Indian Space Program Discussion

csaurabh · Post by **csaurabh** » 17 Oct 2011 16:22

ramana wrote:Have them post an synopsis of thier project and give us an idea of what it is to work on a sat design project. They have had an experience scientists all over would die for.

Synopsis: I guess you'll find the details by googling. The basic idea was to create a small satellite in the vein of nanosatellites launched by other countries. A nanosatellite within 5 kg range is a good project to be undertaken by universities. Not much is expected of them, but they are a testbed for micro-scale satellite components that could eventually lead to small satellites replacing the huge ones we have today. Jugnu is supposed to take some images and test a homemade GPS device.

It is really great working on the project, all the more so since we were the first in India to contemplate making a nano satellite. We had to research a lot from the foreign nanosatellites, do a lot of iterations regarding components and requirements, finally we did a full proposal and took inputs from ISRO on Dec 2009 ( what I remember ). Many of our components were taken from ISRO, some were made in IITK and some were imported. Testing, simulations, etc. was tedious but the design phase was fun. It was demanding too, I bunked my entire last semester because of it ( and other reasons ) and got a bad grade, would say it is not for the light hearted.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 17 Oct 2011 18:08

"I think that ISRO has customers lined up for its GSLV launch in 2012."

If true, that means they are very confident of a successful launch.

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 17 Oct 2011 21:10

sourab_c wrote:Going by the date of the launch and a reference to the GSLV failure, I think that ISRO has customers lined up for its GSLV launch in 2012.

Varoon Shekhar wrote:"I think that ISRO has customers lined up for its GSLV launch in 2012."

If true, that means they are very confident of a successful launch.

No. There are no foreign satellites scheduled to be launched by GSLV and there shouldn't not be any commercial launches of the GSLV for foreign customers for atleast the next 2-3 years.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 19 Oct 2011 09:38

A small Salem Engg. College's Contribution to Megha-Tropiques

When the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) successfully put four satellites including that of the Indo-French joint mission's ‘Megha Tropiques,' carrying a rain and atmospheric structure detection payload, in orbit last week, it also carried a small but very significant contribution from Salem with it.

An aerospace quality component device - Slotless Brushless DC Electric Motor, called ‘MADRAS' {sic} (Microwave Analysis Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures) – designed and developed by the Sona Special Power Electronics and Electric Drives (Sona SPEED), a research wing of Sona College of Technology, here, was incorporated into the payload of the 1000 - kg Megha Trophiques satellite.

This 2 Newton metre with a capacity of 50 rotation per minute (rpm) component was to control the rotation of panels in the scan mechanism for microwave analysis detection of rain and atmospheric structure payload.

“We have received the glad news from ISRO on Monday that it functions perfectly well with very good speed stability. The scientists have fixed the speed around 25 rpm as per its altitude positioning requirements,” said Professor N. Kannan, Head of Sona SPEED, which is instrumental in developing this critical component.

He and his team developed the device in a record period of two-and-a-half years.

The project was an outcome of a memorandum of understanding signed between ISRO and Sona College of Technology.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 20 Oct 2011 14:40

Its interesting that French is buying Soyuz launcher for launching satellite inspite of having its own Ariane launch vehical.

Wonder if we could cut out a similar deal with France to launch satellites via PSLV , perhaps as part of some offsets ?
link

France has put aside some $1 billion to buy 14 Soyuz carrier rockets from Russia, French satellite launch firm Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said Tuesday.

"We have ordered 14 Soyuzes from the Russian Federation; the contract's cost is about $1 billion. These are ambitious plans," Le Gall said

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 20 Oct 2011 21:58

Austin wrote:Its interesting that French is buying Soyuz launcher for launching satellite inspite of having its own Ariane launch vehical.

Wonder if we could cut out a similar deal with France to launch satellites via PSLV , perhaps as part of some offsets ?

