Indian Space Programme Discussion

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Indian Space Programme Discussion

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We have a tracking station at Svalbard, Norway.
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Why is ISRO chairman mum on China's space programme?
From: Zee News
Monday, October 14, 2013, 22:15
BY: Prasad Bhosekar
Link:http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/wh ... 83190.html

After the postponement of GSLV launch on August 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants to instil confidence in itself about its seriousness in carrying out missions to the outer world. The next best opportunity for them is Mission Mars.Slated for launch on October 28, ISRO is hoping to redeem its pride and give the sense of joy to countrymen in general. ISRO has been having a roller coaster ride in its missions. Some fire and some misfire.

Before the launch of every mission, the ISRO chairman makes it a point to seek the blessings of Lord Balaji at Tirumala hills.

To know the agency's preparations and its preparedness, Zee News met with ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan and discussed the forthcoming Mars Mission, competition with the Chinese and many other things. On October 14 at about 12:00 noon, we are welcomed inside Dr K Radhakrishnan's office. Receiving us in a pleasant mood, the ISRO chairman requests us to omit the question on God and also the one on China regarding the shooting down of its own satellite recently.

The interview starts, but the ISRO chairman stops it saying he wants us to start again. Again we start, again he stops. The third time he gets going. After the warm-up questions on Mars mission, we try to know from him the competition in the space industry, especially with regard to China. At this point, the Chairman asks us to halt and re-work the questions with help of ISRO's Director of Public Relations/Media Relations Mr Deviprasad Karnik. Mr Karnik tells the Zee News correspondent to remove some questions and rephrase others which are non-controversial and linked to Mars Mission only. Even the GSLV question is not welcomed.

We try to work it out outside the chairman's office. Mr Karnik is called in by the ISRO chairman. After some time Mr Karnik comes out and takes the Zee News crew to his cabin and gives us BREAKING NEWS that the Chairman is not in a mood to continue with the interview today. We are obviously shown the door, albeit politely.

Instead of getting answers from the ISRO chairman, we have got more questions from one of India's most prestigious organisations. Why is ISRO chief afraid or reluctant to answer any question on China? Is he afraid? Why so? Isn't he answerable and accountable to every tax-payer Indian? Everyone has high regard for the scientists of ISRO who work day and night to instil a sense of pride amongst every Indian, but questions will be asked when missions worth hundreds of crores of rupees fail.

At least the ISRO chairman could have said we are trying our best. Instead, he decided to walk out of the interview.

:eek:
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by PratikDas »

Zee News should henceforth receive security passes to all secured premises 1 day after the event for which the passes are issued.
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Post by Bade »

The ISRO chairman did the right thing. Wrong questions were asked. He does not have to answer politically motivated questions even if it is regarding foreign entities.
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ISRO Human Space Flight Program Update: Cabin Environment Simulation System

ISRO recently commissioned a new facility called Cabin Environment Simulation System (CESS) under the Human Space Flight Program. CESS will be used for test and evaluation of space modules under regulated environmental conditions that may arise during various phases of manned mission.
CESS consists of a horizontally mounted cylindrical chamber of 2100mm diameter and 1200mm cylindrical length with two torispherical dome enclosures–with opening at one end. It has been designed for maintaining an internal vacuum level of 10-2 m.bar and insulated such that the outside surface temperature remains within 40 deg C when the internal maximum temperature is at 100 deg C. This large main chamber has been provided with a pumping system to maintain any pressure level between 1.3 mbar to 1200 mbar inside the chamber.

An ancillary chamber of size 300mm diameter and 300mm (L) is placed inside the CESS on a trolley. It has been designed for an operating pressure of maximum 3 bar, operating temperature of 10 to 80 deg C and a volume of 20 litres.

In-built sensors allow measurement of behaviour of tests modules for wide ranges of pressure, temperature and humidity.

http://antariksh-space.blogspot.in/sear ... results=21
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Post by Sagar G »

bharats wrote:Why is ISRO chairman mum on China's space programme?
From: Zee News
Monday, October 14, 2013, 22:15
BY: Prasad Bhosekar
If the news is right then I don't see any reason for chief to remain shy of China other than goberment order.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

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bharats wrote: Why is ISRO chairman mum on China's space programme?
From: Zee News Monday, October 14, 2013, 22:15
BY: Prasad Bhosekar
Link:http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/wh ... 83190.html
Is he afraid?..... Isn't he answerable and accountable to every tax-payer Indian? Everyone has high regard for the scientists of ISRO who work day and night to instil a sense of pride amongst every Indian, but questions will be asked when missions worth hundreds of crores of rupees fail.
Normally I would have some sympathy for a journalist asking questions and not receiving answers, but not in this case. Calling IRSO chairman 'afraid' in a public article is pejorative and disrespectful, an un-dignified taunt. And yes, ISRO is funded by tax-payer money, but I would assume that Mr. Bhosekar is not an appointed or elected representative of the said tax-payers, that his questions have to be entertained at any cost.
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India sails into Fiji for space mission
From: The Fiji Times
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
BY: Nasik Swami
Link:http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=248333

Image
The PSLV-C22/ IRNSS-1A rocket that India plans to launch into space. Data collected will be sent back to scientists based on ships in
Fiji.Graphics: Sanju Prasad. Pictures: NASA/ International Space Research Organisation

FIJI will be the data collection hub for a space mission to Mars by the Indian Government.An 18-member team of top scientists and engineers from India's International Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is in the country to pave the way for India's first-ever satellite mission to the Red Planet later this month. The $US69million ($F127.3m) Mars Orbiter Mission called Mangalyaan will be launched from India and scientists expect the rocket to enter space from somewhere high above Fiji's airspace or somewhere close.The mission will be monitored from Fiji and other parts of the South Pacific ocean.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, ISRO scientist and project leader Mirza Mohammed Zaheer said one ship, which would monitor the tracking of the satellite, was in Fiji while another would arrive on Saturday."We are sending a satellite to orbit towards the Mars planet so in that, the injection of the satellite will take place somewhere in the South Pacific ocean," Mr Zaheer said."We will be going on the ship-bound terminals and getting the data, transmitting to our launch centre from our ship and those data will be used for the satellite, further establishing the mission, doing the Mars capture and then start orbiting Mars."Mr Zaheer said the trajectory of the rocket would be over Fiji."There are some technical perimeters which defines the trajectory. The duration will be 25 days."

