ISRO news and views

[shuvo@y2k10]

how does their crass opinion matter?isro is doing a splendid job and every failure is a pillar of success in the future.as far as the brits is concerned they are like mad dogs barking at our success.an ideal response would be cancelling all their defence projects and targeted propoganda against them in our newspaper.

 

[rahulrds1]

Mod plz delete above ISRO news i.e. "India mulls options on human space flight programme" ,
as it is already covered in the thread "Designs for India's First Manned Spaceship"

http://defenceforumindia.com/strategic-forces/67-designs-indias-first-manned-spaceship.html

 

[lambu]

India to join International Space Station | idrw.org

 

[Bhadra]

ISRO successfully launches GSAT-12

ISRO successfully launches GSAT-12

(ISRO successfully launches GSAT-12 - India - DNA)

A good news in the mood of gloom over Mumbay.

Cheers

 

[venkat]

congratulations ISRO!!!!

can any body tell why there is a deviation from the predicted trajectory from 60 secs onwards and later got corrected during the course of remaining flight? ? Telemetry blip was also not seen for several seconds at a later time stamp.during the speech ,one of the directors said we had some anxious moments. This could be the reason?
please see below screen grab!!!

 

[venkat]

 

[nitesh]

Worth full read:

The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : The long road ahead

 

[rahulrds1]

ISRO to focus on domestic needs for satellites

Source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/

HASSAN: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr. S. Radhakrishnan said the country's nodal space agency will be focused more on meeting the nation's domestic requirements for satellites, than looking for export orders.

At a meeting with reporters at ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan on Thursday, Radhakrishnan said there was a significant lag in meeting India's societal and strategic requirements, a situation ISRO expects to correct.

"At the moment, we have a strong need to fill up the gap we have in the domestic market for transponders. That is our first priority. We face a shortage of about 200 transponders, and augmenting them will be the main focus of the space agency rather than looking for business from foreign countries to build satellites," he said.

ISRO has around 150 of its transponders in operation, while 86 transponders are leased from abroad. It expects to have 36 more transponders in operation through its recent launches of GSAT-8 and GSAT-12.

Radhakrishnan said the country was facing a major shortage of transponders, a situation that has forced it to talk to a number of foreign agencies to hire the same.

"We have a few satellites lined up, like the GSAT-7, GSAT-9 and GSAT-11. We are also in the process of leasing some more satellite transponders from foreign operators, and trying to get a few satellites moved into our orbit for a couple of years," he said.

Separately, on the issue of building in its own cryogenic engine, the ISRO chairman said that corrective measures, including the re-design of the critical fuel booster turbo component, had been undertaken. "We need to have ground-testing of the cryogenic engine, with the modified fuel booster turbo component. This has been planned for 2011 itself. We are also preparing the flight stage, which is expected to be ready by March 2012," Radhakrishnan said.

ISRO plans assembling the flight stage on to the GSLV vehicle after a series of ground tests, and expects to conduct the flight testing in the second-quarter of 2012.

 

[Pintu]

http://www.isro.org/news/pdf/satcom-policy.pdf

http://www.isro.org/news/pdf/SATCOM-norms.pdf

Regards

 

[Pintu]

ISRO getting ready for climate research satellite Megha-Tropiques launch - Economic Times

ISRO getting ready for climate research satellite Megha-Tropiques launch

PTI Aug 17, 2011, 04.13pm IST
Tags:

Sriharikota spaceport|
PSLV

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation has set in motion preparations for launch of Megha-Tropiques, an advanced weather and climate research satellite, on board PSLV from Sriharikota spaceport next month-end.

"Preparations are underway for launch of the satellite in September end", sources in the Bangalore-headquartered space agency told PTI today.

ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for development and implementation of the joint atmospheric satellite mission nearly seven years ago.

Sources said top CNES officials are slated to witness the launch by PSLV, ISRO's work-horse launch vehicle.

Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and Tropiques meaning tropics in French) is meant for investigating the contribution of the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics.

 

[indiasuperpower]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...us-expert-urges-india/articleshow/4167641.cms


review space programme in light of china's, us expert urges india




22 feb 2009, 0037 hrs ist, ians






new delhi: India should undertake a strategic and comprehensive review of its space programmes as quickly as possible given "the military character
and military functions" of china's space programme, a senior us expert in asian military affairs said on saturday.

