ISRO General News and Updates

[Indx TechStyle]

Kerala-ISRO space tech park likely to go live from June
The state Cabinet has cleared permission to allow 3.94 acre of land in Technocity, Thiruvananthapuram, on 90-year lease, sources said.

Kerala-ISRO space tech park likely to go live from June

The Kerala government is preparing to set up a nano space technology Park with technical support from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). An MoU (memorandum of understanding) on this will be signed soon.

The state Cabinet has given the go-ahead for the space park initiative with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the rocket science node of the ISRO, sources in the Kerala CMO told FE. The facility is likely to start functioning from June 2019.

The idea is to create a manufacturing hub for small satellites and rocket launching devices. This nano space park will enable start-ups in the space technology to upgrade themselves with the state-of-the-art common facility centre offered by the VSSC.

The state Cabinet has cleared permission to allow 3.94 acre of land in Technocity, Thiruvananthapuram, on 90-year lease, sources said.

Nissan had recently set up a facility for its global digital hub for manufacturing driver-less cars in the Kerala Capital. For the upcoming nano space park, Nissan is likely to be the research partner in artificial intelligence.

The ISRO, which had considered an incubation centre in tie-up with Kerala’s knowledge city, later dropped the plan over security reasons. However, since it already outsources manufacturing of satellites, the new common facility centre for start-ups was considered attractive.

What makes it an integrated ecology for space technology is the presence of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) in the vicinity to provide academic support.

As a precursor, data analysis start-ups will get going in January by working on data sent by ISRO satellites.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

BBMP schools to have ISRO's Edusat satellite

Helping city’s civic schools score over private schools, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will bring ‘Edusat Satellite’ programme to their classrooms as part of the Bruhat.

Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) Roshini programme.

The technology will bring world-class content to the classrooms of 153 BBMP educational institutions for the students and teachers.

Edusat was the first dedicated ‘Educational Satellite” that provides the country with satellite-based two-way communication to a classroom for delivering educational materials

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde, said, “MASP PRO (Microsoft Aspire Schools Program) offers Skype in the classroom and 300 learning apps for students and one Note, Sway, Outlook and Teams for teachers, which has already been donated by Tech Avant-Garde and Microsoft as part of our CSR initiative.”

“We require a two-way internet for using these facilities. The connectivity should be stable and of high speed so that the students and teachers could be trained by experts, from India and abroad, under the MASP PRO Program.

Therefore BBMP Roshini has opted for Edusat connectivity from Isro,” explained Sait.

The 153 institutions include 87 Nursery, 15 Primary, 33 High Schools, 14 Junior College and four Degree Colleges.

With Edusat, common lesson plans could be delivered by experts and the local teacher could be the facilitator, so that same standard of education can be maintained for all classes.

The civic body will also train its teachers to use the Edusat facility and will be launching this programme in another six months. BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said, “Training from experts is a must for BBMP school staff, teachers, parents, and students to transform education. This partnership with Isro will change the education system in corporation schools.”

What is Edusat

Edusat is India’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services.

It is extensively used to cater to a wide range of interactive educational delivery modes like one-way TV broadcast, video conferencing, computer conferencing, web-based instructions, etc.

“Edusat provided connectivity to schools, colleges and higher levels of education and also supported non-formal education including development communication,” added Ali Sait.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO Lines Up 3 Rocket Launches in 2 Months
(Better cited one month)

KOCHI: Isro will have a busy year-end with three rocket launches. GSLV Mk III will launch a high throughput communication satellite GSAT-29 of 3.5 tonne payload on November 14. The satellite can provide high speed internet and help bridge the digital divide.

3.7 tonnes!

PSLV-C43 will launch a remote sensing satellite HySIS and 30 foreign commercial satellites on November 26. Isro will fly a GSLV Mk II with a communication satellite GSAT-7A weighing 2.2 tonne on December 14, said VSSC director S Somanath.

GSLV MkIII D2/GSAT-29 - Nov. 14th - 3.7 tonnes
Broadband

PSLV XL C43/HySIS (0.4 tonnes) + 30 commercial SATs - Nov. 26th
Hyperspectral Imaging EO Satellite

GSLV MkII F11/GSAT-7A - Dec. 14th - 2.2 tonnes
Military Applications

SVAB is being utilized full fledged. 10-26 launches every year.
Much awaited GISAT series of reconnaissance satellites next year post, Cdy-2 launch.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Nov 07, 2018

GALCIT honour for Prof. Satish Dhawan​

Prof. Satish Dhawan, world renowned Aerospace Scientist and former Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, Department of Space, has been honoured by GALCIT (Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at California Institute of Technology-Caltech, USA) as part of its 90th year celebrations. His name and picture will be permanently displayed as a Legend of GALCIT along with five other famed Aerospace scientists - Theodore Von Karman, Quian Xuesen, Frank Malina, Hans Liepmann and Ozires Silva.

