Indian Space Capabilities

[marcos98]

Indigenous cryogenic stage in 18 months: VSSC official​

KOZHIKODE: John P. Zachariah, Associate Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has said that India will be able to develop an indigenous cryogenic stage for launching satellites weighing over four tonnes in a year and a half.

Dr. Zachariah, who was here to inaugurate a show titled “Our solar system” by the Regional Science Centre and Planetarium on Saturday, told presspersons that the project was on in full swing, and the indigenous cryogenic stage would allow India to launch satellites on its own without depending on other countries. Only the technical expertise of Indian scientists and indigenous technologies would be used.

Dr. Zachariah said the research related to the launch of the Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III was nearing final stages. The launch vehicle, designed in three stages with a height of 42.4 m and a lift-off weight of 630 tonnes, would be ready for operation by July 2011.

On the latest research in space technology, Dr. Zachariah said the VSSC had conducted initial experiments with an air-breathing propulsion mechanism, which equipped the satellites to use the air in the atmosphere for oxidisation. A trial experiment using the RX 560 rocket would be held in 2011 to check the efficiency of the system.

He said the VSSC would be able to double the number of launches in the coming years. The plan was to equip the centre with the capacity to launch at least six satellites a year. He said the aptitude of the younger generation in space research was increasing in recent years.

The activities of the VSSC would get a boost with the enrolment of researchers from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Zachariah said.

 

[rajgoynar]

Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge



New Delhi, Sept. 19: A decision by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to keep the operations of a science instrument on Chandrayaan-1 as simple as possible has raised doubts about its surprising discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere.

Senior US scientists have challenged the Chandrayaan-1 mission’s discovery of carbon dioxide in the lunar atmosphere, contending that crucial instrument calibration data to clinch the discovery is missing from the Indian study.

Isro scientists had earlier this year announced their discovery of water and carbon dioxide molecules in the near-vacuum of the lunar atmosphere as reported in The Telegraph on March 22 and September 6.

The findings, based on measurements by an instrument called Chace on the moon impact probe hurled by Chandrayaan-1 towards the moon on November 14, 2008, were published in a peer-reviewed journal Planetary and Space Science.

But some lunar science researchers say the relative abundance of water and carbon dioxide is so large that calibration data to rule out other sources of these molecules becomes crucial.

Calibration would have generated background data allowing scientists to characterise the instrument’s performance and rule out “outgassing” —the release of gases embedded within the material of the spacecraft or the instrument in the lunar environment.

“Since they didn’t do a reliable calibration test ahead of time to rule out outgassing contamination, their results are unfortunately not conclusive,” said Kurt Retherford, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, Texas, US, and a member of a team exploring the moon through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft launched by Nasa in 2009.

Five orbits prior to its 44-minute long descent, Isro scientists turned on the Chace instrument, while the moon impact probe was still on Chandrayaan-1. But this single period was not enough to provide reliable calibration measurements.

“The extraordinary claims seem only tentatively supported by data,” Retherford told The Telegraph. “I would look forward to improved experiments in the Chandrayaan-2 mission.”

Isro sources said the decision not to undertake calibration was taken to keep Chace operations as simple as possible as it was part of the moon impact probe and drew its power from a battery and not from the main spacecraft power source.

Repeated calibration while the spacecraft was in orbit would have required additional power and more complex circuitry. “This was a first mission and we didn’t want to add more complexity than required,” said Rajagopal Sridharan, leader of the Isro team that reported the carbon dioxide discovery.

“Any space mission involves trade-offs — here, it was between what we wanted to do as scientists and what was possible, given the overall Chandrayaan-1 mission’s objectives,” Sridharan said.

The Isro team believes the abundance and the consistency of the measurements of carbon dioxide at different altitudes in the lunar atmosphere while the impact probe was falling towards the moon rule out outgassing.

“Our measurements cannot be explained through simple outgassing from spacecraft components,” said Syed Maqbool Ahmed, who was the project manager of the Chace payload, and has since moved to the University of Hyderabad.



The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Keep-it-simple Isro runs into US moon challenge

 

[rajgoynar]

First astrosat to be launched by Isro next year




BANGALORE: Isro's Byalalu campus, 30km from Bangalore off Mysore Road, is a space powerhouse now. It has been readied to undertake India's first astronomy mission, Astrosat, under which Isro will launch the country's first dedicated astronomy satellite in 2011.

Earlier, Byalalu had helped India coast through its first Moon mission Chandrayaan-1. It also houses India's Deep Space Network (IDSN).