Painting a "horror picture" of china's rapidly expanding global military reach, richard fischer jr., a senior fellow at the international assessment and strategy center in the us, said indian private universities should begin satellite or space development programmes as has been done in the united states.

Initiating a discussion on "chinese military modernisation" at the observer research foundation, a public policy think tank here, he said china's space and satellite programmes have a military character and military functions.

Given this, he stressed on the need to develop satellite and space technologies to counter china's advancement in these areas.

"we have to look forward to china performing military activities from moon," fischer said, noting that beijing's moon programme spokesman had said the team to moon would carry telescopes and lasers.

"what are they going to do with laser and telescope on the moon?" he wondered.

Fischer said the chinese moon programme had even forced the us to take a re-look at its own lunar programme and to give it high priority with the necessary funds even at a time of economic meltdown.

He said the satellite programmes, to be developed by private indian universities after obtaining legal permission, should be "completely outside the government's tentacles".

"if china can develop a-sats and slvs, why can't india?" he asked, offering india a seat in the us's second moon programme on a bilateral or trilateral basis. He said even russia might be offering india such cooperation as it had offered to china.

He said india should make "necessary hard choices in these trying circumstances".

good information bro.. Liked it... Isro has to multi task now in order to successfully complete mars and moon mission.... Adding iits and other techinally expert universities will help a lot..

 

[nitesh]

NASA/ISRO Image Shows Irene's Winds Before Landfall - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

This satellite image of Hurricane Irene, showing the storm's ocean-surface wind speed and direction, was acquired at 1:07 a.m. EDT on Aug. 27, approximately six hours before it hit the North Carolina coast. The data are provided courtesy of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from the OSCAT instrument on ISRO's OceanSat 2 spacecraft, launched in September 2009. Wind vector data processing was performed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The OSCAT winds are obtained at 15-by-15-mile (25-by-25-kilometer) resolution and do not resolve the hurricane's maximum wind speeds, which occur at much finer scales.

 

[nitesh]

articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-31/india/29948815_1_gslv-mk-iii-ka-band-ku-band

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to build a new class of powerful communication satellites that packs more capacity and new technologies, its chairman K Radhakrishnan said here on Wednesday.

This kind of spacecraft would handle larger amount of power and accommodate more number of transponders in the same satellite, he said adding ISRO planned to incorporate new technologies in them and get into higher bands.

"Today, we are at Ku band. We want to get into Ka band and even higher band. This is one of the priorities (in the coming five-year plan (which starts in April next year)", Radhakrishnan, who is also chairman of Space Commission and secretary in the department of space, said.

 

[nitesh]

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Economy : Over 100 students from space varsity join ISRO

It was a small step and a sigh for the space organisation when the first batch of 117 young graduates came out of its captive nursery and joined its various centres last month. At one stroke, they filled nearly half of ISRO's annual recruitment needs. And they kept the space technology talent pool alive and thriving, according to some senior scientists at the Bangalore headquarters.

The four-year State-funded course is entirely free, along with free books, hostel and canteen facilities in the 55-acre campus nestling ISRO's propulsion hub, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala. "More than meeting our own requirements, we mean to catch young minds and groom them for ISRO," said Dr Dasgupta. "IIT Bombay and a very few other institutes offer aerospace courses but our grooming is definitely different. The IIST graduates have worked at our centres, with our scientists, on projects and are familiar with the system. They are productive from Day 1 while normally we put other new recruits through an induction programme."

 

[Galaxy]

India to have one more satellite launch site

India to have one more satellite launch site

NEW DELHI (PTI): Amid requests from various countries for launch of their satellites, India has decided to set up one more launch site to expand its capacity in this aspect.

At a meeting held by the Prime Minister's principal secretary TKA. Nair here to review performance of the Department of Space, it was decided that a feasibility study would be conducted for a new site, sources said.

The decision to find a new site was taken after the meeting was told that ISRO has only two satellite launch pads, both of which are affected during the cyclone season, the sources said.

The two launch pads are located at Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR).

During recent years, there have been requests from a number of countries for launching their satellites in India.

