Indian Space News and Discussion

[Arun_S]

[url="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/union-budget-2010/Isro-rockets-into-higher-orbit-with-a-35-hike/articleshow/5622518.cms"]Isro rockets into higher orbit with a 35% hike[/url]

TNN, Feb 27, 2010, NEW DELHI: The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) on Friday prepared to zoom into higher orbit following a nearly 35% hike in its budget. This, the space agency says, is the highest in recent years.



In 2009, Isro's budgetary allocation was Rs 4,167 crore. This year it has jumped to Rs 5,778 crore. "We've received additional Rs 1,611 crore, which will enable us to implement most of our approved projects without a hitch," said an official to ToI requesting anonymity.



India's human space flight programme and the moon mission have got booster shots. The amount for the manned flight project has increased from Rs 30 crore in 2009 to Rs 150 crore. "This will allow us to initiate some of the additional pre-project activities," the official said. The overall cost of the programme is around Rs 13,000 crore, of which the government has allotted only Rs 95 crore so far. Last February, the Plan panel cleared the programme and estimated that Rs 5,000 crore would be needed for executing the preliminary plans.

[Arun_S]

Dependign on madrasa math teh percentages change:





[url="http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci-tech/budget-for-indian-space-agency-up-by-58-percent-lead_100326946.html"]Budget for Indian space agency up by 58 percent (Lead)[/url]

Feb 26 (IANS) Indian space programme got a booster dose Friday with its plan allocation for fiscal 2010-11 rocketing up by 58 percent over that of previous year in the budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday.

The budgetary allocation for the Department of Space shot up to Rs.5,000 crore for the next fiscal as compared to the revised estimates of Rs.3,172 crore for 2009-10.



The budget has allocated Rs.500 crore for building Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) two rockets - polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV).



A sum of Rs.153 crore has been allocated for the development of GSLV Mark III, a rocket that can carry four-tonne payload and Rs.250 crore for development of semi-cryogenic engine.



Compared to Rs.230 crore allocated to ISRO’s manned mission in 2009-10, the funds for the next fiscal have been reduced to Rs.150 crore.



ISRO has worked out the total cost of the mission at Rs.12,000 crore.



While Rs.100 crore has been set aside for the lunar mission, Rs.262 crore has been provided for setting up navigational satellite systems.



“Factoring the non-plan expenditure, the allocation for the next fiscal is up by 38 percent,” S. Satish, director (publications), told IANS from ISRO’s headquarters in Bangalore over telephone.



For 2009-10, the revised estimates - plan and non plan - are put at Rs.4,167 crore whereas the figure for the next fiscal is Rs.5,778 crore, he added.



According to him, in the last fiscal the allocation for the manned mission was brought down to Rs.30 crore against the initial allocation of Rs.230 crore.



In effect, the allocation for the manned mission for the next fiscal is up by Rs.120 crore, he said.[url="http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sci-tech/budget-for-indian-space-agency-up-by-58-percent-lead_100326946.html#ixzz0gmRDfIEm"][/url]

[url="http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article114057.ece"]Boost for manned mission[/url]

New Delhi, February 26, 2010

India’s human space flight programme got a major boost as the Union Budget on Friday proposed a significant allocation to it and also sought increase in funds for setting up an indigenous global positioning system.The budget, presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, has allocated Rs 150 crore for the human spaceflight programme under which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to develop a space vehicle to put a two-member crew in space and get them back safely.



The government has already approved pre-project research and development activities in this regard.



The plan allocation for ISRO has been pegged at Rs 5,000 crore as against the revised budgetary estimates of Rs 3,172 crore last year.



The budget has proposed Rs 100 crore for Chandrayaan. Space scientists are planning to land two robotic rovers on the moon to carry out tests on the lunar surface.



The allocation for the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), on the lines of US’ Global Positioning System (GPS), was pegged at Rs 262.10 crore against the revised estimates of Rs 220 crore last year.



ISRO plans to have a constellation of seven satellites which are expected to provide position accuracies similar to GPS in a region in and around the country. The first satellite is targeted for launch in 2011.

[Guest]

Wiki says that India was supposed to have started launching IRNSS in Dec 09 and the constellation was to be in place by 2012.



