ISRO set to launch India’s sixth navigation satellite IRNSS-1F on PSLV rocket at 4 p.m. Today

[Techy]

IRNSS-1F is set to be launched atop a PSLV booster from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. Photo Credit: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to expand its homegrown satellite navigation system by sending the IRNSS-1F spacecraft into orbit on Thursday, March 10. The satellite is expected to liftoff atop India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at 5:30 a.m. EST (10:30 GMT around 4 p.m IST) from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

The mission, designated PSLV-C32, is the 34th flight of the PSLV booster. It is slated to last approximately 20 minutes and 11 seconds, ending with spacecraft separation at an altitude of 304 miles (489 kilometers). Lastly, the satellite will be delivered to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), inclined 17.86 degrees. It is expected to be operational for up to 12 years.

Preparations for this mission started last year with the integration of the launch vehicle. In Sept. 2015, after a series of successful tests, the IRNSS-1F payload was delivered to the ISRO Satellite Centre for integration with the spacecraft.



IRNSS-1F in a clean room during its integration. Photo Credit: ISRO

On Monday, March 7, the Launch Authorisation Board gave the green light for the mission, clearing it for a 54-and-a-half-hour countdown.

IRNSS-1F is the sixth out of seven satellites in the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS). It has a mass of some 1.425 metric tons and its dimensions are 5.18 x 4.92 x 4.92 feet (1.58 x 1.5 x 1.5 meters). It can generate up to 1,660 W of power.

The satellite is based on the I-1K (I-1000) bus. It features two solar panels and one lithium-ion battery. The spacecraft is fitted with a liquid apogee motor, dual helix antenna, corner cube retro-reflector, and star sensors. It will carry navigation and ranging payloads. The navigation payload will transmit directional service signals to users. Navigation data will be acquired by Sun and star sensors as well as an inertial measurement unit. The ranging payload will consist of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. The design of the payloads makes the IRNSS system inter-operable and compatible with both the U.S. GPS and European Galileo system.

The configuration of IRNSS-1F is similar to its predecessors: IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E. The first IRNSS satellite (IRNSS-1A) was launched by a PSLV rocket on July 1, 2013, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The most recent satellite in the series, IRNSS-1E, was sent into orbit on Jan. 20, 2016, also by a PSLV booster. The next IRNSS spacecraft (IRNSS-1G) is expected to be launched in April of this year.

IRNSS-1F should provide accurate position information services to users in India as well as the surrounding region. It will deliver Standard Positioning Service (SPS), responsible for navigation parameter generation and transmission, satellite control, ranging, and integrity monitoring, as well as timekeeping services.

IRNSS is a satellite-based positioning system for critical national applications. Its main objective is to provide reliable position, navigation, and timing services over India and its neighborhood. It is expected to grant accuracy of better than 66 feet (20 meters) in the primary service area.

The system will consist of some seven satellites. Once complete, the constellation should provide their services in a fixed orbit above the Indian region. The IRNSS fleet is expected to be complete by April 2016. While four satellites would be sufficient to start operations of the IRNSS system, seven would make it more accurate and efficient. All the satellites of the constellation are configured identically.

IRNSS will also have a network of 21 ranging stations geographically distributed primarily across India. They provide data for the orbital determination of IRNSS satellites and monitoring of the navigation signals.


A PSLV rocket lifts off. Photo Credit: ISRO

The four-stage PSLV booster is India’s most reliable launch vehicle. It has been in service for more than twenty years and has been used to launch various satellites for some of the country’s most historic missions, such as Chandrayaan-1, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, as well as the IRNSS system.

The rocket has been used to delivered more than 40 satellites to space for some 19 countries. PSLV is capable of lofting up to 3.25 metric tons to low-Earth orbit and about 1.42 metric tons to a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

The rocket uses an Earth-storable, liquid-fueled rocket engine for its second stage, known as the Vikas engine; it was developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. The third stage of the PSLV is powered by a solid rocket motor that provides the upper stage’s high thrust after the atmospheric phase of the mission. The fourth stage is composed of two Earth-storable liquid-fueled engines.

