Indian Space Program: News & Discussion - Sept 2016

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 03 Mar 2018 19:37

Did You Know About ISRO's Launch Of A British Military Satellite ?

http://www.spansen.com/2018/03/did-you- ... ch-of.html

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 03 Mar 2018 22:25

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/hom ... 141718.cms
Chandrayaan-2 launch delayed, likely to take off only after Oct

Indranil · Post by **Indranil** » 03 Mar 2018 23:06

Lots of nuggets. It is a pity that the slides were never shown.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 04 Mar 2018 12:25

^^^
Sslv upper stage will remain liquid. In line with our thoughts in earlier discussion.

So booster recovery by landing and second stage recovery on development path.

ISRO is still on embargo. Recent MTCR memembership is too early to change ground reality.

Indranil · Post by **Indranil** » 05 Mar 2018 13:07

~~I can't take the idea out of my head that SSLV could gain payload with addition of PS-9/12 strapons.~~

Added later: Scratch that. Replacing the S85 with the S139 would be much more easier. And why would they do that instead of making the second stage larger?

But the development of S85 is very interesting. The mind boggles about its near identical dimensions to the L40 strapons of GSLV Mk2. S85, S139 and S200 are all nearly 20 mtrs long which should make the design of the core of the ULV easier.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 06 Mar 2018 20:44

https://www.isro.gov.in/observation-of- ... sat-1-data

Nice that RISAT-1 data is being displayed. The satellite itself is reportedly out of operation, but there must be a wealth of imagery in the 4-5 years that it was working well.

RISAT-1A, an almost identical satellite, is scheduled to be launched on a PSLV later this year.

kit · Post by **kit** » 07 Mar 2018 00:20

Haridas wrote:^^^
Sslv upper stage will remain liquid. In line with our thoughts in earlier discussion.

So booster recovery by landing and second stage recovery on development path.

ISRO is still on embargo. Recent MTCR memembership is too early to change ground reality.

Surprising ..didnt know that !

.. how does ISRO collaborate with NASA if it is embargoed ???

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 07 Mar 2018 21:30

That is what the speaker said. The following was my observation
Recent MTCR memembership is too early to change ground reality.

Imho there are many ways to embargo, and specific nasa collaboration is on specific things only.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 08 Mar 2018 19:56

Each project has to have ITAR (and some other restrictions) restrictions lifted specifically

srin · Post by **srin** » 10 Mar 2018 13:18

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aer ... satellites

On 12 January, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket blasted off from India’s eastern coast. While its primary cargo was a large Indian mapping satellite, dozens of secondary CubeSats from other countries travelled along with it.

Also on board were four small satellites that probably should not have been there. SpaceBee-1, 2, 3, and 4 were briefly described by the Indian space agency ISRO as “two-way satellite communications and data relay” devices from the United States. No operator was specified, and only ISRO publicly noted that they successfully reached orbit the same day.

IEEE Spectrum can reveal that the SpaceBees are almost certainly the first spacecraft from a Silicon Valley startup called Swarm Technologies, currently still in stealth mode. Swarm was founded in 2016 by one engineer who developed a spacecraft concept for Google and another who sold his previous company to Apple. The SpaceBees were built as technology demonstrators for a new space-based Internet of Things communications network.

The only problem is, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had dismissed Swarm’s application for its experimental satellites a month earlier, on safety grounds. The FCC is responsible for regulating commercial satellites, including minimizing the chance of accidents in space. It feared that the four SpaceBees now orbiting the Earth would pose an unacceptable collision risk for other spacecraft.

If confirmed, this would be the first ever unauthorized launch of commercial satellites.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 12 Mar 2018 16:02

ISRO computer had malware, could’ve been hacked, say researchers - Mithun MK, New Indian Express

A malware infected computer of ISRO exposed India’s premier space research agency to hackers, claimed Indian and French security researchers on Sunday. The researchers also claimed that hackers could have taken control of ISRO’s command rocket launches using the vulnerability. Express has not been able to independently verify this claim.

