Indian Space Program: News & Discussion - Sept 2016

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 14 Jan 2018 12:43

Doordarshan just happen to catch PSLV-C40 customers watching the launch. Not much can be done about it.

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 14 Jan 2018 21:58

One of the french nano satellite launched by C40 will be very exciting to follow up - http://www2.cnrs.fr/sites/en/fichier/picsat_pr_en.pdf

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 14 Jan 2018 22:39

Why PSLV-C39 failed: An explosion that didn’t happen.

While the nation celebrated the launch of PSLV-C40 on Friday, the 40th successful mission involving the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, Isro scientists were learning lessons from the failure of PSLV-C39 on August 31, 2017. A failure analysis, details of which were shared with TOI, has found the pyro devices (that trigger a small, controlled explosion to snap some parts) in the rocket's heat shield had malfunctioned. The detonation of the devices was to break the rivets linking the two halves of the heat shield encasing the satellite. Due to this malfunction, the shield remained intact, keeping the navigation satellite IRNSS-1H within.

Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Isro chairman-designate K Sivan, who chaired the failure analysis committee, said a rubber bellow between the two vertical halves of the heat shield was supposed to expand with the gas pressure generated by the ignition of the pyro devices. The explosion was to detach the two parts of the heat shield. "In this case, the pressure generated was not enough for the bellow to expand and trigger the separation," said Sivan.

The heat shield protects satellites they carry from atmospheric temperature generated due to friction as the rocket moves in the earth's atmosphere. The nose cone provides smooth aerodynamics for the rocket. "Once the vehicle crosses the earth's atmosphere, the heat shield is not required, and it has to be separated from the vehicle," said PSLV project director R Hutton.

Sivan said while the command for separation had gone through, it failed to trigger the mechanical process that pops open the heat shield. "The heat shield should separate in two places - from the launch vehicle below and then split into two halves. In this case, the nose cone detached from the rocket, but did not open into two halves till the end of the mission," he said. "The satellite is still in orbit with the heat shield."

Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar earlier said that uneven pressure distribution around the rocket was also one of the reasons for the failure.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 14 Jan 2018 23:06

Haridas ji. here you go, one of the microsats launched on C40 mission is a SAR one,

There was also a small radar-imaging satellite for Finnish start-up ICEYE.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z54BK3nTBq
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

http://spacenews.com/finnish-startup-ic ... e-imagery/

akashganga · Post by **akashganga** » 15 Jan 2018 18:42

Fascinating information about small sats launched by pslv:

http://spacenews.com/pslv-launch-a-mile ... companies/

The above does not include south korea sats launched which are also testing futuristic techs.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 15 Jan 2018 22:00

Thanks Vasu raya ji.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 15 Jan 2018 22:46

Informative interview,

http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/wh ... 180114.htm

As Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr A S Kiran Kumar retires today, January 14,, he tells Shivanand Kanavi about India's upcoming missions to the sun, moon and Venus.

Part 1 of the Exclusive Interview: 'We want 60 launches in 5 years'

What is happening with India's navigation systems like Gagan and NAVIC ?

Gagan (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) has been certified by the director general of civil aviation. All aircraft registered beyond January 2019 must carry satellite assisted systems like Gagan so that the hole in our airspace can be filled.

Many are already using it for en route planning. Gagan is fully operational and three transponders in three separate satellites with redundancy.

As for NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) earlier known as IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) we have a constellation in orbit.

Using a small dongle attached to a mobile phone a fisherman can navigate. Trials have been done of this system and it will be rolled out this year.

The coast guard will also get information about boats within a 20 metre resolution.

The American GPS has been around for decades. For our system to become popular, we need entrepreneurs who will provide services based on our signal in a cost-effective manner while developing a sustainable business.

We are also starting a competition where participating companies will develop cost-effective solution for say 10,000 users.

The best solution will get an award and the development costs will be subsidised by ISRO.

The entire technical information of such solutions will be available in the public domain.

We are also developing digital chip sets for use. We are basically building the ecosystem.

What went wrong with the clocks (of IRNSS-1A)?

Clock stability is crucial in navigation satellites. We have built in triple redundancy.

Both the US GPS and the EU's Galileo have faced failures of clocks. In our case, all three clocks stopped functioning.

Where do you procure them from?

From France. But we are now building our own, which is undergoing tests and a team is working at the Satellite Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, so that from now onwards we will have our own atomic clocks on board.

What about electric propulsion?

We are working on it. GSat 19 is already carrying an experimental 30 milli Newton electric propulsion system which is being used for station keeping activities.

In the next flight we are sending 80 milli Newton system. We are also establishing a lab for developing 300 milli Newton.

The resultant advantage will be in higher payload capacity. Currently, we are developing 4 tonne launchers.

But if we use electric propulsion of Ion Thrusters, then we can boost the launch capacity to 6 tonnes.

It will lead to slower transition from elliptical GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) to circular GSO (geosynchronous orbits).

It might take 3 to 4 months instead of a few days achieved with gas propulsion, but the gain in payload makes up for it.