This is the latest in a series of honours bestowed on Prof. Dhawan, who steered the Indian space programme for over a decade (1972-1984) during its crucial experimental phase.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

It's Nov. 10th today & yet no official declaration of launch date.

Anybody from Andhra or neighbouring states, how's weather there on East coast & southern India?
@gslv markIII @12arya @sorcerer @Chinmoy

 

[Indx TechStyle]

As per buddies on NSF, its still on cards. ISRO just doesn't want to make hype.

I hope that I'm not violating any rule posting it here, it being a space forum.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=44052.100

 

[Shashwat]

^^ He is just blowing gas, have read couple of his post and even though he says he knows stuff all he is doing is speculating out of thin air.

For ISRO I stick to r/isro everything else is a misnomer.

 

[indiatester]

It's Nov. 10th today & yet no official declaration of launch date.

Anybody from Andhra or neighbouring states, how's weather there on East coast & southern India?
@gslv markIII @12arya @sorcerer @Chinmoy

Drove through Telangana and AP today. Weather was fine.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO to launch communication satellite specifically for J&K and NE on 14th November

 

[Indx TechStyle]

GSLV Mk III-D2 / GSAT-29 Mission Gallery





​

 

[Willy3]

ISRO to launch communication satellite specifically for J&K and NE on 14th November

Isn't a cyclone going to hit eastern coast that day?

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Isn't a cyclone going to hit eastern coast that day?

May be, a small cyclone folks have been talking about, I've not been in Bangalore for last 6 months. So, I don't know.

 

[rishivashista13]

Is there any difference between GSLV mk 3 developmental flight, mission flight and commercial flight ?

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

 

[Indx TechStyle]

GSLV Mk III-D2 / GSAT-29 Mission

The GSLV MkIII-D2 mission is scheduled to launch India’s high throughput communication satellite, GSAT-29 tentatively on November 14, 2018 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota subject to weather conditions.

GSLV MkIII-D2 will inject the satellite into GTO with required inclination to the equator. The satellite will be placed in its final Geostationary Orbit (GEO) using the onboard propulsion system. It may take few days after separation from launcher to reach its orbital slot.

Targeted GTO
Orbit 190 x 35,975 km

Inclination 21.5 deg

Azimuth 107 deg
................................................
Targeted GEO

Height : 36,000 km

Inclination: Zero deg

Longitude : 55 deg East

GSLV MkIII is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons as first stage, a liquid propellant core as second stage and a cryogenic as third stage. GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.

GSAT-29 is a communication satellite weighing 3423 kg. The spacecraft will be located at 55 °E longitude and designed for a mission life of 10 years.

Salient Features
High Throughput Communication Satellite
Connectivity to Remote Areas
Q/V-Band Payload
High Resolution Imaging from GEO
Optical Communication Technology

GSAT-29 carries Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders intended to meet the communication requirements of users including those in remote areas. In addition, several new technologies such as Q/V-band payload, data transmission through optical communication link will be demonstrated. This will help in realizing future advanced satellites.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Is there any difference between GSLV mk 3 developmental flight, mission flight and commercial flight ?

Sent from my Redmi 4A using Tapatalk

Yes off course, you've named them and by name, they've very obvious meanings.
It's 3rd flight/2nd orbital flight (first was suborbital)/second developmental flight/second flight of new design of this rocket.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

GSLV Mk3 D2/GSAT-29 Mission Brochure

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Bhutan to begin using GSAT-9 services end-November

Image courtesy of Tourism Council of Bhutan.

Bhutan has announced that its ground station infrastructure development work is nearly complete, and that it is on track to begin using GSAT-9 (aka South Asia Satellite) by the end of the month.

“We have already connected three off-grid blocks in the country, in remote areas, using this satellite’s services. As we speak now, the installation of the ground infrastructure for the South Asia Satellite is already in the advanced stages and we hope we will be able to start using the services by the end of this month,” said Sonam Phuntsho, Chief ICT Officer, Department of IT & Telecom, Ministry of Information and Communications, Bhutan, at the 25thAsia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-25) in Singapore this week.

Bhutan has been allocated one Ku-band transponder on GSAT-9. This is a geostationary satellite developed and operated by India, under its space agency ISRO, which India is sharing with its neighbours to spur regional development.