India's High Commissioner to Fiji Vinod Kumar said
with the purpose of tracking, ISRO scientists and other concerned agencies would be in Fiji monitoring aboard the two Indian ships from two different points in the Pacific ocean. He said the Indian Deep Space Network would perform the navigation and tracking operations of the mission while NASA Deep Space Network will provide support services during the non-visible period of the Indian Deep Space Network. Mr Kumar said ISRO would use its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Rocket with the objective to develop technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission. "Fiji has been chosen for its ideal location, being a communication hub and our close and friendly relations," he said. "We are thankful to the government of Fiji and other agencies for their support in this mission. Such visits contribute to strengthening our relations and would also be helpful in developing relations in the area of science and technology." He said the team would present the model rocket and satellite to President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau today.

The Mars Orbiter Mission carries a thermal infra-red imaging spectrometer to map Mars' surface composition and mineralogy.

:D
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http://www.space.com/23203-india-mars-o ... hotos.html
31 Photos Dekh lo. Many Chapalwalas proudly shoving the toe into TFTA. Check the Testing Photo at 19.
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China satellites worry Delhi - Beijing plays space card in neighborhood
From: The Telegraph
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
BY: Charu Sudan Kasturi
Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131017/j ... l-GsfLnLTo

New Delhi, Oct. 16: Big powers have long used money and muscle to build a league of satellite states. Now China is vexing India by using real satellites to gain extra strategic heft in the region. China has stolen a lead over India in space diplomacy by offering technology, discounted satellite launches and an alternative to GPS navigation to regional neighbors, leaving New Delhi scrambling for a response its beleaguered space agency is ill-equipped to deliver. Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, Brunei and even Turkmenistan have all joined traditional allies of China like Pakistan and Iran in negotiating agreements with Beijing to develop space initiatives of their own.[color]

The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to prepare a strategy to counter China,[color] and the space department has already agreed on new pacts like one finalized with Indonesia during Manmohan Singh’s visit to Jakarta last week. But India’s space agency has indicated to officials seeking its assistance for strategic diplomacy that it is severely hamstrung by a lack of resources, senior officials involved in the discussions have said. “Quite simply, we just don’t have the kind of resources and budget the Chinese do,” a senior official at the Indian space agency said, requesting anonymity.[color] The China Great Wall Industry Corporation set up by Beijing in 1982 as the commercial arm of its space programme, won its first foreign client in 1990 when it launched Pakistan’s maiden satellite. A decade later, in 2001, it added Iran to its list of customers. But its great leap forward started in 2005 when China brought Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Mongolia and Peru under one umbrella, setting up the Asia-Pacific Space Co-operation Organization. By keeping out Japan and India, the only other Asian nations with developed space programmes, China ensured the other nations in the group were dependent on it for the development of their space programmes. “From a strategic point of view, that’s what I know is really worrying the ministry of external affairs, and justifiably,” [color]said V. Siddhartha[color], a strategic policy analyst who had worked with India’s space and defense programmes, and was an adviser to the foreign ministry in the last decade. India isn’t alone in having such concerns. The US and the European Union blocked China from winning a contract from Turkmenistan to build its first satellite, but Beijing found more willing partners among India’s neighbors.

Last year, China launched a satellite for Sri Lanka and is scheduled to launch the island nation’s first communications satellite in 2015. The private Sri Lankan firm the Chinese collaborated with includes President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son in its top management. China helped Myanmar set up its first dedicated aerospace engineering university, offered Bangladesh images from its earth observation satellites, and is now lobbying with the governments of Nepal and the Maldives to launch their first-ever satellites.

In 2011, China launched its own navigational satellite system called the Beidou, which it offered to other nations in the region as an alternative to the American Global Positioning System. Thailand and Pakistan have adopted Beidou. “What China is trying to do is use space as a soft power tool to influence public sentiment in nations where it wants a stronger foothold,” Wing Commander Ajey Lele,[/olor] a research fellow at the Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), said. Antrix, the Indian space agency’s commercial arm launched in 1992, has collaborated with other nations too. India has had relations in space technology and satellite launches with Indonesia. But most of Antrix’s international co-operation has largely been limited to the occasional launch of tiny satellites for nations like Belgium, France, Germany, South Korea and Israel — which fall outside India’s neighborhood. China’s foreign space collaboration, by contrast, has focused on the neighborhood and on developing nations in Africa and Latin America where it is competing with India for influence. India’s space department, officials pointed out, is trying to compete. Last Friday, India firmed up plans to build on its old space ties with Indonesia when Prime Minister Singh met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta. India will launch at least one Indonesian satellite in 2014, train Indonesian space scientists, and upgrade a telemetry tracking station it set up for Indonesia in Irian Jaya. But catching up will be hard, experts warned. While China can undertake over 20 launches a year, India can manage two or three, Lele said. Financially, the commercial arm of China’s space agency has been growing its clientele and profits. Antrix has been running into losses, according to its latest publicly available balance sheets from 2010.[color]

:(
Last edited by Rahul M on 21 Oct 2013 23:36, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: please don't post in technicolour.
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When organization is indulged in ego fight(current and previous chairman) and misdirected priorities(Mars mission before the GSLV)
these things would happen.

ISRO should have channelized all its energy on GSLV to achieve technological break through . With that they could have built reputation. Mars, Moon, Venus, Jupiter are the matter of time when technological breakthrough are achieved..
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by Pratyush »

^^^

The development of a launcher and the development of a particular payload are different issues. It has nothing to do with the ego or pride of an individual or organization.

Moreover, the delay in GSLY is because, the cryo stage has not come up, on time. It is just a matter of time that the Cryo stage gets perfected. Once it is so, the GSLV, will go on to become the work horse of the ISRO.