We have also given contract to a startup (Bellatrix Aerospace) from IISc Bengaluru which is developing a microwave electro-thermal thruster, which they have patented.

We still seem to be using Dubai-based Thuraya satellite phones. Is there any plan to launch our own sat phone system?

Yes, the innovation we have done is to create a sleeve which is as big as a normal mobile phone and when you put your mobile phone in it, it becomes a sat phone.

It is handheld.

We have a 6-metre diameter antenna on the satellite and we are building a new one with 12-metre antenna on the satellite so that a low power hand held mobile phone can be used as sat phone.

That's brilliant!

It is not for commercial use. It is used only for strategic purposes. Even the frequency has been released only for strategic use.

Tell us about Chandrayaan-2. Do we also have a plan for another Mangalyaan?

The Chandrayaan-2 configuration is frozen. It will have a moon orbiter and a lander and rover. It will be launched on GSLV Mark 2.

The flight model is getting integrated.

As for the lander we need the new technology of engines which can be throttled. So that we can vary the thrust levels for smooth descent and landing including hovering etc.

Trials are going on. The rover will come out of the lander and move around on the surface of the moon for one Lunar Day which is equal to 14 earth days.

Is the rover being made by a startup?

That is a different thing which is a part of Google's competition whose launch contract is with ISRO.

It is going through various ups and downs. It should have happened by now, but the development is still going on.

Our own rover is being tested already. It will move around and fire a laser into the lunar soil and whatever material gets kicked up will be analysed.

The result will be communicated from rover to lander and lander to orbiter and orbiter to earth.

As for other missions, right now we are looking at Venus, another Mars mission, an asteroid mission, Aditya, our solar mission etc.

Our approved missions are Chandrayaan-2 and Aditya.

Aditya will do solar coronagraphy and other measurements regarding the magnetic field, solar flare etc.

Within a year or so we will firm up. Venus feasibility has been established and we have announced opportunity for payloads.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 16 Jan 2018 02:25

^^^BTW both for atomic clocks and electric propulsion, MoU (between respective space agencies) was explicitly signed by Modi and Netanyahu during PM's visit and much progress has been made.
http://www.financialexpress.com/india-n ... iv/750646/

Accurate atomic clocks are immensely required for GPS, Satellites etc. This MoU will help India-Israel advance the research on atomic clocks.

also see:<MEA dot gov lok- sabha piece see MoU 7>

Karan M · Post by **Karan M** » 16 Jan 2018 04:34

Only $20 Million for tech development? We spend billions on one weapons system. This is babu-giri at its worst.

Jayram · Post by **Jayram** » 16 Jan 2018 08:27

I think the $20 Million is for another item. Dont see $$ listed on the Atomic Clocks dev.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Jan 2018 14:29

PSLV-C40: A multipurpose mission - Ajey Lele, The Space Review

India’s space agency, ISRO, ended 2017 rather on a somber note with the failure of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C39 mission. On August 31, 2017, ISRO was forced to declare the mission a failure owing to a freak incidence. PSLV-C39 failed after the payload fairing did not separate during one of the legs of the launch sequence.

The payload fairing is meant to protect the satellite payload from the aerodynamic forces during initial phases of flight. After reaching a specific altitude, this fairing is no longer needed, and must separate. However, during the PSLV-C39 mission, which was carrying India’s navigational satellite IRNSS-1H, this did not happen and the satellite got stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.

For many years, India’s space program has won various laurels because of the excellent services provided by the PSLV, a third-generation launch vehicle. From 1994 until June of 2017, it carried out 39 consecutive successful missions. Naturally, this failure during August 2017 mission was a big blow for both ISRO and India’s regional satellite navigational program. This failure required ISRO to take a four-month launch break.

However, 2018 brought the cheer back with the successful launch of PSLV-C40 mission. The success of the PSLV-C40 mission on January 12 has reassured ISRO that there is nothing wrong with their vehicle design.

From purely a technology perspective, PSLV-C40, which launched 31 satellites, could not be considered as some milestone mission. This mission carried India’s 100th satellite and, in that context, it has its own relevance. However, this mission should not be remembered only from the perspective of history and nostalgia.

Besides giving reassurance to the scientists of ISRO of their own capabilities, this launch lasted for two hours, the longest so far for ISRO. Normally, most of the PSLV launches last approximately for 20 minutes. However, this mission took an additional two hours because the mission sequence involved using multiple-burn technology, where the fourth stage was fired three additional times. The maximum altitude of 510 kilometers, which was reached during release of the first satellite (Cartosat 2) into the polar sun synchronous orbit, was reduced to 359 kilometers during these burns. As a predesigned part of a launch profile, the altitude was reduced for positioning the last remaining satellite, a microsatellite, during the mission’s end phase. The challenge was to restart the engine in a cold microgravity environment and to ensure that no impact takes place on the satellites owing to the heat generated during the restart.

This mission also strengthens India’s cartographic series satellite program. India has a unique geography and is impacted by both tropical and extratropical weather systems. For a country with such a varied terrain and weather, satellites have for many years played an important role in the management of land and water resources, crop management, and getting useful weather inputs. India has an exceptional track record in the arena of launching remote-sensing satellites.