The 144 ft. (44 meters) tall XL version of the PSLV that will be used for Thursday’s mission is the upgraded variant of the rocket in its standard configuration. Its thrust is increased by more powerful, stretched strap-on boosters. The vehicle has a mass of 320 metric tons at liftoff and uses the larger strap-on motors (PSOM-XL) that provide the capability of hoisting heavier payloads to orbit. PSOM-XL uses the larger, 1-meter diameter, 44 ft. (13.5 m) length motors. This version of the rocket carries 12 metric tons of solid propellants instead of the nine metric tons that were used on an earlier configuration of the PSLV.

The PSLV rocket in its XL configuration was launched for the first time on Oct. 22, 2008, when it sent India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe toward the Moon.

Thursday’s mission is India’s second launch this year. The country’s next flight is currently scheduled to take place in April when a PSLV-XL rocket will send the IRNSS-1G navigation satellite into orbit. The exact date of that launch has yet to be announced.

ISRO set to launch its newest navigation satellite - SpaceFlight Insider

 

[Indika]

waiting for @jamahir 's isro is useless comment.

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

waiting for @jamahir 's isro is useless comment.

Plz do not invite the troll.

Thank you.

 

[jamahir]

waiting for @jamahir 's isro is useless comment.

so 55-year-old isro, with its temple-obsessed chairmans, will launch yet another satellite.

in other news, the private and small american company 'blue origin', established only 15 years ago, will make its first human test flight next year ( 2017 ) and the first sub-orbital space tourism flights in 2018 :

Blue Origin boss says paid space travel likely in 2018 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

yeah, isro "scientists" and engineers are geniuses.

Plz do not invite the troll.

Thank you.

lol at isro now.

 

[T-72M1]

the private and small american company 'blue origin' will make its first human test flight next year ( 2017 ) and the first space tourism flights in 2018

so much admiration for an American capitalist billionaire's private venture ?

 

[Immortan.Joe]

so 55-year-old sro, with its temple-obsessed chairmans, will launch yet another satellite.

in other news, the private and small american company 'blue origin', established only 15 years ago, will make its first human test flight next year ( 2017 ) and the first sub-orbital space tourism flights in 2018 :

Blue Origin boss says paid space travel likely in 2018 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

yeah, isro "scientists" and engineers are geniuses.

Monetizing an already existent technology (Kudos to NASA) is an achievement, but building a Global positioning system from scratch is not!

lol at isro now.

ISRO is doing fine.

Weren't you the guy who was trying to design a clockless processor?

What happened to that processor?

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

so 55-year-old sro, with its temple-obsessed chairmans, will launch yet another satellite.

in other news, the private and small american company 'blue origin', established only 15 years ago, will make its first human test flight next year ( 2017 ) and the first sub-orbital space tourism flights in 2018 :

Blue Origin boss says paid space travel likely in 2018 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

yeah, isro "scientists" and engineers are geniuses.



lol at isro now.

Whats wrong in going to the temple ?

Thats their personal life and they are free to live the way they like it.

we are not Americans. neither we can match them technologically nor in terms of budget in near future.

So comparing ISRO with them is pure stupidity

 

[punit]

carlos slim helu is richer than jeff bezos and mukesh ambani is not too far from bezos, yet i don't respect them.

if jeff bezos has contributed resource-wise and idea-wise to 'blue origin' why should i not acknowledge it??

and speaking of ambani, where is 'ambani aerospace'?? it was announced a few years ago and supposed to have among its employees the top-most "aeronautical scientist... that company seems out of circulation.



ever private companies build satellites.



if fine means becoming a satellite specialist because one doesn't have ability to have a human space program, then by all means isro is doing fine.



money wait to buy a fpga board... after all this is india where mba idiots get crores to start companies that offer online exam coaching but real contributors get turned away by private banks.



come on, ye excuse puraana hogaya hai... even if the indian nationalist myth of nasa giving full technology to spacex and 'blue origin' is actually true, what has isro been doing for 55 years?? munching peanuts and taking monthly salaries for it??

isro must be shut down.



sure, obsession with prayers and breaking coconuts in temples is all fine because isro chiefs are not from the religion of peace.

get parul to reply on this.

and such a magnifique display of scientific temper isro chiefs have.



spacex and 'blue origin' have ability and isro doesn't... simple.

and what budget?? isro is lot lot richer and has thousands of employees than those two private and lesser staffed companies.

must log-off now.

finally ! ISRO flight are incomplete without the rambling of Qaddafi the Dead !