The only active Ariane family vehicle is the Ariane-5 ECA. It is a heavy launcher. The problem with having only the Ariane 5 is that it has to launch 2 or more sats during every flight because of it's huge payload capacity (10 tons to GEO, 20 to LEO. even the heaviest of commercial satellites are around 5 tons). So, schedules are bounded by each others dates. Arianespace has a lot of commercial customers and they would have even more if they could offer different categories of launch vehicles (medium, mid-heavy, heavy).

That's why Vega is being developed to serve the lower end of the market as a medium capacity launcher (similar to our PSLV). The Europeans don't want to spend on developing a mid-heavy launch system and Ariane-6 family will only come about after 2020 so they are buying the mid-heavy category vehicle (Soyuz) is from the Russians.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Oct 2011 18:49

HT posted article on Jugnu:

India launches Jugnu - A Loaf sized satellite

India launches ‘Jugnu’, a loaf sized satellite
October 25, 2011 | Filed under: Latest,Technology | Posted by: NVO1

India has made rapid strides in space technology. It recent launch of ‘Jugnu’ a little big satellite is the latest feat of high tech engineering. The loaf-sized nano satellite designed by IIT-Kanpur is an impressive feat in miniaturization.

The satellite was placed into orbit by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C18 (PSLV-C18) of the ISRO. It contains all the basic functions of a satellite in its modest frame.

The satellite is just a foot long and four inches in height, and weighs a mere 3 kgs.

IIT-Kanpur designed Jugnu’s ejection system, a complex piece of technology that makes space missions possible by separating the satellite from the launch vehicle and placing it in a precise orbit. The mechanism went through dozens of rigorous tests before certification by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre as spaceworthy.

{Qualification testing in ISRO Labs}

IIT-Kanpur will be filing a patent through ISRO before dedicating it to the nation.

Ejection systems – or separation mechanism – available with ISRO are meant only for much larger satellites weighing between 100 kg and 1,000 kg, but not for a nanosat like Jugnu, said Nalinaksh Vyas, Jugnu’s project leader and professor of mechanical engineering at IIT-Kanpur.

They are usually imported at a cost of Rs.50 lakh ($100,350) apiece, he added.

Vyas told IANS that “there were several challenges in terms of both design development and administrative ones”, which were successfully overcome by the enthusiastic band of 50 boys and girls from various engineering and science disciplines of IIT-Kanpur.
{Noteworthy is the multi-disciplinary, fairly large team of 50 students all from one institute.}

Jugnu cast such a spell on students that some of them even shunned tempting job offers at the peak of the IT boom, just to stay with the project, recalls Prof Vyas. Some even quit lucrative jobs to join the team. “Others like Shantanu Agarwal opted for M.Tech after completing B.Tech to be able to continue with the project,” added Vyas.

Vyas mentioned Shashank Chintalagiri, a young physicist, as the mainstay of the project who inspired others with his innovativeness and bold approach, fixing problems as and when they arose, besides Preneet from the physics stream, Kshitij Deo (mechanical) and Anant Goyal.

Chintalagiri, elaborating on his experiences as a project member, said:

“A nanosatellite is smaller but has the same kind of functionality as a larger satellite does. We were initially torn between ISRO’s ‘right way’ of doing things and a more practical approach that we could fit in our small size and weight.

“Eventually, we decided to go ahead and design our system, taking cues from other nanosatellites built around the world. When we gave our system a rough shape, only then did we compare it with what ISRO would do on its own satellites and made modifications accordingly.

“We would never have been able to achieve the size reduction we did by blindly following ISRO specifics, and ISRO themselves knew that as well. We were able to combine technology used in daily life . . . with the design principles of space technology,” Chintalagiri concluded.

{A true innovator. Using COTS methods for space qualified hardware in not easy task. Watch this young man he should go places.}

Initially, only three students had volunteered for the project begun in 2008 as part of the IIT-Kanpur Golden Jubliee celebrations, in a bid to foster space research capability among IITians and to develop technology for nanosats. The current lot included first year undergraduates to final year post-graduates and 14 faculty heads from as many disciplines to complete this challenging assignment.