The trojan malware, known as XtremeRAT, was detected in ISRO servers in December 2017 and was reported to the agency by an Indian researcher. ISRO reportedly responded and resolved the issue only after French researcher Robert Baptiste reached out to the agency on Twitter. “ISRO in their conversation with me informed that that investigated and found a UTM login port that was not mapped internally to any systems.They claimed to have disabled that port for now,” said Baptiste quoting ISRO’s communication with him that Express has seen. {Baptiste has been saying things about Aadhar too, which GoI has dismissed. Don't know how far he is true}

The XtremeRAT malware was found in ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Networks (ISTRAC) that provides tracking support for all the satellite and launch vehicle missions of ISRO. “The malware was probably infected on a computer that had access to servers used for Tracking and Command (TTC) services that help launch vehicle lift-off till injection of a satellite. A computer which was probably used to command rocket launches and separation of a satellite. I say ‘probably infected’ because no one knows which computer was used,” said the Indian researcher in December 2017.

The researcher says he stumbled on the ISRO vulnerability while using the search engine Shodan, that lets users find specific types of computers connected to internet using a variety of filters. “If Shodan can be used for searching hacked sites, I thought, why not search for infected servers? I filtered it down to region and ISRO showed up in the scan results,” said the Indian researcher.ISRO has not yet responded to Express’ request for a comment on the issue.

Resercher says search engine Shodan led him to ISRO’s vulnerability. “I did not dig any further as anything beyond that will probably be illegal,” he added. So what is XtremeRAT? It’s a commercially available remote access Trojan (RATs) used by hackers to conduct cyber espionage. There are numerous RATs that are available for free and can be purchased online, mostly from hacker forums or the dark web. The malware allows the hacker to dig deep into a specific target’s servers and databases and even sell off the access rights of their victims’ systems and their data to others.

“If infected with a trojan, the attacker owns the computer. The hacker can command the computer to do absolutely anything he wants. He just has to use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to access a computer. Has there been a data loss? most likely yes,” says the Indian researcher. Express reached out to ISRO’s public relations officer for a confirmation but did not receive a response. The Indian researcher claims he also tried to reach out to ISRO multiple times but got no response. He reached out to Computer Emergency Response Team and they responded to his email saying they will look into the issue. “However, no action was taken. I was about to give up and then I thought of contacting Robert Baptiste. He tweeted about it and then they seemed to magically care about it as the issue was in the public,” he says. Researcher says, the malware has hit sectors like --Energy, utilities, and petroleum refining.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 12 Mar 2018 21:23

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 258020.cms

Seems there's still thoughts of launching Chandrayaan-2 in April. From yesterday's paper.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 14 Mar 2018 15:06

No chinks in our armour, says ISRO after reportage of security threat - The New Indian Express

ISRO on Tuesday, in response to a report in these columns, has called the alert about the Trojan, XtremeRAT, in one of their computers as a “false positive”. The space agency on Tuesday announced that there was no infection of XtremeRAT on their systems. ISRO is also considering a separate mechanism for “responsible disclosure” of such incidents directly to its IT team.

“Subsequent analysis revealed that it was a false positive i.e. a software detected an issue which was actually not present. It mentioned a victim IP address/ Port infected with XtremeRAT,” announced ISRO through their website. “However, this was a UTM Port, not mapped internally to any systems. Nevertheless, the reported Port was disabled as a precautionary measure and was enabled later through an alternative mechanism.”

“An error from shodan seems not very probable. Sounds like a lie but I don’t really care as long as they have fixed the issue,” was all Robert Baptiste had to say about the ISRO response.On Monday, Express had reported that researchers had stumbled upon an ISRO port that was infected with a malware and had reached out to them to fix the issue. ISRO had responded to the researchers saying, “the UTM login port was not mapped internally to any systems.”

pravula · Post by **pravula** » 15 Mar 2018 08:43

SSridhar wrote:ISRO computer had malware, could’ve been hacked, say researchers - Mithun MK, New Indian Express
A malware infected computer of ISRO exposed India’s premier space research agency to hackers, claimed Indian and French security researchers on Sunday. The researchers also claimed that hackers could have taken control of ISRO’s command rocket launches using the vulnerability. Express has not been able to independently verify this claim.

