Indian Space News and Discussion

[Arun_S]

This thread is to discuss Indian Civil and Military Space discussion



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[url="http://www.domain-b.com/aero/space/spacemissions/20091127_isro.html"]ISRO to up mission rate; developing semi-cryogenic technology news[/url]

27 November 2009



Bangalore: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will step up the frequency of missions, even as it sets larger objectives for itself in areas of national development and space science. The organisation will also seek to create synergy between space, defence, aeronautics and atomic energy sectors, according to the newly installed chairman, K Radhakrishnan.



Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

''The Indian Space Research Organisation will aim at launching between six and eight missions every year to meet its objectives in the areas of national development and space science,'' ISRO chairman, K Radhakrishnan said here Thursday.



''We must look to create synergy between the space industry and the aircraft, defence and atomic energy sectors,'' he said in his address to the 23rd National Convention of Aerospace Scientists here. ''The Indian space industry is robust, comprising 500 firms and employing a total of 15,000 people.''



India's first launch vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic engine, the GSLV-D3 (Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) was in the final stages of preparation, he said. The launch is scheduled for December 2009, though Radhakrishnan did not reveal the launch date.



Radhakrishnan also revealed that Indian space scientists were developing semi-cryogenic propulsion technology, which will use kerosene and allow Indian launcher rockets to carry payloads of upto six-tonnes, nearly three times more than their current capability.



While cryogenic technology uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, semi-cryogenic technology will use pure kerosene (aviation-grade) instead of liquid hydrogen.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.domain-b.com/aero/space/satellites/20091205_cryogenic_engine_oneView.html"]Indigenous cryogenic engine to power GSLV-D3 news[/url]

05 December 2009



India will join a select group of countries possessing cryogenic engine technology when it launches its biggest rocket, the 49-metre tall, 414-tonne Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV), in January 2010. To date, only a few countries like the US, Russia, France, Japan and China possess the technology.



GSLV-Mk III

The GSLV-D3 will carry the GSAT-4, a two-tonne communication satellite, as its payload.



The launch of the GSLV-D3 is taking place in January 2010 instead of December this year as earlier planned. According to ISRO sources, it takes at least 30 days after a satellite arrives at the launch centre to check all systems prior to launch. They said the satellite is yet to reach the launch centre and is expected by the middle of this month.



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



The 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 1,400-3,200 angstrom wavelengths.



Meanwhile, intensive checks are being carried out on the cryogenic engine and technical data examined.



The cryogenic engine will power the third stage of the GSLV launcher, which will position the GSAT-4 in Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), at an altitude of 36,000 km above the earth.



All earlier GSLV missions had used Russian cryogenic engines. The last GSLV went up on 2 September 2007, carrying the 2,130 kg INSAT-4CR satellite.



After two developmental flights, GSLVs with Russian cryogenic engines were designated as operational rockets, but GSLV-D3 will once again be designated a development flight as an ISRO built cryogenic engine will be powering one of the stages for the first time.



While the first stage of the GSLV is a solid fuel booster with four strap-on motors, the second stage is a liquid engine. Both these stages have been assembled. The third, and the last, is the cryogenic stage.



Indigenous cryogenic engine



The indigenously developed cryogenic engine passed its flight acceptance tests last year December, after burning for 200 seconds. Earlier, on 15 November 2007, it underwent successful ground testing burning for full flight duration of 720 seconds at the Liquid Propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.



The development of the cryogenic engine began in 1986 but ran into a series of problems forcing ISRO to enter into a $120 million contract with Russian space agency Glavkosmos for the supply of two cryogenic engines with transfer of technology arrangements.



The United States promptly imposed sanctions against Glavkosmos and ISRO, on the grounds that this transfer violated the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines, blacklisting both organisations in the process.



Then Russian president Boris Yeltsin got Glavkosmos to renegotiate its deal with ISRO, under which there would be no transfer of technology and ISRO would get to buy two KVD-1 engines from Glavkosmos. The number was enlarged subsequently on Indian request.



India's first cryogenic engine test was aborted after 15 seconds instead of the planned duration of 30 seconds. The data obtained from this test, however, allowed a successful ground test of 480 seconds to follow on 4 August 2007.



According to ISRO, with the development of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) the organisation has mastered complexities in the fabrication of stage tanks, structures, and engine and its sub-systems and control components.



The CUS employs special materials like aluminum, titanium, nickel and their alloys, bi-metallic materials and polyimides.



The CSU programme is very significant for India's space programme as it will help launch a new class of space launchers – the GSLV Mk-III. These vehicles will be capable of initially launching satellites of 4,400 kg weight into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit.



Subsequently the payload will be upgraded to 6,000 kg.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-readying-weapon-to-destroy-enemy-satellites-saraswat/562776/0"]India readying weapon to destroy enemy satellites: Saraswat[/url]

Jan 03, 2010

Indian defence scientists are readying a weapons system to neutralise enemy satellites operating in low-earth orbit, a top defence scientist said here on Sunday.



"India is putting together building blocks of technology that could be used to neutralise enemy satellites," Defence Research and Development Organisation Director General V K Saraswat told reporters on the sidelines of the 97th Indian Science Congress.