Jugnu has started transmitting a beacon (blinking signal) round the clock all over the earth. Amateur frequency bands will be used for communication so that the ‘beacon’ can be tracked by amateur HAM (radio operators) around the world.

In fact HAM operators in Japan and the US have already received signals from Jugnu, according to sources in IIT-Kanpur. Messages sent to the satellite from a ground station are “uplinked,” while those transmitted from the satellite to Earth are “downlinked.” Jugnu operates on 3.5 watts of power and is expected to have a year-long life.

Jugnu will conduct remote sensing to map land use and cover, agriculture, soils, forestry, city planning, archaeological investigations, etc. Jugnu is powered by rechargeable batteries relying on solar panels, provided by ISRO, but the charging circuitry was fabricated by IIT-Kanpur, Vyas said. Normally it takes two hours to fully charge such a battery, lasting from a few hours to a few days, depending on the number of operations attempted for the payloads.

IANS

Who said India is imitative? Right here is the proof of innovation.

I think IITK alumin should make some funds available for this group. Who know they will come up with a low cost sat for medical care in non-Western world.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 25 Oct 2011 19:03

all nay sayers and chalta hai people should read this in a never ending loop:

"We would never have been able to achieve the size reduction we did by blindly following ISRO specifics, and ISRO themselves knew that as well. We were able to combine technology used in daily life . . . with the design principles of space technology," Chintalagiri added.

"The primary purpose of Jugnu is to demonstrate to the world as well as to ourselves that we are quite capable of doing this," concluded Chintalagiri.

abhishek-nayak · Post by **abhishek-nayak** » 07 Nov 2011 16:46

Hey friends! i want some clarification on indian manned space program:-

1)some news agency are saying that Indian govt has given the green signal for the manned space program where as others are saying that govt has yet to approve it.So what is the present status?

2) Wikipedia says that the third port at SDSC is under construction and will be completed by 2012 where as some news agencies are saying that it's in planning stage.So whats really happening ??

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 07 Nov 2011 18:44

So I see this news about the in space Chinese docking and wonder what pressure it puts on ISRO. Aam BRF mango Abduls like you and me know that the Chinese are after eh and dee but it will be false to say that a technical achievement of this magnitude by the Chinese will not put any pressure on ISRO sceintists.

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 07 Nov 2011 21:38

First things first. ISRO needs to get GSLV Mk2 launching with confidence. Then they have to get it human-rated. Both things will take their own time.

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 07 Nov 2011 22:35

abhishek-nayak wrote:Hey friends! i want some clarification on indian manned space program:-

1)some news agency are saying that Indian govt has given the green signal for the manned space program where as others are saying that govt has yet to approve it.So what is the present status?

2) Wikipedia says that the third port at SDSC is under construction and will be completed by 2012 where as some news agencies are saying that it's in planning stage.So whats really happening ??

1) Awaiting Cabinet approval for Rs.12,000 crore program budget.

2) 3rd launchpad is not under construction

Yogi_G wrote:So I see this news about the in space Chinese docking and wonder what pressure it puts on ISRO. Aam BRF mango Abduls like you and me know that the Chinese are after eh and dee but it will be false to say that a technical achievement of this magnitude by the Chinese will not put any pressure on ISRO sceintists.

I remember that back in 2003 when China launched Shenzhou-5, the then PM ABV asked ISRO to look into the feasibility of an Indian human spaceflight program. I think in addition to ISRO's ability and will to execute such a program, there has to be a strong backing and push from the government which is not the current situation.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 07 Nov 2011 22:53

JTull wrote:First things first. ISRO needs to get GSLV Mk2 launching with confidence. Then they have to get it human-rated. Both things will take their own time.

Is it possible to Human Rate the GSLV Mk2 or Mk2 SLV ? What kind of changes are needed to human rate a LV compared to Satellite LV ?

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Nov 2011 20:11

India developing capabilities to protect space-based assets.

