Indian Space News and Discussion

[Arun_S]

[url="http://netspiderads2.indiatimes.com/ads.dll/photoserv?slotid=36459"]Indigenous engines bring down GSLV[/url]

T K Rohit, TNN, Apr 16, 2010, 12.56am IST



SRIHARIKOTA: In a setback to India's space programme, GSLV D-3, the satellite launch vehicle showcasing its indigenous cryogenic technology, trailed off its designated course and went out of control shortly after lift-off from the spaceport on Thursday. The rocket, along with its two payloads -- satellites GSAT-4 and GAGAN -- crashed into the Bay of Bengal 293 seconds after launch.



The launch was key to India's space programme as it would have become the sixth nation to successfully deploy the cryogenic technology, joining US, Russia, Japan, China and France. The earlier five versions of the GSLV had Russia-supplied cryogenic engine. India's cryogenic upper stage (CUS) engine was meant to replace the Russian engines.



It took scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) around 17 years to develop cryogenic motors after its bid to import the technology from Russia in 1992 failed because of opposition from the US. The project to develop the indigenous cryogenic engine was approved in 1993. The powerful booster technology using supercooled liquid fuel is designed to put heavier satellites into high orbits, about 36,000 kilometres from earth.

This was also the second time in six launches that a GSLV mission has failed.



For Dr K Radhakrishnan, it was not the kind of `Vishu' (Malayali new year) he would have wished on his maiden launch as the head of the space organisation. However, putting up a brave face, Radhakrishnan said the launch would take place again within a year, when the space agency will rectify the mistakes.



"The mission objectives are not met fully. During the flight, everything was fine till the end of the second stage at around 293 seconds. The cryogenic stage is supposed to fire almost half the velocity to give the thrust to inject the satellite in its geostationary arch. We are not sure if the engine ignited," he said. Isro received no communication from the vehicle.



"We have to look at various parameters during the flight. The vehicle was tumbling, lost its control and altitude and finally splashed into the sea," Radhakrishnan told reporters. "In the cryogenic stage, the main engine and the two vernier engines need to ignite. We are not sure whether the main engine ignited," he added.



The Isro team will now look at the telemetry data and try to figure what went wrong. "We will carry out analysis and it will take two to three days to come to a conclusion as to what happened and what are the corrective measures to be taken. The team has all the capabilities and resilience to do the analysis and our target is one year... to do all corrections and have the next flight test," Radhakrishnan said as he turned up as the lone warrior to meet the press while his mission director, project director and other support staff toiled over details of what went wrong.



While the development of an indigenous cryogenic engine would make India self-reliant, it would also bring in tremendous cost advantage to Isro. "Today we are able to realize a cryogenic engine for Rs 36 crore. It would have cost about $18-$20 million for a Russian engine," the chairman said.



Isro has planned 11 launches of the GSLV in the coming years. The next GSLV launch carrying the GSAT-5P, a communication satellite, will soar sometime in September. Isro bought seven cryogenic engines from Russia and has used five of them. It plans to use the remaining two engines for its upcoming GSLV launches, he said.



Asked if Isro was confident of launching the second moon mission, Chandrayaan-II, on time on the GSLV, he said: "If India managed to have its own successful cryogenic engine and the stage tested, we should not have any reasons for a delay on that account."



Isro will also put into orbit the Cartosat-2 and an Algerian satellite, two Canadian satellite and an Indian-built eco-satellite, on its workhorse vehicle, the PSLV, in the first or second week of May.



GSLV Rises, And Falls

4.27:00pm: GSLV-D3 soars into sky from Sriharikota spaceport at the end of 29-hr countdown

4.29:31: First stage separates

4.29:33: Stage two ignites

4.30:48: Heatshield separates

4.31:53: Isro loses contact with launch vehicle as it veers off course

4.32:04: Presumed ignition of cryogenic engine



What Went Wrong



* Failure still being analysed but possibly the two steering engines, which control the rocket's path, may not have ignited in the cryogenic stage



* ISRO chief not sure if main cryogenic engine ignited



Second Failure



* Out of six launches, this is the second time GSLV has failed



* This was first launch using indigenously made cryogenic engine

[Arun_S]

So its Cryo Engine failure.



The 2 verniers of the Cryo power the cryo pump. So if the verier failed the main cryo will also not work.





ISRO has been there before and they will soon get to teh root cause and get it right, just like before.



Kabir Das said:

[size="2"][color="#0000ff"]Karat Karat Abhayas Tey, Jad Mati Hotey sujaan,

Rasari Awat Jaat tey, Sil par padat nisaan ||[/color][/size]



Practice makes a man perfect.



And launching spacecraft is naturally "Rocket Science".





==========================================================







16/04/2010 URL: [url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/stories/2010041655680100.htm"]http://www.thehindu....41655680100.htm[/url]

[size="4"][color="blue"] [url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/stories/2010041655680100.htm"]GSLV-D3 mission fails[/url][/color][/size]



T.S. Subramanian A setback to indigenous cryogenic technology efforts [size="-2"] — Photo: V. Ganesan [/size]



GSLV-D3 lifting off from Sriharikota on Thursday. SRIHARIKOTA: India's ambitious quest to achieve total independence in cryogenic technology for launching satellite launch vehicles suffered a setback on Thursday, with the indigenous cryogenic engine in a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) failing to ignite and the vehicle tumbling into the sea.



