ISRO History and Timeline

[indiatester]

Thread by @chetan chopade for ISRO history

 

[chetan chopade]

Space History: Old Newspaper Clip: Ariane 5 (V-160)/ ISRO INSAT-3A launch-April'2003

Hello guys, I will be showcasing here my old newspaper clipping of Ariane 5 (V-160)/ ISRO INSAT-3A launch-April'2003. This was the first launch after failed Ariane 5 (V-157) launch which was destroyed by the range safety.


Date: 9 April 2003

Newspaper: Unknown from India

Language: Marathi

Translation: Indian satellite INSAT-3A was successfully launched from Kourou centre at French Guiana early morning on Thursday. There is hope that this satellite will play an important role in communication and meteorological area.

(https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/02/news-update-european-space-agency-to.html)

 

[chetan chopade]

1. early PSLV flights

2. early GSLV flights

3. Mangalyaan launch and Mars orbit insertion

{if interested in dates and translation...
https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/01/space-history-old-newspaper-clips-early.html
https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/01/space-history-old-newspaper-clips-early_21.html
https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/01/space-history-old-newspaper-clips.html)

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

ISRO Space History (8 June 1979)

40 years ago today ISRO launched its second satellite in space called Bhaskara-I

Sat was launched from a Soviet Rocket.

It had : 2 tv cams + microwave radiometer

there where total 2 Bhaskara sats launched by India.

It was historic because it was first Indian sat with useful payload to collect ocean and land data from space.

Our old friend Soviet Union celebrated this event with special stamp depicting both sats and launcher.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

By IETE journal of research via Taylor & Francis;

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Formative orbital attempts; series of sounding rocket launches of Nike Apache and Rohini.

 

[Varoon2]

The first PSLV launch in Sept/1993, was a narrow miss. Article really brings out the drama of a failed mission, with hope and optimism for the future- which was shown to be entirely justified.

Despite having failed in its mission, rocket demonstrates its muscle power

Despite having failed in its mission, the rocket demonstrates its muscle power.

www.indiatoday.in

Despite having failed in its mission, the rocket demonstrates its muscle power.

. Raj ChengappaOctober 15, 1993ISSUE DATE: October 15, 1993UPDATED: July 23, 2013 11:46 IST

PSLV
In space terminology, it is called "dogleg manoeuvre". To avoid overflying Sri Lanka, India's giant Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV was to veer left soon after it blasted-off from Sriharikota on the Andhra Pradesh coastline.

It then had to make a steep 40 degree arc once it bypassed Colombo and head towards the South Pole where it was to inject IRS 1E, a remote sensing satellite, into an orbit of 817 km over Antarctica.


Four minutes and 25 seconds after a perfect lift-off on September 20, while making this critical manoeuvre PSLV suddenly veered off...

 

[Indx TechStyle]

move under appropriate subject heading if this is not the one

Question: Why has ISRO never, as in not once(?) made use of a Japanese launcher for its satellites? Is it just that India got comfortable with French, Russian and American launchers, and decided to stick with those 3 ? Or that ISRO never really inquired at all with the Japanese, nor did they make an offer to India. Not sure about now, but Japan's capabilities were certainly higher than India's in the first decade of this century.

1. Japanese rocket technology is based on US rocket tech, why not go for original?
2. Japanese launch frequency is very low, lately even lower than India's. Multi month delays in missions are common there. US, Russians and Europeans are very frequent launchers that you can get a launch window anytime and more economically whenever you need. ESA flies A5ECA frequently just for commerical launches and that is a far more reliable and capable system.
3. Relatively unreliable Japanese rockets are having a higher failure rate.

Choosing JAXA over ESA is a wild idea anyday.

I'm even wondering about Chandryaan-4 (LUPEX mission) which would include an Indian lander based on Chandryaan-3 and a new Japanese rocket H3 with a Japanese rover, both a first for Japan.

So Japan will more likely be the cause of mission delay or even failure in this case also. Integration of SCE200 in LVM3 and Gaganyaan will effectively make ISRO surpass JAXA by a good margin.

 

[Swesh]

1. Japanese rocket technology is based on US rocket tech, why not go for original?
2. Japanese launch frequency is very low, lately even lower than India's. Multi month delays in missions are common there. US, Russians and Europeans are very frequent launchers that you can get a launch window anytime and more economically whenever you need. ESA flies A5ECA frequently just for commerical launches and that is a far more reliable and capable system.
3. Relatively unreliable Japanese rockets are having a higher failure rate.

Choosing JAXA over ESA is a wild idea anyday.

I'm even wondering about Chandryaan-4 (LUPEX mission) which would include an Indian lander based on Chandryaan-3 and a new Japanese rocket H3 with a Japanese rover, both a first for Japan.

So Japan will more likely be the cause of mission delay or even failure in this case also. Integration of SCE200 in LVM3 and Gaganyaan will effectively make ISRO surpass JAXA by a good margin.

Japanese use falcon9 and soyuz very often while we use arine space very rarely most of their satellites are forigen launch satellites and even they have high faliure rate compare to pslv and gslav mk3

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Japanese use falcon9 and soyuz very often while we use arine space very rarely most of their satellites are forigen launch satellites and even they have high faliure rate compare to pslv and gslav mk3

Exactly, most of Japanese launches which make them exceed India in total number include small launchers too.

Japanese use sounding rockets too for orbital launch.

IMO in regards of space, Japan is just an underdog running on tech given by US. South Korea might become a serious rival in long term though if their economy allows.