As a space buff, I am not disappointed in the few failures of the GSLV, till date.

However, I am greatly excited by the ISRO's proposal to transfer the PSLV tech to Indian industry.
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To achieve some thing in an organization, there needs to be a synergy in the team. There should not be factions which would other wise affect the productivity and decision making.

Regarding GSLV, they should have developed expertise in the domain and moved most of the crew/staff to GSLV and get the cryo engine integrated correctly. Mars Mission is an ambitious project, however not before GSLV launch. I am only disappointed with the priority of the execution of projects(need of hour is GSLV)

Agree, moving PSLV to Indian industry is a big step forward..
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India, US orbiters to reach Mars within 24 hours of each other

AHMEDABAD: Five years ago India launched its first successful Moon mission, Chandrayaan I. Now, with Mangalyaan, India will become the fourth nation in the world to take the first step to Mars, if it successfully positions a spacecraft in the red planet's orbit.

As the countdown to India's maiden Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) begins, Dr A S Kiran Kumar, director of Space Applications Center (SAC) of Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) provided a glimpse into the mission, the challenges his team faced and how India's "affordable" mission, has several dimensions -conducting scientific experiments, demonstrating technological capabilities and creating the necessary credentials to be part of future international space missions.

Importance of the project

The earliest attempts for exploration of the red planet began in 1960s at the height of 'space race' between US and the USSR when a number of missions were planned. The first mission was USSR's Marsnik 1 in October 1960 which failed to reach even the Earth's orbit. The US's Mariner 4 in November 1965 provided the first glimpse of the Martian surface during its fly-by mission. Since then, there have been a number of missions to probe the red planet, primarily by US' Nasa, including two rovers - Pathfinder and Curiosity - that have provided a full map of the planet and information of its atmosphere, soil composition and other aspects.

What does Mangalyaan intend to achieve?

"This is primarily a technological mission, considering its stringent precision requirements. The challenge before Isro is to put the spacecraft into a precise 50 km imaginary cube when it enters Mars gravitational field, around 250 million km away, while scientists control its 11-month journey and orientation. It requires a proper design, planning, management and operations," says Kumar.

Technological challenges

"On August 15, last year Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced India's intention to send an orbiter to Mars. In 14 months, Isro was ready with an orbiter craft. The only experience Isro has with a mission to another celestial body is Chandrayaan I to the Moon," says Kumar. Other space powers - US, Russia and European Space Agency (ESA) - have, independently or in collaboration, conducted a number of experiments providing them chances to improvise. India is going with it's trusted PSLV-XL launcher which was used for Chandrayaan, albeit with modifications.

The task

"We sent Chandrayaan-1 to the Moon which was at a distance of 384,000 km, a challenge before us five years ago. It has been multiplied 1,000 times with the Mangalyaan mission, as we are now going 360,000,000 km away from Earth. Till Chandrayaan, we were concerned with Earth's gravity. For the first time, our probe will leave the Earth's influence, enter the Heliosphere - the region dominated by the Sun's gravity - before it enters Mar's gravitational field. The maximum Earth to Mars roundtrip light time (RLT) will be 42 minutes during the mission, meaning the signal (command) we send from Earth will reach the craft 21 minutes later and will take the same time for us to receive it back. Thus, we need to give a bit of autonomy to the craft to address emergencies," says Kumar. In order to take advantage of the window when the craft can reach Mars using minimum fuel, India has chosen October 28 this year. Such an opportunity comes at intervals of about 780 days.

Challenges ahead

It will be a 300-day journey for the craft in three phases - Geo-centric phase, Helio-centric phase and finally the nail-biting Martian phase-which will be around 573,000 km from Earth's surface.

"If we don't propel the craft enough, it will fall into a circular orbit and eventually crash on the Martian surface. If we propel it too much, it will go away from the planet and be lost in space. We have designed an elliptical orbit for the craft where the nearest distance will be 364 km and the farthest 80,000 km. Such an orbit will provide a unique opportunity to observe Mars from a distance where the planet will rotate on its axis and we will be able to capture most of its surface barring some polar areas," Kumar says.

He adds that they have subjected the payload and instruments to intense testing. "A craft encounters a number of issues while in space. While communication is always a concern, another issue is energy from the solar panels. As the craft encounters blackouts -periods in the shadow of the planet and can't receive energy - there are also periods of white-outs when the craft is bombarded with solar plasma and can't function for a while. We have taken such instances in consideration," he says.

At Mars

The craft is scheduled to reach the Mars orbit on September 21, 2014. There are five payloads on board including a Lyman Alpha Photometer, Methane Sensor for Mars, Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser, Mars Colour Camera and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.

The road ahead

Isro is buzzing with activity - not just for MOM but also for a slew of projects, scheduled for the next five years. Kumar says that a successful Mars mission will not only boost India's confidence but also open doors for next-generation technology which will help future space endeavours. After Mangalyaan, ISRO is planning Chandrayaan II which will have a rover to collect and analyze samples from the lunar surface. India is also planning to launch its first dedicated astronomy satellite - ASTROSAT - after which the ambitious Aditya project will come into action. The project intends to study Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from L1, one of the Lagrangian points between Sun and Earth which will facilitate the craft's remaining at the same position with least effort, for the observation.

About manned space missions, Kumar says it would be the next logical step. "We are slowly building capacity for it and I hope it culminates at an opportune time. Our immediate goal is to put man in orbit (Lower Earth Orbit). The next one will be to prolong the mission and later to conduct space flights," he said.

Space and human development

SAC officials believe that the constantly-pushed boundaries of technological prowess can improve overall human resource development (HRD) for the country through research and development and operational capabilities. Kumar says that the successful missions not only encourage scientists to surge ahead but also inspire millions of young minds. "From my experience, I can say that nothing is difficult if we take a motivated group and provide a specific goal," Kumar says.
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India's Mars mission delayed by a week

CHENNAI: India's Mars Orbiter Mission, scheduled for launch on October 28, has been delayed and the fresh date will be announced later, said the space agency chief.

