Indian Space Programme Discussion

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 31 Mar 2015 20:54

3rd orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed by firing the Apogee Motor for 22 min, at 11 37 hrs IST, on March 31, 2015

disha · Post by **disha** » 01 Apr 2015 19:47

Sometimes you are forced to jump in and put an insights into space while you are still travelling through India!

Anyway., everybody thinks that US is a leader in space., however space being a multi-faceted endeavour - to say that US is an overall leader has some truth - however it is definitely not a leader in human space flight programme.

Currently US relies on a Russian path for its human astronauts. Shows how much vaunted US civilian leadership is when it comes to understanding space.

As for the shuttle., it has managed to kill 1 out 2 astronouts. To call it successful is a giant leap of faith. It was costly & slow - did not achieve its main goal of making spaceflight cheaper and safer and currently is mothballed., and America is behind in space flight so much so that its latest designs are blown up schematics from 1960s. 3 generation of americans - what did they achieve in space?

Note: Even the rovers are Russian innovations.

disha · Post by **disha** » 01 Apr 2015 19:49

SSridhar wrote:India’s indigenous satellite navigation system - Ajay Lele, The Space Review

What a shame! 99.9% of Indians do not even know what is happening on this ground breaking effort.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 01 Apr 2015 20:07

http://isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/ ... 014-15.pdf

ISRO annual report is out, not seemingly as many nuggets as usual, but some good information. Upbeat on Astrosat, with all payloads delivered and being assembled. And first time(?) photo of Astrosat shown.

Somewhat puzzling are certain components, like "DC torque motors" for PSLV, being successfully indigenised. You would think that they would have made these a long time ago, or no? Also confusing is the reference to indigenous LI-ION batteries. They have already developed and used these in flight, so is this another grade of the battery?

It would be interesting and informative to see a breakdown of what is Indian made, and what is imported in launch vehicles.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Apr 2015 20:13

the Govt is not helping. it must be made mandatory for all cellphones sold in India from mid 2016 to be capable of and receive IRNSS signals (apart from gps and glonass most claim) and Govt body like ISRO or BEL can release free reference API kits and apps to pull info from this feed.

juvva · Post by **juvva** » 01 Apr 2015 21:44

Apr 01, 2015
IRNSS-1D post launch update: The fourth and final orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed

The fourth and final orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed by firing the Apogee Motor for 493 seconds, at 06 42 hrs IST, on on April 01, 2015. The orbital parameters are: Perigee Altitude: 35556 km, Apogee Altitude: 35603 km, Inclination: 30.463 degree and Orbit period: 23hr 45min .

From ISRO web site.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 01 Apr 2015 22:01

Singha wrote:the Govt is not helping. it must be made mandatory for all cellphones sold in India from mid 2016 to be capable of and receive IRNSS signals (apart from gps and glonass most claim) and Govt body like ISRO or BEL can release free reference API kits and apps to pull info from this feed.

Absolutely. Not just IRNSS, but we need our own domestic LTE standard that every phone made in India must have, analogous to the Chinese TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE, to be licensed from us by every wireless broadband equipment maker.

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 02 Apr 2015 00:01

My information is that at this point most people in science policy feel that manned space flights do not give anything back other than some TV face time for NASA and the astronauts. It is a marketing gimmick for asking for more funding from the appropriations committee. Same with all those fancy ray traced images from Supercomputers. Real work and insights are usually obtained in analysing the data gathered. Images are just eye candy which the senators and congressman can take to their constituencies and tell them "Look ma, we are going to space. Vry important for national security plus the tech also enables you to watch 400 channels and several ESPN versions 24x7". The makers of the movie Wall-e have already seen the future.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 02 Apr 2015 01:53

disha wrote:Sometimes you are forced to jump in and put an insights into space while you are still travelling through India!

Anyway., everybody thinks that US is a leader in space., however space being a multi-faceted endeavour - to say that US is an overall leader has some truth - however it is definitely not a leader in human space flight programme.