 

[Swesh]

@Indx TechStyle It's related to pre independence history of rocketry in India i want you paste this article on this thread

Episode 68: Stephen H Smith - India's forgotten rocketeer - AstrotalkUK

Stephen H Smith - India's forgotten rocketeer

astrotalkuk.org

 

[Swesh]

these experiments were conducted by a Calcutta based Anglo Indian called Stephen Hector Taylor-smith, usually abbreviated to Stephen H. Smith.​

Stephen H. Smith Photo: Superior Galeries
Smith launched almost 300 rockets between 1934 and 1945 working mostly unfunded and primarily alone. At 15:35 on April 10th 1935, Smith used a rocket to deliver a parcel containing 12 items including a packet of tea, sugar, spoon, toothbrush and cigarettes about a kilometre across a river. In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, he illustrated the advantages of rocket powered transport to cover difficult terrain quickly. On 6th June 1935, he successfully launched a small consignment of first aid material consisting of rolls of bandages, lint, iodine and aspirin over the river Rupnarayan in west Bengal.

 

[Swesh]

Smith’s 65th rocket launch conducted on the morning of the 29th June 1935 was unique in its cargo and ambition. He demonstrated that living beings and not just inanimate objects could be transported by rockets. In a record making flight, rocket power was used to transport a hen and a cock about 1km across a river. Smith had added stabilising fins, cut almond shaped holes for ventilation and built shock absorbing properties in to the rocket design. The rocket did not employ a parachute, the soft sandy bank was critical and even to Smith’s surprise the hen and cock survived. Both flourished for at least 18 months in a private zoo in Calcutta (today known as Kolkata).

 

[Swesh]

Not much is known about his personal life. Smith was born in 1891 in Shillong, Assam. He was an Anglo Indian, a group of people with a European (usually British) lineage and officially recognised in the Indian constitution. Not much is known about his parents. His father, Charles William Bath Taylor was born in Brigg in the County of Lincolnshire. His mother, Arabella Martin was the daughter of an English tea planter and probably of mixed heritage. He attended St Patrick’s Boys School in Asansol in West Bengal, established originally by the Christian Brothers from Southern Ireland. It was a school for Anglo Indian boys that he joined in 1903, the same year that the Wright brothers successfully demonstrated flight in an aeroplane.

The first aeroplanes to fly in India, did so relatively close to Asansol. On January 6th 1911, during Smith’s final year at school, more than 750, 000 people gathered at the Calcutta racecourse to witness first hand the magic of man-made flying machines. Smith must have known about the event, he was probably amongst the huge crowd. In the following month, on 18th February 1911 with a formal sanction from the Indian Postal Service, the world’s first official airmail consisting of about 6000 cards and letters was flown from Allahabad to the town of Naini ten kilometres away. It is possible that this experience ignited an interest in aviation, airmail and eventually rockets that stayed with him for the rest of his life.

 

[Swesh]

By early 1930s rocket mail experiments were being conducted in America, Europe and Australia. Smith was the only one launching rockets in India. He experimented with rockets launches from ship to shore, shore to ship, at night time, across rough terrain and across rivers.

Smith recorded information about his flights, including sketches in his diary and took many pictures. The rockets were launched at a variety of angles, 30, 45 even 80 degrees. He recorded details of the wind speed and direction and the distance the rocket covered for every launch. He does not appear to have used any instruments to measure altitude, distance or speed so the measurements are likely to have been qualitative rather than quantitative. His largest rocket weighed about 7kg with a total length of around 2m. The payload was typically about half a kilogram but larger rockets were capable of carrying a kilogram.

 

[Swesh]

February 1936, Smith joined the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) that had been founded in Liverpool three years earlier. He was probably the BIS’s first member from India. The BIS was one of many societies around the world established to promote the development of rocket technology and its application for space travel. Through the BIS’s bulletin and journal which reflected the contribution of its international membership, Smith would have been aware of the technological developments in rocketry worldwide but there is no evidence of how much of what he learnt he put in to practice in his own experiments.

 

[Swesh]

1940, he attempted two rocket launches carrying brownie cameras with an intension to take aerial pictures. Neither succeeded. By December 1944, still based in Calcutta, Smith was experimenting with compressed air and compressed gas instead of traditional solid fuel as a means of rocket propulsion.

 

[Swesh]

King of Sikkim with one of Smith's rockets
King of Sikkim with one of Smith’s rockets Credit: From the diary of Stephen H Smith
Despite his pioneering work with rockets he probably did not accomplish his ambitions. He visited the kingdom of Sikkim twice in 1935 to conduct his rocket experiments. On the second time he took his wife and son with him. The king of Sikkim not only supported Smith’s work but actively participated in his experiments by personally igniting some of the rockets. On April 11th 1935, following a successful firing of his rocket number fifty four, a certificate was awarded to him in the presence of the king. This formal recognition was “certifying the utility of the rocket as a means of transport during floods and landslips”. Smith wanted to realise the potential of rocket power for transport for mail and materials just as he was witnessing aeroplanes doing so in his time. His limited skills and resources prevented him from making significant advances. In 1992, a year after the centenary of his birth the Indian government celebrated his achievements by issuing a stamp and first day cover dedicated to him and his work

 

[Swesh]

King of Sikkim with one of Smith’s rockets Credit: From the diary of Stephen H Smith

 

[Swesh]

Not much is known of his personal life. After leaving school, Smith worked briefly at the customs department in Calcutta before joining the Calcutta police force as a Round Sergeant on 18th March 1913 on a salary of 100 rupees per month. Whilst with the police, he successfully completed his training as a dentist. His time with the Calcutta police was otherwise uneventful and he resigned on the 4th December 1914. It was as a dentist that he served in the First World War after which he continued in this profession with a private dental practice based at his home address, on 25A Elliot Road in Calcutta.