ISRO news and views

[Pintu]

?Advanced rocket propulsion systems vital for space explora

‘Advanced rocket propulsion systems vital for space explora

Express News Service

First Published : 13 Jun 2009 12:28:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 13 Jun 2009 12:29:49 AM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair on Friday stressed the need for developing advanced rocket propulsion systems based on nuclear and solar energy for outer space exploration.

He was inaugurating a two-day national seminar ‘Aerospace: Expanding Frontiers - Technologies and Challenges’ organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI).

Reliability of the system and safety aspects are crucial[/B] in human space flight. Both aspects are of a higher order in such a scenario and offered far greater challenges to scientists, he said.

The ISRO chairman stressed the need for indigenisation in the aerospace sector. He said that it was encouraging that aircraft industries and laboratories had joined hands to roll out regional transport aircraft.

The successful Chandrayaan-I Missionand the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) had given deep insights into the technological aspects of inter-planetary missions. SRE-1 gave an idea of the technological aspects while the Chandrayaan-I unmanned moon mission provided a valuable experience, he said. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) director B N Suresh stressed the need for multi-disciplinary interactions for developing systems with less chances of failure for use in launch vehicles.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief controller V K Saraswat delivered the keynote address on ‘Aerospace Technologies for the 20th Century.’ He gave a presentation on the current missile systems and plans for the future.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre associate director V Adimurthi spoke on Orbital Safety in Human Space Missions.’ Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology director K Mohandas spoke on the healthcare challenges in human space flight.

AeSI Thiruvananthapuram chapter chairman A Subramaniam welcomed the gathering.

 

[Sridhar]

India confident of manned space programme: ISRO

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Recent successes in India’s space programme have given the country the technological base to confidently approach the challenge of sending man to outer space, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation G. Madhavan Nair has said.

He stated this while inaugurating a national seminar on ‘Aerospace Expanding Frontiers,’ organised by the Thiruvananthapuram Chapter of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), here on Friday.

The aerospace sector had grown phenomenally during the last decade in terms of technological development. The successful launch and recovery of the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment Module had given the country a deep insight into the technological aspects of aerothermodynamics, re-entry heating, navigation, guidance and control strategies pertaining to space vehicles.

Moreover, the Chandrayaan-1 mission had provided the country rich experience in the areas of mission planning, propulsion system, navigation and guidance required to undertake a planetary mission, he said.

Now the time was ideal for the scientists in the country to embark on the development of more challenging technologies such as re-entry systems and re-usable space vehicles.

He listed some of the advanced key technologies that need to be addressed immediately for the manned space mission now on the agenda of the country’s space programme.

Mr. Nair said that the successes in developing space vehicles and missiles notwithstanding, the country’s aerospace industry had fallen behind in developing its own civil aircraft.

The Hindu : National : India confident of manned space programme: ISRO

 

[Pintu]

http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22924&Itemid=62

ISRO working on vehicle for manned space mission

Bangalore, June 15, 2009: As a prelude to a manned moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working towards a maiden manned Indian space mission vehicle that can carry three astronauts for seven days in a near earth orbit.

The manned space mission is expected by the year 2015. “If all goes well it will be followed by a moon mission five to six years later,” Nair said.

The maiden manned space flight will be equipped with modules for emergency and service requirement, the ISRO chairman said. “With the US and Japan planning new manned moon missions by 2020 we cannot be far behind,” he said. The GSLV Mk II rocket launch vehicle will be used to launch the manned mission, he said.

ISRO’s GSLV-Mk III, which will be able to carry satellites of heavy tonnage, is slated for a maiden flight at the end of 2010 and is expected to bring down the launch cost by half, Nair said.

Currently ISRO is dependent on Arianespace in Europe for the launch of its heavy class of satellites. Even after the GSLV development progresses, ISRO will be in collaboration with Arianespace to market the capabilities of its launch vehicle PSLV.

 

[Vinod2070]

Any updates on the ABR (air breathing rockets) and the hyper planes?

No news on this front for a long time!

 

[SATISH]

Well the AVATAR prototype construction has started. We have two scramjet technology demonstrators. One is from ISRO and the other one HSTDV from DRDO.

 

[Vinod2070]

Any updates on trial/completion dates?