Currently US relies on a Russian path for its human astronauts. Shows how much vaunted US civilian leadership is when it comes to understanding space.

As for the shuttle., it has managed to kill 1 out 2 astronouts. To call it successful is a giant leap of faith. It was costly & slow - did not achieve its main goal of making spaceflight cheaper and safer and currently is mothballed., and America is behind in space flight so much so that its latest designs are blown up schematics from 1960s. 3 generation of americans - what did they achieve in space?

Note: Even the rovers are Russian innovations.

It's merely the quiet before the US commercial space storm. And you can say you read it here first. That's two US space capsule projects and a space plane (yes, the Dream Chaser is still alive) for manned use. Not counting Blue Origin which would make it three space capsule projects. And a proposed space tug by Lockheed based on the Mars Maven project. All commercial stuff.

addendum: also not counting the Bigelow inflatable space habitat which is due for launch to the ISS this year or next for a test out.

Also adding a new space port in Brownsville TX.

And a revamp of shuttle launch pad 39A at Kennedy for manned DragonII flights. Also a revamp of launch pad 13 at Canaveral for returning Space X autonomous boosters to land.

OT - no further posts from me on this.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 02 Apr 2015 07:12

http://www.isro.gov.in/update/01-apr-20 ... f-irnss-1d

The fourth and final orbit raising operation of IRNSS-1D is successfully completed by firing the Apogee Motor for 493 seconds, at 06 42 hrs IST, on on April 01, 2015. The orbital parameters are: Perigee Altitude: 35556 km, Apogee Altitude: 35603 km, Inclination: 30.463 degree and Orbit period: 23hr 45min .

SriniY · Post by **SriniY** » 02 Apr 2015 20:24

Suraj wrote:
Singha wrote:the Govt is not helping. it must be made mandatory for all cellphones sold in India from mid 2016 to be capable of and receive IRNSS signals (apart from gps and glonass most claim) and Govt body like ISRO or BEL can release free reference API kits and apps to pull info from this feed.
Absolutely. Not just IRNSS, but we need our own domestic LTE standard that every phone made in India must have, analogous to the Chinese TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE, to be licensed from us by every wireless broadband equipment maker.

Creating a domestic equivalent of the LTE standard is a futile exercise at this point. Too much time has passed for that. 5G (LTE being the dominant 4G standard) standards development is already ramping up and will be starting next year and that would be our chance.

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 04 Apr 2015 05:09

I take keen interest in space programs and also a fan of chess wizard Anand. See this: http://indianexpress.com/article/good-n ... -champion/

abhik · Post by **abhik** » 04 Apr 2015 20:13

By the way, have any one got the opportunity to play around with the IRNSS?

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 05 Apr 2015 03:17

IRNSS 1D may reach its home longitude today.

A post on Orbit Raising of IRNSS 1D has been created here.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 05 Apr 2015 05:25

^ Excellent sir.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 05 Apr 2015 08:59

What a beautiful, well written post S^3 ji

SSSalvi · Post by **SSSalvi** » 05 Apr 2015 21:13

^^^
^^^
Thanks, Gurus.

vivek_ahuja · Post by **vivek_ahuja** » 06 Apr 2015 20:13

Has this been reported here:

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 15 Apr 2015 23:32

http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 1#p1829071

Cross posting from Mangalyaan thread.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 15 Apr 2015 23:33

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/new ... 105862.ece

Chandrayaan-2 launch slated to take place in 2017-18: ISRO Chief

India's second lunar exploration mission - Chandrayaan - 2 is targeted to be launched by 2017-18 with complete indigenisation, informed Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman A S Kiran Kumar here on Wednesday.

"With changes in the planned configuration for Chandrayaan-2, where originally the lander was supposed to come from Russia. Now we are developing our own lander. So it will be completely indigenous system," Kumar told media persons ahead of an awards function by Gujarat Innovation Society.

