ISRO General News and Updates

[sorcerer]

ISRO to Launch Exclusive Satellite to Help in Securing Pakistan, Bangladesh Borders
https://www.news18.com/news/india/i...ring-pakistan-bangladesh-borders-2005717.html
A satellite will be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) exclusively for the home ministry to help it further strengthen its frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh among others, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/01/news-update-isro-chairman-press.html?m=1
News update: ISRO chairman press conference highlights
General
1. ISRO's own student's program like that of NASA student's program.
PSLV-C44
2. Fourth stage PS-4 as orbital platform for experiments-said to be first of it's kind in world.

Gaganyaan
3. No animals in test flights, only robots.
4. Test schedule is as per my last blog entry.
5. Nothing yet decided on astronaut training in Russia or France.

Chandrayaan-2
6. Mission postponed till April (-May?).
7. Reasons: to increase robustness, reconfigure the lander, All systems needs re-development (?), requires tests.

RLV
8. Winged spacecraft to be tested mid-2019 for airstrip landing after launch in space.

SSLV
9. To be tested this year.
10. Can be made ready by 6 people in 72 hours for launching 500 Kg payload in orbit on short notice. (Indian version of CNSA's Kuaizhou).

NaVIC/IRNSS
11. "It is very much operational", says K.Sivan.
12. Being used "for many operators including defense sector"
13. Fishermen are using it, Govt. companies are using it "to check coal pilferage and illegal sand mining"
14. NaVIC chipset for mobile patented.
15. ISRO in talks with mobile companies for this.
16. "In a year" mobile phones in india "hopefully" have this navigation.
17. Govt. "can make it mandatory" for mobile companies.

General
18. "ISRO TV in 6 months"

 

[rishivashista13]

https://www.chetansindiaspaceflight.com/2019/01/news-update-isro-chairman-press.html?m=1
News update: ISRO chairman press conference highlights
General
1. ISRO's own student's program like that of NASA student's program.
PSLV-C44
2. Fourth stage PS-4 as orbital platform for experiments-said to be first of it's kind in world.

Gaganyaan
3. No animals in test flights, only robots.
4. Test schedule is as per my last blog entry.
5. Nothing yet decided on astronaut training in Russia or France.

Chandrayaan-2
6. Mission postponed till April (-May?).
7. Reasons: to increase robustness, reconfigure the lander, All systems needs re-development (?), requires tests.

RLV
8. Winged spacecraft to be tested mid-2019 for airstrip landing after launch in space.

SSLV
9. To be tested this year.
10. Can be made ready by 6 people in 72 hours for launching 500 Kg payload in orbit on short notice. (Indian version of CNSA's Kuaizhou).

NaVIC/IRNSS
11. "It is very much operational", says K.Sivan.
12. Being used "for many operators including defense sector"
13. Fishermen are using it, Govt. companies are using it "to check coal pilferage and illegal sand mining"
14. NaVIC chipset for mobile patented.
15. ISRO in talks with mobile companies for this.
16. "In a year" mobile phones in india "hopefully" have this navigation.
17. Govt. "can make it mandatory" for mobile companies.

General
18. "ISRO TV in 6 months"

ISRO TV.... yeees [emoji1][emoji1][emoji3577]

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[Yuri]

What happened to EMIsat ?It was initially planned to launch this satellite in December 18 onboard c44. Now it seems EMIsat has vanished in thin air .

 

[Shashwat]

^^ It will be on C45 with 30 other piggyback load.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

PSLV-C44​

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 46th flight, will launch the Kalamsat and Microsat-R from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota on January 24, 2019.

PSLV is a four stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid stages. The PSLV with 2 strap-on configuration has been identified for this mission and the configuration is designated as PSLV-DL. PSLV-C44 is the first mission of PSLV-DL and is a new variant of PSLV.

In PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle will be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments. Kalamsat, a student payload will be the first to use PS4 as orbital platform.

PSLV-C44 will also carry Microsat-R, an imaging satellite.

Significance (my own take):

1. First flight of PSLV-DL, India's mini version of Agenda target vehicle. Similar version (may be in GSLV Mk2 or 3) will be utilized in ISRO's rendezvous space docking.
2. Dead stage to be made alive to place an additional satellite in orbit using stage as payload fairing. May be first of its kind. Can dock a mini space station at once if used on bigger rocket.
3. Starting of India's own NASA like student satellite program.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

PSLV-C44 Gallery







​

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Ever heard of Rashmi? Indian version of Sophia and world's first hindi speaking robot. It might be the first passenger of unmanned Gaganyaan.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

PSLV-DL C44 Launch Kit/Brochure

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO looking to land rockets on runways

 

[Indx TechStyle]

PSLV-C44 Curtain Raiser Video (English)

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Is ISRO Working on Three Reusable Rocket Designs at Once?
ISRO's recent announcements suggest it wants to secure a competitive advantage as quickly as possible in all segments of the launch services market: light, medium and heavy.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on at least three different designs of reusable launch vehicles at the same time.

Together with its endeavours to increase the number of objectives per mission and deploy purpose-built rockets, it seems like ISRO wants to secure a competitive advantage as quickly as possible in all segments of the launch services market: light, medium and heavy.

Last week, ISRO chairman K. Sivan told Times of India that they will be soon testing a prototype two-stage rocket in which both stages will be recoverable after launch. Sivan’s specifications suggest that this project is in addition to, and not in relation to, two others aimed at building rockets with reusable parts.

