Bharat Rakshak

The 2 MN engine in development will be the one that would propel India into Heavy and Super-Heavy lifting capability. Super Heavy lifters will be necessary if we plane to carry out human exploration of the moon. But, I can say that China is ahead of us in Semi-Cryo engine tech and according to me their YF-120 and it's variants will be the future of Chinese lunar ambitions.

The ISRO Semi-cryo engine surely has the capability to power launchers from the payload range of 2 tons to 100 tons to LEO.

Another question would be the future of solid boosters powering the future Heavy and Super Heavy lifters of ISRO. Russia, Japan and China will most probably not be using solid-powered stages whereas the US and the Europeans would use solid fueled engines on their heavy lifters. Maybe we'll be able to strike a balance between solid, Semi-cryo and cryo.

The first version of MK 3 will lift 4 tons. Currently, the Chinese and Jap launchers can lift 4.4 tons. They will not stand still; by the time Mk3 with 4 tons comes on stream, they will have leaped ahead to 5-6 tons.

And by the time our Mk3 is improved to 6 tons, where will they be?

It is unrealistic to say they will stand still and allow us to catch up. You say comm-sats will not go beyond 6 tons. Maybe, but there must be other areas where improvement will occur.

Look, I will be very happy if India crushes China (in space and everything else). I want badly for this to happen, but is it realistic?

We should not let our space agenda be based on just competation with with the Chinese. That's how the Soviets did it, and we all know what happened. We should have our own agenda on exploration or earth observation.

All the Chinese do is try to copy what others are already do doing or already have done. They do not have any own, ideas for the future. Even if we think, they'll out-do the US in getting to the Moon or any other thing, What next?? They will wait for the US's next move and agian try to copy and out-do them. Chinese Space program is an un-imaginative copy of what somebody else is trying to do.

We should have our own goals, not that it is a reason for incompetency, and try to attain them. While respecting Chinese efforts, I believe that if even they ever become the most prominent space power, they lack the imagination to set a new agenda of Space exploration before the world.

It's not that ISRO doesn't have the capability to design a heavy lifter, but the payload capability is based on our needs at present. Once, our 2 MN semi-cryo is done, we would have the capability to build launch vehicles with payload of 100 tons to LEO. Again, it depends on what we want to do.

As long as we have the ability build what we need I am happy. Previously, while GSLV MK I was being inducted our INSAT series had to be sent to Arianespace to be launched because we couldn't do it ourselves. Comm. satellites these days easily weigh in at 6 tons. We cannot develop a launcher overnight if this weight goes up slightly and exceeds our max. payload.

How exactly are we worried about what China is doing, 25 yrs from now when we have been behind them in payload ability from day one ?

Launchers which can throw greater than 6 tons into GTO can be used to launch two big satellites at a time, Surely there will be applications in boosting ever larger parts into space for building a space station or for mars exploration etc.

By the time ISRO reaches 6 ton GTO category, the chinese launcher growth would have plateaued out to the world peak. We can play catch up and be there with the pioneers, but for a very short while before we go on to doing new things with the rest of the world.

The Chinese know to copy others. I am fully confident that the moon rocket they will be building will be a Angara-100 rip-off or an Ares-V rip-off. The will be build a moon lander, copy of a Russian or an American version or whatever. They will follow whatever the Americans do because they aren't imaginative enough or do they research more viable alternate methods to get to the moon. We shouldn't be following that path and I am happy we aren't.

I do believe that max capability of MkIII is 6 tons to LEO. ISRO should work on increasing the stage fuel-fraction of all the three stages, especially the upper stage. There are always the option of replacing the core-stage with a cryogenic or a semicryogenic engine which would bring it close to the capability of Ariane-5.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news ... 858057.cms

The above article made me wonder if an array of large mirrors placed at strategic place can effectively blind spy satellites, by creating a large glare effect ?

For that to happen you must know the position of SPYsat ... which is unlikely.

The mirrors have to continuously be rotated to direct the sunlight to sat.

Also the spy-satellite has a very narrow view angle because of the required high resolution ... so it is quite possible that the 'bright spot' on earth may just be not visible to camera.