However, he added that the defence scientists have not planned any tests but have started planning such technology which could be used to leapfrog to build a weapon in case the country needed it.



Saraswat, who is also the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister, said the scientists were planning to build the weapon which would have the capacity to hit and destroy satellites in low-earth orbit and polar orbit.



Usually, satellites in such orbits are used for network centric warfare and neutralising such spacecraft would deny enemy access to its space assets.



"We are working to ensure space security and protect our satellites.



At the same time we are also working on how to deny the enemy access to its space assets," he said. To achieve such capabilities, a kill vehicle needs to be developed and that process is being carried out under the Ballistic Missile Defence programme.



"Basically, these are deterrence technologies and quite certainly many of these technologies will not be used. I hope they are not used," Saraswat said. In January 2007, China had demonstrated its capability to destroy satellites by conducting an anti-satellite test. It had launched a missile that blew to smithereens an ageing weather satellite Fengyun 1C orbiting at a distance of 500 miles away from the earth.



Saraswat said the DRDO is building an advanced version of its interceptor missile with a range of 120-140 km. The missile interceptor is expected to be test fired in September.



Space security is going to be a major issue in the future and India should not be left behind in this area, the defence scientist said.

[Arun_S]

Bofors is now owned by massaland (United of US and BAE of UK), so there are not too many games in town.



Chicken feed order to USA is OK, but only when it ensures sufficient lifetime spares in stock room and local ammunition factory to make as much ammo as needed.



[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100102/jsp/nation/story_11934631.jsp?"]Nod to US gun purchase minus bids[/url]

SUJAN DUTTA



New Delhi, Jan. 1: The government has authorised an outright purchase of 145 ultra-light howitzers from the US, a highly-placed defence ministry source said today.



The ultra-light howitzers are for the mountain artillery divisions of the Indian Army to be used in high-altitude frontiers opposite Pakistan and China. They can be transported slung from some helicopters.



The defence acquisitions committee has decided to take the foreign military sales route. Foreign military sales is a US programme of government-to-government sales of military hardware bypassing a lengthy system of competitive bidding. But bidders who lose out to foreign military sales orders allege that the system lacks transparency.



“We will also look at other options,” defence secretary Pradeep Kumar said.



The Indian Air Force has taken the foreign military sales route to contract six Lockheed Martin-made Hercules C130J air lifters and the army did the same to buy artillery fire-finding radars.



Two brands of ultra-light howitzers were initially in contention for the Indian Army’s estimated $2.5-billion artillery modernisation programme — ST Kinetics’ Pegasus and BAE Land Systems’ M777 made in the US.



BAE Land Systems has bought over the erstwhile Swedish firm Bofors that sold 410 155mm howitzers to India in 1986. The army has not bought a single big gun since the last of the Bofors howitzer was delivered in 1987, 22 years back.



ST Kinetics was blacklisted this year after the company figured in investigations into the deals struck by the former director general of the Ordnance Factory Board in Calcutta. The government has lifted the bar on trials in multiple-vendor situations.



If the government takes the foreign military sales route, the order is likely to go to BAE Land Systems. The source said the defence acquisitions council authorised the foreign military sales route before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US last month.



The army wants to buy 145 ultra-light howitzers, 158 towed and wheeled, 100 tracked, and 180 wheeled and armoured guns in the first phase as part of its field artillery rationalisation plan, the programme to upgrade its artillery divisions.



Defence secretary Pradeep Kumar said the government has speeded up the buying of military hardware. Between 2007 and 2009, a total of 465 contracts have been signed. These are worth more than Rs 1,35,000 crore.



He said in 10 years, the defence ministry had doubled the capital expenditure for new acquisitions. The acquisitions were worth Rs 62,272 crore between 1999 and 2004. They total Rs 1,37,496 crore between 2004 and 2009. In the current year (2009-2010), Rs 41,000 crore was being spent on direct capital acquisitions.



The acquisitions have included Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems, Sukhoi 30MKI fighter aircraft, aircraft for VIPs, missiles of different types and tanks.

[Arun_S]

This is an uplifting news report.



[url="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/44778/technology-aid-missile-satellite-link.html"]Technology to aid missile-satellite link[/url]

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 4, DH News Service:



The technologies on which the DRDO is working are related to tracking the satellite, command and control network for the interceptor and a laser seeker that can use three dimensional images to guide the kill vehicle. The DRDO expects to have the building blocks ready between 2012 and 2014.





Saraswat denied having any plans to test the anti-satellite weapons to test its efficacy. “It will never be tried out in real life conditions unless there are exigencies. It’s a weapon for deterrence,” he said.



The interceptor will be designed to kill satellites circling the earth at altitudes varying from 275 to 800 km. “Satellites used in network-centric warfare are either in low earth or polar orbit,” he said.



Asked about the progress in the naval version of the light combat aircraft, Saraswat said the first flight of naval LCA was expected in 2011.



Along with imported MiG 29 K, the naval LCA is expected to be the mainstay aircraft on board the Indian Aircraft Carrier, under construction in Cochin shipyard. But though the IAC is likely to join the navy by 2014-15, it’s not certain if the DRDO would be able to deliver the naval LCA in time.



