ISRO General News and Updates

Advaidhya Tiwari

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India Launches Communication Satellite Onboard European Launch Vehicle

India's latest communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched by European launch services provider- Arianespace rocket from French Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday.

Blasting off from Ariane Launch Complex at Kourou, a French territory located in northeastern coast of South America at at 02:31 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected GSAT-31 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 42 minutes.

"It gives me great pleasure on the successful launch of GSAT-31 spacecraft on board Ariane-5, this is the third mission for ISRO in 2019," Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Director S Pandian said at Kourou soon after the launch.

"Congratulation to Arianespace on the successful launch and precise injection of satellite into the orbit," he added.

Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel tweeted: "2019 is off to a roaring start for #Arianespace! Flight #VA247, carrying Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 and GSAT-31, is a confirmed success that underscores our leadership position in the geostationary launch market. @KACST #HellasSat @ISRO @LockheedMartin."

Weighing about 2,535 kg, the GSAT-31 will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites.

The satellite derives its heritage from ISRO's earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series, the space agency said, adding that it provides Indian mainland and island coverage.

GSAT-31 is the country's 40th communication satellite which is configured on ISRO's enhanced 'I-2K Bus', utilising the maximum "bus capabilities" of this type.

This satellite will augment the Ku-band transponder capacity in Geostationary Orbit, ISRO said.

With a mission life of around 15 years, GSAT-31 will be used for supporting VSAT networks, Television uplinks, Digital Satellite News Gathering, DTH-television services, cellular backhaul connectivity and many such applications.

It also provides wide beam coverage to facilitate communication over large oceanic region, comprising large parts of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, using a wide band transponder.

According to ISRO, two Ku-band beacon downlink signals are transmitted for ground tracking purpose.

The Ariane-5 vehicle (Flight VA247) also carried Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 along with GSAT-31.

Riding in Ariane 5's upper position, HS-4/SGS-1 was released first in the flight sequence, with its separation occurring about 27 minutes after liftoff.

Comprising two payloads, Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4, also called HS- 4/SGS-1, is a geostationary condosat for KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Saudi Arabia) and Hellas Sat (Greece Cyprus).

HS- 4/SGS-1 will provide telecommunication capabilities, including television, Internet, telephone and secure communications in the Middle East, South Africa and Europe, Arianespace said on its website.

GSAT-30 is another geostationary satellite to be lofted soon by Arianespace. Since the launch of India's APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has orbited 23 satellites and signed 24 launch contracts with the Indian space agency, the European launch services provider said.
 

Indx TechStyle

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Feb 06, 2019
India’s communication satellite GSAT-31 launched successfully from French Guiana
India’s latest communication satellite, GSAT-31 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours today.
The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-247 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana at 2:31 am (IST) carrying India’s GSAT-31 and Saudi Geostationary Satellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 satellites, as scheduled.
After a 42-min flight, GSAT-31 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,850 km, inclined at an angle of 3.0 degree to the equator.
With a lift-off mass of 2536 kg, GSAT-31 will augment the Ku-band transponder capacity in Geostationary Orbit. The satellite will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites. GSAT-31 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series.
“GSAT-31 has a unique configuration of providing flexible frequency segments and flexible coverage. The satellite will provide communication services to Indian mainland and islands” ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said.
Dr. Sivan also remarked that “GSAT-31 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications.”
After separation from Ariane-5 upper stage, the two solar arrays of GSAT-31 were automatically deployed in quick succession and ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of GSAT-31 and found its health parameters normal.
In the days ahead, scientists will undertake phase-wise orbit-raising manoeuvres to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) using its on-board propulsion system.
During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the antenna reflector of GSAT-31 will be deployed. Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital configuration. The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.
 

Chinmoy

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GSAT-31 was launched before GSAT-30...what should be the reason for that?
GSAT-31 is lighter satellite based on I-2K bus whereas GSAT-30 is heavier one based on I-3K. Now both of these would be launched by Arianspace.
GSAT-31 was actually planned for Dec 2018 itself but got delayed. It is to replace INSAT-4CR whose life span ended recently in January 2019. So it was more of a priority then GSAT-30 which would replace INSAT-4A whose life span would end in July 2019.
 

chetan chopade

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News update: IAM in Bengaluru to help Gaganyaan astronauts- but how?

<https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/02/news-update-iam-in-bengaluru-to-help.htm>

a8ea3711bcd46508957bb52135181421--nasa-photos-space-astronauts.jpg



Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...e-for-gaganyaan-crew/articleshow/67891422.cms

IAF's Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Bengaluru is in talks with ISRO for providing "aerospace medicine support" to Gaganyaan crew.

