V. Kesava Raju, Mars Mission Director for post-launch matters, told _The Hindu_. Detailed analyses of the data it has sent will not be available for some more months, though he said MOM had done a good amount of mapping and imaging. In the six months, the orbiter has been taking Martian surface pictures from distances of around 500 km to 70,000 km. It has mapped the terrain, studied the chemicals present, looked for methane, a sign of ancient or present life, and got a ringside view of a passing comet in October.

Dr. Raju said that as Mars and earth were both moving, the geometry had been changing. This allowed MOM to cover additional Martian surface. So far, MOM’s colour camera focussed on wide-angle long shots of Mars. “Perhaps, we can have imageries of higher resolution from shorter distances,” he said.

Mars has moved further from earth and is about 346 million km away. MOM left earth on December 1, 2013. Its signals take 19 minutes to reach Earth one-way, longer than the 11 minutes when it entered the Martian orbit six months ago, Dr. Raju said.

Indian spacecraft, with a few exceptions, have outlived their lifespan by a few years, but these were operating closer home, at up to 36,000 km from ground. “It looks like MOM can go on for at least another six months,” said an ISRO official who did not wish to be named.

*Precise moves*
Precision in calculating every distance and timing each manoeuvre clinched the mission’s success. The official said fuel was saved at every stage: when the orbit was increased five times in its early phase under earth’s gravitational field in November 2013; when the orbiter was sent off earth; when two mid-course corrections were avoided during the 10-month journey; and finally while locking MOM on to the Martian orbit.

MOM will go through a 15-day “blackout” or eclipsed period from June 8 to 22. Communication with earth will be snapped as sun will block the planet from Mars and MOM, Project Director S. Arunan said at the Indian Science Congress in January.

During this period, the orbiter must take its own decisions in an autonomous mode and will consume more fuel. How much longer it will last and with how much fuel will be left will depend on this phase. If MOM keeps up its longevity streak, it will next face a “whiteout” a year later when Earth will come between Sun and Mars and communication will go blank again.

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## Hindustani78

ISRO gearing up for navigation satellite's launch
Chennai, March 23, 2015 (IANS)

*The Indian rocket that would put into orbit the country's fourth navigation satellite on March 28 was moved to the launch pad on Monday morning, said a senior official.*

"The rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-PSLV-XL - has been moved to the launch pad or the umbilical tower. The rocket will be fixed to the umbilical tower," M.Y.S. Prasad, director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), told IANS over phone from Sriharikota.
India's only rocket port is located at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh around 80 km from here.


According to Prasad after the rocket is connected to the umbilical tower system, checks would be carried out including full rocket and satellite checks.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping to launch the rocket on March 28 evening if everything goes smoothly.

Originally ISRO had planned to launch the 1,425 kg Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1D) satellite on March 9.


But on March 4, ISRO deferred the launch after it found that one of the telemetry transmitters in the IRNSS-1D was not working properly.

India has so far launched three regional navigational satellites as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate position information service to users across the country and the region, extending up to an area of 1,500 km.

Though the full system comprises nine satellites - seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by - the navigation services could be made operational with four satellites, ISRO officials had said.


Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket costs around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore.
The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed this year itself.

The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third on October 16, 2014.

Once the regional navigation system is in place, India need not be dependent on other platforms.

Meanwhile European space agency Arianespace is also getting ready to launch two Galileo satellites on March 27.

The two satellites would be launched jointly by a Soyuz rocket blasting off from French Guyana.

According to Arianespace, the Galileo programme is Europe's initiative for satellite navigation, providing a highly accurate global positioning system under civilian control - to consist of 30 satellites in total, along with European control centres and a worldwide network of sensor and uplink stations.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space

24-March, 2015 13:25 IST
*Launch of IRNSS-1D by PSLV-C27 on March 28, 2015*

The launch of India’s fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D onboard PSLV-C27 in now scheduled at 1719 hrs IST in the evening on Saturday, March 28, 2015 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

***

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## SRP

*India's Frugal Mars Mission Extended by Six Months*

*Bengaluru: * India's famously frugal Mars mission has been extended by around six months thanks to a surplus of fuel on board the spacecraft, the country's space agency said.

The Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft had been scheduled to wrap up its mission this month after India in September became the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet, all on a shoe-string budget.

But scientists said the unmanned spacecraft would remain in orbit to study the planet's atmosphere and its surface after burning less fuel than expected over the last six months.

"As the... Mars Orbiter has sufficient fuel to last longer than it was intended earlier, its mission has been extended for another six months," said Devi Prasad Karnik, director of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation.

"The five scientific instruments on board the spacecraft will continue to collect data and relay them to our deep space network centre here for analysis," Mr Karnik added.

The mission cost just $74 million, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has quipped was less than the estimated $100 million budget for the sci-fi Hollywood blockbuster "Gravity".

India has been trying to keep up with neighbouring giant China, which has poured billions of dollars into its own space programme.

Of the five instruments on board, the spacecraft's camera has been the most active, capturing images of the planet's surface, including valleys, mountains, craters, clouds and dust storms.

The other four have been conducting various experiments to study the Martian surface, including its mineral composition and to scan its atmosphere for methane gas, which comes mainly from living organisms.

India's Frugal Mars Mission Extended by Six Months

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## Aamna Ali

NEW PICS

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## Hindustani78

India may launch two more navigation satellites this year

Chennai, March 27, 2015 (IANS)




*India is expected to launch at least two more navigation satellites this year and one more in 2016 so as to offer satellite navigation services in the middle of next year, said Indian space agency officials.*

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials deny any diversion of focus delaying the operationalisation of navigation satellite system.

The three satellite launches will be in addition to the one that India is expected to put into orbit on March 28 evening.

"We will surely be launching two more navigation satellites this year apart from tomorrow's (March 28) launch. At the end of the year we will have six navigation satellites up in the sky out of the constellation of seven such satellites," senior officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS preferring anonymity.

According to officials, the seventh and the last one of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) in all probability would go up early part of 2016.


The full navigation services are expected to be offered from mid 2016 onwards, according to the officials.

Medical experts play key role in space missions, says ISRO former chief
March 26, 2015, Bengaluru,DHNS




*A successful space mission would most often lead one to associate the mission with successful scientists alone. However, medical experts are also a significant part of space missions. 
For, ambitious space missions need experts in medicine to help astronauts cope with challenges in space, said former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan. The senior scientist had the audience by the edge of their seats, who listened intently to his talk on space medicine. 

He was delivering the 17 annual convocation address of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) in the city on Wednesday. The convocation was held at the Nimhans convention centre.

In an interesting take on interlinking of the fields of medicine and space sciences, Radhakrishnan explained about the scope of space medicine and the significance of it in the coming years. Medicine has expanded to help humans survive in the space where astronauts are exposed to conditions detrimental to the body and mind. 

“Exposure to microgravity conditions of space results in space motion sickness, loss of bone density, accumulation of body fluids in the upper part of the body and also problems of vertigo among other conditions. In helping cope with these challenges, space medicine has evolved as a field of research enhancing human confidence in encountering space over long durations, he observed. 

At the convocation, as many as 87 gold medals were awarded to 56 candidates. Mangala Gowri K, from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, was awarded the highest number of gold medals (five), followed by two students who won four gold medals each: Vijeta Vithalray Rane, who completed MBBS from S Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, and Nikita Jain, who completed her degree from MS Ramaiah College. *

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## SRP

Link for today's webcast of IRNSS-1D launch.

Webcast will start from 16.50 IST

Webcast from Sriharikota - ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation:Webcast

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## TejasMk3

Alt DD news link (if that plugin doesnt load).
Doordarshan News Live webcast (1)

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## Hindustani78

India's Fourth Navigational Satellite IRNSS-1D Launched From Sriharikota

*Chennai: * India today launched satellite IRNSS-1D from Sriharikota onboard workhorse PSLV-C27 which would pave the way for the country's own navigation system on par with the GPS of US.

The satellite was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, about 90 km from Chennai.

The launch originally scheduled for March 9 was deferred after an anomaly was found in a telemetry transmitter.

IRNSS-1D is the fourth in the series of seven satellites, planned by ISRO to put in place the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), currently under development.

The IRNSS system, targeted to be completed by this year at a total cost of Rs. 1,420 crore, will be targeted at South Asia and is designed to provide accurate position information services to users in the country as well as the region extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary.

IRNSS' applications include terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers.

While four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the system, the remaining three would make it more accurate and efficient, ISRO said.

The first three satellites in the IRNSS series were launched from Sriharikota on July 1, 2013, April 4 and October 16 last year respectively.

Similar to the previous three launches, ISRO used the "XL" version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), its most reliable rocket, for IRNSS-1D which will have a mission life of 10 years.

This is the eighth time XL version is being used after Chandrayaan-I, GSAT-12, RISAT-1, IRNSS-1A, Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-1C.

The 44.4 metre tall PSLV-C27 which has a lift off mass of 1,425 kg PSLV-C27 will put the satellite in Geosynchronous orbit at 111.75 degree east longitude with 30.5 degree inclination.

The system would provide two types of services-Standard Positioning Service, which is provided to all the users, and Restricted Service that is an encrypted service provided only to authorised users.

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## Hindustani78

President's Secretariat
28-March, 2015 18:11 IST

*President of India congratulates ISRO for the successful launch of PSLV-C27*

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of PSLV-C27.

In a message to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of ISRO, the President has said, “My heartiest congratulations to you and your entire team at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of PSLV-C27, carrying the IRNSS-1D. I am very happy to know that this is the fourth in the series of seven satellites of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. I understand the IRNSS-1D will provide navigation, tracking and mapping services which will take us closer to setting up our own navigation system.

The nation is proud of this achievement which has demonstrated, yet again, India’s increasing space capabilities.

Kindly convey my greetings to all members of your team of scientists, engineers and technologists involved in this great mission. I wish your future endeavours great success”.

***

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## indiatester

Congrats ISRO.
When will I start seeing desi GPS?


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space

28-March, 2015 20:38 IST
*PSLV-C27 Successfully Launches India's Fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D *
ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C27, successfully launched the 1425 kg IRNSS-1D, the fourth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) today evening (March 28, 2015) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the twenty eighth consecutively successful mission of the PSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was successfully used seven times. 

After the PSLV-C27 lift-off at 1719 hrs IST from the Second Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, heat-shield separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 19 minutes 25 seconds, IRNSS-1D Satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.52 km X 20,644 km (very close to the intended orbit) and successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage. 

After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1D were deployed automatically. ISRO's Master Control Facility (at Hassan, Karnataka) took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geosynchronous Orbit at 111.75 deg East longitude with 30.5 deg inclination. IRNSS-1D is the fourth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C, the first three satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013, April 04, 2014 and October 16, 2014 respectively. All the three satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions. 

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users - and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users. 

*A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in many locations across the country. *

In the coming months, the next satellite of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1E, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2016. 

***


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## Dr. Sen

CONNAN said:


> *Hot Test of Cryogenic Engine Successful, Says ISRO *
> 
> TIRUNELVELI:GSLV MK-3, high power integrated cryogenic engine, was hot tested successfully at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tirunelveli district on Saturday.
> 
> IPRC Director D. Karthikesan said as part of an important milestone in developing a heavy lift launch vehicle, GSLV MK-3, for the next generation, a major milestone was achieved when the cryogenic CE-20 engine was hot tested.
> 
> It was successfully tested for 20 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex(IPRC), Mahendragiri on Saturday.
> 
> “It is yet another milestone achievement on the road map of developing a bigger and more powerful indigenously built high thrust cryogenic upper stage for GSLV MK3 rocket for the Indian Space Programme,” said Karthikesan.
> 
> The Cryogenic CE-20 engine was a fully indigenous engine of ISRO and delivered a thrust of 20 tonnes. All the major parameters of CE-20 engine were normal and further tests were planned in the coming months, he added.
> 
> IPRC scientists said it was tested at around 3-45pm.
> 
> Various subsystems of CE-20, such as injector, thrust chamber, gas generator, LOX and LH2 turbo pumps were tested earlier at IPRC, Mahendragiri.
> 
> Hot Test of Cryogenic Engine Successful, Says ISRO -The New Indian Express




Any officially announced time frame for the manned space mission?


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## CONNAN

Dr. Sen said:


> Any officially announced time frame for the manned space mission?


 no official dat yet summary info
India takes giant step to manned space mission - Telegraph

*ISRO successfully completes first orbit raising of IRNSS-1D*

After the successful launch of India’s fourth navigational satellite IRNSS-1D last week, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said the first orbit raising operation of the satellite had been completed successfully.

Isro announced, “The first orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed by firing the apogee motor,” on March 29, 2015.

IRNSS project director M Nageswara Rao said the firing of the apogee motor would be continued to put the satellite into its actual orbit.

With four satellites in place, Isro can now get accurate information on ground objects, he said, adding the next two satellites would further improve accuracy of the services.

So far, four regional navigational satellites had been placed in the orbit as part of a constellation of seven satellites to provide accurate positional information service to users across the country and the region extending up to 1,500 km area. The entire constellation is planned to be completed this year.

An Isro source said the positional information on land, air and sea would now be available and would help several areas, including defence, farming, transport and tourism.

Three satellites launched earlier have all been integrated with the ground stations and are working well. The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second, IRNSS-1B, in April 2014, and the third on October 16, 2014. Once all the seven satellites become operational, India could replace the United States GPS with the IRNSS.

ISRO successfully completes first orbit raising of IRNSS-1D | Business Standard News


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
04-April, 2015 19:05 IST
*

Dr. Jitendra Singh addresses overseas Space researchers at Bengaluru *

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that with the launching of fourth satellite in the seven - satellite IRNSS series on the 28th of last month,* India is now providing navigation and communication facility to all the surrounding countries falling in the service area of these satellites. *

Addressing an overseas group of young Space researchers from different parts of the world, including Europe, Africa, America and South-East Asia, in Bengaluru today, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that with the successful accomplishment of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the world has accepted India’s supremacy in Space technology. He added that the entire credit goes to the ‘Team ISRO” who have in the last fifty years, beginning from a humble initiative under Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan, today placed India on the top of the world’s Space map. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that *although the missions to the Moon had begun in 1960s by Russia and USA, but it is India’s Chandrayan Mission-I in 2008, which discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon and turned a new chapter in the world’s understanding of Moon. *

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that *it is a matter of gratification for every Indian* and a proud moment for India’s Space Scientists to see enthusiastic young Space scholars and researchers from across the world looking forward to learn from the Indian experience. In the same vein, such interactions prove to be equally rewarding for the scientists back home by acquainting them with the kind of projects and Space missions being undertaken by their counterparts in other parts of the world.

The Space researchers, who were on an interactive training trip to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) establishments in Bengaluru and other places, were quite amused by this exposure and said, *they had never imagined that India had moved so far ahead in the field of Space technology. *Some of the *scholars from the neighbouring countries* suggested that India should also take a lead *role in providing its Space technology services to the surrounding countries in the region. *

Later, accompanied by ISRO Chairman Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Dr. Jitendra Singh went around the various sections of the ISRO Satellite Station. He spent time discussing the work relating to developing of various satellites scheduled to be launched in the next few months and also interacted with the scientific fraternity.

KSD/PK

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh accompanied by the Chairman ISRO, Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar going around the various sections of ISRO Satellite Station, in Bengaluru on April 04, 2015.







The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a group photograph with young foreign Space researchers attending an interactive training programme, at ISRO Satellite Station, in Bengaluru on April 04, 2015.

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## Water Car Engineer



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## Hindustani78

The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan visiting the National Aerospace Laboratories, in Bengaluru on April 05, 2015.


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## SRP




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## migflug

SOURCE : HINDUSTAN TIMES






While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has put the country in global limelight because of its low-cost mission to Mars, its commercial wing, Antrix, has started witnessing a robust growth with more countries approaching it with offers to launch their satellites.

One such proposal of commercial satellite launch is due for June this year in which three DMC-3 earth observation satellites along with one micro and one nano satellite built by UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) will be launched into space.

The mission is designated as PSLV- C28/ DMC-3 which has been taken under a commercial agreement between Antrix Corporation Limited and DMC International Imaging (DMCII), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSTL.

Noteworthy, Antrix entered into a launch services agreement with a company from US in 2014 for launching their earth observation micro satellite.

This is the first time when Antrix will be launching a US-built satellite on-board PSLV.

Recently, Antrix also entered into a launch services agreement with another company from US for launching seven nano satellites of US on-board PSLV.

The first commercial launch of Antrix was in May 1999 when it placed two micro-satellites of Germany and Republic of Korea into space following which several new countries have lined up to avail the facility with latest entrants being France, Austria and UK.

There is also a plan to launch a US satellite in 2016.

According to sources, Antrix is also exploring the possibility to offer GSLV launch services to the international customers.

It is also exploring the options of providing Isro-built satellite bus and satellite sub-systems to other contries.

As on date, Antrix has successfully launched 40 satellites for its international customers from 19 countries. It has signed commercial agreements to launch 29 more satellites.

“Undoubtedly the main reason why international customers are seeking PSLV launch services from Antrix is the excellent track record it has maintained over the years. The versatility of the PSLV launcher to undertake various types of missions makes it an ideal candidate in this field,” official sources sai

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## JaiShriAllahNath

Why ISRO uses English fonts on its rockets? Anglo-slavery continues. 

China/Japan/Russia are better than us.


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## Ryuzaki

JaiShriAllahNath said:


> Why ISRO uses English fonts on its rockets? Anglo-slavery continues.
> 
> China/Japan/Russia are better than us.



If they use Hindi southies will cry


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## indiatester

@Ryuzaki @JaiShriAllahNath Devanagari fonts are used. So is English.

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## K M Cariappa

*Mangalyaan Success Made Nations Think Indian Way*

India, though ranked sixth in the global space positioning after the US, Russia, European Consortium, Japan and China, is becoming a ‘role model’ for other countries, said former ISRO chief Dr K Radhakrishnan while addressing the academic community of 

MG University. He was here to receive the honorary doctorate of the university on Tuesday. “The success of Mangalyaan mission in its maiden attempt with an unimaginably low cost and the indigenous cryogenic technology development have made the scientific world to think the Indian way.The mission mode of Indian approach to space is unique. India’s self reliance in rocket technology has forced many foreign nations to utilise Indian expertise for their space requirements,” he said. 

The untiring pursuits for excellence in ISRO segregate it from other public sectors. While India spends $3 per head for space technology, China spends $7.5 and the US $123. As much as 90 per cent of the India spend goes back to the general public in terms of the communication, television, remote sensing, weather forecast, disaster mitigation and defence purpose. Strategic positioning of satellites has become order of the day. The rest ten per cent is spend for exacting and spin off technologies and scientific exploration.”

He said the space technology has the potential to grow into an enterprise by itself.

When a student asked how he was able to embrace space technology and music, Dr Radhakrishnan replied that both were complimentary and not opposing. “Music provides a solace as by any other arts or engagements - let it be cooking or gardening. We have to provide for utilising the both parts our brain to get charged after passionate yet tiring routines,” the accomplished vocalist said.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Babu Sebastian presided over the function and Professor Suresh Mathew welcomed the gathering.

Mangalyaan Success Made Nations Think Indian Way -The New Indian Express

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## IND151

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday *successfully tested* its indigenous cryogenic engine for 635 seconds, the *full duration of an actual flight*. A *successful cryogenic engine* will let India launch 4-tonne satellites — the INSATs — into geostationary orbit.

These satellites are the backbone of India’s communications, weather forecasting, broadcasting and other applications. Tuesday’s test is the fifth ground test of the cryogenic engine.

Earlier tests were of short duration of 10-20 seconds. When ready, ISRO will use this engine as the upper stage of the heavy lifter GSLV Mark III. This vehicle is ready and has had a short flight last year, but is waiting for the cryogenic engine for a full flight.

*There are several tests to be done before the engine can integrate with the rocket, but it has crossed a major hurdle on Tuesday*. This means that the technology has been achieved and the design is sound,” says K Sivan, director of the ISRO Liquid Propulsion Centre (LPSC)in Trivandrum.

ISRO’s Mark III version of Geostationary Launch Vehicle is being developed to carry fourtonne class satellites into geostationary orbit. This would mean that the country can launch large weather and communication satellites on its own, while also offering cheap launch services to others.









ISRO’s new test set to put India into Cryogenic Orbit | idrw.org

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## IND151

India to Launch Six More Satellites in 2015-16 | idrw.org


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

http://www.isro.gov.in/sites/defaul...(635 SEC) AT MET ON 28.04.2015-MPEG-2.mp4.mp4

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## indiatester

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> http://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/videos/CE20 E1 ENGINE HOT TEST-05 AT MET (635 SEC) AT MET ON 28.04.2015-MPEG-2.mp4.mp4



Is this a test in cold + vacuum conditions?


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

indiatester said:


> Is this a test in cold + vacuum conditions?


Nop. high altitude test would be conducted later this year.

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## Techy

*ISRO carries out series of cryogenic engine development tests*
Published May 3, 2015
SOURCE: PTI







After successful test of the high thrust cryogenic engine recently, a series of development tests on the engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove its design, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has said.

Successful long duration hot test (635 seconds) of high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) was carried out on April 28 at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Tamil Nadu’s Mahendragiri. The achievement is considered as a major milestone in the development of next generation launch vehicle, GSLV MkIII, ISRO said.

The CE20 cryogenic engine is being indigenously developed by ISRO to power the cryogenic stage of GSLV MkIII launch vehicle, ISRO has posted on its Facebook page.

The completion of successful long duration hot test has once again proved ISRO’s capability in mastering the complex cryogenic technology, it said.

Sharing details about the test, ISRO said all subsystems of this engine such as Thrust Chamber, Injector, Gas Generator, LOX & LH2 Turbo pumps, Control Components, Pyro systems etc, and the ground Test Facility systems performed very well and the parameters are well within the prediction.

It said a series of development tests on this engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove the design of the engine, adding, two cold start tests and four short duration hot tests were already carried out on this engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri.

The indigenously developed cryogenic engine will help India put satellites of upto four tonnes in geostationary orbit.

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## jaatram

Approval for GSAT-17 communication satellite and launch services
Press Information Bureau

Approval for GSAT-18 communication satellite and launch services
Press Information Bureau


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## BruceWayne007

how many satellites does india have in orbit?


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## indiatester

BruceWayne007 said:


> how many satellites does india have in orbit?


Satellites by Country or Organization - India
Enjoy

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi




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## Hindustani78

Isro HQ sitting on breached lake
Prashanth G N Bengaluru, May 7, 2015, DHNS:
Terrain trouble: Saga over demolitions on lake beds continues as residents struggle





*Sixty-one breached lakes have been handed over to public institutions for “public purpose” in Bengaluru since the late chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde’s rule from 1983-84.*

And on one of such lakes sits the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) headquarters, Antariksh Bhavan, at Sanjaynagar, RMV Extension, North Bengaluru.

Isro was looking for land in the early 1980s for its headquarters and one among the sites shown to it was the present piece of land, which was a lake, V Balasubramanian, former additional chief secretary, revealed to Deccan Herald.

Balasubramanian, who was the chief secretary to Hegde, recalled how the lake was handed over to Isro. 

“I happened to be the chief secretary under Mr Hegde, and former chief election commissioner T N Seshan was the joint secretary in the Space department. Those days, people were powerful and he used to call me saying, ‘Subramanian, I’m the joint secretary calling from the Space department; why don’t you help us with land for Isro?’ Eventually, Seshan managed to prevail over the government to part with land. 

But what we had then were lakes. After the government’s permission, the lake was breached and the land was handed over to Isro for its headquarters. This meant that the lake itself was handed over to Isro. Mind you, technically, it is not an encroachment because the government itself breached the lake and handed it over to Isro,” Balasubramanian said.

But the former top official hastened to add: “But if you ask me whether Isro is sitting on a lake today, it is. There was a lake then. This was in 1984. All in all, 61 breached lakes have been handed over since then to a variety of public institutions for public purpose. 

What was given to Isro was also for public purpose. Likewise, the city railway station today, the bus stand, the hockey and football stadiums, the Kanteerava stadium, all of these are located on lakes. 

They were all breached lakes - there were so many lakes then that you had to go in for breach and then get land and build on them.”

“But of course, there are lakes which have been handed over for private activities, too,” Balasubramainan said. “The Challaghatta lake has been handed over to the Golf Association. There are people who know how these things happened. What is a public and a private purpose has to be understood clearly. 

But the overall conclusion I am drawing from the recent activity is that a good number of lakes in the City have been breached after a public purpose has been defined. But breached lakes by government and given away for other purposes also.”



BruceWayne007 said:


> how many satellites does india have in orbit?



Department of Space
25-February, 2015 15:51 IST

*27 satellites operational in the country and action has been taken towards developing 26 indigenous satellites*

There are 27 satellites that are operational in the country currently. This information was provided by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to Lok Sabha today.

These are as follows:

(i) 11 Communication Satellites namely, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3C, INSAT-4A, INSAT-4B, INSAT-4CR, GSAT-7, GSAT-8, GSAT-10, GSAT-12, GSAT-14 and GSAT-16.

(ii) 12 Earth Observation Satellites namely, Resourcesat-2, RISAT-1, RISAT-2, Cartosat-1, Cartosat-2, Cartosat-2A, Cartosat-2B, Oceansat-2, SARAL, Kalpana-1, Megha-Tropiques and INSAT-3D.

(iii) 3 Navigational Satellites namely, IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-1C

(iv) 1 Mars Orbiter Mission


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## Shan-e-ibrahim

Techy said:


> *ISRO carries out series of cryogenic engine development tests*
> Published May 3, 2015
> SOURCE: PTI
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After successful test of the high thrust cryogenic engine recently, a series of development tests on the engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove its design, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has said.
> 
> Successful long duration hot test (635 seconds) of high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) was carried out on April 28 at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Tamil Nadu’s Mahendragiri. The achievement is considered as a major milestone in the development of next generation launch vehicle, GSLV MkIII, ISRO said.
> 
> The CE20 cryogenic engine is being indigenously developed by ISRO to power the cryogenic stage of GSLV MkIII launch vehicle, ISRO has posted on its Facebook page.
> 
> The completion of successful long duration hot test has once again proved ISRO’s capability in mastering the complex cryogenic technology, it said.
> 
> Sharing details about the test, ISRO said all subsystems of this engine such as Thrust Chamber, Injector, Gas Generator, LOX & LH2 Turbo pumps, Control Components, Pyro systems etc, and the ground Test Facility systems performed very well and the parameters are well within the prediction.
> 
> It said a series of development tests on this engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove the design of the engine, adding, two cold start tests and four short duration hot tests were already carried out on this engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri.
> 
> The indigenously developed cryogenic engine will help India put satellites of upto four tonnes in geostationary orbit.




Is this high altitude test? I thought most of the tests are done in vacuum


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## kurup

^^^^^^^^ various cycles analysed by ISRO for CE-20 cryogenic engine which finally adopted Gas Generator cycle

*Heavy lift Launch Vehicle = HLV*

A Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. 

This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include semi cryogenic booster stage, larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 and a larger cryogenic upper stage. 

The Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle will have an optimal and robust design incorporating the latest technologies.






Welcome to VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE - Heavy Lift Launcher


----------



## Audio

Copy from Chinese space capabilities thread question

Yo yo, i need your help guys. Doing research for my book and have following questions:

Does India have an agency that is responsible for charting potential dangers to Earth (asteroids)
Where is it? (city) links to it would be very helpful
Need to know the official designation of the chief of this agency. -like director general?
Does it have "jurisdiction" to shoot ABM or that falls under IAF or IA antiarcraft division.

You can go wild with all prediction, projections and future plans in the next 20-30 year timeframe.

----------------------------------

that's it for now, but i'm sure i'll have more questions as time progresses. Don't worry, you will be portrayed as heroic!

@sancho idk who else to tag, iirc you seem knowledgeable about aerospace....anyone else is welcome too ofcourse.


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## Hindustani78

Updated: May 21, 2015 05:59 IST
ISRO hopes to end use of leased transponders - The Hindu

National space agency *ISRO expects to end its dependence on foreign satellites in a couple of years* *by putting three to four communication spacecraft in orbit, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said on Wednesday.*

Of the* 286 transponders totally available for various uses in the country, a third (33 per cent) is being leased for the past few years on a handful of commercial Asian and U.S. satellites.*

*“Today there are 96 leased transponders other than in the C-band. We [are coming] up with a series of communication satellites. Our objective is to replace whatever is currently being provided by foreign leasing and replace them with Indian transponders in a couple of years,” Dr. Kiran Kumar said.*

_*New communication satellites will fill the gap*_


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## Hindustani78

Cabinet
21-May, 2015 18:50 IST 

*Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle continuation Programme Operational Flights PSLV-C36 to PSLV-C50 *

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the *Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Continuation Programme of fifteen operational flights of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C36 to PSLV-C50. *

The PSLV continuation Programme will enable the launch of satellites required for Earth Observation, Navigation and Space Sciences along with the possibility of clinching commercial launch service contracts. 

The total fund requirement is Rs. 3090 crore and includes the cost of fifteen PSLV vehicles, Programme Elements, Programme Management and Launch Campaign. 

The PSLV Continuation Programme will meet the demand for the launch of satellites at a frequency of four to five launches per year, with a greater focus on enhancing the level of participation by the Indian industry. All the fifteen operational flights would be completed during the period 2017-2020. 

Presently, PSLV operational flights, which were sanctioned in 2008, are being utilized to meet the satellite launch requirements. 

The operationalisation of PSLV has made the country self-reliant in the launching capability of satellites for earth observation, disaster management, navigation and space sciences. The PSLV Continuation programme will sustain this capability and self-reliance in the launching of similar satellites for national requirements. 

*Background:*

PSLV has emerged as a versatile launch vehicle to carry out Sun-Synchronous Polor Orbit (SSPO), Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and low inclination Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions. With the recent successful launch of PSLV-C26 on 16th October 2014, PSLV has completed three developmental and twenty-five operational flights and the last twenty-seven flights have been successively successful. PSLV has established itself as a workhorse vehicle for national satellites with a production capacity that would enable responding fast to commercial launch opportunities also. 

***


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## Hindustani78

Mars mission makes India top ranking space power: China report
Beijing, May 22, 2015, (PTI)




*India's accomplishment in becoming the only Asian country to send a spacecraft to Mars has earned it a place in the top rankings of space-faring nations, a report by a Chinese research institution has said.*

The US, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and India are the leading powers in space, the Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information, affiliated to the China Academy of Space Technology, said in a report.

India became the first Asian country to successfully send a probe to Mars in 2014, marking a breakthrough in its space capability, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying.

The institute for the first time evaluated the space capabilities of 20 countries and regions across six aspects: strategy, product systems, infrastructure, industrial scale, innovation and international influence. China's space capabilities are ranked the fourth in the world, and the gap between the leading powers is narrowing, the report said.

Last year saw a record 92 launches around the world, with 262 spacecraft put into orbit, it said.

The US' status as the only superpower in space is unshakable, but the gap between the US and other nations is narrowing, it said.

Europe and Russia are ranked as the next two great powers.With its technological advantages and alliances with the US, Europe has also made a giant leap in its space capability.

Russia has curbed its decline, showing signs of recovery, thanks to its medium and long-term plans and reform of its space industry, the report said.

Pursuing an independent development path, China has made remarkable accomplishments in space technology, showing strong momentum and potential.Helped by technological innovation, active international cooperation and an alliance with the US, Japan has also made rapid developments.

The report also mentions emerging countries in space represented by Canada and the South Korea, which closely follow China, Japan and India.

Space has become a "high frontier" as nations jostle for political, economic, military and scientific and technological advantages. Driven by the needs of national security and economic interests, more countries are vying to flex their muscles in space, the report said.


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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Earth Science
28-May, 2015 18:01 IST
Various Developments Relating to the Ministry of Earth Sciences Over the Last One Year of NDA Government 

The ministry of Earth Sciences deals with various interlinked and self-regulating systems including atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, geosphere and biosphere. They function together and their interactions are complex and significant. To understand such complex phenomena Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) was set up and it uses high computing facilities (a backgrounder is at PIB Backgrounders) and modeling techniques for making various assessments. Such a scientific understanding of the earth system helps us to improve prediction of climate, weather and natural hazards as well as afford sustainable use of resources.


Some of the details of working of the Ministry over last one year are: -


· With advancements in observations and modeling technology, two recent cyclones, _HudHud_ and _Nilopher_, were predicted well in advance giving sufficient time to respond. Several lives have been saved as the local administrations have shifted people from exact areas where it was forecast that the cyclones would hit

· On Good Governance Day on 25th December 2014, an SMS Disaster Alert system (for cyclones, weather, storms and heavy rains) was dedicated to the nation. On the same day, a mobile application for android phones/tablets – ‘India Weather’- was also launched for giving current-day and four-days forecast of weather in 310 Indian cities.

· The then Minister of State for S&T and Earth Sciences, Shri Jitendra Singh, commissioned* Heliport Aviation Weather Forecasting System at Vaishnodevi, in August 2014.*

·* X-band Radar in Srinagar has been installed as a part of augmentation, strengthening and integration of network of all the observations in the Himalayan terrain.*

· *Ago-meteorological advisories provided to 10 million farmers through mobiles in 622 districts. Block level forecast for 37 districts (342 blocks) being initiated in pilot mode.*

· *Commissioned High Altitude Cloud Physics Lab at Mahabaleshwar t*o study micro physical characteristics of aerosols and clouds and associated environmental conditions.

· Developed an indigenous Earth System Model to address climate variability and change and developed simulations for this century.

· For ocean and polar research, the government sanctioned over Rs. 1050 crore for acquisition of a *Polar Research Vessel (PRV) in last October. *

· *Deployed India’s first moored observatory in the Arctic on 23rd July 2014 equipped with multi-sensor sub-surface observatory in the inner part of Kongsfjorden at a depth of 180 m. The mooring is capable of acquiring data even during the winter when the surface is frozen with ice.*

· *Developed Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle’s (PROVe) systems having conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen sensors and Irradiance meter. PROVe was deployed near ice shelf from the ship at the India Bay in Antarctica at a depth of 62 m.*

· *Development and deployment of indigenous drifters to measure sea surface temperature, pressure, and currents, having INSAT communication.*

· The Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, laid the foundation stone for the Ocean Research Facility of Earth System Science Organisation – National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) near ocean front at Thupilipallam village in Vakadu Mandal, near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh on April 25.

· High performance computing resource of 1.2 petaFLOPS has been deployed for weather and climate modelling. It is the most powerful machine in SE Asia.

· Deployed a US drilling vessel ‘JOIDES Resolution’ for the first time in the Arabian Sea for drilling the oceanic plate up to 1.5 km. The Expedition aims to understand the interaction between the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau uplift and the development and evolution of the Indian summer monsoon. Four sites in the eastern Arabian Sea will target sediments for the Indus submarine fan to better understand the relationships of mountain building, weathering and erosion, and climate change.


*****

*KSP/SS*


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## IND151

RLVTD of ISRO to Be Held in July-Aug


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## kurup

Salient points from interview of outgoing VSSC Director M.C.Dathan ..... from Mathrubhumi daily dated 30 May 2015 .

* PSLV-28 launch on July 10 in a commercial mission carrying 3 foreign satellites .

* RLV-TD launch on July or first week of August . The TD will be recovered after splashdown .

* PSLV C-30 with Astrosat will be after that .

* GSLV D-6 (MK2 variant) with fully completed indigenous cryogenic engine CE-7.5 will be launched in August .

* 2 more IRNSS satellites will be launched by year end .

* GSLV MK3 aka LVM3 fully configured version first flight will takle place in 2016 beginning .

* Chandrayan-2 with home-built orbiter , lander and rover will be launched in 2017 .

* Human Space Mission will be carried out in 5 years . (I think he meant within 5 years once the govt gives nod)

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## django

What is India's most powerful rocket and how does it match up to the most powerful Chinese rockets.


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## karan21

django said:


> What is India's most powerful rocket and how does it match up to the most powerful Chinese rockets.


Indian most powerful rocket to date is the GSLV mk3 and can carry upto 10 tons to LEO. China outdated rocket LM3B can carry upto 13 tons to LEO. The new upcoming Chinese rocket LM5 will carry upto 25 tons to LEO. So China like always is leading.

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## AugenBlick

django said:


> What is India's most powerful rocket and how does it match up to the most powerful Chinese rockets.


Here take a full comparison

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## Mr.Nair

AugenBlick said:


> Here take a full comparison
> View attachment 226636



3.5 Ton payload expect to launch by early 2017 on GSAT MK3

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## AugenBlick

Mr.Nair said:


> 3.5 Ton payload expect to launch by early 2017 on GSAT MK3
> 
> Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


These are all successful ones bro.


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## MULUBJA

AugenBlick said:


> Here take a full comparison
> View attachment 226636


 
One of the reason being Indian rockets carrying low weight is Fuel they use. CHina has moved to NEPE while india used 10% less efficient fuel.

The other reason is that Our geostationary vehicle are a bit away from achieving their full potential. We have yet to use semi cryogenic engine in second stage. This will boost Geo load by further 2 tons. Composite Moter may further boost the load carying.

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## IND151

kurup said:


> Salient points from interview of outgoing VSSC Director M.C.Dathan ..... from Mathrubhumi daily dated 30 May 2015 .
> 
> * PSLV-28 launch on July 10 in a commercial mission carrying 3 foreign satellites .
> 
> * RLV-TD launch on July or first week of August . The TD will be recovered after splashdown .
> 
> * PSLV C-30 with Astrosat will be after that .
> 
> * GSLV D-6 (MK2 variant) with fully completed indigenous cryogenic engine CE-7.5 will be launched in August .
> 
> * 2 more IRNSS satellites will be launched by year end .
> 
> * GSLV MK3 aka LVM3 fully configured version first flight will takle place in 2016 beginning .
> 
> * Chandrayan-2 with home-built orbiter , lander and rover will be launched in 2017 .
> 
> * Human Space Mission will be carried out in 5 years . (I think he meant within 5 years once the govt gives nod)



Kindly give source link.


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## MULUBJA

AugenBlick said:


> Here take a full comparison
> View attachment 226636


 
One of the reason being Indian rockets carrying low weight is Fuel they use. CHina has moved to NEPE while india used 10% less efficient fuel.


The other reason is that Our geostationary vehicle are a bit away from achieving their full potential. We have yet to use semi cryogenic engine in second stage. This will boost Geo load by further 2 tons. Composite Motor may further boost the load carrying.


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## kurup

IND151 said:


> Kindly give source link.



No link .... read it in the malayalam newspaper .

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## IND151

kurup said:


> No link .... read it in the malayalam newspaper .



OK...............


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## Hindustani78

Mars orbiter readies for June outage - The Hindu
Mars Orbiter Mission, the Indian spacecraft going around the red planet, has been functioning in a basic, silent mode for the past few days preparatory to an impending two-week-long signal blackout.

MOM faces a communication outage during June 8-25, when Sun will be in the background of Mars with respect to Earth and disrupt communication. Mars will be flanked by Earth on the other side.

For almost a month from May 27, its payloads will remain shut down and only stored telemetry signals or a health report will be sent for three hours a day, ISRO Satellite Centre Director M.Annadurai told The Hindu. Information on the remaining 21 hours was being stored and sent in those three hours.

Think of Sun being behind an object that you are photographing, he explained. The satellite is `silent’ and it has been programmed to operate the basic maintenance on its own for about a month, he said, adding DTH operations on ground periodically face such situations. ISRO Satellite Centre Director M.Annadurai told The Hindu. Its five instruments will not work during this period.

MOM, launched in November 2013, has been orbiting Mars since September 2014, making India the first country to reach Mars in the first attempt. It has outlived its planned time of six months. Dr. Annadurai said it could go on for some more time at the current rate as "Fuel on the spacecraft is not an issue."

The images, chemical and topographical data that it has sent are being collated by scientific teams. A primary search is for any hint of methane from its surface - which can indicate ancient life on Earth's neighbour.

It goes round Mars in an ellipse almost once in three Earth days, closest to Mars at about 450 km and farthest at 72,000 km.

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## kurup

*Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle concepts*

ISRO have carried out study of 4 different concepts of HLV to date . These are explained below in random order .


*Concept-1* 

Payload Capacity : 25 tons to LEO (10 tons to GTO)

A Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include :

1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC200
2) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and
3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50).







Welcome to VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE - Heavy Lift Launcher


*Concept-2&3*

Concept 2&3 together was supposed to carry out a human mission to moon . It was first shown in a presentation by ISRO at the IAC 2009 .

Concept-2 = *Crew Launch Vehicle*
* Architecture - 4 S230 + SC500 + C60
* Liftoff weight - 1690 tons
* Capability - 31 tons to Low Earth Orbit
* Payload - Crew Module (6 tons) + Service Module (25 tons)

Concept-3 = *Carge Launch Vehicle*
* Architecture - 8 S230 + SC800 + C60
* Liftoff weight - 3075 tons
* Capability - 84 tons to Low Earth Orbit
* Payload - Earth Departure Stage (67 tons) + Lunar Descent Module (17 tons)







SuperNova: Indian Moon Rockets: First Look

*
Concept-4* 

Single LV capable of Lunar Man Mission with payload capacity of 100tons to LEO

This looks like a single LV capable of replacing two LV of concept-2&3






SuperNova: ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle


@Abingdonboy , @sancho , @Water Car Engineer , @MilSpec , @SpArK , @nair , @levina , @SrNair , @acetophenol , @SOHEIL , @haman10

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## haman10

kurup said:


> ISRO have carried out study of 4 different concepts of HLV to date . These are explained below in random order .


Awesome .

All the best to you guys

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## SOHEIL



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## Hindustani78

Mangalyaan mission to enter 15-day "blackout" phase - The Hindu
Updated: June 8, 2015 18:44 IST







*From June 8 to 22, the sun will block Mars from Earth snapping communication with the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft. *
Starting on Monday, India’s Mars mission that is in a rendezvous with the red planet for an extended period will enter the “blackout” phase snapping communication with the satellite.

From June 8 to 22, the sun will block Mars from the earth snapping communication with the satellite.

MOM during this period will go into an “autonomous mode” and will take its decisions, a senior Indian Space Research Organisation official told _PTI_.

“This will be for the first time that there will be a communication break for such a long period of about 15 days. There will not be any communication with the satellite,” he said.

Expressing confidence about regaining control over the satellite once the blackout phase is over, he said, “the scenario has been tested for earlier; line of communication will be established.”

The spacecraft’s life was extended for another six months in March due to surplus fuel.

Stating that the spacecraft has been “configured” for the blackout, the ISRO official said, “we are not sending any commands to the spacecraft now, till 8th (June) few hours of signals will be sent by the spacecraft-that will be for about two to three hours per day.”

In May next year, the mission will have to go through a similar phase once again, if there is another extension of mission life when the Earth will come between the Sun and Mars.

Orbiting around Mars since September 24, 2014, the 1,340-kg spacecraft is on an extended life after completing the six-month intended lifespan on March 24 by conserving the remaining fuel (37kg) onboard.

“As eclipses or blackouts are a cosmic phenomenon in the solar system, no cause for concern as the Orbiter has been put on autonomous mode in advance by sending the required commands from here to survive the eclipse phase,” an official of the ISRO told IANS in Bengaluru.

Admitting that it was first time when the deep space network at Baylalu, about 30 km from Bengaluru, would be out of touch with the Orbiter for such a long time, the official said the spacecraft had been equipped and programmed to undergo the transition.

“Though our command network will not receive or send any signal during the blackout, we will regain control over the spacecraft after it comes out of the Martian shadow to contact us again,” the official said.

The space agency’s track and command network centre in the city had tested the spacecraft’s ability to survive a solar eclipse by simulating the conditions earlier.

“As the Oribter is on a borrowed life, its longevity and ability to keep spinning around Mars at a safe distance from its hot red surface is a windfall for us,” the official added.

India created history by becoming the first country to enter the Mars orbit in maiden attempt after a nine-month voyage through the inter-planetary space from the Earth.

India also became the first Asian country to have entered the Mars sphere of influence (gravity) on maiden attempt, as a similar mission by China failed in 2011.

The Rs. 450-crore Mars mission was launched on November 5, 2013, on board a polar rocket from ISRO’s spaceport Sriharikota.

When launched, Orbiter had 855 kg fuel but consumed about 800 kg since then for its orbit-raising exercises undertaken during its nine-month journey and on entering the Martian sphere.

“The five scientific instruments onboard the spacecraft (Orbiter) will continue to collect data and relay them after June 22 to our earth stations for analysis,” the official said.

Of the five payloads onboard, Mars Colour Camera (MCC) has been the most active, taking stunning images of the Red Planet’s surface and its surroundings, including valleys, mountains, craters, clouds and dust storms.

“The camera has beamed many breathtaking pictures of the Martian surface and its weather patterns such as duststorms. We have uploaded some pictures on our website (ISRO - Government of India and our Facebook account for viewing,” he pointed out.

The other four instruments have been conducting various experiments to study the Martian surface, its rich mineral composition and scan its atmosphere for methane gas to know if it can support life.

“As methane is an indicator of past life on Mars, the sensor is looking for its presence in the Martian orbit. If available, we will know its source in terms of biology and geology. The thermal infrared sensor will find out if the gas is from geological origin,” the official added.

Scientists at the mission control centre here monitor the orbital movement of the spacecraft around Mars and check health of its instruments round the clock.

Orbiter takes 3.2 earth days or 72 hours, 51 minutes and 51 seconds to go around Mars once while orbiting at a distance of 500 km nearest and over 80,000 km farthest from its red surface.

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## kurup



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## ni8mare

kurup said:


> View attachment 228463


so first one is normal mk3, second one with enlarged 1 stage., forth one is with enlarged 2 stage

nice


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## Odysseus

*Isro Bags Space Pioneer Award for Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission*


The country's low-cost Mangalyaan Mars orbiter mission which is in rendezvous with the Red Planet for an extended period has been presented with the Space Pioneer award for the year 2015 by the US' National Space Society.
Space Pioneer award for the year 2015 was presented to Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in the Science and Engineering category during the 34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in Canada during May 20-24, 2015, Bengaluru-headquartered Isro said on its website.

It said the National Space Society (NSS) of USA presented the award in recognition of Isro's efforts in accomplishing a Mars mission in its very first attempt.

Scripting space history, India on September 24, 2014 successfully placed its low-cost Mars spacecraft in orbit around the red planet in its very first attempt, breaking into an elite club of three US, Russia and Europe who have successfully undertaken missions to Mars or its orbit.

The Isro spacecraft was launched on its nine-month-long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013 and had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1.

In 2009, NSS, an independent non-profit educational membership organisation, dedicated to the creation of a space faring civilisation, presented similar award to Isro in recognition of the great accomplishment they have made in the success of the Lunar Probe, Chandrayaan-1.

The Space Pioneer Award consists of a silvery pewter Moon globe cast by the Baker Art Foundry in Placerville, California, from a sculpture originally created by Don Davis, the well-known space and astronomical artist, Isro said.

The space research organisation also said Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is under 'solar conjunction' at Mars, which will extend till July 1.

The spacecraft is under 'solar conjunction' at Mars, which means the spacecraft, which is orbiting Mars, is behind the sun as viewed from the Earth.

As a result of this event which happens once in 2.2 years for Mars, communication signals from the spacecraft are severely disrupted by the Sun's corona (outer atmosphere), it said.

Isro Bags Space Pioneer Award for Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission | NDTV Gadgets

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## Hindustani78

This photo downloaded off the ISRO website shows the space pioneer award for the year 2015 that was presented to the Indian Space Research Organisation during the 34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto. Photo courtesy: ISRO

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## kurup

ni8mare said:


> so first one is normal mk3, second one with enlarged 1 stage., forth one is with enlarged 2 stage
> 
> nice



2nd and 3rd are different variants of ULV .

For ULV and HLV , the core is completely different from LVM3 .

This will give you the idea ,


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## punit

django said:


> What is India's most powerful rocket and how does it match up to the most powerful Chinese rockets.


we are few years behind.

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## Odysseus

ISRO to launch satellites for U.K. firm - The Hindu


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## IND151

ISRO Working to Have Critical Technologies for Human Space Mission | idrw.org



punit said:


> we are few years behind.



Thanks to Glavkosmos saga.

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## kurup

DD-1 messed up both the Chandrayaan-1 and LVM-3 launch telecast .

Just found these other videos of both the launches ..... better than DD-1 ,

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## IND151

Nice Videos


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## Hindustani78

Mars orbiter scores 100 rounds, ending 'eclipse' soon - The Hindu
Updated: June 23, 2015 19:22 IST





File photo of PSLV- C25 with India's Mars Orbiter on board lifting off from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Photo courtesy: ISRO.

The Indian Mars orbiter spacecraft completed its 100th orbit around Mars on Monday. It is also gradually coming out of the blackout it had entered earlier this month, Indian Space Research Organisation has said.

The payloads on the spacecraft are to be re-started in a few weeks. They were last operated on May 27 to put the spacecraft in an autonomous mode.

MOM remains healthy and all its payloads are performing satisfactorily, ISRO said. The Mars Colour Camera has taken 405 frames so far.

"The spacecraft's health data is now being received," ISRO said adding the orbiter now had an elliptical orbit of 474 km and 71, 132 km from the red planet.

Since early June, the Mars Orbiter and Mars were moving behind Sun as viewed from Earth. Two-way signals were disrupted by solar activities.

Launched from Indian spaceport of Sriharikota on November 5, 2013, MOM reached the red planet in September last year and has outlived its planned mission life of six months in a Martian orbit.

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## IND151

Hindustani78 said:


> Mars orbiter scores 100 rounds, ending 'eclipse' soon - The Hindu
> Updated: June 23, 2015 19:22 IST
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> File photo of PSLV- C25 with India's Mars Orbiter on board lifting off from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Photo courtesy: ISRO.
> 
> The Indian Mars orbiter spacecraft completed its 100th orbit around Mars on Monday. It is also gradually coming out of the blackout it had entered earlier this month, Indian Space Research Organisation has said.
> 
> The payloads on the spacecraft are to be re-started in a few weeks. They were last operated on May 27 to put the spacecraft in an autonomous mode.
> 
> MOM remains healthy and all its payloads are performing satisfactorily, ISRO said. The Mars Colour Camera has taken 405 frames so far.
> 
> "The spacecraft's health data is now being received," ISRO said adding the orbiter now had an elliptical orbit of 474 km and 71, 132 km from the red planet.
> 
> Since early June, the Mars Orbiter and Mars were moving behind Sun as viewed from Earth. Two-way signals were disrupted by solar activities.
> 
> Launched from Indian spaceport of Sriharikota on November 5, 2013, MOM reached the red planet in September last year and has outlived its planned mission life of six months in a Martian orbit.



Very good news


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## Hindustani78

India's Mars mission may last "many years": ISRO chief Kiran Kumar - The Economic Times
By PTI | 26 Jun, 2015, 05.56PM IST 

BENGALURU: The country's low-cost Mars mission spacecraft that is in a rendezvous with the Red planet for an extended period has enough fuel for it to last "many years", Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Kiran Kumar said today. 

"....now it will be surviving for many years," Kumar told reporters here on the sidelines of Indian Institute of Science Alumni Global Conference 2015 'Science for Society' here. 

He said, "still about 45 kg of fuel is left; ...we are hardly using the fuel, fuel requirement is very small." 

"Originally with the kind of fuel we had carried, we were not expecting that we will be able to complete the mission for more than six months," he said. 

Elaborating, he said right from launch till the spacecraft was inserted into the desired orbit, many difficulties could have been encountered "in which case we would have spent more fuel....but it didn't happen right from the beginning through the whole process." 

The spacecraft's life was extended for another six months in March due to surplus fuel. 

Scripting space history, India on September 24 last successfully placed the low-cost Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft in orbit around the Mars in its very first attempt, breaking into an elite club. 

ISRO had launched the spacecraft on its nine-month-long odyssey on a homegrown PSLV rocket from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 5, 2013 and it had escaped the earth's gravitational field on December 1, 2013. 

Kumar said "there was no untoward incidents, no failures; ....even when you launch you have to give some margin for launch error that also was not there. So we were able to save fuel right from beginning till insertion." 

"Now we have saved, almost 45 kg is there. It will last for many years," he added. He however did not exactly specify how long the spacecraft's life can be further extended. 

Asked to specify the time frame, he said "we will go one step at a time. We had told the longest duration of gap of communication was this one (June 8-22). Now this we have survived. Next similar event will be two-and-half years later." 

Questioned whether it can last two-and-half years, he said "...it should." 

From June 8 to 22, the MOM was in "blackout" phase snapping communication with the satellite, as the sun had blocked Mars from the Earth. MOM during this period went into an "autonomous mode".

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## SRP

*3D- Visualization of Mars Terrain using Mars Color Camera Images onboard MOM*

A fly-through of mars, covering Valles Marineris region was created by Space Application Center (SAC) using Mars Color Camera (MCC) Image. This fly-through takes to hovering around Oudemans, Calydon Fossa, Louros Valles Arima, Ophir and Perrotin features. Valles Marineris is the largest canyon system about 4000 km long, 200 km wide and 7 km deep. This image also shows Noctis Labyrinthus at bottom left corner of the image. Fracture patterns at the center of Valles Marineris and northern portion of Noctis Labyrinthus are clearly seen. The Noctis Labyrinthus, located at the western edge of the Valles Marineris Rift System, is a jumbled terrain composed of huge blocks which are heavily fractured. Eroded deposits located in central portion (floor) of Valles Marineris are clearly seen in this image. Regional contacts / fracture pattern running parallel to Valles Marineris, Arima crater located south of Valles Marineris is also seen in this image. Wall of the canyon are also seen. Images of Valles Marineris and adjoining regions of Mars taken by MCC on board MOM are used in generating the fly-through. The MCC image was captured on November 10, 2014 at an altitude of 16,972 km. The spatial resolution of image is 882 m. The data was corrected by normalizing the radiometry with topographic effects. Subsequently, the image is draped over Planet Mars topography in the region of coverage mentioned above. Topography data has been smoothed for visual appeal. Mars Digital Elevation Model from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) of Mars Global Surveyor mission is used as Topography Source. Mars Digital Image Mosaic from Viking missions is used as background planet texture. The video is generated by DECU, SAC, Ahmedabad.

3D- Visualization of Mars Terrain using Mars Color Camera Images onboard MOM - ISRO

http://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/videos/MCC_IMG_002.mp4.mp4

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## IND151

3D- Visualization of Mars Terrain using Mars Color Camera Images onboard MOM - ISRO


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## W@rwolf

*SLV-C28 / DMC3 Mission*

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its thirtieth flight (PSLV-C28), will launch three identical DMC3 optical earth observation satellites built by Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK). The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg, will be launched into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR), the spaceport of India. PSLV-C28 will be the ninth flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.

The PSLV-C28, in addition to the three DMC3 satellites, will also carry two auxiliary satellites from UK, viz., CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology demonstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre.

With the overall lift-off mass of the five satellites amounting to about 1440 kg, this mission becomes *the heaviest commercial mission* ever undertaken by Antrix/ISRO.

Accommodating the three DMC3 satellites each with a height of about 3 metre within the existing payload fairing of PSLV, was a challenge. To mount these satellites onto the launcher, a circular Launcher adaptor called as L-adaptor and a triangular deck called Multiple Satellite Adapter-Version 2 (MSA-V2), were newly designed and realized by ISRO for this specific purpose.

These international customer satellites are being launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a Government of India Company under Department of Space.

*DMC3*
The DMC3 constellation, comprising of three advanced mini-satellites DMC3-1, DMC3-2 and DMC3-3, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth Observation. Launched into a single Low-Earth Orbit plane and phased with a separation of 120° between them, these satellites can image any target on the Earth’s surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring of disasters.

CBNT-1, weighing 91 kg, is an optical Earth Observation technology demonstration micro satellite built by SSTL. The 7 kg De-orbitSail from Surrey Space Centre, is an experimental nano satellite for demonstration of large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail.

Source - isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c28-dmc3-mission

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## SRP

*Multi Application Solar Telescope Operationalised at Udaipur Solar Observatory*

Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST), a telescope for the detailed study of the Solar activity including its magnetic field, has recently been operationalised at the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO) of Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous unit of the Department of Space. MAST is an off-axis Gregorian-Coude telescope with a 50 cm aperture.

PRL is a premier research institute engaged in basic research in the areas of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Solar Physics, Planetary Science and Exploration, Space and Atmospheric Sciences, Geosciences and Theoretical Physics. Apart from the main campus at Ahmedabad, there are two other campuses at Mt. Abu and Udaipur, hosting the Infrared Telescope and a Multi-Application-Solar Telescope (MAST), respectively. The planetary exploration (PLANEX) programme and the astronomy group are housed in the fourth campus at Thaltej, close to Ahmedabad.

The USO is situated on an island in the middle of the Lake Fatehsagar of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. The sky conditions at Udaipur are quite favourable for solar observations. The large water body surrounding the telescopes decreases the amount of heating of the surface layers. This decreases the turbulence in the air mass and thereby improves the image quality and seeing. The main objective of obtaining the high spatial and temporal resolution observations of solar photospheric and chromospheric activity is to understand the various dynamic phenomena occurring on the surface of the Sun.





_Udaipur Solar Observatory, PRL. The collapsible dome enclosing the MAST is seen on the right side_

The recently operationalised Multi Application Solar Telescope’s dome is a collapsible dome made of tensile fabric. Built by Mechanical and Optical Systems (AMOS) of Belgium, MAST was tested by USO for onsite acceptance. Test results accumulated over a year was examined by a committee of experts and telescope was made operationalised on June 16, 2015. 

The back-end instruments of MAST, developed in-house at USO, include an adaptive optics system and a narrow band imaging polarimeter using a tandem Fabry-Perot etalon pair and LCVR polarimetric module. Another instrument, viz., a spectropolarimeter, has been developed at ISRO Satellite Centre and will be soon deployed at MAST.

MAST will be used to measure vector magnetic fields of active regions at different heights of the solar atmosphere. It will also be used to study seismic effects of solar flares. Some test images taken during the trial runs of MAST are shown in Figures, which include images taken with H-alpha and G-band filters.
_




Figure 1. Top row: Chromospheric (left) and Photospheric (right) images of a sunspot taken in H-alpha (656.3nm) and G-band (430.5 nm) wavelengths. The sunspot is part of an active region NOAA# 12356, taken on 04 June 2015, 05:13UT.

Bottom row: Chromospheric (left) image of a prominence seen off the solar limb in H-alpha and the corresponding photospheric (right) image in G-band wavelengths taken on 05 June 2015, 04:13 UT. 





Figure 2. Image of Copernicus crater on the Moon captured during one of the pointing tests of 50 cm Multi Application Solar Telescope (MAST). The field of view is around 3 arc-min.

Multi Application Solar Telescope Operationalised at Udaipur Solar Observatory - ISRO_

*Impact crater located SW of Huygens crater, imaged by Mars Color Camera (MCC) *





Image of impact crater located SW of Huygens crater, taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 04-05-2015 at a spatial resolution of 30 m from an altitude of 576 km. Complex impact crater, superimposed over pre-existing crater is clearly seen in this image. This impact crater is having average diameter of 35 km. Terraces of complex impact crater and craters of small diameter distributed in this image are also seen.




3D perspective views of the same data

Impact crater located SW of Huygens crater, imaged by Mars Color Camera (MCC) - ISRO

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## SRP

*Doppler radars to be functional in 2 months*

Bhubaneswar: In a significant step for providing more accurate weather predictions, two doppler radars would soon be functional by August at Odisha’s cyclone-prone coastal towns of Paradip and Gopalpur to ensure effective disaster preparedness.

The information was given by Shailesh Nayak, Secretary,Ministry of Earth Sciences, who along with Director General of Indian Meteorological Department, L S Rathore met Odisha’s Chief Secretary G C Pati here today.

“*The specialised doppler radars are slated to be made functional at Paradip and Gopalpur within two months which will make available advance information on cyclone and weather conditions more accurately*,” Nayak told reporters.

While the doppler radar centre at Paradip would be functional this month, the one being installed at Gopalpur would be operational by the end of August, he said.

The specialised radar, that uses the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance, would be highly useful for agriculture activities by providing accurate information about weather, rainfall and floods, Nayak said.

*Rathore said doppler radars would help in prediction of cyclonic storms, intensity of rainfall, thunderstorms and hailstorms more accurately and faster than the traditional radars used till recently.*

Stating that doppler radar can analyse cyclone, its intensity, movement and direction more accurately, he said it would pinpoint the exact location where a cyclone will hit.

As Odisha is highly cyclone-prone, doppler radars would be of great help by providing early prediction of sudden weather changes which would ensure timely evacuation of people from vulnerable areas to safety, he said.

It would ensure effective disaster management measures,Nayak and Rathore said.

Chief Secretary G C Pati asked the IMD Director General to take quick steps for installing high-tech equipment for accurate measurement of rainfall and flood prediction so that reservoirs, dams and river embankments can be managed properly, an official statement said.

*Apart from Gopalpur and Paradip, steps were being taken for installing two more Doppler radar stations at Balasore and Sambalpur*, it said.

While construction of buildings for these two radar stations had been completed, the process for procuring necessary equipment for the centres have been accelerated, the release said.

Rathore stated at the meeting with the chief secretary that till the radar station at Balasore is functional, the defence radar at Chandipur can provide early information regarding cyclone and weather conditions.

Doppler radars to be functional in 2 months | Odisha Television Limited


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## IND151

Doppler radars to be functional in 2 months | Odisha Television Limited


----------



## SRP

PSLV C28 / DMC3 Update:

Mono Methyl Hydrazine (MMH) propellant filling operation of Fourth Stage (PS4) of PSLV-C28 has commenced at 10:10 hr (IST)

PSLV C28 / DMC3 Update:MMH propellant filling operation has been completed.Now prepping for MON-3 oxidiser filling operation of fourth stage


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## IND151

Nod for ISRO to launch five British satellites on Friday | idrw.org


----------



## Rangila

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/618766690512322560
*LIVE WEBCAST URL: Live Webcast - ISRO

The Launch is scheduled on July 10 at 21:58 hours*





*PSLV C28 / DMC3 Update:*
MMH propellant filling operation has been completed.Preparations for Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen (MON-3) oxidiser filling operationof fourth stage are under progress

Mono Methyl Hydrazine (MMH) propellant filling operation of Fourth Stage (PS4) of PSLV-C28 has commenced at 10:10 hr (IST)

The 62 and half hr countdown activity of PSLV-C28/DMC3 Mission has commenced today, Wednesday, July 08, 2015 at 07:28hr (IST). Launch is scheduled at 21:58 hr (IST) on July 10, 2015


Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) have cleared the starting of the 62 and half hr countdown of PSLV-C28/DMC3 Mission for tomorrow, Wednesday , July 08, 2015 at 07:28hr IST


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## indiatester

PSLV-C28 mission successful . All orbits in precise orbits.


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## IND151

ISRO to launch GSLV-Mark II next month, Says Kiran Kumar | idrw.org

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## kurup

The best video of an Indian rocket launch till now ........ video of PSLV-C28 launch ..... credit to @anniyan

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## Hindustani78

The ISRO Chairman, Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar addressing a Press conference, at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram on July 13, 2015. The VSSC Director, Dr. K. Sivan is also seen.


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## Echo_419

IND151 said:


> ISRO to launch GSLV-Mark II next month, Says Kiran Kumar | idrw.org



Hope the launch is a success


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## IND151

Echo_419 said:


> Hope the launch is a success



It will be success, be sure.

Now we should concentrate on GSLV Mk III.

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## Echo_419

IND151 said:


> It will be success, be sure.
> 
> Now we should concentrate on GSLV Mk III.



Exactly this will end our dependence on the Europeans


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## sathya

Echo_419 said:


> Exactly this will end our dependence on the Europeans



itwill also start heavy satellite fabrication


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## IND151

Echo_419 said:


> Exactly this will end our dependence on the Europeans



Indeed


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## Hindustani78

GSLV Mk III engine completes ‘full endurance test’ - The Hindu

Updated: July 17, 2015 05:46 IST





D. Karthikesan, Director, IPRC, Mahendragiri.— File photo

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the much-awaited *‘full endurance test’ of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III’s indigenous cryogenic CE-20 engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri in the district on Thursday.*

The *CE-20 was ignited and tested for 800 seconds from 5 p.m. to study the performance of the engine though the actual required duration was only 635 seconds.*

During the actual flight of the GSLV, the engine will be ignited for only 635 seconds.

*Parameters normal*

*“All major parameters of CE-20 were normal and the test comfortably met all predetermined results,”* D. Karthikesan, Director, IPRC, Mahendragiri, who witnessed the test along with his colleagues, told _The Hindu_ on Thursday evening.

An elated Mr. Karthikesan termed the successful conduct of *‘full endurance test’ yet another milestone in developing a bigger and more powerful indigenously built high thrust cryogenic upper stage for the 43-metre-tall GSLV Mk III that would position heavier payloads (satellites weighing about 4,000 kg) in the geostationary orbit.*

He said that the *subsystems of CE-20 such as injector, thrust chamber, gas generator, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen turbo pumps were tested at the IPRC, known among the ISRO scientists as the ‘Jet Propulsion Laboratory of India’, as every parameter of ISRO’s launch vehicles are tested only here.*

*A suborbital flight test of GSLV Mk III launcher, with a passive cryogenic third stage, was successfully carried out on December 18, 2014, and was used to test a Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE) on a suborbital trajectory.*

*A morale booster*

Since the ISRO has planned to go in for the next launch of GSLV Mk III within next 18 months, the successful ‘full endurance test’ for 800 seconds has come as a morale booster for its scientists at IPRC.

The mission will put in the GSAT-19E communication satellite into orbit.

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## IND151

GSLV Mk III engine completes ‘full endurance test’ | idrw.org


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
06-August, 2015 17:44 IST
*India's Mars Orbiter Mission *

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has completed its 100th orbit around Mars on 25th June, 2015. 

Mars Orbiter was in blackout zone from 2nd June 2015 to 2nd July 2015. It has come out of blackout zone on 2nd July 2015. 

The Payload operations have restarted from 14th July 2015. All Payload operations are being carried out regularly. 

The Health of Mars Orbiter and all its subsystems are normal and all the five payloads are performing satisfactorily. 

This information was given by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


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## MMG

I am curious compared to Indian Space achievements, how far has pakistan gone?


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## kurup

Sykox said:


> I am curious compared to Indian Space achievements, how far has pakistan gone?



They have not gone anywhere .... they are sitting where they have started 5 and a half decades ago ..

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## MMG

Oh I see


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
12-August, 2015 17:27 IST
*Space Cooperation Agreement*

India and Russia pursue joint programmes in a few areas of space research. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on expansion of cooperation in the field of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. There is no transfer of space technology envisaged under this MoU. 

This new MoU provides scope for developing joint activities in areas of mutual interest, including satellite navigation; launch vehicle development; critical technologies for human spaceflight programme; remote sensing of Earth; space science and planetary exploration; and use of ground infrastructure. Specific cooperation proposals for further processing are also included in the MoU. Joint projects; sharing of expertise and resources; development of space systems and components; exchange of scientists; training and scientific and technical meetings are listed out as the forms of cooperation on the above areas. Further, provisions are included in the MoU to conclude separate agreements for specific areas of cooperation detailing objectives, procedures and financial aspects. 

The MoU was signed by ISRO on May 25, 2015 and by ROSCOSMOS on June 22, 2015. 

Expansion of space cooperation between India and Russia through this MoU is likely to benefit ISRO in further consolidation and augmentation of its space programme in various domains including Space exploration. 

This information was given by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to unstarred question in Lok Sabha today.

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## MMG

Hindustani78 said:


> Department of Space
> 12-August, 2015 17:27 IST
> *Space Cooperation Agreement*
> 
> India and Russia pursue joint programmes in a few areas of space research. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on expansion of cooperation in the field of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. There is no transfer of space technology envisaged under this MoU.
> 
> This new MoU provides scope for developing joint activities in areas of mutual interest, including satellite navigation; launch vehicle development; critical technologies for human spaceflight programme; remote sensing of Earth; space science and planetary exploration; and use of ground infrastructure. Specific cooperation proposals for further processing are also included in the MoU. Joint projects; sharing of expertise and resources; development of space systems and components; exchange of scientists; training and scientific and technical meetings are listed out as the forms of cooperation on the above areas. Further, provisions are included in the MoU to conclude separate agreements for specific areas of cooperation detailing objectives, procedures and financial aspects.
> 
> The MoU was signed by ISRO on May 25, 2015 and by ROSCOSMOS on June 22, 2015.
> 
> Expansion of space cooperation between India and Russia through this MoU is likely to benefit ISRO in further consolidation and augmentation of its space programme in various domains including Space exploration.
> 
> This information was given by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to unstarred question in Lok Sabha today.


This is good new


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
13-August, 2015 14:40 IST
*Private entities to manufacture space related equipment*

The ISRO is making focused efforts to consolidate and enhance participation of Indian industries including private entities in the manufacture of space related hardware such as rocket engine & stages, propellant tanks, spacecraft structures, solar panels, thermal control systems etc., required for satellites and launch vehicles. It is envisaged that the industry will have enhanced contribution towards manufacture of standardised components as well as integrated systems /subsystems through appropriate consortium. 

Ministry of Earth Sciences and Department of Space are collaborating for developing disaster mitigation techniques for accurate forecasting of cyclone track & intensity, heavy rainfall alerts, fog, inundation scenarios in the coastal areas and in establishment of Tsunami & Storm Surge Warning Centre and Doppler Weather Radars. 

Taking note of advances in imaging capability with high spatial resolution, both at national and global level and prevailing security considerations, Government has carried out an appraisal of the then existing RSDP 2001 and positioned new/revised RSDP 2011 with a view to ensure availability of high resolution data for developmental purposes. RSDP 2011, permits distribution of all satellite data of resolutions up to 1 m (as compared to 5.8 m in RSDP 2001) on a non-discriminatory and “as requested basis” to the user; and all data of better than 1 m resolution after screening and clearance by the appropriate agency prior to distribution. 

This information was given by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

*****


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## SRP

3D portrayals of Ophir Chasma terrain. - ISRO


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## Guynextdoor2

kurup said:


> They have not gone anywhere .... they are sitting where they have started 5 and a half decades ago ..



You deluded man, Pak raced ahead of India in 2003 itself and here is proof

“Pakistan’s space programme is now ahead of India after the formal launching of Paksat-I and this is due to the hard work of our scientists and I am sure Indians would take another 30 months to do the job,” Gen Musharraf claimed.

Satellite to help promote education: Musharraf launches Paksat-I - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

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## kurup

Guynextdoor2 said:


> You deluded man, Pak raced ahead of India in 2003 itself and here is proof
> 
> “Pakistan’s space programme is now ahead of India after the formal launching of Paksat-I and this is due to the hard work of our scientists and I am sure Indians would take another 30 months to do the job,” Gen Musharraf claimed.
> 
> Satellite to help promote education: Musharraf launches Paksat-I - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

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## Force-India

Guynextdoor2 said:


> You deluded man, Pak raced ahead of India in 2003 itself and here is proof
> 
> “Pakistan’s space programme is now ahead of India after the formal launching of Paksat-I and this is due to the hard work of our scientists and I am sure Indians would take another 30 months to do the job,” Gen Musharraf claimed.
> 
> Satellite to help promote education: Musharraf launches Paksat-I - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

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## IND151

Russian tie-up to boost ISRO’s semicryogenic launcher plan | idrw.org

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## SRP

Satellite Transportation Systems (STS) - ISRO


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## Fenrir

*A Glorious 3D Glimpse of a Massive Martian Canyon*







India’s Mars Orbiter Mission has sent back a dramatic image of the Ophir Chasma terrain on Mars, giving us an unprecedented 3D look at one the Solar System’s largest canyons.






The feature is part of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars, a massive gash along the equator that’s nearly as long as the United States is wide. In fact, it spans about 20%, or a fifth, of the entire distance around Mars. Ophir Chasma measures about 197 miles (317 km) long, and was named after a land mentioned in the Bible.

The walls are comprised of many different layers, and the floors contain significant deposits of layered materials. Some scientists theorize that the layers formed when water once filled the canyons. In some places, the cliffs drop 5 to 6 miles (8 to 10 kilometers), to which the Earth’s Grand Canyon, at a maximum height of 1 mile (1.6 km), pales in comparison.






The image above was captured by the probe’s color imager on July 19 at an altitude of 1,216 miles (1,857 km).

*[ **ISRO** ]*

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## Jai_Hind



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## proud_indian



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## gslv mk3

ISRO I-6K satellite bus (6 tonne )





antriksh,nasaspaceflight forum

@Chanakya's_Chant @kurup

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## Chanakya's_Chant

gslv mk3 said:


> ISRO I-6K satellite bus (6 tonne )
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> antriksh,nasaspaceflight forum
> 
> @Chanakya's_Chant @kurup



It must be GSAT-19E - to be launched in December 2016 on board LVM3 - will be India's first I-6K bus based Satellite - 

_*ISRO would test use of Ion thrusters on the GSAT-19 satellite, he said.* The thrusters would primarily be used to stabilise the satellite in Space.* It would be the 2nd ISRO satellite to use electric propulsion, the first being the GSAT-4 satellite that was being carried on-board the unsuccessfulGSLV-D3 mission.* Thus, the satellite never got deployed. Successful demonstration of Ion Propulsion would enable ISRO to, *"substantially reduce the weight of the satellite, for the same function & capability", translating to weight saving, "almost to the tune of 1.5-2MT",* he said._

_It plans to launch the GSAT-19 [also referred as GSAT-19E] aboard the 1st demonstration flight of GSLV Mk. III, the GSLV Mk-III D1, scheduled for 2016-2017. The satellite would carry:_

_3 Ka-band Transponders_
_2 C-band Transponders_
_2 Mobile Satellite Services [MSS] forward & return transponders_
_In addition, it would,* "act as a test bed for development of advanced spacecraft technologies and bus subsystem experiments like New modular I-6K Structure, Electrical propulsion System, Active thermal control using deployable thermal radiators, Motorised deployment of solar panels, miniaturised IRU, indigenous Li-ion battery,2 KW BDR, indigenous C-Band TWTA, etc., for future I-6K Bus".* 
_
Source:- First Prototype of ISRO's Semi-Cryogenic Engine To Be Ready By 2016 - AA Me, IN

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## SOHEIL

At last we made it !

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## indiatester

SOHEIL said:


> At last we made it !



Add more details man. What is it, when is it going to be tested, whats the payload?


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## DrasticMeasure

SOHEIL said:


> At last we made it !




We need more details man. What is this rocket? Whats the payload and specks?


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> ISRO I-6K satellite bus (6 tonne )
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> antriksh,nasaspaceflight forum
> 
> @Chanakya's_Chant @kurup





Chanakya's_Chant said:


> It must be GSAT-19E - to be launched in December 2016 on board LVM3 - will be India's first I-6K bus based Satellite -
> 
> _*ISRO would test use of Ion thrusters on the GSAT-19 satellite, he said.* The thrusters would primarily be used to stabilise the satellite in Space.* It would be the 2nd ISRO satellite to use electric propulsion, the first being the GSAT-4 satellite that was being carried on-board the unsuccessfulGSLV-D3 mission.* Thus, the satellite never got deployed. Successful demonstration of Ion Propulsion would enable ISRO to, *"substantially reduce the weight of the satellite, for the same function & capability", translating to weight saving, "almost to the tune of 1.5-2MT",* he said._
> 
> _It plans to launch the GSAT-19 [also referred as GSAT-19E] aboard the 1st demonstration flight of GSLV Mk. III, the GSLV Mk-III D1, scheduled for 2016-2017. The satellite would carry:_
> 
> _3 Ka-band Transponders_
> _2 C-band Transponders_
> _2 Mobile Satellite Services [MSS] forward & return transponders_
> _In addition, it would,* "act as a test bed for development of advanced spacecraft technologies and bus subsystem experiments like New modular I-6K Structure, Electrical propulsion System, Active thermal control using deployable thermal radiators, Motorised deployment of solar panels, miniaturised IRU, indigenous Li-ion battery,2 KW BDR, indigenous C-Band TWTA, etc., for future I-6K Bus".*
> _
> Source:- First Prototype of ISRO's Semi-Cryogenic Engine To Be Ready By 2016 - AA Me, IN



How will LVM-3 with a capacity of 4T to GTO place a 6 tonner there ??


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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> How will LVM-3 with a capacity of 4T to GTO place a 6 tonner there ??



Maybe it would still weigh under 4 tonnes - Its meant to be n experimental satellite.

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## Chanakya's_Chant

kurup said:


> How will LVM-3 with a capacity of 4T to GTO place a 6 tonner there ??



The satellite will weigh only 3500 kg. but will be based on the new modular I-6K Structure.

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## SOHEIL

indiatester said:


> Add more details man. What is it, when is it going to be tested, whats the payload?



Safir-2 

2016

Tolou SAT



DrasticMeasure said:


> We need more details man. What is this rocket? Whats the payload and specks?

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## sathya

gslv mk3 said:


> Maybe it would still weigh under 4 tonnes - Its meant to be n experimental satellite.




Looks so, with less number of transponder for a 6 tonner 

And so many number of experimental equipments ..


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## IND151

ISRO to Launch 25th Communication Satellite Today | idrw.org



Jai_Hind said:


>



Payload of GSLV MK III to LEO is 8,000 KGs.

I hope with 4 Booster the figure goes beyoond 10,500 KG. 

@MilSpec @sancho @XiNiX @Dillinger @Capt.Popeye

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## Chanakyaa

IND151 said:


> ISRO to Launch 25th Communication Satellite Today | idrw.org
> 
> 
> 
> Payload of GSLV MK III to LEO is 8,000 KGs.
> 
> I hope with 4 Booster the figure goes beyoond 10,500 KG.
> 
> @MilSpec @sancho @XiNiX @Dillinger @Capt.Popeye



You state that, in referance to our Manned Mission ?


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## TejasMk3



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## sathya

*GSLV-D6 / GSAT-6 Update: Propellant filling operation of L40 Strap On Stages is completed by 06:00hr IST. Countdown is progressing normally.*


*
GSLV-D6 / GSAT-6 Update: Preparations for propellant filling of cryo stage are under progress
*


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## TejasMk3

Half an hour to go!


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## deckingraj

Isro's GSLV-D6 with indigenous cryo engine successfully places GSAT-6 in orbit - The Times of India

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## IND151

deckingraj said:


> Isro's GSLV-D6 with indigenous cryo engine successfully places GSAT-6 in orbit - The Times of India



Awesome!

Its shows success of GSLV MK II D 5 wasnt fluke.........


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## indiatester

GSLV MK II is getting to be reliable. Great job ISRO


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## proud_indian

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/637432186665234432

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## IND151

indiatester said:


> GSLV MK II is getting to be reliable. Great job ISRO



The next Big thing will be GSLV Mk III.

Its payload to LEO is 8,000 KG while that to GTO is 4000 KG.

The same figures for Mk II are 2000 to 2500 KG and 5000 KG and its possible that Mk III can put more than 10,500 KG paylaod in LEO with 4 boosters.

Source- Official Website of ISRO

@sancho @Capt.Popeye @XiNiX



XiNiX said:


> You state that, in referance to our Manned Mission ?



My guess is if 4 boosters are used, LVM3 can put more than 10,500 KG Payload into LEO.

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## proud_indian




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## Water Car Engineer

GSAT 6 communications satellite
















GSLV-D6 A Success


Sorry, but cant get enough of this. For anyone that saw the failure from 2010(_remember all the people that made fun, where are they now_), know how good these two successes from Mark 2, with it's home made cryo engine feel. And this is just to a fanboy like me, can't imagine what the scientist and anyone actually involved in the program must be feeling after working so hard!

It needs some more runs to be a true workhorse, but it's still inspiring.

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## IND151

Water Car Engineer said:


> GSAT 6 communications satellite
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> GSLV-D6 A Success
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> 
> Sorry, but cant get enough of this. For anyone that saw the failure from 2010(_remember all the people that made fun, where are they now_), know how good these two successes from Mark 2, with it's home made cryo engine feel. And this is just to a fanboy like me, can't imagine what the scientist and anyone actually involved in the program must be feeling after working so hard!
> 
> *It needs some more runs to be a true workhorse, but it's still inspiring*.



Indeed................


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## gslv mk3

Water Car Engineer said:


> Sorry, but cant get enough of this. For anyone that saw the failure from 2010(_remember all the people that made fun, where are they now_), know how good these two successes from Mark 2, with it's home made cryo engine feel. And this is just to a fanboy like me, can't imagine what the scientist and anyone actually involved in the program must be feeling after working so hard!



Same thoughts here


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## TejasMk3

GSLV Mk3 is the next milestone - Today's Paper - The Hindu

ISRO is ramping up efforts for the *mock trial of GSLV Mark 3 by mid-2016, prior to the first developmental flight scheduled for December 2016.*

The biggest rocket made in India, the Mk3 will be capable of launching 4-tonne satellites into geosynchronous orbit.

Designed and developed by the LPSC, the high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine (C25) for the Mk3 was successfully ground-tested for a duration of 800 seconds on July 16 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri.

The next phase involves integration of the engine and stage. A series of ground and high altitude simulation tests will be carried out over the next eight to 10 months.

With GSLV Mk3, ISRO hopes to have a triad of launch vehicles, enabling it to capture a major share of the market for commercial satellite launches.

While the workhorse PSLV rocket would be used to launch satellites into lower orbit, the GSLV would be a strong candidate for satellites in the 2.2 to 2.5-tonne category and the Mk3 is expected to emerge as the favoured choice for heavier satellites up to 4 tonnes.


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## kurup

Water Car Engineer said:


> .



These two pics show that they remove the sheets that cover the cryogenic stage before launching .... interesting .

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## thesolar65

*GSAT-6A's big antenna deployed by ISRO *

CHENNAI: The Indian space agency on Sunday said it had successfully deployed the large antenna of military communication satellite GSAT-6 and also raised its orbit.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the S-Band Unfurlable Antenna of six metre diameter was deployed successfully.

The satellite was launched by India's heavy rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle-Mark II (GSLV) and put into geo transfer orbit (GTO) on Thursday.

One of the advanced features of GSAT-6 satellite is this antenna - the largest satellite antenna realised by ISRO and utilised for five spot beams over the Indian mainland, which exploit the frequency reuse scheme to increase frequency spectrum utilisation efficiency.

The satellite provides communication through five spot beams in S-band and a national beam in C-band for strategic users.

The satellite's life expectancy is nine years.

The ISRO also said the third orbit raising operation of GSAT-6 was successfully completed by firing the satellite's onboard motors for nine minutes.

GSAT-6A's big antenna deployed by ISRO - The Economic Times

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## IND151

Water Car Engineer said:


> GSAT 6 communications satellite
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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> GSLV-D6 A Success
> 
> 
> Sorry, but cant get enough of this. For anyone that saw the failure from 2010(_remember all the people that made fun, where are they now_), know how good these two successes from Mark 2, with it's home made cryo engine feel. And this is just to a fanboy like me, can't imagine what the scientist and anyone actually involved in the program must be feeling after working so hard!
> 
> It needs some more runs to be a true workhorse, but it's still inspiring.



Naswaristan........

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## Water Car Engineer

Water Car Engineer said:


> GSAT 6 communications satellite


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## IND151

Kalams Vision of Reusable Launch Vehicle ready for its first step | idrw.org


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## Star Wars

IND151 said:


> Kalams Vision of Reusable Launch Vehicle ready for its first step | idrw.org



Another Month or two left , this will be awesome !!! I so hope they have Cameras on board the shuttle


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## SRP

*Video from the onboard cameras of GSLV-D6*

Two onboard cameras were placed on the launcher - one at the second stage (GS2) looking down towards first stage (GS1) and the second on top of GS2 to look at the nozzle of the cryo stage. The initial segment of the video shows the nozzle portion of the GS2 looking down towards the top dome of the GS1 stage. The vented interstage skirt is also visible. The GS2 stage ignition followed by the GS1 separation (S139 along with four strap-ons) is clearly seen. Three strap-ons separating along with S139 and the interstage separation can also be seen. Afterwards, the screen is blank to switch between the cameras. The later portion of the video shows the magnificent ignition of the indigenous cryogenic stage.

Link for the Video
Video from the onboard cameras of GSLV-D6 - ISRO

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## indiatester

SRP said:


> *Video from the onboard cameras of GSLV-D6*
> 
> Two onboard cameras were placed on the launcher - one at the second stage (GS2) looking down towards first stage (GS1) and the second on top of GS2 to look at the nozzle of the cryo stage. The initial segment of the video shows the nozzle portion of the GS2 looking down towards the top dome of the GS1 stage. The vented interstage skirt is also visible. The GS2 stage ignition followed by the GS1 separation (S139 along with four strap-ons) is clearly seen. Three strap-ons separating along with S139 and the interstage separation can also be seen. Afterwards, the screen is blank to switch between the cameras. The later portion of the video shows the magnificent ignition of the indigenous cryogenic stage.
> 
> Link for the Video
> Video from the onboard cameras of GSLV-D6 - ISRO


Great stuff we have all been waiting for. Thanks for posting!!!


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## Hindustani78

GSAT-6 successfully positioned in orbital slot

Bengaluru, Sep 6, 2015 (PTI)




GSAT-6, the country's latest communication satellite has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot, Indian Space Research Organization said today.

*"GSAT-6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot of 83 Deg E and collocated with INSAT 4A, GSAT 12, GSAT 10 and IRNSS1C today morning, after carrying out four drift arresting maneuvers," ISRO said.*

*ISRO had successfully launched GSAT-6, having an indigenous cryogenic engine, on-board GSLV-D6 rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota on August 27.*

*After the launch ISRO had performed successive orbit raising operation of the satellite and had also deployed the unfurlable antenna (UFA) successfully.*

*GSAT-6 is the 25th geostationary communication satellite of India built by ISRO and 12th in the GSAT series.It provides communication through five spot beams in S-band and a national beam in C-band for strategic users.*

*One of the advanced features of the satellite is its S-Band Unfurlable Antenna of 6m diameter. This is the largest satellite antenna realized by ISRO.*

This antenna is utilized for five spot beams over the Indian mainland. The beams exploit the frequency reuse scheme to increase frequency spectrum utilization efficiency, ISRO had said.
The mission life of the satellite is nine years, it had said.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
06-September, 2015 17:01 IST
*National Meet on Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance and Development on 7th September 2015 *

The Prime Minister of India during his address at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota on June 30, 2014, urged Department of Space to pro-actively engage with all stakeholders to maximise the use of space science in governance and development. 

Subsequently, Cabinet Secretary has asked all Secretaries of all Central Ministries/ Departments to assess the current utilisation of Space technology-based tools in their Ministry/ Department and explore new potential application areas. Further, in order to hold proactive interactions with the Central Ministries, 18 expert teams were constituted within ISRO. These teams conducted one-to-one interactions with the Ministries/ Departments and joint action plan on “Effective Use of Space Technology” was prepared with 60 Central Ministries/Departments. About 170 projects across various Ministries/Departments have emerged in the areas of Natural Resources Management, Energy & Infrastructure, Disaster & Early Warning, Communication & Navigation, e-Governance & Geo-spatial Governance, Societal Services, and Support to Flagship programmes. 

One day National Meet is being organised on September 07, 2015 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi to deliberate on the action plans of various ministries/departments. Central & State Ministers, Officials from Prime Minister Office & Cabinet Secretariat, Secretaries, Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries and Senior Officials of all the Ministries/Departments, Chief Secretaries of all States/Union Territories, Principal Secretaries and senior officials of the State Line Departments and Academia/Institutions and functionaries from Department of Space/ISRO will participate. The National Meet has received overwhelming response and more than 1500 delegates are expected to attend. The National Meet will be inaugurated by the Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog with MOS (PMO) and Cabinet Secretary as the guests of honour. 

Nine Theme Sessions viz. Agriculture, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure Planning, Water Resources, Technology Diffusion, Developmental Planning, Communication & Navigation, Weather & Disaster Management and Health & Education are planned. Secretaries of Central Ministries/Departments will present joint action plans on effective utilization of Space Technology to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making. Chief Secretary of a select State will make a theme-specific presentation in each theme session followed by an open discussion. 

A Special Session is planned in the august presence of the Prime Minister, wherein the Chairs of nine theme sessions will present the salient outcomes of the session, followed by presentation by Secretary, Department of Space on the strategies planned to meet the requirements of the Departments/Ministries and way forward. 

The Hon’ble Prime Minister will address the gathering at the special session. 

The deliberations during the National Meet will lead to wider awareness on use of space technology & applications in governance & development, thrust areas for collaborative research, utilisation of space technology tools to enable functional effectiveness and enhancements required in Space and Ground Segment. 

*****


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
07-September, 2015 20:15 IST
*Prime Minister addresses National Meet on “Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance & Development” *

No space should be left between the common man and space technology, says Prime Minister 
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the National Meet on “Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance & Development” at a function organised in New Delhi today. The one-day National Meet provided an opportunity for interaction amongst ministries/departments and state governments towards enhanced utilization of the space technology in governance and development. The basic objective of the meet include harnessing the benefits of space technology in planning and development process, preserving eco-system, better managing and conversing country’s natural resources and improving disaster management support through synergy of Remote Sensing, Communication and navigation based solutions. It also aims to help the states by building state level geospatial data repository and delivering state specific applications. 

Emphasizing upon the need of using space technology for the benefit of common man, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that no space should be left between the common man and the space technology. The technology should be utilised for the benefit of the common man. Technology is a driving force with huge impact. He asked all departments to from one cell for technology where the youth with scientific temper can work for the promotion of technology. He also said that capacity building can be done through human resource development for which ISRO can work in coordination with HRD Ministry and state governments. He also called for “Start-up India, Stand-up India” initiative to be implemented with regard to science. The Prime Minister appealed to the youth with scientific temper for “start-up” in the field of technology. 

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while inaugurating the meet earlier in the day said that the past one year has been a period of glory for the Department of Space under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He said that India has become a world power in the field of space technology. India is earning huge income by launching foreign satellites and has entered into an era of space marketing. The Minister told that space technology has been of great help in natural calamities like floods in Jammu and Kashmir and earthquake in Nepal. He also suggested that a Hall of Space can be set up in National Capital Delhi on the lines of Hall of Nuclear Energy that is being set up in Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Department of Space, Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar said that the initiative of use of space technology has received overwhelming response from all ministries and departments. He said that the space technology can be useful for the flagship programmes of the Government including Digital India and Clean Ganga Mission. He also gave presentation on the “Strategies & Way Forward” with respect to space technology and on the “Indian Space Programme” during the national meet. 

During the inaugural session, the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, Shri Arvind Panagariya said that the ISRO is one of the six largest space agencies in the world and the most cost-effective space agency of all. He recalled that Prime Minister himself had mentioned that India’s Mars Mission is less costly than the cost of making the Hollywood movie ‘Gravity’. He mentioned that space technology is helpful for various ministries and departments such as agriculture, earth sciences, forests, land resources, drinking water and urban development. Here the space technology is being used for various applications such as crop forecasting, potential fisheries zones, wasteland development, city master plans etc. He also mentioned that IRNSS series of satellites once operationalised in 2016, will provide critical data on natural resources of the country. 

During the inaugural session, the Cabinet Secretary, Shri P. K. Sinha said that this meet is the outcome of the suggestion given by Prime Minister in June, 2014 in Sriharikota where he had advised to maximize the use of space technology. He said that 18 expert teams were constituted within ISRO in order to hold proactive interactions with the Central Ministries regarding use of space technology. Subsequently various projects across ministries/departments have emerged where space technology can be used. The space technology can be helpful for the flagship programmes of the Government, he added. 

During the day, nine Sessions were held on various themes including Agriculture, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure Planning, Water Resources, Technology Diffusion, Developmental Planning, Communication & Navigation, Weather & Disaster Management and Health & Education. The Secretaries of Central Ministries/Departments presented joint action plans on effective utilization of Space Technology to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making. The Chairs of these nine theme sessions presented the salient outcomes of the sessions in the august presence of the Prime Minister. 

Various areas were identified for the use of space technology including environment impact assessment, forest fire alert system, GIS based infrastructure planning, geo-morphological mapping for mining, mapping of protected areas & coastal zones, asset management, satellite communication for remote regions, toll information system for NH on Bhuvan portal, site management plan for tourist places under ASI, GAGAN based Geo-tagging and 3D visualization, potential fishing zone information, water bodies & ground water prospects mapping, countryside DTH coverage through expansion of private channel network served by additional satellite transponders, tele-education and disease surveillance and occupational health among others. Various challenges including sharing of data to avoid duplication of efforts and integration between the states and other departments and limited capacity were also discussed during the meet. 

The Officials from Prime Minister Office & Cabinet Secretariat, Secretaries, Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries and Senior Officials of all the Ministries/Departments, Chief Secretaries of all States/Union Territories, Principal Secretaries and senior officials of the State Line Departments and Academia/Institutions and functionaries from Department of Space/ISRO were also present on the occasion.


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## Lonely Hermit



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## Hindustani78

Scientist behind Mangalyaan to interact with students - The Hindu
Updated: September 15, 2015 05:45 IST






M. Annadurai, Program Director of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be visiting Mysuru to interact with students here on September 19.

The session has been organised by the CII Mysuru in memory of the late former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in association with Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering here, on the college campus at Gokulam from 2.30 p.m. onwards.

India’s progress in space has been very systematic and the country has acquired eminence in space science. According to Aerospace America, Indian remote-sensing commercial satellites are among the best in the world, said N. Muthukumar, chairman, CII Mysuru, in a release here.

Dr. Annadurai as Project Director made crucial contributions to India’s first Lunar Mission, Chandrayaan–I, which won many awards, including the prestigious Space Pioneer Award.

Chandrayaan-I successfully demonstrated India’s capability and proficiency in carrying out highly complex space missions, ,the release stated.

Dr. Annadurai, the director of ISRO Satellite Centre, will speak on ‘Science as a way of life’ based on his 32 years of experience at ISRO. “He has become a motivating force among the Indian student community. His works are mentioned in the class 10 Science textbook of Tamil Nadu and he has been listed among 100 Global thinkers of 2014 ,” the release stated.

On the occasion, Dr. Annadurai will also share his memories of working with Dr. Kalam.

Registration is free. Interested children along with their parents, industry representatives and students across institutions can confirm their participation on 9844785965/ 9880813811.

_*CII Mysuru to hold interaction with M. Annadurai on September 19 at Vidya Vardhaka Engineering College*_


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## $@rJen

ISRO gets Sri Lanka's approval for SAARC satellite project












Saturday, September 19, 2015

By : World Defense News




Sri Lanka has given its approval for SAARC satellite project, one of the mandatory requirements for ITU registration before the launch even as ISRO waits for nod from other countries.






NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka has given its approval for SAARC satellite project, one of the mandatory requirements for ITU registration before the launch even as ISRO waits for nod from other countries. 

"We are hopeful that we can launch the satellite by December next year. As of now Sri Lanka has given its approval for the project," ISRO chairman and Department of Space (DoS) Secretary Kiran Kumar said. 

He was speaking at the 'Indian Economic Convention 2015- An Interactive Session on Space, Bio-technology and Indian Railways'. 

Kumar added that approval of countries is required before ITU registration. This will also help India book a slot in the orbit where the satellite could be placed. It now requires approval from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. 

India is building SAARC satellite, an ambitious project envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a gift to its South Asian neighbours. In a meeting held here in June, almost all countries have given their nod for the initiative. 

The ISRO chief also added that India will build an earth observatory ground station in Fiji and Vietnam. Talks are on, he said, with African countries, but did not name any possible nation where the earth observatory ground station could be built.

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## Hindustani78

ISRO focussing on low cost access to space: A S Kiran Kumar

Visakhapatnam, Sept 19, 2015 (PTI)





*Indian Space Research Organisation is moving forward with the development of heavy lift launchers and reusable launch vehicles with its main focus being the low cost access to space, its chairman A S Kiran Kumar said here today.*

"ISRO is developing heavy lift launchers, reusable launch vehicles, cryogenic engines and is mainly concentrating on low cost access to space," Kumar said.

He was addressing as the chief guest the 6th convocation ceremony at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, commonly known as GITAM University.

Kumar said the recent success of the Mars Orbiter Mission was a result of a tremendous team effort and innovative use of limited resources to achieve defined goals.

"Advances in satellite remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems and geographic information system are now making it easier to integrate ecological, environmental and other information for developing predictive models that can be used in the surveillance and control of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever," the space scientist said.

He observed that use of technology in tackling social issues and empowering disadvantaged groups still remains significantly under-explored.

Appealing for environment-friendly lifestyle, Kumar said, "The society must concentrate to green their lifestyle (sic) and lessen the negative impact of technology on natural environment."

He asked the students to innovate and develop techniques which can play a key role in development of nation without having any adverse impact on environment.

Kumar also appealed to students to explore alternate energy sources so as to cut down the need for mega scale generation and distribution systems.

On the occasion, Kumar and Satyanarayana Chava, CEO of Laurus Labs Pvt Ltd, were bestowed upon the honorary degree of doctor of science (DSc) by the university chancellor K Ramakrishna Rao.

The honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D Litt) was presented to former cricketer VVS Laxman and noted playback singer and musician K Srinivasa Rao (Vande Mataram Srinivas).

The Distinguished Alumnus Award-2015 was presented to Kurra Lakshmaiah Choudhary, currently the MD, Fujiyama Tool Tech, Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad.

On the occasion, a total of 2579 students received graduate and post-graduate degrees while six students were presented M.Phil and 60 students the PhD in streams like engineering, management, science, pharmacy and international business. The University also presented 50 gold medals to meritorious students.


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## TejasMk3

sarjenprabhu said:


> T It now requires approval from Pakistan



These fellows will try to create some problem and stall the project :/ I guess if they dont agree it will go ahead and be Saarc minus Pak satellite.

ISRO ready for one satellite launch every month: ISAC chief - NATIONAL - The Hindu


The ISRO is bracing up for one satellite launch every month in the days ahead and has 22 satellite launches lined up for the near future, said M. Annadurai, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC).

Speaking to _The Hindu_ on the sidelines of an interaction programme with students of Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering organised by the CII Mysuru chapter here on Saturday, Mr. Annadurai said space assets had limited life and their requirement from ATMs to telemedicine and every conceivable aspect of present day living had made it imperative to keep them functional.

“While 22 satellites have been lined up and are in the pipeline for a launch at the rate of one satellite per month, the actual requirement for the country is reckoned to be around 52 satellites in the next 3 or 4 years,” he said.

On the immediate missions, Mr. Annadurai said ASTROSAT is slated for launch later this month and described it as a multi-wave length observatory capable of studying distant celestial objects and the first dedicated astronomy satellite to be launched by the ISRO.

Underlining the imperatives of harnessing space technology to shore up the quality of life, Mr. Annadurai said using information and communication technology gave the concept of e-governance but harnessing space assets for effective day-to-day governance can usher in the concept of Space Governance.

Earlier, Mr. Annadurai delivered a lecture on science as a way of life which was dedicated to the former President and scientist the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Interacting with the students, he said ISRO was also contemplating a solar mission to study the Sun and Mission Aditya entailed studying the corona and the solar flares from a low earth orbit.


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## $@rJen

ISRO gets Sri Lanka's approval for SAARC satellite project












Saturday, September 19, 2015

By : World Defense News




Sri Lanka has given its approval for SAARC satellite project, one of the mandatory requirements for ITU registration before the launch even as ISRO waits for nod from other countries.






NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka has given its approval for SAARC satellite project, one of the mandatory requirements for ITU registration before the launch even as ISRO waits for nod from other countries. 

"We are hopeful that we can launch the satellite by December next year. As of now Sri Lanka has given its approval for the project," ISRO chairman and Department of Space (DoS) Secretary Kiran Kumar said. 

He was speaking at the 'Indian Economic Convention 2015- An Interactive Session on Space, Bio-technology and Indian Railways'. 

Kumar added that approval of countries is required before ITU registration. This will also help India book a slot in the orbit where the satellite could be placed. It now requires approval from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. 

India is building SAARC satellite, an ambitious project envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a gift to its South Asian neighbours. In a meeting held here in June, almost all countries have given their nod for the initiative. 

The ISRO chief also added that India will build an earth observatory ground station in Fiji and Vietnam. Talks are on, he said, with African countries, but did not name any possible nation where the earth observatory ground station could be built.



TejasMk3 said:


> These fellows will try to create some problem and stall the project :/ I guess if they dont agree it will go ahead and be Saarc minus Pak satellite.
> 
> ISRO ready for one satellite launch every month: ISAC chief - NATIONAL - The Hindu
> 
> 
> The ISRO is bracing up for one satellite launch every month in the days ahead and has 22 satellite launches lined up for the near future, said M. Annadurai, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC).
> 
> Speaking to _The Hindu_ on the sidelines of an interaction programme with students of Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering organised by the CII Mysuru chapter here on Saturday, Mr. Annadurai said space assets had limited life and their requirement from ATMs to telemedicine and every conceivable aspect of present day living had made it imperative to keep them functional.
> 
> “While 22 satellites have been lined up and are in the pipeline for a launch at the rate of one satellite per month, the actual requirement for the country is reckoned to be around 52 satellites in the next 3 or 4 years,” he said.
> 
> On the immediate missions, Mr. Annadurai said ASTROSAT is slated for launch later this month and described it as a multi-wave length observatory capable of studying distant celestial objects and the first dedicated astronomy satellite to be launched by the ISRO.
> 
> Underlining the imperatives of harnessing space technology to shore up the quality of life, Mr. Annadurai said using information and communication technology gave the concept of e-governance but harnessing space assets for effective day-to-day governance can usher in the concept of Space Governance.
> 
> Earlier, Mr. Annadurai delivered a lecture on science as a way of life which was dedicated to the former President and scientist the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
> 
> Interacting with the students, he said ISRO was also contemplating a solar mission to study the Sun and Mission Aditya entailed studying the corona and the solar flares from a low earth orbit.



Pakistan already agreed to the development.. plan is finished so once ISRO shows them the details Pakistan has to tell us to go ahead, if not then their loss, India will go ahead with the project.. there's nothing for us to loose.

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## gslv mk3




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## bloo

gslv mk3 said:


>



Godrej & Boyce is an example of a significant contribution of the Parsi community to India.
A true testament to the secularity and expansiveness of India.

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## Hindustani78

CII Mysuru exploring business opportunity with ISRO - The Hindu

Updated: September 20, 2015 05:44 IST

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Mysuru chapter is exploring business opportunities with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

This was stated by CII Mysuru chairman Muthukumar at the sidelines of a programme with ISRO Satellite Centre Director M. Annadurai and students of Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering here on Saturday.

He told _The Hindu_ that ISRO would sent its procurement team to Mysuru in December, when CII will organise a manufacturing conclave in the city.

“Only three companies at present are trying to do business with ISRO, though more than 15 companies have the capability to support them,” he added.

Mr. Muthukumar said they were confident and would showcase the possibilities that ISRO can explore in Mysuru.

The optimism stems from Mysuru’s slow but gradual emergence as a hub for electronic hardware manufacturing. Though focus remains on the IT sector, hardware manufacturing has stolen a silent march ahead of IT in the region.

Observers and industrial consultants have identified Mysuru as a hub for the electronics industry, with an estimated export turnover of nearly Rs. 800 to Rs. 1,000 crore. The State government too, in its Karnataka Electronics Hardware Policy, has given a thrust to the region and identified Mysuru-Nanjangud area for a corridor for electronics manufacturing. The city is among the three such regions identified across the State.

Observers say it is early days yet to comment on the business potential with ISRO, but it would be a win-win situation for both, as the ISRO can procure from local MSMEs at a competitive price. This would reduce its costs while it will help the local industry shore up their expertise.

With ISRO contemplating a bigger role for the private sector and the slew of major missions it has planned, the spin-off benefit of such a development could also be the rise of ancillary units to cater to the aerospace industry.

_*Only three companies are trying to do business with ISRO, though more than 15 companies have the capability to support them*_

_*Muthukumar*_

_*CII Mysuru chairman*_


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## TejasMk3

@sarjenprabhu 
Some more details on the road ahead for the SAARC satellite:

Saarc Hurdles for Modi Satellite -The New Indian Express

India’s ‘bequest’ to its neighbours and maiden foray into the field of space diplomacy apparently requires more elbow grease than expected.




Just a month after his swearing-in ceremony, graced by all South Asian leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at Sriharikota for the successful launch of PSLV-C23 with five foreign satellites at one go. Still aglow with his massive electoral victory and South Asian solidarity, Modi asked the space community “to take up the challenge of developing a SAARC satellite that we can dedicate to the neighbourhood as a gift from India”. The satellite with telecommunication and broadcasting applications would have helped India’s neighbours gain their own foothold in the space.

Fourteen months later, Indian officials are still striving to get all South Asian neighbours to give their approvals for the satellite to be designed and launched by the country’s premier space agency, ISRO. “We have seen some uncertainty from them about why India is spending so much money to give away this capacity for free,” said a senior government official.

Till now, the country has been a laggard in terms of strategic outreach to neighbours in the space sector.

China has already launched a communications satellite for Sri Lanka in 2013, and taken part in an international tender for Bangladesh’s new satellite. Pakistan, not surprisingly, has a longer and deeper relation with China in the sector.

The first meeting of experts from the South Asian nations took place on June 22, where India’s concept note was discussed threadbare. One of the outcomes was that India was told to go ahead with registering at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which allocates orbital slots and frequency spectrum to geostationary satellites.

As decided, India sent letters to all the countries to give their official concurrence, which is required to be submitted for the ITU registration. “As per ITU regulations, the concurrence of each country which falls under the footprint of the satellite is necessary,” an official said.

It has been two and a half months since then—and India awaits official response from all save Sri Lanka.

“Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives have been positive. From others, we had been hit by a barrage of questions. Considering that there is no financial contribution from any other country, it was a bit unexpected to see the hesitation from some quarters,” the official added.

India will be spending Rs 235 crore on the satellite, which will have 12 transponders and is slated to be launched in December 2016. “We will be giving one transponder to each of the seven nations. It will be up to them if they want to switch it on or off,” said another official.

Modi’s ‘personal commitment’ to have the satellite launched by December 8, SAARC Day, means that South Block is scrambling to get all the chess pieces in line. The Ministry of External Affairs was able to push Colombo into giving concurrence by timing it with the first visit of Ranil Wickremesinghe in his third term as Sri Lankan Prime Minister to India. (See Box)

“There was a lot of to and fro between the capitals as Colombo wanted some changes in the text. But, finally, it was done so that we could sign it during the Sri Lankan PM’s visit,” said an official.

As Sri Lanka wished for, the treaty was modified so that it included language that Colombo’s concurrence does not preclude it from launching its own satellite.

Pakistan was expected to be the main objector—but there has been wariness even from other ‘friendly’ countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The queries from Afghan experts were plentiful at the June meeting, which indicated to Indian officials that a bit more convincing may be required. “Afghanistan does not urgently require satellite capacity, as it just leased a part of Eutelsat’s satellite last year, which was renamed Afghansat 1,” explained a diplomatic source.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has also been taking it slow. With its first ever communications satellite scheduled for launch in December 2017, Bangladeshi officials were worried about whether India’s ‘gift’ will clash with its frequency allocation.

In Dhaka, officials were also concerned that the proposed satellite will ‘eat’ into Bangladesh’s business plans for Bangabandhu-1. Bangladesh has plans to lease some of the excess capacity to Bhutan and Nepal to earn substantial annual revenues. But, India’s proposal to give free transponders may upset the apple cart. “We argued with Bangladeshis that our satellite will go up by 2017, a year earlier than theirs. They can certainly use this capacity as they wait for their own, especially since disaster management is one of the features and disasters don’t wait for a satellite launch. After that, they can use this as a back-up,” said a government official.

Pakistan sent eight experts, indicating their interest—but there was a twist in the tale. “They were positive on the surface, but they felt that this should have been done through the SAARC process.”

Any involvement of the SAARC secretariat, South Asian diplomats know, means inordinate delay. Keeping away the SAARC secretariat and making this a purely bilateral exercise has cost the project a catchy name. “That’s why the formal name of the project is not Saarcsat, but ‘Satellite for SAARC’. We were careful about the name,” said the senior official. A delay in filing with ITU could lead to some hold-up in finalising some of the design parameters for the satellite network. “It may require the extra push which takes place in the run-up to a VVIP visit, but it will happen,” he said.


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## gslv mk3

Source: *antriksh, *nasaspaceflight forum


Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump, first major component manufactured for semicryo engine

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## Nabil365

Call me when India beats China,America and Russia in space programme(waste of time)


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## gslv mk3

Nabil365 said:


> Call me when India beats China,America and Russia in space programme(waste of time)



Call me when your country can develop an autorickshaw...

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## Ankit Kumar 001

@Nabil365 

That day is not too far away. 

For short term,Wait for 28th September when we will launch 4 American satellites.


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## ni8mare

Nabil365 said:


> Call me when India beats China,America and Russia in space programme(waste of time)


@waz @Oscar


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## gslv mk3

@ni8mare leave it bro-meanwhile enjoy the pics of SCE 200's Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump


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## P.K.

Nabil365 said:


> Call me when India beats China,America and Russia in space programme(waste of time)


Why anybody should call you even when Bagladeshi lands at moon. Go back to your beauty sleep

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## ni8mare

gslv mk3 said:


> @ni8mare leave it bro-meanwhile enjoy the pics of SCE 200's Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump


what is the use of SCE 200's Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump.......and its SCE2000 or SCE200??

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## Nabil365

gslv mk3 said:


> Call me when your country can develop an autorickshaw...


Developed by India for BD currently cause that's the only thing India can develop forget about space program.


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## gslv mk3

ni8mare said:


> what is the use of SCE 200's Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump.......and its SCE2000 or SCE200??



Its SCE 200 bro - The 2000 kN semi cryogenic engine.

Simply put,it pumps the oxidiser (LOX) into the pre-burner

Our one is a bit different from this figure - I guess









Nabil365 said:


> Developed by India for BD currently cause that's the only thing India can develop



Made in India | Page 18

Cry more

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## Nabil365

gslv mk3 said:


> Its SCE 200 bro - The 2000 kN semi cryogenic engine.
> 
> Simply put,it pumps the oxidiser (LOX) into the pre-burner
> 
> Our one is a bit different from this figure - I guess
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Made in India | Page 18
> 
> Cry more


I am crying poor Indians


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## indiatester

gslv mk3 said:


> Source: *antriksh, *nasaspaceflight forum
> 
> 
> Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo pump, first major component manufactured for semicryo engine



This is going to be an invitation to trolls, but doesn't this look like a kamandalam/kamandala/kamandal


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## gslv mk3

indiatester said:


> but doesn't this look like a kamandalam/kamandala/kamandal



Nice comparison..


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## MKC

*ISRO set to launch first space observatory satellite ‘ASTROSAT’ on Sept 28*





Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch India’s first fully dedicated astronomical satellite — ASTROSAT. The satellite will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 10 am on September 28, revealed ISRO chief A S Kiran. It is a 1.5 ton satellite that will blast off into space by a PSLV C-30 rocket.

India’s first space observatory Astrosat will be accompanied by six foreign co-satellites including one micro satellite each from Canada and Indonesia and four nano satellites from the US.

According to an ISRO official, “The mission envisages an earth orbiting scientific satellite with payloads capable of simultaneously observing the universe in the visible, ultraviolet and X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.”

The satellite has the capability to observe multiple wavelengths including ultraviolet and X-rays which will help scientists in studying distant star, white dwarfs and pulsars. In addition, it will also study the super massive black hole situated at the centre of our galaxy Milky Way. According to ISRO, equipments of satellite are designed to train itself while observing the black hole.

While explaining about the ASTROSAT, ISRO chief said that the satellite will be launched into a 650 km orbit and is equipped with one UV telescope, a charge particle monitor and will carry four X-ray payloads. Canadian Space Agency and University of Leicester, UK have helped in designing two of the payloads.

Payload of the satellite was developed by ISRO along with four other Indian institutions — Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute.

With the launch of ASTROSAT, India will become the fourth nation to launch a space observatory satellite. US, Russia and Japan are the other three countries to achieve the feat.
Source: The Te Cake


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## Hindustani78

MOM’s 1st Martian birthday - The Hindu





*Colourful album to be released*
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission marked its first birthday at Mars on Thursday, and it is celebration time again on Earth although a low-key one.

Indian Space Research Organisation will release an atlas of images taken by the Mars Colour Camera and some results from the Mars Methane Sensor, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said on Monday.

On November 5, it would release a book tracing the journey of the space agency.

Mr. Kumar was at a lecture to mark the 95th birth anniversary of Satish Dhawan, second Chairman of ISRO.

Former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan delivered the lecture organised by the Bangalore chapter of the Institution of Engineers (India).


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## Nabil365

Did India send any astronaut to space(just curious)


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## MKC

Nabil365 said:


> Did India send any astronaut to space(just curious)


Only US, USSR & China had independent human spaceflight till now but India sent a astronaut to space in an *Indo-USSR joint program named Soyuz T-11* & first Indian who traveled space is *Rakesh Sharma*. 

*Kalpana Chawla* & *Sunita Williams* are person of Indian origin who traveled space in NASA programs, BTW India will have it's own human spaceflight program witch is under development.

BTW how many satellites are launched by BD(just curious)?

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## egodoc222

MKC said:


> Only US, USSR & China had independent human spaceflight till now but India sent a astronaut to space in an *Indo-USSR joint program named Soyuz T-11* & first Indian who traveled space is *Rakesh Sharma*.
> 
> *Kalpana Chawla* & *Sunita Williams* are person of Indian origin who traveled space in NASA programs, BTW India will have it's own human spaceflight program witch is under development.
> 
> BTW how many satellites are launched by BD(just curious)?


Why do you waste your time with a troll...just ignore!!


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## jamahir

MKC said:


> Only US, USSR & China had independent human spaceflight till now but India sent a astronaut to space in an *Indo-USSR joint program named Soyuz T-11* & first Indian who traveled space is *Rakesh Sharma*.



so did afghanistan.


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## MKC

jamahir said:


> so did afghanistan.


I mentioned another thing


MKC said:


> India will have it's own human spaceflight program witch is under development.


But currently Afghanistan doesn't have, I think only EU, Japan & have under development spaceflight program.

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## gslv mk3




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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
24-September, 2015 12:57 IST
*Celebrating one year of Mars Orbiter Mission in Orbit; Release of Mars Atlas *

Mars Orbiter spacecraft marks one year of its life around the red planet today. After successfully completing one year of the mission life around Mars, now a large data set has been acquired by all five payloads of MOM. On this occasion Space Applications Centre, (ISRO), Ahmedabad has brought out a Mar Atlas which contains a compilation of images acquired by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and results obtained by other payload results in a form of scientific atlas.

The images from MCC have provided unique information about Mars at varying spatial resolutions. It has obtained Mars Global data showing clouds, dust in atmosphere and surface albedo variations, when acquired from apoapsis at around 72000 km. On the other hand high resolution images acquired from periapsis show details of various morphological features on the surface of Mars. Some of these images have been showcased in this atlas. The images have been categorized depending upon the Martian surface and atmospheric processes.

Mars is one of the closest celestial objects to the Earth and it has attracted humans towards itself since the time immemorial. A large number of unmanned orbiters, landers and rovers have been launched to reach Mars since early 1960s. These missions had provided large amount of data on various scientific aspects of the Mars. The knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data, suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life, on this now dry and dusty planet. India has joined the club of space faring nations to explore Mars by sending its first planetary mission called, Mars Orbiter Mission or popularly known as MOM. The MOM spacecraft was designed, built and launched in record period of less than two years. MOM carried five science instruments collecting data on surface geology, morphology, atmospheric processes, surface temperature and atmospheric escape process.

http://pibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2015/sep/p201592401.pdf

The Chairman, ISRO, Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar releasing the Mars Atlas on the occasion of the completion of one year of Mars Orbiter Mission in Orbit, in Bangalore on September 24, 2015. The Scientific Secretary, ISRO, Dr. Y.V.N. Krishnamoorthy, the Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Dr. Annadurai M, the Director, Space Application Centre, ISRO, Shri Tapan Misra and the Director Public Relations Unit, ISRO, Shri Deviprasad Karnik are also seen.


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## Hindustani78

The Mangalyaan mission also made the world leader in space, U.S., take note of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s capabilities. File Photo
On Mangalyaan’s first anniversary, understanding the gains from India’s foray to Mars and the Moon - The Hindu

*The Mangalyaan has been a 100-per-cent success after it was injected into the Martian orbit, where it has already completed some 120 orbits.*
A red-letter day for India’s space history as the country’s first foray to the Red Planet through the Mangalyaan satellite successfully completes one year of its life around Mars on September 24, 2015, where it is ‘fully fit and healthy’. Made to last just six months, surprisingly it still has enough punch left to last for more than a decade in the Martian orbit.

*The Mangalyaan has been a 100-per-cent success after it was injected into the Martian orbit, where it has already completed some 120 orbits*. Meanwhile on Earth, the country struggles with an ailing health sector that fails to vaccinate infants, leaving every third child un-protected, and an outbreak of dengue in Delhi creates a frenzy that leaves hospitals brimming with patients. The contrast is appalling.

*In this hard-fought Asian race to Mars between regional rivals China and India, New Delhi undoubtedly beat Beijing! *There is no doubt that the Mars mission has enhanced the national image: U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged that *“India and America are both countries that have reached Mars”; *even *China sheepishly termed the success of Mangalyaan as “Asia’s pride”. *

The Mangalyaan mission also made the world leader in space, U.S., take note of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s capabilities. *The United States, a country that tried hard to scuttle the ISRO in its early stages, now seeks to make it a partner*. On September 28, 2015 the world will come full circle when, for the first time, India launches four tiny satellites called LEMUR on a commercial basis for an American company for which, till recently, ISRO was no-go. Mangalyaan helped break the shackles.* In another five years, ISRO and NASA will together build and launch an Earth Observing satellite called NISAR -- the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission -- to study climate change. *

Meanwhile, Indians have not stopped basking in the glory of the mission’s success. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in charge of the Department of Space says,* “the mission undoubtedly enhanced India’s pride and has made the world look at India seriously”. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of ISRO, says he is extremely happy with the Mars mission and hopes some good science will emerge from this largely “technology-demonstrator”* mission because it will be able to study seasonal variations on Mars. Mr. Kumar confirms that *“MOM has detected signals of the presence of methane on Mars” but scientific validation is still not complete for the results. If indeed MOM confirms the presence of methane gas on Mars, it will be a stellar finding since the next big question will be, is there carbon-based life on Mars? *

Back on Earth, India also re-discovered the Department of Space after ISRO’s love affair with the Red Planet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a known space buff, commandeered the various Ministries mostly represented at the Secretary-level to look at how India’s huge capabilities in space could be better utilised.

Mr. Modi sat like an ordinary participant as 1600 top government officials brainstormed at the ‘National Meet on Promoting Space Technology based Tools and Applications in Governance and Development’ on September 7, 2015 in New Delhi. Here Mr. Modi mandated that ISRO do “much more of India centric observations” and said *“no space should be left between the common man and space technology”.* Mr. Kumar took immediate note and said future earth-observation satellites could be placed in equatorial orbit to get more coverage of India.

*ISRO says the Mars Orbiter Mission still has some 45 kg of fuel left which could, in theory, keep the mission going for at least 15 years. *One cannot get a better bang for the buck! According to ISRO, for normal housekeeping operations and orbit maintenance only about two kg of fuel is necessary per year. However, will other instruments be able to cope with the intense radiation they are subjected to?* A million dollar question, but since this is India’s maiden outing beyond the influence of earth’s gravitation every step is a big lesson learnt. Some 350 stunning photos of the Red Planet have already been beamed back by the satellite. *

India has had two outings beyond Earth, the first being Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008 and subsequently Mangalyaan launched in 2013. Both missions have had their fair share of pains and gains. Many lessons were learnt by the ISRO as it leapfrogged from Moon to Mars.

*In 2013 India fast-tracked the making of Mangalyaan, putting it in orbit within 18 months at a cost of Rs. 450 crores with no cost or time overruns* -- an almost unheard of phenomenon in the perpetually lethargic Indian system. *MOM made global history as India became the first country to successfully reach the Martian orbit in its debut attempt -- even giants like U.S. and Russia could not do it. *The mission cost less than the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Gravity’, and as a consequence India has now set the benchmark for sub-$100 million inter-planetary travel.

This dash on a marathon stretch meant India had to forge ahead alone as ISRO was not able to invite any international partners to participate in the scientific experiments.

On the other hand, Chandrayaan-I was made ready in almost eight years, though it died prematurely. This long gestation however period gave India the opportunity to invite partnerships from NASA, the European Space Agency. In fact, Chandrayaan-1 was truly an international mission where India was the captain. To top it, international partnerships were executed when ISRO was still reeling under sanctions and technology denials since the Indo-U.S. Civilian Nuclear Deal had not been inked.

Chandrayaan-1 was designed to last two years in the lunar orbit but died in ten months. However, it gave the world the first clinching evidence of the presence of water molecules on the parched lunar surface. *A truly remarkable achievement when one considers that the Americans have been playing with lunar dust and rocks ever since Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” in 1969. *Subsequently *a dozen Americans have walked on the moon surface but it was left to India’s Maruti-800-sized Chandrayaan-1 satellite costing Rs. 386 crore to change the understanding of the hydrogeology of the Moon. *

Chandrayaan-1 was truly a scientific mission that made global history but the government, it seems, was not pleased since *China had beaten India in the race to the Moon in 2007, even though they had started late.* So miffed was the then UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Moon mission team was even denied the customary laudatory handshake and audience with the PM. A fact that caused a lot of heartburn among the men and women who made the lunar mission a success.

In contrast, the Mangalyaan mission, even though it was merely a “technology demonstrator”, saw the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the mission control centre in Bengaluru when a year ago on September 24, 2014 the Tata Nano-sized satellite entered the Martian orbit. Mr. Modi’s “fifty-six-inch chest” was puffed with pride and he pumped the hands of the mission team. The government it seems was so pleased that India finally beat China in space that earlier this year two of the lead team members were bestowed with Padma awards.

It is still early days and the data from Mangalyaan is still being analysed. Till date not a single research paper has been published by team ISRO using data generated from MOM. ISRO has now invited proposals from the wider Indian scientific community to analyse the data.

ISRO, in fact, failed to even name a chief scientist for the MOM mission possibly because not many Indian scientists have actively worked on deciphering Mars. K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO, says “it is high time the Department of Space brought the larger Indian scientific community on board with Mangalyaan, not involving the science academies in the planning of the Mars mission has left a big void. The sooner it is corrected the better it will be”.

In contrast, the Chandrayaan-1 team has published over two dozen papers including a landmark cover paper in the prestigious American journal Science in which they announced the discovery that the lunar surface was not as parched as it was thought to be.

It was claimed when the lunar mission was launched in 2008 that it would yield the most comprehensive high-resolution image atlas of the Moon surface as it carried a very powerful camera, but unfortunately it remained largely incomplete. On the other hand, MOM has made global visual history by giving the world maximum number of high-clarity “full disc images” of Mars. Team Mangalyaan even won an American award for this feat. Until date, only a handful of images of the full disc of Mars have been taken and more than half are by India. ISRO also released some photos they described as “breathtaking” images of the extinct volcanoes and deep valleys of the Martian surface taken by an off-the-shelf, not-so-high-resolution camera on board Mangalyaan. That the satellite had not been equipped with a better camera is a regret many in the Mars team harbour.

In a classic understatement, according to ISRO “the knowledge acquired by the analysis of these data suggested enhanced possibility of the presence of life on this now dry and dusty planet”. This possibly refers to the Mangalyaan recording signals of the presence of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere. The signals still need to be scientifically validated and hence we will have to wait for final confirmation if India’s low-cost mission will rewrite history of life in the universe as we know it.

ISRO it seems learnt a bitter lesson when the Chandrayaan-1 satellite failed less than halfway into its mission life. Later, a government fact-finding committee revealed that a component called a ‘DC-DC Convertor’ that helps supply electricity to the satellite was not radiation hardened and its failure led to the unforeseen collapse of the mission in 2009.* For Mangalyaan, ISRO used a more robust component which has survived the arduous 666 million kilometre journey through some very harsh environments and continues to work normally. *

What about the future? While there is a government-sanctioned Chandrayaan-2 mission, which will have an orbiter, lander and lunar rover, it awaits the full deployment of India’s heavy-duty launcher -- the Geo-Stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV- MK II). Another foray to Mars by India is only being bounced around as an idea and hopefully the pains of undertaking a mission to the Red Planet will get translated into everlasting gains. *The beauty of planet Venus is also attractive to ISRO and a mission to the planet is on the anvil, confirms Mr. Kumar. *

Undoubtedly, the truly ‘made in India’ Manglayaan mission opened the eyes of the world to the fact that that India was indeed a serious space-faring and precision manufacturing nation. In fact, Mr. Modi has made MOM the unofficial mascot for the ‘Make in India’ initiative.


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## Hindustani78

'Use space technology for social good'
September 26, 2015, Bengaluru, DHNS





* Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said there is a need to use space technology for social good and development. *

Kumar was speaking at a two-day international workshop, “IEEE Smart Tech 2015”. 
Delivering the keynote address, ‘Role of Space Technology in Smart City and Make in India’ missions, the Hassan-born scientist said, “With 124 missions, 48 launch vehicle missions, 74 spacecraft missions and one space capsule recovery experiment to its credit, Isro’s accomplishments in Space were a matter of pride.”

On Smart City, he spoke of the need for Geospatial technology along with communication and navigation technologies to form ICT-based solutions. He stated that Isro’s Bhuvan portal which has high resolution images of cities with resolution upto one metre would be of great help in urban planning. Regarding Make in India, he shared some of Isro's success stories like Distress Alert Transmitter, INSAT reporting terminals among others.


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## TejasMk3

A little fun for ISRO scientists:

ISRO scientists in Ahmedabad attend a special screening of 'The Martian' - The Economic Times

The director had sent out a message to the scientists as well.

In the message, Scott said: "Namaste, esteemed scientists of the ISRO! I am Ridley Scott, director of the movie which you are about to watch. I guess I have something in common with most of you here; and that's the love for science and space, a subject which has always fascinated me, as some of you would have seen in my earlier films."

"Heartiest congratulations to you and India on the first anniversary of the successful Mars orbit mission (September 24). The Martian is also about an ambitious Mars Mission but more importantly it's about the human spirit."

"When a human mission to Mars goes awry and a scientist gets left behind on Mars, scientists all around Earth collaborate to find a way to rescue him. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I and my team enjoyed making it."

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## SRP

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1667360200154002

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## HariPrasad

*India successfully launches its first space observatory Astrosat into orbit*
Last Updated: Monday, September 28, 2015 - 14:19
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Image credit: ANI/Twitter
Zee Media Bureau

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched its first space observatory 'Astrosat' into the orbit.



Just over 22 minutes into the flight, the rocket slug ASTROSAT at an altitude of 650 km above the earth.

Soon after, six other satellites were also put into orbit and the whole mission ended in just over 25 minutes.

With the successful launch of ASTROSAT, India gained an entry into the select club of nations having its own space observatory after the US, Japan, Russia and Europe.

The launch was witnessed by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Choudhry, who later congratulated the ISRO scientists and said the space programme was "exactly going as per our present Prime Minister's vision and plan" and what he has said in the United States yesterday.

Declaring the launch successful, a beaming ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said PSLV had put in an astronomy mission which is being looked at not only within the country but also globally to bring in new information to scientific community.

"I congratulate the entire ISRO community for the wonderful job they have done," he said addressing the gathering at the Mission Control Centre.

The Astrosat has the ability to observe celestial bodies like distant stars and cosmic X-Ray sources in different wavelengths simultaneously.

Incidentally, this is the first time that an Indian rocket launched satellites from the US.

Till date, India has launched 45 foreign satellites for a fee.

With a life span of five years, Astrosat will observe the universe through optical, ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray components of the electromagnetic spectrum, whereas most other scientific satellites are capable of observing through a narrow wavelength band, the agency said.


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## Hindustani78

SHAR crosses 50 milestone in commercial satellite launches - The Hindu

With the successful launch of PSLV C-30 from the Sriharikota spaceport on Monday morning, the Sriharikota Range (SHAR) has crossed the milestone of launching 50 commercial satellites into space in the past two decades. The count now stands at 51.

Today's rocket carried seven satellites into the space. They included India’s ASTROSAT, four American satellites and one each from Canada and Indonesia.

The PSLV vehicles over the years have launched commercial satellites belonging to countries like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Korea, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg, Denmark and the United States.

Hailing the success of the mission, SHAR Director P. Kunhikrishnan said the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s (PSLV’s) extended version has established itself as a proven launch vehicle once again in the international commercial space market.

With the success of 30 consecutive launches, more foreign countries are expected to come forward to make use of the PSLV facility.

The PSLV C-30 was the tenth flight of the vehicle in its extended “XL” configuration. The first was PSLV C-11 which carried the famous Chandrayaan-1 mission.

The scope for participation of Indian industries and research institutes in space launches is also being increased in the successive launches of the rockets from the SHAR. As of today, nearly 150 industries are involved at various stages of a PSLV mission.

Today’s launch was made from the first launch pad of the SHAR. A second launch pad has been developed for increasing the frequency of launches.

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## Nan Yang

India seems to be launching a lot of rockets this year. Usually India launches only 2 or 3 a year. Is it sustainable ?


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## indiatester

Nan Yang said:


> India seems to be launching a lot of rockets this year. Usually India launches only 2 or 3 a year. Is it sustainable ?


They are targeting 1 launch per month. So yes, it is sustainable.


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## Water Car Engineer

Nan Yang said:


> India seems to be launching a lot of rockets this year. Usually India launches only 2 or 3 a year. Is it sustainable ?




More launch pads and assembly lines are being made. So they seem to think it's launches are too few now.

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## SRP



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## SRP

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/648858299006255104
What the HELL ?


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## TejasMk3

SRP said:


> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/648858299006255104
> What the HELL ?


Hmm...what international tribunal is this? The decision might not be binding, I know of a case where one party decided to go to some International court in London, and get an order for PR purposes, but the final order was not binding on the parties, the decision though, was publicized on papers.


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## SRP

TejasMk3 said:


> Hmm...what international tribunal is this? the decision might not be binding, I know of a case where one party decided to go to some International court in London, and get an order for PR, but the final order was not binding on the parties.



Yes, you are right.

*The ruling will now have to be enforced by a court in India. For this purpose, a case has been registered in the Delhi high court and is expected to be listed for hearing on Wednesday.*

*Isro told to pay Devas $672 million in damages - Livemint*

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## Chanakya's_Chant

New Payload Fairing for LVM3 and ULV -
_




current payload fairing





new payload fairing under study _​

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## kurup

Chanakya's_Chant said:


> New Payload Fairing for LVM3 and ULV -
> _
> 
> 
> 
> 
> current payload fairing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> new payload fairing under study _​



Not just payload fairing , even the nose cone of the soild boosters also look redesigned to something similar to Ariane 5 ...... both modification must have something to do with drag reduction IMO .

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## Odysseus

*Why ISRO’s ASTROSAT launch is a big deal?*​India this week launched its first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. Why is it a big deal?




 
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s PSLV C 30 carrying India’s Multi Wavelength Space Observatory ASTROSAT, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Monday.

*WHY ASTROSAT *

Electromagnetic radiation from space is distorted during passage through Earth’s atmosphere, hindering understanding of celestial objects. In 1946, American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer had the idea of an observatory in space; his vision was realised with NASA’s launch of Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. European, Japanese and Russian space agencies followed with their space telescopes and, on September 28, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put its own Astrosat in orbit 

*LONG IN THE MAKING *

ISRO carried out a satellite-bound Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment in 1996 and, in 2004, the space observatory was approved for development. Progress was slow as ISRO focussed on projects like heavy rocket launchers, communication satellites and deep space missions like Moon (2008) and Mars (2014). Decisions on instruments and studies of the observatory took long.

*FIVE-POINT FOCUS *

Astrosat is intended to 
* Understand high-energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes 
* Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars 
* Study star birth regions and high-energy processes in star systems beyond our galaxy 
* Detect new, briefly bright X-ray sources 
* Perform a limited deep field survey of the universe in the ultraviolet region 




*Data collected* by the five payloads will be transmitted to the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) at Byalalu near Bengaluru; will be accessible to researchers at top astronomy institutions and universities 

*PARTNERS *
Besides ISRO, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai; Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru; Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune; and S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, were involved. 

Why ISRO’s ASTROSAT launch is a big deal for India | The Indian Express

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## SRP

*RLV-TD Mission to be Delayed At least Till the Year End*

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) mission, India’s first step towards building a space shuttle, will be delayed at least till the year end.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) originally planned to have the mission in October. But tests are still progressing on the prototype here at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). “Some more work is pending on the technology demonstrator. We have a few tests to complete and we will have the mission either towards December end or by the beginning of next year,” said VSSC director Dr K Sivan. VSSC is in charge of constructing the prototype.