Saraswat claimed that the recent successful flight of the LCA trainer version in Bangalore is an important step towards realising the naval LCA as the naval version will also have two pilots unlike the single pilot version for the air force.



The naval LCA, being assembled at the moment, will have ski-jump facility so that it will be launched from the decks of the carrier. On the ballistic missile defence system, he said the next test was likely in September.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/01/05/stories/2010010560651200.htm"]Challenges ahead in putting 2 Indians in space[/url]

Date:05/01/2010

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Plans to put two Indians in space by 2015 require cutting edge technologies such as building a robust and reliable launch vehicle, a livable crew capsule, providing life support systems for the astronauts and “a 100 per cent reliable crew escape system” in case of an emergency, according to S. Ramkrishnan, Chief Executive, Human Space Flight Programme of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).



The most challenging part was to ensure that the two-man crew were brought back safely to earth, said Mr. Ramakrishnan on Monday at the Space Summit of the Indian Science Congress, which is under way here.



The astronauts would remain in low-earth circular orbit at an altitude of 300 km for seven days. The mission called for building a launch vehicle that could safely take two humans into space, navigation, guidance and control systems, plans to pre-empt disasters, etc. “But we have established our credentials for doing very complex missions,” he said.



Mr. Ramakrishnan, who is also Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, said the ISRO was building a technology demonstrator of a reusable launch vehicle, called RLV-TD, similar to the U.S. space shuttle. The RLV-TD’s engineering model was ready. A scaled-down model would be flown by the end of 2010.



The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III was now in the testing phase. Its two boosters, each carrying 200 tonnes of solid propellants, would be tested after some weeks. It is a three-stage vehicle which, in 2011, would put a satellite weighing four tonnes in geo-synchronous transfer orbit and a 10-tonne satellite in low-earth orbit.



Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) C.G. Krishnadas Nair made a strong case for establishing universities devoted to aeronautics. The ISRO, CIAL, Airports Authority of India Limited and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were trying to establish an international institute for aeronautical engineering and management in Bangalore. Universities should be established for teaching airport design, construction and management. Very little research was done in aerospace in the private sector in the country. The Union government should devise a pro-active policy in aeronautics and set up an empowered commission on aeronautics.



Lars Prahm, Director-General, EUMETSAT, said weather-induced disasters such as floods and landslips were increasing globally. There was a reduction in the snow cover and a rise in the global sea-level. EUMETSAT, a European organisation with six operating satellites, wanted to forge global partnership, including with the ISRO, in meteorology, oceanography, monitoring of climate and atmospheric composition.



Director of CNES (French Space Agency) Marc Pircher said the Megha-Tropiques satellite, with payloads from India and France, would be put in orbit from India this year. It would study the tropical atmosphere near the equatorial belt and cyclone formation.



Daring to dream



The former Chairman of ISRO, U.R. Rao, wanted a new green revolution for better productivity of food grains. This required factors such as better management of agriculture, higher investment in energy sector and more access to marketing for farmers. The country’s food grain productivity of 3.5 tonnes per acre was lower than the world average. The nation’s challenges lay in ensuring food security, energy security, environmental security, space security and so on.



Professor Rao said colonisation of Mars by humans was possible in thousand years. “It is no more fiction. It is within the realm of possibility. The last 50 years of space has been dramatic. The next 50 years will be spectacular for those who dare to dream.”

[url="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/ET-Cetera/ISRO-to-launch-Cartosat-2B-in-March/articleshow/5412728.cms"]ISRO to launch Cartosat-2B in March[/url]

5 Jan 2010, 1405 hrs IST, PTI



THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Cartosat series 'Cartosat-2B' remote sensing satellite in March this year, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said here on Tuesday.



The testing of Cryogenic engine system for GSLV will also be held soon, Radhakrishnan said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 'IIST@Schools', an initiative of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology to introduce to schoolchildren, space activities and its social implications.



Inputs received through Cartosat are mainly used to plan development activities in rural and urban areas of the country.



Earlier, speaking on the occasion, he said India has outlined a series of challenging and exciting space programmes, including Chandrayan-2 and man-mission to space.



"India is capable of sending a man to space and bringing him back with our GSLV technology," the ISRO chief said.



Other developed nations were planning to send men to Mars by 2030. "India's mission of sending a man to space is the first step to be with other nations in space technology," he said.



Radhakrishnan said ISRO now not only launches satellites for the country's use, but also satellites of other nations.



"Presently, ISRO is on the job of making 20 satellites for other countries," he said.



"India is one among the six nations that have developed indigenous space technology and also a model to the whole world on how space technology can be used for the development of a nation," Radhakrishnan said.



Speaking on the occasion, IIST Director B N Suresh said the institute, which has entered its third year of existence, was emerging as a world class centre for learning and reasoning.



The IIST campus, which at present functions at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre complex, will be shifted to its own premises at Velliyamala by March-April.



The Institution currently offers undergraduate (B Tech) programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Avionics and Physical Sciences, he said.

[Guest]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='04 January 2010 - 11:23 PM' timestamp='1262627125' post='103321']

This is an uplifting news report.



Saraswat denied having any plans to test the anti-satellite weapons to test its efficacy. “It will never be tried out in real life conditions unless there are exigencies. It’s a weapon for deterrence,” he said.