The mission to put communication satellite GSAT-4 in orbit thus ended in failure. The vehicle, however, was not destroyed in mid-flight as its trajectory was in a safe corridor over the Bay of Bengal.



The cryogenic technology is crucial to put heavy satellites in geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km.



The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was keenly looking forward to this flight because this was the first time that it was flying a GSLV with its own cryogenic engine. Gloom engulfed the Mission Control Centre at the Sriharikota spaceport as the mission's failure sank in. ISRO had worked for more than 17 years to develop its own cryogenic engine. The earlier five GSLV flights from 2001 to 2007 were powered by Russian cryogenic engines.



ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told reporters, “We are not sure whether the cryogenic main engine did ignite. We have to confirm this after looking at the various parameters that were monitored during the flight. The vehicle was tumbling. It means it lost its control and altitude. Finally, it splashed into the sea.”



The GSLV-D3 lifted off majestically at 4.27 p.m. after a 29-hour countdown. In fact, there was no hitch at all in the countdown. The rocket soared and everything went all right till the end of the second stage, fired by liquid propellants.



But problems developed with the ignition of the cryogenic engine in the third stage, which after firing for 720 seconds, would have injected the GSAT-4 into orbit. “There was a problem in the start-up of the cryogenic engine,” said the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, P.S. Veeraraghavan.



“Our team has all the capability and resilience to do an analysis and take corrective measures. Our target is to fly a GSLV with our indigenous cryogenic engine within one year. But it will be tough,” he said.

16/04/2010 URL: [url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/stories/2010041655071200.htm"]http://www.thehindu....41655071200.htm[/url] Back



[url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/01hdline.htm"]Front Page[/url]



[size="4"][color="blue"] [url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/stories/2010041655071200.htm"]“GSLV-D3 failure won't affect Chandrayaan-2”[/url][/color][/size]

T.S. Subramanian We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year, says ISRO chief Radhakrishnan No plans to recover GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal: ISRO chief



Cryogenic technology is the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion: Ramakrishnan



SRIHARIKOTA: The failure of the GSLV-D3 mission on Thursday will not have an impact on the Chandrayaan-2 mission scheduled for 2013, according to K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).



The GSLV-D3, which was launched amidst high hopes, having been powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time, ended in failure after the cryogenic engine failed to ignite. As per the ISRO's plans, it is a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will also put a lander-cum-rover on the lunar soil.



The GSLV-D3 mission had three objectives: to develop and launch an indigenous cryogenic stage with the engine and associated systems; to evaluate the performance of the indigenous cryogenic stage and engine; and to put the communication satellite GSAT-4 into orbit. Only the first objective was achieved, the ISRO Chairman said.



S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the cryogenic technology was the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion. France and the U.S. had also met with failures in using cryogenic engines. “Failures in cryogenic technology are not unusual. It is difficult to test the cryogenic engine even on the ground. We are disappointed. But we will overcome [the problems],” said Mr. Ramakrishnan



The GSLV-D3 rocket, including the indigenous cryogenic stage, cost Rs.180 crore. The ISRO spent Rs.36 crore to develop its own cryogenic stage with the engine. GSAT-4 cost Rs.130 crore.



Dr. Radhakrishnan said the cryogenic technology, which enabled communication satellites to be put into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, was a highly complex technology. The GSLV-D3 mission was not successful and “we have to face it,” he said. “We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year [by launching GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine] … We have to work with dedication and I am sure Team ISRO will do it.” He refuted suggestions that there was a problem with the design of the GSLV because three out of the six GSLV missions from 2001 had failed.



GSLV-D3 is the sixth GSLV mission.



Dr. Radhakrishnan said there were no plans to recover the GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal as the ISRO did when its GSLV flight failed in 2006.



Next flight



The next GSLV flight would take place in September this year but it would use a Russian cryogenic engine. It would put into the orbit a communication satellite named GSAT-5B. Another GSLV flight, also powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, would put GSAT-6 into the orbit.



PSLV launch



Meanwhile, a core-alone Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the ISRO is scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at Sriharikota between May 8 and 10. It has already been fully integrated at the first launch pad. It will put Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two nano satellites from the Norwegian defence establishment and Switzerland, and a Studsat into the orbit.



The Studsat has been built by students of colleges in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/15164837/Major-setback-for-Isro-as-GSLV.html?h=E"]Major setback for Isro as GSLV mission fails[/url]: Livemint

K. Raghu



Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh: India’s attempt to join a select club of nations to own cryogenic engine technology—necessary for launching heavy satellites—was aborted on Thursday after its rocket failed within five minutes of lifting off.



The mission failure is a commercial setback for the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which hopes to enter the communication satellite launch market.



“Customers will come to us (for GSLV) only when there is consistency in the launches,” said K.R. Sridhara Murthi, managing director of Antrix Corp., the commercial arm of Isro.



India has spent more than two decades and Rs335 crore on developing the cryogenic engine, a restricted technology owned only by the US, Russia, Japan and China.