The trojan malware, known as XtremeRAT, was detected in ISRO servers in December 2017 and was reported to the agency by an Indian researcher. ISRO reportedly responded and resolved the issue only after French researcher Robert Baptiste reached out to the agency on Twitter. “ISRO in their conversation with me informed that that investigated and found a UTM login port that was not mapped internally to any systems.They claimed to have disabled that port for now,” said Baptiste quoting ISRO’s communication with him that Express has seen. {Baptiste has been saying things about Aadhar too, which GoI has dismissed. Don't know how far he is true}

The XtremeRAT malware was found in ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Networks (ISTRAC) that provides tracking support for all the satellite and launch vehicle missions of ISRO. “The malware was probably infected on a computer that had access to servers used for Tracking and Command (TTC) services that help launch vehicle lift-off till injection of a satellite. A computer which was probably used to command rocket launches and separation of a satellite. I say ‘probably infected’ because no one knows which computer was used,” said the Indian researcher in December 2017.

The researcher says he stumbled on the ISRO vulnerability while using the search engine Shodan, that lets users find specific types of computers connected to internet using a variety of filters. “If Shodan can be used for searching hacked sites, I thought, why not search for infected servers? I filtered it down to region and ISRO showed up in the scan results,” said the Indian researcher.ISRO has not yet responded to Express’ request for a comment on the issue.

Resercher says search engine Shodan led him to ISRO’s vulnerability. “I did not dig any further as anything beyond that will probably be illegal,” he added. So what is XtremeRAT? It’s a commercially available remote access Trojan (RATs) used by hackers to conduct cyber espionage. There are numerous RATs that are available for free and can be purchased online, mostly from hacker forums or the dark web. The malware allows the hacker to dig deep into a specific target’s servers and databases and even sell off the access rights of their victims’ systems and their data to others.

“If infected with a trojan, the attacker owns the computer. The hacker can command the computer to do absolutely anything he wants. He just has to use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to access a computer. Has there been a data loss? most likely yes,” says the Indian researcher. Express reached out to ISRO’s public relations officer for a confirmation but did not receive a response. The Indian researcher claims he also tried to reach out to ISRO multiple times but got no response. He reached out to Computer Emergency Response Team and they responded to his email saying they will look into the issue. “However, no action was taken. I was about to give up and then I thought of contacting Robert Baptiste. He tweeted about it and then they seemed to magically care about it as the issue was in the public,” he says. Researcher says, the malware has hit sectors like --Energy, utilities, and petroleum refining.

This is beyond pale. Any basic free IDS will block shodan scans.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 21 Mar 2018 11:01

https://www.isro.gov.in/indigenously-de ... ted-ins-1c
Indigenously Developed Metal-based Origami Payload tested in INS-1C

Indian Nano Satellite-1C (INS-1C) is an experimental satellite launched by PSLV-C40 on Jan 12, 2018 as a co-passenger payload. It is the third satellite in the Indian Nano Satellite (INS) series. The first two satellites (INS-1A and INS-1B) of this series were carried as co-passenger payloads by PSLV-C37 in February 2017. INS-1C carries Miniature Multi-spectral Technology Demonstration (MMX-TD) Payload from Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO Ahmedabad.

Compact imaging systems with reduced weight and size offer tremendous opportunities for their use in space borne micro/nano satellites and planetary missions where size and weight are at a premium.

Images acquired by MMX-TD Payload

Himalyan Region seen from INS -1C

Nagqu, Tibet

JayS · Post by **JayS** » 21 Mar 2018 12:41

^^ Quite an innovative concept. Does the original invention of the kind of lens belong to some Indian person/org..?

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 22 Mar 2018 09:39

JayS wrote:^^ Quite an innovative concept. Does the original invention of the kind of lens belong to some Indian person/org..?

It’s an application of a Fresnel mirror (the one on the left)

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 22 Mar 2018 11:01

Reminds me of pancake lenses on SLRs.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 22 Mar 2018 12:26

http://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_ ... sfe?id=617
Origami Lens Slims High Resolution Cameras

January 30, 2007 -- Engineers at UC San Diego have built a powerful yet ultrathin digital camera by folding up the telephoto lens. This technology may yield lightweight, ultrathin, high resolution miniature cameras for unmanned surveillance aircraft, cell phones and infrared night vision applications.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 22 Mar 2018 20:59

https://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/gslv-f ... 6a-mission

Launch of GSLV F08/GSAT 6A mission on Thursday March 29/2018. Some details, but not very much. Probably more next week.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 22 Mar 2018 23:36

Chandrayaan 2 may even be delayed to comi g year if targets are not met within window of opportunity

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 24 Mar 2018 09:38

Postponement to at least Oct/Nov window has been announced

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 24 Mar 2018 10:10

^^^
That was more or less expected. What about the launches of GSLV Mark 3, plus a second GSLV Mark 2 and three more PSLV's including the IRNSS 1I, and missions with Oceansat-3 and Risat 1A?