Initial plans were to have the mission in mid-2015. But continuing works and an extremely hectic launch schedule had forced the ISRO to put off the mission. The space agency also plans to have a commercial Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission, possibly in November. The PSLV-CA 29 mission is scheduled to place a bouquet of Singapore satellites in the orbit.

RLV-TD, which will be unmanned, comprises a space plane-like part riding atop a booster rocket. It will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The RLV-TD weighs 1.5 tonnes and it will glide back to earth from a height of 70 kilometres. ISRO, which has twice successfully demonstrated the re-entry technology, plans to recover the RLV-TD from the Bay of Bengal.

The RLV-TD will be the first of a series of flight-tests before ISRO can design and build a real vehicle.

RLV-TD Mission to be Delayed At least Till the Year End -The New Indian Express


Some insight about the project
Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) - Indian Space Projects

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## Chanakya's_Chant

kurup said:


> Not just payload fairing , even the nose cone of the soild boosters also look redesigned to something similar to Ariane 5 ...... both modification must have something to do with drag reduction IMO .



Based on last year's GSLV Mark III's experimental flight, modifications have been done to solid rocket S-200 motors to change dynamic pressure and forces and ground tests have been done. 

GSLV Mark III rocket modified, ground tests done: ISRO - The Economic Times


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## Hindustani78

NARL Director A. Jayaraman interacts with students during Space Week celebrations at Regional Science Centre in Tirupati on Sunday.—Photo: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar
World Space Week celebrations begin - The Hindu


*NARL Director inaugurates travelling exhibition on activities of ISRO*
It will be an array of events this week, depicting science in its various forms through competitions, programmes and workshops, which coincides with the World Space Week.

The weeklong event, organised by the Regional Science Centre in association with Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR), began at the former premises here on Sunday. National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL Gadanki) Director A. Jayaraman, who is also the science centre’s local chairman, inaugurated the SDSC’s travelling exhibition on activities of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) apart from the weeklong expo. He explained to the students the importance of the week in the global perspective.

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## Lonely Hermit




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## Mike_Brando

Nabil365 said:


> Call me when India beats China,America and Russia in space programme(waste of time)


Lungi,you are way out of your league here!!Just remember that our Bengali ancestors ruled over yours for more than 700 years.You and your forefathers were always under our feet and that's the reality.Now stop derailing this beautiful thread!!



jamahir said:


> so did afghanistan.


Why do you have to prove yourself an anti-national every time you decide to open that trap of yours!If you hate India so much then why for the love of Jesus Christ are you still living in this country!If i were you,i would have packed my bags and left this "3rd world crap"(as claimed by you) a long time ago....

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## jamahir

Mike_Brando said:


> Why do you have to prove yourself an anti-national every time you decide to open that trap of yours!If you hate India so much then why for the love of Jesus Christ are you still living in this country!If i were you,i would have packed my bags and left this "3rd world crap"(as claimed by you) a long time ago....



so you anger is because i acknowledged that there are other societies too in this world ( other than india ) and they too have achieved similar to or more than india?? 

nationalism is the disease that has gotten india the tag "suicide capital of the world"... you should redirect your efforts to removing problems portrayed by this thread ( 40% rise in farmer suicides in Maharashtra ) instead of getting all jingoistic.

if india is liveable to a extent it is because of people like me who see the problems around us and try to provide solutions.

lastly, where is your anger when bjp has made india subservient to nato interests??


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## Odysseus

*Quick Look Into ISRO’s Contribution To Society*​
The admirable efforts put in by the ISRO over the years have resulted in huge growth in the field of space science and technology. The advancements have contributed to the welfare of the common man in the country.

The growth charted by the ISRO and its units across the country have been traced at the Space Expo 2015 that is under way at the Kanakakkunnu Palace as part of the World Space Week celebrations.

The week-long exhibition, which commenced on Monday, has 17 booths that focus on diverse aspects of space science applications. Among the technology applications that have been showcased are the services offered by INSAT/GSAT satellites in the area of tele-education and telemedicine, ISRO’s Disaster Management Support (DMS) programme, monitoring and tracking of depressions and cyclones, and the prediction of landfall through Early Warning Systems.

The first segment of stalls touches upon earth observation. Various stages of ISRO’s remote sensing programme are explained. The efforts commenced in 1970 with a pilot project undertaken to identify coconut root-wilt disease in Kerala. The project led to the development of the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites.

The expo showcases how IRS satellites have helped in agricultural crops inventory, handling drought, forest fires, landslides, earthquakes, monitoring of water bodies and identification of potential fishing zones.

In addition, information pertaining to various space science missions such as the Mars Orbiter Mission, ASTROSAT, Chandrayaan 2 and Aditya are also conveyed at the Space Expo.

Quick look into ISRO’s contribution to society - Odisha Samaya


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## Hindustani78

ISRO eyes a global role in satellite navigation - The Hindu

Updated: October 9, 2015 21:13 IST
*Four of the seven IRNSS satellites are in orbit*
The Indian Space Research Organisation has unveiled plans to gradually make its regional satellite navigation system global — akin to powerful position-telling systems such as the U.S.’ GPS and the Russian GLONASS.

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said four of the seven Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellites are in orbit and the last three spacecraft would be added in orbit by March 2016. The IRNSS would provide self-reliance in the strategically important area of position-related information, he said at a users’ conference on global navigation satellite systems on Thursday.

The focus now was on completing the regional constellation and extending it to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries. “After that we will look at taking it gradually over the entire globe, may be in less than a decade. It could be done by adding a set of regional satellites over adjoining countries. We are working towards this with other countries – [South] Korea and the Gulf nations, to name a few,” Mr. Kiran Kumar said.

The signals from the regional system were already available 1,500 km beyond the borders.

In April this year, ISRO and the Airports Authority of India also completed GAGAN, focussed on airlines, airports and the civil aviation sector but applicable to land and sea-based services. GAGAN enhances the GPS-derived details of location and time of objects or persons.

Both IRNSS and GAGAN, he said, would drive an unlimited set of personal, public and industrial users, from transportation, railways, forestry, farming, agriculture and security. Around 200 navigation receiver sets built by industry and using ISRO design would be out soon.


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## Chanakya's_Chant

*India, Pakistan, Training Together, For Space - Learning the ropes of Rocketry, the building block of a Space programme.*





_
Indian and pakistan nationals loading Judi-Dart into launcher. This is a part of their training in launching meteorological rockets in connection with the IIOE. Left to Right: *D. Eashwardas, Indian Trainee* and *Salim Mehmud, Pakistan trainee.*_

- Space for Development: US-Indian Space Relations 1955 -1976

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## born

Antrix begins global pitch for GSLV - The Hindu
Two months after the GSLV’s second continuous success, ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix, has started promoting the launch capabilities of the medium lift vehicle among international spacecraft manufacturers.

V.S. Hegde, Antrix Corporation’s chairman and managing director, said there were good opportunities for the GSLV to bid for the many satellites being made in the 2,000 to 2,200 kg class.

“We are in discussions with many satellite manufacturers across the world for the [already established] PSLV and now the GSLV. There is a very good response to the GSLV,” including from U.S. manufacturers, he said on the sidelines of a seminar here on Friday.

The GSLV, he said, could place in space two-tonne communication satellites in the medium-Earth, geosynchronous (36,000 km) orbit; as well as take heavier ones to lower distances.

“Space agencies making two-tonne communication satellites will be very much interested if we can offer the GSLV now, or soon. There is definitely a shortage of launches [of its kind] as 1,000-1,500 small to medium-sized satellites are estimated to go up in the next two or three years for various applications.

In spite of such heavy demand, “We are not commercial; the GSLV and the PSLV have to first meet national needs,” Dr. Hegde said.

*Big PSLV contracts*

The PSLV would launch a 500-kg Earth observation satellite of Singapore ST Electronics in mid-December. The flight would be a full paid launch and carry five smaller Singapore university satellites along.

By 2017-end, Antrix would execute 23 paid PSLV launches, including the 900-kg German environment mapper EnMap.

Antrix, which made business of Rs. 1,800 crore for 2014–15, expects it to touch Rs. 2,000 crore in the current year, Dr. Hegde said..

_*There are good opportunities for the GSLV to bid for the many satellites being made in the 2,000 to 2,200 kg class.*_

_*V.S. Hegde,Antrix Corporation’s chairman*_

_*and managing director*_

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## Hindustani78

ISRO to launch six Singapore-made satellites in December - The Hindu


India will launch six Singapore-made satellites, including a dedicated 400 kg spacecraft for carrying out surveillance missions for maritime and border security, in mid-December onboard PSLV-C29.

The six satellites will be launched on PSLV-C29 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh on December 16, 2015.

Among them is a 400 kg satellite that can conduct surveillance missions for maritime and border security, _The Strait Times_ reported.

*The satellites will then hover about 550 km above ground for up to five years. *

The December 16 launch comes four years after Singapore put its first home-grown micro-satellite in space. Since the launch of the fridge-size X-Sat in 2011, smaller satellites have subsequently been launched by Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

This time round, the satellites are being built from scratch by teams from defence manufacturer Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics), National University of Singapore and NTU.

*The 400 kg TeLEOS-1 is the biggest and first Singapore-made commercial earth observation satellite to orbit in space, said ST Electronics communication and sensor systems group president Tang Kum Chuen. *

The satellite will carry a camera that can take pictures at ground resolution of up to 1 metre.

*Mr. Tang said the TeLEOS-1, expected to last up to five years, will also be able to conduct missions such as disaster monitoring, coastal surveillance, urban planning and homeland security. *

The other smaller satellites, designed and built by NUS and NTU, will last from between six months and three years.

NTU, which has put four satellites in space, will add three more at the end of the year to monitor tropical climate and test experimental satellite-based communication.

NUS’s two new satellites will conduct scientific experiments and analyse the earth’s surface.

*Besides Singapore, the other countries in the region that have their own satellites in space include Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. *

Dr. Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (Asia), said the upcoming satellite launch is a “significant step” in Singapore’s space programme, which started 20 years ago.

“Singapore recognises the importance of using space technology for all sorts of purposes, from tracking maritime traffic or finding forest fires, to military purposes to know what regional countries are doing on land, air and sea,” Dr. Huxley said.


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## egodoc222

jamahir said:


> so you anger is because i acknowledged that there are other societies too in this world ( other than india ) and they too have achieved similar to or more than india??
> 
> nationalism is the disease that has gotten india the tag "suicide capital of the world"... you should redirect your efforts to removing problems portrayed by this thread ( 40% rise in farmer suicides in Maharashtra ) instead of getting all jingoistic.
> 
> if india is liveable to a extent it is because of people like me who see the problems around us and try to provide solutions.
> 
> lastly, where is your anger when bjp has made india subservient to nato interests??


Get a life!! Your stupid post add nothing to the thread...You are an elite member lol?! You got that just bcos you post anti India bull sh!t posts!!
India is livable bcos for you?
Dumbo!!


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## jamahir

egodoc222 said:


> Get a life!! Your stupid post add nothing to the thread...You are an elite member lol?! You got that just bcos you post anti India bull sh!t posts!!
> India is livable bcos for you?
> Dumbo!!



go have some tea... it will calm you down... and tomorrow, resign from your software coolie company or mba cranks workshop and join the "aam aadmi party" at least... you will be actually contributing to humanity that way.


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## egodoc222

jamahir said:


> go have some tea... it will calm you down... and tomorrow, resign from your software coolie company or mba cranks workshop and join the "aam aadmi party" at least... you will be actually contributing to humanity that way.


Typical apptard!! Lol
Contributing to humanity? Lol
I'm surgeon 3 yrsgovt sevice on 100s of medical camps later ....I've given back to the society a lot more than you or apptards like you can in a life time...
I've seen birth I've seen death
I've interacted with the rich the poor the middle class....
Upper caste,lower caste...
Hindu Muslim Christian...
You name it....I've seen what India is on ground rather like you sitting in a ac room typing on expensive laptop...bitching about problems of the farmers?
Tone down your ego...don't let your hate for particular religion blind your conscience!!
Now you have that tea and think!!!

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## TejasMk3

*Class of 1974: Rocket science & reminiscences*
October 19, 2015, 3:01 PM IST Arun Ram 
*When the scientists who’d developed India’s first liquid propulsion engine assembled for a reunion, it was time travel*

Two Saturdays ago, while scientists at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram were busy packing a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for a commercial launch at the end of the month, a 74-year-old man with a long silver mane and beard sat in the lobby of a nearby hotel, doing the countdown for another important event.

S Nambinarayanan, a former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist, was awaiting his team of 1974 that had put together India’s first liquid propulsion engine in Vernon, France, in collaboration with French scientists. Now retired and scattered across the globe, the septuagenarians had planned a get-together more than 40 years after they embarked on the five-year mission that resulted in the Vikas engine. The rocket the VSSC scientists were packing would be the 32nd PSLV to be powered by Vikas. And the names of these veterans, as usual, would find no mention when India celebrates another successful satellite launch.

But that Saturday evening, the class of ’74 had not assembled to crib. By 6pm, Nambi was joined in the lobby by R Natarajan who had worked on liquid propellant storage systems in Vernon, A Chandran, who succeeded Nambi as the team leader in 1978, and H R S Mani, who worked on quality control. As the lobby turned noisy, the old boys moved to the banquet hall. It was an all-male team of 53 that developed the engine in Vernon. Twelve of them were no more. Of the rest, 25 turned up, most with their wives.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatime...ds/2015/10/rocket-scientists-get-together.jpg


_(The Indian team with French scientists after the successful ground test of the Vikas engine in Vernon, France, in 1985.)_

Soon, the women – most of them Malayalis – went into a huddle, recalling their adventures in France. Before the team left for Vernon, T N Seshan, then director of ISRO administration, had arranged a month-long tuition in French for the scientists, but not for their spouses. By the end of 1974, the scientists and their families had established themselves as a community in St Marcel, a neighbourhood where the great impressionist painter Claude Monet had lived earlier in the century.

“Remember how we challenged the men that we would learn French in a month?” Nambi’s wife Meena was overheard telling a long-lost friend. This confidence in the women stemmed from their interactions with vegetable vendors and grocers who had made a beeline to the St Marcel Indian community. “At the end of three months however, we only graduated from saying ‘merci’ to ‘merci beaucoup’. And it was the vendors who were speaking Malayalam,” she finished, as laughter turned to shrieks.

“Attention, ladies and gentlemen.” It was Thomas Jayakumar, the master of ceremonies, calling the crowd’s attention. Someone joked that it was the ‘Vernon after-effect’ that made Jayakumar – who was in charge of control systems of the rocket engine at the time – believe he was still a ‘controller’. He wanted each scientist to take the mic and speak for two minutes – “just two minutes,” he reiterated – about the unforgettable days of developing the Vikas engine.




_(This photo was clicked during a get-together of Indian space scientists in Thiruvananthapuram.)_

As the veterans – M K Narendranath, S Rajarathinam, M K G Nair, K S Krishnamurthy – spoke about pride and prejudice evident during the development of Vikas, everyone nodded in confirmation. “Every time a PSLV lifts off, I get goose bumps,” said Kailasanathan. “Anybody remembers Nelson,” Chandran asked, of the French driver who drove the Indian scientists around on cold nights, and a score of hands went up.

Whenever the speeches got too serious, instrumentation specialist D Subramanian and IISc alumnus H R S Mani made catcalls a la backbenchers to bring the laughter back. But it all turned poignant when Sivakumari, the widow of scientist Manikantan fought back tears as she reminisced her happier days. “I don’t know how to thank you all,” she sobbed, “for remembering me even 20 years after my husband passed away.”

The group discussed other personal tragedies including scientist SC Ghosh’s wife delivering a stillborn, and another scientist’s daughter being born with a lung problem. After the speeches, scientists D Sarvesan, Manjunath Nayak, Jacob Devadas, P P Kailasanathan, M Parasu Pillai, C Rajappan, D Anandan, Murugesan and Krishnan Potti chatted with Unni Paramangalath, who acted as their office administrator, on how the team meticulously documented their daily experience at the French propulsion facility SEP and dispatched them to India under diplomatic cover. These were to prove invaluable reference material once the team returned to put together India’s first liquid propulsion engine.

As the evening progressed, when the core team members gathered around Nambi, their father figure, references to the infamous ‘ISRO spy case’ of the 1990s were unavoidable. Nambinarayanan was arrested on November 30, 1994 on charges of selling India’s ‘rocket secrets’ to Pakistan through two Maldivian women spies. The scientist was tortured in the custody of the Kerala police and the Intelligence Bureau for 50 days. In 1996, the CBI found the ‘spy case’ a figment of imagination, and found fault with the investigators. The Kerala government ordered a reinvestigation which the Supreme Court dismissed in April 1998.

Team Vernon is convinced it was an international conspiracy to halt India’s leap in space. “Nambi has come out clean, but India lost out on precious years, and ISRO a chairman it deserved,” observes P S Krishnamurthy.

Then, to avert a mournful mood, someone suggested a drink. However the hotel, as per the new Kerala government rules, wouldn’t serve liquor. “But if you have brought your drink, ice cubes are on the house,” announced Nambi. And out came nip bottles and hip flasks. They raised their glasses, and one of them announced: “Now, that’s what you call liquid propulsion!” 


Class of 1974: Rocket science & reminiscences - TOI Blogs

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
26-October, 2015 18:06 IST
*First-ever Hindi Atlas book on Mars Mission released *

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh released the first-ever Hindi Atlas Book on “Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) in New Delhi today. He released this book on the occasion of the first meeting of reconstituted “Joint Hindi Salahkar Samiti” of the Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that during the last 18 months, as a result of active impetus and encouragement from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India’s Space Programme has registered some of the unprecedented and landmark achievements which have placed India as a frontline nation in the world. Incidentally however, he said, even though India’s achievements in Space missions are being appreciated the world over, Hindi language can serve as a medium for spreading further awareness within the country about recent Space missions, particularly the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM. MOM is totally indigenous, living up to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative and has also, at the same time, provided useful information which is being shared by even the most advanced nations of the world. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh appreciated the efforts of both the Department of Space as well as Department of Atomic Energy for coming up with literature including periodicals and booklets in Hindi for popularizing various projects and programmes undertaken by them. He suggested that in future, the Hindi scholars, who are non-official members of “Hindi Salahkar Samiti”, will be more closely associated with the day to day activities of both the departments, so that use of Hindi becomes a natural style of working in these departments. 

In the years to come, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, as India’s Space technology and Atomic Energy programmes attract more and more scientific researchers from other parts of the world, the use of Hindi language among the native scientists will also become a motivation for foreign scientists to pick up working Hindi for easier communication with their Indian counterparts. In addition, he said, promotion of Hindi as a medium of instruction in scientific departments like Space technology and Atomic Energy, will also provide the best of the young scientific minds in India, an opportunity to contribute their talent even if they do not possess the knowledge of English language. 

Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission and Chairman, ISRO and Dr Sekhar Basu, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and senior scientists from both the departments and learned scholars of Hindi were also present on the occasion. 

****







The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh releasing the first-ever Hindi Atlas Book on “Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)”, in New Delhi on October 26, 2015. The Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission and ISRO, Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, the Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to Department of Atomic Energy, Dr. Sekhar Basu and other dignitaries are also seen.

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## MKC

*Diwali Gift*


GSAT-15 to be launched on November 10 from French Guiana 

ISRO’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 is all set to be launched on November 10, 2015 from French Guiana on board Ariane 5.

The Indian space agency, as part of augmenting telecommunication services, had earlier launched communication satellites GSAT-14 and GSAT-6, respectively.
GSAT-14 was launched in January 2014 while GSAT-6 on GSLV in August 2015.

“In its 10th mission, scientists at Arianespace recently integrated GSAT-15 satellite with the launcher (Ariane 5)”, Arianespace said in a statement.

Preparations for Arianespace’s sixth heavy-lift mission have advanced into payload integration phase with GSAT-15 satellite making its first contact with the launch vehicle, it said. 
GSAT-15, developed by ISRO, would provide C and Ku band telecommunications and navigation services to India.

It will have a lift off mass of 3,164.5 kg.
“Flight VA227 (Ariane 5) is set for a November 10 lift off. It will mark Arianespace’s 10th launch this year”, it said.

GSAT-15 would be launched along with Arabsat6B, set up by the Arab League Intergovernmental Organisation. Arabsat will be launched to provide telecommunications and television broadcast services for Middle East and African region.

The mission life of GSAT-15 will be 12 years.

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## Hindustani78

Updated: November 5, 2015 00:54 IST
*GSAT-15 set to replace INSAT-3A, 4B - The Hindu*


Its transponders will cater to DTH television, besides supporting VSAT operators who provide broadband services

GSAT-15, the mainly communications satellite being put in space next week, will replace two older spacecraft that will likely expire in the coming months.

Its 24 transponders are solely in the Ku band and will cater to DTH (direct-to-home) television first, besides supporting the thousands of VSAT operators who provide broadband services; and DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) for TV news channels.

GSAT-15 will not add new transponder capacity to the country; it will ‘ensure sustainability of service’for the capacity-hungry DTH sector, according to A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary, Department of Space. It will also carry the third GAGAN satellite navigation transponder as a back-up for airlines and other users of augmented GPS-based systems. 

GSAT-15, weighing 3,164 kg, will be launched in the wee hours of November 11 (IST) from Kourou in French Guiana (in South America) on the European Arianespace’s Ariane-5 launcher. The satellite cost and the launch fee are around Rs. 860 crore. GSAT-15 will be flown along with Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat-6B/Badr-7.

To be stationed over the country at a slot at 93.5 degrees East longitude, the upcoming satellite must quickly replace INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B that are completing their tenure — one in November and another later next year. 

INSAT-3A, launched in April 2003, has completed its 12-year life. INSAT-4B, flown in March 2007, got reduced to half its functions in 2010 after one of its power-generating solar panels developed a snag.

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## Hindustani78

Launching satellites high on ISRO priority - The Hindu

Updated: November 8, 2015 05:38 IST

The Indian Space Research Organisation here on Saturday said firing satellites into space orbit at frequent intervals is high on its priority than the much-hyped manned mission to space.

“At present, development of critical technologies pertaining to manned mission is going on. Space suit is nearly done. We are working on crew module re-entry exercise and know-how to extricate astronaut in case of emergency and also environment control system such as addressing environmental toxicity,” ISRO chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar said here.

Mr. Kiran Kumar received Doctorate of Science degree from city-based KIIT University which held its 11th Annual Convocation on Saturday.

“The Government has to give clearance for the manned mission. It requires substantial investment by the government for development of these critical technologies. We had moved the Union government sometime back,” said Mr. Kiran Kumar.


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## Hindustani78

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar handing over the certificate to a student at the graduation day ceremony of SMV Institute of Technology and Management in Udupi district on Sunday.

Updated: November 9, 2015 00:27 IST
Mars Orbiter Mission is in good nick, says ISRO chief - The Hindu

*The ISRO had also set up a study team which was studying the future programmes to be taken by the organisation.*
Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said on Sunday that the health of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan was extremely good.

Speaking to presspersons after participating in the Graduation Day ceremony of SMV Institute of Technology and Management (SMVITM) here in Karnataka, Mr. Kumar said that the ISRO had a programme in Bengaluru on November 5, where it marked two years of completion of launch of Mangalyaan and more than a year of its orbiting around the Mars.

All five payloads of MOM were sending data on a regular basis. *“It is completing one revolution around the Mars roughly in two and a half days. All the sub-systems are working fine. We still have about 35 kg of fuel. The satellite is expected to last for quite some time,” he said. *

*Future plans*
To a query, he said* Chandrayaan-2 would carry a lander and a rover. *It would help in having a *controlled landing on the surface of the moon. The rover would move on the surface of the moon. It would collect data and send it to Earth. Chandrayaan-2 was likely to be launched in 2017 or 2018. *The ISRO was planning to launch Aditya, the satellite, which would help in studying solar eclipses on continuous basis and also other aspects of the Sun.

The ISRO had also set up a study team which was studying the future programmes to be taken by the organisation. The team would study *if there was a need for another Mars Mission or the need to go to Venus or asteroids.* “The team is going to come up with a study report. The ISRO also has an advisory committee headed by scientist U.R. Rao, which will take a decision on future missions,” he said.

All the five payloads of the Astrosat, the dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory launched by the ISRO in September, were functioning well. The four payloads on it were returning data and its systems were working well.

In the immediate future, the *ISRO planned to increase its launch frequencies. GSAT-15, a communication satellite, would be launched on November 10.* There would be a launch every month from December 2015 to March 2016.


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## Bad Guy

ISRO released image of Mars 'Arabia Terra'.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
11-November, 2015 08:42 IST
*India's GSAT-15 Communication Satellite Launched Successfully*


GSAT-15, India’s latest communications satellite, was launched successfully by the European Ariane 5 VA-227 launch Vehicle in the early morning hours of today (November 11, 2015). The 3164 kg GSAT-15 carries communication transponders in Ku-band as well as a GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload operating in L1 and L5 bands. 

After a smooth countdown lasting 11 hours and 30 minutes, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle lifted off right on schedule at 0304 hrs (3:04 am) IST today. After a flight of 43 minutes and 24 seconds, GSAT-15 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,819 km, inclined at an angle of 3.9 degree to the equator. The achieved orbit was very close to the intended one. 

ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-15 immediately after its separation from the launch vehicle. Preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal health. 

In the coming days, orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using the satellite’s propulsion system in steps. 

After the completion of orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and both the antenna reflectors of GSAT-15 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration. GSAT-15 will be positioned at 93.5 deg East longitude in the geostationary orbit along with the operational INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B satellites. Later, it is planned to experimentally turn on the communication payloads of GSAT-15. After the successful completion of all the in-orbit tests, GSAT-15 will be ready for operational use. 

***

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## MKC

Isro to launch 5 Singapore satellites on Dec 16: Chairman

BELAGAVI: AS Kiran Kumar, chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) lauded the yeomen services of the KLE society rendering for the society since past one century in the fields of education and health.

Inaugurating the 100th Foundation Day of KLE Society, Kiran Kumar compared works of KLES with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Bengaluru which celebrating its golden jubilee. Both organizations have done remarkable works for the society to improve living quality of the people, he said.

Saptarishis (seven founders) established KLE society 99 years ago to provide educational services to the society. Being from poor financial background, they collected donation and ran the institutions. The small sapling planted century ago is now turned into banyan tree of 250 institutions. Similarly, space scientist Vikram Sarabhai established space centre five decades ago along with friends from India and abroad five decades ago. Now the centre has grown up to the extent of launching indigenous Mangalyan satellite. Progress of both organizations is remarkable, he said.

So far Isro has launched 75 Indian and 53 of foreign satellites into space for the services of broadcasting, education, communication, metrological services etc. Disaster management is the major service of satellites. Digging bore wells turned 95%-96% successful in these days with the help of satellite services compared to earlier success rate of 40% to 50%. India has around 7,000 kms coastal line and satellites help fishermen to find out fish quantity in particular areas, which is saving around Rs 20,000 crore money from wasting.

Proud thing is India is the first country found water contents on moon and in a first attempt itself the country became successful in sending complete indigenous Mars Orbitory Mission (MOM) of around 400 million kms distance. "Our BSLV rocket is most reliable satellite vehicle in the world", he said.

Isro chairman said organization will be launching five satellites of Singapore on 16th December. Besides, for effective GPS service, it has been launching group of seven satellites into space. Already four have been launched they are functioning well. Rest three will be launched between January to March 2016.

Prabhakar Kore, KLES chairman and Rajya Sabha member remembered all those people wholeheartedly who have given donations to the society through cash or land or many other ways including Infosys co-founder Sudha Murthy and Gururaj Deshpande who have donated in crores. Meanwhile, Kore announces conducting 1 lakh free operations throughout the year as a part of centenary year of the society besides treating dental disorders of 50,000 school children. He announced of establishing 200 bedded hospital in Pune and hospital in Bengaluru in the area of 5 acres shortly.

Meanwhile students of different KLE institutions excelled in academic, co-curricular and sports activities in state, national and international levels were felicitated. As many as 70 gold, 80 silver medals and three trophies conferred to the achievers besides 222 awarding certificates of merit.

Siddeshwar Swami of Jnanayogashram of Vijayapur graced the occasion. KLES president Shivanand Koujalagi, vice-chairman Ashok Bagewadi were present.

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## TejasMk3

*The sun shines on India's Aditya - The Hindu*

*India's solar mission will study the Sun's outermost layers — the corona and the chromosphere — and collect data about coronal mass ejection*

After a seven year long wait, Aditya, India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the sun is likely to get a go-ahead from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) this week. The ambitious solar mission will study the sun’s outer most layers, the corona and the chromosphere, collect data about coronal mass ejection and more, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

The project costs approximately Rs 400 crores and is a joint venture between ISRO and physicists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru; Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and other institutes.

Though the project was conceptualised in 2008 itself, it has since morphed and grown and is now awaiting clearance with the government*. It now aims to put a heavy satellite into what is called a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Sun and the Earth. This point is at a distance of about 1.5 million km from the earth. With the excitement about the Mars Orbiter Mission yet to settle down, this could be the next most complicated feat that ISRO has carried out till date.*

*In a three-body problem such as this – with the earth and sun engaged in an elliptical orbit and a relatively very light, call it massless in comparison, satellite being placed in between – there are five so-called lagrangian points in space where the light, third body — in our case, the satellite — may be placed so that it can maintain its position with respect to the two others. One of these is the L1 point, which is about 1.5 million km from the earth.

A halo orbit would be a circular orbit around the L1 point. The satellite will have to use its own power (spend energy) to remain in position within in this orbit without losing its way. Such orbits have not been attempted too often.*

*Studying the corona*

Among the suite of instruments in the payload would be a solar coronagraph. “A combination of imaging and spectroscopy in multi-wavelength will enhance our understanding of the solar atmosphere. It will provide high time cadence sharp images of the solar chromosphere and the corona in the emission lines. These images will be used to study the highly dynamic nature of the solar corona including the small-scale coronal loops and large-scale Coronal Mass Ejections,” said Dipankar Banerjee, physicist from IIA, who is part of this project. The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun and the chromosphere is the second inner layer. Data such as this can help us understand the corona and solar wind, which is a spewing of charged particles into space, at speeds as high as 900 km/s and at about 1 million degrees Celsius temperature, affecting the environment there.

Just like on earth, environment in space changes due to happenings in the sun, such as solar storms (flares). This is known as space weather. Dibyendu Nandi, Head of Center of Excellence in Space Sciences, IISER, Kolkata, describes it so: “Solar storms and space weather affect satellite operations. They may interfere with electronic circuitry of satellites and also, through enhanced drag (friction effects), impact satellite mission lifetimes. They also impact the positional accuracy of satellites and thus impact GPS navigational networks. Space weather also impacts telecommunications, satellite TV broadcasts which are dependent on satellite-based transmission.”

*Dr Nandi works in building models that can predict space weather. Hopeful about Aditya’s contribution to this, he remarks “The data from Aditya mission will be immensely helpful in discriminating between different models for the origin of solar storms and also for constraining how the storms evolve and what path they take through the interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth. The forecasting models we are building will therefore be complemented by the Aditya observations.”

At the moment, there are models and calculations made by NASA which Indian scientists use to maintain their satellites. Now, there is a possibility of Indians developing their own space weather prediction models.*

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## $@rJen

*Aditya-L1 :: India's expedition to the SUN*

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 Twitter
 Google+
 Linked in
Thursday, November 19, 2015
By: Defence News Network








































Introduction ::

After the successful launch of Chandrayan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, India is now gearing up for it’s expedition to the Sun.

Aditya-I (Sanskit: Sun) is India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the Sun. This is a low-earth orbit (LEO) mission at an altitude of 800 Km. The spacecraft’s mission will be to study fundamental problems of coronal heating, and other phenomena that take place in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Recently ISRO is planning to position this satellite at Lagrangian point L1 i.e. at a point 1.5 million kilometres away from the Earth by which we can observe the Sun constantly. Hence the upgraded mission is called Aditya-L1 which is rescheduled for launch on 2017-18 at an estimated cost of 20 million US$.


Objectives ::

1. To study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)
CME is a massive burst of gas and magnetic field arising from the solar corona and being released into the solar wind.

2. To study the crucial physical parameters for space weather such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc.


Payloads ::
Similar to MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) it will carry multiple payloads for better solar data collection. Expected payloads in Aditya-L1 mission:



1. Solar Ultraviolet Image Telescope (SUIT): 
To observe the whole solar disc for solar storms which impact atmosphere on the earth.

2. Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC):
To study the diagnostic parameters of solar corona dynamics and origin of CMEs.

3. Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS):
To monitor the X-ray flares for studying the heating mechanism of the solar corona.

4. High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS): 
To study explosive energy release, acceleration and transport of electrons using fast timing measurements and high resolution spectral studies.

5. Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX):
To study the variation of solar wind properties as well as its distribution and spectral characteristics.

6. Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA)
To understand the composition of solar wind and its energy distribution.


Importance ::

The sun, which is highly turbulent and dynamic, sends out large chunks of charged particles and emits highly energetic electromagnetic radiation in all directions. These radiations, on reaching Earth, causes severe near-Earth-space disturbances called Geomagnetic storms, which affect communication links, disturb power lines in high altitudes, causes aurora in polar regions and affect satellite systems directly and also indirectly through changes brought about in the near Earth atmosphere. Therefore basic understanding of the physical processes and continuous monitoring would help in taking necessary steps towards protecting ISRO's satellites either by switching them off or putting them on a stand-by mode as warranted by the background conditions.

.
Conclusion ::

'Aditya' would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating, coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather processes and study of these would provide important information on the solar activity. Another noteworthy feature would be the positioning of spacecraft. Earlier it was planned to be launched into a polar orbit but now they plan to place it L1 point where no Indian spacecraft has gone before.

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## Bad Guy

sarjenprabhu said:


> *Aditya-L1 :: India's expedition to the SUN*
> 
> Facebook
> Twitter
> Google+
> Linked in
> Thursday, November 19, 2015
> By: Defence News Network
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Introduction ::
> 
> After the successful launch of Chandrayan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, India is now gearing up for it’s expedition to the Sun.
> 
> Aditya-I (Sanskit: Sun) is India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the Sun. This is a low-earth orbit (LEO) mission at an altitude of 800 Km. The spacecraft’s mission will be to study fundamental problems of coronal heating, and other phenomena that take place in Earth’s magnetosphere.
> 
> Recently ISRO is planning to position this satellite at Lagrangian point L1 i.e. at a point 1.5 million kilometres away from the Earth by which we can observe the Sun constantly. Hence the upgraded mission is called Aditya-L1 which is rescheduled for launch on 2017-18 at an estimated cost of 20 million US$.
> 
> 
> Objectives ::
> 
> 1. To study the Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)
> CME is a massive burst of gas and magnetic field arising from the solar corona and being released into the solar wind.
> 
> 2. To study the crucial physical parameters for space weather such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc.
> 
> 
> Payloads ::
> Similar to MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) it will carry multiple payloads for better solar data collection. Expected payloads in Aditya-L1 mission:
> 
> 
> 
> 1. Solar Ultraviolet Image Telescope (SUIT):
> To observe the whole solar disc for solar storms which impact atmosphere on the earth.
> 
> 2. Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC):
> To study the diagnostic parameters of solar corona dynamics and origin of CMEs.
> 
> 3. Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS):
> To monitor the X-ray flares for studying the heating mechanism of the solar corona.
> 
> 4. High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS):
> To study explosive energy release, acceleration and transport of electrons using fast timing measurements and high resolution spectral studies.
> 
> 5. Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX):
> To study the variation of solar wind properties as well as its distribution and spectral characteristics.
> 
> 6. Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA)
> To understand the composition of solar wind and its energy distribution.
> 
> 
> Importance ::
> 
> The sun, which is highly turbulent and dynamic, sends out large chunks of charged particles and emits highly energetic electromagnetic radiation in all directions. These radiations, on reaching Earth, causes severe near-Earth-space disturbances called Geomagnetic storms, which affect communication links, disturb power lines in high altitudes, causes aurora in polar regions and affect satellite systems directly and also indirectly through changes brought about in the near Earth atmosphere. Therefore basic understanding of the physical processes and continuous monitoring would help in taking necessary steps towards protecting ISRO's satellites either by switching them off or putting them on a stand-by mode as warranted by the background conditions.
> 
> .
> Conclusion ::
> 
> 'Aditya' would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating, coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather processes and study of these would provide important information on the solar activity. Another noteworthy feature would be the positioning of spacecraft. Earlier it was planned to be launched into a polar orbit but now they plan to place it L1 point where no Indian spacecraft has gone before.


Hey, is the image of spacecraft is real I mean same as that real will be.
Because I've seen many images of Aditya before that and in that there was only one very long solar plate.


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## Guynextdoor2

egodoc222 said:


> Typical apptard!! Lol
> Contributing to humanity? Lol
> I'm surgeon 3 yrsgovt sevice on 100s of medical camps later ....I've given back to the society a lot more than you or apptards like you can in a life time...
> I've seen birth I've seen death
> I've interacted with the rich the poor the middle class....
> Upper caste,lower caste...
> Hindu Muslim Christian...
> You name it....I've seen what India is on ground rather like you sitting in a ac room typing on expensive laptop...bitching about problems of the farmers?
> Tone down your ego...don't let your hate for particular religion blind your conscience!!
> Now you have that tea and think!!!



Do not refer to the false flagger as an AAP member.


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## MKC

NISAR biggest outcome of ISRO-NASA partnership, says NASA scientist

The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission that involves building of a 2600 kilogram satellite that will “effectively make a time-lapse movie of the earth” while keeping a close eye for ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapses and natural hazards, will be first mission where collaboration between NASA and ISRO will be biggest ever, says a senior scientist from NASA on Monday.

“In 2011 we started talking to ISRO and prior to that NASA was thinking of doing it (the mission) all by itself or with collaboration from Germany or Canada… It is a much bigger collaborative effort than undertaken ever before by the two agencies,” said Alok K Chatterjee, Mission Interface Manager and Launch System Engineer of NISAR project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA.

Chatterjee who was in Gujarat Science City for an “outreach event” with other US-based scientists associated with the project — including NISAR project scientist Paul A Rosen, Mark Simons, Ian Joughin, Scott Hensley, Paul Siqueira and Piyush Agram — pointed out that ISRO will be providing the “spacecraft bus”, S-band SAR payload and the launch vehicle, while NASA will be providing the L-band SAR and the engineering payload for the mission that will have a total cost of over USD one billion and is expected to be launched in 2020.

According to Chatterjee, the recent collaboration between NASA and ISRO began in 2005 with the Chandrayaan-I mission where an eight kilogram Moon Mineralogy mapper from NASA accompanied the mission helped in “joint-discovery” of water on moon. “JPL also provided shadow navigation support to ISRO for Chandrayaan-I because ISRO was doing it for the first time and they had do some trajectory and navigation analysis all the way to the moon. JPL provided expertise in validating and verifying all the solutions so that they can reach the moon correctly,” he added.

Similar support was for provided to Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) where JPL’s navigational expertise in deep space trajectory and maneuverability aided the mission, the NASA scientist pointed out.

According to the NISAR project scientist Paul A Rosen, the mission was “in a formulation phase” which according to him was “just one step from building the actual hardware. “This mission aims to create the world’s largest freely available remove sensing data set. It will create one petabyte of raw data every year,” said Rosen adding that the satellite is being designed to a mission duration of 5-10 years.

“Using this data, scientists can create models that will help predict future changes in Earth’s topography,” he said adding that NISAR will also address a range of applications relevant to India, including monitoring the country’s agricultural biomass, snow and glacier studies in the Himalayas, Indian coastal and near-shore ocean studies and disaster monitoring and assessment.

This team of scientists from NASA will also be participating in a workshop scheduled to be held at Space Applications Center (an important arm of ISRO) in the next couple of days in connection with this mission.

Future NASA-ISRO Partnerships

Both NASA and ISRO are planning to fly a bigger version of the Moon Mineralogy mapper or M-cube on an aircraft for earth applications. “Now we have a situation where NASA and ISRO are going to conduct an airborne experiment with NASA instrument called AVIRIS-NG (Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer – Next Generation). This is going to happen this month or next. It has tremendous application in terms of agriculture, forestry, coastal changes and so India has selected targets all over the country to fly this airborne experiment using JPL instrument. This will form the basis for a much more global space-based collaboration,” Chatterjee said that the instrument has already been integrated with an aircraft provided by India.

NASA and ISRO will be collaborating to make IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) and GPS more accurate and NASA will also be providing navigation and trajectory support to Chandrayaan-2, he added.

- See more at: NISAR biggest outcome of ISRO-NASA partnership, says NASA scientist | The Indian Express


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## egodoc222

Why did India take the cryogenic route instead of semicryogenic one....or its the natural evolution?
Semicryogenic engine seem less complicated than cryogenic ones...
Somebody shed some light!!


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## Mamsalaphala

egodoc222 said:


> Why did India take the cryogenic route instead of semicryogenic one....or its the natural evolution?
> Semicryogenic engine seem less complicated than cryogenic ones...
> Somebody shed some light!!



CIA

Who killed the ISRO's cryogenic engine? - Rediff.com India News


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## Jai Bharat

egodoc222 said:


> Why did India take the cryogenic route instead of semicryogenic one....or its the natural evolution?
> Semicryogenic engine seem less complicated than cryogenic ones...
> Somebody shed some light!!



Upper stages of rockets need very high efficiency and cryogenic engines are most suited for that, however it is more expensive.

Semi-cryogenic engines are better for initial stages, and have cheaper fuel costs.

In the future ULV, which will be the main launch vehicle when it is ready, will use solid boosters, semi-cryogenic core stage, and cryogenic upper stage.

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## gslv mk3

Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet - Download the E-book - ISRO

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## gslv mk3

*FUTURE PLANS
*
ISRO is designing heavy-lift launch vehicles with capabilities in the range of 6–10 tonnes in GTO. For this purpose, the following propulsion systems are being pursued:

1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.
2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.
3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.

@kurup @Echo_419 @amardeep mishra @Guynextdoor2 @rational @Harisudan

@egodoc222

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## egodoc222

gslv mk3 said:


> *FUTURE PLANS
> *
> ISRO is designing heavy-lift launch vehicles with capabilities in the range of 6–10 tonnes in GTO. For this purpose, the following propulsion systems are being pursued:
> 
> 1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.
> 2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.
> 3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.
> 
> @kurup @Echo_419 @amardeep mishra @Guynextdoor2 @rational @Harisudan
> 
> @egodoc222


Any reasons why isro did not concentrate on semi cryogenics earlier?
It seems less complicated than cryogenic one...

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## gslv mk3

egodoc222 said:


> It seems less complicated than cryogenic one...



They went for hypergolic fueled engines

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## Bad Guy

gslv mk3 said:


> *FUTURE PLANS
> *
> ISRO is designing heavy-lift launch vehicles with capabilities in the range of 6–10 tonnes in GTO. For this purpose, the following propulsion systems are being pursued:
> 
> 1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.
> 2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.
> 3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.
> 
> @kurup @Echo_419 @amardeep mishra @Guynextdoor2 @rational @Harisudan
> 
> @egodoc222


I know about a 6mt capacity ULV but 10t?


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## egodoc222

gslv mk3 said:


> They went for hypergolic fueled engines


How far are we away from testing first prototype of semicryo tech?
Heard it is in 2016....is it true?

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## gslv mk3

Bad Guy said:


> I know about a 6mt capacity ULV but 10t?



This ain't the ULV,This is the heavy lift vehicle



egodoc222 said:


> How far are we away from testing first prototype of semicryo tech?
> Heard it is in 2016....is it true?



August 16, 2015

_We will be ready with the engine [SCE-200] in six to eight months_

Russian tie-up to boost ISRO’s semicryogenic launcher plan - The Hindu

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## Bad Guy

gslv mk3 said:


> This ain't the ULV,This is the heavy lift vehicle


HLV concept which is under study by special team since 2010 is a super heavy launcher concept (Manned Moon and other long term mission.)
This rocket family has capacity >20t at least. 
10t must be developed as a platform just like 4t capacity GSLV Mk3 is being upgraded to get capacity of 6t.

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## gslv mk3

Bad Guy said:


> HLV concept which is under study by special team since 2010 is a super heavy launcher concept (Manned Moon and other long term mission.)



No,this one has a gto capability of 10 tonne & leo capability of 25

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## rational

gslv mk3 said:


> No,this one has a gto capability of 10 tonne & leo capability of 25


I think ISRO doesn't need to hurry we need more improvement in metallurgy & should go for 600 kN semi cryo along with 2000 one ,we can increase the payload capacity to GTO to 12 to 15 tone

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## Bad Guy

gslv mk3 said:


> No,this one has a gto capability of 10 tonne & leo capability of 25


Could be a part of project as they need to make an HLV before SHLV. Concept publicized in 2010 was of super heavy.


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> *FUTURE PLANS
> *
> ISRO is designing heavy-lift launch vehicles with capabilities in the range of 6–10 tonnes in GTO. For this purpose, the following propulsion systems are being pursued:
> 
> 1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.
> 2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.
> 3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.
> 
> @kurup @Echo_419 @amardeep mishra @Guynextdoor2 @rational @Harisudan
> 
> @egodoc222



Old news ..... posted it 6 months back .



Bad Guy said:


> HLV concept which is under study by special team since 2010 is a super heavy launcher concept (Manned Moon and other long term mission.)
> This rocket family has capacity >20t at least.
> 10t must be developed as a platform just like 4t capacity GSLV Mk3 is being upgraded to get capacity of 6t.



There are many HLV designs being studied by ISRO .... re-posting an old post of mine .


*Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle concepts*

ISRO have carried out study of 4 different concepts of HLV to date . These are explained below in random order .


*Concept-1* 

Payload Capacity : 25 tons to LEO (10 tons to GTO)

A Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include :

1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC200
2) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and
3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50).







Welcome to VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE - Heavy Lift Launcher


*Concept-2&3*

Concept 2&3 together was supposed to carry out a human mission to moon . It was first shown in a presentation by ISRO at the IAC 2009 .

Concept-2 = *Crew Launch Vehicle*
* Architecture - 4 S230 + SC500 + C60
* Liftoff weight - 1690 tons
* Capability - 31 tons to Low Earth Orbit
* Payload - Crew Module (6 tons) + Service Module (25 tons)

Concept-3 = *Carge Launch Vehicle*
* Architecture - 8 S230 + SC800 + C60
* Liftoff weight - 3075 tons
* Capability - 84 tons to Low Earth Orbit
* Payload - Earth Departure Stage (67 tons) + Lunar Descent Module (17 tons)







SuperNova: Indian Moon Rockets: First Look

*
Concept-4* 

Single LV capable of Lunar Man Mission with payload capacity of 100tons to LEO

This looks like a single LV capable of replacing two LV of concept-2&3






SuperNova: ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle

Source: Indian Space Capabilities | Page 267

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## Bad Guy

kurup said:


> There are many HLV designs being studied by ISRO .... re-posting an old post of mine .
> *Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle concepts*
> 
> ISRO have carried out study of 4 different concepts of HLV to date . These are explained below in random order .
> 
> 
> *Concept-1*
> 
> Payload Capacity : 25 tons to LEO (10 tons to GTO)
> 
> A Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include :
> 
> 1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC200
> 2) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and
> 3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Welcome to VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE - Heavy Lift Launcher
> 
> 
> *Concept-2&3*
> 
> Concept 2&3 together was supposed to carry out a human mission to moon . It was first shown in a presentation by ISRO at the IAC 2009 .
> 
> Concept-2 = *Crew Launch Vehicle*
> * Architecture - 4 S230 + SC500 + C60
> * Liftoff weight - 1690 tons
> * Capability - 31 tons to Low Earth Orbit
> * Payload - Crew Module (6 tons) + Service Module (25 tons)
> 
> Concept-3 = *Carge Launch Vehicle*
> * Architecture - 8 S230 + SC800 + C60
> * Liftoff weight - 3075 tons
> * Capability - 84 tons to Low Earth Orbit
> * Payload - Earth Departure Stage (67 tons) + Lunar Descent Module (17 tons)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SuperNova: Indian Moon Rockets: First Look
> 
> *
> Concept-4*
> 
> Single LV capable of Lunar Man Mission with payload capacity of 100tons to LEO
> 
> This looks like a single LV capable of replacing two LV of concept-2&3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SuperNova: ISRO Heavy Lift Vehicle
> 
> Source: Indian Space Capabilities | Page 267


Sounds pretty good.


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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> Old news ..... posted it 6 months back .



eppa ??

The information about stages and engines are new,I suppose 

No CE-60 



kurup said:


> 1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC200
> 2) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and
> 3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50).



That's wrong

1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.

2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.

3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.

Source: Indian Space Capabilities | Page 279


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## Jai Bharat

ISRO is saying ULV won't be ready before 2020, assuming semi-cryogenic engine testing goes according to plan.

So HLV won't be ready until 2030 by earliest then. Still, good to play ahead. Plus, ISRO is one of the few government organizations that has shown it can deliver what it promises if given time and budget.


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## Bad Guy

@gslv mk3 I didn't got one thing. Improved variant of GSLV Mk3 will have capacity of 6 tonnes GTO and 15 tonnes to LEO.
And that is same as that of maximum capacity of ULV.
So, why need ULV? Is this not the rebuilding same rocket?


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> eppa ??
> 
> The information about stages and engines are new,I suppose
> 
> No CE-60
> 
> 
> 
> That's wrong
> 
> 1. A 200 tonne propellant loading LOX and kerosene booster stage powered by a 2,000 kN thrust semi-cryogenic engine operating on stage combustion cycle.
> 
> 2. A 50 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by twin CE 20 cryogenic engines.
> 
> 3. A 10 tonne LOX-LH2 propellant loading cryogenic stage powered by a CE 20 cryogenic engine.
> 
> Source: Indian Space Capabilities | Page 279



The information I posted is taken directly from VSSC .

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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> The information I posted is taken directly from VSSC .



So we have another HLV ?



Bad Guy said:


> And that is same as that of maximum capacity of ULV.
> So, why need ULV? Is this not the rebuilding same rocket?



I guess they are going for a modular approach,replacing the booster stages to achieve different payloads and for different mission profiles.


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> So we have another HLV ?
> 
> 
> I guess they are going for a modular approach,replacing the booster stages to achieve different payloads and for different mission profiles.



Yup .... looks like they are studying two different concepts of HLV with 10 tons to GTO payload capacity .

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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> Yup .... looks like they are studying two different concepts of HLV with 10 tons to GTO payload capacity .



I think this one is better...since it relies on existing/under development engines and not on CE 60,which is still at conceptual design stage

ith kandaayirunnallo alle ?

Russian tie-up to boost ISRO’s semicryogenic launcher plan - The Hindu

_ISRO is working on its new-generation, Rs. 1,800-crore third rocket programme, called the semi-cryogenic launch vehicle, to beef up its current portfolio of the PSLV and the GSLV. It will use space-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel and is meant to pitch *spacecraft totally weighing six to ten tonnes to heights of 36,000 km*. This would be double the lifting power of the GSLV and triple that of the PSLV. Only the U.S. and Russia have this technology._


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## kurup

gslv mk3 said:


> I think this one is better...since it relies on existing/under development engines and not on CE 60,which is still at conceptual design stage
> 
> ith kandaayirunnallo alle ?
> 
> Russian tie-up to boost ISRO’s semicryogenic launcher plan - The Hindu
> 
> _ISRO is working on its new-generation, Rs. 1,800-crore third rocket programme, called the semi-cryogenic launch vehicle, to beef up its current portfolio of the PSLV and the GSLV. It will use space-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel and is meant to pitch *spacecraft totally weighing six to ten tonnes to heights of 36,000 km*. This would be double the lifting power of the GSLV and triple that of the PSLV. Only the U.S. and Russia have this technology._



It's about the developement of Indian Semi-cryos ...... Russia providing a test facility to test our semi-cryos untill our facility comes online .

But the weight I think is wrong ..... most probably 6 to 10 tons to GTO ..... nobody launches directly to GEO .

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## gslv mk3

kurup said:


> It's about the developement of Indian Semi-cryos ..



No bro,look at this

ISRO is working on its new-generation,* Rs. 1,800-crore third rocket programme, called the semi-cryogenic launch vehicle, to beef up its current portfolio of the PSLV and the GSLV.* It will use space-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel and is meant to pitch spacecraft totally weighing six to ten tonnes to heights of 36,000 km.

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## Bad Guy

Actually, even after a 100 tonnes capacity SHLV, we will see a bigger rocket because they may need to transfer 50 tonnes to TLI to land humans there. So, these projects may be platform for that.


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## MKC

What is full form of LVM3 ?


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## Bad Guy

MKC said:


> What is full form of LVM3 ?


Launch Vehicle Mark 3


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## Jai Bharat

MKC said:


> What is full form of LVM3 ?



LVM3 - ISRO

At 4.0 tons to GTO, it would be able to power nearly any heavy satellite into order giving India almost full independence from foreign launch vehicles.

Afterwards, the LVM3 will be modified again by replaced the L110 Core Stage with a Semi-Cryogenic stage SC-160, and then use a more modular initial booster stage to cost-effectively launch different payloads in the 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 tons to GTO. This would give India complete independence in launching even the heaviest commercial 5 ton satellites to GTO and it would also ISRO to use a single, Unified Launch Vehicle (Hence the name ULV) to replace both the LMV3 and the PSLV rockets reducing costs, logistics, and manufacturing by only using 1 vehicle.

Afterwards the engines of the ULV can be uprated and their fuel size increased, while the solid rocket boosts could be replaced with cryogenic or semi-cryogenic stages to increase payloads for far off missions like Lunar landings. As you can see in the previous page there are a number of different concepts that are ongoing and being studied.

For launch vehicles that require re-usability instead of expendibility, ISRO has an entirely different plan by making a space plane called AVATAR, which will be undergoing test missions on a scaled vehicle called RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle Technical Demonstrator).


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## Bad Guy

Jai Bharat said:


> At 4.0 tons to GTO, it would be…………………………………………


LVM3 has a capacity of 6 tonnes to GTO and 15 tonnes to LEO. The rocket test fired last year was a test rocket so was underpowered. LVM3 at full optimism will be launched in 2016.


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## Bad Guy

*First Light Images from Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) payload onboard ASTROSAT in Orbit*
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) is the long wavelength eye of the multi- wavelength satellite ASTROSAT, which carries telescopes giving a spectral
coverage from hard X-rays to ultraviolet. The satellite was launched on September 28, 2015. Soon after the
launch testing of the X-ray telescopes followed. The subsystems of UVIT, e.g. the detectors, were also checked with the doors closed to isolate the optics from degassing of the S/C. The doors of UVIT opened on November 30 and it was pointed to a relatively bright field at high declination and images were taken.
This note describes the impressions from these images regarding performance of the payload.
*The Performance Parameters of UVIT*
UVIT is configured as two Cassegrain- telescopes each of ~ 375 mm aperture. One of the telescope images in
130-180 nm (FUV) and the other images in 200-300 nm (NUV) and 320-550 nm (VIS). A suit of filters allow
further selection of a narrower.wavelength band for all the three detectors. The field is ~ 28’ in diameter
and the most important specifications for imaging are: a) spatial resolution (FWHM) of the ultraviolet images <1.8”, b) sensitivity in 130-180 nm ~ AB mag 20 in 200 s of exposure.
*The Source*

For the first light observations an open cluster of stars in our Galaxy, NGC 188, was chosen. This selection was based on the need to have the first pointing in
a direction well away from the equatorial plane to keep the operations of pointing simple, and to have a source which has a variety of stars but not a very high density of stars. This open cluster (a group of stars which are
gravitationally bound) is many billion years old and contains ~ 1500 stars. It is located at a distance of ~ 6000 light years in the constellation Cepheus. The
cluster has several bright stars which are easily recognisable and are suitable for a first light exposure. Though this source is not a primary standard, it has
been studied in details by the past missions so that a good idea of the performance of UVIT can be obtained
from these images. Imaging of weak sources, with the proposed resolution of 1.8”, requires corrections for the small drift of the S/C (<0.5”/s) by images obtained with the visible detector.
Therefore, in order to keep the analysis simple, it was important to have bright sources so that sensible images could be obtained in a few seconds in the
ultraviolet and used for self-correction of the drift.
*Preliminary Impressions on the Performance*
The images were taken for several minutes with all the three detectors; the UV detectors worked in photon-counting mode to detect each individual photon, while the visible detectors worked in integration mode (like a typical CCD- camera). As the pointing has some drift, the images are taken in short (<~ 1s) exposures and are added together after correcting for the drift. This
procedure is easily implemented for this field as bright stars (mag < 15) are available in the field. The final images are presented in the figure below.













*Figure:* Final images from the FUV (top), NUV (middle), and VIS (bottom) detectors are shown. Please note that axes in the three images are not aligned but the angular coverage is nearly identical. While the UV images have been processed to correct for the drift, the VIS image has not been processed
for this. Detailed view of the bottom-most star in the FUV image is shown below. This is a very bright star and the image suffers from effects of saturation in the
detector. The central peak is immediately surrounded by a moat (which is almost devoid of any photons) and an outer ring which is outer part of the wings in PSF: this structure can be explained by the effects of saturation when the average photon rate exceeds one per exposure.




Distribution along X-axis in the Central
peak of the image is shown below.
Each division on the X-axis is ~ 1.6”
wide, and scale on the Y-axis shows
brightness on a linear scale.




The recorded counts of the photons in
the FUV detector show that sensitivity
of the FUV channel is as per the
expectation.
*Conclusion* 
This analysis of the first light images suggests that the most important performance-parameters of UVIT (PSF
and FUV-sensitivity) meet the expectations. More observations for the calibrations and more rigorous analysis of the data would follow for full characterisation of the payload. We look forward to flood of excellent results on ultraviolet astronomy of stars, clusters, galaxies etc..
*UVIT project is a collaborative effort of IIA (Bengaluru), IUCAA (Pune), TIFR(Mumbai), and ISRO from India, and CSA of Canada.*

@gslv mk3
@Echo_419

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## indiatester

Live telecast available at PSLV-C29/TeLEOS-1 Launch Live - ISRO for PSLV-C29 Launch

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## TejasMk3

Youtub link:

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## indiatester

Mission successful. P4 restart test pending.


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## kalibr

congratulation to ISRO for successful launch of 6 Singaporean sat......


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## sharma1111

indiatester said:


> Mission successful. P4 restart test pending.


Did the PS4 restart? After 40 min


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## indiatester

sharma1111 said:


> Did the PS4 restart? After 40 min


Yes. Did not find a tweet from isro though.
"
Besides launching the six Singaporean satellites, ISRO also tested the rocket's fourth stage/engine's ability to restart after it was cut off around 17 minutes into the flight.

Technically speaking, India was testing a multiple burn fuel stage/rocket engine for the first time.

"The restart and shut off of the fourth stage engine is done as a first step towards launching multiple satellites but in different orbits," an ISRO official told IANS, declining to be named.

Launching multiple satellites with a single rocket is nothing new for ISRO and it has been doing that for several years now. The challenge is, however, to put several satellites into different orbits with one rocket.

"
- See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/isros-pslv-c29-rocket-launches-six-singaporean-satellites/16778191#sthash.z5YLAgxZ.dpuf


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## TejasMk3

The launch yesterday was visible from terraces over Chennai, may people posting pics. Since it was a totally clear day aswell, it was visible for a long time.
Some pics:

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## #hydra#

Guys,any news on cartosat3. Asper earlier report it was supposed to launch in 2014 itself.


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## egodoc222

It will be launched next year!!
It's on 2016 schedule @#hydra#

*Launch calendar:
2016 to March 2017*
- PSLV(XL) C29 - IRNSS-1E
-PSLV(XL) C30 - IRNSS-1F
-PSLV(XL) - IRNSS-1G 
2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2C + SRE-2
2016 - GSLV MkII F09 - GSAT-9
2016 - PSLV - Resourcesat-2A
2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2D
- GSLV Mk II F10 - GISAT (GEO Imaging SATellite)
- GSLV Mk II F11 - GSAT-6A
- PSLV - Oceansat-3
- PSLV - Cartosat-3
2017-Q1- GSLV -Mk III D1 - GSAT-19E
2017-Q1 - GSLV Mk II F08 or GSLV MkIII - Chandrayaan-2
- tbd- Mars Observation Mission

early 2016 - foreign launcher - GSAT-17
- foreign launcher - GSAT-18
- foreign launcher - GSAT-11
- foreign launcher - GSAT-11S
- foreign launcher - GSAT-Ka

piggybacked on PSLV : IITMSAT;STUDSAT-2, LAPAN A3
IMS(Indian Mini Satellite)/Atmos, IMS-1E, IMS-1F, Alsat-2B, Nemo-AM, IinuSat, IMS-B, M3MSat

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## #hydra#

egodoc222 said:


> It will be launched next year!!
> It's on 2016 schedule @#hydra#
> 
> *Launch calendar:
> 2016 to March 2017*
> - PSLV(XL) C29 - IRNSS-1E
> -PSLV(XL) C30 - IRNSS-1F
> -PSLV(XL) - IRNSS-1G
> 2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2C + SRE-2
> 2016 - GSLV MkII F09 - GSAT-9
> 2016 - PSLV - Resourcesat-2A
> 2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2D
> - GSLV Mk II F10 - GISAT (GEO Imaging SATellite)
> - GSLV Mk II F11 - GSAT-6A
> - PSLV - Oceansat-3
> - PSLV - Cartosat-3
> 2017-Q1- GSLV -Mk III D1 - GSAT-19E
> 2017-Q1 - GSLV Mk II F08 or GSLV MkIII - Chandrayaan-2
> - tbd- Mars Observation Mission
> 
> early 2016 - foreign launcher - GSAT-17
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-18
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-11
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-11S
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-Ka
> 
> piggybacked on PSLV : IITMSAT;STUDSAT-2, LAPAN A3
> IMS(Indian Mini Satellite)/Atmos, IMS-1E, IMS-1F, Alsat-2B, Nemo-AM, IinuSat, IMS-B, M3MSat


Tnq


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## ni8mare

egodoc222 said:


> It will be launched next year!!
> It's on 2016 schedule @#hydra#
> 
> *Launch calendar:
> 2016 to March 2017*
> - PSLV(XL) C29 - IRNSS-1E
> -PSLV(XL) C30 - IRNSS-1F
> -PSLV(XL) - IRNSS-1G
> 2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2C + SRE-2
> 2016 - GSLV MkII F09 - GSAT-9
> 2016 - PSLV - Resourcesat-2A
> 2016 - PSLV - Cartosat-2D
> - GSLV Mk II F10 - GISAT (GEO Imaging SATellite)
> - GSLV Mk II F11 - GSAT-6A
> - PSLV - Oceansat-3
> - PSLV - Cartosat-3
> 2017-Q1- GSLV -Mk III D1 - GSAT-19E
> 2017-Q1 - GSLV Mk II F08 or GSLV MkIII - Chandrayaan-2
> - tbd- Mars Observation Mission
> 
> early 2016 - foreign launcher - GSAT-17
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-18
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-11
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-11S
> - foreign launcher - GSAT-Ka
> 
> piggybacked on PSLV : IITMSAT;STUDSAT-2, LAPAN A3
> IMS(Indian Mini Satellite)/Atmos, IMS-1E, IMS-1F, Alsat-2B, Nemo-AM, IinuSat, IMS-B, M3MSat


So GSLV mk3 shifted to 2017 .......


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## egodoc222

ni8mare said:


> So GSLV mk3 shifted to 2017 .......


Earlier it was to launched in December 2016(q3)
Now dates may be pushed back!

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## MKC

*PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E*

PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E launch is scheduled on January 20, 2016 at 09:31 Hrs (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, the spaceport of India.






Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 33rd flight (PSLV-C31), will launch IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The launch will take place from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. As in the previous four launches of IRNSS satellites, PSLV-C31 will use ‘XL’ version of PSLV. This is the eleventh time ‘XL’ configuration is being flown, earlier ten being PSLV-C11/Chandrayaan-1, PSLV-C17/GSAT-12, PSLV-C19/RISAT-1, PSLV-C22/IRNSS-1A, PSLV-C25/Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, PSLV-C24/IRNSS-1B, PSLV-C26/IRNSS-1C, PSLV-C27/IRNSS-1D, PSLV-C28/DMC-3 and PSLV-C30/ASTROSAT missions.

IRNSS-1E

IRNSS-1E is the fifth navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment. Its predecessors, IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D were launched by PSLV-C22, PSLV-C24, PSLV-C26 and PSLV-C27 in July 2013, April 2014, October 2014 and March 2015 respectively. IRNSS-1E has a lift-off mass of 1425 kg. The configuration of IRNSS-1E is similar to that of IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D.

IRNSS -1E carries two types of payloads – navigation payload and ranging payload. The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-band. A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation payload of the satellite. The ranging payload of IRNSS-1E consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1E also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.

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## MKC




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## W@rwolf



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## cirr

I hear that India has cancelled its manned space programme。

True or false？


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## Supply&Demand

cirr said:


> I hear that India has cancelled its manned space programme。
> 
> True or false？



on hold


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## MKC

*Aditya - L1 First Indian mission to study the Sun*
The Aditya-1 mission was conceived as a 400kg class satellite carrying one payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) and was planned to launch in a 800 km low earth orbit. A Satellite placed in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/ eclipses. Therefore, the Aditya-1 mission has now been revised to “Aditya-L1 mission” and will be inserted in a halo orbit around the L1, which is 1.5 million km from the Earth. The satellite carries additional six payloads with enhanced science scope and objectives.











*Image credit: Udaipur Solar Observatory – PRL (Ground-based)*

The project is approved and the satellite will be launched during 2019 – 2020 timeframe by PSLV-XL from Sriharikota.

Aditya-1 was meant to observe only the solar corona. The outer layers of the Sun, extending to thousands of km above the disc (photosphere) is termed as the corona. It has a temperature of more than a million degree Kelvin which is much higher than the solar disc temperature of around 6000K. How the corona gets heated to such high temperatures is still an unanswered question in solar physics. 

Aditya-L1 with additional experiments can now provide observations of Sun's Photosphere (soft and hard X-ray), Chromosphere (UV) and corona (Visible and NIR). In addition, particle payloads will study the particle flux emanating from the Sun and reaching the L1 orbit, and the magnetometer payload will measure the variation in magnetic field strength at the halo orbit around L1. These payloads have to be placed outside the interference from the Earth’s magnetic field and could not have been useful in the low earth orbit.








The main payload continues to be the coronagraph with improved capabilities. The main optics for this experiment remains the same. The complete list of payloads, their science objective and lead institute for developing the payload is provided below:


*Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC):* To study the diagnostic parameters of solar corona and dynamics and origin of Coronal Mass Ejections (3 visible and 1 Infra-Red channels); magnetic field measurement of solar corona down to tens of Gauss –*Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA)*
*Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT): *To image the spatially resolved Solar Photosphere and Chromosphere in near Ultraviolet (200-400 nm) and measure solar irradiance variations - *Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA) *
*Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) : *To study the variation of solar wind properties as well as its distribution and spectral characteristics* – Physical Research Laboratory (PRL)* 
*Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) : *To understand the composition of solar wind and its energy distribution – *Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), VSSC* 
*Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) : *To monitor the X-ray flares for studying the heating mechanism of the solar corona – *ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)*
*High* *Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS): *To observe the dynamic events in the solar corona and provide an estimate of the energy used to accelerate the particles during the eruptive events - *ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)and Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO), PRL*
*Magnetometer: *To measure the magnitude and nature of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field – *Laboratory for Electro-optic Systems (LEOS) and ISAC.*
With the inclusion of multiple payloads, this project also provides an opportunity to solar scientists from multiple institutions within the country to participate in space based instrumentation and observations. Thus the enhanced Aditya-L1 project will enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamical processes of the sun and address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics.


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## Bad Guy

cirr said:


> I hear that India has cancelled its manned space programme。
> 
> True or false？


Out of priority. 
ISRO wanted to conduct in 2017-18(well below schedule), government denied.


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## Guynextdoor2

cirr said:


> I hear that India has cancelled its manned space programme。
> 
> True or false？



Don't thnk they'll try it before flying GSLV Mark 3 at least 7 to 8 times. Till now they've flown it only once.

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## Bad Guy

ISRO has announced test of Electric propulsion concept in its forthcoming 
GSAT-19 satellite, after the earlier GSAT-4, also carrying one of these, failed to reach orbit for operationalisation.

Ion Thrusters Of ISRO's Electric Propulsion System

*ISRO puts off nuclear powered space mission*
NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has decided to put off for time being its plans to use nuclear power to increase lifespan of India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 as there has been delay in getting the required nuclear material from Russia.
The nuclear power is expected expected to increase the lifespan of the mission as life of Chandrayaan 1, launched in 2008, was cut short by two months due to technical problems. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has been also working to make the nuclear material for the mission.
"We had plans to give nuclear power to
Chandrayaan 2 but now we have decided to put it off for time being as we don't want further delay in launch which is scheduled for 2017-18," said ISRO satellite centre director M Annadurai.
The second lunar mission was l scheduled for launch in 2013 as joint operation between India and Russia. But after failure of Russia’s Phobos-Grunt, mission to probe Maritian moon, it decided to do an internal assessment of its programme.
India then decided to make Chandryaan 2 as a completely indigenous mission with all three components of the mission orbiter, lander and rover made in the country.
"Once we get the material we have to do necessary experiments which will further delay the mission. There has been some delay in getting material from Russia," he said.
ISRO is now looking forward to use the nuclear powered mission in future projects.
"We plan to take *Chandrayaan 3 and 4* in near future and we may use nuclear power in those missions. By that time we will be completely ready with the materials and other things," he added.
India plans to have a high altitude polar landing of Chandrayaan 2 and it will have a capability to soft land and carry in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. A new throttled engine is being developed that will reduce the thrust for landing on the surface of the moon.


*Cdy-3 and Cdy-4*

*
ISRO’s ability to build communication satellites in Ahmedabad to rise five-fold*
*This new facility which is coming up on 60 acres in Bopal locality of the city, will cater to ISRO's demand for building newer and more sophisticated communications satellites.*





Of the 1200 odd satellites that are currently orbiting the Earth, over 50 percent of them are communications satellites.

The Space Applications Centre (SAC), an important arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that started payload development with India’s first experimental communication satellite Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE) in 1981, will see a five-fold increase in it’s ability to build communication satellites at Ahmedabad.

This new facility which is coming up on 60 acres in Bopal locality of the city, will cater to ISRO’s demand for building newer and more sophisticated communications satellites.


“Every other day we see some new television channel being launched. There is a huge demand for communications satellites across the world and in order to cater to this demand we are building a new communication satellite production facility on a 60 acre campus in Bopal which will be able to simultaneously integrate 10-payloads at a time,” said the director of SAC, Tapan Misra, while talking to The Indian Express.

Of the 1200 odd satellites that are currently orbiting the Earth, over 50 percent of them are communications satellites. This new communication laboratory at Bopal will be able to handle five-time more payloads in comparison it’s existing facility at Jodhpur Tekra, which can currently handle only two payloads at a time.

SAC which started payload development activity with India’s first experimental communication satellite, APPLE, has so far indigenously designed and developed at least 29 communication satellites which includes, INSAT series of satellites, GSAT series and IRNSS series. GSAT-15 was the latest of communication satellite to be integrated at SAC and launched by ISRO in November 2015.

Over 250 scientists working at this communication satellite laboratory at SAC are currently working on important communication satellites like GSAT-18, GSAT-11 and seventh satellite of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). “If everything goes as per plans, then this new facility at Bopal should be up and running by April 2016,” Misra added.

Apart from the communication laboratory, the new campus will also house a fabrication unit and a vendor complex. “The vendor complex has been created mostly for entry-level entrepreneurs who want to work with ISRO. About 20 vendors can work simultaneously at this complex. They can bring in their machinery and their manpower and work for us within our campus,” the director said adding that such a vendor complex will help cut costs for SAC which currently operates with 30-odd private vendors.

It's sad to see that all of space enthusiasts were banned. 
Because we replied **** trolls on our space program.

Ban on me is lifted and others too will come soon.
I will regularly update this thread now.
It won't be stuck or silent. My promise. 

Isro to use electric propulsion on satellites to carry more transponders





Ion Thrusters 






Thermal Vac test

L-3 Communications Electron Technologies

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## Bad Guy

*ISRO Scientists Answer Questions All Indian Space Nerds Have Been Wanting To Ask*
by Abhishek Saxsena
January 1, 2016







If you’re a space nerd like us, you’ll jump at the opportunity to pick the brains of some of the brightest minds that work at ISRO. A Reddit AMA held recently was one such opportunity and as you can guess, there were some important insights into ISRO’s current and future projects. Also, as you'll find out, they have a sense of humour too.

Q. And When would ISRO realistically be able to safely send man into space?

*A. Once government gives green signal, you may expect (most probably) an IAF pilot in space within 5(-ish) years.  Space suits for Vyomanauts (Yes) have already been developed. Google for images. Visit Space Museum in Thumba to see a model.*

Q. A silly one perhaps but what is purpose of that huge yellow crane on top of Umbilical Tower of SLP ? I have never seen it in action!

*A. It does what a crane does: lifts objects. In this case, heavy rocket parts, if and when required.*

Q. What can a common man do to help Isro?

*A. Pay your taxes.
*
Q. How does it feel like to work for ISRO? I MEAN IT'S ISRO YOU GUYS!
*
A. The force is strong with this organisation (plus 7th CPC makes things slightly better for the wallet too).





*
Q. What did you guys think about the movie Interstellar?
*
A. It was epic. Also NASA branding ftw.
*
Q. What are some of the big-ticket projects planned in the near-future except commercial satellites?
*
A. RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle), IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System), LVM3, Chandrayaan-2, Aditya-I... to name a few. IRNSS is slated to be much more accurate than GPS, and GoI will shift to it for all its navigational purposes. Aditya will be our mission to the sun. LVM3 is a huge rocket that will finally make us completely reliant vis-à-vis launch vehicle technology. And CY2 will have a rover!
*
Q. Is the first Indian to go to space in an Indian shuttle in 2017 already selected?
*
A. No. No further progress on Human Spaceflight Programme until govt. gives its nod (and money).









*
Q. Any new news about our cryogenic Engines?
*
A. We are developing a 20 ton thrust gas generator cycle cryogenic engine which will be ready in a few months. The cryogenic engine will be used in the launch of GSLV MK-III which we have planned to launch in December 2016. There are plans to have an increased propellant loading and clustering of engines for use in Heavy Lift vehicles in the future.

The CE-7.5 cryogenic stage used in GSLV Mk-II will see some upgrades with regards to propellant loading (12.5 tons to 15 tons) )to increase the payload capability. There has been a continuous effort to uprate the engines and look for solutions to optimize the stage.*

Q. What is the plan for human space flight? Is it going ahead?

*A. Human Space Flight is going to the initial process of prototyping and testing.*

Q. Is development of a 600kn cryo engine underway or has it been scrapped?

*A. There's no 600 kN semi-cryo as fas as i know. We are working on a bigger 2000kN semi-cryogenic engine for use in a 6ton class launch vehicle.




*

Q. Pick one PSLV or GSLV. And why?

*A. GSLV looks better and lifts heavier. However, it's quite costly and difficult to control (thrust). Mk 3 is our fav.*

Q. Your go to pick up line. Also ever successfully used your job designation to pick up a girl (assuming you all are guys)

*A. Waiting to write something funny:p
*
Q. Is there any ongoing DRDO and ISRO joint project?
*
A. If I tell you, I will have to kill you.
*
Q. Where do you see space research 10 years from now? what about 20 years? what about 30 years? can you also do 40 years and 50 years?
*
A. 10 years: Robotic base on Mars.

20 years: Human base on Mars, scaling of ion propulsion.

30 years: Colonisation of Mars, cheaper launches, space tourism becomes routine.

40 years: We finally start doing something substantial about the space debris problem, Space mining for real.

50 years: Spotting an exoplanet to explore by a probe, space bungalow (complete with a study) for parking my retired behind.
*
Q. So what is your go to leisure activities when you are not working?
*
A. Apart from the usual popular ones I subscribe to writing prompts, photoshopbattles, fitness, frugal, lifeprotips, youshouldknow, manga, naruto, nottheonion, metal, 4chan and android.*

ISRO Scientists Answer Questions All Indian Space Nerds Have Been Wanting To Ask

Simply,
SLV-50kg to LEO
ASLV- 150 kg to LEo
PSLV- 2500 kg to LEO
GSLV Mk2 : 5500 lg to LEO
LVM3(experimental): 8000kg to LEO.
GSLV Mk3: 10000-12000kg to LEO
ULV: 15000 kg to LEO
HLV: 20000-25000kg to LEO
Super Heavy Rocket Concept 2010: 31000-100000 kg to LEO
:paraty:
Love new concepts. 
I'm losing my patience day by day.
@Ankit Kumar @Abingdonboy @samlove @Tshering22 @SrNair @nair @ito



Indx TechStyle said:


> *Heavy Lift Launcher - Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre*



*Space parks to lift ISRO run rate*




_To engage domestic firms in launch vehicles — from integrating sub-systems to assembling and launching the PSLV._
Two space industry enclaves or “parks” that have been conceived — one for launchers at Sriharikota and a smaller one at an existing Bengaluru spacecraft campus — signal increased privatisation of the nation’s space programme over the next five years.

For now, the facilities will be “captive” to drive the future missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

First, ISRO wants to groom and engage domestic industry in the launch vehicles area from integrating sub-systems up to assembling, and even launching the PSLV.

This well-established rocket has put Indian and foreign satellites of up to 1,600 kg into space.

ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, A.S. Kiran Kumar, told _The Hindu:_“Internal discussions have just started on the mechanism of forming a (launch vehicle) consortium. A few key industry players working in the space programme have been sounded.”

Eventually the future consortium will be fully responsible for building and launching the light-lift PSLV rocket.

Currently industries such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Godrej & Boyce, Larsen & Toubro, MTAR and Walchandnagar Industries produce 80 per cent of the launch vehicle parts and sub-units.

These production works are scattered across their respective locations. The launch industry initiative must be close to ISRO’s launch complex, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at the 145-sq km Sriharikota range, on the lines of the launch complex of Europe’s Arianespace in French Guiana, Mr. Kiran Kumar told _The Hindu_.

*Satellite support*

On the spacecraft front, ISRO plans to increasingly support small and mid-sized industries at its 10-year-old second spacecraft complex, the 100-acre ISITE, at Marathahalli in Bengaluru.

ISITE, short for ISRO Satellite Integration & Test Establishment, is already open to a few suppliers who assemble and test their spacecraft systems for the ISRO. In the coming years, more satellites will be needed for replacing the ageing ones in orbit and new advanced communication, Earth observation and navigation spacecraft.

Mr. Kiran Kumar said, "ISRO plans to ramp up the frequency of satellite launches. In the last two years we did up to five launches [of both PSLV and GSLV rockets] in a year. The plan is to double this in two years and take it to about 16 over the next four years. Industry’s present capacity is unable to meet our increasing launch frequency, for both internal and commercial satellites. We expect a private-public industry consortium initiative to improve industry's capacity and our frequency."

SHAR is also putting up a second Vehicle Asssembly Bay to improve the pace of building launchers. In the coming years more satellites would be needed for replacing the ageing ones in orbit and new advanced communication, Earth observation and navigation spacecraft; and launchers, too. ISRO also hopes to build satellites for international operators.

*Second Vehicle Assembly Building being realized by ISRO*




_SVAB is being realised as an additional integration facility with suitable interfacing to second launch pad, it said. (Representative Image)_
BENGALURU: ISRO's Second Vehicle Assembly Building (SVAB) is being realised as an additional integration facility, with suitable interfacing to a second launch pad at Sriharikota, even as the space agency plans to increase its launch frequency to more than 12 missions per year.

Five launches per year have been achieved during the last two years and it is targeted to increase the launch frequency to eight missions in the immediate future and more than 12 missions per year subsequently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said today.

Towards meeting these future targets,SVAB is being realised as an additional integration facility with suitable interfacing to second launch pad, it said.

Necessary augmentations are planned in Solid Motor production and other launch base infrastructure, it added.

With the successful lift-off of the PSLV-C29 launch vehicle carrying six Singapore satellites on December 16, 2015 from the first Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre ( SDSC), SHAR;ISRO marked a history as it completed 50 launches from the spaceport.

Out of 50 launches from Sriharikota, 32 were Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), nine are Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), four Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), four Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and one GSLV MkIII-X.

Stating that the journey started with the realisation of facilities for integration and launch of the first Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3, ISRO said initially independent launch pads were realised for the first generation launch vehicles of SLV-3 and ASLV.

Subsequently, two versatile launch pads, namely First Launch Pad and Second Launch Pad were realised and both have provisions to integrate and launch the present operational vehicles of PSLV and GSLV.

The Second Launch Pad is augmented to meet requirements of integration and launch of next generation launch vehicle GSLV MkIII.

In parallel, facilities have been established for production of Solid Motors required for all launch vehicles of ISRO, the space agency added.

Out of 50 launches from Sriharikota, 43 were successful and seven were unsuccessful, including the first launch SLV-3 E1 on August 10, 1979.[/B][/S]

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## Bad Guy

*Geo-Spatial Technology for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan*
A novel initiative to contribute in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan using the Geo-spatial Technology (GST) was taken up jointly by the central Government institutions in Dehradun. This initiative was supported by Nagar Nigam, Dehradun (local authorities). Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), a Unit of ISRO, coordinated this programme in collaboration with the following institutions:


Anthropological Survey of India
Archaeological Survey of India
Botanical Survey of India
Defence Electronics Application Laboratory (DEAL), DRDO
Indian Institute of Petroleum
Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation
Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE), DRDO
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology
Wildlife Institute of India
Zoological Survey of India


*Geo-spatial Technology (GST)*

Geo-spatial technology (GST) includes a suite of three technologies: 1) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), or more popularly, Global Positioning System (GPS) which provides geographic location or positions of specific points on the Earth 2) Space-borne satellite images which provide pictorial description of the point in the context of neighborhood locations 3) Geographical Information System (GIS) which integrates these two along with many other information layers like road and infrastructure, topography, land use, soil, geology, etc., and also allows people to generate and use maps required to manage our resources for the benefit of common man. Today, GST is being used as a working platform for realising e-governance with a large number of applications from natural resources mapping and monitoring to infrastructure and development planning, meteorology, disaster management support, to name a few.

With the availability of GPS data through smart phones at affordable cost, better governance and providing location based services to the public has become feasible. Application of GST in Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan has been attempted for the first time by IIRS, Dehradun.



*Methodology*

The reconnaissance survey using India's GPS-Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) receiver was carried out to precisely locate the authorised and unauthorised garbage dumping sites covering five main routes in Dehradun city. The road network connected to the dumping sites was also mapped for route planning. Geo-tagging of all the participating government institutes were also done. GIS techniques such as geo-fencing (buffering), geo-spatial analysis (spatial and attribute queries), etc., were used to develop an optimum implementation plan. A map was prepared representing geo-fencing of each institute considering time constraints and resource allocation. Each route was supported with respective teams of both IIRS and collaborative institutes (471 volunteers and 43 Nagar Nigam personnel) to impliment the proposed activity. Real-time monitoring and support was provided to the overall activity from IIRS control room.

Twenty two garbage dumping sites and roadsides were cleaned within a span of 3 hours. Around 45 m3 (approximately 10 ton) of garbage was collected and disposed during this entire exercise. The details of this event are available atwww.iirs.gov.in/SBA.html.



*Mapping and monitoring of Garbage sites through Crowd sourcing*

One of the unique results of this novel multi-institutional initiative is the conceptualisation of crowd sourcing tool to identify, map and monitor the dumping sites. A Swachh Bharat Mobile Application (beta version) is being developed by IIRS in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi which will allow any user to install the mobile app in their smart phones and send the garbage site geo-tagged information to the Nagar Nigam server (if available) for further action. Thus crowd sourcing for Swachh Bharat will be soon realised and implemented with the help of Academic Institutions as a regular exercise for the cleanliness of the city.











*ANU to team up with ISRO to design multiple object tracking software*
Acharya Nagarjuna University will team up with Satish Dhawan Space Centre- Indian Space Research Organisation (SDSC-ISRO) to develop a multiple object tracking software (MOTR) with functions ranging from missile tracking in defence to tracking of flight paths in airports.

The ANU has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SDSC-SHAR to design the MOTR and it is the first university in the country to have a tie-up with SDSC-SHAR in designing indigenous radars. India is the fourth nation in the world, after the US, Japan and Germany to design MOTR, Principal, University College of Engineering, P. Siddhaih said.

He said that the ANU has been granted the project estimated to cost Rs.30 lakh with which it would provide high frequency structural simulator software.

“The software can also be used in tracking of submarine and satellite launching. We are using the Electron Beam Steering Technique for tracking of objects,’’ Dr. Siddhaiah told _The Hindu_ on Monday.

The ANU would also collaborate with ISRO to implement high gain antennas and a radar system which would be simulated with the help of high-end work stations, Dr. Siddhaih added.

The electron beam steering would ensure that the antenna could be moved by electron beams.

Appreciating the efforts of Dr. Siddhaih in bagging the prestigious project, ANU Vice-Chancellor V.S.S. Kumar said that the university would extend its support to all research activities in science and technology.


_*University engineering college principal P. Siddhaih says the software can also be used in tracking of submarine and satellite launching*_

*NHAI signs MoU with ISRO and NECTAR for use of spatial technology for monitoring national highways*
View attachment 7212

NHAI has signed Memorandum of Understanding with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) for use of spatial technology for monitoring and managing national highways.

The use of satellite data and geospatial technology will be useful in providing inputs in highway and infrastructure projects for preparation of DPR(Detailed Project Report), prefeasibility status in new alignment, upgrade/road widening, monitoring of road segments under construction and Road Asset Management System.
The use and benefits of unmanned aerial vehicle technology will be useful in monitoring, construction progress, Road Asset Management, feasibility report and DPR preparation, immediate assessment and remedy of problematic spots etc.

NHAI will take up some pilot projects with both the organisations to identify and finalise actual use and benefits of both satellite data & geospatial technology and UAV technology in highway and infrastructure sector. A technical cell would also be set up which will run 24x7 to provide relevant project specific data using this technology to project report Consultants, Engineers, staff and users.

@samlove @Guynextdoor2 @SrNair @Abingdonboy @Ankit Kumar @Tshering22 @Bornubus @gslvmarkIII @AMCA @Loginwithfacebook @GURU DUTT @Zarvan @bejingwalker @Chinese-Dragon @1ndy @cirr @wangalokan @faithfulguy @PaklovesTurkiye @MaarKhoor
Some awesome images from Astrosat too which were ignored at that time due to concentration on other issues. 












Official: 
ASTROSAT Completes 100 days in Orbit - ISRO

Too bad, both Indian and Kuwaiti flag emoticons aren't available on PDF. 
*Cabinet apprised of ISRO-KISR MoU for joint space exploration
*




The MoU will lead to setting up of a Joint Working Group, drawing members from ISRO and KISR, which will further work out the plan of action.

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet was today apprised of an agreement between ISRO and a Kuwaiti research body on cooperation in exploration of outer space and use of space technology for peaceful purposes.

The memorandum of understanding will enable pursuing potential interest areas in both cooperative and commercial mode. These include use of data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites byKuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) for initiating research and application projects, training, and building and launching of remote sensing and communication satellites on commercial terms.

The MoU will lead to setting up of a Joint Working Group, drawing members from ISRO and KISR, which will further work out the plan of action including the time-frame and the means of implementing the agreement, an official statement said here.

"Cooperation with KISR through this MoU will lead to developing a joint activity in the field of application of space technology for the benefit of humanity...(it) will provide impetus to explore newer research activities and application possibilities in the field of remote sensing of the earth; satellitecommunication; satellite navigation; space science and exploration of outer space," it said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today briefed the Union Cabinet about the successful launch of the fifth navigation satellite IRNSS-1E on-board the workhorse PSLV-C31 from Sriharikota this morning.

"The Cabinet applauded the ISRO, the scientists and others involved with the project," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters at the Cabinet briefing here.

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## Bad Guy

Presentation detailing ISRO's plans for future Earth-Observation (EO) satellites. Included are details regarding HySIS, India's first Hyperspectral satellite expected to be launched by this year-end, along with continuations of many existing series like CARTOSAT, Resourcesat etc.

Also mentioned are the developments regarding the new IMS-3 small-satellite bus.

http://www.nrsc.gov.in/pdf/1.1.User Meet_NRSC_2015-01-21_Ver-2_Anna_durai.pdf

Screenshots from the same;


















View .pdf presentation for further reading. Thanks to *ohsin* on the NASASpaceflight forum for the doc.


China has recently launched world's most powerful GEO Reconnaissance Satellite GaoFen-4 and currently only satellite of it's kind in or it at least now.
Till the India launches it's similar satellite ISRO GEO HR IMAGER next year. 

Last Update for upper one.
ISRO, NASA to Engage in Chilika Lake for India's First Hyperspectral Study -The New Indian Express

*India, France to Develop Satellite to Help Study Climate Change*





*Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande *are expected to announce on Monday a new project for joint development of a satellite to help study climate change and explore ways to manage and mitigate its impact.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d’ Etudes Spatiales (CNES) may ink a deal for jointly developing the satellite after Modi’s meeting with Hollande on Monday.

“There will be a new project of space program in relation to observation and prevention of climate change,” France’s Ambassador to India, Francois Richier, told journalists in New Delhi.

He said the French president’s visit would also see several MoUs being inked by higher education institutions of the two countries.

Hollande will land in Chandigarh on Sunday to commence his second visit to India. He will meet Modi on Monday and will be the chief guest at the Republic Day ceremony on Tuesday. Richier said thatu threat posed by climate change would be high on the agenda of the meeting between the prime minister and French president.

They are expected to discuss ways to step up bilateral cooperation on joint research and development and technology innovation as well as diffusion of clean energy and efficiency solutions that will help in transitioning towards a climate resilient and low carbon economy.

Both Paris and New Delhi are of the view that the ISRO-CNES cooperation should focus more on use of space technology to respond to climate change.

The CNES is keen to step up its cooperation with ISRO as India was one of the first nations to deploy high-quality satellite capabilities in response to the need to manage its water resources and address food security issues posed by the threat of climate change as well as the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, officials said in New Delhi.

*Two Satellites*

India-France cooperation has already resulted in two satellites, which were jointly developed by ISRO and CNES and are now delivering precious operational data for climate study. While Megha-Tropiques, launched in 2011, is helping scientists to map cloud cover in three dimensions, Saral-AltiKa, launched in 2013, measures the surface height of oceans, lakes and rivers with millimetre accuracy, heralding new prospects for management of water resources.

On the occasion of Modi’s visit to Paris in April 2015, ISRO and CNES signed an agreement, which proposed cooperation in the areas of satellite remote sensing, satellite communications and satellite meteorology; space sciences and planetary exploration; data collection and location; operations of satellite ground stations and spacecraft mission management; space research and applications.

It covered the potential cooperation activities, such as joint earth observation mission, hosted payload opportunities and exploration of Mars.

India-France cooperation in space technology started with the setting up of sounding rocket launching facilities at Thumba in early 1960s and progressed through the development of liquid engines in the 1970s.

Source>>

*The Future of ISRO – Get more Private Industries Involved and Encourage Academic Participation*




*ISRO's Conception of the Human Rated Orbital Vehicle. design and testing of OV is in progress*

_*by P.V. Manoranjan Rao*_

_*Former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation Dr K Kasturirangan, on the future of ISRO, the need to interface with university systems as well as consortium of industries and the viability of an Indian human space mission.*_

It is time we start looking at ISRO in a very different perspective. We cannot go on producing satellites and launch vehicles which are operational within the system. Right now, our manpower is about 15,000 to 18,000 or that kind of a number; it should not grow more than 20,000 to 22,000 whereas the number of missions should grow by three to four times in the coming five to eight years. Obviously, this can come only if there is an external capacity that is built and the whole mechanism of institutionalising, and how to do it outside ISRO, are well planned and ensured. Industries have been meeting ISRO’s requirements very well. With proper policy framework for ISRO in place, the industry can be allowed to use our launch and test facilities. This is yet to take place. It’s not purely outsourcing.

Industries will have to get missions, get the stakeholders and user community and also do business with outside world. And for that, it has to be more than just being an outsourcing system. So you have to really create a parallel ISRO within the industrial system in this country. This is important.





*Dr Kasturirangan*

Yes, you need to focus on R&D, proof of concept missions, international collaborations, human space mission as and when it takes place, planetary programmes, etc. This should be all within the scope and the overall agreed programmes on space, which should be the mandate of ISRO. But the moment an operational system is created, a consortium of industries should come and take it over and also do business on that basis. So, that is what I would say should be the next attempt.

*On frustrating Moments*

Frustration comes in because you have expectations and you don’t meet those. Expectations from ISRO, particularly from outside, are great; many times it is difficult because people think that a great thing is happening in this country and they do not have a benchmark, so their expectations are high. Within ISRO, we know there is a gap between what we are capable of and what we are doing.

Then we get frustrated because we think that we should be doing more. Take for example remote sensing applications: in ISRO we have major centres doing this. We have operationalised some applications. We also have Regional Remote Sensing Centres. Very good. But when we see what systems like Google are doing, we know we are far from them. We should have gone ahead without any constraints on using remote sensing data.

The second thing is the non-proliferation of space science into the university system. I think we have got very limited interface with university systems. You look at planetary mission like Chandrayaan. How many university papers do we see? Practically nothing. It was not pushed with passion. Now Mangalyaan! It was called as a test flight for technology. I was amazed at the way in which these things are being said outside. Planetary mission is a planetary mission. You will have instruments with which we can do contemporary science. You’re going to have a new look at Mars with respect to its origin, its atmosphere, the climatology system, its implication with respect to Earth. This is the objective.

You need to have technology. Technology always is driven by science and this technology is always higher than the technology you need for day-to-day and down-to-earth applications. So this is the loop you should really look at. So please make sure that this is a correction you need to make when you talk about planetary missions. ISRO will not have a technology demonstrator for planetary missions. It will be always science that will drive it.

In the process it will develop new technologies. Those new technologies will further improve our ability to explore and at the same time used for improving remote sensing and other kind of satellite technologies for down-to-earth application. So this is the way we should look at planetary missions and make sure that we get an opportunity to demonstrate that we’re able to go there and do experiment. We’re qualifying ourselves into a global player and try to function in a consortium. If you’re part of a consortium, you should be an equal partner, because you are able to contribute, which you have demonstrated.

And lastly it is also the way in which excitement can be created in the younger generation. This excitement in younger generation is going to be a sustaining factor. Presently not a single university is involved in the Mangalyaan mission. Not a single academic institution is involved. We need to transform the planetary missions as intellectual opportunities even as we demonstrate our technological capability.

*Should India go for Human Space Missions?*

Yes, in the long run. I think three or four countries have done it. And countries with the resources today are able to do it. Among countries capable of doing it, India can be included. But on the other hand, if you ask me whether we have lost time, we’ve not really lost time, because we build up our applications at a certain pace. So we have a certain way with which we’ve gone about our programme. ‘You need one more ISRO! People give you a wrong impression about the type of resources needed for human space mission. The returns may not be commensurate with the type of money we put into. Returns will never be big. So we need to wait.’ That’s what I told Prime Minister Vajpayee when he asked me about human space flights. But that doesn’t mean that we need not prepare for it. We should certainly aim for increased stature as a spacefaring nation.

Look at the amount of work the US did before embarking on a human space mission there, with their space shuttle. You cannot imagine, the documents they prepared would fill a whole room. The number of scientists, number of engineers, number of strategic planners, the managers – all of them were brought together and separately each one of them churned the concept. That doesn’t mean that concept is applicable to India. You need to go through a similar exercise.

For if Chandrayaan took us four years, a human space mission will take five to six years to specify what the human space mission should be. Then how do you implement it? There are many ways of doing it. You can go on a totally autonomous way. That is number one. Or, try to find out all that is available elsewhere. Exactly like we build a satellite using the components which are available in the market, we don’t build the components. You do an exercise of that kind for human space mission and see what can be bought and what can be built indigenously.

A judicious option has to be exercised very carefully. This is number two. Or we get major subsystems of human space mission and build it, like the Chinese did for the first and second manned capsules. That is number three. And then the fourth one is by enlarging, that is, get a human space mission working from another country. Work on. Like what we did for first cryogenic stage. And then give the Indianness to it. So these are just four approaches to do that. Each one of them, you look at the feasibility, the political considerations, the national priorities, the resources that we need and the time we need.

_*(Excerpted with permission from From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India’s Space Journey, edited by P.V. Manoranjan Rao, HarperCollins India, 2015)*_

Source>>

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## Bad Guy

What ANU and ISRO working on appears to be the back-end components (software, algorithms and related systems) for the ISRO's MOTR radar.

This radar is a beast.







> As it is prepared for trials, the MOTR is
> composed of an estimated 4,600 T/R
> radar modules capable of electronic
> beam scanning. The electronic scanning
> capability means that the MOTR,
> through its 12 m x 6 m (39.4 ft x 19.7
> ft) radome, will be able to track its
> targets simultaneously in a 360°.


India's MOTR Space Tracking Radar Ready for Trials - Forecast International

Some additional specs I pulled from old saved articles & forum discussions;

*50 cm x 50 cm object size at a slant
range of 1000 km
30 cm x 30 cm object size at a slant
range of 800 km*
If my maths aren't all bungled up, 50 cm x 50 cm equals a surface area of 0.25sqm.










^^The MOTR uses a liquid-cooling setup, just like my Gaming PC 

*France to partner Isro in Mars mission*




France will partner India in its next Mars mission, which the Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch in 2018.

French space agency, CNES on Monday signed a letter of intent with the ISRO for French participation in the next Mars mission. The details of the French proposal remains unknown.

A joint statement issued in the wake of the summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande says, both leaders "welcomed the announcement of collaboration through the participation of the Centre National d’etudes spatiales (CNES) in future space and planetary exploration missions of the ISRO.”

India’s first Mars mission was a technology demonstrator. Its success led to the planning of Mars-2 mission for carrying out more substantive scientific experiments. As the slot in 2016 is out of question because of the non-availability of a suitable launch vehicle, the plan is to have the second mission in 2018 when the reliable PSLV could be used. A lander and a rover is being thought of in the second Indian Mars mission.

In addition to the Mars programme, India and France signed agreements for a future earth observation satellite and putting French Argos-4 data collection payload in the Oceansat-3, which may be launched in 2018 to provide continuity of data for already established services in the area of oceanographic applications. The earth observation project is to have a joint thermal infrared mission.

The leaders expressed confidence that these missions would contribute significantly to the monitoring of environment, weather, water resources and coastal zones and further strengthen the partnership between the two countries.India and France currently have two joint payloads Megha-Tropiques and SARAL for studying tropical atmosphere and sea surface.

Moreover,
Mangalyaan-2 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Armani

@Bad Guy Having fun on D -- F -- I mate?

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Bad Guy

Armani said:


> @Bad Guy Having fun on D -- F -- I mate?


Yes, most of these are my posts on D-F-I. 

*India's 1st solar mission to help address some problems in solar physics: ISRO*




Aditya - L1 will be launched on board launch vehicle PSLV-XL from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
BENGALURU: India's first mission to study the Sun, Aditya - L1, will help address some of the outstanding problems in solar physics, Indian Space Research Organisation said today. 

Expected to be launched during 2019-20, it will enable a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic processes of the sun, it said. 

The mission was first conceived as Aditya-1 mission as a 400 kg class satellite carrying one payload, the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC). 

It was planned for launch in an 800 km low earth orbit. 

The mission has now been revised to 'Aditya-L1 mission' because satellite placed in the hallowed orbit around Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation or eclipses. 

The satellite will be inserted in a halo orbit around the L1, which is 1.5 million km from Earth, ISRO said, adding that it would also carry additional six payloads for enhanced scientific scope and objectives. 

Aditya - L1 will be launched on board launch vehicle PSLV-XL from the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. 

Earlier, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh had in a written response in the Lok Sabha said that the "approved cost" of the solar mission is Rs 378.53 crore. 

ISRO said Aditya-1 was meant to observe only the solar corona, while Aditya-L1 with additional experiments can now provide observations of Sun's Photosphere (soft and hard X-ray), Chromosphere (UV) and corona (Visible and near infrared (NIR). 

In addition, particle payloads will study particle flux emanating from the Sun and reaching the L1 orbit, and the magnetometer payload will measure the variation in magnetic field strength at the halo orbit around L1, it added.

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## A$HU

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major milestone, ISRO today successfully hot tested 'Cryo CE 20' Engine for a flight duration of 640 seconds, with the space agency Chairman A S Kirankumar describing the feat as a "phenomenal achievement in the shortest time." 

The test was completed successfully at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) at Mahendragiri today at 17.15 hrs, an ISRO press release said here. 

This engine is identified for Cryogenic stage hot tests for GSLV MkIII, according to the .. 

Read more at:
ISRO successfully conducts hot test of Cryo CE 20 engine - The Economic Times

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## Bad Guy

*Kineco Kaman's antenna put into orbit via ISRO satellite*




DHAA was manufactured by Kineco Kaman for ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Trivandrum and was integrated into IRNSS-1E. (Representative Image)
PANAJI: Kineco Kaman Composites India (KKCI) has become the first private company in India to manufacture a Dual Helix Antenna Array (DHAA) assembly, which was launched into the space aboard ISRO's fifth Indian Regional Navigation Satellite (IRNSS-1E) this month. 

"The DHAA assembly is a very complex and high precision structure made using a combination of Carbon and Aramid Composites. The manufacturing of this DHAA requires hi-tech engineering and manufacturing competence, benchmarked with the best in the world," said Shekhar Sardessai, Chairman and MD, Kineco Kaman Composites-India Private Limited. 

IRNSS is a cluster of seven satellites comprising three geo-stationary and four geo-synchronous satellites. 

DHAA was manufactured by Kineco Kaman for ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Trivandrum and was integrated into IRNSS-1E, which was successfully put into the orbit by PSLV-C31 on January 2, he said. 

"The IRNSS will be the Indian version of the global positioning system (GPS) and will be called Standard Positioning Service (SPS). Once all the satellites are placed in orbit, which is expected to be by March 2016, free SPS services will be available to all civilians," Sardessai said. 

Kineco Kaman -- a joint venture of Kineco Group Goa, India and Kaman Aerospace Group-USA -- had earlier received a contract for the manufacture and supply of 10 sets of DHAA assemblies for VSSC Trivandrum in 2015.

Indian Regional Satellite Navigation System Update
IRNSS 1F will be launched on 10th March 2016
IRNSS 1G will be launched on 31st March 2016
Source:
<img src="/images/favicon_ps.ico" >ప్ర‌జాశ‌క్తి
One launch at every month- Frequency "12" dream is realizing.

*NASA, India Join Hands for Astrobiology Mission*

*For the first time India is part of Spaceward Bound program, which funds expeditions to places with extreme climate conditions
*
Even as India prepares for a second mission to Mars, a team of scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Mars Society Australia and the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, will mount an expedition to Ladakh this August to study the similarities of certain parts of the region’s topography and microbial life to Martian surroundings.

India’s second mission to Mars — scheduled to be in 2020 — will involve collaboration with France and may include a lander or rover — remote controlled vehicles — which can ostensibly better analyse a planet’s surface.

“This is the first time that India is part of the Spaceward Bound programme,” said Siddharth Pandey, who is among the coordinators of the expedition “and we hope to have the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) closely involved.” The Spaceward Bound is a NASA project that educates future space explorers and funds expeditions to places with extreme climate conditions.
Before Ladakh, there have been expeditions to the deserts such in Atacama, Chile; Mojave, California; Arkaroola, Australia as well as the Arctic and Antarctica, organised since 2006.


*Low-Cost Mars Mission*
The success of India’s low-cost mission to Mars, in 2014, has led to heightened international interest in collaborating with India’s upcoming space missions. India now has an orbiter that's still circling Mars and taking pictures — with five instruments on board — in hopes of finding methane, carbon dioxide and the effect of solar winds on its surface. “Ladakh has been studied before but this time we’re going to be looking at some very specific experiments,” said Mr. Pandey — an engineer from India and who’s previously worked at the NASA. “We will be testing a rover that will collect samples and analyse some of the high altitude springs etc.”

According to the program’s website, Ladakh offers a “high UV (ultra-violet) exposed, dry ecosystem with Mars analogue topological features that tell us heaps about the origin and evolution of our planet’s topological features…”

Before its Mars Mission, the ISRO has Chandrayaan 2 planned to the moon, in 2017, that too hopes to set a lander on the surface of the moon.

The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, which has expertise in studying ancient climate and life, will be coordinating the travel of scientists and researchers from several countries who will be part of the 10-day expedition.

Along with research experiments, the group would also meet school students and organise sessions on how astrobiology missions work, the evolution of life on earth as well as on how space missions work, Mr. Pandey added.
Source>>

*ISRO conducts 1st satellite based warning system trial for railways*
The first trial run for developing a satellite-based system to warn train drivers of unmanned railway crossings was conducted by ISRO scientists in Ahmedabad recently. Scientists at the city-based Space Applications Centre (SAC) are now in the process of commercially developing this system that will be fitted on 50 different trains across the country as a second part of the demonstration project.

Of around 30,000 level crossings of the Railways, as many as 11,000 are unmanned. “An estimated 7,000 people die every year at these unmanned crossings in the country. We have successfully conducted the first test-drive in Ahmedabad for developing a satellite-controlled warning system for the Indian Railways that will alert the train driver well in advance about an approaching unmanned level crossing. Simultaneously, it will also alert the road-users about the approaching train,” Tapan Misra, director of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, said..
The demonstration project was carried out by a team of ISRO scientists and Western Railway officials in the first week of January. Under this project, a transmitter connected to GSAT-6 (a communication satellite) was mounted at Vastrapur and Sarkhej level crossings. Thereafter, the team boarded a train — fitted with a hooter that was in turn connected with a similar transmitter and a receiver — running between Gandhigram and Moraiya, near Changodar. All the trial runs were conducted in Ahmedabad.

“About 500 m before the level crossings, this hooter went on, warning the train driver about the approaching level crossing. The hooter got louder as the level crossing neared, and finally fell silent after the train passed it by. Similarly, the hooter attached to the transmitter mounted on the railway crossings alerted the road users about the approaching train. We had also used global positioning system and Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) during this demonstration. After its success, we will soon implement the second phase,” Misra said.

In the next phase of the demonstration project, SAC has selected six private companies for commercially developing the satellite-based transmitting and receiving system. “One of the six models/designs developed by these companies will be selected and will be demonstrated on 50 different trains running across the country. This demonstration will be done for a month,” he said, adding that the system will be integrated with IRNSS

According to scientists at SAC, the project to build warning systems will be taken forward to cover the entire railway network at a later stage. A GIS (Geographical Information Systems) mapping will be done of the entire route and a GIS map will be created. “This will help Indian Railways track each train on its network and also get timely alerts about derailment and accidents,” Misra added.

*ISRO conducts 1st satellite based warning system trial for railways*
The first trial run for developing a satellite-based system to warn train drivers of unmanned railway crossings was conducted by ISRO scientists in Ahmedabad recently. Scientists at the city-based Space Applications Centre (SAC) are now in the process of commercially developing this system that will be fitted on 50 different trains across the country as a second part of the demonstration project.

Of around 30,000 level crossings of the Railways, as many as 11,000 are unmanned. “An estimated 7,000 people die every year at these unmanned crossings in the country. We have successfully conducted the first test-drive in Ahmedabad for developing a satellite-controlled warning system for the Indian Railways that will alert the train driver well in advance about an approaching unmanned level crossing. Simultaneously, it will also alert the road-users about the approaching train,” Tapan Misra, director of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, said..
The demonstration project was carried out by a team of ISRO scientists and Western Railway officials in the first week of January. Under this project, a transmitter connected to GSAT-6 (a communication satellite) was mounted at Vastrapur and Sarkhej level crossings. Thereafter, the team boarded a train — fitted with a hooter that was in turn connected with a similar transmitter and a receiver — running between Gandhigram and Moraiya, near Changodar. All the trial runs were conducted in Ahmedabad.

“About 500 m before the level crossings, this hooter went on, warning the train driver about the approaching level crossing. The hooter got louder as the level crossing neared, and finally fell silent after the train passed it by. Similarly, the hooter attached to the transmitter mounted on the railway crossings alerted the road users about the approaching train. We had also used global positioning system and Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) during this demonstration. After its success, we will soon implement the second phase,” Misra said.

In the next phase of the demonstration project, SAC has selected six private companies for commercially developing the satellite-based transmitting and receiving system. “One of the six models/designs developed by these companies will be selected and will be demonstrated on 50 different trains running across the country. This demonstration will be done for a month,” he said, adding that the system will be integrated with IRNSS

According to scientists at SAC, the project to build warning systems will be taken forward to cover the entire railway network at a later stage. A GIS (Geographical Information Systems) mapping will be done of the entire route and a GIS map will be created. “This will help Indian Railways track each train on its network and also get timely alerts about derailment and accidents,” Misra added.

*IIST: Capacity Building for Indian Space Programme*






The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) is an autonomous body under DOS formed with the primary objective of creating world class academic Institution in the area of advanced Space Science and Technology education by seamlessly integrating education with research and generating high quality human resources to meet the quality human resource requirements of DOS/ISRO. IIST, a ‘Deemed to be University’ under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956 was established in 2007 at Thiruvananthapuram.








*View of IIST student hostels at the Valiamala campus*

The Institute is the first of its kind in the country, to offer high quality and specialized academic programmes at the undergraduate, graduate, doctoral levels in the emerging areas with special focus to space sciences, space technology and space applications and it also offers post doctoral positions to undertake research.. The Institute started functioning in an alternate campus adjacent to VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram and later moved over to its own new campus at Valiamala from August 15, 2010. The annual intake of the Institute is around 250 students.






*The old IIST Campus at ATF Area*

*Undergraduate Programmes*

IIST offers various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in areas that are relevant to space studies. The institute was offering B.Tech in three branches – Aerospace Engineering, Avionics and Physical Sciences. From academic year 2015 onwards, a Dual Degree (B. Tech + M.S / M. Tech) has been replaced the B. Tech (Physical Sciences). This five year Dual Degree Programme will lead to a B.Tech degree in Engineering Physics and Post Graduate Degree in any of the following specialisations - (i) M.S. (Astronomy & Astrophysics) (ii) M.S. (Earth System Science) (iii) M.S. (Solid State Physics) and (iv) M.Tech (Optical Engineering). There is no option to exit the dual degree after four years. The dual degree students will give their preference for the M.S./M.Tech. specialisations at the end of sixth semester. They will pursue one of the four specialisations based on their academic performance (CGPA) up to the sixth semester.

Admissions to all undergraduate programmes are based on the performance of the students in their class XII Board exams as well as on the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE–Main) conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi as well as the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) conducted by IITs, as per the guidelines set by IIST.






*The Observatory at IIST with an 8-inch Celestron telescope.*

The major feature of the undergraduate program is the complete absence of any form of fees payable to the institute, rendering the education “fully assisted”, subject to the students securing a stipulated minimum academic requirement. As performance based financial assistance is provided by DOS to the B.Tech students of IIST, ISRO/DOS will have the first right to absorb them, subject to the human resource requirements of ISRO/DOS. Summary of the undergraduate programmes :

*Programme*

*No. of Seats*

*Duration*

B.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering

60

4 years

B.Tech. in Avionics

60

4 years

Dual Degree (B.Tech. and M.S./M.Tech.)*

20

5 years


* On successful completion of the 5-year (10 semesters) students receive, a_ B.Tech._ degree in _Engineering Physics _and a _M.S./M.Tech_. degree in one of the following four streams :

• M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics

• M.S. in Earth System Science

• M.S. in Solid State Physics

•M.Tech. in Optical Engineering

_138 undergraduate students were admitted for the academic year 2015-2016 in the above-mentioned three branches._

*M.Tech./MS Programme*

IIST offers postgraduate programmes in fourteen areas of space science and engineering. These M.Tech and M.S programmes are open to public as well as scientists / engineers of DOS / ISRO. The academic programmes have been formulated to strengthen the fundamentals, experience the realities through practical work, and enhance the knowledge and understanding in the areas of interest. Also, the programmes so envisaged ensures adequate exposure in the emerging fields which will lead to experience knowledge synthesis.

Applications for M.Tech./MS programmes are screened based on GATE score and the admission is through test and interview. The total number of seats in each programme is ten, out of which six seats are reserved for open merit candidates and the remaining four for DOS/ISRO employees.

90 postgraduate students were admitted for the academic year 2015-2016.

*ESTABLISHMENT OF DR. SATISH DHAWAN ENDOWED FELLOWSHIP AT GRADUATE AEROSPACE LABORATORIES OF THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (GALCIT)*

The Department of Space / Indian Space Research Organisation has established an endowed fellowship at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), California, USA. This fellowship is established in the honor of Dr. Satish Dhawan, who was the former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) during its formative period 1972-1984. 

The fellowship provides an excellent opportunity to the top ranking graduating student from Aerospace Department of IIST, to be sponsored by the Department of Space, to pursue Masters in Space Engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech). On completion of the course and award of degree by Caltech, the student will pursue career in Space at ISRO.

*Doctoral Programmes*

The institute recognizes the relevance of research. IIST encourages all its faculty members to guide and supervise young scholars for the PhD programme as well as for Post-Doctoral programmes. It also supports the research needs of faculty members by funding research projects directly. The institute provides for the publication charges of peer reviewed journal papers that are published by faculty, research scholars and students of the institute. 

Admission for Ph.D. programme is based on test and interview and is restricted to those candidates who qualified JRF-NET/GATE or equivalent exams. The Institute has the provision to allow ISRO/DOS Scientists/Engineers to join the Ph.D. Programme.

26 Research Scholars were admitted for the academic year 2015-2016.

*Research in Departments*

Presently, the Institute has the faculty strength of 93 spread over seven departments. Faculty members from various departments have initiated various research projects. Collaborative research works with various ISRO centres are also undertaken by faculty. The faculty members have to their credit publications in books and journals of both national and international repute; they have also presented papers and lectures in outside universities/academic institutions.

One of the major recent developments in the institute is setting up of an “Advanced Space Technology Development Cell” (ASTDC). ASTDC was created in September 2015 as a new technology cell in IIST to develop advanced technologies required by the various centres in ISRO for their current and future projects. In addition, ASTDC is also responsible for interacting with Indian and foreign universities for the design and development of experimental payloads and nano-satellites.

*Campus*

The campus is located at Valiamala, about 25 kms from Thiruvananthapuram city, on the way to the famous hill resort of Ponmudi. The institute provides full-fledged infrastructure of international standards to develop an excellent academic and research atmosphere. Modern environment friendly buildings of unique architecture merge well with the flora and fauna of the surroundings. The academic activities spread across four blocks – Aerospace, Physical Sciences, Avionics and Interdisciplinary. Of these the first two are fully functional and host all the seven departments. The Academic blocks are equipped with spacious lecture halls and well-designed research and curriculum laboratories. The Academic blocks also house the offices of the faculty members and research scholars. An imposing Library building is centrally located. IIST also has an Astronomical Observatory situated on the rooftop of the Physical Sciences building.

IIST is planned to be a fully residential campus with all facilities. Presently, the residential wing for the students is complete. The faculty and staff residential campus along with the stadium and sports complexes are in the pipeline. The campus has 11 hostels and two mess halls for the students. There is a Medical Centre with qualified doctors and nurses which operates 24 x 7. An ambulance is available in the campus for emergencies. Tie up with premier hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram ensures that all students are provided excellent medical attention when required.

_*The institute is committed to excellence in teaching, learning and research. IIST fosters state-of-the-art research and development in space studies and provides a think-tank to explore new directions for the Indian space programme.*_

_*For further information please visit: *_*www.iist.ac.in*






*Story of the Week - Archive*
*Feb 02, 2016* : IIST: Capacity Building for Indian Space Programme
*Jan 26, 2016* : Aditya - L1 First Indian mission to study the Sun
*Jan 18, 2016* : ASTROSAT Completes 100 days in Orbit
*Jan 11, 2016* : Geo-spatial Technology for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan
*Jan 05, 2016* : ISRO Completes 50 Launches from Sriharikota
*Dec 29, 2015* : Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory (MIRO) : Unveiling the Universe
*Dec 21, 2015* : National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM) services in tackling Disasters

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*House Panel for 50% Hike in ISRO’s Budget *

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests plans to recommend to the Centre a 50 per cent raise in the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) annual budget.

Ashwani Kumar, Chairman of the committee, addressing reporters said ISRO’s current budget is ₹5,800 crore and non-Plan allocation is ₹1,400 crore. Justifying the hike, Ashwani Kumar said it will help ISRO enhance its manpower, especially high-tech scientific manpower which help in launching more satellites. “An organisation like ISRO should not be starved of funds,” he added. “We have been informed about the need for enhancing manpower, particularly the scientific manpower of ISRO, the lack of which was disabling the organisation to optimise its potential.”

*Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MK III at the Launch Pad*




AS Kiran Kumar, ISRO Chairman said the process of hiring more scientists was being initiated. This depends on the Centre’s approval. “We need manpower for producing various satellites and also bolster our R&D set up to develop new generation satellite and launch vehicles,” he said.

Ashwani Kumar said, “The country needs to give a lot more attention to R&D and develop more satellites and launch them. There is no dearth of funds for supporting scientific establishments like ISRO which has made the country proud by putting it on the global map and among the exclusive club of nations through its huge achievements in space technology.”

He further said the sixth and seventh satellites of the Indian Navigational Satellite System would be launched by March end and that completes the constellation of seven satellites.
Source>>

*New ISRO Satellite to Predict Cyclones Being Built at 60% the Actual Cost, in One Third of the Time*
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is developing a new weather-forecasting satellite to predict the beginning of cyclones in oceans. About 300 scientists are working on the satellite named ScatSat-1, at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad.

The best thing about this 301 kg satellite is that it is being built at 60% of the actual cost, and in one-third of the estimated time.

*About 40% of satellite is made by recycling the leftover equipment from previous satellite missions. It will be launched in July 2016 and has a mission life of five years.*





*Picture for representation only. Source: ISRO*
ScatSat-1 will replace OceanSat-2, which was launched in 2009 and was known for its accurate predictions of cyclones like Hudhud and Phailin. OceanSat-2 stopped functioning in Feb 2014. Currently, ISRO is getting most of the weather information from INSAT-3D satellite.


> “Normally, it takes about three years to
> build a satellite of this class from
> scratch. However, as we have sourced
> 40% of the parts used in ScatSat-1 from
> spares of previous missions, we will
> complete it in a year’s time,” Tapan
> Misra, director of the SAC, told The Indian Express


He added that at the time of launch, ScatSat-1 will be a piggy ride with another satellite, and this will help save costs even further.

A scatterometer in the satellite will help predict formation of cyclones in the seas. Such predictions help in timely evacuation and minimise human casualties. A scatterometer is a microwave radar sensor. It measures the scattering effect produced while scanning the surface of the Earth from an aircraft or a satellite. It will measure the direction and speed of winds over the seas and oceans. The satellite has been designed to withstand multiple system failures, unlike the last one.

It is a polar orbiting satellite that will take two days to cover the globe. The data will be used by NASA, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well.

SAC is one of the major centres of ISRO and it deals with disciplines like design and development of payloads, societal applications, capacity building and space sciences, etc.

*New ISRO Satellite to Predict Cyclones Being Built at 60% the Actual Cost, in One Third of the Time*
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is developing a new weather-forecasting satellite to predict the beginning of cyclones in oceans. About 300 scientists are working on the satellite named ScatSat-1, at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad.

The best thing about this 301 kg satellite is that it is being built at 60% of the actual cost, and in one-third of the estimated time.

*About 40% of satellite is made by recycling the leftover equipment from previous satellite missions. It will be launched in July 2016 and has a mission life of five years.*





*Picture for representation only. Source: ISRO*
ScatSat-1 will replace OceanSat-2, which was launched in 2009 and was known for its accurate predictions of cyclones like Hudhud and Phailin. OceanSat-2 stopped functioning in Feb 2014. Currently, ISRO is getting most of the weather information from INSAT-3D satellite.


> “Normally, it takes about three years to
> build a satellite of this class from
> scratch. However, as we have sourced
> 40% of the parts used in ScatSat-1 from
> spares of previous missions, we will
> complete it in a year’s time,” Tapan
> Misra, director of the SAC, told The Indian Express


He added that at the time of launch, ScatSat-1 will be a piggy ride with another satellite, and this will help save costs even further.

A scatterometer in the satellite will help predict formation of cyclones in the seas. Such predictions help in timely evacuation and minimise human casualties. A scatterometer is a microwave radar sensor. It measures the scattering effect produced while scanning the surface of the Earth from an aircraft or a satellite. It will measure the direction and speed of winds over the seas and oceans. The satellite has been designed to withstand multiple system failures, unlike the last one.

It is a polar orbiting satellite that will take two days to cover the globe. The data will be used by NASA, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well.

SAC is one of the major centres of ISRO and it deals with disciplines like design and development of payloads, societal applications, capacity building and space sciences, etc.


----------



## Bad Guy

*UAE, Isro to ink deal for launching first Arab Mars mission*
New Delhi, Feb 11, 2016, DHNS:






ISRO will be signing a deal on Thursday with its counterpart in the United Arab Emirates to launch Arab world’s first ever mission to Mars. The MoU between ISRO and UAE space agency is among several that would be signed during the visit of Emirates’ de-facto ruler and crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to New Delhi. 

The countries will also ink an agreement to set up UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund aiming to boost UAE’s investment in India’s infrastructure sector up to $75 billion. 

The fund would focus on railways, ports, roads, airports, industrial corridors and parks, officials told Deccan Herald Wednesday. 

Sheikh Mohammed, also the Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday. He will hold a private meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday morning and the two leaders will also lead their country’s respective delegations in the evening. The Arab leader will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee. 

In July 2014, The UAE announced its decision to launch Arab world’s first ever satellite to Mars in *July 2020*.

UAE, Isro to ink deal for launching first Arab Mars mission

*ISRO trying to put electric propelling system for satellites: Sivan*
*



*
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director Dr K. Sivan said that efforts are on to put electric propelling system for satellites to enable them to carry more payload.
HYDERABAD: Efforts are on to put electric propelling system for satellites to enable them to carry more payload,Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director Dr K. Sivan said here today. 

"The efforts will help in cutting down fuel required for maneuvering the satellites in the orbit and more payload can be taken," Sivan said at the 10th International High Energy Material conference and Exhibits (HEMCE 2016) here. 

He said GSLV Mark III will be launched in December this year. 

The ISRO scientist said efforts will be made to launch 'Chandrayan 2', the country's second lunar exploration mission after 'Chandrayaan-1', with a rover as soon as possible. 

On manned space flight, Sivan said they are coming up with a project called "Abbot Machine". 

Earlier, Dr.K.P.S. Murthy, Director, High Energy Materials Research Lab (HEMRL), spoke about the development of high explosive detective technology which is being developed for concealed explosives by their laboratory. 

Observing that high energy material technology is a highly-guarded technology, Dr. Satish Kumar, Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems,DRDO, said, "scientists and technologists are moving forward and advancing towards total self-reliance in this critical area". 

He said the high energy materials is a specialised field that "partly determines the status of the nation". 

"For a given propellant energy level, there is a need to optimise the design to maximise the overall performance and minimise the losses in the futuristic aerospace mission," the Director General said. 

He said the modular design and safer manufacturing techniques in high energy materials are the need of the day.

The conference was organised by the Hyderabad Chapter of the High Energy Material Society of India in association with the Defence Research and Development Laboratory and Advanced Systems Laboratory.

"*MoU between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency on Cooperation in the Exploration and use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.

The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation in space science, technology and applications including remote sensing; satellite communication and satellite based navigation.* "

List of Agreements and MOUs exchanged during the State Visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India

Link currently appears broken, but thanks to *Ohsin* at the NASA Spaceflight Forum for saving the text.

++

So in theory, it appears the UAE/GCC may be looking to make use of IRNSS as an alternative to the US GPS services. The currently-envisaged constellation of 7 satellites already covers the UAE and it's immediate neighbourhood as well as about half of Saudi Arabia can get accurate services. Now all we need to do is build up the ground infrastructure & control/receiving stations for IRNSS in UAE.

But if we want to provide navigation services for rest of GCC, we will have to expand the effective coverage envelope. But if the GCC wants it, they will happily fund all of it. So no problem there. What will be interesting to see is if the services rendered will be the civilian-grade signals or the more sophisticated military-grade signals with greater accuracy.

That said, most of Iran is already covered so that's another potential future client.






Plus, it seems feasible that we provide an IRS-class remote-sensing capability for GCC states. They might need it especially now that they're worried about diversifying their economic & energy-related activities.

*More Customers for IRNSS* 
"*MoU between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency on Cooperation in the Exploration and use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes.

The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation in space science, technology and applications including remote sensing; satellite communication and satellite based navigation.* "

List of Agreements and MOUs exchanged during the State Visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India

Link currently appears broken, but thanks to *Ohsin* at the NASA Spaceflight Forum for saving the text.

++

So in theory, it appears the UAE/GCC may be looking to make use of IRNSS as an alternative to the US GPS services. The currently-envisaged constellation of 7 satellites already covers the UAE and it's immediate neighbourhood as well as about half of Saudi Arabia can get accurate services. Now all we need to do is build up the ground infrastructure & control/receiving stations for IRNSS in UAE.

But if we want to provide navigation services for rest of GCC, we will have to expand the effective coverage envelope. But if the GCC wants it, they will happily fund all of it. So no problem there. What will be interesting to see is if the services rendered will be the civilian-grade signals or the more sophisticated military-grade signals with greater accuracy.

That said, most of Iran is already covered so that's another potential future client.






Plus, it seems feasible that we provide an IRS-class remote-sensing capability for GCC states. They might need it especially now that they're worried about diversifying their economic & energy-related activities.

*SAC to have giant `clean room' for satellites*
Paul John | TNN | Feb 13, 2016, 05.36 AM IST







*AHMEDABAD*: The Space Application Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will soon have a unique establishment in the city. One of the most sophisticated and largest `clean room' facilities in the country for the assembly, integration and testing of communication, navigation and earth observation satellites is being built on the Isro campus spread over 22,270 square feet in Bopal. *The clean room will be housed in a 21-metre high building with enough space for the simultaneous assembly and integration of as many as 10 communication satellites.*

A large `clean room' facility had become necessary because of the sharp rise in the number of payloads for various satellites being developed at various ISRO centres.






"*Earlier, four to five communication payloads were developed in a year. However, this year eight and the next year 12 communication satellites will be built. A larger facility is needed for so many satellites*," said SAC director Tapan Misra. Clean room is a place of "10,000 class"-i.e., sterility here is maintained at 10,000 particles or less in one cubic feet column of air. Even in highly sanitized places like medical laboratories and operation theatres, sterility is at 1 lakh particles.

Experts say dust is an enemy of electronic equipment, especially of delicate and precise parts used in space technology.

"While developing sensitive electronic instrumentation, tiny specks of dust can be a major source for contamination," said Misra.

"Dust can degrade electronic instruments when exposed to humidity . A clean room maintains a constant temperature and humidity, eliminates dust, and protects the satellite during its development, construction and testing," the SAC director said.







Another interesting aspect of a clean room is that even its floor is specially built to prevent production of static electricity as a discharge of static electricity can damage instruments on satellites.

*Apart from the clean room, SAC will also set up a special vendors' complex on the Bopal campus. It plans to give space to vendors fabricating components or special electronic equipment for specific projects. *"*The components and the technology being developed for various space programmes cost more than fabrication. This is why we want to give our vendors a secure space where they can even interact with our scientists anytime. We will provide them assistance by giving them space for up to a year. They can stay here and work*," said Misra.

SAC to have giant `clean room' for satellites - Times of India

*ISRO to use electric propulsion system on satellites in two years*
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to use electric propulsion system on satellites for station keeping and orbital manoeuvre in two years.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the two-day 10th International High Energy Materials Conference and Exhibition here on Thursday, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) K. Sivan said besides VSSC, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) were working on developing electric propulsion system for use on satellites.

“In two years, we may be able to achieve it,” he said.

He said the cryogenic engine for GSLV Mark-III will be undergoing stage-level test soon and the target to achieve flight test is December this year.

Regarding Chandrayaan-II, he said the objective was to land a rover on the moon and carry out in-situ experiments. ISRO was also developing various technologies required for a manned mission, which was yet to be approved by the government.

Director of High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, a DRDO facility, K.P.S. Murthy said their lab was developing a table-mounted explosive detection kit, which could be used for detecting explosives, including deeply concealed ones. He said the Advanced Centre of Research in high Energy Materials, University of Hyderabad, was collaborating in the project. The kit could be used in airports and other places.

Earlier addressing the conference, Dr. Satish Kumar, Director-General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO, said rapid changes were taking place in warfare technology and called upon researchers to work on developing insensitive munitions.

*Plan to largely privatize PSLV operations by 2020: ISRO Chief
Srinivas.Laxman@timesgroup.com






MUMBAI*: In a revolutionary change in India's space scenario, the operation of ISRO's workhorse - the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be largely privatized in four years, ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar has told TOI.

The ISRO chief said that once the plan materializes, the integration & launch of the rocket will be handled by an industrial consortium through the commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation. "This will be discussed with industry leaders at the Make in India week. Tentatively, we plan to implement it in 2020", he said.

He said that the advantage of largely privatizing the PSLV operations is to boost capacity and *consequentially increase the rate of launches from 12 to 18 annually. *If the plan takes off, it will be akin to the US's United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and the Boeing Company formed in 2006, to provide cost-efficient access to space for US missions.

The PSLV, first launched in September 1993, has notched up 33 missions to date. Except for one failure during it's maiden launch in 1993, the rest were successful, earning it recognition as one of the world's most successful rockets.

India's Lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, 2008 and the first flight to Mars on November 5, 2014 were launched by the PSLV.

Kumar said that the SAARC satellite, first mooted by PM Narendra Modi during the 18th SAARC summit held in Nepal in 2014, is slated for launch provisionally between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. "So far, only Sri Lanka has formally agreed to participate in the project and the rest have agreed in principle. *We will still launch and gradually increase its coverage as the remaining members join formally*", he said.

Source: Times of India paper, 15 Feb 2016.

Heard that guys? 
*Launch akin(similar) to ULA.*
Let's see we could capitalize space like our country or not.

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## Bad Guy

*Isro orbiter to scan India's air for pollutants*




The new satellite will monitor the ambient air quality of major Indian cities.
AHMEDABAD: The Space Applications Centre (SAC) of Isro and Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) of University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies are collaborating on developing the 'Next Generation Earth Monitoring and Observation and Aerosol Monitoring' (NEMO-AM) satellite. This is among Isro's most important high-performance nano-satellite missions for the country.

The nano-satellite will monitor suspended particles and aerosols that have made the air of major Indian cities like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Amritsar and Allahabad among the most polluted in the world.


The tiny particles and aerosols in the exhaust of vehicles, emissions from industrial chimneys and even dust particles from construction work fill the air we breathe. These aerosols and particulate matter of size 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) enter our lungs and restrict the free flow of air.


SAC is providing the necessary software for instruments that are to be made in Canada. The nano-satellite, which will be of 2 x 2 x 1 feet dimension and weigh 15 kg, will be launched 500 km above the earth.

SAC director Tapan Misra said the NEMO mission is designed to cover, each day, up to 50,000 square kilometer area of the country's 32.87 lakh sq km.

"The NEMO-AM will be integrated in July-August next year at SAC in the presence of a team from Canada SFL.The satellite will be tested and launched in the subsequent month," said Misra.

The NEMO-AM satellite with its powerful imaging sensor analyses the sunlight reflected from the earth's surface. The NEMO-AM satellite with its powerful imaging sensor analyses the sunlight reflected from the earth's surface This light, which passes through the earth's atmo sphere before reaching NEMO will be analyzed by the satellite from different angles to deter mine the nature of suspended particles and aerosol concentration in the ambient air of India cities.

"The data will be handy for estimating emissions from vehicles, tracking pollutants plumes, and supporting activities to forecast air quality in ci ties and towns. New policies can be framed around this data," said a senior Isro official.

Even cities that do not have specialized instruments in stalled in their streets to mea sure suspended particles, can get an idea of the quality of ambient air with a fair degree of accuracy . NEMO's data can be of great help in decision-making and environmental management activities of both the public and private sectors in a city or town or industrial area. 
I have researched about some of reconnaissance satellites of India.

Geostationary Earth Orbit High Resolution Imager( thanks to our Chinese Friend @shiphone to inform us), have the possible launch date in mid 2017.
Yet CCI satellite will be launched in 2020.