Air Marshal Rajvir Singh, Director General, Medical Services (AIR) said that two meetings were held with ISRO regarding this issue. Nothing has been officially finalized yet.
Bipin Puri, Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services said, "the institute has played a crucial role in many aerospace missions, including long hours of flying of fighter aircraft in the past. Enhancing human performance and flight safety ***".
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Source: https://idrw.org/institute-of-aeros...isro-to-provide-medical-support-to-gaganyaan/

Bipin Puri-"***ISRO wants to join hands with IAM to train the crew members***".
Rajvir Singh-"The complexities of life support in space are enormous. And IAM is the only centre in the country to contribute in this direction. We are currently in discussion with ISRO to provide full spectrum of life support to the crew members of the space mission"
As per the IAM website, the institute, earlier called Institute of Aviation Medicine, had provided medical support to the Indo-Soviet Manned Space Flight programme in 1980s.
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Questions:
1. how exactly IAM is going to support?

  • providing only medicines and/or "performance enhancers"
  • conducting tests on candidates for issuing fitness certificate
  • helping ISRO design "life support system"
  • consultancy
  • complete training of astronauts with help of ISRO
2. what happened to earlier plans of sending crew to Russia/ France for such training?
 

Chinmoy

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Questions:
1. how exactly IAM is going to support?

  • providing only medicines and/or "performance enhancers"
  • conducting tests on candidates for issuing fitness certificate
  • helping ISRO design "life support system"
  • consultancy
  • complete training of astronauts with help of ISRO
2. what happened to earlier plans of sending crew to Russia/ France for such training?
We could expect all of the top four.

As far as last point of complete training is concerned, we would have to go to ROSCOSMOS and other agency for sure. After all one can't achieve a Mangalyan each and every time.
 

Enquirer

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ISRO CHAIRMAN K SIVAN has said (according to today's TOI report) that...GSLV MK3 is reserved for Chandrayaan-2 mission and GSAT-31 was an "emergency" mission to replace INSAT-4CR.
INSAT-4CR was launched by GSLV 12 years ago; it's replacement is being launched by Ariane!!
Irony epitomized!!

INSAT-4CR's planned lifetime was 12 years! It's a surprise that it lasted the full 12 years despite the launch hiccups (where GSLV underperformed and some of the satellite's fuel was used up for orbit raising)

Is ISRO going the DRDO way - poor planning??
 

chetan chopade

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INSAT-4CR was launched by GSLV 12 years ago; it's replacement is being launched by Ariane!!
Irony epitomized!!

INSAT-4CR's planned lifetime was 12 years! It's a surprise that it lasted the full 12 years despite the launch hiccups (where GSLV underperformed and some of the satellite's fuel was used up for orbit raising)

Is ISRO going the DRDO way - poor planning??
no sir! ISRO has got its hands full with crucial april chandrayaan-2 launch (shifted from GSLV-mk2 to mk3 due to lander weight increase)+ gaganyaan project (K Sivan already declared it highest priority)
 

Enquirer

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no sir! ISRO has got its hands full with crucial april chandrayaan-2 launch (shifted from GSLV-mk2 to mk3 due to lander weight increase)+ gaganyaan project (K Sivan already declared it highest priority)
Sure, there are lot of things going on.
But not having a launch vehicle ready for something that's clearly NOT AN EMERGENCY is inexcusable. ISRO guys are hiding their poor planning by claiming it as an emergency!
Why should ISRO pay $100+ million to Ariane for something that they could/should have done themselves?
Also, by now ISRO should have tied up with SpaceX for such emergencies - as SpaceX can provide launch facilities for much lesser price. ISRO still stuck in bureaucracy - going with existing arrangements with Ariane instead of being dynamic and forge a new alliance with SpaceX!
 

Chinmoy

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If I to believe news, ISRO was forced to launch GSAT 30 and 31 through Arianespace when they approached for GSAT 11 launch. This is the same satellite which launch got delayed by 7 months and had to be brought back to India from Kourou.

After that the mass of these two satellites were also increased by half a ton.
 

Advaidhya Tiwari

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Sure, there are lot of things going on.
But not having a launch vehicle ready for something that's clearly NOT AN EMERGENCY is inexcusable. ISRO guys are hiding their poor planning by claiming it as an emergency!
Why should ISRO pay $100+ million to Ariane for something that they could/should have done themselves?
Also, by now ISRO should have tied up with SpaceX for such emergencies - as SpaceX can provide launch facilities for much lesser price. ISRO still stuck in bureaucracy - going with existing arrangements with Ariane instead of being dynamic and forge a new alliance with SpaceX!
As @Chinmoy said, there were rumours that ISRO was asked by France to give additional business in terms of GSAT30 and GSAT31 launch to compensate for India caused delays and mismanagement in launching GSAT 11.
 

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