India Space Indian Space Archive

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India
This is the perplexing piece of hardware. Why do we have it ? The current particle accelerators in the country are decades old. Why are we making new cavities that were never a part of the original design ?

It seems to be a further development from existing 500 Mhz cavity:


Next, a major effort has been launched on the development of superconducting radio frequency (SCRF) cavities required for the development of high energy proton accelerators for spallation neutron source and accelerator driven system.

A large facility is being set up for SCRF cavity fabrication, processing, assembly and testing. Recently developed prototype 1.3 GHz single-cell niobium SCRF cavities have shown excellent performance providing acceleration gradient exceeding 35 MV/m with a quality factor of 2x1010 at 2 K.

Other highlights on the technological accomplishments include indigenous development of helium liquefier, high power solid state RF amplifiers as an import substitute for klystron source, and development of nonevaporable getter coatings to achieve vacuum better than 10-11 mbar. In this talk, an overview of the accelerator activities at RRCAT will be presented
 

Gautam

Committed member
Professional
Messages
159
Reactions
1 688
Nation of residence
India
Nation of origin
India
It seems to be a further development from existing 500 Mhz cavity:


Next, a major effort has been launched on the development of superconducting radio frequency (SCRF) cavities required for the development of high energy proton accelerators for spallation neutron source and accelerator driven system.

A large facility is being set up for SCRF cavity fabrication, processing, assembly and testing. Recently developed prototype 1.3 GHz single-cell niobium SCRF cavities have shown excellent performance providing acceleration gradient exceeding 35 MV/m with a quality factor of 2x1010 at 2 K.

Other highlights on the technological accomplishments include indigenous development of helium liquefier, high power solid state RF amplifiers as an import substitute for klystron source, and development of nonevaporable getter coatings to achieve vacuum better than 10-11 mbar. In this talk, an overview of the accelerator activities at RRCAT will be presented
Oh I have totally missed this. Good thing I didn't tweet this out, need to edit that. Thank you very much.
 

Gautam

Committed member
Professional
Messages
159
Reactions
1 688
Nation of residence
India
Nation of origin
India
ISRO is going to launch the 1st developmental flight of SSLV-D1 before December 2020.


The SSLV took just 2 years to go from drawing board to launch pad. That alone speaks volumes about ISRO. The development took about INR120 crore ($ 16.36 million). The final prices aren't out yet but apparently each launcher costs about INR 30 crore ($4.2 million). That's pretty competitive pricing for the first prototype, as production ramps up the price is expected to go down.

Pics from some tests of the rocket & assembly :
zLZneld.jpg

OvOb6ys.jpg

0C0VrNt.jpg


So to summarize, we have the following launches coming up:

1. SSLV D-1 in (before December, so anywhere from Oct to Nov) carrying a military satellite Microsat-2A
2. PSLV C49 in November with RISAT-2BR2 & 9 other commercial satellites
3. RLV landing experiment in Nov/Dec
4. PSLV C50 in December with GSAT-12R satellite
5. GSLV after C50 in December with GISAT-1 satellite

Like with DRDO, we are about to see a blitz of activity from ISRO in what has been a relatively un-productive year.
 

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

The agency is planning to launch the new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) on its first test flight before December. SSLV will help ISRO to launch lighter satellites conveniently, and the vehicle has the capability to be put together in a week’s time.

Also in the pipeline is ISRO’s first satellite launch in 2020, which had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic since February this year. To be launched using PSLV-C49, the launch vehicle will carry an advanced earth observation satellite Risat-2BR2 to boost surveillance capability of India’s borders.

The satellite can operate day-&-night and has the capability to operate in all weather conditions. India is currently involved in an intense stand-off with China at the Ladakh border and this satellite is expected to greatly assist the armed forces in surveillance along the LAC. PSLV-C49 will also carry 10 foreign commercial satellites.

Another crucial launch for the agency will be the ground landing test of its Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) by the end of this year, which has been pending owing to the pandemic situation. The first test of the RLV, dubbed as India’s own space shuttle, was successfully conducted in 2016 when it demonstrated the critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management.

The new test will demonstrate the launch vehicle’s landing capability after it is released using a helicopter from a height of about four kilometres. The RLV will glide and navigate towards an airfield in Chitradurga district deploying its parachute.

The RLV is one of the most technologically challenging endeavours of ISRO towards developing essential capabilities for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low-cost access to space.

(More at link)
 

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

ISRO has resumed its work on Gaganyaan - India's human space flight programme. ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan indicated that the Indian human space flight is set for August 2022, although some small shift may take place owing to disruptions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Gaganyaan mission aims to send a three-member crew to space for a period of five-seven days by 2022 when India completes 75 years of its Independence. India has chosen four members of the Indian Air Force for the mission and their training is in progress.

(More at link)
 

Reviewbrah

Contributor
Messages
536
Reactions
2,351
Nation of residence
Turkey
Nation of origin
Turkey
The RLV will be lifted up by a Mi-17 helo and released from the height of 4 km, the RLV will land on its own in a military airfield in Chitradurga District deploying its parachute.

View attachment 3276

View attachment 3277
View attachment 3278

After this we will have another Re-entry experiment & an launch experiment using re-usable booster on 1st stage & Scramjet engines on 2nd. The RLV does have bays for carrying payloads :
View attachment 3279

Free Flight Test of SNC Dream Chaser (Example)

 
Last edited:

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

(This story originally appeared in on Oct 22, 2020)

BENGALURU: Just weeks after deciding to open up the space sector, the department of space (DoS) has proposed to enable private Indian firms to not just use existing space assets for communication services, but also develop new systems, launch satellites and sell services to foreign customers under its Spacecom Policy-2020.