India launched its first remote sensing satellite in 1988 under the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) program. Also, having understood the nature of strategic inputs that remote sensing technology offers, India started upgrading its sensor technology. In 2001, ISRO launched a Technology Experimental Satellite (TES) that produced images with a resolution less than 1 meter. The first cartographic satellite, called Cartosat 1, was launched in 2005. The Cartosat 2 program started in 2007 and three satellites were launched through 2010. Three more Cartosat 2 satellites were launched before this launch. All these satellites have a resolution less than 80 centimeters and it is expected that India could develop the capability of around 30 centimeters resolutions for future launches.

Apart from the Cartosat satellite that was the main payload for this mission, 30 other smaller satellites (micro and nano) were launched. Of there, 28 were for the foreign customers, including Canada, Finland, South Korea, UK, USA, and France. It is interesting to observe that countried with their own launch capabilities are also looking at ISRO as a viable option. The confidence of these global customers in ISRO is heartening, particularly given the failure of the PSLV-C39 mission.

All in all, the relevance of PSLV-C40 mission is threefold: launching a cartographic satellite that is an important part of India’s civilian and strategic remote sensing architecture, successfully demonstrating the multiple-burn technology of the PSLV, and demonstrating the capabilities of the PSLV for the launch of small satellites to international customers.

During last two decades, ISRO has succeeded in establishing PSLV as a multipurpose vehicle. It is the same vehicle that has allowed ISRO to undertake successful missions to Moon and Mars, and also launch microsatellites and nanosatellites. For the last few years, ISRO has made conscious efforts to promote this vehicle as a suitable option for launch of small satellites. Demonstration of multiple-burn technology could be considered as one such step in that direction. The other step could be launch of 104 small satellites in one mission in early 2017. The multiple-burn technology has been used in some forms on some earlier missions. For example, on September 26, 2016, the PSLV-C35 launched eight satellites into two different orbits, with the main payload was in one orbit and remaining seven satellites in the other. Now, with this mission, ISRO has repeated that performance but with many more satellites.

Before this mission, ISRO had launched 209 satellites for international customers. Over the years, ISRO has succeeded in establishing itself as a reliable launching partner, particularly for small satellites. The nanosatellite (1–10 kilograms) and microsatellite (11–100 kilograms) market is showing major growth. The nanosatellite market is forecast for the highest growth coming few years. According to one report, “The nanosatellite and microsatellite market is projected to grow from an estimated USD 1.21 Billion in 2017 to USD 3.49 Billion by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.7% during the forecast period, from 2017 to 2022. The base year considered for the study is 2016.” This study clearly indicates that there is big launch market available for ISRO to grab.

Various agencies of ISRO are involved in designing, developing, and manufacturing satellites required for them. It also manufactures satellites for international customers. However, one area that ISRO and India’s private space industry needs to focus on is the field of small satellite manufacturing. Today, foreign customers ship their satellites to ISRO for launch. India needs to ensure that customers should be presented with an option for having their satellites also manufactured in India to their specifications. For this purpose, India needs to evolve a major ecosystem for manufacturing of small satellites. Now, the time has come for ISRO to focus simultaneously on both the satellite launch market and satellite manufacturing market.

jaysimha · Post by **jaysimha** » 16 Jan 2018 14:35

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease. ... lid=174820

Year End Review: Department of Space

jaysimha · Post by **jaysimha** » 16 Jan 2018 19:04

what is this ? ¿ ? ¿ ? ¿

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease. ... lid=174753

A 4.6 Meter Ship Borne Terminal (SBT) developed by DAE was integrated on a ship and deployed in Deep Sea. The SBT successfully tracked the ISRO launch Vehicle PSLV-C38 during Cartosat-2E mission on 23rd June, 2017.

srinebula · Post by **srinebula** » 16 Jan 2018 19:26

https://www.isro.gov.in/update/16-jan-2 ... -satellite

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 16 Jan 2018 21:15

chetak wrote: "Top Indian scientist to join UAE space mission"

there are any number of pakis and hans puttering around in the UAE.

Did he really need to do this??

Amen, sir. August company of Good Sharief over at GCC as a merc from tech.

IMHO and all that - Gent seems to be not exactly known for decency. He is the one who sold his predecessor down the river, when politicians asked him to. As per grapevine, to this day, none of the surviving ex-chairmen have forgiven him for not shielding the org's independence. Even the current govt has done diddly to reinstate the sec-clearance of the predecessor. As collateral damage, since the predecessor was heading the task force for the 100 seater regional airliner, the issue cost India the sole civilian airliner project, which was almost ready for proto-type fabrication with long-lead time material orders being prepared.

I recently saw a whatsapp message forwarded from my alumni, asking if anyone is in Delhi can stand as bail guarantor for the predecessor (who is an alumnus). This is the continuing fall out from that huge betrayal at a personal level. If this is not a hostile "ISRO-spy scam ver2.0" target-of-opportunity operation that nixed a strategic airliner project, due to the spinelessness of a small minded man, then I have a largish temple with lots of gold to sell!