Is there a delay here?

[emperor]

[quote name='Gagan' date='28 February 2010 - 09:59 PM' timestamp='1267411860' post='104659']

Wiki says that India was supposed to have started launching IRNSS in Dec 09 and the constellation was to be in place by 2012.



Is there a delay here?

[/quote]



AFAIK, there was a problem building an atomic clock for the constellation.Guess it was resolved now.



And again,only single sat launch every time was considered using PSLV. But now they wanted to use GSLV to send 2 sats in a go.This will reduce costs and total time.



IMHO,we should better go for a global instead of a regional.considering the cost of the whole project for 7 sats and ground stations I dont think the global coverage will loot the taxpayers.But its worth in recashing the services offered due to the low costs of Indian service(which can be attractive)

[Guest]

[quote name='Chandragupta' date='01 March 2010 - 06:54 PM' timestamp='1267449371' post='104670']

AFAIK, there was a problem building an atomic clock for the constellation.Guess it was resolved now.



And again,only single sat launch every time was considered using PSLV. But now they wanted to use GSLV to send 2 sats in a go.This will reduce costs and total time.



IMHO,we should better go for a global instead of a regional.considering the cost of the whole project for 7 sats and ground stations I dont think the global coverage will loot the taxpayers.But its worth in recashing the services offered due to the low costs of Indian service(which can be attractive)

[/quote]





Yes resolved it is - India paid 5 million dollars to a swiss company and imported them.





7 sats are sufficient for regional coverage, you can not go global with them, you need anywhere from 25 to 30 of these sats 2 get a global coverage.

[Guest]

To go global, one has to compete directly with GPS to be viable. It will require no less than a few of the Top hardware manufacturers to be on board to make this a commercial success.

[Arun_S]

[quote name='Gagan' date='01 March 2010 - 10:17 PM' timestamp='1267461581' post='104680']

To go global, one has to compete directly with GPS to be viable. It will require no less than a few of the Top hardware manufacturers to be on board to make this a commercial success.

[/quote]



How does one make commercial success for a service that is freely available in form of GPS.

Galileo is in limbo due to same reason. US under Clinton struck the blow by making available higher precision (most of the time) by disabling SA. Unless India wants to sell precision service, which begs the questions how many people need it and what will they pay for it?

[Arun_S]

[url="http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/02/chandrayaan-detects-ice-deposits-on-moon.htm"]Chandrayaan-I detects ice deposits on moon[/url]

March 02, 2010 [size="2"]Scientists have detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon's North Pole using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India's Chandrayaan-I. [/size]



[size="2"]NASA's Mini-SAR instrument, lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 2 to 15 km in diameter.[/size]



[size="2"]The finding would give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit, a NASA statement said, adding it is estimated that there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice in the craters.[/size]



[size="2"]"The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon," Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, said yesterday.[/size]



[size="2"]The new discoveries show that the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than previously thought, he said.[/size]



[size="2"]Aboard Chandrayaan-I, the Mini-SAR mapped the moon's permanently-shadowed polar craters that are not visible from the earth. The radar uses the polarisation properties of reflected radio waves to characterise surface properties.[/size]



[size="2"]According to the findings which are being published in the latest issue of the Geophysical Research Letters journal, results from the mapping showed deposits having radar characteristics similar to ice.[/size]



[size="2"]"After analysing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit," Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA's [/size][size="2"]Space Operations Mission Directorate, said.[/size]



[size="2"]The space agency said these results are consistent with recent findings of other NASA instruments and adds to growing scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found on the moon.[/size]



[size="2"]The agency's Moon Mineralogy Mapper discovered water molecules in the moon's polar regions, while water vapour was detected by NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.[/size]



[size="2"]Mini-SAR and Moon Mineralogy Mapper are two of 11 instruments on India's first unmanned mission to the moon -- Chandrayaan-I.[/size]

[Arun_S]

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8544635.stm"]Ice deposits found at Moon's pole: BBC[/url]

By Paul Rincon

Science reporter, BBC News, The Woodlands, Texas

A radar experiment aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar spacecraft has identified thick deposits of water ice near the Moon's north pole.