The meeting was also informed that despite successful launch of GSAT-8 and GSAT-12 satellites, there is shortage of transponders primarily due to DTH and communication requirements.

It was decided that steps should be taken to meet the gap within two years, the sources said.

At present, Department of Space is leasing transponders and using foreign launch vehicles to meet the needs.

The sources said thrust is being given by the PMO on these spheres as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's desire to see boost in scientific innovation in the current decade.

Pursuant to Prime Minister's keenness, government has decided to push contribution of private sector in scientific research and development from the current 20 per cent to 50 per cent and undertake a number of other crucial steps.

The meeting felt that investments in research and development in the country is "highly skewed" as 80 per cent of contribution comes only from the public sector.

It was noted that in advanced and emerging economies, private sector plays a dominant role in R&D and encourages innovation, the sources said.

Accordingly, it was decided that secretaries concerned would jointly prepare a proposal on private sector investment in R&D by the end of next month, they said.

India to have one more satellite launch site - Brahmand.com

 

[nitesh]

COngratulations to the people involved:

domain-b.com : ISRO successfully tests Asia's largest rocket booster

 

[Galaxy]

Countdown for PSLV-C18 launch to begin at 0900hrs on Oct 10

Countdown for PSLV-C18 launch to begin at 0900hrs on Oct 10

Chennai. The final countdown for the October 12 launch of PSLV-C18, which would put into space a Megha Tropiques satellite and three nano satellites, would begin at 0900 hrs on October 10.

Preparations were on for the launch at India's spaceport of Sriharikota, about 100 km from here, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sources said, adding, the core alone PSLV-C18 (minus the booster strap-on motors) would lift off at 1100 hrs on October 12.

"The satellites were assembled and integrated with the launch vehicle. The heat shield was closed and the first round of tests have been completed," the sources said.

After a final review, the launch rehearsal would take place on October 8. Once the vehicle readiness review was completed on October nine, the Launch Authorisation Board would meet and give the final clearance after which the countdown for the launch would begin for filling up of the propellants.
Apart from the 1,000 kg Megha Trophiques satellite, an Indo-French joint collaborative initiative to study climatic and atmospheric changes in the tropical regions in the context of climate change, three other small satellites would ride piggy-back with the main payload.

The nano satellites included a 10kg 'SRMSAT' built by students of SRM University on the outskirts of Chennai, three kg 'Jugnu' satellite designed by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the 30 kg 'VesselSat' from Luxumbourg.

The SRMSat would help in understanding global warming and pollution by studying carbon-dioxide and carbon-monoxide present in the atmosphere. The Jugnu satellite has a camera to take pictures of the earth to monitor, vegetation, reservoirs, lakes, and ponds, while VesselSat would help in locating the ships on high seas.

The Megha-Tropiques mission was to study the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere in the context of climate change. India would be the second nation to launch such a mission after the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) in November 1997. TRMM was a joint space mission between the US-based NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall.

A collaborative effort between ISRO and French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Megha-Tropiques was designed to understand tropical meteorological and climatic processes by obtaining reliable statistics on the water and energy budget of the tropical atmosphere.
Megha-Tropiques also seeks to describe the evolution of major tropical weather systems. The focus will be the repetitive measurement of the tropics.

The satellite carries MADRAS, SCARAB and SAPHIR as scientific payloads. The Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures (MADRAS), an microwave imager built by ISRO and the CNES to study the high level ice clouds associated with the convective systems, would provide an estimation of rainfall, water vapour, liquid water, ice and surface wind.

While Scanner for Radiative Budget (SCARAB) would study the radiation received by the earth and reflected by it, the Sondeur Atmospherique du Profil d'humidite Intertropicale par Radiometrie (SAPHIR), a sounding instrument, would study the humidity present in the tropical atmosphere.

This would be the 20th PSLV mission. In its previous 19 missions, the four-stage PSLV Vehicle had 18 successive successful flights till July this year. With its variant configurations, PSLV has proved its multi-payload, multi-mission capability in a single launch and its geosynchronous launch capability and has become the workshorse launch vehicle of ISRO.

