Indian Space Program Discussion

K Mehta · Post by **K Mehta** » 12 Mar 2010 18:28

Found this photo from KrishG's album of AI09

So the current test was first flight of the Scramjet engine flight demonstrator vehicle. Whoopie

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 12 Mar 2010 18:50

K Mehta wrote: So the current test was first flight of the Scramjet engine flight demonstrator vehicle. Whoopie

Yes the first picture. The second picture (the one below) is that of HEX mission (Hypersonic Flight Experiment). It will use a scaled-down version of RLV. A 9-ton booster will power it. It will validate the aerodynamics of the design in the hypersonic regime.

I have written an article on HEX in wiki - HEX

IIRC HEX-01 was supposed to be launched this year but has been postponed to next year.

ravar · Post by **ravar** » 12 Mar 2010 21:39

I have written an article on HEX in wiki - HEX

IIRC HEX-01 was supposed to be launched this year but has been postponed to next year.

Nice work KrishG! Please keep it up. One thing to add- the tricolour which warms the heart of the jingoes!

On a related note, the actual AVATAR was meant to have the liquefaction and collection of oxygen as an objective, right? Any news on that front (IIRC, CIM Tech, Hyd was working on it?)

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 13 Mar 2010 07:56

India & Russia ink pacts in defence & strategic spheres

"An MoU for bilateral cooperation in Russia's satellite navigation system has been agreed upon,'' Dr. {Man Mohan} Singh said in a statement shortly after concluding delegation-level talks with Mr. Putin.

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 16 Mar 2010 23:27

Shootout at ISRO space centre near Bangalore

Two people were early Tuesday morning involved in a shootout with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) security personnel around its high-security facility at Byalalu near Bangalore.

The two men, who were roaming around the area, fired at the security personnel on being questioned forcing the security forces to return fire, but the duo escaped.

"Two people were seen moving in a suspicious manner outside our centre," ISRO spokesman S Satish told reporters. "The police immediately challenged them, and they opened fire in retaliation. The shootout continued for some time before the two men fled." "The police are investigating. It is up to them to see whether it was a terror attack," he added.

The duo fired at them with a small pistol, after which the security guards retaliated. The incident occurred between 3.30am and 4.00am, sources said.

The home ministry sees ISRO buildings as a high priority target for terrorists, and has beefed up security around them after warnings of possible attacks.

A police complaint has been lodged and an investigation is on.

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 17 Mar 2010 03:09

Craig Alpert wrote:Shootout at ISRO space centre near Bangalore

Normally I dont do the "Paanwallah told me" stuff. Sorry. But this is important: so - Paanwallah (someone who works there) told me that another angle is being investigated: One guard is being investigated for altercation with other guards/intoxication/leave & pay raise matters/mental stability ityadi. So hopefully this does not turn out to be serious.

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 17 Mar 2010 03:46

Anujan wrote: Normally I don't do the "Paanwallah told me" stuff. Sorry. But this is important: so - Paanwallah (someone who works there) told me that another angle is being investigated: One guard is being investigated for altercation with other guards/intoxication/leave & pay raise matters/mental stability ityadi. So hopefully this does not turn out to be serious.

I sure hope you are right, if that's the case then no worries...
However the lackluster behavior of the guards in question is definitely a cause of concern. If the fire was exchanged amongst themselves, and in their defense they made up the "2 suspects" I would like to question their intelligence because I'm sure they should be well aware that they are under constant surveillance! Anyhow, hope to hear some more details (doubt it would be in the media, but hopefully Paanwallah's can give a head's up on the matter)

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 18 Mar 2010 20:24

Murky and conflicting reports

Karnataka govt. rules out exchange of fire at ISRO facility
A day after, cops don't rule out incident at Isro
CISF considers action against ISRO guard

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 20 Mar 2010 18:39

Any news on the upcoming PSLV launch of Cartosat-2B et al? It was supposed to be launched in March, and there is less than 2 weeks to go in this month.

sum · Post by **sum** » 20 Mar 2010 21:30

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Any news on the upcoming PSLV launch of Cartosat-2B et al? It was supposed to be launched in March, and there is less than 2 weeks to go in this month.

Chaiwalla reports indicate that all possible efforts on to meet the schedule.
The collective carto-2B team @$$e$ are literally on fire.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Mar 2010 11:06

What are the different missles here

sunny y · Post by **sunny y** » 21 Mar 2010 11:17

What are the different missles here
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2830 ... celist.jpg

^^^
They are our very own Prithvis, Agnis, SLVs....

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 21 Mar 2010 11:30

What language is that

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 21 Mar 2010 11:45

czech. where did you get it btw ? tineye throws up only chinese sources.

incidentally, unless I'm widely mistaken, the last two prithvi pics are those of the target prithvi and the PAD.

sunny y · Post by **sunny y** » 21 Mar 2010 13:17

Rahul M wrote:where did you get it btw ? tineye throws up only chinese sources.