My guess and hope:-


GSLV-MarkIII = L110+2xS200+c25 = 4 tons to Geo operational after 2 test launches say in 2012-13

GSLV-MarkIV = L110+4xS200+c25 = 6 tons to Geo operational after 2 test launches say in 2017-18

GSLV-MarkV = L110+4xS200+c50 = 8 tons to Geo operational after 2 test launches say in 2022-25

GSLV-MarkVI = Semi Cryo+4xS200+c50 = 10 tons to Geo operational after 2 test launches say in 2027-28

GSLV-MarkV = Semi Cryo cluster +c?? = 15 tons to Geo operational after 2 test launches say in 2032-35

GSLV-reusable series from 2040 onwards

It will not take much to progress from mk3 to mk4 as it just adds two s200's

Also C25 to C50 should not be time consuming

Only technological challenge will be semi cryo and that should be ready by 2020

12-14 tons to GTO is the max limit that anybody would design a launcher! All Super Heavy lifters are designed to carry as much payload as possible to LEO and Lunar vicinity. Payload to GTO doesn't carry any importance to such vehicles

Approval for GSAT-10 Communication Satellite

The Union Cabinet today approved undertaking design and development of GSAT-10 spacecraft at a cost of Rs.735.00 crores with a Foreign Exchange component of Rs.634.00 crores.

GSAT-10 satellite with 12 high power Ku-band transponders, 12 C-band and 12 Extended C band India coverage transponders and a navigation payload, will replace the ageing INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B satellites, create additional capacity for DTH like applications and provide on-orbit back-up for the GAGAN navigation payload.

The spacecraft structure is designed for a lift off mass of about 3337 kg with a dry mass of approximately 1432 kg. The Spacecraft employs a proven 1-3K structure used to realize INSAT-4A and 4B satellites. The spacecraft is configured with 2-sided solar array panels to generate around 6 KW of DC power.

GSAT-10 spacecraft is planned to be realized within 20 months.

Is Foreign Exchange componet same as imported component? If yes, then this satellite has more than 86% by cost imported component.

Can any expert explains what are these components? Is there any plan to increase the desi content?

India mulls using nuclear energy to power Chandrayan II: ISRO.

India plans to power some parts of the Chandrayaan II--its next unmanned mission to the moon, with the nuclear energy and the feasibility studies that are being carried out by Indian Space Research Organisation and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

"We are thinking of powering some parts of Chandrayaan II with nuclear power and it will power the spacecraft when it revolves aroung the dark side of the moon," Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO, told the media today, before accepting the degree of Doctorate of Science conferred on him at the 47th Convoction of IIT-Mumbai.

He said both ISRO and BARC are carrying out the feasibility studies on this, which will be useful for carrying out further experiments to use N-power for Chandrayaan II.
Asked how safe it is to use nuclear power in the mission, he said, "the safety aspects are being worked and safety is crucial when it is launchedfrom ground level tothe orbit."

"To work out the safety, we have to work on newtechnologies and the feasibility studies will help in developing those," Nair said. On using N-power in the deep space probe, he said, "We need nuclear power in those missions which are outside out solar systems but the challenges are very many."

Asked whether laws relating to use of space will allow use of N-power, he said "we have to take utmost care in launching from to ground to the orbit and this aspect we will work out in future."

^^^
This means a deep space mission could be in pipeline and the RTG on CY-2 orbiter would be used as technology demonstrator.

Wow, they could call them the 'Saptrishis'

Nuclear would be good for a mission to Mars, to enable more muscular exploration with longer endurance. I'm surprised NASA never thought to put any windshield-wipers on the solar panels of their multi-million-dollar Mars rovers.

For a mission to the outer solar system or beyond, a nuclear-powered ion-thruster would be able to travel there much more easily. I do hope ISRO is keeping in mind useful missions where it can gather knowledge from, rather than simply seeking a Guinness Book of Records approach, merely to get boasting rights about "4th to the Moon", "3rd to the sun", "3rd out of the solar system", etc. That type of nonsense seems more geared to get politicians more votes, than to do serious science, in which case the money would be better spent elsewhere.

From

UB engineering arm in expansion mode

This is nice. just the concept is original. indian sub-continent gps. very non-intrusive and wide implications.

and ISRO is one of the few credible institutions in whose words I truly believe and they will make it happen.

Check out the new ISRO website!

Its still no where as good as we all should expect. And whats with the scrollers, all govt websites seems to have them

Oh I don't know... I think its charming. I like it. The NASA-like font in the header banner is a bit tongue in cheek though.

This is nice. just the concept is original. indian sub-continent gps. very non-intrusive and wide implications.

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Will it cover China to? Should come in handy in case of war with the Chinese.

Yes it will provide Indian GPS service to China, Tibet, Mangolia, Japan and Korea.