"For the launch of Chandrayaan-2 the target is sometime in 2017-18," said Kumar adding that meanwhile India will see about seven space launches.

Of the seven launches, Kumar noted that one has already been done last month in March. "Apart from that we are now getting ready for DMC- Disaster Monitoring Constellation satellite for Surrey Space Technology, followed by GSLV Mk-2 which is going to be launched," he said.

ISRO has also lined launch of IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigate Satellite System) 1E and 1F. "On March, 28 we launched the fourth IRNSS. In fact today we completed all the in-orbit tests that the satellite has actually gone into the right place. All the payloads have been turned on and they have been tested."

"Once you have the four navigation satellites, you can independently determine your physical position on ground. Latitude, longitude and height using a receiver signal," he added.

Another in the line is the Astrosat to be launched in 2015 with a multi-wavelength telescope system which will be carried on a single platform. This will be unique observation systems to look at celestial objects thereby encouraging students to take unique observations from sky. With the new satellite, students can decide what celestial object they want to look at. Astrosat will carry multi-frequency telescope systems on a platform.

GSAT-15 will be launched this year. "The remaining six are from our own PSLV and GSLV Mk-2."

"Also we will have Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration Program or RLV-TD's first version or first trial of hypersonic experiment during this year," said Kumar.

He stressed the ISRO was focusing more on the critical technologies and will continue to capitalise on the technology spin-offs. Presently, ISRO is working on composite material, artificial limbs, mentioned the chairman.

(This article was published on April 15, 2015)

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 16 Apr 2015 02:55

Upbeat, but don't like the vagueness on Astrosat. They should give a launch date,at least roughly. It's a pretty major satellite, and very unique, with also 2 non-Indian assisted instruments onboard. Those British and Canadian interests must be eagerly awaiting the launch too. Why not be more precise?

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 17 Apr 2015 18:57

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Upbeat, but don't like the vagueness on Astrosat. They should give a launch date,at least roughly. It's a pretty major satellite, and very unique, with also 2 non-Indian assisted instruments onboard. Those British and Canadian interests must be eagerly awaiting the launch too. Why not be more precise?

Some payloads took a longer time to develop than anticipated. They must have made the payloads and integrated them but need to do vibration, acoustic testing etc.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 17 Apr 2015 20:02

It is an almost 15 yr old project, been hearing about this since 2002 at least. The delays are not due to payload integration and testing to the best of my knowledge. It is almost sad that it has been kept on the back-burner for so long.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 17 Apr 2015 21:15

Actually even at 2013 if there was issues with some payload.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 17 Apr 2015 22:23

March 2015:

All science payloads have been delivered and are in the process of integration with the spacecraft.

Ground checkout is in progress.

13 Nov 2014:

UVIT delivered for integration

As per this link below, so it was the UV detector which came in late...maybe they had to replace the old one ?

http://astrosat.iucaa.in/

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 21 Apr 2015 02:18

Full duration testing of indigenous Cryogenic engine next week.

India’s first satellite – Aryabhata – was launched successfully by a Russian rocket on an April day 40 years ago, taking the country on an exciting space odyssey as far as the Moon and the Mars.

The year 2015 and the month April are significant for the Indian space programme. It was in April forty years ago (April 19, 1975) that India’s first satellite Aryabhata weighing 358 kg was launched successfully by a Russian rocket. India followed up Aryabhata with 444 kg Bhaskara-I satellite.Interestingly, India has marched ahead in satellite building capability to roll out communication spacecraft weighing three tonnes and has also sent out satellites to orbit moon and mars.

It was again in the month of April but in 2001 (April 18, 2001), that the first development flight of India’s heavy rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket was launched.However the development of the GSLV rocket that can put into orbit heavier satellites lagged. Two successive failures of GSLV rockets had put the project behind by several years.