Are they all on course?

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Mar 2018 17:33

GSAT6A is coming up 4pm Mar29

arun · Post by **arun** » 27 Mar 2018 19:46

Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A.

Key points are two improvements in the second stage (GS2) of the GSLV namely:

1.Induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine (HTVE). Max Vacuum Thrust is now 846.8 Kn. Cannot figure out what it was previously as a cursory flip through the brochures of the previous two GSLV missions (FO5 and F09) show no thrust figures being disclosed for any stage. This time around max vac thrust has been disclosed for all stages.

2.Induction of electromechanical actuation (EMA) in place of electrohydraulic actuation (EHA) system.

Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A

arun · Post by **arun** » 27 Mar 2018 20:03

GSLV FO8 Pictures. Click on picture for blowup:

19

20

21

22

23

24

JTull · Post by **JTull** » 27 Mar 2018 20:19

Nice pictures! The track from old assembly building still not paved. Monster new assembly building under construction. Should become a nice and efficient spaceport in another year.

Kakarat · Post by **Kakarat** » 28 Mar 2018 00:36

arun wrote: 1.Induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine (HTVE). Max Vacuum Thrust is now 846.8 Kn. Cannot figure out what it was previously as a cursory flip through the brochures of the previous two GSLV missions (FO5 and F09) show no thrust figures being disclosed for any stage. This time around max vac thrust has been disclosed for all stages.

https://www.isro.gov.in/launchers/gslv

Second Stage: GS2

One Vikas engine is used in the second stage of GSLV. The stage was derived from the PS2 of PSLV where the Vikas engine has proved its reliability.
Engine : Vikas
Fuel : UDMH + N2O4
Max. Thrust : 800 kN
Burntime : 150 sec

Indranil · Post by **Indranil** » 28 Mar 2018 00:44

arun wrote:Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A.

Key points are two improvements in the second stage (GS2) of the GSLV namely:

1.Induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine (HTVE). Max Vacuum Thrust is now 846.8 Kn. Cannot figure out what it was previously as a cursory flip through the brochures of the previous two GSLV missions (FO5 and F09) show no thrust figures being disclosed for any stage. This time around max vac thrust has been disclosed for all stages.
[/url]

799 kN. Although it could burn up to 150 seconds, most GSAT missions had a burn time of 140 seconds.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 28 Mar 2018 08:18

arun wrote:Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A.

Key points are two improvements in the second stage (GS2) of the GSLV namely:

1.Induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine (HTVE). Max Vacuum Thrust is now 846.8 Kn. Cannot figure out what it was previously as a cursory flip through the brochures of the previous two GSLV missions (FO5 and F09) show no thrust figures being disclosed for any stage. This time around max vac thrust has been disclosed for all stages.

2.Induction of electromechanical actuation (EMA) in place of electrohydraulic actuation (EHA) system.

Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A

Was 73,931 Kgf (vacume) when it was initially used on PSLV. L40 on PSLV-C4 had that rating specified per ISRO provided information.

When GSLV started using Vikas for GS2 (L40) its thrust was 73,470Kgf (vac) and teh strap-on operating at sea level generated 69,388Kgf thrust.

The Vikas design operated at 52-54 bar chamber pressure (that has been surely increased now given it now generates 86,408 kgf, the ISP would have also improved slightly), but that still is much lower compared to corresponding UDMH+N2O4 fuelled engines of let us say China.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 28 Mar 2018 08:26

News from last year
With eye on lunar mission, ISRO to test high-thrust Vikas engine
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 93608.html

The next generation Vikas engine developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is being flown for the first time. LPSC director V Narayanan told Express that the improved engine would give a significant advantage in terms of enhancing payload capability. “Usually, the chamber pressure is 58 bar, but with the use of high-thrust Vikas engine, we will achieve 62 bar, which is a 6% increase in thrust that gives us 70 kgs of additional payload gain in this mission. Right now, we are going to use the high-thrust Vikas engine only in the second stage. Basically, we are validating it. For Chandrayaan-2 mission, we will be using five such engines aiming for a payload gain of around 250 kgs,” Narayanan said.