 

[Immortan.Joe]

ever private companies build satellites.

Private companies would only be able to launch dildoes on toy rocket, if they are not provided overt or covert technological assistance by NASA.

Space companies in USA run on USgov's largess and NASA's technological and human resources, as US is trying to create a private ecosystem which would give them a leg up later in exploitation of space.

if fine means becoming a satellite specialist because one doesn't have ability to have a human space program, then by all means isro is doing fine.

Probably having 19 times less budget than NASA ,and having more pressing needs like providing an Indian made GPS for armed forces is the reson why they do not waste money on vanity projects like human space program.

money wait to buy a fpga board... after all this is india where mba idiots get crores to start companies that offer online exam coaching but real contributors get turned away by private banks.

Or probably your design was not good enough, else you would have easily got funding from a Venture fund (Banks anyway do not fund untested business models).

For a bank/VC to fund you, you need to show an ability to make profit which would need a considerable leap in technology.

Clockless processor has been designed by both Intel and AMD and has been abandoned as being economically unviable.

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

this is india where mba idiots get crores to start companies that offer online exam coaching but real contributors get turned away by private banks.

I hope you wont mind if some one will reply you back with the same name


"sure, obsession with prayers and breaking coconuts in temples is all fine because isro chiefs are not from the religion of peace.

get parul to reply on this.

and such a magnifique display of scientific temper isro chiefs have. "

And i thought u dont see things from religious prospective.

@WAJsal , mate can u please explain on Jamahir's behalf why @Parul is dragged into this ?

Is she related to the topic in any manner ?


"spacex and 'blue origin' have ability and isro doesn't... simple.

and what budget?? isro is lot lot richer and has thousands of employees than those two private and lesser staffed companies.

must log-off now."

WHat should ISRO be replaced with and why ?

 

[T-72M1]

if jeff bezos has contributed resource-wise and idea-wise to 'blue origin' why should i not acknowledge it??

but he's a capitalist and used the 'money system' for his blue origin project

 

[Bad Guy]

so 55-year-old isro, with its temple-obsessed chairmans, will launch yet another satellite.

in other news, the private and small american company 'blue origin', established only 15 years ago, will make its first human test flight next year ( 2017 ) and the first sub-orbital space tourism flights in 2018 :

Blue Origin boss says paid space travel likely in 2018 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

yeah, isro "scientists" and engineers are geniuses.

Blue Origin has assistance from NASA, ISRO started from scratch.

 

[Indika]

so much admiration for an American capitalist billionaire's private venture ?

Another steve jobs, this guys attitude irritates like any thing.

 

[Parul]

Kya Pandey Ji, Tag kar Kay "Non Partistan" posts padhwah Di.

I hope you wont mind if some one will reply you back with the same name


"sure, obsession with prayers and breaking coconuts in temples is all fine because isro chiefs are not from the religion of peace.

get parul to reply on this.

and such a magnifique display of scientific temper isro chiefs have. "

And i thought u dont see things from religious prospective.

@WAJsal , mate can u please explain on Jamahir's behalf why @Parul is dragged into this ?

Is she related to the topic in any manner ?


"spacex and 'blue origin' have ability and isro doesn't... simple.

and what budget?? isro is lot lot richer and has thousands of employees than those two private and lesser staffed companies.

must log-off now."

WHat should ISRO be replaced with and why ?

On Topic: Best of Luck to ISRO. http://data:image/jpeg;base64,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

 

[911]

Best of luck.