 

[SATISH]

Well seems some foriegn country is interested in AVATAR and they are offering their know how. And the first flight is expected between 2013 to 2014.

 

[Sridhar]

ISRO to study ‘space colony’ project
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 18
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to examine the project on life support systems and growth of plants in space, which the five little champs of Dikshant International School, Chandigarh, presented at the 28th International Space Development Conference held in Florida, USA, recently. This was disclosed by Mitul Dikshit, director of Dikshant International School while interacting with the mediapersons here today.

He revealed the space settlement team of five students of the school, comprising Aditya Aggarwal, Amandeep Kaur, Kirti Aggarwal, Shray Gautam and Twesha Dikshit, along with himself, had submitted this project at NASA’s International Space Settlement Design Contest, where it bagged the first prize.

While talking to the media, students of the team revealed that they had researched on growing plants by making use of zero gravity as a part of their project on life support systems in space. The students planned to establish their space colony on the orbit of the earth and use the method of Hydroponic farming and LED base farming in their project. They further stated that the project lays special emphasis on Fluid Nutrient Delivery and the students had designed specialised temperature and humidity controlled chambers.

The students during the four day conference interacted with some of the leading NASA astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin - the first astronaut to reach moon along with Neil Armstrong on the mission Apollo 11th.

The students also got an opportunity to interact with members of the Chandrayaan team from the ISRO, which won the Pioneer Award for Science and Engineering 2009, headed by G Madhaven Nair, Chairman, ISRO. Madhaven Nair had recommended that the project of the school children be forwarded them for further study and research.

Amandeep Kaur, a member of the space settlement team of Dikshant International school said it was a dream come true for her to have participated in the International Space Development Conference and interacted with astronauts and space missions members about whom she had only read in books and encyclopedias.

Kirti Aggarwal commented that rubbing shoulders with Buzz Aldrin was a dream come true for her. Mitul Dikshit said the members of the team were special invited at the Kennedy Space Centre where they had the privilege to experience the new shuttle.

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

 

[nitesh]

Oceansat 2 to be ready by August

“Oceansat 2 will have a device to study surface level winds that will help in predicting the sea conditions. Its ocean colour monitor is useful in identifying potential areas for fishery,”

 

[nitesh]

Indian brains at NASA want to move to ISRO

“Scientists have begun to approach the ISRO. Their requests will be considered on a case to case basis in keeping with our requirements.”

It will be done without disturbing the equilibrium of motivation among the ISRO scientists, Mr. Annadurai said.

 

[nitesh]

Satellites help troops in Lalgarh

Many of Isro's new-generation satellites can obtain high-resolution imageries, giving details till the last square metre. These visuals are helping the 1,600-strong security team comb the jungles and villages, senior officials said.

Though Isro refused to comment, a senior scientist told DNA that the satellites launched by the agency have capabilities of tracking movement on the ground.

Among the satellites that can take high-resolution images are the recently-launched RISAT-2, also termed spysat, the technology experiment satellite and the Cartosat-2A.

The security forces, drawn primarily from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police, have so far freed half-a-dozen of the 22 villages and one of the 17 government offices taken over by the Maoists.

 

[nitesh]

CRPF to take ISRO help for precision-guided ops against Maoists

The CRPF will soon approach the ISRO for expeditious satellite imaging and video mapping of all Naxal-infested areas, so that it can carry out special operations against the Maoists with precision.

With the government's thrust on flushing out Naxals, the paramilitary force will take the help of ISRO as also the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) for satellite mapping of forests and hills under control of the Left-wing militants, official sources said.

Aerial videography of the forests and hills in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand is currently underway, they said.

The Global Information System (satellite mapping) will help in organising systematic and precise special operations.

Both NTRO and ISRO were approached by the force a couple of years back to do the job, but now the matter has gained urgency in view of spurt in Naxal violence, described as the biggest threat to internal security by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

 

[nitesh]

Top LeT man held in IISc attack case

 

[nitesh]

Good initiative:

ISRO working on database to maximise use of rainwater

 

[Pintu]

Good news:

Link of Hindu Report on Isro's Solar Mission :

The Hindu News Update Service

Regards

 

[youngindian]

India to launch ocean monitoring satellite in August

July 1st, 2009
By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, July 1 (IANS) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the launch of its second ocean monitoring satellite in August, along with six European nano satellites as piggy back luggage.