The interceptor will be designed to kill satellites circling the earth at altitudes varying from 275 to 800 km. “Satellites used in network-centric warfare are either in low earth or polar orbit,” he said.

[/quote]



Well what sort of argument is this , if they never test it how will they know this thing works in real environment , they should test against our own older IRS class satellite or a LEO sat to prevent debris formation.



This argument to me is like the H bomb argument , we know it works but we will not test its just for deterrence <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[Arun_S]

[quote name='Austin' date='07 January 2010 - 10:31 PM' timestamp='1262883184' post='103390']

Well what sort of argument is this , if they never test it how will they know this thing works in real environment , they should test against our own older IRS class satellite or a LEO sat to prevent debris formation.



This argument to me is like the H bomb argument , we know it works but we will not test its just for deterrence <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[/quote]



High altitude ABM that can intercept IRBM can also intercept satellite on orbit as high as hgesht possible apogee that rocket can achieve. long range BM are difficult to intercept primarily because reaction time to determine its trajectory with sufficient accuracy and have the interceptor travel that distance in available time is the bottleneck. With satellites that is not a problem, ABM has litrally all the time in the world against a tagret that slowley and predictably (apart from presenting itself periodically for re-targeting) . In fact in such case it can simply launch the intercpetor in intended kill box and after a long coast to upto the apogee the intercpetor thurstrs will take care any residual inaccuracy.



The ASAT mission is not akin to Hbomb, it is akin to BM test. Once you have tested BM's final velocity and velocity trimming package in conjunction with navigation and guidence, the missile system has confidence to take on all possible range with the rocket motor's capabelity. Same is true for ABM systems.



Testing a high lobbed IRBM target is sufficient to demonstrate deterrence against Satellites too.

[Guest]

[quote name='Arun_S' date='08 January 2010 - 09:11 AM' timestamp='1262921626' post='103408']

High altitude ABM that can intercept IRBM can also intercept satellite on orbit as high as hgesht possible apogee that rocket can achieve. long range BM are difficult to intercept primarily because reaction time to determine its trajectory with sufficient accuracy and have the interceptor travel that distance in available time is the bottleneck. With satellites that is not a problem, ABM has litrally all the time in the world against a tagret that slowley and predictably (apart from presenting itself periodically for re-targeting) . In fact in such case it can simply launch the intercpetor in intended kill box and after a long coast to upto the apogee the intercpetor thurstrs will take care any residual inaccuracy.



The ASAT mission is not akin to Hbomb, it is akin to BM test. Once you have tested BM's final velocity and velocity trimming package in conjunction with navigation and guidence, the missile system has confidence to take on all possible range with the rocket motor's capabelity. Same is true for ABM systems.



Testing a high lobbed IRBM target is sufficient to demonstrate deterrence against Satellites too.

[/quote]



Thanks for the explanation, which begs the question what can Indian do to prevent its satellite from similar threat , since China has already demonstrated ASAT capability against sats in Polar/Circular orbit.

[Guest]

India to buy Soyuz spacecraft from Russia by 2013



India plans to buy a Soyuz spacecraft from Russia and to launch its cosmonauts into orbit in 2013, Interfax news agency reported Sunday citing Vitaly Davydov, Deputy Head of Roskosmos.



Davydov said that, by 2013 the Russian space corporation Energia (Energy) is to upgrade its production facilities and will be capable to build 5 Soyuz spacecrafts a year.



Davydov said that besides paying for the spacecraft India will also finance the training of the Russian cosmonaut who is to head the team of Indian cosmonauts. He noted that the project envisages the launch of the Indian cosmonauts into orbit but not the work on the International Space Station.



Roskosmos - is a governmental organization responsible for managing the Russian space program.

[Arun_S]

^^^^^ So this is Soyuz spacecraft portion that will be launched atop PSLV. Expect it to be MKI'zed like SU30 with Indian avionics and other subsystems.

[Arun_S]

This IMHO is ISRO's first flight prototype of hypersonic engine in actual flight, atop a modified Rohini rocket stage. The nose will pop out at cruising altitude (~30-40 km) and the wedge shaped inlet to hypersonic engine will show up.



ISRO is rumored to have tested early elements of hypersonic engine atop a SLV booster, many years ago.

[Arun_S]

IIRC this is the first time the burn time of the Booster (130 second) and core stage (200 second) has been published.



[url="http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/24/stories/2010012460020700.htm"][size="4"][color="blue"]Towards self-reliance in launch vehicle technology [/color][/size] T.S. Subramanian[/url]

GSLV Mk-III is the most powerful rocket to be built by ISRO GSLV Mk-III’s motor S-200 will be tested in the last week of January



If everything goes on schedule, the first flight will take place by 2011-end







All set for milestone: The L-110 stage of GSLV Mk-III undergoing final preparations for testing at Mahendragiri, near Nagercoil, in Tamil Nadu. This stage is powered by 110 tonnes of liquid propellant.

[color="black"]

Sunday, Jan 24, 2010



[/color]CHENNAI: “Towards sustained self-reliance in accessing space, GSLV Mk-III, the next generation launch vehicle,” announces a stylish poster on India’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, which is currently under development.



