“We cannot confirm or deny anything about the object without seeing it in person and checking it. First the Australian space agency has to send a video of the object. We have to see the markings if any on it. They have to move the object to a different place. If need be, ISRO officials can go there to confirm whether it belongs to an Indian rocket,” a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS preferring anonymity.
It is highlighted that the Indian government's decision to allow private firms to build and launch their own rockets and satellites has marked a significant shift in the country's space sector. The first privately built and assembled PSLV rocket is expected to launch in 2024, signaling a major milestone for private players in the space sector. Previously, ISRO used to outsource the production and integration of hardware to the industry, but now this role is gradually shifting to the private sector. The government has allocated 860 crores towards this initiative, and the first launch is expected in the first half of 2024.
Following that [Aditya L1] will be the orbiting of Anwesha satellite and XPoSAT- a X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite with the ISRO's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). It will be the country's dedicated polarimetry mission to study the dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions, the government said.
The launch of the Radar Imaging Satellite- RISAT-1B aboard the PSLV rocket is planned in the second half of 2023.
The Indian space agency with its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) plans to orbit INSAT-3DS and two IDRSS (Indian Data Relay Satellite System) satellites.
These rocketing missions apart, ISRO will be testing the various systems that will go into its LVM3 rocket for the maiden human space mission.
In this YouTube video, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses various aspects of India's space program. He highlights the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and the mission objectives of the lander and rover. Somanath also talks about the involvement of women scientists in the mission and discusses India's collaboration with Japan. He mentions the Aditya L1 Mission to study the Sun and the progress of the Magalyaan 2 mission to Mars. Somanath also discusses upcoming milestones, including the Gaganyaan test vehicle mission, and the role of the private sector in space technology development. He emphasizes the importance of international collaboration and cost-effectiveness in space missions. Overall, Somanath's aim is to inspire young people to pursue careers in the space sector and bring transformative change through innovation.
00:00:00 In this section, ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath discusses the successful launch of India's lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-3. He expresses his excitement and gratitude for the mission's success, highlighting the positive response from Prime Minister Modi and the general public. Dr. Somanath also acknowledges the challenges faced after the previous mission, Chandrayaan-2, and emphasizes the rigorous effort put into building Chandrayaan-3 and improving the rocket's capabilities. Overall, he believes that the mission not only showcases India's scientific and technological prowess but also inspires young people to pursue careers in STEM fields.
00:05:00 In this section, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses the mission objectives of the Chandrayaan-2 lander and rover. The lander is designed to conduct in-situ measurements of the moon's surface, specifically looking at the thermal behavior and properties of the material. It also includes instruments to measure vibration and study the moon's inner structure. The rover, on the other hand, focuses on analyzing the elemental composition of the moon, studying the presence of carbon, silicon, oxygen, and other elements. Additionally, Somanath explains why the Chandrayaan-2 mission takes longer than NASA's Apollo mission to reach the moon. He highlights the difference in rocket size and capacity, with India using a smaller rocket that limits the velocity and requires a slower approach. This indigenous strategy allows for cost-effective missions without the need for developing a larger rocket.
00:10:00 In this section, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses the involvement of women scientists in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He highlights that there is a significant number of women in senior positions across different ISRO centers working on the project. He mentions that the associate Project Director and the mission Chief for Chandrayaan-3 are both women. He also mentions that there are approximately 54 senior scientists involved in the mission across various roles. Somanath expresses his hope that viewers will have the opportunity to hear from these women scientists in the future. Additionally, he briefly discusses India's collaboration with Japan on the next moon mission, which is still in the working stage. Somanath explains that the mission involves designing a lander to deploy a large rover on the moon's surface. He mentions ongoing discussions with Japanese and Indian engineers regarding the engineering, feasibility, and programmatic cost of the mission. Lastly, Somanath highlights the importance of international collaboration in strengthening future missions, mentioning collaborations with the European Space Agency and the United States' NASA, among others.
00:15:00 In this section, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses the Aditya L1 Mission, which aims to study the Sun from an unobstructed location in space. This mission is important because the Sun plays a significant role in Earth's future, and studying its activities can help predict their impact on Earth. Somanath explains that the Aditya L1 Mission will use instruments like a coronograph to study the Sun's corona and measure emissions coming towards Earth. He also mentions that the European Space Agency has pledged support for this mission. Somanath briefly discusses the progress of the Magalyaan 2 mission to Mars, stating that they are still finalizing the objectives and configuration. He also mentions that the human space flight mission has been delayed but assures that they are working towards its success in the first attempt.