*NASA invites ISRO to US for possible collaboration*
By PTI - 17 Feb 2016






As American space agency NASA looks forward to send astronauts to Mars, it has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for a possible international collaboration. Several space agencies of different countries are also expected to attend the meeting in Washington next month.

"*We are looking to send astronauts to Mars. In order to do that, you need certain robotic missions to begin with. Early next month there will be a meeting in Washington. The ISRO has also been invited to the meeting to discuss the future collaborations for the mission to Mars. We think it will be more of an international consortium*."

"There are potential opportunities to collaborate in future" said Jakob van Zyl, Associate Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The NASA scientist was delivering a lecture on its Mars mission and it's findings on the Red Planet on the American Center here.

There is also a *ISRO-NASA Mars Working Group* in place, which has been looking into opportunities for enhanced cooperation in Mars exploration including potential coordinated observations and analysis between ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN).

*The UAE has also signed a cooperation agreement with ISRO for it's Mars mission, the first to be undertaken by any Gulf nation.*

NASA invites ISRO to US for possible collaboration - The Economic Times

++

My view:
It seems ISRO has rightfully earned it's place as one of the leading Mars exploration agencies. The recent initiatives by NASA to reach out to ISRO for cooperation in future Mars missions, the agreement with UAE to launch their mission (maybe even provide some input) and MoUs with French CNES for future Mars/Venus missions are all indicative of this.

Just wait till 2018 when our 2nd mission to Mars, this time with a lander (and potentially a rover) sets foot on the Red Planet. The MoU with France for some work-sharing was an excellent decision.

*Make in India: ISRO lures industry into Space with technology promise, brand benefit*
By Megha Mandavia ET Bureau | 17 Feb, 2016







MUMBAI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants more private companies to make space and satellite components for the government-run enterprise *by assisting them with technology transfer and required infrastructure* *in a bid to help incubate a space industry in India.*

Tapan Mishra, director at Space Applications Centre (SAC) at ISRO said the industry could expect about 20 per cent of its annual budget in business opportunity. ISRO has has received about *Rs 6000 crore* this financial year from the government, which is expected to go up to *Rs 8900 crore* in the upcoming budget for next year.

"This is not a large number but we are training people and sharing technology. You will also be able to monetize the reputation of working with us with the industry," said Mishra at 'Make in India' week on Wednesday.

Scientific Secretary at ISRO YVN Krishna Murthy said the applications of the technology private industry will learn from them is "mind boggling", pointing at a bigger business opportunity worldwide.

Space technology, according to them with them, can be used in commercial aerospace, defence, transportation, agriculture, metallurgy, space design and so on. Global space industry is as big as $300 billion, according to industry estimates.

"It is a huge thing to be associated with a space programme. You get to work with the best in the world," said Dhiraj Mathur, executive director at global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Volumes will not be high and budgets will always be constrained but once your capability improves to meet the stringent standards of a space programme you are put on a launch pad to do business with civilian aerospace and defence companies in India and abroad," he added.

Currently private participation is quite small in ISRO as Indian companies have not been equipped enough in terms of technology and talent to make space components. ISRO expects private companies to make satellite components, space radars, rocket engines, batteries, space electrical components, optical camera components and so on in the coming years.

ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corp provides space products and technical consultancy services to Indian and international customers worldwide. It launches satellites for international companies at competitive prices.

Make in India: ISRO lures industry into space with technology promise, brand benefit - The Economic Times

*ISRO to double missions in next 5 years to 12*

Wed, 17 Feb 2016-10:50pm , Mumbai , PTI
Having launched 55 missions in space in the last five years, the national space agency ISRO is looking at doubling the number of missions in the next five years to an average of 12.

"We have already launched 55 missions during past five years and we are looking at doubling it during the next five years to 12 launches per annum. The new launches will be under both categories, including satellites and launch vehicles," ISRO secretary (science) YVN Krishna Murthy told PTI on the sidelines of Make In India Week in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"We've already launched two missions this year and two more will be launched next month," he added.

The agency is all set to launch the Chandrayan-II in 2017-18, he said.

"The new Lunar Mission will be different from the earlier one," he said, adding "unlike Chandrayan-I which was having only Orbiter and Probe, Chandrayan-II will be having Lander and Rover too, and the Rover will move on the samples and transmit the data to Earth".

More than 500 industries work with ISRO, he said, adding more than the direct business from ISRO, the partners benefit from monetising their association with the organisation.

The ISRO Satellite Centre has built over 70 satellites in the last 41 years and there is a huge demand for small launchers with carrying capacity of 500 kg.

Talking about the ISRO's annual budget, he said it is likely to be around $1.1 billion this year, up from $0.9 billion last fiscal.

*India plans to launch 60 space missions*
New Delhi - India is planning to launch at least 12 space missions every year for the next five years, a top official of the state-owned space agency has reportedly said.

“We have already launched 55 missions during the past five years and we are looking at 12 launches per annum in the next five years,” Y.V.N. Krishna Murthy of Indian Space Research Organisation said. Murthy, who is Secretary (science) of the space agency, told the media Wednesday on the sidelines of the Make in India week celebrations in Mumbai.





A handout photograph released by the Indian Space Research Organisation shows the PSLV-C25 rocket carrying the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft blasting off. File photo: AFP Photo/ISR. Credit: AFP
“We have already launched two missions this year and two more will be launched next month, and the space agency's budget will be around 1.1 billion US dollars this year,” he said.

According to the space official, the next lunar mission, Chandrayan-II, will be launched in 2017-18 and this mission will be different from the earlier one. “Unlike Chandrayan-I which was having only Orbiter and Probe, Chandrayan-II will be having Lander and Rover too, and the Rover will move on the samples and transmit the data to Earth,” he added.

Xinhua

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## Bad Guy

*GSAT-9 Satellite Launch in July*
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The launch of GSAT-9 communication satellite in July this year will mark ISRO’s first encounter with electric propulsion for satellite station-keeping, ISRO officials said here on Friday.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk II (GSLV-Mk II) will put GSAT-9 in the orbit, ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar told reporters at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba. Nowadays, ISRO satellites carry liquid fuel and oxidiser on board to power thrusters for adjusting orbits and other station-keeping manoeuvres.
The fuel, however, takes up almost half the mass of a satellite. Replacing it with electric propulsion will enable the space agency to enhance the satellite’s life by at least four years and increase payload capability. The life of a 2,000-2,500 kg GSAT satellite is 10-12 years now. ISRO had earlier planned the GSAT-9 launch in 2017.
As part of its plans to scale up number of launches to at least two a month, ISRO is hoping to commission the second vehicle assembly complex at Sriharikota by next year. This will enable the space agency to speed up the launch process, Kiran Kumar said.
Operational Electric Propulsion from first time guys.

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## Xenadwarrior

☺


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## Ragnar

*Space mission: Nasa, Isro explore collaboration avenues*
*




*
Photo: Mint


New Delhi: India and the US on Thursday discussed the possibilities of collaboration in future Mars exploration projects and other space missions.

The Mars Working Group of the two countries, which met on Thursday, sought to identify and implement goals that Nasa and Isro share on Mars exploration, particularly coordinated observations and science analysis between MAVEN, the Mars Mission of Nasa, and Isro’s MoM.

“Our countries established a Mars Working Group to investigate further cooperation for Mars exploration. The third face-to-face meeting concluded in Bengaluru. “The Mars Working Group seeks to identify and implement goals that Nasa and Isro share on Mars exploration, particularly coordinated observations and science analysis between MAVEN and MoM and Nasa’s other Mars projects,” Richard Verma, US ambassador to India, said.

“We can continue exploring Mars together. Our engineers can jointly develop a space craft to study the surface of Mars. Our scientists can work together, study the and analyse the data and learn even more about the Red planet. Let’s go further in our solar system. Our nations could build together space craft to reach other planets in our solar system,” he said.

He was delivering a lecture on “US-India Collaboration & Innovation: Exploring the Potential of Satellites for Digital” at the ORF Kalpana Chawla Annual Space Policy Dialogue. Noting that space cooperation between the two countries has increased by leaps and bounds, Verma said it was not possible to think of such cooperation a few years ago.

After the nuclear tests conducted by India in 1974 and 1998, the US and several Western countries imposed sanctions which badly hit the nuclear and space industry in the country.

Listing out Isro and Nasa cooperation on Mars, Verma said the working group is also looking at future potential joint missions to Mars.

“Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory provided navigation and communication support to MoM, showcasing how our nations can work together on complex channels,” Verma said. He added that the two space agencies have embarked on an ambitious space project NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) project.

India and the US also discussed ways to enhance cooperation in space, including vital security aspects, at different international fora.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/w0ITtl6gIyJFkAOjdFZH3H/Space-mission-Nasa-Isro-explore-collaboration-avenues.html


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## trident2010

*CE 20 Engine of GSLV MKIII successfully hot tested*
*

*

*






*


ISRO has crossed a major milestone in the development of CE-20 engine for the GSLV MKIII vehicle by the successful hot test for 640 seconds duration on 19.02.2016 at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri. Chairman, ISRO has witnessed the hot test. The test has demonstrated the repeatability of the engine performance with all its sub systems like thrust chamber, gas generator, turbo pumps and control components for the full duration. All the engine parameters were closely matching with the pre test prediction. 


CE 20 Engine of GSLV MKIII successfully hot tested - ISRO

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## Bad Guy

* Now ISRO Will Find Water Resources In Karnataka Villages*




*Bengaluru: *In order to solve water crisis, Karnataka Government today said that ISRO would map villages to identify availability of water resources in the state.

"ISRO will map villages to find out availability of water resources to solve the water problems of the state," Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister HK Patil told reporters in Bengaluru.




He said a systematic database of villages generated using space technology will help government take appropriate steps to conserve and augment water resources in villages.


The Minister said he and his team had already met noted scientist and honorary professor at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Sivathanu Pillai and held discussions in this regard.

In the next round of talks, he would meet ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar, Mr Patil said adding that he was ready to meet him even today "if the ISRO chief is available now."

The engineers and officials have been instructed to submit a report on the villagesa which are facing acute water shortage by March 2.

Mr Patil said government would furnish it once the report was submitted and a plan charted out.

ISRO to set up satellite centre in Vietnam


*Officially!!!! *
THE HANS INDIA | Feb 25,2016 , 01:07 PM IST

*



*

As part of Space Cooperation between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), at the behest of Government of India, is working towards the establishment of a Satellite Tracking & Data Reception Station and Data Processing Facility in Vietnam for ASEAN Member countries. 

*This facility is intended to acquire and process Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data pertaining to ASEAN region and disseminate to ASEAN Member countries. Under this initiative, all ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam will be allowed to access processed remote sensing data pertaining to their country. *

Ground facility is designed in such a way that it will not allow Indian data to be accessed and processed by the system. This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.



++

So, we're officially going to bring the ASEAN states into our Space fold. Remote-Sensing (IRS series & others) is just the first step, soon we'll have to capitalize on Communication (INSAT/GSAT-type), Navigation (IRNSS) and Military applications (RISAT-type) as well, depending on market.

A brilliant move from both a strategic and a commercial perspective.


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## indiatester

Just for record, PSLV C-32 launch was successful and IRNSS 1F was placed in a geostationary transfer orbit on 10/Mar/2016
PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F - ISRO


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## Parul




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## $@rJen

*Research being done on designing re-usable satellites, says scientist*


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Monday, March 14, 2016
By: The Hindu 







Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO) Project Director (RLV-TD) N. Shyam Mohan said research is going on designing satellites that can be reused. India can send re-useable satellites with indigenous technology by 2023, he said.

He inaugurated the two-day technical festival ‘Yantrik’, organised by Mechanical Department of Koneru Lakshmaiah University (KLU) on its campus at Vaddeswaram village in Guntur district on Friday.

Addressing the students, Mr. Shyam Mohan said the expense for one launch was very high as about 85 per cent of the raw material used for designing a satellite goes waste and the equipment cannot be used for another satellite.

To minimise the cost, US, Russia and India are doing research on designing renewable satellites and India would achieve success soon, he said.

Stating that ISRO is ready to fund for innovative projects designed by students, the space scientist asked the students to focus on research activity and design Stud-Sats. Youth should come forward to design satellites with indigenous technology, he said.

Mr. Shyam Mohan explained how rockets are launched from the launch pad and the different stages of a satellite before being placed in the orbit.

“For research in Indian navigation, we launched six satellites and one more would be launched soon for attaining full-fledged technical knowledge. We successfully launched many rockets, thanks to the team spirit of ISRO scientists. If more funds are allocated we can take up more researches,” said the space scientist.

Interacting with the students, Mr. Shyam Mohan said many youth were vying for plum jobs but not research. He asked the budding engineers to throw light on research activity and help for the country for standing top in technology development.

KLU Vice-Chancellor L.S.S. Reddy, Pro Vice-Chancellor A.V.S. Prasad, Koneru Lakshmaiah Engineering College Principal Anand Kumar, Dean (Research) K.L. Narayana, Yantrik convenor A. Srinath, coordinators S. Srinivasa Rao, and K. Ramakotaiah participated.


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## Armani

sarjenprabhu said:


> *Research being done on designing re-usable satellites, says scientist*
> 
> 
> Facebook
> Twitter
> Google+
> Linked in
> 
> Monday, March 14, 2016
> By: The Hindu
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO) Project Director (RLV-TD) N. Shyam Mohan said research is going on designing satellites that can be reused. India can send re-useable satellites with indigenous technology by 2023, he said.
> 
> He inaugurated the two-day technical festival ‘Yantrik’, organised by Mechanical Department of Koneru Lakshmaiah University (KLU) on its campus at Vaddeswaram village in Guntur district on Friday.
> 
> Addressing the students, Mr. Shyam Mohan said the expense for one launch was very high as about 85 per cent of the raw material used for designing a satellite goes waste and the equipment cannot be used for another satellite.
> 
> To minimise the cost, US, Russia and India are doing research on designing renewable satellites and India would achieve success soon, he said.
> 
> Stating that ISRO is ready to fund for innovative projects designed by students, the space scientist asked the students to focus on research activity and design Stud-Sats. Youth should come forward to design satellites with indigenous technology, he said.
> 
> Mr. Shyam Mohan explained how rockets are launched from the launch pad and the different stages of a satellite before being placed in the orbit.
> 
> “For research in Indian navigation, we launched six satellites and one more would be launched soon for attaining full-fledged technical knowledge. We successfully launched many rockets, thanks to the team spirit of ISRO scientists. If more funds are allocated we can take up more researches,” said the space scientist.
> 
> Interacting with the students, Mr. Shyam Mohan said many youth were vying for plum jobs but not research. He asked the budding engineers to throw light on research activity and help for the country for standing top in technology development.
> 
> KLU Vice-Chancellor L.S.S. Reddy, Pro Vice-Chancellor A.V.S. Prasad, Koneru Lakshmaiah Engineering College Principal Anand Kumar, Dean (Research) K.L. Narayana, Yantrik convenor A. Srinath, coordinators S. Srinivasa Rao, and K. Ramakotaiah participated.



...re-usable satellite *launch vehicle*, he means.


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## MKC

ISRO simply need 10B dollar budget, give them & see results.


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## Bad Guy

MKC said:


> ISRO simply need 10B dollar budget, give them & see results.


 
$10 B is too much. Even for a developed country.
ISRO is doing very well in $1.2 billions and we will increase it to $1.8 billions if performance goes on. That's all. Though $8-10 billions will be provided separately for manned mission when will be conducted.


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## MKC

Bad Guy said:


> $10 B is too much. Even for a developed country.
> ISRO is doing very well in $1.2 billions and we will increase it to $1.8 billions if performance goes on. That's all. Though $8-10 billions will be provided separately for manned mission when will be conducted.


If ISRO would have like 5B budget then we might not have to import many things from companies which launch satellites for commercial purpose & ISRO can easily make that money, even for weather report we have to rely on foreign organisations.
Yes, 10B is too much but we must give enough budget so that we don't have to rely on foreign satellites at least for TV.


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## Bad Guy

MKC said:


> If ISRO would have like 5B budget then we might not have to import many things from companies which launch satellites for commercial purpose & ISRO can easily make that money, even for weather report we have to rely on foreign organisations.
> Yes, 10B is too much but we must give enough budget so that we don't have to rely on foreign satellites at least for TV.


We'll be empty of pockets. What do you think?
Like Space Race during cold war, ISRO can also take budget to heights and can land humans on Moon less than decade like US did.
But man, we're still poor a country. Let us be an upper middle income country. We'll take care of all it then.
For*importing parts*, Government is building two chip Fabrication plants to produce parts locally.
It will not advantage only ISRO but India's local toy and electronics manufacturers. Govt. has recently finalized ruppees 1.2 lakh crore to promote electronic manufacturing and make India to export them like China does.


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## Ankit Kumar 002

Yes agree budget needs to improve , but by no ways 8-10billion mark. 

Some ~3 billions will be fine for now. 
At present there are number is projects within ISRO which will be accelerated significantly if a decent amount is made available. 

Any update about the planned expansion of launch facilities ?

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## Armani

*Stephen Hawking’s space exploration program wants India’s participation*

*



*
_Russian billionaire Yuri Milner (L) with Dr. Stephen Hawking_

The space exploration program -- Breakthrough StarShot -- announced on April 12, 2016, that has world famous cosmologist Stephen hawking, billionaire venture capitalist Yuri Milner and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg teaming up, has announced that that they are looking for India’s participation.

"For Breakthrough StarShot, our interstellar probe initiative, we note that India is a leader in space exploration, especially with the recent Mars Orbiter Mission. We hope to explore the possibility of working closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation on our StarShot program," said the executive director of the program and former director of Nasa's Ames Research Centre, Pete Worden in an interview with Times of India.

If successful, the project will see thousands of light-propelled vehicles called nanocraft, moving at 20 percent of the speed of light to Alpha Centauri (the closest star system from ours).

To put things into perspective, an eight or nine-month voyage to Mars, will be covered in just 30 minutes by nanocraft. If that's not amazing enough, the standard 10-year long Pluto journey will be cut to 72 hours.

"We are indeed very interested in working closely with both experts and the public in India. Indeed, last August, I visited the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru and spoke with the scientists there about our projects. We plan a return visit to India in the next few months for more discussions. There are a number of areas we hope to involve Indian participation. India is a global leader in information technology and processing," said Worden.

Even though this all seems every intriguing, the technology should take a couple of years to develop and once completed scientists estimate that the ‘nanocrafts’ will take about 20 years to reach their destination.

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/rep...n-program-wants-india-s-participation-2205937

@Abingdonboy @PARIKRAMA @randomradio @Perpendicular

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## Odysseus

*Isro all set to test the `desi space shuttle' on May 23*​
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a first-of-its-kind indigenous space mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set for the launch of Re-usable Satellite Launch VehicleTechnology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) on May 23. It is cheered as a baby step towards the historic launch of the advanced RLV by 2020.

After a series of tests at the sub-system level such as actuator and flight control tests, followed by integration of the shuttle parts with electronic tests in March this year, RLV-TD was sent to National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru for acoustics testing. Now, the space shuttle is at Sriharikota spaceport and the final mission readiness tests are being conducted for its launch, which is tentatively scheduled for May 23, VSSC director K Sivan said.

"RLV-TD is a baby step towards the launch of the advanced RLV with air breathing propulsion system (ABPS) and reusable launch vehicle technology. The purpose of developing advanced RLV with ABPS is to reduce the cost of space launches, if engines and structures are recovered and re-used. Current RLV-TD has no recovery plans," he said.

Current RLV-TD incurs a project cost of Rs 95 crore. The advanced RLV with ABPS uses atmospheric air as oxidizer for combustion, with vehicle fuel to propel the rocket, and it can bring down space travel cost by 110th and eventually by 1100th later.

"With the first-of-its-kind delta wings that makes supersonic flights feasible, this space shuttle RLV-TD that weighs about 1.75 tonnes will be propelled into the atmosphere on a special rocket booster, all built indigenously," said project director of this mission Shyam Mohan.

After the spacecraft manoeuvres, which includes booster rocket separation when the vehicle ascends and then makes a hypersonic entry which is at five times the speed of sound, it enters a descent phase and glides onto a designated virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal some 500km from the coast.
"A key technology developed by scientists here is the re-usable thermal protection system (TPS) to make materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, that the exterior of the space shuttle will have to bear, when it returns into the dense atmosphere after its journey through near vacuum in space," he said.
It involved developing lightweight heat resistant silica tiles, that are plastered on the underbelly of the spacecraft, that can withstand temperatures up to 7,000 degrees celsius. The first of its kind indigenously developed carbon-carbon nose cap can resist high temperatures up to 2,000 degree celsius, when the vehicle reaches hypersonic speed, added Mohan.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ce-shuttle-on-May-23/articleshow/52346584.cms


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## gslv mk3

2015-2016 annual report is out.


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## Water Car Engineer

RLVTD

Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX)

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi




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## Local_Legend

Just a question ..... are we developing any ASAT ????? 

any clue or conclusion ?


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## kali

What is status of India's ULV program and when ADITYA will launch ?


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## Local_Legend

*Deferred GSAT-18 awaits October launch at Kourou*

GSAT-18, the country’s upcoming communication satellite, has to wait until October in Kourou in French Guiana for launch after its Japanese co-passenger was found damaged days ahead of the launch planned this month.

The 3.4-tonne satellite would have flown into its orbit on July 12 on a European Ariane 5 rocket along with the Japanese spacecraft.

The launch company, Arianespace, deferred the scheduled double-launch after Japan’s Superbird-8 spacecraft reportedly sustained damage.

Arianespace, which ISRO has contracted to put GSAT-18 into space, now has to find a suitable riding mate for the Indian spacecraft from among its other customers.

A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of the ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space, said: “Originally, the GSAT-18 was scheduled to be launched on July 12. The launch date is now changed because of the co-passenger developing an issue. We will now have the launch more or less in the first week of October.”

Next GSAT-17

The three-month gap would not affect the available national satellite capacity. The next one, GSAT-17, also by Arianespace, is getting ready for blast-off in the first quarter of 2017, Mr. Kumar told _The Hindu_.

ISRO is developing its own four-tonne launcher, GSLV-Mk3 or LVM-3, to launch communications satellites like GSAT-18.

Health monitoring

Meanwhile, GSAT-18 remains at the Guiana Space Centre while most of the satellite’s engineering support team that accompanied it from Bengaluru has returned. A small team has stayed back to monitor the health of the spacecraft.

Post-launch, GSAT-18 will be positioned at 74 degrees East longitude, where the older INSAT 4CR (launched in 2007) and INSAT-3C (of 2002) are functioning.

According to ISRO officials, it is not uncommon for launch agencies, including ISRO that launches smaller commercial satellites on its PSLV rocket, to reschedule flights when they are putting more than one spacecraft on a single rocket. All satellites flying together must be compatible in many ways beyond size and shape.
*
*
_Arianespace now has to find a suitable riding mate for the Indian spacecraft from its customers_


http://www.thehindu.com/todays-pape...s-october-launch-at-kourou/article8829906.ece

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## gslv mk3

@kurup @Water Car Engineer did you folks miss this interesting ISRO HLV- concept ?

_Sivan said: “As regards heavy-lift vehicles, we are in the process of discussion. It will be a TSTO vehicle whose first stage, like SpaceX’s, will be a five-engine semi-cryo cluster. This will have a modular structure. With one core semi-cryo stage, we can simply go on adding any number of strap-ons, and different payload requirements can be met. The second stage will be a cryo-stage. After the first stage is separated, it can be recovered in sea, like SpaceX has done. Though we have the technology to recover the cryogenic second stage, it is not very cost-effective. The first stage will not be a winged structure. We can manoeuvre it and bring it back to SHAR [in Sriharikota] also. But this will have a tremendous loss of payload. Because you have to retro-fire the rocket and have a controlled descent, you have to carry double the amount of propellants.”_

I had seen this concept a few months before, when I was still doing by B.Tech in mechanical engineering. We had a visiting faculty from LPSC, Trivandrum, and the topic was liquid propulsion systems. And in that presentation, there was a slide about this prospective design of HLV- though he didn't give out any info about it. The slide said it could launch 12/13 tonnes to GTO 

BTW ISRO's semi-cryogenic engine is expected to be ready by 2018.

LPSC is now developing SC200 stage (and not SC160,as contemplated earlier) to replace the L110 on LVM3. The payload to GTO would now be 7.5 tonnes & not 6 tonnes as earlier thought .This could also mean that we would have a common liquid core to be shared between the LVM3-SC (ULV?) & HLV. But now there seems to be no clarity wrt HLV plans.

In the meantime, they're tweaking the design of LVM3- Ogival payload fairings & inclined strap on nose-cone ala Ariane V (pic from NAL)

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b...load%2520Fairing%2520-%2520New%255B3%255D.jpg

_Modification of the overall vehicle configuration to bring down the aerodynamic sensitivity, reduce loads and improving the payload capability to 4,000 kg are already on the anvil. The heat shield will be changed from conical to ogive shape and a new S200 booster with improved thrust time profile will be used for LVM-3-D1_
_ 
From Outcome budget 2016-17

1(c).4 Major configuration changes recommended for LVM3-D1 mission are the *change of payload fairing to Ogive shaped nose cone with reduced cylinder length in lieu of 200 straight nose cone and inclined S200 strapon nose cone in lieu of axi symmetric nose cone. Closure of C25 inter tank structure is also recommended.*_

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## gslv mk3

In the area of Launch Vehicle technology development, critical technology initiatives such as *composite segmented booster case for large solid motors*, elastic memory composites and carbon-carbon technology demonstrators including optimization studies of carbon-carbon processing through 
CVI furnace, *Robotics for planetary missions, Nano materials and composite, lunar soft lander *etc., shall be pursued. Similarly, in the area of Satellite Technology development of Green House Gases and Trace gases sensors using hyperfine and ultrafine spectrometers, Field based multi-frequency microwave Ground Penetrating Radar, *Reflective Optics with large diameter mirrors, Advance SiC Mirror technology for 2 to 2.5 M Optics, CFRP and composite based telescope/antenna structures*, higher capacity Lithium ion batteries, *Electric propulsion along with chemical propulsion, *miniaturization – MMICs, ASICs, FPGAs, HMCs, BGAs based systems, I-*6K Unified bus with modular design, multi EV panels and scalable structure* (Bus module & payload module), Inter-satellite communication links, Multi channel Waveguide Rotary Joint, Development of Portable Ku-band Tele-medicine Terminal, Satcom based Automatic Identification System (AIS), *development of Indigenous Space qualified atomic clocks & On-board time synchronization technology shall be initiated.

From ISRO Outcome budget 2016-17*

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## fsayed

ISRO Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) To Carry Satellites Weighing ~10 Tonnes
By Kaustubh Katdare in 'Other Engineering Trades', May 30, 2015.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is developing new heavy lift launch vehicle (HLV) to carry future satellites, weighing up to 10 tonnes. Dr. M.C. Dathan, the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram informed that the upcoming scheduled test flight of GSLV MK3 in 2016 will be able to carry satellites up to 4 tonnes. However, the future satellites will weigh a minimum of about six tonnes and it's become necessary to design and develop heavy lift launch vehicle. 

Dr. Dathan further informed that ISRO is taking a modular approach to develop the HLV. One of the ideas is to add a semi-cryogenic engine stage to the GSLV MK3 which will generate a total lift of about 6 tonnes. A more powerful upper cryo-stage will be required to generate an overall lift of about 10 tonnes. ISRO engineers are considering need-based, progressive development of the MK3 variants instead of a new rocket altogether every time. 


The innovation in technology related to circuit design and miniaturisation is leading to lighter weight satellites which require lesser lift to put them into orbit. This is why ISRO's adopting a modular approach. Dr. Dathan further informed that ISRO's also developing an orbiter, lander and rover for the upcoming Chandrayaan-2 mission. India second mission to the moon is planned in 2017.

We've seen a lot of action at ISRO in the recent times. We ISRO's talented engineers and scientists all the best for all the upcoming missions. We promise to keep our readers updated with the latest and the best from ISRO.
http://www.crazyengineers.com/threa...to-carry-satellites-weighing-10-tonnes.80909/

@gslv mk3

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## egodoc222

fsayed said:


> ISRO Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) To Carry Satellites Weighing ~10 Tonnes
> By Kaustubh Katdare in 'Other Engineering Trades', May 30, 2015.
> The Indian Space Research Organisation is developing new heavy lift launch vehicle (HLV) to carry future satellites, weighing up to 10 tonnes. Dr. M.C. Dathan, the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram informed that the upcoming scheduled test flight of GSLV MK3 in 2016 will be able to carry satellites up to 4 tonnes. However, the future satellites will weigh a minimum of about six tonnes and it's become necessary to design and develop heavy lift launch vehicle.
> 
> Dr. Dathan further informed that ISRO is taking a modular approach to develop the HLV. One of the ideas is to add a semi-cryogenic engine stage to the GSLV MK3 which will generate a total lift of about 6 tonnes. A more powerful upper cryo-stage will be required to generate an overall lift of about 10 tonnes. ISRO engineers are considering need-based, progressive development of the MK3 variants instead of a new rocket altogether every time.
> 
> 
> The innovation in technology related to circuit design and miniaturisation is leading to lighter weight satellites which require lesser lift to put them into orbit. This is why ISRO's adopting a modular approach. Dr. Dathan further informed that ISRO's also developing an orbiter, lander and rover for the upcoming Chandrayaan-2 mission. India second mission to the moon is planned in 2017.
> 
> We've seen a lot of action at ISRO in the recent times. We ISRO's talented engineers and scientists all the best for all the upcoming missions. We promise to keep our readers updated with the latest and the best from ISRO.
> http://www.crazyengineers.com/threa...to-carry-satellites-weighing-10-tonnes.80909/
> 
> @gslv mk3


Any update on semicryo engine development?


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## nik141993

gslv mk3 said:


> @kurup @Water Car Engineer did you folks miss this interesting ISRO HLV- concept ?
> 
> _Sivan said: “As regards heavy-lift vehicles, we are in the process of discussion. It will be a TSTO vehicle whose first stage, like SpaceX’s, will be a five-engine semi-cryo cluster. This will have a modular structure. With one core semi-cryo stage, we can simply go on adding any number of strap-ons, and different payload requirements can be met. The second stage will be a cryo-stage. After the first stage is separated, it can be recovered in sea, like SpaceX has done. Though we have the technology to recover the cryogenic second stage, it is not very cost-effective. The first stage will not be a winged structure. We can manoeuvre it and bring it back to SHAR [in Sriharikota] also. But this will have a tremendous loss of payload. Because you have to retro-fire the rocket and have a controlled descent, you have to carry double the amount of propellants.”_
> 
> I had seen this concept a few months before, when I was still doing by B.Tech in mechanical engineering. We had a visiting faculty from LPSC, Trivandrum, and the topic was liquid propulsion systems. And in that presentation, there was a slide about this prospective design of HLV- though he didn't give out any info about it. The slide said it could launch 12/13 tonnes to GTO
> 
> BTW ISRO's semi-cryogenic engine is expected to be ready by 2018.
> 
> LPSC is now developing SC200 stage (and not SC160,as contemplated earlier) to replace the L110 on LVM3. The payload to GTO would now be 7.5 tonnes & not 6 tonnes as earlier thought .This could also mean that we would have a common liquid core to be shared between the LVM3-SC (ULV?) & HLV. But now there seems to be no clarity wrt HLV plans.
> 
> In the meantime, they're tweaking the design of LVM3- Ogival payload fairings & inclined strap on nose-cone ala Ariane V (pic from NAL)
> 
> http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bC7wzIXruQI/VgaNUctSIzI/AAAAAAAAMTc/CdG-3jvUqCM/s1600-h/LVM3%2520-%2520Payload%2520Fairing%2520-%2520New%255B3%255D.jpg
> 
> _Modification of the overall vehicle configuration to bring down the aerodynamic sensitivity, reduce loads and improving the payload capability to 4,000 kg are already on the anvil. The heat shield will be changed from conical to ogive shape and a new S200 booster with improved thrust time profile will be used for LVM-3-D1
> 
> From Outcome budget 2016-17
> 
> 1(c).4 Major configuration changes recommended for LVM3-D1 mission are the *change of payload fairing to Ogive shaped nose cone with reduced cylinder length in lieu of 200 straight nose cone and inclined S200 strapon nose cone in lieu of axi symmetric nose cone. Closure of C25 inter tank structure is also recommended.*_


awseome news brother is this concept he is talking about

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## gslv mk3

nik141993 said:


> awseome news brother is this concept he is talking about



Yes, this look similar in configuration. Though as far as I remember, the first stage had a larger diameter than second.

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## fsayed

egodoc222 said:


> Any update on semicryo engine development?


http://www.aame.in/2015/08/first-prototype-of-isro-semi-cryogenic.html?m=1
http://m.thehindu.com/news/cities/M...-for-gslv-mkiii-by-yearend/article8149771.ece

http://www.isro.gov.in/new-brazing-process-semi-cryo-engine-established-isro

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## Ankit Kumar 002

*ISRO's Share in global space business . 
PIB Release 
*
India’s share in International Satellite Market 

According to the published reports available in the public domain on the international satellite market, the average annual revenue over the last three years, is approximately $200 billion (Rs. 13 Lakh Crore), which includes the launch services market (Rs. 0.37 Lakh Crore), satellite manufacturing (Rs. 1.07 Lakh Crore), ground equipment (Rs.3.85 Lakh Crore) and satellite services (Rs. 8.17 Lakh Crore). ISRO is providing the launch capacity, when available, for launching satellites on a commercial basis through Antrix Corporation Limited. During the last year (2015-16), Antrix earned a revenue of approximately Rs. 230 Crore through commercial launch services, which is about 0.6% of the global launch services market. 

In order to meet the enhanced national requirements for launching satellites for earth observation, communication & navigation, ISRO is taking steps to increase the launch capacity. ISRO will continue to provide the launch capacity, when available, for commercial launch services. Towards stepping up the launch capacity, ISRO is in the process of exploring the possibility of enhanced involvement of Indian industry. Besides meeting the national demand, the industry can explore the opportunities for commercial launch services. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


KSD/NK/PK 
(Release ID :147441)

_Scramjet Engine Test ! 

Department of Space21-July, 2016 15:55 IST
Test Flight of Indigenously Developed Scramjet Engine 

The testing of sub-scale demonstrator scramjet engine is envisaged as a part of technology demonstration, by mounting it on a two stage solid rocket. This test intends to demonstrate supersonic combustion in flight and evaluate the integrated functioning of the engine. The preparations for carrying out the test are underway and the test is likely to be conducted in the third quarter of 2016. 

Scramjet engine technology is a complex technology which is yet to be fully proven worldwide. It is envisaged for use in launch vehicle, once the technology attains sufficient maturity. The technology will be useful only during the atmospheric phase of the flight of launch vehicle and will benefit in bringing down the cost of access to space, by reducing the amount of the oxidizer to be carried along with the fuel. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


KSD/NK/PK 
(Release ID :147439)_

_MTCR AND INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM 
_
Benefits from MTCR for Space Programme 

India joining MTCR would benefit our space development programme in:- 

(i) Strengthening our international cooperation activities in high technology areas with other space faring nations. 

(ii) Easing the procurements & supplies of export controlled high/ advanced technology items, components, materials, and equipment from other countries, especially MTCR partner states. 

(iii) Enhancing our commercial ventures in terms of export of sub-systems, satellites and commercial launch services etc. 

India as a major space faring nation and as a partner state in MTCR could play critical roles in various international fora such as UNCOPUOS, UN Conference on Disarmament (CD) and other space related international fora in major policy decisions relating to space applications, space security topics. India, as a Partner State of MTCR, can take part in the decision making process in ensuring non-proliferation of sensitive space technology related items, which are controlled through a list (called Technical Annex) and reviewed & revised annually through Technical Experts Meetings. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


KSD/NK/PK 
(Release ID :147438)

**********************************
Joint Project of NASA and ISRO 

Development of Data Satellite by NASA and ISRO 

ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/NASA are jointly working on the development of Dual Frequency (L&S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite named as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). 

In this joint mission, JPL/ NASA will be responsible for design & development of L-band SAR, 12m unfurlable antenna & its deployment elements, GPS system and data recorder. ISRO will be responsible for design & development of S-band SAR, Spacecraft Bus, data transmission system, Spacecraft integration & testing, launch using GSLV and on-orbit operations. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of applications, which include natural resources mapping & monitoring; estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods and oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes and variation of winds in coastal waters; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies etc. 

ISRO and JPL/ NASA are working towards realisation of this mission by 2021. Both agencies have obtained necessary approvals from respective governments. The joint science observation plan has been documented with the participation of Indian and American scientists. The core science teams of India and USA meet every six months to discuss various observation requirements and strategies of science observation. The technical teams of both the agencies are working towards building the necessary systems. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


KSD/NK/PK 
(Release ID :147437)

@PARIKRAMA @Water Car Engineer @Abingdonboy @anant_s @gslv mk3 

PIB releases based on questions asked / answered related to ISRO in parliament today.

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## gslv mk3

Ankit Kumar 002 said:


> According to the published reports available in the public domain on the international satellite market, the average annual revenue over the last three years, is approximately $200 billion (Rs. 13 Lakh Crore), which includes the launch services market (Rs. 0.37 Lakh Crore), satellite manufacturing (Rs. 1.07 Lakh Crore), ground equipment (Rs.3.85 Lakh Crore) and satellite services (Rs. 8.17 Lakh Crore). ISRO is providing the launch capacity, when available, for launching satellites on a commercial basis through Antrix Corporation Limited. During the last year (2015-16), Antrix earned a revenue of approximately Rs. 230 Crore through commercial launch services, which is about 0.6% of the global launch services market.



Hopefully these figures with go up with the 'privatization' of pslv. With LVM 3/ULV , we can establish ourselves as a key player in Space launch services market

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## CorporateAffairs

Can we use our space capabilities to shoot down enemy satellite in case of war?
And can we use our space technology to develop ICBMs in short time?


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## TejasMk3

*GSLV-MarkII to be launched in August: ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar*

AS Kiran Kumar also elaborated on ISRO's plan to increase the number of satellite launches every year.

Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to increase the number of satellite launches every year, a top ISRO official said on Friday. "We are planning to increase the number of rocket launches from the present eight to 12 every year," ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said at a function in Chennai.

Kumar, who was here to participate in the MIT Alumni Golden Jubilee Celebrations, said the scientists were gearing up for the launch the GSLV-MarkII (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) carrying weather satellite in August.


Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Director K Sivan said the weather monitoring and forecasting satellite on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is also planned to be launched later this year. Last month, ISRO had put into orbit 20 satellites, including the earth observation satellite -- Cartosat-2, on board PSLV-C34 in a single launch from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 135 kms from Chennai.

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## 911

TejasMk3 said:


> *GSLV-MarkII to be launched in August: ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar*
> 
> AS Kiran Kumar also elaborated on ISRO's plan to increase the number of satellite launches every year.
> 
> Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to increase the number of satellite launches every year, a top ISRO official said on Friday. "We are planning to increase the number of rocket launches from the present eight to 12 every year," ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said at a function in Chennai.
> 
> Kumar, who was here to participate in the MIT Alumni Golden Jubilee Celebrations, said the scientists were gearing up for the launch the GSLV-MarkII (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) carrying weather satellite in August.
> 
> 
> Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Director K Sivan said the weather monitoring and forecasting satellite on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is also planned to be launched later this year. Last month, ISRO had put into orbit 20 satellites, including the earth observation satellite -- Cartosat-2, on board PSLV-C34 in a single launch from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 135 kms from Chennai.


Wow good news!


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## egodoc222

CorporateAffairs said:


> Can we use our space capabilities to shoot down enemy satellite in case of war?
> And can we use our space technology to develop ICBMs in short time?


It's possible with the existing technology for satellites in LEO....Where the spy satellites ate usually placed!!
We already have an ICBM!!


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## SOHEIL



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## indiatester

SOHEIL said:


>


What's this?


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## SOHEIL

indiatester said:


> What's this?



Indian spacecraft early design

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## Water Car Engineer

SOHEIL said:


> Indian spacecraft early design




Human program is put in the back burner now.


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## SOHEIL

Water Car Engineer said:


> Human program is put in the back burner now.



Lucky you ... Our manned space program completely stopped


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## Water Car Engineer

SOHEIL said:


> Lucky you ... Our manned space program completely stopped




Not that important anyway.


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## SOHEIL

Water Car Engineer said:


> Not that important anyway.



Not for long !

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## Water Car Engineer

Han Patriot said:


> Years ago, you guys said manned space was easy peasy and you could do it in a whiff with your superior Indy intelligence. It's been 13 YEARS my friend.




When did ISRO say it would be easy, peasy and they can do it due to their, "indy intelligence"?


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## kurup

Water Car Engineer said:


> When did ISRO say it would be easy, peasy and they can do it due to their, "indy intelligence"?



Why wasting your time replying to the moron .

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## Han Patriot

kurup said:


> Why wasting your time replying to the moron .


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/23/india-space-astronauts
ISRO said they want to send a man into space for 7 DAYS by 2015 in 2009. 5 years to send a man, easy peasy?


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

ISRO has developed a low impact peripheral docking system based on the IDSS. The system is configured for small satellites and future adaptations would incorporate a sealed adaptor for manned missions and allow docking for heavier satellites.

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## Han Patriot

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> ISRO has developed a low impact peripheral docking system based on the IDSS. The system is configured for small satellites and future adaptations would incorporate a sealed adaptor for manned missions and allow docking for heavier satellites.


Has it been made or tested? Or it's another upcoming, in the future, may, should, could attempt? I can also developed something and draw a cad to show it.


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

*Chandrayaan 2 Updates: 
*

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## Han Patriot

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> *Chandrayaan 2 Updates:
> *


Has the lander been tested?


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## Foxbat Alok



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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

Foxbat Alok said:


>


this concept art is no more valid


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## Water Car Engineer

*Joint NASA-ISRO SAR Satellite *

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## mkb95



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## Feroz Alam Khan

*India bags orders to launch 68 foreign satellites*
By: IANS | Last Updated: Tuesday, 30 August 2016 10:25 PM




Image: Representational/PTI

Bengaluru: Riding on the success of its rocket launches and domain expertise in space technology, India has secured new orders to launch 68 satellites for overseas customers, including a dozen from the US, a top official said on Tuesday.

“We got fresh orders to launch 68 satellites from various countries, including 12 from PlanetiQ, a US-based weather forecasting satellite firm,” said Rakesh Sasibhushan, Chairman and Managing Director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian space agency.

Through Antrix, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 74 foreign satellites, including many from advanced countries like Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel and the US over the 15 years, using its most reliable workhorse – the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

“We estimate that about 2,500 satellites will be built in the next decade to meet the needs of countries and private customers for navigation, maritime, surveillance and other space-based applications,” Sashibhushan told reporters here ahead of the fifth biennial Space Expo from Thursday here.

The new orders include for launching smaller and nano-satellites with different payloads (instruments) for experiments, data generation, image-capturing and transmitting signals for communications, broadcasting, remote-sensing, earth observation and weather conditions.

“We also got an order to launch a heavier earth observation satellite from an overseas customer, said Sashibhushan without naming the customer, and asserted that Antrix would try to be competitive to win more contracts.

http://www.abplive.in/india-news/india-bags-orders-to-launch-68-foreign-satellites-407659

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## TejasMk3

GSLV being rolled out for Sept 8th launch! 




















GSLV-F05 is the tenth flight of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). In this flight, GSLV will launch 2211 kg INSAT-3DR, an advanced weather satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). After reaching GTO, INSAT-3DR will use its own propulsion system to reach its final geosynchronous orbital home and will be stationed at 74 deg East longitude. INSAT-3DR will provide a variety of meteorological services to the country. GSLV is designed to inject 2 - 2.5 ton class of satellites into GTO.

GSLV-F05 is the flight in which the indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) is being carried on-board for the fourth time during a GSLV flight. GSLV-F05 flight is significant since it is the first operational flight of GSLV carrying CUS. GSLV-F05 will be launched from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota.

GSLV-F05 vehicle is configured with all its three stages including the CUS similar to the ones successfully flown during the previous GSLV-D5 and D6 missions in January 2014 and August 2015. GSLV-D5 and D6 successfully placed GSAT-14 and GSAT-6 satellites carried on-board in the intended GTOs very accurately.

GSLV-F05 / INSAT-3DR Mission is scheduled to be launched on *Sept 08, 2016 at 16:10 hrs (IST)* from SDSC, SHAR, Sriharikota.

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## indiatester

Sep 07, 2016

Second Stage (GS2) N2O4 filling completed by 13:30 hr IST. Preparations for Second Stage (GS2) UH25 filling are under progress
Sep 07, 2016 Second stage (GS2) N2O4 filling under progress
Sep 07, 2016 Preparations for Second stage (GS2) propellant filling operation are under progress
Sep 07, 2016 The 29 hr countdown operation of GSLV-F05/INSAT-3DR Mission has started at 11:10 hr IST on Wednesday, September 7, 2016

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## SOHEIL

best of luck to you

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## indiatester

Sep 07, 2016 Second Stage (GS2) UH25 filling completed by 17:40 hr IST
Sep 07, 2016 UH25 filling into four L40 Strap-On Stages completed by 21:00hr IST

Real Time System simulation checks Completed by 08:15 hr IST. Countdown is progressing normally
Date: Sep, 08, 2016
N2O4 filling into four L40 Strap-On Stages completed by 03:00 hr IST
Date: Sep, 08, 2016

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## indiatester

*Sep 08, 2016 *: GSLV-F05 Successfully launches INSAT-3DR

*Sep 08, 2016 *: GSLV-F05 / INSAT-3DR Mission: Inject INSAT-3DR into orbit

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

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## indiatester

http://isro.gov.in/update/09-sep-20...f-insat-3dr-has-been-successfully-carried-out

Sep 09, 2016
* The first apogee raise maneuver of INSAT-3DR has been successfully carried out.*
The first apogee raise maneuver of INSAT-3DR has been successfully carried out by LAM Engine firing for 2935sec from 08:39hrs IST on September 09, 2016.
Orbit Determination results from this LAM firing are:
apogee X perigee height was changed to 35882 km X 7001 km. Inclination is 9.02 deg. Orbital period is 12hr 49min.

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## Armani

indiatester said:


> 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.

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## gslv mk3

From a recent presentation by Dr. A S Kiran Kumar

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## Bhasad Singh Mundi



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## 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/

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## migflug

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


>



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


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

migflug said:


> 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

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## 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).


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

migflug said:


> 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.

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## Armani

gslv mk3 said:


> 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.

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## Beyond CMOS

Armani said:


> 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.

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## mkb95

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

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## migflug



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## Armani

Bhasad Singh Mundi said:


> - 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.


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## MKC



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## 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.


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## Rajput battalion

eagerly waiting for mk3 launch .


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## migflug

*Seven Reasons You Should Follow ISRO’s PSLV Launch on Monday*
BY VASUDEVAN MUKUNTH ON 23/09/2016 • 1 COMMENT
*SHARE THIS:*

Print
More


*The largest satellite onboard is the ScatSat-1. It will better India’s ability to forecast cyclones – but five years on, it could also become a piece of space-junk threatening other satellites.*





A fully integrated PSLV C-34 outside the vehicle assembly building and ahead of its launch on June 22, 2016. The vehicle flew in the XL configuration. Credit: ISRO

At 9.12 am on September 26, the Indian Space Research Organisation will launch a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket on its 37th mission. The rocket will be carrying eight satellites, the biggest of which will be the ScatSat-1. Of the remaining seven, two have been built by university students in India while the rest are commercial payloads from Algeria, Canada and the US. The mission designation is C-35, and will be launched from the first launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Here’s what to look out for.

*1. If successful, the launch will be the PSLV’s 33rd consecutive success*

Before the September 26 launch: the PSLV has flown 36 missions (including developmental flights). Thirty-four have been successful – of which 32 have come consecutively. The last failure experienced by the rocket was in 1997, on its first operational flight.

Though this may seem like an impressive record, the PSLV has only the 16th best success rate. As of December 2015, it was 94%. The topper is the Delta 2: since 1989, it has aced 151 of 153 missions with 98 consecutive successes. Its success rate is 99%.

The C-35 mission will also be the 15th time the PSLV will launch in its XL configuration. The PSLV rocket has four stages: solid, liquid, solid, liquid. The first solid stage is one of the largest in use in the world, carrying 138 tonnes of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene urethane-bound propellant. It is augmented by six strap-on solid-fuel boosters. In the XL configuration, these boosters are larger than those on the standard configuration. All 15 XL launches have been successful.

*2. This is PSLV’s first attempt to insert satellites into multiple orbits in the same launch*





The third stage solid-fuel motor of the PSLV C-35 during vehicle assembly. Credit: ISRO

In the C-29 and C-34 missions, ISRO launched the respective payloads and then shut off the PSLV’s fourth stage motor. In this period, the rocket continued to orbit Earth from pole to pole. In between, the motor was restarted and shut off twice. On both occasions, it was for the rocket to move from a lower to higher or higher to lower orbit.

When these feats were attempted for the first time with the C-29 mission, ISRO had said that they would come of use during multi-orbit launches, specifically the C-35 mission. The moving-between-orbits can’t be performed by a PSLV’s fourth stage motor right out of the box because restarting an engine in a cold, low-gravity environment is tricky. As ISRO had said in a statement on June 22,

PS4 stage is powered by twin liquid engines, which demands maintenance of critical parameters within the limit for overall controllability during restart. In view of these constraints and the long mission duration of around 7600 seconds between two restarts at two widely spaced points in orbit, appropriate measures were taken with overall mission planning and management, augmentation of control requirements, manoeuvring and controlling the vehicle into different orbits, reconditioning of propulsion systems and propellant management under micro-gravity conditions.

Until ISRO had this ability – to switch orbits during a launch – it faced two problems.

The first was one of costs. If two satellites that could be accommodated onboard a single PSLV rocket were to be inserted into different orbits, ISRO has had to launch them separately in the past. Since the PSLV is an expendable launch vehicle, this also means building two launch vehicles. Each costs around Rs 100 crore.

The second is one of execution. During the C-34 mission, the PSLV deployed 20 satellites in one go into a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 505 km. After deployment, each satellite then used its built-in propulsion system to manoeuvre itself into its desired orbit. ISRO officials had said at the time that the vehicle had to constantly reorient itself to keep from launching one satellite _into_ another. Now, if the vehicle is able to _move_ between orbits during a mission, it can deploy multiple satellites with greater control and lesser risk.

During the C-35 mission, the PSLV will first deploy the ScatSat-1 at an altitude of 720 km (inclination 98º) some 17 minutes after launch. The remaining satellites will be deployed at 670 km (98.2º) almost two hours later.

*3. The ScatSat-1 satellite will restore India’s ability to predict cyclones*





ScatSat-1 being integrated with the PSLV C-35. The payload fairing is to either side. Credit: ISRO

The 377-kg ScatSat-1 is a weather-prediction satellite that will succeed the now-defunct Oceansat-2. The ‘scat’ in the satellite’s somewhat unfortunate name actually comes from the scatterometer it carries. A scatterometer is an instrument used to study atmospheric diffusion.

Using it, ScatSat-1 will study the incidence and behaviour of air vortices in the atmosphere, considered to be the seeds that evolve to become cyclones. Oceansat-2 was launched almost exactly five years ago (on September 23, 2009). It played an instrumental role in mitigating the effects of Cyclone Phailin on Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in 2013.

However, the scatterometer onboard Oceansat-2 went offline ahead of schedule in February 2014. Since then, we’ve been dependent on NASA’s RapidScat instrument onboard the International Space Station, which measures wind speed and direction over the oceans.

*4. Mumbai’s first satellite? Yay! But there’s a problem.*





A computer rendering of Pratham, a microsatellite built by the students of IIT-Bombay. Credit: iitb.ac.in

The satellite Pratham, built by students at IIT-Bombay, will launch onboard C-35 to an altitude of 670 km. There, it will enter into a Sun-synchronous orbit and study the ionosphere over four months. Some news reports have designated Pratham as “Mumbai’s first satellite” (even though it isn’t clear what it will be doing for the city specifically). Anyway, Pratham’s academic provenance is heartening.

The problem begins with what Pratham won’t be able to do but should have been able to: deorbit. Over time, Pratham will stop functioning as its battery runs out just as the drag exerted on it by Earth’s atmosphere will reduce. As a result, the satellite will effectively become a 10-kg hunk of junk descending toward Earth in a long and slow spiral, threatening hardware as well as space-walking astronauts in lower orbits along the way. The same is true of the 5-kg PISAT built by the students of PES University, Bengaluru.

According to _NASA Spaceflight_, the ISS “sports a number of battle scars” from “micro-meteoroid and orbital debris strikes”. In the event that NORAD is able to track a large piece of debris in the ISS’s path well in advance, the space station performs a debris avoidance manoeuvre to raise or lower its orbit by a few kilometres. This costs a lot of fuel. In the same vein, consider how the wider world would take it if something smashes into the beloved Hubble space telescope – or our own ASTROSAT.

The higher a satellite is beyond about 500 km, the exponentially longer it takes to descend low enough to start burning up. And 670 km is considered a high altitude for a satellite that needs to be in the low-Earth orbit. It needs to be noted at this point that ScatSat-1 also lacks a deorbiting mechanism. But at the same time, it also has a well-outlined mission objective that is more difficult to compromise on than the objective of a student-built satellite whose prime purpose is to educate the students who built it. Moreover, Pratham only has a lifetime of four months; ScatSat-1 is expected to function for five years.

If Pratham had had a deorbiting mechanism, it would’ve completed its mission and then shot itself toward Earth, burning itself up along the way without harming anyone or anything else.

The first student-built satellite from India that will have an experimental deorbiting mechanism is called Parikshit. It has been built at Manipal University and is currently undergoing tests. The mechanism in question is called electrodynamic tethering; the hope is that if Parikshit succeeds in demonstrating this tech, other university-sats will follow in incorporating it. According to an engineer involved with Parikshit, the team is targeting a December 2016 launch on board a PSLV rocket.

*5. A healthy PSLV is instrumental to ISRO cashing in on the booming satellites industry*

The commercial payload onboard the C-35 mission comprises the Algerian ALSAT 1B, 1N and 2B satellites; the American Pathfinder-1; and the Canadian CanX-7. Apart from them, the German Venta-1 and MaxValier satellite contracts are the ones remaining for ISRO to launch this year. Presumably, they will be launched onboard the C-36 mission (alongside the ResourceSat-2A and IITMSAT satellites) currently planned for October.

As of the C-34 mission, Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, had arranged for and executed the launch of 74 foreign satellites over 17 ISRO missions. In August 2016, PTI reported that, as a result, Antrix had made a profit of Rs 896 crore since 2011.




Commercial launches are important for ISRO and Antrix because… well, that’s what they’re banking on. ISRO is developing low-cost launchers not just for India’s needs because also to present itself as a low-cost launch option for foreign satellite-makers. According to a recent report, the satellite-manufacturing and -launching industry will grow at 4.95% a year from now until 2020. And the PSLV XL is one of the best in its class (see table; provided by Prateep Basu/Quora) when it comes to launching these satellites.




According to a 2015 report compiled by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there will be 26 payloads launched to the geosynchronous orbit, and 151 to other orbits, in 2017. The FAA also adds that the “satellite services market is generally robust”. The Satellite Industry Association estimated that revenues in the satellite manufacturing and services sectors grew by 4% from 2014 to 2015, reaching $16.6 billion and $127.4 billion respectively.

*6. Pathfinder-1 is going up, and you should keep an eye on it. It’ll have one on you.*





An artist’s rendering of a Kestrel Eye satellite. Credit: US Army

Pathfinder-1 is a satellite operated by BlackSky Global, an American startup that provides Earth-observation services. And it’s the first of a constellation of 60 satellites that will eventually form a network for “tracking economic assets, monitoring illegal maritime activity, providing humanitarian relief” and “securing troops and borders”, among other things, by 2019.

The Pathfinder network’s USP is how it will communicate. Most satellites in orbit around Earth communicate with ground stations using radio waves. When a satellite collects some information, it is encoded in radio-frequency waves and relayed to networks on the ground, which then distribute it. As a result, there is a significant delay between when an image is commissioned and when it is finally delivered.

The BlackSky Pathfinders, on the other hand, will use technology derived from the American military’s Kestrel Eye satellites to provide near-realtime reconnaissance capabilities.





A BlackSky Pathfinder satellite. Credit: SpaceFlight Inc.

This is achieved in two broad ways. First, in the legacy of Kestrel Eye, the Pathfinders will optimise data-processing and delivery such that an image is commissioned, captured, processed and downlinked in a span of 10 minutes. Second, the constellation will operate in a low-inclination (40-55º) Sun-synchronous orbit – allowing each satellite to pass over a spot on the ground up to six times a day, but never at the same time on different days. They will also be positioned at an altitude of about 450 km, allowing each satellite to be quickly brought down if it becomes obsolete and replaced with a newer version. BlackSky plans to do this once every three years.

The Pathfinders are being built by a company called SpaceFlight Inc. This company used to be called Andrews Space and had been contracted by the US Army Space and Missile Defence Command in 2013 to build the Kestrel Eye Block 2 satellite.

*7. This is the fifth PSLV launch this year – en route to ISRO’s target of >12 launches every year*

This year, at least one more launch remains (to hoist the German satellites) after the C-35 so ISRO can fulfil its contractual obligations. Compare this to the organisation’s future target: 12-18 launches a year, achieved using an ISRO-industry collaboration led by Antrix the specifics of which haven’t been finalised yet. To these ends, ISRO is building a second vehicle assembly building at its Sriharikota spaceport. ISRO officials have said that such a partnership is necessary to ensure the PSLV is able to lift more mass to space each year.

This graduation of the PSLV – from getting ready in the 1990s to establishing itself in the 2000s to finally becoming a symbol of ISRO’s progress in the 2010s – has only become possible thanks to its repeated successes and reliability. As a space entrepreneur recently remarked to this writer: “If you put something on the PSLV, you know it will reach orbit.” Ahead of the September 26 launch, too, the levels of apprehension are much lower than what they are ahead of every GSLV launch. And nothing less than one more perfect launch is expected from the PSLV

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## indiatester

No one is following the launches any more. Damn once we get expertise, it looks lame. C'mon people, ISRO is trying to inject satellites into different orbits this time.

For those interested. Launch going on normal. Third (PS3) currently going on. Performance "naarmal"
Third state burn out done and in coast phase.

9:25: PS4 engine started.
9:30: Scatsat injected.

Follow on satellites to be injected around 11:10.

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## indiatester

Sep 26, 2016

ALSAT-2B Satellite is Seperated
Sep 26, 2016 PRATHAM and PI Satellites is Separated
Sep 26, 2016 PSLV-C35 Successfully launches SCATSAT-1. Seperation of the remaining 7 satellites expected to occur between 11.25 hr IST and 11.28 hr IST


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## aswin

SCATSAT-1 – Satellite for Weather Forecasting, Cyclone Detection and Tracking

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## Supply&Demand

Any idea if mk3 launch scheduled in dec 2016 will b new design as in the below pic???

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## kurup

Supply&Demand said:


> Any idea if mk3 launch scheduled in dec 2016 will b new design as in the below pic???



Most probably yes

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-isros-gslvmk-3/article9195473.ece?ref=tpnews
Thrissur, October 7, 2016

The Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited, a public sector company owned by the State government, has developed Alpha titanium alloy hemispherical forgings for cryogenic stage (C25) of GSLV –MK 3 (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – Mark III) for the Indian Space Research Organisation.

*Challenging task*

*“Alpha Titanium Alloy is one of the difficult to forge materials due to its high flow stress coupled with tendency of cracking. With modified processing parameters and design innovation, the problem was eliminated. Due to this effort, direct pay load gain advantage is achieved. Thus more Transponders can be loaded in satellite,” said P.K. Mansoor, Senior Manager, Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited (SIFL).*

*M.K. Sasikumar, SIFL managing director, handed over the technology development document to K. Sivan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, who visited the SIFL recently. VSSC Deputy Directors P.V. Venkata Krishnan and S. Aravamuthan were also present.*

*The SIFL has been associating with the ISRO for the last 25 years for its projects, including PSLC, GSLV, Chandrayan, Mangalyaaan, relaunch vehicle and indigenously developed a number of forgings, Mr. Mansoor said.*

*The SIFL has supplied gas bottle forgings of different sizes with a material titanium alloy, pure titanium, and inconel.*

*An aerospace standard AS-9100-Rev-c certified organisation, the SIFL has indigenised many works for the HAL, BrahMos missile, Arjun battle tanks, DMDE and Railways, he added.*

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## Hindustani78

Updated: October 9, 2016 05:43 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...n-lunar-surface/article9203827.ece?ref=tpnews





Deputy Director Satish Dhawan Space Centre V. Ranganathan.

India is getting ready* to deploy an indigenously developed rover on the lunar surface for on-site analysis of various samples and relay them to the earth station.*

Senior ISRO scientist and Deputy Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre V. Ranganathan told _The Hindu_ on Saturday that* they were in advance stages of deploying the rover. The timing of its launch is not yet finalised.*

Chandrayaan-II Mission includes launching of lunar explorations by geosynchronous launch vehicles (GSLV Mk-II) with clinical precision. *The wheeled rover would be useful in using multiple applications by collecting soil and rock sediments for on-site analysis and transmitting the findings to the earth station.*

ISRO has also taken up ambitious programme *to build vehicles with cryogenic engines with bigger capacity than GSLV*, Mr. Ranganathan, who came here to take part along with other scientists in World Space Week celebrations, said.

Stating that synchronisation of earth movement and the satellites was very important for their success, he said compared to all other countries,* the success rate of India’s satellite launch programme was very impressive due to focus on quality, cost effectiveness and optimum utilisation of manpower.*

Deputy Project Director of LVM-3 B.V.V.S.N. Prasada Rao, who is part of team from ISRO visiting the city, said *India was ahead of other countries in space technology by continuously test-firing and deploying satellites of various types and configurations for use for communication and other applications.*

LMV3, a full-fledged vehicle will be launched in the first half of 2017. Mr. Rao said the heavy launch capability launcher would enable ISRO’s self-reliance in launching of satellites. It will send four tonne class geosynchronous satellites into the orbit.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...encourage-student-startups/article9207015.ece 
Updated: October 10, 2016 18:28 IST






The Hindu
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu receiving a memento from ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar at the valedictory of World Space Week celebrations at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam Monday. Photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam
×

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday announced the decision to establish incubation centres in all the universities in Andhra Pradesh to undertake research based on space technologies following an understanding reached with the top scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation.

Disclosing this at the valedictory of World Space Week celebrations after talks with ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) Director P. Kunhikrishnan and Vice-Chancellors of various universities, he said they were the first to involve students in a big way to take up research to ensure inclusive development.

Mr. Naidu also announced the constitution of a committee comprising experts from various universities and ISRO in ensuring proper use of remote sensing and other data in conceiving innovative ideas into startups and subsequently commercial ventures.

The Chief Minister expressed satisfaction over enthusiasm shown by the students of Andhra University in photographing 5,000-odd toilets opened during Krishna Pushkarams for monitoring the cleanliness on real-time basis and said the government would sanction Rs.25 lakh initially for forming a startup at AU to monitor cleanliness at all public toilets.

Underlining the need for the students to innovate through out-of-the-box ideas, he said the time had come to use technologies to find out solutions to various problems faced by the people.

Mr. Naidu said the State was in the forefront of using technologies for e-governance and fixing responsibility at various levels for hassle-free administration. He said the chapters of Innovation Society formed by the government would be opened at various universities.

Referring to the decision to set up incubations centres at various universities, he said once the startups become commercial ventures, they could market their products not only in the State but also earn money by providing them to other parts of the country.

In his address, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar recalled the contribution of Vikram Sarabhai for pioneering research in space technology and said his dream for revolution in communication had become a reality now with smartphones becoming part and parcel of daily life.

*“Today we are able to predict weather at least 48 hours in advance and enable fishermen to locate fish easily through Global Positioning System. This has saved fishermen over Rs.20,000 crore in fuel and reducing voyage time,” he pointed out.*

*Mr. Kiran Kumar said India was now ranked among top few countries in making advancement in space research. “As on today we have launched 38 satellites on earth, navigation and communication as space has become the platform where there are no boundaries,” he commented.*

The noted space scientist said* India’s maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-I had made a landmark breakthrough on formation of water molecules on lunar space.*

HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Panchayat Raj Minister Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, AU Vice-Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao and MP K. Haribabu were present.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/science/science/071016/gsat-18-tested-in-perfect-health.html

*Nellore:* India’s communication satellite GSAT-18 was launched by a heavy-lift Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guyana early on Thursday. The launch, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed due to bad weather locally.

The 3,404-kg GSAT-18 carries 48 transponders in C-band, upper extended C-band and Ku-band to provide telecommunication services.

While the Ku band is for fixed and broadcast services, the C band is used for long-distance radio telecommunications, satellite transmissions, some Wi-Fi devices, some cordless telephones, and some weather radar systems. It also has a Ku band beacon to help ground antennae tune accurately to the satellite.

The Ariane 5 VA-231 of the European Space Agency lifted off at 2am IST and placed the* GSAT-18 in orbit after a flight of 32 minutes and 28 seconds. The satellite was placed in a highly elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit. The elliptical orbit is 251.7 km from the earth at its closest (perigee) and 35,888 km at its farthest (apogee).*

Isro’s Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka took command immediately after separation, and reported that preliminary health checks on the satellite showed everything was normal. *The satellite will be raised to a geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the equator.*

After the completion of these operations, the two solar arrays and the antenna reflectors of GSAT-18 will be deployed. The satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration.

*The GSAT-18 cost about Rs 350 crore. Isro has spent nearly `500 crore on its launch. The cost can, however, be recovered within two years by leasing the transponders, Isro officials said. The satellite has an estimated life of 15 years.*

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...ll-with-lighter-satellites/article9216116.ece
Updated: October 14, 2016 02:06 IST
*ISRO has plans to go small with lighter satellites*




*Plan is two-pronged and satellites can range from 10 kg ‘micros’ to 300 kg-500 kg ‘minis’*
Even as it moves into making *heavier communication spacecraft weighing 4,000 kg to 6,000 kg*, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has also firmed up a strategy to a make increasingly smaller satellites for earth observation and scientific, experimental and other missions.



The plan for* small satellites is two-pronged and can range from 10 kg ‘micros’ to 300 kg-500 kg ‘minis’. A series of 350-kg ‘mini’ satellites, probably with high resolution cameras and innovative features, will be built in the near future for the ISRO’s own remote-sensing uses. *



They will be built on the decade-old *IMS-2 platform on which the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) has earlier brought out half a dozen EO (earth observation) satellites. *



*Nano satellites*



*It also plans to build 10 kg or smaller nano and micro satellites using a 100 kg IMS-1 platform.* This will offer ready and reliable micro and nano satellite ‘shells’ on which the Indian Institutes of Technology, universities and even start-ups can put their experimental payloads or devices.



*Saving time *



The idea is to encourage users to save time to import a suitable small satellite and instead focus on test novel concepts on the satellites.* IMS stands for 80 kg Indian Mini Satellite, launched in 2008. *



*The 300 kg - 400 kg class may be the new norm in Indian EO.* “In future, *we may put three EO satellites, each with a mass not more than 350 kg, at a time on a PSLV. They will be for remote sensing, weather or science missions,” ISAC director M. Annadurai told The Hindu. Such a plan, he said, would also need fewer launch vehicles, efforts and time.*

Dr. Annadurai said that going small was in tune with the global trend and “a logical extension of what we were already doing a decade ago.”

The ISRO’s own remote-sensing satellites, he said, had been getting progressively smaller, from close to *1,000 kg to the recent 370-kg Scatsat-1 to monitor ocean weather.*

Considering the growing interest among universities and start-ups to use sub-100 kg satellites as test beds, the ISAC can readily provide them the basic spacecraft using a “two-stack” configuration somewhat off the shelf. The user can later add a payload or application of 5 kg on to this. Today, university satellites take three years to materialise and involve students from two or three batches.



*Continuity*

This affects continuity, quality and interest levels in the teams and risk producing “me-too” satellites with no new ideas. “We want to bridge these gaps,” he said.

Dr. Annadurai said that student satellite projects come up with interesting and relevant experiments and need to be encouraged. One such corelates ionospheric phenomena with impending earthquakes. *To lessen debris they could be made to decay faster by putting them at lower 450 km orbits, among others. *


The ISRO, too, *used small satellites to test its concepts. IMS-1 was the test bed for elements that went into Chandrayaan-1 of 2008. *

The Indo-Russian Youthsat of 2011 experimented with spacecraft autonomy that was the hallmark of the 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission and future planetary missions. A pre-loaded Scatsat-1 required very few commands.

Euroconsult, Paris-based consulting firm specialising in space commerce, in its July report takes note of the “unprecedented” growth of this sector globally. *It estimates that more than 3,600 small satellites are expected to be launched over the next 10 years, much more than during the last decade. *



Their market value, including the* cost of satellites and their launch fee, is put at at $22 billion - which would be 76 per cent more than what it was in the previous decade (2006-15). *


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi

*India's very own X37B 
*

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## Hindustani78

Rajput battalion said:


> eagerly waiting for mk3 launch .



http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-to-miss-december-deadline/article9258356.ece

Updated: October 23, 2016 13:24 IST

*The delay in the South Asian satellite also comes at a time when the regional grouping’s annual summit in Islamabad has been called off following escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, in the wake of the Uri terror attack.*
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious South Asian satellite project, announced two years ago, is likely to miss the December deadline as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch GSLV Mark III that month.

*“ISRO has been launching at least one satellite every month, so our calender is perennially packed and at this point of time it looks difficult to launch the South Asian satellite in December. It could get delayed by a month,” a senior official said.*

*Launching of GSLV Mark III will be a crucial development in the country’s space history. The Launch Vehicle is likely to be sent in the space by December end.*

*“Work on GSLV Mark III is in progress, but the date for the launch is yet to be arrived at. The project will help ISRO launch satellites weighing around four tonnes,” ISRO chairman and Department of Space Secretary A S Kirankumar told PTI.*

*ISRO currently has the capability of launching satellites weighing up to 2.2 tonnes.*

It has launched two satellites in September, and it is expected that October will also see launch of two more satellites. On August 28, it conducted the first experimental mission of Scramjet Engine.

The delay in the South Asian satellite also comes at a time when the regional grouping’s annual summit in Islamabad has been called off following escalation of tension between India and Pakistan, in the wake of the Uri terror attack.

“We are working on the South Asian satellite project, but no date for launch has been finalised,” Mr. Kirankumar said.

Mr. Modi, during the regional bloc’s 2014 Summit in Kathmandu, had announced launching of a SAARC Satellite as a ‘gift’ to its neighbours in order to expand information sharing and connectivity within the region.

*SAARC had come into being on December 8, 1985 and the initial plan was to operationalise the satellite in December this year.

However, Pakistan opposed the move and demanded that the satellite be brought under the ambit of the grouping. This was unacceptable to India. The name was later changed to South Asian Satellite.*

Barring Afghanistan and Pakistan, all other SAARC countries have given their go-ahead to the project.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...s-for-chandrayaan2-mission/article9262825.ece

Updated: October 25, 2016 01:57 IST

*Simulated lunar craters created in Chitradurga to plan Lander’s descent*
The Indian Space Research Organsiation *started a series of ground and aerial tests linked to the critical Moon landing of Chandrayaan-2* on Friday, at its new site at Challakere in Chitradurga district, 400 km from Bengaluru.

ISRO Satellite Centre or ISAC,* the lead centre for the second Moon mission, has artificially created close to ten craters to simulate the lunar terrain and test the Lander’s sensors.*

A* small ISRO aircraft has been carrying equipment with sensors over these craters to plan the tasks ahead. *

ISRO, along with a host of other scientific and strategic agencies, owns vast land for its future missions at Challakere, in a ‘Science City.’

ISAC Director M.Annadurai told _The Hindu_, *“The campaign for the Lander tests of Chandrayaan-2 has started. Tests are conducted over the simulated craters at Chitradurga. We are using an aircraft to assess whether the sensors on the Lander will do their job [later] of identifying the landing spot on the Moon.”*

*Chandrayaan-2 is tentatively set for late 2017 or early 2018 and includes soft-landing on Moon and moving a rover on its surface.*

*‘Complicated task’*
Landing on an alien surface is very complicated, said Dr. Annadurai, who was also the Project Director for the successful Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission of 2008.

In the coming months up to March, ISAC would conduct many tests: on avionics and electronics; testing the Lander’s legs, followed by a combined full test, at Bengaluru and Chitradurga.

*The mission includes an Orbiter, a Lander and a Rover, all being readied at ISAC in Bengaluru.* The Orbiter spacecraft when launched from Sriharikota will travel to the Moon and release the Lander, which will in turn deploy a tiny Rover to roam the lunar surface — all three sending data and pictures to Earth.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...s-mou-with-isro/article9273022.ece?ref=tpnews

Yogi Vemana University has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for exchange of technical knowhow for research in the fields of communication, GPS and agricultural data, Vice-Chancellor A. Ramachandra Reddy said on Wednesday.

YVU has ISRO nodal centre on its campus, he said. Mr. Ramachandra Reddy exhorted the faculty members to strive to work with ISRO network and secure projects from the government. The Vice-Chancellor and Rajkumar Chowdary of ISRO signed an MoU in the university.

Prof. K. Krishna Reddy said YVU secured the first project when Mr. Madhavan Nair was ISRO Chairman. The 20-year project was working on estimating the changes in the ionosphere in the atmosphere and change in evaporation density, he said.

Mr Rajkumar Chowdary said the project was aimed at developing the multi-purpose GPS signal receiver system.

YVU Registrar Nazeer Ahmed said the university has been working with ISRO for the last seven years and was pursuing research on troposphere. Dr. Venkataramu said agreements were also reached with Spain and Germany on research on material sciences.

*
×*


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## Hindustani78

ISRO Director Mayilsamy Annadurai unveils a plaque to mark inauguration of new building at Erode Sengunthar Primary School on Sunday.–PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN


Launch of Chandrayaan II as a precursor to manned mission to moon will take place in the end of 2017 or early in 2018, said Mayilsamy Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, here on Sunday.

While Chandrayan I could confirm presence of water on moon, the second satellite in the series with orbiter and rover would explore the nature of surface, he told media persons. Testing was being carried out at Bengaluru with a simulator, he said.





Mr. Annadurai, who was here to inaugurate new buildings of Erode Sengunthar Primary School, said the plan of launching one satellite a month was progressing well. Similar to tele medicine, utility of satellites could be optimised for educational development, he said. The life of Mangalyan orbiting now beyond the planned six month duration, would be extended further. The embossing of Mangalyan image on the newly released currency of Rs. 2,000 denomination was a unique recognition for his ISRO team, Mr. Annadurai said.


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## Bad Guy

*Resourcesat-2A Spacecraft was flagged off to SDSC-SHAR on 11th November, 2016*



















*Copyright: Space Application Centre*

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
17-November, 2016 15:55 IST
*Installation of Security Gadgets at ISRO and SHAR Space Centres *

Security and surveillance is a continuous process. Based on the reviews conducted from time to time and directives issued by the concerned security agencies, various security/ surveillance gadgets viz. *CCTV cameras, Thermal cameras, biometric systems, security power fencing etc., are installed/ being augmented in various ISRO Centres/ Units, including SHAR.* To facilitate these systems, various Public sector/ Private Companies have been awarded contracts for procurement, installation and annual maintenance, following prescribed codal procedures. 

The funds earmarked towards procurement, installation and annual maintenance of these security/ surveillance gadgets are approximately Rs. 48 crores. 

The security and surveillance of all major ISRO Centres/ Units and installations is entrusted to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for providing round the clock security. All the extant orders and directives issued by MHA on security measures from time to time are being complied by the department. Some of the steps taken by ISRO to tighten and increase the security, surveillance and vigilance at SHAR centre and other ISRO installations include - (i) perimeter security, (ii) frisking & screening, (iii) power fencing, (iv) migration to biometric based Access Control System, (v) conduct of security awareness programmes and mock drills. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


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## K210

PSLV C-36 launch date moved to december 7th due to some problems with rocket


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
23-November, 2016 18:23 IST
Bilateral Agreements 

Government of India and its national space body, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of Department of Space (DOS) has signed MoU/ bilateral agreements with 39 foreign countries on peaceful uses of outer space viz. Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Vietnam. The scope of cooperation under these MoUs include - Joint development of scientific instruments; joint realization of satellite missions; joint calibration and validation experiments; development of advanced technologies for building and launching of spacecrafts for earth observation and space science exploration.

The outcomes expected from various new space projects in the next two years include – (i) continuity of data and services for natural resources monitoring, all weather imaging, oceanography, disaster management support; (ii) enhancing remote sensing capability with high resolution data; (iii) augmentation of INSAT/GSAT capacity; (iv) enhancing communication capability with high throughput satellites; (v) building indigenous capability for launching 4 ton class communication satellites; (vi) building operational applications of indigenous navigation system NavIC.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****

Department of Space
23-November, 2016 18:22 IST
*Funds for Space Technology *

The amount of funds allocated to Department of Space for the development of space technology during the last three years are given below: 

Financial Year - Budget Allocated
2013-14 - 5172.00
2014-15 - 5826.00
2015-16 - 6959.44

During last financial year, the Department of Space has utilized funds to the extent of 99.43% w.r.t. to RE allocations. The details of amount utilized and that has remained unspent during the last financial year is given below: 

Financial Year- Revised Estimates - Actuals- Amount unspent- % utilisation wrt RE 
2015-16 - 6959.44 - 6920.00 - 39.44 - 99.43%

The requirement of funds for Space Technology is driven by the programmatic targets envisaged during coming years. It is proposed to increase the budget allocations in 2016-17 for Space Technology compared to RE allocation made during previous financial year. The increased allocation is proposed to be utilized for meeting the programmatic targets such as supporting space based information technology connectivity in the country through first generation high throughput communication satellite like GSAT-11 operating in Ka/Ku band; development of Advanced Launch Vehicle Technology; high-resolution imaging system; Satellite Navigation System; and Space Science & Planetary Exploration. 


This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.


****


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## Hindustani78

The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP) is a proposal by ISRO to develop and launch the ISRO Orbital Vehicle, which would carry a two-member crew to the Low Earth Orbit. The programme envisages the development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two crew members* to about 300 km low earth orbit and their safe return. *The spaceship would be launched by the GSLV MkIII launcher. Pre-project activities have been initiated to study and develop critical technologies for this mission

CREW MODULE ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY EXPERIMENT (CARE)

A demonstration of the atmospheric re-entry flight of a proto crew module of HSP was successfully carried as part of the experimental flight of LVM3 held on December 18, 2014.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
30-November, 2016 18:32 IST
*Launch of Satellites *

*ISRO is planning to launch 83 satellites onboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ‘PSLV-C37’ during January 2017 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. *

The 83 satellites being launched in this mission include – (i) 3 Indian satellites namely Cartosat-2 Series (weighing 730 kg) as primary payload, INS-1A & INS-1B (total weighing 30 kg) and (ii) 80 satellites (total weighing 500 kg) belonging to international customers from five countries, viz. Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland and USA. These international customer satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangement entered into between the customer and Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), a Government of India Company under Department of Space (DOS) and the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (lSRO).

Towards preparedness of this mission, activities related to mission studies, satellite interface analysis and several other technical/ programmatic aspects related to the launch are progressing.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

Department of Space
30-November, 2016 18:31 IST
*Mega Space Launcher *

The semicryogenic engine is currently under development and the semicryogenic stage using this engine is expected to be qualified in the next five years. Whereas, an advanced space launcher that can deliver ten-tonne and heavier communication satellites to space requires a booster stage with clustered Semi-cryogenic engines.

The first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark-III vehicle i.e. GSLV MkIII–D1 is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2017. The capacity to launch 4 tonnes will be achieved after a few developmental flights. GSLV MkIII–D1 will put a communication satellite namely GSAT-19 into orbit. 

Approval is yet to be obtained for the development of the semicryogenic stage. The technical project report for initiating the approval process is under preparation.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.



****


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
01-December, 2016 16:45 IST
*Putting GSAT-19E into Orbit *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working towards putting into orbit an indigenous communication satellite GSAT-19, weighing 3.3 tonne and carrying Ka/ Ku band payloads. 

The satellite assembly is in advanced stages. The launch campaign for the first developmental flight of GSLV Mk-III has commenced on September 29, 2016 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota.

*ISRO is working towards increasing the payload capacity of GSLV Mk-III beyond four tonnes in the coming years. *The strategies identified to achieve the increased payload capacity include performance improvement of propulsion systems, inert mass optimisation and miniaturisation of avionics system. The Chandrayaan-2, comprising of Orbiter, Lander and Rover, with a total payload mass of 3250 kg is planned to be launched onboard GSLV Mk-II during the first quarter of 2018. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

****


Department of Space
01-December, 2016 16:43 IST
*Progress of Chandrayaan-2 Mission *

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, is a totally indigenous mission comprising of Orbiter, Lander and Rover. The Orbiter and Rover flight systems are in advanced stage of realisation. Payloads are under development at various ISRO Centres / laboratories. Realisation of indigenous Lander is in progress. Special tests for new systems in Lander have been identified and a Lander Sensors Performance Test (phase-1) over artificial craters created in Chitradurga district in Karnataka has been conducted. Lunar Terrain Test facility is ready for Lander drop test and Rover mobility tests.

The Orbiter carrying six payloads will orbit around the Moon in 100 km lunar orbit. The payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.

ISRO is working towards the launch of Chandrayaan-2 during the first quarter of 2018.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

****


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## Hindustani78

HAL has delivered the Orbiter Craft Module Structure to ISRO Satellite Centre(ISAC) on June 10, 2015 for the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyan).


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## K210

Hindustani78 said:


> HAL has delivered the Orbiter Craft Module Structure to ISRO Satellite Centre(ISAC) on June 10, 2015 for the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyan).



?? Maybe you meant chandrayaan-2 orbiter?

Upcoming missions:

December 7th: PSLV C-36/RESOURCESAT-2A

Later in december: Pad abort test of crew module for human space flight program 

January: GSLV MK-3 D-1/GSAT-19E

Late January/Early feb: PSLV C-37/CARTOSAT-2D + 82 other satellites

Next couple of months are packed for ISRO


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## Rajput battalion

Gslv m3 flight date plz


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## gslv mk3

Rajput battalion said:


> Gslv m3 flight date plz



Febrauary 2017

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## K210

Rajput battalion said:


> Gslv m3 flight date plz



Early January


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## bloo

Can someone tell me something about the upcoming PSLV C-36/ResourceSat-2A mission?

Does the ResourceSat-2A have the same specs as US' GEO series satellites for the *Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) *purposed for missile defence?


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## Bad Guy

bloo said:


> Can someone tell me something about the upcoming PSLV C-36/ResourceSat-2A mission?
> 
> Does the ResourceSat-2A have the same specs as US' GEO series satellites for the *Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) *purposed for missile defence?


Hope, it helps.
http://www.isro.gov.in/Spacecraft/resourcesat-2a


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## bloo

Bad Guy said:


> Hope, it helps.
> http://www.isro.gov.in/Spacecraft/resourcesat-2a



So can it be used for balistic missile detection?
That was what I wanted know.


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## alwaysfair

PSLV launch tomorow at 10.20 am 7th dec. Watch live on DD news. Also ISRO webcast.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
07-December, 2016 14:12 IST
*PSLV-C36 Successfully Launches RESOURCESAT-2A Remote Sensing Satellite *

In its thirty eighth flight (PSLV-C36), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1,235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A Satellite today morning (December 07, 2016) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV. 

After PSLV-C36 lift-off at 10:25 am IST from the First Launch Pad with the ignition of the first stage, the subsequent important flight events, namely, strap-on ignitions and separations, first stage separation, second stage ignition, payload fairing separation, second stage separation, third stage ignition and separation, fourth stage ignition and cut-off, took place as planned. After a flight of 17 minutes 05 seconds, the vehicle achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 824 km height inclined at an angle of 98.725 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and 47 seconds later, RESOURCESAT-2A was separated from the PSLV fourth stage. 

After separation, the two solar arrays of RESOURCESAT-2A deployed automatically and ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide imagery from its three cameras. The data sent by RESOURCESAT-2A will be useful for agricultural applications like crop area and crop production estimation, drought monitoring, soil mapping, cropping system analysis and farm advisories generation. 

Like its predecessors RESOURCESAT-1 and 2, RESOURCESAT-2A has a unique 3-Tier imaging system with Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), Linear Imaging Self Scanner-3 (LISS-3) and Linear Imaging Self Scanner-4 (LISS-4) cameras. The AWiFS provides images with a sampling of 56 metres, a swath of 740 km and a revisit of 5 days whereas the LISS-3 provides 23.5 metre sampled images with 141 km swath and a repitivity of 24 days. LISS-4 provides 5.8 metre sampled images with 70 km swath and a revisit of 5 days. 

With today’s launch, the PSLV has yet again demonstrated its reliability. The total number of satellites launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV including today’s RESOURCESAT-2A has now reached 122, of which 43 are Indian and the remaining 79 are from abroad. 

***






President's Secretariat
07-December, 2016 20:44 IST
*President of India congratulates ISRO on the successful launch of PSLV-C36/RESOURCESAT-2A into Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has condoled the passing away of Shri Cho Ramaswamy, well known theatre and film personality, journalist and former Member of Parliament.

In a message to his wife, Smt. Soundara Ramaswamy, the President has said, “I am sad to learn about the passing away of your husband, Cho Ramaswamy, well known theatre and film personality, journalist and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha).

Shri Ramaswamy was admired for his wit and satire. He was a fearless critic of all that was wrong. A non-conformist who lent voice to the silent majority through his incisive writing, Shri Ramaswamy maintained the highest standards of professionalism throughout his life. In recognition of his contribution, he was honoured with many awards, including the B.D. Goenka Award for excellence in journalism.

Shri Ramaswamy will always remain an inspiration to the younger generation. In his demise, the nation has lost a leading intellectual and eminent public figure.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences and convey them to all members of your family. I pray to the Almighty to give your family and you the strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss”.



****

Prime Minister's Office
07-December, 2016 20:29 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO, on the successful launch of PSLV-C36 / RESOURCESAT-2A
*

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO, on the successful launch of PSLV-C36 / RESOURCESAT-2A. 

"Successful launch of PSLV-C36 / RESOURCESAT-2A is an accomplishment we all are very proud of. Congratulations ISRO on the remarkable feat", the Prime Minister said.

***

Department of Space
07-December, 2016 15:07 IST
*Scramjet Engine *

The first experimental mission of a sub-scale Scramjet engine, towards the realization of an Air Breathing Propulsion System, was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 (at 0600 hrs IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Various flight events, namely, burn out of booster rocket stage, ignition of second stage solid rocket, functioning of Scramjet engines, followed by burn out of the second stage took place exactly as planned. With this experimental flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated.

The total cost incurred towards carrying out the first experimental mission of the Scramjet engine is Rupees 8 Crores.

The Scramjet engine, used in the first experimental mission is a scaled down version to demonstrate proof-of-concept.

Scramjet engine technology is a complex technology which is yet to be fully proven worldwide. A series of technology demonstration tests are required before inducting the engine with required thrust into future launch vehicles. The technology will be useful only during the atmospheric phase of the flight of launch vehicle and will benefit in bringing down the cost of access to space, by reducing the need of carrying the oxidizer along with the fuel.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

Department of Space
07-December, 2016 15:06 IST
*Reusable Launch Vehicle *

ISRO has successfully carried out the first experimental mission of Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), on May 23, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. In this mission, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control and reusable thermal protection system have been successfully demonstrated.

The Development of Reusable Launch Vehicle is a technical challenge and it involves the development of many cutting edge technologies. Presently, it is in the preliminary stage of total developmental process. A series of technology demonstration missions would be required before it is made operational.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

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## indiatester

Over the years, we had so much excitement and anticipation associated with each launch with us battling the trollers. Kinda sad that we don't have to do it any more, but very happy that the trollers have given up.

BTW great job ISRO. May the new resourcesat-2A help is eliminating more terrorists and help in planning of operations.

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## Indx-techs

*ISRO will outsource satellite making to private consortium*
TE Narasimhan & Gireesh Babu | Chennai Dec 08, 2016 12:26 AM IST






> India's space agency will outsource the manufacture of two navigation satellites, Navic to a consortium of private firms, its first major attempt to share its expertise in satellite making technology that would potentially allow the country to emerge as a major global hub for producing satellites.





> So far, firms such as Avasara Technologies, L&T and Godrej have supplied components and systems for the satellites that Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) builds to hurl into space.





> In June, the space agency opened up consultations with its partners to allow them to form a consortium, absorb the satellite making technology and build satellites first for the space agency's requirements before looking at a global satellite opportunity. Isro will also share the knowhow for building ground equipment that captures satellite data and process them for specific local applications.





> The space agency will hand hold the private consortium in building the two Navic satellites, being built as spares to India's navigation constellation.





> "The consortium will have companies with expertise in each segment such as electrical, software and others, required for building a satellite. So far the industry has been associated with developing some of the components for the satellite," said ISRO Satellite Centre's Director M Annadurai, but declined to name them. An official announcement is expected next week.





> For India, space is emerging as the next growth opportunity as there is a global glut of private satellite companies who are looking for outside expertise to build hundreds of small satellites and launching them on rocket.





> "Whenever there is a large production of satellites, there will also be requirement for subsystems. There are many industries which can produce for global companies," said A S Kiran Kumar, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in an interview in August.





> India's PSLV rocket has emerged as the preferred vehicle to launch smaller satellites from global firms such as Spire and PlanetLabs.





> So far, ISRO's satellite centre based in Bengaluru has built over 80 satellites - for earth observation and communication, over the last four decades. In the next five years, it needs over 80 satellites to meet the country's demands, which Isro says, would be built by the industry than expanding its own infrastructure.





> In 2017, ISRO plans to build and launch 12 homegrown satellites from its spaceport in Sriharikota. At the same time, it would launch dozens of micro and nano satellites for global customers on the PSLV rocket.





> ISRO also has set January 20 as the date to launch its heaviest rocket - GSLV Mk-III, which once proven would be the vehicle for the country's manned mission, currently pending approval from the government.





> "We are going to have the pad abort test for the HSP (Human Spaceflight Programme). Our milestone is going to continue for every week or every once in two weeks," said Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director K Sivan.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
08-December, 2016 16:05 IST
*Indigenous satellites placed successfully in orbit *

India presently has 38 indigenously manufactured satellites operational in orbit. It comprises of 12 Earth observation satellites (RESOURCESAT-1 & 2, CARTOSAT-1 & 2, CARTOSAT-2S [3 nos.], RISAT-1, OCEANSAT-2, MEGHA-TROPIQUES, SARAL & SCATSAT-1); 4 Meteorological satellites (INSAT-3D, KALPANA, INSAT-3A & INSAT-3DR); 13 communication satellites (INSAT-3C, 4A, 4B, 4CR, GSAT-6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 & 18), 7 navigational satellites (IRNSS-1A to 1G) and 2 Space Science satellites (Mars Orbiter Mission & ASTROSAT).

Since January 2011, none of the satellites got destroyed before being placed in the desired orbit.

The satellites are designed in such a way that it will not allow any information to be accessed or used without the knowledge of ISRO.

As on date, 29 satellites have been launched from outside the country. Out of these, for 3 satellites (Aryabhatta, Bhaskara-1 & Bhaskara-2), free launch was provided by Russia as part of Indo-Soviet friendship and for 1 satellite (Apple), Ariane offered a free launch in their developmental flight. Remaining satellites were launched by hiring launch services on a commercial basis.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

****

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...2A-launched/article16771746.ece?homepage=true
December 07, 2016 10:58 IST
Updated: December 07, 2016 14:42 IST 






Remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2A was launched from Sriharikota at 10:24 a.m. on Wednesday.

The spacecraft was flown aboard a PSLV-C36 rocket.

"It was a perfect launch," A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said.

"We have put one more operational satellite in orbit," he said in an address from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

It was the 37th consecutive successful flight of the indigenous light-lifting rocket.

The 1,235-kg spacecraft has started orbiting pole-to-pole at 824 km from Earth. 
The three cameras of different resolution on the spacecraft will give regular micro and macro information on land and water bodies below, farm lands and crop extent, forests, mineral deposits, coastal information, rural and urban spreads besides helping in disaster management.

*New features*
The ISRO put a few specialties into what is otherwise a routine follow-on mission.

"The new on-board cameras put for the first time on the launcher showed us the separation of the stages during the flight and the deployment of the solar panels of the satellite," Mr. Kiran Kumar said.

SDSC Director P.Kunhikrishnan said this was ISRO's ninth launch in 2016, including the more powerful and operational GSLV. A new avionics and flight navigation system was tested.

*Faster & safer options*
A safe and remote fuel filling system that reduces countdown by a day and makes it safe for engineers handling propellants has been introduced, said S. Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) — the lead centre for launch activities.

*Three-tier imaging*
Resourcesat-2A is a follow-on of two predecessor spacecraft for Earth observation from space. For the next five years, it will ensure continuity of remote-sensing data given by the two older ones of this theme.

Resourcesat-1 was put in space in October 2003 and Resourcesat-2 in April 2011, each with a planned life of five years.

Once paired with Resourcesat-2 after 150 orbits, it can provide better and more frequent data on resources, according to its Project Director S.Nagesh.

An ISRO official said the satellite's three cameras can cover the land below in a unique three-tier manner.

The AWiFS (Advanced Wide Field Sensor) provides images of 56-metre resolution that would be useful at the State level, for example. The LISS-3 (Linear Imaging Self-scanning Sensor) of 23.5-m resolution can take pictures at the district level; and the LISS-4 of 5.6 m can provide taluk level information.


For the current flight, the four-stage rocket was configured in the XL version with six small strap-on motors.

Since 1994, ISRO's old reliable light payload lifter has placed in orbit 121 satellites since 1994, including 79 foreign ones for a fee.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...-satellites/article16792424.ece?homepage=true

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed the first contract for an industry-built spacecraft with a consortium of six companies based in Bengaluru.

The contract includes the assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of two spare navigation satellites in 18 months. It was signed on Friday between M. Annadurai, director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), and the consortium lead, Alpha Design Technologies P Ltd.

ISAC assembles the country's satellites for communication, remote sensing and navigation.

After two years, the consortium will make about half a dozen spacecraft of 300-500-kg category a year with an assured buyback from ISRO and possibly for export, Col. H.S.Shankar (retd), CMD of Alpha Design, told _The Hindu.
_

While the ISRO has purchased sub-systems from its suppliers, this is the first time that it will be outsourcing entire satellites to industry, Col. Shankar said_._

Alpha is a defence manufacturing contractor while the others are small and medium-sized companies which already supply components to ISRO's programmes.

In the coming days, ISAC will train about 70 skilled personnel from the six companies at its facilities in building the first satellite, which is to be completed in about nine months. 

"The second spacecraft will be made entirely by us but at ISRO's readily available facilities. From the second year onwards, the consortium must provide four to five [small- to medium-sized] satellites each year," Col. Shankar said.

ISAC said, "In order to meet the growing demands of satellites realisation, ISAC has been looking [for] active participation of industry in assembly, integration and testing of standard ISRO satellites. As part of this initiative, a contract was awarded to a consortium of six companies led by Alpha Design Technologies Private Ltd."

Dr. Annadurai had said in September that two spare navigation satellites would be the first lot to be outsourced. The seven-satellite Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is already in orbit, awaiting formal operations.

ISRO Chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar has frequently spoken about backlog of satellite production in the midst of galloping demands; the need is to double the number if ISRO must meet the requirements of all its users in communication, remote-sensing and the new navigation satellites.

The space agency had hosted a few vendor meetings to find partners to build its satellites.

Col. Shankar said over the next two years, the consortium planned to invest Rs. 150 crore to set up new, dedicated facilities near ISRO's Spacecraft Integration Test Establishment (ISITE) here in Marathhalli. Alpha alone would put in Rs. 20 crore in the next 18 months.

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## Hindustani78

Cabinet
14-December, 2016 19:55 IST
*Cabinet approves Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for cooperation in the Exchange and use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data *

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for Cooperation in the exchange and use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data. The MoU was signed on 9th July 2016 at Bengaluru.

This MoU will enable ISRO to receive USGS's Landsat-7 & 8 in India and USGS to receive ISRO’s Resourcesat-2 (AWiFS and LISS III) data of US region. 

*Background:*

ISRO of Department of Space is actively pursuing civilian space cooperation with many US organisations including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and United States Geological Survey (USGS). Data from Landsat series of satellites operated by USGS was used by Indian scientists during the inception of Indian remote sensing programme. ISRO received Landsat data during 1984 to 2001 through its ground station at Shadnagar. USGS has launched Landsat -8 satellite in February 2013. ISRO expressed interest in direct reception of the Landsat-8 data in India, while USGS expressed interest in obtaining data from ISRO's RESOURCESAT-2 satellite. 

ISRO and USGS, considering their mutual interest in data exchange of each other satellites, signed the MoU.

****

Department of Space
14-December, 2016 16:35 IST
*Nanocraft *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send two nano satellites into space namely INS-1A & INS-1B, weighing 10 kg each including payload mass of 5 kg. These nano satellites are meant for technology demonstration. Mission life is expected to be six months to one year.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

Department of Space
14-December, 2016 16:34 IST
*Adoption of Village *

As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, Antrix Corporation Limited, a Public Sector Unit under Department of Space and the commercial arm of ISRO, has adopted Brahmasandra Village, Tumukuru district, Karnataka.

Adoption of Brahmasandra village is through Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF), an NGO, empanelled by the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, New Delhi. Various activities planned include rain water harvesting, tank rejuvenation, construction of water harvesting structures, skill development, income generation, women empowerment, construction of household toilets, Anganwadis, services to livestock and fodder development. These activities are expected to improve agricultural productivity, availability of drinking water, sanitation facilities, ground water table, milk production, children’s education, women empowerment and formation of a vibrant village development community for sustaining the benefits. Overall, the project aims to improve the quality of life of farmers and to address the basic needs of the village community. Adoption of more number of villages has not been envisaged at present.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
15-December, 2016 14:52 IST
*Cryogenic Technology for Launching Space Vehicles *

With the last three consecutive successful launches of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenous Cryogenic engine & stage, ISRO has demonstrated the reliability of indigenous cryogenic technology and efforts are underway to operationalise GSLV.

The launch of GSAT-6 onboard GSLV-D6, on September 27, 2015, was the second successful launch of GSLV with the indigenous Cryogenic stage after GSLV-D5/ GSAT-5 mission on 5th January, 2014. The recent launch of GSLV (GSLV-F05/ INSAT-3DR) on September 8, 2016 also used the indigenous Cryogenic Stage.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

*****


Department of Space15-December, 2016 14:49 IST
Satellites Designed for Benefit of Farmers 

The satellite-enabled services in conjunction with ground data, to support farmers in India include weather forecasting, agro-advisory, agromet services, soil moisture and agricultural extension activities to support farming operations in the country by India Meteorology Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences. Also, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) collaborates with Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on various applications using satellite data and geospatial technology in agriculture sector, which include – (i) horticultural crop inventory and site suitability for expansion in under-utilised areas, (ii) crop assessment using medium and high resolution satellite data, (iii) field data collection with field photos using mobile App, (iv) crop cutting experiments based on satellite derived crop vigor information. Earlier, ISRO had transferred the technology to Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmer’s Welfare for (i) Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL) and (ii) National Agricultural Drought Assessment and Monitoring System (NADAMS) and internalised the monitoring of irrigation infrastructure at Central Water Commission.

The satellites designed by ISRO, which are currently in operation, to support these services and applications, include Resourcesat-2, Resourcesat-2A, RISAT-1, Cartosat-1, Kalpana-1, INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR.

The details of their launching, cost incurred towards building these satellites, along with objectives are given below:

*SN - Satellite-(Launch Vehicle)-Launch date-Cost incurred(in Crores)- Objectives*

1. Resourcesat-2- (PSLV-C16) - 20.04.2011 - 138.71 - To provide multispectral images for inventory and management of natural resources, Crop production forecast, wasteland inventory, Land & Water Resources development, and Disaster Management Support.

2.Resourcesat-2A-(PSLV-C36)-07.12.2016-106.11- To provide multispectral images for inventory and management of natural resources, Crop production forecast, wasteland inventory, Land & Water Resources development, and Disaster Management Support.

3.Cartosat-1-(PSLV-C6)-05.05.2005-248.49-To provide high resolution images for Cartographic mapping, Stereo data for Topographic Mapping & DEM, and host of DEM Applications – Contour, Drainage network, etc.

4. RISAT-1-(PSLV-C19)-26.04.2012-375.38-To provide all weather imaging capability useful for agriculture, particularly paddy and jute monitoring in kharif season and management of natural disasters.

5.Kalpana-1-(PSLV-C4)-12.09.2002-71.30-To provide meteorological data to enable weather forecasting services.

6. INSAT-3D-(Procured launch)-26.07.2013-206.00-Designed for enhanced meteorological observations, including vertical profile of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and humidity for improved weather forecasting and disaster warning.

7. INSAT-3DR-(GSLV-F05)-08.09.2016-116.38-Designed for enhanced meteorological observations, including vertical profile of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and humidity for improved weather forecasting and disaster warning.


The data and value added products derived from these satellites have benefitted the concerned user ministries/ departments in Natural Resources Inventory & Monitoring, crop assessment, wasteland inventory, topographic Mapping & DEM, land & water resources development, weather forecasting and Disaster Management Support. These applications are useful to the decision makers to adopt suitable interventions for planning and management of various activities in agriculture sector.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


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## K210

Metsat may just be the longest operational indian satelite at 14 years and 3 months of service so far


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## Hindustani78

K210 said:


> Metsat may just be the longest operational indian satelite at 14 years and 3 months of service so far



*PSLV-C4 /KALPANA-1*

METSAT (renamed as Kalpana - 1 on February 5, 2003 after the Indian born American Astronaut Dr. Kalpana Chawla, who died on February 1, 2003 in the US Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) is the first in the series of exclusive meteorological satellites built by ISRO.

Sep 12, 2002

PSLV-C4 is the seventh flight of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and its first flight to place a satellite - the 1060 kg METSAT - into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Initially, PSLV was designed for launching 900 kg Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) into a 900 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. Since its first launch in 1993 from Sriharikota, the four stage PSLV has been successively improved to enhance its capability.

The flight path of PSLV-C4 has been modified to inject the METSAT into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit of 250 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 36,000 km apogee (farthest point to Earth). This orbit will be elliptical in shape and will be inclined at angle of 18 degrees to the equator.

In its present configuration, the 44.4 metre tall, 295 tonne PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carries 138 tonnes of Hydroxyl Terminated Poly Butadiene (HTPB) based propellant. It has a diameter of 2.8 m. Its motor case is made of maraging steel. The booster develops a maximum thrust of about 4,628 kilo Newton (kN

The second stage employs indigenously built Vikas engine and carries 40 tonne of liquid propellant -- Unsymmetrical Di-Methyl Hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidiser. It generates a maximum thrust of about 725 kN.

Launch Mass: 1060 Kg
Mission Life: 7 Years
Power: 550 W
Launch Vehicle: PSLV-C4 /KALPANA-1
Type of Satellite: Communication
Manufacturer: ISRO
Owner: ISRO
Application: Climate & Environment Communication
Orbit Type: GSO

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-for-launch-on-January-27/article16895637.ece

VIJAYAWADA December 17, 2016 15:20 IST
Updated: December 17, 2016 15:22 IST 





PSLV project director B Jayakumar. | Photo Credit:  V. Ganesan 

The next PSLV-C37 that will put into orbit a record number of 83 satellites is being scheduled for launch on January 27, said PSLV project director B Jayakumar.

Sharing the dais with Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director K Sivan who came here to receive the 100th nozzle for a PSLV rocket from city based Resins and Allied Productions Mr Jayakumar said that six PSLVs had been launched in 2016.

Mr Sivan said that ISRO was planning to launch 12 to 18 PSLVs in a year. He said the 100th nozzle that was custom-built by Vijayawada based industry Resins and Allied Products (RAP) would be used in the historic PSLV that would launch a record 83 satellites. He said there was demand from foreign countries to send their satellites on PSLV rockets because they were launched as per schedule and were reliable.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/Shoot-for-the-Moon/article16797755.ece?homepage=true
* A rover designed by Bengaluru-based Team Indus*, *is in the final development stages before its flight to the moon next year *

"We're pretty much done with the engineering phase and are now working on execution. We've managed to create a unique low cost, low payload configuration, which we hope will go on to redefine what was though possible in India. We hope it will also have a huge impact on the engineering ecosystem in India." 

Indus, which has already won a milestone prize for progress made and is now poised to be among the final few in the running thanks to a recently acquired launch contract with ISRO, has benefited a lot from being based out of Bengaluru. "The Indian aerospace ecosystem has evolved around Bengaluru, be it ISRO, HAL or more. And when you have a big manufacturer, you find their suppliers located close by. Similarly, with ISRO being in Bengaluru, you find a cluster of the same sort here. Also, the Silicon Valley kind of culture that the city embodies has also been a big enabling factor," says Rahul.

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## alwaysfair

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/science/science/181216/space-age-isros-very-human-test.html


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## Indx-techs

*Story of the Week - Indian Space Research Organization
Indigenous Development of 4.5 ton Vertical Planetary Mixer*



> Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) uses solid motors of 139 ton capacity for PSLV/GSLV flights and 200 ton capacity for the GSLV Mk III flights as part of their first stage. These motors are produced in the indigenously developed Solid Propellant Plants of ISRO at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Srihairkota.





> Propellant mixing is one of the critical processes in the solid propellant manufacturing where different solid ingredients are mixed with binder in a vertical planetary mixer to achieve required homogeneity and viscosity. The propellant slurry is highly viscous semi-solid and less than 5% co-efficient of variation (COV) needs to be achieved for the homogeneity.





> ISRO was importing planetary mixers of 2.5 ton capacity during 1980’s. Initially, M/s. Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bengaluru, had developed the 2.5 ton capacity mixer as per the requirements of ISRO. So far, six mixers were built by M/s CMTI and supplied to ISRO. Subsequently, M/s.CMTI, has developed the 4.5 ton mixer by suitably scaling up the design parameters of 2.5 ton vertical mixer.





> The 4.5 ton Mixer consists of two outer agitators and one centre agitator. The planetary motion to the outer agitators guarantees that the whole volume of the bowl is swept without leaving any dead zones. The lateral surface of the mixer blades is helical thus ensuring good pumping capability. The major challenges for mixer development are: a) Uniform homogenisation of mixing with less than 5% variation; b)Sizing of the agitators with 6 to 7 mm gap; c) Low speed and high torque hydro motor to drive the mixer for mixing high viscous fluids; d) Operating speeds for agitators varying from 2 to 8 RPM; e) Selection and sizing the gear box for achieving the reduction ratios.





> The mixer system is facilitated by other subsystems like feeding system, propellant slurry temperature control system, PLC based control system, compressed air system for operating the bowl, spill tray collection system for collecting the remnant propellant on the agitators and bowl lid lifting system.





> Safety is the prime criteria for the mixers deployed for the mixing of hazardous, explosive material like solid propellant. The mixer has been designed and provided with over load protection devices in gearboxes to protect from the overload during charging of powders and unusual viscosity build up during mixing operations. The mixer is also provided with automatic bowl drop mechanism in bowl lift hydraulic circuit to relieve the unusual pressure build up during mixing operations.





> Very elaborate process and quality plans have been prepared for the realisation of the components. Many technical challenges were faced during the realisation of some of the critical components. All the critical elements like mixer blades, mixer central agitator shaft for mounting the mixer central agitator, mixer bowls (stainless steel mixer bowl of 2050 mm x 1350 mm depth and shell thickness of 35 mm, weighing 9 tons), etc., are realised with dedicated team effort of SDSC SHAR and CMTI Engineers.





> After realisation of the subsystems, M/s. CMTI successfully completed shop floor integration of all subsystems and demonstrated the basic functions of the vertical mixer. The vertical mixer was then moved and commissioned at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. A detailed test and evaluation procedure was established and executed towards final commissioning of the first indigenously developed 4.5 ton vertical mixer. Chairman ISRO inaugurated this facility recently.





> The realisation of this critical technological challenging high capacity vertical mixer has paved way for increasing the throughput of the plant and also reducing variations in processing, thus improving the overall product quality. This has given a major impetus to the indigenisation efforts of ISRO in space activities.







*Vertical Mixer*




*Blades Profile of Vertical Mixer*




*Vertical Mixer – a glimpse of facility inauguration*






*Story of the Week - Archive*
*Dec 26, 2016* : Indigenous Development of 4.5 ton Vertical Planetary Mixer
*Dec 19, 2016* : First National Finite Element Developers/FEASTSMT Users’ Meet at VSSC
*Dec 05, 2016* : National Rollout of GeoMGNREGA held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
*Nov 28, 2016* : Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based Remote Sensing in NE Region
*Nov 21, 2016* : ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) Celebrates Ruby Year
*Nov 14, 2016* : Indigenous Bus Bar Development for GSAT-19
*Nov 07, 2016* : Asia-Pacific Space Leaders Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction

1 of 12

next ›

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## Dean Winchester

When is GSLV mk3 launch?


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## Indx-techs

Dean Winchester said:


> When is GSLV mk3 launch?


20th January, interestingly, PSLV C-37 carrying 80+ satellites is scheduled just 7 days later on January 27th.
If it goes, ISRO will break it's own record of turnaround time between two launches for 18 days (between PSLV C-35 and GSLV D6 in August September) to just 7 day.
It's possible because ISRO has started utilizing both pads more equally in recent days.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ase-of-overseas-satellite/article16946490.ece

* Issues request for proposal for two-year hire *
A chronic national shortage of communication satellite capacity has forced the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to search for a quick-fix lease of an overseas satellite in orbit, temporarily.

ISRO routinely leases partial capacity on foreign satellites, primarily for the bulk of private direct-to-home television operators. However, it has not leased an entire communication satellite. The space agency says it needs to hire a suitable extra spacecraft for two or three years. It put out an RFP (request for proposal) earlier in December asking international satellite operators if they can spare an existing geostationary spacecraft; or one that will be launched in the first quarter of 2017. 

Post-deal, the satellite which must also have Ku-band transponders will be moved into one of the six satellite parking slots allotted to India overhead within its longitudes. 

The lease will temporarily augment ISRO's transponder capacity for various national uses, A.S. Kiran Kumar, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, told _The Hindu _recently, adding that there was no emergency in the sky. *The leasing process may take a few months.*

ISRO has about a dozen communication satellites in orbit. As per a 2015 estimate, a third of the 286 satellite transponders in use was non-Indian. 

In addition to the lease plan, Mr. Kiran Kumar said,  “We are putting up five new communication satellites during 2017. This should significantly improve our capacity.” 

Among the upcoming satellites is a bigger spacecraft which will be the first Indian high-throughput satellite (HTS) targeted at increasing the connectivity for Internet users.

ISRO’s previous communication satellite was launched in October. Mr. Kiran Kumar, who also chairs the Space Commission, said, “With the launch of GSAT-18, we have almost 48 additional transponders coming up for use.” 

The Asian region has a very dense population of commercial satellites over its skies and ISRO has time and again borrowed space on spacecraft of Malaysian, Thai, Singapore and U.S. operators.

When its communication satellite INSAT-2D died prematurely a few months after launch in 1997, ISRO bought the entire Arabsat-1C from Saudi Arabia in orbit to bridge the shortage.

The space agency plans to double the number of launches to 12-18 a year. Mr. Kiran Kumar had said in September that ISRO needs to at least double the number of spacecraft that it has in order “to give reasonable service” to the country. At least 60 government departments and a number of commercial entities depend on Indian satellite data for communication, broadcasting, defence, weather forecasting, rescue during disasters, natural resources management and Earth observation.

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## alwaysfair

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/thew...ca-hakuto-isro/amp/?client=ms-android-samsung

Pslv to launch 2 moon rovers for private mfrs in end 2017. One Indian and other Japanese .


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## alwaysfair

Old but interesting video of a static solid booster test. Will be used in upcoming GSLV mark 3 launch on 20th jan.


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## Śakra

Has construction on the new runway began yet?


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## alwaysfair

Runway For the reusable vehicle ?
No idea. 5 km is required i believe.


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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Communications & Information Technology
28-December, 2016 11:06 IST
*Centre launches IVRS platform to address the problem of call drops *



Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has been taking various initiatives to address the problem of call drops faced by subscribers in mobile networks. The Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have installed more than 1,30,000 additional BTSs (Base Transceiver Stations) across the country during the period from June 2016 to October 2016 and further plan to install more than 1,50,000 additional BTSs across the country up to 31st March 2017.

In order to obtain direct feedback from subscribers and use that feedback to solve the problem of call drops, DoT has launched an Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS) system in Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Goa on 23rd December 2016. The IVRS system will be extended to the entire country very soon.

Subscribers will receive an IVRS call from the short code 1955. They will be asked a few questions on the subject of call drops such as- “Are they facing call drops in their area or not? They can also send a toll-free SMS to the same short code 1955, containing the location of city/town/village, where they might be facing the problem of frequent call drops. The feedback of the subscribers will be shared with the Telecom Service Providers so that they can take corrective steps in the identified areas, to improve the mobile network for addressing the problem of call drops.

Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha said that “the platform is a channel to capture direct feedback from the consumers and this voice of the customer can be used to improve the services that are being offered to them”. He said, initially the government will use the platform for call drops and will extend this to capture consumer feedback in other areas as well in the future.

*****

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
29-December, 2016 16:22 IST
*Year End review: Department of Space *

An unprecedented seven missions launched, all successful 

Successful maiden test flights of Reusable Launch Vehicle and SCRAMJET 



The year 2016 was very eventful for the Indian space programme which scored very prominent and significant successes in launch vehicle, satellite, applications and space exploration domains. The year saw an unprecedented seven launch vehicle missions all of which were successful. Eight ISRO satellites, four student satellites and 22 foreign satellites were launched by these missions. The year 2016 also saw two successful advanced launch vehicle technology initiatives of ISRO – the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) and SCRAMJET technology demonstrator – which had their maiden test flights. Additionally, the highly successful Mars Orbiter Spacecraft of India completed two years in its orbit around Mars and India's ASTROSAT multi-wavelength observatory successfully completed one year in orbit.

Launch Vehicle and Satellite Missions of ISRO:

1.1. *PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E Mission*: In this flight, the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV launched IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on January 20, 2016. 

1.2. *PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F Mission:* In this flight, which was its 34th, PSLV launched IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on March 10, 2016. 

1.3. *PSLV-C33/IRNSS-1G Mission:* In this flight, PSLV launched the seventh and the last satellite IRNSS-1G of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation on April 28, 2016. With this, the space segment of the IRNSS is fully deployed. IRNSS signals are now available and trials with the receiver system are in progress. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated IRNSS to the nation as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian Constellation). This is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS provides two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users and Restricted Services (RS) - provided to authorised users only.

1.4. *Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD):* India’s first winged body aerospace vehicle, RLV-TD i.e. Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), was successfully flight tested on May 23, 2016. From the peak altitude of 65 km, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). After successfully surviving a high temperature of re-entry, RLV-TD successfully glided down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal. In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management were successfully validated.

1.5. *PSLV-C34/Cartosat-2 Series Mission: *On June 22, 2016, PSLV-C34 successfully launched 20 satellites in a single mission. It included India’s CARTOSAT-2 series of satellite (weighing 727 kg) as primary payload and two academic institutes’ satellites, namely, SWAYAM and SATHYABAMASAT and 17 satellites (total weighing 555 kg) of foreign customers from Canada, Germany, Indonesia and USA as co-passengers.

1.6. *GSLV-F05/ INSAT-3DR Mission:* On September 08, 2016, GSLV-F05, India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, equipped with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), successfully launched the country's weather satellite INSAT-3DR. INSAT-3DR is a follow-on meteorological satellite to INSAT-3D. This launch is significant, considering that fact that this is the third consecutive success of the indigenous CUS, which signified the country’s successful assimilation of the complex cryogenic rocket propulsion.

The satellite carries two meteorological payloads, viz., 6 channel imager & 19 channel sounder. It also carries a Data Relay Transponder (DRT) and Satellite Aided Search and Rescue (SA&R) payload to provide continuity to INSAT SA&R services. The satellite has started providing services to the weather and meteorological community in tandem with INSAT 3D that is already in the orbit. By virtue of these 2 satellites in orbit, the country gets weather updates every 15 minutes which is yet another unique service from space. 

1.7. *Successful Flight Testing of ISRO's Scramjet Engine Technology Demonstrator: *The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. The Scramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. This marked the maiden short duration experimental test of ISRO’s Scramjet engine with a hypersonic flight at Mach 6. ISRO’s Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket, was the solid rocket booster used for the test of Scramjet engines at supersonic conditions. ATV carrying Scramjet engines weighed 3277 kg at lift-off.

India is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of Scramjet Engine. The successful technology demonstration of air-breathing Scramjet engines in flight by ISRO during the year was a modest yet important milestone in its endeavour to design and develop advanced air breathing engines including engines for ISRO’s future space transportation system

*2. PSLV-C35/SCATSAT-1:* By successfully launching SCATSAT-1 satellite carrying a scatterometer for wind vector measurement into the required polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in its PSLV-C35 mission on September 26, 2016, the PSLV facilitated continuity to Oceansat-2 Scatterometer, which completed its service in March 2014. The wind vector at sea surface information facilitated by SCATSAT-1 is used in weather prediction models and helps in accurate prediction of cyclone track. This launch of PSLV had yet another unique achievement of placing satellites in 2 different orbits and also the longest of the missions that lasted for more than 2 hrs 15 mins after lift-off. In this mission, engine multiple restart experiment of upper stage of PSLV was also demonstrated.

2.1. *PSLV-C36/Resourcesat-2A: *In its 38th flight, PSLV successfully launched RESOURCESAT-2A satellite on December 07, 2016 into an 822 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. This was PSLV’s 37th consecutive success. The 1235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-2 and intended to ensure data continuity to the users for land and water resources applications. The satellite is configured with three-tier imaging capability consisting of three solid-state cameras, viz., LISS-IV, LISS-III and an Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS). 

2.2. *GSAT-18: *The 3405 kg communication satellite GSAT-18, launched on October 06, 2016 by European Ariane V, carries a total of 48 transponders in Ku-band, C-band and Ext C-band for providing continuity of services and has further augmented the transponder capacity.

3. Disaster Management Support (DMS):

3.1. *Uttarakhand Forest Fire:* The Uttarakhand state witnessed episodic fire incidents during the last two weeks of April 2016. Recurrence of fire incidences is common in the hilly state in summer season. Satellite data based temperature anomalies were used for the detection of active fire locations. About 1600 active forest fire locations were recorded during 24th April to 4th May 2016. The burnt area was also assessed using Satellite data. The information on a near-real time basis was disseminated to Forest Survey of India, State Forest Departments, NDMA and SMS on fire alerts were sent to the identified forest officials of Uttarakhand. All Fire alerts were also published on BHUVAN geoportal. The most affected districts were Nainital, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Almora, Pauri and Tehri Garhwal.

3.2.  *Floods occurred in Assam and Manipur states during 2016.* Three waves of floods were reported in Assam; first during fourth week of April, 2016, second on 21st June, 2016 and third on 4th July, 2016. Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Charaideo, Dhemaji and Karbi Anglong districts were affected.  Heavy pre-monsoon rains lashed Manipur during the last week of April 2016 and Imphal, Thoubal and Bishnupur districts were reported to be affected. The information on flood inundation was disseminated to the Central and respective State Government departments, State Relief Commissioners and nodal Ministries.

*4. Mars Orbiter Mission:* India’s first inter-planetary mission completed two years in its orbit around Mars. The health parameters of Mars Orbiter spacecraft are normal and all the five payloads are sending useful data. The Mars Colour Camera has produced more than 530 images so far, one of which has appeared on the cover page of the November 2016 issue of the National Geographic Magazine. The spacecraft successfully negotiated ‘whiteout’ geometry during May 18 - 30, 2016 using onboard autonomy. The archived data is now made public for free download and scientific research through ISRO’s website. More than 1.75 Lakh hits and about 40 GB data was downloaded in just 2 weeks. ISRO has also launched MOM Announcement of Opportunity (AO) programmes for researchers in the country to use the MOM data for R&D. The success of Mars Orbiter Mission has showcased India’s technical capability in exploring planetary bodies and has motivated India’s student and research community in a big way.

*5. ASTROSAT Mission: *ASTROSAT, India’s first multi-wavelength observatory has completed one year in orbit as of September 2016. An Announcement of Opportunity (AO) was made in June 2016 for Indian researchers to explore the universe using data from ASTROSAT. As a part of one year completion of ASTROSAT in orbit, a one-day workshop was organised at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune on Sept 29, 2016, to highlight the technical and scientific achievements of this satellite. The first scientific set of results and the future scope of the satellite were presented during the meeting.

*6. Space technology based tools in Governance & Development: *Space technology applications, derived through synergistic use of earth observation, communication & navigation satellites and complemented with ground-based observations, play a key role in harnessing the benefits of space technology for socio-economic development in the country and improving the quality of life of citizens.

Satellite-based Earth Observation is a cost effective means of obtaining essential and reliable data on our Earth. Such data on natural resources have become an integral part of planning and implementation of action plans for managing land & water resources, developing urban & rural infrastructure, monitoring weather & climate, protecting environment including disaster risk reduction. The capabilities of satellite communication are also exploited for delivering societal applications towards education & health, connectivity, skill development and livelihood sustenance. Space technology-based applications & tools are being increasingly used in governance and development for enabling planning, periodic monitoring, mid-course correction, evaluation of developmental activities and scientific decision making in various sectors right from agriculture, urban & rural planning to disaster risk reduction.

Department of Space is working closely with various Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments towards maximizing the use of space technology in the various areas viz. Natural Resources Management, Energy & Infrastructure, Disaster & Early Warning, Communication & Navigation, e-Governance & Geo-spatial Governance and Societal Services. Many flagship programmes namely, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation; Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana; National Mission for Clean Ganga, Digital India & MGNREGA are also utilizing space-based tools.

ISRO is focusing on providing assured services through data continuity, improved connectivity & location-based services and enabling proactive user engagement through institutionalisation of space applications and capacity building. In a nutshell, ISRO is enabling the space applications in tune with the requirements of Ministries/Departments to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making to improve governance and development.

*7. Follow-up Actions on National Meet for Application of Space Technology & Tools:* Out of the 160 projects emerged as an outcome of the national meet, work was initiated in 144 projects. In about 60 projects, significant progress has been made in terms of development of methodology, web and mobile applications, training and execution of work. About 75 customised web applications and 50 mobile applications were deployed. MoUs were signed with Central Ministries/Departments as well as the State Governments. Based on the request of the Ministries/ Departments for capacity building, more than 9,000 officials were trained. Additionally, Outreach programmes were also conducted in Colleges and Schools. State Meets on ‘Promoting space technology -based tools’ were completed for many States.

*8. International Cooperation:* As part of the ongoing civil space cooperation, cooperative Agreements/MoUs were signed with UAE space agency (February 2016); US Geological Survey (July 2016); Afghanistan (September 2016); Vietnam (September 2016); Russia (October 2016) Japan (November 2016) and NASA of USA (November 2016). India hosted the two international events, viz., i) UN/India workshop on “Use of earth observation data in disaster management and risk reduction: sharing the Asian experience” in Hyderabad in March 2016 and ii) 10th SPIE-Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium (APRS) in New Delhi in April 2016. ISRO along with French space agency hosted a meeting of heads of space agencies on April, 03, 2016 in New Delhi to highlight the importance of space inputs for climate change studies. Space Agencies of India and Mexico organised a joint workshop in Mexico on use of space technology for disaster management in July 2016. Bilateral space cooperation meetings were organised with delegations of Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, UK and USA.

***

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## Hindustani78

Republic of India 
31-December, 2016 14:35 IST
Cabinet Decisions: Since 06.01.2016

*20 .01.2016
*

*Memorandum of Understanding between Department of Space / Indian Space Research Organization and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research on cooperation in the area of outer space*


The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Department of Space / Indian Space Research Organization (DOS/ISRO) and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.


*23.03.2016*

*Procurement of launch services and realization of ground segment for GSAT-11 spacecraft*

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for the procurement of launch services and realization of ground segment for GSAT-11 spacecraft at a cost of Rs. 1117 crore.


*25.05.2016*
*MoU between Indian Space Research Organisation and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency *

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA) for cooperation in the exploration and user of outer space for peaceful purposes. 

*15.06.2016*
*Cabinet appraisal of MoU between ISRO and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on cooperation in the field of outer space *

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding between Department of Space / Indian Space Research Organization (DOS/ISRO) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on cooperation in the field of outer space. The MoU was signed in Ottawa, Canada on 15th April 2015. 

*14.12.2016*
*Cabinet approves Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for cooperation in the Exchange and use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data*


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## Hindustani78

*24.09.2014

India's participation in the Thirty Metre Telescope Project at Mauna Kea, Hawaii*, *USA *

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for India's participation in the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) Project at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA at a total cost of Rs. 1299.8 crores from 2014-23.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...rt-in-‘Vigyan-Jyot’-rally/article16971585.ece

TIRUPATI: January 01, 2017 01:13 IST
Updated: January 01, 2017 01:13 IST

* PM to interact with scientists on the inaugural day of Science Congress *
Festive atmosphere prevailed at Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV), here on Saturday morning, as more than 3,000 students converged at the varsity campus to take part in the ‘Vigyan Jyot’ rally, ahead of the 104th Indian Science Congress (ISC), scheduled to be held in the temple city during the first week of January (3-7).

Displaying motivational quotes from eminent scientists via placards and also representing the proceedings of the Children Science Congress, the students, who were accompanied by teachers, parents and varsity officials, marched to the administrative building of Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) in an impressive rally.

Some of them donned the roles of eminent scientists (national and international, ancient and modern etc.,) recalling their contributions.





The rally commenced with the inaugural of the ‘Vigyan Jyot’, which after touring major cities in Andhra Pradesh reached Tirupati on December 30, and release of balloons.

Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) general president Prof. D. Narayana Rao and SPMVV Vice Chancellor Prof. V. Durga Bhavani said such a demonstration would develop scientific temper/awareness among the younger generation and also enlighten society about the developments in science and technology, including their contribution towards the country’s growth.

SVU Vice-Chancellor Prof. A. Damodaram further spoke on the ‘Pride of India Expo’ which is being set up at varsity premises across 20,000 square metres area. He also said as several government research and development organisations would be showcasing their achievements and contributions, including the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), students know more about science and technology, with examples of missiles, satellites and much more.

About 10,500 participants have registered till date and 32 plenary sessions will be held in the morning sessions during the five-day event.

Prof. Rao said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would interact with scientists on the inaugural day, which would be first-of-its-kind development during an ISC.


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## Indx-techs

LVM3- D1 render from a recent ISRO presentation. Note the Ogival fairing & canted nose cones of boosters. The truss area is also closed.






Thanks to redditors who found this.
@gslv mk3
New version looks beautiful!

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## bloo

Indx-techs said:


> LVM3- D1 render from a recent ISRO presentation. Note the Ogival fairing & canted nose cones of boosters. The truss area is also closed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks to redditors who found this.
> @gslv mk3
> New version looks beautiful!



I can't see it.
Can you download the pic and then upload it here.

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## indiatester

*First day Images of RESOURCESAT-2A*

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ntries-in-ST-by-2030-Modi/article16982261.ece

Tirupati: - Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a gathering at the Indian Science Congress in Tirupati on Tuesday.

On access to science
The brightest and best in every corner of India should have the opportunity to excel in science. We need to connect our leading institutions to all stakeholders, including schools and colleges. Seeding the power of ideas and innovation in schoolchildren will broaden the base of our innovation pyramid and secure the future of our nation.





The Government remains committed to provide the best support to our scientists and scientific institutions. Niti Aayog is also evolving a holistic science and technology vision for the country. Technology Vison 2035, released in last year’s Science Congress, is now being developed into a detailed roadmap for 12 key technological sectors.

Waters that surround Indian peninsula and the vast coastline, provides 2.4 million sq km of exclusive economic zone. Ocean economy would be a significant dimension in our sustainable future. Ministry of Earth Sciences is working on launching a 'Deep Ocean Mission' to explore, understand and harvest these resources in a responsible way. 

'Knowledge should translate into innovations'
Our best science and technology institutions should further strengthen their basic research in line with leading global standards. Translating this basic knowledge into innovations, start-ups and industry will help us achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. By 2030 India will be among top 3 countries in science and technology. Science must meet the rising aspirations of our people. Another empowering factor for scientific delivery is the Ease of Doing Science. If we want science to deliver, we must not constrain it.

Thanks scientists for their work

One major area that needs to be addressed is the Cyber Physical Systems, as it has the potential to pose unprecedented challenges. It is a huge opportunity for training and research in Robotics, Digital Manufacturing, AI, Big Data Analysis, Quantum Communication, Deep Learning and Internet of Things. Tomorrow’s experts will come from investments we make today in our people and infrastructure. The nation will always be grateful to scientists who have worked tirelessly to empower our society by their vision, labour, and leadership. Our scientists have contributed strongly to the strategic vision of the nation.

There is a need to develop and exploit these technologies in services and manufacturing sectors. Ranging from fundamental science to applied science with emphasis on innovations, the government is committed to supporting different streams of scientific knowledge. We need to keep an eye on the rise of disruptive technologies and be prepared to leverage them for growth.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/589629/pm-asks-scientists-keep-eye.html

*Prime Minister Narendra Modi today exhorted scientists to keep an eye on the rise of disruptive technologies even as he underlined government's commitment to supporting different streams ranging from fundamental science to applied science with emphasis on innovations.*

In his address at the inauguration of the 104th session of the Indian Science Congress, Modi listed "rapid global rise of Cyber-Physical Systems" as one important area that needed to be addressed, saying it has potential to pose unprecedented challenges and stresses on the demographic dividend.

"But we can turn it into a huge opportunity by research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis, deep learning, quantum communication and Internet-of-Things.

"There is a need to develop and exploit these technologies in services and manufacturing sectors; in agriculture, water, energy and traffic management, health, environment, security, infrastructure and Geo Information Systems, financial systems and in combating crime," he said.

The speed and scale of changes encountered today are unprecedented, he said.

"My government is committed to supporting different streams of scientific knowledge; ranging from fundamental science to applied science with emphasis on innovations. Some of these important challenges are in the key sectors of clean water & energy, food, environment, climate, security, and health care," he said.

Building a strong science and technology infrastructure that is accessible to academia, start-ups, industry and R&D labs is a priority of the government, he said, adding they need to address problems of ease of access, maintenance, redundancy and duplication of expensive equipments in scientific institutions.

"The desirability of establishing professionally managed, large regional centres in PPP mode housing high value scientific equipment should be examined," he said.

Noting that SCOPUS database indicates that India ranks sixth in the world with respect to scientific publications and is growing at a rate of about 14 per cent against the world average of about 4 per cent, Modi said by 2030 India will be among the top three countries in science and technology and will be among the most attractive destinations for the best talent in the world.

Scopus is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles.

He asked institutions to consider inviting outstanding scientists from abroad including NRIs for long term research associations. "We should involve foreign and NRI PhD students in post-doctoral research in our projects," he said.

Science must meet the rising aspirations of our people, he said, asserting that problems of urban-rural divide and work for inclusive development, economic growth and employment generation must be addressed through it.

Seeking to make science and technology a strong tool of inclusive development and betterment of the weakest and poorest segments of our society, he said ministries, scientists, R&D institutions, industries, start-ups, universities and IITs, all should work together seamlessly.

"In particular, our infrastructure and socio-economic ministries must make appropriate use of science and technology," he said.

Noting that SCOPUS database indicates that India ranks sixth in the world with respect to scientific publications and is growing at a rate of about 14 per cent against the world average of about 4 per cent, Modi said by 2030 India will be among the top three countries in science and technology and will be among the most attractive destinations for the best talent in the world.

Scopus is a bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal articles.

He asked institutions to consider inviting outstanding scientists from abroad including NRIs for long term research associations. "We should involve foreign and NRI PhD students in post-doctoral research in our projects," he said.

Science must meet the rising aspirations of our people, he said, asserting that problems of urban-rural divide and work for inclusive development, economic growth and employment generation must be addressed through it.

Seeking to make science and technology a strong tool of inclusive development and betterment of the weakest and poorest segments of our society, he said ministries, scientists, R&D institutions, industries, start-ups, universities and IITs, all should work together seamlessly.

"In particular, our infrastructure and socio-economic ministries must make appropriate use of science and technology," he said.