“During those days infrastructure was not available and we used what was available. In Bangalore we even converted a toilet into a data receiving centre for our first satellite Aryabhata,” U.R. Rao, former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS on Monday over phone from Bangalore.

“Starting from the scratch was the challenge before us while we began the Aryabhata project. Majority of the team members were new to this field. The time given was just two and half years so that it could be flown in a Russian rocket. Building a clean room, thermo vacuum room and other facilities were all new,” recalled Rao.

According to him, the choice of building the satellite centre was between Bangalore and Hyderabad.“However Bangalore had some facilities like industrial sheds. We took six such sheds each measuring around 5,000 sq.ft,” Rao said.

The Aryabhata satellite project was initially pegged at Rs.3 crore but cost a little more, as furniture and other things had to be bought.
“Many of the techniques we used in those days in building the satellites are still followed by ISRO now,” Rao said.

On naming India’s first satellite after the country’s great astronomer, Rao said: “We had suggested three names. Aryabhata was on the top. It was followed by Maitri and Jawahar. Indira Gandhi the prime minister chose Aryabhata.”

After Bhaskara-1 the Indian space agency built the APPLE (Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment) communication satellite, which laid the ground for the INSAT series satellites possessing multiple capabilities – telecom, television, meteorological and imaging.Success started smiling at ISRO from INSAT-1B onwards which according to Rao ushered in the communication revolution in India.

There was no looking back for the space agency on the satellite side. From one tonne satellites, the INSAT series started growing in weight to become three tonne and ISRO later started making satellites for others.The space agency has also jointly built two heavy satellites – 3,453 kg W2M and 2,541 kg Hylas – for the French agency EADS Astrium.

India’s high point in its space odyssey was its moon and mars mission.

While it is normal to compare ISRO’s achievement in satellite and rocket technologies, space scientists said both cannot be compared.
“Rockets and satellites cannot be compared. While both may belong to the family of space technology, comparing both is like comparing apples and oranges. The challenges in both the segments vary widely,” a senior official of ISRO told IANS preferring anonymity.In the case of building the heavy rocket to launch four tonne communication satellites and save foreign exchange, ISRO is now in the process of perfecting the technology.

“We are planning to launch GSLV-MkII rocket sometime in July or August this year. The rocket will be powered by indigenous cryogenic engine. The stacking of the rocket is expected to happen in May,” K. Sivan, director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) told IANS.

On the status of the cryogenic engine for GSLV-Mk III rocket, he said: “A full duration test (around 10 minutes) of the cryogenic engine will be done next week.” He said after that several other tests on the performance of the engine will be carried out. “We are targeting to fly the GSLV-Mk III in Dec 2016 if all things go well,” Sivan said.

While India started hitting success in building INSAT satellites, scientists at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram were toiling to get their rocket right.

The SLV and Augmented SLV (ASLV) missions gave mixed results.“The two ASLV failures were the real test beds for perfecting the PSLV rocket. Issues like rocket tumbling, monitoring of rocket’s main forces, detailed profiling of wind and other issues were done,” S.C. Gupta, former director of VSSC, had told IANS earlier.

The third ASLV with Stretched Rohini Satellite Series (SROSS) turned out to be successful but the result of the first PSLV flight in 1993 was negative owing to a software error, which was later sorted out. Since then there was no looking back for ISRO as far as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket is concerned. The space agency has now three PSLV variants.

“As technology was not available we developed our own navigational systems, propellant and all the elements of the launch vehicle with help of Indian industry,” Gupta recalled

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 27 Apr 2015 20:34

akashganga wrote:I take keen interest in space programs and also a fan of chess wizard Anand. See this: http://indianexpress.com/article/good-n ... -champion/

There are quite a few minor planets named after Indians. Some famous, some not that well known. (I know of about a dozen or so but there may be more)

BTW as I may have bragged before., there is a minor planet named "Amber " after some one .. who I know pretty well ..