I don't specifically remember the site but I think it was Militaryphotos...I am not so sure...

incidentally, unless I'm widely mistaken, the last two prithvi pics are those of the target prithvi and the PAD.

According to me, the first Prithvi seems to be PAD....

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 21 Mar 2010 18:40

"Chaiwalla reports indicate that all possible efforts on to meet the schedule.
The collective carto-2B team @$$e$ are literally on fire."

Thanks, that's nice to know! One hopes the chaiwalla has similar sentiments about the GSLV GSAT-4 launch in April!

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 21 Mar 2010 23:48

These Agni-IIIA/B/C versions...never seen them before. What is the difference between them and the pointy one?

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 Mar 2010 00:37

Pointy one seems to be the Agni-3 TD (Technology Demonstrator) currently undergoing trials. When deployed with a single warhead that is what it will look like. When it is MIRVed it will look like the Agni-3 C in the above picture.

The Agni-3SL as named by Arun_S is apparently going to be the Agni-4.

The Agni-5 is the MIRVed ICBM with the "5500"Km range

(Shown as Agni-3 A &

The different shapes of the nosecones on agni 3 / 5 A/B/C versions seem to be different configurations based on the number of MIRVed warheads they'll carry.
The number and type of warhead will be based on the different configurations that are allowed.

For example Arun_S's drawing shows 2 large RVs in one nose cone config, which I assume to represent two HUGE and heavy FBF warheads. The ones with multiple smaller RVs would perhaps be a mixture of the TNs and the FBF/Pure fission warheads - apparently the FBF/Pure fission warheads being included to offset the TN not going off.

Problem with India's TN is that even if we assume that POK-2 was successful, that design is only scaleable to 200KT as reported many times by both AK and RC. Whereas both Adm Arun Prakash and Gen. Malik talk of either 500KT or Megaton bombs deployed with the forces. Now if these are TNs, then they are completely untested. Any scaling based on a smaller design should ideally be proofed to full yield, which India has not done - yet.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 22 Mar 2010 00:39

has there been any news on IRNSS, the 1st sattelite to be launched was by late 2009.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 Mar 2010 00:42

Not launched yet. Will be launched this year.

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 22 Mar 2010 00:47

sum wrote:
Varoon Shekhar wrote:Any news on the upcoming PSLV launch of Cartosat-2B et al? It was supposed to be launched in March, and there is less than 2 weeks to go in this month.
Chaiwalla reports indicate that all possible efforts on to meet the schedule.
The collective carto-2B team @$$e$ are literally on fire.

PSLV launch in April at the earliest and GSLV in June I believe.

Nihat wrote:has there been any news on IRNSS, the 1st sattelite to be launched was by late 2009.

IIRC the first satellite is still in initial stages of fabrication and GAGAN is yet to be launched aboard GSAT-4 in June. 2nd quarter of 2011 at the earliest would be a safe bet.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 22 Mar 2010 00:54

Gagan wrote:.........

hoping to see you on DD in june then.

sunny y · Post by **sunny y** » 22 Mar 2010 01:28

hoping to see you on DD in june then.

Gagan ji...Do you work in ISRO ??...just asking out of curiosity

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 Mar 2010 01:42

sunny y wrote:Gagan ji...Do you work in ISRO ??...just asking out of curiosity

No I'm a Raa agent, didn't you know?

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 22 Mar 2010 01:53

KrishG wrote:IIRC the first satellite is still in initial stages of fabrication and GAGAN is yet to be launched aboard GSAT-4 in June. 2nd quarter of 2011 at the earliest would be a safe bet.

Is the schedule slipping?

jaladipc · Post by **jaladipc** » 22 Mar 2010 02:01

Nihat wrote:has there been any news on IRNSS, the 1st sattelite to be launched was by late 2009.

There will be 2 IRNSS sats launched in one go onboard GSLV-MKII.

The Launch onboard GSLV is awaiting for its qualification flight. We might see first 2 sats go into orbit during later 2010 or early 2011.

Gagan wrote:

After this 2008-2009 report many things has changed including the number of launches and types.

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 22 Mar 2010 21:17

jaladipc wrote: There will be 2 IRNSS sats launched in one go onboard GSLV-MKII.

The Launch onboard GSLV is awaiting for its qualification flight. We might see first 2 sats go into orbit during later 2010 or early 2011.

I'm not sure about that. I don't think GSLV (Mk1 and Mk2) has the capability to launch two 1350 kg satellites into 24,000 X 250 km orbit.

All IRNSS sats are scheduled to be launched by PSLV-XL(HP) as of know.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 22 Mar 2010 21:24

Gagan wrote:Pointy one seems to be the Agni-3 TD (Technology Demonstrator) currently undergoing trials. When deployed with a single warhead that is what it will look like. When it is MIRVed it will look like the Agni-3 C in the above picture.