“The 952 kg OCEANSAT-2 is envisaged as in-orbit replacement to OCEANSAT-1 and will be injected by the stripped down or core alone version of ISRO’s workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14) in the same polar sun-synchronous orbit of 720 km,” S. Satish, ISRO’s director (Publications and Public Relations), told IANS from Bangalore over phone.

According to him, the intended orbit, combined with the wide swath of the satellite’s footprint, will enable observation of the same area of the ocean every two days.

OCEANSAT-2 will be used for identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies, weather forecasting and climate studies.

Apart from the ISRO-developed Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, the satellite will also have a Radio Occultation sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency.

The Scatterometer with a ground resolution of 50km x 50km is expected to provide accurate information on wind speed and direction.

The eight-band OCM with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 km will provide information about the same area every two days.

According to Satish, the rocket will blast off from the first launch pad at ISRO’s rocket launch centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh near here.

The designed life span of OCEANSAT-2 will be five years but the actual usage may go beyond that as happened with OCEANSAT-1, which was launched in 1999 but is still working.

ISRO will not decommission OCEANSAT-1. The satellite will go into oblivion once its components start dying.

Piggy backing on OCEANSAT-2 will be six nano satellites from Europe, together weighing 25 kg.

This will be the second time that ISRO will launch a cluster of nano satellites. In 2008 ISRO - launching its cartography satellite (CARTOSAT-2A) and Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) - also sent up eight nano satellites and set a world record of maximum number of satellites sent up in a single launch.

After this ISRO plans to send into orbit a heavier communication satellite GSAT-4 in September or October through another rocket, the Geo Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

GSAT-4 will carry a multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative transponder and navigation payload in C, L1 and L5 bands. The satellite can guide civil and military aircraft.

GSAT-4 will also carry a scientific payload, TAUVEX, comprising three ultra violet band telescopes developed by Tel Aviv University and Israel space agency (ELOP) for surveying a large part of the sky in the 1400-3200 A wavelengths.

India to launch ocean monitoring satellite in August

 

[LETHALFORCE]

European flavour to India's satellite launch


European flavour to India's satellite launch


India's indigenous Oceansat-2 satellite will be launched next month from Sriharikota spaceport on the east coast and will also carry with it a set of six nano satellites, all of European origin.

Besides Rubin 9.1 and Rubin 9.2 nano satellites from Germany, the four cubesats lined up for the mission on board India's workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle are: Beesat, built by Technical University Berlin, UWE-2 (University of Wuerzburg Germany), ITU-pSat (Istanbul Technical University Turkey) and SwissCube-1 (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland).

Oceansat-2, which weigh around 970 kg, is an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1 that has completed 10 years of service, ISRO Spokesperson S Satish said.

"It (Oceansat-2) will carry an OCM (Ocean Colour Monitor) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer. In addition, it will carry Radio Occultation Sounder for Atomospheric studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI)," he said.

Oceansat-2 would help identify potential fishing zones, assist in coastal zone studies and significantly enhance expertise in understanding surface temperature and winds.

"Earlier, we had launched Oceansat (Oceansat-1) which essentially could look at (only) the colour of the ocean. Now, colour alone is not sufficient, we should look at the temperature and surface winds and so on," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

"This Oceansat (Oceansat-2) will have such space for looking at the surface winds and temperature and all those things. It will be a very comprehensive system," Nair said.

ISRO officials said the Scatterometer is an active microwave radar operating at 13.515 GHz in Ku-band with a ground resolution cell of 50 KM x 50 KM. It is expected to provide the wind vector range of four to 24 metres/second with better than 20 per cent accuracy in speed and 20 degrees in wind direction.

The OCM payload with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1420 KM, with eight narrow spectral bands is similar to Oceansat-1 OCM, but with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications based on the experience gained.

The Spectral bands are modified for Band-6 and Band-7 to improve the reflectance from suspended sediments and to avoid Oxygen absorption. OCM provides a two-day coverage of the world.

Considering that Oceansat-2 is a continuity mission to the earlier Oceansat-1, the same polar sun-synchronous orbit of 720 km has been retained.