India began developing the advanced rocket technology in the 1990s after Russia, under pressure from the US, declined to transfer the know-how even as it lent seven engines.Thursday’s debacle of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) would push back Isro by at least a year, the time its scientists say is needed to fill crucial technology gaps.



The GSLV is a three-stage rocket. The first two stages are powered by solid and liquid fuel. Five minutes into flight, the rocket’s cryogenic or third stage powered by liquid hydrogen and oxygen, was switched on, but two small engines that control the final stage carrying the satellite into space failed to ignite. The rocket then plunged into the Bay of Bengal.



Isro has been through rocket failures in the past. Its first GSLV launch using the Russian cryogenic engines couldn’t hurl the satellite in the intended orbit. Its 2006 mission, too, saw the rocket plunging into the sea minutes after launch.



Isro’s workhorse third-generation rocket polar satellite launch vehicle, or PSLV, failed in its first attempt in 1993, but has since completed 12 launches. The space agency has lined up a PSLV launch in May to carry five satellites.



The aborted mission, which cost Rs325 crore, also lost a 2.2 tonne fifth-generation communication satellite, GSAT-4, which was to be a technology demonstrator for India’s satellite navigation programme. The satellite also had Ka-band transponders used for high-speed Internet broadcast and electric propulsion for deep space missions.



“[color="#0000ff"]The vernier engines failed to ignite[/color],” said Isro chairman K. Radhakrishnan, immediately after the mission failed. Vernier engines are small motors that control the wavering of a spacecraft in flight.



Later, in a press briefing, he said: “We are not sure now whether the main engine did ignite. This we have to verify. We need to have a detailed analysis; why it happened and what are the corrective measures to be taken.”



Radhakrishnan added [color="#0000ff"]Isro would launch the next indigenous cryogenic engine within a year[/color].



Of the seven engines imported from Russia, only five have been used since 2001.[color="#0000ff"] Isro has plans for two more GSLV flights this year using Russian engines, GSAT-5B and GSAT-6[/color].



Isro is also working on a [color="#0000ff"]GSLV MkIII, a rocket with capability to carry 4-tonne satellites into space. The same rocket would be used for India’s manned space mission planned for 2016[/color].

[Arun_S]

Here a very good article



April 15, 2010 00:40 IST | Updated: April 15, 2010 15:55 IST April 15, 2010

The long road to cryogenic technology



N. Gopal Raj ISRO All SET: The advanced communication satellite GSAT-4 undergoes tests at Sriharikota, in this April 13 photo. India’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3), which is powered by a totally indigenous cryogenic engine, will put the GSAT-4 into the orbit.

The immediate challenge for ISRO in the GSLV launch is to demonstrate that it has indeed mastered the intricacies of cryogenic technology.



The forthcoming launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will be a watershed for the Indian Space Research Organisation, marking the culmination of the quest for cryogenic technology that dates back to over 25 years and has seen many twists and turns.



Cryogenic technology involves the use of rocket propellants at extremely low temperatures. The combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen offers the highest energy efficiency for rocket engines that need to produce large amounts of thrust. But oxygen remains a liquid only at temperatures below minus 183[sup]0[/sup] Celsius and hydrogen at below minus 253[sup]0[/sup]Celsius. Building a rocket stage with an engine that runs on such propellants means overcoming engineering challenges.



The United States was the first country to develop cryogenic rocket engines. The Centaur upper stage, with RL-10 engines, registered its first successful flight in 1963 and is still used on the Atlas V rocket. America's early mastery of the technology paved the way for the J-2 engine, which powered the upper stages of the immensely powerful Saturn V rocket that sent humans to the Moon.



Other spacefaring nations followed. The Japanese LE-5 engine flew in 1977, the French HM-7 in 1979 and the Chinese YF-73 in 1984. The Soviet Union, first country to put a satellite and later a human in space, successfully launched a rocket with a cryogenic engine only in 1987.



ISRO recognised the importance of cryogenic technology fairly early. A rocket stage based on a cryogenic engine offered the simplest way of transforming the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), intended to carry one-tonne earth-viewing satellites, into the far more powerful GSLV that could put communications satellites into the orbit.



In December 1982, six months after the PSLV project was cleared, a Cryogenic Study Team was set up. A year later, it submitted a report recommending the development of a cryogenic engine that could generate about 10 tonnes of thrust. The 15-volume report went into every aspect of developing the engine and rocket stage indigenously.



Then, strangely, ISRO went through a long period of indecision, dithering on whether to buy the technology or develop it on its own. Acquiring the technology from abroad would greatly reduce the time that would otherwise be needed, it argued.



But the U.S., Japan and France would either not provide the technology or do so only at an exorbitant price. Finally in January 1991, a deal was signed with the Soviet company Glavkosmos to buy two cryogenic flight stages as well as the technology to make them in India.



The 11D56 cryogenic engine had been developed for one of the upper stages of the mammoth N1 rocket, the Soviet equivalent of Saturn V. But after four successive launch failures, the N1 project was scrapped and its engines were mothballed. Under the Indo-Soviet deal, ISRO would get a stage built around the 11D56 cryogenic engine that could produce 7.5 tonnes of thrust. The stage would carry 12 tonnes of propellant.