00:20:00 In this section, the Chairman of ISRO, S. Somanath, discusses the upcoming milestones in India's space program, including the test vehicle mission under Gaganyaan. He mentions that they will conduct an aborting flight mission with a crew module and target an unmanned mission to orbit by early next year. He emphasizes the importance of working on new technologies and states that if all milestones are successful, they will announce the actual human space flight. Somanath also addresses the issue of helping lesser-developed countries in the field of space. He explains that it is important for all nations to benefit from space and create markets for space services. He mentions the need to bring more nations into the fold of utilizing space-based services and create industries and user bases in those countries. Additionally, he discusses the upgrading of rocket technology in ISRO and the plans for commercial operations and retirement of certain rockets [GSLV Mk2] . He highlights the importance of cost-effectiveness and mentions the ongoing development of a new rocket, NGLV, with an aim of achieving reusability and substantially reducing the cost of access to space. Somanath expresses the desire to partner with industries to accomplish these goals.
00:25:00 In this section, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath discusses the role of the private sector in the development and upgrading of space technologies. He emphasizes that the space sector encompasses various disciplines, including launch vehicle building and satellite building, which can be explored by different players. Somanath also mentions that the application domain, such as providing services in agriculture, water, and infrastructure, is a vast area with potential for growth and involvement from multiple industries. He highlights the increasing interest of startups and young entrepreneurs in the space sector, attributing it to the startup ecosystem and government initiatives. Somanath explains that efforts are being made to facilitate the entry of new players by offering support, resources, and access to ISRO's knowledge and facilities. He encourages innovation, emphasizing that young individuals have the ability to think differently and bring about transformative change in the space sector. Overall, Somanath believes that with the right efforts and resources, more youngsters can be inspired to take interest in the space sector and contribute to its development.
Announcement of Opportunity for hosting payloads on POEMThe role of the Space sector is very important in overall development of national economy and there is a need to give special thrust to increase technology development under the domain of Space Science and Technology. An essential part of such R&D is demonstration of the technology / product in the space environment. A common methodology adopted is to integrate the payload into a satellite and provide the main bus to support the payload operations. However, for various organizations looking to qualify their payloads in space environment the development of an entire satellite is resource intensive & may not be cost effective.The PSLV Orbital Experiment Module (POEM) which uses the “spent PS4 stage” (fourth stage of PSLV) to carry out in-orbit scientific experiments. POEM has standard interfaces & packages for power generation, telemetry, tele-command, stabilisation, orbit keeping & orbit manoeuvring and hence can be used to design, develop and validate experimental payloads.IN-SPACe in collaboration with ISRO, has announced the opportunity to host payload on the upcoming POEM missions tentatively scheduled during November, 2023 and June, 2024. Last Date to apply is August 25, 2023
In a release, the Salem Steel Plant said the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) along with the ISRO had taken a major step forward under the Make In India initiative for indigenously developing the Russian-grade stainless steel used in the construction of the cryogenic rocket engines being made at ISRO. Scientists from the Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC) of ISRO and the engineers and metallurgists of Salem Steel Plant closely collaborated and successfully rolled the required stainless steel coils at Salem Steel Plant.In this, elector slag remelted (ESR) and forged slabs conforming to the ICSS-1218-321 austenitic stainless steel standard had been successfully hot rolled and further cold rolled to 2.3 mm thickness as required by ISRO. These 2.3 mm sheets had been used in the cryogenic engine (CE20) divergent of the Chandrayaan 3 mission launched on July 14. The LPSC had acknowledged and appreciated Salem Steel Plant for the prompt supply of the material with the required quality protocol, the release added.
The main objective of the training programme is to attract the youngsters to the fields of space science and technology. The training modules will comprise introductory level topics on various verticals of space science and technology (Astronomy, Planetary Science, Heliophysics, Atmospheric science, Microgravity related studies and space technology). In addition to these, there will be sessions on Indian space exploration programme and research opportunities.
We have concluded the object located on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia is most likely debris from an expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The PSLV is a medium-lift launch vehicle operated by @isro. [More in comments]
The debris remains in storage and the Australian Space Agency is working with ISRO, who will provide further confirmation to determine next steps, including considering obligations under the United Nations space treaties.