"Of the two ships Nalanda and Yamuna, only Yamanua has reached Fiji. Nalanda has not reached there. It is expected to reach Fiji only around October 21. So the Mars mission will not happen Oct 28. As the launch window is between Oct 28-Nov 19, we will decide on the revised date after the ship reaches Fiji," Indian Space Research Organisation ( Isro) chairman K Radhakrishnan told IANS.

He said the delay will be by a week and by October 22, the launch date is expected to be known.

The ship has terminals to track the rocket, which has a coasting period of around 20 minutes beyond the visibility of existing ground stations.

Radhakrishnan said the rocket has been assembled and the satellite integration is on now.

"In two days it will be over and then there will be checks on the rocket and satellite systems," he said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24550971

India Mars launch stokes Asian space race with China
By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

The forthcoming launch of a spacecraft to Mars by India is likely to stoke the fires of a burgeoning Asian space race.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is making its final preparations to send an orbiter to the Red Planet.

The principal aim is to test out India's space technology to see if this emerging space-faring nation is capable of interplanetary missions.

The spacecraft will also collect scientific information about the planet's atmosphere and surface.

The Mangalyaan probe was to have been launched as early as 28 October, but rough weather in the Pacific forced officials to delay the launch by a week. The unmanned mission has a launch window lasting until 19 November.

If the mission succeeds, ISRO will become only the fourth space agency, after those in the US, Europe and Russia to have successfully sent a spacecraft to Mars.

According to Pallava Bagla, science editor of New Delhi television news and author of a book about India's space efforts, Destination Moon, the country's public are especially excited about the possibility of beating China to the Red Planet.

"If India does beat China to Mars you can imagine the national pride," he told BBC News.

The mission was announced in August last year by India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his independence day speech, delivered from the ramparts of one of New Delhi's most iconic buildings - the Red Fort.

"Anything said from the ramparts of the Red Fort is always replete with national pride and national pride is written very largely and boldly on this mission," according to Mr Bagla.

In 2011, a Chinese attempt to send a spacecraft named Yinghou-1 to Mars was aborted because of a technical problem. The Indian space agency then fast-tracked its Mars mission, called Mangalyaan, readying it in just 15 months.

India has had a space programme for more than 30 years. Until recently, its priority has been to develop technologies that would directly help its poor population, such as improving its telecommunications infrastructure and environmental monitoring with satellites.

Apple Satellite
India's space programme has moved on significantly since its early days.
But in 2008, ISRO translated its formidable capability to build and launch satellites toward exploration and send a probe to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1. The lunar mission cost more than £55m. Now the government has spent a further £60m to go to Mars.

Poverty
Some have questioned the government's shift away from building infrastructure towards exploration, and wonder whether the money could have been better spent. It is a point that draws this robust response from Mr Bagla:

"You can't bring the 400 million people who live in poverty in India out of poverty with this £60 million," he says.

The shift towards exploration is also a hard-headed one by officials in the hope that it will have clear economic benefits, according to Prof Andrew Coates, who rejoices in the impressive title of "Head of the Solar System" at the Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory in Surrey, part of University College London.

"The exploration programme gives them something very high to aim for. If they can show the world they have what it takes to send spacecraft to other planets they can begin to sell launches and space on its launch vehicles to scientific organisations. It also brings India to the table of international space science exploration," Prof Coates explained.

Developing satellites and developing launchers is now big business. If India, or for that matter China, ease up on their investments in space exploration there is a risk that they could lose out, not least on the vital expertise that this cutting edge endeavour brings to their respective countries.

Big business
Sandeep Chachra, executive director of the poverty eradication charity Action Aid in India believes that investment in space exploration could potentially benefit the country's poorest.

"Investing in new technology, including space technology is an important part of the aspirations for an economy such as India. Developing a sophisticated technological base in a country with this level of poverty is not a simplistic contradiction " he told BBC News.

"What is important is to harness the advances that science and technology bring for the greater good and to use those advances to overcome ingrained poverty and build hope for future generations".

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

Developing a sophisticated technological base in a country with this level of poverty is not a simplistic contradiction”

Sandeep Chachra
Action Aid in India
China though remains the greater power in space. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has a well developed astronaut programme and an orbiting laboratory called Tiangong-1. The CNSA is planning to send its Chang'e-3 spacecraft and accompanying rover to the Moon in December.

The mission is part of an ambitious plan to send more robotic probes to the Moon with a view to eventually sending astronauts to the lunar surface.

The Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa) is also a major force in the region. It is by far the most experienced Asian space agency, with numerous unmanned scientific interplanetary missions under its belt.

"India, China and Japan are certainly eyeing each other up," says Prof Coates.

The growing rivalry is likely to see a new boom in space exploration - one that will eventually lead to more collaborative missions between the emerging space-faring nations in Asia. That might eventually lead to a truly global effort to send astronauts to Mars.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by Sri »

Why does India wraps it's satellite in a chocolate wrapper?
TSJones
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by TSJones »

Sri wrote:Why does India wraps it's satellite in a chocolate wrapper?
Say whut?

If you are refering to the mylar foil in oxcart picture that is to keep dust and contaminents out of the satellite. Very, very, important. As noted in the picture India no longer uses oxcarts but you better believe they still keep their sats covered until launch. All sats have to be constructed in a certain level grade of clean room and then kept that way. All the way to launch. That includes the US of A NASA.
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New date for mangalyaan : 5 Nov

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 548060.cms
CHENNAI: India will launch its first interplanetary probe, Mars orbiter spacecraft, at 3.28pm on November 5 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Isro said on Tuesday.

The launch, which was scheduled on October 28, got postponed because of a delay in one of the ships carrying radars for monitoring the rocket in reaching the south Pacific Ocean.
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Isro peers into space, looks for ‘second earth’

Is there a ‘second earth’? Is anyone out there in outer space? In the quest for answers to these questions, Indian space scientists are peering at the heavens as part of a global race to discover a ‘second earth’ outside the solar system.

And, if they find one with oceans and an atmosphere conducive for life, the next logical question would be: is there life out there on the ‘other earth’?
Given that the Milky Way galaxy has more than 100 billion stars, it’s probable that there are planets revolving around most of them.