Indranil · Post by **Indranil** » 28 Mar 2018 08:53

Savings from the electro mechanical actuators must also be close to 100 kgs.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 28 Mar 2018 09:40

Mar 27, 2018 : Mission Readiness Review (MRR) committee and Launch Authorization Board (LAB) have cleared the 27 hr countdown activities starting at 13:56hr IST on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 and the launch of GSLV-F08/GSAT-6A for Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 16:56hr IST

jaysimha · Post by **jaysimha** » 28 Mar 2018 17:29

Department of Space
Atomic Clock
Posted On: 28 MAR 2018 3:43PM by PIB Delhi
A navigation satellite, IRNSS-1I is scheduled for launch using PSLV launch vehicle in April 2018.

Atomic clock of IRNSS-1A has become non-functional, but the satellite is being used for providing messaging services like disaster alerts, potential fishing zones information dissemination to fishermen, etc. IRNSS-1I will be added to NavIC constellation for providing intended navigation services.

The atomic clocks used in NavIC and Galileo satellites are manufactured by M/s SpectraTime, Switzerland. Some of these clocks have failed in NavIC and Galileo. The reason for the failures has been analyzed and understood and the corrective actions have accordingly been taken on remaining clocks for upcoming satellites including IRNSS-1I.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

***

BB/NK/SS-5388

(Release ID: 1526770) Visitor Counter : 68

jaysimha · Post by **jaysimha** » 28 Mar 2018 17:30

Department of Space
Mission on Moon and Mars
Posted On: 28 MAR 2018 3:45PM by PIB Delhi
Chandrayaan-2 is a totally indigenous mission with Orbiter, Lander and rover configuration. Orbiter is to be placed in 100 km orbit around the Moon. After reaching the 100 km lunar orbit, the Lander will be separated from the orbiter and it will soft land on the lunar surface and deploy a Rover. The Rover will then move around the landing site. The Orbiter will continue to orbit around the Moon and perform remote-sensing observations of the lunar surface.

ISRO has formed a study team to formulate plans to explore solar system bodies. The study team has recommended a future mission to Mars. Scientific proposals for payloads are selected by an expert committee.

The Orbiter will study the Moon for its topography, elemental and mineralogical distribution and extent of subsurface water ice. The lander will land on the lunar surface and demonstrate ISRO’s capability for landing on Moon. Subsequently, the Rover will roll out of the Lander and move around the landing site. The lander and rover payloads will conduct observations on the elemental composition and study the lunar ionosphere. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will definitely expand the scientific knowledge on Moon by remote-sensing from Orbiter and in-situ studies from lander/rover. Total expenditure on the mission is around Rs 800 Cr.

Mission planning for next MARS mission is under progress.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

***

BB/NK/SS

(Release ID: 1526771) Visitor Counter : 90

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 28 Mar 2018 19:36

[quote="Haridas"][quote="arun"]Brochure for GSLV F08-GSAT6A.

Key points are two improvements in the second stage (GS2) of the GSLV namely:

1.Induction of High Thrust Vikas Engine (HTVE). Max Vacuum Thrust is now 846.8 Kn. Cannot figure out what it was previously as a cursory flip through the brochures of the previous two GSLV missions (FO5 and F09) show no thrust figures being disclosed for any stage. This time around max vac thrust has been disclosed for all stages.

2.Induction of electromechanical actuation (EMA) in place of electrohydraulic actuation (EHA) system.quote]

There's also something about 'depletion mode' consumption of propellants, I guess using the extra fuel, which is uncombusted normally

Another important experiment that the national space agency is attempting is last depletion mode shutdown. Generally, scientists store extra propellant in the tank and cut off the upper cryogenic stage after reaching desired velocity. However, this time they are attempting to deplete the liquid oxygen, which means using up another 60-70 kgs of propellant in order to achieve 4-5 seconds of additional burn duration.

( from the Indian Express)

Aarvee · Post by **Aarvee** » 29 Mar 2018 15:55

Any live streaming links?

Vamsi_V · Post by **Vamsi_V** » 29 Mar 2018 16:22

https://youtu.be/KzERHkm_Ld8

Aarvee · Post by **Aarvee** » 29 Mar 2018 16:29

Thanks

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 29 Mar 2018 16:43

lAUNCH AUTHORIZATION GIVEN BY MISSION DIRECTOR