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## bloo

*Upcoming PSLV launch on December 2017 will have payloads for 2 Google Lunar XPRIZE winners*

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## bloo

*TEAM INDUS*
_@TeamIndus_

Team Indus' lander will also contain payloads form Kolkata's Indian Centre for Space Physics. The Kolkata probe will include an X-ray detector and four computers that will study outer space from the lunar surface, and Team Indus' Lab2Moon competition for payloads of no more than 250gms by global students of less than 25 years of age.
The winning experiments will be announced on 15 March 2017.An eminent international jury comprising Dr. K Kasturirangan, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, Dr. Alain Bensoussan, Former President of Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Former Chairman of Council, European Space Agency and Dr. Priyamvada Natarajan, Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University, will examine the experiments in further detail over the next few months before the teams fly down to Bangalore in March to showcase their final prototype to the jury.
Google Lunar XPRIZE is also offering $5 million for any verifiable discoveries on the lunar surface.

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## Gessler

So ISRO will be putting 2 rovers on the Moon within the next 2 years.


*ECA Rover *(Dec 2017)
*Chandrayaan-2 Rover* (Dec 2018)


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## Indx-techs

Gessler said:


> So ISRO will be putting 2 rovers on the Moon within the next 2 years.
> 
> 
> *ECA Rover *(Dec 2017)
> *Chandrayaan-2 Rover* (Dec 2018)


3 rovers!
Japanese Team Hakuto is using same PSLV! 
@bloo


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## Gessler

Indx-techs said:


> 3 rovers!
> Japanese Team Hakuto is using same PSLV!
> @bloo



I did hear about that...but it still says in Team Hakuto website that they are flying onboard Falcon 9?

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## Indx-techs

Gessler said:


> I did hear about that...but it still says in Team Hakuto website that they are flying onboard Falcon 9?


They have two rovers, one on our PSLV and second on some other LV. At least last time I checked.

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## lonelyman

Gessler said:


> So ISRO will be putting 2 rovers on the Moon within the next 2 years.
> 
> 
> *ECA Rover *(Dec 2017)
> *Chandrayaan-2 Rover* (Dec 2018)



Haha 2012 stupa powa, next 20 years at least


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## egodoc222

lonelyman said:


> Haha 2012 stupa powa, next 20 years at least


@waz @Oscar


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## bloo

Gessler said:


> I did hear about that...but it still says in Team Hakuto website that they are flying onboard Falcon 9?




PRESS RELEASE

December 20, 2016

*Google Lunar XPRIZE Team HAKUTO Announces Rideshare Agreement with TeamIndus for a 2017 Lunar Mission*
*Tokyo, Japan – December 20, 2016 —* Team HAKUTO, the only Japanese team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, announced today that XPRIZE has officially verified Team HAKUTO’s launch agreement and it has signed a rideshare partnership with the India-based competitor, TeamIndus, to carry its 4-wheeled rover to the Moon.

Both HAKUTO and TeamIndus are competing for the US$30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, an international lunar robotic competition that challenges privately funded teams to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. To win the competition, a team must successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon’s surface, travel at least 500 meters and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth, before the end of 2017.

Team HAKUTO, run by the Japanese startup ispace Inc., is comprised of various members including the members of ispace, faculty members and students at Tohoku University, and Pro-Bono experts from various fields. With its official project name as the “au HAKUTO MOON CHALLENGE” after partnering with the Japanese carrier KDDI, HAKUTO aims to be the first ever privately funded team to successfully explore the Moon.

“The Google Lunar XPRIZE has always pushed us beyond our limits” said Takeshi Hakamada, the team leader of HAKUTO. “We will continue to challenge ourselves next year and choose an optimal path to reach the Moon.”

“We’re proud to verify HAKUTO’s launch agreement and are pleased to see two Google Lunar XPRIZE teams collaborating on this mission to the Moon,” said Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, senior director, Google Lunar XPRIZE. “The purpose of this prize was, in part, to foster collaboration in the private sector and this is a great demonstration of teams coming together in the next giant leap in space exploration.”

TeamIndus, based in Bangalore, India, is currently developing both a lander and a rover for the competition. TeamIndus has already demonstrated its technical capacity when the team was awarded a Landing Milestone Prize from the Google Lunar XPRIZE in January 2015. Most importantly, TeamIndus is one of the five teams to date that have received official launch verification from XPRIZE. (As a rule, teams must have their launch plans verified by XPRIZE before December 31st 2016).

Details of the TeamIndus launch is as follows:

*【Launch Details】*
Estimated Launch Time:

December 28th 2017

Launch Vehicle:

PSLV

Launch Site:

Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India

Lander:

TeamIndus HHK

Landing Site:

Mare Imbrium 35.25°N 29.23°W


http://team-hakuto.jp/5467/?lang=en

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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/590951/launch-103-satellites-maximise-capability.html

*Launch of 103 satellites is to maximise capability: ISRO*
Bengaluru, Jan 11, 2017, (PTI)




*With less than a month left for the proposed launch of 103 satellites at one go, Indian Space Research Organisation today said its aim is to maximise capability with each launch and not set a record.*

"We are not looking at it as a record or anything. We are just trying to maximise our capability with each launch and trying to utilise that launch for the ability ithas got and get the maximum in return," ISRO Chairman A S KiranKumar told reporters here.

Of the 103 satellites that ISRO's workhorse PSLV-C37 is expected to carry, 100 are foreign. "They are all actually a constellation, they are getting into a constellation of satellites providing observation of earth," Kumar said in response to a query on the sidelines of Karnataka ICT Summit 2017.

The three Indian satellites are Cartosat-2 series, weighing 730 kg as primary payload, INS-IA and INS-1B, weighing 30 kg. An official from the space agency said it was earlier planned to launch 83 satellites in the last week ofJanuary, of which 80 were foreign, but with the addition of 20 more foreign satellites the launch was delayed by a week and would now take place in the first week of February.

Kumar also said ISRO was working on having more frequent launches and make use of each launch ormaximise the capability of the launch vehicle itself.

"The next one is going to carry a number of satellitesfrom various companies along with our own Cartosat-2 series satellite and immediately following that we have GSLV Mark IIIand Mark II.... In the first three months that's what we aretargeting, but beyond that we are trying to work for almost one launch a month," he said.

"The prime driver for all of this is to increase the capacity. Though we have the number of satellites in operation, we require many more for providing the necessary services thatis needed," he added.After the success of the Mars mission, ISRO, which is currently conducting experiments for its second moon mission said another mission to Mars, Venus andJupiter are on the horizon and studies are underway.

"As we are progressing, we need to look at long-term. So what we are looking beyond Chandrayan-2, for which we are already working on an approved programme," Kumar said.

"Beyond that, Mars second mission and Venus missionare all on the horizon, we have to go through the variousstudies and then formulate, get the approval and move. Right now, they are all in the study phase," he added.

ISRO is conducting tests for hazard avoidance for Chandrayaan-2 as it lands at its facility in Challakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, where simulated lunar craters have been created to evaluate the performance of the system.

The ISRO Chairman and French Space agency(CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall in the presence of visitingFrench Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault had on Monday signed a partnership agreement in satellite launch technology.

To a question on the agreement, Kumar said "Currently we are working with them on Oceansat-3... andthen we are working for a future payload, on an infraredimaging sensor."

"We are also looking at possibilities of working with them in various areas of future developments of satellites, launch vehicles," he added.

ISRO in the past had worked with CNES on sounding rockets, SARAL satellites programme and had also launched satellites for them.


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## Hindustani78

http://zeenews.india.com/india/india-to-maximise-rocket-capability-for-more-launches_1966470.html


Bengaluru: India would maximise its rocket capability to launch more satellites for maximum return on investment, its space agency chief said on Wednesday.


"By launching 103 satellites together using one rocket next month, we are trying to maximise its capability and optimally utilise it for maximum return on investment," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told reporters here.

The record number of satellites, including 100 of foreign customers, will be launched on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C37) in February first week from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, about 80km north of Chennai.

"The satellites are a constellation for earth's observation from lower orbital space. It includes three Indian satellites - the 730 kg Cartosat-2D and two Intertial Navigational System INS-IA and INS-1B, with 30kg combined weight," said Kiran Kumar on the margins of a technology summit here.

The combined weight of 100 foreign micro or smaller satellites will be about 590 kg and the rocket's total payload will be 1,350 kg. 

As an advanced remote sensing satellite, Cartosat-2D has a single panchromatic camera to beam scene-specific spot imageries of more than one meter spatial resolution and a swath of 10km for cartographic applications.

The rocket will deploy Cartosat in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at 630 km altitude.

The INS IA and INS-IB use a computer, motion sensors and rotation sensors to calculate the position, orientation and velocity of a moving object without external references.

"We plan to have almost one launch a month with optimal utilisation of the rocket's capacity to carry maximum number of satellites," said Kiran Kumar after addressing the Karnataka ICT Summit 2017, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The state-run ISRO had launched 22 satellites onboard a PSLV in one go, including Cartosat-2C on June 22, 2016 from the spaceport.

The space agency is also set to launch heavier rockets - GSLV (Geo-Satellite Launch Vehicles) Mark III and Mark II for placing above four-tonne class communication satellites in the geo-synchronous orbits, about 36,000km above the earth.

"We are increasing the number of PSLV and GSLV launches to increase the capacity for providing various services and reduce the shortage of transponders," added the ISRO chief.


First Published: Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - 23:38


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...making-says-ISRO-chairman/article17030839.ece

BENGALURU January 13, 2017 00:41 IST
Updated: January 13, 2017 00:41 IST 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) does not consider the upcoming launch of 103 satellites on a single PSLV rocket a record-making feat. Its aim is rather to maximise the launch vehicle’s carrying capacity and returns per launch, ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said here on Wednesday.

As many as 100 small foreign commercial satellites will ride on the PSLV-C37 apart from three Indian spacecraft. This is touted to be the largest number of satellites — albeit small ones weighing a few kilos each — going into space at the same time.

*Launch tentatively in Feb.*

The launch is tentatively slated for late February. The Indian ones are the 730-kg fourth satellite in the Cartosat-2 Earth observation series and two 15-kg experimental navigational ones called INS-1 and INS-2.

The bulk of the 100 client satellites is part of an Earth observation cluster and belong to a single client, Mr. Kiran Kumar said on the sidelines of Karnataka ICT Summit co-hosted by the CII, but did not give details.

“We are finalising the launch date. However, we are not looking at it like a record, we are just maximising the capability with each launch and the returns from it,” he said.

While ISRO has earlier placed 22 small satellites in space in a single launch, the record is with another space agency that has launched around 35 spacecraft at once.

In the first three months of this year, ISRO plans to launch the full-fledged and most powerful Indian booster, the GSLV-MkIII, besides a communications satellite on the GSLV-Mk2.

ISRO teams have started to look at the possibility of sending missions to Mars again, besides Venus and Jupiter but these studies are in very early stages, he said.


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## Supply&Demand

Any new pics of GSLV Mk 3 from the Spaceport?


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## Indx-techs

According to a local TV channel C-37 launch is planned for February 8 at 8:29 am LT (02:59 UTC)





*Tentative launch schedule*

*2017*
Feb 8 02:59 UTC - PSLV(XL)-C37 - Cartosat-2D + INS-1A + INS-1B + 100 nanosats (Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, NL, Switzerland, USA)
March - GSLV Mk III D1 (SLP) - GSAT-19
end March - GSLV Mk II F09 - GSAT-9 (part of P/L known as South Asia Sat)
April/May- PSLV C38 - EMIsat ?+SPaDEx ? + 3 Diamonds (Australia) + Venta-1 + Max Valier
NET July - GSLV Mk II F11 - GSAT-6A
- PSLV - 8 Skysat-C (tbc)
December - PSLV - Cartosat-2E
December 28 - PSLV - Team Indus Lunar Lander/ Rover + Team Hakuto Rover

_piggybacked on PSLV: Microsat, PlanetiQ-1, PlanetiQ-2, InnoSat-2 (Malaysia), CE-SAT1 (Japan), Niusat, IITMSAT_

Q1- Ariane 5 - GSAT-11
Q1- Ariane 5 - GSAT-17

*2018*
March - PSLV - Cartosat-3
July - PSLV - Oceansat-3
Q3 - PSLV - EnMap (Germany)
- GSLV Mk II F12 - GSAT-7A
- GSLV Mk II F10 - GISAT (GEO Imaging SATellite)
(or December 2017) - GSLV Mk III D2 - GSAT-20
December - GSLV Mk II D9 - Chandrayaan-2

_piggybacked on PSLV : IMS(Indian Mini Satellite)/Atmos, IMS-1E, IMS-1F, IinuSat, IMS-B, PARIKSHIT, NEMO-AM (FY 2018-19)
_
*2019*
March - PSLV - Cartosat-3A
Q2 - PSLV - RISAT-1A
- PSLV XL - Aditiya-1
December or 2020 - PSLV - Oceansat-3A

_piggybacked on PSLV: HYSIS_

*2020*
March - PSLV - Cartosat-3B
- PSLV - RISAT-2A
Q2 - PSLV - Resourcesat-3S
Q2 - PSLV - Resourcesat-3
- PSLV? - MOM-2

*2021*
Q2 - PSLV - Resourcesat-3SA
Q2 - PSLV - Resourcesat-3A
- GSLV MkII - NISAR (NASA-ISRO SAR sat)
*
2022*
Q1 - PSLV - Resourcesat-3B
- GSLV MkII - Insat-3DS

*2024*
 - GSLV MkIII - First manned mission
Thanks *input~2
Please note that 7 PSLVs have been scheduled for 2017, entire schedule may not be covered here.*


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## Indx-techs

*Story of the Week - Indian Space Research Organization
High Altitude Flight Acceptance test of CE20 Engine conducted successfully*


> GSLV MKIII, future launch vehicle of ISRO, capable of launching 4-ton class spacecraft in Geo Transfer Orbit (GTO) is in the advanced stage of realisation. It consists of two solid strap-ons (S200) motors, one earth storable liquid core stage (L110) and the indigenously developed C25 cryogenic stage. The C25 stage is powered by CE20 cryogenic engine. The first CE20 flight engine acceptance test was successfully conducted for duration of 25s in high altitude simulation test facility during December 2016. This flight acceptance is an important milestone for ISRO as it could successfully cross the major engine development endeavors in the maiden attempt. This engine was conceived, configured, designed, fabricated and developed by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).





> LPSC is the centre for design, development and realisation of liquid propulsion stages for ISRO's Launch Vehicles. Development of fluid control valves, transducers, propellant management devices for vacuum conditions and other key components of liquid propulsion systems are also under the purview of LPSC.





> To test the Engine at flight identical conditions, High Altitude Test (HAT) facility was established at IPRC, Mahendragiri. This facility allows testing of the CE20 engine at its full area ratio in vacuum condition which otherwise would experience flow separation at sea level ambient pressures.





> The successful engine testing in high altitude condition was preceded by multiple tests on two engines with sea level nozzle divergent (area ratio 10). The development test conducted on these engines provided confidence in the design. The design of the flight nozzle was also validated in the medium duration High Altitude Test programme.





> The Engine High Altitude Test Programme contained a series of high altitude tests (5 hot tests with a cumulative duration of 41.20s) to demonstrate the vacuum ignition, validate the nozzle performance, propellant flow build up characteristics, chill down performance and demonstrate the ignition margins. All the test objectives were successfully achieved in this test programme. The testing of engine in HAT facility has also helped in finalising the engine start and shut down sequence for flight. Summing up, the test programme has imparted good confidence on the performance and functioning of CE20 Engine in GSLV MKIII (LVM3)-D1 mission.





> The realisation of flight stage for the GSLV MKIII (LVM3)-D1 mission is in progress and the first mission is expected by early 2017.







*CE20 Flight Engine for GSLV MKIII (LVM3)-D1 Mission*




*CE20 Engine Interfaced with HAT Facility*

*Story of the Week - Archive*
*Jan 16, 2017* : High Altitude Flight Acceptance test of CE20 Engine conducted successfully
*Jan 09, 2017* : Discovery of a hot companion associated with a Blue Straggler in NGC-188 using AstroSat UVIT data
*Jan 02, 2017* : Golden Jubilee of Composite Materials Activities at ISRO
*Dec 26, 2016* : Indigenous Development of 4.5 ton Vertical Planetary Mixer
*Dec 19, 2016* : First National Finite Element Developers/FEASTSMT Users’ Meet at VSSC
*Dec 05, 2016* : National Rollout of GeoMGNREGA held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
*Nov 28, 2016* : Applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based Remote Sensing in NE Region

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## Hindustani78

Cabinet
18-January, 2017 15:45 IST
*Cabinet apprised of the MoU between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in the field of outer space *

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on November 11, 2016 at Tokyo, Japan between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in the field of outer space.


The purpose of this MoU is to pursue future cooperative activities in the exploration and use of outer space exclusively for peaceful purposes in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable in each country and their international obligations.



This MoU provides scope for pursuing cooperation in various areas of space science technology and applications including: eearth observation, satellite communication and navigation; exploration and space sciences; Research and development (space systems and space technology); and Space industry promotion.


ISRO and JAXA will bear the costs of their respective activities under this Memorandum, unless they decide otherwise in writing. Ability to fulfil their respective roles and activities under this Memorandum and its relevant separate Implementation Arrangement is subject to their respective funding procedures, the availability of appropriated funds and their respective national laws.



Framework MoU would lead to joint activity in the field of application of space technologies for the benefit of humanity. Thus all sections and regions of the country will get benefited.



*Background:*


India and Japan pursue space cooperation for more than 5 decades and carried out studies in the field of atmospheric study, observation of universe and scientific investigation in remote sensing. With the formation of JAXA in 2003, an "arrangement concerning the considerations of potential future cooperation in the field of outer space" was signed in October 2005 between ISRO/ Department of Space (DOS) and JAXA. Subsequently both agencies have signed cooperative documents addressing lunar exploration, satellite navigation, X-ray astronomy and Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF).


During the ISRO-JAXA bilateral meeting held at New Delhi on April 05, 2016, both sides stressed the need for updating the contents of '2005 Arrangement' with enhanced scope of cooperation. Accordingly, both sides have arrived at the draft of new 'Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ISRO and JAXA concerning cooperation in the field of outer space’ and got it signed on November 11, 2016 at Tokyo during the visit of Prime Minister of India to Japan.


*****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/592111/arai-isro-team-up-using.html
Pune, Jan 18, 2017, (PTI)




*A Lithium Ion Battery indigenously developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for space applications was successfully put to use in an electric two-wheeler by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) here.*

ARAI and ISRO are jointly working on a project to explore the applications of Lithium Ion Battery technology used in space for surface transport vehicles and this success may come as a big boost to electric mobility in the country, said a release today.

A prototype (two-wheeler) developed using Lithium Ion Battery of ISRO was unveiled at the hands of Sanjay Mitra, secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, during the inauguration function of the Symposium on International Automotive Technology (SIAT 2017) at ARAI Campus, it said.

The Symposium underway at ARAI Campus at Vetal Hill, Kothrud till January 21. Many organisations from India and abroad that are working in the field of automotive technology are participating in the exhibition, which has been organised at the same venue under SIAT 2017.

"This is a landmark development under the joint research project of ISRO and ARAI, where Lithium Ion Battery technology developed for space applications was successfully adapted for the automotive segment.

"We at ARAI have worked upon on various factors like Battery Management System, Lab Testing, Road Testing, Automotive Duty Cycle at different temperatures, charge and discharge," said Anand Deshpande, Convener of SIAT 2017.

He said that in space applications, reliability is of paramount importance, whereas, in automotive segment affordability is equally important.

"Thus, our teams are now working in this direction. The prototype that was unveiled today is loaded with 48 Volt 50 ampere-hour battery and successfully runs up to 90 kilometres once charged for 2 hours.

"We are working on reducing the charging time and have set the target to bring it down to 1 hour initially. It does not use much electricity for charging and the running cost per kilometre could be as less as 20-30 paise per kilometre. The vehicle can attain the speed of 40-50 kilometres per hour," he added.

To commemorate ARAI’s Golden Jubilee celebration, a special short film competition on road safety was organised. Winners of the competition including Venkatasubramanian R (Bengaluru), Bhushan Popatrao Manjule (Pune) and Nachiket Khasnis (Pune) were given prizes on the occasion.

A special booklet having a compilation of cartoons of Mangesh Tendulkar on Road Safety was released on the occasion.


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## Hindustani78

*INSAT-3DR works in tandem with INSAT-3D, operational since 2014, in sending raw data and high-resolution images, zoomed up to 1 kilometre near the earth's surface, every 15 minutes.*

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/insat-3dr-to-map-farm-fires-in-haryana-punjab-4496904/
By: PTI | New Delhi | Updated: January 29, 2017 11:44 am 

Next generation satellite INSAT-3DR has opened new frontiers in India’s weather forecasting and is set to equip the country with the ability to detect farm fires, which intensifies air pollution in the northern region seasonally, leaving Delhi gasping for breath. A team of the Satellite Meteorology Division of India Meteorological Department (IMD), housed in New Delhi’s Mausam Bhawan, has amassed a huge tranche of data relayed by it over the past few months, at an average rate of a whopping 142 GB per day.

Launched in September last year, INSAT-3DR works in tandem with INSAT-3D, operational since 2014, in sending raw data and high-resolution images, zoomed up to 1 kilometre near the earth’s surface, every 15 minutes.

Dr Sunil Peshin, who heads the division, told PTI that while storing and archiving data was itself a challenge, the IMD shares information relayed by these satellites with international agencies like the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Peshin said with the operationalising of INSAT-3DR, night time monitoring of atmospheric phenomenon like cloud cover, fog, haze and snow among others has become possible.

“Within the next few months we hope to equip ourselves with the ability to detect farm fires as well which the NASA does currently. It is just a matter of developing the right tools and algorithm which will take a little time,” he said.

This assumes importance against the backdrop of the Delhi government blaming seasonal agro-residue burning in the fields of Haryana and Punjab and the subsequent emission of smoke for the city’s foul air, especially during October, November.


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## Hindustani78

India will launch one of its back up navigation satellites this year as a replacement to IRNSS-1A satellite, whose three atomic clocks have failed, a top official of Indian space agency ISRO said on Monday.

The official denied the existence of similar problems with the rubidium atomic clocks in another navigation satellite.

“The atomic clocks have failed in only one satellite. We will be launching the stand-by satellite this year. All other six satellites are operational and are providing the navigation data,” said AS Kiran Kumar, chairman of the *Indian Space Research Organisation *(ISRO).

He said the atomic clocks were imported and ISRO would take up the issue with the foreign supplier.

Each satellite has three clocks and a total of 27 clocks for the navigation satellite system were supplied by the same vendor. The clocks are important to provide precise data.

Simply put, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is similar to the GPS (Global Positioning System) of the US, Glonass of Russia and Galileo of Europe as well as China’s Beidou.

While GPS and Glonass are fully functional global systems, the Chinese and the Japanese systems offer regional coverage and Europe’s Galileo is yet to be operational.

According to the Indian space agency, the applications of IRNSS are: terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, vehicle tracking and fleet management, terrestrial navigation for hikers and travellers, disaster management, integration with mobile phones, mapping and geodetic data capture and visual and voice navigation for drivers.

In other words, IRNSS could be said to be the “Indian GPS”.

Apart from the civilian applications, the IRNSS will be used for defence purposes as well.

Kumar said ISRO was studying the problem, when queried whether the issue was with the electronic side of the clocks.

The Rs 1,420 crore Indian satellite navigation system NavIC consists of seven satellites in orbit and two as substitutes.

Starting in July 2013, the Indian space agency has launched seven navigation satellites. The last one was launched on April 28, 2016. Each satellite has a life span of 10 years.

It is learnt that the NavIC satellites were performing well till the three clocks in IRNSS-1A -- the first satellite -- failed.

According to Kumar, all the hardware are susceptible to failure even though elaborate testing is done.

Industry officials said navigation satellites of other countries too have faced atomic clock problems.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
02-February, 2017 15:23 IST
*Facilities for Launching Satellites *


Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has all the requisite facilities for launching satellites using Indian launch vehicles at its launch complex located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. These facilities comprise of (i) two operational satellite launch pads, (ii) Filling Control Centre (FCC) for propellant filling operations and (iii) Mission Control Centre (MCC) & Launch Control Centre (LCC) for coordinating and conducting the launch operations during the countdown phase till the injection of the satellite into orbit. 


Currently, the project for the development of Semicryogenic engine has been approved and the Semicryogenic engine is under development. The various activities carried out towards the development of the Semicryogenic engine include- (i) Indigenous realisation of 35 materials and 22 coating processes (ii) Qualification of indigenous bearings for turbo pumps (iii) Fabrication of the first hardware for three engine subsystems including low pressure turbo pumps and one high pressure turbo pump through industry (iv) Design validation of the low pressure turbo pumps through cold flow trials. 


*An advanced space launcher that can deliver ten-tonne and heavier communication satellites to space requires a booster stage with clustered Semicryogenic engines.* After the successful qualification of the Semicryogenic engine, the development of the Semicryogenic booster stage with clustered engines is expected to be initiated. 


The spacecrafts that are likely to be launched in the next two years using Indian launch vehicles include - four communication satellites, seven earth observation satellites, one navigation satellite and one space science satellite. Also, two communication satellites are planned to be launched from abroad onboard the Ariane 5 launcher.


This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


Department of Space
02-February, 2017 15:22 IST
*Making of Satellite and Launch Vehicles *

India presently has 39 operational satellites in orbit comprising of 17 Earth observation (including meteorological), 13 communication, 7 navigational and 2 Space Science satellites. These satellites are being utilised to meet the demands of Central & State Governments and private-entities in the area of natural resources management, infrastructure planning, disaster management support, enabling weather forecasting, satellite communication and navigation. Significant increase in the capacity is needed to ensure continuity of services and to meet various emerging demands in these areas.

Considering the enhanced national requirements for launching satellites for earth observation, communication & navigation, the present capacity of launches is a constraint. ISRO has been pursuing a conscious approach of building up and nurturing the industrial capabilities in the country to maximally support the Indian Space Programme. Through appropriate transfer of technology and hand-holding, ISRO is making focused efforts to enhance participation of Indian industries for manufacturing of space related hardware, such as rocket engine & stages, propellant tanks, spacecraft structures, solar panels, thermal control systems, electronic packages etc., required for satellites and launch vehicles. 

In order to step up the launch capacity within the country, ISRO is in the process of exploring the possibility of involving Indian industry in a greater role towards productionisation of integrated systems/subsystems, including assembly and testing by vendor as per ISRO’s design.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...e-from-U.S./article17198991.ece?homepage=true




Residents of a township in Hyderabad have a message for the ISRO ahead of the big launch on February 15. | Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is on the cusp of making history when it sends 104 satellites into orbit on its PSLV-C37 rocket on February 15.Only three of them are Indian satellites.

Notably, in ISRO’s first mission of 2017, a single U.S. Earth imaging company, Planet, has made an eye-popping bulk booking for 88 of its small ‘cubesats’.

No space agency has launched such a large number of satellites in a single flight so far. (While ISRO’s PSLV launched 20 satellites last year, Russia’s Dnepr launcher holds the record for lifting 37 satellites to orbit in June 2014.)

The PSLV will carry a main remote-sensing satellite in the Cartosat-2 series and two small spacecraft, all for ISRO, and 101 small foreign commercial satellites.

*The 88 cubesats are part of Planet’s earth observation constellation of 100 satellites. They weigh around 5 kg each and are called ‘Doves’ or Flock 3p.* For California-based Planet, too, *it will be the record largest number of cubesats to be flown in a single launch, according to one of its executives.*

Planet, an earth observation company formed in 2010 by former NASA scientists, has chosen ISRO’s PSLV launch for the second time.* It got its earlier set of 12 ‘Doves’ launched in June last year.*

*Cartosat-2 & INS-1*
The main passenger on PSLV-C37 will be the fourth in the Cartosat-2 series, a very high resolution Earth observation satellite of about 650 kg, and occupies roughly half the space in the launch vehicle. It will carry two more Indian nano satellites, INS-1A and INS-1B, each weighing about 10 kg. They have a short lifespan of six to 12 months.

All the payloads will totally weigh around 1,500 kg, according to an ISRO official who did not want to be named. The 88 Doves would be released in sets of four cubesats. The other co-riders are cubesats or small specialised satellites of customers from Israel, the UAE, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. They will be released separately into their orbits at around 500 km from Earth. While ISRO has been cagey about giving details of its customers,

Planet’s executive Mike Safyan announced on Friday, “In February, we are launching 88 satellites — the largest fleet of satellites launched in history. The Dove satellites, collectively known as “Flock 3p,” will ride aboard a PSLV rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.”

*Biggest launch*
“This is the 15th time Planet is launching Dove satellites; and it will be our biggest launch to date. Combined with the 12 satellites of Flock 2p operating in a similar orbit, this launch will enable Planet’s 100-satellite ‘line scanner’ constellation of Doves,” Mr. Safyan said.

Since September 2015, the PSLV has launched 18 small U.S. earth imaging satellites in a total of 79 foreign spacecraft — which earns it some revenue and an increasing global market share.


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## Hindustani78



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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/595257/satellite-launch-isro-earn-half.html
*ISRO will recover half of the total cost incurred for next week's launch of 104 satellites from the foreign capsules mounted on its workhorse rocket PSLV-C37. Of the 104 satellites to be launched on February 15, only three are Indian.*

"We want to make optimum use of our capacity. We are launching our three satellites. One is of 730 kgs while other two are 19 kgs each. We had additional space of 600 kgs. So we decided to accommodate 101 satellites," ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar said.

"Roughly half of our cost will be covered by the foreign satellites we are launching," he said, without revealing the exact amount ISRO will earn from foreign customers.
The space agency has earned more than USD 100 millions by launching foreign satellites. It also has achieved mastery on launching smaller satellites.

ISRO will launch a record 104 satellites through its workhorse rocket PSLV-C37 on February 15 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
These 101 satellites are nano-satellites and belong to foreign nations, including the US and Germany.

The Indian satellites are from the Castrosat series. Last year, ISRO launched record 20 satellites at one go. The highest number of satellites launched in a single mission is 37, a record that Russia set in 2014. The US space agency NASA launched 29.

Kumar said ISRO is at present doing tests on its lander for Chandrayaan 2 at its facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu and Challakere in Karnataka.

"It is an indigenous development and tests are on. It's a control descend. So it has engines that allow a control descend," Kumar said.

Chandryaan 2 mission seeks to make a landing on the moon.
The ISRO said that all SAARC countries, except Pakistan, have given their consent for the South Asian satellites project envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "India's gift to its neighbours".

Kumar said that the manned mission project is "not a top priority" for the ISRO, as he emphasised on enhancing space infrastructure.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
08-February, 2017 16:55 IST
*ISRO Rover on Lunar Surface *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to deploy a rover on the lunar surface in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

The Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, is a totally indigenous mission comprising of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover. After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander housing the Rover will separate from the Orbiter. After a controlled descent, the Lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy a Rover.

The six-wheeled Rover will move around the landing site in semi-autonomous mode as decided by the ground commands. The instruments on the rover will observe the lunar surface and send back data, which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil. Collection of soil and rock sediments is not planned in this mission.

ISRO is working towards the launch of Chandrayaan-2 during the first quarter of 2018.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****

Department of Space
08-February, 2017 16:54 IST
*Inter-Planetary Mission *

After Chandrayaan-1 and India’s first interplanetary mission ‘Mars Orbiter Mission’, the feasibility of future inter-planetary missions to Mars and Venus are under discussion and presently a study team is exploring various options and opportunities for such missions. Based on the recommendations of the study team, a plan for realising future interplanetary missions will be considered.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****

Department of Space
*08-February, 2017 16:53 IST 

Land Sensing Satellite Data *

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been signed on July 09, 2016 for cooperation in the exchange and use of satellite remote sensing data. Under this MoU, USGS is facilitating availability of data of Indian region using American remote sensing satellites viz. Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 to ISRO. ISRO is facilitating availability of data of US region using Indian remote sensing satellite ‘Resourcesat-2’ to USGS. 

The sharing of each other’s satellite remote sensing data provides enhanced frequency of earth observation data to both organisations. The AWiFS payload (onboard Resourcesat-2) enables USGS to acquire earth observation data every 5 days. The Landsat satellites enable ISRO to acquire multi-spectral earth observation data including thermal data. These data sets help both countries to carry out applications in the field of natural resources inventory & management and disaster management support. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****


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## Hindustani78

SHAR Director P. Kunhikrishnan (centre) being felicitated by a Congress delegation led by PCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy at Sriharikota on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: K_ RAVIKUMAR

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ahead-of-PSLV-C-37-launch/article17243071.ece

A delegation of Congress leaders led by PCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy, DCC president Panabaka Krishnaiah, PCC vice-president Ch. Devakumar Reddy and others felicitated SHAR director P. Kunhikrishnan at Sriharikota in the district on Tuesday.


*Good wishes*

The Congress leaders visited Sriharikota Range (SHAR) to wish the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation ahead of their effort to launch PSLV C-37 rocket on February 15 to carry a record number of 104 satellites into the space orbit.

Mr. Raghuveera Reddy told Dr Kunhikrishnan that the Sriharikota space centre should continue to achieve many more milestones and bring international recognition to India in space science. He wished the scientists a resounding success in the forthcoming PSLV launch.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/595344/isro-mars-orbiter-mission-life.html
Eclipse put its fate in jeopardy denying light to solar panels





*A crucial orbital manoeuvring of India’s Mars probe has not only saved the spacecraft from imminent death, but also increased its life span by another three years till 2020.*

The fate of the probe was in jeopardy as it was to face an eclipse during which dark shadows of the Red Planet was to fall on the satellite, denying its solar panels any light.

The on-board battery which was to take over had a life of just about 1.4 hours, while the eclipse was to last for 8 hours. The spacecraft's future was bleak.

The scientists thought of a solution. On the night of January 17, a team of eight engineers at Indian Space Research Organisation's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bengaluru, sent a time-delayed command to the Mars probe.

The command set in motion firing of eight on-board thruster rockets. Each of them were fired for 431 seconds, pushing the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) space probe to a new orbit that completely avoids an eclipse up to September 2017. The shadowing in September is of a smaller duration, which the satellite's batteries can handle.

“Because of the crucial orbital change, the MOM now gets three additional years’ life. We are expecting it to transmit data till 2020,” Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar told DH.

As against its designed life of six months, the MOM completed two-and-a-half years beaming pictures of the Red Planet back to the Earth and is likely to continue for another three years.

Last month's orbital manoeuvre exhausted almost 20 kg of fuel from the MOM’s stock of 30 kg. 

The remaining 13 kg of fuel, Kiran Kumar said, was sufficient for the rest of its life.
The 1,337 kg probe, designed and developed on a shoestring budget of Rs 450 crore, was inserted into the Martian orbit in September 2014. 

Most of the fuel was spent during its voyage to the Martian orbit. Some of the scientific tasks it performed include creation of a vertical dust profile of the Martian atmosphere, *checking out the presence of carbon-containing methane in Mars and studying the noble gas Argon.*

**************

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
09-February, 2017 15:43 IST
*Launching of Advanced and Heaviest Spacecraft *


The GSAT-11 with its lift-off mass of about 5600 Kg is the heaviest communication spacecraft to be launched in the year 2017. 

GSAT-11 is planned to be launched using Ariane-5 launch vehicle. 

GSAT-11 is a multi-beam satellite with 32 user beams and 8 hub beams operating over India in Ka/Ku bands employing frequency reuse technique. It will provide higher capacity for interactive applications using VSAT terminals compared to older generation three tonne INSAT/GSAT spacecrafts. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

************

Department of Space
09-February, 2017 15:45 IST
*Tests for Moon Landing of Chandrayaan-2 *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started a series of ground tests for testing the performance of sensors and actuators for soft landing of the Lander on the lunar surface. 

Special tests for new systems in Lander have been identified and a Lander Sensors Performance Test over artificial craters created in Chitradurga district in Karnataka, has been conducted. Lunar Terrain Test facility is ready for Lander drop test and Rover mobility tests. 

ISRO is working towards the launch of Chandrayaan-2 during the first quarter of 2018. The Chandrayaan-2 comprises of indigenous Orbiter, Lander and Rover. After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander housing the Rover will separate from the Orbiter. After a controlled descent, the Lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy a Rover. The instruments on the rover will collect data for analysis of the lunar soil. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.


****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/596044/with-eye-venus-mars-isro.html
Bengaluru, Feb 12, 2017, PTI:




*India will boldly go to Venus for the first time and re-visit the Red Planet very soon. Buried and hidden in the hundreds of pages of the new format electronic budget documents, is the first formal acknowledgement by the government about these two new bold inter-planetary sojourns to Earth's immediate neighbours.*

This uplifting news comes ahead of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) attempting to undertake its mega launch where it will drop off into space not one, two or three but a full load of 104 satellites in space in a single mission.

No other country has ever tried to hit a century in a single mission. The last world record is held by Russia which in 2014 rocketed 37 satellites in a single launch using a modified inter-continental ballistic missile.

If all goes according to plan, on the morning of February 15, ISRO will hurl into space using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) three Indian satellites and a 101 small foreign satellites.

India is hoping to better the previous world record by a whopping two-and-a-half times. ISRO, considered the new kid on the block in the multi-billion dollar world launcher market, hopes to set an enviable benchmark for the space fairing nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's love affair with space is quite evident. The government, it seems, is rather pleased with the Indian space agency as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave the Department of Space a whopping 23 per cent increase in its budget. Under the space sciences section, the budget mentions provisions "for Mars Orbiter Mission II and Mission to Venus".

The second mission to Mars is tentatively slated for in 2021-2022 timeframe and as per existing plans it may well involve putting a robot on the surface of the Red Planet.

While India's first mission to Mars undertaken in 2013 was a purely Indian mission, the French space agency wants to collaborate in making the Mars rover.

In fact on a visit to India this month, Michael M Watkins, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, said they would be keen to at least put a telematics module so NASA's rovers and the Indian satellites are able to talk to each other.

The second Indian mission to Mars is likely to be all about doing good science since the first one had a nationalistic streak on it in trying to beat China to the orbit of Mars which the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) did magnificently.

India's maiden mission to Venus, the second planet of the Solar System named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, is in all probability going to be a modest orbiter mission.

Watkins said a mission to Venus is very-very worthwhile as so little is understood about that planet and NASA would definitely be willing to partner in India's maiden voyage to Venus.

Towards that, NASA and ISRO have already initiated talks this month on trying to jointly undertake studies on using electrical propulsion for powering this mission.

India's original inter-planetary dreamer K Kasturirangan, former chairman of ISRO, says, "India should be part of this global adventure and exploring Venus and Mars is very worthwhile since humans definitely need another habitation beyond Earth."

Closer to home on its 39th launch India's workhorse rocket the PSLV will lift off carrying 1378 kg of robots to be deployed in space.

The first to be let off will be India's high resolution Cartosat-2 series satellite made especially to monitor activities of India's hostile neighbours at a resolution of less than a metre keeping a bird's eye view on both Pakistan and China.

This earth imaging capability is not unusual but the rest of the passengers are unique. There are two small Indian satellites each weighing less than 10 kg that are forerunners of a new class of satellites called ISRO Nano Satellites which the engineers seek to master.

What follows next is a trailblazing performance by the PSLV when at an altitude of over 500 km in space it will release from its womb, 101 co-passengers one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the UAE and a whopping 96 from the US. It is only recently American private companies have warmed up to ISRO as India offers cheap and reliable option.

Eighty-eight of the American satellites belong to a San Francisco based start-up company Planet Inc which is sending a swarm of small 4.7 kg each satellite it calls 'Doves'. This constellation will image earth like never before and with a high repeat rate providing satellite imagery at an affordable cost.

This suite of 101 small satellites all together weighing 664 kg will be released in space in a manner akin to a typical school bus which drops of its passengers namely children at their respective bus stops in a sequential manner, avoiding squabbling and elbowing in near zero gravity is not easy.

Ensuring that no collisions take place even is an art that ISRO has mastered from previous launches. In less than 600 seconds all 101 satellites will be released into space each travelling at whopping velocity of over 27,000 km per hour or at 40 times the speed of an average passenger airliner.

Some experts are suggesting that in a bid to earn some money ISRO is actually contributing significantly to the creation of space junk as these small satellites are really not very useful.

But Laura Grego, Senior Scientist, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, USA says, "I think that these launches can be done responsibly and provide benefits to all people. Developing a culture of responsible space launch and operations is key as more and more countries become space-faring.

"While the number of countries that can launch satellites independently is still quite small, many dozens of countries own and operate satellites."

Kasturirangan says, "India has the capability putting several satellites in a single launch and demonstrating that capability is certainly not bad as it adds to India's credibility and then later if ISRO deploys this capability of formation flying in a constellation of its own satellites it would be a useful addition to its arsenal."


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...tellite-navigation-system/article17292300.ece
 
*PSLV-C37 mission to shed dependence on Global Positioning System for orbit determination *
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) bid to script space history by sending 104 satellites into orbit using a single launcher on February 15 will depend on critical support provided by India’s own satellite navigation system.

The milestone mission, PSLV- C37, will use the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) to determine the orbit of each satellite injected from the launch vehicle at a height of more than 500 km from the earth’s surface. 

“By turning to IRNSS, we are shedding our dependence on the Global Positioning System (GPS) that was being used for orbit determination in previous missions,” Director, Vikram Sarabha Space Centre (VSSC), K. Sivan told _The Hindu_, amid preparations for the launch. 

*Precise computation*

The PSLV- C36 mission last December had successfully demonstrated the use of IRNSS data for precise computation of satellite orbit.

Comprising a constellation of seven satellites in orbit and a network of ranging stations across the country, IRNSS is India’s alternative to the American GPS. The system which became operational in 2016 provides navigational support for civilian and military uses. 

The PSLV- C37 mission will also provide a test bed for new technologies in handling multiple payloads.

The primary payload on PSLV-C37 is the Indian advanced remote sensing satellite, CartoSat-2 weighing 714 kg. Apart from two Indian nano satellites INS-1A and INS-1B, the rocket will also carry satellites from the U.S., the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan and the UAE.

*Nano satellites*

The mission will set another record in deploying the largest number of satellites of a single constellation from one launch vehicle. As many as 88 nano satellites will be placed in orbit to form the Flock- 3p constellation by the US-based Planet Labs.

Dr.Sivan said the mission posed significant challenges in payload separation. “We have developed a carefully calibrated separation sequence to avoid collision-free deployment of the satellites.” ISRO has also come up with custom-made multi payload adaptors to mount the large number of nano satellites. 

The mission will use a video imaging system with eight on-board cameras to capture the separation of various propulsion stages and satellites. The 104 satellites will be released at an altitude of 510 to 524 km over a period of 600 seconds.

PSLV-C37 will carry a total payload of 1,400 kg, with Cartosat- 2 weighing the most.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
15-February, 2017 12:57 IST
*PSLV-C37 Successfully Launches 104 Satellites in a Single Flight *

In its thirty ninth flight (PSLV-C37), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites today morning (February 15, 2017) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty eighth consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The total weight of all the 104 satellites carried on-board PSLV-C37 was 1378 kg.

*PSLV-C37 lifted off at 0928 hrs (9:28 am) IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a flight of 16 minutes 48 seconds*, the satellites achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 506 km inclined at an angle of 97.46 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and in the succeeding 12 minutes, all the 104 satellites successfully separated from the PSLV fourth stage in a predetermined sequence beginning with Cartosat-2 series satellite, followed by INS-1 and INS-2. The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV now stands at 46.

After separation, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras.

The imagery from the Cartosat-2 series satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and manmade features and various other Land Information System (LIS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) applications. The data sets could be used for urban planning of 500 cities under the Amrut Planning Scheme. The government initiative of 100 smart city programme in which these data sets could be used for master plan preparation and detailed geospatial data preparation for rural roads and infrastructure development.

Of the 103 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C37, two – ISRO Nano Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2 weighing 9.7 kg – are technology demonstration satellites from India. 

The remaining 101 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (96), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1) and UAE (1).

This mission involved many technical challenges like realising the launch of a large number of satellites during a single mission within the time frame sought by the customers from abroad. Besides, ensuring adequate separation between all the 104 satellites during their orbital injection as well as during their subsequent orbital life was yet another challenge associated with this complex mission. 

With today’s successful launch, the total number of customer satellites from abroad launched by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV has reached 180.

****

President's Secretariat
15-February, 2017 11:53 IST
*President of India congratulates ISRO for the successful launch into space of PSLV – C37, carrying a record 104 satellites *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch into space of PSLV – C37, carrying a record 104 satellites.

In a message to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, the President has said, “I extend my sincere congratulations and best wishes to you and your team at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the successful launch into space of PSLV – C37, carrying a record 104 satellites.

This day shall go down as a landmark in the history of our space programme. The nation is proud of this significant achievement, which has demonstrated, yet again, India’s increasing space capabilities.

Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this great mission. I urge ISRO to continue to strive for the progress of our space capabilities. I wish all your future endeavours great success.”

*****

Vice President's Secretariat
15-February, 2017 11:40 IST
*Vice President congratulates ISRO for successful launch of 104 satellites *

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the successful launch of PSLV-C37 rocket that placed 104 satellites in to their orbits. The flawless launch underlined the efforts to make the use and exploration of space more accessible and affordable, he added.

Following is the text of Vice President’s message: 

“I offer my congratulations to the Scientists, Engineers and Technicians of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of the PSLV-C37 rocket that placed 104 satellites including Cartosat 2 Series from India and 7 other counties in their designated orbits. This has been a history scripting effort of launching 104 satellites in a single launch.

The flawless launch has once again demonstrated India’s capabilities in the space sector and underlined our efforts to make the use and exploration of space more accessible and affordable.

I wish ISRO all the very best for the future.”

***

Prime Minister's Office
15-February, 2017 10:56 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO on successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 nano satellites*


The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO on successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 nano satellites. 

"Congratulations to ISRO for the successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 nano satellites. 

This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation. India salutes our scientists. 

Spoke to the Secretary, Department of Space and congratulated him & the entire team of scientists on today's exceptional achievement", the Prime Minister said. 

***

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
15-February, 2017 11:14 IST
*Shri Ananthkumar congratulates ISRO on successful launch of PSLV-C37 and CARTOSAT satellite along with 103 other satellites in one go *

Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananthkumar has congratulated ISRO and entire team on the successful launch of PSLV-C37 carrying CARTOSAT satellite together with 103 other satellites. 

Today, ISRO has created history by launching a record 104 satellites and placing at right orbit precisely in one go. It showcases the low cost innovation capability of ISRO and is a sterling example of 'Make in India'. It also demonstrates the capabilities of ISRO in handling complex space missions professionally and providing world class satellite launching services to various countries and agencies. The untiring efforts of entire team of ISRO is the guiding force for this great feat. I salute the ISRO team for keeping Indian Flag high in world and wish them great success for all projects in future, said Shri Ananthkumar. 

*****






Space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launching a record 104 satellites, including India’s earth observation satellite on-board PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series from the spaceport of Sriharikota.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/PSLV-launched-the-Indian-Moon-mission/article17308351.ece

The PSLV, 39 flights old since 1993, also launched the Indian Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 in 2008; and is set to launch a private lunar mission for Bengaluru start-up Team Indus in late December this year.

“It is confirmed that all 104 satellites have been successfully deployed in the orbit,” PTI quoted PSLV Project Director B. Jayakumar at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) as saying.

“After separation, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bengaluru took over the control of the satellite,” the space agency said.

In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration. Thereafter, its panchromatic (black and white) and multi-spectral (colour) cameras will start giving remote sensing services.

Two Indian co-passengers are technology demonstrators: ISRO Nano Satellite-1 (INS-1) weighing 8.4 kg and INS-2 weighing 9.7 kg.

Of the 101 foreign co-passengers, 96 came from two U.S. customers; and one each from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Israel, Kazakhstan and the UAE.

Planet Labs, a U.S. Earth observation company, alone sent up 88 of its roughly 5-kg cubesats on this vehicle.

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told PTI: “Now we are targeting [the bigger launchers] GSLV MarkII and then Mk III. A series of launch activities are planned this year also.”

The MkIII is designed to lift around 4,000 kg payloads to a higher geosynchronous orbit.

“It is one of the toughest missions we have handled,” said K. Sivan, Director of the launch centre, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Satish Dhawan Space Centre Director P. Kunhikrishnan said the extraordinary launch reiterated ISRO’s capability to professionally handle complex missions.

Mr. Jayakumar described the feat as “a great moment for each of us,” launching 104 satellites on a single rocket was a complex, yet enjoyable mission achieved through excellent team work.

Soon after the satellites were confirmed as deployed in space, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the ISRO Chairman and Team ISRO on the record-making launch.

People watch as as a rocket from Space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) takes off successfully to launch a record 104 satellites, including India’s earth observation satellite on-board PSLV-C37 from the spaceport of Sriharikota on Wednesday. PTI Photo


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## DavidSling

India launches 104 nanosatellites into space, two of them Israeli
BGUSAT, developed by Ben Gurion University in collaboration with the Israel Aerospace Industries and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space to study climate change and scientific phenomena from space.
Associated Press|Published: 15.02.17 , 17:27

India's space agency successfully launched more than 100 foreign nano satellites into orbit Wednesday aboard a single rocket, two of them Israeli.

The Indian Space Research Organization said the nano satellites—those weighing less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds)—were sent into orbit from the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan launching pad in southern India. It said the launching of the 104 satellites was a record, overtaking Russia's feat of sending 37 satellites in a single launch in 2014.

"All 104 satellites were successfully placed in orbit," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar as saying. They included an Indian Earth observation satellite and two small technology demonstration satellites.




India launches the rocket carrying the nanosatellites into space (Photo: AFP)

It is the first time that any Israeli university will have access to data from an Israeli nanosatellite for research purposes.

“This is the first time that Israeli researchers will have the opportunity to receive information directly from a completely blue and white satellite, without having to go through other countries or research agencies,” said Avi Belsberger, director of the Israel Space Agency.

The Israel Space Agency in the Science Ministry, IAI and BGU launched the nanosatellite project five years ago while actual construction of the satellite began two years ago at IAI’s space division. “This is another step in advancing cooperation between the government, industry and academia in order to promote the Israeli space industry,” said Science Minister Ofir Akunis.

“Only such a collaboration with government backing will preserve the Israeli space industry’s global standing, and will promote research, create new jobs, all while safeguarding the essential interests of Israel,” Akunis further commented in a statement.




The BGUSAT (Photo: IAI)

Following the satellite’s launch, the Israel Space Agency has allocated an additional NIS 1 million to fund future research based on the data to be received from the satellite and sent out a call for proposals. BGU and TAU have already submitted a joint proposal to study Earth’s airglow layer.

“Nanosatellites enable space engineering and space research at costs that are affordable for academia. The reduced costs allow academia to assume a much more active role in the field taking advantage of the innovation and initiative of researchers and students,” said Prof. Dan Blumberg, BGU’s VP and Dean for R&D.

Through the BGUSAT cameras, researchers will be able to track atmospheric gases like CO2 in order to understand climate change, to examine changes in ground moisture that could be an indicator of desertification and affect agricultural development or to monitor plant development in different regions.

The other Israeli nanosatellite belongs to the company SpacePharma.





The India rocket launching nanosatellites into space (Photo: EPA)

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the "remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation."

India has been striving to become a player in the multibillion-dollar space launch market, and has successfully placed light satellites into orbit in recent years. It hopes to eventually send astronauts into space.

In September 2014, India successfully guided a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. Only the United States, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency had been able to previously do that.

Yaron Druckman and TPS contributed to this report.

https://defence.pk/threads/israel-space-industry.413930/page-2#post-9201601

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## K210

Upcoming missions: 

Orbital launches: 

GSLV MK-2/GSAT-9 - Late March 
GSLV MK-3/GSAT-19E - Early April 
PSLV-C38 - Early May 

Experimental: 

Pad abort test - before end of march 

Engines: 

CE-20 final test - Feb 17 
SCE-200 - End of year 

High power satellites: 

GSAT-17 (3400kg)
GSAT-11 (5600kg!!)

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ace-economy/article17311394.ece?homepage=true

The world’s applauding India’s successful PSLV-C37 launch, but India needs to radically improve to be a part of the space economy

India has launched the PSLV-C36 successfully, with 104 satellites on board. Apart from three Indian satellites, taking up 748.1 kg of its 1,500 kg capacity, it also carried 88 small satellites owned by a US-based company, Planet Labs, and others from five different countries.

This is despite the fact that US companies are not allowed to use Indian launch vehicles. In October 2015, the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, COMSTAC, noted “Antrix (ISRO’s commercial arm) will have an unfair advantage over domestic private sector competition, since it is an Indian governmental entity.”

But over the years some companies have managed to get waivers.

In 2015-16, Antrix earned a revenue of approximately ₹230 crore through such commercial launch services. But this is a mere 0.6 per cent of the global launch services market.

Though the PSLV launch is a feat, in fact a world record, it still doesn’t give India a bigger piece of the $5.9-billion global launch industry .

Three primary reasons for this are:

- There are two kinds of launches, commercial and noncommercial (military, civil). A US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report notes that in 2015, just 26 per cent of total launches were commercial.

*Commercial versus noncommercial launches in 2015*


(Source: US FAA 2015)
Out of the 22 commercial launches, US (8 launches), Russia (5), and Europe (6) constituted the biggest chunk of the pie. All of China’s 19 launches, the third highest that year, were for either civil or military purposes. Overall, India launched only 5 vehicles, of which only 2 PSLVs were commercial. So, where does that place India in the space transportation market? Somewhere at the bottom. India earned only $66 million in revenues. Europe earned $1,066 million and the US $617.

*2015 total worldwide commercial launch activity*


(Source: US FAA 2015)
- In a response to a question in the Parliament last year, the PMO revealed that between 2013-2015 India’s total revenue for launching 28 non-Indian satellites was $101 million. However, a PIB report noted that during 2015-16, Antrix earned a revenue of approximately $34.4 million approx (Rs 230 crore) through commercial launch services, which is reported to be about 0.6 per cent of the global launch services market. FAA in fact notes that India’s estimated revenue for commercial for 2015 could be $66 million.

- Why is India’s share so low despite launching over 175 commercial satellites till date, including the ones on the most recent launch?

That is because while nano and micro satellites are becoming increasingly popular, the market lies in carrying heavier satellites. ISRO needs to develop more missions to carry heavier satellites. ISRO is still only a master at launching PSLV, which can carry only 2,000 kg or less into a Low Earth Orbit (between 300 km and 800 km). For India to gain an edge in the space economy, it has to further develop its GSLV with a capacity of over 3,000-5,000 kg to launch heavier satellites into a Geostationary orbit (GSO or GTO, over 36,000 km above earth surface). ISRO has completed only three GSLV launches since 2014.






*Non-US Commercial launch vehicles 2014 *





*Non-US Commercial launch vehicles 2014 *





*US Commercial launch vehicles available in 2015 *
An FAA forecast in 2013 had noted that between 2015 and 2017, 39 per cent of satellite launches would be in the heaviest mass class (above 5,400 kg) whereas the lowest mass class (below 2,500 kg) would be just around 7 per cent. In 2014, of 15 non-US commercially available launch vehicles 9 were in the heavier mass class of 2,500 kg and above. In 2015, all of the five US and FAA-licensed launch vehicles had a capacity over 2,500 kg.


In comparison, the PSLV-C37 launched yesterday had a capacity of 1,500 kg and was carrying 1,360 kg.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...inese-daily/article17311637.ece?homepage=true

* Global Times says India’s feat offers “food for thought” on how to achieve space success with small budgets. *
Grudgingly acknowledging the Indian Space Research Organisation’s world record feat of successfully launching 104 satellites on a single rocket would make “Indians proud,” China’s official media said on Thursday that India’s space programme offered “food for thought” for other countries on how to achieve space success with small budgets.

“This is perhaps the first widely followed world record India has made in the field of space technology. The Indians have reason to be proud,” state-run _Global Times_ said in its editorial today.

*‘Significance is limited’*

However the tabloid daily, which criticised India in 2013 for sending Mangalyaan to Mars overtaking China, despite “millions of poor and illiterate people” said the significance of the ISRO’s new feat is “limited.”

“However, the space technology race is not mainly about the number of satellites at one go. It’s fair to say the significance of this achievement is limited,” it said.

Acknowledging that the new record is a “hard-won achievement for India to reach current space technology level with a relatively small investment,” the daily said “it offers food for thought for other countries.”

“India launched a lunar probe in 2008 and ranked first among Asian countries by having an unmanned rocket orbit Mars in 2013,” it said.

*India ‘has done a good job’*

“Many lessons can be drawn from India. As a rising power, it has done a good job. It is ambitious but pragmatic, preferring to compare with others as an incentive to progress. India’s political and social philosophy is worth pondering,” it said.

“Nonetheless, the development of a country’s space technology is determined by the size of its input. According to data released by the World Economic Forum in 2016, the U.S.’ space budget in 2013 was $39.3 billion, China $6.1 billion, Russia $5.3 billion, Japan $3.6 billion and India $1.2 billion,” it said.

“As India’s GDP is about one-fifth to one-fourth that of China’s, the share of investment in space technology in India’s GDP is similar to that of China’s,” it argued.

The daily, which has been carrying critical articles against India on almost on daily basis, also sought to make out a case that India is spending more on defence than China in terms of GDP ratio.

China’s last year’s budget amounted to $146 billion against India’s $46 billion.

“India’s defence budget is about one-third of China’s, a higher percentage of GDP than that of China,” it said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-at-ISRO-scientist’s-home/article17308974.ece


A festive atmosphere prevailed at the residence of J. Sai Teja, a scientist/engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in his native town of Kothagudem on Wednesday following the successful launch of 104 satellites on a single PSLV mission from the space centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Friends and relatives of Mr. Teja, who was reportedly part of the team involved in the record-breaking feat, conveyed their wishes to his parents Ravi Kumar and Sudharani over telephone.

“It is a proud moment for every Indian as the ISRO achieved the remarkable feat,” said Mr. Ravi Kumar.

*‘Great honour’*

When contacted, he told _The Hindu_ that it was a matter of great honour that his son was part of the team involved in the mission.

Sai Teja pursued his B.Tech (avionics) from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and joined the ISRO as a scientist/engineer in 2013.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...up-forsecond-moon-mission/article17313134.ece

* Lunar lander ready to be tested *

Flush with the success of the PSLV- C37 mission which set a world record by placing 104 satellites in orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is turning its attention to India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan- 2, scheduled for 2018. 

The static test of the lander module of Chandrayaan- 2 will be held at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, by the end of February. 

Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), S. Somanath, told _The Hindu_ that the test would measure the performance of the propulsion system of the lander module.

The Chandrayaan-2 craft consists of an orbiter, lander and rover to be launched as a composite stack into the earth parking orbit by a GSLV Mark 2 rocket. The orbiter later carries the combined stack upto the lunar orbit where the lander separates to make a soft landing on the moon’s surface and deploy the rover. 

In contrast, the Chandrayaan-1 mission comprised only an orbiter and moon impact probe.

*Challenges in soft landing*

Mr.Somanath said the soft landing involved in the Chandrayaan- 2 mission required special propulsion and control systems and complex electronics. The lander would have four engines to make a controlled descent from the orbiter.

For the static test, the craft would be mounted on a frame and the four engines fired at varying thrust. 

A month later, another lander module, a replica of the first one, would be tested in a suspended state. The craft would be hung from a crane and the engines fired to move the module in different directions and simulate a soft landing.

According to the ISRO website, the scientific payloads on board the orbiter, lander and rover of the Chandrayaan- 2 mission are expected to perform mineralogical and elemental studies of the lunar surface.

In 2010, it was agreed that the Russian space agency Roscosmos would develop the lunar lander while the ISRO would be responsible for the orbiter and rover as well as the launch by GSLV. 

But with Roscosmos seeking more time to fulfil its commitment, ISRO took up the development of the lunar lander, turning Chandryaan-2 into a totally indigenous project.

*Cryogenic engine*

Meanwhile, the stage is set for the second ground test of the cryogenic upper stage of GSLV Mark 3, India's heaviest launch vehicle, at Mahendragiri on Friday. Designed and developed by the LPSC, the C- 25 engine which uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for propulsion will be fired for 640 seconds during the test.

In January this year, the cryogenic stage was successfully tested for a duration of 50 seconds.

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## gslv mk3

*ISRO conducts cryogenic engine-D stage test*

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...urates-science-exhibition/article17321757.ece

“Achievement is not an end, it needs not only be sustained, but enhanced,” said Dr. Guruprasad, senior scientist and Public Relations Officer of Indian Space Research Organisation, speaking after the successful launch of a record 104 satellites in one go recently.

Speaking to mediapersons after inaugurating the two-day ISRO’s Space Exhibition, organised as part of the ‘Smaveekshana-2017’, the annual tech-fest of the S.G. Balekundri Institute of Technology (SGBIT), here on Friday, he said that he was not sure if India had established a world record with the feat.

He said that of the 104 satellites, only three were Indian, while 96 were from USA, and one each was from Switzerland, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Israel and UAE. Also, of the total 1,378 kg of satellites’ weight put into space, the primary satellite weighing 714 kg was Indian. A majority of the satellites were commercially owned by various corporate houses across the world.

So far, India has launched 180 satellites of foreign origin into space from India. ISRO had built more than 80 satellites so far.

Dr.Guruprasad said ISRO, as part of its outreach programme, had been conducting space exhibitions for students across the country with the objective of inspiring them to take an interest in space sciences and technology. The exhibits included pictorial panels portraying various stages of country’s space programme, achievements and models of the PSLV and satellites.

On the occasion, he also demonstrated and trained students on how to make water rockets using simple technology like a plastic bottle, water and an air pump. SGBIT principal S.S. Salimath was present.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597172/isro-iaf-may-have-pay.html
New Delhi, Feb 19, 2017 (PTI)




*Now, ISRO and IAF may have to pay the government for getting accurate timings on par with the global standard for various activities like launch of satellites and flight operations. So far, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has been extending the service free of cost to ISRO, IAF, Indian Railways, State Bank of India and several other agencies. The move is aimed at ramping up NPL's chronometer infrastructure to match global standards.*

The NPL, one of the oldest laboratories in the country, maintains five atomic clocks, all synchronised with the atomic clock of the International Bureau of Weight and Measure, France. There are 300 such high precisions clocks across the globe linked to the Bureau in France. The accuracy of NPL's chronometer is (+/-) 20 nano seconds, whereas the global accuracy standard is as low as (+/-) 5 nano seconds.

The NPL under the premier Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) held separate meetings with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF) last week, conveying its plans to charge them for the services it offers. The plan is to charge Rs 1 crore per location where the service is provided, an NPL official said. Discussions are on to either issue a notification or bring in a legislation in this regard.

The NPL will also hold talks with its other customers like State Bank of India, India Railways and the Department of Telecommunications to discuss the issue. The high precision timing has impact on the lives of people as services by agencies like ISRO, banks, railways and telecom operators use NPL services. Agencies like ISRO trust the accurate timings during the launch of a satellite. In case of ISRO, timings are sent via satellite. Banks like SBI also subscribe to NPL services as high precision timing is required during forex transactions.

The CSIR, which comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology, plans to have 18 atomic clocks, a norm followed by all developed countries to maintain accuracy. Since several parts of north India fall under seismic zones, it also plans to develop a laboratory in south India. "At present, we have five atomic clocks and we will get five more by the end of the year. But this is not enough considering the growing demand for accurate timings by subscribers for which we need to maintain quality.

"Secondly, research and developing the system has to be a continuous process to keep in pace with the global standard," said NPL Director A K Aswal. He said that under the 'Dehradun Declaration' of the CSIR, laboratories have to generate 40 per cent of revenue required on its own. The NPL also plans to construct a separate building that can accommodate 18-20 atomic clocks and a data centre. This will alone cost Rs 500-600 crore. "This requires a different kind of building free from any kind of vibration, electro-magnetic disturbances, radiation, humidity and temperature," said Vijay Narain Ojha, chief scientist and head of Time & Frequency and Electrical & Electronics Meteorology Division.

The upkeep of the existing system is also expensive. The atomic clock requires low temperature without any power fluctuation. "So, air-conditioners have to be in operation for 365 days a year and 24x7. Maintenance and research also adds to the cost," Ashish Agarwal, another scientist at in the time and frequency section, said. Apart from atomic clock, NPL also assists industries, national and other agencies in their developmental tasks by providing precision measurements, calibration, development of devices, processes, and other allied problems related to physics.

*******
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597223/gslvs-cryogenic-upper-stage-tested.html
Bengaluru, Feb 19, 2017, PTI:




*ISRO on Saturday successfully tested its indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage for GSLV MkIII.*

It said the cryogenic stage, designated as C25, was tested for a flight duration of 640 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, yesterday. C25 stage had earlier been tested successfully for 50 seconds on January 25, 2017 to validate all the systems.

Stating that prior to stage development hot tests, three CE20 engines were realised and two engines were subjected to qualification tests in sea level conditions, ISRO said, this included 800 seconds duration hot test and the third engine identified for flight was tested in high altitude conditions for a duration of 25 seconds.

This stage test is a significant milestone as it is the last in a series of engine and stage development hot tests before the first development flight of GSLV MkIII, it said.

GSLV MkIII, the next generation launch vehicle of ISRO, is capable of launching four ton class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The GSLV MkIII vehicle integration activities are in progress at Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota for its first development flight (GSLV MkIII-D1) targeted for April 2017.

The space agency described the C25 stage as the "most powerful" upper stage developed by ISRO which uses Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) propellant combination.

It said the stage carries 27.8 tonnes of propellants loaded in two independent tanks. According to ISRO, development of a cryogenic stage has unique design challenges, with liquid Hydrogen stored at -253 deg C and liquid Oxygen stored at -195 deg C in its tanks.

The Cryogenic Stage development tests were carried out in two phases; first stage was subjected to fluid mock-up, wherein the stage preparation and servicing at launch complex in SDSC, SHAR, Shriharikota was completed to prove all the ground facilities established for servicing the cryogenic stage.

This was followed by testing of the Stage at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri. From the Stage realisation to completion of testing, the process was accomplished in four months.

The performance of the Stage during the hot test was as predicted, ISRO said, adding, successful hot test for flight duration qualifies the design of the stage and "robustness of the facilities conceived and established towards its development."

The flight cryogenic stage is in advanced stage of realisation and forms upper stage of GSLV MkIII, it added.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597397/india-can-develop-space-station.html
*India can develop space station, says ISRO chief*
Indore, Feb 20, 2017, (PTI)




*Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A S Kiran Kumar today said the country has the capability to develop a space station, but it needed a long-term approach and an ambitious planning.*

His comment follows ISRO display of technological prowess last week by launching 104 satellites in a single mission. We have all the capabilities to set up a space station. The day the country takes the decision, we will 'ok' the project. Just draw a policy and provide us necessary funds and time," Kumar said here.

He was in the city to attend the foundation day ceremony of Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology (RRCAT). "We still talk about what would be the immediate benefits of a manned space mission. That is why the country hasn't made up its mind about when to invest in a space station," he said.

A long-term thinking was needed for setting up a space station, he said, adding "the sooner the better." Kumar said ISRO was also mulling tying up with the industry to enhance the country's satellite launching capability.

Many more satellites were needed to keep a tab on the land and weather conditions and to enhance the communication network, he said. This would be possible with increase in the number of satellite launches, for which the country needed to enhance the basic infrastructure and reduce the cost of equipment, he added.

The number of companies manufacturing small satellites has gone up across the world, but these companies could not launch them, therefore this area had immense commercial potential and India could tap it by enhancing the launch facilities, the ISRO chief said.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...to-hear-ex-scientists-plea-on-feb-24-4535064/
*ISRO spy case: SC to hear ex-scientist’s plea on Feb 24*
*The apex court had in 1998 granted compensation of Rs one lakh to Narayanan and others who were discharged in the case and directed the state government to pay the amount.*

By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:February 20, 2017 8:51 pm 

The Supreme Court would on Friday hear the plea of a former ISRO scientist, discharged in an espionage case, seeking action against former DGP Siby Mathews and others who were part of SIT which had probed the matter. A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar posted the appeal, filed against the judgement of the division bench of the Kerala High Court, for hearing on February 24.

The High Court had said that no action was required to be taken against the former DGP and two retired Superintendents of Police, K K Joshua and S Vijayan, who were held responsible by CBI for his illegal arrest.

The 76-year-old former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan said the division bench of the high court had “failed to appreciate the real undercurrent that passed through the mind of the apex court, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the single judge of the high court in their verdict and on untenable reasons, quashed the order of the single judge”.

The apex court had in 1998 granted compensation of Rs one lakh to Narayanan and others who were discharged in the case and directed the state government to pay the amount.

Later, Narayanan had approached NHRC claiming compensation against the state government for mental agony and torture suffered by him. The NHRC, after hearing both sides and taking into account the apex court judgement of April 29, 1998 awarded an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh on March 14, 2001.

Challenging the legality of the high court’s division bench order, Narayanan said it was “bad in law” and sought interim stay contending that “the illegality in the judgement impugned, if allowed to perpetuate, would only encourage the unlawful action and mindset on the part of the Kerala police to harass innocent persons for extraneous considerations.

“And unless action as suggested by the CBI is immediately taken, (possibly under the provisions of Section 195 of the IPC if for any justifiable reason departmental action could not be taken), the innocent public would suffer at the hands of the Police.”

Narayanan said it was hence “appropriate that the impugned judgement of March 4, 2015 of the High Court of Kerala… is stayed and the State Government initiate action as deemed necessary during the pendency of this SLP.”

*
*

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## protest

lonelyman said:


> Not within next 100 years, Haha, supa powa always use could, would, should. Simply put, you didn't, you couldn't and you wouldn't within next 100 years




And yes, we know of your insecurites. Now go get help.


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## egodoc222

lonelyman said:


> Not within next 100 years, Haha, supa powa always use could, would, should. Simply put, you didn't, you couldn't and you wouldn't within next 100 years


@waz @Oscar


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## Robinhood Pandey

lonelyman said:


> Not within next 100 years, Haha, supa powa always use could, would, should. Simply put, you didn't, you couldn't and you wouldn't within next 100 years



Now we know why are u a lonely man


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## Hindustani78

Prime Minister's Office
26-February, 2017 11:31 IST
*English Translation of the text of PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme on All India Radio on 26.02.2017
*
Shobha Jalan has written to me on the NarendraModiApp that many in the public are not aware of the achievements of ISRO. And therefore she wants me to provide some information on the recent launch of 104 satellites and the Interceptor Missile. Shobha Ji, thank you very much for paying attention to this shining example of India’s pride. Whether it is eradicating poverty, preventing diseases, connecting with the world, or disseminating knowledge and information, technology and science have made a mark for themselves. 15th February, 2017 is a day of immense pride for India. Our scientists have brought laurels to the nation, witnessed by the whole world. And we know that over the last few years, ISRO has accomplished various unprecedented missions with flying colours. After the successful mission of sending Mangalyaan to planet Mars, recently ISRO scripted a world record in the arena of space. In a mega mission, ISRO has successfully launched 104 satellites simultaneously into space. These satellites belonged to various countries such as America, Israel, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Switzerland, UAE and, of course, India. India has created history by becoming the first country to launch successfully 104 satellites into space at one go. And what is further heartening is the fact that this was PSLV’s 38th successive successful launch. This is a historic achievement for not just ISRO but for all of India. This cost effective, efficient space programme of ISRO has become a marvel for the entire world; the world has admired this success of Indian scientists of India whole-heartedly.

Brother & sisters, one out of these 104 satellites is extremely important. It is Cartosat 2D, which is India’s satellite and the pictures clicked through it will be of great help in mapping of resources and infrastructure, evaluating development and planning for urban development. Particularly for my farmer brothers and sisters, our new Satellite Cartosat 2D will be immensely helpful on a whole lot of subjects such as knowing how much water is there in our existing water sources, how this should be best put to use, what things to keep in mind in this regard. Almost immediately after its launch, our satellite has sent back some pictures. It has commenced functioning. It is also a matter of exultation for us that this entire campaign was led and steered by our young scientists, our women scientists. This tremendous participation of youth and women is a major glorious dimension in ISRO’s success. On behalf of our countrymen, I heartily congratulate the scientists at ISRO. Adhering consistently to the objective of bringing Space Science to the common man, for the service of the nation, they are creating one record after another. One runs short of words in complimenting and congratulating our scientists, their entire team.

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## Hindustani78

*





Karaikudi*: Young scientists of Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR- CECRI), Karaikudi have made a landmark achievement in the history of electrochemical research by developing the first indigenous lithium ion battery in the country.


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## egodoc222

Tentative for mk2 launch?


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## Hindustani78

* PSLV C-37 team member gets Nari Shakti Puraskar *

*




*
*Subha Warrier will receive the award on International Women’s Day*

*http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/powered-by-a-space-feat/article17419118.ece*

Recently, India’s PSLV C-37 placed a record 104 satellites from six countries in their orbits, as the world watched in wonderment. Plaudits poured in.

Now, for her crucial contribution to the mission, a member of the team, Subha Warrier, has been chosen for the Nari Shakti Puraskar, instituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It will be handed over to her on March 8, International Women’s Day.

Ms. Warrier, Sci/Engineer SG, Avionics Entity of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, had conceptualised, configured and realised a full-fledged video system deployed in the PSLV C-37 mission to confirm collision-free separation of all the satellites in the mission.

“I am pleasantly surprised. I have enjoyed every moment of the academic career spanning 25 years at the VSSC and this award, while totally unexpected, is gratifying,” Ms. Warrier said.

The award, which acknowledges the contributions of women for the nation, carries a cash prize of ₹1 lakh and a citation.

*Real-time images*

“Video system activity was very important and relevant for this mission as we needed to provide proof of performance and it was essential to have images of critical separating stages and the satellites. During the launch time, we could show the images real time on ground at Sriharikota and it was an exciting experience,” Ms. Warrier told _The Hindu_.

The images were important for creating public awareness of the ISRO mission and for expanding the avenues of the operational vehicle.

It was a stressful time and impossible schedules had to be met but the all the blood, sweat and tears eventually paid off, she added. The real challenge was customising the camera and processing electronics so that not only did these fit within the constraints of the rocket, it had to meet performance targets too on-board the vehicle.

*For the team*

“It was a major and complex system with interfaces to other complex systems and it worked without a hitch on board. I had a huge team working with me on various aspects and this award is a representation of the hard work that each of them have put in,” Ms. Warrier said.

Though she had won performance excellence award from the Indian Space Research Organisation for her work with Chandrayaan 1 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment 1, this is the first time that a recognition at the national level is coming her way.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...en-an-issue/article17424189.ece?homepage=true

U.N. Vasantha Kumari, Subhalakshmi Krishnamoorthy and T.S. Shoba diligently keep a low profile. Just as many others in their charmed sphere.

They are the silent but significant forces behind the satellites that are built and placed in space by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Some of these engineers and scientists joined the space agency as freshers more than a quarter century back. Their stories are nearly the same - gruelling hours, late shifts often until the wee hours, balancing official work with a baby and family. It certainly was not something that anyone anticipated in a ‘government job’.

Vasantha, Group Director - Spacecraft Checkout Group, says, “At ISRO, gender has never been an issue. It is only your merit, skill and talent that count here. Leaders like U.R.Rao have set very high professional benchmarks for us" that goes beyond a scientist's gender.

Indeed.  Some 10 spacecraft are in the making in Bengaluru and none of them can be rolled out for launch without the green flag from Vasantha. 

During her career, Vasantha often had to escort INSAT communication satellites abroad for at least a month until they were launched. Before one such trip, she had a gut-wrenching moment when her daughter suddenly said she wished to be a satellite so that her mother would always be with her.

Subhalakshmi says, “I have worked on more than 35 satellite projects; as project manager for three. In most professions, people get jaded over the years but my job is challenging and exciting." She was part of the 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission and is the principal investigator for a science instrument that will be put on Aditya, ISRO’s forthcoming mission to the Sun.

Shoba joined VSSC's propulsion programme, but later entered ISRO's marketing arm, Antrix Corporation, over two decades ago and is now its Executive Director. She says, “Men or women, we face the same challenges and there are no concessions or distinction for being women.”

ISRO’s current scientific and technical pool of 12,300 employees has a relatively low number of 1,262 women. 

Geeta Varadan, who worked in critical ISRO projects and retired a few years ago as the director of National Remote Sensing Centre, remains the lone woman to head an ISRO centre.

This is bound to change, says Subhalakshmi. "The number of technically qualified women entering ISRO is increasing compared to the time when I joined."


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
15-March, 2017 16:11 IST
*Strength of Scientists and Engineers in ISRO *

At present, a total of 7062 Scientists/ Engineers are in position in ISRO. The demand for space based services in the country is increasing resulting in increased launch frequency and applications of space technology in emerging areas. To meet the work load arising due to these demands, a proposal for suitably augmenting the manpower, mostly in scientist/engineer category, has been prepared. 

The proposal has been reviewed and recommended by the Space Commission and the same is submitted to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, for their recommendations, before placing the same for the approval of the Union Cabinet. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.



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Department of Space
15-March, 2017 16:10 IST
*Launch of Satellites *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched 104 satellites, in a single launch, onboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ‘PSLV-C37 on February 15, 2017 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. These satellites include - (i) India’s Cartosat-2 Series Satellite (weighing 714 kg) as primary payload, (ii) two Indian Nano-Satellites viz., INS-1A & 1B (together weighing 18.1 kg) and (iii) 101 foreign nano-satellites (together weighing 645.9 kg) from six countries as co-passengers. 

Out of the 104 satellites launched in this mission, 101 nano satellites were from foreign countries viz. Israel (1), Kazakhstan (1), The Netherlands (1), Switzerland (1), UAE (1) and USA (96). These nano satellites from foreign countries were launched under a commercial arrangement between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of ISRO and the foreign customer. 

Antrix has earned a revenue of about half of the cost of launch vehicle in terms of foreign exchange. 

After Chandrayaan-1 and India’s first interplanetary mission ‘Mars Orbiter Mission’, the feasibility of future inter-planetary missions to Mars and Venus are under discussion and presently a study team is exploring various options and opportunities for such missions. The study team’s recommendations will be reviewed by Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) for further considerations. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.



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## BoB's

*ISRO today commissioned two major facilities-- a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and Shock Tunnel-- at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre here as part of its continuous and concerted efforts to minimise cost of access to space.*

*Shock tunnel*
*



*

*Hypersonic wind tunnel*
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*

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## Hindustani78

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/isro-commissions-two-major-facilities-at-vssc/

By: PTI | Thiruvananthapuram | Published:March 20, 2017 9:01 pm
ISRO on Monday commissioned two major facilities– a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and Shock Tunnel– at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram as part of its continuous and concerted efforts to minimise cost of access to space. ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said commissioning of such facilities would provide adequate data for design and development of current and future space transportation systems in the country.

He said commissioning of the facility symbolises the country’s capability in establishing such world class facilities wherein technology from outside is restricted or not available.

The one meter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel and one meter Shock Tunnel have been established with a wide spectrum of simulation capabilities in terms of Mach number, Reynolds number and re-entry velocities, an official release said

These facilities, indigenously designed, developed and ‘Made in India’ with the support of Indian industries, are the third largest in terms of size and simulation capability in the world, it said.

A few critical technologies, which are under embargo, have been jointly developed by ISRO and industries for realisation of these facilities.

VSSC Director Sivan in his presidential address said though excellent modeling capabilities exists with the advent of powerful computers, there was no other replacement for wind tunnel testing for aerodynamic characterisation.

The new facility would help aerodynamic characterisation of advanced space transportation systems, he said.

The facilities were dedicated in the memory of Satish Dhawan, a pioneer in the field and named as the Satish Dhawan Wind tunnel Complex.

ISRO is planning future missions such as Reusable Launch Vehicles, Two Stage to Orbit, Air Breathing propulsion systems and Human Space Flight Programme, the release added.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
22-March, 2017 15:46 IST
*Forecast of Natural Disasters by ISRO * 


ISRO is working on systems to forecast the natural disasters that could be used as input by States/ disaster management agencies. 


ISRO is carrying out studies to facilitate best use of the satellite derived information to develop methodologies for forecasting the natural disasters. Some of such methodologies developed include:


i. Cyclone formation, track and Intensity: ISRO has developed methodologies for forecasting the cyclone formation, it’s track and intensity using satellite based observation. The methodology developed has been transferred to India meteorological Department (IMD) who is mandated for cyclone forecast.



ii. Flood Early Warning System: The North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) of ISRO has developed the Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS) as a Research & Development (R&D) project in Assam State in association with Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). The FLEWS model is being used in all 25 flood prone districts of Assam. Another model for forecasting floods in Godavari floodplains in Andhra Pradesh is developed by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO. The methodology is being used by Central Water Commission (CWC). ISRO is developing similar systems for Krishna, Brahmani-Baitarani, Ghagra, Gandak, and Kosi rivers.


iii. Heavy Rainfall/ cloud burst alerts: Space Applications Centre (SAC) of ISRO has developed a model, for heavy rainfall / cloud burst alerts, which is being experimentally carried out for Indian region. The information is made available on ISRO’s MOSDAC (Meteorological & Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre) website. 


iv. Rainfall triggered landslide alerts for the Uttarakhand Region: An experimental early warning system for rainfall triggered landslides is developed for use along the pilgrimage route corridors leading to Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath as well as along the Pithoragarh-Malpa route in Uttarakhand. The forewarning is generated based on the statistical relation between the terrain (geological, morphological) and temporal (primarily long term rainfall events) factors.


v. Extreme weather events: ISRO has developed experimental methodologies for early warning extreme weather events such as heat wave using numerical weather predictions. The information derived is being made available on the MOSDAC website. 


ISRO has realised two satellite missions, Viz., MeghaTropiques (launched in Oct 2011) and SARAL (launched in Feb 2013), in collaboration with French National Space Agency (CNES). Presently, ISRO is working with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA towards joint realisation of a satellite mission, namely, ‘NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), to be launched by 2020-21 timeframe. The fund allocation for MeghaTropiques is Rs. 81.6 Crores, SARAL is Rs. 73.75 Crores and for NISAR is Rs. 513 Crores.


This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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KSD/NK/PK




(Release ID :159702)


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space

23-March, 2017 16:16 IST
*Capability of ISRO to Launch Satellites *

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has the capability of launching 1700 kg to Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (600 km) and has proven its versatility in launching multi-satellite/multi-orbit missions as well as lunar (Chandrayaan-1) and interplanetary missions (Mars Orbiter Mission). As on date, PSLV has completed 38 consecutive successful missions, during which it has launched 46 Indian satellites (weighing ~ 43.2 tonnes) and 180 foreign satellites (weighing ~ 6.3 tonnes). It has already established itself as a preferred launch vehicle, in its class, in the global market for launch services, especially for smaller satellites. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), with indigenous cryogenic upper stage, has the capability to launch satellites up to 2.2 tonnes to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). GSLV has demonstrated its reliability through three consecutive successful missions in the past three years.  

The maximum GTO capability of other space launch agencies to launch satellites are: European Space Agency (ESA): 10.5 tonnes, USA: 13.8 tonnes, Russia: 6.5 tonnes, China: 14 tonnes and Japan: 8 tonnes.

In order to enhance the capability, ISRO has developed the next generation launch vehicle i.e. GSLV MkIII with indigenous high thrust cryogenic stage, to launch 4 tonne class of communication satellites to GTO and its first developmental flight is scheduled to take place in the second quarter of 2017. The development of Semicryogenic engine has also been undertaken to further enhance the GTO payload capability of GSLV MkIII to 6 tonnes.


ISRO has proved the level of efficiency in the area of space science through – (i) planning, development & execution of Lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-1’ and High resolution imaging & Systematic topographic mapping of the Moon; (ii) successful insertion of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) around the planet Mars in very first attempt, achieving all planned objectives and continuing the operations of MOM beyond its designed mission life of 6 months; (iii) placing India’s first observatory in space ‘Astrosat’, which enables simultaneous multi-wavelength observations (Ultraviolet to X-Ray) to study Stars and Galaxies; (iv) indigenous development & validation of several new technologies viz. autonomy, deep space communication, scientific instruments in space science missions.


Future missions in space science includes (i) second mission to Moon ‘Chandrayaan-2’, consisting of an indigenous Orbiter, Lander & Rover and (ii) mission for solar studies ‘Aditya-L1’ to study the solar corona in different wavebands. 


The capability to set up a space station needs capability of lifting heavy payloads into space. While there is no specific plan for space station, ISRO is working towards this capability through launch vehicles using cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines.


This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 


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## Hindustani78

Department of Atomic Energy
29-March, 2017 16:31 IST
*Balloon Flights for Scientific Expedition *

Scientific Ballooning was started in India during the 1950’s by Dr. Homi J. Bhabha under the aegis of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), an autonomous body under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and was established in the outskirts of Hyderabad in the 1970’s. Since then, more than 490 balloon flights of various sizes have been conducted from this center till date. This is one of the unique facilities in the world where stratospheric zero pressure balloons are designed, fabricated with indigenous material, launched and the instruments recovered. The balloons designed and fabricated in this facility have also been exported to foreign scientific institutions and many foreign scientific missions have also been flown from the Hyderabad balloon facility.

Balloons supplied by this facility are used to measure vertical wind profiles at SDSC-SHAR before launch of satellites by ISRO and also for qualifying many instruments in near space environments before being incorporated in satellites. This facility is also involved in experimental strategic programs of the armed forces. Experiments carried out on the earth’s atmosphere have also helped in rain prediction as well as pollution monitoring and control. Any scientific institution which desires to conduct scientific balloon flights can approach Balloon Facility, Hyderabad and send the proposal for conducting the scientific experiment. TIFR ensures that all the concerned agencies are kept informed about the flights, their expected trajectory and their likely recovery area.

At the time of the balloon flights, all Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) in the corridor allotted for balloon flights are kept informed by TIFR well in advance of the trajectory of the balloon flight. During the balloon flight, the ATCs are kept informed of the actual position of the balloon on minute by minute basis. The police stations in the vicinity of the expected landing of the instruments are also informed. Pamphlets regarding the instruments are attached to the instruments in various local languages and the persons to contact in case these instruments are sighted by any person, are prominently displayed. Also, an advance party of TIFR technicians is always following the balloon trajectory in a vehicle so as to reach the landed instrument in the shortest possible time. Care is taken to try and release the payload in sparsely inhabited areas of the corridor and only in broad daylight so that the instrument descending on a brightly colored parachute is easily visible to any person on the ground.

In addition, for every flight window season, the Balloon Facility communicates with the Chief Secretary of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Police Wireless of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra for awareness of balloon drift and instrument recovery. In the case of balloon flights conducted for Government funded and private institutions, the cost is recovered from the institution concerned. With regard to in-house experiments and research and with regard to improving balloon design and efficiency and for procuring equipment for safely conducting balloon flights, funding from the Government (DAE) in terms of Plan Funds is about Rupees One crore per year.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

*****
The development of plastic ballooll technology was initiated in 1956 at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay and it evolved during late fifties/early sixties to the level of regular design/manufacture and launch of large single cell polyethylene balloons carrying sophisticated experiments to high stratospheric altitudes (32-39 kIn) with several hours of float at the ceiling altitude. In the period 1959-69 balloon flights were carried out in a campaign mode from the campus grounds of the Osmania University, Hyderabad.






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Department of Space
29-March, 2017 17:11 IST
*Lithium Battery Technique *

ISRO has developed lithium ion battery for satellite and launch vehicle applications. Four types of batteries have been developed – 1.5Ah, 5Ah, 50Ah and 100Ah. Out of these, 1.5Ah & 50Ah have been used for space applications and 5Ah & 100Ah batteries are qualified and is ready for induction in space applications. 

ISRO has supplied 50 Ah lithium-ion cells to Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Lithium-ion battery developed by ISRO was successfully demonstrated in a prototype two-wheeler at the Symposium on International Automotive Technologies (SIAT 2017) on 19th January, 2017. The prototype uses a 48V, 50Ah lithium-ion battery, which can attain speeds of 40-50 kmph and can run up to 98 km once charged for 2 hrs. 

Technology is ready for transfer to Indian industries for undertaking the production of Li-ion batteries. BHEL has expressed interest in the transfer of technology.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.


****

Department of Space
29-March, 2017 17:10 IST
*High Resolution Satellites *

ISRO has launched two high resolution earth observation satellites ‘Cartosat-2 Series satellite’ onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ‘PSLV-C34’ on June 20, 2016 and onboard ‘PSLV-C37’ on February 15, 2017 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. These Cartosat-2 series satellites are placed in a sun synchronous orbit with a designed mission life of 5 years. The main objective of these satellites is to provide high resolution images of earth’s surface at sub-meter resolution (Black & White image) and at 2 meter resolution (4-band coloured image). The images obtained from these satellites are useful in variety of applications requiring high resolution images, which include cartography, infrastructure planning, urban & rural development, utility management, natural resources inventory & management, disaster management. 

Cartosat-2 series satellite does not transmit continuous and uninterrupted live pictures. However, the capability exists to provide 1 minute video of specific area of interest. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.


****

Department of Space
29-March, 2017 17:09 IST
*ISRO-NASA Collaboration *

ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/ NASA are jointly working on the development of Dual Frequency (L & S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite named as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). The L-band SAR is being developed by JPL/NASA, while ISRO is developing S-band SAR. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of application, which include natural resources mapping & monitoring; estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods and oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes & variation of winds in coastal waters; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies, ice sheet collapses & dynamics etc. 

The data obtained from NISAR mission is not meant for building climate resilience. However, the data acquired from this mission will be useful in developing certain applications, which include - (i) identifying crevasses in the glaciers hidden by fresh snow, where human movement takes place, (ii) identifying the snowpack parameters as an input in Avalanche forecasts, (iii) studying Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) hazards, (iv) identifying inundated area due to floods/ cyclones. These applications could help in taking measures to minimize loss of human lives. 

As per the information received, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has been working with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop high resolution seasonal and long-term climate forecasts. During 2010 to 2015, IITM and NOAA together developed high resolution Models for seasonal climate predictions of Indian Summer Monsoon and long term climate forecasts under a Memorandum of Understanding. Extension of this MoU till 2020 to further pursue such studies is under consideration. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.





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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
30-March, 2017 16:36 IST
*Objectives and targets of satellites launched by PSLV *

Three Indian satellites were launched onboard PSLV-C37 on February 15, 2017. These satellites are: (i) Cartosat-2 Series satellite (weighing 714 kg) and (ii) two Indian Nano-satellites viz., INS-1A & 1B (together weighing 18.1 kg).

The objective of Indian Cartosat-2 series satellite is to provide high resolution images of earth’s surface at sub-meter resolution (Black & White image) and at 2 meter resolution (4-band colored image). The images obtained from this satellite are useful in variety of applications requiring high resolution images, which include cartography, infrastructure planning, urban & rural development, utility management, natural resources inventory & management, disaster management. The objective of Indian nano-satellites INS-1A & 1B is to demonstrate new technologies and miniaturization of spacecraft.

Total 101 nano satellites from six foreign countries were launched in this mission. These satellites are: BGUSat (Israel), Al-Farabi-1 (Kazakhstan), PEASSS (The Netherlands), DIDO-2 (Switzerland), Nayif-1 (UAE), 8 Lemur satellites (USA) and 88 Dove satellites (USA). These nano satellites from foreign countries were launched under a commercial arrangement between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), the commercial arm of ISRO and the foreign customer.

Antrix has earned a revenue of about half of the cost of launch vehicle in terms of foreign exchange.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

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KSD/NK/PK/3317


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ro-capacity/article17740909.ece?homepage=true






* First of them to be launched in April *
An unprecedented row of five national communication spacecraft is slated to be put in space this year with hopes of vastly cutting the gap in satellite capacity for different users.

The first of them, GSAT-9 or the South Asia Satellite, will kick off the serial launches in the first half of April from the Sriharikota space port. (Officials said they had not yet set a date for it.) 

*‘Perceptible change’*
A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, recently told _The Hindu_: “This year we are launching with five more communication satellites. With all of them coming up, there will definitely be a drastic, perceptible change in satellite capacity. In a matter of one year, the scene should be much better than what it is.”

Mr. Kumar also said  the ISRO has been taking conscious action to improve its overall communication transponders capacity; this space infrastructure supports broadcasters, telephone, Internet service and other businesses.

New satellites that are constantly put up for approval could ease up the scene in the next two to three years, he said.

For several years now, the space agency has been beset with a capacity deficit, caused by launch failures in which satellites were destroyed; and a galloping demand from public and private sector users. 

The agency says its communication fleet of 14 provides 200-odd transponder equivalents. Another 95-odd transponders have been hired on foreign satellites to support Indian direct-to-home broadcasters and the agency aims to bring them back to its satellites.

Referring to last year's success and regularisation of the GSLV Mark-II rocket programme — that can put up to 2,000-kg satellites to space — Mr. Kumar said: 

“We have overcome some of the issues of launch vehicles, now we need to produce and make more use of them, and put more satellites into orbit.” 

GSAT-9 will ride on one such indigenous GSLV.

*Historic and a rarity*
Five communication spacecraft spread over less than a year is historic and a rarity for ISRO; all these years, it has launched one or two communication satellites a year.

GSAT-18 was the lone communication satellite sent up in late 2016.

Tentatively, ISRO has lined up the Internet user-friendly GSAT-19 for launch around May; GSAT-17 around June; GSAT-6A, which like GSAT-6, is for the Defence forces, in September; and its largest 5,000-plus GSAT-11 around December. GSAT-17 and GSAT-11 will be launched on the European Ariane launcher.

After INSAT-4CR was moved to a new orbital slot a few months ago, its efficiency has been improved and a little extra capacity created for select use, he said.


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## Hindustani78

M. Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, says, “Basically there is a gap between what we are capable of doing now versus what we are supposed to make. There is a gap between the requirement and our capability. That gap we want to fill up with support from the industry.” 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...manufacture/article17762097.ece?homepage=true



* For making a full multi-crore, heavy duty satellite — unable to keep pace with the bird’s fabrication. *
In a highly secure, clean room of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here, teams from the private sector are working shoulder-to-shoulder with government engineers to create a new bird that will soar in the sky very soon.

The Indian space establishment has crossed a new threshold, engaging for the first time a private sector industry to make a full multi-crore, heavy duty and full navigation satellite.

Having been unable to keep pace with satellite fabrication, the ISRO has now roped in the private industry to bridge the gap.

*Two for the Navy*
A consortium led by Alpha Design Technologies, Bengaluru is tasked to make two full satellites for India’s navigation system.

After almost 150 missions and three decades of space faring, the ISRO is on a mission like never before.

Towards that end, a high-tech defence equipment supplier from Bengaluru, Alpha Design Technologies has been chosen as the first private industry tasked with making not one but two full satellites for the ISRO.

A team of 70 engineers is working hard to make a flight-ready satellite in the next six months.

Colonel H.S. Shankar, the man who helped India get its first bulk supply of electronic voting machines (EVMs), is leading the consortium and he is keeping a hawk’s eye on the fabrication process.

*Challenging task*
Col. Shankar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Alpha Design Technologies, says, “It is a challenging task for any Indian company to undertake assembly, integration and testing of a satellite and that too for the first time in India.” 

With seven satellites already in orbit, the NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) or the Swadeshi GPS system is today fully functional but to be on the safe side the ISRO needed two spare satellites on the ground for a quick launch in case something went wrong.

It signed up with the Rs. 400-crore company to give India its first large private satellite.

The ISRO also wants to seed an ecosystem where the private sector takes a lead in the future.

*Quantum jump: Annadurai*
M. Annadurai, Director of ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, said, “Basically there is a gap between what we are capable of doing now versus what we are supposed to make. There is a gap between the requirement and our capability. That gap we want to fill up with support from the industry.”

“...16 to 17 satellites we have to make every year. So it is a really-really quantum jump and to fill that gap..., we thought the industry could come in,” he added.

Satellite fabrication requires high precision as these birds cost hundreds of crores of rupees and after the launch they remain functional for up to 10 years with no scope for repair.

*It’s tough up there*
The space environment is very punishing and the untested fail miserably and space faring remains a high risk activity.

Mr. Annadurai thinks the ISRO is not taking any risk by relying on the private sector, adding, “I do not think it is a risk. It is basically an incremental improvement over what we have already done. When you look at NAVIC satellite system, except for the first satellite, on all the other remaining satellites more than 95 per cent of the systems that were flown basically came from industry.”

“Similar thing is being done for this mission. For the first standby Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellite, we will be handholding the private team. Some 70 young engineers are there and they will be watching what we are doing and then at the end of the first satellite fabrication, the private team will come out with a document of what they have understood and how they will make the second satellite, this document will be audited by the ISRO’s quality assurance team,” he said.

And once the ISRO teams clears it and are convinced that the private team is really trained and they are equipped with the necessary skill sets, only then will they do the second satellite fabrication on their own.

*More birds to soar soon*
“Hopefully, together we will be able to succeed because anyhow they are learning under our watch. So once they start to do one or two satellites like that, they will be able to take on making subsequent satellites totally on their own,” he said.

India recently launched 104 satellites on a single mission, creating such a global sensation that an intelligence officer from the U.S. expressed his “shock” at India’s singular achievement and this paved the way for India’s foray into the multi-billion dollar launch industry.

By supporting the private industry to learn the processes of making satellites, India hopes to create a robust space industry in the private sector. In the past, the ISRO has designed and made a satellite for the Europeans and this new and bold move could in times pave the way for India being a global hub for the space sector.

Towards that end, a high-tech space park is almost ready at one of ISRO’s newer satellite facilities in Bengaluru, and here the private sector could make the best of the best satellites.

Mr. Annadurai has said once ready, this space park will be unique since from the smallest components to the flight-ready satellites — all will be made under one roof.

No other facility like this exists anywhere in the world, he insists.

*Reliable space power*
India is regarded as a low cost and reliable space power.

Today for the first time a satellite is being fabricated in the private industry — a giant leap for the ISRO and a giant leap for the Indian space industry.

So in the corner of an airtight room of India’s satellite fabrication unit where even the smallest speck of dust is not allowed to enter, a giant breathe of ‘private’ fresh air has been ushered in.


----------



## Hindustani78

Department of Space
05-April, 2017 16:07 IST
*Satellite for Disaster Management *

*At present, India has 13 earth observation, 3 meteorological, 13 communication and 7 navigational satellites in operation. *


The data from earth observation and meteorological satellites in conjunction with ground based information, and services derived from communication & navigation satellites are being used towards Disaster Management Support. The data obtained from meteorological satellites is used for cyclone track, intensity & landfall predictions and forecasting of extreme weather events. The data from earth observation satellites is used for monitoring disaster events and assessing the damages. The communication satellites help to establish emergency communication in remote and inaccessible areas and navigation satellites are used for providing location based services. The fishing sector is being supported through advisories on Potential Fishing Zones and the ocean state forecast generated using satellite data helps the shipping sector.


ISRO has planned future satellite missions in earth observation, communication and navigation to ensure continuity of data and services for operational applications as well as to address emerging needs of disaster management. 


The funds allocated towards satellite missions during the last three years, year-wise are as under:


*Year
Allocation (RE)
(Rs. in Crores) *

*2014-2015
614.71 *

*2015-2016
720.53 *

*2016-2017
657.24 *


The capabilities of earth observation, meteorological, communication and navigational satellites are used to harness the benefits of space technology for developmental activities in various sectors, including strategic sector. Currently, ISRO is working towards the development of 23 satellites, approved by the government. 


This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.


****

Ministry of Agriculture
05-April, 2017 16:46 IST
*Geotagging of assets created under RKVY *

*1. What is geo tagging? *



· *Geotagging*- *It *is the process of adding geographical identification like latitude and longitude to various media such as a photo or video. Geotagging can help users find a wide variety of location-specific information from a device. It provides users the location of the content of a given picture.



· *Geomapping*-a visual representation of the geographical location of geotagged assets layered on top of map or satellite imagery


*2. Why is Geotagging important?*



· Several assets are created in the states under various schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture. Under RKVY also, states have been utilising substantial amount of funds for creation of infrastructure/assets in agriculture and allied sectors such as soil testing labs, pesticide testing labs, bio fertiliser setting units, custom hiring centres, vaccine production units , veterinary diagnosis labs , dispensaries , milk collection centres , fish production units, godowns, cold storage, shade nets, pandals for vegetable cultivation etc. Monitoring of such wide spread activities is of paramount importance to states and Government of India to understand flow of funds, inventorising the assets, bringing in transparency, planning of assets for future, and finally informing the farmers about the facilities available.

· PM on several occasions emphasised on use of technology for reporting of assets created through geo-tagging (example: drought review meeting held on 14/ 05/2016).Finance Minister also highlighted monitoring of MGNREGA assets through Geotagging in his budget speech.

· Geotagging for monitoring of assets is already started in Ministry of Rural Development for MGNREGA and Department of Land Resources for monitoring of watershed activities in the states. Postal department has also geotagged the post offices using NRSC Bhuvan Platform.



*3. Who does it?*



· *National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA)* , ISRO at Hyderabad : This centre of ISRO has a software platform, *Bhuvan* that allows users to explore a 2D/3D representation of the surface of the Earth. It also acts as a platform for hosting government data. Bhuvan Application Services that are diversified and relevant for many ministries were released.



· NRSC is involved in mapping of resources (Postal, GAIL, Forest etc) as well as monitoring of assets created under various schemes of Ministry of water Resources, Ministry of rural development etc.


· The assets created under RKVY could be monitored by Geotagging them using *BHUVAN, a geoplatforn* of *National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)* of ISRO, Hyderabad. In future, the location of the infrastructure created and distances from each other could also be utilised for arriving at distribution of assets and optimum number of that particular asset required in a district or state. The process involves development of a mobile app for mapping the assets through photographs and Geo-tagging (providing geo co-ordinates) before hosting on to DAC –RKVY platform that would be specially created for RKVY monitoring.



*Proposal for geotagging of infrastructure /assets created under RKVY: *


· Therefore, it is proposed to prepare inventory of the assets created in the last one decade (2007-2017) under RKVY through Geotagging technique. National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), wing of Indian Space Research Organisation is providing technical support to RKVY division and has come up with a detailed procedure for the same. The institute is involved in preparation of the required app, imparting training to the states etc..The trained officers at the field level will take the photographs (with details of latitude, longitude, year of creation etc.) of the assets and upload on to the Bhuvan-RKVY platform of NRSC.


· So far NRSC has developed RKVY app, training manual, imparted training to 17 states regarding use of the app. The organisation will provide technical backstopping till the Geotagging exercise is completed. Pilot work has been initiated in 4 sattes of Orissa, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. 


· A formal MoU is proposed to be signed between DAC&FW and NRSC regarding use of BHUVAN for launching BHUVAN-RKVY platform. It is proposed to sign the MoU on 6th April .Minsters of Agriculture, Department of Science, Secretary (DAC&FW), Director ISRO, Director NRSA and other senior officers from both the sides are expected to be present during the ceremony.


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## anant_s

*Isro will allow companies to obtain lithium-ion battery tech*
*



*



> *HIGHLIGHTS*
> 
> Lithium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from negative electrode to positive electrode during discharge and back when charging
> The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under Isro has developed indigenous technology to manufacture such high-power batteries for automobiles and e-vehicles


NEW DELHI: The government has asked Indian Space Research Organisation(Isro) to allow manufacturers interested in producing indigenous lithium-ion batteries, including those from private sector, to obtain the technology for its mass production.Isro will now come up with a framework to make this process smooth.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under Isro has developed indigenous technology to manufacture such high-power batteries for automobiles and e-vehicles and their feasibility tests in vehicles have been successful.

Over half a dozen major automobile companies, battery manufacturers and public sector undertakings have already approached Isro. Mahindra Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Tata Motors, High Energy Batteries, BHEL and Indian Oil have shown interest in producing the indigenous lithium-ion batteries.

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari had sought Isro's help to develop indigenous technology for lithium-ion batteries so that their prices are within the reach of Indian customers.

Isro had earlier developed similar batteries for satellite and the launch vehicle applications.

The government has set an ambitious target for pushing more use of electric vehicles to reduce air pollution, which has become one of the biggest health concerns. Batteries are the key component of any electric vehicle. At present, all lithium-ion batteries are imported and it's very expensive.

Such batteries have high-power, but these weigh less and their volume is much less as well in comparison to conventional batteries.Sources said Isro and BHEL are likely to finalise an MoU soon for manufacturing such batteries.
"The cabinet secretary has asked Isro to create a framework for enabling even interested private players to obtain the technology for mass production.
Only one agency producing them will not be enough. The cost will come down only when we will have huge production to meet the demand," an official said, who was present in the meeting. Gadkari chaired this meeting.
Government documents show the cost of lithium-ion batteries is high because of small volume of procurement. Bulk procurement and mass production can reduce the cost by 80%, which is key to push demand.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-will-allow-companies-to-obtain-lithium-ion-battery-tech/articleshow/58088413.cms

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Shockwave

anant_s said:


> *Isro will allow companies to obtain lithium-ion battery tech*
> *
> View attachment 389768
> *
> 
> 
> NEW DELHI: The government has asked Indian Space Research Organisation(Isro) to allow manufacturers interested in producing indigenous lithium-ion batteries, including those from private sector, to obtain the technology for its mass production.Isro will now come up with a framework to make this process smooth.
> 
> The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under Isro has developed indigenous technology to manufacture such high-power batteries for automobiles and e-vehicles and their feasibility tests in vehicles have been successful.
> 
> Over half a dozen major automobile companies, battery manufacturers and public sector undertakings have already approached Isro. Mahindra Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Tata Motors, High Energy Batteries, BHEL and Indian Oil have shown interest in producing the indigenous lithium-ion batteries.
> 
> Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari had sought Isro's help to develop indigenous technology for lithium-ion batteries so that their prices are within the reach of Indian customers.
> 
> Isro had earlier developed similar batteries for satellite and the launch vehicle applications.
> 
> The government has set an ambitious target for pushing more use of electric vehicles to reduce air pollution, which has become one of the biggest health concerns. Batteries are the key component of any electric vehicle. At present, all lithium-ion batteries are imported and it's very expensive.
> 
> Such batteries have high-power, but these weigh less and their volume is much less as well in comparison to conventional batteries.Sources said Isro and BHEL are likely to finalise an MoU soon for manufacturing such batteries.
> "The cabinet secretary has asked Isro to create a framework for enabling even interested private players to obtain the technology for mass production.
> Only one agency producing them will not be enough. The cost will come down only when we will have huge production to meet the demand," an official said, who was present in the meeting. Gadkari chaired this meeting.
> Government documents show the cost of lithium-ion batteries is high because of small volume of procurement. Bulk procurement and mass production can reduce the cost by 80%, which is key to push demand.
> 
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-will-allow-companies-to-obtain-lithium-ion-battery-tech/articleshow/58088413.cms


But whats the big deal about Li ion batteries, they are commonly used in mobile phones. The real deal is the Hydrogen fuel cell.


----------



## cirr

anant_s said:


> *Isro will allow companies to obtain lithium-ion battery tech*
> *
> View attachment 389768
> *
> 
> The government has set an ambitious target for pushing more use of electric vehicles to reduce air pollution, which has become one of the biggest health concerns. Batteries are the key component of any electric vehicle. _*At present, all lithium-ion batteries are imported and it's very expensive.*_
> 
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/isro-will-allow-companies-to-obtain-lithium-ion-battery-tech/articleshow/58088413.cms



All imported from China. 

I give India 5 years to produce indigenous li-ion batteries in commerical quantities.

And that with Chinese cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, seperators and other essential materials.


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## #hydra#

cirr said:


> All imported from China.
> 
> I give India 5 years to produce indigenous li-ion batteries in commerical quantities.
> 
> And that with Chinese cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, seperators and other essential materials.


It's high time to change your DP,Obama is no longer the US premier....


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## RISING SUN

Isro will allow companies to obtain lithium-ion battery tech
The government has asked Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to allow manufacturers interested in producing indigenous lithium-ion batteries, including those from private sector, to obtain the technology for its mass production. Isro will now come up with a framework to make this process smooth.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under Isro has developed indigenous technology to manufacture such high-power batteries for automobiles and e-vehicles and their feasibility tests in vehicles have been successful.

Over half a dozen major automobile companies, battery manufacturers and public sector undertakings have already approached Isro. Mahindra Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Tata Motors, High Energy Batteries, BHEL and Indian Oil have shown interest in producing the indigenous lithium-ion batteries.

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari had sought Isro's help to develop indigenous technology for lithium-ion batteries so that their prices are within the reach of Indian customers.

Isro had earlier developed similar batteries for satellite and the launch vehicle applications.

Read this story in Gujarati here

The government has set an ambitious target for pushing more use of electric vehicles to reduce air pollution, which has become one of the biggest health concerns. Batteries are the key component of any electric vehicle. At present, all lithium-ion batteries are imported and it's very expensive.

Such batteries have high-power, but these weigh less and their volume is much less as well in comparison to conventional batteries. 
Sources said Isro and BHEL are likely to finalise an MoU soon for manufacturing such batteries.


"The cabinet secretary has asked Isro to create a framework for enabling even interested private players to obtain the technology for mass production. 
Only one agency producing them will not be enough. The cost will come down only when we will have huge production to meet the demand," an official said, who was present in the meeting. Gadkari chaired this meeting.


Government documents show the cost of lithium-ion batteries is high because of small volume of procurement. Bulk procurement and mass production can reduce the cost by 80%, which is key to push demand. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ium-ion-battery-tech/articleshow/58088413.cms


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## Hindustani78

cirr said:


> All imported from China.
> 
> I give India 5 years to produce indigenous li-ion batteries in commerical quantities.
> 
> And that with Chinese cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, seperators and other essential materials.



http://www.deccanherald.com/content/592111/arai-isro-team-up-using.html

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under Isro has developed indigenous technology to manufacture such high-power batteries for automobiles and e-vehicles and their feasibility tests in vehicles have been successful.

A prototype (two-wheeler) developed using Lithium Ion Battery of ISRO was unveiled at the hands of Sanjay Mitra, secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, during the inauguration function of the Symposium on International Automotive Technology (SIAT 2017) at ARAI Campus, it said.

"Thus, our teams are now working in this direction. The prototype that was unveiled today is loaded with 48 Volt 50 ampere-hour battery and successfully runs up to 90 kilometres once charged for 2 hours.

The vehicle can attain the speed of 40-50 kilometres per hour," he added.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Bussard Ramjet

cirr said:


> All imported from China.
> 
> I give India 5 years to produce indigenous li-ion batteries in commerical quantities.
> 
> And that with Chinese cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, seperators and other essential materials.




You severely misjudge the situation. 

Basic li ion technology isn't hard to get. In fact even CATL your manufacturer depends on a Japanese firm called ATL. 

It is about capital. If you have money to spend you can get stuff. 

Also, Chinese battery makers are at lower end of spectrum in energy density and quality. 

Apart from that, a lot of components like separators etc are made by foreign firms in China.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## proud_indian

Bussard Ramjet said:


> You severely misjudge the situation.
> 
> Basic li ion technology isn't hard to get. In fact even CATL your manufacturer depends on a Japanese firm called ATL.
> 
> It is about capital. If you have money to spend you can get stuff.
> 
> Also, Chinese battery makers are at lower end of spectrum in energy density and quality.
> 
> Apart from that, a lot of components like separators etc are made by foreign firms in China.



Nitin gadkari has claimed many times that a battery pack for a bus that cost 55 lakh INR elsewhere would cost 5 lakh INR using ISRO technology. Do you think it's possible?


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## Bussard Ramjet

proud_indian said:


> Nitin gadkari has claimed many times that a battery pack for a bus that cost 55 lakh INR elsewhere would cost 5 lakh INR using ISRO technology. Do you think it's possible?



For the same thing? No. 

In fact I can't fathom them being even competitive with American, Korean, and Chinese companies. 

Why?


Battery manufacturing isn't a labor intensive process. It is a capital and technology intensive process. 
Capital is significantly harder to find in India, and comes with much higher interest rates. 
India, isn't very active in battery research. 
India has no supplies of raw materials, or capacity to extract and exploit them. In fact the biggest reserves of Lithium are in China and Chile. China obviously has control over its own reserves, but it also has arrangements in place to access mines in Chile and other places. 
Lack of infrastructure, reliable electricity, supply chains, and skilled labor will make it an even more up hill task. 

HOWEVER, India should still continue investing as a government initiative in Battery technology, and production. I would say they should form a government company like HAL, or DRDO for battery, and fund it. Of course, you *can't expect to be commercially competitive right from the start with the head start others have. *But it will help establish an institutional and commercial framework for battery research, and production.



proud_indian said:


> Nitin gadkari has claimed many times that a battery pack for a bus that cost 55 lakh INR elsewhere would cost 5 lakh INR using ISRO technology. Do you think it's possible?



Also, give me the link where Nitin Gadkari said this. I can't find this statement.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## proud_indian

@Bussard Ramjet

*Electric vehicles and bio-fuel buses to roll out by next year: Gadkari*

Addressing students at the convocation ceremony at the Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth in Pimpri, Gadkari stated that the 7 lakh crore litre crude oil being imported into the country was affecting the economy. If electric buses are brought into play, it would be a relief of sorts, the minister explained.TNN | 

April 09, 2017, 09:22 IST
​




​
PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said that electric buses, cars and scooters, besides ethanol- and bio-CNG buses would be visible on roads next year onwards.

Addressing students at the convocation ceremony at the Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth in Pimpri, Gadkari stated that the 7 lakh crore litre crude oil being imported into the country was affecting the economy. If electric buses are brought into play, it would be a relief of sorts, the minister explained.

*“While in London, I travelled in an electric bus in which the cost of the lithium iron battery was Rs55 lakh. Later, in a presentation, the Indian Space Research Organisation said that the same battery could cost around Rs5 lakh. The ministry has decided to commercialise its production. With electric buses, the passenger fare could reduce by half,” he said.*

Pune-based Automotice Research Association of India (ARAI) and Central Institute of Road Transport are working on producing the lithium iron batteries. ARAI had also sampled an electric scooter a few months ago, he mentioned.

The government has decided to produce second generation ethanol from biomass and an agreement has been inked with 15 industries.

Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth conferred D Litt degrees on ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar, Avdhoot Shivanand of Shivyog Dham, and head of the Warana Cooperative Industrial and Educational Complex Kolhapur Vinay Kore.

http://energy.economictimes.indiati...ses-to-roll-out-by-next-year-gadkari/58089779​
@Bussard Ramjet

I don't doubt his intentions but his claims seem absurd.


----------



## Bussard Ramjet

proud_indian said:


> @Bussard Ramjet
> 
> *Electric vehicles and bio-fuel buses to roll out by next year: Gadkari*
> 
> Addressing students at the convocation ceremony at the Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth in Pimpri, Gadkari stated that the 7 lakh crore litre crude oil being imported into the country was affecting the economy. If electric buses are brought into play, it would be a relief of sorts, the minister explained.TNN |
> 
> April 09, 2017, 09:22 IST
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ​
> PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said that electric buses, cars and scooters, besides ethanol- and bio-CNG buses would be visible on roads next year onwards.
> 
> Addressing students at the convocation ceremony at the Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth in Pimpri, Gadkari stated that the 7 lakh crore litre crude oil being imported into the country was affecting the economy. If electric buses are brought into play, it would be a relief of sorts, the minister explained.
> 
> *“While in London, I travelled in an electric bus in which the cost of the lithium iron battery was Rs55 lakh. Later, in a presentation, the Indian Space Research Organisation said that the same battery could cost around Rs5 lakh. The ministry has decided to commercialise its production. With electric buses, the passenger fare could reduce by half,” he said.*
> 
> Pune-based Automotice Research Association of India (ARAI) and Central Institute of Road Transport are working on producing the lithium iron batteries. ARAI had also sampled an electric scooter a few months ago, he mentioned.
> 
> The government has decided to produce second generation ethanol from biomass and an agreement has been inked with 15 industries.
> 
> Dr DY Patil Vidyapeeth conferred D Litt degrees on ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar, Avdhoot Shivanand of Shivyog Dham, and head of the Warana Cooperative Industrial and Educational Complex Kolhapur Vinay Kore.
> 
> http://energy.economictimes.indiati...ses-to-roll-out-by-next-year-gadkari/58089779​
> @Bussard Ramjet
> 
> I don't doubt his intentions but his claims seem absurd.




Yeah. 

I am not an expert in battery. I have only superficial knowledge (yet enough to be perhaps the most educated one here in this area). 

I simply don't see this happening. The major battery players in the world, are planning to reduce cost by around half by 2025. And these players are way ahead in technology, production, and capital. 

Do you remember the Aakash project? It was supposed to be this amazing Made-in-India tablet, below a 1000 bucks, for every student in the country. 

It ended up failing.


----------



## proud_indian

Bussard Ramjet said:


> Yeah.
> 
> I am not an expert in battery. I have only superficial knowledge (yet enough to be perhaps the most educated one here in this area).
> 
> I simply don't see this happening. The major battery players in the world, are planning to reduce cost by around half by 2025. And these players are way ahead in technology, production, and capital.
> 
> Do you remember the Aakash project? It was supposed to be this amazing Made-in-India tablet, below a 1000 bucks, for every student in the country.
> 
> It ended up failing.








you are right. Using economy of scales Tesla Inc. has been able to drop the rate of lithium ion battery pack to 170$ per kwh and they are expecting it to drop them to below 100$ per kwh and that's when they will be on par with internal combustion engine.


----------



## Hindustani78

Department of Space
12-April, 2017 15:59 IST
*Synchronisation of Satellites *

Time synchronisation of satellites are carried out using reference clocks onboard navigation satellites along with high precision ground based reference to maintain time accuracy all the time. 

NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) time synchronisation services has potential for adoption in Satellite Control Centre System, Power Grid and Interactive ground network system (VSAT Hubs). 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/global-interest-in-pslv-soars/article17958583.ece

* Next flight to carry 30 smallsats *

The Indian PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) space vehicle has received more than double its normal share of inquiries from prospective customers ever since it launched a record 104 satellites in a single flight in February.

A world best, 101 small foreign commercial spacecraft were taken up at once in that feat, catapulting the PSLV’s overall commercial tally to 180.

“There has been a spurt in inquiries, almost double what we were getting. Globally, 500 satellites are expected to come up for launch every year from 2018 onwards. We are seeing how we can equip ourselves towards meeting this big opportunity,” said Rakesh Sashibhushan, chairman and managing director of Antrix Corporation, ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) business arm that markets its rocket and satellite services.

“ISRO is also ramping up availability of the PSLVs. Antrix has asked for two dedicated PSLVs a year for doing fully commercial launches. They can mostly cater to the 5 kg to 100 kg small satellites,” he told _The Hindu_.

The PSLV, with a near impeccable 37 successes in 39 flights, he said, is a clear leader in the category of rockets that lift small satellites to low Earth orbits or LEOs. These satellites weigh up to 500 kg and must be placed in polar orbits 500 km from Earth.

“Antrix has launch orders worth around ₹ 600 crore,” Mr. Sasibhushan said. Roughly 15% of its nearly ₹ 2,000-crore turnover comes from PSLV launch orders of foreign satellite operators.

Similar 100-plus satellite contracts in a single flight would be uncommon; Mr. Sasibhushan said the next PSLV, C-38, due in May, would have 30 smallsats riding piggyback with the primary Cartosat-2 series satellite. But they are not a result of the February launch, he clarified. 

Carolyn Belle, Senior Analyst at Northern Sky Research, a space industry consultancy based in Massachusetts, said in a response, "The PSLV is in an interesting position in the market. It has a strong technical track record and is an attractive vehicle for smallsat operators - especially if the launch [frequency] increases."

However, a limiting factor, in her view, is the waiver process that is needed to launch a US satellite, the US being the largest market.


----------



## Hindustani78

*ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar Rao displays models of the CARTOSAT-2 and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C37) as he speaks to media after the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C37) at Sriharikota on Febuary 15, 2017. (AFP File Photo)*


*http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...nger-rocket/story-SfGLfR35TQPt6lH01plChM.html
*
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to undertake next month the first developmental flight of a “game-changer” rocket capable of launching four-ton class of satellites from Sriharikota spaceport, says its chairman AS Kiran Kumar.

ISRO rockets (launch vehicles) at present have the capability to launch satellites up to 2.2 tons; it depends on international launchers to orbit satellites heavier than that.

“Next month, we have scheduled the launch of GSLV-Mk III-D1,” Kiran Kumar told PTI.

The Bengaluru-based space agency plans to undertake the second developmental flight within a year.

“By the time two developmental flights are over, we will be working towards making more launches so that it (GSLV-Mk III) becomes operational,” he said.

ISRO views operationalisation of this rocket as a “game-changer” for it, he said.

“Once we build our own four tonne capacity, we will be able to significantly reduce our launch from outside; then we are also looking at building satellites within that four-tonne capacity, so that you can do all the launches within the country,” Kiran Kumar said.

The GSLV-Mk III-D1 launcher would carry GSAT-19 satellite which has a mass of 3,200 kg.

The satellite would carry Ka and Ku band payload along with a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload to monitor and study the nature of the charged particles and influence of space radiation on spacecraft and electronic components.

The satellite would employ advanced spacecraft technologies including bus subsystem experiments in electrical propulsion system, indigenous Li ion battery and indigenous bus bars for power distribution, among others.


----------



## RISING SUN

Isro plans to mine energy from Moon by 2030 to help meet India needs
From launching 104 satellites at one go, enabling commercial roll out of lithium-ion batteries, to taking the lead in providing energy security, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) is firing on all cylinders.

Apart from planning for manned missions to Moon, Mars and even aircraft development, Isro is now working on a plan to help India meet its energy needs from the Moon by 2030.

The premier space agency, credited with launching 225 satellites till date, plans to mine Helium-3 rich lunar dust, generate energy and transport it back to Earth.

This comes in the backdrop of successful testing of lithium-ion batteries developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre by the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai). This is expected to provide a fillip to India’s electric vehicles (EV) push. The government is now planning to transfer the technology to companies for commercial production of these batteries, reported Mint.

Isro’s lunar dust mine plans were revealed by Dr Sivathanu Pillai, professor at the space agency, in February.

Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, Pillai, former chief of BrahMos Aerospace, said that mining lunar dust was a priority programme for his organisation.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on 29 March, minister of state in charge of atomic energy and space Jitendra Singh said, “Technology is ready for transfer to Indian industries for undertaking the production of Li-ion batteries. BHEL has expressed interest in the transfer of technology.”

This lunar dust mining plan comes in the backdrop of India’s plan to cut down import dependence in hydrocarbons by 10 percentage points by 2022. India’s energy demand growth is expected to outpace that of the other Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, according to the latest BP Energy Outlook.

Isro’s success on this front will also help reduce pollutants and India’s fuel imports. This assumes significance given India’s energy import bill of around $150 billion, which is expected to reach $300 billion by 2030. India imports around 80% of its oil and 18% of its natural gas requirements. India imported 202 million tonnes of oil in 2015-16.
http://www.livemint.com/Science/W5W...mp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=googleamp


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## cirr

India is completely missing out on a multi-trillion dollar industry that is gaining great momentum in China.

You guys need to move fast and start producing the 1st gram of raw lithium TODAY. 

*Strengthening fundamentals continue to bolster ‘new age’ metals outlook*





*Photo by* Reuters

22ND APRIL 2017

BY: HENRY LAZENBY

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – ‘Big money’ investors are increasingly looking to invest in the relatively small ‘new-age metals’ space, comprising metals such as lithium, graphite and cobalt, as strengthening fundamentals for these minerals and an unprecedented high-impact investment opportunity draw the potential for bonanza profits.

As Lithium Americas CTO Dr *David Deak* puts it: “We are here for the imminent energy revolution mirroring the industrial revolution of about two centuries ago.”





He was one of the line-up of speakers at London-based Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Vancouver leg of its World Tour 2017 series of seminars on Friday, in which _MiningWeekly Online_ participated.

“We are at the convergence of three multi-trillion-dollar industries, comprising the auto, tech and energy spaces. The main drivers are electric vehicles (EVs) with grid storage solutions being another major driver coming down the road,” Benchmark Mineral Intelligence MD *Simon Moores* told the audience.

Pure EVs are expected to push demand for energy metals significantly higher, with Tesla Motors, Nissan and Chevrolet’s latest EV models being the main impetus, each equipped with large lithium-ion-based batteries in the 60 kWh to 65 kWh range.

“The era of the semi-mass market EV has started,” Moores declared.

According to Deak, the lithium-ion battery industry has reached “the point of no return”, with the market having reached cost parity between EVs and internal combustion-driven vehicles.

New York-based House Mountain Partners founder and co-author of The Disruptive Discoveries Journal *Chris Berry *likened Tesla’s announcement to build its first ‘gigafactory’ three years ago to the ‘Big Bang’ for the industry.

“What a difference three years makes. While there was in 2014 only 16 companies manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, that number has grown to 156 in 2017. This has driven down the battery cost per kilowatt hour 60% in three years, while EV sales more than doubled in the same time frame,” he said.

So far this year, the industry has raised about $500-million for lithium investment, and Berry believes investors will match the $1-billion raised in 2010 to 2012 “soon”.

*EV BOOM
*
Moores pointed out that the EV industry is gaining critical mass, with the outlook for lithium-ion battery demand by 2025 by far outstripping current supply. While projections for just how much battery manufacturing capacity will be required by then vary between about 300 GWh to nearly 550 GWh, Benchmark places the figure at just over 400 GWh of battery demand.

That is almost a 700% increase over 2016’s estimated battery market size of about 70 GWh, Moores says.

This will, in turn, drive lithium demand by 2025 to between 250 000 t and 425 000 t, up from 2016’s estimated demand of about 80 000 t.

Demand for batteries will also impact graphite, lifting demand to a range between about 350 000 t and 580 000 t, according to various analysts, with Benchmark’s forecast at 450 000 t. In 2016, demand was about 100 000 t.

Similarly, the cobalt market is expected to rise from about 45 000 t in 2016, to between 80 000 t and 170 000 t by 2025 – up nearly 300%.

Moores enthusiastically noted that these projections are underpinned by the dramatic rise of the lithium-ion megafactories, with about 186 GWh of battery-manufacturing capacity either in production or under construction, and counting. The capacity increases are led by Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (50 GWh by 2020) and Tesla Motors 35 GWh, and BYD China, Lishen China and LG Chem are also aiming at increasing output to about 20 GWh each.

“While Tesla is still important because of its business strategy and vertical integration, the new lithium-ion industry is a ‘China story’,” Moores states. Elsewhere in Asia, new plants are still being constructed in Japan and Korea, but China’s capacity ramp up by far outstrips rest of the world production. Europe is lagging, with only a small percentage of the global battery market.

*LITHIUM FUNDAMENTALS
*
There is not enough lithium currently being produced to meet demand, which has seen lithium carbonate prices rising from about $4 500/t in 2015, to $12 313/t as at March, according to Benchmark’s information. Similarly, the more niche lithium hydroxide product has seen prices jump from about $6 500/t in 2015, to $17 000/t in March, with Moores saying spot prices are currently trading higher than $20 000/t in China.

Lithium carbonate is used to manufacture most lithium-ion battery cathodes, which are made of lithium cobalt oxide. Lithium hydroxide is also used by manufacturers, but they are competing with the industrial lubricant industry for the same raw material, tightening the supply situation when compared with its carbonate counterpart. Lithium hydroxide has the benefit of better power density (more battery capacity), longer life cycles and enhanced safety features.

Moores pointed out that lithium price growth had only once in the last decade turned negative, in 2010, when the price dropped about 30%. In 2016, the price jumped about 85% alone, with the forecast for 2017 at about 25%. “No other mineral has the same price profile,” Moores stated.

Lithium’s impact on end markets has increased drastically since 2006, when it accounted for about 22% of the battery market. This rose to 42% in 2016 and is forecast to expand to 67% by 2020.

Moores says prices continue to rise and are stabilising at the high end. The price outlook for lithium carbonate between 2017 and 2020 is about $13 000/t and lithium hydroxide is expected to average about $18 000/t.

According to Moores, there will be no oversupply situation for lithium, despite supply growth estimated at about 12% to 15% a year, and no resultant price crash.

He expects spodumene-based lithium production to fill the supply gap between 2017 and 2018, with new brine-based sources expected to come online from 2020 and beyond. Meanwhile, the big lithium producers such as Albemarle, Tianqi and Ganfeng are jostling for market share and pursuing aggressive mergers and acquisitions.

According to Deak, lithium is fortunately plentiful, and it is just a matter of mining it economically, in the most environmentally friendly way that impedes production. He believes there is enough lithium to electrify every vehicle in the world today, but this will require about 62-million tonnes of the battery-making ingredient. “It certainly is doable, but we will need to move away from ‘incremental’ lithium supply growth and think more in terms of the ‘gigafactory quantum’,” he said.

Once the world’s vehicle fleet has been electrified, demand for lithium is expected to fall, as recycling of batteries will bolster supplies. This, he said, could start happening as soon as 2040 onwards.





http://www.miningweekly.com/article...-to-bolster-new-age-metals-outlook-2017-04-22


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## RISING SUN

In a first for Karnataka, all gram panchayat govt facilities in Mangaluru to be mapped


In less than three months’ time, Mangaluru will be all set to become the first taluk in Karnataka to have its government facilities mapped in all its gram panchayats.

The project which has been undertaken by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat and Alva's Institute of Engineering & Technology (AIET) will list all the facilities like post offices, healthcare centres, banks, educational institutes, ATMs, sewage treatment plants and government offices of all the 55 villages on Bhuvan portal.

The Bhuvan Panchayat Project is aimed at providing geospatial information support and capacity building for an inclusive and participatory decentralized planning process. It helps in visualization of the selected area of interest by making available the high-resolution satellite imageries and the datasets.

“The Asset Directory will be a comprehensive compilation of different types of assets and resources created under various schemes to help the local population. This project is looking to fill the gap of spatial data at the panchayat level" said AT Jayaseelan of National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to the Deccan Chronicle.

This step was taken as a part of making local governance more effective and having a stronger decentralization process in place.

"All the 270 assets of each village, like the ATMs, bridges and so on will be mapped using this project. The information about the whole village will be made available in this map." said Vivek Alva, Managing Trustee, Alva Education Foundation.

When asked about how the people are going to benefit from it, he said that everything will be available online which is a huge advantage for the public. He added that it will help in making the government bodies stronger in terms of its planning and implementation process. The government authorities will be able to look into the matter and work on it if there is any deficiency in the different facilities available.

The mapping is being done by a mobile application developed by ISRO. The application has been developed to do the mapping directly from the field through geo-location as well as photographs. Five students have been identified from every village who will conduct cluster meetings along with the super moderators who have undergone training.

Even though the project is expected to be completed in three months, they are hoping to finish it much before, "within a month if possible" said Vivek.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/articl...yat-govt-facilities-mangaluru-be-mapped-60753

ISRO to launch five new satellites this year to raise capacity


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch an unprecedented number of five national communication spacecraft this year.

By launching these satellites, ISRO hopes to cut the gap in satellite capacity for different users.

According to a report in The Hindu, the first of these satellites, GSAT-9 or the South Asia Satellite, will be launched in the first half of April from the Sriharikota space station.

GSAT-9 will ride on the indigenously developed Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
“This year we are launching with five more communication satellites. With all of them coming up, there will definitely be a drastic, perceptible change in satellite capacity. In a matter of one year, the scene should be much better than what it is,” ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar told The Hindu.

Kumar further said that ISRO has been taking conscious action to improve its overall communication transponders capacity.

He also added that the new satellites that are constantly put up for approval could ease up the scene in the next two to three years.
http://m.indiatvnews.com/news/india...y-374713?utm_source=https://www.google.co.in/

India Moves On Without Pakistan With Disaster Relief Satellite Project
Calling it a “gift to India’s neighbors,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the South Asia Satellite during the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in 2014. While Pakistan is not part of the project, India's other neighbor, Bangladesh joined it recently. The satellite will aid in disaster preparedness.The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch GSAT-9, the communication satellite, from its GSLV-09 rocket which will take off on May 5 from India’s Sriharikota spaceport. The satellite has a lift-off mass of 2,195 kg, and has 12 Ku-band transponders and is designed for a mission life of more than 12 years.

"It’s going up in the first week of May. Pakistan is not included in that as they did not want to be part of the project,” PTI quoted ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar as saying. “That is why ISRO changed its name to South Asia satellite instead of the initial proposed SAARC satellite,” he added. The idea was first mooted by PM Modi during his campaign as part of his policy to promote bonhomie among South Asian neighbors. His inauguration ceremony in May 2014 was attended by the leaders of all SAARC member nations, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan’s non-participation in the project mainly stems from security reasons and avoiding data sharing with other countries, especially India. Islamabad’s non-participation in the project was confirmed by the spokesperson of India’s ministry of external affairs last year.

“Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project. So it cannot be called a SAARC satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite,” Vikas Swarup, then MEA spokesperson, informed reporters during a regular media briefing last March.

The South Asia satellite will provide communication and disaster support and improve connectivity among SAARC countries that are part of the project. Each participating country can use a dedicated transponder with a capacity of 36 to 54 Mhz for its own use. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have shown particular interest.
Disaster preparedness is an area of major concern in the region. South Asia accounted for a staggering 64 percent of total global fatalities, according to the World Meteorological Organization data.