"Top10 scientist of the world"..... right!

(good news about victim of another such ops: is that there is a production going on to narrate Nambi-sir's story by Bollywood. Madhavan, who is the lead, has visited SHAR to immerse himself for the role and the script is being written by a friend who was shadow writing for Nambi-sir. But that is small comfort for the man who had to go through crap)

jpremnath · Post by **jpremnath** » 16 Jan 2018 21:44

Thats a quite strong accusation against a man whose integrity has not been questioned on any other platform till now...Would you care to elaborate? This sounds more like you have some personal grudge with the respected gent..
In the case of Dewas spectrum case, what was he expected to do? Our (isro vs Dewas) was quite weak when they took govt of India to court...Which means the previous chairman didnt do the due diligence required when precious national resource was handed over to a private concern...I don't think there was some collusion, but there were serious lapses which have caused great damage to the country in many levels...
If Mr.Radhakrishnan joins the UAE mission, don't you think it would be with blessing of GoI? Wont people like him who headed strategic sectors need clearance at higher levels to work for foreign govt institutions? Probably its the Indian Govt itself which nudged him on request from UAE probably to meet some strategic agreements..
When blaming some one wouldn't it be good practice to bring points to back your accusations...

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 16 Jan 2018 21:46

Please check that link of the interview as a starter and start digging further. The people most affected, seem to be the technical folks who gave a report.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 16 Jan 2018 21:51

jpremnath wrote:This sounds more like you have some personal grudge with the respected gent..

aye, he pinched me when I stole his pencil box recently

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Jan 2018 20:11

hnair wrote:
chetak wrote: "Top Indian scientist to join UAE space mission"

there are any number of pakis and hans puttering around in the UAE.

Did he really need to do this??
Amen, sir. August company of Good Sharief over at GCC as a merc from tech.

IMHO and all that - Gent seems to be not exactly known for decency. He is the one who sold his predecessor down the river, when politicians asked him to. As per grapevine, to this day, none of the surviving ex-chairmen have forgiven him for not shielding the org's independence. Even the current govt has done diddly to reinstate the sec-clearance of the predecessor. As collateral damage, since the predecessor was heading the task force for the 100 seater regional airliner, the issue cost India the sole civilian airliner project, which was almost ready for proto-type fabrication with long-lead time material orders being prepared.

I recently saw a whatsapp message forwarded from my alumni, asking if anyone is in Delhi can stand as bail guarantor for the predecessor (who is an alumnus). This is the continuing fall out from that huge betrayal at a personal level. If this is not a hostile "ISRO-spy scam ver2.0" target-of-opportunity operation that nixed a strategic airliner project, due to the spinelessness of a small minded man, then I have a largish temple with lots of gold to sell!

"Top10 scientist of the world"..... right!

(good news about victim of another such ops: is that there is a production going on to narrate Nambi-sir's story by Bollywood. Madhavan, who is the lead, has visited SHAR to immerse himself for the role and the script is being written by a friend who was shadow writing for Nambi-sir. But that is small comfort for the man who had to go through crap)

I know quite a few govt as well as private sector jokers who walked away with data so they could increase their value in the market. I am very sure, so do a lot of others.

Does anyone really think that some gelf country camel dung sweepers are hiring key personnel so as to maintain their racial balance and impress the united nations??

vinod · Post by **vinod** » 17 Jan 2018 20:35

Is there a suggestion Radhakrishnan is going to steal the IP and transfer to UAE? Wow!

He would need to get a lot more engineers from ISRO to move there, if he needs to really have any impact.

srin · Post by **srin** » 17 Jan 2018 23:07

hnair wrote: IMHO and all that - Gent seems to be not exactly known for decency. He is the one who sold his predecessor down the river, when politicians asked him to. As per grapevine, to this day, none of the surviving ex-chairmen have forgiven him for not shielding the org's independence. Even the current govt has done diddly to reinstate the sec-clearance of the predecessor. As collateral damage, since the predecessor was heading the task force for the 100 seater regional airliner, the issue cost India the sole civilian airliner project, which was almost ready for proto-type fabrication with long-lead time material orders being prepared.

I hadn't followed the Devas deal too much, and I just glanced through the CAG report, and I'm not convinced that things were above board. The CAG report raises questions on every aspect of the deal.

I don't understand the part about shielding the org's independence. A public org like ISRO will be supervised by constitutional bodies and questions will be asked.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 20 Jan 2018 22:47

The asteroid mission proposed by ISRO wasn't funded though it has a near term practical side, of rendevous with existing sats either for
a) recovery/recycling of sats whose operational life is over
b) service missions

and recovery could mean either pushing into the earth's atmosphere for burnup or safely getting it back to Earth. Taking a cue from how back in the 60's American sats dropped tapes from space in a re-entry surviving canister, and when the parachute deploys is recovered using a transport aircraft to snag the payload while in flight.

https://petapixel.com/2014/08/31/us-spy ... h-mid-air/

All those microsats and nanosats launched by ISRO could be recovered in a similar way at the end of their lifespan which is usually less than couple of years and the burden of cleaning up is on the launching nation. After pruning their solar panels, these sats are compact enough to be put into canisters. It helps in furthering our own research given most of the small sats are prototypes to demonstrate future capabilities.