Making it clear that it was against the use of space for warfare, India today said it is developing capabilities to protect its space-based assets, such as satellites.
"We don't believe in use of space for warfare. Our philosophy is to use it only as resource... We have to make sure that our assets are protected and access is not denied.

DRDO has a programme to protect our assets in space," DRDO Chief V K Saraswat told reporters here.

Noting that India needs to take care of this area in the light of the fact that other countries are gearing up their space based offensive programs, Saraswat said, "DRDO has a programme to protect our space based assets and to ensure continuity of access there."

On new threats emerging in the area of cyber space, he said two DRDO labs are working in this areas to develop suitable technology.

"There are new threats emerging in the field of cyber warfare. Two DRDO labs are working specially in this area. We are trying to see various ways to make our team competent in this regard so that we can monitor the flow of cyber traffic and look at the ways to encrypt and disrupt them," he said.

DRDO took up the project following a number of recent cyber attack on government website from groups of hackers based outside India.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 01 Dec 2011 03:55

S^3, Can the PSLV or others use the new RLG and MING instead of the traditional IMUs? If so what are the implications? Unit Cost up or down, Accuracy up or down? etc.

vina · Post by **vina** » 01 Dec 2011 06:22

S^3, Can the PSLV or others use the new RLG and MING instead of the traditional IMUs? If so what are the implications? Unit Cost up or down, Accuracy up or down? etc.

Per what I know, ISRO launch vehicles always used a strap down inertial navigation system (right from the SLV3 ) and have been progressively improved . The RLG is miniaturized highly accurate "solid state" version of the traditional gimbaled gyro (the speed of light is the inertial frame) . The problem is that the strap down inertial kind of thing (based largely on accelerometers ) was never good enough for missiles for high accuracy without external input such as GPS etc. You really need a true inertial navigation system, and the state of the art is RLG /FOG which is what the DRDO has developed for it's strategic missiles.

For ISRO, it wont make much difference really , I think. The launchers are pretty accurate anyway and the extra accuracy is probably not worth the development effort in modifiying the guidance and navigation systems. I think.

disha · Post by **disha** » 01 Dec 2011 07:13

ramana wrote:S^3, Can the PSLV or others use the new RLG and MING instead of the traditional IMUs? If so what are the implications? Unit Cost up or down, Accuracy up or down? etc.

Ramana-sar, ISRO has been using RLG in its launchers for quite a while. A year back I had written about it on this very pages. Can go back and do the research., but a clue is in PSLV launching multi-satellites accurately. DRDO developed a similar or better RLG, but that was part of a separate research, an artificial wall created to reduce "proliferation" from civilian to defense under pressure of west. I think the RLG is in GSLV (again this is from public information and inferences).

Vina, extra accuracy is always needed. Even RLG is needed for big rockets like GSLV, not because of accuracy - but because of reliability., and a precise injection of satellites results in an extended life of the satellites. It might be surprising to some, a precise guidance is also required during de-orbit phase! You do not want your astrounauts to be burnt up or skid back into space or worse land in pakhanistan.

(Edited)
There are two parts to the guidance, one is the gyros (mechanical/solid state) and other is the navigation systems (which uses precise algorithms) that infer input from gyros to calculate where they are and where they need to go (auto-pilot). Just the advent of solid state gyros by itself does not result in accurate navigation (there is the brain part that needs to interprete what the senses are saying).

Check this article out (1999, PSLV Launch) : http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1612/16120320.htm, I will leave two or three quotes here:

Vajpayee said that the launch of three satellites in a single flight was a technological achievement and that it marked India's arrival in the commercial launch market.

ADDRESSING a post-flight press conference along with the Prime Minister, Kasturirangan said: "It was exactly how a flight should be. We had an excess velocity of 30 metres per second in the penultimate phase. So the control systems corrected it suitably and put it in the right orbit. This is precisely why we have the closed loop guidance system."