The poster, along with a model of the GSLV Mk-III, was prominently displayed in the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) pavilion, “Pride of India,” during the Indian Science Congress held recently at Thiruvananthapuram.



The GSLV Mk-III will make India totally self-reliant in launch vehicle technology for launching INSAT class of communication satellites which are now being put in orbit for India by the European launcher Ariane-5.



In the fourth week of this month, the ISRO will cross a milestone in its efforts to develop this aerial powerhouse called the GSLV Mk-III when one of its two gigantic strap-on booster motors, S-200, erupts into life and fires for about 130 seconds. The motor will fire at the massive new test facility built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The motor is called S-200 because it is powered by 200 tonnes of solid propellants.



The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, has designed S-200, and propellant casting has been done in a newly built plant at Sriharikota. The final preparation for ground-testing of the motor is progressing at Sriharikota and test readiness is being reviewed by the Test Authorisation Board chaired by SDSC Director M.C. Dathan.



In February first week, the ISRO will cross another milestone when the GSLV Mk-III’s core stage (L-110), powered by 110 tonnes of liquid propellants, fires for about 200 seconds at the huge test stand at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri near Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu.



A test for 15 seconds will be done to validate the performance of the engine and the associated ground facilities before the long-duration test is conducted for 200 seconds. The final preparations for testing the L-110 stage are on at Mahendragiri under the guidance of LPSC Director M.K.G. Nair.



Sub-systems are getting ready for undergoing tests at the same facility for the upper cryogenic stage, which will be fuelled by 25 tonnes of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.



If everything goes on schedule, the first flight of the GSLV Mk-III will take place by the end of 2011. It is the most powerful rocket to be built by the ISRO, weighing 630 tonnes and 43.5 metres tall. It can put a satellite weighing four tonnes in a geo-synchronous transfer orbit with a perigee of about 200 km and an apogee of 36,000 km. It can put a satellite weighing 10 tonnes in a near-earth orbit at an altitude of about 300 km.



It has three stages. The two boosters, S-200, form the first stage. The boosters hug the core/second liquid stage. Above this liquid stage is the cryogenic stage.



“S-200 stage is the third largest stage in the world. Preparations are on for the first static test of the S-200 motor at Sriharikota. It will be a milestone in the GSLV Mk-III’s development,” said VSSC Director P.S. Veeraraghavan. S-200 is the third largest booster after the NASA Space Shuttle and Arianespace Ariane-5’s boosters.



According to N. Narayana Moorthy, Project Director, GSLV Mk-III, the ISRO executed a massive programme of building the infrastructure needed for the project at Sriharikota, Mahendragiri and in Thiruvananthapuram. Out of Rs. 2,500 crore allocated to the project, Rs. 1,600 crore was earmarked for building infrastructure including facilities for assembling and testing the solid, liquid and cryogenic engines and their stages, and integration halls at Sriharikota, Mahendragiri and in Thiruvananthapuram. A big plant for manufacturing the solid propellants needed for S-200 boosters has come up at Sriharikota.



“The ISRO has built big facilities in the launch complex at Sriharikota for handling and integration of the GSLV Mk-III. These include erection of a new mobile launch pedestal since the core vehicle’s diameter is four metres,” said Mr. Narayana Moorthy. Major facilities have come up at the VSSC and Sriharikota for structural testing of different hardware including propellant tanks and light alloy structures. “We have completed building most of the infrastructure and we are starting the testing phase,” said Mr. Narayana Moorthy.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_ir-chief-marshal-pv-naik-wants-missiles-to-destroy-enemy-satellites_1338174"]Air Chief Marshal PV Naik wants missiles to destroy enemy satellites[/url]

Bhargavi Kerur / DNA Saturday, January 23, 2010



Bangalore: Taking serious note of China’s growing defence capabilities, particularly its anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon system, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik on Friday sought the development of India’s own missile system that can destroy enemy satellites.



“Our satellites are vulnerable to ASAT weapon systems because our neighbourhood possesses one,” Naik said, while delivering the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre memorial lecture at the HAL Convention Centre here.



“We need to develop ASAT technology. It is one of our challenges of future war capability,” he said.



He was referring to the vulnerability of a series of communication, weather and remote-sensing satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which are in orbit.



If the satellites are targeted, there could be widespread chaos in the country. Indian TV channels would go off the air, satellite communication links would snap, and there would be no updates on weather and climatic data, which is crucial for aviation, shipping and meteorology.



Isro also has the Technology Experiment Satellite, launched on October 22, 2001, in orbit.



The satellite is equipped with a one-metre resolution camera and

is capable of sending images of troop movements and installations.



The first images of this satellite were requisitioned by the United Statesfor its Afghan operations.



“Defending our space-based assets is important and the IAFhas to protect them,” said the air chief.



China demonstrated its ASAT capability in January 2007; the US followed suit the next year. These are the only countries with ASAT capability as of now.



S Chandrashekhar, National Institute of Advanced Studies, who is studying India’s space weaponisation, toldDNA that scientists only need to fine-tune the existing missile and rocket-launching technologies to develop an ASAT system that will act as an effective counter to China’s.

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/contents/2010/pdf/S200_STATIC_TEST-01.pdf"]S200 Brochure[/url] is here wit lots of information.

