Indian Space Capabilities

[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’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’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’s early geological evolution.

 

[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’s first Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 that is scheduled to take off on October 22 will not mark the end of India’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’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’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.

“But this is still at a planning stage and no decision has yet been taken,” 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. “The Moon mission will mark the beginning of more ambitious interplanetary flights and we definitely have Mars on our horizon,” 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. “The science which we plan to do on Mars has to have an international context ,” he said.

“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,” he said. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, former ISRO chief who is considered the father of the country’s lunar programme, said a “mission to Mars by India is a logical extension to the moon flight”. 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’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 ‘go’ 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’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’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.

 

[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’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, “The spacecraft is being assembled on top of the vehicle now. Initial tests are going on.” The tests involved checking the radio frequency and computer connectivity to the ground.

“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,” Mr. Annadurai added.

The 52-hour final countdown starts from 4.00 a.m. on October 20.

Chandrayaan-1 is India’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.

 

[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.

 

[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% 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.)

 

[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’s HOT BIRD™ 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™ 9 and accelerates the deployment of the W2M satellite.

Built by EADS Astrium, the construction of HOT BIRD™ 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™ 9 satellite, equipped with 64 transponders, will join Eutelsat’s 13 degrees East position to increase in-orbit sparing at the Group’s premium video neighbourhood. HOT BIRD™ 9 is identical to HOT BIRD™ 8 which was launched to 13 degrees East in August 2006 and HOT BIRD™ 10 which will be orbited by Arianespace beginning of 2009.

W2M will be positioned at Eutelsat’s 16 degrees East position which represents one of the Group’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)

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu : Sci Tech : How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon’s sphere of influence

How Chandrayaan-1 will be put in the moon’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’s mission to Moon possible next week. The PSLV will put the satellite into an elliptical orbit under the influence of earth’s gravity.

The inbuilt rockets of the satellite will then push it to the moon’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’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.

 

[nitesh]

photo gallery

Welcome to Indian Space Research Organisation

 

[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.

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu Business Line : As ISRO’s lunar date nears, tracking systems are in full gear

When Chandrayaan-1, the nation’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.

“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,” 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 “Our antenna pointing is perfect, the ground system works; and we are there when Chandrayaan-1 reaches Moon’s orbit,” 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’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. “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’ll get even more focussed,” Mr Shivakumar said.

 

[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

 

[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.

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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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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—less than a tenth of NASA's—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—and often roadless—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—the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation—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.