The same PSLV with extended version of strap-on motors PSOM-XL, was used for the prestigious Chandrayaan-mission. Agency

Countdown for PSLV-C18 launch to begin at 0900hrs on Oct 10 | Jaipur News, All Related News of Jaipur

 

[Daredevil]

ISRO gears up for launch of Megha-Tropiques


Final preparations are on for the October 12 launch of Indo-French 'Megha-Tropiques' satellite that would study tropical climate, from spaceport of Sriharikota, about 90 km from here.

Integration of Megha-Tropiques and three nano satellites, that would be launched by ISRO's workhorse PSLV-C18, with the rocket had been completed, ISRO spokesperson S. Sathish said.

"PSLV C 18 is scheduled to be launched on October 12 at 11 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The countdown will start on Monday morning (October 10)," he told PTI.

Megha-Tropiques would carry three payloads - two by France's space agency CNES and one jointly by ISRO and CNES - and a complementary scientific instrument.

ISRO has built the Megha-Tropiques spacecraft at a cost of Rs. 80 crore, along with an "equal contribution" from CNES.

The satellite with a five-year life will investigate the contribution of water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to climate dynamics.

The three nano satellites are one each from Luxembourg, IIT-Kanpur and SRM University, Chennai.

IIT-Kanpur has indigenously built Nano satellite 'Jugnu', which will help in gathering information regarding flood, drought and disaster management.

The data received from 'Jugnu' will be studied with the help of a tracking system installed at IIT-K and the received pictures and information from it will be used for research purpose, Head of mechanical department N.S. Vyas, the visionary man behind the making of the nano-satellite, said in Kanpur.

This would be the fourth ISRO mission this year including one launched from French Guyana.

 

[Galaxy]

Countdown for launch of PSLV-C18 begins

Oct 10, 2011

CHENNAI: Countdown commenced for Indian Space Research organisation's (ISRO) Megha-Tropiques Mission (PSLV-C18 started on Monday. It was following the clearance of launch by the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB) for PSLV-C18/Megha-Tropiques mission on Sunday, which met on Sunday at Satish Dhawan Space Centre(SDSC) - SHAR, Sriharikota.

The 50-hour countdown commenced at 09:00 hours in the morning and the propellant-filling operations of the liquid propellant second stage (PS2) and fourth stage (PS4) of the launch vehicle being carried out now.

Mandatory checks on the launch vehicle and spacecraft including charging of batteries and pressurisation of propellant tanks will be performed as part of the count down process. Readiness of various ground systems such as tracking radar systems and communication networks will also be checked.

ISRO has built Megha-Tropiques, an advanced tropical climate monitoring satellite at a cost of Rs 80 crore.

PSLV-C18 will inject Megha-Tropiques satellite into an orbit of 867 km altitude at an inclination of 20 deg with respect to the equator. In this mission, PSLV will also inject SRMSat from SRM University, Chennai, Jugnu from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Vesselsat-1 from Luxembourg into orbit.

 

[Galaxy]

SRM's nano satellite to ride on PSLV today


BS Reporter / Chennai October 12, 2011

SRMSAT, a nano satellite developed by Chennai-based SRM University, is set to be launched into space on board the PSLV-C18 scheduled for take off from Sriharikota on October 12.

Briefing reporters on the launch, SRM group chancellor T R Pachamuthu and president P Sathyanarayanan said the university also had plans to set up a Centre for Space Technology at its campus in Kattankulathur, near Chennai. It is in talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) in this regard.

''Everything is at the planning stage. The talks will be carried forward once the launch of SRMSAT is over. It will take another five to six months to get a concrete shape'', said Sathyanarayanan.

''Once the Centre for Space Technology is established, we will introduce specialised courses on space technology to churn out more space scientists to meet the growing demand,'' said Pachamuthu. The proposed centre would focus more on research, he added.

On SRMSAT, he said SRM was the first private university in India to launch a nano satellite. Describing it as a momentous occasion, the satellite weighing 10.4 kg was designed and developed by about 50 students from various departments over two years.

The satellite would have a life span of two years and would monitor greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and water vapour in the atmosphere using a grating spectrometer.

A separate ground station was set up at the university to monitor the satellite. ''Initially, Isro will monitor the satellite from its ground station at Bangalore. After a week, SRM University will also monitor it from the ground station set up at the campus'', said Narayana Rao, director (research), SRM University.

He said SRM would continue to work with Isro in future, and would possibly design another satellite in the next two years.