If the community spots any further suspected debris they should report it to local authorities and notify the Australian Space Agency via [email protected].
The Australian Space Agency is committed to the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, including debris mitigation, and continues to highlight this on the international stage.
In relief for Antrix Corp, US court reverses confirmation of $1.2 bn compensation for failed Devas satellite dealAntrix Corp told the court at the time that Intelsat Service and Equipment LLC, a US company under bankruptcy proceedings in the Eastern District of Virginia, owed the ISRO commercial arm $146,457 and stated that this was the only asset of the company in the US. The US court for the western district of Washington allowed Devas to register its order in the Eastern District of Virginia.The US appeals court has now ruled that Antrix Corp did not have sufficient local presence in the US for the courts to exercise jurisdiction on the foreign entity.“Devas has failed to meet its burden under the first prong to show that Antrix purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities in the United States. Devas primarily relies on the Antrix and Indian Space Research Organization (“ISRO”) Chairman’s 2003 visit to Washington D.C. to meet with Forge Advisors and a series of 2009 meetings between ISRO officials and the Devas team,” the appeals court has stated in its August 1 order which is not meant to be a legal precedent in the US.“Assuming that ISRO’s contacts with the United States may be attributed to Antrix, these meetings are still insufficient because they are not purposeful, but rather ‘random, isolated, or fortuitous’,” the US appeals court has stated.“Principles of comity, diplomacy, and international law, including a panoply of mechanisms in the international arena, protect the interests that foreign states have in resisting the jurisdiction of United States courts,” one of the three judges on the bench said in a concurring opinion in the order.
#Update #Space #India #Japan #thread (short)@isro chairman S Somanath and @prcnaoj_en DG Saku Tsuneka on Tuesday discussed multiple collaboration possibilities as part of Indo-Japanese bilateral relations and partnership through #QUAD. 1/n
Tsuneka, also the vice-chair of Japan’s cabinet committee on National Space Policy (CNSP) met with Somanath at the Isro headquarters. 2/n
“India-Japan space science co-operation at national level, space agency level (@isro and @JAXA_en) and institutes-level were discussed with specific reference to the proposed joint Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission,” Isro said. 3/n
Potential cooperation opportunities in: Utilisation of data from Adithya L1 and Chandrayaan-3 missions; development of a smaller lander for lunar exploration and joint activities under QUAD space working group were also discussed. 4/n
ISRO acquires Magic 800 DED Machine from AddUp The Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO for short, is expanding its capabilities in the aerospace and additive manufacturing arena with the purchase of a Magic 800 Directed Energy Deposition (DED) machine from French metal AM hardware manufacturer AddUp.This new machine, released by AddUp in early 2023, is the largest 5-axis CNC, blown powder DED machine in their fleet. With its 2-kW laser, two exchangeable heads, and an impressive build volume of 1800 mm x 1000 mm x 1000 mm,the Magic 800 can meet the most demanding applications. It is also based on an enclosure inerted design which allows working with reactive powders.
AddUp was thrilled to welcome the ISRO team to its factory of Saint-Laurent les Tours in France for the commissioning of the machine before shipment to India in late August-2023. This visit occurred concurrently with the State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to France which marked the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership.
Visit of the Mauritius Minister to ISRO enhanced the scope of India-Mauritius space cooperationAugust 17, 2023A high-level delegation from Mauritius, led by the Honourable Minister for Information Technology, Communication and Innovation (MITCI), Mr. DarsanandBalgobin, paid a fruitful visit to ISRO on August 17, 2023. Honourable Minister was accompanied by the Chairman of the Board of the Mauritius Research & Innovation Council, Dr.Kaviraj Sharma Sukon. The delegation had a meeting with Shri Somanath S, Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, DOS at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.Director of U R Rao Satellite Centre Mr. M Sankaran; Scientific Secretary of ISRO Mr. Shantanu Bhatawdekar; Director of National Remote Sensing Centre, Dr. Prakash Chauhan and other senior officials were also part of the discussion.Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, DOS while thanking Mauritius for hosting ISRO’s station for about 3 decades, outlined potential applications of space technology that could benefit Mauritius.The Honourable Minister highlighted the specific requirements and aspirations of Mauritius.ISRO presented technical details and application potentials of the proposed India – Mauritius joint satellite, a microsatellite designed for remote sensing from Low Earth orbit. Plans for providing training to Mauritius officials, in three domains, viz., building the satellite, operating the satellite and utilising the received data from this satellite for various applications were also discussed.This meeting has also helped in enhancing the overall scope of India-Mauritius space cooperation through (i) sharing of data pertaining to Mauritius territory, acquired by Indian Remote Sensing satellites; (ii) Developing an ‘India-Mauritius space portal’ with satellite data, geospatial layers and value-added services pertaining to Mauritius; (iii) Initiating discussion for space industry level collaboration between the two nations to unlock new avenues for the utilization of space technology by various stakeholders in Mauritius.