The US space agency's (Nasa) Mini-Sar experiment found more than 40 small craters containing water ice.



But other compounds - such as hydrocarbons - are mixed up in lunar ice, according to new results from another lunar mission called LCROSS.



The findings were presented at a major planetary science conference in Texas.



The craters with ice range from 2km to 15km (one to nine miles) in diameter; how much there is depends on its thickness in each crater. But Nasa says the ice must be at least a couple of metres thick to give the signature seen by Chandrayaan-1.



Dr Paul Spudis, from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, estimated there was at least 600 million metric tonnes of water ice held within these impact craters.



The equivalent amount, expressed as rocket fuel, would be enough to launch one space shuttle per day for 2,200 years, he told journalists at the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.



“ The results from these missions, that we have seen in the last few months, are totally revolutionising our view of the Moon ”

Paul Spudis, Lunar and Planetary Institute What all these craters have in common are large areas of their interiors that never see sunlight.



Temperatures in some of these permanently darkened craters can drop as low as 25 Kelvin (-248C; -415F) - colder than the surface of Pluto - allowing water ice to remain stable.



"It is mostly pure water ice," said Dr Spudis, "it could be under a few tens of centimetres of dry regolith (lunar soil)."



This protective layer of soil could prevent blocks of pure ice from vaporising even in some areas which are exposed to sunlight, he explained.



In February, President Barack Obama cancelled the programme designed to return Americans to the Moon by 2020.



However, Dr Spudis said: "Now we can say with a fair degree of confidence that a sustainable human presence on the Moon is possible. It's possible using the resources we find there."



"The results from these missions, that we have seen in the last few months, are totally revolutionising our view of the Moon."



Robotic fleet



Chandrayaan-1 was India's contribution to the armada of unmanned spacecraft to have been launched to the Moon in recent years. Japan, Europe, China and the US have all sent missions packed with instruments to explore Earth's satellite in unprecedented detail.



In Nasa's LCROSS mission, a rocket and a probe were smashed into a large crater at the lunar south pole, kicking up water ice and water vapour.



Spectral measurements of material thrown up by the LCROSS impact indicate some of the water ice was in a crystalline form, rather than the "amorphous" form in which the water molecules are randomly arranged.



"There's not one flavour of water on the Moon, there's a range of everything from relatively pure ice all the way to adsorbed water," said the mission's chief scientist Anthony Colaprete, from Nasa's Ames Research Center.



"And here is an instance inside Cabeus crater where it appears we threw up a range of fine-grained particulates of near pure crystalline water ice."



Overall, results from recent missions suggest there could be several sources for lunar ice.



One important way for water to form is through an interaction with the solar wind, the fast-moving stream of particles that constantly billows away from the Sun.



Space radiation triggers a chemical reaction in which oxygen atoms already in the soil acquire hydrogen nuclei to make water molecules and the simpler hydrogen-oxygen (OH) molecule. This "adsorbed" water may be present as fine films coating particles of lunar soil.



In a cold sink effect, water from elsewhere on the lunar surface may migrate to the slightly cooler poles, where it is retained in permanently shadowed craters.



Scientists have also reported the presence of hydrocarbons, such as ethylene, in the LCROSS impact plume. Dr Colaprete said any hydrocarbons were likely to have been delivered to the lunar surface by comets and asteroids - another vital source of lunar water.



However, he added, some of these chemical species could arise through "cold chemistry" on interstellar dust grains accumulated on the Moon.



In addition to water, researchers have seen a range of other "volatiles" (compounds with low boiling points) in the impact plume, including sulphur dioxide (SO2).



The results from the Mini-Sar instrument are due to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The team is currently analysing results for craters at the Moon's south pole.

[Guest]

Do you think India will gain from Brain Drain from USA, after scrapping of NASA space shuttle programme? Around 27,000 will lose job, not including contractors.

Lot of other programmes are on chopping board.

[Guest]

[quote name='Mudy' date='02 March 2010 - 12:16 PM' timestamp='1267511901' post='104704']

Do you think India will gain from Brain Drain from USA, after scrapping of NASA space shuttle programme? Around 27,000 will lose job, not including contractors.

