Indian Space Capabilities

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[gogbot]

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.

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[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’s O’Hare International Airport 2,415.

Compared to the three functional runways of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Atlanta has five and the Chicago airport seven.

How do you think Uncle Sam’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

“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.

“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.”

An AAI spokesman confirmed the system had been “pushed back” in Delhi.

“In Delhi, we had been working in different modes for some time and all runways were not always available,” the spokesman said.

“By using the (satellite-based) system, we will be able to precisely monitor an aircraft....”

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’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.

“GAGAN is in the final operation phase and requires some certifications,” he said. "We will also need to connect all ground stations before it can be launched.”

 

[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.

 

[sudhir007]

hEEWy7xhLus[/media] - IAC2009: Human Lunar Exploration

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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’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).

“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),” 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