Oman Minister visited ISROAugust 18, 2023A delegation from the Sultanate of Oman,headed by H.E. Eng. Said Hamood Said Al Maawali, Honourable Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technology (MTCIT), visited ISRO Headquarters for a meeting with Chairman, ISRO/ Secretary, DOS, Mr. Somanath.S on August 17, 2023, to discuss on India- Oman space cooperation. The Minister was accompanied by senior officials from the Sultanate of Oman including Dr.Saoud Humaid Salim Al Shoaili, Head-National Space Programme.Senior ISRO officials including Mr. Shantanu Bhatawdekar, Scientific Secretary, ISRO, Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director of ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) also participated in the meeting.A Web-based GIS Portal, developed by ISRO,incorporating satellite data, geospatial layers and value-added services pertaining exclusively to the Sultanate of Oman was launched by the Minister during this meeting. The salient features of the portal including the application potential in various domains (Agriculture, Fisheries, Water Conservation, Urban Planning, Climate and Ocean, Disaster Management and Governance) were presented to the Minister.Specific cooperation proposals including building and launching of satellites for the Sultanate of Oman, Ground station establishment and a Sounding rocket launch at Oman were also discussed. The Minister and his delegation also visited ISRO's technical facility at UR Rao Satellite Centre (ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment - ISITE) and also visted ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).As part of this visit, the Minister also interacted with Indian Space Industries and Start-ups to explore possible commercial collaboration.This exclusive visit of the Oman Minister to ISRO is expected to strengthen the India-Oman Space relation under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2018 for cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space.
Now onwards, every year, 23rd August will be celebrated as the National Space Day.
The voice of Valarmathi Madam will not be there for the countdowns of future missions of ISRO from Sriharikotta. Chandrayan 3 was her final countdown announcement. An unexpected demise . Feel so sad. Pranams!
Promoters of M/s Shraddha Refinery, which makes silver components, and M/s Vikasmshi Fabrication, another company from Khamgaon, were felicitated by the chief minister Eknath Shinde after the Chandrayan and Aditya 1 launch.
Shraddha Refinery’s journey began with the traditional business of melting silver for the local industry. The expansion began when Shekhar Bhonsale joined his father’s business after completing engineering in the late 1980s. He introduced modern methods of separating silver and copper. Soon, they started processing silver for industrial uses also.Bhosale, who has been producing parts for ISRO since the last 10 years, is among the key component suppliers of the space agency. “Since it is a matter of national interest, our firm supplies the component on a no profit no loss basis to ISRO,” he says.“What we supply is called sterling tubes in technical jargon. The exact use is not disclosed for strategic reasons, but it certainly needs high precision work,” Bhonsale told TOI.“Sterling is 90% silver and 10% copper. Silver is a better conductor of electricity as compared to other metals. This means even a lesser volume of the metal can have better performance when it comes to conduction of electricity. This ensures light weight components,” he says.
Vikamshi Foundation, headed by woman entrepreneur Geetika Vikamshi, supplied two products for ground testing and three for onboard flight to ISRO.Structural test bladders of heat shield and nose cone made by the firm were used in ground testing. The other products for the flight were rubberized insulating material and thermal boot section, rubberized sealing collar, and C25 thermal shield.The thermal shield is an inflatable membrane placed below satellite’s payload. It’s a protection equipment after the cryogenic propellants are filled, reads a presentation shared by the company. Vikamshi Fabrication has been associated with ISRO since the last two decades.