The Agni-3SL as named by Arun_S is apparently going to be the Agni-4.

The Agni-5 is the MIRVed ICBM with the "5500"Km range (Shown as Agni-3 A &

The different shapes of the nosecones on agni 3 / 5 A/B/C versions seem to be different configurations based on the number of MIRVed warheads they'll carry.
The number and type of warhead will be based on the different configurations that are allowed.

For example Arun_S's drawing shows 2 large RVs in one nose cone config, which I assume to represent two HUGE and heavy FBF warheads. The ones with multiple smaller RVs would perhaps be a mixture of the TNs and the FBF/Pure fission warheads - apparently the FBF/Pure fission warheads being included to offset the TN not going off.

Problem with India's TN is that even if we assume that POK-2 was successful, that design is only scaleable to 200KT as reported many times by both AK and RC. Whereas both Adm Arun Prakash and Gen. Malik talk of either 500KT or Megaton bombs deployed with the forces. Now if these are TNs, then they are completely untested. Any scaling based on a smaller design should ideally be proofed to full yield, which India has not done - yet.

But the ICBM with the 5500 km range is the pointy one = Agni TD? So if the A/B/C ones are the MIRV versions, which one is the Agni V?

What is FBF?

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 23 Mar 2010 02:20

Carl_T wrote: What is FBF?

Fusion Boosted Fission

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 23 Mar 2010 04:15

Agni 5 Ballistic Missile Revealed - First Impressions of Agni 5 China Specific!

A Nandy · Post by **A Nandy** » 23 Mar 2010 05:52

China Killer !

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 23 Mar 2010 07:08

Pardon me, but this is not the thread to discuss agni 5.This is Indian space programme thread.There is a thread for Indian missiles.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 23 Mar 2010 11:44

Yeah right.
Admin please all these off topic posts starting from mine to the missiles thread.
Please.

karan_mc · Post by **karan_mc** » 24 Mar 2010 20:11

Isro unit to start building space capsule for manned mission

The government is yet to give its nod for the Rs10,000 crore project, which will put India in a select club of nations that includes the US, Russia and China, which have undertaken manned space missions. So far, the government has sanctioned Rs380 crore for preliminary work.

http://idrw.org/?p=1001#more-1001

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 25 Mar 2010 02:26

‘GSLV-D3 launch will be a landmark in indigenous technology'

PUDUCHERRY: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), fitted with an indigenous cryogenic stage, from Sriharikotta in April, and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) in May, P. S. Veeraraghavan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said on Wednesday.

Terming the launch of the GSLV-D3 by April-end “a landmark in indigenous technology,” he said the vehicle would put into orbit an advanced communication satellite (GSAT- 4).
...
...

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 26 Mar 2010 18:14

Good news, but I thought the PSLV would be launched first; looks like they're giving top priority to the GSLV! Launch between April 15-April 20. Also, the new annual report is out! Would be a good read, with nuggets no doubt!

From rediff.com

India is set to launch in a month its powerful rocket with a homemade cryogenic engine to propel a satellite into a geosynchronous orbit and become only the sixth nation to develop this complex engine.

The much awaited launch has been billed as a landmark event for the country's space programme after its maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I in 2008.

India had been using Russia-made cryogenic engines so far for satellite launchings. A cryogenic engine will be used for the first time in the rocket's upper stage.

The Indian Space Research Organisation is getting ready for the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle from the spaceport of Sriharikota on April 15, said an ISRO source. A geo-stationary orbit is nearly 36,000 km above the earth.

"The launch is likely to be on April 15 or before April 20.Preparations are underway",

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Mar 2010 02:34

India Set To Launch GSLV

ISRO to launch GSLV-D3 in April and PSLV-C15 in May

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 27 Mar 2010 12:54

Gerard wrote:...
ISRO to launch GSLV-D3 in April and PSLV-C15 in May

Great photo in the article above... http://www.topnews.in/files/GSLV-D3_0.jpg

KrishG · Post by **KrishG** » 27 Mar 2010 13:00

PratikDas wrote: Great photo in the article above... http://www.topnews.in/files/GSLV-D3_0.jpg

That is the RS-68. The engine which powers the Delta-IV family and the most powerful single chamber rocket engine.

Pic straight from commons and they have even added the ISRO logo onto the pic.
What else can we expect from DDM!

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 27 Mar 2010 14:59

KrishG wrote:...
That is the RS-68. The engine which powers the Delta-IV family and the most powerful single chamber rocket engine.

Pic straight from commons and they have even added the ISRO logo onto the pic.
What else can we expect from DDM!

Wow, don't I feel like the fool for falling for the ISRO logo..

I guess this is what you were talking about, for everyone's benefit... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-68