)

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Apr 2015 17:19

The 10 minute test of GSLV Mk III cryogenic engine is successful at Mahendragiri. News flash.

Vril · Post by **Vril** » 28 Apr 2015 21:16

@NarendraModi

Congratulations to our space scientists for the successful testing of our indigenous cryogenic engine

The engine tested today will enable us to put satellites of up to 4 tons in geostationary orbit. A proud accomplishment.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 28 Apr 2015 23:33

Please point to a link in a newspaper, like the Hindu, which refers to this achievement. Congrats!

raj-senthil · Post by **raj-senthil** » 28 Apr 2015 23:55

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Please point to a link in a newspaper, like the Hindu, which refers to this achievement. Congrats!

Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Tested Successfully, PM Hails Scientists

In a major milestone, an indigenous cryogenic engine, that will help India put satellites of upto four tonnes in geostationary orbit, was tested successfully at ISRO's propulsion complex at Mahendragiri in this district.

The powerful version of the cryogenic engine was successfully ground tested at the Liquid Propulsion systems centre (LPSC).

The test was conducted for 635 seconds and it was successful, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre sources in Thiruvananthapuram said.

ISRO sources said its chairman A S Kirankumar came to Mahendragiri this morning and the testing started at 4.30 pm.

A team headed by Director D Karthikesan led the testing.

Congratulating the space scientists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "proud achievement" the successful testing, saying this would help India put satellites of up to four tonnes in geostationary orbit.

"Congratulations to our space scientists for the successful testing of our indigenous cryogenic engine," he tweeted.

In a separate tweet, Modi said, "The engine tested today will enable us to put satellites of up to 4 tons in geostationary orbit. A proud accomplishment."

Narendra Modi @narendramodi · 3h 3 hours ago
The engine tested today will enable us to put satellites of up to 4 tons in geostationary orbit. A proud accomplishment.

Narendra Modi @narendramodi · 3h 3 hours ago
Congratulations to our space scientists for the successful testing of our indigenous cryogenic engine.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Apr 2015 00:12

Fantastic News. Congrats ISRO.
Where's the Lungi Dance Icon?

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 29 Apr 2015 01:17

Nice! Some more engine testing followed by full stage testing and we'll be good for LVM3's first launch in December next year (earliest possible date acc to ISRO).

And yes..we need to now concentrate on having our semi cryo engine ready by 2020.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 29 Apr 2015 04:07

CONGRATS ISRO !!!!!!

mody · Post by **mody** » 29 Apr 2015 11:28

Today's TOI also reports successful testing of CE-20 engine for a duration of 635 seconds. The target date for GSLV MK-III launch is December 2016. If it succeeds, it will be red letter day for India space launch rockets.

Will · Post by **Will** » 29 Apr 2015 11:50

This is indeed a great day. A true made in India achievement.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 29 Apr 2015 19:57

I find it strange that ISRO hasn't put out a press release or updated on social media. Nothing on their website either.

member_28108 · Post by **member_28108** » 29 Apr 2015 21:42

They probably will ahve to conduct one more high altitude simulation test or was this done in the HAT facility ?

raj-senthil · Post by **raj-senthil** » 29 Apr 2015 22:19

prasannasimha wrote:They probably will ahve to conduct one more high altitude simulation test or was this done in the HAT facility ?

From TOI report

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 090046.cms

But there are challenges. "Soon we will have to do a high altitude test, simulating low pressure atmosphere on ground to see how the engine behaves," said the scientist. Cryogenic technology has remained a challenge for all space-faring nations because of its complexity. A cryogenic engine uses Hydrogen as fuel, stored at minus 253 degrees Celsius and liquid oxygen as oxidizer at minus 183 degrees Celsius

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Apr 2015 22:32

Congrats to ISRO! Wiki also refers to an SCE-200 semi-cryogenic engine with 2MN thrust_vac . It's supposedly to be tested in 2016-17. I assuming this means ground testing, because I don't recall prior references to it ?