ISRO news and views

[RPK]

ISRO eyes more satellite launches from Europe, US

fullstory

Bangalore, Oct 14 (PTI) Indian Space Research Organisation has reached an understanding with Arianespace under which the European space consortium would scout for small satellites in Europe to be launched by ISRO.

ISRO is a long-time customer of the European aerospace giant, which has launched 12 Indian satellites from 1988 to 2007. Another heavy Indian satellite in the present series is expected to be launched by Arianespace, but the date has not yet been finalised, ISRO Chairman, G Madhavan Nair said.

Asked if the association with Arianespace would come to an end after the next launch, he said, "No, actually, we are trying to develop it further. They are good for heavy-lift launches. Whenever we have payloads of more than four tonnes, we may have to depend on them".

At the same time, Nair said ISRO is trying to make use of Arianespace to get launch opportunities from Europe.

 

[RPK]

?ISRO for research station on moon?

SALEM: Next to Chandrayaan-II, ISRO’s long-term mission will be to have a permanent research station on the moon, said Mylswamy Annadurai, ISRO Project Director for Chandrayaan I and II.


On the sidelines of Mahanova 2009 — a national-level Mathematics and Science Project exhibition — inaugurated on Sunday at Maha College of Engineering at Minambali, Mylswamy told reporters that preparatory work on Chandrayaan-II is in progress.

“India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-II will commence its lunar journey in 2013, as scheduled. Two robotic instruments, which will be landed on the moon’s surface, will record the lunar soil and atmospheric characteristics,” he said.

Speaking about the success of Chandrayaan-I, Mylswamy said it was the first lunar exploration, which among hundreds of such missions from other countries in the past, to have found the presence of water on the moon. “Rich Silicon Oxide presence in the lunar soil and hydrogen particles from abundant sunshine gave us strong feelings about the possible presence of water on the moon. Chandrayaan-I was manoeuvred to do some experiments in this direction and we succeeded in it,” he said.

Earlier, addressing the students at the Mahanova inauguration function, Mylswamy called on the students to work for the country after achieving academic success. Calling on parents to be the foremost role models for their children, he said his first role model was his father and later in profession Dr A P J Abdul Kalam had been his prime source of inspiration and guru. “Role models change at different levels at different situations,” Annadurai said.

About his vision for future of the country, he said the country ought to develop in five main areas — education, health, science and technology, social and economic equality. “India’s huge youth population will certainly make the country a superpower in the coming years,” he added.

Optimistic about the students of the country, he also pointed out the challenge to be faced by them in the emerging stiff competitive scenario. Quoting a recent example from ISRO, he said that few years ago, the number of applications for jobs per vacancy used to be around 4,000. “But of late, as many as 1.25 lakh applications are being received,” he added.

Mylswamy also opened a Research and Development Centre at Maha College of Engineering.

 

[gokulakannan]

Isro find gets European stamp

Isro find gets European stamp - India - The Times of India

MUMBAI: A European Space Agency atom reflecting analyser on board Isro’s Moon Impact Probe has confirmed that the water molecules detected on the
moon were generated from within and not from an external source.

The water molecules were first found by an indigenous instrument called the Hyper Spectral Imager and Nasa’s Moon Minerology Mapper on the Moon Impact Probe released from Chandrayaan-1 on November 14 last year.

The announcement about the discovery of the water molecules was made by Nasa and Isro on September 24. It instantly triggered a debate on the source of the water molecules with most space scientists veering around to the view that it could perhaps be from an external source like cometary bodies. Now the confirmation has come from the European Space Agency’s payload, Sara (Sub-Kev Atom Reflecting Analyser) on Chandrayaan-1.

Exactly 48 hours later, Chandrayaan-1 project director Mylswamy Annadurai declared that the water molecules which had been detected on the moon’s polar regions came from the moon’s surface itself—-a major revelation made possible by the lunar mission which was launched on October 22, 2008. Chandrayaan-1 was terminated on August 30 following a communication breakdown.

‘‘The current thinking was that only other planetary bodies were the source of water molecules on the moon.
But, this mission has changed the thinking. The new theory is that the water molecules were not from an outside source, but are being generated then and there,’’ he said. A jubilant Annadurai told TOI on Thursday from Bangalore that the discovery by Sara only ‘‘confirmed the mechanisms we (Indian scientists) had been talking about’’.

 

[Chota]

ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair, is to retire in Oct

Nair got two extensions in 2005 and 2007

 

[RAM]

How The Moon Produces Its Own Water

The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface.