But the deal violated the Missile Technology Control Regime, which was intended to prevent the spread of missile-related technology, and fell foul of the U.S. laws meant to enforce its provisions. Despite warnings from within the organisation, ISRO opted to go ahead with the import. In May 1992, the U.S. imposed sanctions on ISRO and Glavkosmos. A year later, Russia, which inherited the contract after the break-up of the Soviet Union, backed out of the deal.



ISRO then had no option but to develop the technology on its own. The Cryogenic Upper Stage project was launched in April 1994. Its aim was to develop a cryogenic engine and stage closely modelled on the Russian design.



At the time, ISRO gave the impression that much of the technology had already been acquired and further development would be quick. A GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine would be ready to fly in about four years, Chairman U.R. Rao told The Hindu in July 1993. The space agency's engineers were privately saying then that a flightworthy cryogenic stage was 10 years away. Instead, it has taken 16 years.



The Russian design involves a complicated ‘staged combustion cycle' to increase the engine efficiency. Hydrogen is partially burnt with a little oxygen in a gas generator. The hot gases drive a turbopump and are then injected at high pressure into the thrust chamber where the rest of oxygen is introduced and full combustion takes place. Before going to the gas generator, the incredibly chilly liquid hydrogen is used to cool the thrust chamber where temperatures rise to over 3,000[sup]0[/sup] Celsius when the engine is fired.



Reproducing the Russian design meant ISRO engineers also learning to deal with new materials and manufacturing methods. A process, known as vacuum brazing needed to make the engine's thrust chamber, for instance, took considerable time to master. Then there was the challenge posed by the powerful turbopump that rotates at a tremendous speed in order to send up to 18 kg of propellants every second into the thrust chamber. It must do so in the face of a sharp temperature gradient, with hot gases at over 500[sup]0 [/sup]Celsius driving the turbine, which then spins the pumps for freezing-cold propellants.



Steps were also taken so that materials required for the engine and stage could be made within the country.



The Indian cryogenic engine is produced by Godrej and the Hyderabad-based MTAR Technologies working together as a consortium. Instead of ISRO first mastering the technology and transferring it to industry, the two companies were involved from the start and even the early prototypes were built by them. Failure on their part was not an option and the space agency had to make sure that these companies succeeded.



Finally, in February 2000, the first indigenous cryogenic engine began to be test-fired on the ground. According to one source, things went wrong in one test and an engine ended up badly damaged. However, by December 2003, three engines had been ground-tested for a cumulative duration of over an hour and half. One of those engines was fired continuously for more than 16 minutes, four minutes longer than it would operate in actual flight. More tests with the engine integrated into the full stage followed. The cryogenic engine that will fly in the forthcoming GSLV launch was tested on the ground for a little over three minutes in December 2008.



Meanwhile, the Russians had supplied ISRO with seven ready-to-fly stages. But their 11D56 cryogenic engine had not flown before and the Indians faced some unpleasant surprises.



The first was that the Russian-supplied stages turned out to be heavier than expected. In order to carry the extra load, it is learnt, the Russians increased the maximum thrust that the 11D56 engine was capable of — from 7.5 tonnes to a little over eight tonnes. The engine operates at the higher thrust for only part of the duration of its flight. The Indian engine too had to be tested and made to work at the higher thrust level. Moreover, the Indian stage is lighter than the Russian one.



When the GSLV was first launched in April 2001, the Russian cryogenic engine was found to be less efficient than predicted, based on a measure that rocket engineers call specific impulse. The increase in stage weight and decrease in efficiency together reduced the rocket's payload capacity significantly.



Where the GSLV with the cryogenic stage was intended to put 2.5 tonnes into the orbit, the rocket carried a satellite weighing just 1.5 tonnes in its first flight. With further optimisation of the Russian cryogenic stage and other parts of the rocket, the GSLV could successfully launch the 2,140-kg Insat-4CR in its fifth launch in 2007.



Sources told this correspondent that the last two stages supplied by the Russians carry an engine with a maximum thrust of over nine tonnes and are capable of accommodating an additional three tonnes of propellant. The GSLV with this stage would be capable of delivering a payload of 2.5 tonnes into the orbit. With further ground testing, the Indian engine too would be upgraded to a similar thrust level.



But the immediate challenge for ISRO and its engineers is to demonstrate in the GSLV launch that they have indeed mastered the intricacies of cryogenic technology.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/indias-gslv-mission-fails-20084.php"]Disappointment. India's GSLV D3 mission fails[/url]

[url="http://www.ndtv.com/news/search/results.php?cfeed=tw%3BSU%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%3BLC%3A%23003399%3BVC%3A%23008000%3BDC%3A%23999999%3BTB%3A0%3BPBG%3A1%3BGP%3A0%3B%3BRBG%3A%23DCDCDC&hl=en&q=NDTV%20Correspondent&site=ndtv.com"]NDTV Correspondent[/url], Thursday April 15, 2010, New Delhi

It was a big moment for India - the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). But minutes into launch, there was crisis with the indigenous cryogenic engine underperforming and the rocket deviating from its path. The worst fears had come true. The mission was a failure.