Then the service missions followed by the actual asteroid mission which probably comes across only as a 'me too' for the funding committee at the moment.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 21 Jan 2018 16:19

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 257_1.html

If things pan out as intended, the 5.7-tonne GSAT-11 will be most probably the last heavy Indian satellite to be launched by a foreign space agency, according to K. Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The GSAT-11 communication satellite will be launched by Arianespace's Ariane rocket soon.

"We are working on a dual concept: Increasing the carrying capacity of our heaviest rocket -- the 640-tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk III (GSLV Mk III) to six tonnes -- while producing high throughput and lower weight communication satellites," said Sivan.

He said nearly 60 per cent of the satellite weight consists of onboard chemical fuel and by opting for electric power for manoeuvring in space the mass of the satellite will be reduced.

The Indian space agency had tried electric propulsion in its GSAT 9 satellite.

At present, the GSLV Mk III rocket has a carrying capacity of four tonnes. The Indian space agency is working on increasing GSLV Mk III's carrying capacity to six tonnes.

"Now most of the satellites will be contained to four-six tonnes," Sivan said.

According to Sivan, the capacity enhancement is not restricted to GSLV Mk III alone but also to other rockets as it would bring down the overall launch cost.

But that doesn't mean ISRO would freeze development of higher payload rockets.

"We have the capability to design and build over six-tonne payload rockets. We will start designing for bigger rockets," Sivan remarked.

"Our major objectives are to increase the production of rockets so as to increase the number of satellite launches; enhance our rocket's capability; look at reduction of rocket production cost; develop and realise the small rocket with a carrying capacity of 500 kg and also realise reusable launch vehicle/rocket," Sivan remarked.

According to him, to increase the production of rockets, the space agency is looking at transferring the technology for making Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket to industries.

"We are working out the methodologies like joint venture for that purpose," Sivan said.

That apart, ISRO is also open for transferring the technologies developed by it to the private sector for commercialisation and wider use.

"For instance, we will be transferring the technology for making lithium ion battery that could be used to power automobiles," Sivan added.

Sivan said ISRO is also focusing on developing a reusable launch vehicle that involves a lot of new technologies and the Scramjet engine which in turn would reduce costs.

According to him, the first half of 2018 will be busy with the launch of Chandrayaan II (moon mission), GSAT 6A and a navigation satellite as the replacement for the first of the seven navigation satellites.

On January 12, ISRO launched its remote sensing satellite Cartosat.

Sixty-year-old Sivan, the new head of the Indian space agency, is not shy of saying that he wore trousers and chappals for the first time when he stepped into the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) here for a degree in aeronautical engineering.

"I studied in Tamil medium in a government-owned school.

I wore only dhoti and shirt without any footwear till I finished my graduation at the ST Hindu College in Nagercoil. Only after joining MIT did I start wearing trousers and chappals," Sivan told IANS.

Son of a farmer, Sivan used to help his father in farming and also in his vegetables/fruits trading activity during his school days. Today, as the head of one of the world's premier space agencies, Sivan's task is cut out.

Sivan's elder son has completed electronics and communication engineering and the younger son is pursuing a graduate degree in animation while his wife is a homemaker.

Queried about his management style Sivan said: "I delegate work and expect deliverables as promised. Space system is unforgiving. If there is a problem, it will fail."

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 23 Jan 2018 08:51

Zynda wrote:Team Indus has dropped out of Space Race to place a lander on Moon. Mentioned on NDTV...sad to see another niche private venture bite the dust. Was a long shot for them anyways but somehow up until recently, they managed to stay afloat. Ideally this project could have been sponsored by a few (or one) giant Indian Engineering firm with suitable agreements to share IP, know how, methodologies employed which could be transferred to other programs etc. Or even from academic institutions...ask them engineers to share their learnings via courses or whatever (still can happen if the institutes are enterprising enough...)

As some have said/guessed, google has formally announced that there is no team left to win the prize, and they are not extending the deadline.
Google's $20 Million Moonshot Is Ending Without a Winner

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 23 Jan 2018 09:26

vasu raya wrote:All those microsats and nanosats launched by ISRO could be recovered in a similar way at the end of their lifespan which is usually less than couple of years and the burden of cleaning up is on the launching nation

I seriously doubt if those satellites will survive reentry. as even bulky american sats didnt (skylab for example) and only tapes which were kept inside the sats were captured by US planes not satellites in entirety

Another option is to have a collector sat which can collect these small sats and reenter. But does that justify huge costs involved?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Jan 2018 10:27

Disha.

https://web.archive.org/web/20121104145 ... 9/04/19403

Ashokk · Post by **Ashokk** » 23 Jan 2018 20:44

Isro releases images captured by Microsat and nanosatellite

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Tuesday released images captured by a microsatellite (Microsat) and a nanosatellite that were placed in orbit by PSLV-C40 on January 12. These were among the 31 satellites, including Cartosat-2 series, which PSLV-C40 carried.
Isro has released two images of land in India captured by the nanosatellite and an image of Porbandar captured Microsat.