It also gives scientists an ingenious new way to take images of the Moon and any other airless body in the Solar System.
The lunar surface is a loose collection of irregular dust grains, known as regolith. Incoming particles should be trapped in the spaces between the grains and absorbed. When this happens to protons they are expected to interact with the oxygen in the lunar regolith to produce hydroxyl and water. The signature for these molecules was recently found and reported by Chandrayaan-1’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument team.
The SARA results confirm that solar hydrogen nuclei are indeed being absorbed by the lunar regolith but also highlight a mystery: not every proton is absorbed. One out of every five rebounds into space. In the process, the proton joins with an electron to become an atom of hydrogen. “We didn’t expect to see this at all,” says Stas Barabash, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, who is the European Principal Investigator for the Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer (SARA) instrument, which made the discovery.
Although Barabash and his colleagues do not know what is causing the reflections, the discovery paves the way for a new type of image to be made. The hydrogen shoots off with speeds of around 200 km/s and escapes without being deflected by the Moon’s weak gravity. Hydrogen is also electrically neutral, and is not diverted by the magnetic fields in space. So the atoms fly in straight lines, just like photons of light. In principle, each atom can be traced back to its origin and an image of the surface can be made. The areas that emit most hydrogen will show up the brightest.
Whilst the Moon does not generate a global magnetic field, some lunar rocks are magnetised. Barabash and his team are currently making images, to look for such ‘magnetic anomalies’ in lunar rocks. These generate magnetic bubbles that deflect incoming protons away into surrounding regions making magnetic rocks appear dark in a hydrogen image.
The incoming protons are part of the solar wind, a constant stream of particles given off by the Sun. They collide with every celestial object in the Solar System but are usually stopped by the body’s atmosphere. On bodies without such a natural shield, for example asteroids or the planet Mercury, the solar wind reaches the ground. The SARA team expects that these objects too will reflect many of the incoming protons back into space as hydrogen atoms.
This knowledge provides timely advice for the scientists and engineers who are readying ESA’s BepiColombo mission to Mercury. The spacecraft will be carrying two similar instruments to SARA and may find that the inner-most planet is reflecting more hydrogen than the Moon because the solar wind is more concentrated closer to the Sun.
SARA was one of three instruments that ESA contributed to Chandrayaan-1, the lunar orbiter that finished its mission in August 2009. The instrument was built jointly by scientific groups from Sweden, India, Japan, and Switzerland: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden; Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum, India; University of Bern, Switzerland; and Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan. The instrument is led by Principal Investigators Stanislav Barabash, IRF, Sweden, and Anil Bhardwaj, VSSC, India.

Courtesy -PTI

 

[Vinod2070]

^^ Really interesting. Looking forward to the new "images" from this technology.

 

[Pintu]

India to launch two satellites to study climate change

India to launch two satellites to study climate change

by Indo Asian News Service on October 18, 2009

Bangalore, Oct 18 (IANS) India will soon join a select space club by launching two dedicated satellites in polar orbit to study climate change through atmospheric research and detection of greenhouse gases, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Sunday.

‘The satellites will be launched in 2010 and 2011. The first will be a 50 kg micro-satellite to conduct atmospheric research. The second will be a remote sensing satellite to monitor emission of greenhouses gases like methane and carbon dioxide,’ Nair told reporters here.

The dedicated satellites will make India one of the few countries in the world to have such advanced facility to study the impact of climate change due to emission of greenhouse gases.

Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said: ‘Only Japan and some European countries have launched dedicated satellites to monitor emission of greenhouse gases. India will be one among them by 2011 when we will have our own satellite for studying the greenhouse emission.’

The use of satellite technology will also demonstrate that India is serious about global warming and committed to protect the environment.

‘The world’s attention is engaged in climate change and environment. We are taking major initiatives for an integrated approach to the study of effects of ocean, land and atmosphere. The Indian space agency is already involved in this exercise through its mini satellite (IMS-1),’ Ramesh recalled.