ISRO chairman, K Radhakrishan, announced that the rocket had spun out of control and that the cryogenic engine may have ignited. He promised another attempt next year.



"Sorry to inform you that the cryogenic stage was not successful. The countdown was eventless. We are not very sure that the cryogenic main engine did ignite. The vehicle was tumbling, it lost its control and altitude and splashed down in the sea," Radhakrishan said.



The cost of the mission was Rs 330 crore. The tall and majestic GSLV, if launched successfully, would have marked India's entry into the multi-billion dollar commercial launcher market on a fully indigenous rocket. A sophisticated new Indian technology called the cryogenic engine was being flown for the first time. In the five earlier flights, India had used pre-used imported Russian made cryogenic engines. It was this engine that underperformed.



Today's failure will impact India's efforts at launching its own communication satellites, its first manned space flight and the planned launch of Chandrayan 2 in 2012.



It took India more than 15 years to develop this cryogenic engine as technology for this was denied. In the 1990s, America put pressure on Russia and forced the cancellation of an Indo-Russian technology transfer deal. The argument given was that India will use these engines to make missiles. Two decades later, none of the Indian missiles uses a cryogenic engine. A team of hundreds of scientists toiled day and night to master this technology.



It's the second major setback months after the failure of Chandrayaan-1 - India's maiden mission to the moon. But on a positive note, ISRO has been able to come back with a bang in the past. It plans to attempt another launch in a year.



Scientists also point out that cryogenic engines are a difficult technology to master and even countries like the US and Japan failed in their maiden attempts.



The Indian-made Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, at 50 meters tall would be as high as a 25-storey building, and weighing a whopping 416 tons. It is a three-stage rocket.

At lift-off, the first stage ignites using one of the world's largest solid fuel motors and strap on boosters.



The first stage separates and the second stage, powered by a liquid engine takes over, while the heat shield is shed.



At an altitude of about 130 kilometres, the second stage separates and the all-important cryogenic engine takes over. Using very cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as fuel, this special engine helps launch heavier satellites into space.



After a 17-minute flight, the satellite was to have been put into its designated orbit above Earth.



This mission was to have hoisted a sophisticated communications satellite called G-Sat, an Indian-made experimental satellite that weighs 2200 kg and would improve the global positioning system. It was also to have tested a new electrical propulsion system to keep the satellite in its orbit. It was also carrying a set of Ka band transponders, which would have increased the quality of television coverage.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/607087/"]Jolt to ISRO as GSLV-D3 fails[/url]

Gopu Mohan Posted online: Friday , Apr 16, 2010 at 0041 hrs



Sriharikota : India’s dream to break free from international reliance in the field of space technology suffered a major setback on Thursday, as the indigenously manufactured cryogenic component of the GSLV-D3 failed to perform as expected, tumbling the launch vehicle and hurling it into the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal minutes after take-off. GSLV-D3 was the third developmental mission in which the indigenous cryogenic engine was to be tested. An earlier experimental flight, GSLV FO2, also veered off course in 2006, forcing scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to “kill” the rocket.



After the vehicle took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the predetermined time, 4.27 pm, the scientists were seen eyeing the monitoring equipment anxiously as the success depended on the copybook performance of the cryogenic stage, a complicated technology that was denied to the country so far by the select few who have already developed it.



“There was no indication that something was amiss. In fact, the whole process went without a glitch till then,” said K Radhakrishnan, the newly appointed Director of ISRO.



The Mission Control Centre received information that the cryogenic stage came into operation — after solid and liquid stages — 304 seconds after take off. By 505 seconds, the centre stopped receiving data from the vehicle. “The vehicle tumbled and lost control and altitude, indicating that the two smaller Verniner engines did not fire. However, now we are not very sure whether the main cryogenic engine did ignite. This we have to verify after a detailed analysis in the coming 2-3 days,” added Radhakrishnan.



The GSLV also carried an experimental payload, GSAT-4. The financial loss is to the tune of Rs 330 crore.



More than the expense, the failure of the cryogenic stage to perform is a major setback for the Indian space research community, though the ISRO chief put up a brave face. “We will find out how this happened and after an in-depth analysis, we will find out why this happened. Our target now is to make the necessary modifications and launch a similar vehicle with an Indian-made cryogenic stage within one year from now,” Radhakrishnan said.



Appearing unperturbed, he said the space agency would fire a series of 11 vehicles in the coming months, starting with the launch of a PSLV, ISRO’s workhorse, in May followed by a GSLV in September. The vehicle will also be used for Chandrayaan II, scheduled for 2013.



When asked about his feelings after having tasted failure in his first mission as the ISRO Director, Radhakrishnan [color="#0000ff"]quoted from the Bhagwad Gita:[/color]





“[size="3"][color="#0000ff"]Karmanye vadhikarasthe ma phaleshu kadachana

[/color][/size]



[size="3"][color="#0000ff"]([/color][/size]Focus on the task at hand, don’t think of results).

[babbupandey]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='04 February 2010 - 01:56 PM' timestamp='1265309306' post='103907']

[url="http://www.ptinews.com/news/500285_-India-to-launch-high-resolution-CARTOSAT-2B-soon-"]India to launch high-resolution CARTOSAT-2B soon[/url]STAFF WRITER[color="#f47622"] 16:34 HRS IST[/color]



The increased revisit frequency by two high resolution Indian earth observation satellites will make the Pakistani pigs squeal.