The first project that ISRO began testing is simply called the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). It is modelled along NASA’s Space Shuttle. However, differences include the fact that it will be powered by five semi-cryogenic engines during ascent and a scramjet engine during descent. When completed by around 2030, it will be able to lift over 10,000 kg to the low-Earth orbit.

ISRO doesn’t yet have a testable prototype in the second project yet. In fact, its details emerged only a month or so ago. Called ADMIRE, it envisions a small two-stage rocket the size of an L40 booster used on the GSLV Mk II. Its payload capability is not known.

But it is known that ADMIRE’s first stage will be recoverable after launch in similar fashion to the first stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The second stage will be lost after delivering the payload, just like with the Polar (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV).

The third project, according to Sivan, involves a two-stage rocket. The first stage will be like ADMIRE’s first-stage. The second will resemble a smaller version of the RLV shuttle.

Reusable launch vehicles reduce cost by allowing space agencies to shave off the expense of the recovered stage for every subsequent launch. The only other expenses are capital costs for the infrastructure and a recurring refurbishment cost (which hasn’t been finalised yet).

Though the NASA Space Shuttle typified this paradigm for many decades, it was the Falcon 9 rocket that really popularised it. To SpaceX’s credit, it showed that reusable rockets didn’t have to be as large as the Space Shuttle and didn’t require infrastructure at that scale either. Since then, many space agencies – public and private – have been pursuing their own reusable launcher programmes.

However, why ISRO is pursuing three of them, if not more, at once is not clear. The payload capacities of the ADMIRE and the third project could help understand the organisation’s eventual plans better.

The RLV will be a heavy-lift vehicle, capable of lifting 10,000-20,000 kg to the low-Earth orbit. The second and third projects could be aimed at lower payload capabilities. This would explain their smaller sizes and they would also fit within ISRO’s broader programme of cashing in on the growing small satellites launch market.

The shuttle-like upper-stage of the third project has technically been tested. In May 2016, ISRO flew a scaled-down prototype of the RLV shuttle in a technology demonstration mission. The eventual upper stage is expected to have similar dimensions as the prototype.

However, there are some potential differences between the RLV shuttle and the third project shuttle. For example, the RLV shuttle is larger and will be powered by a scramjet engine during its descent. On the other hand, the third-project shuttle will – to use Sivan’s words – “glide back to Earth and land on an airstrip”.

Since such gliding will require a source of power, it is plausible that ISRO will tack on a scramjet engine to the shuttle stage as well. However, the vehicle’s potential use in lighter missions also suggests ISRO will want to keep the vehicle as light as possible.

ISRO successfully tested its scramjet engine in August 2016, atop an Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), essentially a modified version of the RH560 Rohini sounding rocket. An official press release had said that the time that the ATV and scramjet engine together weighed 3,277 kg. Since the RH560 weighs 1,300 kg, the scramjet weighs around 1,900 kg.

In sum, if the third project uses the ADMIRE vehicle’s first stage, then it would work the following way.

First, the two-stage rocket will take off. Once the first stage is exhausted, it will separate from the second stage, glide through the air until it is suitably over the spot it has to land on (in the Bay of Bengal), and descend using retrograde thrusters.

By this time, the second, shuttle-like stage will have reached a suitable altitude at which to deploy the payload. Once that is done, the shuttle will glide back down, similar to the first stage, and descend on an airstrip.

Apart from these tests, ISRO has also been working on accomplishing more per mission itself. During the PSLV C34 and C35 missions, the organisation showed off the rocket’s ability to launch satellites into multiple orbits at different altitudes.

The PSLV C44 mission will do something similar. On January 24, it will lift off with two satellites: the Microsat-R, an imaging satellite built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and a student-built satellite called Kalamsat.

After launching Microsat-R, the rocket’s fourth and uppermost stage will climb into a higher, more circular orbit. There, Kalamsat will switch on and use the orbiting stage as a platform to perform some experiments in space.

Finally, later this year, ISRO will conduct the first test flight of its planned Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. It will be a three-stage rocket partly derived from the PSLV, and capable of carrying 300 kg to a Sun-synchronous orbit and 500 kg to the low-Earth orbit.

Its USP is that it can prepared for launch within 72 hours, rendering it highly available – in much the same way ISRO itself wants to be.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Jan 23, 2019

The countdown for the launch of PSLV-C44 mission started today at 19:37 Hrs (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled at 23:37 Hrs IST on 24th January 2019​

Read More...​

 

[Indx TechStyle]

More from gallery.....

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Watch Live launch of PSLV-C44 on January 24, 2019 from 23:10 hrs (IST) onwards

 

[rishivashista13]

What's DL in PSLV- DL ?

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[happylion]

2 first stage strap on boosters

 

[Indx TechStyle]

What's DL in PSLV- DL ?

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May be "Dual Launcher", I don't know.
It has two strap on boosters on first stage with PS4 stage being reusable to lift another payload to orbit. Means partially resuseable rocket.

 

[Chinmoy]

May be "Dual Launcher", I don't know.
It has two strap on boosters on first stage with PS4 stage being reusable to lift another payload to orbit. Means partially resuseable rocket.

The PSLV with 2 strap-on configuration has been identified for this mission and the configuration is designated as PSLV-DL.

https://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c44

 

[Indx TechStyle]

What's DL in PSLV- DL ?

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The PSLV with 2 strap-on configuration has been identified for this mission and the configuration is designated as PSLV-DL.

https://www.isro.gov.in/launcher/pslv-c44

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/s...llite-microsat-r-in-space/article26072511.ece

The other experiment with the launcher PSLV-C44 vehicle will be a new third variant having two strap-on boosters. Called the PSLV-DL, D standing for demonstration, it ranges between the older two variants.