China will have precision coverage.

Bhuvan Beta version is up and Running.

http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/

Hail ISRO for this major success in confronting the western technologies.

Jai Hind.

Why are those pictures in black and white onlee??

Nice portal. Anyone can register or only for corporates with (ahem) moolah.

As much as I want it to succeed, its damn buggy. I am trying from last half hour and can't get it running. I resistered, installed the plugin, used IE instead of Firefox, but it just hangs.

The name bhuvan is catchy ......

Its really insane.....

million times better than google earth/google map.

Its fast and high def

Finally got it working an I would say that images are not 4 times high resolution than Google Earth but rather are 4 times lower resolution. How did you get it working? Am I doing something wrong?
Using IE6 with plugin installed and registered. Config is more than enough for it I know that.

kittoo there is a bhuvan specific thread where you can debug your setup. try ur luck there.

How to use it ??
I have downloaded the plugin and is called 'TerraExplorer'. What should be done!

Isro eyes mission to Mars; govt sanctions Rs10 crore.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) today said it has begun preparations for sending a spacecraft to Mars within the next six years.

The government has sanctioned seed money of Rs10 crore to carry out various studies on the experiments to be conducted, the route of the mission and other related details necessary to scale the new frontier, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

"Already, mission studies have been completed. Now we are trying to collect scientific proposals and scientific objectives," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a day-long
workshop of the Astronautical Society of India here. He said the space agency was looking at launch opportunities between 2013 and 2015.

Chandrayaan-I, the country's maiden unmanned moon mission, appears to have fired the imagination of young scientists who have taken to space sciences, and Isro plans to
tap this talent for its mission to Mars.

"A lot of young scientists are being brought into the mission, particularly from the Indian Institute of Space Technology, the Physical Research Laboratory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and other research laboratories," K Radhakrishnan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said.

He said the space agency would use its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to put the satellite in orbit and was considering using ion-thrusters, liquid engines or nuclear power to propel it further towards Mars.

According to preliminary plans, Isro is likely to send a 500kg spacecraft to Mars and has identified three launch windows -- one each in 2013, 2016 and 2018. Though most Isro spacecraft, including Chandrayaan-I, are powered by solar panels, space scientists
feel energy from sunlight may not be sufficient and are exploring alternative propulsion systems.

"Solar energy may not be sufficient or viable. So we may have to go for nuclear [energy]," TA Alex, director, Isro Satellite Centre, told PTI.

Isro plans to put the spacecraft in orbit around Mars and is yet to decide on the altitude, details of the experiments it intends to carry out and the duration of the mission.

"We are still discussing whether to launch it as our exclusive mission or to inviteinternational experiments," Alex said, adding that these details would be worked out
soon.

India plans to land a robot on the moon in 2012 during the Chandrayaan-II mission and is aiming to put humans in space by 2015. An astronaut training centre is likely to be set up near Bangalore to select a crew of four from around 200 to undertake the seven-day human space flight.

India to launch ocean satellite in second half of next month.

India would, by the second-half of September, launch Oceansat-2 into the space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

The integration of the spacecraft, Oceansat-2, designed to identify potential fishing zones, assist in sea state forecasting and coastal zone studies and provide inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies, has been completed, Nair told reporters.

"The thermovat test is over and right now, vibration and other tests are progressing. I hope that in next 15 days we would be able to move it to Sriharikota — the spaceport in Andhra Pradesh from where it would be launched, the ISRO chief said adding we hope that by second half of September we should be able to make this launch.

Oceansat-2 is in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, launched by the space agency in May 1999 to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography. It would blast off on board India's home grown workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota on the East coast.

The spacecraft would carry an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer for the first time, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency - ASI.

The Scatterometer with a ground resolution cell of 50 kms x 50 kms is expected to provide the wind vector range of four to 24 metres/second with better than 20 per cent accuracy in speed and 20 deg in wind direction.

"The Scatterometer is a very good instrument for getting surface wind on the sea. It again requires for sea state forecasting. And for maritime navigation, the wave height and disturbance is also important," Nair said.

The eight-band OCM is similar to the one in Oceansat-I with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications based on the experience gained. OCM, with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 kms, would provide a two-day repeativity, he added.

The rocket would also carry six nano satellites from Europe as piggybacks, Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said .

Considering that Oceansat-2 is a continuity mission to Oceansat-I, the same polar sun-synchronous orbit of 720 kms has been retained, he said adding data from Oceansat-1 was very widely used by fishermen.