ISRO launched the 83 kg small earth observation satellite (IMS-1) in April 2008 with two optical instruments – a Multi-spectral camera and a Hyperspectral camera to operate in the visible and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

 

[Sridhar]

Bangalore to have world class research institute on climate change Staff Reporter Space-based and ground-based observation systems to be used, says Jairam Ramesh [SIZE=-2] — Photo: K. Murali Kumar [/SIZE]

Union Minister of State for Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh with ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair at a press conference at ‘Antariksh Bhavan,’ headquarters of the Department of Space and ISRO, in Bangalore on Sunday. Bangalore: India will demonstrate to the world that “we are serious about climate change” through a set of new initiatives — the first being the setting up of a world class institute here to carry out research on climate, global warming and its impact on the economy and environment.
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told journalists here on Sunday that the “National Institute for Research on Climate and Environment” would help build India’s own capacity for measuring, monitoring and modelling climate at a time when most information on global warming was derived from the West.
The institute would use space-based and ground-based observation systems to create an indigenous “nucleus” for research into all issues relating to climate, including the impact of climate change on aspects of the economy such as agriculture and water, Mr. Ramesh said.
The institute would be a joint initiative of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests (MoEF).
“The aim is to build a world class institute, which will serve as a data hub on all issues relating to climate,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding that formal approval from the Centre was expected shortly. The project would receive an initial funding of Rs. 40 crore.
ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said that he hoped to initiate the programme this financial year.
Satellite monitoring Mr. Nair said two satellites would be launched between 2010 and 2011 to measure and monitor greenhouse gases. While a micro-satellite would be launched in 2010 to study aerosols, another dedicated satellite in 2011 would monitor greenhouse gases such as methane and trace gases. With this India would “demonstrate to the world that we are serious about climate change” and place itself in the league of a few countries such as Japan and some European countries that had such initiatives, Mr. Ramesh said.
Green bonus A new mechanism was being proposed to provide incentives to States to retain and expand green cover, said Mr. Ramesh.
Towards this end, a “green bonus” would be given to States along with funds from the Planning Commission or Finance Commission.
“There needs to be sensitivity on the part of the State governments about forest cover,” he said, adding that of paramount importance were forests of the Western Ghats and the north-east.
“I have written twice to the [Karnataka] Chief Minister not to proceed with Gundya [hydel power project in the Western Ghats].”
The ISRO would also assist in monitoring the Himalayan glaciers which were of vital importance for water security, said Mr. Ramesh.
“There is much concern about the retreating Himalayan glaciers. But we do not have programmes of our own to monitor the area. Western research focuses primarily on the Arctic glaciers which are fundamentally different.”



The Hindu : Front Page : Bangalore to have world class research institute on climate change

 

[BLACK_COBRA]

Arrested Nasa spy worked on Chandrayaan project

BANGALORE/MUMBAI: A senior American space scientist arrested by the FBI in the US for allegedly spying for Israel was one of the main investigators
of a Nasa scientific instrument Mini-Sar that flew aboard India's lunar craft Chandrayaan-1. The scientist had visited Bangalore twice and met up with Isro scientists.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday filed a criminal complaint against Nasa scientist Steward David Nozette, 52, for attempted espionage. He is believed to be working for Israeli intelligence.

Isro has said Nozette visited Bangalore and interacted with scientists but had no access to critical Isro establishments during the visits and there was no concern about loss of data.

Isro chief spokesperson S Satish told TOI: "Isro has strict security protocols for foreign scientists. Accordingly, Nozette had not been allowed access to critical establishments. We ensured complete compliance to the protocol. Like any other foreign national, Nozette had no access to critical facilities."

Nozette, a PhD in planetary sciences, was contacted by an FBI undercover employee last month posing as a Mossad officer and invited for lunch at a hotel in Connecticut Avenue in Washington DC to part with details about sensitive US satellite data for a sum. Nozette quoted a price which went into several thousand dollars.

On Monday, during a sting operation which was video-taped by the undercover FBI officer, Nozette was trapped and arrested.

Nozette's bio on Nasa's Mini-RF (Miniature Radio Frequency) project page describes him as the instrument's principal investigator on the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and co-investigator on Mini-Sar on Chandrayaan-1.

Satish confirmed Nozette had visited Isro Bangalore at least twice. "He did have some interactions. Isro officials were constantly accompanying him and ensured security compliance."

Said a scientist who didn't want to be identified: "We have interacted with him and we never got an impression of him being a spy. We were not aware of his complete background because the system is such at the moment that we only rely on the passport details of the visiting foreign scientists. What has happened is very very bad and embarrassing and most of us are shocked."

It may be recalled that when the agreement relating to two Nasa payloads, the Moon Minerology Mapper and the Mini-Sar, were in the process of being firmed between Washington and New Delhi for being flown on Chandrayaan-1, the US administration raised numerous questions and doubts. This considerably delayed the shipment of the two payloads to Bangalore for testing and integration with the main spacecraft.