Images from the nanosatellite

According to Isro, Microsat is an experimental spacecraft built by Isro belonging to the 100 kg class.

Tapan Misra, director of Space Application Centre earlier told TOI that the satellite has a camera capable of capturing clear night images in the far infrared spectrum. "The previous earth observation satellites did not have a payload that captured images in this spectrum," he said.

The nanosatellite (INS-1C) is the third in the Indian Nano Satellite series. It has a miniature multispectral technology demonstration payload built by Space Applications Centre. According to Isro, data sent by the camera will be useful for topographics mapping, vegetation monitoring, aerosol scattering studies and cloud studies.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jan 2018 03:08

Vips, Thanks for posting this report. This was discussed in Aug-Sep 2017 time frame.

My comments:

Vips wrote:Why PSLV-C39 failed: An explosion that didn’t happen.

While the nation celebrated the launch of PSLV-C40 on Friday, the 40th successful mission involving the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, Isro scientists were learning lessons from the failure of PSLV-C39 on August 31, 2017. A failure analysis, details of which were shared with TOI, has found the pyro devices (that trigger a small, controlled explosion to snap some parts) in the rocket's heat shield had malfunctioned. The detonation of the devices was to break the rivets linking the two halves of the heat shield encasing the satellite. Due to this malfunction, the shield remained intact, keeping the navigation satellite IRNSS-1H within.

{Soon after hearing about this failure we had concluded it was a failure to separate the fairing}

Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Isro chairman-designate K Sivan, who chaired the failure analysis committee, said a rubber bellow between the two vertical halves of the heat shield was supposed to expand with the gas pressure generated by the ignition of the pyro devices. The explosion was to detach the two parts of the heat shield. "In this case, the pressure generated was not enough for the bellow to expand and trigger the separation," said Sivan.

{This is the root cause. The failure to build pressure to exercise the bellows. So it appears they have a small gas generator that provides pressure upon ignition to expand the bellows.}

The heat shield protects satellites they carry from atmospheric temperature generated due to friction as the rocket moves in the earth's atmosphere. The nose cone provides smooth aerodynamics for the rocket. "Once the vehicle crosses the earth's atmosphere, the heat shield is not required, and it has to be separated from the vehicle," said PSLV project director R Hutton.

Sivan said while the command for separation had gone through, it failed to trigger the mechanical process that pops open the heat shield. "The heat shield should separate in two places - from the launch vehicle below and then split into two halves. In this case, the nose cone detached from the rocket, but did not open into two halves till the end of the mission," he said. "The satellite is still in orbit with the heat shield."

Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar earlier said that uneven pressure distribution around the rocket was also one of the reasons for the failure.

So the electrical signal was verified as having been sent. The pyro devices to ignite the gas generator malfunctioned.

The first para is confusing. I believe the rivets or fasteners should break with a zip tube and then the bellows expands to push away the two halves of the fairing.
From Mr. Sivan the nose cone detached at the base and but is not clear about the fasteners holding the two halves of the fairing.

To me looks like there were two failures: the fairing two halves did not break and the bellows did not expand.

The fairing has two different separation paths : the separation of the heat shield from the vehicle which is a circular and the other separation path of the two halves of the fairing for lack of better description lets call it meridianal/longitudinal separation. From Mr. Sivan the circular separation happened. The first para indicates the meridianal separation did not happen. Then the bellows did not expand.

Where I am flummoxed is the nose cone detached from the flight vehicle versus the first para that the two halves did not break.

To my knowledge both these separation planes: circular to separate nose cone from the rocket and meridianal to separate the two halves are all done with one zip tube. The bellows to push away are a separate event.

If this is correct then Mr. Sivan's summary that the bellows did not get pressure to push away the separated halves makes sense.

Is this right reading or my confusion?

Is this flight report public or only for the TOI?

Disha I had posted this link for the similar incident about 18 years ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20121104145 ... 9/04/19403

Lockheed: Ikonos Fell into Sea

Wired News Report Email 04.29.99

An imaging satellite launched on Tuesday probably burned up, and parts of it may have fallen into the Pacific Ocean, according to Lockheed Martin investigators.

Ikonos I, lauded as the first satellite to provide high-resolution images for commercial use, was lost to controllers shortly after launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. Operators said they stopped receiving signals from the orbiter hours after the midday launch.

Lockheed said it believes the Athena II rocket used in the launch didn't pick up enough speed to put Ikonos into orbit.

Investigators say the rocket's nose cone may have failed to separate as expected. The cone protects the rocket and satellite from heat and friction as they travel through the Earth's atmosphere.

Once the satellite reaches the thinner upper levels of the atmosphere, the cone is supposed to separate. But Lockheed said that probably didn't happen, although it is not certain why.

The company plans to continue investigating the cause of the failure. The company said that three earlier launches using Athena rockets, built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, were successful.