The arduous task of locating them in the hazy band of white light arcing across the sky has drawn scientists of Physical Research Labor­atory (PRL), Ahmedabad, to an observatory located on Mount Abu in Rajasthan, a location chosen because of the maximum number of cloudless nights in a year.

“Plane­tary exploration is of highest priority for us. About 20-30 people are working on it, but it will take some time to discover them (planets outside the solar system)” Prof U.R. Rao, Chairman, Gover­ni­ng Council, Physical Res­e­arch Laboratory (PRL), told Deccan Chron­icle.

Isro’s scientists said they are scanning the sky with a spectrograph mounted on a 1.2 meter telescope at Mount Abu, but plan to move the gadget to a 2.5 meter telescope scheduled to be built in a couple of years.

Dr Abhijit Chakraborty, Associate Professor at PRL, says: “This is a long-term programme and often takes years to find one (planet outside the solar system). And, we have certain number of such candidate stars that we are regularly observing for detection (of planets).”


http://idrw.org/?p=28278
MN Kumar
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by MN Kumar »

Just came across these links related to ISRO's resources on the Uttarakhand tragedy.

New high resolution images of Kedarnath – the cause of the debris flow disaster is now clear
Contains images from Bhuvan app.

3D video of the region
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by member_24146 »

Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission) Wallpaper:

Image

For more: CLICK :D
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ISRO chief highly optimistic of its challenging Mars mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is highly optimistic of the success of the country’s maiden inter-planetary probe to Mars from Sriharikota on November 5. The mission will begin its odyssey at 2.36 pm, with a window of only five minutes.

Each of the phases has its own challenges and problems as it is an inter-planetary mission with a long navigational path of 300 days from earth to the Martian orbit.

Speaking to Express, ISRO Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan said: “This is a very complicated mission, but we have the capability to do it. We have developed new knowledge and we are very confident that we can achieve the navigation from earth to Mars accurately and properly. Although the influence of sun (varying solar pressure) and other planets have to be taken into account to make the mission a success, if we have done it for communication satellites, Chandrayaan and others, we can do it for this too. The previous experiences of launching four different missions with the same PSLV vehicle stands good as we have a good understanding of this rocket.”

Dr Radhakrishnan added that the levels of autonomy built in the spacecraft was such that it does not take any wrong decisions.

“The required level of autonomy onboard the spacecraft has been provided as the distance from the ground stations is 400 million km. For the first time, ground operations have been built into the satellite so that it can identify whether systems are functioning well. If not, it can switch over to standby systems. A second level of autonomy too has been provided, which is a chain of commands, stored in the computer and initiated in times of serious problems. The ground control finds a solution that puts the Mars Orbiter in a ‘safe mode’ facing the earth where it can receive the commands and open the solar panels,” he detailed.

This is the first time that Nalanda and Yamuna — the ships of the Shipping Corporation of India — have been requisitioned for tracking the ignition of the fourth stage of PSLV and a good amount of its powered phase, as there are no tracking stations in this region. Because of bad weather, there was a delay in the ships reaching their destination.

They have reached Fiji Islands now and will move 1,000 nautical miles eastwards on October 27.

http://idrw.org/?p=28588#more-28588
member_23694
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by member_23694 »

Really :shock:
and we managed this challenging mission in flat 2 years for launch, but have not managed cryo stage for GSLV in 20 years.
Can we see some real and critical breakthrough from ISRO quickly
When was the last time there was even a minor upgrade in ISRO launch capability ?
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by nvishal »

The media coverage behind indias mars orbiter has gone bonkers... comparisons with china, comparisons with US orbiter, something about the neighbours getting assistance in space research from china, dada dadi, nana nani, ragadam patti contribution from indian media
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by SaiK »

80-110 satellites
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/news ... wsid=20501
can someone go dig details of the needs?
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by suryag »

Road, airport aur satellite bhook nahi mitatha - someone please tell Avinashji
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Post by AbhiJ »

1) I read somewhere that GSLV MkIII Experimental flight in April 2014 will have Orbital Vehicle (ex. 3 tons) as payload. The flight would be an altitude of 120 Km. Can anyone confirm that?

2) Any update on the DRDO CCI-SAT?

3) http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-la ... ssion.html
I exchanged emails with Arya to ask whether they will also manage to image Deimos. I'm interested in that question because of the Mars Orbiter Mission's unique elliptical orbit, which will have an apoapsis 80,000 kilometers above the planet. This is far above Deimos' 25,000-kilometer orbit, which means India's spacecraft is the first since the Viking Orbiters that will at least theoretically be capable of imaging the far side of Deimos. Unfortunately, Arya told me, "it's not in our plan so far." That's okay. Just arriving in orbit at Mars with a functioning spacecraft will be, in my view, a signal achievement for India. The rest is gravy. I wish them the best of luck.
Last edited by AbhiJ on 25 Oct 2013 21:29, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by AbhiJ »

GAGAN certification process for satellite air navigation Started
The certification process for India's satellite-based air navigation system, GAGAN, has been initiated by the DGCA, with its makers AAI and ISRO submitting necessary papers as part of their plans for a full-fledged launch next year.

"We have started the process of certification of GAGAN. It is a long process as there are large number of technical issues and several documentations that have to be examined," DGCA chief Arun Mishra told PTI here.

He said GAGAN, or GPS Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation system, would make India "a global leader in air navigation services." India would become the fourth country after the US, Europe and Japan to have this technology.

Developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), GAGAN would expand India's navigation coverage not only over the entire country's and neighbouring airspace, but also over Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

It would help pilots navigate in all-weather conditions by an accuracy of up to three metres, a capability that would enable landing aircraft in tough weather and terrain.

The system would also allow an aircraft to fly a specific path between two three-dimensional defined points, straighten routes and reduce fuel burn.

Official sources said all documents necessary for certification have been submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for approval. The long-drawn certification process is likely to take about five months.

The operational testing of the system has been completed by AAI, including its final operational phase and a 30-day stability test in May-June.