Whether it was the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, which annihilated more than 8,000 people or the devastating floods in Chennai in late 2015 or the annual flood cycle in Bangladesh, the region requires advance warning and monitoring systems. And only India has the capability to launch a cost-efficient satellite in the region.

In another development, ISRO chief reiterated the space agency's vision to rope in the private sector to offload its burden, boost innovation and create an expanding space industry for job creation.
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201704191052780883-india-pakistan-satellite-project/

National Fertilizers to set up dinitrogen tetroxide plant for ISRO
National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) will set up a production plant for dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) at its Vijaipur (Guna, Madhya Pradesh) site for ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) with an investment of Rs 350 crores. The company has received a letter of intent (LoI) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR) for establishing the plant on build, own, operate & supply model. ISRO had invited tenders for establishing the dinitrogen tetroxide plant in August 2016.

Nitrogen tetroxide is used as oxidiser in specific stages of rocket launch vehicles launched by ISRO and also used for ground testing of specific engines and stages of launch vehicles. 

Debt-ridden public sector undertaking (PSU) Hindustan Organic Chemicals Limited (HOCL) is the sole producer of N2O4 for ISRO. With N2O4 production continuing intermittently at HOCL, experts believe ISRO has been looking at setting up a new plant for assured supply of this key chemical. 

As per the LoI, National Fertilizers’ N2O4 plant will have capacity of around 1095 MT per annum (or 3 tonnes per day). The company plans to start construction work for the project in July 2017, with commissioning expected in the next 18 months. NFL will supply the product exclusively to SDSC-SHAR under long term agreement for 25 years period.
http://www.business-standard.com/co...-tetroxide-plant-for-isro-117041900348_1.html

Govt geo-tags 10 million assets built under NREGS scheme
The ministry of rural development, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation’s National Remote Sensing Centre, has geo-tagged 10 million assets and listed them publicly in a bid to silence criticism that the national rural employment guarantee scheme (NREGS) does not produce durable assets.

“The scale of rural assets created under MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) is very large. Since the inception of the programme in financial year 2006-07, about 2.82 crore assets have been created under the programme,” a rural development ministry statement said.

“On an average, about 30 lakh assets are created annually which includes a variety of works such as water harvesting structures, plantations, rural infrastructure, flood control measures, individual assets for sustainable livelihood, community infrastructure and so on. The process of geo-tagging is going on and all assets under MGNREGS will be geo-tagged. Special focus is being given to geo-tag Natural Resource Management works especially the water related works,” the statement said.

Launched in 2006, the rural employment programme has been a key source of livelihood for millions of rural households. It guarantees up to 100 days of unskilled work in a year to one member of every rural household and was credited with raising rural household incomes. The programme which saw a record spending of Rs58,000 crores in 2016-17, has been allocated Rs 48,000 crores in the 2017-18 budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley.

One of the criticisms against the programme, which has been largely lauded for reducing poverty and providing jobs to unskilled labour, is that it has created assets like village ponds that have no durability.

Geotagging the assets i.e. identifying via satellite technology the check dams, village ponds and other such assets created under the programme provides for credible verification of the work done under the MGNREGA. One of the perennial complaints against the programme has been that the work done under the MGNREGA does not result in durable assets being created.

“GeoMGNREGA is a unique endeavor of the Ministry of Rural Development in association with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO and National Informatics Centre. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Ministry of Rural Development with NRSC on 24th June 2016 for geo-tagging the assets created under MGNREGS in each gram panchayat. Strength of Space technology has been leveraged,” the rural development ministry statement said.

“The geo-tagging exercise started from 1st September, 2016. One crore assets have been geo-tagged and put in public domain in the last seven months. It is expected that the exercise will lead to greater transparency and ensure accountability at field level,” the statement added.
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/eE...-million-assets-built-under-NREGS-scheme.html

ISRO, BHEL tie-up for lithium-ion batteries to have buyback agreements
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is finalising a memorandum of understanding with BHEL to help develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, also envisages a buyback commitment for such batteries.The move is expected to take care of concerns on managing the waste generated at the end of battery life. According to the MoU, BHEL will set up a production plant, while ISRO will provide support for scale-up, joint effort in cost optimisation, research and development for alternate chemistry and buyback commitment, according to sources.

BHEL will develop the battery for commercial applications. This is part of India’s plan to promote low-cost electric vehicles with the use of lithium-ion batteries.

Thiruvanathapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has developed four types of lithium-ion batteries — 1.5 Ampere (Ah), 5Ah, 50 Ah and 100 Ah. Of these, 1.5 Ah and 50 Ah have been used for space applications and 5Ah and 100 Ah are ready for use in space applications.
Use in two-wheelers

On use in vehicles, the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has successfully tried using these batteries in two- and -four wheelers, sources said.

It has demonstrated use of 50 Ah cells in two-wheelers that can run up to 98 km with a two-hour charge, with speeds of up to 40-50 kmph. It is now trying the feasibility of 100 Ah batteries to demonstrate electric vehicle operations, which use lower-cost indigenous material. Initial tests show that the 100 Ah batteries are more efficient at lower temperatures. BHEL has expressed interest in the transfer of technology from VSSC to produce lithium-ion batteries to meet the requirements of ISRO as well as electric vehicles. ISRO, on its part, has identified areas for cost reduction, which can be transferred to BHEL for production of low-cost Li-ion batteries. They include bulk procurement of raw material.

There is scope to indigenise components of the fuel cell by using graphite (from Himadri Chemical), aluminium foil from Hindalco or Nalco, copper foil or sheet from Cubex. These companies have expressed interest in lithium-ion batteries.

VSSC has initiated in-house development of the 50 Ah and 100 Ah cells.

“While BHEL is interested, the technology should also be transferred to private, public and other joint venture firms for commercial production,” said a source. Other corporate majors that have expressed interest include Mahindra Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Tata Motors, High Energy Batteries (India) Ltd, BHEL and Indian Oil Corporation. Representatives of the companies participated in a meeting chaired by the Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on promoting commercial production of lithium-ion batteries for use in electric motor vehicles. India needs to promote commercial production of lithium ion batteries for use in electric motor vehicles.

The meeting was also attended by the Cabinet Secretary, Secretary-Road Transport and Highways, Director from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and Director, ARAI. The Cabinet Secretary pointed out the need to bring all issues related to non-polluting vehicles under one roof.

Last week, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Toshiba Corporation and Denso Corporation entered into an agreement to manufacture lithium-ion battery packs in India.
http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/isro-bhel-lithium-ion-batteries/article9644713.ece

ISRO gears up for Venus odyssey
Nearly three years after India’s Mars orbiter reached the red planet successfully on its first attempt, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning to undertake a similar mission to planet Venus.

Isro has invited proposals from scientists for space-based experiments to be carried out in the Venus mission, thus making a formal announcement of its intention to study the earth’s twin sister. The planned mission will carry scientific instruments weighing around 175 kg which is 10 times more than the scientific payload carried by the MOM. Mars orbiter’s payload weighed only 15 kg.

“This is still a preliminary step. We are looking at the kind of payloads for the Venus mission,” said Isro chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar.

The proposed orbit is expected to be around 500 x 60,000 km around Venus and is likely to be reduced gradually over several months to orbit closer to the planet.

When asked whether Isro has finalised its next interplanetary mission to Venus, he said, “We are working on the possibilities of many missions and Venus is also one of them.” He added, “It takes many years to complete the payloads and finalise the mission. We will do a Venus mission for sure. But we are yet to decide other details like when the mission will be sent and the payloads. At present, we want to know about areas that our scientific community is interested in studying on Venus,” Mr.Kiran Kumar said. Isro is likely to undertake the Venus mission either in 2021 or 2022.

Venus is often described as the twin sister of Earth because of the similarity in size, mass, density, bulk composition and gravity. Venus is closer to the sun as compared to Earth, resulting in much higher solar flux. The exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s with Soviet Union’s Venera missions. Since then Venus has been explored by flyby, orbiter, a few lander missions and atmospheric probes by various countries.

Isro has announced that the last date to receive the proposals from scientists is May 19.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/science/science/220417/isro-gears-up-for-venus-odyssey.html

ISRO, DKZP to map assets of gram panchayats
Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat (DKZP), in association with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and the Moodbidri-based Alva’s Institute of Engineering and Technology, have come forward to map the assets of all the gram panchayats of Mangaluru taluk.

Speaking at a workshop to create awareness on this initiative among panchayat-level officers, MR Ravi, Chief Executive Officer of DKZP, said that Mangaluru taluk will be the first one in the state to be part of the Bhuvan Panchayat project of the Centre.
Around 270 public assets of 56 gram panchayats of Mangaluru taluk will be spatially mapped by the representatives of panchayat raj institutions under this project.

Stating that planning for the development of the villages requires proper understanding of the local context, including resources and assets, he said the asset directory compiles different types of assets and resources available in the village and helps in facilitating various schemes of the government to the villagers.

Ravi said that every planner will be equipped with the requirements of the village with this project. This can help the planners plan accordingly.

Vivek Alva, Trustee of Alva’s Education Trust, said that Alva’s Institute of Engineering and Technology is one among the 10 colleges in India associated with ISRO for Bhuvan Panchayat project. The spatial mapping of the assets in gram panchayats of Mangaluru taluk will help in meticulous planning of the gram panchayats in future, he said.Though the spatial mapping of the public assets at village level needs to be completed in three months, the DKZP and Alva’s Institute of Engineering and Technology are targeting to complete it in a month, he said. 
http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/n...-assets-of-gram-panchayats/article9650547.ece

After Mars, ISRO turns eye on Venus 
It’s official. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has invited scientists to suggest studies for a potential orbiter mission to Venus - somewhat similar to the one that landed in Mars in 2013.

ISRO plans to send a spacecraft that will initially go around Venus in an elliptical orbit (500 km x 60,000 km) before getting closer to the ‘Yellow Planet’. The spacecraft will carry a set of instruments weighing 175 kg and using 500W of power. The scientific community has been given a month’s time to suggest space-based studies by May 19.

"The Announcement of Opportunity [AO] is just the beginning. The studies must be finalised, a project report would have to be presented and approved. A formal mission may not happen before 2020," a senior ISRO official told The Hindu.

A mission must be approved by ISRO's Advisory Committee on Space Sciences, then the Space Commission and later by the government.

Venus, the second planet from the Sun, comes closest to Earth roughly every 583 days, or about 19 months.

Venus, our closest planetary neighbour, is similar to Earth in many aspects. However, it takes only 225 days to revolve around the Sun. Secondly, the surface is very hot due to nearness to the Sun.

India's previous and second planetary outing, the record-setting ₹450-crore Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) of 2013, continues to impress. The orbiter is going round the Red Planet even as you read this — well beyond its planned life of six months.

An orbiter sent to the Moon in 2008 was delivering data until about three months before its estimated life span came to an end. A second Moon landing mission is planned in early 2018.

MOM was sent on the light-lift PSLV launch vehicle. The more powerful GSLV rocket has started transporting regular communication satellites and may be an option for the Venus mission.

Why Venus?

The AO says the planet, described as Earth's twin sister, is similar to our planet in size, mass, density, gravity and is also believed to be around 4.5 billion years old. Yet, "There still exist gaps in our basic understanding about surface features and processes, and the super rotation of the Venusian atmosphere," etc.

Ever since the then USSR sent the Venera mission to Venus in February 1961, there have been close to 30 missions to the planet, the last one being Japan’s Akatsuki in 2010. These comprised orbiters, landers, atmospheric probes and fly-bys.

The erstwhile Soviet Union tops the list with 16 Veneras and two Vegas. The US had Mariner, Pioneer and Magellan missions. New missions are in the pipeline.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...ye-on-venus/article18161738.ece?homepage=true


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/607830/isro-increase-frequency-launches-12.html

The Indian Space Research Organisation is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches to 12 per year from the seven at present by building more satellites and lowering the cost of access to space.

"Earlier, we were doing 2-3 (launches) per year, then we increased it to 4-5, last few years we have been doing seven launches," space agency Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI.

"Now, we are trying to go up to 8-9 PSLV per year, two GSLV-Mk II and one GSLV-Mk III. Total about 12 per year," he said.

ISRO is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches by building more satellites, lowering the cost of access to space and also to do heavier satellite launches, the Chairman said.

The space agency is in the process of constructing a second vehicle assembly building to improve the turnaround time and throughput for the PSLV so that with the same launch pad ISRO can do more launches, he said.

Kiran Kumar said approval for a proposal to build a space station was yet to come.


ISRO plans to undertake the Chandrayaan-2 mission in the first quarter of the next calendar year, he said.

"It (Chandrayaan-2) is a fully Indian affair. There is no Russian participation in that," Kiran Kumar said.

"All the developments required for that, all the variable thrust engines, lander, rover....all that work is going on and we are getting ready for this launch," he said.

"Another Mars mission, Venus mission or Asteroids mission...all these possibilities we are working on; study teams are looking at it, and then we will finalise at some point of time and start getting approvals for them," he said.

On reusable launch vehicle, he said ISRO has identified its next steps in terms of air-breathing propulsion system.

"We are now trying to do an experiment where it will demonstrate that the thrust generated is more than the friction so that you have a net positive thrust.

"What we have (already) demonstrated is combustion happening with oxygen and hydrogen. The next step is the thrust whatever is generated should be more than the friction that's going to come up because of the surfaces involved," Kiran Kumar explained.

"Once that is done, then it's a big capability. So we are working towards that now and in terms of reusable launch vehicle I think landing gear system to that and conducting some experiments that is the next step and beyond that we are looking to scale up the model and do the next set of activities," he said.


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## RISING SUN

ISRO to increase frequency of launches to 12 per year
The Indian Space Research Organisation is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches to 12 per year from the seven at present by building more satellites and lowering the cost of access to space.

"Earlier, we were doing 2-3 (launches) per year, then we increased it to 4-5, last few years we have been doing seven launches," space agency Chairman AS Kiran Kumar told PTI.

"Now, we are trying to go up to 8-9 PSLV per year, two GSLV-Mk II and one GSLV-Mk III. Total about 12 per year," he said.

ISRO is trying to increase its capacity to deliver by scaling up the frequency of launches by building more satellites, lowering the cost of access to space and also to do heavier satellite launches, the Chairman said. 
The space agency is in the process of constructing a second vehicle assembly building to improve the turnaround time and throughput for the PSLV so that with the same launch pad ISRO can do more launches, he said.

Kiran Kumar said approval for a proposal to build a space station was yet to come.

ISRO plans to undertake the Chandrayaan-2 mission in the first quarter of the next calendar year, he said.

"It (Chandrayaan-2) is a fully Indian affair. There is no Russian participation in that," Kiran Kumar said.

"All the developments required for that, all the variable thrust engines, lander, rover....all that work is going on and we are getting ready for this launch," he said. 
"Another Mars mission, Venus mission or Asteroids mission...all these possibilities we are working on; study teams are looking at it, and then we will finalise at some point of time and start getting approvals for them," he said. 
On reusable launch vehicle, he said ISRO has identified its next steps in terms of air-breathing propulsion system. 
"We are now trying to do an experiment where it will demonstrate that the thrust generated is more than the friction so that you have a net positive thrust. 
"What we have (already) demonstrated is combustion happening with oxygen and hydrogen. The next step is the thrust whatever is generated should be more than the friction that's going to come up because of the surfaces involved," Kiran Kumar explained.


"Once that is done, then it's a big capability. So we are working towards that now and in terms of reusable launch vehicle I think landing gear system to that and conducting some experiments that is the next step and beyond that we are looking to scale up the model and do the next set of activities," he said. 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...nches-to-12-per-year/articleshow/58326033.cms


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## li0nheart

*Venus mission: Isro invites proposals for space experiments*


*


*





* waves a India National Flag at the launch of PSLV-C37, carrying CARTOSAT-2 along with 104 nano satellites at Sriharikota in February this year. (TOI picture for representation)*
*HIGHLIGHTS*

*The exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s.*
*The focus of the Venus mission will be atmospheric and surface studies, Sun-Venus interaction, biology experiments and technology demonstration.*
*MUMBAI: This week, Isro inviting proposals for space-based experiments from scientists across the country.

According to Isro, the payload capability of the Venus-bound satellite is expected to be 175 kg with 500W of power. The orbit will be 500 X 60,000km around Venus, which will gradually reduce over several months.*
*
The focus of the mission will be atmospheric and surface studies, Sun-Venus interaction, biology experiments and technology demonstration. An Isro official told TOI that though it is an approved mission, the date of the launch is yet to be firmed up.
According to Isro, the exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s with fly by and lander missions and atmospheric probes.

"In spite of great progress made in exploring Venus, there still exist gaps in our understanding about surface, sub-surface features and processes, and super rotation of the Venusian atmosphere, its evolution and interaction with solar radiation solar wind," Isro stated.*

*http://m.timesofindia.com/india/ven...or-space-experiments/articleshow/58336243.cms*

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## #hydra#

li0nheart said:


> *Venus mission: Isro invites proposals for space experiments*
> 
> 
> *
> 
> 
> 
> *​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> * waves a India National Flag at the launch of PSLV-C37, carrying CARTOSAT-2 along with 104 nano satellites at Sriharikota in February this year. (TOI picture for representation)*
> *HIGHLIGHTS*
> 
> *The exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s.*
> *The focus of the Venus mission will be atmospheric and surface studies, Sun-Venus interaction, biology experiments and technology demonstration.*
> *MUMBAI: This week, Isro inviting proposals for space-based experiments from scientists across the country.*
> 
> *According to Isro, the payload capability of the Venus-bound satellite is expected to be 175 kg with 500W of power. The orbit will be 500 X 60,000km around Venus, which will gradually reduce over several months.*
> 
> *The focus of the mission will be atmospheric and surface studies, Sun-Venus interaction, biology experiments and technology demonstration. An Isro official told TOI that though it is an approved mission, the date of the launch is yet to be firmed up.*
> *According to Isro, the exploration of Venus began in the early 1960s with fly by and lander missions and atmospheric probes.*
> 
> *"In spite of great progress made in exploring Venus, there still exist gaps in our understanding about surface, sub-surface features and processes, and super rotation of the Venusian atmosphere, its evolution and interaction with solar radiation solar wind," Isro stated.*
> 
> *http://m.timesofindia.com/india/ven...or-space-experiments/articleshow/58336243.cms*


Dual band SAR radar should be there


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## Hindustani78

ISRO offered the highest price for all three parcels when HMT announced sale of land last year. The Union Cabinet cleared the land sale to ISRO on March 31. 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/hmt-space-to-tick-again-for-isro/article18209738.ece

* About 208 acres of land being acquired by ISRO in ₹1,194-crore plan *

Spaces that produced the iconic HMT watches in Bengaluru and Tumakuru for over 50 years are set to change hands and will start ticking again, this time for satellite, launcher and planetary missions.

About 208 acres of land belonging to public sector HMT in the two locations are being acquired by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a ₹1,194-crore plan to expand and decongest its facilities across the city. 

The Bengaluru-based space headquarters, which is doubling its yearly quota of satellites and launch vehicles, wants to shift, expand or reshuffle operational facilities in the city to these locations. 

This could be one of ISRO’s big expansions in recent years since it took up around 500 acres in the multi-agency ‘science complex’ at Challakere, about 200 km away. 

ISRO needs space for future plans and resources are never sufficient, ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told _The Hindu._ “Many of our facilities in Bangalore are located in the centre of the city and have got saturated. We were looking at new options when [the HMT] opportunity came up. We need space, especially for recent activities in which we have involved industry in assembling spacecraft.” 

Two such satellite projects are going on at ISITE [ISRO Spacecraft Integration Test Establishment] in Marathahalli in the East. A solar cells venture with BHEL is in the offing.

ISTRAC, which tracks and controls remote sensing, planetary and navigation missions from Peenya in the West, may need additional systems in phases to control an increasing number of future satellites. They may be put up in the new locations as “Peenya is fully boxed in and there is no scope to expand”. A decade ago, it had to set up the Deep Space Network at Byalalu, around 30 km away. 

“We have a general idea about using this land. We will take stock of the entire issue and work out a specific plan of action to see how we can make any change” in locating old and new activities, Mr. Kiran Kumar said.

*Three-month process*

HMT chairman and managing director S. Girish Kumar said in an e-mail reply: “The time schedule to finalise the [land transfer] process is within the next three months subject to receiving payments” from the buyer. 

HMT will survey the land with ISRO and issue allotment letters after selling machinery and moveable property at its factories. They include factory buildings, townships and sheds, while a small part has been encroached upon.

ISRO offered the highest price for all three parcels when HMT announced sale of land last year. The government had closed the loss-making watch factory before that. The Union Cabinet cleared the land sale to ISRO on March 31. A one-acre parcel went to GAIL for ₹34 crore.

Of the 11 centres in the city, including the headquarters, satellite activities are split between ISAC and its second campus ISITE. A unit of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre is nearby in the East. Its sensors unit, the Laboratory for Electro-Optical Systems, is near ISTRAC.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/608712/isro-all-set-launch-gslv.html

Chennai, DH News Service, Apr 28 2017, 15:53 IST




GSLV-F09 mission is the eleventh flight of GSLV and its fourth consecutive flight with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS). DH photo

Moving another step forward in the space technology race, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch GSLV mission on May 5 in a bid to provide various communication applications in the Ku-band with coverage over south Asian countries.

ISRO sources told Deccan Herald on Friday that GSAT-9, a geostationary communication satellite, is configured around ISRO’s standard I-2K bus, with lift off mass of 2,230 kg.

“GSLV-F09 will be launched from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR) at Sriharikota on May 5”, a senior ISRO official said.

According to an ISRO official, after getting clearance from Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorization Board (LAB), the countdown of the GSLV-F09 launch mission will be announced.

The main structure of the satellite is cuboidal and is built around a central cylinder with a mission life of more than 12 years. GSLV-F09 mission is the eleventh flight of GSLV and its fourth consecutive flight with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS).

The success of the previous GSLV mission in September last year provided much-needed boost for future GSLV missions to launch satellites weighing two to 2.2 tonnes using the country's indigenous cryogenic engine.


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## Shajida Khan

Instead of getting bogged down to catch this train which they have already missed, Indian government will do better to catch the next one. Calcium Ion batteries 

http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v15/n2/abs/nmat4462.html

Theoretically they can hold twice the amount of energy compared to Lithium Ion batteries and Calcium is not exactly that rare in India.

There are many research groups in Japan who are actually working on Calcium ion battery, remember Lithium ion was also commercialized by Japanese only. Indian government should encourage some of Indian students to go work in Japan and learn fundamentals of this technology and bring it back in India. Also starting PSUs/research institutes dedicated to this might make sense. Last and most important step will be large scale commercial manufacturing.


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## ashok321

Ability to put any satellite into any orbit: Isro gearing up for the biggest challenge


Every engineer works under constraints. For those designing the third generation geostationary launch vehicle (GSLV), the main constraints were the launch facilities at Sriharikota and the capabilities of Indian industry. They could design a big rocket, but the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) would have had to build an expensive place to launch them. They would have also had to find companies to make the vehicle components, as making big rocket components was beyond industry capabilities. 


When Isro started developing this rocket a decade and a half ago, it was far from being a thoroughbred organisation. It was not of great repute, its technical skills not cutting edge and its commercial potential, negligible. The first generation GSLV had just been test-flown, but its satellite had not reached its desired orbit. The GSLV Mark III was a complex vehicle and some of its critical technologies had to be developed from scratch. Isro’s cryogenic engine development had hit hurdles and got delayed beyond reasonable measure. 


However, by the turn of the century, Isro had shown glimpses of its current prowess. It had learned the art of making satellites. Its polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) had begun to put remote-sensing satellites into low earth orbit with precision, and this vehicle was slowly acquiring a reputation for reliability. The PSLV was relatively easier game. 

The GSLV was a different matter altogether, requiring powerful solid motors and liquid engines in the early stages and a cryogenic engine on top. GSLV Mark III was conceived as a heavy lifter, by Indian standards, capable of putting communication satellites into a geostationary orbit, 36,000 km above the earth. A powerful cryogenic engine needed to be developed quickly.







Isro is now readying the vehicle for its first full flight at the end of this month, roughly three weeks after another flight of the current generation GSLV on May 5. Isro has used new ideas in its design, necessitating new methods in manufacturing. Some of these ideas will be tested for the first time in a flight from Sriharikota. It would be the first flight of GSLV III using India’s fully-indigenous cryogenic engine. If successful, it would also be India’s first launch vehicle qualified for human space flight. “This vehicle is going to be at the frontier for Isro,” says G Ayyappan, Mark III project director. “It can be used for human flight as well.” 

All of these combine to make it one of the most critical flights in Isro’s history. Although the space technology frontier has moved on, promising to keep Isro engineers busy for a long time, GSLV Mark III is the culmination of all that Isro initially set out to do when first set up in the 1960s. When fully ready, it would give Isro self-reliance and the *ability to put any satellite into any orbit. *

The current flight of GSLV III is a developmental flight. Isro is planning another developmental flight a year later. It takes at least two flawless developmental fights for the vehicle to be ready for commercial use. This year, India will put two communication satellites in orbit using the French Arianne launcher. One of these satellites will weigh 5.6 tonnes. It is beyond the capabilities of even the current GSLV III, which is now being developed to put four-tonne satellites into geostationary orbit. *Later versions of the GSLV will be able to put satellites weighing up to seven to eight tonnes into geostationary orbit. *

Isro had gone through a difficult period a few years ago, when a launch of its GSLV Mark II failed. This failure had its impact on GSLV Mark III as well. “Because we had problems with Mark II,” says Isro chairman Kiran Kumar, “we had to rework some facilities of Mark III for Mark II. So Mark III got slightly delayed.” The successful flight of GSLV Mark II in 2014 was thus a major milestone for Isro. It also qualified India’s cryogenic engine, *which was a reengineered version of the Russian cryogenic engines.*

*The cryogenic engine in Mark III is entirely designed in India, and is twice as powerful as the Mark II cryogenic engines. Isro has used a different technology for this engine called the gasgenerator cycle, primarily because it gave the engineers the freedom to test each component separately. The earlier engine used a method called staged combustion, where the entire engine had to be tested as one entity. “We have now made about 200 tests on the engine and its components separately,” says Kiran Kumar.*

For the cryogenic engine, Isro had to create new high altitude test facilities at Mahendragiri near Thiruvananthapuram. Isro tested the full engine in April 2015 for 635 seconds, and again in June 2015 for 800 seconds, well beyond the duration of its burning during a real flight. It had two more tests subsequently, one early in 2016 and another in December 2016. The performance of the new cryogenic engine would be the most crucial aspect of the flight later this month, as it is being tested for the first time in a flight. Although there are other new features in the vehicle, some of these have already been tested in a partial flight two years ago. “We had doubts about the configuration,” says K Radhakrishnan, former chairman of Isro. “So we decided to have an atmospheric test flight with a passive cryogenic engine.” 

This flight was on December 18, 2014, when Isro tested the recovery of a crew module. Isro had doubts about the configuration because it had two boosters on either side of the liquid core stage, with the core stage not firing with the boosters. GSLV Mark II had four strap-on motors surrounding the core stage. “The aerodynamics of Mark III special because the strap-ons are in one plane,” says S Somanath, former project director of GSLV Mark III and now the director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre near Thiruvananthapuram. The absence of strap-ons in the other plane makes the pitching and yawing manoeuvres slightly different. 

*At 3.2 meter in diameter, the strap-on motors are the third largest in the world. Apart from their size, the use of two strap-on motors provided another challenge for Isro. The two motors had to match their performance precisely. If not, one would tilt the vehicle to the other side during flight. To avoid this imbalance, Isro made the boosters from one casting, by splitting it into two.* It was Isro’s first attempt at pair casting. It was to ensure uniformity of material and uniform degradation and it needed the development of new infrastructure. 

GSLV Mark III has a core liquid stage with twin engines, another – smaller – novelty in design. The liquid engines would switch on only a 100 seconds after lift-off, but well before the strap-on motors cease firing. The launch vehicle has redundant control electronics, a requirement for any vehicle used for human flight. Isro engineers have provided Mark III with other requirements for human flight vehicle, in terms of acceleration, noise and other safety margins. Isro has already designed and test-flown a crew module. 

In the end, the decision for a human flight rests with the politicians. Whether the country embarks on a human flight or not, it is necessary for Isro to design vehicles that can carry heavier and heavier payloads. Not just for communication satellites, but for future inter-planetary missions as well. The GSLV Mark III will fly this month with a 3.2-tonne satellite, the GSAT-19. The vehicle is designed to take a payload of four tonnes, but it would still not be enough for some of Isro’s future requirements. 

*“Satellites are getting heavier and heavier,” says K Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. “So we have to increase the capacity of the vehicle.” GSLV Mark III can be tweaked to later to carry more than six tonnes of payload into a geostationary orbit, by replacing the core liquid stage with a semi-cryogenic engine. This engine is under development, and might take three to four years. After its development, India would be able to put six to seven tonne-class of satellites into a geostationary orbit, and stop using expensive overseas facilities for launching its communication satellites.*


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-propulsion/article18347912.ece?homepage=true




The fully integrated GSLV-F06 carrying GSAT-9 at the second launching pad. | Photo Credit: ISRO

* Test feature in May 5 mission is a tool to cut fuel load & space launch costs *
This week's space mission, GSAT-9 or the South Asia Satellite, will carry a new feature that will eventually make advanced Indian spacecraft far lighter. It will even lower the cost of launches tangibly in the near future.

The 2,195-kg GSAT-9, due to take off on a GSLV rocket on May 5, carries an electric propulsion or EP system. The hardware is a first on an Indian spacecraft.

M.Annadurai, Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, explained its immediate and potential benefits: the satellite will be flying with around 80 kg of chemical fuel - or just about 25% of what it would have otherwise carried. Managing it for more than a decade in orbit will become cost efficient.

In the long run, with the crucial weight factor coming down later even for sophisticated satellites, Indian Space Research Organisation can launch them on its upcoming heavy rockets instead of sending them to space on costly foreign boosters. Shortly, its own vehicle GSLV MkIII is due for its full test flight.

Dr. Annadurai told _The Hindu _that GSAT-9's EPS would be used to keep its functions going when it reaches its final slot - which is roughly about two weeks after launch - and throughout its lifetime.

Normally the 2,000-kg class INSAT/GSAT communication satellites take 200-300 kg of chemical propellants with them to space. The fuel is needed to keep them working in space, 36,000 km away, for 12 to 15 years.

Dr. Annadurai said, "In this mission, we are trying EPS in a small way as a technology demonstrator. Now we have put a xenon-based EP primarily for in-orbit functions of the spacecraft. In the long run, it will be very efficient in correcting the [initial] transfer orbit after launch."

He said that the space agency normally uses up 25-30 kg of fuel on the satellite each year to maintain its functions and orbit position. An EP system would vastly bring this amount down.

*Next big trend*

A xenon based EPS can be five to six times more efficient than chemical-based propulsion on spacecraft and has many uses, according to Dr Annadurai, whose centre assembles all Indian spacecraft. A 3,500-kg EPS-based satellite, for example, can do the work of a conventional spacecraft weighing 5,000 kg, but cost far less.

"One day, we should be able to launch a 5-tonne equivalent spacecraft - but weighing less than it - on our own GSLV [MkIII.] We are not yet there," he said.

All this is on the way, may be in around three years. GSAT-20 is planned as the first fully EPS-enabled satellite; its features were not immediately available. ISAC and the Kerala-based Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre are lead centres in developing it.

A trend that started about four years back, EPS is expected to drive half of all new spacecraft by 2020. For Space-dependent sectors across the globe, the economic benefits of EP systems are said to be immense. Currently government-owned and private space players agencies are said to be scrambling to make space missions 30 per cent cheaper than now - by lowering the per-kg cost of lifting payloads to specific distances.

*******







  Special Correspondent 
New Delhi April 30, 2017 13:35 IST
Updated: May 01, 2017 00:36 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...te-on-may-5/article18332816.ece?homepage=true

The “South Asia satellite” being built by India for use by countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region will be launched on May 5.

This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his _Mann ki Batt _radio address on Sunday in which he said the capacities of the satellite and the facilities it provides “will go a long way in addressing South Asia’s economic and developmental priorities.”

“Natural resources mapping, tele-medicine, the field of education, deeper IT connectivity or fostering people to people contact — this satellite will prove to be a boon in the progress of the entire region. It is an important step by India to enhance co-operation with the entire South Asia… it is an invaluable gift. This is an appropriate example of our commitment towards South Asia,” Mr. Modi said in his address.








The satellite was announced by Mr. Modi during the 2014 SAARC summit in Nepal and all SAARC countries have since joined it except Pakistan.

The total cost of launching the satellite is estimated to be about ₹235 crore and the cost associated with the launch will be met by the Government of India, Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh had stated earlier in the Parliament.

The satellite called GSAT-09 enables full range of applications and services in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications viz. Television, Direct-to-Home (DTH), Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs), Tele-education, Telemedicine and Disaster Management Support.

The 2,230 kg satellite was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and has 12 Ku-band transponders. It is cuboid in shape and built around a central cylinder has a mission life of over 12 years.

It will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota using a Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk-II launch vehicle.

The GSLV-F09 is about 50m tall and is the 11th flight of the GSLV. It is also the its fourth consecutive flight with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) engine.

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## ashok321

*https://sputniknews.com/asia/201705021053194601-india-space-vehicle-test/*


*The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) added another milestone to its list of achievements by successfully showcasing a solar-electric hybrid vehicle. ISRO’s different engineering branches at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram developed the vehicle.*

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The team working on the project developed a solar panel to fit on the roof of a car, along with an internal gearbox, control electronics for the battery and solar panel, and a conversion kit for fitting an electric motor to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine.






The vehicle was powered by ISRO's famed Lithium-ion batteries, with a high power supercapacitor to meet the power demands to achieve required torque. ISRO also ensured to not compromise the safety while integrating various subsystems.

The vehicle was successfully test-driven, including an uphill drive. The space agency will now focus on building indigenous Lithium-ion fuel cells, supercapacitors and an electric motor.

"ISRO is doing a lot of things in addition to launching satellites. And all projects are interlinked and laying down the foundation for an industrial complex which will boost innovation and job creation. They have started sub-contracting many of their product building processes, which again will help in the growth of industries," Dr. Mayank N. Vahia, Department of Astrophysics, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, told Sputnik.

India is aiming to push the use of electric vehicles to tackle rising pollution in its cities with the government setting a target of 6 million electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads by 2020 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 and Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles.


The sales of electric vehicles in India is currently very low, rising 37.5 percent to 22,000 units in the year ended March 31, 2016, over 16,000 in 2014-15, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Of these 22,000 vehicles, only 2,000 were cars and other four-wheelers.

The high cost of batteries, a majority of which are imported, is a major hindrance to the development of the sector. Yet another challenge is to create a network of docking stations or charging stations for electric vehicles although that is more of a demand-related problem.

"A helping hand is required to create the infrastructure… There are two concerns for electric vehicles-first is cost and second is infrastructure," Mint quoted Abdul Majeed, partner and national auto practice leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers as saying.

The government recently asked ISRO to share its technology on Lithium-ion batteries with other public and private sector firms to give a push to the production of batteries in India and bring down the cost of electric vehicles.


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## Gregor Clegane

Congrats Isro.


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## ashok321

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...aving-electric-propulsion/article18347912.ece


*This week's space mission, GSAT-9 or the South Asia Satellite, will carry a new feature that will eventually make advanced Indian spacecraft far lighter. It will even lower the cost of launches tangibly in the near future.*

The 2,195-kg GSAT-9, due to take off on a GSLV rocket on May 5, carries an electric propulsion or EP system. The hardware is a first on an Indian spacecraft.

M.Annadurai, Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, explained its immediate and potential benefits: _the satellite will be flying with around 80 kg of chemical fuel - or just about 25% of what it would have otherwise carried. Managing it for more than a decade in orbit will become cost efficient._

In the long run, with the crucial weight factor coming down later even for sophisticated satellites, Indian Space Research Organisation can launch them on its upcoming heavy rockets instead of sending them to space on costly foreign boosters. Shortly, its own vehicle GSLV MkIII is due for its full test flight.

Dr. Annadurai told _The Hindu _that GSAT-9's EPS would be used to keep its functions going when it reaches its final slot - which is roughly about two weeks after launch - and throughout its lifetime.

Normally the 2,000-kg class INSAT/GSAT communication satellites take 200-300 kg of chemical propellants with them to space. The fuel is needed to keep them working in space, 36,000 km away, for 12 to 15 years.

Dr. Annadurai said, "In this mission, we are trying EPS in a small way as a technology demonstrator. Now we have put a xenon-based EP primarily for in-orbit functions of the spacecraft. In the long run, it will be very efficient in correcting the [initial] transfer orbit after launch."

He said that the space agency normally uses up 25-30 kg of fuel on the satellite each year to maintain its functions and orbit position. An EP system would vastly bring this amount down.

*Next big trend*

A xenon based EPS can be five to six times more efficient than chemical-based propulsion on spacecraft and has many uses, according to Dr Annadurai, whose centre assembles all Indian spacecraft. A 3,500-kg EPS-based satellite, for example, can do the work of a conventional spacecraft weighing 5,000 kg, but cost far less.

"One day, we should be able to launch a 5-tonne equivalent spacecraft - but weighing less than it - on our own GSLV [MkIII.] We are not yet there," he said.

All this is on the way, may be in around three years. GSAT-20 is planned as the first fully EPS-enabled satellite; its features were not immediately available. ISAC and the Kerala-based Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre are lead centres in developing it.

A trend that started about four years back, EPS is expected to drive half of all new spacecraft by 2020. For Space-dependent sectors across the globe, the economic benefits of EP systems are said to be immense. Currently government-owned and private space players agencies are said to be scrambling to make space missions 30 per cent cheaper than now - by lowering the per-kg cost of lifting payloads to specific distances.


----------



## boxer_B

BENGALURU: A 28-hour countdown for the launch of the "South Asia" satellite or GSAT-9 began at 12.57pm on Thursday.

The Geostationary Communication Satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will blast off on Friday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The satellite will be launched on board the space agency's rocket GSLV-F09. Costing around Rs 235 crore, the satellite would serve the neighbouring countries through 12 Ku band transponders carried by it and has a mission life of 12 years.

The satellite is meant for providing communication and disaster support, connectivity among the countries of South Asia region.

*Seven out of the eight SAARC countries are a part of the project, as Pakistan decided to opt out stating "it has its own space programme." *

It will provide a significant capability to each of the participating countries in terms of DTH, certain VSAT capacity plus linking among the states for disaster information transfer.

* Regional integration 'prime motto' *

If there is one thing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's series of visits to South Asian countries and a slew of bilateral partnerships hopes to achieve, it is the regional integration, and, Friday's launch of the "South Asia" satellite is being seen as a major push in this direction.

*The "South Asia" satellite will also provide a secured hotline connection between India and other participating countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. This can not only be used during natural calamities and disasters but also during several man-made problems like terror attacks, insurgency, a military coup and so on. *

However, as a senior MEA official puts it, there is more than just a hotline that India is providing: "Yes, regional communication is at the heart of regional integration that PM Modi has been emphasising on through all his bilateral partnerships. But integration is the prime motto and this satellite is a shining example of how to work together with like-minded countries and people."

The MEA, the official says, sees more than just a hotline to build partnerships through this project and the satellite has enough to offer.
*
"From broadcasting to telecommunication and telemedicine and from exchange of data of all kinds, like library information and meteorological findings, there are a host of applications that the GSAT-9 (South Asia Satellite) will provide India's neighbours," *a senior Isro official said, adding that each country will be able to use at least one transponder for their local needs.

The MEA official said that through this, what India's is offering is not just its technological prowess but also "a shared future." "...The underlying philosophy of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is to share the fruits of development for a shared future. We (MEA and PMO) have been working closely with out neighbours and this will bring us closer," the official said.

Sources who were privy to the meetings held in the run-up to the satellite development said that one of the major priorities of the neighbours was disaster management.* "This satellite will help our neighbours to use India's expertise in managing situations during natural disasters. We have a neighbourhood that's highly prone to earthquakes and Tsunamis,"* the official said. While each of the countries can use the services from the satellite to meet their own local needs, there are also plans for some common interests that involved all the countries, the official said. "They will now immediately focus on building up infrastructure to utilise these services," the official added.

On whether there have been requests for further help to build up such infrastructure or get their manpower trained, the official said: "Parallel to the satellite launch, negotiations and talks are ongoing. Yes, some countries have indicated that they may need help, and we are open to it. The priority is to implement this."

(With input from agencies)


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## punit

everything Naarmal !!

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## NirmalKrish

http://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/gslv-f09-gsat-9

May 05, 2017
*GSLV-F09 / GSAT-9*
The launch of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F09) carrying GSAT-9, is scheduled on Friday, May 05, 2017. 

GSLV-F09 mission is the eleventh flight of GSLV and its fourth consecutive flight with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS).

GSAT-9 is a Geostationary Communication Satellite with the objective to provide various communication applications in Ku-band with coverage over South Asian countries. GSAT-9 is configured around the ISRO’s standard I-2K bus, with lift off mass of 2230 kg. The main structure of the satellite is cuboid in shape built around a central cylinder with a mission life of more than 12 years.

GSLV-F09 will be launched from the Second Launch Pad (SLP) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota.


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## punit

update ? is there any watching the live feed.


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## A$HU

punit said:


> update ? is there any watching the live feed.


There wont be any live feed. An odd state of secrecy is being maintained. No media persons invited for the launch, no time slot for live feed on dd. Scientists have been told not to divulge any details about the launch before liftoff.

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## Sloth 22

No update from ISRO. 

The only other time it happened was the launching of our and Israeli spy satellites.


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## oFFbEAT

_Indian Space Research organisation(ISRO) successfully launched a satellite meant for cooperation among South Asian countries on various fields, at about 5p.m. today.

The 2 ton *GSAT-9*(SAARC Satellite/South Asian satellite) is a multi band communication and observation satellite launched by India's GSLV rocket.
The satellite would serve the neighbouring countries through *12 Ku band transponders* carried by it and has a mission life of 12 years._
*The satellite is meant for providing communication and disaster support, connectivity among the countries of South Asia region. It will provide a significant capability to each of the participating countries in terms of DTH, certain VSAT capacity plus linking among the countries for disaster information transfer.*
_The satellite will also provide a secured hotline connection between India and other participating countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka._
*Seven out of the eight SAARC countries are a part of the project, as Pakistan decided to opt out stating "it has its own space programme."*
_
*"*From broadcasting to telecommunication and telemedicine and from exchange of data of all kinds, like library information and meteorological findings, there are a host of applications that the satellite will provide India's neighbours,*"* a senior Isro official said, adding that, each country will be able to use more than one transponders for their local needs.

Sources who were privy to the meetings held in the run-up to the satellite development said that one of the major priorities of the neighbours was disaster management. *"*This satellite will help our neighbours to use India's expertise in managing situations during natural disasters. We have a neighbourhood that's highly prone to earthquakes and Tsunamis,*"* the official said._

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## Sloth 22

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1226953687417392

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## oFFbEAT

*It's a successful GSLV launch guys.....*

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## ashok321



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## Fireurimagination

Good thing Pakistan opted-out or else today Modi would have been in a soup with opposition and media taking potshots on how Pakistan is killing our soldiers and in return Modi is gifting them satellites

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## assassin123

Fireurimagination said:


> Good thing Pakistan opted-out or else today Modi would have been in a soup with opposition and media taking potshots on how Pakistan is killing our soldiers and in return Modi is gifting them satellites


Their loss all the participating nations get transponders free of cost in space which otherwise costs a huge sum of money to launch

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## punit

any way Launched Successfully !
http://indianexpress.com/article/in...iharikota-satish-dhawan-space-centre-4641881/


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## hussain0216

assassin123 said:


> Their loss all the participating nations get transponders free of cost in space which otherwise costs a huge sum of money to launch



Relying on or working with India is a toxic no no for us unless absolutely essential.

This was not hence we reject any such endeavour

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## beijingwalker

Fireurimagination said:


> Good thing Pakistan opted-out or else today Modi would have been in a soup with opposition and media taking potshots on how Pakistan is killing our soldiers and in return Modi is gifting them satellites


Pakistan is more of a natural partner with China in developing space industry, it'll be very odd if she worked with India.

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## ashok321

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina: On today's auspicious occasion, I congratulate the Government of India (for the successful launch).

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## Fireurimagination

beijingwalker said:


> Pakistan is more of a natural partner with China in developing space industry, it'll be very odd if she worked with India.



Pakistan declining the offer was more to do with hostilities between our two country and less to do with China. If China offers free transponder to any of the said 8-9 countries including India, everybody will be happy to take it. Anyways I was just pointing out Modi's dilemma had Pakistan been on board.

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## ito

Congrats to all south asian nations on a successful launch


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## Laozi

Modi will earn a special place in the hearts of people of our neighbouring countries ( obviously excluding Pakistanis )

When you gift something to anyone, what really matters is your intent for choosing that particular gift.

Modi's choice of gift seems to be impeccable

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## beijingwalker

Fireurimagination said:


> Pakistan declining the offer was more to do with hostilities between our two country and less to do with China. If China offers free transponder to any of the said 8-9 countries including India, everybody will be happy to take it. Anyways I was just pointing out Modi's dilemma had Pakistan been on board.


You give them free loading? That's good!


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## Laozi

hussain0216 said:


> Relying on or *working with India* is a toxic no no for us unless absolutely essential.
> 
> This was not hence we *reject any such endeavour*



Do you really think that it is an endeavour ? if it is, then certainly not for Pakistan.

Btw it was not the question of working with India, In fact India is trying to be a hegemon, which you reject.

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## nang2

Congratulations!


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## Shajida Khan

hussain0216 said:


> Relying on or working with India is a toxic no no for us unless absolutely essential.
> 
> This was not hence we reject any such endeavour


Well Pakistan has already chosen her poison, it is Made in China. Either way you will be depending upon some other country for launching your sats or hiring transponders.

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## faithfulguy

Laozi said:


> Modi will earn a special place in the hearts of people of our neighbouring countries ( obviously excluding Pakistanis )
> 
> When you gift something to anyone, what really matters is your intent for choosing that particular gift.
> 
> Modi's choice of gift seems to be impeccable



Actually, India will expect something in return. no one give away things for free, especially India.

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## Shajida Khan

faithfulguy said:


> Actually, India will expect something in return. no one give away things for free, especially India.


The art is to ask for the things which others will not feel hurt in giving and give things which do not hurt you.

Modi knows how to do that.


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## EastBengalPro

Congratzz!


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## beijingwalker

Shajida Khan said:


> The art is to ask for the things which others will not feel hurt in giving and give things which do not hurt you.
> 
> Modi knows how to do that.


I found Indians always talk about Modi, Modi this, Modi that... We Chinese rarely talk about Xi, cause we all know a mere person can't do much to manage a country, there are no god like saviors, it's the system that works. Kind of tired to see a single person's name appear again and again in almost every post.

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## NALANDA

beijingwalker said:


> I found Indians always talk about Modi, Modi this, Modi that... We Chinese rarely talk about Xi, cause we all know a mere person can't do much to manage a country, there are no god like saviors, it's the system that works. Kind of tired to see a single person's name appear again and again in almost every post.



You do not have the luxury of choosing your leader . You will not understand.

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## nang2

NALANDA said:


> You do not have the luxury of choosing your leader . You will not understand.


People in every country choose their own leader, just in different fashions. Don't overestimate the power and effect of your own vote.

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## Laozi

faithfulguy said:


> Actually, India will expect something in return. no one give away things for free, especially India.


 
In Indian culture it is very common to help neighbours especially who need your help.

Generally this is done because of our cultural and traditional Indian values and not on the anticipation of getting some favour in future.

Though recipient of favour generally accepts his indebtedness and seldom offend the giver of gift.


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## NALANDA

nang2 said:


> People in every country choose their own leader, just in different fashions. Don't overestimate the power and effect of your own vote.



There are things and stuff you will never know. But it's o.k.


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## beijingwalker

NALANDA said:


> You do not have the luxury of choosing your leader . You will not understand.


Do you really think you can choose your leaders? How come every leader you choose has proved to be so impotent, and do other so called democratic countries people talk about everything tagging with their their leaders like Indian do?

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## Laozi

nang2 said:


> People in every country choose their own leader, just in different fashions. Don't overestimate the power and effect of your own vote.


Well, I don't see any harm in overestimating the power of voting your ruler.

If you have power to crown someone or dethrone somebody from the seat of Power of country of billion plus people.

Then surely it is not a small thing.



beijingwalker said:


> Do you really think you can choose your leaders? How come every leader you choose has proved to be so impotent, and do other so called democratic countries people talk about everything tagging with their their leaders like Indian do?


This SAARC Satellite was in fact the brain child of Modi.

It is a unique gift.

Do you think a good gesture by your leader does not deserve your appreciation ?

As far as your remarks about our past impotent leaders are concerned, we accept our fault. This was mainly due to illiteracy and lack of modern communication technologies. lets hope we will get better with time in selecting our leaders.

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## beijingwalker

Laozi said:


> This SAARC Satellite was in fact the brain child of Modi.
> 
> It is a unique gift.
> 
> Do you think a good gesture by your leader does not deserve your appreciation ?


Sorry, I don't know Modi is a rocket scientist.

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## Laozi

beijingwalker said:


> Sorry, I don't know Modi is a rocket scientist.


You don't have to be a rocket scientist to decide a unique gift for citizens of your neighbouring country.

you have to be a visionary.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
05-May, 2017 20:24 IST
*GSLV Successfully Launches South Asia Satellite *

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F09) successfully launched the 2230 kg South |Asia Satellite (GSAT-9) into its planned Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) today (May 05, 2017). Today’s launch of GSLV was its eleventh and took place from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota, the spaceport of India. This is the fourth consecutive success achieved by GSLV carrying indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage. In its oval shaped GTO, the South Asia Satellite is now orbiting the Earth with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 169 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 36,105 km with an orbital inclination of 20.65 deg with respect to the equator. 

Few seconds before the launch countdown reached zero, *the four liquid propellant strap-on motors of GSLV-F09, each carrying 42 tons of liquid propellants, were ignited*. At count zero and after confirming the normal performance of all the four strap-on motors, the 139 ton solid propellant first stage core motor was ignited and GSLV lifted off at 16:57 IST. The major phases of the flight occurred as scheduled. About seventeen minutes after lift-off, South Asia Satellite was successfully placed in GTO. 

.  Soon after separation from GSLV, the two solar arrays of the satellite were automatically deployed in quick succession and the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka assumed control of the satellite. 

South Asia Satellite is a communication satellite built by ISRO to provide a variety of communication services over the South Asian region. For this, it is equipped with Ku-band transponders. 

Following the successful launch, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi addressed along with the South Asian leaders. He congratulated ISRO and remarked that today was a historic day for South Asia and a day without precedence. The Prime Minister recalled that two years ago India made a promise to extend the advanced space technology for the cause of growth and prosperity of the people of South Asia and felt that the successful launch of South Asia Satellite today marks a fulfillment of that. 

In the coming days, the satellite orbit will be raised from its present GTO to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. The South Asia Satellite will be commissioned into service after the completion of orbit raising operations and the satellite’s positioning in its designated slot in the GSO following in-orbit testing of its payloads. 

*****


President's Secretariat
05-May, 2017 17:50 IST
*President of India congratulates ISRO on the successful launch of the South Asia Satellite-GSAT-09 *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the successful launch of the South Asia satellite-GSAT-09.

In a message to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of ISRO, the President has said, “My heartiest congratulations to you and the entire team at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on the successful launch of the South Asia satellite-GSAT-09.

The launch of the South Asia satellite which enables a range of services in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting will go a long way in meeting the developmental needs of countries of South Asia. I am confident that the project will promote friendship and cooperation and help further cement ties between India and her neighbours.

Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this mission. I wish the ISRO continued success in the coming years.”

***

Vice President's Secretariat
05-May, 2017 18:12 IST
*Vice President congratulates ISRO team for launching GSAT-9 *

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on successful launch of GSLV-F09 carrying South Asia Geostationary Communication Satellite (GSAT-9). In a message, he said that the satellite will boost connectivity and cooperation among all participating SAARC countries.

Following is the text of Vice President’s message:

“I offer my congratulations to the Scientists, Engineers and Technicians of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of GSLV-F09 carrying South Asia Geostationary Communication Satellite (GSAT-9), which will boost connectivity and cooperation among all participating SAARC countries.

The flawless launch demonstrates India’s capabilities in Geosynchronous Satellite launching. I wish ISRO all the very best for the future.”

***
Prime Minister's Office
05-May, 2017 18:26 IST
*Text of PM's Opening Remarks at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite*


His Excellency President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan,
Her Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh,
His Excellency Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan,
His Excellency President Abdulla Yameen of Maldives,
His Excellency Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal,
His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Namaskar!

Excellencies,

Today is a historic day for South Asia. A day without precedence. Two years ago, India made a promise.

A promise to extend the advanced space technology for the cause of growth and prosperity of our brothers and sisters in South Asia.

The successful launch of the South Asia Satellite marks the fulfilment of that. With this launch we have started a journey to build the most advanced frontier of our partnership.

With its position high in the sky, this symbol of South Asian cooperation would meet the aspirations of economic progress of more than one-and-a-half billion people in our region. And, extend our close links into Outer Space.

Excellencies

I am immensely grateful to my fellow leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka for joining me today to celebrate this launch.

I also deeply appreciate the strong and valuable support extended by your governments, without which this project would not have been possible. Our coming together is a sign of our unshakeable resolve to place the needs of our peoples in the forefront.

It shows that our collective choices for our citizens will bring us together for: cooperation, not conflict; development, not destruction; and prosperity not poverty.

Excellencies

This is first of its kind project in South Asia. And, through this, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India will together achieve:

effective communication;
better governance
better banking and
better education in remote areas;
more predictable weather forecasting and efficient resource mapping;
linking people with top end medical services through tele-medicine and
a quick response to natural disasters.

Space technology will touch the lives of our people in the region.

The satellite would provide services specific to individual countries as per their own needs and priorities, as also common services.

In achieving this goal, I congratulate the space science fraternity of India, and in particular the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

The ISRO team has led from the front in developing the South Asia Satellite as per the regions' requirements, and flawlessly launching it.

Excellencies

As Goverments, our most important task is to secure growth, development and peace for our people and communities.

And, I am convinced that when we join hands and mutually share the fruits of knowledge, technology and growth, we can speed up our development and prosperity.
I thank you all for your presence. And, congratulate you once again in our shared success!

Thank you; Thank you very much.

***
Prime Minister's Office
05-May, 2017 18:31 IST
*Text of PM's Closing Remarks at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite *


Excellencies,

I would like to thank each one of you for your words.

Your thoughts echo the sentiment that is captured by today’s launch.

The South Asia Satellite tells us that even the sky is not the limit when it comes to regional cooperation among like-minded countries.

"सबका साथ सबका विकास" can be the guiding light for action and cooperation in South Asia.

And, a befitting way for us to achieve our shared priorities of economic prosperity for our people.

And in this, you will find a strong and committed partner in India that truly believes in the strength of this choice and principle.

Let me once again thank you all for joining me today to celebrate the launch of South Asia Satellite.

And, also your strong and continuous support in making this vision a reality.

In the end, I also wish all of us more such celebrations where we can rejoice in success of our common and collective efforts for regional growth and prosperity.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

***

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite, in New Delhi on May 05, 2017.





The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite, in New Delhi on May 05, 2017.




The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite, in New Delhi on May 05, 2017.




The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite, in New Delhi on May 05, 2017.




The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Video Conference with Heads of Government from South Asian Nations, to mark the launch of the South Asia Satellite, in New Delhi on May 05, 2017.










Prime Minister's Office
05-May, 2017 19:45 IST
*The South Asian Satellite – Some highlights *


Space diplomacy has touched new heights with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unique gift in the sky to South Asian neighbours.


The gift of a communications satellite for use by neighbours at no cost has perhaps no precedent worldwide.


The satellite, which weighs over 2 tonnes, has been fabricated in three years at a cost of over Rs. 230 crore.


Its footprint that extends all over South Asia.


The South Asia Satellite has 12 Ku band transponders which India's neighbours can utilise to increase communications.


Each country will get access to at least one transponder through which they could beam their own programming.

The satellite will facilitate DTH television, VSAT links, tele-education, telemedicine and disaster management support. It will provide critical communication links in times of disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, and tsunamis.

Heads of Government from all the seven South Asian nations who are benefiting from the satellite, connected via video conference, in a unique celebration of the successful launch.
****

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## Abingdonboy

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/860457052442738688

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/860460891371847682

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## nana41

Plea


Laozi said:


> In Indian culture it is very common to help neighbours especially who need your help.
> 
> Generally this is done because of our cultural and traditional Indian values and not on the anticipation of getting some favour in future.
> 
> Though recipient of favour generally accepts his indebtedness and seldom offend the giver of gift.


Next time when you see an indian shudera,help him pass through a Brahman street to cut short distance to his Jhonpada,thank you.

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## gslv mk3

nana41 said:


> Plea
> 
> Next time when you see an indian shudera,help him pass through a Brahman street to cut short distance to his Jhonpada,thank you.



Apply cold water to the burnt area.

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## punit

nana41 said:


> Plea
> 
> Next time when you see an indian shudera,help him pass through a Brahman street to cut short distance to his Jhonpada,thank you.


next time u see ahamdi muslim .. dont keel him.

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## Hindustani78

*SRO's GSLV-F05 carrying advanced Weather Satellite INSAT-3DR was launched on 8 September 2016 at 4.10 pm from the second launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), in Sriharikota. (PTI)



*

*GSLV-F05 launched on September 08, 2016 was the tenth GSLV flight carrying INSAT-3DR. (PTI)*





*Boosting telecommunication services, India’s communication satellite GSAT-18 was launched on October 06, 2016. Television, telecommunication, VSAT and digital satellite news sgathering are a few of the services that GSAT 18 supports. (PTI)*





*Panoramic view of GSLV-D5 at the Second Launch Pad on January 05 , 2014. (ISRO)*





*India’s GSLV-D3 powered by homegrown cryogenic engine for the first time failed in its mission as the rocket carrying a communication satellite deviated from its path and went out of control shortly after its lift-off from the spaceport at Sriharikota, about 100 km (62 miles) north of the southern Indian city of Chennai April 15, 2010. I (REUTERS)*





*The Indian Space Research Organization launches the INSAT-4CR communications satellite atop a Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) booster on Sept. 2, 2007 from Satish Dhawan Space Center on Sriharikota Island. Overcoming technical snags, India successfully placed into orbit its latest communication satellite from the spaceport here, giving a major boost Direct-To-Home television services according to a news report. (M. Lakshman / AP)



*
*Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D6 carrying GSAT-6, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. GSAT-6 was the 25th geostationary communication satellite of India built by ISRO and 12th in the GSAT series. (R Senthil Kumar / PTI)



*

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## Laozi

nana41 said:


> Plea
> 
> Next time when you see an indian *shudera*,help him pass through a *Brahman* street to cut short distance to his Jhonpada,thank you.


Please
avoid sending kids to those schools where World finest drafted constitution is explained in above manner.

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## X_Killer

nang2 said:


> People in every country choose their own leader, just in different fashions. Don't overestimate the power and effect of your own vote.



Good choice opted.
We like your fashion. Hats off..
Keep voting..

Have to heard about the news:
#Breaking #News
#Pakistan: Rawalpindi Police has registered a report against Prime Minister #NawazSharif for provoking people against the Pakistan Army and creating hatred against the armed forces.


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## Śakra

beijingwalker said:


> Do you really think you can choose your leaders? How come every leader you choose has proved to be so impotent, and do other so called democratic countries people talk about everything tagging with their their leaders like Indian do?



Americans always mention Trump or Obama, we always mention Modi. You wouldn't know you aren't a democracy.

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## trident2010

Enjoy !!






http://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-f09-gsat-9/gslv-f09-gsat-9-lift-and-onboard-camera-video

So finally ISRO guys manage to smooth out all the wrinkles with GSLV MK2 design. Very well done !

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## X_Killer

I'm really eager to see some offer from PAKISTAN to its neighbours for free.
But there is a condition: No foreign help in entire program.

Start learning technologies on your own.


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## ranadd

Good job India. Well done.


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## beijingwalker

X_Killer said:


> I'm really eager to see some offer from PAKISTAN to its neighbours for free.
> But there is a condition: No foreign help in entire program.
> 
> Start learning technologies on your own.


People learn from each other, in today's world why we have to develop everything all by ourselves. Did India develop all of their space technology by themselves?

"BEIJING: China has invited scientists from Pakistan, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the EU to watch the launch of its next month's manned space flight to send two astronauts to join a space lab+ which has been put into orbit, a media report said on Friday.

The scientists were invited to watch the launch of Shenzhou 11 capsule from Inner Mongolia next month, Hong Kong- based South China Morning Post reported."

Those countries are going to be our partners in our space station , after the international space station retires our space station will be the only one in the world , we and our partners will work together for space technology and manned missions. I really don't see Pakistan, as our closest ally, abandoning us for a much much downgraded space program. It's just too odd to even think about this idea.


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## assassin123



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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> I'm really eager to see some offer from PAKISTAN to its neighbours for free.
> But there is a condition: No foreign help in entire program.
> 
> Start learning technologies on your own.


What about copying Russian cryo engines, and paying for 'consultancy'?

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## Hindustani78

Han Patriot said:


> What about copying Russian cryo engines, and paying for 'consultancy'?



ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965 and experience gained was of immense value in the mastering of solid propellant technology. In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were consolidated under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme. RH-75, with a diameter of 75mm was the first truly Indian sounding rocket, which was followed by RH-100 and RH-125 rockets. The sounding rocket programme was the bedrock on which the edifice of launch vehicle technology in ISRO could be built. It is possible to conduct coordinated campaigns by simultaneously launching sounding rockets from different locations. It is also possible to launch several sounding rockets in a single day.

*At the SLV-3 integration laboratory at VSSC, (from right) Prof. Yash Pal, then Member, Space Commission; P.N. Haksar, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; Prof. Satish Dhawan, then Chairman, ISRO; and A.P.J. Kalam, then Project Director, SLV-3






(From left) Y.J. Rao, then Project Director, Design Project, SLV-3, VSSC; V.N. Kumaraswamy, Engineer, Assembly and Integration, Sounding Rockets, TERLS; Vikram Sarabhai, founder of India's space programme; H.G.S. Murthy, then Range Test Director, TERLS; and N.R.U.K. Kartha, then head, Assembly and Integration, Sounding Rockets, TERLS, with a Rohini-75 sounding rocket, to be launched from Thumba. 



*

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## Han Patriot

Hindustani78 said:


> ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965 and experience gained was of immense value in the mastering of solid propellant technology. In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were consolidated under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme. RH-75, with a diameter of 75mm was the first truly Indian sounding rocket, which was followed by RH-100 and RH-125 rockets. The sounding rocket programme was the bedrock on which the edifice of launch vehicle technology in ISRO could be built. It is possible to conduct coordinated campaigns by simultaneously launching sounding rockets from different locations. It is also possible to launch several sounding rockets in a single day.
> 
> *At the SLV-3 integration laboratory at VSSC, (from right) Prof. Yash Pal, then Member, Space Commission; P.N. Haksar, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; Prof. Satish Dhawan, then Chairman, ISRO; and A.P.J. Kalam, then Project Director, SLV-3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (From left) Y.J. Rao, then Project Director, Design Project, SLV-3, VSSC; V.N. Kumaraswamy, Engineer, Assembly and Integration, Sounding Rockets, TERLS; Vikram Sarabhai, founder of India's space programme; H.G.S. Murthy, then Range Test Director, TERLS; and N.R.U.K. Kartha, then head, Assembly and Integration, Sounding Rockets, TERLS, with a Rohini-75 sounding rocket, to be launched from Thumba.
> 
> 
> 
> *



Did you guys intentionally omit the fact that the Americans assisted India prior to the first nuclear test?

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> What about copying Russian cryo engines, and paying for 'consultancy'?



We never 'copied' any Russian engine.


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> We never 'copied' any Russian engine.


Sure, sure, the technology just suddenly got downloaded into your superior Indy brain while you were sleeping.

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> Sure, sure, the technology just suddenly got downloaded into your superior Indy brain while you were sleeping.



Similar to how your space capsule started to look like the Soyuz, after the soviet union disintegrated ?


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> Similar to how your space capsule started to look like the Soyuz, after the soviet union disintegrated ?


Ahh, so you finally admit you were just as despicable as the Chinis? Copying all along? LOL. I had always been proud of China's determination and pragmatism in copying, licensing, stealing, begging, borrowing, absorbing, learning, innovating and finally self design. At least we are open about it unlike some self righteous indy.

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## ranadd

What is an Indy?

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> Ahh, so you finally admit you were just as despicable as the Chinis? Copying all along? LOL. I had always been proud of China's determination and pragmatism in copying, licensing, stealing, begging, borrowing, absorbing, learning, innovating and finally self design. At least we are open about it unlike some self righteous indy.



Wow, for the first time a Chinese member has admitted that Chinese are copycats & despicable.

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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> What about copying Russian cryo engines, and paying for 'consultancy'?


It's not more than jealousful frustration.
Take some chill pill


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## Hindustani78

Han Patriot said:


> Did you guys intentionally omit the fact that the Americans assisted India prior to the first nuclear test?



Sounding rockets are rockets that carry instruments into the upper atmosphere to investigate its nature and characteristics, gathering data from meteorological measurements at altitudes as low as 32 kilometers to data for ionospheric and cosmic physics at altitudes up to 6400 kilometers.

Sounding rockets played an important role in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an 18-month period (1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958) coinciding with high solar activity. The IGY was an intensive investigation of the natural environment-the earth, the oceans

A small solid-propellant sounding rocket, Arcas was named in 1959 by its producer, Atlantic Research Corporation. The name was an acronym for "All-purpose Rocket for Collecting Atmospheric Soundings." It was intentional that the first three letters, "A-R-C," also were the initials of the Atlantic Research Corporation. An inexpensive vehicle designed specifically for meteorological research, Arcas could carry a five-kilogram payload to an altitude of 64 kilometers


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> Wow, for the first time a Chinese member has admitted that Chinese are copycats & despicable.


We aren't just despicable, we are ruthless, determined, and shrewd too. Funny how the hypocrite Indy proclaim self righteousness when they themselves indulge in such a 'despicable' act.

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> Funny how the hypocrite Indy proclaim self righteousness when they themselves indulge in such a 'despicable' act.



We didn't indulge in such an act. Russia was barred from transferring such technologies due to MTCR restrictions. Try better.


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> We didn't indulge in such an act. Russia was barred from transferring such technologies due to MTCR restrictions. Try better.


Sure sure....the technology as usual got downloaded into your superior indy brains again.

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> Sure sure....the technology as usual got downloaded into your superior indy brains again.



This is all you have to say after getting owned ? You Hans are despicable, just like you've said. 

PFBR is our technology & development. Deal with it.

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## assassin123

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/861992638903222272

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## Hindustani78

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...hed-in-june/story-Z4hZlB7ShkC0A8n2iChtxO.html

India plans to launch next month its most powerful rocket that is capable of transporting a heavier 4-tonne communications satellite and described as a “game-changer” in the first of its kind space mission.

Aiming for a greater share of the multi-billion dollar global space market and to reduce dependency on international launching vehicles, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Friday it is hoping to launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV) Mark-III in the first week of June.

A successful launch of this rocket will be yet another major step towards being self-reliant in the country’s space programme.

The ISRO currently has the capability to launch payloads of up to 2.2 tonnes into the intended orbit and anything above that it had to tap foreign launch facilities.

“GSLV Mark-III is our next launch. We are getting ready. All the systems are in Sriharikota. The integration is currently going on,” ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar told reporters in Hyderabad.

“The whole process of assembling the various stages and then integrating the satellite into the heat shield, these activities are going on. First week of June is when we are targeting this launch,” he said.

The ISRO views operationalisation of this rocket as a “game-changer” mission.

GSLV Mark-III will be India’s most powerful launch vehicle built to lift the heaviest Indian communications satellites to space. It can put satellites weighing 4 tonnes in space, double the weight that the current GSLV-Mark-II can lift.


It will also enable ISRO to launch from India heavier communications spacecraft to geostationary orbits of 36,000 km. Because of the absence of a powerful launcher, ISRO currently launches satellites above 2 tonnes on European rockets for a big fee.

Noting that communications satellites built beyond the capacity of 2.2 tonnes have to be launched from foreign soil, Kiran Kumar said efforts are on to launch satellites upto four tonnes and even beyond in India itself.

The GSLV Mark-III is intended to launch satellites into geostationary orbit and as a launcher for an Indian crew vehicle.

It features an Indian cryogenic third stage and a higher payload capacity than the current GSLV.

The satellite would carry Ka and Ku-band payload along with a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload to monitor and study the nature of the charged particles and influence of space radiation on spacecraft and electronic components.

It would also employ advanced spacecraft technologies including bus subsystem experiments in electrical propulsion system, indigenous Li-ion battery and indigenous bus bars for power distribution, among others.

The technology on lithium ion batteries developed by ISRO is good for space programme in terms of cost-effectiveness, but it requires the efforts of industry to develop it to reduce costs, Kiran Kumar said.


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## Hindustani78

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
17-May, 2017 16:44 IST
*Cabinet approves Restructuring plan for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. *

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved a restructuring plan for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd.* (*HOCL), a loss making and sick Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals. The company, having units at Rasayani (Maharashtra) and Kochi (Kerala), has been making continuous cash losses since 2011-12 resulting in acute shortage of working capital. Most of its plants have remained shut down during the last few years. It could not pay regular salary and statutory dues to the employees since February, 2015.


*Restructuring:*


The restructuring plan involves closing down the operations of all the non-viable plants at Rasayani unit of HOCL except Di-Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4) plant which is to be transferred to ISRO on 'as is where is' basis, with about 20 acres of land and employees associated with the plant. The N2O4 plant is of strategic importance as it is the only indigenous source of N2O4 which is used as liquid rocket propellant by ISRO in the space launch vehicles.


*Financial implications:*


Financial implications of the plan is Rs. 1008.67 crore (cash) which is to be met partly from sale of 442 acres HOCL land at Rasayani to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (Rs.618.80 crore) and the balance (Rs.365.26 crore) through bridge loan from the Govt. The funds will be used to liquidate the various liabilities of the company, including payment of outstanding salary and statutory dues of employees and repayment of Govt. guaranteed bonds of Rs.250 crore due for redemption in Aug.-Sept. 2017. The bridge loan amount, along with other Govt. liabilities of the company, is proposed to be repaid to the Govt. from the disposal of remaining unencumbered land and other assets of Rasayani unit.


*Impact:*

*

Implementation of the restructuring plan will enable HOCL to close down the operations of non - viable plants at Rasayani unit while transferring the strategically important N2O4 plant to ISRO to ensure continuity of manufacture and supply of N2O4 for ISRO's space programme.* Interest and welfare of employees will be addressed by payment of all their outstanding salary dues. Disposal of land assets, initially through sale of 442 acres to BPCL and subsequently of the remaining unencumbered land, will unlock the land assets for being redeployed for economically productive investments and thereby creating new employment generation opportunities.


***

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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/612447/all-set-gslv-mark-iii.html
Press Trust of India, Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 2017, 18:58 IST





ISRO is set to launch the newest GSLV soon, which is expected to be able to carry satellites twice the weight of what the previous generations could achieve.

India's most powerful launch vehicle - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - built to lift the heaviest Indian communication satellites to space, is all set to be launched soon.

With GSLV Mark-III, seen as a "game-changer" mission in space technology, the country can have indigenous launches of bigger satellites without depending on foreign countries. It can put satellites weighing upto four tonnes in space, double the weight that the current GSLV-Mark-II can lift.

GSLV Mark-III will also enable Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch from India heavier communication spacecraft to geostationary orbits of 36,000 km. Because of the absence of a powerful launcher, the space agency currently launches satellites above two tonnes on European rockets for a high cost.

"Preparations are going on in full swing...And right now, the cryogenic stage (is) also integrated with the vehicle. The satellite is also getting prepared," Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K Sivan told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.

"Maybe in a week's time, we will be able to assemble the satellite along with the vehicle. We are targeting the launch in the first week of June," he said. However, Sivan said the exact date for the launch of GSLV Mark III is yet to be finalised.

GSLV Mark-III would blast off with the communications satellite – GSAT-19, weighing more than 3.2 tonnes.

"It's a very advanced vehicle...The satellite is also very advanced...," Sivan said.

"For any satellite weighing beyond two tonnes, we were carrying them to other countries for launch. Now everything can be launched by our Indian vehicle," he said.

The VSSC director said there was a plan to improve the payload of the vehicle further. "So 100 per cent, we can have our own indigenous launches of bigger satellites," he said.

On the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the VSSC director said a target has been set to complete it by December.

On reports of privatisation of PSLV operations, Sivan said, "It is not privatisation. Discussions are going on to have some joint ventures. Many companies will be joining together. ISRO will also be part of that." 

Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) S Somnath said, "The highlight of the cryogenic stage is that we have full knowledge about this...because it is our own and we understand this."


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...small-cheer/article18510364.ece?homepage=true

BENGALURU , May 19, 2017 22:21 IST
Updated: May 19, 2017 22:21 IST

 
*‘It may be ISRO’s short-lived rocket, not its primary satellite vehicle as planned’ *
The GSLV space vehicle’s quiet but laudable success earlier this month could be a small solace that has come too late for the Indian Space Research Organisation.

The late bloomer may even be a short-lived intermediate rocket instead of being ISRO’s primary satellite vehicle as it was planned, as a few ISRO old-timers and industry watchers privately suggest.

*Adds to reliability*

Its fine feat of putting the South Asia Satellite perfectly to space on May 5 no doubt adds to the GSLV’s reliability. But ISRO actually needed this achievement at least a good decade ago, when it was still building and using 2,000-2,500-kg communication spacecraft for its own use.

The GSLV was conceived in the early 1990s to launch Indian communication satellites of 2,000-kg class to an initial and later adjusted distance from Earth, called the ‘GTO’ (geosynchronous transfer orbit). This rocket took about 25 years and 11 flights to be fully realised. GSLV F-09 of May 5 was the fourth to click in a row.

The GSLV is caught in a glaring mismatch: it cannot lift India’s bigger satellites; and the size that it can lift is out of fashion and does not make economic sense.


As to why the GSLV could not rise sooner to the occasion, the external geopolitical reasons beyond the agency are well known now.

While ISRO was perfecting the GSLV and falling behind schedule with the rocket’s crucial cryogenic stage, it progressed on the spacecraft side and upgraded the communication satellites to 3,000-plus kg in 2005. This was done to pack more punch (or transponders) per spacecraft. It would be roughly 24 regular transponders for 2,000 kg; 36 transponders for 3,000 kg and 48 transponders in a four-tonner. 

Replying to a query from _The Hindu_, Gagan Agrawal, analyst with the U.S.-based space industry consulting firm Northern Sky Research, said: “The communications satellite market is consistently looking at payload sizes greater than four tonnes and the question remains whether the GSLV or [the bigger] MKIII can cater to the market [yet.] ”

*Not many customers*

ISRO’s smaller PSLV rocket has made a niche in the world market for light lifts. For the GSLV, there may not be many commercial customers requiring its service.


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## danke

Chandrayaan 2

All you need to know about Chandrayaan-2, ISRO’s second mission to the moon

In October 2008, ISRO launched the Chandrayaan-1 mission on board a PSLV rocket. There were two payloads, a lunar orbiter and a lunar impactor. The impactor disturbed the surface at the landing site, and collected samples for analysis. The impactor also enabled India to become the fourth country to put its flag on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union .

The orbiter encountered a series of technical problems, including malfunctions of its star sensors and the thermal shielding. ISRO lost contact to the spacecraft well before the planned mission duration of two years. However, the orbiter still managed to fulfill most of the 
Even before the launch of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, ISRO was already making plans for the follow up Chandrayaan-2 mission. In September 2008 itself, the Chandrayaan-2 mission was approved by the government for a cost of Rs 425 crore. The budget does not include the cost of the GSLV launch vehicle, or the lander. The mission is an important step in India’s plans for planetary exploration, a program known as Planetary Science and Exploration (PLANEX).

ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar revealed to reporters the timing of the Chandraayaan-2 mission during an event that announced When asked about the Chandrayaan-2 mission, “We are targeting first quarter of 2018 for the 

India’s second mission to the moon is more advanced than the first. There are three components of the mission, an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The rocket ISRO is planning to use for Chandrayaan-2 is a GSLV MKII, and will take off from the space agency’s launch facility at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR) in the first few months of 2018.

The orbiter will be deployed at an altitude of 100 kilometers above the surface of the Moon. The lander will then separate from the orbiter, and execute a soft landing on the surface of the Moon, unlike the previous mission which crash landed near the lunar south pole. ISRO is in the process of testing the actuators and sensors for the soft landing. A rover will then explore the surface. The lander, rover and orbiter will perform mineralogical and elemental studies of the lunar surface.


The Chandrayaan-2 mission is being tested at isro Karnataka. Artificial craters have been created for the Lander Sensors Performance Test. Drop tests for the lander, and mobility tests for the rover are also being conducted at the facility. The six wheeled rover is going to be semi-autonomous, and its movements will be partially controlled by ISRO stations on Earth.
In 2007, ISRO signed an agreement with Russia, to get technical support for the Chandrayaan-2 mission. According to the agreement, the Chandrayaan-2 mission was supposed to be a joint project between ISRO, and the Russian space agency, ROSCOSMOS. As part of the agreement, Russia would provide the lander and rover parts of the mission, while India would be responsible for the orbiter. The mission was originally planned for 2015.

In 2011, the Phobos-Grunt, a Russian sample return mission to one of the two moons of Mars failed. The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft was launched along with the Yinghuo-1, meant to be the first Chinese spacecraft to go to Mars. The mission failed, and the two spacecraft ended up in the Pacific Ocean. Russia began a review of the mission, and the future of the Chandrayaan-2 mission depended 

Russia pointed out that there was a high risk of failure if the rover went up in 2015, and asked India to supply the rover component. ISRO had already been conducting some prelimnary tests for indigenous rovers, and had proven its capabilities with the Impactor in the Chandrayaan-1 mission.

As a result, ISRO undertook a review of the entire Chandrayaan-2 mission. The integrated review recommended that India could provide both the lander as well as the rover components, given a few years. The orbiter was reconfigured to accommodate the Indian made lander and rover, and the particular scientific payloads on board were finalised.

In August 2013, in a letter responding to a question raised at the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office: “Chandrayaan-2 would be a lone mission by India without Russian tie-up.” Russia is still involved in minor ways with the mission though. A Russian company, isotope has provided for one of the scientific instruments on board the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

The Orbiter and the Lander will be stacked together and will be injected into an “Earth Parking Orbit”. After going around the Earth several times, the Orbiter will be inserted into an extremely elliptical Lunar orbit, which will be reduced to 100 km over the surface of the moon after a number of orbits. The orbiter will carry the Lander, with the Rover on board, from Earth orbit to Moon orbit. The orbiter will survey the landing site before deploying the lander.

The primary structure of the orbiter has been constructed, and has been delivered to the integration team in 2015 itself. The integration teams adds in all the components, scientific payloads and sensors to the orbiter. The actual payloads are an effort that involves many facilities across the nation, and are expected to be integrated in the first quarter of 2017. The interface between the orbiter and the launch vehicle has also been completed.

The configuration of the Lander for a soft and safe landing on the Lunar surface has been completed. The payload configuration, and the manner in which the Lander will be attached to the Orbiter has been finalised. The lander craft will have a propulsion system on board, which will de-boost the spacecraft during the surface landing.

The lander also has legs, which will deploy during the landing. The legs have been engineered, and drop tests on a single leg conducted. A facility has been established at the Lunar Test Facility in Chitradurga, just for further drop tests of the lander legs.


The lander will have on board a radio altimeter, a pattern detection camera and a laser inertial reference and accelerometer package (LIRAP). These three components have already been tested. A system demonstration module (SDM) for evaluation the propulsion system on the lander, the Lander Actuator Performance TEST (LSPT) and the electrical packages for the Lander are in the advanced stages of realization.

The Rover is a six wheeled vehicle that will have on board software that will allow it to roam the surface of the moon in a semi-autonomous manner. ISRO will be providing partial command and control instructions from the ground.

The rover has on board a navigation camera, an inclinometer, and a dedicated imager for capturing pictures of the lunar surface. The three systems have been tested and integrated. The rover will transmit back data from the lunar surface, but there are no plans to actually collect samples of soil, rock or moondust.
The Rover is being tested at a special facility in Bengaluru, where ISRO has created the kind of soft soil with fine particles that is expected to be on the Moon. Tests are underway to evaluate the way in which the wheels of the rover interact with the soil.

The bits and pieces that make up the Chandrayaan-2 mission come from various ISRO and government facilities around the country. The Physical Research Laboratory is an autonomous unit under the department of space in Ahmedabad. PRL is actively participating in ISRO’s PLANEX mission, and is developing several of the scientific payloads to be used in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

One of the two instruments on board the rover to analyse rock and soil samples on the lunar surface is known as the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). The PRL is developing and testing the APXS, which uses X-rays to analyse the samples.

The Space Astronomy Group (SAG) at ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru is developing a Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) for the Chandrayaan-2 mission. The Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram is developing three payloads for the Chandrayaan-2 mission. These are the CHandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2), Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiments (ChaSTE), and Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hyper Atmosphere and ionosphere (RAMBHA).

The Systems Reliability Group is a part of the Space Application Centre, which has its headquarters in Ahmedabad, and is responsible for development and testing of the camera module on the Rover. The same facility is also responsible for creation of the software to be used on the rover. The software includes the capabilities for the rover to operate in a semi-autonomous fashion.

The Aerial Services & Digital Mapping Area is a part of the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO. The facility specialises in end to end cutting edge solutions for aerial photography. The AS&DMA is conducting airborne tests in Chitradurga for over the simulated lunar terrain with artificial craters, for some sensors proposed to be included on board the lander.

Partners from the private industry have provided some of the sensors and optics on board the Chandrayaan-2.

The mission is entirely indigenous, and is more of a technological mission than a scientific one. The primary goal is to test the soft landing capabilities, as well as the semi-autonomous movement of the Rover. The mission has deepened the links between the space agency and the private industry, and has fostered the creation of many new indigenous technologies. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will allow ISRO to take its scientific studies of the moon to the next level. The scientific goals of the mission include analysing the surface samples, and to learn more about the origin and evolution of the Moon.

Before Chandrayaan-2, ISRO has another exciting Indian moon mission scheduled. At the end of 2017 team Hakuto from Japan and Team Indus from India will both make an attempt at the Lunar XPRIZE by landing a rover on the moon. The two teams will rideshare on an ISRO PSLV rocket scheduled for a dec 2017 launch. The first private Indian company to reach the moon is expected to do so just before Republic Day, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/614089/isro-braces-tame-monster-rocket.html

An indigenous rocket as heavy as 200 full-grown Asian elephants could well be the one taking "Indians into space from Indian soil" as the country inches closer to joining the big boy's space club.

Standing tall on the rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is the country's latest rocket called the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk- III), the heaviest rocket ever made by India that is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites till now.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) enters into a bold new world muscling its way to make its mark in the world's heavy weight multi-billion dollar launch market. "We are pushing ourselves to the limits to ensure that this new fully self-reliant Indian rocket succeeds in its maiden launch," ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar said.

It is the maiden experimental launch of GSLV-Mk III earlier named Launch Vehicle Mark-3, but if all goes on well in a decade or after a slew of at least half a dozen successful launches, this rocket could be India's vehicle of choice to launch "Indians into space, from Indian soil using Indian rockets".

This heavy lift rocket is capable of placing up to 8 tons in a low Earth orbit, enough to carry India's crew module. ISRO has already prepared plans of hoisting a 2-3 member human crew into space as soon as the government gives it a sanction of about 3-4 billion dollars.

If the human venture materialises, India would become only the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to have a human space flight program. Incidentally ISRO asserts the first Indian to go into space could well be a woman!

"In principle, it will be the GSLV Mk-3 or its variant that will be human rated in future," Kumar confirms.

In the intense pre-monsoon heat, India's rocket port is buzzing with feverish activity as engineers from the Indian space agency get set to launch an all new indigenously-made rocket. It is the heaviest fully-functional rocket to reach the launch pad weighing 640 tons or almost 5 times the weight of a fully loaded Jumbo Jet airplane.

The new rocket is capable of carrying satellites of four ton class into the geosynchronous orbit and opens a whole new window through which ISRO can now explore the universe. It is estimated that the new rocket costs a whopping Rs 300 crore but the country would end up saving almost as much when an Indian launcher is used to place New Delhi's communication satellites.

Today India uses the French Ariane-5 rocket launched from Kourou in South America to place its heavy 4 ton class of communication satellites. Kumar asserts that the GSLV-Mk III is a rocket designed and made in India from scratch and hence engineers from ISRO are very keen to tame this new monster in its very first attempt.

Not an easy task, since India's track record suggests that maiden launches of its rockets often end up in failure.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) failed on its maiden launch in 1993 and since then it has had 38 consecutively successful launches and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-1 (GSLV Mk-1) failed in 2001 and since then it has 11 launches with half of them successful.

Space fairing is a very risky business and all nations the US, France and Japan and even the new private companies have had failures in recent times like the spectacular Falcon-9 rocket in 2016. Hopefully, the GSLV-Mk III will break that jinx.

India already has two operational rockets -- the workhorse PSLV that can hoist satellites of 1.5 tons into space and was the preferred vehicle for India's maiden mission to Moon and Mars.

The second -- the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II can hoist 2 ton class of satellites and because of its repeated failures it was dubbed 'the naughty boy of ISRO'.

Between them, ISRO has done 50 launches and recently even earned a world record by successfully placing 104 satellites in orbit. The new GSLV-Mk III is an all new vehicle designed and developed in India and in 2014 a sub-orbital successful test of this vehicle was conducted to understand how it performs in the atmosphere.

The rocket never went into space but helped test India's future astronaut capsule. It had a dummy cryogenic engine and was a single stage vehicle.

Even though the GSLV-Mk III is 43-m-tall, making it the shortest of the three big Indian rockets, it carries a huge punch as it weighs almost 1.5 times heavier than India's next biggest rocket the GSLV Mk-2 and almost twice as heavy as India's PSLV. This monster rocket has an elegant design and is capable of carrying loads equal to the weight of two sports utility vehicles or SUVs into space.

The massive first stage along with strap-on boosters weighs 610 tons and comprises multiple engines all firing nearly simultaneously. It is the second stage which is all together a new animal for this mammoth rocket, it is a novel Indian cryogenic engine that weighs about 30 tons.

The new cryogenic engine is being tested on a fully functional rocket for the first time and it is the development of this technology that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellant is what took more than 15 years for Indians to master.

There is a lot of excitement at the rocket port as Kumar says "a whole new rocket and an entirely new class of a high through put satellite system is all set to be launched".


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## Hindustani78

The GSLV-Mk III at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota. | Photo Credit: PTI
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...gslv-mk-iii/article18614412.ece?homepage=true

* The GSLV-Mk III-D1 launcher would carry GSAT-19 satellite which has a mass of 3,200 kg. *
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III), the heaviest rocket ever made by India and capable of carrying large payloads, is set for launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on June 5, 2017.

Here are a few facts you need to know about the rocket.

1. GSKV-Mk III is capable of launching four-tonne satellites in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

2. The rocket is also capable of placing up to eight tonnes in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), enough to carry a manned module.

3. GSLV-Mk III’s first developmental flight, D1, will carry on June 5 the GSAT-19 satellite — developed to help improve telecommunication and broadcasting areas.

4. This is India’s first fully functional rocket to be tested with a cryogenic engine that uses liquid propellants — liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.


5. It took about 25 years, 11 flights and over 200 tests on different components of the rocket for it to be fully realised.

6. The 640-tonne rocket, equal to the weight of 200 fully-grown Asian elephants, is the country’s heaviest but shortest rocket with a height of 43 metre.

7. GSLV-Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with two solid motor strap-ons (S200), a liquid propellant core stage (L110) and a cryogenic stage (C-25).

8. ISRO successfully conducted the static test of its largest solid booster S200 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota on January 24, 2010. The successful test of S200, which forms the strap-on stage for the GSLV, makes it the third largest solid booster in the world. The static test of liquid core stage (L110) of GSLV-Mk III launch vehicle was done at ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre test facility as early as March 2010.

9. C-25, the large cryogenic upper stage of the GSLV, is the most difficult component of the launch vehicle to be developed. ISRO successfully ground-tested the indigenously developed C-25 on February 18, 2017.

10. If successful, the GSLV-Mk III — earlier named as Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM-3 — could be India’s vehicle of choice to launch people into space.

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## halflife

Rather than people into space , it should be used to augment the number of transponders in space as we are 100s short.
No need to pay ESA 650 cr rupees to launch our communication sats.


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## Hindustani78

*The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV) Mark-III in the first week of June. GSLV Mark-III will be India’s most powerful launch vehicle built to lift the heaviest Indian communications satellites to space. It can put satellites weighing 4 tonnes in space, double the weight that the current GSLV-Mark-II can lift. (courtesy-ISRO)*





*A side view of the fully integrated GSLV-Mark III carrying GSAT-19 at the second launch pad.The new rocket is capable of carrying two times more weight into space than its predecessors. (courtesy-ISRO)*




*Seen above, the GSLV rocket at the cyrogenic stage inside a preparation facility. A Cryogenic rocket stage is more efficient and provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns. (courtesy-ISRO)*




*Mastering the cyrogenic technology, which relies on liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, took more than 15 years for Indian scientists. (courtesy-ISRO)*





*The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-3) is the heaviest rocket the space center has made, weighing about 705 tonnes. (courtesy-ISRO)*




*The GSLV undergoing tests inside a compact facility. Isro earned a world record in February after successfully placing 104 satellites in orbit. (courtesy-ISRO)*




*The under progress rocket at a developmental facility. The new rocket is estimated to have cost around Rs 300 crores but could also result in equally high savings in the future. (courtesy-ISRO)*




*Isro has already prepared plans for sending a human crew into space as soon as the government approves a budget of 3-4 billion dollars. India would then become only the fourth country after Russia, the US, and China to have successfully launched a human space flight program. (courtesy-ISRO)*

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## Hindustani78

The fully integrated GSLV-Mk III-D1 carrying GSAT-19 at the second launch in Sriharikota.

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## punit

update ? @gslv @nair


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## Gessler

punit said:


> update ? @gslv @nair



Launch is at around 5:30 PM local time. Live broadcast on DD National will start at around 5 I think. I'm already watching the Youtube live link.


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## aswin




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## punit

Gessler said:


> Launch is at around 5:30 PM local time. Live broadcast on DD National will start at around 5 I think. I'm already watching the Youtube live link.


keep it updated !


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## aswin

http://cdn.24fd.com/events/isro/050617/gsat19/index.html


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## proud_indian

http://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-mk-iii-d1-gsat-19-launch-live


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## lover



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## samy1618

I have tears in my eyes by seeing the launch culminating to a greater good of India.. I am still in trance...

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
05-June, 2017 20:15 IST
*First Developmental Flight of India's GSLV Mk III Successfully launches GSAT-19 Satellite *

The first developmental flight (GSLV MkIII-D1) of India's heavy lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III was successfully conducted today (June 05, 2017) evening from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota with the launch of GSAT-19 satellite. This was the first orbital mission of GSLV MkIII which was mainly intended to evaluate the vehicle performance including that of its fully indigenous cryogenic upper stage during the flight. Weighing 3136 kg at lift-off, GSAT-19 is the heaviest satellite launched from the Indian soil. 

After a twenty five and a half hour smooth countdown, the mission began with the launch of the 640 ton GSLV Mk-III at 5:28 pm IST from the Second Launch Pad as scheduled with the ignition of its two S200 solid strap-on boosters. Following this, the major phases of the flight occurred as scheduled. The upper stage of GSLV MkIII vehicle is a new cryogenic stage (C25) indigenously configured, designed and realised by ISRO. The cryogenic stage used liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen as propellants with a total loading of 28 tons. The stage is powered by a 20 ton thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) operating on ‘gas generator cycle’. The performance of the engine and stage during the mission was as predicted. About sixteen minutes after lift-off, GSAT-19 satellite was successfully placed in orbit. 

Soon after its separation from GSLV, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka assumed control of the satellite. GSAT-19 is a high throughput communication satellite. 

In the coming days, GSAT-19 orbit will be raised from its present Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. During the final phase of this operation, the solar panels and antenna reflectors of the satellite will be deployed. The satellite will be commissioned into service after its positioning in the designated slot in the GSO following in-orbit testing of its payloads. 

***************
____________
President's Secretariat05-June, 2017 18:15 IST
*President of India congratulates ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV-MK III *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of the indigenous Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) carrying GSAT-19 satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

In a message to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission & Chairman, ‘ISRO’, the President has said, “My heartiest congratulations to you and the entire team at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on the historic launch of the indigenous Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) carrying GSAT-19 satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The GSLV-Mk III is the heaviest rocket ever made by India and is capable of carrying the heaviest satellites made till date. The nation is proud of this significant achievement.

Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this mission. I wish the ISRO continued success in the coming years”.

*****

Vice President's Secretariat
05-June, 2017 18:52 IST
*Vice President congratulates ISRO team on successful launch of GSLV-Mk III *

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the successful launch of GSLV-Mk III carrying GSAT-19 communication satellite. In a message, he said that the successful launch of the indigenously developed heavy lift space vehicle, including the cryogenic stage, demonstrates India’s ability to launch large payloads.

Following is the text of Vice President’s message: 

“I offer my congratulations to the Scientists, Engineers and Technicians of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) carrying the GSAT-19 communications satellite, which augments our telecommunications capacity and allows the conduct of several scientific experiments.

The successful launch of the indigenously developed heavy lift space vehicle, including the cryogenic stage, demonstrates India’s ability to launch large payloads and opens up the possibility of increased space exploration and its utilization for the benefit of humanity.

The flawless launch once again showcases India’s capabilities in the field of space sciences and related technologies. I wish ISRO all the very best for the future.”

*****

Prime Minister's Office
05-June, 2017 18:35 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission*


The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission.

“Congratulations to the dedicated scientists of ISRO for the successful launch of GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission.

The GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud,” the Prime Minister said. ***

AKT/SH


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## Pyr0test

Piss poor payload for a rocket this size, other rockets with similar mass carries alot more. What gives?

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## ashok321

Pyr0test said:


> Piss poor payload for a rocket this size, other rockets with similar mass carries alot more. What gives?



Progress is always tardy in India.
By the time India reaches certain milestone, its too late already, because there are always new entrants in the field with new hardware.

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## dreamer4eva

Pyr0test said:


> Piss poor payload for a rocket this size, other rockets with similar mass carries alot more. What gives?



India is a developing country and they are doing lots of things for the first time, in short, its still in learning not consolidation mode. It had to encounter lots of brain drain, lack of government empathy especially in regards to R&D funding, maturity of opposition for both major political parties. Furthermore, it’s a democracy, and people with vested interests use judiciary and media to promote their agendas. Some of these things not directly related to your payload comment, however, these things do hinder the intent to do bigger and better things. IMO, India will take another 15-20 years and then they would be position to do things which are truly innovative.

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## DrasticMeasure

Liftoff narmalllll


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## assassin123

Onboard camera footage from GSLV launch.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...pad-at-kulasekarapattinam/article18731683.ece

* ‘Successful launch of GSLV Mk III-D1, a red letter day in space calendar’ *
THOOTHUKUDI

A study is on for establishing a rocket launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam, said P.V. Venkitakrishnan, Director of ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, here on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at Thoothukudi airport, he said the successful launch of GSLV Mk III-D1 was a red letter day in the space calendar. More importantly, the rocket achieved success in its maiden launch, unlike SLV, ASLV and PSLV that met encountered snags.

Referring to the role of Mahendragiri Propulsion Complex in the launch, he said all test beds were available in Mahendragiri and equipment such as turbo pump, fuel and oxygen pumps and gas generator were assembled and the engine was integrated before executing the hot test.

Currently, a semi cryo engine was being developed in Mahendragiri and it could be made operational by using purified and highly refined kerosene. Scientists, he said, were planning to replace liquid hydrogen with the isrosene (refined kerosene). The semi cryo engine would be integrated in the test bed and would successfully emerge in three or four years, he said.

Moreover, he said soft landing test for Chandrayaan-2 was in progress at Mahendragiri.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...t-for-india/article18717513.ece?homepage=true

The heavy-lift GSLV Mark III rocket, slated to be launched by space agency ISRO tomorrow, would open up opportunities for India to launch 4-ton class of satellites of foreign countries, according to a senior space scientist.

Tomorrow’s launch of the first developmental flight of the rocket is a “great milestone” as ISRO is almost doubling the capacity to launch satellite from 2.2-2.3 tons to 3.5-4 tons, former ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.

“Today if India has to launch communication satellites beyond 2.3 tons, we have to go abroad (to launch them). We (will) have self-reliance in launching communication satellites (once GSLV Mk III becomes operational), and also we will be able to attract foreign customers,” he said.

“It’s rather a simpler vehicle, and a vehicle with better payload fraction. And it’s going to be future workhorse vehicle (of ISRO),” he said.

Mr. Radhakrishnan was closely associated with the GSLV Mk III programme, approved in 2000, as director of VSSC (Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre) and then chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is now an adviser to ISRO.

“We are getting into the next level of capacity. PSLV is a stable line at the moment. GSLV is better than that. Here we are getting into a vehicle which is going to be more cost-effective.

“And there is a lot of opportunity to launch communication satellites of India as well those of other countries because 4-ton is a good range for communication satellites,” he told PTI in a telephonic interview.

“It should open up (international market for ISRO). After a couple of developmental flights to establish, I am sure there will be opportunities for launching even foreign communication satellites,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said.

GSLV Mk III can launch normal communication satellites that are in the market.

“If you look at the global communication satellite scenario, it has gone up to 6 to 6.5 tons at the moment...that’s the high power satellite but much of the volume is used for...and mass also for propellants for keeping long life of satellite.”

“If the satellites switch over to electric propulsion from chemical propulsion, the mass could be kept at 4-ton level. From that scenario, GSLV has a long operational life and there are opportunities for launching communication satellites of India and other countries,” he said.

“Comparable vehicle (for GSLV Mk III) today is Ariane-6 which is getting developed in Europe. That’s for about 6.5 tons. Once chemical propulsion of the satellites is replaced by the electric propulsion for which work is going on, then they will also come down in mass.

“GSLV Mk III will be a candidate for them (foreign customers) to consider. Mass is an issue for communication satellites. People are trying to bring in electric propulsion,” the eminent scientist said.


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## X_Killer

Pyr0test said:


> Piss poor payload for a rocket this size, other rockets with similar mass carries alot more. What gives?


I smell something like burning 
Please check out your surroundings.

ISRO is in advanced stages of semicryogenic Engine which will exponential reduce rocket weight and increase in loading capacity.
It'll Lift-off by 2020.


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## Pyr0test

X_Killer said:


> ISRO is in advanced stages of semicryogenic Engine which will exponential reduce rocket weight and increase in loading capacity.
> It'll Lift-off by 2020.



So semi cryogenic = lox/rp-1?. All the best to Indian scientists then


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## Han Patriot

Pyr0test said:


> So semi cryogenic = lox/rp-1?. All the best to Indian scientists then


I think China is already using it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YF-100

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## ranadd

Han Patriot said:


> I think China is already using it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YF-100



Yes.

China is around 10 years ahead of India in almost all economical & technical achievements. So....


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## ranadd

Han Patriot said:


> After visiting Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, I think it's more like 25 years.


 
That is pushing it. Even 15 I can agree. 25 is your wishful thinking. India does not concentrate development as you chinese. There will be no sky scrapers as you hope.

Also, remember India is what today mainly on domestic consumption. Not like external exports like china.

EDIT: I been to north-western parts of China. So please, dont take the argument too far. I know what China is very well.

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## Han Patriot

ranadd said:


> That is pushing it. Even 15 I can agree. 25 is your wishful thinking. India does not concentrate development as you chinese. There will be no sky scrapers as you hope.
> 
> Also, remember India is what today mainly on domestic consumption. Not like external exports like china.
> 
> EDIT: I been to north-western parts of China. So please, dont take the argument too far. I know what China is very well.


I don't want to argue and make this an economics thread, but I highly doubt you've ever been to China.

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## amardeep mishra

India for all intent and purposes is like 10-15 years behind china in "infrastructure related indices". Indian govt would have to spend an aweful lot of money to bring Indian infrastructure at par with china's. No matter what we wish or other's wish, this will only change in a short span of time if any autoritarian leader remains in delhi for decent time span.


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## ashok321

*ISRO is getting its heaviest rocket ready for human space flight, reveals former chief*


HYDERABAD: ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of its GSLV-Mk III so that it can use this heaviest rocket for human space flight mission once government approval comes, a top scientist said here. 

GSLV-Mk III is really the vehicle that will be the workhorse in the coming years for primarily launching geo-synchronous missions and also very heavy spacecraft in near-earth missions, K Kasturirangan, former chief of ISRO, told PTI. 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) earlier this week successfully launched from the Sriharikota spaceport, the first developmental flight of GSLV-MK III, capable of launching four-ton class satellites. 

*"ISRO is in the process of further improving the capability of this vehicle. It could go up to a ten-ton kind of capability," *said Kasturirangan. 

It was during his tenure as ISRO Chairman the GSLV-Mk III was configured and the programme secured approval by the Space Commission in the early part of the previous decade. 

"So, this will be a level of vehicle which India will use for most of the requirements of geo-synchronous missions. It can take to up to four tons and, hopefully with improvements in some of the areas, one can go even beyond four tons," he said. 

"With this we want to build our communication satellites. So, it's very tailored for future communication satellites to be launched by India. We will not have to depend on any other foreign launch agency," according to him. 

*Kasturirangan said ISRO is trying to do a "man-rating sort of thing" (or human rating), which is a certification of a spacecraft or launch vehicle as worthy of transporting humans. *

So as and when there is a need and the country takes a decision on going for human space flight, it would have an "autonomous ability" to access the space through this vehicle in those missions, he said 

"Certainly, it's a very elegantly-configured system (GSLV-Mk III). I am sure this will certainly serve us for a long time to come in the context of a variety of missions and also make us much more self-reliant in respect to accessing space," he said. 

On opportunities for ISRO to tap into the market of launching four-ton class satellites from foreign customers, Kasturirangan said: "I am sure India will be one of the important contenders for taking some share of the market. India can provide a competitive market for that kind of launches with GSLV Mk III". 

*But he was quick to add that New Delhi would have competitors from (launch vehicle providers in) France, (some other parts of) Europe, the United States, China and Russia. 

"There are contenders...many of them are established over the years. At this stage, we have to explore the market and slowly get into it," Kasturirangan said. *

He, however, added that foreign customers find working with Indians for launch services a "very good experience" given their culture and attitude, which are appreciated by many countries.

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## ashok321

*Lets not brag we Indians!
Lets listen to our own head of ISRO!
There are several countries who are more advanced than India in space tech!
India is not a king of space!
Why brag man?













But he was quick to add that New Delhi would have competitors from (launch vehicle providers in) France, (some other parts of) Europe, the United States, China and Russia. 

"There are contenders...many of them are established over the years. At this stage, we have to explore the market and slowly get into it," Kasturirangan said.

Click to expand...

*


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## Kamikaze Pilot

Indians have been barging about how indigenous indian missile technology is while Pak's is just copy of everything. Infact both india and pak have no indigenous missile technology. Without foreigner input both countries program are non existent.

Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control - Stopping Arms Proliferation at the Source






*Missile Helpers*

India did not build its missiles alone. The world's leading rocket producers gave essential help in research, development, and manufacture.
*
France*

* Licensed production of sounding rockets in India
* Supplied the liquid-fuel Viking rocket engine, now the "Vikas" engine of the PSLV second stage
* Tested Indian-produced Vikas engine in France

*Germany*

* Delivered measurement and calibration equipment to ISRO laboratories
* Trained Indians in high-altitude tests of rocket motors and in glass and carbon fiber composites for rocket engine housings, nozzles and nose cones
* Designed high-altitude rocket test facilities
* Conducted wind tunnel tests for SLV-3 rocket
* Developed radio frequency interferometer for rocket guidance
* Developed computers for rocket payload guidance based on U.S. microprocessor
* Supplied documentation for a filament-winding machine to make rocket engine nozzles and housings
* Helped build Vikas rocket engine test facilities
* Designed hypersonic wind tunnel and heat transfer facilities
* Supplied rocket motor segment rings for PSLV

*Russia*

* Supplied surface-to-air missiles which became the models for the Prithvi missile and the second stage of the Agni medium-range missile
* Sold seven cryogenic rocket engines

*United Kingdom*

* Supplied components for Imarat Research Center, home to the Agni missile
* Supplied magnetrons for radar guidance and detonation systems to Defense Research and Development Laboratory

*United States*

* Launched U.S.-built rockets from Thumba test range
* Trained Dr. Abdul Kalam, designer of the Agni
* Introduced India to the Scout rocket, the model for the SLV-3 rocket and the Agni first stage
* Sent technical reports on the Scout rocket to Homi Bhabha, the head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission
* Sold equipment that can simulate vibrations on a warhead





The Link Between Space Launch and Missile Technology


Presentation by Gary Milhollin
at the
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

Honolulu, Hawaii


March 16, 2000


Introduction - History

The nuclear and missile arms race in South Asia is getting a lot of attention since the test explosions in 1998. The history of missile development there illustrates the close connection between space launch and missile technology.

In 1963, NASA began the Indian rocket program. NASA launched a U.S. sounding rocket from India's first test range, which the United States helped design. We also trained the first groups of Indian rocket scientists. NASA invited them to NASA's Wallops Island test site located southeast of Washington, DC in Virginia.

While at NASA, Mr. A.P. Kalam, a member of the Indian delegation, learned about the U.S. Scout rocket, which was being flown at Wallops Island. The Scout was the only four-stage, solid-fueled, small payload space launcher in the world. Indian engineers saw the Scout's blueprints during their visit. Two years later, the head of India's Atomic Energy Commission asked NASA for design information about the Scout. Mr. Kalam then proceeded to build India's first big rocket, the SLV-3, which became the only other four-stage, solid-fueled, small payload space launcher in the world. It was an exact copy of the Scout. The first stage of the Scout then became the first stage of India's first large ballistic missile, the Agni-I. The Agni-I's second stage was liquid-fueled, and was based on a surface-to-air missile called the SA-2 that India bought from Russia.
France also helped India master liquid-fuel technology by selling India the technology used to build the "Viking" engine used on the Ariane space launcher. India calls its version the "Vikas." The Agni also needed a guidance system. The German Space Agency obliged with a long tutorial in rocket guidance, which allowed India to develop a guidance system and learn how to produce its components (gyroscopes, accelerometers and so forth). The German Space Agency also tested a model of the first stage of the SLV-3 in one of its wind tunnels in Cologne and helped India build its own rocket test facilities. Germany also trained Indians in how to make composite materials.

Thus, India's biggest nuclear-capable missile is an international product. Under the mantle of peaceful space cooperation, the United States, France and Germany all helped create the most advanced nuclear missile in South Asia.

The story in Pakistan is similar. NASA launched Pakistan's first rocket in 1962. Pakistan's project was also led by the head of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission. We must wonder what was going through NASA's mind at this time - it keeps getting requests for space cooperation from the heads of atomic energy commissions. Apparently NASA thought this was normal. NASA also trained Pakistani rocket scientists at Wallops Island, and launched rockets in Pakistan until 1970.

_________________________________


Testimony of Gary Milhollin

Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School and
Director, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

Before the House Committee on Science

June 25, 1998

I am pleased to appear today before this distinguished Committee. In accordance with the Committee's request, I will discuss the U.S. policy of cooperation with foreign space programs and the risk that this cooperation could contribute to the spread of missile technology.

Helping India and Pakistan

I would like to begin with a bit of history. There is an important lesson to be learned about the origin of India's largest nuclear-capable missile, the "Agni."

In November 1963, NASA began the Indian space program by launching a U.S. rocket from Indian soil. Between 1963 and 1975, more than 350 U.S., French, Soviet and British rockets were launched from India's new Thumba Range, which the United States helped design. Thumba's first group of Indian engineers learned rocket launching and range operation from the United States.

Among these engineers was A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the Agni missile's chief designer. After the Indian nuclear tests last month, he was also hailed as the "father" of the Indian atomic bomb. In 1963-64, he spent four months in training in the United States. He visited NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, where the U.S. Scout rocket was conceived, and the Wallops Island Flight Center in Virginia, where the Scout was being flown. The Scout was a four-stage, solid-fueled launcher used to orbit small payloads. It was also used to test the performance of reentry vehicles--a technology necessary to deliver nuclear warheads. According to NASA officials, the Indian engineers saw the blueprints of the Scout during their visit.

In 1965, the Indian government asked NASA for design information about the Scout. The request should have raised some eyebrows. It came from the head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission. Nevertheless, NASA obligingly supplied the information. Kalam then proceeded to build India's first big rocket, the SLV-3, which was an exact copy of the Scout. The first stage of the SLV-3 is now the first stage of the Agni missile.

The second stage of the Agni is based on a surface-to-air missile known as the SA-2 that India bought from Russia. But in order to build the second stage, India also had to learn about liquid propulsion. For this, India turned to France. The French willingly transferred the technology needed to build a powerful liquid-fueled rocket motor called the "Viking," which powers the European Space Agency's Ariane satellite launcher. Thus, India learned how to build the first stage of the Agni from the United States, and how to build the second stage from France and Russia. The U.S. and French help was supposed to be for peaceful space exploration, but it wound up helping India's missile program.

The Agni also needed a guidance system. For this, India turned to the German Space Agency. In the 1970s and 1980s, Germany conducted an intensive tutorial for India in rocket guidance. The assistance--once again--was supposed to be for peaceful space exploration. But each step in the process for building a guidance system for India's space launcher moved India further down the road to building a guidance system for the Agni missile. In fact, India seems to have invented a new term to describe its progress. Again and again, India's Department of Space, in its annual reports, announced that it was able to "indigenize" another piece of essential equipment.

Germany also provided other help. The German Space Agency tested a model of the first stage of the SLV-3 (identical to the Scout) in its wind tunnel at Cologne-Portz. That first stage is now the first stage of the Agni missile. The German Space Agency also helped India build rocket test facilities, and trained Indians in the use of the special composite materials needed to make rocket nozzles and nosecones. I have included a graphic and a table in my testimony that summarizes the extensive foreign help that India received.

Thus, India's biggest nuclear missile is an international product. Under the guise of peaceful space cooperation, the United States, France and Germany helped create the most advanced nuclear missile in South Asia. The Agni's first stage, second stage and guidance system all come from Western technology, which proves beyond any doubt that you cannot help a country build space launchers without helping it build missiles.

The story in Pakistan is similar. In 1962, NASA launched Pakistan's first rocket, a U.S. made Nike-Cajun, in a project led by Tariq Mustafa, the senior scientific officer of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. NASA also trained Pakistani rocket scientists at Wallops Island. Other NASA-sponsored launches followed until 1970. Thus, the first rockets in both India and Pakistan were launched by NASA under a policy of peaceful space cooperation. The result of that cooperation, however, has been long-range missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.

_________________________________-
Basically the brain of SLV and Agni are "German" R&D and proliferated by India.

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## Bharat Muslim

abcxyz0000 said:


> Indians have been barging about how indigenous indian missile technology is while Pak's is just copy of everything. Infact both india and pak have no indigenous missile technology. Without foreigner input both countries program are non existent.
> 
> Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control - Stopping Arms Proliferation at the Source
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Missile Helpers*
> 
> India did not build its missiles alone. The world's leading rocket producers gave essential help in research, development, and manufacture.
> *
> France*
> 
> * Licensed production of sounding rockets in India
> * Supplied the liquid-fuel Viking rocket engine, now the "Vikas" engine of the PSLV second stage
> * Tested Indian-produced Vikas engine in France
> 
> *Germany*
> 
> * Delivered measurement and calibration equipment to ISRO laboratories
> * Trained Indians in high-altitude tests of rocket motors and in glass and carbon fiber composites for rocket engine housings, nozzles and nose cones
> * Designed high-altitude rocket test facilities
> * Conducted wind tunnel tests for SLV-3 rocket
> * Developed radio frequency interferometer for rocket guidance
> * Developed computers for rocket payload guidance based on U.S. microprocessor
> * Supplied documentation for a filament-winding machine to make rocket engine nozzles and housings
> * Helped build Vikas rocket engine test facilities
> * Designed hypersonic wind tunnel and heat transfer facilities
> * Supplied rocket motor segment rings for PSLV
> 
> *Russia*
> 
> * Supplied surface-to-air missiles which became the models for the Prithvi missile and the second stage of the Agni medium-range missile
> * Sold seven cryogenic rocket engines
> 
> *United Kingdom*
> 
> * Supplied components for Imarat Research Center, home to the Agni missile
> * Supplied magnetrons for radar guidance and detonation systems to Defense Research and Development Laboratory
> 
> *United States*
> 
> * Launched U.S.-built rockets from Thumba test range
> * Trained Dr. Abdul Kalam, designer of the Agni
> * Introduced India to the Scout rocket, the model for the SLV-3 rocket and the Agni first stage
> * Sent technical reports on the Scout rocket to Homi Bhabha, the head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission
> * Sold equipment that can simulate vibrations on a warhead
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Link Between Space Launch and Missile Technology
> 
> 
> Presentation by Gary Milhollin
> at the
> Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies
> 
> Honolulu, Hawaii
> 
> 
> March 16, 2000
> 
> 
> Introduction - History
> 
> The nuclear and missile arms race in South Asia is getting a lot of attention since the test explosions in 1998. The history of missile development there illustrates the close connection between space launch and missile technology.
> 
> In 1963, NASA began the Indian rocket program. NASA launched a U.S. sounding rocket from India's first test range, which the United States helped design. We also trained the first groups of Indian rocket scientists. NASA invited them to NASA's Wallops Island test site located southeast of Washington, DC in Virginia.
> 
> While at NASA, Mr. A.P. Kalam, a member of the Indian delegation, learned about the U.S. Scout rocket, which was being flown at Wallops Island. The Scout was the only four-stage, solid-fueled, small payload space launcher in the world. Indian engineers saw the Scout's blueprints during their visit. Two years later, the head of India's Atomic Energy Commission asked NASA for design information about the Scout. Mr. Kalam then proceeded to build India's first big rocket, the SLV-3, which became the only other four-stage, solid-fueled, small payload space launcher in the world. It was an exact copy of the Scout. The first stage of the Scout then became the first stage of India's first large ballistic missile, the Agni-I. The Agni-I's second stage was liquid-fueled, and was based on a surface-to-air missile called the SA-2 that India bought from Russia.
> France also helped India master liquid-fuel technology by selling India the technology used to build the "Viking" engine used on the Ariane space launcher. India calls its version the "Vikas." The Agni also needed a guidance system. The German Space Agency obliged with a long tutorial in rocket guidance, which allowed India to develop a guidance system and learn how to produce its components (gyroscopes, accelerometers and so forth). The German Space Agency also tested a model of the first stage of the SLV-3 in one of its wind tunnels in Cologne and helped India build its own rocket test facilities. Germany also trained Indians in how to make composite materials.
> 
> Thus, India's biggest nuclear-capable missile is an international product. Under the mantle of peaceful space cooperation, the United States, France and Germany all helped create the most advanced nuclear missile in South Asia.
> 
> The story in Pakistan is similar. NASA launched Pakistan's first rocket in 1962. Pakistan's project was also led by the head of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission. We must wonder what was going through NASA's mind at this time - it keeps getting requests for space cooperation from the heads of atomic energy commissions. Apparently NASA thought this was normal. NASA also trained Pakistani rocket scientists at Wallops Island, and launched rockets in Pakistan until 1970.
> 
> _________________________________
> 
> 
> Testimony of Gary Milhollin
> 
> Professor, University of Wisconsin Law School and
> Director, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control
> 
> Before the House Committee on Science
> 
> June 25, 1998
> 
> I am pleased to appear today before this distinguished Committee. In accordance with the Committee's request, I will discuss the U.S. policy of cooperation with foreign space programs and the risk that this cooperation could contribute to the spread of missile technology.
> 
> Helping India and Pakistan
> 
> I would like to begin with a bit of history. There is an important lesson to be learned about the origin of India's largest nuclear-capable missile, the "Agni."
> 
> In November 1963, NASA began the Indian space program by launching a U.S. rocket from Indian soil. Between 1963 and 1975, more than 350 U.S., French, Soviet and British rockets were launched from India's new Thumba Range, which the United States helped design. Thumba's first group of Indian engineers learned rocket launching and range operation from the United States.
> 
> Among these engineers was A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the Agni missile's chief designer. After the Indian nuclear tests last month, he was also hailed as the "father" of the Indian atomic bomb. In 1963-64, he spent four months in training in the United States. He visited NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, where the U.S. Scout rocket was conceived, and the Wallops Island Flight Center in Virginia, where the Scout was being flown. The Scout was a four-stage, solid-fueled launcher used to orbit small payloads. It was also used to test the performance of reentry vehicles--a technology necessary to deliver nuclear warheads. According to NASA officials, the Indian engineers saw the blueprints of the Scout during their visit.
> 
> In 1965, the Indian government asked NASA for design information about the Scout. The request should have raised some eyebrows. It came from the head of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission. Nevertheless, NASA obligingly supplied the information. Kalam then proceeded to build India's first big rocket, the SLV-3, which was an exact copy of the Scout. The first stage of the SLV-3 is now the first stage of the Agni missile.
> 
> The second stage of the Agni is based on a surface-to-air missile known as the SA-2 that India bought from Russia. But in order to build the second stage, India also had to learn about liquid propulsion. For this, India turned to France. The French willingly transferred the technology needed to build a powerful liquid-fueled rocket motor called the "Viking," which powers the European Space Agency's Ariane satellite launcher. Thus, India learned how to build the first stage of the Agni from the United States, and how to build the second stage from France and Russia. The U.S. and French help was supposed to be for peaceful space exploration, but it wound up helping India's missile program.
> 
> The Agni also needed a guidance system. For this, India turned to the German Space Agency. In the 1970s and 1980s, Germany conducted an intensive tutorial for India in rocket guidance. The assistance--once again--was supposed to be for peaceful space exploration. But each step in the process for building a guidance system for India's space launcher moved India further down the road to building a guidance system for the Agni missile. In fact, India seems to have invented a new term to describe its progress. Again and again, India's Department of Space, in its annual reports, announced that it was able to "indigenize" another piece of essential equipment.
> 
> Germany also provided other help. The German Space Agency tested a model of the first stage of the SLV-3 (identical to the Scout) in its wind tunnel at Cologne-Portz. That first stage is now the first stage of the Agni missile. The German Space Agency also helped India build rocket test facilities, and trained Indians in the use of the special composite materials needed to make rocket nozzles and nosecones. I have included a graphic and a table in my testimony that summarizes the extensive foreign help that India received.
> 
> Thus, India's biggest nuclear missile is an international product. Under the guise of peaceful space cooperation, the United States, France and Germany helped create the most advanced nuclear missile in South Asia. The Agni's first stage, second stage and guidance system all come from Western technology, which proves beyond any doubt that you cannot help a country build space launchers without helping it build missiles.
> 
> The story in Pakistan is similar. In 1962, NASA launched Pakistan's first rocket, a U.S. made Nike-Cajun, in a project led by Tariq Mustafa, the senior scientific officer of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. NASA also trained Pakistani rocket scientists at Wallops Island. Other NASA-sponsored launches followed until 1970. Thus, the first rockets in both India and Pakistan were launched by NASA under a policy of peaceful space cooperation. The result of that cooperation, however, has been long-range missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.
> 
> _________________________________-
> Basically the brain of SLV and Agni are "German" R&D and proliferated by India.


This post is not visible when we log out and watch the thread as guest.

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## Kamikaze Pilot

Some posts are not visible when we log out and watch the thread as guest.


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## ranadd

Han Patriot said:


> but I highly doubt you've ever been to China.



I highly doubt you can say anything about me.


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## Fledgingwings

The way I see ISRO and its all hoo haa is that one day ISRO will catapult this earth into heaven with Cow fuel.


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## Surya 1

ashok321 said:


> *Lets not brag we Indians!
> Lets listen to our own head of ISRO!
> There are several countries who are more advanced than India in space tech!
> India is not a king of space!
> Why brag man?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *


Name those several countries you false flagger.

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## Kinetic

ashok321 said:


> *Lets not brag we Indians!
> Lets listen to our own head of ISRO!
> There are several countries who are more advanced than India in space tech!
> India is not a king of space!
> Why brag man?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *




A false flag loser. lol


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## X_Killer

ranadd said:


> Yes.
> 
> China is around 10 years ahead of India in almost all economical & technical achievements. So....





Han Patriot said:


> After visiting Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, I think it's more like 25 years.


Recent technical achievements of China (may,17)
Chinese anti-aircraft gun breaks, kills 4 Indonesian soldiers in military exercise.

Keep it up and please don't make baseless and stupid comments anymore.
Try not to spoil this thread, try to keep it clean.

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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> Recent technical achievements of China (may,17)
> Chinese anti-aircraft gun breaks, kills 4 Indonesian soldiers in military exercise.
> 
> Keep it up and please don't make baseless and stupid comments anymore.
> Try not to spoil this thread, try to keep it clean.



You mean like this misfiring?
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/0...ers-feared-injured-during-misfiri_a_22109570/



> Malfunction of ordnance leading to casualties *isn't new for the Indian Army*.
> 
> At least *16 soldiers including officers and members of the Defence Security Corps died *when a fire broke out Central Ordnance Depot at Pulgaon in Maharashtra last July. Inquiries later showed that *faulty anti-tank mines *stored in the depot had caused the fire



http://sploid.gizmodo.com/russian-anti-aircraft-gun-malfunctions-almost-killing-e-1537110764

The same Tunguska you are using.


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## ranadd

X_Killer said:


> Recent technical achievements of China (may,17)
> Chinese anti-aircraft gun breaks, kills 4 Indonesian soldiers in military exercise.
> 
> Keep it up and please don't make baseless and stupid comments anymore.
> Try not to spoil this thread, try to keep it clean.



are you talking to me?


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## X_Killer

@ranadd 
I'm not exactly pointing you.
I only want to people get away from comparing cities on the basis of their buildings. Just like a fool from somewhere else is doing here.



Han Patriot said:


> You mean like this misfiring?


1st. That's not what we can call a misfire, its actually a Malfunction and it usually occurred due to bad manufacturing quality.

2nd You guys are in too much hurry for replying without reading the whole content of the message.

In my last comment, I request you , Not to spoil this thread by sharing off-Topic and more stupid facts just to defend your scrap.

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## Dark Lord Forever

ranadd said:


> China is around 10 years ahead of India in almost all economical & technical achievements. So....


Loos like you forgot to add a zero or maybe two



Han Patriot said:


> After visiting Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, I think it's more like 25 years.


Judging by current development, in 25 years there might not even be an India. Just bunch of small poor third world countries fighting with each other instead.


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## ranadd

X_Killer said:


> I only want to people get away from comparing cities on the basis of their buildings.



True.

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## X_Killer

*DID YOU KNOW ?*
The upper cryogenic stage of GSLV Mk-III is much more powerful than that of ESA's heavy lift Ariane 5 and Chinese Long March 3B.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ro-chairman/article18957145.ece?homepage=true

* ‘We need to build capacities in the organisation and the country,’ says A.S. Kiran Kumar *
_For space-faring nations, a launch vehicle — such as the all-Indian GSLV-MarkIII that was first flown on June 5 — is a vital tool for placing spacecraft in the sky. For India, the MkIII can lift four-tonne satellites with double the power of the older MkII rocket._

_In a short exchange over the phone, A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, explains what the new big rocket’s success means and what lies next. Edited excerpts:_

*How important for you has been the maiden success of your new launcher, GSLV MkIII? Could you please explain it beyond its four-tonne-lifting power?*
It is indeed a very significant development in the Indian space programme. It gives us a big push. We were short of this capacity for lifting our communication satellites. We had to go outside for our launches; and because of [the launch schedules of foreign space agencies] the pace at which we did our projects was getting affected. Cost was another deterrent for pushing things aggressively.

By achieving MkIII, we will be able to push confidently and launch many of our communication satellites faster and indigenously. We will do one more launch within a year and establish it systematically.

*The cost benefit ?*
I cannot give you the exact figures as they keep changing. But just to give you the example of last year’s INSAT-3DR, we were able to do both the satellite and launch it here for the cost of an earlier foreign launch.


*What would be next in your launcher-related activities? What is their status, schedule and the funds they need?*
First we need to consolidate the developments. Our immediate and main task remains how to streamline the realisation of our three launch vehicles PSLV, GSLV-MkII [two-tonne lifter] and the new GSLV-MkIII, sustain them and ensure the number of launchers we need to put the satellites in orbit. For MkII, our target is to do two launches a year. As it is, building its supply chain, managing it and ensuring the required supplies for it are all an effort. To that we will be adding the requirements for MkIII.

On the launch technology side, we will be looking at how to reduce the cost further — by adopting new mechanisms, materials and new capabilities. Including the reusable launch vehicle concept.


*You mentioned reusable technology to save costs. Where are we in that?*
Last year, we tried out the RLV-TD experiment [Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator]. We got a small, plane-like model to vertically land on water. Next we will look at landing it on the ground with a landing gear system. We are conceiving systems to work on the air breathing propulsion technology that will use atmospheric oxygen. For the present launch vehicles, we will look at recovering [and reusing] some parts.

*What is essential today for ISRO?*
To build capacities within the organisation and the country to meet the demands.

We have a significant shortage of satellites in space. If we have to roughly double the capacity of the spacecraft, we have to do as many launches and cost effectively. That is the prime driver.

Also, it is essential for a space agency to build new capabilities, constantly get new skills to do complex jobs and to do routine things better.


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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> *DID YOU KNOW ?*
> The upper cryogenic stage of GSLV Mk-III is much more powerful than that of ESA's heavy lift Ariane 5 and Chinese Long March 3B.


I am sure it's true since Ariane is launching the next few GSATs and China is launching 14 tonnes to GTO.

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## applesauce

Han Patriot said:


> I am sure it's true since Ariane is launching the next few GSATs and China is launching 14 tonnes to GTO.


both the Ariane 5 and long march 3b can put heavier payloads into orbit than GSLV Mk-III, that said GSLV Mk-III is within ballpark and perfectly suitable, with further testing and more launches to ensure safety, to be a manned rated launcher.


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> I am sure it's true since Ariane is launching the next few GSATs and China is launching 14 tonnes to GTO.


Long March 3b has GTO Capacity of 5.5 Tons.
Don't pretend to be a literate dumb person

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## DrasticMeasure

applesauce said:


> both the Ariane 5 and long march 3b can put heavier payloads into orbit than GSLV Mk-III, that said GSLV Mk-III is within ballpark and perfectly suitable, with further testing and more launches to ensure safety, to be a manned rated launcher.


Both Ariane 5 and LM 3B have achieved their full potential. The MK3 is a new rockets and hasnt achieved its full potential yet. Once the Semi-cryogenic engine is operational its LEO capacity will go upto 15 t.


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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> Long March 3b has GTO Capacity of 5.5 Tons.
> Don't pretend to be a literate dumb person


Why are you comparing to LM-3B? LM-5 is 14 tonnes, why are you afraid of the number? LOL.



DrasticMeasure said:


> Both Ariane 5 and LM 3B have achieved their full potential. The MK3 is a new rockets and hasnt achieved its full potential yet. Once the Semi-cryogenic engine is operational its LEO capacity will go upto 15 t.


Full potential, ISRO don't even dare to launch at 4 tonnes for this first launch. Why? Your next 3 tonnes plus is still gonna be launched by Ariane. LOL


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## NirmalKrish

Han Patriot said:


> What about copying Russian cryo engines, and paying for 'consultancy'?



We don't have the habit of copy past formula unlike our Chinese counterparts. So endorsing copyright and intellectual property law's or speaking about abiding by them is nothing but pure hypocrisy. Don't make your fool out of yourself anymore than you have already!

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## Han Patriot

NirmalKrish said:


> We don't have the habit of copy past formula unlike our Chinese counterparts. So endorsing copyright and intellectual property law's or speaking about abiding by them is nothing but pure hypocrisy. Don't make your fool out of yourself anymore than you have already!


Nah, you don't copy, you buy direct and then try to copy, when you fail, you pay money for Russian 'consultancy'. Such competence!

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## MULUBJA

X_Killer said:


> Long March 3b has GTO Capacity of 5.5 Tons.
> Don't pretend to be a literate dumb person



He is just hyping the figure by 3 times let him enjoy.



Han Patriot said:


> Full potential, ISRO don't even dare to launch at 4 tonnes for this first launch. Why? Your next 3 tonnes plus is still gonna be launched by Ariane. LOL



See you dumb, Satellite was not made to match the capacity of Launcher but launcher launch a satellite much lighter that what it can actually carry. We had said that GSLV MKII had 2 ton capacity but the last satellite we launched wa 2238 KB of weight. All our space launch vehicle can actually carry much havier payload than what is advertised. Our GSLV MK III can easily carry 4.5 ton at this stage and later on it will carry over 5 ton when we optimize current vehicle. When we shall use semi cryo, the figure shall jump anywhere between 8 to 10 tons in next 3 to 4 years.

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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> Why are you comparing to LM-3B? LM-5 is 14 tonnes, why are you afraid of the number? LOL.


Because, CE-20 is more comparable within its category.
LM-5 will be more capacle for comparison with next GSLV with semicryogenic stage


Han Patriot said:


> Full potential, ISRO don't even dare to launch at 4 tonnes for this first launch. Why? Your next 3 tonnes plus is still gonna be launched by Ariane. LOL


Why are you burning like LM. Total payload of last launch was ~3.6 Ton also last launch was a trial launch.
Take some chill pill
==============================================================================================================

.






ISRO to flight-test kerosene-based semi-cryogenic engine by 2021

If things go as planned, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will flight-test the semi-cryogenic engine, which uses refined kerosene as propellant, by 2021.
With the success of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk-III (GSLV Mk-III), ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) here at Valiyamala is now focusing on the next level – the development of the much-delayed semi-cryogenic technology.
Unlike the cryogenic engine which uses a combination of liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellant, the semi-cryogenic engine replaces liquid hydrogen with refined kerosene (Isrosene as ISRO calls it). LOX will be retained as oxidiser.

“Various tests are in progress on the engine. Of the four turbo pumps in it, three have undergone tests at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri. We plan to have the engine ready by 2019 end, the stage by 2020-end and the first flight by 2021,’’ S Somanath, director, LPSC, said.

LPSC had developed the cryogenic engine for the GSLV Mk-II and the much powerful one for the GSLV Mk-III. The idea is to replace the second stage of the GSLV Mk-III, which now uses a liquid stage, with the semi-cryo. The rocket will retain the cryogenic upper, third stage.

The advantage of inducting the semi-cryogenic stage is the payload capacity of the GSLV Mk-III will increase from four tonnes to six tonnes. Using refined kerosene as fuel has quite a few advantages: It is eco-friendly and cost-effective.

Also, unlike liquid hydrogen – which has to be stored at (-)253 degree Celsius, it is stable at normal temperature. The Union Cabinet had cleared the semi-cryogenic engine project in 2008 at an estimated cost of Rs 1798 crore. Although the idea was to develop the technology 2014, the project got delayed.

#Fingers_crossed
Semi-cryogenic engine uses refined kerosene as propellant

It’s eco-friendly and cheaper

The Union Cabinet had cleared the project in 2008

ISRO hopes to flight-test it in 2021

Engine to be ready by 2019-end

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## applesauce

DrasticMeasure said:


> Both Ariane 5 and LM 3B have achieved their full potential. The MK3 is a new rockets and hasnt achieved its full potential yet. Once the Semi-cryogenic engine is operational its LEO capacity will go upto 15 t.



perhaps eventually



X_Killer said:


> LM-5 will be more capacle for comparison with next GSLV with semicryogenic stage



according to your own post, no it wont




X_Killer said:


> The advantage of inducting the semi-cryogenic stage is the payload capacity of the GSLV Mk-III will increase from four tonnes to *six tonnes*. Using refined kerosene as fuel has quite a few advantages: It is eco-friendly and cost-effective.



lm-5 gto capacity is 14 tonnes, making it second only to the delta IV heavy as the heaviest in-service launch rocket avalible


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## X_Killer

applesauce said:


> according to your own post, no it wont
> Here (for LM-5 Comparison), I was not talking about GSLV MK-III
> It might be next GSLV ( like mk-IV)






applesauce said:


> lm-5 gto capacity is 14 tonnes, making it second only to the delta IV heavy as the heaviest in-service launch rocket avalible


Maybe, but who cares about it.