...........

Vips · Post by **Vips** » 24 Jan 2018 03:57

What ISRO is doing to put Indians into space.

As Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr A S Kiran Kumar retires today, January 14,, he tells Shivanand Kanavi about India's upcoming missions to the sun, moon and Venus.

What is happening with India's navigation systems like Gagan and NAVIC ?

Gagan (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) has been certified by the director general of civil aviation. All aircraft registered beyond January 2019 must carry satellite assisted systems like Gagan so that the hole in our airspace can be filled. Many are already using it for en route planning. Gagan is fully operational and three transponders in three separate satellites with redundancy.

As for NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) earlier known as IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) we have a constellation in orbit.Using a small dongle attached to a mobile phone a fisherman can navigate. Trials have been done of this system and it will be rolled out this year.

The coast guard will also get information about boats within a 20 metre resolution.The American GPS has been around for decades. For our system to become popular, we need entrepreneurs who will provide services based on our signal in a cost-effective manner while developing a sustainable business.

We are also starting a competition where participating companies will develop cost-effective solution for say 10,000 users.The best solution will get an award and the development costs will be subsidised by ISRO.The entire technical information of such solutions will be available in the public domain. We are also developing digital chip sets for use. We are basically building the ecosystem.

What went wrong with the clocks (of IRNSS-1A)?

Clock stability is crucial in navigation satellites. We have built in triple redundancy. Both the US GPS and the EU's Galileo have faced failures of clocks. In our case, all three clocks stopped functioning.

Where do you procure them from?

From France. But we are now building our own, which is undergoing tests and a team is working at the Satellite Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, so that from now onwards we will have our own atomic clocks on board.

What about electric propulsion?

We are working on it. GSat 19 is already carrying an experimental 30 milli Newton electric propulsion system which is being used for station keeping activities. In the next flight we are sending 80 milli Newton system. We are also establishing a lab for developing 300 milli Newton. The resultant advantage will be in higher payload capacity. Currently, we are developing 4 tonne launchers. But if we use electric propulsion of Ion Thrusters, then we can boost the launch capacity to 6 tonnes.

It will lead to slower transition from elliptical GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) to circular GSO (geosynchronous orbits). It might take 3 to 4 months instead of a few days achieved with gas propulsion, but the gain in payload makes up for it. We have also given contract to a startup (Bellatrix Aerospace) from IISc Bengaluru which is developing a microwave electro-thermal thruster, which they have patented.

We still seem to be using Dubai-based Thuraya satellite phones. Is there any plan to launch our own sat phone system?

Yes, the innovation we have done is to create a sleeve which is as big as a normal mobile phone and when you put your mobile phone in it, it becomes a sat phone. It is handheld. We have a 6-metre diameter antenna on the satellite and we are building a new one with 12-metre antenna on the satellite so that a low power hand held mobile phone can be used as sat phone.

That's brilliant!

It is not for commercial use. It is used only for strategic purposes. Even the frequency has been released only for strategic use.

Tell us about Chandrayaan-2. Do we also have a plan for another Mangalyaan?

The Chandrayaan-2 configuration is frozen. It will have a moon orbiter and a lander and rover. It will be launched on GSLV Mark 2. The flight model is getting integrated.

As for the lander we need the new technology of engines which can be throttled. So that we can vary the thrust levels for smooth descent and landing including hovering etc. Trials are going on. The rover will come out of the lander and move around on the surface of the moon for one Lunar Day which is equal to 14 earth days.

Is the rover being made by a startup?

That is a different thing which is a part of Google's competition whose launch contract is with ISRO. It is going through various ups and downs. It should have happened by now, but the development is still going on. Our own rover is being tested already. It will move around and fire a laser into the lunar soil and whatever material gets kicked up will be analysed. The result will be communicated from rover to lander and lander to orbiter and orbiter to earth.As for other missions, right now we are looking at Venus, another Mars mission, an asteroid mission, Aditya, our solar mission etc.Our approved missions are Chandrayaan-2 and Aditya.Aditya will do solar coronagraphy and other measurements regarding the magnetic field, solar flare etc. Within a year or so we will firm up. Venus feasibility has been established and we have announced opportunity for payloads.

Has any time table been set up for putting an Indian into space?

It is still not an approved thing. We are only developing critical technologies. Crew module recovery, emergency recovery, environmentally controlled chamber for crew use in space, life support systems etc. The astronaut's suit is already done by a Baroda company and has been tested.
But as far as priorities we still have a huge gap between supply and demand for various satellites in communication, earth observation etc, which we need to address. We have about 42 and we need 80 to 100. In the meantime, GSLV Mark 3 will get stabilised and with higher capacity for low earth orbits of about 10 to 12 tonnes.

How is the unique Indian Institute of Space Technology evolving?

We are absorbing about 100 graduates every year. Now we have three disciplines in BTech and 18 disciplines for MTech and a PhD programme also.
We have started a Satish Dhawan endowments at Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and we are sending our toppers to study there.
They are all topping their batches there too. They will also do some internship in the industry there.We are charging no tuition fee at IIST for all students, they have to pay only for hostel and food etc.