The Mini-RF project flew two radar instruments -- the first one on Isro's Chandrayaan-1 called Mini-Sar (synthetic aperture radar), which mapped lunar poles, and the second one on Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Nasa's Moon Mineralogy Mapper proved the presence of water molecules on Moon.


Arrested Nasa spy worked on Chandrayaan project - India - The Times of India

 

[AkhandBharat]

Avatar RLV: India's reusable space launch vehicle

AVATAR(Aerobic Vehicle for hypersonic Aerospace TrAnspoRtation) is a single-stage reusable rocketplane capable of horizontal takeoff and landing, being developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization along with Indian Space Research Organization and other research institutions; it could be used for cheaper military and civilian satellite launches.

When operational, it is planned to be capable of delivering a payload weighing up to 1000 kg to low earth orbit. It would be the cheapest way to deliver material to space at about US$67/kg. Each craft is expected to withstand 100 launches.

Avatar (rocket) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The technology demonstrator is supposed to be launched this year. It will be quite interesting!

 

[AkhandBharat]

India's future space missions

Mission Aditya

Bangalore: In the midst of the buzz about Chandrayaan, the moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a satellite to study the sun.

‘Aditya’ should be up in space by 2012 to study the dynamic solar corona, the outermost region of the sun. This fiery region has temperatures of over one million degrees, with raging solar winds that reach a velocity of up to 1000 km a second. The satellite will carry as its payload an advanced solar coronagraph.

“Aditya will be a small satellite weighing 100 kg, placed most likely in a near-earth orbit of 600 km,” said G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO. “The satellite is intended to study one of the most fundamental problems of coronal heating, and other phenomena that take place in the magnetosphere. “This will be one of the first projects scheduled in a road map formulated by the Advisory Committee for Space Research, said Mr. Nair.

Beyond being a research exercise, Aditya has a unique practical application: to protect ISRO’s satellites from the vagaries of solar phenomena, said R. Sridharan, Programme Director, Space Science Office, ISRO.

“The sun’s corona is highly active, releasing energy during solar flares in the form of bursts — manifesting as geomagnetic storms on earth. These associated charged particles can distort the earth’s magnetic field, and have a huge bearing on near-earth space where our satellites are located,” he explained.

The launch of Aditya will coincide with a ‘solar maximum’ a phase of high solar dynamism, which will occur in 2012, said Prof. Sridharan.

“The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity — we crossed the solar minimum in 2006,” he said. The coronagraph will study the solar corona through an artificial eclipse that will prevent sunlight from directly entering the instrument, revealing to the telescope only the halo of the corona.

The advisory committee has constituted a national-level study group to work out the optimum configuration for the coronagraph, among other parameters.

The study group comprises individuals from the ISRO Satellite Centre, Udaipur Solar Observatory, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Radio Astronomy Centre, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, and several universities, said Prof. Sridharan. Their report will be out by May, and the project finalised by the end of 2008, he added. The projected cost of the satellite is approximately Rs. 50 crore.

“We want to cut costs by avoiding a dedicated launch. With ISRO’s multiple launching capability, Aditya could go as a co-passenger in one of the many launches scheduled for the next four years,” said Prof. Sridharan. “The cost of the instrument can also be reduced by nearly a factor of 10 by using screened industrial grade components. We do not need this satellite for more than two years — it would have gathered an enormous amount of data in this span of time.”

This mission is supposed to study the Sun's corona and there will only be an orbiter (ofcourse )

 

[gokulakannan]

Great news. Any mars mission news from isro?

 

[AkhandBharat]

Yes, they are sending an orbiter to Mars too.

Mars mission still on track: Isro - India - The Times of India

PANAJI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has scheduled its mission to orbit Mars sometime between 2013 and 2015, Isro scientists
said on Monday.

Speaking to the media after the inaugural of the Eight International Conference on Low Cost Planetary Missions here, Isro chairperson G Madhavan Nair said that international space agencies have also been invited to join in conducting experiments in outer space.

“We have given a call to international agencies to submit their proposals. We will be able to plan our mission depending on the type of experiments they propose to conduct,” he said. The Mars Orbiter will explore the red planet with regard to the effect of solar wind, studies of its surface magnetic field and a search for palaeowater (groundwater that has remained in an aquifer for millennia).

“This mission is still at the conceptual stage. We get an opportunity to conduct a Mars mission only once in two years and we have scheduled ours between 2013 and 2015,” Nair said. He said that efforts would be made to bring down the cost of the Mars mission, as was done with the Chandrayaan-1 mission, which cost less than $100 million. However, there are other plans for the near future. Nair said India is scheduled to launch Astrosat, a satellite-based orbiting astronomical laboratory next year.