Lot of other programmes are on chopping board.

[/quote]





Its about time India woos the best brains and bring them back home with enticement (I am sure China is already into it). Cut backs are there, the impact would be felt within few months.

[Arun_S]

I agree, time to woo the Indians in Space segment which is a very broad field, ranging from materials, fabrication techniques, engine/propulsion, flight/vehicle control, mission management, systems, diagnostics, sensing, and many more fields, not to forget project control and management.



Yet India does not want people who carry the hangover of bloated gold plated processes and mindset that sank NASA to the bottom.

[Guest]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='02 March 2010 - 10:23 PM' timestamp='1267548353' post='104712']







Yet India does not want people who carry the hangover of bloated gold plated processes and mindset that sank NASA to the bottom.

[/quote]





On above I fail to fathom [EDITED - ADMIN - No personal attack ]if you mean that Indians were solely responsible for above (your) underlined statement!

[Guest]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='02 March 2010 - 10:23 PM' timestamp='1267548353' post='104712']

I agree, time to woo the Indians in Space segment which is a very broad field, ranging from materials, fabrication techniques, engine/propulsion, flight/vehicle control, mission management, systems, diagnostics, sensing, and many more fields, not to forget project control and management.



Yet India does not want people who carry the hangover of bloated gold plated processes and mindset that sank NASA to the bottom.

[/quote]

I agree, wastage and free ride sank NASA, but current administration policy which is against Science by transferring funds from innovation to entitlement programme. Russia, China are attracting lot of people, India should start recruiting them, not only Indians but good brains from East bloc working in NASA.

[Guest]

[size="6"]ISRO's budget is just three per cent of that of NASA[/size]







TUMKUR: Indian Space Research Organisation's budget is just three per cent of that of its US counterpart NASA, its Chairman K Radhakrishnan said.



Delivering a convocation address at Tumkur University, he said despite the low funding, the Indian space programme is ready to take a giant leap towards inter-planetary missions and human space flight programme.



"The success of Chandrayaan-1 prepares the basis for many futuristic missions. Mission planning is being carried out for Chandrayaan-2, Mars orbiter and Aditya, [size="3"]the maiden solar mission to study solar corona[/size]," Radhakrishnan said.



But the most ambitious of all is the Human Space Flight Programme in which two astronauts would be sent to low earth orbit and would be safely "landed back".



According to him, with 15 consecutive successful launches, India's workhorse rocket PSLV is considered the most reliable launchers in its class in the industry.



With the development of GSLV-Mk III rocket, the launch capacity to geo-transfer orbit would be raised to four tonnes which means "an adult elephant being carried to 25,000 kms above the earth".



"The astonishing fact is -- all these were achieved on a stringent shoe-string budget. Our budget for the financial year 2009-10 which also happens to be our highest ever, is just three per cent of NASA's budget for the year 2010," Radhakrishnan said.





http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india...638111.cms

[Arun_S]

Bangalore, March 4, 2010

[url="http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/article145746.ece"]ISRO conducts flight testing of advanced sounding rocket[/url]

Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01) takes off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Wednesday. Photo: ISRO



The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high performance sounding rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) on Wednesday.



Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01), weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off, is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by the ISRO. It carried a passive scramjet engine combustor module as a test bed for demonstration of Air- Breathing propulsion technology.During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6 + 0.5) and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.



The successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by the ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion.

[url="http://www.littleabout.com/news/77037,india-tests-cheaper-rocket-reduce-launch-vehicle-cost.html"]India tests cheaper rocket to reduce launch vehicle cost[/url]

Published on : Thursday 04 Mar 2010 22:34 - by Fakir Balaji [left]



[/left] Bangalore, March 4 : India successfully conducted the flight test of a new rocket that will drastically reduce the cost of its launch vehicles by using oxygen in the atmosphere to propel the spacecraft, a senior space official said Thursday.



“The flight test of the advanced sounding rocket Wednesday demonstrated our capability to reduce the cost of launch vehicles by using oxygen to propel a spacecraft at high speed into space,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.



The new propulsion technology will put India into the elite club of a few space-faring countries that are conducting similar tests and experiments.



