Indian Space Capabilities

[Contrarian]

China’s ASAT Galvanizes Indian Efforts

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

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

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

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

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

Triservice Aerospace Command

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

“The government is considering the establishment of a triservice aerospace command,” an Air Force official said.

The Air Force’s new chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, when taking charge March 31, announced he planned to work toward transforming the Air Force into an “aerospace force.”

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

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

Lease Deal With Israel?

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

India is also building a microwave remote-sensing satellite, Risat, which is designed to take images through dust and darkness. •

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

 

[Contrarian]

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

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

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

They are going on without any problem."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Equipment bay

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

India to launch Italian satellite on April 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

'ISRO studying proposal on mission to Mars'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

CARTOSAT images released

Staff Reporter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CARTOSAT images

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

ISRO's 1-m imagery in market soon


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to ISRO officials, IRS products are the largest selling in this segment, offering over 10,000 products in various categories. The NRSA Director, Dr K.Radhakrishnan, said the 1-m offer would raise the number of products sold from 27,000 to over 40,000 a year.

ISRO reached the 1-m capability in October 2001 with the Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) but did not offer it in the market.

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

 

[Contrarian]

Cheers!
ISRO rocks!

 

[Contrarian]

ISRO builds satellites for European clients


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

Vital gear for rocket launches handed over to ISRO

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

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

Suresh later told a press conference that VSSC is trying to configure low-cost effective technology for air breathing propulsion.

"The RH-560M enhances the capability of the launch. It can save almost the whole amount of fuel...as of now only the US has it. We will be the second country to go in for it," he said.

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

Work for building RLV in initial stages: Nair


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bureau Report

 

[Contrarian]

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

Print


Save


EMail


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

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

Space is a “platform for sharing ideas and technologies and to work towards a sustainable world with peace and prosperity,” said Kalam.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

It will be Israeli satellite in August

T.S. Subramanian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On international rates

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

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

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

Yet another contract

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

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

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

This launch will take place before this year-end.

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

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

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

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

 

[Contrarian]

Next space capsule recovery test in two years

Staff Reporter

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

B. N. Suresh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[ahussains]

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