The Astrosat mission will involve sending a satellite with a state-of-the-art observatory and will facilitate the study of astrophysical objects ranging from nearby solar system objects to distant stars and objects at cosmological distances.

 

[RPK]

Indian Space Research Organization rules out threat after NASA spy arrest_English_Xinhua

NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Wednesday asserted that the United States space scientist, who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly spying for Israel, was not "a reason for concern" even though he had played a key role in India's maiden moon mission.

"Senior American space scientist Daivd Nozette visited Bangalore and interacted with scientists there but had no access to critical ISRO establishments during the visits and there was no concern about loss of data," ISRO chief spokesperson S Satish told the media in the southern city of Bangalore.

"Not a matter of concern as all security protocols had been followed," he added.

The 52-year-old scientist, Nozette, was arrested by the FBI and charged with espionage for attempting to deliver classified defense document to an Israeli intelligence officer, the U.S. authorities said.

 

[1.44]

India offers to share satellite data with ASEAN countries

India offers to share satellite data with ASEAN countries​

Cha-Am Hua Hin (Thailand): India today offered to help Southeast Asian nations in management of natural disasters by sharing satellite data for the region and launch small satellites built by them.
"We would be ready to share satellite data for management of natural disasters, launch small satellites and scientific instruments and payloads for experiments in remote sensing and communication for space agencies and academic institutions in ASEAN countries," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here.

He was addressing the Seventh India-ASEAN Summit in this scenic Thai beach resort town with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The Indian Space Research Centre (ISRO) has one of the largest constellation of advanced remote sensing satellites in the world which orbit the earth at regular intervals.

Images of the earth received from these satellites can be utilised for disaster management initiatives in the ASEAN region, parts of which are prone to cyclones and earthquakes.

In addition, the Prime Minister said, India would be happy to participate in projects under the ASEAN's Work Plan for 2010-15 in areas such as education, energy, agriculture and forestry, and small and medium enterprises.

India offers to share satellite data with ASEAN countries

 

[Pintu]

Radhakrishnan new Isro chief - India - The Times of India

Radhakrishnan new Isro chief
TNN 25 October 2009, 02:17am IST

BANGALORE: K Radhakrishnan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, was on Saturday named the next chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

Armed with a fax copy of his appointment, Radhakrishnan, who takes over from G Madhavan Nair, visited the famed Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple in Thrissur on Saturday evening. Nair retires this month-end.

One of the key persons behind the Chandrayaan-1 mission, the senior Isro scientist says his immediate priority will be the successful flight of GSLV-D3 in December 2009 with an Indian cryogenic stage.

 

[Pintu]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/346956_A-great-challenge-to-head-ISRO--new-Chairman

A great challenge to head ISRO: new Chairman

STAFF WRITER 16:18 HRS IST

Thrissur, Oct 25 (PTI) Newly appointed ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan today said it was a great challenge to head the country's space agency, considering the high expectations from various quarters.

Speaking to reporters here, Radhakrishnan also said he was privileged to get the post and considered it an honour.

"As a team, in ISRO we need to move ahead. We will do our best to achieve our goals," Radhakrishnan, presently Director of Vikram Sabarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said.

Yesterday, he had offered prayers at the Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayur near here soon after he was appointed the new Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"Space applications, satellites and launch vehicles are programmes of thrust. Another imporant mission is the human space flight programme," he said.

 

[rahulrds1]

Kasturirangan underscores need for dynamic R&D in S&T programmes

Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Member, Planning Commission and former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said that the Government of India was highly conscious of the need to put in place a dynamic Research and Development programme in the field of Science and Technology so that it addressed the societal needs besides improving the quality of human life and produced wealth to the nation through ‘commercialization’ of scientific advances.

He cited in this connection the increasing thrust being given by the government to emerging sciences like nano technology, robo-science, space-technology, bio-informatics, bio-technology and so on in the multi-disciplinary mode so that they responded to the ‘modern demands’ of the society.

He was participating as the Chief Guest at the inaugurals of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Sri Venkateswara University Engineering College, Tirupati on Saturday. Rangan said knowledge sector, education, research and training as a whole were passing through a major transitional stage-thanks to the increasing role being played by Science and Technology in the various facets of national and international developments.

Noting the presence of a huge contingent of engineering and science students among the participants, the former ISRO chief told them that they have a challenging role to play in the coming days given the rapid strides world over in the areas of emerging technologies. It was in this context that he called upon them to adopt an “I can do it” attitude and said that it was this instinct which the scientists at ISRO had adopted when a handful of developed nations rather cynically denied India the access to rocket and the satellite technology.