Flex nozzle, thrust profile, net impulse, fuel charecterstics etc:



http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/content...EST-01.pdf

[Arun_S]

ISRO gets payload proposals for Chandrayaan-II



[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/isro-gets-payload-proposals-for-chandrayaanii/572116/"]http://www.indianexp...ayaanii/572116/[/url]

Jan 27, 2010 at 1729 hrs Bangalore : ISRO would finalise in a couple of months the payloads from the international community to be carried on Chandrayaan-II moon mission, the space agency’s Chairman K Radhakrishnan said on Wednesday. “Yes, we have and in a couple of months we would finalise it. There are several of them (proposals received from different countries),” he told reporters here.



The Chandrayaan II mission would have an orbiter which would carry a lander and rover, the Indian Space Research Organisation chief said on the sidelines of a book launch on Moon Mission.



“The lander will bring the rover to the surface of the moon and during the time it is there, it will take samples to be analysed,” he said, adding, the data would be sent back to earth through the orbiter.



The orbiter would have “some instruments and we are finalising which are those to be put there. It is about 50 kg mass, that is what we could have,” he said.



He said a scientific committee, chaired by former ISRO chief Prof U R Rao was looking at requirements and possibilities of learning from the Chandrayaan I experiment.



“ISRO is expected to finalise configuration soon for Chandrayaan II to be launched by GSLV. That is what the plan is around 2012-2013, we should be able to have the mission,” he noted.



Asked how many payloads the next mission would carry, he said it would be decided soon, with mass and power being the limiting factor.



“We also need to repeat some experiments. All will be decided by the scientific committee.” On possibility of an unmanned Mars Mission, Radhakrishnan said “there are three opportune years, but then we have to finally decide what instruments we are going to carry, what is the science that you are trying to understand and then build a spacecraft.” He said 2013, 2016, 2018 were the “opportune” years or time slots available for such a mission.



“We also have a long journey to reach Mars. We have to finalise the kind of propulsion that we need. It will take a minimum of six months to reach there,” he said.



On whether ISRO was working on the project, he said “At the moment we are studying it and it is a paper study.” The global community was looking at a time frame of 2030 for having a habitat in Mars.



India was also looking at a human space flight programme around the earth’s orbit, he said, adding,the challenge was in designing a craft that could take astronauts and let them live outside in harsh environment.



It involved building a crew module, an escape system for astronauts if the craft develops problems and also ensuring reliability of the launch vehicle, he said.



“In four to seven years, we should be able to do it in steps,” he said. Initially, ISRO was looking at sending two astronauts on the craft on the lower orbit of the earth.



On India’s stand on anti-satellite technology given the demand, he said, “we are into peaceful use of outer space.” On GSLV Mark III next developmental flight or testing of the indigenous cryogenic engine, he said it should happen in the next couple of months. “We would take a review tomorrow,” he said.

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8483787.stm"]India announces first manned space mission[/url]

By Habib Beary in Bangalore

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.moondaily.com/reports/ISRO_Has_Received_Several_Payload_Proposals_For_Chandrayaan_II_999.html"]ISRO Has Received 'Several' Payload Proposals For Chandrayaan-II[/url]

<br clear="all">

Bangalore, India (PTI) Jan 28, 2010

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would finalise in a couple of months the payloads from the international community to be carried on Chandrayaan-II moon mission, the space agency's chairman K Radhakrishnan has said. "Yes, we have and in a couple of months we would finalise it. There are several of them (proposals received from different countries)," he told reporters here. The Chandrayaan II mission would have an orbiter which would carry a lander and rover, the ISRO chief said on the sidelines of a book launch on Moon Mission.



"The lander will bring the rover to the surface of the moon and during the time it is there, it will take samples to be analysed," he said, adding, the data would be sent back to earth through the orbiter.



The orbiter would have "some instruments and we are finalising which are those to be put there. It is about 50kg mass, that is what we could have," he said.



He said a scientific committee, chaired by former ISRO chief professor UR Rao was looking at requirements and possibilities of learning from the Chandrayaan I experiment.



"ISRO is expected to finalise configuration soon for Chandrayaan II to be launched by GSLV. That is what the plan is around 2012-2013, we should be able to have the mission," he noted.



Asked how many payloads the next mission would carry, he said it would be decided soon, with mass and power being the limiting factor.



"We also need to repeat some experiments. All will be decided by the scientific committee." On possibility of an unmanned Mars Mission, Radhakrishnan said "there are three opportune years, but then we have to finally decide what instruments we are going to carry, what is the science that you are trying to understand and then build a spacecraft."



He said 2013, 2016, 2018 were the "opportune" years or time slots available for such a mission.



"We also have a long journey to reach Mars. We have to finalise the kind of propulsion that we need. It will take a minimum of six months to reach there," he said.



On whether ISRO was working on the project, he said "At the moment we are studying it and it is a paper study."



The global community was looking at a time frame of 2030 for having a habitat in Mars.



India was also looking at a human space flight programme around the earth's orbit, he said, adding, the challenge was in designing a craft that could take astronauts and let them live outside in harsh environment.



It involved building a crew module, an escape system for astronauts if the craft develops problems and also ensuring reliability of the launch vehicle, he said.