The plan is to make GAGAN fully operational by the year- end or early next year.
The GAGAN Signal-In-Space is already available for civilian users since December, 2011.
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India’s space odyssey

ISRO’s Mangalyaan is a lucky omen for India, shifting the focus from meaningless prestige projects like putting a man on the moon to hard-nosed investment in space. Of course, our first planetary probe has invited the customary dissent notes from fans of displacement analysis. They protest that the money spent on space missions would have been better invested in vaccines and blackboards, though no one has ever insisted with any vehemence that health and education must be sacrificed at the altar of space. And, quite inexplicably, the BBC has chosen to regard Mangalyaan as the starter’s pistol for an Asian space race between India and China, a dim echo of the Cold War rivalry of the US and the USSR.
But that’s a fallacy. The 20th century space race was actuated purely by geopolitical rivalry and consisted mainly of grandstanding by the two most powerful and technologically proficient nations. The Russians got off to a head start with the first satellite (Sputnik), and the first dog, man and woman in space (Laika, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova), and then the Americans trumped them with the first man on the moon (Neil Armstrong). Live payloads indicate political priorities, not scientific or commercial imperatives, though the spinoffs included technological advances of incalculable commercial value, like Velcro and the compact, rechargeable batteries that, 50 years later, now power mobile devices and cameras.

However, in the last half-decade, space has become contested territory. Formerly the monopoly of powerful nations, it is now the speculative playground for business leaders like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors and PayPal. When nations were in charge, space exploration subserved national interests. Now, commercial interest and the private fascinations of CEOs and investors could become prime movers. The implications of the exploration and colonisation of space, which are more or less agreed upon, may become unpredictable and disruptive.

It was traditionally surmised that precious metals would power the first boom in space. One result could be a sudden influx of gold, but this never caused anxiety because nations, the promoters of space projects, abhor uncertainty in currency markets. But what about corporations? Electronics and computer manufacturers use precious metals for making fine, highly conductive connections between microprocessors and circuits. An increase in supply would reduce manufacturing costs. And since a few of their number, such as Samsung and Apple, have the wherewithal to fund space exploration, the prospect of a gold glut is not entirely theoretical. This is just a random what-if example, though.

Corporations would also benefit from setting up manufacturing centres under zero gravity in a vacuum, where many processes deliver far better product quality than in earthbound factories, and hazardous technologies can be used without environmental anxieties. Space factories would also have an inexhaustible source of power—sunlight, unimpeded by an atmosphere and uninterrupted by night. It is hazarded that the first commercially successful off-earth factories would be space stations using solar power, lifting raw materials cheaply from low gravity sources like asteroids and small moons and producing small, light, high-value finished goods. Since lifting anything out of earth’s gravity well imposes huge costs—whether raw materials or plant, equipment or food for staff—the entire process needs to be sustainable in space.

India is taking a stake in this game with Mangalyaan, following on from Chandrayaan, which had helped to settle a hoary old question by discovering water on the moon. But following that success, the space programme had developed a curiously antiquated desire to put a man on the moon, at the expense of contemporary priorities like the huge potential market in launch vehicles and payload design. But another break with the past must be made, because participation in developing space settlements appears to be more rewarding than colonising planets and moons. The solar system is littered with asteroids, many containing commercially valuable metals in unbelievable quantities. Despite high initial investment, mining and related manufacturing in the asteroid belts using habitats in space, not planets, promises to be very rewarding over the long term. Incidentally, the latest space habitat model, an improvement over the Stanford Torus and the O’Neill Cylinder of the 1970s and NASA’s Lewis One of the 1990s, is named Kalpana One after Kalpana Chawla.

Indian space scientists should consider commercial issues because now that corporates are entering the space game, the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 could be sidestepped. The basis of space law, it designates outer space as the common heritage of humankind, promotes cooperation in exploration and prohibits the sequestration of its assets by nations. That’s the problem. The treaty is signed by nations. It assumes that only nations can be players in space and says nothing clearly about individuals or commercial interests. It leaves the door wide open to a wild new commercial frontier.

http://idrw.org/?p=28625
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For ISRO, Mars mission may turn out to be rocket science

If the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifts off on November 5 from Sriharikota as planned, it will be watched by more than a normal share of anxious eyes. It is a difficult mission, and fickle weather adds to the complexity.

But ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan is not prone to fits of worry. “The PSLV is the best vehicle in its class,” he says, “which is why many countries are using it now to launch their satellites.” A mission to Mars will require taking into account the influence of earth, the moon, the sun and, of course, the destination planet, all of which keep changing positions with the day of the launch.
A small error in calculation will miss the target by tens of thousands of miles. “The spacecraft’s arrival point on Mars has to be calculated to an accuracy of 60 miles about 280 days in advance,” says Radhakrishnan. “It takes beyond textbook mechanics to achieve this precision.” An excursion to the red planet does not come easy to even to the most experienced.

The Russians have a long history of failures in Mars missions. The Chinese have not yet attempted its own mission, and so Mangalyaan is extra special for India. “It will be a big leap for the country,” says Goverdhan Mehta, space commission member. The Americans, Russians and Europeans have used larger rockets for their Mars missions. India is using the smaller PSLV, usually used to put small satellites into a low-earth orbit over the poles. The launch window to Mars is very small, the next one being available only in 2018. ISRO has already postponed the launch once due to bad weather.

If the PSLV does not go up before November 19, ISRO has to wait for another five years to get similar conditions. The PSLV is India’s most mature rocket. ISRO has launched 35 satellites so far using PSLV and 10 are in waiting list for launch. The Mars mission will use PSLV in new ways, thereby adding new complexities. The trajectory of the spacecraft is very different to begin with.
The spacecraft’s arrival point on Mars has to be calculated to an accuracy of 60 miles about 280 days in advance,” says Radhakrishnan.

This new trajectory, the calculations for which are different for each launch date, requires a long coasting of the rocket between third and fourth stage. “The management of the long coast between third and fourth stage is a complex issue,” says V Adimurthy, Satish Dhawan professor and senior advisor (interplanetary missions) of ISRO. There is only one time slot for lift-off- with five minutes leeway – available for launch during a specific day.