Today ISRO posted the image of Chandrayaan-3 lander, Vikram, resting in the pitched darkness of lunar night. Vikram was imaged by polarimetric DF-SAR (Dual Frequency SAR) on board Chandrayaan 2. My heart beat jumped at the very sight of the image as I was fortunate to be at the right time, to lead the design and development of this payload DF-SAR. Vikram was identified in double bounce signature (Red colour) of polarimetric SAR in the high resolution mode of 2 m. resolutionn.NASA provided S band mini SAR onboard Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. It was considered a marvel of engineering and nobody from ISRO was allowed a peep inside the closed packages. So it was but natural for ISRO to invite them for providing the SAR for Chandrayaan 2 orbiter. Nobody can refute the argument of having the continuity of data records with continuity of payload. But having built RISAT-1, I was determined to bag the payload, albeit with much better SAR configuration.It was November 2012. I was pitching for our proposal before a daunting committee, chaired by Prof. U R Rao. Those who faced pugnacious questioning by Prof. Rao, can vouch for the tremors I was feeling in my heart, while facing him. I pleaded for polarimetric L and S band SAR with capability of volumetric estimation of dirty ice in the depths of polar craters in comparison to single frequency SAR from NASA, which can identify only the presence or absence of water. Rao Saab was blunt. He was willing to allot 11.5 kg mass, same as NASA's miniSAR. I pleaded that we will have 4 times the NASA hardware and I pleaded for at least 4 times the mass budget. Finally, Rao saab gave his verdict with his typical dead pan visage: 15 kg, take it or leave it. I was desperate enough to agree to this atrocious number. Only 6 months before, we launched RISAT-1 with a mass of 950 kg. I knew the 15 kg mass budget was sheer impossibility. I returned with a fear that I had probably bitten more than what I can chew.Rest is history. Our team rose to the challenge. We built dual frequency SAR antenna sharing the same aperture. The rectangular S band patch was printed inside rectangle shaped annuar L band patch. We built ISRO's first class-F GAN ( Gallium Nitride) power amplifier to reach highest possible power efficiency with very reduced mass. Our digital team built very miniaturised package, clubbing functionalities of three packages of RISAT 1. It was essentially a mad weight loss programme we imposed on ourselves. Only possessed team can embark on this crazy path. We delivered DF SAR finally with 16.5 kg mass, exceeding the atrocious mass budget by 10%. Rest is history. I learnt a valuable lesson from Prof. U R Rao : set a standard for yourselves, better than the best and put your hearts in the game to achieve what you have set for yourselves.
#Update #Space #thread@isro, which has its eyes set on multiple big missions — in-orbit servicer, lunar sample return mission, docking in space (SPADEX), Mars Lander Mission etc — is looking to launch at least 2 more missions this year. (also read thread for #NISAR update) 1/nWhile SPADEX is key to India’s ambitions of establishing a space station by 2035 as envisioned by the PM, lunar sample return missions will be critical in finally putting humans on Moon, for which the PM has set a 2040 goal. 2/nThe ‘lunar hop’ by #Chandrayaan3 Vikram is seen as a precursor for the sample return mission, which will still need a lot of work. Isro chief S Somanath told me: “Aside from these, there'll be specific committees looking at various missions as part of the goals set by PM.” 3/n#PSLV, #GSLV Launches: He added that the space agency is targetting November-December for at least two more launches, one of its workhorse, the #PSLV, and the other, the #GSLVMk2. 4/n“The PSLV will launch #Xposat and also have #POEM carrying scientific and commercial payloads onboard. We’ll announce these features soon. The #GSLV will launch the #Insat3DS, which is almost ready. The vibration tests have begun today (Friday),” Somanath said. 5/nXposat is India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions, while Insat-3DS is a weather satellite built as part of the Indian National Satellite System to provide meteorological services. 6/nHowever, the #GSLVMk2 launch is also important for Isro as it gets the rocket ready for the $1.5 billion NASA-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (#NISAR), a LEO observatory being jointly developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Isro. 7/n“NISAR is undergoing full integrated tests. There are antenna, acoustics, full-scale tests, etc that will have to be carried out. We will be ready for launch by the first quarter of next year,” Somanath said. 8/nOnce launched — Jan-March 2024 — & put into the intended orbit, it'll take 90 days for NISAR’s science ops to begin. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads mounted on integrated radar instrument structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus are together called an observatory. 9/nThe observatory will map the entire globe in 12 days & provide spatially & temporally consistent data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea-level rise, groundwater & natural hazards. 10/n“It will carry L and S dual band SAR — the first dual frequency radar imaging mission in L-Band & S-Band using an advanced technique to provide space-borne SAR data with high repeat cycle, high resolution, and larger swath,” according to Isro. n/n