"In four to seven years, we should be able to do it in steps," he said. Initially, ISRO was looking at sending two astronauts on the craft on the lower orbit of the earth.



On India's stand on anti-satellite technology given the demand, he said, "we are into peaceful use of outer space."



On GSLV Mark III next developmental flight or testing of the indigenous cryogenic engine, he said it should happen in the next couple of months.



"We would take a review tomorrow," he said. The book `Mission Moon: Exploring the Moon with Chandrayaan I" is written by SK Das, honorary adviser to ISRO. It talks about the ISRO's preparation and planning for its maiden moon mission, among others. The book, published by Penguin, was released by Radhakrishnan, in the presence of eminent space scientists, including former ISRO chairmen, Dr K Kasturirangan, prof UR Rao and Dr G Madhavan Nair.



Prof Rao said the book also cover myths surrounding the moon.In in a lighter vein,he said ancient poets appeared unclear of the moon's gender. While at one time it has been referred to as Chandramukhi, a beautiful face of a woman, yet at other times,it was referred to as Chandamama, moon uncle.



In response to questions by school children, Rao said a study had mapped some tunnels on the moon. The tunnels could perhaps house human habitats since they were underground and could keep off radiation and maintain temperature.The way science was progressing, "in the next 50-60 years we are going to see many new great discoveries."



[color="#0000ff"]"We aren't apologetic about the lunar mission," Kasturirangan said taking on criticism on the money pumped into it. "As it has ignited a million minds. That is justification enough," he said referring to the interest it has generated about moon.[/color]



Nair said ISRO's contribution in discovery of new facets of the moon has been acknowledged even by Nasa.



Asked if India had the potential to take on global competition, Radhakrishnan said in today's time, "It is not competition but working together that matters. It will take one and one to make 11". The global community would have to work in a synergised manner to understand everything about the planetary system.







Source: [url="http://www.ptinews.com/"]Press Trust of India[/url]

[Arun_S]

[url="http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Outside_View_Obama_and_India_999.html"]http://www.spacewar...._India_999.html[/url]



[url="http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Outside_View_Obama_and_India_999.html"]Outside View: Obama and India[/url]

by M.D. Nalapat

Manipal, India (UPI) Jan 26, 2009

Once in office, U.S. President Barack Obama apparently decided to abandon his own policy preferences in favor of those of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Given the reluctance of the former president and the current secretary of state to agree to an equal partnership with India, it is no surprise that the past year has seen the killing-off of the tiny shoots of U.S.-India high-tech cooperation promised by former President George W. Bush.



This is despite the eagerness of NASA for joint projects with India. The U.S. space agency is aware that it will continue to be commercially outclassed by the European Union unless it ties up with India's Space Research Organization.



The Indians can undertake space launches that are 40 percent cheaper than the EU. Were NASA to outsource some of its hardware and software needs to India, the agency would outclass the Europeans in almost every segment of space research and exploration. This is why successive NASA administrators have -- on record -- pushed for closer cooperation with India.



However, the death-grip between Washington and Islamabad has sabotaged all such efforts, even though NASA and ISRO have numerous complementarities, such as in hardware and software.



On several occasions, pressure from the White House and the State Department aborted efforts by Taiwan, Malaysia and a Middle Eastern country to put payloads into orbit through ISRO rockets. Taiwan withdrew its request to use Indian launch capabilities more than a decade ago but it has been scarcely five years since Malaysia called off its launch less than an hour before liftoff.



[color="#800080"]The Malaysians were up front in privately telling the Indians that pressure to abort came directly from the White House and hence could not be refused.[/color]



During the 1950s, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson and his successor J. Foster Dulles muddied U.S. relations with several Asian countries by tagging alongside European countries unwilling to put an end to their colonial empires in Asia. This included the French, for example, who sought to hold on to Indochina long after the British had left India.



These days, despite his promise of change, Obama appears to have returned to Clinton-style paternalism toward countries in Asia and Africa, focusing obsessively on the EU as the only U.S. partner of choice.



In the mind war that is being lost by the coalition in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the addition of a few non-EU partners would have done much to remove the fear among the local populations that European-style colonialism was returning via the Pentagon. Media commentators in the West quote high "approval" ratings for occupation forces, unaware that the people polled are simply telling them what they believe the West wants to hear -- the way these same people professed love for former Saddam Hussein and fealty toward the Taliban.



Asian visitors to Iraq and Afghanistan say the local populations are eager to see the back of the hundreds of thousands of coalition troops in their countries.



Indeed, the security situation in Iraq has improved considerably now that U.S. forces have taken a recessed role. In Afghanistan as well, only a withdrawal of coalition forces from the towns and cities will generate public support and participation for the government of President Hamid Karzai as it seeks to fend off the threat from the Taliban -- newly revived by cash from coalition sources buying off opposition and logistical backing from within Pakistan.



Sadly, such advice sounds as outlandish now to coalition ears as did similar advice by this columnist to friends in the Pentagon in 2004, who refused to believe that the high visibility of U.S. troops was in fact the primary engine fuelling recruitment to the growing tide of militancy.



Although George W. Bush understood the imperative of close cooperation between the United States and India, the many Europeanists within his administration -- including Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, though not Donald Rumsfeld -- prevented him from building on the momentum created by his 2005 decision with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India to forge a nuclear partnership.