“The time of lift-off and required coasting duration is different for each day of launch; and one has to work out a series of different trajectory management strategies corresponding to each possible launch date,” says Adimurthy. The satellite is first launched into an elliptical orbit at a velocity far less than what is required – over 11 km per second – for it to escape from the earth.

To make it come up to this velocity would require three to five manouevres using rockets in the spacecraft, depending on the velocity and position of the spacecraft when first injected. When it finally reaches Mars, not more than 60 km away from the intended spot, the spacecraft has to slow down for it to be captured into the Mars orbit. If this is not done with precision, the spacecraft will either fly by or crash into the Martian surface.Some of the difficulty is in the constraints imposed by the need to lower energy use. “We have devised an orbit that reaches Mars with minimum use of energy,” says Radhakrishnan. The more the energy required for the travel, the more the fuel the spacecraft has to carry, and hence the more the weight and more the cost. Other constraints were imposed by the harsh interplanetary environment like intense cold and high radiation.

Delay in communication is another problem as the spacecraft moves further and further away from the earth. The spacecraft has considerable autonomy to take decisions during critical periods.

When the Mangalyaan project was conceived, ISRO got 30 ideas for experiments. Out of these, nine instruments were possible to build and five were flyable. “So all the experiments possible were accommodated,” says Radhakrishnan. One of this is a methane sensor. Finding methane conclusively on Mars would be a major achievement for Mangalyaan.

http://idrw.org/?p=28617
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by Vipul »

Mars mission would have a trickle-down effect: K Radhakrishnan.

With the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) set to launch the Mars Mission on November 5, Chairman K Radhakrishnan, in an interview with Praveen Bose, talks about the complexities, the challenges and the benefits of the Rs 450-crore mission. Edited excerpts:

How has the delay of a week affected the mission?

We had given ourselves a larger window, October 28 to November 19. Generally, we don't have any missions from October, for about three months, as the weather is not conducive for a launch. November 30 is the D-Day, when the Mars orbiter would have to leave the orbit around the Earth. If Isro misses this opportunity, it would have to wait another 26 months. We had given ourselves a buffer so that weather conditions were accounted for. The week-long delay proved advantageous in a way. The exposure to Van Allen radiation would be that much less, as would be the impact of that on the Mars orbiter.

What are the challenges posed by the mission?

One of the technological challenges was to realise related deep-space mission planning and communication management, at a distance of about 370 million km. The spacecraft has been provided with augmented radiation shielding, for prolonged exposure in the Van Allen belt.

What are the primary objectives of the Mars mission?

One of the main objectives of the mission is to develop technologies required for design, planning, management and operations of an interplanetary mission.

What are the technological and scientific objectives?

Technological objectives of the mission include design and realisation of a Mars orbiter, with the capability to survive and perform Earth-bound maneuvers, go through the cruise phase of about 270 days, Mars orbit insertion/capture, and an on-orbit phase around Mars.

In addition, it would help perfect deep-space communication, navigation, mission planning and management. Isro would learn to incorporate autonomous features to handle contingencies. Scientific objectives include exploration of the Mars surface, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere, through indigenous scientific instruments.

What benefits could the Mars mission have?

Some of the outcomes such as the in-built autonomy we are providing in the spacecraft could become a product or a system. It could be used in satellites to improve their efficiency. So, these trickle down to application, the chief objective of the mission, which could include forecasting cyclones. There is always relevance for a mission like this.

What were the main challenges?

All aspects of the mission were challenges, right from the time available for the mission to the technologies and improvements for propulsion, navigation, tackling the 40-minute communication delay from Mars, readying the ground segment and meeting the November 30 deadline.

Minute errors in calculation could lead to the mission failing---right from the launch into the orbit to the orbiter reaching the Mars orbit. A small error in calculation would miss the target by tens of thousands of miles. The spacecraft's arrival point on Mars has to be calculated to an accuracy of 60 miles, about 270 days in advance.

How does it compare with Chandrayaan-I?

Compared to Chandrayaan-I, which Isro launched in 2008-09, the Mars mission saw new challenges. While both have the PSLV rocket and an elliptical orbit for the spacecraft, for the Mars mission, you have the 'argument of perigee' of about 270 degrees, which requires a longer flight and a different trajectory. It is aimed at minimising the use of fuel to transfer it from an Earth orbit to a Martian one. That is also why we need the two ship-borne terminals. There would be a long coasting between the third and fourth stages, which would see a 1,500 second delay. As we have to get ignition on real time, we have monitoring stations at Sriharikota, Port Blair and Brunei.

What infrastructure did you set up for the mission?

At the ground station, we enhanced the two-Kw power system in the 32-metre antenna in our deep space network to 20 Kw. We also introduced a new system for precise ranging of the orbiter. The orbiter has been built to withstand different temperatures and conduct many tasks. Mars is about 370 million km away and there would be a communication delay of 20 minutes with Earth, each way. Rather than send a chain of commands from here to check its health and correct a problem, these are stored in the system.

Still, we can trigger these. During the 270 days of its transit, if the spacecraft develops a problem, it has to be put into a safe mode so that ground controllers can set it right. The spacecraft propulsion system must be put into sleep during the journey, and reactivated after 270 days. We made new software to know positions during the trans-Mars injection and to estimate the influence of other planets and the Sun on the orbiter.

Could you not have waited for the GSLV before launching this mission? Did competition with China hasten it?

We accommodated whatever instruments could be accommodated in these two years. The GSLV would have been an advantage only in the initial phase; otherwise, it was not important. The PSLV-XL has proven its reliability. We are not in competition with China. They have their own missions.

What was the support from Nasa?

The spacecraft has to be tracked continuously and it has to be visible at all times. While we use our own ground station at Byalalu near Bangalore, for some phases of the mission, until the spacecraft is put into the Martian orbit, we would take the support of Nasa's jet propulsion lab's deep space network and its three international ground stations.

What after Mars?