“Currently, only US has the technology, while India is at par with other European and Asian countries, which are striving to achieve the capability,” the director pointed out.



In the existing rockets, the Indian space agency uses fuels and oxidiser to launch satellites and other spacecraft into polar and geo-stationary orbits.



“Going forward, the air-breathing propulsion technology will enable us to use oxygen as fuel and thereby reduce the weight of the launch vehicle. The flight test of the sounding rocket is a major step towards low-cost access to space,” Satish said.



The new technology will also enable the Indian space agency to launch heavier satellites or spacecraft at lower cost.



“At present, with fuel and oxydiser, we are able to carry 1.5-2 tonne satellites using PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle). The new technology will enable us to carry 3-4 tonne satellites at lesser cost and at higher speed,” Satish noted.



ISRO plans to conduct a full flight test in the coming months to achieve greater capability in using more oxygen to fire the rocket into higher altitude in space.



“In the test conducted yesterday (Wednesday), the rocket touched an altitude of 46km in 120 seconds (two minutes) and the entire flight duration was 240 seconds (four minutes). We will expand the envelope in the next flight,” Satish said.



The flight test of the advanced sounding rocket was conducted from ISRO's spaceport Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km northeast of Chennai.



Weighing three tonnes at lift-off, the heaviest rocket carried a scramjet engine combustor module to demonstrate air-breathing propulsion technology.



"During the flight, the rocket remained for seven seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6+0.5) and dynamic pressure (80+35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next advanced technology vehicle," ISRO said in a statement earlier.



A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) consists of a tube through which inlet air is compressed by the high speed of the vehicle, a combustion 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

Date:04/03/2010 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/04/stori...180300.htm [url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/04/stories/2010030455180300.htm"]Sounding rocket launched[/url]

Staff Reporter SRIHARIKOTA (NELLORE DIST.): The first developmental flight of Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01) was successfully launched from the sounding rocket launch complex of Satish Dawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at 8.30 am, in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district on Wednesday.



This was the biggest and heaviest sounding rocket (3,050 kgs weight) developed by ISRO scientists till date. ATV is a new generation high performance sounding rocket offering cost effective test bed for demonstrating ‘air breathing propulsion'. The performance of the flight was normal on the first day today and all the objectives were achieved successfully.



The Advanced Technology Vehicle achieved a maximum attitude of 46 km at 120 seconds after the take-off.

[Arun_S]

Passive hypersonic fligth means it was to test teh dry vehicle before wetting it next time.



This image shows it had two scramjet engine on teh side.



I have a more detailed photo some one sent me from a trade show, that has the front view.





http://kuku.sawf.org/News/62925.aspx

ATV-D01 on launch pad. Photo Credit: ISRO March 03, 2010, ([url="http://utils.sawfnews.com/sncontact.aspx"]Sawf News[/url]) - ISRO conducted the first unpowered flight test of the Scramjet engine that it is developing under the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology demonstrator program.



The test was conducted at Sriharikota space-port using a sounding rocket and described by ISRO as a complete success.



The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) - booster combination weighed 3 tons.





The booster accelerated the passive scramjet to Mach 6 and sustained Mach 6 +.05 and dynamic pressure 80 + 35 kPa for seven seconds. These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/successful-flight-testing-of-advanced-sounding-rocket/"][url="http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/successful-flight-testing-of-advanced-sounding-rocket/"]SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT TESTING OF ADVANCED SOUNDING ROCKET[/url][/url]

04-03-2010 [url="http://indiacurrentaffairs.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/isro-success-ful-flight-testing.jpg"][/url]

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully conducted the first developmental flight of an Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01) at 8.30 am from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district on 3[sup]rd[/sup] March 2010. According to the Shar officials, ATV is a high performance sounding rocket offering cost-effective test bed for demonstrating “air breathing propulsion.” The rocket, which is 10.3m tall and weighs 3,050 kgs, is the biggest and heaviest sounding vehicle that been developed by Isro till date.



ATV-D01 is configured as a two stage, unguided, spinning, fin-stabilised rocket. It carries a simulated passive scramjet engine model for verification of flight parameters.











During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6 + 0.5) and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.



The Advanced Technology Vehicle achieved a maximum attitude of 46 km at 120 seconds after the take-off.