The transponder on GSAT-9 is Bhutan’s first space-based asset, with the second, a CubeSat known as Bhutan-1, being a CubeSat developed by Bhutanese engineers and launched from Japan’s module on the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year.

“With [the South Asia Satellite], we plan to utilize for services for emergency communications. We also want to use this satellite capacity for domestic and international backup, especially in terms of voice connectivity. We’re also thinking of uplinking the two national TV channels to this satellite”, said Phuntsho.

At the moment, Bhutan is trying to explore the possibilities of space utilization, and hopes to develop its space capabilities.

“From being a user of space applications, we have entered, in our own humble ways, into harnessing the benefits of space technologies. Recently we have launched our own CubeSat with an interest to generate enough interest in the space community and students, so that in the future we can really benefit from space technologies…. space services can greatly benefit in our pursuit of Gross National Happiness and socio-economic development,” added Phuntsho.

Launched on 5 May 2017, the South Asia Satellite is serving India as well as project participants Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The satellite carries 12 Ku-band transponders, with each country having been gifted one dedicated transponder.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

All India Radio
Nov 13, 2018
ISRO to launch modern communication satellite GSAT-29 onboard rocket GSLV-Mark-Three tomorrow

PIB

The Indian Space Research Organization ISRO will launch the modern communication satellite GSAT-29 onboard the rocket GSLV-Mark-Three tomorrow.

The ISRO has said the flight would take place from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota at five in the evening tomorrow. This would be the second development flight of the heavier launch vehicle GSLV Mark-III.

It has the capacity to lift satellites of about four-tons into a geostationary transfer orbit.

The payload for tomorrow’s mission, the GSAT-29, is a high throughput version of the communication satellite. It has a lift off mass of 3423 kilograms and an operational life of more than ten years.

It has Ku and Ka spot beams for augmenting hi-speed data connectivity in remote and far flung areas. It will also serve as a test-bed for several new technologies in providing latest communication technologies.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO may postpone satellite launch due to cyclone Gaja
Forecasts indicate cyclonic storm Gaja will make landfall between Sriharikota and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu on November 15.

GSLV MK III-D2 is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle, designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) or 10 tons to low earth orbit (LEO), developed by ISRO. (PTI FILE PHOTO)

ISRO may postpone the launch of GSLV MK III-D2, scheduled at 5.08 am on Wednesday, due to bad weather conditions as a result of cyclonic storm Gaja, which is expected to make landfall at the launch venue, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

“Weather is slightly disturbing. If everything is normal, it will be launched as per the schedule. If it (weather) is not conducive, the launch will be postponed,” ISRO chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivam told mediapersons at Tirumala temple during a pilgrimage on Tuesday.

He hoped that the take-off happens as per schedule.

ISRO’s satellite launch-pad, Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, is situated at Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) forecasts indicate that the cyclonic storm Gaja will make landfall between Sriharikota and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu on November 15 and in the run-up to it, coastal areas and sea are likely to experience heavy rains accompanied by high-speed squally winds.

The ISRO chief said the GSLV MK III-D2 was developed under the Digital India Programme to provide high bandwidth communication connectivity to remote areas in the country such as the northeast region and Jammu and Kashmir using the satellite, G-Sat 29.

“The GSLV MK III-D-2 is very significant in the sense it is going to complete the development phase of heavy-lift launchers. We are going to enter operational phase and it (GSLV MK III-D2) is going to launch Chandrayan-2 and Jaganyan, manned mission, and we are getting prepared for it,” Sivam said.

GSLV MK III-D2 is a three-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle, designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) or 10 tons to low earth orbit (LEO), developed by ISRO.

With high throughput communication satellite, connectivity to remote areas, Q/V band payload, high-resolution imaging from Geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) and optical communication technology as salient features, it has twice about the capability of GSLV MK II, ISRO’s website said.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Nov 13, 2018
Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar is presented with International Von Karman Wings Award

Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar, Vikram Sarabhai Professor and former Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, DOS received the prestigious International von Karman Wings Award – 2018 on November 08, 2018 at Pasadena, California, USA.

This award was presented by the Aerospace Historical Society and Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) at an exclusive function organised at the Athenaeum of California Institute of Technology (CalTech). This award is presented to Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar in recognition of his contribution to the development of India’s economy through aerospace technology and telecommunication.

President, CalTech; Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Chair, Aerospace Historical Society; Chair of the Executive Board of German Aerospace Centre (DLR) attended the function.