ROSA payload is a dual channel GPS receiver with two antennas and a receiver package. The Radio-Occultation antenna looking along the satellite velocity vector receives signals from the 'rising' GPS satellites near the earth horizon. These signals get refracted by the atmosphere and from the bending angle, the temperature and humidity profiles are derived, ISRO officials said.

 

[hit&run]

India cooperates with Russia in many fields of exploration and peaceful uses of outer space
RIA Novosti interview with Mr. Madhavan Nair, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman

How do you assess cooperation of India and Russia in space?
ISRO has had a long standing and successful co-operation with the erstwhile USSR in Space with the active participation of USSR in setting up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in early Sixties, Joint meteorological studies using more than 1000 meteorological sounding rockets launched from Thumba supplied from USSR and launching for India’s Aryabhata, Bhaskara-I and 2 and for IRS-1A, 1B and IRS-1C in addition to the Tracking support for several Indian satellites.

The most significant and successful co-operation with Russia is the development and supply of the cryogenic engines for the Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on a commercial basis. A historical milestone in Indo-Russian Space Co-operation was achieved in 2001 when Indian Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully demonstrated its capability in its first development flight using the Russian developed Cryogenic Stage (CS) as its third stage.

India considers Russia as the long standing partner in the field of space from the inception stage of Indian Space Programme.


Is this cooperation diversified enough? What would you like to improve in it?
India cooperates with Russia in many fields of exploration and peaceful uses of outer space. It has many currently operational agreements in the fields of moon exploration, global navigation system, human space flight, spacecraft building for atmospheric studies, etc.

India would like to further strengthen the cooperation in the above fields and also would like to cooperate further in developing cheaper and reusable means of access to the space.


Can you disclose details of the proposed manned space missions in 2013 and 2015?
ISRO has prepared a Project Report for deploying a space capsule for carrying two humans to low earth orbit of about 275 km for a duration of about a week which is being processed for approval. Once approved, formal approval from the Government is awaited. The first mission is likely during 2015.


When the approval of the manned space mission is expected? Chandrayan I has been India's great success. How does it do on the orbit - any signs of water or Helium-3 so far? What main achievements it has made so far?
Chandrayaan has successfully completed 9 months of satisfactory operation in orbit and has sent vast amount of data on unique features of lunar surface. Presently the data is being analysed by scientific community from India and abroad. As of now, we have not found any signs of water or Helium-3.


How is work progressing on Chandrayan II, what is project status?
We have an operational agreement for a joint unmanned lunar landing mission and the definition of the mission has been completed. The Chandrayaan–2 mission will have an orbital flight vehicle constituting an Orbiter Craft (OC) and Lunar Craft (LC) that will carry a soft landing system up to Lunar Transfer Trajectory (LTT). The target location for the Lander-rover will be identified using data from Chandrayaan-1 instruments. ISRO is responsible for developing the Orbiter while Russia is responsible for developing the Lander and Rover. Additional scientific payloads will be acquired from international scientific community through announcement of opportunity.

The mission is targeted for 2011-12.


When the launch of YouthSat satellite will take place? Can we expect YouthSat-2 any time soon?
To encourage the participation of students community in spacecraft building and data utilization, a satellite project involving students from Indian and Russian Universities has been conceived under the Mini Satellite Programme of ISRO. Accordingly a satellite named as Youthsat with 2 scientific payloads from ISRO and one from Moscow State University are planned to be flown to study the phenomenon of solar flare and ionospherical studies. YOUTHSAT is planned to be launched along with Resourcesat-2 in the third quarter of 2009.

Of course, we can expect similar projects coming up in future such missions are highly beneficial in motivating the younger generation.


Has the slowdown in the economy cast any effect on Indian space program? In what field?

Indian space programme is oriented towards research and development in space science and technology. These programmes are also must for development of society and government fully supports such activities.


What is the status of Mark III rocket project?

Activities related to GSLV-Mark III capable of putting a 4 tonne satellite into GTO is progressing satisfactorily. Various facilities needed for development of the vehicle have been commissioned. The first launch is targeted for 2010-11.


India is a serious player on imaging market. How big share India can take of the global market in this regard, what are targets? When 'Bhuvan' project will be complete and ready? Will it be free like Google Earth but much better? What is status?
The data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites are received at 24 stations across the globe. Our share of remote sensing satellite data is about 18 to 20 percent of the global market. Bhuvan is a web based portal service providing access to 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional data from IRS satellites and geo-spatial information generated from them. The Bhuvan is currently under test and evaluation.