Isro launches ATV-D01 new generation rocket

By By DC Correspondent Mar 04 2010 Nellore, march 3: The Isro scientists have successfully conducted the first developmental flight of an advanced technology vehicle (ATV-D01) at 8.30 am from the sounding rocket launch complex of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Shar on Wednesday.





According to Shar officials, ATV is a new generation high performance sounding rocket, the biggest and heaviest sounding one that ISRO has developed till date.





[color="#800080"]ATV-D01 will be followed by flights of active scramjet engine testing, ramjet engine testing and finally with dual mode ramjet module testing in the Mac no. range 3 to 10,[/color] during this year.





The performance of today’s flight was normal as predicted, and all the objectives were successfully achieved, Shar PRO, Mr C. Ravindranath, claimed in a communique on Wednesday.

Mr V. Seshagiri Rao, deputy director, range operations was the test operations director of today’s flight. Mr K. Subhas, deputy director, VAST supervised the integration of the rocket and launch pad operations.

Mr P. Ratnakar Rao is the project director for the ATV project, at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Mr P.S. Veeraraghavan, director, VSSC, Mr S. Ramakrishnan, director, projects, VSSC, Mr M.C. Dathan, director, SDSC Shar, and Dr M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, SDSC Shar, participated in the launch.



Source URL:

[url="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nellore/isro-launches-atv-d01-new-generation-rocket-147"]http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nellore/isro-launches-atv-d01-new-generation-rocket-147 [/url]

[Arun_S]

This is an old report from my archive:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/200...-2010.html



DATE:18/02/09 SOURCE:Flight International India plans delayed scramjet flight test for 2010 By [email=""]Radhakrishna Rao[/email]

India's first scramjet technology demonstrator will be flight-tested next year, four years later than planned and having failed to meet two previous targets, by the government-run Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad.



The Indian military wants to use scramjet systems for a hypersonic missile. The first demonstrator flight test will be carried out at India's integrated test range on its east coast.



Flight International revealed in 2004 that the [url="http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2004/01/06/175896/indias-rci-airs-new-research-information.html"]country had planned a 2006 scramjet test[/url]. When that failed to take place, [url="http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2004/01/06/175896/indias-rci-airs-new-research-information.html"]Israel Aerospace Industries announced in 2007 it was helping India[/url] develop the technology for a first flight in 2008.



"The biggest challenge [will] be how to sustain stable combustion during the high-speed trans-atmospheric flight of the vehicle," says sources at the Indian government's Defence Research and Development Organisation, under which the laboratory operates.



India has longer-term plans to use scramjet technology for its proposed [url="http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2001/08/21/134953/india-designs-reusable-spaceplane.html"]25,000kg (55,000lb) spaceplane called Avatar[/url], the Sanskrit word for a god who appears in bodily form on Earth. The spaceplane would ferry civilian and military satellites of about 1,000kg into a low Earth orbit.

Indian Express



[img]file:///images/aug08%5CISRO.jpg[/img] [indent] [indent] [/indent] [/indent] [color="black"]A scramjet that cruises at 17290 km/hr[/color]

[size="1"][color="#808080"]Saturday August 9 2008 15:53 IST[/color][/size]

An Indian double has caught global attention in the hypersonic race for cheap and cost effective launch technology.



Bidding for their rightful place among the world’s majors, two of the country’s premier agencies are in the advanced stages of proving scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology to meet their respective strategic needs.

[size="2"]

While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) for launching satellites, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is dreaming about a Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator (HSTD) to carry a range of weapons faster and farther.



Both have set a 2010 deadline. And both are in the pre-fabrication stage. But ISRO has the edge as it has already carried out a seven-second experimental combustion of a test engine. To state that both the projects are progressing at somewhat the same pace won’t be far off the mark.



But there’s a remarkable design difference between the RLV and the HSTD. ISRO’s hypersonic plane, being built at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, is a winged body while the HSTD is a sleeker structure. The only common architecture, perhaps, is the air intake scoop at the front through which atmospheric air will be sucked in before oxygen is separated from it to oxidise the onboard fuel.