G. Madhavan Nair, Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiamala near Thiruvananthapuram, whom Kasturirangan described as the "father of the PSLV", told Frontline: "It was one of the most beautiful flights I have seen. It was so pre cise that I can never describe it. It is a fantastic achievement. I think the vehicle is a rugged one... Every mission is a unique mission. This time the stakes were much higher for the simple reason that we had to qualify the system for multiple launche s. ...

disha · Post by **disha** » 01 Dec 2011 07:41

Added later, the RLG itself may not be the holy grail, to me any development on "RLG" would be indicative of a development to a more reliable gyro than the gymballed ones we know off. The other counterpart to it is the INS system, particularly the strap down INS that is as much (if not more) important. So this should be taken in sum total and hence no rhona-dhona if it turns out that we do not have "RLG" but say "RhoDhoLG" which is equally good - but desi maal.

Samurai · Post by **Samurai** » 02 Dec 2011 13:33

Disha, are you sure PSLV is using RLG??

disha · Post by **disha** » 02 Dec 2011 23:38

Samurai wrote:Disha, are you sure PSLV is using RLG??

I am not so sure of PSLV using RLG or RLG Equivalent as a primary gyro on all its flights. I am sure that an RLG equivalent was either tested (or calibrated) or used in one of the PSLV (or could be GSLV!) flight and prior to 2007.

Still searching on the relevant information in public to indicate at least the year and type of the laser based gyro.

disha · Post by **disha** » 02 Dec 2011 23:42

Cannot edit back my post for Vina - it should read "Not just for accuracy" instead of "not because of accuracy". Accuracy is always needed. Reliability is multi-function and one of the function is reliability in accuracy., some type of gyros are better than other.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 15 Dec 2011 21:53

ISRO has brought out a brochure of its activities.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 15 Dec 2011 21:56

SSSalvi, is the next PSLV launch on course, or is there a delay of some sort? Late December or early January were earlier mentioned as the date.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 16 Dec 2011 22:09

As per a Telugu news paper dated early Nov 2011, ISRO Chairman RadhaKrishnan (during his visit to National Remote Sensing Centre, NRSC, at Shadnagar near Hyderabad) declared that RISAT-1 (PSLV C19) launch is scheduled in Jan 2012. Venta-1 is a co-passenger. ( This is my addition .. not stated by Radha)

Another Launch is expected in March.
PSLV C20 carrying SARAL, SAPPHIRE, NEOSSat, TUGSAT-1, CanX-3a
This is as per personal contacts .. not official.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 16 Dec 2011 22:53

SSSalvi, why is it that Oceansat-2 data has not showed up at the INCOIS site as of yet. It is almost 2 years since launch, and the sensors should be adequately calibrated by now. Really puzzling.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 17 Dec 2011 15:49

^^^
Tried to register with INCOIS site but it has not responded. ( Form 'submit' button not responding )

BTW, the satellite is in operation and it appears that another organization ( I mistakenly sometimes receive their internal operational notes .. although I retired more than 3 years back

) is regularly getting data for onward passing it to INCOIS.
To overcome this via-media arrangement this organization has equipped INCOIS with a data receiving station recently.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 17 Dec 2011 23:23

Salvi, if you go to their ocean product site you can see them use MODIS data but no specific mention of Oceansat, and this is the only access to the public for the Oceansat products in India right ?

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 19 Dec 2011 22:36

ISRO aims at 45 to 50 launches.

The 12th five-year plan period will be a busy one for ISRO’s Sriharikota spaceport. If things pan out as ISRO hopes it would, then 2012-2017 will see more number of missions compared to previous five-year plan periods. ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, addressing the national conference on ‘Space Transportation Systems: Opportunities and Challenges’, organised by the VSSC and Indian National Academy of Engineering at Thumba on Saturday, said that the ISRO was targeting 45 to 50 launches during the 12th five-year plan.

In the 11th, the target had been 30, with six missions per year. The 10th five- year plan had witnessed 20 missions. (The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has at present two launch pads. ISRO is planning a third one which will be able to accommodate advanced launch vehicles).