For now, the plan is the moon, Mars and the sun. Scientists are looking at the universe. For the next mission, we should look at larger scientific objectives, with more partners. But that depends on the progress of this mission. Then, there is the all-Indian Chandrayaan-II, with a lander and a rover, as well as the launch of the GSLV.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by ramana »

Gerard and Bade, I think the Mars mission is historic enough that we have thread for it. If you agree please open one and I will transfer the relevant posts there.

Thanks,

ramana
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by Vipul »

Indian Mars mission thrives on thrift.

Two spacecrafts will reach the Mars orbit within days of each other in September 2014. Despite the same destination, they carry vastly different price tags.

The US craft MAVEN has been developed for $485 million while the Indian craft Mangalyaan has cost Isro just $69 million. The world's scientific community is now focusing on the Indian mission as it would set many benchmarks for the future.

"We took successful components from the Chandrayaan I moon mission and improvised and upgraded them for the Mars mission saving on cost and time," said Somya Sarkar, one of four principal investigators for the Mars mission at Isro's Space Application Centre (Sac), Ahmedabad.

Sarkar along with Kurian Mathew, Ashutosh Arya and R P Singh developed three of the five payloads of Mangalyaan.

The challenge was to keep the weight of the payload at 15 kg. Any extra weight would have meant India having to opt for a costlier launch vehicle instead of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). In the end, Sac Ahmedabad contributed just 7.5 kg to the payload.

But it is not just weight reduction and the price tag that has excited scientists. Many of the innovations are path-breaking. For instance, the methane sensors are equipped with a differential radiometer. Mangalyaan will be able to detect extremely low levels of methane gas around mars using this radiometer. The gas is seen as an indicator of the presence of microbial life on the Red Planet.

"My team is confident that the sensors will contribute significantly towards finding the source and amounts of methane gas around Mars, which is important towards understanding if the planet could support life," said Mathew. A thermal infrared imaging spectrometer developed by Singh's team will also be used by the craft.

ISRO's first high resolution colour camera developed by Arya's team will take images of Mars surface from the nearest and farthest point while orbiting Mars. So far Indian space scientists have only taken black-and-white images of celestial objects.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by SSridhar »

Indo-US Defence Tieup Set for a Major Boost - Sujay Mehdudia, The Hindu
Referring to issue regarding space research and programme, he said for the US, maintaining access to space is a real issue, and it will pursue viable backups to counter attacks on its satellite communications networks close to denied areas and quickly reconstitute the capability they provide. This includes the need to identify methods to operate in environments where the global positioning system (GPS) is denied.

“There are doubts that the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) programme will go the distance because of its very high cost and very doubtful purpose. The debut launch of the SLS - now slated for 2017 -- is likely to be delayed by a year or two because NASA does not have the budget to complete the rocket and its accompanying crew capsule on time. We can expect to see investment in new US liquid fuel rocket engines, particularly engines that use kerosene as propellant and one would expect continued accomplishment in the use of highly complex composite structures for launch vehicles and spacecraft. An interesting question here is whether India's ISRO could play a larger role internationally,” he remarked.

The remarkable achievements and capabilities of ISRO in launching satellites has had it flooded with offers from all over the world to launch their satellites {What is he talking about ?}. In view of the pressure, ISRO is likely to opt for partnership in various verticals with the private sector that could throw up number of opportunities for both India and US players, he said.

According to Dr. Lall, who is also an aerospace and cyber security expert, US satellites are expected to face an increasing number of threats ranging from interceptor weapons to jamming equipment and lasers. These threats range from reversible to the very destructive. The US military will have to develop technologies to fight through jamming. Perhaps, resilient or resistant antenna designs can help this effort.

Talking about the emerging scenario on the militarisation of space, he said though international agreements bar the militarisation of space, development of weapons that could be used in space is ongoing. As envisioned by scientists, a space-based laser could send a powerful destructive beam at enemy weapon deployments such as ballistic missile site a few thousand miles away. Another possible application would be to use a space laser to provide protection against attacks made on own satellites in orbit.

For example, NASA’s CubeSat programme has been proposed to enable a constellation of 35, eight Kg Earth-imaging satellites to replace a constellation of five 156 Kg Rapid-Eye Earth imaging satellites, with significantly increased revisit time to enhance surveillance capabilities for military use and GPS. Every area of the globe can be imaged every 3.5 hours rather than the once per 24 hours with Rapid Eye constellation.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by sudhan »

^^ I guess the line "offers to launch their satellites" is misleading. I believe the author wants to draw attention to fact that ISRO has a decent backlog of launches in the pipeline specifically for customers from abroad..
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

www.flonnet.com

Latest "Frontline" has a cover story on the Mars Mission. Some very good details about orbits, control and communication.
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Re: Indian Space Programme Discussion

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Isro awaiting govt nod for more funds for second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2

SRIHARIKOTA: Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) on Wednesday said it was awaiting the government's approval for more funds to develop a lander and a rover for its second Moon mission 'Chandrayaan-2'.

Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan said "we are awaiting for the approval for the lander for Chandrayaan-2". A rover was also being developed, he said here.

In view of changes in the Russian space programme on Moon, its agreement with Isro was further being delayed. "It means virtually we won't get a lander from Russia till 2017. So, we are planning to a develop a lander ourselves," Radhakrishnan, here in connection with the preparations for November 5 Mars Orbiter Mission, told reporters.

There had been a marginal enhancement in the budget. "That's why we are seeking funds from the government," he said adding developing a lander was complex than developing a rover for the Moon.

Elaborating on the delay of the mission, Radhakrishnan, who is also the space commission chairman, said "the limiting factor is developing a lander ... May be by 2016 a lander might get developed and qualified."

India had undertaken its maiden Moon mission Chandrayaan-1 in October, 2008.

To a query on the launch vehicle for Chandrayaan-2, he said it would be a Geo Stationary Launch Vehicle. "May be after two successful GSLV launches, we would be confident of launching Chandrayaan 2."

He also said there could probably be another launch of GSLV Mark III in March-April 2014.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 946667.cms
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