The resolution of CARTOSAT has been officially understated, and worst kept secret to keep the challengers guessing. The first experimental high res satellite (TES) some unnamed sources say, had a resolution of 0.55 meter, what can I speculate for CARTOSAT-1, 2A and now 2B !<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[/quote]

Arun sir,

If it is a worst kept secret then harm in letting it out a bit more <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Arun_S]

Worst kept secret part is that the resolution is much more finer than what is touted.



OTOH how much finer ? That part is worth keeping secret to keep em guessing.

[ramana]

The one second ignition of the cryogenic engine by ISRO is like the partial burn thesis of the TN by BARC. What is the H&D involved to stake this claim?

[Guest]

Oh sir ji,

These things are a secret only to us mango junta. The ones who need to know already know.



And what is the gain in keeping this thing under wraps? India has reached a certain threshold as far as resolution is concerned. There was even talk of using the spectra other than mere visual to identify mil hardware.



There was an article that premised that using the various other wavelengths has the potential to render any attempts to camouflage useless.



I think ISRO has made progress in these other fields, whereas we jingos are only concentrating on resolution in the visual spectrum.



JMT

[babbupandey]

I floated a theory on BR, but I should have known better - Arun_S resides here...



It was in the news that India bought 7 cryos from Russies, 5 were used for actual launch but the two have not been used. Could it be that Indian scientists reverse-engineered the design?

[Arun_S]

Mind you that by the time US squeezed Russi balls to stop CVD-1 engine knowhow transfer under guise of MTCR (When USSR was down and out on floor), much of drawings had already been transferred. It will be reasonable to say that ISRO used that as reference material and added their own genius to make it much better than Russi original. One might have noted how the cryo was uprated to higher thrust for initial burn, during teh boost phase (later it was throttled back to normal thrust (once the craft was off regime when there is effective ISP loss due to gravity). Something that ISRO pressed on, and Russi added that and certified it for all 7 cryos. Out of work freelancign boris were reported used for janitorial work. <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Also interestign to note that ISRO's GSLV will be 20 tonne thrust C25, and will be fight tested much before IIRC Russi Angara with similar thrust cryo stage. One may ask who is copying who, and possibelity of collboration or even reverse know how transfer in design phase (machining, metallurgy, fabrication capability and experience is much more up Russi belt. Russians have till date not launch a single rocket with LH-LOX cryo engine.

[Raj Malhotra]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='22 April 2010 - 11:30 PM' timestamp='1271958726' post='106045']

Russians have till date not launch a single rocket with LH-LOX cryo engine.

[/quote]





Very few people realise this or know this info. Add the fact that Even through the 7 engines supplied/being supplied by Russians, they have been upgrading the technology and performance for their own/ISRO benefit.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/High-premium-deters-ISRO-from-insuring-projects/articleshow/5862418.cms"]High premium deters ISRO from insuring projects[/url]

27 Apr 2010, 0957 hrs IST,

Aparna Ramalingam,TNN





CHENNAI: Not only did the launch of the Rs 350-crore GSLV D-3 on Thursday fail, the project wasn’t insured, like the previous ones. Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) officials said that Indian launches are never insured . “There’s no point in government money being moved from one body (PSU general insurer) to another (ISRO in this case),” they said. But the bigger question is whether government assets are well insured.



General insurers beg to differ . “Risks tend to get reinsured and the money can be recovered from the international reinsurer,” said G Srinivasan, chairman and managing director , United India Insurance.



Assets (plant, machinery, factories) of public sector undertakings are insured in the country. But bigger ones such as satellite, rocket and missile launches, nuclear assets may not be covered. “That’s because these are sovereign assets that are guaranteed by the government,” says Tarun Singh, managing director, Finexure Financial Services. Apart from the government being a self guarantor, the cost of insuring such projects can be as high as 40% of the project value, as the risks associated with such launches are extremely high as well as complex , said insurance experts.



For eg., suppose the cost of a satellite launch is Rs 500 crore, insurance would be Rs 200 crore. This would further escalate the costs taking it up to Rs 700 crore. “The government normally refrains from insuring a lot of its assets because sometimes the total premiums paid on such resources may far exceed the losses incurred,” said Rahul Aggarwal, CEO, Optima Insurance Brokers.



Space missions worldwide are replete with failures and the high risk maybe a deterrent against insurance. For instance, NASA’s first few Ranger missions to the moon failed for a variety of reasons. Similarly, in India, two of the seven GSLV mission failed. Even in the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle, two flights failed consecutively and two succeeded.



Organisations like NASA and the European Space Agency have an active space insurance programme. Globally too, insurance for nuclear assets, rocket and missile launches is underwritten by a consortium of a few insurers who are specialists in the field. “They have to look at various aspects such as if the technology is experimental or tried and tested to calculate risks and possible failure of the project. Only after that would the premium rate be determined ,” said Aggarwal.



Countries that have commercial satellite programmes participate in space insurance industry, either through direct underwriters or reinsurers.