However, baby steps toward high-tech cooperation were initiated on his watch, including a small easing of visa restrictions on Indian scientists.



Today, thanks to Hillary Clinton, these irritants are back. Indian scientists, including people such as Goverdhan Mehta who is a member of the U.S. Academy of Sciences, are once again being denied visas to enter the United States. Those working in aerospace, physics and chemistry find it next to impossible to visit the United States even to attend a conference.



This has created anger among India's scientists, who are now dismissive of Singh's claim that there has been a qualitative improvement in U.S.-India high-tech cooperation. Of course, a few cosmetic measures have been permitted by Clinton and Obama, such as the sending of a small NASA payload aboard India's recent mission to the moon.



Clinton and Obama have been working overtime to pressure India into giving concessions to U.S. entities that have no place in a market economy. An example is the attempt to fix a cap of $400 million as liability for a nuclear accident involving a U.S. reactor, a figure that would apply even if such a disaster were to claim as many lives as Union Carbide's 1984 Bhopal gas leak did -- around 30,000 over its course.



Of course, a benevolent Indian Supreme Court demanded less than $400 million from the company for the accident. Soon afterward Chief Justice R.S. Pathak was appointed to the International Court -- clearly by coincidence.



Indian civil society is aghast at the way the Nobel Peace Prize-winning U.S. president is permitting his administration to arm-twist the Singh government into placing such a low cap on financial liability for a nuclear accident.



A senior atomic scientist in India's nuclear establishment warned that such a cap "would encourage U.S. companies to make Indians into experimental mice for reactor designs," pointing out that it has been close to four decades since the United States designed a reactor. He warns that the use of technologies with such artificial caps would be hazardous to public safety.



Under President Nicolas Sarkozy, France has become the new poodle of Washington, displacing Britain. As a consequence, Paris is seeking tough conditions for nuclear trade with India -- in the process handing over the advantage to Moscow, which is much more open to equal collaboration.



No wonder Russia has secured 70 percent of the new Indian orders for nuclear reactors, with France taking the rest. Because of its insistence on conditions that are antithetical to a free market, the United States has not secured a single order.



However, this shortfall in cash from India could be made up if the United States emerged as the major weapons supplier to India, displacing Russia. But here as well, a toughening of conditions under the Obama administration -- as well as a repeat of the Dick Cheney policy of thrusting the obsolete F-16 down the throat of the Indian air force -- may mean that defense orders bypass the United States.



By any rational measure, India is at least as important as Britain and France, nuclear weapons states with permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. Unless Clinton paternalism is discarded in favor of realism, and India is seen as deserving of the same status, the promise of an India-U.S. technology alliance may remain no more than that during the Obama years -- a promise.



(M.D. Nalapat is vice-chairman of the Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University.)



(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

[Arun_S]

[url="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5412728.cms?prtpage=1"]ISRO to launch Cartosat-2B in March: Economics Times[/url]

5 Jan 2010, 1405 hrs IST, PTI





THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch Cartosat series 'Cartosat-2B' remote sensing satellite

in March this year, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said here on Tuesday.



The testing of Cryogenic engine system for GSLV will also be held soon, Radhakrishnan said on the sidelines of the inauguration of 'IIST@Schools', an initiative of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology to introduce to schoolchildren, space activities and its social implications.



Inputs received through Cartosat are mainly used to plan development activities in rural and urban areas of the country.



Earlier, speaking on the occasion, he said India has outlined a series of challenging and exciting space programmes, including Chandrayan-2 and man-mission to space.



"India is capable of sending a man to space and bringing him back with our GSLV technology," the ISRO chief said.



Other developed nations were planning to send men to Mars by 2030. "India's mission of sending a man to space is the first step to be with other nations in space technology," he said.



Radhakrishnan said ISRO now not only launches satellites for the country's use, but also satellites of other nations.



"Presently, ISRO is on the job of making 20 satellites for other countries," he said.



"India is one among the six nations that have developed indigenous space technology and also a model to the whole world on how space technology can be used for the development of a nation," Radhakrishnan said.



Speaking on the occasion, IIST Director B N Suresh said the institute, which has entered its third year of existence, was emerging as a world class centre for learning and reasoning.



The IIST campus, which at present functions at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre complex, will be shifted to its own premises at Velliyamala by March-April.



The Institution currently offers undergraduate (B Tech) programmes in Aerospace Engineering, Avionics and Physical Sciences, he said.

[Arun_S]

[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]

Bangalore, Feb 4 (PTI) India would shortly launch Cartosat-2B, a high-resolution remote sensing satellite, that would aid in infrastructure and urban planning, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.



The launch was expected by March end or mid-April and the exact date would be finalised at the mission readiness review (MRR) meeting on February 10, he told reporters here.



The satellite, which would be launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), has a 0.8 metre resolution. This makes it capable to even take pictures of a car on the ground.



"Basically, it's a high resolution satellite," he said.



India launched Cartosat-2 in January 2007 and Cartosat-2A in April 2008. Cartosat-2B would add to the capability of the first two satellites.



"[color="#4169e1"]The advantage is when you have three satellites, you get more coverage in a day from different locations.[/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='' />