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## Nan Yang

applesauce said:


> lm-5 gto capacity is 14 tonnes, making it second only to the delta IV heavy as the heaviest in-service launch rocket avalible


Except that Delta heavy costs over a third of a billion dollars to launch. It's not sustainable.


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## X_Killer

@The Eagle 
Baar Baar Comments delete karne se kuchh nhi hoga.
You guys need to reinvestigate yourself.
Do not prefer biased actions.
This is the main difference between us and you.
Here we have right to freedom and right to speech.

INDIA WILL GROW EVEN WITH MORE SPEED THAN THE EXPECTATIONS OF HATERS.
BY 2020, INDIA WILL HAVE ITS OWN SUCCESSFUL SEMICRYOGENIC STAGE.

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## The Eagle

X_Killer said:


> @The Eagle
> Baar Baar Comments delete karne se kuchh nhi hoga.
> You guys need to reinvestigate yourself.
> Do not prefer biased actions.
> This is the main difference between us and you.
> Here we have right to freedom and right to speech.
> 
> INDIA WILL GROW EVEN WITH MORE SPEED THAN THE EXPECTATIONS OF HATERS.
> BY 2020, INDIA WILL HAVE ITS OWN SUCCESSFUL SEMICRYOGENIC STAGE.



The useless rants are deleted accordingly and that actually makes difference that PDF is still hosting a large number of foreigners and provides friendly environment. Try to be productive and share knowledge with quality though, the usual copy paste and increasing the post count is not a big deal at all that every call center troll can do well. Rest about speaking of difference, there is a word called introspection. 

Enjoy discussion.

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## The Eagle

ranadd said:


> It is ok if you want to delete this post.



I thought I would be learning something new but nothing. How about all of us needs to be grateful and stop creating troll fest without any instigation.



X_Killer said:


> I maintained 90+ % content of my own.



As I said, report as such and move on. Admin/Mods takes action as needed and appropriately and banning requires different parameters including number of fraction. Warning is being issued once so that member can rectify and correct him/herself though efforts having no avail, the habitual turns into pink. So kindly continue with your discussion on topic. Enough for today. 

Thanks.

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## Hindustani78

Pay for accuracy National Physical Laboratory is host to the most accurate clocks in the country | Photo Credit:  NPL 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...lock-keeper/article19050174.ece?homepage=true

* ISRO, which needs nanosecond-level precision, will now have to pay NPL for time-keeping services *

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), part of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, is host of the most accurate clocks in the country, and the only agency in India authorised to maintain Indian Standard Time (IST). The NPL maintains accuracy of ±20 nanoseconds through the Primary Time Scale, an ensemble of five caesium clocks and one hydrogen maser. The rest of the world connects to these via tele-clocks, satellite links, and Network Time Protocol services (which, for example, reflect in laptops’ clocks).

Airports, Parliament, banks, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in fact anyone who needs to synchronise their computers, connect to a hierarchy of servers that link back to that of the NPL, which provides accurate time — down to milliseconds — for free. Until now, that is.

“We are in the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO],” Dinesh Aswal, Director, NPL, told _The Hindu_. “I cannot disclose the amount, but it will be an important revenue source.”


Unlike the rest of us, who are happy if our watches and devices are accurate to the second, the ISRO launches rockets and tracks satellites, which requires precision at the nanosecond level. “Only the NPL is equipped to provide that level of accuracy,” Mr. Aswal said. NPL is also discussing similar deals with the Air Force, SBI, Indian Railways, and the National Informatics Centre.

*Fund crunch*

Why has NPL decided to start charging for this service? Its parent, the CSIR, has a funds crunch. Out of its ₹4,000 crore budget, only 10%–15% is revenue. CSIR wants to increase that to 25% this year, and 50% by 2020, as The Hindu has previously reported, and has directed its labs to start generating more revenue.

The NPL is also looking at other ways to assert its monopoly. IST can be sourced from similar organisations such as the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology, but with varying degrees of accuracy. Earlier this year, the NPL asked government to mandate that Indian organisations exclusively set their time to NPL’s clocks. “All countries require their computer infrastructure to synchronise to their local times,” Mr. Aswal had told _The Hindu_ in an earlier conversation “It would be a landmark service if Indian computers were also mandated to do so.”

********

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ro-chairman/article18957145.ece?homepage=true

 
*‘We need to build capacities in the organisation and the country,’ says A.S. Kiran Kumar *
_For space-faring nations, a launch vehicle — such as the all-Indian GSLV-MarkIII that was first flown on June 5 — is a vital tool for placing spacecraft in the sky. For India, the MkIII can lift four-tonne satellites with double the power of the older MkII rocket._

_In a short exchange over the phone, A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, explains what the new big rocket’s success means and what lies next. Edited excerpts:_

*How important for you has been the maiden success of your new launcher, GSLV MkIII? Could you please explain it beyond its four-tonne-lifting power?*
It is indeed a very significant development in the Indian space programme. It gives us a big push. We were short of this capacity for lifting our communication satellites. We had to go outside for our launches; and because of [the launch schedules of foreign space agencies] the pace at which we did our projects was getting affected. Cost was another deterrent for pushing things aggressively.

By achieving MkIII, we will be able to push confidently and launch many of our communication satellites faster and indigenously. We will do one more launch within a year and establish it systematically.

*The cost benefit ?*
I cannot give you the exact figures as they keep changing. But just to give you the example of last year’s INSAT-3DR, we were able to do both the satellite and launch it here for the cost of an earlier foreign launch.


*What would be next in your launcher-related activities? What is their status, schedule and the funds they need?*

First we need to consolidate the developments. Our immediate and main task remains how to streamline the realisation of our three launch vehicles PSLV, GSLV-MkII [two-tonne lifter] and the new GSLV-MkIII, sustain them and ensure the number of launchers we need to put the satellites in orbit. For MkII, our target is to do two launches a year. As it is, building its supply chain, managing it and ensuring the required supplies for it are all an effort. To that we will be adding the requirements for MkIII.

On the launch technology side, we will be looking at how to reduce the cost further — by adopting new mechanisms, materials and new capabilities. Including the reusable launch vehicle concept.


*You mentioned reusable technology to save costs. Where are we in that?*
Last year, we tried out the RLV-TD experiment [Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator]. We got a small, plane-like model to vertically land on water. Next we will look at landing it on the ground with a landing gear system. We are conceiving systems to work on the air breathing propulsion technology that will use atmospheric oxygen. For the present launch vehicles, we will look at recovering [and reusing] some parts.

*What is essential today for ISRO?*
To build capacities within the organisation and the country to meet the demands.

We have a significant shortage of satellites in space. If we have to roughly double the capacity of the spacecraft, we have to do as many launches and cost effectively. That is the prime driver.

Also, it is essential for a space agency to build new capabilities, constantly get new skills to do complex jobs and to do routine things better.


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## Han Patriot

Guys,

I have been wondering whether India has video satellites, as in remote sensing satellite which can view real time video.


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> Guys,
> 
> I have been wondering whether India has video satellites, as in remote sensing satellite which can view real time video.


CARTOSAT-2D can perform this task but for any particular location with high resolution. Multiple locations with lower resolution.


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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> CARTOSAT-2D can perform this task but for any particular location with high resolution. Multiple locations with lower resolution.


I can't seem to find any information regarding this capability. Can you post some?


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## MULUBJA

X_Killer said:


> @The Eagle
> Baar Baar Comments delete karne se kuchh nhi hoga.
> You guys need to reinvestigate yourself.
> Do not prefer biased actions.
> This is the main difference between us and you.
> Here we have right to freedom and right to speech.
> 
> INDIA WILL GROW EVEN WITH MORE SPEED THAN THE EXPECTATIONS OF HATERS.
> BY 2020, INDIA WILL HAVE ITS OWN SUCCESSFUL SEMICRYOGENIC STAGE.



And it shall be the second most powerful motor of its kind in the world.


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## Han Patriot

MULUBJA said:


> And it shall be the second most powerful motor of its kind in the world.


Yah until then, you still need to pay Ariane hundreds of millions to launch 4 tonne satellite. LOL


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## Bhasad Singh Mundi



Reactions: Like Like:
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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> I can't seem to find any information regarding this capability. Can you post some?


This Capability is only made for special purposes hence nothing available in public media.
I got this information from personal sources at ISRO.
I can share much more details about it but I will not going to do so because of sensitive information.
By the way CARTOSAT-2C also have such Capabilities but with some limitations (which are found during surgical Strike missions , last year)



Han Patriot said:


> Yah until then, you still need to pay Ariane hundreds of millions to launch 4 tonne satellite. LOL


It's because, GSLV is still not in regular Production stage. The last launch of GSLV MK-III D1 was one of the developmental launch.
As soon as, it gets full green light, no Indian satellite (upto 4tonns) will take off on foreign rockets.


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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> This Capability is only made for special purposes hence nothing available in public media.
> I got this information from personal sources at ISRO.
> I can share much more details about it but I will not going to do so because of sensitive information.
> By the way CARTOSAT-2C also have such Capabilities but with some limitations (which are found during surgical Strike missions , last year)
> 
> 
> It's because, GSLV is still not in regular Production stage. The last launch of GSLV MK-III D1 was one of the developmental launch.
> As soon as, it gets full green light, no Indian satellite (upto 4tonns) will take off on foreign rockets.


OK, so no open source capability?


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> OK, so no open source capability?


CARTOSAT-2C already proved its Capability just after few days of its launch.
Also, there are many confidential features on the satellites of China. There is nothing new about it.
Everything should be available in open-source is not always Necessary.


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## lastone

Han Patriot said:


> Why are you comparing to LM-3B? LM-5 is 14 tonnes, why are you afraid of the number? LOL.
> 
> 
> Full potential, ISRO don't even dare to launch at 4 tonnes for this first launch. Why? Your next 3 tonnes plus is still gonna be launched by Ariane. LOL


The LM 5 is rated for 14 tonnes but carried only a 4 tonne satellite to orbit in its only mission . WHY ??
Also this satellite fell short of its intended insert orbit ? So not very successful.
You should boast of a capability once you prove its working , not based on future imagined successes.

*Another PSLV Launch on 23rd june*

In order to provide high resolution, this satellite will prove more specific scene spot imagery. PSLV-C38/Cartosat-2 Series Satellite mission is scheduled to be launched from ISRO's trusted workhouse - SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, located in Andhra Pradesh.

*About the mission:*

* This is similar to earlier launched satellites in the series. The Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with co-passenger satellites from abroad is planned to be launched by PSLV-C38 into the altitude of 500 km
Cartosat-2 Series has the capability of a long-track and across-track steering, up to 26 degrees

* ISRO has invested an amount of Rs. 160 Crores for this mission

* The satellite will have a single panchromatic camera along with multi-spectral cameras which can detect scene specific images

* Co-passenger satellites includes nano-satellites, one each from various countries. Using the panchromatic camera, the satellite will have a multi-spectral instrument, which will support it in adapting high-resolution land observation and cartography

* Cartosat-2 Series whose PAN camera covers 50 degrees of the payload area can steer up to 45 degrees on-track as well as across and will cover the entire earth in 1867 orbits on a 126-day cycle

* *Not only capturing images, the satellite also has the ability to record videos from the sky.* It will help in scanning a wide range of activities involving military and civil planning

*Facts*

* The satellite can produce images of up to 100 cm in resolution but in black and white specifically, compared to the 80 cm offered by Ikonos

* In the past, India used to buy in bulk images from Ikonos at about USD 20 per sq km of imagery

* With Cartosat-2 offering better resolution at 20 times lower cost per sq m of imagery, buying images from Ikonos has declined."

@Han Patriot . Your query on video answered.

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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> The LM 5 is rated for 14 tonnes but carried only a 4 tonne satellite to orbit in its only mission . WHY ??
> Also this satellite fell short of its intended insert orbit ? So not very successful.
> You should boast of a capability once you prove its working , not based on future imagined successes.


Because nobody in the world has a 14 tonne satellite, LOL. Nice try buddy. 
Right, I am sure it failed. 
Anyway I am trying my best to stick to the thread to talk about Indian Space rather than Chinese, please don't derail this post. My question is why launch 3.2 only? Why not something closer to 4 to test it's capability? Can you please answer me?




lastone said:


> *Another PSLV Launch on 23rd june*
> 
> In order to provide high resolution, this satellite will prove more specific scene spot imagery. PSLV-C38/Cartosat-2 Series Satellite mission is scheduled to be launched from ISRO's trusted workhouse - SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, located in Andhra Pradesh.
> 
> *About the mission:*
> 
> * This is similar to earlier launched satellites in the series. The Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with co-passenger satellites from abroad is planned to be launched by PSLV-C38 into the altitude of 500 km
> Cartosat-2 Series has the capability of a long-track and across-track steering, up to 26 degrees
> 
> * ISRO has invested an amount of Rs. 160 Crores for this mission
> 
> * The satellite will have a single panchromatic camera along with multi-spectral cameras which can detect scene specific images
> 
> * Co-passenger satellites includes nano-satellites, one each from various countries. Using the panchromatic camera, the satellite will have a multi-spectral instrument, which will support it in adapting high-resolution land observation and cartography
> 
> * Cartosat-2 Series whose PAN camera covers 50 degrees of the payload area can steer up to 45 degrees on-track as well as across and will cover the entire earth in 1867 orbits on a 126-day cycle
> 
> * *Not only capturing images, the satellite also has the ability to record videos from the sky.* It will help in scanning a wide range of activities involving military and civil planning
> 
> *Facts*
> 
> * The satellite can produce images of up to 100 cm in resolution but in black and white specifically, compared to the 80 cm offered by Ikonos
> 
> * In the past, India used to buy in bulk images from Ikonos at about USD 20 per sq km of imagery
> 
> * With Cartosat-2 offering better resolution at 20 times lower cost per sq m of imagery, buying images from Ikonos has declined."
> 
> @Han Patriot . Your query on video answered.


Can you post me the source? And no where does it say video capability.


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## lastone

Han Patriot said:


> Fine then let's assume it's a 4 tonne rocket. So why don't ISRO launch something closer to 4 tonnes?  Why not 2 satellites? One at 600kg and another 3.2 tonnes? That's what you are saying right?
> 
> Btw, where is the source for your video sat?


No assuming . Until proven with 14 t , LM5 IS a 4t rocket.
I cant post links. But the above post is from here...
*"ISRO to launch another series of Cartosat-2 in PSLV-C38 this month; key things to know."*

*Google it.*


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## Mufflerman

Han Patriot said:


> OK, so you agree MKIII is a 3.2 tonne rocket launcher? LOL. Don't tell me about another future launch plz. I am asking now


Does China make every satellite equal to the exact payload capacity of the rocket? Did you drop yourself on the head sometime?
Stop the envy and move on. China can't just wish India away. You can keep breeding pigs, we will cure them into fine bacon when you decide to unleash them.


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## K210

Han Patriot said:


> OK, so you agree MKIII is a 3.2 tonne rocket launcher? LOL. Don't tell me about another future launch plz. I am asking now



It is generally a good idea to not use 100% of a rockets capability within the first couple of launches. This gives some margin for underperformance or other issues that may pop up. 

I read somewhere ISRO has already began the process of increasing GSLV MK-3 GTO payload capacity from 4 tons to 4.5 tons so next launch should carry a payload closer to 4 tons.


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> Fine then let's assume it's a 4 tonne rocket. So why don't ISRO launch something closer to 4 tonnes?  Why not 2 satellites? One at 600kg and another 3.2 tonnes? That's what you are saying right?


Why are you repeatedly wants to derail the thread?
As I stated above that this is a developmental launch and there was some limitations by Payload fairing. Hope you're
This launch carries 3136kg of active load and 2 more passive equipments weighs of ~300kgs which were used to monitor the performance of various stages.
Soon, you might saw the payload of more than 4 Tonn on same Mk-3 because ISRO already proved its Capability by launching 2832Kg satellite on 2.5Tn capable rocket.

@The Eagle , its all upto you , why this guys is interested to derail this thread?



Han Patriot said:


> OK, so you agree MKIII is a 3.2 tonne rocket launcher? LOL. Don't tell me about another future launch plz. I am asking now


Everybody in the world, wants to launch its sats with minimum expenditure but here , you are the guys who launch 3 ton of sats on 14 Ton capacity rockets (when there is a option of 3.5ton class rocket is already present).
Please suggest me a good designation (word) to those who like to spend too much when they have an economic option because if I stated that designation admins finds it defaming.
Choices is yours.


============================================================
Right now, I'm unable to fetch the Complete data but I believe the total number of satellites launch by ISRO might be higher than Chinese space agency. I'll surely share the data soon.
Because , ISRO is already mastered in multiple satellite launch with one rocket whereas its counterpart is yet to do a lot in this field.
@K210 @Mufflerman @lastone
========


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## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> Why are you repeatedly wants to derail the thread?
> As I stated above that this is a developmental launch and there was some limitations by Payload fairing. Hope you're
> This launch carries 3136kg of active load and 2 more passive equipments weighs of ~300kgs which were used to monitor the performance of various stages.
> Soon, you might saw the payload of more than 4 Tonn on same Mk-3 because ISRO already proved its Capability by launching 2832Kg satellite on 2.5Tn capable rocket.
> 
> @The Eagle , its all upto you , why this guys is interested to derail this thread?
> 
> 
> Everybody in the world, wants to launch its sats with minimum expenditure but here , you are the guys who launch 3 ton of sats on 14 Ton capacity rockets (when there is a option of 3.5ton class rocket is already present).
> Please suggest me a good designation (word) to those who like to spend too much when they have an economic option because if I stated that designation admins finds it defaming.
> Choices is yours.
> 
> 
> ============================================================
> Right now, I'm unable to fetch the Complete data but I believe the total number of satellites launch by ISRO might be higher than Chinese space agency. I'll surely share the data soon.
> Because , ISRO is already mastered in multiple satellite launch with one rocket whereas its counterpart is yet to do a lot in this field.
> @K210 @Mufflerman @lastone
> ========


I don't want to derail the thread but your member keep on bring China into the conversation.

Hey it means India is having more advanced technology than US, why not launch 200 nos of 1 kg satellites? Then nobody can break the record, not even Ariane, ooo wait you still need Ariane to launch for you.

What if some country launch 1000 bolt size satellites? Then another launching 10 000 coin sized satellites? Use some common sense.

Btw, can you show me some source GSLV-MKIII was carrying additional 300kg?


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> I don't want to derail the thread but your member keep on bring China into the conversation.


It's you who started it by comparing development on the basis of buildings.
You're free to defame others(India) on any basis anything because admin like defamed India.


Han Patriot said:


> Hey it means India is having more advanced technology than US, why not launch 200 nos of 1 kg satellites? Then nobody can break the record, not even Ariane, ooo wait you still need Ariane to launch for you.


Why don't Chinese space agency tried it? But also they are afraid of co-passenger launch missions. And here, you are the only who said India has advanced tech than US.
We can understand your situation. CHEERS!


Han Patriot said:


> What if some country launch 1000 bolt size satellites? Then another launching 10 000 coin sized satellites? Use some common sense.


We don't believe in sending non-useful material to space.
Hope you remember that out of 104 sats , 96 are from US itself and the heaviest from India


Han Patriot said:


> Btw, can you show me some source GSLV-MKIII was carrying additional 300kg?


I mentioned nearly 300 kgs and that's was only to track the performance of rockets. 
Hence many agencies were reporting it as 3.3ton launch from which 3126kg is the weight of GSAT-19E
http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http:...c02412907104941d9979/&grqid=EUAKwnO-&hl=en-IN


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## K210

ISRO should focus on improving GSLV MK-3's payload capacity asap. By the time MK-3 reaches its final form it should be able to lift 6.5 ton - 7.5 ton to GTO and 13 ton to 15 ton to LEO.

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## X_Killer

K210 said:


> ISRO should focus on improving GSLV MK-3's payload capacity asap. By the time MK-3 reaches its final form it should be able to lift 6.5 ton - 7.5 ton to GTO and 13 ton to 15 ton to LEO.


Yup, they are already working on the same.
It will be tested by 2020 and available for launch by 2021.
http://www.indiatimes.com/news/indi...as-fuel-for-semi-cryogenic-engine-323884.html


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## samy1618

Published in IRDW.ORG 
source IANS
The “Baahubali” or “fat boy” of Indian rockets — GSLV Mk III — weighs several tonnes more than some of the other expendable rockets in the world but its carrying capacity is far less, say experts. On June 5, India successfully flight-tested its brand new rocket, the 640 tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) nick-named “Baahubali” by the Telugu media and “fat boy” by officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The rocket powered by its own cryogenic engine at the upper stage, placed communication satellite GSAT-19 weighing 3,136 kg or 3.1 tonne. “The GSLV Mk III rocket weighs 640 tonne with a capacity to carry four tonne satellite. But when one compares the ratio of the GSLV Mk III’s weight to its carrying capacity to geo transfer orbit (GTO – where communication satellites will be placed) with rockets of other countries, the former ranks low,” an industry expert told IANS on the condition of anonymity. For instance, Japan’s H-IIB rocket weighs 531 tonne but can place an eight tonne rocket in GTO. Similarly, Soyuz, Russia (312 tonne, payload to GTO 3.2 tonne); Falcon, USA (549 tonne, payload to GTO 8.3 tonne) and Proton, Russia (693 tonne, payload to GTO 6.3 tonne); Long March, China (weight 879 tonne, payload to GTO 14 tonne) and Ariane 5, Europe (777 tonne, payload 10.9 tonne). Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is the second best rocket launch site in the world, the expert added. Agreeing that the GSLV Mk III payload to GTO as compared to other rockets is less, G Ayyappan, Project Director, GSLV Mk III, cited a couple of reasons for it. “From the rocket’s propulsion point of view, in foreign rockets, the lower stages (engines at the lower part of the rocket that are fired first to lift the rocket and make it escape earth’s gravitational force) are powered by semi-cryogenic or cryogenic engines,” Ayyappan said. The thrust power of semi-cryogenic or cryogenic engines are higher than that of engines fired with solid fuel. The GSLV Mk III is a three stage/engine rocket. The core of first stage is fired with solid fuel and its two motors by liquid fuel. The second stage is liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine. “We use solid fuel in the lower stages as it is cheaper than cryogenic fuel. Even other space agencies are looking to use solid fuel to cut costs,” ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Director S. Somanath told IANS. “But other space agencies are looking at solid fuel to reduce cost only after their rockets carry far much heavier satellites than Indian rockets,” the space industry expert pointed out. ISRO officials said the mass of communication satellites is also coming down and hence India may not need a heavy-lift rocket. “Nearly 55-60 per cent of a satellite’s weight consists of its chemical fuel. Now the idea is to shift to electric propulsion of satellites which would reduce their weight,” Ayyappan pointed out. Somanath said: “ISRO started designing GSLV Mk III with four tonne carrying capacity when it was making two tonne satellites. At the global level also the weight of satellites are coming down. It is very difficult to predict the market trends.” “Electric propulsion will not drastically reduce the weight of satellites to make much of a difference in the rocket’s carrying capacity and it cannot replace chemical fuel. The chemical fuel will be used to take the satellite to its space slot and for managing it later electric propulsion would be used,” the expert said. “The Chinese government approved the Long March 5 project sometime mid-2000 to have a rocket with a capacity of 14 tonne. The size of communication satellites will have to go up as there is limitation on the orbital slots. It all boils down to planning and also predicting the global trends,” the expert added. Citing the example of Japanese H-IIB rocket, Ayyappan said the Japanese use lot of composite materials to make the rocket more efficient and light weight. “In future we will also be using more composites in the upper stages instead of metal. Half of the rocket’s velocity is achieved only at the upper stage and composite will be the only choice in future,” Ayyappan said. “The specific impulse of our cryogenic engine is also slightly less than that of others,” Somanath added while listing out other reasons for GSLV Mk III’s lower carrying capacity. “The aluminium used in some foreign rockets are less dense and their weight is less. We will also use such materials to reduce the weight of our cryogenic stage by 500-600 kg,” he said. Somanath said there are plans to reduce the weight of the electronics by around 150 kg so that every kilogram of weight reduced increases the payload capacity. According to him, switching off and restarting of cryogenic stage in the space would also increase the rocket’s capacity. Experts said India has to realise its semi-cryogenic stage faster and it cannot have the luxury of spending a decade or more in developing newer rocket technologies. “We are planning to realise the semi-cryogenic engine in 2019 and the entire stage by 2021,” Somanath said.


----------



## samy1618

samy1618 said:


> Published in IRDW.ORG
> source IANS
> The “Baahubali” or “fat boy” of Indian rockets — GSLV Mk III — weighs several tonnes more than some of the other expendable rockets in the world but its carrying capacity is far less, say experts. On June 5, India successfully flight-tested its brand new rocket, the 640 tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) nick-named “Baahubali” by the Telugu media and “fat boy” by officials of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The rocket powered by its own cryogenic engine at the upper stage, placed communication satellite GSAT-19 weighing 3,136 kg or 3.1 tonne. “The GSLV Mk III rocket weighs 640 tonne with a capacity to carry four tonne satellite. But when one compares the ratio of the GSLV Mk III’s weight to its carrying capacity to geo transfer orbit (GTO – where communication satellites will be placed) with rockets of other countries, the former ranks low,” an industry expert told IANS on the condition of anonymity. For instance, Japan’s H-IIB rocket weighs 531 tonne but can place an eight tonne rocket in GTO. Similarly, Soyuz, Russia (312 tonne, payload to GTO 3.2 tonne); Falcon, USA (549 tonne, payload to GTO 8.3 tonne) and Proton, Russia (693 tonne, payload to GTO 6.3 tonne); Long March, China (weight 879 tonne, payload to GTO 14 tonne) and Ariane 5, Europe (777 tonne, payload 10.9 tonne). Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is the second best rocket launch site in the world, the expert added. Agreeing that the GSLV Mk III payload to GTO as compared to other rockets is less, G Ayyappan, Project Director, GSLV Mk III, cited a couple of reasons for it. “From the rocket’s propulsion point of view, in foreign rockets, the lower stages (engines at the lower part of the rocket that are fired first to lift the rocket and make it escape earth’s gravitational force) are powered by semi-cryogenic or cryogenic engines,” Ayyappan said. The thrust power of semi-cryogenic or cryogenic engines are higher than that of engines fired with solid fuel. The GSLV Mk III is a three stage/engine rocket. The core of first stage is fired with solid fuel and its two motors by liquid fuel. The second stage is liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine. “We use solid fuel in the lower stages as it is cheaper than cryogenic fuel. Even other space agencies are looking to use solid fuel to cut costs,” ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Director S. Somanath told IANS. “But other space agencies are looking at solid fuel to reduce cost only after their rockets carry far much heavier satellites than Indian rockets,” the space industry expert pointed out. ISRO officials said the mass of communication satellites is also coming down and hence India may not need a heavy-lift rocket. “Nearly 55-60 per cent of a satellite’s weight consists of its chemical fuel. Now the idea is to shift to electric propulsion of satellites which would reduce their weight,” Ayyappan pointed out. Somanath said: “ISRO started designing GSLV Mk III with four tonne carrying capacity when it was making two tonne satellites. At the global level also the weight of satellites are coming down. It is very difficult to predict the market trends.” “Electric propulsion will not drastically reduce the weight of satellites to make much of a difference in the rocket’s carrying capacity and it cannot replace chemical fuel. The chemical fuel will be used to take the satellite to its space slot and for managing it later electric propulsion would be used,” the expert said. “The Chinese government approved the Long March 5 project sometime mid-2000 to have a rocket with a capacity of 14 tonne. The size of communication satellites will have to go up as there is limitation on the orbital slots. It all boils down to planning and also predicting the global trends,” the expert added. Citing the example of Japanese H-IIB rocket, Ayyappan said the Japanese use lot of composite materials to make the rocket more efficient and light weight. “In future we will also be using more composites in the upper stages instead of metal. Half of the rocket’s velocity is achieved only at the upper stage and composite will be the only choice in future,” Ayyappan said. “The specific impulse of our cryogenic engine is also slightly less than that of others,” Somanath added while listing out other reasons for GSLV Mk III’s lower carrying capacity. “The aluminium used in some foreign rockets are less dense and their weight is less. We will also use such materials to reduce the weight of our cryogenic stage by 500-600 kg,” he said. Somanath said there are plans to reduce the weight of the electronics by around 150 kg so that every kilogram of weight reduced increases the payload capacity. According to him, switching off and restarting of cryogenic stage in the space would also increase the rocket’s capacity. Experts said India has to realise its semi-cryogenic stage faster and it cannot have the luxury of spending a decade or more in developing newer rocket technologies. “We are planning to realise the semi-cryogenic engine in 2019 and the entire stage by 2021,” Somanath said.


This article is in support of @X_Killer. As what ever he was saying is true as its a experiment flight with a lot of technology demonstrations so needs a lot of testing equipment n sensors to verify n take readings n compile data for further improvement.. N not like ppl who just repaint things n call it theirs.. Lol R&D works like this

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## X_Killer

applesauce said:


> people who care about facts, that said, i was merely setting the record straight, you don't have to care about it at all.
> 
> still 14 tonnes more reliable than anything india makes.


Still I'm not convinced by 14Ton figure (printed tag)
China have to make 14T satellite because they don't like co-passengers.

Again, I want to repeat my words
*WHO CARES ABOUT IT? *


----------



## applesauce

X_Killer said:


> Still I'm not convinced by 14Ton figure (printed tag)
> China have to make 14T satellite because they don't like co-passengers.
> 
> Again, I want to repeat my words
> *WHO CARES ABOUT IT? *



lololol you act like your "belief" is whats required.
who the heck are you anyways? god himself?

and again since you clearly have a reading disability, ill quote myself



applesauce said:


> people who care about facts, that said, i was merely setting the record straight, you don't have to care about it at all.


----------



## Han Patriot

X_Killer said:


> It's you who started it by comparing development on the basis of buildings.
> You're free to defame others(India) on any basis anything because admin like defamed India.
> 
> Why don't Chinese space agency tried it? But also they are afraid of co-passenger launch missions. And here, you are the only who said India has advanced tech than US.
> We can understand your situation. CHEERS!
> 
> We don't believe in sending non-useful material to space.
> Hope you remember that out of 104 sats , 96 are from US itself and the heaviest from India
> 
> I mentioned nearly 300 kgs and that's was only to track the performance of rockets.
> Hence many agencies were reporting it as 3.3ton launch from which 3126kg is the weight of GSAT-19E
> http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http:...c02412907104941d9979/&grqid=EUAKwnO-&hl=en-IN



As I said before, India should launch 1000 bolt sized satellites, then India can be a space supa powa. If launching numerous pin size satellites is a measure of technology capability, then India has got better technology than US. Who doesn't want a bargain subsidized launch? Even I would go for India pronto. With a GTO capacity of 1.5 tonnes, PSLV is not even suitable for any modern satellites.Your only hope is GSLV.MKIII but then again, it is just 4 tonnes, that's why you still need Ariane for the next few launches.


You were telling me 3.5 tonnes, now it is 3.3 tonnes, great, Indian numbers? Again , check out Chinese launches before commenting, we are talking about Indian launchers, I am prohibited from derailing the thread. If you keep on talking about Chinese launchers, I would need to report you. =)


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## X_Killer

Han Patriot said:


> As I said before, India should launch 1000 bolt sized satellites, then India can be a space supa powa. If launching numerous pin size satellites is a measure of technology capability, then India has got better technology than US. Who doesn't want a bargain subsidized launch? Even I would go for India pronto. With a GTO capacity of 1.5 tonnes, PSLV is not even suitable for any modern satellites.Your only hope is GSLV.MKIII but then again, it is just 4 tonnes, that's why you still need Ariane for the next few launches.
> 
> 
> You were telling me 3.5 tonnes, now it is 3.3 tonnes, great, Indian numbers? Again , check out Chinese launches before commenting, we are talking about Indian launchers, I am prohibited from derailing the thread. If you keep on talking about Chinese launchers, I would need to report you. =)


For better business, if you have Capability to launch something than you do not want to deny for it. 
If you denied for them than some other will come forward to launch there small satellites.
For your case, it shows you incapablility to launch co-passengers. In this case, its very bad when you shouting to downplay ISRO.

ISRO has its customers of all weight class satellites. And it's our Capability to launch hundreds of satellites with one rocket.

Best wishes for you.

===============================================================


applesauce said:


> lololol you act like your "belief" is whats required.
> who the heck are you anyways? god himself?
> and again since you clearly have a reading disability, ill quote myself


I request you to use brail aid to read my post. Good luck.
By the I have 6/6 eyesight. Buy I'm not mentally dumb as my counterpart is. CHEERS


X_Killer said:


> Still I'm not convinced by 14Ton figure (printed tag)
> China have to make 14T satellite because they don't like co-passengers.
> 
> Again, I want to repeat my words
> *WHO CARES ABOUT IT? *


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## applesauce

X_Killer said:


> I request you to use brail aid to read my post. Good luck.
> By the I have 6/6 eyesight. Buy I'm not mentally dumb as my counterpart is. CHEERS




sure you do, yet you keep asking a question that i've answer twice now.

so for the third time

who cares?

"people who care about facts, that said, i was merely setting the record straight, you don't have to care about it at all."


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## X_Killer

ISRO set to launch back-up Satellite to keep IRNSS fully operational

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to launch a back-up for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, that has been hobbled by the failure of the atomic clocks on board.

The PSLV C39 mission, scheduled for late July or early August, will carry the new satellite named IRNSS-1H into orbit, said K. Sivan, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

Replacing IRNSS-1A became a priority for the ISRO after it was confirmed in January this year that all the three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning. The space agency had decided on launching one of the two spare satellites after initial efforts to restart the clocks failed.

IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites comprising the Navigation Indian Constellation (NavIC), a multi-purpose satellite-based positioning system, envisaged as India’s alternative to the American GPS. NavIC has been designed to support vehicle tracking, fleet management, disaster management and mapping services besides terrestrial, marine and aerial navigation for India and its neighbourhood.

The system became operational in 2016 after the seventh satellite in the series was placed in orbit.

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## XV Corps

Eagerly waiting for SCE.


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## X_Killer

ISRO to bank on semi-cryogenic engine for heavy lift rockets
- Hopes to complete engine development by 2019
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ne-for-heavy-lift-rockets/article19095367.ece

(_pic for representation Only)_


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## amardeep mishra

X_Killer said:


> ISRO to bank on semi-cryogenic engine for heavy lift rockets
> - Hopes to complete engine development by 2019
> http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ne-for-heavy-lift-rockets/article19095367.ece
> 
> (_pic for representation Only)_


There is only one program going on right now i.e to produce SC-200 and not SC-160.


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## X_Killer

amardeep mishra said:


> There is only one program going on right now i.e to produce SC-200 and not SC-160.


Please checkthe whose again.
I already mentioned there as "pic for representation Only".

Anyways CHEERS for ISRO


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## Hindustani78

*http://www.deccanherald.com/content/618393/isros-mars-orbiter-mission-completes.html*
*ISRO'S Mars Orbiter Mission Completes 1000 Days in Orbit*
Sathyanarayana, DH News Service, Chennai, Jun 20 2017, 18:32 IST 





MOM is credited with many laurels like cost-effectiveness, a short period of realisation, economical mass-budget, miniaturisation of five heterogeneous science payloads etc. Satellite is in good health and continues to work as expected. Scientific analysis of the data received from the Mars Orbiter spacecraft is in progress. Picture courtesy ISRO


India's indigenous Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the maiden interplanetary launch of ISRO, which was launched on November 5, 2013, completes 1000 earth days in its orbit.

MOM is credited with many laurels like cost-effectiveness, a short period of realisation, economical mass-budget, miniaturisation of five heterogeneous science payloads etc. Satellite is in good health and continues to work as expected. Scientific analysis of the data received from the Mars Orbiter spacecraft is in progress.

ISRO has also launched MOM Announcement of Opportunity (AO) programmes for researchers in the country to use MOM data for R&D. The success of Mars Orbiter Mission has motivated India’s student and research community in a big way. Thirty-two proposals were supported under this AO. A Planetary data analysis workshop was also conducted to strengthen the MOM-AO scientist's research interest.

First-year data from MOM was released to the public on September 24, 2016. The Mars Colour Camera, one of the scientific payloads onboard MOM, has produced more than 715 images so far. Mars Atlas was prepared and made available on ISRO website.

MOM went through a communication 'blackout' as a result of solar conjunction from June 2, 2015, to July 2, 2015. Telemetry data was received during most of the conjunction period except for 9 days from June 10-18, during superior conjunction. MOM was commanded with autonomy features starting from May 18, 2015, which enabled it to survive the communication 'blackout' period without any ground commands or intervention. 

The spacecraft emerged out of 'blackout' period with auto control of the spacecraft systems successfully. This experience had enabled the mission team to program a spacecraft about one month in advance for all operations. 

MOM spacecraft experienced the ‘whiteout’ geometry during May 18 to May 30, 2016. A ‘whiteout’ occurs when the Earth is between the Sun and Mars and too much solar radiation may make it impossible to communicate with the Earth. 

The maximum duration of ‘whiteout’ is around 14 days. MOM spacecraft experienced the ‘whiteout’ during May 2016. However, MOM is built with full autonomy to take care of itself for long periods without any ground intervention. The entire planning and commanding for the ‘whiteout’ was completed 10 days before the actual event. No commanding was carried out on the satellite in the ‘whiteout’ period. 

Payload operations were suspended. Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery were kept enabled, so as to take care of any contingency on the spacecraft. Master Recovery Sequencer was programmed, to acquire the attitude of the spacecraft and ensure communication with earth even in the case of loss of attitude. The spacecraft came out of ‘whiteout’ geometry successfully on May 30, 2016, and has been normalised for regular operations.

An orbital manoeuvre was performed on MOM spacecraft to avoid the impending long eclipse duration for the satellite. The duration of the eclipse would have been as long as 8 hours. As the satellite battery is designed to handle eclipse duration of only about 1 Hour 40 minutes, a longer eclipse would have drained the battery beyond the safe limit. 

The manoeuvres performed on January 17, 2017, brought down the eclipse duration to zero during this long eclipse period. On the Evening of January 17, all the eight numbers of 22N thrusters were fired for a duration of 431 seconds, achieving a velocity difference of 97.5 m/s. This has resulted in a new orbit for the MOM spacecraft, which completely avoided eclipse up to September 2017. About 20 kg propellant was consumed for this manoeuvres leaving another 13 kg of propellant for its further mission life.

***
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/618394/isro-all-set-launch-remote.html





After successful GSLV-Mk-III heavy rocket mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to PSLV-C38 carrying 712 Cartosat-2 series, a remote sensing satellite on Friday. Deccan Herald photo

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/618394/isro-all-set-launch-remote.html
After successful GSLV-Mk-III heavy rocket mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to PSLV-C38 carrying 712 Cartosat-2 series, a remote sensing satellite on Friday.

India's most trusted rocket PSLV will also take 30 co-passenger satellites weighing about 243 kg at lift-off into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

ISRO sources told Deccan Herald on Tuesday evening that the rocket will be launched at country's spaceport Sriharikota 90 km from north Chennai.

"The rocket will take off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on June 23, a senior ISRO official here said.

According to him, after getting clearance from Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB), the countdown of the PSLV-C38 launch mission will be announced.

This will be the seventeenth flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration (with the use of solid strap-on motors). 

The primary Cartosat-2 series satellite is a remote sensing satellite, After its injection into the required orbit, the satellite will be brought to operational configuration following which it will begin providing regular remote sensing services using its panchromatic and multispectral cameras.

The imagery sent by the satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, utility management like road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, change detection to bring out geographical and man-made features and various other land information system as well as geographical information system (GIS) applications.

The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 Nano satellites from 14 countries such as Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America as well as one Nanosatellite from India. 

The total weight of all these satellites carried onboard PSLV-C38 is about 955 kg.

The 29 International customer Nano satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS) and the commercial arm of ISRO and the International customers.

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## Hindustani78

ISROs PSLV-C38 at the first launch pad in Sriharikota, a day before launching earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 Series along with 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries.









PSLV-C38 at the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota near Chennai. Photo: ISRO 

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-c38-launch/article19125070.ece?homepage=true


* 29 nano satellites from 14 countries are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation and international customers. *
The 28-hour countdown for the launch of Cartosat-2 series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh began at 5.29 a.m. IST on June 22.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 40th flight (PSLV-C38), would launch the 712 kg satellite for earth observation and 30 other satellites together weighing about 243 kg into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at 9.20 a.m. IST on June 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The co-passengers comprise 29 nano satellites from 14 countries — Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America besides a nano satellite from India. PSLV-C38 will be launched from the First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

This will be the 17th flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration (with the use of solid strap-on motors).

The space agency said the 29 international customer nano satellites are being launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), commercial arm of ISRO and international customers.

Cartosat-2 is a remote sensing satellite and it is similar in configuration to earlier satellites in the series with the objective of providing high-resolution scene specific spot imagery.

ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar told reporters at the Chennai airport that all the activities for the launch were on. He expressed happiness over the “Mangalyan” mission completing 1,000 days on June 19, 2017 and said it was performing very well.


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## Water Car Engineer




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## assassin123

Spectacular shots from pslv c 38 Onboard cam.
I congratulate ISRO for spending a few extra bucks and putting some camera on the launch vehicle giving us some breathtaking shots.



They even livestreamed these visuals in front of the foreign costumers. That's how confident they are.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
23-June, 2017 12:19 IST
*PSLV-C38 Successfully Launches 31 Satellites in a Single Flight *

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C38 successfully launched the 712 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty ninth consecutively successful mission of PSLV. 

PSLV-C38 lifted off at 0929 hrs (9:29 am) IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a flight of about 16 minutes, the satellites achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 505 km inclined at an angle of 97.44 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and in the succeeding seven and a half minutes, all the 31 satellites successfully separated from the PSLV in a predetermined sequence beginning with Cartosat-2 series satellite, followed by NIUSAT and 29 customer satellites. The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV now stands at 48. 

After separation, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide various remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras. 

*One of the 30 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C38 was the 15 kg NIUSAT*, a University/Academic Institute satellite from Nurul Islam University, Tamil Nadu, India. The remaining 29 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (10), United Kingdom (3), Belgium (3), Italy (3), Austria (1), Chile (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Japan (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1) and Slovakia (1). 

With today’s successful launch, the total number of customer satellites from abroad placed in orbit by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV has reached 209.

*****************

Prime Minister's Office
23-June, 2017 11:23 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries *


The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries. 

“Congratulations to ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries. You make us proud", the Prime Minister said. 

***

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)s PSLV C38, carrying earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 Series and 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.





http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...tes-onboard/article19131728.ece?homepage=true

The PSLV, in its 40th flight, carried the Cartosat-2 series, main payload that weighs 712 kg, and NIUSAT from the Noorul Islam University, Kanniyakumari. Representatives of the client countries watched from the Mission Control as their spacecraft were placed in orbit. 

The Cartosat-2, the sixth in the series, was placed in a 505 km polar sun synchronous orbit, at 16.43 minutes after the launch and the final satellite was injected into orbit at 23 minutes. The total payload weighed 955 kg at liftoff. The Cartosat will provide remote sensing services for about five years. 

The other 29 nano satellites belonged to Austria, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.






The Cartosat-2 will be used for cartographic applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps, Land Information Systems (LIS) and Geograhical Information System (GIS) applications, the ISRO said.

With this PSLV launch, the ISRO now has the confidence to put a number of satellites into different orbits in a single mission, Mission Director B. Jayakumar said.

“Initially it [PSLV] was designed to put satellites in sun synchronous orbit… we could establish it could cater to any type of orbits – geo synchronous, sun synchronous or low inclination orbit, carrying multiple satellites; Everything has been established. I m sure this will be a major attraction for foreign satellite customers,” Mr. Jayakumar said.

*PSLV, a credible launch vehicle*
ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said the PSLV was emerging as a credible launch vehicle for anybody across the globe, “both because of the frequency at which the launch is happening and also the access and timeline within which satellites can be put into orbit”.

The ISRO was improving its capabilities in new areas with each launch. “I am sure PSLV will continue to be the demanded vehicle for going into lower orbits,” he said.

The replacement satellite for the IRNSS-1A, in which the clocks had stopped working on the first one, would be launched soon. “The IRNSS-1A service is available. IRNSS can be used for many applications and already there are companies that have started building specific hardware and using the resource,” he said.

Communication satellite GSAT-17 would be launched on June 28 from French Guiana and GSAT-11 later this year.

Various teams were working on the second Mars Orbiter Mission, Venus Mission and the Asteroid Mission. “Very soon, we will be finalising our plan of action. Then we will get the necessary approvals from the government and move ahead. Right now we have not confirmed what will be beyond our Aditya. Right now Chandrayaan-II and Aditya are the two missions for which we have approvals,” Mr. Kumar said.

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## Hindustani78

1/6
*Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday successfully launched 31 satellites from First Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. (ISRO)*
*



*
*According to ISRO, the total weight of the 30 satellites is 243 kg, while the all the 31 satellites including Cartosat weighs about 955 kg. The PSLV-C38 rocket injected all the satellites into a 505 km polar sun sunchronous orbit (SSO). (ISRO)*




*The satellites include Earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 series weighing 712 kg, 29 foreign and one Indian satellite. The XL variant of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket lifted all the satellites. (ISRO)



*
*The 29 international customer nano satellites were launched as part of the commercial arrangements between ISRO’s commericial arm, the Antrix Corporation Ltd and the international customers. (ISRO)



*
*The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 nano satellites belonging to 14 countries - Austria, Belgium, Britain, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and the US and one Indian nano satellite. (ISRO)



*
*Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 40th flight (PSLV-C38), launched the 712 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation and 30 co-passenger satellites.



*

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indigenous-satellite-developed-by-tamil-nadu-students-part-of-pslv-c38-launch/story-twbEoztqY5fh9LDSElXpfM.html

ISRO’s PSLV-C38 mission will be special for Tamil Nadu as it carries a satellite indigenously developed by students of a university in Kanyakumari district.

NIUSAT satellite, developed by Noorul Islam University in Kanyakumari district, is riding piggyback with 29 other satellites of various countries in the 40th mission of PSLV, lifted off at 9.29 AM from Sriharikota on Friday.

The satellite is built to provide multi-spectral imagery for agricultural crop monitoring and disaster management support applications, the ISRO said in a release.

Following the launch, a dedicated mission control centre with UHF/VHF antenna for Telemetry/Telecommand operations and S-Band antenna for Payload data reception has been set up at the university.

Noorul Islam University’s Director (Academic Affairs) A Shajin Nargunam told PTI that the concept was developed following the December 2004 tsunami which struck Tamil Nadu, wrecking havoc mostly in the coastal areas.


“We were thinking of how can we monitor the coastal region after the tsunami struck in 2004. You know it caused a lot of devastation. After several rounds of discussions, we concluded that we must continuously monitor the coastal mechanism,” the official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

The project formally kicked off in February 2012, he said adding it took the University five years to complete it.

“The total cost, I believe, is around Rs 20 crore. We have all the necessary infrastructure and the investment includes the master control facility which we have set up in the University itself. After the satellite reaches the intended orbit, we will take control from the facility,” he said.

To a query, he said as many as 102 students and faculty were involved in developing the satellite.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
23-June, 2017 12:19 IST
*PSLV-C38 Successfully Launches 31 Satellites in a Single Flight *

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C38 successfully launched the 712 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the thirty ninth consecutively successful mission of PSLV. 

PSLV-C38 lifted off at 0929 hrs (9:29 am) IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a flight of about 16 minutes, the satellites achieved a polar Sun Synchronous Orbit of 505 km inclined at an angle of 97.44 degree to the equator (very close to the intended orbit) and in the succeeding seven and a half minutes, all the 31 satellites successfully separated from the PSLV in a predetermined sequence beginning with Cartosat-2 series satellite, followed by NIUSAT and 29 customer satellites. The total number of Indian satellites launched by PSLV now stands at 48. 

After separation, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 series satellite were deployed automatically and ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration following which it will begin to provide various remote sensing services using its panchromatic (black and white) and multispectral (colour) cameras. 

One of the 30 co-passenger satellites carried by PSLV-C38 was the 15 kg NIUSAT, a University/Academic Institute satellite from Nurul Islam University, Tamil Nadu, India. The remaining 29 co-passenger satellites carried were international customer satellites from USA (10), United Kingdom (3), Belgium (3), Italy (3), Austria (1), Chile (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Japan (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1) and Slovakia (1). 

With today’s successful launch, the total number of customer satellites from abroad placed in orbit by India’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV has reached 209. 

****


President's Secretariat
23-June, 2017 20:21 IST
*President of India Congratulates ISRO for the Successful Launch of 31 Satellites by PSLV Today *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of the Cartosat-2 series along with 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) today.

In a message to Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission & Chairman, ‘ISRO’, the President has said, “My heartiest congratulations to you and the entire team at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for the successful launch of the Cartosat-2 series along with 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The nation is proud of this magnificent achievement which is also a significant milestone in the progress of our space capabilities. It will boost India’s aerial capabilities as also its earth observation capabilities. 

Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this mission. I wish the ISRO continued success in the coming years”.

***

Prime Minister's Office
23-June, 2017 11:23 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries *


The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries. 

“Congratulations to ISRO on its 40th successful Polar satellite launch carrying 31 satellites from 15 countries. You make us proud", the Prime Minister said. 

***

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## Hindustani78

GSAT-17 is scheduled to be launched on June 29, 2017 at 2:29 a.m. by Ariane-5 launch vehicle from French Guiana. | Photo Credit:  @twitter.com/isro 
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ro-capacity/article19163861.ece?homepage=true

GSAT-17, the country's newest communication satellite set to be launched on Thursday morning, is set to add capacity to the current fleet of 17 Indian communication satellites that are already serving from space.

The 3,477-kg spacecraft is to be launched at 2.29 a.m. [a.m.] IST on June 29 from the European space port of Kourou in French Guiana. An Ariane-5 ECA rocket is putting it in orbit along with a heavier co-passenger, Hellas Sat 3 - Inmarsat S EAN, according to ISRO and the European launch company Arianespace. Locally, it is a pre-dusk launch in the South American space port. 

"GSAT-17 is designed to provide continuity of services of operational satellites in C, extended C and S bands," an ISRO communique said. ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar has said a few times that they need double the number of communication spacecraft to meet the growing demands of various users across the country.

Built mainly for broadcasting and telephone services,  GSAT-17 is similar to the 48-transponder GSAT-18 - launched by Arianespace last October. The spacecraft carries equipment to aid meteorology and search and rescue operations primarily over the Indian sub-continent.

Designed and assembled at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, GSAT-17 has been at the Kourou space port since May 15, undergoing pre-launch checks and tests. A team of 20-30 ISRO engineers has been attending to it on a rotation basis during the period.

After injection into GTO, its operations will be taken over by the team at MCF, the orbit will gradually raised and circularised to 36,000 km distance from Earth. The various functional appendages such as antennas and solar arrays will be deployed and the satellite stabilised over 93.5 degrees East longitude, according to the two agencies.

ISRO does not yet have a launcher that can lift payloads above 2,000 kg. IT has just started testing the GSLV-Mark III for this. As such it has been buying space rides on the European Ariane vehicles.

Arianespace said this was its 21st Indian launch since the APPLE experimental satellite in 1981. ISRO's upcoming 5,000-kg-plus heavy satellite, GSAT-11, will also be launched by Arianespace.

GSAT-17's co-passenger has two operators. Hellas Sat 3 provides direct to home television and telecom services across Europe, West Asia and South Africa. Inmarsat will provide inflight Internet facilities for European airlines, as signified in the satellite's tag EAN or European Aviation Network.

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## GuardianRED

If any one is up ... The Launch of the Ariane 5 is Live

http://www.arianespace.com/mission/ariane-flight-va238/

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## proud_indian

GuardianRED said:


> If any one is up ... The Launch of the Ariane 5 is Live
> 
> http://www.arianespace.com/mission/ariane-flight-va238/



though I was awake, I missed it.
But I watched the post launch presentation 
thanks for the link

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## lastone

@Han Patriot .
Pl note how well engineered QUALITY launches take place.
3 successful indian launches in last couple of months vs 3 failures of chinese low quality rockets in less than 2 years.
This is because indian rockets are homegrown while chinese copy blindly so are not sure about their intricate working.


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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> @Han Patriot .
> Pl note how well engineered QUALITY launches take place.
> 3 successful indian launches in last couple of months vs 3 failures of chinese low quality rockets in less than 2 years.
> This is because indian rockets are homegrown while chinese copy blindly so are not sure about their intricate working.


Go check the latest reliability rates.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
29-June, 2017 10:02 IST
*India's GSAT-17 Communication Satellite Launched Successfully *

Today, GSAT-17 became India’s third communication satellite to successfully reach orbit in the past two months. GSAT-17 was launched in the early morning hours using the European Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana. The 3477 kg GSAT-17 carries communication payloads in C-band, Extended C-band and S-band for providing various services to the country. The satellite also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services. 

After its lift-off at 0245 hrs (2:45 am) IST and a flight lasting about 39 minutes, GSAT-17 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 249 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,920 km, inclined at an angle of 3 degrees to the equator. 

ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-17 immediately after its separation from the launch vehicle. Preliminary health checks of the satellite revealed its normal functioning. 

In the coming days, orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed to place GSAT-17 satellite in the Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using the satellite’s propulsion system in steps. 

During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and both the antenna reflectors of GSAT-17 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration. GSAT-17 will be positioned at its designated orbital slot in the geostationary orbit and will be co-located with some of the Indian operational geostationary satellites. Later, it is planned to turn on the communication payloads of the satellite. After the successful completion of all the in-orbit tests, GSAT-17 will be ready for operational use. 

*****

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## Hindustani78

GSAT-17 was successfully launched by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.(Photo: @ISRO on Twitter





India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-17 was successfully launched on Thursday by a heavy duty rocket of Arianespace from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.

Configured around I-3K extended bus, GSAT-17 with a lift-off mass of about 3,477 kg carries payloads in Normal C- band, Extended C-band and S-band to provide various communication services.

It also carries equipment for meteorological data relay and satellite based search and rescue services being provided by earlier INSAT satellites.

The European launcher Arianespace Flight VA238 blasted off from Ariane Launch Complex No 3 (ELA 3) at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America, couple of minutes delayed than the scheduled time of 2:29 hrs IST.

GSAT-17 was injected shortly after orbiting co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN in a flawless flight lasting about 41 minutes.

“GSAT-17 successfully launched by Ariane-5 VA-238 from Kourou, French Guiana,” the city headquartered ISRO announced after the mission.

GSAT-17 that will strengthen ISRO’s current fleet of 17 telecommunications satellites was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

This will be third satellite launch by ISRO this month, the other two being first developmental flight of GSLV MkIII and PSLV C-38 missions -- both from Sriharikota spaceport.

GSLV MkIII successfully launched GSAT-19 satellite on June 5 while PSLV-C38 orbited Cartosat-2 Series satellite along with 30 co-passenger satellites on June 23 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

ISRO, which has been dependent on Ariane-5 rocket for carrying its heavier satellites, is developing GSLV Mk III for this purpose.

Announcing the successful launch of the satellite, Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted: “Confirmed: GSAT-17 has successfully separated from its #Ariane5 launcher #VA238 @ISRO “

Thanking Arianespace, Director Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Dr K Sivan who watched the launch from the mission control centre called it a “text book mission”.

Noting it as a special mission for ISRO, he said “GSAT-17 is a need of the hour for ISRO and India as it provides the continuity in services of ageing two satellites, as well as augmenting our transponder capability, and widening our horizon to mobile satellite services as well as to Antarctica areas.”

GSAT-17’s co-passenger Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN is a two-payload “condosat” produced by Thales Alenia Space for Hellas Sat and Inmarsat.

Once in orbit, the Hellas Sat 3 component will deliver direct-to-home and telecom services to maintain and expand Hellas Sat’s business reach, while the Inmarsat S EAN component provides the satellite portion of Inmarsat’s new European Aviation Network.

Hellas Sat (member of the Arabsat Group) is a premium satellite operator, offering services in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa from the orbital position of 39 East.

Inmarsat is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services.

The total payload carried on Flight VA238 is approximately 10,177 kg.

GSAT-17 will be the 21st satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace, and its designed in-orbit operational life is about 15 years.

After its injection into GTO, ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan takes control of GSAT-17 and performs the initial orbit raising maneuvers using the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) of the satellite, placing it in circular Geostationary Orbit, the Indian space agency has said.

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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> @Han Patriot .
> Pl note how well engineered QUALITY launches take place.
> 3 successful indian launches in last couple of months vs 3 failures of chinese low quality rockets in less than 2 years.
> This is because indian rockets are homegrown while chinese copy blindly so are not sure about their intricate working.


Btw, Ariane?


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## lastone

Han Patriot said:


> Btw, Ariane?


Gslv2, gslv3 and now pslv.
Satellites launched by 3rd party don't count..


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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> Gslv2, gslv3 and now pslv.
> Satellites launched by 3rd party don't count..


Did you check the latest reliability rates yet?


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## lastone

Han Patriot said:


> Did you check the latest reliability rates yet?


No.
But how come you never upvote my such incisive comments even when I educate you so much on so many topics ??


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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> No.
> But how come you never upvote my such incisive comments even when I educate you so much on so many topics ??


huh me no understand your English bro. I just told you to check the latest reliability rates and you shall get your answer.


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## lastone

Han Patriot said:


> huh me no understand your English bro. I just told you to check the latest reliability rates and you shall get your answer.


Will do when I feel like . But the spate of Chinese failures does not portend well for Chinese space ambitions.

And sorry I don't know Cantonese or I would explain my comment to you.


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## Han Patriot

lastone said:


> Will do when I feel like . But the spate of Chinese failures does not portend well for Chinese space ambitions.
> 
> And sorry I don't know Cantonese or I would explain my comment to you.


I don't speak cantonese


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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> I have been wondering whether India has video satellites, as in remote sensing satellite which can view real time video.



_Cartosat-2 series also carries two Event Monitoring Cameras Ev1 (0.5 m Monochrome) and Ev2 (0.4 m RGB) to provide video imagery of pre-selected site with sub meter sampling to build the capability for real time monitoring of ground events

http://www.isac.gov.in/publications/upagrah/pdf/Upagraha-Jan-Mar-2017.pdf_

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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> _Cartosat-2 series also carries two Event Monitoring Cameras Ev1 (0.5 m Monochrome) and Ev2 (0.4 m RGB) to provide video imagery of pre-selected site with sub meter sampling to build the capability for real time monitoring of ground events
> 
> http://www.isac.gov.in/publications/upagrah/pdf/Upagraha-Jan-Mar-2017.pdf_


So this was just launched right? Basically only this year India has video sats?


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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> So this was just launched right? Basically only this year India has video sats?



Cartosat 2C onwards


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> Cartosat 2C onwards





> Cartosat-2 series satellite is similar to Cartosat-2C with panchromaƟc
> camera and a 4-Band MulƟspectral camera operated in 'Time Delay IntegraƟon
> (TDI)' mode. It provides scene specific imageries of 0.64 m spaƟal resoluƟon in
> panchromaƟc camera and beƩer than 2 m in mulƟspectral camera with a swath
> of 10 km. This three-axis stabilized mission provides spot images of the desired
> locaƟon and has the capability of along track steering to provide stereo spot
> 0
> imageries and across track steering upto + 26 to enhance the range of spot
> imageries. *Cartosat-2 series also carries two Event Monitoring Cameras Ev1 (0.5
> m Monochrome) and Ev2 (0.4 m RGB) to provide video imagery of pre-selected site with sub meter
> sampling to build the capability for real Ɵme monitoring of ground events.*



It was not found in Cartosat-2C, read the paragraph, it was only available since feb 2017 after launch of Cartosat-2.


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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> It was not found in Cartosat-2C, read the paragraph, it was only available since feb 2017 after launch of Cartosat-2.



The Carto-Sat 2 series that was launched last month, has a unique capability of capturing a 1-minute video, which despite its enormous speed of 37kms a second, is able to focus at a single point for a minute

http://www.rotaryclubofbombay.org/s...tion-isro-indias-gateway-into-the-future.html

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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> The Carto-Sat 2 series that was launched last month, has a unique capability of capturing a 1-minute video, which despite its enormous speed of 37kms a second, is able to focus at a single point for a minute
> 
> http://www.rotaryclubofbombay.org/s...tion-isro-indias-gateway-into-the-future.html


So basically India only had this capability few months ago? Which was exactly what I said earlier right?

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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> So basically India only had this capability few months ago? Which was exactly what I said earlier right?



Genius, that page is 10 months old. Found from here.


__
https://www.reddit.com/r/path%3D%252Fr%252FISRO%252Fcomments%252F4yl6dn%252F


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## Han Patriot

gslv mk3 said:


> Genius, that page is 10 months old. Found from here.
> 
> 
> __
> https://www.reddit.com/r/path%3D%252Fr%252FISRO%252Fcomments%252F4yl6dn%252F


Then plz freaking give me a link with dates OK. You keep on changing your sources. So your new source now is twitter or something? LOL


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## gslv mk3

Han Patriot said:


> Then plz freaking give me a link with dates OK. You keep on changing your sources. So your new source now is twitter or something? LOL



If there is no date on a site, look up it's snapshot on archives.org . for this one,


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## punit

Han Patriot said:


> Go check the latest reliability rates.


checked ! 
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/...arch-5-y2-carrier-rocket-170702171026979.html


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## Han Patriot

punit said:


> checked !
> http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/...arch-5-y2-carrier-rocket-170702171026979.html


Check all the Long March series, except for Long March 5, all the other launchers have higher reliability than Indian rockets. However, this launch failure is a big loss, we need to recheck the system, after all this is the second most powerful launcher on earth currently.

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## gslv mk3

*This Bengaluru startup has developed a satellite propulsion technology that can make space missions cheaper*

Dennis Chemmannur Joy July 7, 2017 7 min






Escaping our atmosphere and going into outer space has always been the privilege of a few. For a very long time, the realm of space exploration was limited to government research institutes like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and others.

In India, until recently, the state-owned Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) was the lone player in the space race. However, with the recent success of private players like SpaceX and Blue Origin in the US, the perception that private organisations and individuals cannot participate in this expensive race is quickly changing.

Space business and space tourism are now a rage. In Bengaluru, India’s “startup hub”, many new companies are coming up in the areas of space exploration and transportation. *Among this new crop of startups is Bellatrix Aerospace, which is building new-age satellite propulsion systems and launch vehicles. It has patented an electric propulsion system — the Microwave Electro-thermal Thruster (MET)* — which it claims is more efficient than traditional chemical thrusters as it provides a higher ‘mileage’ and lasts longer.

Bellatrix Aerospace has patented an electric propulsion system — the Microwave Electro-thermal Thruster — which it claims is more efficient than traditional electrical thrusters as it provides a higher ‘mileage’ and lasts longer 

The scope for private players in India in the area of space research is booming right now, says Yashas Karanam, director and chief operating officer at Bellatrix. “*Around 10 years ago, it would have been very difficult since the ecosystem wasn’t very mature. Although Isro has been making efforts towards hand-holding private players, the stage was a very difficult one to get on. But now, the ecosystem has changed*,” he says.

This changing ecosystem has encouraged many private players like Bellatrix to venture into space exploration. There’s Earth2Orbit, which claims to be the first startup to provide launch advisory and consulting services. Team Indus, another startup, secured a funding of $1 million in the first leg of Google Lunar XPRIZE — a competition that invites ideas to land a robot on the moon. Others like Astrome and Dhruva Space are in the fray too. All of them are based in Bengaluru.

*Thrusting higher with the MET*

Satellites usually have two types of propulsion systems: primary propulsion, which helps the satellite reach its destination once it leaves the rocket, and secondary propulsion, which helps it maintain its position and make minor corrections to its orientation. These propulsions are achieved using thrusters — chemical or electrical propulsive devices that enable satellites to manoeuver in space. Small thrusters attached to the satellite control these two propulsion systems.

“Predominantly, there are two kinds of electrical thrusters that have been traditionally researched and used — the gridded ion thruster and the Hall Effect thruster,” says Ganapathy.

Bellatrix has gone a different way with its thruster. “We have been working on a different kind of thruster called the Microwave Electro-thermal Thruster (MET), which is much more efficient than other electrical thrusters,” explains Ganapathy, about the novel satellite propulsion design. “The thrust generated by electric thrusters is very low, as little as pulling two sheets of paper. But since there is no friction in space, this is enough to move the satellite,” he adds.

*In addition, MET is designed to be a zero-erosion thruster, which gives it a longer lifespan. “Electric thrusters are usually prone to erosion. Every time they are fired, a small portion of the metal gets eroded. Our thruster does not erode, allowing it to last longer,” says Ganapathy.*






The company has received funding from JSW Steel and support from the Hindustan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, to develop the MET. *For its innovative satellite propulsion design, it was also awarded the prestigious Technology Development Board National Award, 2017, presented by President Pranab Mukherjee.*

Apart from the MET,* the team is also working on other types of thrusters like the Hall Effect thruster, a nano-thruster for nano-satellites, and a green monopropellant thruster, a chemical propulsion system that is environmentally friendly*.

*Bringing down sky-high costs*

Satellites are the backbone of modern communication that involves televisions and mobile phones powered by the internet. Putting a satellite into orbit, however, is an expensive affair and only a handful of organisations are able to afford them. Because of prohibitive costs, not many companies have tried launching their own satellites.

In India, currently Isro’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) are the only options to carry satellites into either a low-earth orbit or a geostationary orbit.

“When you launch a satellite, you need to pay per kilogram. Isro offers one of the lowest prices for a launch, but even that stands at around Rs 33 lakh per kg of payload, which is very expensive” — Yashas Karanam, director and COO, Bellatrix Aerospace

“When you launch a satellite, you need to pay per kilogram. Isro offers one of the lowest prices for a launch, but even that stands at around Rs 33 lakh per kg of payload, which is very expensive,” says Karanam. “So, generally, one needs to wait until a launch vehicle is completely full or look for a smaller rocket if one wants to put a satellite in space,” he adds.




_An artist’s impression of Chetak, the two-staged, nano-satellite launch vehicle developed by Bellatrix Aerospace_
Bellatrix Aerospace hopes to be a game-changer in this space by introducing economically viable solutions. The company says its patented electric propulsion system will bring down the cost of satellite missions significantly.

”The main advantage in electric propulsion is that it requires only around 200-250kg of fuel, as opposed to the two tonnes required for a chemical propulsion system. This reduces the total weight of the payload significantly, which means you can have more transponders on your satellites, making them more efficient, or have more satellites per launch,” reasons Ganapathy.

The thrust generated by the MET thruster for each kilowatt of input power is also much higher than other electrical thrusters. Through a combination of reduced weight, efficient thrusters and longer lifespan, Bellatrix aims to achieve a significant reduction to the cost of each satellite launch.

Bellatrix is also developing its own fleet of launch vehicles. Named Chetak, its two-staged, reusable rocket can launch smaller satellites into the low-earth orbit at a fraction of the cost charged by conventional launch service providers.

Bellatrix is also developing its own fleet of launch vehicles. Named Chetak, its two-staged, reusable rocket can launch smaller satellites into the low-earth orbit at a fraction of the cost charged by Isro.

But what makes launching a satellite so expensive? It’s the earth’s gravity. To counteract the pull of gravity, rockets are filled with a fuel which, when lit, launches them into space along with their payload, much like an enormous firework. But unlike a firework, literal ‘rocket science’ is required to carry the payload safely beyond our atmosphere.

*An ecosystem boost*

The space race has been gaining momentum across the world over the last 10 years. India recently cheered the successful launch of 104 satellites by Isro with the fervor usually reserved for cricket matches! Now, the public is more enthusiastic and informed about space missions and the technology powering them.

Bellatrix is one of the many players looking to capitalise on this increased awareness.

Currently, the company has moved part of its operations to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, where it has been incubated since 2017. “The IISc is helping a lot. We are getting support in terms of using lab facilities and support of faculty, apart from the mentorship gained by being incubated here,” says Karanam.

“Initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ encourage foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units in the country, which also bring in new skills and knowledge. Isro has also been very supportive of the new breed of space-based startups” – Karanam 

But how does the local ecosystem support this goal? “Initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ encourage foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units in the country, which also bring in new skills and knowledge. Isro has also been very supportive of the new breed of space-based startups,” says Karanam, talking about the current ecosystem.

The fact that Bellatrix Aerospace was one of the first private startups to have been given a contract by Isro to further develop the MET technology stands as a testimony to this newfound optimism about space missions.

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## gslv mk3

*Professor UR Rao, ex-Isro chief and renowned space scientist, passes away





*
BENGALURU: Internationally-renowned space scientist UR Rao passed away early Monday, leaving the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) bereft of the experience of a man who has been a part of all its launches in one capacity or another. He was 85.

Rao, who breathed his last at about 2.30am, was hospitalised earlier this year with a heart ailment.

The former Isro chief was serving as the chairman of the governing council of the physical research laboratory and the chancellor of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology at Thiruvananthapuram.

Rao has held several top positions over the years, including at foreign universities. He has won 10 international awards and many national awards.

After Satish Dhawan, he served as the chairman of Isro for about 10 years between 1984-1994.

Born in Adampur village in Udupi, Rao has continuously been associated with India's space programme working with people like MGK Menon (who recently passed away), Satish Dhawan and Vikram Sarabhai.

From Aryabhatta to the Mars Orbiter Mission, Rao has continued to work with the space agency on several of its projects. Senior scientists have told TOI that his domain expertise and ability to stay up-to-date with technological advancements is unrivaled.

In January this year, he was conferred the Padma Vibhushan. Interestingly, Rao had one said: "I thought I will get this (Padma Vibhushan) posthumously ..."

Among other positions that Rao has held, he is remembered for his tenure at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In May 2016, Rao became the first Indian to be given the 'Hall of Fame' award by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). He has published more than 350 scientific and technical papers covering cosmic rays, interplanetary physics, high energy astronomy, space applications and satellite and rocket technology and authored many books.
He is also the recipient of D.Sc (Hon. Causa) Degree from over 25 universities, including the University of Bologna, the oldest University in Europe.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
03-August, 2017 17:57 IST
*Joint Project between NASA and ISRO *

ISRO and NASA are working towards realisation of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission by 2021.

In NISAR mission, NASA is responsible for development of L-band SAR and ISRO is responsible for development of S-band SAR. The L & S band SAR will be integrated with ISRO’s spacecraft and launched on-board India’s GSLV. The total cost of the project includes ISRO’s work share cost of about Rs. 788.00 Cr and the cost of JPL’s work share of about USD 808 million. After the launch in 2021, the plan of action includes (i) calibration of instruments & validation of data products; (ii) development of science acquisition plan; (iii) development of data processing procedures & applications; and (iv) conduct of outreach activities in research institutes & academia.

NISAR employs a futuristic SweepSAR technique, which enables very wide swath of more than 200 km and very high resolution of the order of 5-10m. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of application, which include estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods & oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies, ice sheet dynamics etc. 

ISRO and NASA have a framework agreement for cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes signed in 2008. Under this framework agreement, ISRO and NASA have executed an implementing arrangement for cooperation in NISAR mission, which is valid until 2034 and provides scope for joint activities on science & applications of NISAR data after the launch.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 
****

Department of Space
03-August, 2017 17:53 IST
*Desi Global Positioning System *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has deployed an indigenous regional positioning system named as “Navigation with Indian Constellation” (NavIC). It consists of seven satellites in a constellation to provide Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services in Indian mainland and surrounding region up to 1500 Km. It provides two types of services viz. Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). 

A budget of Rs.1420 Crore has been approved by the Government for the realisation of the system including 7 in-orbit satellites, 2 satellites as ground spare and associated ground segment.

ISRO has established the required space segment of the NavIC system for providing signal in space enabling position, navigation and timing information and it can support commercial civil applications. Indian entrepreneurs are being enabled for providing services through NavIC receiver system and requisite information has been made available in public domain. The demonstrations for vessel tracking, vehicle tracking, messaging services for fishermen, timing applications have been conducted. Mobile-Apps for navigational alerts across maritime jurisdictions is developed and tested for the Fishermen community using first generation NavIC receivers. Various types of user receivers are being developed indigenously involving Indian industry and discussions amongst government departments, user-receiver manufacturers, system integrators and service providers are taking place for the usage of NavIC system.

While the space and ground segment of the NavIC system has been established and demonstrations of various applications/ services have been conducted, the time required for it to become fully operational depends on the service providers making the services available in the market. It may take couple of years to become fully operational in the market

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 
****

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
19-July, 2017 16:25 IST
*ISRO Missions *

In this calendar year i.e. 2017, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 104 satellites, in a single launch, onboard PSLV-C37 on February 15, 2017 and 31 satellites, in a single launch, on-board PSLV-C38 on June 23, 2017. These satellites include – Two Indian Cartosat-2 series satellites, two Indian Nano-Satellites, one Nano satellite from Indian University and 130 foreign satellites from 19 countries viz. Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UAE, UK and USA.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

Department of Space
19-July, 2017 16:11 IST
*Launch of GSAT-17 *

GSAT-17 communication satellite, with a lift-off mass of 3477 Kg, carrying communication, Data Relay Transponder (DRT), Search & Rescue Payload was successfully launched on June 29, 2017 using Ariane-5 launch vehicle from Kourou launch base of Arianespace.

GSAT-17 is presently undergoing in-orbit tests. Subsequently, it will be inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system for providing various communication services to the country in C, Extended-C and S-band. 

GSAT-17 carries a Data Relay Transponder for receiving meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data from Automatic Weather Stations, Automatic Rain Gauges and Agro Met Stations and relaying back for down linking in extended C-Band. It also carries a Search & Rescue Payload, which picks up and relays the alert signals originating from the distress beacons of maritime, aviation and land based users to help in rescue services. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
20-July, 2017 15:45 IST
*Indian Satellites in Outer Space * 

*At present, there are 42 Indian satellites operational in orbit. *

*Out of these 42 satellites, 15 satellites are used for communication, 4 for meteorological observations, 14 for earth observations, 7 for navigation and 2 for space science purposes. During FY 2016-17, the total revenue accrued from communication satellites through leasing of INSAT/ GSAT transponders is Rs. 746.68 crore. *

With respect to earth observation satellites, the annual income from sale of remote sensing satellite data is Rs. 25.17 crores. The data and value added services derived from earth observation, meteorological, communication & navigation satellites are used to support various applications viz. resource monitoring, weather forecasting, disaster management, location based services, including societal applications. 

The expenses to realize and launching of these satellites are less than those of other countries. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****

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## Hindustani78

President's Secretariat
24-July, 2017 20:26 IST
*President of India condoles the passing away of Prof. U.R. Rao *

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has condoled the passing away of Prof. U.R. Rao.

In a message to his wife Smt. Yashoda Rao,* the President has said,* *“I am sad to learn about the passing away of your husband, Prof. U.R. Rao. *

An internationally-renowned space scientist, Prof. U.R. Rao will be long remembered for his services to the nation in various capacities including Chairman of ISRO, Secretary, Department of Space and Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Science and Technology at Thiruvananthapuram. For his exemplary services to the nation, Prof. Rao was honored with numerous prestigious awards including Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. His demise is a great loss for our country and the scientific community.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences and convey the same to the rest of your family members. I pray to the Almighty to give you and other members of the family strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss”.

****

Prime Minister's Office
24-July, 2017 10:07 IST
*PM condoles the demise of Professor U R Rao*


The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of renowned scientist, Professor U. R. Rao. 

“Saddened by demise of renowned scientist, Professor UR Rao. His remarkable contribution to India's space programme will never be forgotten.” the Prime Minister said.

****

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
27-July, 2017 18:33 IST
*New Satellite Launch Pads *

The Indian satellite launching station located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota has two launch pads - the First Launch Pad (FLP) and the Second Launch Pad (SLP). A Second Vehicle Assembly Building (SVAB) is being established at the Second Launch Pad to overcome the limitation in the number of vehicles that can be assembled and integrated in a year, which is expected to be ready by the beginning of next year. In addition to enabling a significant increase in the launch frequency from the existing two launch pads, the SVAB can also cater to the requirements of a third launch pad at Sriharikota in future. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****

Department of Space
27-July, 2017 18:32 IST
*Updates on Mars Orbiter Spacecraft *

Mars Orbiter Mission has successfully completed 1000 days in its orbit on June 19, 2017, surviving well beyond its designed mission life of six months. All Scientific payloads continue to provide valuable data of Mars surface and its atmosphere. 

Mars Colour Camera on-board MOM has acquired more than 700 images of Martian surface. MOM atlas is published and updates on MOM images are regularly provided in ISRO website. The observations drawn by scientists have been published in 20 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals. The archived scientific data has been released to public for free download and scientific research. About 1380 registered users have downloaded more than 370 GB of data. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today. 

****

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## Hindustani78

The Vice President, Shri M. Hamid Ansari looking at the ‘Exhibition on Science & Technology Innovations’, organised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests and Rajya Sabha, in New Delhi on July 28, 2017. The Speaker, Lok Sabha, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and other dignitaries are also seen.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
31-July, 2017 18:49 IST
*FICCI delegation meets Dr Jitendra Singh, discusses possibilities of industrial collaboration in Space projects *

A delegation of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), led by its President Shri Pankaj Patel met the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here today and discussed with him the possibilities of industrial collaboration in Space projects. 

The FICCI President briefed Dr Jitendra Singh about his meeting with ISRO Chairman Shri Shri A S Kiran Kumar and said that the entire Indian industry is elated at the successful launch of the first - ever "South Asia Satellite", as well as other landmark achievements in recent years, particularly in the last three months. 

Shri Pankaj Patel informed Dr Jitendra Singh that, inspired by these recent milestones of India’s Space Programme, the companies operating in aerospace domain are keen to expand their business in Space segment. In addition, he said, the enabling policies of the Central Government have also encouraged them to explore the possibilities of engaging in the commercial Space segment. 

Dr Jitendra Singh said that India’s Space achievements are a vindication of the struggle by founding fathers like Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan. As we move forward and extend our Space Technology applications in every field, ranging from housing to road construction, tele-education to tele-medicine, etc., it is but obvious that the range of our collaboration will also expand, he said. It is in such a scenario where the role of industrial bodies like FICCI becomes crucial, he observed. 

Dr Jitendra Singh noted with pride that India today stands as world’s frontline nation in Space Technology. This, he said, is evident from the fact that several of our inputs and scientific conclusions including the pictures of Mars taken by the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) are being procured by NASA and other leading Space Centers of the World. 

****

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
02-August, 2017 18:20 IST
*Operational Satellites *

The currently operational 42 satellites are being utilised to meet the requirements of resources monitoring, infrastructure planning, enabling weather forecasting, disaster management support, location based services, host of societal applications, including the demands of satellite communication. To ensure continuity of services and to meet further requirements in these areas, a plan is in place to suitably augment the space infrastructure. 

*Satellite based data and services are being used by various Ministries/Departments in planning, monitoring and evaluation of developmental activities in various sectors, which include agriculture, forestry & environment, water resources, urban & rural planning, asset mapping, mineral prospecting, ocean resources, meteorology, satellite communication, location based services, tele-education, tele-medicine and disaster management support. *

*At present, there are 42 operational satellites in orbit comprising of 18 Earth observation (including meteorological), 15 communication, 7 navigational and 2 Space Science satellites. 26 satellites are currently under various stages of realisation. *

In order to step up the building of satellites, ISRO is involving a consortium of industries for Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) of satellites, wherein the sub-systems and infrastructure is being provided by ISRO. The AIT of a navigation satellite is in progress and the satellite is getting ready for launch in second half of this year. 

In order to accelerate the use of satellites and its services, an outreach facility has been established in Hyderabad to cater to the requirements of capacity building in space-based applications. This facility caters to several activities like training, information kiosks, content generation, outsourcing and mass communication. The facility comprises of large number of thin client systems providing access to satellite data and various software tools for building applications for various developmental activities. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****

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## gslv mk3

Thanks to Ohsin on r/isro subreddit


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
03-August, 2017 17:57 IST
*Joint Project between NASA and ISRO *

ISRO and NASA are working towards realisation of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission by 2021.

In NISAR mission, NASA is responsible for development of L-band SAR and ISRO is responsible for development of S-band SAR. The L & S band SAR will be integrated with ISRO’s spacecraft and launched on-board India’s GSLV. The total cost of the project includes ISRO’s work share cost of about Rs. 788.00 Cr and the cost of JPL’s work share of about USD 808 million. After the launch in 2021, the plan of action includes (i) calibration of instruments & validation of data products; (ii) development of science acquisition plan; (iii) development of data processing procedures & applications; and (iv) conduct of outreach activities in research institutes & academia.

NISAR employs a futuristic SweepSAR technique, which enables very wide swath of more than 200 km and very high resolution of the order of 5-10m. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of application, which include estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods & oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies, ice sheet dynamics etc. 

ISRO and NASA have a framework agreement for cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes signed in 2008. Under this framework agreement, ISRO and NASA have executed an implementing arrangement for cooperation in NISAR mission, which is valid until 2034 and provides scope for joint activities on science & applications of NISAR data after the launch.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 
****

Department of Space
03-August, 2017 17:53 IST
*Desi Global Positioning System *

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has deployed an indigenous regional positioning system named as “Navigation with Indian Constellation” (NavIC). It consists of seven satellites in a constellation to provide Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services in Indian mainland and surrounding region up to 1500 Km. It provides two types of services viz. Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). 

A budget of Rs.1420 Crore has been approved by the Government for the realisation of the system including 7 in-orbit satellites, 2 satellites as ground spare and associated ground segment.

ISRO has established the required space segment of the NavIC system for providing signal in space enabling position, navigation and timing information and it can support commercial civil applications. Indian entrepreneurs are being enabled for providing services through NavIC receiver system and requisite information has been made available in public domain. The demonstrations for vessel tracking, vehicle tracking, messaging services for fishermen, timing applications have been conducted. Mobile-Apps for navigational alerts across maritime jurisdictions is developed and tested for the Fishermen community using first generation NavIC receivers. Various types of user receivers are being developed indigenously involving Indian industry and discussions amongst government departments, user-receiver manufacturers, system integrators and service providers are taking place for the usage of NavIC system.

While the space and ground segment of the NavIC system has been established and demonstrations of various applications/ services have been conducted, the time required for it to become fully operational depends on the service providers making the services available in the market. It may take couple of years to become fully operational in the market

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 
****


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
04-August, 2017 17:06 IST
*ISRO and CSIR-NPL sign MoU for time and frequency traceability services *

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Ministry of Science and Technology, in New Delhi today.


The MoU was signed by Shri V. V. Srinivasan, Director, ISTRAC on behalf of ISRO and Dr D K Aswal Director, NPL, on behalf of CSIR. The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh witnessed the signing of MoU. The DG, CSIR, Dr Girish Sahni, and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.


The MoU provides for time and frequency traceability services to ISRO by CSIR-NPL.


The scope of this MoU is the rendering by CSIR-NPL, of all the necessary actions, necessary to support the following:

· Time and Frequency Traceability services from National Time Scale of CSIR-NPL to IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II of ISTRAC/ISRO through Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT).

· Time and Frequency Traceability services from National Time Scale of CSIR-NPL to IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II of ISTRAC/ISRO through GNSS CV.

· Annual audit of IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II as per ISO/IEC 17025 for ensuring correctness and accuracy of the time traceability.


The MoU came into force from date of signing of the agreement (today) and shall remain valid for a period of 5 years thereafter. Subsequently, the MoU will be renewed on mutual agreement between CSIR-NPL and ISTRAC/ISRO.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that scientists of two premier scientific institutions, NPL and ISRO, have made great efforts in this direction and he applauded them for their contribution. He further said that this is very important landmark and an occasion to acknowledge the great contribution of our scientists. Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi himself encourages scientists to achieve these landmarks. He elaborated that NPL has one of the five Atomic Clocks in India and the people should be encouraged to visit the laboratories and understand science and its contribution to the development of the country.


Dr Jitendra Singh said that this agreement is very important for ISRO. He said that time is very important and synchronization is essential for ISRO projects. Highlighting the achievements of ISRO, he said that one of the main achievements of the Department of Space is that we have successfully and consistently widened the space technology use to various fields. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi takes keen interest in the scientific developments and does personal monitoring of these developments. He said that ISRO has achieved many milestones in the recent past e.g. successful launching of highest number of satellites, completion of 1,000 days of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launch of South Asia Satellite etc. He said that ISRO has already signed MoUs with various ministries and departments which is contributing to the social applications of space technology. The ISRO has signed MoU with Ministry of Agriculture for Geo-MNREGA, with Ministry of Railways for guarding the railway crossings. ISRO is also contributing to the Smart City Programme and other initiatives, he added.


*****


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## Hindustani78

The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh witnessing the signing ceremony of an MoU between CSIR-NPL and ISRO for time and frequency traceability services, in New Delhi on August 04, 2017. The DG, CSIR, Dr. Girish Sahni is also seen.




The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan addressing at the signing ceremony of an MoU between CSIR-NPL and ISRO for time and frequency traceability services, in New Delhi on August 04, 2017. The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the DG, CSIR, Dr. Girish Sahni and other dignitaries are also seen.




The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing at the signing ceremony of an MoU between CSIR-NPL and ISRO for time and frequency traceability services, in New Delhi on August 04, 2017. The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the DG, CSIR, Dr. Girish Sahni and other dignitaries are also seen.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...n-satellite/article19458651.ece?homepage=true

* ‘Hyspex’ imaging will enable distinct identification of objects from space *

A new set of future satellites called hyperspectral imaging satellites is set to add teeth to the way India is gleaned from about 600 km in space.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) says it plans to launch a full-fledged niche Earth observation (EO) satellite — called the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite or HySIS — using a critical chip it has developed.

There is no specific time-frame yet for its launch, an ISRO spokesman said, adding that meanwhile, the new chip, technically called an “optical imaging detector array,” that they have created for it would be tested and perfected.

"ISRO is endeavouring to enter the domain of operational hyperspectral imaging from earth orbit" with a satellite that can see in 55 spectral or colour bands from 630 km above ground,” the space organisation has said. It said it decided to develop the chip that suited Indian requirements. 

Hyperspectral or hyspex imaging is said to be an EO trend that is being experimented globally. Adding a new dimension to plain-vanilla optical imagers, it can be used for a range of activities from monitoring the environment, crops, looking for oil and minerals all the way up to military surveillance — all of which need images that show a high level of differentiation of the object or scene.

About a decade ago, ISRO added another EO niche with microwave or radar imaging satellites RISAT-1 and 2 that could ‘see’ through clouds and the dark — an important feature useful for the military and security agencies. 

‘Hyspex’ imaging is said to enable distinct identification of objects, materials or processes on Earth by reading the spectrum for each pixel of a scene from space.

Another official described it as “another important development by ISRO in its quest for better and diverse Earth observation technologies.”

ISRO first tried it out in an 83-kg IMS-1 experimental satellite in May 2008. The same year, a hyperspectral camera was put on Chandrayaan-1 and used to map lunar mineral resources. Very few space agencies have such a satellite; a German environmental satellite called EnMAP is due to be launched on an Indian booster in 2018. 

The payloads development centre, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, designed the architecture of the chip which was made at ISRO’s electronics arm, the Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Chandigarh. The result was a detector array that could read 1000 x 66 pixels. 

According to an EO expert who called it the ‘CATSCAN’ equivalent of Earth from space, hyspex technology was still an evolving science. It came with many challenges and, as such, space agencies were still ironing out its issues after many years.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
10-August, 2017 15:39 IST
*Venus Mission of ISRO *

The study team has submitted its inputs addressing various options and opportunities for Venus mission. The study team’s inputs will be reviewed by Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS) for further considerations. Meanwhile, the call for scientific proposals, through an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to conduct space based experiments has been made to Indian scientists. After completion of selection process of proposals, definition of mission including budget will be worked out. Ten lakh rupees has been sanctioned for the project. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha today.



****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/629160/isro-looking-consortium-pslvs-chief.html

Known for its low-cost satellite launches, India's space agency ISRO is looking at a consortium for building launch vehicles to enhance its capacity and capture a larger slice of the global space industry, its chief A S Kiran Kumar said today.

Kumar emphasised on the building capacity within the organisation as well in the domestic industry.

"We are trying to increase the number of launches. We are trying to look at a consortium, a joint venture entity, to build launch vehicles," Kumar said.

Earlier this year, ISRO launched 104 satellites in one go, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), its most trusted launcher.

With the consortium, ISRO plans to increase the number of PSLVs so that the frequency of launches can match the number of launch vehicles, he said.

"It is a question of capacity building to capture a portion of the global market," Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Through its PLSV, the Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched foreign satellites at a lower cost.

Kumar said ISRO was also seeking to increase its annual launches to 24, apart from boosting its existing constellation of 42 satellites.

"We are trying to increase the frequency of launches so that we can put sufficient infrastructure in place to meet our communication, remotes-sensing, earth observation and navigation requirements. Though we have 42 satellites in the orbit, we need more (satellites)," Kumar said.

He said ISRO was also gearing up for its Moon mission - Chandrayaan 2. This would involve releasing a lander on the surface of the Moon.

He said the space agency has asked for proposals from the scientific community on the possible programmes that could be launched for its inter-planetary missions for Venus, Mars and some asteroids.

According to the government, the average annual revenue of the international satellite market over the last three years is approximately USD 200 billion.

In 2015-16, Antrix, ISRO's commercial arm, earned approximately Rs 230 crore through commercial launch services, which is about 0.6 per cent of the global launch service market, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the Department of Space, said in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...d-on-aug-31/article19546134.ece?homepage=true
BENGALURU:, August 23, 2017 17:21 IST
Updated: August 23, 2017 17:22 IST

ISRO has announced its next mission on August 31. The back-up navigation satellite, IRNSS-1H, will be launched from the Sriharikota launch centre just before 7 p.m. next week.

The spacecraft weighing over 1400 kg is similar to the other seven that are already in orbit. It will be put in a geostationary orbit in space over 55 degrees East longitude on ISRO's light-lifting PSLV rocket. 

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System — since renamed Navigation with Indian Constellation or NavIC — has been put up to give near-exact ground positions and time of objects or people, similar to what the American GPS does on a global scale. NavIC gives these details for land, sea or in air, as required by various Indian user agencies or individuals.

ISRO for the first time involved a consortium of six small and medium industries while building 1H and testing it; the next back-up 1I will also be assembled with greater role given to industry.

The upcoming 1H became necessary after all three rubidium atomic clocks on the first satellite, 1A, failed in orbit. 1A, now providing messaging services, was launched in July 2013.

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## Dark Lord Forever

Hindustani78 said:


> http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...d-on-aug-31/article19546134.ece?homepage=true
> BENGALURU:, August 23, 2017 17:21 IST
> Updated: August 23, 2017 17:22 IST
> 
> ISRO has announced its next mission on August 31. The back-up navigation satellite, IRNSS-1H, will be launched from the Sriharikota launch centre just before 7 p.m. next week.
> 
> The spacecraft weighing over 1400 kg is similar to the other seven that are already in orbit. It will be put in a geostationary orbit in space over 55 degrees East longitude on ISRO's light-lifting PSLV rocket.
> 
> The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System — since renamed Navigation with Indian Constellation or NavIC — has been put up to give near-exact ground positions and time of objects or people, similar to what the American GPS does on a global scale. NavIC gives these details for land, sea or in air, as required by various Indian user agencies or individuals.
> 
> ISRO for the first time involved a consortium of six small and medium industries while building 1H and testing it; the next back-up 1I will also be assembled with greater role given to industry.
> 
> The upcoming 1H became necessary after all three rubidium atomic clocks on the first satellite, 1A, failed in orbit. 1A, now providing messaging services, was launched in July 2013.


bheekhari not eating but flying in space. why not build toilet with space money?


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...n-august-31/article19587847.ece?homepage=true

Bengaluru, August 30, 2017 17:34 IST
Updated: August 30, 2017 17:39 IST





Launch of PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H is scheduled on August 31, 2017 at 19:00 hrs from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota. Photo: ISRO 

* The launch is scheduled at 19:00 hrs from the Second Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. *
The 29-hour countdown for Thursday’s launch of navigation satellite ‘IRNSS-1H’ to augment the existing seven satellites of the NavIC constellation began on August 30.

To be launched on board PSLV-C39, IRNSS-1H will be a ’back-up’ navigation satellite for IRNSS-1A, one of the seven satellites in the constellation, as its three rubidium atomic clocks on board had stopped functioning.

“The 29-hr countdown operations of PSLV-C39/IRNSS-1H mission have started on Wednesday at 14:00 hrs IST,” the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

The launch is scheduled at 19:00 hrs from the Second Launch Pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) had on August 29 cleared the 29-hour countdown.

The launch vehicle PSLV-C39 will use the ‘XL’ version of PSLV equipped with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant.

The over 1,400 kg spacecraft was built and tested by ISRO along with a consortium of six small and medium industries.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India on par with U.S.-based GPS.

The system that offers services like terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers, was named ‘NavIC’ (Navigation with Indian Constellation) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ISRO had launched seven satellites - IRNSS-1G on April 28, 2016, IRNSS-1F (March 10, 2016), IRNSS-1E (January 20, 2016), IRNSS-1D (March 28, 2015), IRNSS-1C (October 16, 2014), IRNSS-1B (April 4, 2014) and IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013.

According to ISRO officials, the total cost of all the seven satellites was ₹1,420 crore.

******


The GSLV-Mk III takes off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. File 





http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...to-industry/article19582259.ece?homepage=true

* Space agency invites applications from single, combined domestic entities *
The Indian Space Research Organisation has opened the door to domestic entities that can give it up to 18 spacecraft a year starting mid to late 2018.

The Bengaluru-based ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), which has so far produced about 90 Indian spacecraft, on Monday invited single or combined industries to apply for this opportunity.

ISAC Director M. Annadurai told _The Hindu _that the centre expected to select five or six contenders from this exercise “if they are found technically suitable.”

*Three-year contract*
ISAC would sign a three-year contract with the finalists, train, handhold and supervise their teams in making its range of satellites at its facility.

The Indian Space Research Organisation Scurrently makes four categories of spacecraft — communication, remote sensing, navigation and scientific missions — and in three sizes of 1,000 kg to 4,000 kg.

The first lot of spacecraft from this exercise was expected in about six months from the signing of the contracts. This is also roughly the normal time taken to assemble a satellite.

Dr. Annadurai said: “The outsourcing of assembly, integration and testing [AIT] in a way covers operational spacecraft, mostly repeat types that ISRO routinely requires.

However it will be decided by an in-house committee” which he heads.

About the cost of industry-made spacecraft versus those made in-house, he said: “We don't envisage any cost increase.” Currently, about eight satellites are being produced in a year for national programmes; a 2,000-kg spacecraft costs ISRO about ₹200 crore.

The contract mentions milestone payments, assigning of new spacecraft upon delivery; and a possible renewal of contract after three years.






*Benefits for ISRO*
How would the exercise benefit ISRO or ISAC which has around 900 engineers versed in different skills related to spacecraft?

“Right now, the manpower of ISAC/ISRO is not adequate for meeting both the increased load of making more satellites; and also for the R&D that we need for future satellites. The present bid to outsource our AIT will help us re-deploy our human resources effectively and focus on R&D,” he said.

It would also aid self-reliance by way of an independent Indian satellite industry.

*Important missions*
Although the goal is to get vendors to realise satellites “end to end”, ISAC would retain important and scientific missions.

In the $ 339-billion global space industry, satellite manufacturing accounts for 8% or $13.9 billion ( data as per the Satellite Industry Association's 2017 report).

This segment is led by established players from the United States and Europe who supply satellites to their government and commercial users.

ISAC’s EoI is seen as a first step towards the making of an Indian space industry.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...nsuccessful/article19595189.ece?homepage=true

ISRO chief A.S. Kiran Kumar told mediapersons,“ There was no problem in any of the stages. But the heat shield has to separate. And once that happens the satellite gets into the orbit. It got separated internally. But it’s enclosed within the heat shield in the fourth stage.”

“We are getting into the details of what has happened,” he added.

IRNSS-1H was being sent to space to back up — and mostly replace — the functions of India's first navigation satellite. IRNSS-1A was launched four years back. Indian Space Research Organisation had to quickly get two back-ups ready when all three rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed around mid-2016. Mr. Kumar had earlier said 1H had atomic clocks that had been corrected and improved.

Between 2013 and 2016, ISRO put up seven IRNSS satellites to form the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, since called NavIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation.

NavIC is the Indian regional version similar to the U.S. Global Positioning System GPS. It will drive all position-based activities on ground, sea and air, by giving near accurate location details of persons or objects. It will be used for military, commercial and common everyday uses.


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## Han Patriot

Sorry to hear that, best of luck next time.


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## Hindustani78




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## bloo

*Rubidium Atomic Clock for Space*






CSIR-NPL has developed and transferred the critical technology of Rubidium atomic clock for space applications to ISRO. A model has been developed at CSIR-NPL and is undergoing further developments at Satellite Applications Center before being integrated in the payload of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system.





Further critical process for development of glass technology of Rubidium bulbs and cells is under development at CSIR-NPL for making the indigenization of space clocks complete.

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## KN-1

Hindustani78 said:


> http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...nsuccessful/article19595189.ece?homepage=true
> 
> ISRO chief A.S. Kiran Kumar told mediapersons,“ There was no problem in any of the stages. But the heat shield has to separate. And once that happens the satellite gets into the orbit. It got separated internally. But it’s enclosed within the heat shield in the fourth stage.”
> 
> “We are getting into the details of what has happened,” he added.
> 
> IRNSS-1H was being sent to space to back up — and mostly replace — the functions of India's first navigation satellite. IRNSS-1A was launched four years back. Indian Space Research Organisation had to quickly get two back-ups ready when all three rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed around mid-2016. Mr. Kumar had earlier said 1H had atomic clocks that had been corrected and improved.
> 
> Between 2013 and 2016, ISRO put up seven IRNSS satellites to form the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, since called NavIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation.
> 
> NavIC is the Indian regional version similar to the U.S. Global Positioning System GPS. It will drive all position-based activities on ground, sea and air, by giving near accurate location details of persons or objects. It will be used for military, commercial and common everyday uses.



don't worry mother Russia will help you, like they did in your nuclear and missile program alog with air craft carriers and nuclear subs. just keep the cash ready.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> don't worry mother Russia will help you, like they did in your nuclear and missile program alog with air craft carriers and nuclear subs.



Another Pakistani moron. Yeah Russia would help their competitors in space launches for money.

PSLV is an Indian design & one of the most successful carrier rockets in business. And we know how to fix problems if any- we are not technologically backward Pakistan.

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Another Pakistani moron. Yeah Russia would help their competitors in space launches for money.
> 
> PSLV is an Indian design & one of the most successful carrier rockets in business. And we know how to fix problems if any- we are not technologically backward Pakistan.



another shupa powa bhangi, Where did i said Russian will do for free, just keep cash ready, they will deliver the tech you are cash cow, your rockets are cheap bcoz your material and manpower are cheapest in the world.


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## lastone

KN-1 said:


> another shupa powa bhangi, Where did i said Russian will do for free, just keep cash ready, they will deliver the tech you are cash cow, your rockets are cheap bcoz your material and manpower are cheapest in the world.


Pak is technologically backward and a bhikari . What a combo .
Even Bangladesh will overtake them in a few years.

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## KN-1

lastone said:


> Pak is technologically backward and a bhikari . What a combo .
> Even Bangladesh will overtake them in a few years.



says a citizen of toiletless shithole with more poverty then sub saharan Africa combine where 300 million still dont know what is electricity. not to forget top recipient of aid from almost all aid giving nations yet calling other bhikari like shameless subhumans.

dont talk about Bangladesh, they will leave you behind too with big margin if ganga bhangi dont interfere or flood their country. Bengali knows who are jealous of their progress.

lastly you dont buy smallest stuff from Russia for billions, it include money for such technology, its well established fact that Russian are building your aircraft carrier and nuclear subs as we speak.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> another shupa powa bhangi, Where did i said Russian will do for free, just keep cash ready, they will deliver the tech you are cash cow, your rockets are cheap bcoz your material and manpower are cheapest in the world.



Dumbfck jihadi, PSLV is a completely Indian design & has nothing to do with Russia. It has been flying for 23 years & we know how to fix problems with it. As I said earlier, we are not Pakistan which is just a big ZERO in space technology.

And Indian launchers are cheap because of their design.



KN-1 said:


> says a citizen of toiletless shithole with more poverty then sub saharan Africa combine where 300 million still dont know what is electricity



Quite rich coming from a low HDI hellhole with 58% literacy rate & infant mortality rate of 66 in 1000. 

A country which suffers from chronic power outages & have to beg China for money & technology to set up Powerplants. This is beyond backward...

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Dumbfck jihadi, PSLV is a completely Indian design & has nothing to do with Russia. It has been flying for 23 years & we know how to fix problems with it. As I said earlier, we are not Pakistan which is just a big ZERO in space technology.
> 
> And Indian launchers are cheap because of their design.



low IQ Yindoo piss drinking bhnagi, it have nothing to do with you, you cant even produce an MBT, you still import IFVs, artillary so let alone building rockets, its all Russian stuff paid for in deals of small stuff from Russia.. they are still busy with your air craft carrier and nuclear subs.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> its well established fact that Russian are building your aircraft carrier and nuclear subs as we speak.



Our Aircraft Carrier is being built by Cochin Shipyard & submarines at Vizag. Just FYI, jihadi.



KN-1 said:


> low IQ Yindoo piss drinking bhnagi, it have nothing to do with you, you cant even produce an MBT, you still import IFVs, artillary so let alone building rockets



Lol, camel urine drinking inbred Jihadi, we have been building MBTs from the 1960s.

We have our own artillery rocket system named Pinaka.

And we have developed advanced technologies like fast Breeder reactors & Cryogenic engines.

Now go apply for an 'axact' degree.

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Quite rich coming from a low HDI hellhole with 58% literacy rate & infant mortality rate of 66 in 1000.
> 
> A country which suffers from chronic power outages & have to beg China for money & technology to set up Powerplants. This is beyond backward...



despite low literacy still have much less poverty then your shithole, more middle class then your shithole.

atleast those who suffer from chronic power shortage (in past) know what is electricty, but 300 million subhumans dont even know what is electricty in your shithole 



gslv mk3 said:


> Our Aircraft Carrier is being built by Cochin Shipyard & submarines at Vizag. Just FYI, jihadi.



No yindoo scum, its just a cover, Russians are building them or atleast guiding subhumans.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> No yindoo scum, its just a cover, Russians are building them or atleast guiding subhumans.



Go **** yourself moron, the aircraft carrier is being built right in front of my eyes in my city of Kochi.

Too much inbreeding have affected your brain.



KN-1 said:


> dont talk about Bangladesh, they will leave you behind too with big margin if ganga bhangi dont interfere or flood their country. Bengali knows who are jealous of their progress.



Is that why India is ahead of you little minions in both per capita GDP & HDI ? Moron !!

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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> despite low literacy still have much less poverty then your shithole, more middle class then your shithole



No one believes lies from a low HDI hellhole...go whine elsewhere.


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Is that why India is ahead of you little minions in both per capita GDP & HDI ? Moron !!



Yeah after 65 years finally, what an achievement for subumans 



gslv mk3 said:


> No one believes lies from a low HDI hellhole...go whine elsewhere.



Lies? Yeah probably its not reported by your north korean level propaganda.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Where i said its not being builded, i said they are being builded by fuckboy of bharat mata called Russia you yindoo bhabhi fvcking swine



Dumbfck inbred, try learning basic English before trolling here...

Our Aircraft Carrier is being built in India, while **** slaves are begging their master China.


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Dumbfck inbred, try learning basic English before trolling here...
> 
> Our Aircraft Carrier is being built in India, while **** slaves are begging their master China.



Your rants will not make it trur bhabhi fvcking yindoo scum, its Russian product and will known as one.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> rest are all Russian products with indian names



Says who ? Oh, someone from a country that is literally a big ZERO in science & technology 



KN-1 said:


> Your rants will not make it trur bhabhi fvcking yindoo scum, its Russian product and will known as one.



Yep, a product designed & built in India is Russian according to inbred Pakistanis.


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Says who ? Oh, someone from a country that is literally a big ZERO in science & technology



Yeah and who is making fun, a citizen of toiletless shithole 



gslv mk3 said:


> Yep, a product designed & built in India is Russian according to inbred Pakistanis.



Its not designed by you, its Russian product you result of bhabhi fvcking..


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Lies?



Sure, UN is lying about Pakistan's low HDI.


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Sure, UN is lying about Pakistan's low HDI.



Where did i said we dont have LOW HDI, i am talking about poverty and middle class.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Its not designed by you, its Russian product



Dumbfck it is designed by Indian Navy itself.

We are a Country which can design our own ships, unlike Pakistan which begs to China for design.



KN-1 said:


> Yeah and who is making fun, a citizen of toiletless shithole



Says the citizen of an undernourished illiterate hellhole 



KN-1 said:


> Yeah after 65 years finally



Congratulations for achieving 58% literacy after 70 years...


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> umbfck it is designed by Indian Navy itself.



as i said your rants wont make it indian, Russian engineer and scientists are working their, reported by your own media..


gslv mk3 said:


> We are a Country which can design our own ships, unlike Pakistan which begs to China for design.



Yeah like you design Teja, we know how you build your ships with 99% improrted stuff, engine come from europe, avionics come from Israel weapons come from Russia, and all assembaled by Russian engineers..


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> as i said your rants wont make it indian, Russian engineer and scientists are working their, reported by your own media.



Dumbfck moron, it was designed & built in India. Google it before blabbering...


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Says the citizen of an undernourished illiterate hellhole



Says a bhangi from country top in committing suicides, atleast malnutritioned Pakistanis are not committing suicides


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Yeah like you design Teja, we know how you build your ships with 99% improrted stuff, engine come from europe, avionics come from Israel weapons come from Russia, and all assembaled by Russian engineers..



More rants by a moron.

And these idiots believe that Pakistan builds JF 17 100%


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Congratulations for achieving 58% literacy after 70 years...



Congratulation for having educated toiletless bhangi shithole.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Says a bhangi from country top in committing suicides,



More rants from a moron..


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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> More rants by a moron.
> 
> And these idiots believe that Pakistan builds JF 17 100%



no we are not faggots like you.  we accept Chinese role and give them credit.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> Congratulation for having educated toiletless bhangi shithole.



Congratulations for being the top exporter of international terrorists

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> More rants from a moron..



you are really low IQ, cant come up with you sentence,


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> no we are not faggots like you.



The world disagrees

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Congratulations for being the top exporter of international terrorists



says the citizen of shithole who supported bengali militants against Pakistan, Tamils against sri lanka and northern alliance against Afghan pashtuns..



gslv mk3 said:


> The world disagrees



World dont revolve around your ugly kind


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> you are really low IQ, cant come up with you sentence,



Lol moron, you want me to reply to your rants?

Tejas was designed in India and has 60% Indian content...

Meanwhile Pakistanis cannot even design a microlight aircraft.



KN-1 said:


> says the citizen of shithole who supported bengali militants against Pakistan, Tamils against sri lanka and northern alliance against Afghan pashtuns..
> 
> 
> 
> World dont revolve around your ugly kind



Really? Then why don't I see Indians being frisked in international airports for their names?

Or stereotyped as terrorists?

How does it feel to get snubbed by the president of world's sole super power?

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> Lol moron, you want me to reply to your rants?
> 
> Tejas was designed in India and has 60% Indian content...
> 
> Meanwhile Pakistanis cannot even design a microlight aircraft.



again rant, pagal their is nothing indigenous in ganga, all are lies, French designed the aircraft, avionics are Israeli engines from US. maybe tyre are produced in your country.



gslv mk3 said:


> Really? Then why don't I see Indians being frisked in international airports for their names?



Didnt that happened with SRK on airport?



gslv mk3 said:


> Or stereotyped as terrorists?



No one stereotyped us as terrorists..



gslv mk3 said:


> How does it feel to get snubbed by the president of world's sole super power?



Sole superpower? oh i thought its multi polar world now a days, but continue with worshiping orange bhagwan on your filthy square. may he invade Pakistan on your behalf..


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> No one stereotyped us as terrorists..



really ? Try getting out of your hellhole..



KN-1 said:


> Sole superpower? oh i thought its multi polar world now a days



You can 'think' a lot of things, but your once sugardaddy has just snubbed you.



KN-1 said:


> again rant, pagal their is nothing indigenous in ganga, all are lies, French designed the aircraft, avionics are Israeli engines from US



Moron, it was designed in India by ADA & avionics are of Indian origin. We manufacture & export avionics for various upgrade programs.



KN-1 said:


> don't worry mother Russia will help you, like they did in your nuclear and missile program alog



Where did you see Russian help when we did this ?






Or this ?







This little tv set is what all you minions have achieved in space technology. so STFU & GTFO.

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## KN-1

gslv mk3 said:


> really ? Try getting out of your hellhole..
> 
> 
> 
> You can 'think' a lot of things, but your once sugardaddy has just snubbed you.
> 
> 
> 
> Moron, it was designed in India by ADA & avionics are of Indian origin. We manufacture & export avionics for various upgrade programs.
> 
> 
> 
> Where did you see Russian help when we did this ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Or this ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This little tv set is what all you minions have achieved in space technology. so STFU & GTFO.




abey stop crying.


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## gslv mk3

KN-1 said:


> abey stop crying.



Crying about Pakistani 'TV set' in space

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/te...ro-to-probe/article19604368.ece?homepage=true

The Space establishment has started to diagnose what went wrong in Thursday’s failed launch of PSLV-C39. The launch resulted in the stillbirth of its much-needed navigation satellite IRNSS-1H.

A review meeting is slated for Saturday in Thiruvananthapuram, seat of the launch vehicle centre, according to people familiar with the developments.

An informed official said the analysis should be completed before the next launches of the PSLV and the GSLV came up, starting October or November.

Indian Space Research Organisation has given up on the satellite, which along with the launcher could have cost it an estimated ₹300-400 crore.

A debris tracking team linked to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram has been monitoring the unreleased satellite which is moving in a low orbit even as it sits trapped inside the heat shield.

V.Adimurthy, Adviser at ISRO, former VSSC Associate Director and former Chairman of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), said, “The spacecraft is in a low orbit and there will be natural decay. Going by its falling pattern, we expect it to fall back to Earth may be between four and eight weeks.”

Most of its parts of the 1425-kg will burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere. The huge quantity of propellants on it is also a worry. ISRO is part of the IADC and will also get inputs of the North American debris watch body, NORAD.

ISRO veterans who have been associated with launch vehicle activity recounted that they knew they had a problem three minutes after the rocket carrying IRNSS-1H took off.

During the 19-minute flight, the heat shield or topmost nose cone of the PSLV-C-39 rocket should have separated after three minutes and fallen off but it did not happen. At that point, the second of the four-stage rocket was at a height of around 125 km. 

Instead, the heat shield continued to travel with the spacecraft still inside it. Normally the satellite would have got safely exposed and zoomed ahead at that point. This adversely added undesirable weight to the spacecraft and dragged its velocity. 

The satellite is encased in a heat shield - also called payload fairings - in the top fourth stage to protect it from atmospheric disruptions. After around 100 km above ground, it does not need the heat protection.

Teams have started ascertaining what went wrong, because the rest of the launch milestones went off as planned except for the heat shield issue – which never cropped up earlier, they said.
********
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/te...al-for-pslv/article19604353.ece?homepage=true

Planned missions of the PSLV rocket and its big brother GSLV would go on as scheduled in the coming months, according to statements made by ISRO Chairman A.S.Kiran Kumar at Sriharikota after the launch and separately by VSSC Director K.Sivan.

The next PSLV mission is tentatively due in November or December to launch a Cartosat-2 series remote sensing satellite. It may also carry smaller customer satellites.

A GSLV flight may take place later this year to put military communications satellite GSAT-6A to space to support the older GSAT-6. A heavy-lift GSLV Mark III carrying a large communications satellite is also likely in February 2018.

Antrix Corporation, which has signed a series of launch contracts for the PSLV, sees its reliability and market intact as the latest problem would be overcome.

Rakesh Sasibhusan, Chairman and Managing Director of Antrix, said, “Launch mishaps or anomalies are an inevitable part of the space business. Every space agency has these moments."

Antrix currently has firm agreements for launching 16 foreign spacecraft; satellite operators are discussing over a dozen more launches with it, he told _The Hindu._

Other commercial launchers (for example, Soyuz, Proton and SpaceX) may have suffered failures and continue to be in demand, he said. The PSLV, popular in the category to lift 5-kg to 800-kg spacecraft to space, remains a reliable vehicle to customers as it has delivered 39 continuous successes over 23 years.

It also operates in a global market segment where such services are not readily available to satellite operators, he said.

************
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...v-stacks-up-against-peers/article19608785.ece





A panoramic view of the fully assembled PSLV-C23 at the First Launch Pad with Mobile Service Tower. | Photo Credit: ISRO

* Of the 41 times the PSLV has been pressed into service, it has only failed twice, thereby giving it a success rate of 95.13%. This should be seen in relation to other rocket launchers such as China's Long March, Russia's Soyuz, and the European Space Agency's Ariane 5. *
After 24 years of gravity-defying service as the conduit embodying India's aerospace ambitions, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), came up short in delivering its payload to the reaches of outer space, on Thursday. This was its first failure after 39 successful launches, where it deposited with great acuity, innumerable satellites in pre-ordained paths in the earth's orbit.

A PSLV flight lasts 19 minutes, and has been used in ferrying small-to-medium sized satellites. After being commissioned in 1993 by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), it had cemented its position as the workhorse in India's space programme, successfully launching 209 satellites.

After it went commercial in 1999 under the Antrix Corporation masthead, PSLV has seen its stock rise, launching satellites of 28 different countries. It created launch history in February 2017, when it placed a record haul of 104 spacecrafts in orbit. Of the 104, only three were indigenous satellites, the others being from countries as diverse as Israel and Kazakhstan. The previous record was held by the Russian rocket launcher, Dnepr, when it lobbed 37 satellites into desired orbits.

Of the 41 times the PSLV has been pressed into service, it has only failed twice, thereby giving it a success rate of 95.13%. This should be seen in relation to other rocket launchers such as China's Long March, Russia's Soyuz, and the European Space Agency's Ariane 5.

The Long March family of rocket launchers successfully notched 236 missions of the 250 undertaken since its induction in 1970, rendering it a success rate of 94.4%. The Russian space programme which predates its Indian counterpart has an illustrious history of successful missions despite the Soyuz U registering a failure in December 2016.

There have been 1,209 launches of all nine variants of the Soyuz, of which 37 missions failed to reach the desired orbit. This yields a success rate of 97% over a period of time ranging as far back as 1966, during the early days of the Cold War when the space race had become a matter of prestige between the Soviet Union and the United States in their quest to shape a new world order after World War II.

Similarly, the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 enjoys a success rate of 95.7% with a total of 90 launches undertaken. However, it holds a clean sheet since June 2003, completing 80 successive missions without failure.

Interplanetary transportation company SpaceX, which is owned by Tesla-founder Elon Musk, reported only two failures in 34 missions of its Falcon 9 rocket launcher, which has been contracted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to deliver its payloads. This translates into a success rate of 94.1%. Another NASA contractor, Lockheed Martin-Boeing, is the only anomaly in an industry where the margin of failure has empirically hovered around 5% to 10%. In the 53 flights undertaken since it was commissioned in 2010, the Atlas 5 has never failed.


According to data compiled by _Space Flight_, a total of 85 orbital launch attempts were made in 2016 by eight countries, of which two were outright failures. The countries that undertook rocket launches in 2016 were the United States, China, Russia, India, Israel, Japan, the EU bloc, and North Korea.

What sets the PSLV apart is its comparatively low cost per launch of ₹90 crore ($15 million). This is in contrast to NASA missions launched by Space X and Lockheed Martin-Boeing at estimated costs of $132.4 million and $62 million respectively.

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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/the-men-behind-the-floats/article19649079.ece

Baby Joseph, site supervisor at a firm that works in the area of pavilions and interiors, has executed the float on south Asian satellites for the Indian Space Research Organisation. The firm was also behind ISRO’s prize-winning float two years ago.

*Plywood and vinyl*

No thermocol or flex have been used for the floats, only plywood and vinyl, Mr. Joseph says, adding that the float has been completed and handed over.

A team of 10 worked on the float for eight to nine days on site as per a design of D. Hemanth Lal of ISRO. The person behind the lighting is electrical supervisor M.V. Biju. The float also has a 170 degree camera and a television that will help the driver navigate the float without any accidents.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
10-September, 2017 13:45 IST
*Dr Jitendra Singh lauds distinguished contribution of Ahmedabad Space Application Centre *

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has lauded the valuable contribution made by Space Application Center (SAC) Ahmedabad in providing original inputs for enriching the India’s Space Programme and also performing the role of value addition to several of the prestigious Space missions launched from ISRO, Sriharikota. 

Currently on a two-day visit to Gujarat, Dr Jitendra Singh held a detailed review meeting with the scientists of Space Application Centre led by its Director, Dr Tapan Misra. 

Dr Jitendra Singh made a special note of appreciation for some of the advanced technology developed at SAC, Ahmedabad with regard to origami lens, indigenously developed MMIC, Airborne low mass x-band Mini-SAR for strategic applications and disaster management, optical trans-receiver satellite mobile radio etc. 

Referring to Ahmedabad Space Centre and other Space science programmes going on in the State of Gujarat, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the State was already ahead in terms of making maximum utilization of Space communication for education purposes. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, he said, the same applications have been effectively extended even to the peripheral areas of Northeast and hill States. In this regard, he mentioned recent MoU signed by the Department of Space, Government of India with the Department of Education, Government of Jammu & Kashmir. 

Dr Jitendra Singh observed that India has already emerged as a world leader in the field of Space Technology. This has not only vindicated the noble initiative of the founding fathers like Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Satish Dhawan, but has also set an example before other countries about how the Space Technology can be used effectively even for non Space Satellite Mission Programmes. 

During the three years of the Union Government, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Department of Space has entered into MoUs with a number of other Ministries. This has enabled the application of Space Technology in an effective manner for several important programmes of Government of India, including Smart City programmes, Geo-MNREGA, Tele-Education and Tele-Medicine. 

Director SAC Ahmedabad Dr Tapan Misra along with his team of senior scientists/officials including Dr Piyush Verma, Dr D.K. Das, Shri Rajiv Jyoti, Shri Sarkar S., Shri Raj Kumar and others were present at the review meeting. 

*****


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## Hindustani78

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh chairing a review meeting of Space Application Center (SAC), at Ahmedabad, Gujarat on September 09, 2017. The Director SAC, Dr. Tapan Misra is also seen.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-in-nov-dec/article19693943.ece?homepage=true

* Report on failure soon: Kiran Kumar *
The Indian Space Research Organisation expects to resume launch of satellites in a couple of months once its failure analysis committee releases its report. The committee is conducting tests on why the PSLV-C39 mission of August 31 failed to release a back-up navigation satellite into space.

ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar on Friday said the committee would release its report "very soon". The launches would be resumed in November or December after necessary steps are taken. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event to mark 25 years of the formation of Antrix Corporation, which markets ISRO’s products and services.

On the loss of IRNSS-1H in the launch, Mr. Kiran Kumar said the existing fleet of six spacecraft met all required specifications and there was no urgency for a replacement. “The overall performance of the [navigation] system is not affected,” he said.

Addressing a large gathering of ISRO officials and industry associates, Mr. Kiran Kumar said Antrix Corporation had made the PSLV rocket a globally famous and reliable space launch vehicle; it had lifted more than 200 small foreign satellites over years. It could now help Indian industry gain credibility in the $339 billion world space market. The market had evolved fast to challenge established government-run agencies.

Rakesh Sasibhushan, CMD of Antrix, said the company had grown from a turnover of ₹52 lakh in its first year to nearly ₹2,000 crore in 2016-17. It had launch orders worth ₹800 crore from various satellite operations for the next three to five years.

Early associates and former members of the Antrix board — Jamshyd Godrej, MD of Godrej & Boyce; N. Rangachary, former Additional Secretary in the Department of Space, and the late U.R. Rao, former ISRO Chairman, were honoured.


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## Hindustani78

Houston, September 19, 2017 14:21 IST
Updated: September 19, 2017 14:21 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...water-study/article19714366.ece?homepage=true

* A region of Mars named Aeolis Dorsa contains some of the most spectacular and densely packed river deposits seen on the planet, researchers said. *

Mars had a surface environment that supported liquid water about 3.5 billion years ago, according to a study of river deposits spread across the red planet.

A region of Mars named Aeolis Dorsa contains some of the most spectacular and densely packed river deposits seen on the planet, researchers said.

These deposits are observable with satellite images because they have undergone a process called “topographic inversion,” where the deposits filling once topographically low river channels have been exhumed in such a way that they now exist as ridges at the surface of the planet, they said.

With the use of high-resolution images and topographic data from cameras on orbiting satellites, B T Cardenas and colleagues from the Jackson School of Geosciences in the U.S. identified fluvial deposit stacking patterns and changes in sedimentation styles controlled by a migratory coastline.

They also developed a method to measure river paleo-transport direction for a subset of these ridges.

Together, these measurements demonstrate that the studied river deposits once filled incised valleys. On Earth, incised valleys are commonly cut and filled during falling and rising eustatic sea level, respectively.

Cardenas and colleagues conclude that similar falling and rising water levels in a large water body forced the formation of the paleo-valleys in their study area.

Cross-cutting relationships are observed at the valley-scale, indicating multiple episodes of water level fall and rise, each well over 50 metres, a similar scale to eustatic sea level changes on Earth, researchers said.

The conclusion that such large water level fluctuations and coastline movements were recorded by these river deposits suggests some long-term stability in the controlling, downstream water body, which would not be expected from catastrophic hydrologic events, they said.


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## Hindustani78

*http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/next-pslv-launch-in-november-december/article19737391.ece*

*Real problem is certifying a technology, says Kiran Kumar *
The next launch of the PSLV will be in November-December, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said here on Friday.

He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the two-day national seminar on Emerging Trends in Aerospace Technologies, AseT 2017, organised by the Aeronautical Society of India and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

Earlier, in his inaugural address at the seminar, Mr. Kumar said there was a real problem in certifying a system or a technology for actual usage. This was a problem faced by developing countries. Government agencies and industry partners could design, build, and realise products.

“The real question mark is certification. Another problem is in quickly establishing a mechanism for translating design into product. There is a real need to adopt enabling technologies and incorporate them in the systems we build. Otherwise, technology will remain the forte of the Western countries. We need to identify technologies and incorporate them into our designs and provide cost-effective solutions to the nation. While there have been many developments on the aerospace front, nothing much has been done by way of designing passenger aircraft to be used for domestic flights,” he said. 

In his presidential address, society president and member NITI Aayog V.K. Saraswat said technology had to be consistently upgraded so that India was globally competitive. There was a need to accelerate commercialisation of technologies we developed. The nation faced a major lacuna in terms of design capabilities.

The chairman of the AeSi, Thiruvananthapuram S. Pandian, VSSC director K. Sivan, AeSI secretary general Lalit Gupta and secretary of the Thiruvananthapuram branch A. P. Beena were among those present for the inaugural ceremony.

The 68th AGM of the Society is also being held along with the conference.


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## Hindustani78

President's Secretariat
26-September, 2017 17:06 IST
*Speech by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of conclusion of platinum jubilee year celebrations of CSIR *

It gives me great pleasure to be here on the 76th Foundation Day of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and on an occasion that concludes the platinum jubilee celebrations of India’s apex science and technology institution. Congratulations to all of you and particularly to the dedicated scientists of CSIR and the award winners today. Thank you for your hard work. The country is very proud of you.

I have just visited an exhibition of significant achievements of CSIR researchers and technologists. It was extremely impressive. CSIR has been instrumental in bringing about sustainable improvements in the quality of life of our fellow citizens, as well as in helping business and industry with specific applications of science and technology. In the areas of food and agriculture, generic drugs, leather, chemicals and petrochemicals, and biopharmaceuticals, among others, several technologies developed by you have been embraced by the market.

It is very telling that the staff of CSIR constitutes only about three to four per cent of India’s scientific manpower – but contributes nearly 10 per cent of India’s scientific output. This is extremely creditable and emphasises how important CSIR is to the nation building process. When a scientist works hard in the lab, with integrity and sincerity and with the larger dream of helping society, he or she is playing the role of nation builder. 

From the earliest days of our Independence, our country has been clear about the use and deployment of science and technology to achieve the goals of social development. This has meant both exploiting India’s rich wealth of traditional knowledge and intellectual property – of which CSIR is the custodian – as well as being open to the latest in science and technology, not being afraid of cutting-edge research and its discoveries, and where possible using these to help our common citizens.

This aspiration remains important as ever as we strive to achieve a New India by 2022, when we complete 75 years as a free country. Our ambitious national programmes – such as Start-up India, Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Namami Gange and the Smart Cities Mission – cannot be successful without our scientists and our technology incubators, particularly CSIR, contributing. The true test of scientific research lies in its ability to help our society leap frog social sector gaps, whether in health and hygiene, sanitation, education or agriculture, and make us a middle-income country in one human lifetime. 

In all these areas, the need for socially inclusive and yet cost-effective applications and products of science and technology are a national priority. Once these are realised, they can become a model for other developing countries. For us, this has always been and will always be a paramount goal. For India, science and technology is a force multiplier in the quest for development.

In this context, I am pleased to note the widespread social benefits of the two CSIR technologies that are being dedicated to the nation today. The first is a hand-held milk tester that will allow us to more easily identify adulterants in milk. The second is Waterless Chrome-Tanning Technology that eliminates the use of water in two processes before and after tanning – and also reduces the solids dissolved in wastewater during tanning. This has an obvious environmental impact. 

I have also been informed that CSIR’s anaerobic digester is making a big difference to the Swachh Bharat mission, as it converts biodegradable kitchen waste to biogas and manure that can be used for family kitchen gardens. Each anaerobic digester has the capacity to convert up to three kg waste per day and produce 400 litre of biogas, which can be used as a clean fuel.

Another commendable CSIR creation I have been told about is DivyaNayan - a reading device for the visually challenged. Inventions and innovations such as these provide simple and user-friendly solutions to the most underprivileged and deprived sections of our people. They make science and technology so meaningful – and I should say potentially so magical – as India seeks to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

I must point out here that none of our developmental goals has any meaning without gender parity – and without equal opportunities for our daughters and girl-children. In the past seven decades, CSIR as a body and India as a society have made enormous progress. Yet, the participation of women in science in our country is distressingly small. Less than two of every 10 scientific researchers in India are women. Of those who join the Indian Institutes of Technology each year, just about 10 per cent are women. 

These numbers are simply not acceptable. We have to take accelerated steps to promote the participation of girl students and of women in science and technology. If this disparity is not addressed, our scientific achievements will always be less than perfect and less than desirable.

Friends

Technology has taken human society to the edge of a brave new age. Dazzling technological products are changing our lives almost in real time. And the Fourth Industrial Revolution is set to transform our world in ways we still cannot imagine. We are entering an era of Artificial Intelligence and robotics, 3D manufacture and custom-made biological and pharmaceutical products, even driverless cars. The relationship between human and machine is evolving before our eyes. 

In the midst of all this, we cannot let the excitement of technology and newer and newer products divert our attention from basic science research. For that remains fundamentally important.

In both of these areas – in helping our country navigate and adapt to the arrival of so many new technologies as well as continuing to strengthen basic scientific research – CSIR is the guide we all turn to. It is for CSIR to continue to make new technologies as well as basic research relevant to our developmental hopes, and to the well-being of our poorest and most deprived fellow citizens.

I look forward to this treasured national institution marching proudly towards its centenary

Thank you

Jai Hind!



*****

President's Secretariat
26-September, 2017 17:01 IST
*True test of scientific research lies in its ability to help our society leap frog social sector gaps, says President *

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced the concluding ceremony of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi today (September 26, 2017).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that it is very creditable that the staff of CSIR constitutes only about three to four per cent of India’s scientific manpower – but contributes nearly 10 per cent of India’s scientific output. This emphasises how important CSIR is to the nation building process. When a scientist works hard in the lab, with integrity and sincerity and with the larger dream of helping society, he or she is playing the role of nation builder. 

The President said that from the earliest days of our Independence, our country has been clear about the use and deployment of science and technology to achieve the goals of social development. This has meant both exploiting India’s rich wealth of traditional knowledge and intellectual property – of which CSIR is the custodian – as well as being open to the latest in science and technology, not being afraid of cutting-edge research and its discoveries, and where possible using these to help our common citizens. This aspiration remains important as ever as we strive to achieve a New India by 2022, when we complete 75 years as a free country.

The President said that our ambitious national programmes – such as Start-up India, Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Namami Gange and the Smart Cities Mission – cannot be successful without our scientists and our technology incubators, particularly CSIR, contributing. The true test of scientific research lies in its ability to help our society leap frog social sector gaps, whether in health and hygiene, sanitation, education or agriculture, and make us a middle-income country in one human lifetime.

The President said that none of our developmental goals has any meaning without gender parity. The participation of women in science in our country is distressingly small. Less than two of every 10 scientific researchers in India are women. Of those who join the Indian Institutes of Technology each year, just about 10 per cent are women. These numbers are simply not acceptable. We have to take accelerated steps to promote the participation of girl students and of women in science and technology. 



*****


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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Science & Technology
28-September, 2017 18:43 IST
*India International Science Festival 2017: ‘Science for New India’ *

*Curtain Raiser*

*IISF 2017*


India has made significant strides in scientific and technological development by also becoming the first nation to reach Mars in its maiden attempt. _India is facing various challenges and opportunities. _Some of these important challenges are in the key sectors of clean water & energy, food, environment, climate, and healthcare. It is important to translate the scientific knowledge into innovations through start-ups and industry so as to facilitate India to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in the coming decades. This goal can be achieved, through developing scientific temper among the masses and by strengthening India’s science and technology institutions & furthering their basic research.

Emphasizing the role of technologies and innovation, India has declared 2010-20 as the ‘Decade of Innovation’. The Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) have come together to organize The India International Science Festival (IISF) every year, since 2015 to encourage scientific temper among the masses and showcasing Indian contribution in the field of S&T over the years. The previous two editions of IISF held at New Delhi have been a great success.

The 3rd edition of IISF 2017 will be held in Chennai during 13-16 October, 2017 at various venues which include Anna University, Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and IIT-Madras.

The prime objective of the festival is to instill scientific temper among the masses and showcasing India’s contribution in the field of S&T over the years. It aims to build a strategy for rural India through the advancement of Science and Technology. Further, the science festival also intends to make innovation beneficial for the people and develop technology that is affordable to the masses.

*Major Activities during the Festival will be: *

1. Special Thematic Session on 'Deep Ocean Research'

2. Science & Technology Minister’s Conclave

3. Sensitizing Youth to Flagship Programs of Government (SYPOG)

4. Science Village: Parliament to Panchayat’’

5. National Meet on ‘Social Organisations and Institutions’: ‘Transforming India through Science & Technology’

6. Women Scientists & Entrepreneur’s Conclave

7. National Science Teachers Workshops (Focusing North East States)

8. Industry Academia Interaction

9. Mega Science, Technology & Industry Expo

10. India International Science Festival

11. Grassroots Innovators Summit

12. National Start-up Summit

13. Round Table Meet on Mass Communication

14. World Record attempt will be made in "Largest Biology Lesson"

15. National Level Competitions – Ideas for Bharat Nirman

16. Outreach Programme in R&D Labs

17. Satellite Seminars

18. Cultural Events

The Govt of India is launching a National Mission on Deep Ocean Research which will bring in huge economic benefits by harnessing the ocean resources (water, energy and minerals). A *special thematic session on Deep Ocean Research* will be held. 

The Scientific departments and Ministries of the Government of India have active international collaboration in science and technology both at the bilateral and regional level. India is engaged in R&D cooperation with more than 44 countries across the globe including advanced, emerging and developing nations. *The S&T Ministers Conclave at IISF-2017 *will provide an opportunity to exchange the scientific and technological priorities of the participating countries that can help to develop a roadmap for S&T cooperation. This roadmap can be used by all the S&T Departments to engage proactively with each of these countries. The focus will be on capacity building through mechanisms such as fellowships, internships, twinning, training, data sharing, joint projects and technology transfer. The development and deployment of affordable and innovative technologies that provide solution to societal problems will also be a common agenda for the Conclave. Participation of Ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Portugal are expected in the Conclave.

*‘Science for New India’* aims to provides a platform to young students, scientists and technocrats from across India for the exchange of knowledge & ideas in the line of flagship programs like 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan', ‘Swasth Bharat Abhiyan’, 'Make in India', 'Digital India’, ‘Smart Villages’, 'Smart Cities’, 'Namami Gange', 'Unnath Bharath Abhiyan', etc.