This is how the scramjet bypasses the need to carry an oxidiser on board. In a conventional rocket, the fuel and oxidiser are stored separately and burnt in a regulated combustion of eight grams of oxygen to one gram of fuel. But in the scramjet, oxygen is isolated from the air, compressed and introduced to a stream of fuel.



To ensure that sufficient oxygen is ingested for a self-sustaining flight, the scramjet must get to supersonic speeds before going ahead with its designated mission of launching a satellite for ISRO or delivering a warhead for DRDO.



This speed is achieved by coupling the scramjet to a conventional rocket during the initial phase of the flight. "We will mount the RLV prototype on a sounding rocket (S9). The rocket will speed it up to Mach 5 before the body is allowed to surf and suck air for onboard combustion. This process fires the scramjet and propels the payload to the desired orbit at speeds between Mach 8 and 10," says VSSC director K Radhakrishnan.



The DRDO plans to use a core-alone Agni stage (S1). The capsule containing the HSTD will ride on Agni to stratospheric heights. After the first stage separates, the capsule shifts to a horizontal alignment and opens up to allow the HSTD to skim the atmosphere and breathe air.



“We’re in an advanced stage. The shock tunnel test will soon be conducted. Our plan is to have a 400-second flight by 2009,’’ says M S Sundareshan, technical adviser at the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad. The DRDL is currently firing its test engine in a ground facility.



“The initial results are promising. We achieved significant thrust value,” says Sundareshan, adding that achieving hypersonic levels is a challenge that no nation except the US has met. The DRDO needs such speeds for weapon delivery at very great distances. The job is now done by Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles.



But like space rockets, ICBMs are a very costly chemical proposition. “The hyperplane can fly in at fast speeds, fire the missile or launch the warhead and return. The reusability will reduce our costs significantly,” says DRDL director Dr Venugopalan.



Cost figures in ISRO’s calculus as well. “The cost of launching a satellite using conventional rockets like the PSLV or GSLV is $25,000 to $28,000 per kg. The scramjet can reduce it to $500. This will make any nation with such a technology a launch destination,” says Radhakrishnan.



One great attraction is that the RLV can be brought back and reused. “The conventional rocket is expendable. Each stage burns out as the payload soars. But the RLV will come back after its mission,” he says.



ISRO will land the RLV on the sea using parachutes. But a project to facilitate its landing like an unmanned aircraft is on the anvil. DRDO also plans to land it like an aircraft. “We’ve a few UAV projects going where this technology is being experimented with. It can be integrated with the HSTD,” sources say.



Another frontier that scramjet research has opened up is advanced metallurgy. “We’re talking about a craft that moves at great speeds, breaks off from the atmosphere and re-enters, weathering high temperatures and atmospheric friction. There are several new alloys being developed. Apart from their use in scramjet vehicles, this research will impact the whole gamut of strategic metallurgy,” says Dr G Malakondaiah, director of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad.



India is experimenting with silica-carbon-silica and nickel-based alloys to cover the scramjet. Both alloys have high thermal resistance. A prototype using these alloys will be subjected to wind tunnel tests to gauge their strength against the vagaries of the atmosphere and beyond.



It is but natural for anyone to wonder why two Indian agencies are developing the same technology in parallel, with so much, except the sophisticated nature of the end-use, in common. ISRO insiders blame it on the absence of a pro-active culture within DRDO’s portals; the latter finds fault with ISRO’s big brother attitude.



“It’s the typical Indian defence story,” says one former top gun of ISRO. “In a way, it’s a blessing in disguise. Whoever proves it first will attract global attention. With the country inching closer to the concept of aerospace strategic forces, there will be a lot of give and take once the technology is proved indigenously,” he adds.



And the scramjet will place India in a league of nations that includes the US, Japan, China, Russia, Australia and Europe where this nascent technology is the latest scientific fad.



manoj_k_das@epmltd.com[/size]



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[manish]

[url="http://Raytheon to setup 15 ground stations by 2013"]Raytheon to setup 15 ground stations by 2013[/url]



Quote:

Raytheon has won the mandate for establishment and synchronisation of 15 ground stations for $82 million.

“This includes upgradation of eight demo sites and seven new sites across the country,”