No Flaw in GSLV Design: Radhakrishnan said that the GSLV, which had two crashes in 2010, had no flaw in design. There have been problems in implementation which are being corrected. The next GSLV launch will be in the second quarter of 2012, he said.

In March 2012, the ISRO will launch a microwave remote sensing satellite which will be useful for the farm sector as well as disaster management. Cloud cover will not be a problem for this satellite, which gives it an edge over conventional satellites. The ISRO chairman said the years ahead would be a busy one for ISRO. At present, 170 transponders are in service, but the current requirement is 500.

The three-day conference, which focuses on low-cost space transportation, is being attended by a large number of scientists from India and foreign space agencies such as NASA, ESA and JAXA. It will conclude on Sunday.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 20 Dec 2011 11:05

^^^
So PSLV C-19 is postponed until March now, seemingly. The one with RISAT-1. Another delay.

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 24 Dec 2011 22:11

^^^
If the reference is to plan doc then it is quite possible that the document is prepared late2010/early 2011 and may not be factually correct with latest situation.

Let's wait for Jan. 2012

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 28 Dec 2011 17:59

Universities need to be actively harnessed by research bodies. Here is another fallout between ISRO and Bangalore Univ

Dead end to BU-ISRO deal?

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 31 Dec 2011 02:09

IAF to select crew for India's 1st manned mission to space.

Joining the project for country's first indigenous manned mission to space, Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and is now planning to set up facilities for selecting the crew for the maiden flight.

Director General of Army Medical Corps ( AMC) Lieutenant General H L Kakria while replying to a query on participation of defence forces in country's first space mission said IAF is setting up facilities for the first round of selection process which will begin by 2020.

"IAF has entered into an MoU with the ISRO for long term space research. ISRO has supplied it with lot of equipments and the provisional time for first selection is 2020 and the original thing is likely to take place much later," Kakria told reporters here.

"ISRO has supplied IAF with equipments worth Rs 20 crore and it is in the process of setting up facility for selecting the persons who will participate in the mission," he said.

Maintaining that the mission would be completely indigenous, Kakria said all equipment required for the project would be supplied by ISRO and there is no collaboration with any foreign company or country.

India in 2010 had announced its plans to carry out first manned mission to space and decided to set up a full-fledged training facility for astronauts in Bangalore.

Besides the astronauts and the training facilities, the space vehicle in which the mission would be launched would be developed in the country.

In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian citizen to go into space, flying aboard a Soviet mission and country's first unmanned Moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, was launched in 2009.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 02 Jan 2012 23:52

President unveils new rocket launch facility.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil Monday unveiled a new rocket launch facility and its mission control centre at India’s spaceport near Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

After dedicating the facility to the nation, Patil witnessed the simulation of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket launch in the control centre and interacted with the space scientists, including state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan.

“The chairman briefed the president on the Indian space programme and explained the space agency’s various activities through a powerpoint presentation,” ISRO said in a statement released here.

Patil also visited the first launch pad to witness the assembly activities of PSLV-C19 scheduled for launch early this year.

Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Minister of State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy and state officials were present on the occasion.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 03 Jan 2012 23:44

^^^

So SSSalvi, is this conclusive about the launch of PSLV C-19 in March-April, or should we wait a couple of weeks in January for a possible announcement. Also, if the C-19 is launched in March, will that push back the SARAL launch to May-June? Thanks.

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 04 Jan 2012 11:05

Chandrayaan-2 is dealing with weight issues

The weight of Chandrayaan-2, which will have five payloads on the orbiter (satellite) and two on rower, cannot exceed 40kg. Overall, Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650kg at lift-off. The orbiter weighs about 1,400kg and the lander’s weight is about 1,250kg.

Probably DDM - weight values are taken from wiki. Is 40kg the extra weight?

Don · Post by **Don** » 06 Jan 2012 14:52

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Rea ... s_999.html

Reality Check for Indian Astronauts
by Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jan 05, 2012

The shoddy performance record of GSLV has not been suitably resolved by ISRO, India's space agency. GSLV could possibly evolve into a reliable launch system, but it will take a long time to do this.