[sai_k]

http://flonnet.com/stories/20100521271010100.htm

Cryogenic setback



K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO: “We will put all our efforts to ensure that the next GSLV flight with an indigenous cryogenic engine takes place in a year.”



At 4-27 p.m., the vehicle rose from the launch pad and sped into the sky, riding on plumes of flame and smoke. The four liquid strap-on booster motors surrounding the core first stage ignited on time. The first stage, fired by solid propellants, then came into play even as the strap-on booster motors fell away. The first stage jettisoned 151.6 seconds after lift-off. The second stage, powered by liquid propellants, ignited at 151.7 seconds. The payload fairing, which protects the satellite and the vehicle’s electronics from intense heat during the vehicle’s ascent into the atmosphere, separated down its seams and fell into the Bay of Bengal 228.8 seconds from blast-off. The second stage shut down at 293 seconds. The cryogenic engine ought to have ignited at 304.9 seconds and burned for the next 720 seconds to provide the necessary velocity to inject GSAT-4 into the intended GTO.



It was clear that the cryogenic engine had not ignited. The rocket was losing velocity and altitude, and soon it veered off its path and plunged into the sea. As the vehicle’s trajectory fell within the safety corridor, the Range Safety Officer did not press the “destruct” button to destroy the rocket.



The cryogenic engine ignition occurred as planned, he said, but added: “This needs to be confirmed after a detailed analysis of the data.” According to Radhakrishnan, the vehicle was seen tumbling and losing control, “most probably because the two vernier engines [in the cryogenic engine] could not ignite”. (The vernier engines, also called steering engines, control the roll, pitch and yaw of the vehicle in flight.)

[Arun_S]

‘Indian rockets to soon use atmospheric oxygen as fuel’

Published: May 29, 2010 19:06 IST | Updated: May 29, 2010 19:06 IST Chennai, May 29, 2010

In an attempt to make its rockets lighter and carry heavier satellites, the Indian space agency is planning to flight test by the end of this year its own air-breathing engine that will use atmospheric oxygen as fuel.Air-breathing engines use atmospheric oxygen and burn it with the stored on-board fuel to generate the onward thrust.



Conventional rockets carry both oxygen and chemical fuel on board.



“We will be doing a series of ground tests of the air breathing engine soon. We are planning an actual launch of a sounding rocket - ATV D02 - powered by such an engine by the end of this year,” an official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS on condition of anonymity.



The rocket will fly from Sriharikota, India's rocket port located around 80 km from here.



In March, ISRO flew an advanced technology vehicle D01 (ATV-D01) weighing three tonnes from Sriharikota.



ATV-D01, the heaviest sounding rocket developed by ISRO, carried a passive scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine combustor module as a test bed for demonstration of air breathing propulsion technology.



A scramjet consists of a tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a chamber where fuel is combusted, and a nozzle through which the exhaust jet leaves at higher speed than the inlet air.



Jet engines use a compressor to squeeze air into the engine, then spray fuel into the compressed air and ignite it to produce thrust by funnelling it through the back.



The advantage of air breathing engine is that it makes the rocket lighter - as oxygen is not carried - enabling it to carry heavier satellites.



Further, it reduces the cost of launch and will help make ISRO a very cost competitive player in the global satellite launch industry.



However, as air breathing engine systems can operate only during the atmospheric phase of flight, they will have to be adapted along with the conventional chemical rockets.



[url="http://thehindu.com/"]The Hindu[/url] [url="http://www.thehindu.com/publications/"]Publications[/url] [url="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/"]Business Line[/url] [url="http://www.thehinduebooks.com/"]eBooks[/url] [url="http://www.sportstaronnet.com/"]Sportstar[/url] [url="http://www.thehinduimages.com/"]Images[/url] [url="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/"]Frontline[/url]

Printable version | May 30, 2010 6:09:49 AM | [url="http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article441392.ece"]http://beta.thehindu...ticle441392.ece[/url]

[ramana]

Recently there was report in US that they flew a scramjet X-51A from Pt Mugu.The program manager was on NPR announcing the success.

[Raj Malhotra]

[quote name='ramana' date='30 May 2010 - 10:16 AM' timestamp='1275194290' post='106651']

Recently there was report in US that they flew a scramjet X-51A from Pt Mugu.The program manager was on NPR announcing the success.

[/quote]





Comments?



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JRgHKYCaeH4/TD...lide33.JPG

[Guest]

India launches five satellites at one go

pioneer.com

IANS | Sriharikota

In a flawless launch, five satellites, including the advanced high resolution cartography satellite Cartosat-2B, were placed in orbit Monday by India's space agency ISRO with its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from here.



"I am extremely happy to say PSLV was a successful flight. All the satellites were injected precisely," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.



"We will launch GSat-5, a communication satellite, using the GSLV (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) and Resourscesat-2, a remote sensing satellite, using the PSLV," he added.



The two rockets will fly sometime in October and the PSLV cargo will also consist of two small satellites.



On a clear blue sky day, ISRO's 230 tonne PSLV - standing 44 metres tall and costing around Rs.80 crore - soared towards the heavens from the spaceport here, about 80 km north of Chennai, together with its cargo weighing 819 kg.