It was this killer instinct which made the scientists at ISRO build indigenously even the remote-sensing satellites, launch PSLV and GSLV, Rangan said and went on to narrate how ISRO accomplished in just eight years its historic ‘Chandrayan’ mission working in a team and multi-disciplinary mode. We demonstrated to the international community, India’s scientific capabilities, he said and urged the budding scientists to develop the same positive instinct to meet the challenges ahead.

 

[rahulrds1]

Successful firing of cryogenic engine a challenge for new ISRO chief

Bangalore, Oct 25 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman-designate K. Radhakrishnan, who takes over Oct 31, has said his first priority would be to see that the indigenously built cryogenic engine is made ready for the GSLV launch by the year-end.

He made the statement soon after he learnt about his appointment to the top post.

The successful firing of a cryogenic engine will take India into the exclusive space club, which has the US, Russia, China, France and Japan with such a capability.

“The next test flight of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) will be an acid test for the new chairman, as the indigenously built cryogenic engine will be used for the first time in the rocket’s upper stage,” an official said, declining to be named.

The GSLV-D3 is slated to be launched in December from ISRO’s spaceport Sriharikota, about 80 km north-east of Chennai, to carry the GSAT-4 communication satellite into a geo-stationary orbit, about 36,000 km above the earth.

Radhakrishnan, director of the space agency’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, had played a key role in the country’s maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1.

“Radhakrishnan played a key role in the realisation of India’s maiden lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. The rocket (PSLV-C11) that was used to launch Chandrayaan on Oct 22 last year, was designed and developed by him,” the official told Inditop.

Radhakrishnan will take over as chairman of ISRO and secretary, Department of Space, Oct 31 following his appointment to the top post Saturday by the government.

The present incumbent G. Madhavan Nair retires Oct 30 after six years at the helm.

ISRO had taken up the development of cryogenic stage in 1996 to achieve self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology.

“Till now, we have used Russian-made cryogenic engines for the launch of GSLVs in the experimental flights,” the official pointed out.

The indigenous cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provides a payload capability of 2,200 kg to geo-synchronous transfer orbit for the launch vehicle.

Radhakrishnan, while speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram late Saturday, said: “A huge responsibility has been placed on me. At this moment I would like to thank all my gurus (teachers) and among them are (Madhavan) Nair and former ISRO chairmen K. Kasturirangan and U.R. Rao.”

Radhakrishnan is not new to Bangalore, as he was director of budget and economic analysis at ISRO headquarters for over a decade in the nineties.

Starting his career with ISRO as an avionics engineer in 1971, Radhakrishnan held key positions, including director of regional remote sensing service centres under the umbrella of the national resources management system (1989-97).

After graduating in engineering from Kerala University in 1970, Radhakrishnan did MBA from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) in Bangalore and doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kharagpur, West Bengal.

For five years (2000-2005), Radhakrishnan was on deputation to the department of ocean development (now ministry of earth sciences) as founder-director of the Indian national centre for ocean information services and project director of the early warning system for tsunami and storm surges.

“Radhakrishnan returned to ISRO and had a stint at the national remote sensing centre in Hyderabad before joining VSSC as director,” the official recalled.

The rocket scientist was also vice-chairman of the inter-governmental oceanographic commission (IOC) of Unesco 2001-05.

Radhakrishnan was a member of the Indian delegation to the UN committee on peaceful use of outer space since June 2006.

 

[youngindian]

India to launch first military satellite in 2010

October 26, 2009

India plans to launch its first dedicated military satellite, a naval communications satellite next year, according to India's defense minister A.K. Antony.

The satellite, when sent into geosynchronous orbit, will have a 600-1,000 nautical mile communication range over the Indian Ocean Region.

"The naval communication satellite's launch next year will significantly improve connectivity at sea," said Antony.

For instance, it will enable the Indian Navy to network all its warships, submarines and aircraft with onshore operational centers through high-speed data-links.

The Navy has ordered an aircraft carrier from Russia which has been delayed by several years. Different warships are under production at various shipyards at home and abroad.

The naval satellites'launch is in tune with the Space Defense Vision-2020, which identifies intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, communication and navigation as the thrust areas in Phase-I which will last until 2012.

After the Navy, the Indian Air Force will be next in line to have its own satellite. The Air Force is already working on setting up an aerospace command.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6793768.html