India's decision to stretch out its plans for an indigenous astronaut launch to 2020 or beyond will probably disappoint some. It's a long way in the future, but the decision is an unavoidable reality check for India's space program.

India has been dabbling in the development of an indigenous space capsule for years, and proposed launching such a spacecraft atop its powerful Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), currently the most powerful operational rocket in India.

The first launch was mooted for 2016 or soon afterwards.

The concept looked good on paper, but it overlooked a major problem. Put bluntly, the GSLV is unreliable as a satellite launcher, and is totally unsuitable for launching astronauts.

The shoddy performance record of GSLV has not been suitably resolved by ISRO, India's space agency. GSLV could possibly evolve into a reliable launch system, but it will take a long time to do this.

It will require more flights and evaluations. It will require an unbroken record of several successful launches. Until India can do this, GSLV should not be considered for astronaut launches.

India has also seemed unsure of its plans for co-operating with other nations. It is known that India had been exploring capsule development plans with a major US aerospace corporation.

In a previous article, this writer proposed that India should consider using a foreign launch vehicle with an Indian space capsule, as a means of avoiding the GSLV.

Recent government statements rule this out. India's astronaut launch system will be purely Indian. This will have its benefits, but it will also increase the complexity of the project.

Developing a crew capsule and a reliable rocket to launch it will take time. Giving the project another decade sounds realistic, assuming that the Indian government does not want to pump huge sums of money for a fast-track program.

Previously, the overall tone of discussions on India's astronaut program suggested disorganisation and uncertainty over its direction. It seemed to be more of a panicked reaction to China's success in human spaceflight than a carefully orchestrated project.

This new policy is merely a seed, and has yet to fully develop. But it's a move in the right direction. It remains to be seen if a realistic program can be designed and sustained in the decade to follow.

keshavchandra · Post by **keshavchandra** » 06 Jan 2012 15:26

Finally the National review committee approved the Design of the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD).Besides, the mission design has been completed with a revised vehicle mass. The RLV-TD will act as a flying test-bed to evaluate various technologies — hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion.
http://idrw.org/?p=6256

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 08 Jan 2012 07:43

The shoddy performance record of GSLV has not been suitably resolved by ISRO, India's space agency. GSLV could possibly evolve into a reliable launch system, but it will take a long time to do this.

Who is this reporter from Australia. He should write only about his country which he knows best

Vivek K · Post by **Vivek K** » 08 Jan 2012 10:29

^^^^Neighbor's envy, OWNER's PRIDE!! Let him spew cr$p!!

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 08 Jan 2012 14:30

Aussies are mixture of French minus any achievement and new Arabs of pacific and right wing nazi thugs. Not got full quality of any of them but behavioural similarity with all of them depending on issues they are commenting on be it neighbours achievement, 9/11 views or racism respectively. No one likes them but since they have gifted land with resources they are developed like e.g. Qatar. These so called developed ones have lot of hot air. If people stop emigrating to these promised land that country will be on its knees in 30 years owing to very low birth rate. The only reason of their being developed are their resources coupled with tiny population to be worried about. The reason why they encourage immigration is that they want local population or in other words first colonisers to move up the chain in money market becoming masters of resources and government while all the way using immigrant population to jobs that locals are too lazy to do.
By seeing dark skinned people achieving stupendous success in any field is something which is either a copy from western technology if it works fine or faulty if indegeneous in which case they would like to laugh. Need some extra ordinary feats like man in space to put chillies in their eyes which will lead them to take their yellow spectacles out and see the reality or prove them that you guys are nothing but white Arabs of pacific.
Comparing achievement of US, Russia or mixture of 30 industrial nations for last 200 years with a newly independent poor country in last sixty years with technology denial is monumental example of aussie buffoonery only they can do it. Wait uncle SAMs boot lickers failure is the first step to success.