Do you have a training school for recruits in ISRO like the DAE (Department of Atomic Energy)?

We don't have a training school like the DAE. Those who are recruited are trained in orientation programmes and mid-course programmes etc.
It is fairly systematic activity of 3 to 6 months and also encourages inter-disciplinary work.

What is the current level of attrition in ISRO?

Very small at this time. After the 6th and 7th Pay Commission and additional incentives the packages are quite attractive. More over many people like job security as well as the opportunity to do nationally important challenging projects.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 25 Jan 2018 06:33

symontk wrote:I seriously doubt if those satellites will survive reentry. as even bulky american sats didnt (skylab for example) and only tapes which were kept inside the sats were captured by US planes not satellites in entirety

Another option is to have a collector sat which can collect these small sats and reenter. But does that justify huge costs involved?

to collect these small sats one would still need to put a EKV type vehicle into LEO with a canister and heat shield to survive the re entry, except the EKV does a rendezvous with the small sat than a collision. The modified EKV can go on any spare capacity in launch vehicles.

disha · Post by **disha** » 25 Jan 2018 23:51

Ramana'ji, got your notes.

Thanks for the info on the ikonos failure due to payload fairing.

I will provide some updates over the next 2-3 days.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 26 Jan 2018 00:23

Is there any talk of the Gslv mark 3, or mk 2, inserting satellites into a higher perigee to begin with? This is reportedly a strength and advantage of the Ariane launchers, they send satellites into a roughly 200-250 perigee and 36,000 apogee. This is supposed to be more efficient in conserving LAM propellant. Isro appears to maintain the 160-180 perigee limit. Is there a reason for that?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 26 Jan 2018 03:54

disha wrote:Ramana'ji, got your notes.

Thanks for the info on the ikonos failure due to payload fairing.

I will provide some updates over the next 2-3 days.

One question I have is the type of electrical connector that ISRO uses for the launch vehicle to the payload fairing cabling.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 26 Jan 2018 08:48

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Is there any talk of the Gslv mark 3, or mk 2, inserting satellites into a higher perigee to begin with? This is reportedly a strength and advantage of the Ariane launchers, they send satellites into a roughly 200-250 perigee and 36,000 apogee. This is supposed to be more efficient in conserving LAM propellant. Isro appears to maintain the 160-180 perigee limit. Is there a reason for that?

Perigee difference between 250 km and 180 km is of negligible consequence w.r.t. LAM propellant.
Orbit energy is essentially dependent on the span of the major axis.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 26 Jan 2018 09:14

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Is there any talk of the Gslv mark 3, or mk 2, inserting satellites into a higher perigee to begin with? This is reportedly a strength and advantage of the Ariane launchers, they send satellites into a roughly 200-250 perigee and 36,000 apogee. This is supposed to be more efficient in conserving LAM propellant. Isro appears to maintain the 160-180 perigee limit. Is there a reason for that?

This is not much of an issue wrt propellant conservation.The firing to reestablish a circular orbit is at apogee
Prasanna

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 27 Jan 2018 21:47

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/science ... nches.html

According to him, infrastructure development has been taken up in a big way at Shar to increase the number launchings to 26 per annum in future.

The second Vehicle Assembly Building is coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 630 crore and it will be ready within four months. Similarly PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) is being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 475 crore and the works are likely to be completed by next year.

The augmentation of Solid Motor Production (ASMP) facility is in progress and ISRO is spending Rs 630 Cr on the project and it will be ready by next year.

Mr Kunhi Krishnan said Shar will be fully equipped to launch 15 rockets from first launch pad and 11 from second launch pad after the completion of all the ongoing going development projects probably before the end of 2019.

They should split the mini-pslv launches to other locations, maybe the first stage and the rest can be transported by C-17 separately

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 28 Jan 2018 07:28

^ which other location. The launches have to be on East coast for a launch advantage and launches have to avoid neighbouring land mass to avoid stages falling on other countries so the choices are limited.

vasu raya · Post by **vasu raya** » 28 Jan 2018 08:09

Its more to do with the ability to carry out emergency launches since this is for development of an on demand capability, this flexibility with locations would avoid pre-empting Sriharikota's schedule. Locations wise it could be Southern A&N islands, Thumba or any other pre-surveyed areas. Only commercial payloads would need maximizing the capacity by location placement.

srin · Post by **srin** » 28 Jan 2018 08:38

prasannasimha wrote:^ which other location. The launches have to be on East coast for a launch advantage and launches have to avoid neighbouring land mass to avoid stages falling on other countries so the choices are limited.

East coast is required for geo-synchronous orbits, and for polar orbits, south coast is required, no ?

There has been discussions for quite a few years on having Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin for polar launches. Launches from there don't have to do the dogleg manoeuvre around Sri Lanka. But don't see this happening anytime soon.

prasannasimha · Post by **prasannasimha** » 28 Jan 2018 08:40

Thumbs does not allow launches with orbital payloads due to landmass restrictions.