An important event of the IISF-2017 is the Science Village program which is linked with the *Pradhan Manthri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana *to reach out to the rural masses and propagate science to the extent of seeking scientific solutions to the diverse challenges facing our society, particularly rural India.*.* Each Member of Parliament will nominate 5 students from class 9th – 11th and 1 teacher from their adopted village. The Science Village will thus demonstrate a mass representation from the rural parts of India and a continuation of the democratic process: ”Parliament to Panchayat”. The prime goal of the science village is to give exposure to the students from rural India and make them aware of India’s achievements in the frontier areas of science & technology.

As a unique programme of IISF 2017, a *Women Scientists & Entrepreneur’s Conclave* titled *“Game Changers Driving Science for New India”* would be organized to promote and encourage science education and entrepreneurship among the women. The aim of the programme is to develop new entrepreneurship and also explore new vistas of opportunities in the field of science and technology among the women.

*The Industry-Academia interaction* meet aims at Industry – Academic Institutional tie ups in R&D and achieving improved efficiency in production and manufacturing. The interaction will bring out a brief proceeding on the recent paradigm changes in various sectors of Industry. Representatives from industry and academia will also have a good opportunity to discuss the changing trends on management principles, scientific advancement and technological assimilation in industry and economy.

National Innovation Foundation (NIF) will be organising the ‘Innovation Exhibition’ as a part of the *Grassroots Innovators Summit*, which aims at providing a common platform for various stakeholders—from innovators, students, researchers to policy makers. About 100 innovative technologies from all states of the country will be showcased at the exhibition. The special focus will be given to those which could be diffused socially and generate employment.

*The Round Table Meet on Mass Communication* will address the various methods and techniques to popularize science and its applications. In the International Science Film Festival, Films on science focusing on science fiction from India and abroad will be screened.

World record attempts have been a key part of IISF since 2015; in IISF 2015, students took a successful shot at the Guinness world record for the World's Largest Science Lesson at IIT Delhi. In IISF 2016, at NPL, Pusa, a group of 550 students attempted the world record for Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Nobel Prize-winning scientist Albert Einstein. In IISF 2017, a World Record attempt will be made in "*Largest Biology Lesson*". 1000 students from Class 9th & 10th will be gathering at the venue in Chennai for this attempt.

The IISF is not only a celebration of science and technology through exhibitions and relevant events, but also has been geared up to spread awareness on the flagship programs like ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, ‘Swasth Bharat Abhiyan’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’.

The Honourable Vice President of India and many Union Ministers will be participating in IISF-2017.

The IISF will go a long way in delivering the goal of imparting ‘spirit of enquiry’ to the public masses.

***


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
30-September, 2017 15:54 IST
*Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates ISRO exhibition at Surat *

An exhibition highlighting the achievements of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, in Surat, Gujarat yesterday. 

The exhibition was held under the aegis of Municipal School Board with participation by a large number of school children. The Lok Sabha MP Shri C.R. Patil, MLA Smt Sangitaben R. Patil and senior scientists from ISRO were also present on the occasion. 

Speaking after inaugurating the exhibition, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the founding father of India’s Space Programme, Dr Vikram Sarabhai was a son of Gujarat and therefore, this is the right place and location to celebrate the vindication and realization of Sarabhai’s dreams. He told the children that when his generation was in the same age group as they are, their only relationship with Space and the Moon was through poetry and songs on the theme of “Chanda Mama”. But today, India has taken over other nations in the field of space. 

While India under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is on the threshold of becoming a world power in the coming years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the field of Space Technology, India has already emerged as a front-line nation after having overtaken countries like US and Russia which had started their Space programmes several decades before us. He said, when Dr Sarabhai and his colleagues began India’s Space Programme over half-a-century ago, there were no resources and not even a laboratory. But today, because of their efforts, we have reached a stage where the pictures and the visuals sent by our Mangalyan Mission are being procured even by the world’s most advanced centres like America’s NASA, he said. 

The story of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, Dr Jitendra Singh said, holds a moral for all the youngsters that they should never hesitate to dream big, but more important, at the same time, is to build up within ourselves the capacity and ability to realize our dreams and this can happen only through consistent effort and hard work. 

The function was followed by an interactive session of the children with MoS Dr Jitendra Singh. 

******

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurating the ISRO exhibition, at Surat, Gujarat on September 29, 2017.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing the school children after inaugurating the ISRO exhibition, at Surat, Gujarat on September 29, 2017.




The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a group photograph with the school children at the inauguration of the ISRO exhibition, at Surat, Gujarat on September 29, 2017.

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## Hindustani78

Vice President's Secretariat
04-October, 2017 12:47 IST
*Remarkable team work and output shown by ISRO is a model for other departments and institutions: Vice President *

Inaugurates week long celebration of World Space Week 

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the remarkable team work and output shown by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) over the years is a model for other departments and institutions. He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the week long celebrations of World Space Week, in SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh today. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Shri E.S.L. Narasimhan, the Chairman, ISRO, Shri Kiran Kumar and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. 


The Vice President said that his heart swells with pride with India’s prowess in space technology as country marches ahead to conquer new frontiers in space exploration. It is a double delight to him to be here as this internationally-renowned rocket launching site is located in his native district of Nellore, he added.


The Vice President said that a thousand years ahead of Europeans, Indian savants knew that the zero and infinity were mutually inverse notions. He further said that with the launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) in 1963 and the first Satellite, Aryabhata in 1975, India has made giant strides and has emerged today as one of the leading space faring nations in the leadership of visionaries like Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and former President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.


The Vice President said that by putting 104 satellites into orbit in one go and placing the heaviest Indian satellite, GSAT-19 weighing 3,136 kg in its orbit earlier this year, India’s space scientists and technologists have not only done the country proud but made the world to sit up and take note of its accomplishments. It is not a question of mere technological advancement, but achieving launch after launch successfully at much lesser costs of similar missions in advanced countries which makes every Indian proud, he added.


The Vice President said that this space port on the spindle-shaped island is one of the busiest satellite launch centres in the world and catering to global needs by truly epitomising India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. He further said that all the activities of ISRO have been centred on societal applications. ISRO now stands as one of the most reputed and leading space agencies in the world and is a huge source of inspiration to students and young and upcoming scientists, he added.


The Vice President made a visit to the Vehicle Assembling Unit at the SHAR. 


Following is the text of Vice President’s address:


“ISRO Chairman, Shri Kiran Kumar, distinguished scientists, brothers and sisters!


As I step into this busy space port at Sriharikota, my heart swells with pride. It symbolises India’s prowess in space technology as the country marches ahead to conquer new frontiers in space exploration. It is a living monument to the efforts of scores of visionaries, thousands of engineers and scientists who made this possible; who dared to dream and shape that dream into reality.


In fact, it is a double delight to me to be here because this internationally-renowned rocket launching site is located in my native district of Nellore.


As I was coming here, I was just thinking how cosmology, creation of universe, sun, moon, stars, galaxies and planets have fascinated man from times immemorial.


Indeed the concept of time and space, cosmology, creation of universe is not new to Indians. The celebrated astrophysicist Carl Sagan pointed out that Hinduism is the only religion in which the time scales correspond, no doubt by accident, to those of modern scientific cosmology.” Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long. Longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang,” said Sagan. Many other scholars and savants from India and other countries studied the role of science in ancient India.


French historian of mathematics, Georges Ifrah, who is the author of the book, ‘Universal History of Numbers’ said: “ The Indian mind has always had for calculations and the handling of numbers an extraordinary inclination, ease and power, such as no other civilisation in history ever possessed to the same degree. So much so that Indian culture regarded the science of numbers as the noblest of its arts. A thousand years ahead of Europeans, Indian savants knew that the zero and infinity were mutually inverse notions”.


Since the baby steps with the launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) in 1963 and the first Satellite, Aryabhata in 1975, India has made giant strides and has emerged today as one of the leading space faring nations, thanks to visionaries like Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan and former President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. By putting 104 satellites into orbit in one go and placing the heaviest Indian satellite, GSAT-19 weighing 3,136 kg in its orbit earlier this year, India’s space scientists and technologists have not only done the country proud but made the world to sit up and take note of its accomplishments. It is not a question of mere technological advancement, but achieving launch after launch successfully at much lesser costs of similar missions in advanced countries which makes every Indian proud. As many as 209 foreign satellites from 28 countries were launched in missions undertaken by ISRO. 


ISRO scientists have also achieved what others could not do—putting spacecraft in orbit around Mars in the very first attempt—a remarkable feat indeed! While mentioning about low cost, the one thing that comes to my mind, not only mine but of every Indian, is the prestigious Mars Orbiter Mission which has taken India to the red planet at a much lower cost compared to other space agencies and that too in the maiden attempt, which is indeed a unique achievement. I appreciate the dedicated efforts put in by all of you in achieving the historic milestone. I am extremely happy that today you are having the men behind that mission, Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, your Chairman and Shri P. Kunhikrishnan, your Director to lead you to greater heights and bring more and more laurels to the nation. Only some days ago, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) completed three years. 


Another proud achievement was the discovery of water on moon by Chandrayaan-1. 


Today, this space port on the spindle-shaped island is one of the busiest satellite launch centres in the world and catering to global needs by truly epitomising India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. All the activities of ISRO have been centred around societal applications. ISRO now stands as one of the most reputed and leading space agencies in the world and is a huge source of inspiration to students and young and upcoming scientists. 


From communication to weather forecasting to telemedicine and disaster warning, ISRO’s efforts have enabled our nation to achieve self-reliance in most of our communication and earth observation requirements and helped in enhancing the living standards of the people.  I am aware that weather predictions by ISRO Satellites when cyclones like Phylon and Hudhud hit Odisha coast led to saving of many lives. ISRO’s contributions were also recorded with gratitude during the recent Vardhah cyclone for timely and accurate prediction. 


India was lucky that the country’s space programme took wings under the visionary leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. In his autobiography, ‘Wings of Fire’, former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said: “I consider Prof. Sarabhai as the Mahatma Gandhi of Indian Science — generating leadership qualities in his team and inspiring them through both ideas and example”. I am glad his great vision is still being carried forward by all of you with India being second to none in using advanced technology for exploring new frontiers and to ultimately benefit the common man, which should be the basic objective of any science-related activity. Some of you here must have also had the privilege of working with Dr. Kalam, who had worked with single-minded devotion for the success of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-3 and also with Prof. Satish Dhawan, among others— all of whom had contributed immensely with their management and leadership styles towards the rapid strides India achieved in the space sector.


Extending support to South Asian countries with the launch of a dedicated satellite, GSAT-9 by GSLV-F09, is another commendable achievement of ISRO. I am happy that ISRO had a very successful mission of heavy lift launcher GSLV Mk3 in the first attempt itself. We are also in the elite club of nations having cryogenic and re-entry technologies. The remarkable team work and output shown by this organization over the years is a model for other departments and institutions. After showing to the world how excellence could be achieved at minimal costs, I am told that you are immediately planning your second mission to moon, including a lander and a rover for scientific experiments.  I also learnt that you have plans to reach the sun, like Adithya mission, and you are also developing technologies for Human Space programme. 


Before coming to this function, I visited the huge facilities being built at SHAR to meet the challenging demands of the future.. There, I could understand the dedicated and untiring efforts that went into the launch of three different launch vehicles in the shortest time span of two months. I wholeheartedly appreciate each one of you for that. At this juncture, I recollect my earlier visit to this place with Honourable Prime Minister, when Shri Kunhikrishnan explained the details of French satellite, SPOT-7 mission by our PSLV-C23 as the Project Director. Now, when he is the Director, I could see that SHAR is undergoing a massive infrastructure development, under the guidance of Chairman, ISRO, to meet the future requirements. 


I am informed that once the second vehicle assembly building, which is three times bigger than the present one, is commissioned and augmentation of other facilities is completed, the number of launches per year can be more than doubled, leading to self-reliance in space launch. I once again laud all of you for your skills, knowledge, dedication and sincerity over the years for the various milestones achieved by ISRO.


I am told that various outreach programmes like quizzes and essay competitions, exhibition and arranging visits to school students are being organized during the World Space Week. Such programmes will increase the awareness on space-related activities among the youngsters and inspire them. I also appreciate the steps you are taking to reach out to every nook and corner of this state and the neighbouring states to encourage and attract young minds.


Today, I am happy to be with you in Sriharikota for the inaugural function of this week long celebration of World Space Week. I am also happy to have the presence of Shri Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO who is leading this great organisation to laudable heights. My best wishes for the success of all your future endeavours.


JAI HIND!”

***


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...t-nit-warangal-on-oct-6-7/article19792415.ece

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will organise a two-day space exhibition on National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus here on October 6 and 7.

District Education Officer S. Srinivasa Chari has appealed to the managements of all schools in the district to ensure that children visit the exhibition and take part in the programmes being organised as part of the international space week celebrations.

It was aimed at creating awareness among people on how the space research can be utilised for the good of the humanity and it benefits on various facets of life.

Competitions such as quiz, drawing and poster presentation would be held on topics such as space science, rockets, satellites, inter-planetary mission and exploring outer world in space.

Those interested persons in taking part may contact V.V. Mani over phone No: 83329-69365 or email: vvmani@nitw.ac.in and register their names.

The exhibition is open to parents also, said the DEO and asked students to make use of the opportunity.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...nches-says-vice-president/article19797817.ece

* ‘Fruits of research must reach the common man’ *

Lauding the efforts of scientists and technologists, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday described it as a matter of pride for India to carry out space launches from Sriharikota at a much lesser cost compared with those of even advanced countries.

He said it was a big achievement for the scientists for having made the whole world sit up and take note of India’s space accomplishments.

Speaking after inaugurating the World Space Week celebrations at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, Mr. Naidu appealed to the scientists’ fraternity to enhance their efforts for the singular purpose of reaching the fruits of advanced research and space exploration to the common man.

Mr. Naidu said there had been no dearth of brilliance and knowledge since ancient times in India as there was enough proof of the vision and ideas put forward regarding supernatural weapons like ‘astras’.

The fact that these ideas were known across the land in those days was indisputable.

Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, SHAR Director P. Kunhikrishnan and others were present.

Later, the Vice-President visited Nellore where he addressed the 49th Convocation of the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University as chief guest.

He stressed the need for making agricultural doubly profitable by ensuring supply of water, inputs and also eventually good prices for the farmers.

Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said 64% population was dependent on agriculture even as the contribution of agriculture and its allied sectors had remained high to the gross domestic product.

Stating that the youth must be encouraged to take up cultivation, Mr. Naidu said it was indeed alarming that nearly 2% of the population was moving away from agriculture every year and this should be curtailed.

Mr. Naidu and Mr. Narasimhan also took part in the unveiling of the statue of Swami Vivekananda and tree plantations at the Askhara Vidyalaya near here.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/636372/isro-set-up-research-centre.html
*ISRO to set up research centre in Guwahati*
Press Trust of India, Guwahati, Oct 5 2017, 18:22 IST




The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre here for start ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs.

ISRO would set up the exclusive research facility in Assam to explore the possibility of using geospatial technology, which include data generated through global positioning system (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing for expediting the development of Assam, officials said here.

Remote sensing technology would be used for accurate flood warning system, prevention of soil erosion and land slides to name a few, they said.

The state government would provide land to ISRO free of cost for the research centre, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar during a meeting between them here today, the officials said.

The state government would ink an MoU with the department of space for leveraging the potentials of the state for using space technology, they said.

Sonowal also requested the ISRO chairman to integrate space technology with Act East Policy so that space technology can be used as a bridge between the North East and other south east Asian countries.

He sought ISRO's help to use space technology for drawing a broad remote sensing map to stop illegal trade of natural resources.

The CM hoped that the government and ISRO would work together in carrying out survey of the depth of the Brahmaputra river which could help the state government's proposed move to dredge it from Sadiya in Tinsukia to Dhubri in the state.


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## Śakra

When will the new runway be complete?


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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Science & Technology
06-October, 2017 18:06 IST
*Twenty Years of Science & Technology Cooperation Between India And South Africa *

Union Minister for Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, is leading the Indian delegation to South Africa to participate in the celebration of twenty years of Science & Technology cooperation between India and South Africa.

Indian delegation is visiting South Africa to strengthen the strong scientific bonds between the two countries and explore further avenues of co-operation between the two nations in areas ranging from Space Research to Bio-technology. The delegation will interact with scientists in South Africa where scientists will share experiences and insights on multiple subjects with the Ministerial delegation.







The Minister made a visit to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is a large multi radio telescope project under development in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It utilizes radio astronomy and has receiving stations at a minimum distance of 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) from a concentrated central core, enabling it to provide the highest resolution images compared to other sub-disciplines of astronomy. It is being developed in the Southern Hemisphere with cores in South Africa and Australia, where there is least radio interference to observe the Milky Way Galaxy. The project will address some of the most interesting scientific questions in Astrophysics, ranging from characteristics of early Universe to search for intelligent extra-terrestrial life.






The SKA is a global project with twelve member countries. India is a member state where National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, affiliated to the Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India is the stakeholder. India is involved in several design work packages of SKA, notably the Central Signal Processing and Telescope Manager System, which will act as the nerve centre behind the functioning of the SKA observatory. Such technological developments are supported by bilateral research initiatives of Dept. of Science & Technology of both the nations. 

The SKA project will provide India astronomy community direct access to one of the best experimental radio-astronomy facility in the world. This project will accelerate technological growth of antenna, low noise electronics, analogue and digital signal processing, high-speed computing, massive data storage and mining, image processing, large software systems etc in India. Such projects present great opportunities to Indian scientific community to showcase our technological and scientific capabilities on the global stage.

***

Ministry of Science & Technology
06-October, 2017 16:14 IST
*Nobel Prize for Physics, 2017 – Indian Connection *

The 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics has been conferred to three scientists namely Rainer Weiss, Barry C Barish & Kip S Thorne under the LIGO Project for their discovery of gravitational waves, 100 years after Einstein's General Relativity predicted it. The Nobel Prize for Physics 2017 celebrates the direct detection of Gravitational waves arriving from the merger two large Black holes in a distant galaxy a Billion of light years away. Gravitational waves carry information about their dramatic origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. This opens a new window to Astronomy since Gravitational Waves are an entirely new way of observing the most violent events in space. 

This is a proud moment for India also, since the discovery paper has 39 Indian authors/scientists from nine institutions-, CMI Chennai, ICTS-TIFR Bengaluru, IISER-Kolkata, IISER-Trivandrum, IIT Gandhinagar, IPR Gandhinagar, IUCAA Pune, RRCAT Indore and TIFR Mumbai. primarily funded through individual/ institutional grants by Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science & Technology and Ministry of Human Resource Development AE, DST and MHRD, who are co-authors of this discovery paper.

Late Professor CV Vishveshvara of RRI, Bengaluru (DST AI) and Professor SV Dhurandhar of IUCAA, Pune and some other Indian scientists made seminal contributions to this field which contributed towards the principles behind the LIGO Detector.

The group led by Bala Iyer (currently at ICTS-TIFR) at the Raman Research Institute in collaboration with scientists in France had pioneered the mathematical calculations used to model Gravitational Wave signals from orbiting black holes and neutron stars. Theoretical work that combined black holes and gravitational waves was published by C. V. Vishveshwara in 1970. These contributions are prominently cited in the discovery paper.

An opportunity for India taking leadership in this field has opened up with the LIGO-India mega-science project that was granted ‘in principle’ approval by the Union Cabinet on Feb 17 2016. LIGO-India brings forth a real possibility of Indian scientists and technologists stepping forward, with strong international cooperation, into the frontier of an emergent area of high visibility and promise presented by the recent GW detections and the high promise of a new window of gravitational-wave astronomy to probe the universe.

The global science community is unanimous that the future of Gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics, beyond the first discovery, lies with the planned global array of GW detectors, including the LIGO-India observatory. Inclusion of LIGO-India greatly improves the angular resolution in the location of the gravitational-wave source by the LIGO global network. For the discovery event observed by the two advanced LIGO detectors in the US, with a hypothetical LIGO-India in operation, there would have been 100 times improvement in the angular resolution.

The LIGO-India proposal is for the construction and operation of an Advanced LIGO Detector in India in collaboration with the LIGO Laboratories, USA. The objective is to set up the Indian node of the three node global Advanced LIGO detector network by 2024 and operate it for 10 years. The task for LIGO-India includes the challenge of constructing the very large vaccum infrastructure that would hold a space of volume 10 million litres that can accommodate the entire 4 km scale laser interferometer in ultra high vacuum environment at nano-torrs. Indian team is also responsible for installation and commissioning the complex instrument and attaining the ultimate design sensitivity.

The LIGO-India project is being jointly executed by lead institutions: the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune of the University Grants commission, and DAE organisations, Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore and the Directorate of Construction & Estate Management (DCSEM) of DAE.

LIGO-India is being jointly funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). A LIGO-India Apex committee, together with the LIGO-India Project Management Board (LI-PMB) and LIGO-India Scientific Management Board (LI-SMB), were constituted in August 2016 to oversee the project execution, and there has been rapid pace of progress since then. LIGO-India is on track for commencing operations by 2024.



*****


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## Hindustani78

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...in-december/story-yLMdShDiNauIDEfNZycHgN.html

*On August 31, a PSLV-C39 flight carrying IRNSS-1H navigation satellite was unsuccessful.*
india Updated: Oct 11, 2017 18:44 IST
Press Trust of India, Hyderabad




Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV C38, carrying earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 Series and 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on June 23, 2017.(PTI File Photo)

The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch a satellite on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in December, the first since its unsuccessful mission to orbit a navigation spacecraft nearly one-and-a-half months ago.

The ISRO is getting ready for the Cartosat-2 series satellite mission in mid-December from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), an official of the space agency told PTI.

This would be the third satellite in the Cartosat-2 series.

In February this year, PSLV-C37 launched the first Cartosat-2 series satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites in a single flight.

In June, India’s workhorse launch vehicle launched the second one along with 30 co-passenger satellites -- the 39th consecutively successful mission of PSLV.

But a PSLV-C39 flight carrying IRNSS-1H navigation satellite on August 31 was unsuccessful, in what is seen as a setback to ISRO.

“We plan to launch Cartosat-2 series satellite 3 mission, which is a follow-on mission in the Cartosat-2 series with the primary objective of providing high-resolution scene specific spot imagery, in mid-December,” the official said.

“There will be a few foreign co-passenger satellites...about 15 to 20 (nano satellites),” he said.

The total number of customer satellites from abroad placed in orbit by PSLV so far is 209, according to ISRO.


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## RISING SUN

*ISRO to focus on socio-economic security *
For the next few years the vision and plan of ISRO is going to be socio-economic security which will be one of the pillars and the entire space technology would be application-driven not technology-driven, Y.V.N. Krishna Murthy, Director of National Remote Sensing Centre (NSRC) of ISRO, has said.

Giving an example, he said while Rs. 38,000 crore was given under MNREGA last year, based on Geo MNREGA on Bhuavan software application in the last two months alone Rs. 8000 crore was released. The government wanted to invest in the right place and at the right time so that the money was meaningfully spent getting people in the system of economy and in the circle of geospatial technology, he said.

Dr Krishna Murthy was addressing a three-day international conference on “Remote sensing for disaster management,” organised by the Department of Geo-Engineering of AndhraUniversity.

NISAR, the dual frequency synthetic aperture satellite being developed by ISRO and NASA, using large wavelength and radar imaging would penetrate soil moisture better, he said.

Dr. Krishna Murthy, an alumnus of AU, said more people died due to drought though the figures were diffused than in flood or other disasters. During the last two years, rain shadow areas in the country were severely impacted due to drought.

The images from Cartosat series, were one of the best in the world with 1:2000 scale information and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also wanted to know how best it could be used to benefit agriculture and farming, Dr. Krishna Murthy said.

He is of the view that using available data and organising rainfall in rain-fed areas inland fisheries could be taken up in a big way as third livelihood and 3500 tonnes could be produced in every district with big potential for post-harvesting industry.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-pape...n-socio-economic-security/article19843382.ece


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## Hindustani78

Students at the Space Exhibition at District Science Centre in Kalaburgi on Wednesday. 





India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F09), carrying GSAT-9, being moved to the launch pad in Sriharikota on Thursday, a day before its launc . PTI Photo.





Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s PSLV C38, carrying earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 Series and 30 co-passenger satellites of various countries, lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Friday. PTI Photo/ISRO





Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s communication satellite GSAT-9 on-board GSLV-F09 lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the satellite as India's “space gift for South Asia”. PTI Photo


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## Hindustani78

BENGLAURU, October 14, 2017 21:49 IST
Updated: October 14, 2017 21:58 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...olding-up-gsat-9-benefits/article19862662.ece

* We will support the partner governments through the Indian industry, says ISRO *

Some five months after the South Asia Satellite or GSAT-9 was put up in space as New Delhi’s gift to six neighbours, ground delays outside India seem to be holding up its planned harvest.

The Indian Space Research Organisation, which owns and operates the roughly ₹200-crore communication spacecraft, says it has initiated the processes to set up ground stations for the partners to receiver/send satellite communication. It has invited expressions of interest to find suitable Indian industry players who will set up the ground equipment.

While half of the satellite’s 12 Ku-band transponders is reserved for the partners, the Indian part has been in use without a hitch.

A.S. Kiran Kumar, ISRO Chairman, told _The Hindu_, “It is work in progress. We are now trying to get the partner governments to start using the services of the satellite. They must first set up the ground segment depending on what they need.” The satellite has a planned life of 12 years.

It would be a slow build-up as work must be coordinated with each of the six governments. “We are trying to push it as much as possible but it does not move at the pace that we would like. Eventually we will support them through Indian industry,” said Mr. Kiran Kumar, who is also Secretary, Department of Space, that functions under the Prime Minister.

In India, which has a 50-year active space history, satcom-based activities can routinely kick in a couple of months after a communications satellite is launched. But for the smaller neighbours, space is a relatively new area.

The Indian space hug wraps Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Their satellite-based services are said to be small and some may be using commercial foreign satellites. 








*Speed in Bhutan*
In the case of Bhutan, Mr. Kiran Kumar said there had been significant progress and many interactions, because of which “We are going ahead” faster than with the others.

To begin with, ISRO has enabled video transmission uplinked from India. Once the countries start using their part of satellite fully, he said it could open or spur activities for poor and unconnected areas — tele-education and tele-medicine or consultations with doctors; besides a SAARC library link of regionally relevant information.

India has offered each country one Ku-band transponder free of cost along with services. The gesture is meant to spread the use of DTH television and VSATs to support Internet-based applications.

The South Asia Satellite was first announced by the Prime Minister in 2014. India itself has been grappling with an old shortage of Ku-band transponders — because of which Indian DTH operators lease their capacity on private foreign satellites.

Asked about it, Mr. Kiran Kumar said sharing amidst scarcity was a generous act for the larger good.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
23-October, 2017 19:52 IST
*India's Space mission to Moon 'Chandrayaan- II' in 2018: Dr Jitendra Singh *

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that India’s Space Mission to Moon, “Chandrayaan-II”, will take place in 2018, most likely in the first quarter of the year. 

Addressing the inaugural session of the 5-day Asian Conference on Remote Sensing here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that India has today emerged as the world's frontline nation in the field of Space Technology. This, he said, is in itself a glorious vindication of the dream seen by the founding fathers of India’s Space Programme, like Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan. 

Giving credit to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for giving fresh impetus to Space Research, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it was during the last three years that India could launch a South Asian Satellite which would be also providing inputs and benefits to the neighbouring countries. In addition, he said, the biggest achievement in the last over three years is that the Prime Minister personally intervened to arrange a brainstorming of Space Scientists with each of the different Ministries and Departments in Government of India to promote the application of Space Technology in infrastructure and development works. In this context, he referred to widespread application of Space Technology in carrying out the Urban Development programmes, including Smart City programmes, the use of Space Technology for geo-tagging of MGNREGA and the assistance from ISRO for the manning of Railway crossings. 

Chairman ISRO, Shri Kiran Kumar, who was the Guest of Honour on the occasion, spoke about the various achievements of India’s Space capability in the field of Disaster Management. Veteran Space Scientist and President of the Indian Association of Remote Sensing, Dr Shailesh Nayak also spoke on the occasion. At the event, awards were presented to outstanding Space scientists under different categories. The 5-day conference is being attended by over 500 eminent foreign delegates and some of the world’s most distinguished faculty in the field of Space Science. 

******


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## Hindustani78

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh flanked by the Chairman, ISRO, Dr. Kiran Kumar and eminent Scientist Dr. Shailesh Nayak, releasing a book highlighting Space achievements, at the inaugural session of the 5-day Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, in New Delhi on October 23, 2017.






The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing the inaugural session of the 5-day Asian Conference on Remote Sensing, in New Delhi on October 23, 2017.


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## Hindustani78

This breathtaking colour photo of the surface of Mars unveiled by NASA is the sharpest photograph ever taken on the surface of Mars. The picture was taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. | Photo Credit:  AP 

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...m-co2-study/article19905100.ece?homepage=true

* Mars has 96% carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, according to researchers *

Mars has near ideal conditions for efficiently creating oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future using plasma technology, a study has found.

According to researchers from University of Porto in Portugal and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, Mars has 96 per cent carbon dioxide (CO2) in its atmosphere.

The research, published in the journal _Plasma Sources Science and Technology_, shows that the pressure and temperature ranges in the Martian atmosphere mean non-thermal plasma can be used to produce oxygen efficiently.

“Sending a manned mission to Mars is one of the next major steps in our exploration of space. Creating a breathable environment, however, is a substantial challenge,” said Vasco Guerra, from the University of Lisbon in Portugal.

“Plasma reforming of CO2 on Earth is a growing field of research, prompted by the problems of climate change and production of solar fuels,” said Guerra.

“Low temperature plasmas are one of the best media for CO2 decomposition — the split-up of the molecule into oxygen and carbon monoxide — both by direct electron impact, and by transferring electron energy into vibrational excitation,” he said.

Mars has excellent conditions for In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) by plasma.

As well as its CO2 atmosphere, the cold surrounding atmosphere may induce a stronger vibrational effect than that achievable on Earth.

The low atmospheric temperature also works to slow the reaction, giving additional time for the separation of molecules.

“The low temperature plasma decomposition method offers a twofold solution for a manned mission to Mars. Not only would it provide a stable, reliable supply of oxygen, but as source of fuel as well, as carbon monoxide has been proposed as to be used as a propellant mixture in rocket vehicles,” said Guerra.

“This ISRU approach could help significantly simplify the logistics of a mission to Mars. It would allow for increased self-sufficiency, reduce the risks to the crew, and reduce costs by requiring fewer vehicles to carry out the mission,” he said.

*************

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## Hindustani78

Press Trust of India, Hyderabad, Oct 25 2017, 15:31 IST




Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had also established a lunar terrain test facility for conducting lander leg drop tests. PTI File Photo

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/639330/isro-begins-flight-integration-activity.html

The ISRO has started flight integration activity for its next lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 and scientists are currently carrying out tests for the lander and the rover that will explore the moon.

Officials said the spacecraft launch, on board GSLV-Mk II, is planned for March and many new technologies have been developed indigenously to achieve the mission requirements.

Chandrayaan-2, India's second mission to the Moon, is an advanced version of the previous Chandrayaan-1 mission nine years ago. This spacecraft is a composite model consisting of orbiter, lander and rover.

According to the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, unlike Chandrayaan-1, wherein an impact probe crash-landed on the surface of the moon, Chandrayaan-2 will soft-land its lander with the rover on the lunar surface to conduct the next level of scientific studies.

"Things are going on. The orbiter is getting ready. Flight integration activity is going on, and a series of tests are planned for lander and rover. They are all in progress and we are working towards the first quarter (of 2018) launch of Chandrayaan-2," ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI.

Officials said rover flight systems test include "soil mixing exercise" and mobility test to evaluate the rover's wheel-soil interaction.

According to them, the lander configuration has been finalised to meet soft and safe landing at the identified site, as also payload configuration and interfaces with the lander.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had also established a lunar terrain test facility for conducting lander leg drop tests.

"It is a totally Indian mission; no other collaboration," Kiran Kumar said.

"It (Chandrayaan-2) differs from the previous one (Chandrayaan-1) in the sense that in the last one, we had moon impact probe that descended on the moon in an uncontrolled manner, whereas this (Chandrayaan-2) will carry a lander, which will descend on the surface of the moon in a controlled manner," he said.

After the lander lands on the moon, the rover will come out and it will do some in-situ observations and we will be able to get these observations through radio contact, Kiran Kumar said.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...in-december/story-yQ3rqtbau0b3abpiOwFyfL.html

*The mission will be the first PSLV mission after the unsuccessful launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H in August.*

india Updated: Oct 30, 2017 21:19 IST
Press Trust of India, Bengaluru




On August 31, India’s mission to launch its backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H onboard PSLV-C39 ended in a failure after a technical fault on the final leg following a perfect launch.(PTI File Photo)


The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday it will launch 30 satellites in a single mission on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in December.

The mission, whose main payload would be Cartosat-2 series earth observation satellite, will be the first PSLV mission after the unsuccessful launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H in August.

“We are planning our next launch in the second half of December, all things are in place... It will be a satellite of Cartosat-2 series along with other co-passengers,” ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar told reporters here.

PSLV-C40 will be used for the launch from the spaceport in Sriharikota, about 100 kilometres from Chennai.

The mission will be a combination of 25 nano satellites, three micro-satellites and one Cartosat satellite, along with “maybe” one university satellite, ISRO officials said.

They said most of the co-passengers of Cartosat-2 series satellite would commercial satellites from foreign countries, including Finland and the US.

On August 31, India’s mission to launch its backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H onboard PSLV-C39 ended in a failure after a technical fault on the final leg following a perfect launch.

ISRO had then said the heat shield did not separate on the final leg of the launch sequence, and, as a result, the IRNSS-1H got stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.

To a question about PSLV-C39 failure, Kumar said when a system, which had worked sixty times, fails because of a particular reason, it should not be a fundamental problem.

“We are trying to improve further on the robustness of this (rocket). It is not a fundamental issue,” he said.

Another big launch in ISRO’s calendar is the next lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, on board GSLV-Mk II, scheduled for March 2018.

On Chandrayaan-2, Kumar said right now the orbiter was getting integrated at Bengaluru and some more tests were going on with regard to the lander and rover, instruments and systems.

“By the first quarter of the next year we expect to put the orbiter, lander, rover - all the things together into the lunar orbit,” he added.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, would be an advanced version of the Chandrayaan-1 launched nine years ago. This spacecraft is a composite model consisting of orbiter, lander and rover.

On the involvement of industry and academic institutions, Kumar said “what we are trying to see is while we build our capability; we also make sure that whatever excess capacity we have, we are in a position to market it and use.”

He said presently India was having 40-plus satellites in operation for earth observation, remote sensing, communication, navigation and space science.

However, the requirement was significantly higher. “So we are looking at a mechanism where we can increase the pace at which we are doing the work.

“You can visualise if we have to deliver more and bring in more capability in space, what we call as the space infrastructure, we need to increase the number of launches we do, more satellites we have to build and using them more applications,” he added.

Kumar also said ISRO was now looking at a mechanism where the Indian industry actually gets support from it for competing internationally by leveraging on what they have already acquired. There was a huge market available for the supply of sub-systems, he added.

The ISRO chairman was speaking to reporters at the curtain raiser press meet on the “International Seminar on Indian Space Programme - Trends and Opportunities for Industry” scheduled to be held between November 20 and 21 in New Delhi.

The two-day event will have sessions on space industry, public-private partnership for space programmes, capacity building and talent management, role of industry in Indian space programme along with B2B and B2G meeting, officials said. PTI KSU RA VS ABH


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...lobal-space-industry-meet/article19952308.ece

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) are hosting an international seminar on space industry in November to help Indian companies tap the space market in the country and globally.

The seminar, slated for November 20 and 21 in New Delhi, will expose aspiring industries to potential international partners and network with space agencies, policy makers and academia, the organisers said on Monday.

*Increasing rate*

A.S. Kiran Kumar, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said at a news conference that the space agency is increasing its own rate of missions — to almost double at 18 missions a year.

There was a growing opportunity as more than 1,000 satellites were planned worldwide in the coming years. ISRO was also allowing private and public Indian industry to assemble its spacecraft and build the first launch vehicle in 2020.

“In the recent past, we have been looking at a mechanism to increase the number of our spacecraft and launches [through] industry and academia. While industry provides our needs, we also want to ensure that it also takes a part of the global market,” he said.

Vivek Pandit, Assistant Secretary General of the FICCI, said industry has started tapping opportunities at ISRO centres.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
07-November, 2017 11:50 IST
*CZT Imager of AstroSat measures first phase resolved X-ray polarisation of Crab pulsar *

AstroSat, India’s multi-wavelength space telescope, has successfully accomplished the extremely difficult task of measuring X-ray polarisation. In a paper published in ‘Nature Astronomy’, the team has documented the results of their eighteen-month study of the Crab pulsar in the Taurus Constellation and measured the variations of polarisation as this highly magnetised object spins around 30 times every second. This landmark measurement puts up a strong challenge to prevailing theories of high energy X-ray emission from pulsars.

*****

The CZT Imager (CZTI) instrument derives its name from the detectors that make up its heart, made of a
semiconductor called “Cadmium Zinc Telluride”. It consists of 16384 tiny pixels, essentially independent detectors, to measure X-rays coming from the celestial objects. When high energy X-rays shine on these detectors, an extremely small electric signal is generated, which is further processed to measure the energy of the photon. The incident X-ray photon sometimes leaves a signal in two neighbouring pixels,due to an effect called “Compton scattering”.


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## lonelyman

Hindustani78 said:


> Department of Space
> 23-October, 2017 19:52 IST
> *India's Space mission to Moon 'Chandrayaan- II' in 2018: Dr Jitendra Singh *
> 
> The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that India’s Space Mission to Moon, “Chandrayaan-II”, will take place in 2018, most likely in the first quarter of the year.
> 
> Addressing the inaugural session of the 5-day Asian Conference on Remote Sensing here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said that India has today emerged as the world's frontline nation in the field of Space Technology. This, he said, is in itself a glorious vindication of the dream seen by the founding fathers of India’s Space Programme, like Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan.
> 
> Giving credit to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for giving fresh impetus to Space Research, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it was during the last three years that India could launch a South Asian Satellite which would be also providing inputs and benefits to the neighbouring countries. In addition, he said, the biggest achievement in the last over three years is that the Prime Minister personally intervened to arrange a brainstorming of Space Scientists with each of the different Ministries and Departments in Government of India to promote the application of Space Technology in infrastructure and development works. In this context, he referred to widespread application of Space Technology in carrying out the Urban Development programmes, including Smart City programmes, the use of Space Technology for geo-tagging of MGNREGA and the assistance from ISRO for the manning of Railway crossings.
> 
> Chairman ISRO, Shri Kiran Kumar, who was the Guest of Honour on the occasion, spoke about the various achievements of India’s Space capability in the field of Disaster Management. Veteran Space Scientist and President of the Indian Association of Remote Sensing, Dr Shailesh Nayak also spoke on the occasion. At the event, awards were presented to outstanding Space scientists under different categories. The 5-day conference is being attended by over 500 eminent foreign delegates and some of the world’s most distinguished faculty in the field of Space Science.
> 
> ******


2018? I doubt it, more like 2118


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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/643290/isro-announces-indo-japan-joint.html

DH News Service, Bengaluru Nov 17 2017, 19:41 IST




Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar. File photo.

Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar on Friday announced a Indo-Japanese joint lunar mission.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of 24th Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), he said that India and Japan have decided to take up a joint lunar mission.

"We've just now decided to work together in this regard. We will discuss modalities and clarity would emerge in about six months," he said.

Kiran Kumar clarified that there would not be any participation from other countries in the mission.

"We want to study traces of water which Isro established on the soil of the moon. We want to take some samples, bring them to earth for further studies," he said.

On competing with China, he said there was no competition from any country and the fruits of space technology should be utilised for the welfare of the world.

Dr Naoki Okumura, Kiran's Japanese counterpart said Japan would work closely with India to study the impact of climate change and his country would soon ink with Isro for the joint mission.

Kiran Kumar said the APRSAF meeting discussed making space knowledge and information available to various entities.

Developing small satellites, promotion of educational activities and promotion of space application were also discussed in the conference. India is hosting the conference after 10 years.


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## Hindustani78

Thiruvananthapuram , November 17, 2017 21:39 IST
Updated: November 18, 2017 08:19 IST 

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...slv-by-2020/article20535383.ece?homepage=true

* ISRO to outsource launch vehicle production *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing to hand over the entire gamut of launch vehicle manufacture to domestic industry by 2020. 

“Until now, public and private industries have only supplied devices, components and sub-systems for ISRO’s launch vehicles, including the PSLV and the GSLV. Our effort is to give a push to industry for production of end-to-end systems. By 2020, we hope to have the first completely industry-built PSLV,” Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director K. Sivan said here on Friday. 

Inaugurating the National Aerospace Manufacturing Seminar (NAMS 2017) organised by the Society of Aerospace Manufacturing Engineers, he said efforts were on to set up a consortium of companies for the purpose. “Ultimately, we hope to see industry make the transition from vendors supplying parts, to partners providing integrated systems”.

The theme of the seminar was ‘Aerospace Manufacturing in India-Vision 2030.’

ISRO already has a partnership with private industry to produce satellites. The IRNSS-1H communication satellite aboard the ill-fated PSLV C-39 was the first to be produced by a consortium of six companies.

Dr. Sivan said ISRO had a partnership with about 500 domestic industries for the supply of various components and devices. “About 80% of the cost of launch vehicles and 40% of satellites are handled by these industries”.

He stressed on the need for industry to reduce the manufacturing and material cost without compromising on quality to bring down the launch cost. ISRO, he said, had tightened tolerance to error following the failure of the PSLV- C39 mission. 

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) Director S. Somanath said the industry partnership for satellite production had paved the way for the transition to industry-made launch vehicles. He said automation and the increased use of composites and additives were turning the conventional manufacturing process on its head. “Reusable launch vehicles promise to bring down launch cost but pose a problem for industry due to lower demand. The solution is to create a market for more missions.”


----------



## bloo

* India, Japan look at joint moon mission, will bring samples to earth *
*This is the second time that Japan and India are teaming up for a moon mission*
Raghu Krishnan | Bengaluru Last Updated at November 18, 2017 00:45 IST






 











File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe sign an agreement documents during the India-Japan Annual Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

India and Japan will collaborate to send a joint mission to the moon, which includes landing a rover and bringing samples back to the earth, a feat that was last achieved over four decades ago.

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) Chairman A S Kiran Kumar and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) President Naoki Okumara said on Friday that *an implementation agreement for the collaborative mission will be finalised within the next two months.*



"We can do as soon as possible," said Okumara on timelines, but did not elaborate much. Both the countries have increased cooperation due to efforts made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. The space agencies plan follows the November 2016 agreement signed during PM Modi's visit to Japan, where they agreed on collaborating for deep space explorations.

This is the second time that Japan and India are teaming up for a moon mission. *Team Indus, which is aiming by March next will be the first private firm to land a rover on the moon and will carry a Japanese rover by team Hakuto on its spacecraft.* This, however, is a private mission.

In the last decade or so, there is a global race to return to the moon and explore the earth's satellite as an energy resource or a potential human settlement. With increased sophistication of instruments, space agencies across the world are looking to send unmanned probes and machinery than send a human that would become prohibitively expensive.

The last man to land on moon was in December 1972, the last of the six manned missions that the United States sent during the space race with Russia. The then Soviet Republic sent a mission in 1970 to bring back samples from the moon.

India's first successful attempt to moon Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 also brought worldwide attention on the country's space proficiency. It also helped discover traces of water on the lunar surface, which subsequent missions will study.

A joint mission to send a rover to the moon with Russia was aborted with Isro planning to go on its own with its Chandrayaan-2. The mission, which will look to create an elevated map of the moon is expected to be launched by March, said Kumar of Isro.

Japan has also had success in the moon. In October, the Lunar Radar Sounder on its Selenological and Engineering Explorer orbiter (SELENE) has found a long and deep tunnel under the moon's surface. It found a 50-km long intact lava tube underground along a lava flow river 'rille' on the "Marius Hills of the Moon”.

Okumara expressed confidence that the two countries could effectively collaborate in utilising the space for societal benefit of the region. His country was also looking forward for collaboration in the fields of remote sensing and climate change.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...ll-bring-samples-to-earth-117111701151_1.html


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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Defence
11-December, 2017 17:43 IST
*International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices: IWPSD 2017 *

Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL), a premier semiconductor research laboratory of DRDO is organising the 19th International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices (IWPSD 2017) jointly with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi in association with Society for Semiconductor Devices, Semiconductor Society (India) and Society for Information Display. Chairman ISRO and Secretary Department of Space Dr. AS Kiran Kumar will formally inaugurate the event on 12 December 2017 at IIT Delhi in presence of Chairman DRDO & Secretary Department of Defence R&D Dr. S Christopher. 

The biennial event IWPSD is considered as a prominent international forum on Advanced Semiconductor Technologies. The event held in India provides an opportunity for Indian researchers to interact with internationally acclaimed experts. Scientists and academicians from international and national educational institutes, government laboratories and leading industries interact to discuss state-of-the-art in advanced semiconductor R&D. The workshop has always received wide international participation and serves as the principal forum for dissemination of semiconductor research in South Asian region.

Semiconductor devices are used in the technological aids related to defence and space applications in addition to day-to-day consumer electronics.

The four day workshop has a strong technical program covering most of the emerging semiconductor R&D fields with five parallel sessions which will cover topics of current interest including VLSI technologies, Sensors, GaN (Gallium Nitrite) Materials and Devices, Opto-electronics, Crystal Growth & Epitaxy, Photovoltaics, Display Technologies, 2D materials & Organic Semiconductors and Semiconductors for Quantum Computing etc. Special emphasis will be given on the role of semiconductor technologies in space, defence and civilian applications.

Many renowned scientists and technologists from USA, Europe, Asia Pacific and other countries are participating in this event. Over 130 internationally acclaimed plenary/invited speakers will deliver talks on research in their field of expertise. In addition about 500 researchers from national Institutes like TIFR, NPL, IISc, IITs, NITs, CEERI etc. and other prominent Central and State universities would be participating in the workshop and over 500 research papers will be presented. 

A number of prominent Industries in the area of semiconductor R&D are showcasing their products on the occasion. A special industry session is also being organized to promote Make in India theme. The workshop would also provide a platform for exploring possibility of establishing semiconductor manufacturing in India by Indian and foreign ventures.

***
Ministry of Defence
12-December, 2017 18:33 IST
*XIXth International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices: IWPSD 2017 *

The four-day 19th International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices (IWPSD-2017) began here today Chairman ISRO & Secretary, Department of Space Shri AS Kiran Kumar formally inaugurated the event. The main objective of the workshop is to provide an international forum to deliberate and share the emerging semiconductor R&D fields in electronics; VLSI technologies, Sensors, GaN (Galium Nitride) Materials and Devices, Crystal Growth & Epitaxy, Photovoltaics, Organic Semiconductors and Semiconductors for Quantum Computing among other. Special emphasis was given on the role of semiconductor technologies in defence, space and other civilian applications. A number of prominent Industries in the area of semiconductor R&D showcased their products along with a special industry session, mainly organized to promote ‘Make in India’ theme for exploring possibility of establishing semiconductor & electronics chips manufacturing in India. 

Shri AS Kiran Kumar in his inaugural address emphasized the need for creating and adopting indigenous technologies. He highlighted that many of the devices used in space missions are being fabricated at GAETEC (A DRDO unit), but the scope is tremendous. 

Chairman DRDO & Secretary Department of Defence R&D Dr S Christopher presided over the function. While extending all possible help to establish the semiconductor foundry/chip manufacturing in India, he expressed the hope that the electronics chip manufacturing industries would explore the incentives under ‘Make in India’ and tap the huge Indian Electronics market particularly the solar power and LED lighting. 

Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri Dr G Satheesh Reddy stressed the need for development of navigation grade sensors, MEMs pressure sensors & accelerometers, T/R modules based on GaN technology, large format & low pitch IR detectors. 

Director IIT, Delhi Prof. V Ramgopal Rao mentioned that IWPSD is the oldest international conference held in India in the area of semiconductor technology. 

Renowned scientists and technologists from USA, Europe, Asia Pacific and other countries and over 130 internationally acclaimed plenary speakers were invited on the occasion. 

MJPS/NM/RP 
(Release ID :174279)


The Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar lighting the lamp to inaugurate the XIX International Workshop on the Physics of Semiconductor Devices 2017, at IIT Delhi, in New Delhi on December 12, 2017. The Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy is also seen.





The Chairman DRDO & Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, Dr. S. Christopher addressing the gathering at the XIX International Workshop on the Physics of Semiconductor Devices 2017, at IIT Delhi, in New Delhi on December 12, 2017.




The Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy addressing the gathering at the XIX International Workshop on the Physics of Semiconductor Devices 2017, at IIT Delhi, in New Delhi on December 12, 2017.





The Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar presenting a memento to the Director, IIT, Delhi, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao at the XIX International Workshop on the Physics of Semiconductor Devices 2017, at IIT Delhi, in New Delhi on December 12, 2017. The Chairman DRDO & Secretary, Department of Defence R&D, Dr. S. Christopher is also seen.


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## jamahir

Hindustani78 said:


> This breathtaking colour photo of the surface of Mars unveiled by NASA is the sharpest photograph ever taken on the surface of Mars. The picture was taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. | Photo Credit:  AP
> 
> http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...m-co2-study/article19905100.ece?homepage=true
> 
> * Mars has 96% carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, according to researchers *
> 
> Mars has near ideal conditions for efficiently creating oxygen from atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future using plasma technology, a study has found.
> 
> According to researchers from University of Porto in Portugal and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, Mars has 96 per cent carbon dioxide (CO2) in its atmosphere.
> 
> The research, published in the journal _Plasma Sources Science and Technology_, shows that the pressure and temperature ranges in the Martian atmosphere mean non-thermal plasma can be used to produce oxygen efficiently.
> 
> “Sending a manned mission to Mars is one of the next major steps in our exploration of space. Creating a breathable environment, however, is a substantial challenge,” said Vasco Guerra, from the University of Lisbon in Portugal.
> 
> “Plasma reforming of CO2 on Earth is a growing field of research, prompted by the problems of climate change and production of solar fuels,” said Guerra.
> 
> “Low temperature plasmas are one of the best media for CO2 decomposition — the split-up of the molecule into oxygen and carbon monoxide — both by direct electron impact, and by transferring electron energy into vibrational excitation,” he said.
> 
> Mars has excellent conditions for In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) by plasma.
> 
> As well as its CO2 atmosphere, the cold surrounding atmosphere may induce a stronger vibrational effect than that achievable on Earth.
> 
> The low atmospheric temperature also works to slow the reaction, giving additional time for the separation of molecules.
> 
> “The low temperature plasma decomposition method offers a twofold solution for a manned mission to Mars. Not only would it provide a stable, reliable supply of oxygen, but as source of fuel as well, as carbon monoxide has been proposed as to be used as a propellant mixture in rocket vehicles,” said Guerra.
> 
> “This ISRU approach could help significantly simplify the logistics of a mission to Mars. It would allow for increased self-sufficiency, reduce the risks to the crew, and reduce costs by requiring fewer vehicles to carry out the mission,” he said.
> 
> *************



@Levina @django @Hamartia Antidote - a nice photo and article.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
20-December, 2017 14:04 IST
*Building of PSLV *

ISRO has been pursuing a conscious approach of building up and nurturing the industrial capabilities in the country to maximally support the Indian Space Programme. In order to step up the launch capacity within the country, ISRO is in the process of involving Indian industry in a greater role to meet the increased national requirements and enable commercial launch services in order to enhance the capacity and capability of managing the PSLV programme on an end-to-end basis. This is proposed to be carried out through the formulation of a plan to empower Indian Industry including the quality assurance and safety procedures. 

ISRO has been utilising the Indian industry in both the public and private sector for the development of space technology since 1976. In order to ensure the smooth supply chain of hardware, components and sub-systems to the Indian Space Programme, ISRO has been continuously engaged in technology development and hand-holding several industries within the country. This has enabled ISRO to realise the majority of the manufacturing requirements of the ISRO’s launch vehicles and satellites through industry. The industry participation has shown continuing growth both in addressing technological complexity and quantum of work.

The relevant process documents and safety documents for carrying out the various activities are in place and are being followed meticulously, which will be utilised along with training, in the event of the industry undertaking these activities.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****

Department of Space
20-December, 2017 14:02 IST
*ISRO and NASA Collaboration *

ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/ NASA are jointly working on the development of Dual Frequency (L&S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite named as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). The L-band SAR is being developed by JPL/NASA, while ISRO is developing S-band SAR. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of application, which include natural resources mapping & monitoring; estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods and oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes & variation of winds in coastal waters; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies, ice sheet collapses & dynamics etc.

The data obtained from NISAR mission is not meant for building climate resilience. However, the data acquired from this mission will be useful in developing certain applications, which include - (i) identifying crevasses in the glaciers hidden by fresh snow, where human movement takes place, (ii) identifying the snowpack parameters as an input in Avalanche forecasts, (iii) studying Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) hazards, and (iv) identifying inundated area due to floods/ cyclones. These applications could help in taking measures to minimise loss of human lives.

As per the information received, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has been working in tandem with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, USA) for development of high resolution seasonal and long-term climate forecasts through Monsoon Mission and Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR) Programmes. During 2010 to 2015, IITM and NOAA together developed high resolution models for seasonal predictions of Indian Summer Monsoon and long term climate forecasts under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU, concerning the study of “Dynamical Short range, Extended Range and seasonal Prediction of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall”, has been extended till 2020, within the framework of the MoES-NOAA Partnership.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****

Department of Space
20-December, 2017 14:01 IST
*Indigenous GPS *

India has deployed its own regional navigational system, namely NavIC comprising of a constellation of seven navigational satellites and associated ground segment for providing position, navigation and timing services to Indian region. 

The IRNSS (NavIC) enables providing position, navigation and timing information that could be utilised for a large range of civil and strategic applications and services that include terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation; precise timing; disaster management and alert messages; mapping and Geodetic data capture; vehicle tracking and fleet management; visual & voice navigation for drivers, etc.

Seven satellites of NavIC constellation are currently in orbit, the realization of IRNSS-1I, by DOS/ISRO is under progress using a contract to a consortium of private companies for carrying out assembly, integration and testing of this satellite. The satellite is planned for launch during first quarter of 2018. 

NavIC provides signals in a space covering India and its surroundings, this could be utilised by using receivers on ground to determine position and time accurately. Signal in space is provided globally by GPS of USA, GLONASS of Russia, Galileo of Europe and Beiden of China. Current global trend is to make use of ground receivers which utilise as many signals as available for providing timing and position solutions.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****

Department of Space
20-December, 2017 14:00 IST
*Solar Mission *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the first solar mission, Aditya-L1. 

Aditya-L1 mission is aimed at studying the Sun from an orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point 1 (L1) which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. It would carry seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun, the corona in different wavebands. 

Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the participation of national institutions. Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru is the lead institute for the development of Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune is developing the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUIT) payload for Aditya-L1 mission. 

Aditya-L1 can provide observations on the corona and in addition can provide observations on the solar Chromosphere using the UV payload and on the flares using the X-ray payloads. The particle detectors and the magnetometer payload can provide information on charged particles and the magnetic field reaching the halo orbit around L1. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

****


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## MimophantSlayer




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## Shiroyama

We have 4 CARTOSAT now.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
17-January, 2018 17:52 IST
*Modi Govt brought Space technology to every Indian household: Dr Jitendra Singh *

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh delivered the Keynote address at the International Space Conference of “Geospatial World Forum” in Hyderabad today. Addressing the conference he complemented Team ISRO for having placed India as a front-line leader in the community of world nations while in the last three years, the use of diverse applications of space technology to carry forward the Modi Government's infrastructural and transformational programmes has brought space technology to the doorstep of every Indian household.

The minister said that it is primarily the personal indulgence, intervention and patronage provided by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi which has made space technology an essential part of Modi’s “Transforming India” mission, which will finally culminate in the building of “New India”. It was at the behest of Prime Minister that perhaps, the first-of-its-kind, extended brain-storming interaction was held between space scientists and the representatives of different Ministries and Departments in Government of India, in order to understand the areas where space technology could be put into use.

In the last 3 years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Team ISRO and the Department of Space have finalised effective MoUs with a host of Ministries, including Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare etc. Space Technology today is playing a crucial role in carrying forward a number of flagship programmes of the Modi Government, including Smart City programme, Urban and Housing schemes, guarding of unmanned railway crossings, Geo-tagging of MNREGA, procurement of Utilization Certificates of roads and other projects, agricultural soil testing, he added.

The new year began with the January 12th launching of 28 foreign satellites which, Dr Jitendra Singh said, has vindicated the dream of our founding father Vikram Sarabhai and evidently proved that even those nations of the world which began their space programme several years before us have reposed their faith and trust in us to launch their satellites. The last year set some world records like launching of 104 satellites in a single go, launching of South Asia satellite and completion of 3 years of Mangalyaan in the orbit, he added.

Referring to the Geospatial World Forum meet, currently being held, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this event highlights India’s intent of expanding its space programmes for wider application and with wider participation of other partners as well. The presence of representatives and CEOs of some of the leading industrial houses of the world, he said, signifies the keen desire of the world industrial players to collaborate with India to benefit as well as to supplement the applications of space technology for the common goal of the future growth of a global world.

***

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing the International Space Conference of “Geospatial World Forum”, in Hyderabad on January 17, 2018.






The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing the International Space Conference of “Geospatial World Forum”, in Hyderabad on January 17, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

Posted at: Jan 17, 2018, 5:41 PM;
last updated: Jan 17, 2018, 5:41 PM (IST)
*ISRO releases first image by recently-launched Cartosat-2 series satellite*
*



*

*The first day image captured by recently-launched weather observation Cartosat-2 series satellite shows a part of Indore city in Madhya Pradesh with the Holkar Cricket Stadium in the centre. — ISRO via PTI

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/na...nched-cartosat-2-series-satellite/529969.html

Chennai, January 17
*
The ISRO had then said the satellite would be brought to its final operational configuration in the next few days following which it will begin to provide high-resolution scene specific spot imageries using its panchromatic (black and white) and multi spectral (colour) cameras. Cartosat-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite similar in configuration to earlier six spacecraft in the series and intended to augment data services to the users.e first day image captured by India's recently launched weather observation Cartosat-2 series satellite shows a part of Indore city in Madhya Pradesh with the Holkar Cricket Stadium in the centre.

The image was acquired on January 15, three days after the launch of the satellite, and released yesterday on the website of the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation. Cartosat-2 Series satellite was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C40 rocket on January 12 by ISRO from its spaceport at Sriharikota, 110 km from here.

ISRO had then said the satellite would be brought to its final operational configuration in the next few days following which it will begin to provide high-resolution scene specific spot imageries using its panchromatic (black and white) and multi spectral (colour) cameras. Cartosat-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite similar in configuration to earlier six spacecraft in the series and intended to augment data services to the users.

The images sent by the satellite will be useful for cartographic, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation besides Geographical Information System applications, among others. Thirty other satellites, including 28 from foreign countries, were also successfully launched by PSLV C-40. — PTI


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
18-January, 2018 19:32 IST
* New Chairman ISRO calls on Dr Jitendra Singh, discusses future Space missions *

The new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and eminent Space scientist, Dr K Sivan made a formal courtesy call to Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here today. Dr Jitendra Singh discussed with him some of the immediate upcoming future Space missions as well as the important focus areas for future .

Dr Jitendra Singh complimented the new Chairman for taking over the charge of ISRO at a time when the Team ISRO, through its commendable work, has placed India as a frontline nation in the community of world nations. With a series of achievements registered in last few years, it is time to consolidate the gains of recent achievements and to share them for the benefit of the people of the region and the entire world community in general added the Minister.

Dr Jitendra Singh also said that one of the major achievements during the Modi Government was that the Space technology had been made applicable to a wide range of infrastructural development and flagship programmes including roads, railways, agriculture health care etc. One of the latest applications, he said, would be the development of Lithium batteries for use of Electric vehicles. These batteries will not only be cost - effective but will also offer the option of Electric vehicle transport with no risk of environmental pollution or noise pollution.

*****

The New Chairman ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan calling on the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in New Delhi on January 18, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/na...-launched-by-foreign-space-agency/532000.html

The GSAT-11 communication satellite will be launched

“We are working on a dual concept: Increasing the carrying capacity of our heaviest rocket—the 640-tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk III (GSLV Mk III) to six tonnes—while producing high throughput and lower weight communication satellites,” according to K. Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

He said nearly 60 per cent of the satellite weight consists of onboard chemical fuel and by opting for electric power for manoeuvring in space the mass of the satellite will be reduced.

The Indian space agency had tried electric propulsion in its GSAT-9 satellite.


At present, the GSLV-Mk III rocket has a carrying capacity of four tonnes. The Indian space agency is working on increasing GSLV-Mk III’s carrying capacity to six tonnes.

“Now most of the satellites will be contained to four-six tonnes,” Sivan said.


According to Sivan, the capacity enhancement is not restricted to GSLV-Mk III alone but also to other rockets as it would bring down the overall launch cost.

But that doesn’t mean ISRO would freeze development of higher payload rockets.


“We have the capability to design and build over six-tonne payload rockets. We will start designing for bigger rockets,” Sivan remarked.

“Our major objectives are to increase the production of rockets so as to increase the number of satellite launches; enhance our rocket’s capability; look at reduction of rocket production cost; develop and realise the small rocket with a carrying capacity of 500 kg and also realise reusable launch vehicle/rocket,” Sivan remarked.


According to him, to increase the production of rockets, the space agency is looking at transferring the technology for making Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket to industries.

“We are working out the methodologies like joint venture for that purpose,” Sivan said.

That apart, ISRO is also open for transferring the technologies developed by it to the private sector for commercialisation and wider use.

“For instance, we will be transferring the technology for making lithium ion battery that could be used to power automobiles,” Sivan added.

Sivan said ISRO is also focusing on developing a reusable launch vehicle that involves a lot of new technologies and the Scramjet engine which in turn would reduce costs.

According to him, the first half of 2018 will be busy with the launch of Chandrayaan-II (moon mission), GSAT-6A and a navigation satellite as the replacement for the first of the seven navigation satellites.

On January 12, ISRO launched its remote sensing satellite Cartosat.

Sixty-year-old Sivan, the new head of the Indian space agency, is not shy of saying that he wore trousers and chappals for the first time when he stepped into the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) here for a degree in aeronautical engineering.


“I studied in Tamil medium in a government-owned school. I wore only dhoti and shirt without any footwear till I finished my graduation at the ST Hindu College in Nagercoil. Only after joining MIT did I start wearing trousers and chappals,” Sivan told IANS.

Son of a farmer, Sivan used to help his father in farming and also in his vegetables/fruits trading activity during his school days. Today, as the head of one of the world’s premier space agencies, Sivan’s task is cut out.

Sivan’s elder son has completed electronics and communication engineering and the younger son is pursuing a graduate degree in animation while his wife is a homemaker.

Queried about his management style Sivan said: “I delegate work and expect deliverables as promised. Space system is unforgiving. If there is a problem, it will fail.” — IANS


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-spacecraft/article22545162.ece?homepage=true
* Satish Tailor’s thermal spray coating useful for gas turbine engine *
A new thermal spray coating technology used for gas turbine engine in spacecraft developed by a Rajasthan-based researcher.

Dr. Satish Tailor after it was published in the journal _Ceramics International_ and _Thermal Spray Bulletin_, said S.C. Modi, the chairman of a Jodhpur-based Metallizing Equipment Company (MEC).

While working at MEC as a chief scientist, Research and Development, Dr. Satish Tailor developed the controlled segmented Yttria-Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ)-Plasma sprayed coating technology, which according to him could reduce the thermal spray coating cost by almost 50%.

“In simple language, vertical cracks (segmentation) in the coating are beneficial for gas turbine engine application used in spacecraft,” Dr. Tailor said.

“At present, researchers are developing such cracks through very expensive processes (in several crore) and cracks are generated during the coating deposition process, and crack generation is not controllable,” he said.

Dr. Satish Tailor said he had shared his research papers with the NASA scientist who had written him an email regarding this. Scientists working at the country’s leading research organisations — the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) — are equally impressed with 
the new technology.

Dr. R.M. Mohanty, the chief scientist at the CSIR headquarters in New Delhi, said that the outcome of the reported R&D presented an inexpensive solution for superior survival of current YSZ thermal barrier coatings produced by atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) technique, and had a potential of wider industrial/strategic acceptability.

DRDO scientist Dr. R.K. Satpathy said if it could be industrially adopted to make a strain-tolerant coating then it would definitely be more economical.

**********

http://www.newsnation.in/science-ne...hnology-grabs-nasa-s-eyes-article-191092.html

Dr. Tailor said, “In simple language, vertical cracks (segmentation) in the coating are beneficial for gas turbine engine application used in spacecraft. At present, researchers are developing such cracks through very expensive processes (in several crores) and cracks are generated during the coating deposition process, and crack generation is not controllable.”

Dr. Tailor said his research papers had been shared with NASA scientist who had written an email to him regarding this.

Scientists at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISR) are equally impressed with the new technology. Dr. RM Mohanty, chief scientist at the CSIR, said, “Indeed the outcome of the reported R&D presents an inexpensive solution for the superior survival of current YSZ thermal barrier coatings produced by atmospheric plasma sprayed (APS) technique, and has a potential of wider industrial/strategic acceptability.”

Mohanty said, “The new technology has an advantage over current, costly techniques such as SPS or EB- PVD deposited coatings which came into picture gradually, as the reported advantage in the research was not possible with conventional APS techniques.”

He added, “The innovators should patent the process/equipment or both internationally for bringing benefits to the APS based business.”

Another scientist, Dr. RK Sampathy, of the DRDO, said, “The generation of vertical cracks holds great promise, if the research process can be industrially adopted in making a strain-tolerant coating then it will definitely be more economical compared to its expensive counter-parts techniques.”

Dr. Tailor is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Materials Science and Surface Engineering and chief editor of the Journal of Thermal Spray and Engineering. He is also a visiting young scientist at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST)in Russia.

Dr. Tailor has his Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering with specialization in plasma spray coatings from the Malaviya Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur. He has published over 25 national and international research papers on thermal spray technology in reputed journals.





NASA shows interest in Indian researcher's spray coating technology (Representative Image, Source: NASA)

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## Hindustani78

*SPACE*

In the case of Satellite Launching, as on March 2017, PSLV successfully launched 254 satellites. Foreign exchange earnings of India from export of satellite launch services increased noticeably in 2015-16 and 2016-17 to Rs 394 crore and Rs 275 crore from Rs. 149 crore in 2014-15. 

India’s share in global satellite launch services revenue has also increased to 1.1 per cent in 2015-16 from 0.3 per cent in 2014-15. Antrix foresees greater utilization of PSLV, GSLV and GSLV-Mk-III launch services by the international community for launching their Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.


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## Hindustani78

K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman 
BENGALURU , January 30, 2018 22:35 IST
Updated: January 30, 2018 22:38 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...on-launches/article22597896.ece?homepage=true

* Space agency plans to lower the costs of satellites by using miniaturised avionics and advanced electronics, says K. Sivan *

The Department of Space (DoS) is anticipating an increase in financial outlay in next month’s Budget, even as its new Secretary K. Sivan said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was working to reduce the cost of its satellite and launch vehicle missions.

Speaking to _The Hindu_, Dr. Sivan, who formally took charge on January 22 as DoS Secretary and ISRO Chairman, said the space body was trying to lower the cost of satellites by using miniaturised avionics, advanced electronics and the recently tested EPS — electric propulsion system — among others.

*Launch vehicles*

On the launch vehicles or rockets that put these satellites into space, the use of low-cost, space-grade materials and components can reduce the weight of the rocket and allow it to carry heavier payloads.

With an allocation of ₹9,093 crore last year, Dr. Sivan said, “We definitely would like a larger allocation. More satellites are required, and more launch vehicles to launch them. We also need new facilities to make them. We have to bring the manufacture of launch vehicles to industry and this needs extra money. All this is projected [in the requirement made to the government.]”

However, he stressed that, “We never had any problem with the budget. The problem is in executing [spending] it. In fact we should aim for reducing the total mission cost.”

A medium-sized two-tonne [2,000-kg] communication satellite costs roughly ₹200 crore as also the rocket that puts it in a geostationary orbit in space.

“We are targeting a substantial lowering of cost and attacking it on all sides with available technology. It is difficult to name the percentage of reduction right now,” Dr. Sivan said.

*Enhanced GSLV*
Among the innovations and value additions being developed is the augmentation of the GSLV Mark II launch vehicle. Dr. Sivan said its lifting capability would soon be enhanced from 2.2 tonnes to 3.3 tonnes. The capability then would go up by 1.5 times and would reflect in its per-kilo cost, which could make it quite competitive to future commercial users in the launchers market.

The first launch of the enhanced GSLV, after necessary tests and confirmations, will be the 3.2-tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, scheduled to be launched in April. It carries the first Indian moon lander and rover.

To reduce the size of the satellite without affecting its efficiency, ISRO has begun experimenting with EPS in place of chemical propulsion. The system was first used in GSAT-9 (South Asia Satellite) in May last year to manage satellite functions in orbit and ISRO officials had then said it reduced fuel cargo to 25%.

Dr. Sivan said the EPS is a promising technology. By bringing this in, a four-tonne satellite can do the job of a six-tonne spacecraft; it will also cost less to launch it. However, its full use in orbit correction is yet to be explored as the satellite will then take six to 12 months to reach its orbit.

He said smaller, cheaper satellites could also be made using miniaturised and low-cost components.


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## bloo

*Production of NavIC Messaging Receiver Introduction*

NavIC Satellite Constellation have a wide coverage area up to 1500 km around the Indian main
land. They are mainly designed for Regional Navigation Services. In addition to their primary
functionality, they allow broadcasting of additional short messages. These messages can be
related to alerts, forecast and directives on the occurrence of natural disasters like Floods,
Earthquake, Tsunami, Cyclones, Landslides etc. and dangers for the safety of life in areas with
poor or no communication infrastructure. The NavIC Messaging Receiver is conceptualized and
developed at Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad for reception and display of
these messages. The receiver transmits raw data over Bluetooth link. An application running on
a smart device like mobile phone or tablet having Bluetooth connectivity can decode and display
the messages for users. This receiver is designed as battery operated low power device. This note
describes hardware architecture and requirement for product.
1. Objective
SAC has developed working prototype hardware. Product can also be used by fishermen/ marine
applications in deep sea. IP67 packaging is to be designed by vendor along with battery charging
option. Vendor participation is invited for production of same hardware in large numbers.
2. Design
NavIC Messaging receiver has been designed to provide positioning along with messaging. NavIC
module can be procured from ANTRIX Corporation Limited, Bengaluru, a commercial arm of ISRO.
In addition to the NavIC chipset, it uses ATMega328P microcontroller and HC-05 Bluetooth(BT)
module. The controller provides configuration for chipset and BT module. Microcontroller acts as
an interface between chipset and BT. The TPS73633DBVT LDO converts 5V to 3.3V. It is designed
to draw power from battery or power bank. The power consumption of the receiver is around
100 mA @ 5V. The receiver can work for about 4 days using a 10000mAh power bank. The block
diagram of NavIC messaging and positioning receiver is as shown in Figure-1. Currently all the
data from NavIC receiver is passed over BT to mobile which is consuming more power in both
receiver and mobile. The blocks in dotted section are getting implemented as future
enhancement. The idea is to save power in both mobile and device. This will be achieved by
filtering out the messages in microcontroller and pass only needed messages to the mobile
application. Figure 2 shows actual photograph of NavIC messaging receiver. The current size of
PCB is 41mm x 46mm. The size of PCB with enhance feature is 70mm x 50mm.











Above figure shows set up of receiver which has external antenna and it is drawing power from
power bank. The Receiver has been developed, tested, demonstrated and delivered to many
users. An Android application is also developed to display the messages on Mobile phone / tablet.
Messages broadcasted by INCOIS can be received using this application.
3. Vendor Responsibility
Interested vendor has to fabricate the receiver PCB and design packaging including all the three
components. The package has to be IP 67 compliant. The option of using power bank or some
rechargeable battery is left to vendor.
4. Mode of Technology Transfer
SAC-ISRO has developed hardware and firmware for intended application.
SAC / ISRO will provide technical details to Indian industry on a request basis
against Non-disclosure agreement as per ISRO guidelines for this technology.


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## Hindustani78

* Gas generated at unit can be transported in a specially made balloon *

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kvasu-goes-places-with-biogas/article22671823.ece

The school of bio-energy and farm waste management of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) has developed a biogas plant which, it claims, is more efficient in converting kitchen waste into biogas.

The restricted flow anaerobic baffled reactor biogas plant is modelled on cow’s digestive system.

“The plant has a digester with a capacity of 3,000 litres, a balloon gas holder, moisture remover, and carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide removers,” John Abraham, Assistant Professor at the school, said.

“The first chamber of the digester unit will be filled with stomach content (rumen) of cattle collected from abattoirs and the second chamber will be filled with cow dung for producing microbes. Later, kitchen waste can be fed into the digester as feedstock for the microbes and it starts to produce biogas anaerobically,” Dr. Abraham, who mentored the project, said.

He said a major advantage of the unit was that biogas generated at the unit could be transported in a specially made balloon.

Vertical baffles

Moreover, commercial type of burner could be used with it by the help of a biogas compressor.

The digester has vertical baffles which restrict the flow of kitchen waste, which aids multiplication of microbes. “In traditional biogas plants, the hydraulic retention time or the time for completing digestion of the feeding material is high. But the retention time in the new plant is low as it has two chambers,” Dr. Abraham said. Around 100 litres of kitchen waste could be fed daily into the plant that produces 2 cubic metres of biogas a day. The project was completed in six months expending ₹1.50 lakh.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
07-February, 2018 16:19 IST
*ISRO sets up 473 Village Resource Centres for rural development through satellite technology *

To demonstrate the potential of satellite technology for development of rural areas, ISRO established Village Resource Centres (VRCs) on a pilot scale, in association with selected NGOs, Trusts and State Government Departments. 

VRCs have provided various space technology enabled services such as tele-healthcare, tele-education, natural resources information, advisories related to agriculture, career guidance to rural students, skill development and vocational training etc.

About Rs 18 crores was spent for establishing 473 VRCs. 

This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

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Department of Space
07-February, 2018 16:18 IST
*Social upgradation in rural areas *

Indian Space Programme plays a key role in enabling social upgradation of rural areas through space based inputs towards development of wastelands, identification of degraded lands for suitable reclamation measures, assessment of fodder crops for dairy industry, monitoring developmental activities under rural employment guarantee scheme & integrated watershed development programme, space based inputs for ground water, targeting surface waterbodies for tribal districts and monitoring irrigation infrastructure.

The efforts made by Indian Space Research Organisation benefitting rural and backward areas so far include:



Mapping of wastelands (1986-2000, 2005-06, 2008-09 & 2015-16) for enabling prioritisation of watersheds, identification of areas for renewable energy projects and industrial corridor development.
Mapping of land degradation (2005-06 & 2015-16), help in prioritisation of development in the rural areas.
Prepared and deployed National level groundwater prospects maps, including locations for planning recharge structures, as a support for drinking water requirements for Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation.
Geospatially enabled monitoring of developmental activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), for Ministry of Rural Development.
Generation of sustainable land and water resources development plans in 180 districts for soil and water conservation and satellite data based monitoring and evaluation of about 86,000 microwatersheds, under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) for Ministry of Rural Development.
Mapping and monitoring of village water bodies for suitability to adopt aquaculture development in the tribal districts as a possible alternative livelihood support.
Assessment of fodder crops in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana for enabling sustainability of dairy industry, relevant in rural and backward areas.



This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.



****


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
08-February, 2018 16:23 IST
*Upgrading of Aerospace Technology *

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra in a written reply to a question on the reasons for the failure of PSLV C-39 mission on the 31st August, 2017 said that the 41st flight of PSLV (PSLV-C39) that took place on August 31, 2017 with Indian Regional Navigational Satellite (IRNSS-1H weighing 1425 kg) could not reach the designated orbit, due to non-separation of Payload Fairing (also known as heat shield) during the 2nd stage of the flight. The root cause of the failure was understood after analysing the various flight and ground test data in more detail. For the Payload Fairing separation to happen successfully, the horizontal and vertical jettisoning system needs to function. Based on the flight data, it was observed that the command for horizontal and vertical jettisoning system was successfully issued. Though the horizontal jettisoning system functioned normally, there was malfunctioning of the vertical jettisoning system, due to which the Payload Fairing did not separate. The cause for the malfunctioning was the non-initiation of detonation in the vertical jettisoning system.

In a reply to a question on what steps would the Department proposes to constantly upgrade the aerospace technology the Minister replied that Department constantly undertakes various Research & Development activities, technology developments and experimental missions towards technological upgradation and achieve significant improvement in the performance of the launch vehicles, satellites and ground systems. The recent experimental missions that were successfully accomplished were the Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator in May 2016 and the first experimental flight of a sub-scale Scramjet engine in August 2016, towards reducing the cost of access to space. The Department has also undertaken technology development and upgradation in the propulsion systems to increase the payload capability of the space transportation systems such as the development of a Semicryogenic engine, high thrust liquid engines and Cryogenic stages with increased propellant loading. The Department has also undertaken the development of high thrust electric propulsion systems towards an all-electric communication satellites to replace the relatively heavier Chemical propulsion system.

On a question on budgetary allocation Minister said that the budget allocation of Department of Space during the FY 2017-18 is 9093.71 Crore. 20% of the total allocation for Department of Space are deployed for R&D activities. 

As per the report “The Space Economy at a Glance 2014” published by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development), India stands at sixth position among the space faring nations, in terms of space budget as percentage of GDP.

He also said that the products developed by the Department undergo rigorous design reviews, qualification tests and acceptance tests before they are inducted into the systems. ISRO has a well-defined Quality Assurance mechanism that certifies the products before they are inducted into the various systems for its space missions. The procedures for quality assurance and quality control are well documented and disseminated to the in-house and external work centres in order to ensure the product reliability.



****


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## Hindustani78

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...-south-pole/story-1LGmBEi7QKLLMuFFto55pK.html
Chandrayaan-2, the lunar mission under which the ISRO will for the first time attempt to land a rover on the moon’s south pole, will be launched in April, Jitendra Singh, in-charge of the department of space said on Friday.

The rover of India’s second lunar mission, costing nearly Rs 800 crore, will be made to land near the yet-unexplored south pole, Isro’s newly-appointed chairman K Sivan said.

“India is going to launch Chandrayaan-2 in April. It is under Chandrayaan-1 mission that the ISRO spotted water on the moon. Chandrayaan-2 is a further extension of the project and it is as good as landing a man on the moon,” Singh told reporters here.

Chandrayaan-2 will be ISRO’s first inter-planetary mission to land a rover on any celestial body.

Sivan noted that the window to launch the mission is between April and November this year.

“The targeted date is April. In case we miss the April date, we will launch it in November,” Sivan added.

Citing the reason behind landing the rover near the south pole, Sivan said it is a “very tricky area” with rocks formed a million years ago.

“It has very old rocks. This could possibly help us understand the origin of universe,” he said.

Another reason, he cited, behind landing the rover near the south pole was that the area has not been explored by other missions. “Most of the lunar missions in the past have explored the area around the equator of the moon,” Sivan added.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
16-February, 2018 18:26 IST
*ISRO planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 mission around April this year: Dr Jitendra Singh *

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space*, *Dr Jitendra Singh said that Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Chandrayan-2 Mission around April this year. Chandrayaan-2 is the country's second mission to the moon, he added. He was addressing a press conference on the achievements of Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy, here today. Chandraayan-2 is a challenging mission as for the first time we will carry an orbiter, a lander and a rover to the moon. He said that it is a matter of pride that ISRO is launching Chandrayaan-2, which will place India at a new height in space technology.

Speaking on achievements of Department of Space, the Minister said that ISRO has achieved many milestones in the recent years which include launch of 104 satellites in single mission in February last year and the launch of South Asia Satellite which will boost ties with neighbours. He said that India is a frontline nation in the field of space technology and the scientists need to be complimented for it. The space technology is being utilised by various ministries and departments e.g. in Smart City Mission, preparation of utilisation certificates in Ministry of DoNER etc.

Regarding Department of Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh said that India is using the technology for peaceful purposes and its applications have been diversified in various fields including electricity generation, agriculture and health sectors. He said that very soon it will be the source of meeting energy needs of the country in a cost-effective manner. He also said that Bhabha Kavach, a light weight bullet-proof jacket has been developed for security forces. He said that Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati is now an affiliate of the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Mumbai. A tripartite MoU to this effect was signed on behalf of the North-Eastern Council (NEC), Department of Atomic Energy and Government of Assam.

The Secretary, Department of Space and _Chairman_ Space Commission Dr. _Sivan K said that the total cost of the Chandrayaan 2 mission will be about Rs 800 crore. He added if the mission’s launch could not take place in April due to unsuitable weather, the window for launch is open till October this year. He also presented the achievements of Department of Space in the last four years. He said that _ISRO has successfully accomplished 48 missions, including 21 Launch Vehicle missions, 24 Satellite missions and 3 Technology Demonstrators. ISRO Chairman also said that South Asia Satellite is a Common Network for Disaster Management Support, Meteorological Data sharing, connectivity of academic, scientific and research institutions, etc. He also spoke on the upcoming missions of ISRO.

_*Click here for detailed presentation on Department of Space*_

The Chairman & Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), Shri S K Sharma also gave a detailed presentation on various achievements of Department of Atomic Energy in the last four years. He said that there has been an increase of 50% in the capacity addition from 4780 MW in 2014 to 6780 MW with the completion of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP1&2). He said that 9 reactors are under construction which will further augment capacity by 6700 MWe. On completion of projects under construction & sanctioned, capacity will reach 22480 MW by 2031 – about 5 times the capacity of 4780 MW in 2014, he added. He said that there has been record generation of 14252 crore Units of commercial electricity generation (14709 crore units including infirm power) during 2014-15 to 2017-18 (upto Jan 2018). He also elaborated on contribution of atomic energy in the field of agriculture, waste management, health care technologies, development of radiopharmaceuticals and technology for bio-pesticide.


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## Hindustani78

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi being received by the Governor of Karnataka, Shri Vajubhai Vala and the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah, on his arrival, at Misuru, Karnataka on February 18, 2018.




The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi being received by the Union Ministers, on his arrival, at Misuru, Karnataka on February 18, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...n-isro-and-drdo-scientist/article22829572.ece

* ‘ICONS-2018’, global meet on sonar systems, sensors, begins *
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan has said that there is scope for a deeper collaboration between the space agency and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as both have common goals and use the same technology.

A major space project was recently jointly reviewed by him with DRDO Chairman S. Christopher, Dr. Sivan said. He was inaugurating an international conference on sonar systems and sensors, ‘ICONS-2018’, organised by the State’s only DRDO lab, the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), at Angamaly on Thursday. Outlining a few space projects like the indigenous automatic identification system, fishing zone identification technology, and the desi GPS called Navic, he said that they contributed to the safety of fishermen at sea and supported the growth of economy. “It is essential to safeguard the seas around India for the sake of the country’s economy,” he added.

The fishing zone identification system has helped generate revenue to the tune of ₹50,000 crore on the western coast alone in the last five years. The Navic system, formerly known as IRNSS, provides fishers real-time information on their locations, international boundary, and weather conditions. “We have been able to make them feel at home while fishing on the seas,” Dr. Sivan said.

He added that the space agency had indigenously developed some of the best computing systems which would come handy for other agencies. “Everyone is heavily dependent on electronics, but a fair share of it is imported. But that could change as we have the capability within the country,” he said, underscoring why there should be synergy between the DRDO and the ISRO.

Dr. Christopher said that a ‘sensing sea’ like a sensing city could probably throw up a solution to accidents at sea. “DRDO is keen to enter into fruitful collaborations with academia and industries in India and abroad, so that the synergy thus generated will propel faster progress of our country in the field of defence science and technology,” he added.

NPOL, which is engaged in R&D in Sound Navigation and Ranging (Sonar) systems and allied technologies, had developed a range of sonars that are deployed on naval ships and submarines.

“The cutting edge of successful anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations comes from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance technologies relevant to submarine detection and tracking. The key to good passive sonar is ultimately transducers. In recent years, there has been considerable importance in transducer technologies, especially at very low frequencies. Non-acoustic sensors and MEMS devices also have started making their appearance in this challenging field,” Dr. Christopher said.

NPOL Director S. Kedarnath Shenoy said that the thrust areas of the laboratory were signal processing and imaging, underwater acoustics, electronics, engineering systems, transducers, materials, and oceanography. The laboratory has developed hull-mounted sonar for ships and submarines, towed array sonar, and airborne sonar for the Navy.

Arogyaswami J. Paulraj from Stanford University, a Padma Bhushan awardee and recipient of Marconi Prize and Alexander Graham Bell Award, delivered the keynote address.

V.K. Aatre, former Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri and Director General, DRDO; Rear Admiral Antony George, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (staff requirements), and Samir Kamat, Director General, Naval Science & Materials, DRDO, spoke.

Reactions: Like Like:
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## Hindustani78

The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani inaugurating the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018. The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri N.K. Sinha and other dignitaries are also seen.





The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani visiting after inaugurating the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018.






The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani visiting after inaugurating the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018.





The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani at the inauguration of the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018. The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri N.K. Sinha and other dignitaries are also seen.







The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani presenting an award at the inauguration of the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018. The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri N.K. Sinha is also seen.





The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani presenting an award at the inauguration of the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018. The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri N.K. Sinha is also seen.







The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani addressing at the inauguration of the 24th International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting - ‘BES Expo 2018’, at Pragati Maidan, in New Delhi on February 26, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

The Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananth Kumar addressing the media on announcement for launching of ‘Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins’, under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)’, in New Delhi on March 08, 2018.




The Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananth Kumar addressing the media on announcement for launching of ‘Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins’, under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)’, in New Delhi on March 08, 2018. The Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, the Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Shri J.P. Prakash and the Principal Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Shri A.P. Frank Noronha are also seen.






The Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananth Kumar addressing the media on announcement for launching of ‘Biodegradable Sanitary Napkins’, under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP)’, in New Delhi on March 08, 2018. The Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, the Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Shri J.P. Prakash and the Principal Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Shri A.P. Frank Noronha are also seen.






The Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananth Kumar at a press conference, in New Delhi on March 08, 2018. The Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya and the Principal Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Shri A.P. Frank Noronha are also seen.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
08-March, 2018 17:07 IST
*Self Reliance in Space Technology *

Government’s proposal to develop the Reusable Launch Vehicles involves mastering of many cutting edge technologies, which require a series of technology demonstrator tests. ISRO has successfully carried out first flight test of RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle- Technology Demonstrator) to validate few critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, thermal protection system and re-entry mission management.



This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

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## TheMightyBender

keep up with the good job guys

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## Hindustani78

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/664096/isro-aims-launch-chandrayaan-2.html

ISRO aims to launch Chandrayaan-2 by April 

*ISRO aims to launch Chandrayaan-2 by April*

Press Trust of India, Chennai, Mar 11 2018, 19:32 IST 






If the April launch of the Chandrayaan-2, the country's second mission to the Moon, is not possible, then the ISRO will aim for a launch by October. Image Courtesy: Twitter

The ISRO today said it is aiming for an April launch of the Chandrayaan-2 satellite to the moon, this time it plans to send a rover to explore the lunar surface.

If the April launch of the Chandrayaan-2, the country's second mission to the Moon, is not possible, then the ISRO will aim for a launch by October.

"We are aiming for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in April. In case we are unable to do so, then we will try for a launch by October," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Sivan told reporters here.

The Chandrayaan-2 satellite would comprise an orbiter, lander and six-wheeled rover which would move around the landing site and instruments on it would send back data that would be useful in analysing the lunar soil.

After reaching the lunar orbit, the Lander housing the rover will separate from the orbiter. After a controlled descent, the lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy the rover.

Sivan said scientists were also gearing up for the launch of communication satellite GSAT-6 on-board GSLV-F08, scheduled later this month.

"Our immediate plan is a GSLV flight. We are planning to launch it by the end of this month. After that we plan to launch navigation satellite IRNSS-1I," he said.

The GSAT-6A is a communication satellite which will provide a platform for developing technologies. It would be useful in satellite-based mobile communication applications.

The IRNSS-1I is the eighth satellite to join the NavIC Navigation satellite constellation, which would be sent to a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit on-board PSLV as the previous IRNSS-1H launched on August 31, 2017, had become an "unsuccessful" mission.

On asking, Sivan said the ISRO was working on developing a mobile application for the benefit of fishermen.

"We are working on the app (application). It will inform fishermen where large quantities of fish are available. It will also give them messages about the conditions of the sea. It is in production mode (currently)," he said.

In January, the ISRO successfully launched PSLV-C40 carrying Cartosat-2 Series satellite from the spaceport of Sriharikota about 110 km from here.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
21-March, 2018 16:53 IST
*Performance of Remote Sensing Satellites *

At present, there are 19 Remote Sensing satellites (including Meteorological satellites) operational in orbit. These satellites are being utilised to their capacity to meet the requirements of resource monitoring, infrastructure planning, enabling weather forecasting, disaster management support including host of societal applications.

The services derived from these satellites are being used by various Ministries/Departments in agriculture, water resources, forest and environment, urban and rural development, ocean and meteorology.

Indian Remote Sensing satellites are meant for meeting national needs for public good services. These satellites are not meant for revenue generation. The benefits are accrued through applications derived from these satellites.

In order to accelerate the use of satellites and its services, the Department has taken following measures - (i) conduct of user interaction meets and utilisation programmes; (ii) capacity building for space applications; (iii) creation of an outreach facility.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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## Hindustani78

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
22-March, 2018 18:21 IST
*Ethanol as Primary Fuel *

The Government has notified mass emission standard for flex-fuel ethanol (E85) or (E100)and ethanol (ED95) vehicles,vide notificationG.S.R. 682(E) dated 12th July, 2016 after inviting suggestions from the public and different stakeholders.The Government, through Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) is implementing the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme under which OMCs sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol upto 10% subject to its availability and as per BIS specifications. This programme is being implemented in 21 States and 4 Union Territories including the State of Maharashtra.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Shri Mansukh Lal Mandavia in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
23-March, 2018 12:39 IST
*ISRO–BHEL Tie up for the Production of Space Grade Lithium-Ion Cells *

ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which is one of the country’s leading PSUs, to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells. The TTA was signed at ISRO Headquarters, Bengaluru yesterday in the presence of Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman, ISRO and Mr. Atul Sobti, Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL.

ISRO uses Li-Ion batteries as power sources for satellite and launch vehicle applications due to their high energy density, reliability and long cycle life. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of ISRO at Thiruvananthapuram has successfully developed the technology to produce space grade Li-ion cell, demonstrated the performance of the cell under various testing conditions and established its cycle life characteristics in accelerated mode. These cells are currently being used for various satellite and launch vehicle applications.

This Li-ion cell Technology Transfer will enable BHEL to produce space grade Li-Ion cells which can meet the country’s space programme requirements. This technology can also be adopted to cater to the Li-Ion cell requirement for other national needs.



***
The Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan, the CMD, BHEL, Shri Atul Sobti, the Director, BHEL (E,R&D), Shri Subrata Biswas and the Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Shri S. Somanath, during the Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) signing ceremony, at Bengaluru on March 22, 2018.

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## Hindustani78

The GSAT-6A is scheduled to be launched from Siharikota in Andhra Pradesh on March 29. | Photo Credit:  ISRO 

Bengaluru, March 25, 2018 22:58 IST
Updated: March 25, 2018 22:58 IST 

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...-in-the-arm/article23349958.ece?homepage=true

* Will enable mobile communication via hand-held terminals *

GSAT-6A, the second predominantly S-band communications satellite, is set to be launched from Sriharikota on March 29.

It will complement GSAT-6, which has been orbiting since August 2015 at 83 degrees East longitude. The 2,000-kg-class 6A, costing about ₹270 crore, is a great deal more than a routine communications satellite. It is designated for the use of the *Armed Forces *and will not add any transponder capacity for general uses, according to sources in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

A special feature of the GSAT-6A is its 6-metre-wide umbrella-like antenna, which will be unfurled in once it is in space. The antenna is thrice as broad as the antennas generally used in ISRO satellites. It will enable mobile communication from anywhere via hand-held ground terminals. Regular communication satellites with smaller antenna require much larger ground stations, said a former director of ISRO.

The S-band’s antenna was developed by ISRO’s Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. The unfurl-able antenna, hand-held ground terminals, and network management techniques could be useful in future satellite-based mobile communication applications. GSAT-6A will also have a smaller 0.8-metre antenna for communication in the C band. GSAT-6A is slated to be launched at 4.56 p.m. on a GSLV rocket.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
28-March, 2018 15:45 IST
*Mission on Moon and Mars *

Chandrayaan-2 is a totally indigenous mission with Orbiter, Lander and rover configuration. Orbiter is to be placed in 100 km orbit around the Moon. After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander will be separated from the orbiter and it will soft land on the lunar surface and deploy a Rover. The Rover will then move around the landing site. The Orbiter will continue to orbit around the Moon and perform remote-sensing observations of the lunar surface.



ISRO has formed a study team to formulate plans to explore solar system bodies. The study team has recommended a future mission to Mars. Scientific proposals for payloads are selected by an expert committee.



The Orbiter will study the Moon for its topography, elemental and mineralogical distribution and extent of subsurface water ice. The lander will land on the lunar surface and demonstrate ISRO’s capability for landing on Moon. Subsequently, the Rover will roll out of the Lander and move around the landing site. The lander and rover payloads will conduct observations on the elemental composition and study the lunar ionosphere. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will definitely expand the scientific knowledge on Moon by remote-sensing from Orbiter and in-situ studies from lander/rover. Total expenditure on the mission is around Rs 800 Cr.

Mission planning for next MARS mission is under progress.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

********

Department of Space
28-March, 2018 15:43 IST
Atomic Clock 

A navigation satellite, IRNSS-1I is scheduled for launch using PSLV launch vehicle in April 2018.

Atomic clock of IRNSS-1A has become non-functional, but the satellite is being used for providing messaging services like disaster alerts, potential fishing zones information dissemination to fishermen, etc. IRNSS-1I will be added to NavIC constellation for providing intended navigation services.

The atomic clocks used in NavIC are manufactured by M/s SpectraTime. Some of these clocks have failed in Galileo. The reason for the failures has been analyzed and understood and the corrective actions have accordingly been taken on remaining clocks for upcoming satellites including IRNSS-1I.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.



***

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
29-March, 2018 20:15 IST
*GSLV Successfully Launches GSAT-6A Satellite *

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08) successfully launched GSAT-6A Satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) today (March 29, 2018). Today’s launch of GSLV was its twelfth and took place from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, the spaceport of India. This is the fifth consecutive success achieved by GSLV carrying indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage.

In its oval shaped GTO, GSAT-6A is now orbiting the Earth with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 169.4 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 36,692.5 km with an orbital inclination of 20.64 deg with respect to the equator.

Few seconds before the launch countdown reached zero, the four liquid propellant strap-on motors of GSLV-F08, each with nearly 43 tons of liquid propellants, were ignited. At count zero and after confirming the normal performance of all the four strap-on motors, the 139 ton solid propellant first stage core motor was ignited and GSLV lifted off at 16:56 IST, as scheduled. The major phases of the flight occurred as intended. About seventeen and a half minutes after lift-off, GSAT-6A was successfully placed in GTO.
.
Soon after separation from GSLV, the two solar arrays of GSAT-6A were automatically deployed in quick succession and the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka assumed control of the satellite. .

GSAT-6A is a communication satellite built by ISRO to provide mobile communication services through multi beam coverage. For this, it is equipped with S and C band transponders.

In the coming days, the orbit of GSAT-6A will be raised from its present GTO to the final circular Geostationary Orbit (GSO) by firing the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in stages. The Satellite will be commissioned into service after the completion of orbit raising operations and its positioning in the designated slot in GSO following in-orbit testing of its payloads.

***

Prime Minister's Office
29-March, 2018 18:43 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO team on the successful launch of GSLV-F08 *

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO team on the successful launch of GSLV-F08 with indigenous cryogenic stage.

“Congratulations to ISRO and other stakeholders on the successful launch of GSLV-F08 with indigenous cryogenic stage.

GSAT-6A, a communication satellite, will provide new possibilities for mobile applications. Proud of ISRO for taking the nation towards new heights and a brighter future”, the Prime Minister said.

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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
04-April, 2018 14:20 IST
*Satellite launched by ISRO *

Satellites launched by ISRO in the last four years and the current year are as follows:



Communication Satellite

8

Navigational Satellite

7

Remote Sensing Satellite

5

Meteorological satellite

2

Science Satellite

1

Technology Demonstration/ Student Satellite

9



Communication satellites carried communication transponders in different frequency bands of C, Extended C, Ku, Ka and S-band for telecommunication, broadcast and mobile communication services.

Navigation satellites were part of the indigenous constellation NavIC, India’s own regional navigation system. Navigation satellites carried navigation payloads in L and S-bands for providing position, navigation and timing services.

Earth Observation satellites are used for deriving inputs for Natural Resource Management, Disaster Management, Cartographic Applications, Weather, Climate and Ocean Studies.

Astrosat (Science payload) is a unique multi wavelength observatory in space. It provides an opportunity for observation of celestial sources in Ultra-Violet, Optical and X-ray wavelength bands.

ISRO has launched satellites for Technology demonstration and student satellites to encourage young generation to work in the field of space.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

******

BB/NK/SS


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
05-April, 2018 18:18 IST
*Rocket Launches by ISRO *

The number of rocket launches undertaken by ISRO during the last three years i.e. 2015, 2016 & 2017 are as follows:

2015: 5 launches (4 PSLV & 1 GSLV)

2016: 7launches (6 PSLV&1 GSLV)

2017: 5 launches (3 PSLV, 1 GSLV & 1 GSLV Mk-III)



During the last three years, starting from January 2015 till December 2017, a total of 169foreign satellites from 23 countries were successfully launched onboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Revenue earned through these launches was approx. 95 Million Euros and 4.5 Million USD in Foreign Exchange.

The total number of missions proposed during the ensuing three years i.e. 2018, 2019 & 2020 is 57 (26 Launch Vehicle missions and 31 satellite missions). In 2018, 4 missions (1 Launch Vehicle mission and 3 satellite missions) have already been completed till date. 

Funds allocated to Department of Space during last three years is given below:

*Financial Year*

*Allocation (RE)*

*(` in crores)*

2014-15
5826.00

2015-16
6959.44

2016-17
8045.28



Major achievements of ISRO along with new R&D missions accomplished during last three years are detailed below:

*2014-15:*


Mars Orbiter Mission
An experimental mission of GSLV-Mk III (with passive cryogenic stage)
Launch of three navigation Satellites viz. IRNSS-1B, 1C and 1D.
Launch of GSAT-16 communication satellite
* 2015-16:*


GSAT-6 communication satellite
Launch of first observatory in space “ASTROSAT”
Launch of communication satellite “GSAT-15”,
Launch of two navigation satellites viz. IRNSS-1E and 1F.
* 2016-17:*


*India's GSLV-F05 with indigenous Cryogenic stage*
Augmented Indian Earth Observation capability with four remote sensing satellites viz. Resourcesat-2A, Scatsat-1 and two Cartosat-2 series.
Successfully conducted two technology demonstrator missions viz. Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) and Scramjet Engine, an Air Breathing Propulsion System.
Successful testing of indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage “C25” for GSLV MkIII for full flight duration of 640 seconds.
Successfully launched 104 satellites in a single go, onboard PSLV C37.


This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...on-thursday/article23494893.ece?homepage=true





IRNSS-1A, blasts off from Sriharikota | Photo Credit:  PTI 

* It will transmit signals for the accurate determination of position, navigation and time *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the IRNSS-1I satellite on April 12 at 04:04 a.m. from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, through its PSLV-C41. It will be the 20th flight of PSLV-XL version. This satellite will transmit signals for the accurate determination of position, navigation and time.

This launch comes exactly two weeks after ISRO's launch of communication satellite GSAT-6A, with which it lost contact in two days.

*What is IRNSS?*
IRNSS stands for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. It is a set of satellites which together can provide India a regional positioning system similar to the GPS. According to the ISRO website, the system is designed to give position accuracy better than 20 metres to users in its primary coverage area. It can also service regions extending up to 1500 km around India's boundary.

*How many IRNSS satellites are up there now?*
There are currently seven IRNSS satellites (1A to 1G) in orbit. A, B, F, G are placed in a geosynchronous orbit, which means they seem to be at a fixed location above the Earth and they orbit along with the Earth. The remaining three, C, D, E, are located in geostationary orbit-they seem to be at a fixed location above the Earth along the equator and orbit along with the Earth.

The last IRNSS, 1H, which was launched on August 31, 2017 was unsuccessful as the satellite did not come out of its heat shield.

*What are the applications of IRNSS?*

These satellites help not just in land navigation but also in marine and aerial navigation. The data from these satellites can be used to give vehicle drivers visual and voice navigation assistance. They also help in disaster management and in proper time-keeping.

*Specifications of IRNSS-1I*
Weighing 321 tonnes, the PSLV-C41 will put the IRNSS-1I into orbit 19 minutes and 19 seconds after lift-off. The IRNSS-1I weighs 1425 kg at lift-off and is the ninth satellite in the IRNSS satellite constellation. It will be placed in a sub-geosynchronous transfer orbit and at its closest point will be 284 km above the Earth and at its farthest will be 20,650 km above the Earth.

Like all other IRNSS satellites, IRNSS-1I will also carry two payloads – navigation payload and ranging payload - the former to transmit signals for determining position, velocity and time and the latter for determining the frequency range of the satellite.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
12-April, 2018 11:05 IST 
*PSLV-C41 successfully launches IRNSS-1I navigation satellite *

In its forty third flight, ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C41 successfully launched the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1I Navigation Satellite today from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

PSLV-C41 lifted off at 0404 hrs (4:04 am) IST, as planned, from the First Launch Pad. After a flight lasting about 19 minutes, the vehicle achieved a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 281.5 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 20,730 km inclined at an angle of 19.2 degree to the equator following which IRNSS-1I separated from PSLV.

After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1I were deployed automatically.  ISRO's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka took over the control of the satellite. In the coming days, orbit manoeuvres will be performed from MCF to position the satellite at 55 deg East longitude in the planned Geosynchronous Orbit with an inclination of 29 deg to the equator.

IRNSS-1I is the latest member of the ‘Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)’ system. NavIC, also known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland.

A number of ground facilities responsible for IRNSS satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, network timing, etc., have been established in many locations across the country as part of NavIC.

Till now, PSLV has successfully launched 52 Indian satellites and 237 customer satellites from abroad.

******

Prime Minister's Office
12-April, 2018 10:36 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO scientists on the successful launch of IRNSS-1I *

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated the scientists of ISRO on the successful launch of the navigation satellite IRNSS-1I .

"Congratulations to our scientists on the successful launch of navigation satellite IRNSS-1I by PSLV. This success will bring benefits of our space programme to the common man. Proud of team ISRO!", the Prime Minister said.



***


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## Hindustani78

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ation-fleet/article23508603.ece?homepage=true

* Although 1I is the ninth to be launched in the NavIC navigation fleet, it counts as the eighth. *

Navigation satellite IRNSS-1I was launched early morning on Thursday from Sriharikota.

Eighth in the series, the 1425- kg satellite completes the first phase of the Indian regional navigation constellation, K. Sivan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said after a precise flight that put in a precise, intended initial orbit.

The navigation satellites, dubbed India's own GPS, are meant for giving precise information of position, navigation and time of objects or people. They were built by a consortium of six Indian companies led by Alpha Design Technologies Ltd., Bengaluru.

They have a civilian and a restricted military/security application.

Built for a ten-year job in space, 1I is expected to be ready for work in about a month after routine orbit manoeuvres and tests.

Now orbiting in a temporary sub-geosynchronous oval path about 281.5 km x 20,730 km from Earth and inclined 19.2 degrees to the Equator, it will be gradually pushed in the coming days into a geosynchronous circular orbit 36,000 km away, at an inclination of 29° over 55° East longitude, ISRO said.

It was put to orbit on the PSLV-C41 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in coastal Andhra Pradesh at 4.04 a.m.

Although 1I is the ninth to be launched in the NavIC navigation fleet, it counts as the eighth as the previous one, 1H, was lost in a faulty launch last August.

They were planned as backups but became necessary after the three imported rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed while in orbit.

Both 1I and 1H extensively involved a consortium of six Indian industries in the assembly, integration and testing of satellites at Bengaluru — an exercise that ISRO will replicate in coming missions, Dr. Sivan said.

"The NavIC constellation is going to create history and make innovative applications to the entire community in ocean-based services, especially for the underserved and unserved,” Dr.Sivan said in his post-launch address. 

“Very recently we created a NavIC-based application that will be released soon. I request industry and institutions to take these applications to the user community.”

In a hint about the loss of the newest GSAT-6A communication satellite in March, he said, ISRO engineers had braved setbacks and would continue to rise to new challenges.

ISRO teams returned to launch activities from home ground in record 14 days after sending up a communication satellite GSAT-6A on March 29. However the two missions used different launch pads.






Dr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). | Photo Credit:  K. Murali Kumar 

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/sc...ar-chairman/article23510349.ece?homepage=true

* ISRO has planned nine missions, in the next eight months Sivan told reporters. *

ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Thursday said the space agency was bracing up for a busy year during which it has lined up several missions, including ‘Chandrayaan-2’

ISRO has planned nine missions, in the next eight months Sivan told reporters after the successful launch of the IRNSS-1I navigation satellite at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre.

Built for a ten-year job in space, IRNSS-1I is expected to be ready for work in about a month after its routine orbit manoeuvres and tests.

“We have a lot more missions on the anvil. In the next eight months, we are going to have nine missions. We are going to have GSAT, PSLV missions... Towards the end of the year we have the major mission - Chandryaan-2,” he added.

There were plans for the 5.7 tonne GSAT-11 mission, a throughput satellite , he said, adding that it would be the heaviest satellite the space agency has made so far.

“This apart, there would be GSLK-Mk3-D2, which is going to launch GSAT-29. Then we are going to have a host of GSLV missions like DigiSat and high resolution remote sensing satellites,” Sivan said.

“We have another GSLV mission, whioch is going to have GSAT-7A. Then we have Chandrayaan-2 mission in October period. Along with that we have technology demonstration for future missions,” he said.

The NavIC constellation is really going to create history and make innovative applications to the entire community in the ocean-based services. , Sivan said.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is a constellation of seven satellites that provides indigenously developed regional GPS services called NavIC.

“Very recently using the NavIC applications we have created an app that will be released very soon. I request industry and institutions to come forward to take these applications to the user community,” the ISRO chief said.

He lauded the team for working tirelessly to make the PSLV-C41/IRNSS-1I a success after a major GSLV mission.

“Today is really a wonderful day for all of us. We have achieved a precise mission. After a major GSLV mission, 14 days back, we have successfully launched IRNSS-1I.

“I must congratulate the entire ISRO team for this wonderful achievement. Essentially in the last 14 days the entire ISRO community worked tirelessly to achieve this mission,” Sivan said.

For the launch vehicle, ISRO had adopted a new technology, which would help improve the productivity and enhance the capability of the vehicle, he said.

Navigation satellites are meant to give position information, combining applications like locating fishermen, and during times of disaster, he added.

On the status of the recently launched GSAT-6A satellite that lost communication link soon after it was put into orbit, Sivan said .“Engineers were working 24X7 and had been able to locate the satellite. This is a positive step and gives additional hope. ,” he added.

On the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) being critical of NavIC still not being fully operational, after more than 10 years of its launch, he said with the launch of IRNSS-1I, the system was now put in place and the applications would have to be rolled out.

.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
18-April, 2018 18:41 IST
*ISRO Chairman briefs Dr Jitendra Singh about upcoming Moon mission 'Chandrayan-2' *

The Chairman Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) & Secretary Department of Space, Dr K Sivan called on Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh here today. During the meeting Dr. K Sivan briefed him about the upcoming Moon mission “Chandrayaan-2”, expected to be launched from Sriharikota around October-November this year. 

Giving details about the upcoming Chandrayaan-2 mission, Dr Sivan informed that the total cost of the mission is about Rs. 800 crore, which includes Rs. 200 crore as the cost of launching and Rs. 600 crore for the satellite. This cost, he said, is almost half of the launch cost if the same mission had to be launched from a foreign launching site. 

Chandrayaan-2 will be equipped with a lander and rover probe, which will descend on the surface of the moon, from where it will observe the lunar surface and send back data, which will be useful for analysis of the lunar soil.

Dr Jitendra Singh not only appreciated Chandrayaan-2 for being a cost-effective mission but also lauded it for being totally indigenous in its expertise, manufacturing and material, which makes it an appropriate example of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” Mantra. 

Another ISRO Mission, GSLV Mk III-D2, scheduled for June-July this year, also came up for discussion. 

*****

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## Pakistani Aircraft

Has India got any plans to send/create a mini biosphere on the moon like China will attempt to create one this year?


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## amardeep mishra

Pakistani Aircraft said:


> Has India got any plans to send/create a mini biosphere on the moon like China will attempt to create one this year?


HI! @Pakistani
India will first try to accomplish soft landing of rover on moon surface before it can actually go ahead and create a mini biosphere. Soft landing on any extra terrestrial surface is a feat in itself.


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## Hindustani78

The Chairman ISRO and Secretary Dept. of Space, Dr. K. Sivan calling on the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in New Delhi on April 18, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

Prime Minister's Office
22-April, 2018 09:53 IST
*On EarthDay, PM reaffirms commitment towards creating a better planet *

‘’On EarthDay, let us reaffirm our commitment towards creating a better planet for our future generations. Let us work together to mitigate the menace of climate change. This would be a great tribute to our beloved Mother Earth. 

I compliment all those individuals and organisations who are working towards promoting harmony with nature and ensuring sustainable development’’,the Prime Minister said. 

*****


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## Hindustani78

The Chief Minister of Puducherry, Shri V. Narayanasamy calling on the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi on May 03, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...search-centre-in-ahmedabad-none-hurt-5162012/
By: PTI | Ahmedabad | Updated: May 3, 2018 4:45:18 pm




Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organistaion at Gujarat. (Source: Isro/website)

A major fire broke out at a research facility located in the Space Application Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Ahmedabad this afternoon, officials said. Nobody was reported injured in the blaze, they added.

“A major fire broke out at the research centre inside the sprawling SAC campus in the Satellite area of the city this afternoon. As many as 25 fire tenders have been pressed into service by the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES),” an AFES official said.

After being alerted about the incident, Additional Chief Fire Officer Rajesh Bhatt and other senior AFES officials rushed to the spot. According to Bhatt, it would take a couple of hours to douse the flames completely.

“It will take another two hours to control the fire completely as thermocol sheets are still burning and emitting smoke. However, the fire has been brought under control and noone was injured,” he said.

Ahmedabad District Collector Vikrant Pandey, who was also on the spot, said the blaze had engulfed the research centre building, that stood isolated.

“The fire will not spread to other buildings on the premises,” he added. “All our teams are at the site and it will soon be brought under control,” Pandey added.

The SAC is a major research centre of the ISRO in the city, where payloads for satellite launched by the country are prepared. The centre was established by Vikram Sarabhai – the father of the Indian space programme.


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## MimophantSlayer

*Isro develops desi atomic clock, to be used in navigation satellites*
Surendra Singh | TNN | Updated: May 7, 2018, 01:03 IST
_



TNN
Navigation satellite IRNSS-1I that was launched last month
*HIGHLIGHTS*_


_The atomic clock is currently undergoing a series of qualification tests_
_Once it successfully clears all tests, it will be used in an experimental navigation satellite to test its accuracy and durability in space_


_NEW DELHI: In a significant development, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has developed an atomic clock that will be used in navigation satellites to measure precise location data. The space agency currently imports atomic clocks from European aerospace manufacturer Astrium for its navigation satellites.

Tapan Misra, director of Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre (SAC), said, “SAC has developed an indigenous atomic clock and this clock is currently undergoing a series of qualification tests. Once it successfully clears all tests, the desi atomic clock will be used in an experimental navigation satellite to test its accuracy and durability in space.”

The SAC director said, “With the development of the desi atomic clock, Isro has become one of the few space organisations in the world which have gained the capability to develop this highly sophisticated technology. We don't know the design and technology of the imported atomic clock. But the desi clock has been developed based on our designs and specifications. This clock is as good as the imported one. We are hopeful that it will easily work for more than five years.”
_

_According to a reliable source in Isro, nine of the 21 atomic clocks used in some of the seven navigation satellites launched are showing error. Isro is, therefore, planning to launch four backup navigation satellites to keep the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NaVIC) effective. These backup satellites, which are likely to have indigenous atomic clocks too, will add buffer to the desi GPS system. “Isro will first need financial clearance from the government for the backup satellites,” says the source.

Last month on April 12, Isro successfully launched navsat IRNSS-1I to replace India's first navigation satellite IRNSS-1A, whose three atomic clocks had stopped working two years ago. IRNSS-1I thus completed the constellation of seven functional navsats needed in space to keep the NaVIC operational.

Tapan Misra said, "Atomic clocks have sophisticated technology. They could stop working because of different reasons. It's not only Indian navigation satellites, but atomic clocks in satellites of Galileo (European Union's navigation satellite system) had also failed earlier."

NAVIC was approved by the government nearly 12 years ago at a cost of Rs 1,420 crore to establish an indigenous satellite based navigation system to provide position, navigation and timing services over the Indian landmass and surrounding region extending up to 1,500 km. Though the indigenous navigation system is very much operational, it is not as popular as the American GPS in the country because the receiver and mobile chipset needed to access the desi system have not been commercialised.




https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...avigation-satellites/articleshow/64056352.cms_


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## MimophantSlayer

*RLV-TD*


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/993055514392068097


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## Hindustani78

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh chairing the meeting of joint ‘Hindi Salahkar Samiti’ of the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, in New Delhi on May 07, 2018.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh visiting the exhibition on the sidelines of meeting of joint ‘Hindi Salahkar Samiti’ of the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, in New Delhi on May 07, 2018.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh releasing the book titled “Antriksh Prodyogiki: Samaj ke Liye Laabh”, during the meeting of joint ‘Hindi Salahkar Samiti’ of the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, in New Delhi on May 07, 2018.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh releasing the magazine titled “Urjasvi”, during the meeting of joint ‘Hindi Salahkar Samiti’ of the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, in New Delhi on May 07, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...ss-of-indigenous-atomic-clocks-this-december/

Written by Avinash Nair | Ahmedabad | Updated: May 16, 2018 5:46:30 pm




Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organistaion. (Source: Isro/website)


The robustness of the indigenous atomic clocks developed by the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) will be known when one of the clocks developed at the Ahmedabad’s Space Application Centre (SAC) will be sent to outerspace in December, this year. The Indian space agency ISRO currently depends upon atomic clocks that helps navigational satellites measure precise locations.”

Atomic clocks are considered to be the most stable of clocks today. These clocks are made by only three or four companies in the world. This technology is very restrictive. Now, we have started making it,” said Tapan Misra, director of SAC at the sidelines of National Technology Day celebrations organised at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Exhibition centre on Wednesday.

“The first model which is called the qualification model is currently in the testing-review phase…. By December this year we plan to send one of these clocks along with three others mounted on a satellite. Usually, three atomic clocks go with every satellite. We will be sending four, wherein the fourth one will be the one we have developed indigenously. This will help us to see how robust is our technology. The real proof of its success can be guaged by seeing how it actually functions in space,” Misra added.

The clock will be mounted on a satellite once ISRO’s Quality Assurance Group provides it with the necessary certification. However, the SAC director did not disclose the cost of the clocks and possible savings for ISRO once the indigenous atomic clocks take place of the imported ones. The atomic clocks were in news recently after few of them on ISRO’s IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System) failed.

Talking about the IRNSS system which is expected to replace the GPS system, Misra said that ISRO has already developed a “device” to help some of the government agencies use the IRNSS navigation. “These devices are slighting costlier, but has more precision. In the next phase, we are trying to incorporate this technology in the mobiles,” Misra said adding that the IRNSS is being used by ISRO for PSLV guidance along with GPS since the last one year.

*******

BENGALURU:, January 30, 2017 01:17 IST
Updated: January 30, 2017 01:17 IST 

A. S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation said glitch in the atomic clocks means its core function of providing accurate position, navigation and time will be affected. However, without its clocks, the Satellites will give a coarse value. It will not be used for computation. Messages from it will still be used.”

ISRO, he said, was trying to revive the clocks on 1A and readying one of the two back-up navigation satellites to replace it in space in the second half of this year.

“There are some anomalies in the atomic clock system on board. We are trying to restart it. Right now we are working out a mechanism for operating it,” he told _The Hindu_.

“The problem is only with the clock system of one spacecraft. The signals are all coming, we are getting the messages, everything else is working and being used, except the stability portion which is linked to the clock,” he said. A minimum of four working satellites was sufficient to realise the full use of the navigation system”.

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## MimophantSlayer

*ISRO's Quantum Communications effort.*


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/999978492115800064
*International Conference Gives Big Boost to India’s Quantum Technology Industries*
K.S. JAYARAMAN, IANS





File photo of the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-C41. The ISRO, along with the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology, will fund quantum technology studies and projects in India. The ISRO, in collaboration with Raman Research Institute, has initiated a mega project called Quantum Experiments Using Satellite Technology, or QUEST. (IANS photo)

BENGALURU — Thanks to government funding, Indian physicists are preparing for a deep dive into the quantum world that holds the secrets for developing exciting technologies for computing, communication, cryptography and much more.

Schemes for making India a major player in quantum technologies were deliberated during a five-day international conference on "Quantum Frontiers and Fundamentals" at the Raman Research Institute here.

Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization in the U.S., it was attended by eminent physicists from India and abroad, including several research students from India with a total number of around 100 participants, reflecting the significant growth in the research community in this area in our country.


"This is an interesting conference, blending quantum fundamentals aspects with applications, and is unique in its mandate as we have tried to provide equal emphasis to both theoretical research and experimental quantum technologies," Urbasi Sinha, of RRI and organizer of the conference, told this correspondent. Dipankar Home of the Bose Institute, Kolkata, and Alexandre Matzkin of the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris were the co-organizers.

Quantum physics is a basic theory in physics that deals with the behavior of matter and light on the atomic and subatomic scale. Quantum technology exploits the weird properties of quantum mechanics – especially quantum entanglement, quantum superposition and quantum tunneling – into practical applications for computing, cryptography and "secure" communication. Quantum computers that process "quantum data" – instead of binary data – are predicted to be faster than today's largest classical computer.

Research in these areas at Indian laboratories has received a boost with promised funding support from the government's Department of Science and Technology and the Indian Space Research Organization, as well as small individual projects from the Defense Research and Development Organization and the Prime Minister's Office.

The DST's Mission-Mode scheme, called Quantum Science and Technology, will fund research "for the development and demonstration" of quantum computers, quantum communication and cryptography, besides "demonstration of quantum teleportation." 

The scheme, DST says, "promises to revolutionize the future computation and communication systems, which will ultimately have huge impact on the nation and our society as a whole."

The DST initiative has received overwhelming response and "has already received 128 proposals from researchers from different parts of the country," Rajeev Sharma, a spokesperson for the scheme at DST, told this correspondent. "Funding is no problem," he said.

*The ISRO, in collaboration with RRI, has initiated a mega project called "Quantum Experiments Using Satellite Technology (QUEST)."* Sinha, along with members of her "Quantum Information and Computing Lab" and theory colleagues at RRI, will play a key role in developing these technologies in the coming years, with support from the ISRO.


"Once RRI is ready with an experimental payload, we will launch it on board one of our satellite missions," M. Sankaran, deputy director of the ISRO Satellite Center in Bengaluru and one of the conference participants, told this correspondent.

According to Sinha, one of her first experiments "will be a collaborative effort with the 'Quantum Photonics Lab' at Ontario's University of Waterloo" that will aim to establish "a secure Quantum Key Distribution link" between India and Canada.

"It is good that both DST and ISRO have decided to fund research in this important area," said Arun Kumar Pati, a leading researcher in quantum physics at the Harish Chandra Research Institute in Allahabad and a conference participant. "We are 10 years behind and have to catch up."

Using its world's first quantum satellite called "Micius," China has already demonstrated transmission of images from the country to Austria and researchers at the National University of Singapore have built a nano-satellite with a quantum communication payload. Scientists from the University of Waterloo have also demonstrated the first quantum key distribution transmissions from a ground transmitter to a quantum payload on a moving aircraft.

The conference suggested the formation in India of a society for quantum information scientists. It also called for greater thrust to experimental research and an increase in the pool of researchers in the area of quantum technologies.

http://www.indiawest.com/news/india...cle_ccadd9a4-53c4-11e8-939e-873063d5b7e4.html


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## Hindustani78

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...sro-on-edge/story-PZZD1X19GdbVdiclNk76YP.html

*Launch failure, incommunicado satellite: Spate of setbacks leaves space agency ISRO on edge*

*Foreign launches are costly, which is why ISRO is trying to develop indigenous capacity to launch heavy satellites like the GSAT-11, which weighs 5,725 kg.*
india Updated: Jun 04, 2018 10:24 IST


A launch failure, an incommunicado satellite and an unprecedented satellite recall, all in the space of less than a year, may not necessarily harm the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s hard-earned reputation as a trusty launcher of commercial space missions. Yet, it does cast a shadow on missions that are critical to India’s needs, analysts say.

Almost two months after Isro lost contact with Geostationary Satellite 6A, a communication satellite, the chances of the agency retrieving it are slim. Orbit raising manoeuvres have failed, so the satellite is not in the correct orbit. Its power reserves are mostly likely depleted, and it is on its way to becoming space junk.

“We are in the process of planning another satellite to ensure continuity of services,” Isro chairman K Sivan said.

Launches are the most spectacular, and most risky, part of a space mission and attention tends to fade once the rocket is out of view. But unlike for commercial launches, the agency’s responsibility for Indian satellites extends beyond placing them in orbit. The satellites have to complete their missions and provide useful data that feeds into everything from communication and navigation services to scientific advancements.

Isro maintains that its future launch operations have not been affected, but the recent recall of GSAT-11 from a launch station in French Guiana weeks before its scheduled launch suggests the agency is on edge. “Isro works on a shoestring budget, it cannot afford failures,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, head, nuclear and space policy initiative, Observer Research Foundation. “The first thing to consider is the direct monetary losses.”

Like all Indian satellites launched by Isro in recent years, GSAT-6A was not insured.

According to former Isro chairman AS Kiran Kumar, India only has half the number of satellites it requires to meet its needs, ranging from data services to weather prediction, so the loss of each satellite hurts.

Foreign launches are costly, which is why Isro is trying to develop indigenous capacity to launch heavy satellites like the GSAT-11, which weighs 5,725 kg. The cost of launching Chandrayaan II from India is about half of what it would cost if it were launched from a foreign launch site, according to Isro.

Recalling a satellite for additional checks adds to the cost, but the loss of GSAT-11 is a chance it is not prepared to take. “Apart from the monetary losses, it affects strategic operations, as is the case with the GSAT. It means they will have to wait a few more years for the same facility,” said Rajagopalan. 

GSAT-6A was an advanced communications satellite that was supposed to complement the GSAT-6, which was launched in 2015 to provide military communications with a mission life of nine years. They would have boosted communication in difficult terrains and cellular blind spots like deserts and snow-clad mountains with the use of small hand-held devices.

The other service of strategic importance is navigation. Most service providers and institutions rely on GPS, a navigation system developed by the US. The development of an indigenous GPS called NavIC is considered vital to protecting India’s strategic interests, a point that was driven home during the Kargil war in 1999 when the US denied India access to GPS, hampering military operations.















Components of Chandrayaan-2
ORBITER Will be launched into a 100-km lunar orbit Scientific payloads: *6*
Aim of Orbiter payloads:

Prepares 3D map of lunar surface
Maps abundance of rock forming elements like Magnesium, Aluminium, Silica, Calcium,Titanium and Iron
Observes X-rays emitted by sun and its corona
Looks for signatures of hydroxyl and water molecules in polar regions
Maps craters and other lunar features
Detailed study of lunar exosphere
Comprehensive exploration of Lunar plasma environment.
LANDER Controls descent and soft landing on lunar surface on designated site
Scientific payloads: *3*
Aim of Lander payloads:

Measures total electron content of lunar ionosphere
Study of the layer of unconsolidated debris called the lunar regolith
Measures lunar seismicity and crust and mantle
ROVER Rolls out of the lander. Six-wheeled semi autonomous Rover with mission life of one lunar day (14 Earth Days)
Scientific payloads: *2*
Aim of Rover payloads:

To study the chemical composition and mineralogical composition of lunar surface






A constellation of seven satellites is required to provide a fully functioning GPS service covering all of India. The failure of clocks on IRNSS-1A, launched in 2013, meant that a replacement was required. The launch of the replacement satellite IRNSS-1H failed last year because the heat shield did not separate. The heat shield protects the satellite from the high temperatures when the rocket traverses the earth’s atmosphere, but should separate once the launch vehicle leaves the earth’s atmosphere. 

Another replacement satellite, IRNSS-1I, was launched in April.

The operations that depend on a host of satellites to work together require all satellites to be in place in a set time frame. In its report on Isro in March 2018, the Comptroller and Auditor General criticised the agency for failing to commission NavIC because all the required satellites were not in orbit.

Analysts downplay questions of credibility because as a commercial launcher, Isro, through its commercial arm Antrix, has managed to capture the market for small satellite launches.

Senior Isro officials said the agency’s client base for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, the agency’s most reliable launch rocket, is stable. “The GSAT-6A issue is not that worrying because the problem was with the satellite, not the launch vehicle. It does not erode the credibility of Isro as a commercial launcher,” Ratan Shrivastava, advisor with the space division at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said.

The commercial launch market is lucrative and expanding, estimated to be worth $30 billion by 2025. Competition among the launch service providers has heated up in recent decades with the entry of private players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin and use of game-changing technologies such as reusable rockets that drastically lower launch costs. China has already announced plans to launch reusable space rockets to compete with private players.

Chairman Sivan emphasised that Isro is a research and development (R&D) agency.“When we have spare capacity in our launch vehicles, we provide commercial services. PSLV has launched the largest number of small satellites in the world,” Sivan said. “Isro is not a commercial provider of space-based services; however it undertakes all measures to ensure that cost of access to space is optimised and comparable with industry benchmarks,” he said.

A real test of the agency’s R&D capacity will be the high-profile but much-delayed Chandrayaan II mission to land a rover near the south pole of the moon scheduled for October-November this year. It was postponed from the April launch date for further tests. “We have full resources to carry out our present as well as future developmental activities,” Sivan said.


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## MimophantSlayer




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## Hindustani78

06-June, 2018 15:21 IST
*Continuation Programme for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III *

Funding for the for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV Mk-III) continuation programme (Phase-I) consisting of ten (10) GSLV (Mk-III) flights, at a total estimated cost of Rs. 4338.20 crores. This includes Rs. 4338.20 Crores and includes the cost of ten GSLV Mk-III vehicles, essential facility augmentation, Programme Management and Launch Campaign.

The GSLV Mk-III continuation Programme – Phase 1 is the first phase of operational flights that will enable the launch of 4 tonne class of communication satellites to meet the country’s satellite communication requirements.

The operationalisation of GSLV Mk-III will make the country self-reliant in the launching capability of 4 tonne class of communication satellites, and sustain & strengthen the space infrastructure and reduce the dependence on procured launches from foreign countries.

The operationalisation of GSLV Mk-III will make the country self-reliant in the launching capability of 4 tonne class of communication satellites and sustain & strengthen the space infrastructure and reduce the dependence on procured launches from foreign countries.

The GSLV Mk-III Continuation Programme – Phase 1 will meet the launch requirement of communication satellites to meet the national demand for High Throughput Satellites for rural broadband connectivity, increase and sustain the availability of transponders for DTH, VSAT and Television broadcasters.

GSLV Mk-III Continuation Programme – Phase 1 will be the first phase of operational flights of the GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle and the approval will cater to the launch of satellite missions during the period 2019-2024.

*Background:*

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV Mk-III) has been developed towards achieving indigenous launch capability to launch 4 tonne class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). It has completed one experimental flight (LVM3-X) in 2014 and one developmental flight (GSLV MkIII-D1) in 2017. The second developmental flight will be completed by Q2 of 2018-19 this year. The Continuation Programme – Phase 1 will enable independent access to space for 4 tonne class of communication satellites, and establish GSLV Mk-III as a cost-effective workhorse vehicle to launch 4 tonne class of communication satellites in order to meet the national requirements as well as to boost its commercial potential in the international market for launch services.

*****

*AKT/VBA/SH*





Department of Space
06-June, 2018 15:26 IST
*Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III Continuation Programme – Phase 6 *

Thirty Operational Flights of PSLV

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Continuation Programme (Phase 6) and funding of thirty PSLV operational flights under the Programme.

The Programme will also meet the launch requirement of satellites for Earth observation, Navigation and Space Sciences. This will also ensure the continuity of production in Indian industry.

The total fund requirement is Rs. 6131.00 Crores and includes the cost of thirty PSLV vehicles, essential facility augmentation, Programme Management and Launch Campaign.

*Major Impact:*

The operationalisation of PSLV has made the country self-reliant in the launching capability of satellites for earth observation, disaster management, navigation and space sciences. The PSLV Continuation programme will sustain this capability and self-reliance in the launching of similar satellites for national requirements.

The PSLV Continuation Programme – Phase 6 will meet the demand for the launch of satellites at a frequency up to eight launches per year, with maximal participation by the Indian industry. All the operational flights would be completed during the period 2019-2024.

The Programme will also meet the launch requirement of satellites for Earth observation, Navigation and Space Sciences. This will also ensure the continuity of production in Indian industry.

PSLV Continuation Programme was initially sanctioned in 2008, and four phases have been completed and the fifth phase is expected to be completed by Q2 of 2019-20. The Phase 6 approval will cater to the launch of satellite missions during the period Q3 of 2019-20 to Q1 of 2023-24.



*Background:*

PSLV has emerged as a versatile launch vehicle to carry out Sun-Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO), Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and low inclination Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions. With the recent successful launch of PSLV-C41 on 12th April, 2018, PSLV has completed three developmental and forty three operational flights and the last forty one flights have been successful. PSLV has established itself as a workhorse vehicle for national satellites with a production capacity that would enable responding fast to commercial launch opportunities also.

*****





Department of Space
09-August, 2018 16:23 IST
More than 200 customer satellites launched in the last four years: MoS Dr Jitendra Singh 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been launching national satellites meant for meeting the earth observation, communication and navigational requirements of the country to cater to various societal needs. The spare capacity available in these missions are being utilized for launching satellites of other countries on commercial basis through Antrix corporation limited, the commercial arm of ISRO. Over the years there has been increase in the number of international satellites that have been launched as co-passengers to the national missions. In the last four years more than 200 customer satellites have been launched. Considering the future launch demand for increased number of nano and small satellites, there are plans to increase the number of PSLV launches and also develop dedicated small launcher to cater to this high market demand.

As on date, 237 foreign satellites belonging to international customers from 29 countries have been successfully launched using PSLV.

Starting from 1993 till date, PSLV has completed 43 launches, of which 2 launches failed. Overall success rate of PSLV has been 95%.

In September 2018, ISRO would launch a PSLV rocket solely for foreign satellites.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

****







Department of Space
09-August, 2018 15:47 IST
*Mapping of Rice Cultivation regions*

Mapping and inventorying of rice Cultivation regions is carried out by using ISRO developed methodology.

Satellite data is used to assess the Rice Cultivation regions and the post rice Cultivation regions fallow lands. One of the objectives of Bringing Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) scheme is to promote in post rice Cultivation regions fallow areas to increase cropping intensity and income of farmers. The harif rice Cultivation regions area estimate, in 2016-17, was 13.94 Lakh Ha. Preliminary analysis indicates that about 65-70% of harif rice area is left fallow during post rice cultivation season. These are mostly located in the southern districts . About 25-30% of these harif rice fallow lands are found to be suitable for cultivation of short duration pulse crops during post harif season. These are mostly located in the districts which are being identified.


The analysis findings are being provided to the Government/ Department with locations/ maps where Indian farmers can optimise or maximise the utilisation of resources by taking up another or additional crop during the post harif fallow period.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

******







Department of Space
09-August, 2018 15:28 IST
*Launching of state of art satellites *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has planned to launch more number of state-of-the-art satellites to further enhance operational applications and cater to the needs of emerging applications.