S K Shivakumar, director of Isro's ISTRAC centre which oversees the Byalalu campus, said, ''Byalalu is ready for India's first dedicated astronomy mission. The building, technology and equipment to handle the mission are ready. Isro has installed technology for the Astrosat mission that is comparable to the best in the world. Isro developed, designed and installed all infrastructure on its own.''



First astrosat to be launched by Isro next year - The Times of India

 

[gowthamraj]

Guys is govt has any plans to allow private sectors to launch space crafts as it reduce price and increase competition

 

[Choppers]

More ‘space’ for women

Chethan Kumar, Bangalore, Oct 10, DHNS::

Kalpana Chawla may have reached the space via the US but no more will an Indian woman have to take that route. If the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans go well, a woman from the country will soon find herself floating in space in a few years.

Sources in the ISRO told Deccan Herald that the space agency is planning to have a woman on-board in space shortly after, if not the first, the manned-mission scheduled for 2015. The ISRO’s Human Space flight Programme, which got a go-ahead from the Centre in February 2009, aims at developing and launching an orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew. In a subsequent mission, the agency planned to carry a three-member crew to space, one of which will be a woman, highly-placed sources from the ISRO said.

“For a nation that has always seen tremendous potential in its women, this will be a launch pad of sorts that will only see more women take part in such activities,” a scientist said.The proposal has already taken off with funds coming in from the Centre for pre-project preparations and a three-seater capsule being readied in ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. The mission is indigenous, though the capsule is being developed with Russian technology.

Apart from the technical preparations, efforts to ready manpower are also on. About 250 Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, including women, have been screened though the crew has yet to be handpicked. Once selected, the pilots will be trained to fly an aircraft outside the planet’s orbit.

“They will be trained with an accurate simulator and will be checked for the right aptitude and other requirements in line with the international standards,” a source pointed out.

The mission to have a woman onboard is being widely discussed in the top chambers of Union Science and Technology Ministry, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Space and Research Organisation, could encourage entry of more women into the fields of scientific research and development, largely considered a male bastion.

More ‘space’ for women

 

[trident2010]

India may seek international help on cryogenic engine

PRAGUE -- India remains committed to perfecting an indigenous cryogenic upper stage for its most powerful rockets, but the leader of the country's space program is not ruling out asking for more Russian help.


File photo of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Credit: ISRO

In the early stages of designing a new booster for communications satellites, India struck a deal with Russia to provide hydrogen-fueled rocket engines and technical know-how.

The agreement was quashed in 1992 after U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on Glavkosmos, the Russian company providing technology to India. The United States feared the transfer of missile technology from the fractured Soviet Union to developing states.

India responded by purchasing seven readymade cryogenic engines from Russia and starting the design of an indigenous upper stage from scratch.

The Russian design would become the third stage for India's first generation of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles, a medium-lift rocket tailored to haul communications spacecraft to orbits high above Earth.

The GSLV first launched in 2001. Five of the rockets blasted off with Russian third stages through 2007.

The Russian stage was blamed for two minor glitches in 2001 and 2007 that stranded payloads in slightly different orbits than planned. A liquid-fueled strap-on booster triggered a dramatic explosion shortly after a launch in 2006.

Three other GSLV flights were successful.

After a $70 million development effort, India placed its first homemade cryogenic stage on the GSLV's sixth flight in April. But the third stage failed during ignition due to an anomaly in a liquid hydrogen turbopump, dooming the rocket and its payload.


File photo of an indigenous GSLV cryogenic third stage. Credit: ISRO

Besides the new upper stage, the GSLV Mk.2 launched in April was nearly identical to previous versions of the booster.

Officials plan to fly another indigenous upper stage within a year. In the meantime, they are turning to a pair of Russian engines left over from the initial purchase nearly two decades ago.

"We ordered seven cryogenic stages," said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague. "Five have been used, and at the moment we have two stages."

The next two GSLV missions will fly with Russian stages, beginning with a launch in December to deploy the GSAT 5 communications satellite. Another GSLV will launch by the middle of 2011 with India's last Russian cryogenic engine, according to Radhakrishnan.

Earlier this year, the United States lifted sanctions levied against Glavkosmos in 1998 for weapons proliferation with Iran. The sanctions imposed for the company's partnership with India were removed in the early 1990s.

Asked whether India would consider requesting Russian assistance or purchasing more Russian engines, Radhakrishnan was non-committal.

"Let us see what we require," Radhakrishnan said. "Let us see the progress of the indigenous cryogenic upper stage."

India is also designing a cryogenic stage for the third-generation GSLV slated to debut in 2012 or 2013. The GSLV Mk.3 will be powered by a third stage consuming double the propellant of the indigenous GSLV Mk.2 engine that is now the focus of ISRO's rocket engineers.



Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | India may seek international help on cryogenic engine

 

[Choppers]

Mission to Mars possible in 2030: Kalam
PTI, Oct 17, 2010, 09.42pm IST

DEHRA DUN: Former President A P J Kalam on Sunday said that India is planning to send its mission to Mars in 2030.

"We hope that we will be able to send the mission to Mars in 2030," he said at a school function here.

Significantly, Kalam had made a similar announcement here in 2001 regarding the Chandrayaan-I mission to the moon when he was scientific adviser to the government.

Answering a question, he said the best way to eradicate corruption in the country is to start a campaign from the home.

"For a nation of a billion people, if you ask your father, in case he is unfortunately corrupt, to stop corruption, this is the best way to stop corruption from the home itself. If everybody does that, then corruption will stop," Kalam told the school children.

He said he had been asked this question earlier also at a school function and his answer at that time was the same.

Later, Kalam also administered an oath asking the young students to fight corruption.

To another question, Kalam said he does not believe in the brain drain theory and said the Indians used to go to other countries to acquire knowledge and wealth in the past also.

But as times have changed, the number of IITs, IIMs and similar educational institutes is increasing and now people from foreign countries would also come to India, the former President said.

When a student asked him the question that how is he a peace-loving person and at the same time a missileman too, Kalam said that strength is necessary to gain respect from other nations.

He asked the students to acquire knowledge from great books and great teachers stating that "knowledge makes the man perfect."

Reading books also plays an important role in building of characters, he said.

Mission to Mars possible in 2030: Kalam - The Times of India

 

[rash2k2]

2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .

 

[rikki]

2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .

what is the time line of china and what about pakistan 2050.

 

[Mirza Jatt]

Indigenous cryogenic stage in 18 months: VSSC official

thats a great news. hopefully, we'll be able to launch it successully this time.the best part is that ISRO is not taking much time to test it again.

 

[sudhir007]

..:: India Strategic ::.. Space: US may outsource lightweight satellite launches to India

Lockheed Martin, the biggest US defence, aerospace and military technology corporation, broached the subject recently with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its export arm, Antrix.

Lockheed Martin’s India Chief Executive Roger Rose told India Strategic that as the US was moving towards longer distance and more sophisticated probes, it made commercial sense to outsource launching of some satellites. There was a dearth of low-cost launching facilities in the world but ISRO and Antrix had a commendable track record in this regard.

Lockheed Martin was also interested in cooperating with ISRO on India’s manned space flights. The corporation had substantial technological inputs on many or most of the US space missions, and some of these could be shared with India.

He said that senior executives from Lockheed Martin had visited Bangalore in August and held discussions with ISRO and Antrix. Some of the US satellites assigned to Lockheed Martin could be outsourced to India and they could “ride piggyback on Indian rockets.”

Commercially, it would be a win-win situation for both the sides. And if cooperation between the two countries grew substantially, the Indian companies could also become part of a global supply chain with Lockheed Martin, Mr Rose said.

It may be noted that at present, ISRO is on the US “entities list” with which US companies cannot share hi-tech dual technology as defined by the Department of Commerce. New Delhi has already asked Washington to remove ISRO, as well as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), from that blacklist, to make bilateral cooperation meaningful.

ISRO uses its workhorse PSLV rockets for most of its single and multiple satellite launches, but for some heavier satellites, it uses the EADS Ariane rockets.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.

 

[sudhir007]

Hylas-1 satellite readied for launch :: Brahmand.com

The Hylas-1 telecommunication satellite which arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana will soon be sent towards space on an Ariane 5 launcher.

The satellite is now undergoing a final series of health checks before being fuelled, encapsulated within its payload fairing and mated to its Ariane 5 vehicle.

The satellite will be launched on 25 November onboard Ariane flight V198, which will be the fifth of six Ariane 5 launches planned for this year, according to a news report by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The satellite was assembled and tested at ISRO’s facility in Bangalore, India before being flown more than halfway round the world to French Guiana.

While its advanced communications payload was developed in Europe, Hylas-1’s flight-proven I-2K satellite platform was procured by prime contractor EADS Astrium from Antrix Corporation in India, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Hylas-1 is the first satellite to be developed through a public–private partnership between ESA and a commercial satellite operator.

The satellite will provide broadband Internet access to consumers and businesses across Europe as well as supporting a range of conventional telecommunications services.

 

[mokkaiboy]

2030 is too long. India compare itself to China and yet they are lagging in almost all department .

Pakistan too compares itself to India and yet not just lagging but nowhere near to india in any of the field except propping up terrorism.

 

[BB gun]

self delete

 

[sensenreason]

Hope US Federal Reserve also outsource its treasury operations to India !