What is status of Mars mission project? How far ISRO ambitions are reaching?


Mars mission is presently under study. We are awaiting interesting scientific proposals from the scientific community. Only after reviewing the scientific experiments/proposals project proposal will be finalised.

Madhavan Nair: India cooperates with Russia in many fields of exploration and peaceful uses of outer space | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire

 

[Pintu]

Landing of moon rover the biggest challenge: Isro boss - Kolkata - Cities - The Times of India

Landing of moon rover the biggest challenge: Isro boss
5 Jul 2009, 0346 hrs IST, Devjyot Ghoshal, TNN

KOLKATA: After a successful pioneering lunar mission, the shielded landing of a rover on the moon for the proposed Chandrayaan-II project has emerged as the main challenge before the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

"The biggest impediment for this project is ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the lunar surface. Since the moon doesn't have an atmosphere,

utilising parachutes will not be possible, so we are exploring other alternatives," Isro chairman and Chandrayaan architect Gopalan Madhavan Nair said here on Saturday.

He was in the city to receive the MP Birla Memorial Award 2009 for exceptional achievement in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, space science and allied disciplines.

One of the prime objectives of Chandrayaan-II is to land a motorised rover on the surface of the moon. The custom-designed rover would explore the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do on-site chemical analysis and send the data to the mother craft Chandrayaan II which will be orbiting above. Subsequently, the data would be transmitted to the earth.

Despite earlier reports suggesting that India's second lunar excursion would take place in 2012, Nair said the launch would take an extra year, possibly due to the problems with impact management of the rover. "Chandrayaan II should be launched by 2013," he said. With an eye on augmenting the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecasting system, Isro is also looking to launch a geostationary satellite to be used for weather forecasting, Nair said.

"This satellite will allow for an improved insight into reading cloud shifts and changing monsoon patterns, and will be handed over to IMD after its launch. We expect this project to be ready in another 2-3 years," he said.

On the financial front, Isro was expecting a 25% increase in revenue this year, from the Rs 1,000 crore that it has earned in 2007-2008, Nair said.

 

[Pintu]

Space For More: ISRO bets on 25% growth in 2009-10- Companies-The Sunday ET-Features-The Economic Times

Space For More: ISRO bets on 25% growth in 2009-10

5 Jul 2009, 0006 hrs IST, ET Bureau

KOLKATA: The economy may be witnessing a downturn, but the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hopeful of registering a 25% top line during 2009-10. During 2008-09 it achieved revenues of Rs 1,000 crore.

Talking to reporters in Kolkata on Saturday on the sidelines of the presentation of the MP Birla Award 2009 for achievements in the fields of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Science and allied disciplines, Mr G Madhavan Nair, chairman of Isro, chairman, Space Commission and secretary, department of space said: “Nearly 15-20% of the revenue is expected from launching satellites on behalf of other countries.”

“We are also enhancing our satellite launch capability with higher payloads at a steady pace. This is expected to attract clients, from other countries and commercial organisations, who are keen to place satellites and equipment in space,” he said.

When asked if the reported delay in launching satellites by the European Space Agency would lead to some orders coming India’s way, Mr Madhavan Nair said: “It may lead to more countries using Indian Polar Satellite Landing Vehicles. Revenues might also increase on account of increased use of satellite services by DTH and telecom providers.”

In last year’s budget, the Centre had earmarked a fund of Rs 4,000 crore for space research, Mr Nair said, adding that Isro was awaiting the fund allocations this year in the forthcoming budget.

Moving to Chandrayan II, the second moon mission by India slated in 2013, Mr Nair said: “We now know how to send satellites and vehicles to orbit round the moon, but the technology for landing on the surface needs to be indigenously perfected by Indian scientists.”

“Our first lunar mission has given us an substantial understanding about entering the moon’s orbit. But ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the surface of the moon is an obstacle at the moment. Since the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere, utilising parachutes will not be possible. So, we are exploring other alternatives,” he said. Isro is also planning to launch a geo-stationary satellite within two to three years to help the Indian meteorological department’s weather-change monitoring system.

Adding, he said: “The first Mars mission by India is likely to be finalised in a year. This project, however, may face a setback because of paucity of qualified manpower.”