The details of the state of the art satellites approved for launch till 2019-20 are:



*Third generation Cartosat series satellite for very high resolution mapping*
Second generation stereo *imaging satellit*e for Digital Elevation Model
*Geostationary Imaging Satellite (GISAT) for Earth observation from Geostationary Orbit*
*Third generation Ocean imaging satellite for ocean colour*, sea surface temperature mapping and ocean surface wind vector mapping
*Third generation ResourceSat series of satellite* with improved spatial resolution and swath
C-band microwave imaging satellite for all weather and day & night imaging
Constellation of high resolution imaging satellites for frequent revisit
Nanosatellite for Aerosol monitoring
Satellite for monitoring chlorophyll fluorescence and radiation environment


The areas requiring enhancement of operational applications, include *monitoring of natural resources, crop acreage estimation & production forecasting, monitoring of surface water spread, potential fishing zone forecasting, near-real time monitoring of disasters, high resolution digital elevation model of the country, infrastructure planning & monitoring, and so on.*

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

*****


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
12-August, 2018 18:53 IST
*'Sarabhai Centenary' programmes begin from today *

Jammu, Agartala to get Space Research Technology Centres

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that Jammu will be the first city in North India to get a full-fledged Space Technology Research Centre, devoted to research, academics and post-graduation study. The Centre will function under the aegis of the Central University Jammu. In addition to Jammu, the other town selected for opening a Space Technology Research Centre is in the Northeast in Tripura, where it would function under the aegis of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Agartala. This was disclosed on the occasion of the beginning of year-long "Sarabhai Centenary" programmes of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), starting from today, that is, the 99th birth anniversary of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the first Chairman of ISRO and the founding father of India's Space Programme.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that Dr Vikram Sarabhai always insisted on ISRO playing a meaningful role “nationally” and said it was a vindication that during the four years of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, we had succeeded in extending the Space related academic and research programmes to remote areas, which earlier had little exposure to the study of Space Technology.

The Centres of Space Technology at Jammu and Tripura, Dr Jitendra Singh said, will offer a new opening and an opportunity for scholars and youngsters who have aptitude for Space science, to explore a new career and research option.

Dr K Kasturirangan, Honorary Distinguished Advisor, ISRO in the presence of Dr K Sivan, Secretary, DOS / Chairman, ISRO, unveiled the bust of Dr Vikram A Sarabhai at Antariksh Bhavan, ISRO HQ today. He also delivered Sarabhai Memorial Talk. This was followed by Press briefing by Chairman, ISRO as a Curtain Raiser for the next year’s Vikram Sarabhai’s Birth Centenary Celebrations.



*********


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## Hindustani78

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/s...ice-on-moon/article24742929.ece?homepage=true
Washington, August 21, 2018 11:18 IST
Updated: August 22, 2018 12:58 IST





A scale model of Chandrayaan-1 displayed at Anna Science Centre - Planetarium, in Tiruchi. File | Photo Credit: R. Ashok

*The ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient, according to the study published in the journal PNAS. *

Scientists have found frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest parts of the Moon’s polar regions using data from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft that was launched by India 10 years ago, NASA said on Tuesday.

With enough ice sitting at the surface — within the top few millimetres — water would possibly be accessible as a resource for future expeditions to explore and even stay on the Moon, and potentially easier to access than the water detected beneath the Moon’s surface.

The ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient, according to the study published in the journal _PNAS_.

At the southern pole, most of the ice is concentrated at lunar craters, while the northern pole’s ice is more widely, but sparsely spread.

Scientists used data from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument to identify three specific signatures that definitively prove there is water ice at the surface of the Moon.

M3, aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, launched in 2008 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was uniquely equipped to confirm the presence of solid ice on the Moon.

It collected data that not only picked up the reflective properties we would expect from ice, but was also able to directly measure the distinctive way its molecules absorb infrared light, so it can differentiate between liquid water or vapour and solid ice.

Most of the new-found water ice lies in the shadows of craters near the poles, where the warmest temperatures never reach above minus 156 degrees Celsius.

Due to the very small tilt of the Moon’s rotation axis, sunlight never reaches these regions.

Previous observations indirectly found possible signs of surface ice at the lunar south pole, but these could have been explained by other phenomena, such as unusually reflective lunar soil.

Learning more about this ice, how it got there, and how it interacts with the larger lunar environment will be a key mission focus for NASA and commercial partners, as humans endeavour to return to and explore the Moon.

***************








* Calls for national effort to make crucial components for upcoming missions *

A national effort is needed to develop and produce advanced materials to drive the future space programme, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Sivan has said.

Along with high propulsion systems for its launch vehicles, the ISRO is pursuing materials that have extraordinary properties, such as aluminium and beryllium alloys and carbon nanotubes. These are needed for the upcoming high-profile national missions such as the Human Space Programme (HSP), the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), re-entering crew capsules, fuel-saving scramjet missions and the distant single-stage launchers. Locally made materials will also help to cut imports and also lower mission costs, Dr. Sivan said here.

He was delivering the 37th annual Brahm Prakash memorial lecture organised by the Indian Institute of Metals and the Indian Institute of Science. Brahm Prakash was a renowned metallurgist and former director of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, in the 1970s.

“In recent years, ISRO has indigenised a large number of materials that are hard to get. This has reduced the import content from around 32% to 8% now. However, development of advanced materials such as carbon carbon composites and those for electronics is the immediate need of the space programme. A national effort is required in these two areas,” Dr. Sivan said.

Over the years, ISRO has localised maraging steel, many aluminium alloys, composites, chemicals, coatings and high temperature items. A hafnium-neobium has been produced to create a superalloy of columbium for advanced missions and needs to be produced on a large scale. ISRO is now looking for aluminium and beryllium alloys to make smaller structures; and carbon-carbon composites for the nose cone of the RLV; and carbon nanotubes for fuel tank systems and silica alternatives for thermal tiles. Next-generation semicryogenic launchers and electric propulsion systems of smaller future satellites need them. Industry must take it forward in an aggressive way, he said addressing metallurgists. 

“Lab-level R&D can produce small quantities of special materials. We want industry to come forward to produce them in large quantities,” Dr. Sivan later told this newspaper. A carbon fibre technology developed with National Aeronaticial Labs awaits a production partner.

Material costs alone are 85% of a launch vehicle. The remaining 15% includes the propellant, technology, labour, tracking and everything else. “Materials are the heart of any space programme. Without advancements in them we cannot keep it going.” 

New materials are needed to make lighter, stronger, faster and safer space vehicles of the future. They must ensure that satellites and launchers work safely and well in extreme hot and cold conditions of space; amidst high pressure and protect crews from radiation hazards. They should also protect space vehicles from the impact of micro meteorites that may hit them.

Much of ISRO’s materials research is conducted at VSSC, the rocket development centre, with other centres chipping in. A few hundred scientists work on developing metals, ceramics, materials used in electronics. 

VSSC’s transfer of titanium sponge technology to Kerala Metals and Minerals Ltd is a major success story. Since 2015, it has erased ISRO's import of 200-300 tonnes each year, bringing down the material's cost and creating a surplus supply in the country.


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## surya kiran




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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
28-August, 2018 16:54 IST
*ISRO to send first Indian into Space by 2022 as announced by PM, says Dr Jitendra Singh *

Rs. 10,000 crore mission will be a turning point in India’s space journey; most engineering components are ready: ISRO Chairman Chandrayaan-2 scheduled to be launched in January, 2019

As announced by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address, India’s first Indian human mission will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) by 2022. This was stated by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while addressing a press conference here today. The ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan said that ISRO has the capabilities to accomplish this task by the given timeframe. He said that this is a huge responsibility and a challenging task for ISRO, but it will succeed. The programme will make India the fourth nation in the world to launch a Human Spaceflight Mission. So far, only the USA, Russia and China have launched human spaceflight missions.

It may be recalled that the Prime Minister during his Independence Day address had announced `Gaganyaan — India's maiden human spaceflight programme'. He had declared that 'a son or a daughter of India will go to Space from Indian soil by an Indian vehicle by 2022 (75th year of Indian independence) or sooner'. This is the most ambitious space programme undertaken by ISRO till date and is essential as it will give a big boost to the Science and Technology development within the country, said Dr Sivan. This will also inspire the youth of the country to take up bigger challenges and enhance the prestige of the country.

ISRO has developed some critical technologies like re-entry mission capability, crew escape system, crew module configuration, thermal protection system, deceleration and floatation system, sub-systems of life support system etc. required for this programme. Some of these technologies have been demonstrated successfully through the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2007), Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE-2014) and Pad Abort Test (2018). These technologies will enable ISRO in accomplishing the programme objectives in a short span of 4 years.

GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability for this mission, will be used to launch Gaganyaan. Two unmanned Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans. The total programme is expected to be completed before 2022 with first unmanned flight within 30 months. The mission will aim to send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days. The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400km. The total programme cost is expected to be less than Rs. 10,000 crores. 

Describing the mission as a complex one, ISRO Chairman said that it would truly be a national endeavour with the participation of ISRO, academia, industry as well as other government and private agencies as stakeholders. To accelerate the programme, ISRO may consider collaborations with space agencies from friendly countries with advanced space programmes.

The Indian Space programme has evolved from its humble beginnings into a mature national capability to utilize space technology for societal development. The seeds sown more than six decades ago have fructified to yield indigenous capabilities to achieve independent access to space, and a plethora of space-based services which are transforming India. This capability was taken forward to undertake milestone missions in space science & exploration such as the Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission and Astrosat, thereby enriching the global knowledge base on the cosmos.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that this will be the first human mission indigenously developed by ISRO, though there have been Indian astronauts who have been to space earlier. This is going to be a big achievement, he said. He said the Government’s emphasis has been for the application of space technologies in various areas such as Agriculture, Railways, Human Resource Development and Road, Transport & Highways, etc. for ease of living.

Giving details about the Gaganyan, Dr Sivan said that it will comprise of a crew module and service module that constitute an orbital module. It weighs approximately 7 tonnes, and will be carried by a rocket. The crew module’s size will be 3.7 mts x 7 mts. The crew will do microgravity experiment during the mission. The crew will be selected by Indian Air Force (IAF) and ISRO jointly after which they will undergo training for two-three years. While ISRO has perfected the engineering aspects of the mission, Dr Sivan said, bioscience is a new field for ISRO and requires collaboration and support from other organizations.

He enumerated the objectives of the Mission as:


Enhancement of science and technology levels in the country
A national project involving several institutes, academia and industry
Improvement of industrial growth
Inspiring youth
Development of technology for social benefits
Improving international collaboration
During the conference, he also spoke about the forthcoming projects of ISRO, including Chandrayaan-2, is scheduled to be launched in January, 2019.  The Mission will have an orbiter weighing 2379 kg, lander named Vikram weighing 1471 kg and a rover weighing 27 kg. Explaining the delay in launch of Chandrayaan-2, he said that the payload of the Mission has increased to provide for another component of the lander at 30 km orbit, which required a GSLV MkIII rocket for launch. 

He said that ISRO aims to launch 19 missions upto March, 2019. These missions include launch of 4 satellites to accomplish the Digital India programme by providing higher bandwidth for connectivity.

Scientific Secretary, ISRO, Shri R. Umamaheswaran and other Senior Officers of the Department of Space were also present during the press conference.

*****

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan is also seen.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan and the Scientific Secretary, ISRO, Shri R. Umamaheswaran are also seen.




The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan is also seen.





The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan and the Scientific Secretary, ISRO, Shri R. Umamaheswaran are also seen.




The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman, Dr. K. Sivan addressing a press conference on issues related to Department of Space, in New Delhi on August 28, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

*https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...-isro-chief/article24803753.ece?homepage=true*
*NEW DELHI, August 28, 2018 22:11 IST *
* Updated: August 28, 2018 22:56 IST *

*Most of the technologies are already developed’ *

If everything goes according to plan, in 40 months, three Indians will be launched into space by an Indian rocket. This is the aim of India’s ambitious manned spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, the contours of which were outlined by Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday.

“We will do it before the 75th Independence Day. I will say that we will target six months before that. Sceptics have been doubtful but we are confident. Most of the technologies are already developed,” Dr. Sivan told a press conference.

He stated that ISRO began work on the manned mission in 2004 and some of these technologies have been demonstrated successfully through various tests — Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment and Pad Abort Test.

In the Independence Day address from the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that an Indian will go to space by 2022 “with the tricolour in his hand.”

ISRO will use its GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability to launch Gaganyaan, Dr. Sivan said. Two unmanned missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans on the first manned flight within 30 months and manned mission in 40 months. 

“The mission will aim to send a three-person crew to space for a period of 5-7 days. The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400km,” Dr. Sivan said.

The total programme is expected to cost less than ₹10,000 crore and will result in significant spinoffs in multiple dimensions, including technology spinoffs in the social sector.

“This is very cost-effective when you look at it from a larger perspective, more so when you compare it with similar missions sent by other countries. The benefits which we are going to obtain from them are invaluable,” Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Space, said.

*Launch sequence*

A crew module, along with the service module, together called the orbital module weighing seven tonnes, will be mounted atop the GSLV launch vehicle.

“The crew will reach low earth orbit in 16 minutes and stay in orbit for 5-7 days. During orbit, the astronauts will carry out micro gravity experiments,” Dr. Sivan said.

In the return phase, at 120 km above earth, the crew module will separate from the service module and head towards earth in a controlled manner. “It will take 36 minutes to reach the earth,” he stated.

The crew module will splash down on the Arabian Sea closer to Ahmedabad. However, Dr. Sivan said ISRO is drawing up plans to land the module on the Bay of Bengal or even on land in case of any contingency to “ensure safety of the crew.”

The mission crew can be either Air Force pilots or even civilians. However, Dr. Sivan said that for the first flight the preference is for pilots. The selection of the crew is expected to begin shortly as it will take 2-3 years to complete the training. “You can expect an advertisement soon,” Dr. Sivan stated.

*National effort*

Given the complexity of the programme, Dr. Sivan said, it will truly be a national endeavour with the participation of ISRO, academia, industry as well as other government and private agencies as stake-holders.

The project will also result in employment for 15,000 people most of it in the private sector.

To accelerate the programme, ISRO is considering seeking collaborations with space agencies from friendly countries with advanced space programmes.

The programme once launched, will make India the fourth nation in the world to have a manned space mission. So far only the U.S., Russia and China have launched human space flight missions.


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## Hindustani78

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...enue-to-rss/article24814275.ece?homepage=true
 
*Outfit is planning a 3-day lecture series *
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is yet to take a decision on the RSS application for permission to hold a three-day lecture series at Vigyan Bhavan next month. The venue is usually reserved for government seminars and conferences.

Responding to reports that he would use his discretionary powers to allow the RSS event at the venue, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri told reporters on Wednesday that he had not yet seen the application.

“All we had received yesterday [Tuesday] was an online application...We haven’t even looked at it yet,” he said.

He declined to comment on the policy regarding such applications from private organisations, or his role in the decision.

Earlier this week, the RSS announced that the lecture series, titled “Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective” would be held from September 17 to 19.

According to news reports, the organisation has applied for booking Vigyan Bhavan’s Hall No. 6, which has a capacity of 350-400 people. 

Private organisations leasing Hall no.6 would be required to pay ₹86,100 per day as licence fee.


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## Hindustani78

Bengaluru, September 06, 2018 11:21 IST
Updated: September 06, 2018 11:23 IST
https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...anyaan-crew/article24878943.ece?homepage=true

Bengaluru Space Expo BSX 2018 which opened here on Thursday.

‘Gaganyaan,’ the human space flight programme green-flagged and set for 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is highly doable, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation K. Sivan had said earlier.

V.R. Lalithambika, a specialist in advanced launcher technologies, will helm the project as Director of the Human Space Flight Project.

The mission is estimated at ₹9000 crore. *Most of the critical technologies and hardware required for the project are ready or have been demonstrated by its centres. ISRO would now stitch them up into a complete project and present a comprehensive project report to get a formal approval of the government, Dr. Sivan said. “We have tested the necessary critical technologies required for the Human Space Flight Programme (HSP) and are confident of achieving it as stated by the Prime Minister,” he said.*


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## Hindustani78

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/s...put-says-isro-chief-sivan/article24884448.ece

* With ISRO’s launch schedule growing rapidly, production has to be raised, he says.*

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants industry to raise its engagement with the country’s *space programme *by helping drive production of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) that ISRO needs to meet its fast expanding launch schedule in the coming years, Chairman K.Sivan said.

“Industry is one of our pillars. But we are not satisfied with the current level of industry participation,” Dr. Sivan told participants at the biennial Space Expo, BSX-2018, here on Thursday.

“Our missions are growing at a fast pace, to 59 satellites in three years. It means that instead of doing six or seven launches a year we must do almost two launches a month.

*'Free ISRO up'*
”Observing that partner companies stood to gain substantially from the projects, Dr. Sivan, who is also Secretary, Department of Space, exhorted industry to take up bigger and independent roles in manufacturing satellites and launchers.

This would free ISRO up to focus on pursuing new technologies and the challenge of the manned space misson, which is about 40 months away. 

“Please help us in achieving this,” he said.With 85% of the launch vehicle cost and 50% of the spacecraft cost going to industries that supply components and systems to ISRO, Dr. Sivan said domestic companies stood to gain substantially. Of the ₹10,400 crore worth of launch vehicles approved a few months back, about ₹9,000 crore would go to supplier industries in the coming years.ISRO, which last year initiated a plan to convert current suppliers into independent producers of its PSLVs, is finalising ways to tie up with multiple manufacturing consortia.

Rakesh Sasibhushan, CMD of Antrix Corp., said global space commerce — estimated at about $380 billion in 2017 — is nearing double-digit growth. ISRO’s missions are also in overdrive and Indian industry has a big role in it, he added.


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## Hindustani78

“RISAT-1 is no longer operational. It was decommissioned last year,” ISRO Chairman K. Sivan told _The Hindu_. Launched on April 26, 2012, the satellite was equipped with a C-band synthetic aperture radar for earth observation and had a design life of five years.

In 2016, U.S. space agency NASA had reported a ‘debris generating’ event near RISAT-1. In 2017, the satellite was decommissioned and declared non-operational in the annual report of the Department of Space. RISAT- 2, another satellite in the series launched in 2009, remains in orbit but is reserved for strategic applications.

Radar imaging satellites ISRO’s RISAT are particularly useful for monitoring floods and assessing damage because they are capable of penetrating cloud cover and operating day and night and in all weather conditions.

“Notwithstanding the absence of our own radar satellite, ISRO is equipped with microwave data acquired under various international charters”, said P.G.Diwakar, former Scientific Secretary to the Chairman, ISRO. “Most of the data is published on the Bhuvan website and can be accessed by the Government and other institutions for post-flood analysis.” Researchers stress the need for ISRO to focus on the development of a successor to RISAT-1. The increasing frequency of climate-change induced events in the country warrants a dedicated indigenous satellite resource, they contend.

Researchers in *Kerala *are turning to foreign space agencies to source satellite radar imagery for post-flood analysis and damage assessment as the decommissioning of ISRO’s RISAT-1 last year has left India without an indigenous radar imaging satellite for civilian applications. While the University of Kerala has tied up with the Michigan Technological University to map the areas that were flooded last month following torrential rains in the State, the Kerala Agricultural University has partnered with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to assess the crop damage.

The other research teams are sourcing radar images from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency to prepare inundation maps.

**********

Radar imaging satellites like ESA’s Sentinel-1A was launched on 3 April 2014 by a Soyuz rocket at 21:02:31 GMT (23:02:31 CEST).where as *Sentinel-1B* radar imaging satellite launched by a Soyuz rocket on 25 April 2016.

Sentinel-1C and 1D are in development with launch dates to be determined.

Applications Land and sea monitoring, natural disasters mapping, sea ice observations, ships detection


Soyuz itself has been flying since the mid-1960s. A development of the earlier Voskhod rocket, it is derived from R-7 missile, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which first flew in 1957. Soyuz-2, a modernized version of the rocket incorporating digital flight control systems and upgraded engines, was introduced with a suborbital test flight in 2004. The first orbital Soyuz-2 launches were made in 2006.

Soyuz is a three-stage rocket, with the first stage – consisting of four liquid-fuelled strap-on boosters and a core second stage, all of which are ground-lit and burn in parallel up to first stage separation, and a Blok-I third stage. There are three different versions of the Soyuz-2. The Soyuz-2-1a is a modernized version of Soyuz, 
The more powerful Soyuz-2-1b introduces an RD-0124 third-stage engine in place of the RD-0110 used by the Soyuz-2-1a. 


The Soyuz-2-1v, a newer addition to carry lighter payloads, omits the first stage altogether and replaces the core stage engine with an NK-33.

Manufactured by the All-Russia Research Institute of Electromechanics (*NPP VNIIEM*), Kanopus V No. 3 and No. 4 are Earth-imaging satellites that are slated to be operated by Roscosmos. Each spacecraft weighs around 1,042 lbs. (473 kilograms) and is fitted with two deployable solar arrays and three imaging instruments. The satellites will operate from a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 317 miles (510 kilometers) for a planned five year period.

Kanopus satellites are designed to be used mainly for environmental monitoring, mapping, man-made and natural disaster detection and management, agricultural monitoring and fire detection. They are also designed to provide wide-angle images to compliment the constellation of high-resolution Resurs satellites.

Besides the Russian Kanopus satellites, Thursday’s mission also saw five spacecraft launched on behalf of Germany: four S-NET nanosatellites and one D-Star ONE v 1.1 Phoenix CubeSat.


Read more at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/o...-vostochny-11-satellites/#jBcrQcgBWgfYFlbo.99


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## Hindustani78

Cabinet
12-September, 2018 16:33 IST
*MoU on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles, and for cooperation in the field of Space Research, Science and Applications *

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the operation of Telemetry Tracking and Telecommand station for satellite and launch vehicles, and for cooperation in the field of Space Research, Science and Applications. The MoU was signed in New Delhi on 19th July 2018.

Benefits:

The MoU enables ISRO to continue to operate, maintain and augment its ground station meant for supporting India’s launch vehicle and satellite missions. This will also help India to share its experience and expertise in space activities through training of officials and students on space technology applications.

Cooperation through this MoU would lead to operation, maintenance and augmentation of Indian Ground Station to support India’s launch vehicle and satellite missions. Thus all sections and regions of the country will get benefited.

The MoU will provide impetus to explore newer research activities in ground station operations and training on space technology applications.

****


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## Hindustani78

Bengaluru, September 15, 2018 18:16 IST
Updated: September 15, 2018 19:12 IST 





The PSLV-C42 at First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Photo: Twitter/@ISRO 


* ISRO begins countdown for launch of PSLV-C42 that will carry S-Band synthetic aperture radar satellite and a high resolution optical Earth observation satellite. *

A PSLV* (*polar satellite launch vehicle) will be launched on September16 night from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota to put two earth observation satellites to space. The 33-hour countdown for the launch began at 1.08 p.m. on Saturday.

There are Indian satellite on this flight. PSLV-C42 will be the first fully commercial trip of the year, breaking a five-month-long lull, for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

ISRO did not make any launch post April 12, after it put replacement navigation satellite IRNSS-1I to space on PSLV-C41. A few days after that, it recalled its GSAT-11, weeks before it was due for launch.

ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said the interval was not connected with the satellite recall but for the sake of readiness of the two customer satellites. He spoke from Tirupati _en route_ to Sriharikota.

The PSLV is being flown in its core-alone format, minus the external boosters. The two satellites together weigh nearly 889 kg; this is the optimum payload that a core-alone PSLV can launch, Dr. Sivan said.

PSLV-C42 is scheduled for launch at 10.08 p.m. from the first launch pad. It will lift NovaSAR and S1-4 to a sun-synchronous ('pole-to-pole') *orbit 583 km from the Earth.*

The entire flight up to the release of the satellites is designed to happen within 17.5 minutes.







* ISRO’S PSLV-C42 sits on the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Photo: Twitter/@ISRO *

S-Band synthetic aperture radar satellite, which will map forest, land use and monitor ice cover, flood and disaster.

A high resolution optical Earth observation satellite that will be used for surveying resources, urban management and monitoring of the environment and disasters.

Antrix has so far contracted over 280 foreign customer satellites for a fee; most of them are small experimental or earth observation spacecraft.

This will be the 44th PSLV and the 12th time it will fly as core-alone.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
16-September, 2018 23:00 IST
*PSLV-C42 launches 2 satellites *

*The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C42) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched two satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota today.*

The PSLV-C42 lifted off from the First Launch Pad of SHAR at 10.08 pm (IST). Both satellites were injected into the Sun Synchronous Orbit, about 17 minutes later, *at an altitude of 583 km.*

The satellites which has a contract with Antrix Corporation Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO carries S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and an Automatic Identification Receiver payloads. The satellite applications include forestry mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, flood and disaster monitoring and maritime missions. It will be operated from SSTL’s Spacecraft Operations Centre.

S1-4 is a high resolution earth observation satellite meant for surveying resources, environment monitoring, urban management and disaster monitoring.

This was the 44th flight of PSLV and the 12th flight of the Core Alone version of the vehicle. Core Alone is its lightest version without the six strap-on motors. It is used for launching smaller payloads.

The PSLV launch vehicle consists of four stages, each of which is a self-contained vehicle capable of functioning independently with own propulsion systems.

During the previous launch (PSLV-C41, April 12, 2018), the ‘XL’ version of PSLV with six strap-on motors was used. The vehicle successfully launched the IRNSS-1I navigation satellite to a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

Preparations for the PSLV-C42 began at Sriharikota in mid-July with the process of vehicle integration setting the tone for the launch. Many centres of ISRO contributed to this mission with the vehicle being designed and developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The second and fourth stage liquid engines came from Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.

The vehicle’s guidance system is from ISRO’s Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, while SDSC SHAR was responsible for solid motor preparation, vehicle integration and launch infrastructure. ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network provided tracking support.

ISRO Chairman Dr K. Sivan congratulated the team soon after the successful mission.

“I am extremely happy that the PSLV-C42 precisely launched two of our satellites at 583 km orbit. This was unique night mission executed for the first time by us. The PSLV has proven yet again as a user-friendly vehicle in all aspects. The credit goes to the entire ISRO team and industries. This success will give added energy for industries to make PSLV by themselves. We are going to have 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one launch every two weeks,” Dr Sivan said.

Thousands of skilled personnel from ISRO and industries, including many youngsters, played a crucial role in this mission. The Project Director of PSLV is Shri R. Hutton, who was also the Mission Director.

“The PSLV-C42 marks the latest technology and commercial collaboration with the launch of the combination of high resolution optical and radar (SAR) satellites from us,” says Sir Martin Sweeting, Group Executive Chairman, SSTL.

As on date, ISRO has launched 239 foreign satellites of 28 countries.

******


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## Hindustani78

Department of Atomic Energy
18-September, 2018 16:21 IST
*Medical Cyclotron Facility Cyclone-30 Became Operational at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata *

Cyclotrons are used to produce radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic use for



cancer care. Cyclone-30, the biggest cyclotron in India for medical application became operational this month when 30 MeV beam reached the Faraday Cup for the first time last week. Subsequently, beam from this facility was used to produce 18F (Fluorine-18 isotope) for the preparation of [18 FlFluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a radio-pharmaceutical used by Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology (BRIT). The facility will start regular production by the middle of the next year after the commissioning of the supporting nuclear systems and regulatory clearances. Cyclone-30 facility at VECC, Kolkata, a Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) unit, will have many unique features, under various stages of implementation, which are first of its kind in many ways. After the commissioning of liquid target (for FDG production) and solid targets (production of Germanium-68, Palladium-103 and other isotopes), work on studies related to installation of Iodine isotope [1-123] production target, material study target and Accelerator Driven System target will also be taken up.

This facility will provide for affordable radio isotopes and related radiopharmaceuticals for the entire country especially, for Eastern India and also have export potential for Germanium-68/Gallium-68 generator for in-situ production of Gallium-68 and Palladium-103 isotopes, used for breast cancer diagnosis and prostate cancer treatment, respectively.

Cyclone-30 commissioning re-emphasises the capability of Indian scientists and engineers to deliver at the highest level of science and technology.






****


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## Hindustani78

Bengaluru, September 18, 2018 22:03 IST
Updated: September 18, 2018 22:03 IST
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/s...innovations/article24979734.ece?homepage=true
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a space technology incubation centre in capital on Tuesday. It is the first of six such centres planned nationally to build capacity in new locations.

More such space research activities will be splashed in a big way across small cities to tap their talent and include them in the space footprint, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan, said.

The incubation centre will be located in the National Institute of Technology. Inaugurating it from Bengaluru, Chief Minister Deb said it was time high technology programmes reached the remote northeast India.

The space agency’s new Capacity Building Programme directorate will invest ₹2 crore in incubation facilities in *Jalandhar*, Bhubaneswar, Tiruchi, Nagpur and Indore.

“We want to go to locations that have a good presence of academia and industry but do not have activities related to space. The centres will bring out prototypes and innovations for ISRO in electronics, propulsion and others. We will buy the innovations back if we can use them in our programmes,” Dr. Sivan said.

He was speaking at the annual event of the *India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA)*, which has enlarged its ambit to space electronics this year.

*Domestic industry should increase the production of critical electronics items needed in space and other programmes, as 75% of it is now imported, Dr. Sivan said. *

IESA Chairman Anil Kumar Muniswamy said the *Indian space market offers big opportunity to industry as it is estimated to grow to $1.6 billion by 2023.*


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## Hindustani78

The Indian space programme has been orchestrated well and had three distinct elements such as, satellites for communication and remote sensing, the space transportation system and application programmes. The INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research) was initiated under the leadership of Dr. Sarabhai and Dr. Ramanathan. In 1967, the first ‘Experimental Satellite Communication Earth Station (ESCES)’ located in Ahmedabad was operationalized, which also doubled as a training centre for the Indian as well as International scientists and engineers.






P.V. Krishnamurthy (PVK) with his keyboard 

Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), hailed as ‘the largest sociological experiment in the world, This experiment benefited around 200,000 people, covering 2400 villages of six states and transmitted development oriented programmes using the ATS-6.

*Satellite launch*

In May 1974, PVK was appointed Deputy Director General of Doordarshan. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told him that he would have to leave to witness the launch of *Applications Technology Satellites (ATS) , *ATS 6 satellite, which was to be used by India for its Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). PVK was to produce 1,320 hours of software for SITE, in three languages, to be viewed in six States.

ATS-6 has been the first geostationary satellite with three-axis stabilization and pointing.,

Many important campaigns have been taken up using RH-200 rockets. The most important programme was MONEX (Monsoon Experiment) under which over thousand rockets were launched. Equatorial Wave Studies (EWS) by Space Physics Laboratory had 51 launches of RH-200 rockets from SDSC SHAR. Another major programme was MIDAS (Dynamics Middle Atmosphere) by SPL, which had 180 launches of this rocket from TERLS Range.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
20-September, 2018 18:49 IST

ISRO to set up an Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response 

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) here today for setting up of an state-of-the-art Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response (ICR-ER) in Ministry of Home Affairs. The MoU was signed by Joint Secretary (Disaster Management) Shri Sanjeev Kumar Jindal on behalf of MHA and Dr P.V.N Rao, Deputy Director, NRSC, ISRO.

ISRO will render its technical expertise for setting up of proposed ICR-ER whereas the project will be executed under overall supervision of MHA. The proposed Control Room is expected to be established in next one-and-a-half year.

The ICR-ER will cater to the requirement of Disaster Management as well as Internal Security. ICR-ER will address the requirement of receipt of information on near real-time basis, strategic level monitoring, situation awareness, command and control, preparedness and response in the diverse internal security situation and disaster related emergencies. Resultantly, it will increase the operational effectiveness and will be helpful in rendering timely response / assistance during various emergency situations.

****







The Joint Secretary (Disaster Management), MHA, Shri Sanjeev Kumar Jindal and the Deputy Director, NRSC, ISRO, Dr. P.V.N. Rao at the signing of an MoU between MHA and ISRO for setting up an Integrated Control Room for Emergency Response, in New Delhi on September 20, 2018.


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## Hindustani78

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...aan-mission/article25010147.ece?homepage=true
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2018 22:43 IST
Updated: September 21, 2018 22:43 IST 






Google Maps image locates the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. 


* In addition to the third launch pad at Sriharikota, the space agency is also scouting for a new location near Gujarat for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicles. *

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday. In addition, ISRO is scouting for a location on the western sea coast near Gujarat to set up another launch pad for Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV).

*Third launch pad*
“We have two launch pads currently, which are already full. A third launch pad is being set up for the human space flight. It will be ready in time for the mission,” a senior ISRO official said.

In the Independence Day address this year from the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that an Indian will go to space by 2022.

Following this, ISRO has announced an ambitious roadmap to put a three-man Indian crew in a low earth orbit for 5-7 days by the 75th Independence Day.

ISRO Chairman Dr. Sivan had stated earlier that ISRO has begun work on the manned mission in 2004, and that many of the critical technologies required for human spaceflight have already been validated through various tests — Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, Crew Module Atmospheric Re-Entry Experiment and Pad Abort Test.

ISRO will use its GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which can carry the heavier payload of the Gaganyaan, and this will take off from the new launch pad.

In addition to the third launch pad at Sriharikota, ISRO is also scouting for a new location near Gujarat for the SSLV.

ISRO is developing the SSLV to offer affordable launch options for smaller satellites through Antrix, the space agency’s commercial arm. ISRO currently piggybacks smaller satellites on the PSLV and GSLV along with bigger satellites.








The SSLV is expected to reduce the launch time as well as cost less to launch small satellites, which are much in demand.

“We have evaluated several locations. The first two SSLV launches will take place from Sriharikota. After that they will move to the new location,” the official said.

ISRO is ready to transfer the entire SSLV “as a whole” to the private industry while the agency would provide the initial hand-holding. The SSLV is expected to be cleared by next year.


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## Hindustani78

24-September, 2018 13:01 IST
ISRO should take up futuristic, innovative projects for societal benefits; NRSC should come up with innovative citizen-centric applications for national flagship programmes; Addresses Scientists and Researchers at NRSC

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that Scientists play a key role in providing data and should focus on the requirements of the common man, more importantly of the farmer, and help in formulating strategies for better Governance. He was addressing the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), in Hyderabad today. The Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Shivan and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President said that ISRO with its state-of-the-art facilities has been harnessing space technology for rural and urban development. He further said that ISRO maintains one of the largest fleet of communication and remote sensing satellites with the versatile workhorse, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) becoming a favoured carrier. After making every Indian proud with the success of Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, now ISRO is gearing up for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 early next year, he added.

The Vice President said that rural development is vital for the country’s growth and several national flagship programmes are being implemented in the country for the same. For effective implementation of those schemes, there is a need for optimal utilisation of satellite data for mapping and monitoring the resources and also take up impact assessment studies, he added.

Saying that India is committed to accord high priority to water conservation and its management through Watershed Development Component of Kisan Sinchaayi Yojana, the Vice President said that satellite data is being used to verify the execution of works under watershed development programme and also to assess the impact in terms of additional crop area.

While lauding ISRO for its innumerable achievements, the Vice President asked the prestigious organisation to take up futuristic, innovative projects for societal benefits.

The Vice President said that in view of the increasing demand for citizen centric services NRSC has to play an important role in providing Satellite Data and expand its technical interactions with various states for capacity building. Based on its expertise and capability, he was confident that NRSC will intensify its efforts to come up with innovative citizen-centric applications for national flagship programmes, he added.

Following is the text of Vice President's address:

"I am happy to be here today amongst the ISRO scientific community and understand firsthand the excellent work being carried out in this important centre.

I am also glad to see lot of youngsters here and appreciate them for choosing to work at ISRO. I am sure that many of you will get opportunities to work on challenging scientific projects and prove your calibre.

Since the launch of the first satellite, Aryabhata in 1975, Indian space programme has made rapid strides with India becoming a hub for the launch of Indian and foreign satellites. 

With the successful launch of two satellites earlier this month, ISRO has so far launched 239 foreign satellites of 28 countries and proved to be a reliable and affordable global space agency. I am sure that in the coming years, ISRO would be a leading player in the commercial satellite launch market in the world.

Let me first congratulate all scientists for the success of the missions such as the launching of 104 satellites at a time, development of testing Crew Escape System which is a critical technology for human spaceflight GAGANYAAN and the launch of GSLV Mk-III with fully indigenous cryogenic technology. 

ISRO with its state-of-the-art facilities has been harnessing space technology for rural and urban development. I am aware that ISRO maintains one of the largest fleet of communication and remote sensing satellites with the versatile workhorse, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) becoming a favoured carrier. 

Remote sensing satellites have enabled India to map, monitor and manage its natural resources. Data generated from them is being used for a variety of applications covering agriculture, water resources, urban planning, environment, forestry, ocean resources, hydrology, disaster management, biodiversity, drought monitoring, flood risk zone mapping and mineral prospecting. 

After making every Indian proud with the success of Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, I am glad to know that ISRO is gearing up for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 early next year.

I had visited this Centre in 2002 when I was Union Minister for Rural Development. I am happy to be here again after 16 years and share my thoughts with all of you. There have been several satellite missions every year since then.

Scientists play a key role in providing data and should focus on the requirements of the common man, more importantly of the farmer, and help in formulating strategies for better Governance.

When you look at the flagship programmes which are being implemented by various ministries, it is clear the data acquired from Earth Observation Satellites play a major role in generation of information. Frequent observations recorded by satellites are useful to know the past and current status as also the future scenario.

Dear sisters and brothers,

Rural development is vital for the country’s growth. Hence, several national flagship programmes are being implemented in the country. For effective implementation of those schemes, there is a need for optimal utilisation of satellite data for mapping and monitoring the resources and also take up impact assessment studies. I am glad that ISRO has facilitated geo-tagging of nearly 3.68 Crores of assets created under MGNREGA and uploading the details on Bhuvan geo portal.

I am told that Cartosat satellite data was extensively utilised by NRSC for monitoring the progress of 100 irrigation projects. Satellite derived information on periodic rainfall and groundwater prospects has facilitated the water resource planners for prioritisation of works. Satellite-based information should be available for supporting the management plans for rural development, particularly at village / taluk level to enable decentralised planning.

India is committed to accord high priority to water conservation and its management through Watershed Development Component of Kisan Sinchaayi Yojana. Satellite data is being used to verify the execution of works under watershed development programme and also to assess the impact in terms of additional crop area.

I am aware that the major efforts of NRSC will help the planners in relation to mapping of various cropping systems, analysing drought scenarios, preparing plans for crop intensification and locating the available proximate water resources.

I am glad that high resolution satellite data is being utilised in AMRUT scheme, which seeks to provide basic amenities and improve urban transport in 500 cities, as part of enhancing the quality of life of the people, especially the poor.

Periodic mapping, monitoring of natural resources like landscape changes, land utilisation, land degradation, wasteland database would facilitate several projects of rural development. Potential estimate of power generation in waste lands or suitable land parcels through satellite derived solar parameters is a classic case of utilisation of satellite data to harness the renewable energy.

While lauding ISRO for its innumerable achievements, I would like the prestigious organisation to take up futuristic, innovative projects for societal benefits.

It should take up the challenge to provide web-based analytics from satellite images for various users.

Inter-linking of rivers is a major effort which is under discussion for a long time and requires huge information in spatial domain from satellites. Several plans have to be drawn with the help of aerial / satellite data and I assume that ISRO has the capability to support this planning activity with help of high resolution satellite data and terrain / elevation information retrieval methodologies. I am told that a few river link studies have already benefitted from your expertise.

It is very difficult to manage disasters like Kerala floods or other such events due to the devastation caused by them. While the Disaster Management Support Programme of ISRO at NRSC is providing flood-related information to the State and Central Relief departments, I would like ISRO to come up with early flood warning and Inundation Simulation of all vulnerable river reaches and reservoirs for preparation of evacuation plans.

This may require launching of all weather satellites, experiments with unmanned aerial flights with imaging sensors to provide information to the field teams at frequent intervals during the floods. I am sure ISRO would take up this challenge.

Landslides are one of the major concerns for the country in hilly regions in eastern part of India and also in other areas. Hence, NRSC should utilise satellites to monitor landslide susceptible areas and prepare hazard zonation maps. I am sure this noble task would save many lives. We need an efficient retrieval of sufficient information for disaster risk reduction.

Though NRSC data is extensively utilized in forest management, there is a need to provide location specific information in near real time with greater accuracy.

Institutions like NRSC should also focus on ocean atmosphere studies in view of global warming and climate change. There is a need to look into climate patterns and atmospheric interaction processes for more reliable prediction of cyclones, their genesis, prediction of track, land fall and genesis of Tsunami, among others. As these processes are global in nature, we need to think of global collaborations and the utilisation of Indian and global satellites

In view of the increasing demand for citizen centric services NRSC has to play an important role in providing Satellite Data and expand its technical interactions with various states for capacity building.

Based on its expertise and capability, I am confident that NRSC will intensify its efforts to come up with innovative citizen-centric applications for national flagship programmes.

I am told that ISRO’s future plans include development of heavy lift launchers, human spaceflight projects, reusable launch vehicles, semi-cryogenic engines, development and use of composite materials for space applications. It is also aiming to conduct 12 launches per year.

My best wishes to ISRO Chairman and his team for their future endeavours.

I wish you all a grand success for your targeted *12 launches per year.*

Thank you all."

***







The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at an event to address the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018. The Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Shivan is also seen.






The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018. The Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Shivan is also seen.






The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018.






The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu addressing the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018.






The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu interacting with the Scientists at the Antarctica Ground Station for Earth Observation Satellites, at Bharati Station, Larsemann Hills, Antarctica, for receiving Indian Remote sensing Satellite data from the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018.







The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu with the Scientists and Researchers at the National Remote Sensing Centre, in Hyderabad on September 24, 2018. The Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Shivan is also seen.


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## Hindustani78

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...md-madhavan/story-nVgj3VlO7ggjVVvSso5SPI.html

HAL produced 40 aircraft and helicopters covering Su-30 MKI, LCA Tejas & Dornier Do-228 in fixed wing and ALH Dhruv and Cheetal Helicopters in rotary wing, Madhavan noted.

In addition, HAL produced 105 new engines, overhauled 220 aircraft, helicopters and 550 engines, he said.

Also, as many as 146 new aero-structures for space programs were produced during the period, he added.

First Published: Sep 29, 2018 13:59 IST


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## Hindustani78

*A two-seater Indian Air Force (IAF) plane crashed in a sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpat district on Friday, police said. “The crash occurred at Ranchad village at around 9 am. Both pilots are safe. A team of IAF has arrived at the spot to investigate the crash and both pilots are being questioned about the incident,” said police public relations officer Anurag Sharma. (ANI)*


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## Hindustani78

The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh lighting the lamp to inaugurate the National Workshop on “Imagining the Future of Space Science and its Strategic Importance”, in Jammu on October 11, 2018. The Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Ashok Aima and the former ISRO Chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan are also seen.








The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh at inauguration of the National Workshop on “Imagining the Future of Space Science and its Strategic Importance”, in Jammu on October 11, 2018. The Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan, the Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Ashok Aima and the former ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan are also seen.







The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Ashok Aima and the former ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan at the signing of an MoU between ISRO and CUJ, in Jammu on October 11, 2018.







The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Director, Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO), Prof. R.K. Sinha, the Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Ashok Aima and the former ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan at the signing of an MoU between CSIO and CUJ, in Jammu on October 11, 2018. The Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan is also seen.







The Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh addressing the National Workshop on “Imagining the Future of Space Science and its Strategic Importance”, in Jammu on October 11, 2018. The Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan, the Vice Chancellor, Central University of Jammu, Prof. Ashok Aima and the former ISRO Chairman, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan are also seen.


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## MimophantSlayer

Oct 12, 2018
*ISRO successfully tests Cryogenic Engine (CE-20) for GSLV Mk-III / Chandrayaan-2 Mission*


The upper stage of GSLV MK-III vehicle is powered by Cryogenic Engine (CE)-20 which develops a nominal thrust of 186.36 kN with a specific impulse of 442 seconds in vacuum. The engine operates on gas generator cycle using LOX / LH2 propellants combination. The major subsystems of the engine are thrust chamber, gas generator, LOX and LH2 turbo pumps, igniters, thrust & mixture ratio control systems, Start-up system, control components and pyro valves. The fifth hardware of CE-20 integrated engine designated as E6 is earmarked for GSLV Mk-III M1-Chandrayaan 2 mission.

The flight acceptance hot test of E6 engine was successfully tested for 25 seconds at High Altitude Test facility, ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri on October 11, 2018. The test demonstrated steady state operation of engine. The performance of all engine subsystems were observed to be normal during the hot test.


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## RPK

#ISROMissions Scaled-down version of #Chandrayaan2 Lander #Vikram completed critical Lander Actuator Performance Test. to demonstrate capabilities of nav, guidance & control system of Vikram for a safe, soft & precise landing on the Moon. Details here: https://www.isro.gov.in/


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## Hindustani78

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/s...rs-to-venus/article25465971.ece?homepage=true

 
*Seeks experiment ideas from space agencies, universities and researchers *

An 18-month-old pitch for what could be the first Indian orbiter mission to Venus has just been refreshed and relaunched, opening it up now for international experiments.

Tentatively marking the yet to be named ‘Mission Venus’ for mid-2023, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to study the planet from an elliptical orbit that is closest to Venus at 500 km and 60,000 km at the farthest end — similar to its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) of 2013.

The latest announcement opportunity (AO) does not specify the weight of the spacecraft; it plans to send up instruments or payloads totally weighing 100 kg. (MOM’s payloads weighed nearly 15 kg.) 

The new round invites space-based experiment ideas on Venus from space agencies, universities and researchers.

They should complement a dozen Indian experiments that have been shortlisted from among responses that came in for the AO of April 2017. It had then planned a total payload of 175 kg. The responses were said to be fewer and below expectations.

*3rd interplanetary dash *
Currently being handled by the Space Science Programme Office, the entire project must be vetted by the Advisory Committee on Space Sciences and approved by the Space Commission and eventually the government.

From the Moon orbiter mission Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and the ₹450 crore MOM, the Venus voyage — if approved — would be ISRO’s third interplanetary dash.

A lunar lander and rover mission called Chandrayaan-2 is getting ready to take off in January or February 2019.

ISRO says that it may lower the orbit of its future Venus spacecraft after a while for sharper observations. According to an informed ISRO official, the Venus mission would be comparable to the phenomenally popular MOM in terms of its the orbit and the cost.

The official said the plan was in very early stages and would get finely defined once the experiments were chosen. They would decide the weight of the spacecraft and the rocket that it would need.


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## RPK

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1061913598358773760

Reactions: Like Like:
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## MimophantSlayer

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1062291920343289857
Update #3
#ISROMissions
The countdown has begun today 14:50 (IST) for the launch of #GSLVMkIIID2 carrying #GSAT29 at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. Launch scheduled at 17:08 (IST) on Nov 14. More updates to follow. @PMOIndia @pibchennai 
Curtain-raiser video on https://t.co/MX54Cx57KU https://t.co/E0atwxj9HP


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
14-November, 2018 18:48 IST
*India GSLV MkIII-D2 successfully launches GSAT-29* 



India’s GSAT-29 communication satellite was successfully launched by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII-D2) today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

GSLV MkIII-D2 lifted off from the Second Launch Pad of SDSC SHAR at 17:08 hours (IST), carrying the 3423-kg GSAT-29 satellite. About 17 minutes later, the vehicle injected the satellite into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) as planned.

After injection, ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan has assumed the control of the satellite. In the coming days, three orbit raising manoeuvers will be executed to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at its designated location.

GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Two massive boosters with solid propellant constitute the first stage, the core with liquid propellant form the second stage and the cryogenic engine completes the final stage.

GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies. Its Ku-band and Ka-band payloads are configured to cater to the communication requirements of users including those from remote areas especially from Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions of India.

In addition, the Q/V-Band communication payload onboard is intended to demonstrate the future high throughput satellite system technologies. Geo High Resolution Camera will carry out high resolution imaging. Optical Communication Payload will demonstrate data transmission at a very high rate through optical communication link.

After the successful launch, ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said: “India has achieved significant milestone with our heaviest launcher lifting off the heaviest satellite from the Indian soil. The launch vehicle has precisely placed the satellite in its intended orbit. I congratulate entire ISRO team for this achievement.”

Declaring GSLV MKIII operational, Dr Sivan announced that Chandrayaan-2 and Gaganyaan missions will be launched by this heavy-lifter.

Shri Jayakumar B, Mission Director, GSLV Mark III said it is the guidance of the Mentors at ISRO that helped the team to march ahead while facing obstacles. “The industry partners too played a key role in this mission,” he said.

Shri K Pankaj Damodar, Project Director, GSAT-29 said the launch will help to bridge the digital divide. He also said several next generation payload technologies will be demonstrated with this mission soon.

The success of GSLV MkIII-D2 marks an important milestone in Indian space programme towards achieving self-reliance in launching heavier satellites. The success of this flight also signifies the completion of the experimental phase of GSLV Mark III.

The first successful mission of GSLV Mark III was an experimental suborbital flight in 2014. Subsequently, GSLV Mark III-D1 launched GSAT-19, a high throughput communication satellite, with a lift-off mass of 3150 kg, into GTO on June 5, 2017.



******

BB/NK /SS








Prime Minister's Office
14-November, 2018 18:17 IST
*PM congratulates ISRO scientists on successful launch of GSLV MK III-D2 carrying GSAT-29 satellite *

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO scientists on the successful launch of GSLV MK III-D2 carrying GSAT-29 satellite.

“My heartiest congratulations to our scientists on the successful launch of GSLV MK III-D2 carrying GSAT-29 satellite. The double success sets a new record of putting the heaviest satellite in orbit by an Indian launch vehicle. 

The satellite will provide communication and internet services to the remotest corners of our country”, the Prime Minister said.

***

AKT/SH


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## Hindustani78

* Chandrayaan 2’s landing sensors to be tested at artificial site at Challakere *

The Chandrayaan-2 lunar lander’s sensors are set to undergo a crucial test in the next few days as the mission races towards a planned take-off in around two months.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to fly the sensors on an aircraft over its artificial lunar site at Challakere to see how they will function and guide the Chandrayaan-2 landing craft when it starts descending on the lunar terrain. The test flight is slated tentatively for November 24.

The orbiter carrying the lander and a rover is scheduled to be sent to the Moon from Sriharikota on January 31 and expected to reach there sometime in February 2019.

The test on ground, called the Lander Sensor Performance Test or LSPT, will be conducted at ISRO's new R&D campus in Chitradurga district, about 200 km from here, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said.

The highly autonomous or pre-programmed mission uses a large number of sensors. Among them are those that help the lander to precisely assess its height from the landing spot; decide its speed and help it to steer clear of any boulders or uneven surface.

The lander is being developed and tested by the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. For the test, a prototype module carrying the sensors will be flown on one of ISRO's two small aircraft.* As the plane descends from around 7 km to about 1 km over the artifical terrain, the sensors must show how they will guide the soft landing of the lunar craft at the right spot, speed and position. *

*Surface simulated*
About two years back, ISRO had started readying a part of the Challakere site to resemble lunar craters and had conducted a few preliminary sensor tests. Features of the lander have since been modified and the upcoming tests will also validate the new design. “The development and testing of the orbiter are over. Lander-related activities are going on. We will then add the rover also [to tests.] Until the mission is launched, we would be testing all systems continuously after every integration,” said Dr. Sivan.


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## Hindustani78

Department of Space
29-November, 2018 16:31 IST
*PSLV-C43 successfully launches earth observation satellite HysIS and 30 foreign satellites *

ISRO to launch its heaviest satellite, GSAT-11, on Dec 5, 2018

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C43) successfully launched 31 satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) today in Sriharikota.

The PSLV-C43 lifted off at 9:57:30 (IST) from the First Launch Pad and injected India’s Hyper-Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) into a *645 km sun-synchronous polar orbit 17 minutes and 19 seconds after the lift-off. *Later, 30 foreign satellites were injected into their intended orbit after restarting the vehicle’s fourth stage engines twice. The last satellite was injected into its designated orbit 1 hour and 49 minutes after the lift-off. 

After separation, the two solar arrays of HysIS were deployed automatically and the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru gained control of the satellite. The satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration in the next few days. HysIS Project Director Shri Suresh K. said that the satellite is performing normally after the launch.

HysIS is an earth observation satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite2 (IMS-2) bus weighing about 380kg. The mission life of the satellite is five years.

The primary goal of HysIS is to study the earth’s surface in both the visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Data from the satellite will be used for a wide range of applications including agriculture, forestry, soil/geological environments, coastal zones and inland waters, etc. HysIS had the company of one micro and 29 nano-satellites from eight countries, including Australia (1), Canada (1), Columbia (1), Finland (1), Malaysia (1), Netherlands (1), Spain (1) and USA (23). The total weight of these satellites was about 261.50 kg. Satellites from Australia, Columbia, Malaysia and Spain were flown aboard PSLV for the first time. These foreign satellites launched are part of commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited and customers.

Congratulating the ISRO scientists after the successful launch of PSLV C-43, ISRO Chairman Dr K. Sivan said it is a very proud moment for the nation as the HysIS was indigenously designed and built. “HysIS is a state-of-the-art satellite with many indigenous components developed by SAC, Ahmedabad and SCL, Chandigarh,” he said.

Dr Sivan said the main purpose of the HysIS is to exactly identify the objects on the surface of the earth with high precision and resolution. “HysIS will start sending images from the fifth day of its injection. With HysIS, we have 47 operational satellites that are active now in their orbits, meant for applications like communications, earth observation, scientific studies and navigation,” he added.

Dr Sivan said that the team has achieved another spectacular mission 15 days after the successful GSLV-MkIII/GSAT-29 launch. “Today once again we have proved our excellence,” he said. Mission Director Shri R. Hutton termed the launch as a grand and marvellous one with clockwork precision. “We have used a lighter version of PSLV today. It has once again proven its capabilities to launch multiple satellites into different orbits,” he said.

PSLV is a four stage launch vehicle with a large solid rocket motor forming the first stage, an earth storable liquid stage as the second stage, a high performance solid rocket motor as third stage and a liquid stage with engines as fourth stage.

Today’s was the 45th flight of PSLV and 13th one in the Core Alone configuration. So far, the PSLV has launched 44 Indian and nine satellites built by students from Indian universities. The vehicle has also launched 269 international customer satellites. In the last PSLV launch on September 16, PSLV-C42 had successfully launched two commercial satellites from UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited. Dr Sivan thanked the foreign countries for posing faith in India to launch their Satellites. “Our customers are very happy that their satellites are precisely delivered into orbit,” said Dr Sivan.

Dr K. Sivan said in the month of December ISRO has planned two more launches, - GSAT 11 from French Guiana and GSAT 7A from Sriharikota. Next year, ISRO will have its long expected second mission to moon, Chandrayaan – II, expected in the month of January. “ISRO will launch its heaviest satellite, GSAT-11 on Dec 5, 2018, at 2.08 am from French Guiana and later GSLV-MkII will launch GSAT-7A from Sriharikota in December,” said Dr Sivan. “ISRO has planned twelve to fourteen launch missions in the year 2019, which includes Chandrayaan –II,” he added.

When asked why GSAT-11 is being launched from French Guiana, Director, U.R. Rao Satellite Centre, Shri P. Kunhikrishnan said GSAT-11 weighing 5.86 ton cannot be carried by the GSLV Mk – III which has the capacity to lift only up to four-ton class payloads. Though its capacity is being augmented gradually to carry much heavier satellites, the national space agency has to go in for launches from abroad to meet the current requirement.

Speaking on the Gaganyaan, Dr Sivan said the process is going in the right direction and ISRO is planning to launch the first unmanned mission as a precursor to Gaganyaan by December 2020, followed by one more mission by July 2021. He further added that ISRO plans to accomplish the manned mission by December, 2021.

******

GB/NK/SRI







PSLV C-43, carrying Indian Earth Observation Satellite “HysIS” and 30 foreign co-passenger satellites being launched from the First Launch Pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh on November 29, 2018.






The Chairman ISRO, Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space, Dr. K. Sivan addressing the media after the successful launch of PSLV-C43 carrying earth observation HysIS satellite and 30 foreign co-passenger sattellites, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on November 29, 2018.

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## MimophantSlayer

*GSAT-11 successfully launched from French Guiana on board an Ariane-5.*


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## MimophantSlayer

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1072864727070466050


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## li0nheart

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/is...-its-final-orbit/amp_articleshow/67233115.cms

*Isro’s GSAT-7A moves closer to its final orbit*
*Scientists in the Indian Space Research Organisation completed the fourth orbit manoeuvring operation on Monday to move 
GSAT-7A*
, the communication satellite, to its 
*final orbit*
*.


The satellite is now very close to its final geostationary orbit, which is around 35,786km.
*


*https://www.financialexpress.com/de...-launched-on-board-pslv-in-2020/1423717/lite/*

*Another success for ISRO: Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite to be launched on board PSLV in 2020*

*After the recent successful launch of a Colombian satellite by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) along with other countries onboard PSLV-C43, another South American country Brazil is getting ready for launching its satellite in 2020.

Confirming this to FE Online, a representative of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), said, “The launch with PSLV in 2020 is confirmed but the date and month has yet to be decided as it is dependent on the schedule of the Indian space agency ISRO.”

Adding, “Designed, assembled and tested in Brazil, the Amazonia-1 satellite will be the first satellite for Earth Observation. And, Amazonia-1 will be the primary payload, not a hitch-hike satellite.”


Sharing her views Dr Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Head, Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said, “The emerging trend of South American nations approaching ISRO may not necessarily be a result of India’s doing – it is more of a commercial consideration than otherwise. The fact that India offers credible economically feasible satellite launches is a big attraction for these countries.”

Adding “India’s successful Mars mission in 2014 in particular highlighted the growing sophistication of India’s space programme and has had the effect of pushing many countries to look at India as a possible destination for their satellite launches in a cost effective manner.”

According to Rajagopalan, “ISRO and its commercial arm Antrix Corporation Ltd could do more outreach to attract more international partners as the size of the global space market is likely to expand especially in Africa and South America. The global trends to breaking big satellite constellations also favour ISRO’s PSLV.”


As reported earlier, at the 6th BRICS summit in 2014, both India and Brazil had inked agreement for setting up a Brazilian earth station that will receive data from Indian satellites. ISRO already has the facility to impart training on how to operate the station and gather data through remote sensing, which will be used by Brazilian scientists for training.

Since early 2000s, many documents for space cooperation are signed at government-level and at space agency level between India and Brazil. Brazil received data from India’s Resourcesat-1 satellite during October 2009 to September 2013 and currently receiving data from Resourcesat-2 since October 2014.

Ground stations in Brazil (Alcantara and Cuiaba) provided tracking support for Indian satellite (Chandrayaan-I, Megha Tropiques, MOM, and ASTROSAT) on commercial basis.

According to the official website of The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) of Brazil, it has recently concluded the process for contracting the services with US company Spaceflight Inc that will put Amazonia-1, the first fully-designed earth observation satellite assembled and tested in Brazil, into orbit.

Amazonia-1 is currently in the pre-launch phase of the Integration and Testing Laboratory (LIT) of INPE. Outlining the purpose of the Amazonia-1, the INPE says that the images of the Brazilian satellite will be used to observe and monitor deforestation especially in the Amazon region, as well as the diversified vegetation and agriculture throughout the national territory.

The Amazon Mission will provide remote sensing data (images) to observe and monitor deforestation especially in the Amazon region, as well as the diversified agriculture throughout the country with a high rate of revisit, seeking to work in synergy with existing environmental programs.
*


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## 1ndy

India’s usually low-profile space agency, ISRO, suddenly had the spotlight pointed at it after the success of the Mangalyaan Mars mission. And since then it has been constantly in the news – launching a record 104 satellites, testing the Crew Module on its biggest GSLV Mk3 rocket, testing the RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) and more recently about the Gaganyaan manned space mission. 

Now, it intends to take on SpaceX. More specifically the company’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket. According to a report in TOI, the agency is now focusing on reusable rockets. ISRO may be doing this to cut down on launch costs further.

ISRO is looking to test the Vertical Take Off and Vertical Landing (VTVL) technologies in what is called the ADMIRE test vehicle. According to ISRO’s Dr. B N Suresh the ADMIRE test vehicle will prove tech such as retractable legs, retro propulsion and steerable fins.


These technologies will help in the vertically landing the rocket back near the launch pad.

The rocket will use other indigenous technologies like NAVIC navigation receiver so that it can accurately land at the designated spot. Dr. Suresh also said “a test and landing site is being developed by Isro for this."

But this isn’t the only reusable technology that ISRO is working on. Last year, the agency test launched the RLV demonstrator. A winged spacecraft, it is meant to be launched vertically and after injecting the payload in orbit, come back to base for a landing like an airplane. The RLV is supposed to undergo another test with the craft being dropped from a plane to verify its landing ability.

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## MimophantSlayer

chetan_chpd said:


> *"Rocketry- the Nambi effect" movie- teaser*
> *
> 
> 
> 
> *
> *This movie is based on the life of Mr. Nambi Narayanan - senior ISRO scientist worked on cryogenic engines. He was falsely accused of espionage. Recently he was honored with 3rd highest civilian award- 'Padma Bhushan'.*
> 
> *the teaser starts with launch of mangalyaan mission.*
> *
> View attachment 537227
> *
> *
> View attachment 537226
> *
> *
> View attachment 537225
> *



Thank the US & CIA for that.

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## 1ndy

chetan_chpd said:


> *
> It will be the first three-orbit mission and the first launch that uses solar panels for the required thrust
> *


ion thrusters?


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## Han Patriot

chetan_chpd said:


> *News update: Gaganyaan project- crucial meeting*
> 
> *<https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/02/news-update-gaganyaan-project-crucial.html>
> 
> View attachment 540018
> 
> Pic: (from left to right- Gaganyaan crew escape tower model, astronaut EVA, Gaganyaan proposed space suit design and CARE capsule of ISRO)
> 
> Source: THE HINDU <https://idrw.org/gaganyaans-review-panel-to-meet-in-march/>
> 
> *
> 
> 
> *
> 
> A national review committee to meet for the first time in Bengaluru (March 5 and 6).
> 
> To comprehensively discuss on details.
> 
> ISRO wants to unveil mission’s details to stakeholders from multiple agencies.
> 
> The committee will also be briefed on the lunar lander and rover mission, Chandrayaan-2.
> 
> Back in November 2004, ISRO had first brainstormed a crewed mission at a similar gathering of nearly 100 experts in Bengaluru.
> 
> Agreements and programmes planned with the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will start taking shape from now on under the newly formed Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) and a dedicated project team.
> 
> ISRO recently submitted to the IAF a set of requirements on selecting and training prospective Indian space travellers. The IAF would come back with details of its facilities.
> 
> The astronauts will be mainly trained at the IAF’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Bengaluru.
> 
> Environment Control and Life Support Systems (ELCSS) in the capsule:- The life sciences labs of the DRDO to work on it.
> *


So when are they sending an astronaut to space? Any firmed date?

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## DrasticMeasure

chetan_chpd said:


> *News update: SSLV To Carry Two Defence Satellites*
> 
> *<https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/02/news-update-sslv-to-carry-two-defence.html>
> View attachment 540748
> 
> 
> Source: NDTV <https://idrw.org/isros-new-rocket-likely-to-carry-2-defence-satellites/>
> 
> 
> *
> 
> 
> *
> 
> ISRO will fly two small defence satellites in July or August this year on its new rocket SSLV. ”We are planning to fly two defence satellites, each weighing about 120 kg in our new rocket SSLV this July or August. The rocket design recently underwent a detailed integrated technical review,” K Sivan, ISRO Chairman, told news agency IANS on Wednesday.
> 
> He said the total weight of the payload that will be carried by the SSLV on its first flight will be about 500 kg. While the two satellites would weight about 120 kg each, there will be adaptors and others that would weigh about 300 kg. The total weight of the rocket will be 110 tonne.
> *
> *So the SSLV to carry DRDO sats in its maiden test launch?*


They Say SSLV. I saw AGNI 6 is being tested.

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## Rajput battalion

Any news regarding re-usable vehicle

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## Galactic Penguin SST

Han Patriot said:


> So when are they sending an astronaut to space? Any firmed date?




*Commentary*

From official North Korean sources, back in 2012, it was disclosed that the manned Unha-X launcher would have a mass of 400 tonnes.

Kwangmyongsong SLV (the 2016 Unha-4) can send a 1'000 kg payload to a 500 km LEO. The three stages Unha-9 SLV can send a 2 tonnes payload to a 500 km LEO.

With only 4 sets of 80 tonnes force Paektusan-1 engines, totalling a liftoff thrust of 320 tf, the two stages Unha-IX-E2 with a mass of 200 tonnes could only send a single seater E2 (Mallima-1B in Korean) manned capsule with a mass under two tonnes (~1'800kg) at some 250 km LEO altitude.

Note: E1 is the only known Persian designation for the suborbital one seater manned capsule. I called it Mallima-1A for more clarity. While the orbital version is called by Me "E2" or Mallima-1B, by analogy with the U.S.' Mercury-Redstone and Mercury-Atlas concept. Also following this logic, the Redstone would be replaced with a Safir-1D SLV in Iran and a Hwasong-15 SLV in North Korea for the suborbital mission.

With 4 additional strap-on boosters, increasing the liftoff thrust to 8x 80 tonnes force or 640 tonnes force, the 400 tonnes manned Unha-X-F1 can place a dual/three seaters F1 (Mallima-2 in Korean) spacecraft at some 350 km LEO.

Therefore the very ambitious North Korean space conquest plan started in 2017, to perform a spacewalk by 2022 will need at least 6 launches to ensure the reliability of the Unha-9 as a man-rated SLV.

Two Observation satellites
Two Communications satellites
One Lunar orbiter
One GEO satellite

Notice the lunar orbiter will precede the GEO satellite as explained below:





▲ 1. Lunar gravity assist used to place North Korea's satellite into the GEO belt.


The suborbital part is only a speculation based on the Iranian plan. If it exist, then it should be conducted in parallel, as the launcher is not the Unha, sharing in common only the spacecapsule and the 10 astronauts selection.

India can never catch up with North Korea's 2022 spacewalk, as ISRO has not even considered this possibility, and time is running out.

As a last resort, only Modi Ji performing his famous Yogic Earth Rotation could snatch the 4th space superpower place from North Korea! 







_*Han Ho Seok's Progressive Discourse (241)*

Han Ho Seok | tongil@tongilnews.com

Approval 2012.12.31 10:41:53

The fact that his remarks on the launch of manned spacewalk is not an exaggeration and can be seen from the scale of the facilities of the West Sea [Sohae] Satellites Launch Center. According to this reporter, the launch pad of the West Sea [Sohae] Satellites LC was designed to launch a 400 - ton ultra - large carrier rocket. In fact, the height of the launcher is more than 50m. He described it as a super large carrier rocket, but if it is a 400 ton class rocket, it is not a carrier rocket that carries satellites, but a carrier rocket that carries a manned spacecraft.

On April 12, 1961, the mass of the Soviet manned spacecraft Vostok 1, which flew to space with the first human Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), was 5.9 t. And the two-stage carrier rocket of the Voskhod spacecraft that performed the first manned spacewalk was 30.84 meters long, the first stage diameter was 2.99 meters, and the mass 298.4 tons. This means that the Soviet Union developed a powerful rocket with a total mass of 304.3 tons, that could launched a manned spacecraft.

Kim Jong Un seems to include a plan to launch a manned spacewalk as well as a lunar exploration satellite in the chairman's first plan for space conquest. The model of the Unha-9 built next to the stage of the 2012.12.21 ballroom is not rocket model for manned space flight. Chairman Kim Jong Un will carry out a step-by-step implementation of the space conquest plan to launch a manned spacewalk on the new type of carrier rocket Unha-10, which is totally different from the Unha-9 model. It is to be realized in the future. In the 10 years period from 2012 to 2022.

http://www.tongilnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=101028_​




▲ 2. The Unha-IXE2 launcher with the single seater capsule and the first North Korean spacewalk by 2022.





▲ 3. The Unha-X launcher with the dual/three seaters spacecraft.





▲ 4.Modi Ji Rotating The Earth, the only way to perform the first Indian spacewalk before North Korea by 2022!


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## li0nheart

Galactic Penguin SST said:


> The Unha-IXE2 launcher with the single seater capsule and the first North Korean spacewalk by 2022.



Better photoshop by 2022! 

Best luck to all contenders. In the end it is going to be beneficial for whole humankind.

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## Galactic Penguin SST

*France Sparks The First Global Arms Race In Outer Space V1.0*

First edited 3 August 2019; Updated 12 August 2019

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The 1966 Outer Space Treaty
3. Prerequisite for Space to Ground Capabilities
4. The Chain Reaction's Contenders
4.1. The Four Major Space Powers
4.1.1. France
4.1.2. Russia
4.1.3. The U.S.
4.1.4. China
4.2. The Four Minor Space Powers
4.2.1. India, Israel

Part 2

4.2.2. North Korea
4.2.3. Iran
4.3. The Outsider
4.3.1. Japan
5. Conclusion

*1. Introduction*

On 25 July 2019, France's Defence Minister has stated that in order to catch up with the great space powers, Paris would invest 700 millions Euros to deploy high power space based lasers by 2023.

With 2 billions Euros annual budget in space military, France still lags behind the U.S. (50 billions), China (10 billions) and Russia (4 billions).

These offensive weapons would include machine guns to destroy solar panels of approaching enemy spacecrafts, a clear reference to Russia's 2017 Louch-Olympe satellite that was caught marauding near the Franco-Italian Athena-Fidus military communications satellite.

But also laser to destroy enemy spacecrafts' solar pannel and optics. 

Most important, stressing the use of adapative optics, Paris has reveal its intention to give its space assets a true space to ground capability!

To control all these new space platforms constituting a new Space Defence Force, Macron, speaking on 13 July 2019 ahead of Bastille Day celebrations, said that a new dedicated command would be formed in September.

In a chain reaction, sparked by France's decision, all the members of the Elite Club of Space Superpowers are expected to announce the deployment of their own Space to Ground assets within months to come.

*2. The 1966 Outer Space Treaty *

France has ratified the treaty in 1967.

The Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework on international space law, including the following principles:

•the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
Obviously space development was military since day one, even before 1966 and to this day.​•outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;
Obviously, North Korea and Iran, and to a lesser extend China before 2010, are not allowed to benefit from space development by the West.​•States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
Obviously, WMDs are orbiting in outer space, the Soviet FOB nukes being only a very small part of them.​•the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;
Obviously, both the U.S. and Japan have tested kinetic weapons on asteroids.​•States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects;
Obviously, the U.S. never did, hiding behind a convenient craftily fabricated 'Bermuda Triangle' and 'UFO' hoaxes as smoke screens! Nor did China, Russia and Europe for all the rocket stages falling over Cambodia, Brazil, Myanmar, French Polynesia, etc.​•States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.
Obviously, as outer space environment is highly radioactive, nuclear reactors don't really add much radiations!​
In a nutshell, The Outer Space Treaty was and is a total farce from A to Z.

*3. Prerequisite for Space to Ground Capabilities*

Only the top four major space powers of the most elite club of Space to Ground Capable Nations could deploy such assets, that requires the most challenging scientific skills to overcome the numerous technological hurdles.

•Directed Energy Weapons (D.E.W.) such as Lasers must be of no less than several hundreds of kW and up to several MW in output.

•With intensities of several hundreds of kW output, the power generation is key, be it chemical, nuclear or even solar.

•Adaptive Optics (A.O.) are necessary to counter distortions from the atmospheric turbulence.

•To brute-force with several MW power outputs and above will only result in backscattering, ionization and breakdown of the atmospheric molecules. Thus the additional technological solutions needed to circumvent this major hurdle: pulsed laser, etc.

•Large optical aperture are necessary to achieve the resolution required for acquisition and identification of ground targets, and conduct the tracking and the engagement: decametric size.

•The total mass is limited by the payload capacity of the space launchers: above several 20 tons.

•The total volume is also limited by space launchers, therefore space docking capability might be necessary: spacelab size.

•An orbital fleet is necessary to increase the total coverage, especially if 24/7 worldwide coverage is needed: more than 30.

*4. The Chain Reaction's Contenders*

*4.1. The Four Major Space Powers *

*4.1.1. France*

France has conducted research on Adaptive Optics for military applications since the 1986s, and ASAT Lasers for years.

Launched in 14th May 2009, ESA’s Herschel telescope was the largest mirror flown in space. This 3.5 m-diameter reflector was built by the French silicon carbide manufacturer Boostec.

France has a current payload capability of less than 20 tons into LEO with its Arian 5 launchers. Arian 6 will slightly increase it payload to 21 tons by 2021.

France has mastered space docking technologies, and could assemble several modules to form large DEW complex with a total mass under 100 tons.

France has mastered miniaturized nuclear powerplant, such as those used in its submarine fleet. 

France has demonstrated its ability to deploy complex array of military satellites, in the Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) program. In 2021, it will launch the CERES triplets.

700 millions Euros have been allocated for developing space weapons by 2023.

To operate these Space DEW France plans to set up its own space force, the “Air and Space Army,” as part of the French Air Force. The new organization will be based in Toulouse, but it’s not clear if the Air and Space Army will remain part of the French Air Force or become its own service branch.






http://web.archive.org/web/20190803...send-into-space-combat-lasers-why-735x400.jpg ; https://archive.is/pOi8I/f908a34a9aafc8e75fe03bc476c76f32780b43bd.jpg ; https://tech-news.websawa.com/france-plans-to-send-into-space-combat-lasers-why/
▲ 1. France's Space to Ground Laser by 2023, artistic illustration. July 2019. 


*4.1.2. Russia*

As the target of Paris's announcement, Russia is expected to be the first to react, and before the year's end (2019).

More over, Russia inherits from the Soviet-era first DEW platform launched on 15 May 1987, during the maiden flight of the heavy lift launcher Energia.

"Skif-DM" 17F19DM ("Скиф-ДМ" 17Ф19ДМ), disguised under the official name "Polyus", or Mir-2 (Peace-2) Soviet Space Station.

Polyus was the Soviet response to the project "Star Wars" launched by the American president Reagan. It was to be in fact a space combat laser station.

Due to a series of failures of Energia during the launch, Polyus would not enter orbit but crash in the Pacific Ocean.

In the middle of the year 1985 it did not seem difficult to make a spacecraft of 100 tons.

Then it was ordered to be transformed to a spacecraft with a length of almost 37 m and a diameter of 4.1 m weighting nearly 80 t and including 2 principal sections: the small service block, and the larger targeting module.
Fitted with a megawatt-class carbon-dioxide laser, Polyus was covered by an optically black shroud and it was suspected that this may have been radar absorptive as well.

After the failed launch, studies for another space station of 100 tons were then started.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808172426/http://www.buran-energia.net/img/polious-animation.gif ; https://archive.fo/nAMpN/8821cbd4e7d75264f08a388646aa80538e36c047.gif ; http://www.buran.ru/htm/cargo.htm
▲ 2. Launched on 15 May 1987, from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 250, Polyus would have been the core module of the new MIR-2 (Peace-2) Soviet space station. The Polyus military testbed was the first disclosed orbital directed energy platform, fitted with a megawatt-class carbon-dioxide laser.
Polyus was covered by an optically black shroud and it was suspected that this may have been radar absorptive as well.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808175040if_/http://www.buran.ru/images/jpg/skif-16.jpg ; https://archive.fo/GhocZ/a1076e2406430844ff7c29a4373431d3ac029b25.jpg ; http://www.buran.ru/htm/cargo.htm 
▲ 3. Crew docking with Mir-2 (Peace-2) space combat laser station.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808175231if_/http://www.buran.ru/images/jpg/skif-11.jpg ; https://archive.fo/zpXZ7/081a1b22a836de2e5e3b391e96f09c3c479c2cd7.jpg ; http://www.buran.ru/htm/cargo.htm
▲ 4. Mir-2 (Peace-2) space combat laser station engaging an orbital target.

The Soviet Topaz-II power system is a 5-6 kWe space nuclear system that is based on thermionic power conversion.

Its development was curtailed after 1989. As an alternative to chemical lasers, an electric powered laser of the 100s kW or MW class would necessitate to upscale the nuclear plant, or to couple powerful battery banks.

The Araks satellite was the closest, the Soviet space industry came to matching the optical systems of the U.S. military KH-11 Space Telescope and its Hubble civilian equivalent. Launched on June 6th 1997, with a Cassegrain telescope main mirror's diameter of 1.5 meters.


Russia has demonstrated its ability to deploy complex array of military satellites, such as the GLONASS global navigation satellite system (GNSS) program.

Russia no longer operates the Energia launcher. Currently the Proton-M allows to place a 22 tons payload into LEO, and 24.5 tons with the Angara A5.

Several launches would be needed for assembling a DEW complex with a total mass of 100 tons.

To operate these space DEW, the Russian Space Forces have been reestablished following the 1st August 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.
The Russian Space Forces were originally formed on 10th August 1992.


*4.1.3. The U.S.*

The U.S. will mechanically react to the Russian move. Currently the only power to have deployed DEW in earth orbits, the only hurdle will be economic, with more than 22 trillion dollars of debt, making it a virtual beggar, dependent of the Chinese and Japanese financial godsends.

Moreover, the U.S. will continue its *beggar bowl's world tour*, as long as it needs to import Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.) from China and the other R.E.E. exporters of the B.R.I.V.S. (Brazil, Russia, India, Vietnam, South Africa), only to stay afloat in the space arms race.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808...img7/fs/Trumbeggarbowlworltour.1565277584.jpg ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...6/?temp_hash=d774ae55fb03e91fb700ad165d3930f5
▲ 5. With more than 22 trillion dollars of debt, the U.S. will continue its *beggar bowl's world tour*, and as long as it needs to import Rare Earth Elements (R.E.E.) from China. 

The concept of Adaptive Optics (A.O.) was first proposed in a 1953 paper by astronomer Horace Babcock.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the U.S. military and aerospace communities built the first significant adaptive optics systems to target laser on orbiting satellites from the ground.

In the 1973s, the USAF Airborne Laser Laboratory (ALL), a modified NKC-135A aircraft, was the first test platform for airborne High Energy Laser (HEL) research.
Its carbon dioxide gas dynamic laser power output was 480 kW at 10,6 μm, able to direct a heat flux density of 100 W/cm² on a 1 km target, such as AIM-9 missiles and drones.

Lacking an Adaptive Optics system, the ALL was limited by atmospheric turbulence.

In 1984, the Space Based Laser (SBL) program was cancelled due to technological and political difficulties.

With a rang of 4'000 km (up to 12'000 km), a spot size of 0.3 to 1.0 meter at focus, this orbital combat system would have weighted 35 tons and orbited at 800-1'300 km altitude. With an orbit inclination of 40°, giving a coverage per satellite of about a tenth of the earth's surface, thus requiring a 20 satellites configuration for global world coverage.

The 8 meter mirror is segmented so that it can be folded inside a launch vehicle and unfurled in orbit like flower petals.

Its deuterium-fluoride laser at 2.7 mm would have produced an 5-10 MW output.
Ground 100 kW weapons also exist, such as the High Energy Laser Tactical Vehicle Demonstrator (HEL TVD) program managed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command’s (USASMDC/ARSTRAT).

The HEL TVD is designed to counter drones, rockets, artillery, and mortars (C-RAM/UAS).

The high energy laser system represents very low operating costs, as it requires only fuel to complete its mission, with an average cost per kill of approximately $30. There is no ordnance logistics burden, as with conventional weapons.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190722...m/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/hel-tvd_1021.jpg ; https://archive.fo/AjR65/d8dba78f4acb8f449724fc2278da1b53ea7b693e.jpg ; https://defense-update.com/20190515_hel-tvd-2.html
▲ 6. Team Dynetics 100kW-class high energy laser contract for U.S. Army. May 2019 

Of course, these tactical ranges will need to be extended to several hundred of km to several thousand of km, in order to be useful from LEO. The aperture of the optics will also needed to be increased to decametric size. Aperture of 2.4 m optics and above have been orbited such as the Program 1010.

Thus the need of and uprated powerplant. Nuclear energy is the best option for this electric driven laser, keeping in mind that there is no oxygen for fuel generated electricity in earth orbit.

The U.S. fission space reactor SP-100, although cancelled, could provide 100 kW electric power, with as little as 140 kg of Uranium 235, and a reactor mass of 5.42 tons.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190803145518if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/U.1564844096.jpg ; https://archive.fo/czvrr/ea1c7e73d369a58c4fd9ea4022d375b43d2e88d4.jpg 
▲ 7. The U.S. SP-100 fission space reactor can generate 100 kW electric power. 

In comparison, the four sets of arrays of the International Space Station (I.S.S.) are capable of generating 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity. Each of the eight solar arrays is 112 feet long by 39 feet wide. A solar array's wingspan of 240 feet (73 meters).

The Falcon-Heavy can deliver payloads of 63 tons into LEO. Payload fairing can house a payload of 12 m long 4.6 m diameter cylinder with 5 more meters on top but with decreased conical diameter thus totalling 17 m.

Enough for any large truck-sized DEW module.

The U.S. has demonstrated its ability to deploy complex array of military satellites, such as the NOSS triplets and the GPS global navigation satellite system (GNSS) program.

To operate these space DEW, under the proposal approved by President Trump in May 2019, the U.S. Space Force would be organized under the Department of the Air Force.


*4.1.4. China*

Under the U.S. unveiled threats, in response, China would have no other option but to place its own fleet of DEW into space.

Wang Ganchang is the founder of Chinese laser fusion technology. In 1964 the Shanghai Optical Machinery Institute (上海光机所) developed a high-power 10 MW output laser. As an advocate of nuclear energy, he made with four nuclear experts in October 1978 the proposition to develop China's nuclear power.

In March 3rd, 1986, Wang Ganchang, Wang Dayan, Yang Jiachi and Chen Fangyun first proposed in a letter (《关于跟踪世界战略性高科技发展的建议》) to the Chinese government to launch researches covering lasers, microwaves, and electromagnetic pulse weapons. The plan would be adopted in November of that year under the code name Project 863 (“863计划”).

China has produced several examples of road-mobile laser weapons.
The Silent Hunter 30-100kW vehicle-based laser weapon system has a maximum range of 4km. Its laser beam can cut through a 5mm steel sheet from 1km away, or five layers of 2mm steel sheets from 800m away, according to its developer China Poly Technologies. It was first unveiled at the South African Air Show in 2016.

For Space to Ground missions, the ranges and powers will need to be uprated several fold.

The Gaofen-3 SAR satellite's solar pannels, made of triple-junction Gallium-Arsenide cells delivers a peak power of 15 kW. That is far below the several 100 kW required. The use of a nuclear powerplant might though not be necessary if powerful battery banks are used.
Chinese companies such as Shenzhen's BYD are already world leaders in producing batteries with higher discharge rates needed for accelerations in electric bus and with one charge lasting almost 300kms or a full day’s operation.

China has also stated that it will develop and launch the Xuntian (巡天) Space Telescope with a two-meter-diameter main mirror, co-orbiting with the country's first space station, and dock with it for refueling as well as maintenance and exchange, around 2020.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808.../2018-06/04/xuntian-cmsa-weibo-lin-xiaoyi.jpg ; https://archive.fo/iZfi4/239daa0174a26c89007e4b8660fc6ce696a38f0a.jpg 
▲ 8. China's Xuntian (巡天) Space Telescope with a two-meter-diameter primary mirror.

China has produced the world largest aspheric mirror for primarily space military applications: "such a [space platform] can be used to observe low earth orbit satellites of other countries and to [identify, track and target their] missile launches."
The 4.03-meter diameter mirror with a mass of 1.6 tonnes is made of silicon carbide (SiC) by the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808...tive/city/20180821/W020180821598981263327.png ; https://archive.is/bx8qA/7e47a16d76ebbd865cb25370d3dbe349d5711449.png ; http://news.cnr.cn/native/city/20180821/W020180821598981263327.png ; http://news.cnr.cn/native/city/20180821/t20180821_524338099.shtml ; https://lt.cjdby.net/thread-2494272-1-1.html ; http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0...8-23/578fd340-828c-499a-b24a-79b72daee939.jpg 
▲ 9. The high-precision silicon carbide aspheric mirror with a diameter of 4.03 meters developed by the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the largest single-crystal silicon carbide mirror in the world. 2018-08-21 

According to some source, China's Gaofen-11 surveillance satellite's telescope has a 1.8 meter diameter aperture primary mirror. The same technology for coating the telescope primary mirror with protected aluminium layer could be used for 2.4 meter diameter aperture mirrors.

The research and development on Adaptive Optics (AO) in China began in 1979. In 1980, the first laboratory on AO in China was established in the Institute of Optics and Electronics (IOE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

In May 2016, the Institute of Optronics Technology of the Chinese Academy of Science has tested an Adaptive Optics key technology for a 1.8 meter diameter aperture telescope. In closed-loop, the resolution has reached 1.7 times the diffraction limit.

Therefore, this major breakthrough has been awarded the first prize of the National Invention Prize For National Defence 2017. This Adaptive Optics has then been tested onboard the Chang'e 5-T1 lunar probe, allowing to achieve a lunar ground resolution of 0.97 meter.


By 2020, China's CZ-504 space launcher will have a payload capability of 25 tons in LEO.

China has already mastered rendez-vous and space docking with its Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 program.

Several launches would be needed for assembling a DEW complex with a total mass of under 100 tons.

By 2030, the CZ-9 SLV would allow payload of 140 tons in LEO.

China has demonstrated its ability to deploy complex array of military satellites, such as the YAOGAN triplets, and the BEIDOU global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

China has no dedicated Space Force, contradicting Japanese RUMINT. But this will be the case once a fleet of space DEWs starts to be launched into orbit.

Thus the pole position for China in initiating the space breakaway.

*4.2. The Four Minor Space Powers *

Behind the lead peloton, the gruppetto is a goup of minor players who have to cooperate and assist one another in order to stay in the global arms space race and avoid the elimination.

Currently, none of these nations have mastered all the prerequisite key technologies needed to deploy space to ground DEWs.

*4.2.1. India, Israel*

As India is always hell-bent in trying to catch up with some giant northern neighbour, be it with the ASAT weapon, the manned program, the lunar lander, and the space laboratory, it is highly expected that Bharat will also try very hard to deploy its own directed energy space to ground platforms.

As Israel is already at the forefront among the nations that have developed anti-ballistic missile weapons, space to ground DEW would naturally be of great strategic importance as the next layer in countering hostile incoming ballistic missiles. 

Israel's space launch vehicle Shavit can not place payload above a few hundreds of kg into LEO. Therefore, it outsources all its space launches abroad, especially in India.

India lacks advanced technological capabilities and Israel is one of its providers. In turn, what Israel lacks in developing capabilities, it simply siphons them overseas, be it in the E.U., Russia and mostly at the source, in the U.S.

The recent Indian ASAT test exemplifies this Israeli outsourcing. Originated in the U.S. and tested in India.

The Kinetic Kill Vehicle's onboard advanced terminal guidance system, featured a strap-down (non-gimballed) imaging infrared (IIR) seeker and an inertial navigation system that used ring-laser gyroscopes (RLGs).

A seeker presenting similarities with the Israeli's Arrow-3 kill vehicle one (gimballed).





http://web.archive.org/web/20190806...su/img/img7/fs/D3e9HEAWwAAgV0B.1565104030.jpg ; https://archive.fo/gRpVd/2b0ad162f63174aeafbb23f9b8eeb2221d1abaa1.jpg ;
http://web.archive.org/web/20190810...t-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?t=7705&start=600; https://youtu.be/KRs79t6z7fc?t=81 
▲ 10. Indian ASAT KKV's Infrared Imaging Radar (IIR) seeker.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190806151713if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/ISRAELARROW-3.1565104618.jpg ; https://archive.fo/gecjp/6211d20a5fce7c5088a1470933d8ab05edbd1f66.jpg 
▲ 11. Israeli's Arrow-3 kill vehicle IIR seeker. Exhibition mockup. 

India's LASTEC has also developed a 10kW Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) and is working on developing a 30-100 kW vehicle-mounted COIL system. It is also developing a “gas dynamic high power laser-based DEW” called ‘Aditya’ project.

Two DRDO laboratories — Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences (CHESS) and Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC) — are currently working on developing the source for generating a fiber laser.

At present, the source of the fiber laser, which is the “heart of the system”, is imported from Germany.

High power microwave (HPM) device from DRDO have delivered output power of 4 MW at a frequency of 3.26GHz.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190806154039if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/Untitled13.1565106022.jpg ; https://archive.fo/oVoRE/049deaa484418b4fd0db64b55dade22d96fd2b90.jpg ; https://www.******************/foru...d-the-anti-satellite-asat-missile.2890/page-6
▲ 12. HPM device from DRDO have delivered output power of 4 MW.


India's GSLV Mk III space launcher can place 8 tons payload into 600 km LEO, 4 tons into GTO. The payload fairing is 5 meters in diameter.

The lack of payload capability can only be circumvented by developing rendez-vous and docking technologies. Several launches would be needed for assembling a DEW complex with a total mass of under 100 tons.

The planned Indian Space Station is envisaged to weigh 20 tonnes and serve as a facility where astronauts can stay for 15-20 days, and it would be placed in an orbit 400 km above earth. The time frame for launch is 5-7 years after Gaganyaan (AUG 2022).

It would be similar to the Salyut Space Laboratory with two modules.

To support the Indian Space Station program, docking technologies will be develop with an orbital platform (PS4-OP), made of the last stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.





https://archive.fo/goM7Z/fe8ee905d3127047356e91d76c052a601f2370e2.png ; https://i.imgur.com/6Boz6It.png 
▲ 13. The 20 tons Indian Space Station, made of two modules. 

India has only demonstrated its ability to deploy regional array of 8 military satellites, with the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), but might expand it to a global constellation of 24 satellites (GINS), with the help of Israel.


----------



## Galactic Penguin SST

*France Sparks The First Global Arms Race In Outer Space Part 2 V1.0 *


*4.2.2. North Korea*

North Korea has hinted that it was involved in DEW researches.

This included a possible North Korean-Iranian Neutrino-Antineutrino annihilation at the Z0 Pole counter nuclear weapon, along more conventional laser.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190319....com/content/photo/2016/20160304-kp-01-10.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/save/http://www.dprktoday.com/index.php?type=42&no=1964 ; http://www.xici.net/d228225918.htm 
▲ 14. First hint at the Iranian-DPRK Directed Energy Counter Nuclear Weapon Program. 주체105(2016)년 3월 4일 





http://web.archive.org/web/20190319...lickr.com/5/4885/31487803767_7c98fddf26_b.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20190810170025/https://www.flickr.com/photos/arirangmeari/31487803767/ 
▲ 15. DPRK's Directed Energy Program. Uploaded on December 23, 2018. 

But what makes North Korea very special is its top position among rare earth minerals producers.

No need to add that such laser research can not be conducted without a sufficient reserve of rare earth minerals, the sine qua non prerequisite in high energy physics.

Indeed, North Korea's 216 million tonne Jongju deposit, theoretically worth trillions of dollars, would more than double the current global known resource of REE oxides which according to the US Geological Survey is pegged at 110 million tonnes.

This amounts to five times that of China's, the current world's first rare earth minerals exporter. Making *Kim Jong Un*'s Korea the military powerhouse the most likely to first succeed in developing and fielding such a new class of DEWs.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190808143653if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/DPRKREE2017.1565274981.jpg ; https://archive.fo/MBc1n/28d86faf1fb8d02780b261f10fc76447dc82cb0c.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20190404...7/?temp_hash=2bc8a8e641ac0d14fc258c0fd24bc06c ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...7/?temp_hash=2bc8a8e641ac0d14fc258c0fd24bc06c 
▲ 16. First world's reserve of Rare Earth Elements in the DPRK.

To power the electric driven lasers, miniaturized nuclear reactors might be envisaged. North Korea is known to have started the development of several type of miniaturized nuclear reactors. One of them should provide the electric power for its 10,000-ton-class strategic submarines (SSBN) program disclosed in 2014.

Of course, naval nuclear reactors, though powerful, are too massive to be launched into space.

Another one should be airborne.

Very little is known about the existence of the North Korean space telescope project.

There is only a small possible hint in the media of this space telescope, an equivalent of the Iranian Space Research Center's one.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190805...s/DPRKSpaceTelescope30APR20191.1565018018.jpg ; https://archive.fo/d0cjD/5c1b5219163fe532134d1d4df4656af875583456.jpg ;
[특집] 래일을 보다 "Look at the rails" (Chosun Central TV), Published on Apr 29, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-BPdkWxug, https://vk.com/wall469579262_7495?z=video469579262_456243491%2F11d09bede16c0d1cee%2Fpl_post_469579262_7495 
▲ 17. At T=11mn38s: Illustration of a Space Telescope. 29 April 2019 KCTV Video

So far, North Korea has tested the second stage of its future Unha-9 space launcher. Under the official name of Hwasong-15 ICBM, on November 2017. 
The payload capability should be 1 tons in GEO and 3 tons in GEO for its heavy version. That is similar to the Indian GSLV Mk III space launcher that can place 8 tons payload into LEO (see below the Safir-3).

But North Korea has plan for a more powerful launcher, able to place 20 tons into LEO: the Unha-20.

An image dated from 15th April 2017 has disclosed three generations of North Korean space launchers: the KWANGMYONGSONG SLV aka Unha-4, an Unha-9 and the mysterious Unha-20.





http://web.archive.org/web/20170717...lickr.com/3/2864/33667839040_0d52f66cc6_b.jpg ; https://archive.is/B1b6w/4a5e44874af30c2218f377fe13b8f4b9957388e4.jpg ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...1/?temp_hash=d93afcf6c9127c9cfefd609a077d6185 ; https://www.flickr.com/photos/uriminzok/33667839040/
▲ 18. One image, three generations of North Korean space launchers. Center: notice the KWANGMYONGSONG SLV aka Unha-4 represented left of a huge (meaning at least twice the size) Unha-9 SLV. Unha-20 are pillar-sized! April 15, 2017 picture. 





http://web.archive.org/web/20190324234320if_/https://i.imgur.com/YJeN7HI.jpg ; https://archive.fo/8MUj0/5746e1eeabd68c89d76db3e1acc6dd6bb97af820.jpg ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...7/?temp_hash=70fc9b1656a500388ff26bb0f6ad1834 
▲ 19. Artistic representation of the North Korean Unha launchers family, 2019. Outdated as of Mid-February 2019. 





http://web.archive.org/web/20190322...a/10153/upfile/201508/2015081018133853753.jpg ; https://archive.fo/dFIP1/2096407b4d304bd99c1a5d2f1edb6a13f83079d2.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20190807...rd/bbs/view.html?b_bbs_id=10158&pn=1&num=4648 
▲ 20. North Korean sea-launched Unha-20: the only way to launch commercial satellites. 2015-08-10 18:19:10 

Very little is known about the existence of the North Korean space laboratory project. Since the DPRK has disclosed its manned space program, such a space laboratory is the only viable option to justify a long term human presence in space. The size should be similar to the Indian's space laboratory, itself similar to the Soviet-era Salyut.

Pictures of a future North Korean launcher have been revealed for more than two decades now, similar to the Soviet-era Energia heavy-lift partially recoverable launch system designed for a variety of payloads including the Buran spacecraft.

But only a few have noticed the meaning above the space launcher of a small space laboratory!





http://web.archive.org/web/20190807...f73cd55d704a5004ae2cadeae5f886.1565187217.jpg ; https://archive.fo/MkKk4/befb910e5bf73cd55d704a5004ae2cadeae5f886.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20190807...20&fit=max&s=5fabfe40cb132853b16ac06a67966e0f ; https://archive.fo/9rxQ3/befb910e5bf73cd55d704a5004ae2cadeae5f886 ; https://charliecrane.com/portfolio/welcome-to-pyongyang ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...3/?temp_hash=c4697492aaa386b6172c2c1cf3a0ecfa 
▲ 21. North Korean Space shuttle model in the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren’s Palace that was opened in 1989. Notice the space laboratory. 

Three decades later, a crude model was again displayed, on the occasion of the National Youth Science Fiction Literature and Model Exhibition 2018, in June.
The orbital manned spacecraft seems powered by two pair of solar panels, linked to a cylindrical module that shows 3 portholes.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190807...lickr.com/2/1755/42507168321_2890520ea0_b.jpg ; https://archive.fo/tWv4n/f14da7d8064b1671c0c0ce5317f49d8ad97d068a.jpg ; https://www.flickr.com/photos/dprktoday/42507168321/ ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...4/?temp_hash=e4a69666c2d20d594c3587b699925220 ; 전국소년과학환상문예작품 및 모형전시회-2018》 개막_3 ; Uploaded on June 2, 2018 
▲ 22. National Youth Science Fiction Literature and Model Exhibition 2018: published on 2 June 2018, a depiction of a North Korean orbital manned spacecraft, powered by two pair of solar panels, linked to a cylindrical module that shows 3 portholes.

This indicates that North Korea would have to develop rendez-vous and docking technologies.

Several launches of Unha-20 would be needed for assembling a DEW complex with a total mass of under 100 tons.

Once North Korea succeeds in the development of its geostationary communication satellites, it will start building its own GPS system.

This first step is essential, and the experience would allow to later place into orbit an entire arrary of DEWs complex with global world coverage.

*4.2.3. Iran*

North Korea has hinted that it was involved in DEW researches with Iran.

This included a possible North Korean-Iranian Neutrino-Antineutrino annihilation at the Z0 pole counter nuclear weapon, along more conventional laser.

To power the electric driven lasers, miniaturized nuclear reactors might be envisaged. Iran is known to have started the development of miniaturized nuclear reactors. It should provide the electric power for its 10,000-ton-class strategic submarines (SSBN) program disclosed in 2012.

Iran has disclosed discussion on a 3 meter Class Telescope with Adaptive Optics for its National Observatory Program (2011).

The Iranian Space Research Center's Orbital Telescope is a project in its early stages. The feasibility and needs assessment study of this project was carried out.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190805150156if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/image17.1565017296.jpg ; https://archive.fo/Hgfzf/1ae8342e4b2a9782018bbaac9ccad4485aec46a6.jpg ; https://isrc.ac.ir/getattachment/پژوهشکده-ها/مرکز-فضایی-ایران/image17.jpg ; https://isrc.ac.ir/en-US/پژوهشکده-ها/مرکز-فضایی-ایران ; http://archive.fo/T9L7L 
▲ 23. Iran's Orbital Telescope.

Iran's Communication Satellite Developing Plan 2026 of the Iranian Space Research Center (I.S.R.C.) has revealed its future space launcher's payload capabilities:

• Nahid-1, 50 Kg, LEO, Safir-1 SLV
• Nahid-2, < 100 Kg, LEO, Safir-2 SLV
• IRANSAT-1, 1 ton, GEO, Safir-3A SLV
• IRANSAT-2, 3 tons, GEO, Safir-3C SLV 





http://web.archive.org/web/20190801104910if_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVw4DqgXUAEOXQg.jpg ; https://archive.fo/TVRNZ/e148f10050430ae9d3e72e3606acc85cb88610a6.jpg ; https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVw4DqgXUAEOXQg.jpg:large
▲ 24. Iran's roadmap for communication satellites. From official presentation of the Iranian Space Research Center.

The existence of an even more powerful heavy space launcher, able to place 20 tons into LEO, has also been revealed, the Safir-4.

An Iranian version of the North Korean Heavy-Lift Space Launcher Unha-20 has figured prominently in a huge graphic that was displayed during January 2019 in Tehran's Valiasr Square. The billboard was running in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190322040402if_/http://ipic.su/img/img7/fs/proxy_006.1553224298.jpg ; https://archive.fo/LlgII/ff65c5e613f4e6fa6117675b60d31c2b1e1ec5e1.jpg ; http://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/f...es.wordpress.com/2019/01/ddacv.jpg?quality=85 ; https://media.mehrnews.com/d/2019/01/05/4/3004791.jpg; https://www.mehrnews.com/news/4504592/رونمایی-از-جدیدترین-دیوارنگاره-میدان-ولیعصر-با-موضوع-جوانان ; رونمایی از جدیدترین دیوارنگاره میدان ولیعصر با موضوع جوانان ;
▲ 25. 17 January 2019. Note that Shahid Hajj General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the father of Iran's space program is depicted bringing a treasure trove of [North Korean] blueprints to his fellow countrymen! 

Iran has also plan for launching array of satellites, such as the Navigational Satellite System disclosed in 2011.

But the similarities with North Korea ends here. As North Korea has accessed the status of nuclear state, sanctioned by the recent visit of an incumbent U.S President to North Korea on 1st July 2019.

As for Iran, there is an 70 years old rule that causes the destruction or overthrow of any nation and leader of the Middle East by the U.S., should they reach the nuclear arms threshold, thus breaking the Israeli regional nuclear monopoly.

Iran (the constitutional monarchy), Iraq, Libya, Syria were only the first.

Not allowed to reach the nuclear state status, it is even less likely that the U.S. would tolerate an Iran with DEW orbiting the earth, able to strike Israel and Saudi Arabia without mentioning anywhere in the U.S. mainland, and all the U.S.' space assets.

*4.3. The Outsider*

Great powers that have been defeated at the end of the Second World War are excluded from the 1945 new world order.

No place for the ex-Axis powers in the U.N. permanent security council, the Elite Nuclear Club, Elite ASAT Club, or the Elite Manned Spacefaring Club.

That is at least in theory, as Japan, under the connivence and patronage of its U.S. overlord has effectively demonstrated both ICBM, ASAT and nuclear military capabilities.

Thus one should be aware that Japan could ounce again become an unofficial space DEW power anytime in the years to come.

*4.3.1. Japan*

The Empire of Japan was the first to develop anti-air high power microwave weapons during the Pacific war.
Nippon Radio Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. has developped in 1939 the world’s first cavity magnetron, with punched positive copper pole, 10cm wave length and 500W power.

Research on microwave weapons（く号兵器） started on December 1936 at the Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Laboratory (陸軍登戸研究所).

Research on artificial lightning generator weapons（ら号兵器） by irradiating the sky with high intensity ultraviolet beams and ionization of the air, started on April 1938.





https://archive.fo/V3GBA/dbc7cfa97f1e5490153ce6edb84da7aba5a5a1a0.jpg ; https://i.imgur.com/qvRoak6.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20170116...ge/1e/61/9027d3d1f5dadf4dfaf12bdacce7602d.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20190810...ruribo0209/e/ae4059113f5cd2242b85e3735eec3db7 ; https://archive.fo/Vyo4N 
▲ 26. Noborito Lab 9th Institute museum: some of the various directed energy weapons (microwave, UV, IR, Ultra sound, etc) and other automated/remote-controlled platforms research. 

Anti-Aircraft EMF weapons rely on air ionization and breakup, that occurs with an EMF frequency of 9.37GHz, the peak power up to 200kW, pulse width from 0.3 to 2.0μs.

Second Naval Technology Factory Ushio Laboratory ruins (第二海軍技術廠牛尾実験所遺跡)

Coordinates:
34°51'23.8"N, 138°07'44.6"E
34.856607°N, 138.129065°E

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...32m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en

Note: The site and all the concrete ruins have been removed circa February 28, 2015.





https://archive.fo/0GLgP/d0db040b4cbc3ca6bc0fb4df2f199566ea993c5e.jpg ; https://i.imgur.com/70HuDKy.jpg 
▲ 27. Second Naval Technology Factory Ushio Laboratory ruins (第二海軍技術廠牛尾実験所遺跡)

Shimada Laboratory was dedicated to research on "death ray" during the war.

After the Battle of Midway, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto advocated the need to develop new revolutionary weaponry. The "death ray" project was launched around June to August 1942. Construction work started around May 1943. With staff member of 1,457 people and 60 researchers.

Original plan was first to increase the ouptut power of the ultra-high frequency from the kW to hundreds of kW.

Nuclear power generator was expected to be used.

The basic design has been completed in 1944 around September, but it did not reach the stage of practical application, with a high-frequency radio wave output of 50kW using a 10 meters diameter parabolic reflector.

The whole project ended unfinished.





http://web.archive.org/web/20170116...or.blogimg.jp/shizuokak/imgs/8/a/8a60fe44.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20160607072856/http://blog.livedoor.jp/shizuokak/archives/4794187.html ; https://archive.is/0rUGw 
▲ 28. Very rare image of the 10 meters diameter parabolic reflector 50 kW output High-frequency radio wave. 昭和25年1月





▲ 29. The first excavation is expected to be conducted on the ruins of the "powerful radio wave weapon" developed by the former Navy. Published on Aug 14, 2013

As for the Imperial Japanese Navy, it began a nuclear propulsion for ships' feasibility study under the direction of Captain Yōji Itō at the Navy Technical Research Institute around January 1942.

Itō assembled a panel of experts, designated the “Committee for Research on the Application of Nuclear Physics (B-Research),”and invited Nishina to serve as chair.

The committee met ten or more times until March 1943, when the panel of experts concluded that Japan could not develop a nuclear weapon in time for the war. Itō disbanded the committee and turned his attention to developing *electron weapons*, including a “death ray.”

Therefore, to bypass the inherent limitations cause by atmospheric air ionization and breakup that caused a tremendous loss of power and limited the useful range of all electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) DEW to under several hundreds of meters to a few kilometers, the Empire of Japan started from 1943 to investigate DEW produced by particle accelerators (cyclotrons).

Nishina laboratory at RIKEN (Institute for Physical and Chemical Research) was the first to study electron-decaying particles for DEW, called Uchūsen weapons (宇宙線兵器).

On November 1944, the Empire of Japan started the launch of the world's first intercontinental weapons system.

With a wave of 9'300 transpacific fūsen bakudan (風船爆弾) or "windly vessel" sent 10'000 km away toward North America.

The program is known as Fu-Go (ふ号兵器), and the new platforms surf the powerful Kamikaze (神風: Divine Wind) stratospheric current (called afterwards jet streams in the West) that were discovered by Wasaburo Ooishi back in 1924, thus far above enemy interceptors altitude.

Conventional explosives alone were not enough for the Empire of Japan to defeat the U.S. and other Allies.

But DEW intercontinental stratospheric FUGOs would. As announced by the official Nipponese Domei news agency and reported on Monday 4th June 1945, large scale attacks with crewed gigantic stratospheric airships were to be expected soon!

One major hurdle was the imperative need to be able to weaponize an airborne particle accelerator reaching the threshold of >300 MeV to 500 MeV for protons/deuterons beam, needed to produce the first usefull class of electron-decaying particles.
The overall size and mass of the cyclotron, with the electromagnet alone weighting 220 tons, should have imperatively needed to be shrinked.
A more compact design, while able to reach even higher energy level could have been possible with the replacement of the single massive electromagnet at the core of Nishina's cyclotron, with several smaller and more powerfull magnets for bending the particle beams, while acceleration would have been produced by radiofrequency cavities (synchrocyclotron).


Today's post-WWII State of Japan has already mastered many of the prerequisites needed to place DEWs into space.

Its H-IIA can place 10 tons in LEO, the HIIB can place 16.5 tons into 410 km LEO.
The State of Japan has mastered rendez-vous and docking with its Kibo manned space module as well as KOUNOTORI unmanned cargo.

The State of Japan has already launched array of satellites such as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) for its satellite-based augmentation system. From 4 satellites in 2018, the number will be increased to 7 satellites by 2024.

The State of Japan has mastered Adaptive Optics, such as the AO 188 Elements of the Subaru Telescope.

The State of Japan has studied fabrication process for large aperture lightweight silicon carbide mirror for space telescope.

The State of Japan has proposed placing 3.5 meters large aperture mirror space telescope into space.

The State of Japan is pursuing the development of high-output military laser.

*5. Conclusion*

By 2030, China forecasted with $64.2 trillion GDP (PPP), will lead the world, far ahead of India's second place with only $46.3 trillion, and more than double of the U.S.' $31 trillion at the third place.

Meanwhile, far behind with $7.9 trillion Russia will only rank 8th, along Japan's 9th place with $7.2 trillion. 

While it is expected that in this coming decade, China will take the leading position in deploying an array of orbital DEW, by 2030, North Korea as China's best pupil should be able to catch up. An unified Korea under *Kim Jong Un* would easily match the Japanese's GDP.

All the other powers will have difficulties, due to lack of funding and lack of access to strategic rare earth raw materials.





http://web.archive.org/web/20190401024051if_/https://i.imgur.com/IIM2jia.jpg ; https://archive.fo/IHwzR/7b51a53273a60191dcaf3af219acc286d0c640d8.jpg ; https://i.imgur.com/IIM2jia.jpg ; https://defence.pk/pdf/attachments/...8/?temp_hash=886a8c3db40055848f83bf9e51e8b9d7 
▲ 30. The Great Powers of the Next World Order: Pole Position for the DPRK in the space DEW arms race, key game-changer for opening-up the dawn of the Pax Coreana.


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## GreenLightning

Gotta give credit where it's due, kudos to ISRO they really did a good job India's space program . But I can assure you, us Pakistanis will catch up soon.

Reactions: Like Like:
1


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## Ultima Thule

GreenLightning said:


> Gotta give credit where it's due, kudos to ISRO they really did a good job India's space program . But I can assure you, us Pakistanis will catch up soon.


Not soon most likely after 20 year from today, if Pakistan will able improve its economy in massive scale, get out of your wishful thinking bro @GreenLightning


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## GreenLightning

pakistanipower said:


> Not soon most likely after 20 year from today, if Pakistan will able improve its economy in massive scale, get out of your wishful thinking bro @GreenLightning


Soon is a relative term. We are putting our first astronaut in space in 2022, I don't want to debate on how we will go about doing that but, the process itself will trigger the revival of our space program.


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## Ultima Thule

GreenLightning said:


> Soon is a relative term. We are putting our first astronaut in space in 2022, I don't want to debate on how we will go about doing that but, the process itself will trigger the revival of our space program.


most likely after 2035, If our economy goes in right direction,first astronaut, on which rocket Chinese may be on Russian rocket, Space frontier is most difficult arena to research & development of Rockets and other related fields need lots of money, Sending astronauts by other countries rockets is easy job, there is lots of astronauts/cosmonauts from the third world countries already went to space, even Indonesia send its astronaut to ISS @GreenLightning


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## GreenLightning

pakistanipower said:


> most likely after 2035, If our economy goes in right direction,first astronaut, on which rocket Chinese may be on Russian rocket, Space frontier is most difficult arena to research & development of Rockets and other related fields need lots of money, Sending astronauts by other countries rockets is easy job, there is lots of astronauts/cosmonauts from the third world countries already went to space, even Indonesia send its astronaut to ISS @GreenLightning


It depends on what our goal is, but 2035 seems a bit too off if we're talking about sending satellites and humans into space, with the progression in space travel technology that we're looking at, it will gradually get much much more cheaper to put a person into orbit. Looking beyond that, landing on the moon for example, will take time.


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## Ultima Thule

GreenLightning said:


> It depends on what our goal is, but 2035 seems a bit too off if we're talking about sending satellites and humans into space, with the progression in space travel technology that we're looking at, it will gradually get much much more cheaper to put a person into orbit. Looking beyond that, landing on the moon for example, will take time.


Firs you need to develop education and industrial base for space exploration, first we could launch satellites from our own LV (LAUNCH VEHICLE) which take time to built at least 5 year, second launch of person from our own launch vehicle takes more time 5 year or more to develop these complex techs and last moon landing more coplex then rest of the 2, first we need to concentrate on education/ industries which supports our space program @GreenLightning


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## GreenLightning

pakistanipower said:


> Firs you need to develop education and industrial base for space exploration, first we could launch satellites from our own LV (LAUNCH VEHICLE) which take time to built at least 5 year, second launch of person from our own launch vehicle takes more time 5 year or more to develop these complex techs and last moon landing more coplex then rest of the 2, first we need to concentrate on education/ industries which supports our space program @GreenLightning


Exactly


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## RPK

Fisherman fish out rocket booster parts


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## Galactic Penguin SST

*IRS-P3*

IRS-P3 was launched by PSLV-D3 on March 21, 1996 from SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India. IRS-P3 carries two remote sensing payloads - Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) similar to that of IRS-1C, with an additional Short Wave Infrared Band (SWIR) and a Modular Opto-electronic Scanner (MOS). It also carries an X-ray astronomy payload and a C-band transponder for radar calibration.

Mission completed during January 2006 after serving 9 years and 10 months.



Mission : Remote sensing of earth's natural resources. Study of X-ray Astronomy. Periodic calibration of PSLV tracking radar located at tracking stations.
Weight : 920 kg
onboard power : 817 Watts
Communication : S-band
Stabilization : Three axis body stabilized
RCS : Combinations of bladder type and surface tension type mass expulsion monopropellant hydrazine system
Payload : WideField Sensor (WiFS), Modular Opto - electronic Scanner (MOS), Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE), C-band transponder(CBT)
Launch date : March 21, 1996
Launch site : SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, India
Launch vehicle : PSLV-D3
Orbit : 817 km. Circular polar sun-synchronous with equatorial crossing at 10.30 am (descending node)
Inclination : 98.68o
Repetivity : WiFS : 5 days
Mission completed during : January 2006


*__________________________*


IRS-P3 (Indian Remote-Sensing Satellite-P3)

IRS-P3 is an ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) experimental EO (Earth Observation) mission, a follow-up mission to IRS-P2, considered to be preoperational and serving in parallel for technology evaluation and scientific methodology studies. A portion of the payload is provided by DLR (German Aerospace Center) in the framework of a cooperative agreement between ISRO and DLR. In addition, DLR provides data reception support (Neustrelitz) and launch phase support. The objectives of the mission are:

• Technological test of the PSLV launch vehicle

• Scientific remote sensing applications and algorithm development based on joint interpretation of MOS and WiFS data

• Preoperational test of data processing and algorithm concepts

• Radioastronomy experiments using the X-ray payload

Spacecraft:

The IRS-P3 spacecraft structure is of IRS-P2 heritage. The bus design consists of four vertical panels and two horizontal decks supported on a central load-bearing cylinder of 930 mm diameter and 1188 mm height. The payload is accommodated on the outer side of the upper deck, it is oriented in flight direction. The onboard power generation is achieved by a pair of deployable, sun-tracking, uncanted solar panels (9.636 m2), which generates a power of 873 W. Two NiCd batteries (21 Ah/24 Ah) cater to the eclipse and peak load demands.

The S/C is three-axis stabilized. The AOCS employs Earth sensors, sun sensors and dynamically tuned gyros as attitude sensors; actuation is provided by reaction wheels, magnetic torquers and an RCS (Reaction Control System). An Earth pointing accuracy of better than 0.20º in all axes and better than 0.05º in all axes for stellar pointing (X-ray observation mode) is provided. In addition to these attitude sensors, AOCS also employs a star sensor in control loop in order to maintain the attitude during stellar pointing mode. The star sensor is an area array CCD imager of 288 x 384 pixels (FOV of 6º x 8º). It works as a star tracker with respect to a set of optical stars, identified a priori in conjunction with the X-ray package. The star sensor is mounted on positive roll axis and co-aligned with the X-ray payload's optical axis. When the spacecraft is inertially oriented and locked to a specified X-ray source, the star sensor works in a static mode. Therefore, the star sensor always locks to a specific scene about the roll axis. 1) 2)

Total S/C mass = 922 kg, a hydrazine propulsion system (84 kg of fuel sufficient for three years) with 16 thrusters is used for orbit maintenance.

Launch: A launch of IRS-P3 took place on March 21, 1996 on an ISRO PSLV-D3 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-Developmental flight 3) launcher from SHAR (Sriharikota Range), India, a launch site on India's east coast, representing the second successful test launch of PSLV. 3)

Orbit: Sun-synchronous circular orbit, altitude = 817 km, inclination = 98.7º, repeat cycle = 24 days, period = 101.35 min, local equatorial crossing at 10:30 hours on a descending node.

RF communications: The TT&C-system is operating in S-band with PCM/FSK/FM/PM modulation. The telemetry system uses PCM/PSK modulation in S-band (2203 MHz). The payload data is transmitted in S-band (2280 MHz) with BPSK modulation at a data rate of 5.2 Mbit/s. The spacecraft features in addition a C-band transponder (CBT) which acts as a dynamic target for calibrating PCMC (Precision Coherent Monopulse C-band) radars, supporting the Indian launches.

MOS instrument science data are being received at the following ground stations:: Hyderabad (ISRO, India), Neustrelitz (DLR, Germany), Maspalomas (ESA, Spain - since 1998), Wallops Island (NASA, USA - since April 1999).

Mission status:

Mission operations of the spacecraft at ISRO were terminated in the fall of 2004. The operational life of the spacecraft represented more than twice the design life of 3 years.

• In the fall of 2003, IRS-P3 encountered increasing energy problems (insufficient electrical power) and also orbit maintenance problems (the equatorial crossing time moved into the early morning hours between 8 and 9 AM).

• The contracts for MOS data reception (DLR, ESA, and NASA) were terminated for the end of 2003, this meant also the near end for MOS instrument operations.

• There were only sporadic MOS data receptions in 2004 (for instance, ESA had its last MOS data reception in March of 2004). DLR declared the final end of MOS operations as of May 31, 2004. ISRO continued operations of the IRS-P3 spacecraft until the fall of 2004. 4)





http://archive.is/V69Fl/6eb772463fea577965ef12061339aeb48244fd12.jpg ; https://archive.is/V69Fl/bd23946713e16a75469c3d990cd608301adf4537/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200624...0-b48b21191bf2&groupId=163813&t=1338992697541 
▲ 1. The IRS-P3 spacecraft during pre-launch tests. 


*__________________________*

History of On-orbit Satellite Fragmentations, 15th Edition - NTRS

4 July 2018

Orbital Debris Program Office

Since the 14th edition (information cut-off date of 1 August 2007, published in June 2008) there have been 41 identified on-orbit breakups and 18 anomalous events (new or discerned), for a historical total of 242 fragmentations and 78 anomalous events. 

*Satellite breakups*

IRS B3
Int'l Code: 1996-017A
NORAD ID: 23827

SATELLITE DATA

TYPE: Payload
OWNER:India
LAUNCH DATE:21 March 1996
DRY MASS (KG):838
MAIN BODY:Cubical box; 1.6 m x 1.6 m by 1.2 m high
MAJOR APPENDAGES:Solar panels
ATTITUDE CONTROL:three-axis stabilized; reaction wheels, torque rods, and monopropellant reaction control system

EVENT DATA

KNOWN EVENTS: 1
FIRST DATE: October 2000
APOGEE 821.9 km
PERIGEE 820.3 km
PERIOD 101.3 min
INCLINATION 98.6 deg

COMMENTS

A single relatively high area-to-mass ratio object has been cataloged. “Event Data” epoch is 30 October 2000. Unless other evidence is uncovered, this event will be classified as an anomalous event. The payload was operational at the of separation and was decommissioned in January 2006.

*__________________________*


The latest attempt to catch the most elusive Iranian Noor-1 satellite and its mysterious 3rd stage QASED R/B (Arash 24 solid motor) was unsuccessful due to the proximity of the dawn, but the frame has easily captured along the Chinese Shijian-16, a much brighter Indian space zombie, or what is now left of the wreckage of the late IRS P3 Remote sensing satellite, with a large RCS of 2.718 m2.

Very high noise level of the camera sensor caused by the current record heatwave (38C degrees in the arctic this week or 17C degrees above the average June level).



> Two Line Element Set (TLE):
> 
> IRS B3
> 1 23827U 96017A 20175.58883364 -.00000010 00000-0 15577-4 0 9996
> 2 23827 98.8463 124.5706 0004536 92.7198 267.4498 14.22619133259144







http://archive.vn/ClLQv/1e5a1e39a4c6bd1f3979e9996deed7f1c43d6136.jpg ; https://archive.vn/ClLQv/b0ffe4846fa81e892393ff5447a3a136fe0cc868/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200624185544/https://i.imgur.com/uSuoNHw.jpg 
▲ 2. IRS P3 predicted pass: Magnitude ~4.9 (v), Altitude ~820 km, Distance ~967 km, Size ~2 m x 3.5 m, Angular size ~00.7''.

IRS P3 pass caught on camera last night, and calibrated via astrometry.net:





http://archive.vn/BKjHN/8ad0114a50382eae5a4d12175359cffb4901a289.jpg ; https://archive.vn/BKjHN/42cc2ea205ec3cf8da0f4840e184f447e67dcc40/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20200624185818/https://i.imgur.com/CDflM5E.jpg ; http://nova.astrometry.net/annotated_full/4336737 ; http://nova.astrometry.net/user_images/3771175#annotated 
▲ 3. IRS P3 pass as captured on camera.
























*TAGS:*
BGUSAT, Kwangmyongsong-4, GOSAT-2, Yaogan 25A/25B/25C, FIA-Radar 5, KWANGMYONGSONG R/B, IRS P3


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## Galactic Penguin SST

* The most devastating space related disaster of all time*

_*The Nedelin Disaster*

A rush job ended with nearly 100 lives lost when a fully-fueled rocket ignited on the launchpad during testing.

October 22, 2010 

There's some justice in the fact that the worst rocket accident in history, which happened 50 years ago this week, is remembered by the name of the man who caused it.

Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin was an ambitious military leader who rose to command the Soviet Union's Strategic Missile Forces during the Cold War. In the autumn of 1960, his main focus was developing the new R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile, which was meant to be an answer to the American Atlas. According to Soviet rocket designer Boris Chertok in his landmark history Rockets and People, work on the R-16 was proceeding ahead of schedule, with a target date of July 1961 for the first launch, when Nedelin upped the ante: He would launch by November 7, in time for the 43rd anniversary of the Soviet revolution.

Nedelin's desire for glory cost him his life, and the lives of nearly 100 others. Rushing the schedule led exhausted workers to take all kinds of short cuts and risks, including continuing to work on the missile after it was fully fueled on the launch pad at Baikonur, with some 250 people milling around within close range.

On the evening of October 24, a cascading series of errors, including a mistaken switch setting, led to a rocketeer's worst nightmare: the R-16's second stage fired on the pad, still attached to the first stage underneath it, which immediately exploded.

Chertok describes the scene:

Propellant components splashing out of the tanks soaked the testers standing nearby. Fire instantly devoured them. Poisonous vapors killed them. Of course, the quality of the film frames is not up to today's standards but when viewed in slow motion you can see how the missile and erector burned and how the frantic people trapped on the service platforms jumped straight into the fire and were instantly consumed. The enormous temperature at a significant distance from the epicenter of the fire burned peoples' clothing, and many of those fleeing who got bogged down in molten asphalt burned up completely.


There was an investigation, but no witch-hunt or official blame. Soviet authorities decided that being on the scene of the accident was punishment enough for the engineers and technicians who survived. Families of the victims were told to keep quiet, and the first detailed accounts of the accident were not published until the late 1980s.

As for Marshal Nedelin, he was near the base of the missile at the time of the explosion, and perished in the blast. Writes Chertok: "The majority of the dead were unrecognizable. ... Nedelin was identified by the 'Gold Star' medal that had survived."

A new documentary on the Nedelin disaster will air on Russian TV this weekend:






https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/the-nedelin-disaster-146124579/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqT90VmYgEU​_
But, this is nothing compared to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, that was even worse if one consider that military or civilian casualties covered by state secrecy inflict lesser national humiliation and loss of international prestige, compared to the death of one's first ever astronaut televised live worldwide!

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a fatal disaster in the United States space program that occurred on 1st February 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was the second fatal accident in the Space Shuttle program, after the 1986 breakup of Challenger soon after liftoff. 

_*Ilan Ramon*

Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force was the first Israeli astronaut, and was killed in the re-entry accident with all the six other crew members.

With Ilan Ramon's death, Israel is to this day, the only nation in the world to have lost its first ever astronaut during a maiden spaceflight. 





https://archive.is/0WUZC/93e8c8bbf76711aa4f5214f007382893bfcc483d.jpg ; https://archive.is/0WUZC/7caab1bfa4fed8cdaf1ed6f5b0e6b5460a2dee4f/scr.png ; https://web.archive.org/web/20201128054552/https://israelforever.org/images/faded_Star_of_David.jpg ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210131173017/https://israelforever.org/interact/blog/defining_moments/ ; https://archive.ph/UodQ6 
▲ 1. The tattered remains of an Israeli Air Force flag which Ramon carried into space, found among the debris in Texas. 
​_




The Columbia Disaster Was Worse Than You Thought
1,190,789 views •Apr 27, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXiZ3RHR3bg

Conclusion, if India's first astronaut can't make it back alive to Earth, it won't beat the Israeli record!

Source:








List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





*Recap of the top 11 space accidents

11.* 🇮🇳 On 24 February 2004, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, after curing process of an experimental solid propellant segment weighing 14.5 tonnes, during removal of bottom plate from casting assembly, propellant within segment caught fire resulting in death of four engineers and two assistants. Three workers escaped the inferno with burn injuries. Cast Cure facility building suffered extensive damage.

*10.* 🇺🇸 On 28 January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster caused by a launch booster failure, resulting in vehicle disintegration was the most devastating death toll to date for a manned spaceflight with 7 astronauts. 

*9.* 🇷🇺 On 12 May 2002, 8 workers repairing the roof of the Baikonur Cosmodrome N-1/Energia vehicle assembly building died when the roof suffered a total structural collapse and crashed 80 meters to the ground. Buran Shuttle was destroyed.

*8.* 🇷🇺 On 24 October 1963, on the same day as the Nedelin catastrophe, another catastrophe took place. Due to the evaporation of fuel and a short circuit on a R-9 ICBM, a fire took the lives of 7 or 8 people. Since then, 24 October is considered a "Black Day", and Russia has not launched rockets on that day. 

*7.* 🇷🇺 On 26 June 1973, a launch explosion of Kosmos-3M rocket killed 9 people at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, USSR.

*6.* 🇷🇺 On 18 March 1980, an explosion while fueling up a Vostok-2M rocket killed 48 people at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, USSR.

*5.* 🇨🇳 On 15 February 1996, a Long March rocket carrying the Intelsat 708 Satellite veered off course immediately after launch, crashing in the nearby village 22 seconds later, destroying 80 houses. According to official Chinese reports there were 6 fatalities and 57 injuries resulting from the incident, but other accounts estimated 100 fatalities.

*4.* 🇷🇺 The Nedelin Disaster was worse with 300 casualties including top rocket scientists, delaying the development of the R-16 ICBM.

*3.* 🇮🇷 The Bidganeh arsenal explosion was a large explosion that occurred about 13:30 local time, 12 November 2011 in Iran's Moddares garrison missile base. The facility is also referred to as Shahid Modarres missile base,[1] and the Alghadir missile base.[2] Seventeen members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in this incident,[3] including Major General Hassan Moqaddam, described as "a key figure in Iran's missile programme".
The consequences have been devastating for Iran the space center being totally levelled beyond repair, with the loss of its Chief designer General Hassan Tehrani Moggadam, delaying severely the development of the Qaem SLV. Indeed, a decade later, as of 2021, this 3.5 meter diameter rocket has still not been flown.

*2.* 🇧🇷 The Brazilian 22nd August 2003 Alcântara VLS accident during the Brazilian Space Agency's third attempt to launch the VLS-1 rocket, killing 21 people. 
The explosion leveled the rocket's launch pad, reducing a 10-story high structure to a pile of twisted metal. But worse, the death of key scientist simply put an end to the Brazilian space effort.

*1.* 🇺🇸🇮🇱 The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was a fatal disaster in the United States space program that occurred on 1st February 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The disaster was the second fatal accident in the Space Shuttle program, after the 1986 breakup of Challenger soon after liftoff. 
This catastrophe totally discredited the space shuttle as a viable space transportation system, ending with its final flight on July 2011.
Leaving the U.S. without any manned space launcher for a decade, until the advent of the SpaceX Crew Dragon on 16 November 2020, but with a much decreased cargo capacity, compared to the space shuttle.

Ilan Ramon, a colonel in the Israeli Air Force was the first Israeli astronaut, and was killed in the re-entry accident with all the six other crew members.
With Ilan Ramon's death, Israel is to this day, the only nation in the world to have lost its first ever astronaut during a maiden spaceflight. 





https://archive.vn/9wZvQ/9eacdc743affd740f9ccb6630d1019990983c782.jpg ; https://archive.vn/9wZvQ/be2e271db6c250cacebbb47411afa8e8dcb9b9a0/scr.png ; https://web.archive.org/web/20210404233515/https://i.imgur.com/sUo6A7t.jpg
▲ 2. With Ilan Ramon's death, Israel is to this day, the only nation in the world to have lost its first ever astronaut during a maiden spaceflight. 
















🚬


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## Galactic Penguin SST

*Mangalayaan discovers water on Mars*

Mangalayaan forces the U.S. to end one of its 50 years long campaign of disinformation, thus revealing the scope of the lies.

This one is the *no water other that on Earth* fallacy, that ended only after the Cold War by the end of the 1990s.

As for water on Mars, the disinformation campaign ended only by 2010, under the threat of the truth being revealed by India's MARS ORBITER MISSION (MOM, Mangalayaan).

Indeed, instead of following China in its space race, to end up at the second place again and again, India has decided to skip its second Lunar Orbiter Mission and send the same spacecraft instead on a Mars orbit.

India's Chandrayan-1 Lunar orbiter was launched on 22 October 2008, behind China's first lunar orbiter Chang'e-1 launched on 24th October 2007.

China's second lunar orbiter Chang'e-2 was launched on 1st October 2010. 

India's Chandrayan-2 Lunar orbiter would have only secured a second place again, but the decision was taken sometimes after October 2010 and the official announcement on 5th August 2012 during the Independence Day address of India to redirect into a Mars orbiter mission.

Mangalayaan was finally launched on 5th November 2013, entering Mars orbital insertion on 23rd September 2014.

Thus instantaneously ending the U.S. and Soviet monopoly of orbital imagery of the red planet, and smashing half-century of disinformation by the 2 former European superpowers:





https://archive.is/ieW1i/20b434359b0b3b03346bc79168106261e2b07a82.jpg ; https://archive.is/ieW1i/6b8f0ceb6a49ea54a4aaec94b87eb1e2d0be66ba/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210409185158/https://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/galleries/Pictures%20from%20Mars%20Colour%20Camera%20%28MCC%29%20onboard%20India%E2%80%99s%20Mars%20Orbiter%20Spacecraft/mom.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210409185458/https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/pictures-mars-colour-camera-mcc-onboard-india%E2%80%99s-mars-orbiter ; https://archive.ph/T5uuC 
▲ 1. Mangalayaan smashing 50 years of European disinformation: Olympus Mons Water ice Clouds. 

This ground breaking event for mankind has forced the U.S. to claim in a damage control attempt, the alleged sudden discovery of water on Mars for themselves. 

And as the falsification becomes meaningless in face of the truth speakers, the NASA's released images of Mars have been less and less photoshoped with passing time.

Indeed, with the arrival of China's own Mars orbiter, lander and rover Tianwen-1, in March 2021, water clouds can no longer be denied.





https://archive.ph/HGgGP/b256f1face517999989a67e3c475e8c1fa3cf9bc.jpg ; https://archive.ph/HGgGP/f60d28bd3699dfe009b3169911defc561d8803c0/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210304041342/https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-04/China-releases-image-of-Mars-captured-by-Tianwen-1-YlGrQYTx96/img/2e42477dfc8e4dda9ad7a80e1efe1c9d/2e42477dfc8e4dda9ad7a80e1efe1c9d.jpeg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210304012304/https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-03-04/China-releases-image-of-Mars-captured-by-Tianwen-1-YlGrQYTx96/index.html ; https://archive.ph/styop 
▲ 2. With the arrival of China's own Mars orbiter, lander and rover Tianwen-1, in March 2021, water clouds can no longer be denied.

As of 2021, the U.S. NASA is no more frantically photoshoping every single frames, and we can see the water cloud in the picture taken recently by the U.S. Perseverance Mars Rover:





https://archive.ph/5veF3/9ea4e31ae7caaafe51417fb4557564ebb025aa37.jpg ; https://archive.ph/5veF3/4e9ad854a86ded8764a7b74ecb839f002f5ad035/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210407082843/https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020-raw-images/pub/ods/surface/sol/00043/ids/edr/browse/rcam/RRF_0043_0670767855_054EBY_N0031398RHAZ02006_00_0LLJ01_1200.jpg ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210409191918/https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210409192139/https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/RRF_0043_0670767855_054EBY_N0031398RHAZ02006_00_0LLJ ; https://archive.ph/F0n4k ; https://archive.ph/F0n4k/d393eae6fea83d6792cb328a1b2b41c300c637ef/scr.png ; http://web.archive.org/web/20210409191918/https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ ; https://archive.ph/eAsHW 
▲ 3. Clouds visible not erased by the U.S. censorship. NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image of the area in back of it using its onboard Rear Right Hazard Avoidance Camera. This image was acquired on Apr. 4, 2021 (Sol 43) at the local mean solar time of 15:14:38.
















🚬

Reactions: Like Like:
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## sha ah




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## Two banks of the River

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1539579845029441541

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1539622403239596034

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1539596503127412736


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