Indian Space Capabilities

[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.

 

[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 ::

 

[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% 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.

 

[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

 

[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

 

[digitaltiger]

Indeed a great news and we know it gonna on day. Way to go ISRO and IAF.

 

[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.

 

[Haanzo]

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

 

[araz]

Good step for India. Does any Indian member have any knowledge of the current state of indian space programme?
Replies appreciated.
Regards
Araz

 

[Muradk]

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.

 

[Energon]

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.

 

[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.

 

[Khajur]

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.

 

[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

 

[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