Apart from its main cargo - the Cartosat-2B weighing 694 kg - the other satellites that the rocket put into orbit are the Algerian remote sensing satellite Alsat-2A (116 kg), two nano satellites (NLS 6.1 AISSAT-1 weighing 6.5 kg built by the University of Toronto, the one kg NLS 6.2 TISAT built by the University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland, and STUDSAT, a pico satellite weighing less than one kg, built jointly by 35 students of seven engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.



Twenty minutes after blast off, the rocket first released the Cartosat-2B followed by Alsat-2A and the three small satellites.



This was the first successful launch after Radhakrishnan took over as ISRO chairman last year.



Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who was present at the launch, congratulated the ISRO scientists on the "perfect launch" and said: "ISRO makes the country proud."



Immediately after the ejection of the satellites, the Spacecraft Control Centre at Bangalore, with the help of ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command) Network of stations there and at Lucknow, Mauritius, Bearslake in Russia, Biak in Indonesia and Svalbard in Sweden, monitored their health.



Built to last for five years, the Rs.175 crore Cartosat-2B is India's 17th remote sensing satellite. It will augment ISRO's remote sensing data services along with Cartosat-2 and 2A launched earlier.



The satellite's imagery can be used for preparing detailed forest type maps, tree volume estimation, village level crop inventory, town/village settlement mapping and planning for development, rural connectivity, canal alignment, coastal land form, mining monitoring and others.



"The investment in the satellite will be recovered over its lifetime. This is not purely a commercial satellite as the bulk of the images transmitted by Cartosat-2B will be used by the Indian government. The images are also sold to overseas parties for a fee," K.R. Sridhara Murthi, executive director of Antrix Corporation Ltd, told IANS.



"With the launch of Cartosat-2B, ISRO will have 10 remote sensing satellites in orbit - IRS 1D, Resourcesat 1, TES, Cartosat 1, 2 and 2A, IMS 1, RISAT-2, Oceansat 1 and 2," S. Satish, ISRO director for publications and public relations, told IANS.



Apart from ISRO earning foreign exchange by launching the Algerian satellite, the other interesting part of the Monday's launch is StudSat, the pico satellite built by the students.



"This is the first time private colleges were involved by ISRO in developing a satellite. The StudSat costed around Rs.55 lakh. Small satellites will be made for specific projects," the principal of the R.V.College of Engineering told IANS.



Going forward, he said the college is planning to focus on building propulsion systems for satellites.



The student satellite project was headed by Jharna Majumdar, Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore.



The college has built a separate ground station to receive signals from StudSat at an outlay of Rs.45 lakh.



According to ISRO officials the college ground station has started receiving signals from StudSat.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.sify.com/news/printer_friendly.php?a=kmuwk0feecg&ctid=2&cid=National"]Indian, Russian scientists to decide Tuesday on rocket launch[/url]



2010-12-21 05:30:00





Chennai, Dec 20 (IANS) With a leak in one of the engine valves forcing postponement of the GSLV rocket launch, Indian and Russian space scientists are to conduct some tests Tuesday to determine the extent of damage, an official said Monday.



The scientists will measure the extent of leak in one of the valves of the Russian-made cryogenic engine of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) rocket that was to place an advanced communications satellite into orbit Monday.







The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Sunday decided to postpone the rocket's launch after it detected the leak during the pre-countdown mandatory tests even as the 51-metre tall rocket was on the launch pad at Sriharikota.







The rocket was to carry GSAT-5P, an advanced communications satellite meant to retire an earlier one sent up in 1999 and ensure continuity of telecom, TV and weather services.







S. Satish, a director at ISRO, said: 'There is a small team of Russian experts at the rocket port whenever a rocket is flown with their cryogenic engine.'







According to ISRO officials, some tests will be done Tuesday to measure the extent of valve leak and a decision on the rocket launch will be taken only after studying the results.







'May be tomorrow (Tuesday) evening we may have a decision,' an ISRO official, on condition of anonymity, told IANS.







He said tests and discussions with the Russian scientists will go hand in hand Tuesday at the Sriharikota rocket launch centre, around 80 km from here.







The Russians had supplied seven cryogenic engines, of which five were used in the earlier GSLV rockets.







The 29-hour countdown, planned to commence at 11.01 a.m. Sunday, was not authorised by the Launch Authorisation Board. The board met Sunday forenoon at the Sriharikota rocket launch centre to review the results of pre-countdown checks and decided against proceeding with the mission.







Sources close to ISRO told IANS that there are standard leak rates for valves. Only when this exceeds the minimum level are alarm bells sounded.







ISRO officials said that since the cryogenic engine is supplied by Russia, their expertise and consent will be obtained on how to plug the leak.







If at all the valve has to be replaced, then it has to be supplied by the Russians, the sources said.







'The components of Indian cryogenic engine are of varied specifications and will not fit the Russian made one. The Russians had supplied the seven cryogenic engines long ago,' the source told IANS.







According to officials, dismantling of the cryogenic engine with the faulty valve and fitting the rocket with another one will be a tedious affair or even impossible due to its complexity.







According to ISRO officials, a delay in the GSAT-5P launch will not affect any of its customers as the earlier satellite INSAT-2E is still operational.