Companies will be allowed to set up control centres outside India and use overseas space assets, says a draft of the policy, which will replace the existing Satcom Policy. “The (new) policy will have everything the Satcom Policy has in terms of protection of our assets, creation of new assets, monitoring and operations. The major changes are to encourage the private sector and renew focus on enhancing national security capabilities,” K Sivan, secretary, DoS, told TOI.

The policy envisages measures to monitor and authorise use of space assets for communication to or from Indian territory.

The policy also lists steps to bring more assets under India’s control for enhancing ability to utilise space-based communication for national needs. “This is the rst step. Soon, we’ll have specic policies on launch vehicles, navigation, remote sensing, space exploration, human spaceight and a national space policy. These will propel India to the next level,” Sivan said.

The draft reads: “They can establish telemetry, tracking & command earth stations and satellite control centre in or outside India. They can oer the capacity to commercial and societal communications within India as well as outside India. They can also supply their systems and solutions to international markets.”

Firms can avail Indian and non-Indian orbital resources to establish systems for services within and outside India. Indian resources can be availed from designated entities under the department of space on a commercial basis, while foreign resources can be used following the new norms. Commenting on the draft policy, Tanveer Ahmed, CTO of space tech rm Digantara, said: “It’s a positive move clearing regulatory concerns and augmenting investor condence. We hope to see a quick, paperless application process.”

Rohan M Ganapathy, director, Bellatrix, said the onus is on the industry to expedite introduction of new technologies while Srinath Ravichandran, cofounder, Agnikul Cosmos, said the rm is looking forward to a boom in small satellite launches. The draft adds that satellite communication systems which can’t be addressed in an open-to-all commercial domain shall be brought into operation with the involvement of the government for sustainability.

Satcom programmes focused on societal development — tribal development, social empowerment, health, education and disaster management — will remain under the domain of the department of space.

“Such programmes exist to address specic objectives, and may not be commercially viable in nature,” the draft reads. In another development, the department of space last week signed an agreement with space PSU NewSpace India Limited, allowing the latter to further encourage the private sector. The MoU, Isro said, “will enable NSIL transfer technologies to the private industry”.
 

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is expected to be launched by 2022 as India and the US have decided to share Space Situational Awareness Information, which will catalyse efforts to create the conditions for a safe and sustainable space environment. The two sides also expressed the intent to continue the India-US Space Dialogue as well as discussions on areas of potential space defense cooperation.

A joint statement, issued after the 2+2 strategic dialogue between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and their US counterparts Secretary of States Michael R Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T Esper, said, "…the ministers applauded the ongoing collaboration between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, including on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite scheduled to be launched by 2022."

The space agencies of the two countries had signed an agreement in 2014 to conduct the joint NISAR mission to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite. "The ministers also looked forward to sharing Space Situational Awareness information, which will catalyse efforts to create the conditions for a safe, stable, and sustainable space environment," it said.

The ministers welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Technical Cooperation in Earth Observation and Earth Sciences between the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the joint statement said. The signing of MoU will be for developing a better understanding of the regional and global weather origins in the Indian Ocean and advancing common research goals in meteorology, oceanography, and management of living marine resources, it said.
 

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

India would launch its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine international customer spacecraft onboard its Polar rocket PSLV-C49 from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on November 7, ISRO said on Wednesday.

This is the first launch by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) since the COVID-19 induced lockdown came into force in March.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan had said in June that ten space missions being prepared for launch this year have been 'disturbed' due to the lockdown.

EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support, the city- headquartered ISRO said.

"The launch is tentatively scheduled at 3.02 pm on November 7 subject to weather conditions" from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, it said in a statement.

The customer satellites are being launched under commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space, the space agency said, without giving further details.

This will be the 51st mission of ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

In view of the strict COVID-19 pandemic norms in place at the launch centre, gathering of media personnel there was not planned and the viewing gallery will be closed, ISRO said.

However, the live telecast of the launch will be available on ISRO website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter channels, it added.

Speaking to PTI in June, Sivan had said ISRO will make an assessment of the impact of the lockdown on its missions.

Because of this (pandemic), everything got disturbed. We have to make an assessment after the COVID-19 issue is resolved, he had said.
 

Gautam

Committed member
Professional
Messages
159
Reactions
1 688
Nation of residence
India
Nation of origin
India
PSLV C-49/EOS-01 launch is tentatively scheduled at 2:25 PM IST tomorrow from First Launch Pad (FLP) of SDSC (SHAR). This is ISRO's first launch this year. The First Launch Pad was set up in the late 80s & began operations in 1993. Thus it doesn't have the universal launcher stand & the modern assembly building that the other 2 launch pads have.

PSLV has so far made 50 launches, with 47 successfully reaching their planned orbits, 2 outright failures and 1 partial failure, yielding a success rate of 94% (96% including the partial failure). For a rocket designed in the 80s, this is some staggering levels of reliability.

The PSLV's architecture is very strange. Its a very modular 4 stage rocket :

The first stage called S139 is a solid rocket. It carries 139 tons of HTPB bound solid propellant. It is one of the largest solid rocket boosters in the world producing 4.8 MN of thrust. It is so big that the rocket is built in multiple pieces and assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building(VAB).

Lower Section of the S139 :
01 (1).jpg


Upper Section of the S139 :
02 (1).jpg

How does the flame carry over from one section to the other is beyond me. Also the GSLV Mk3 has 2 S200 boosters that are bigger than the S139. But the S200 is built in one piece. The GSLV was designed much later, by then our understanding of solid fuel rockets had greatly improved.

After the 1st stage the strap on boosters are integrated. The S12 boosters carry 12 tons of propellant & produce 703.5 KN each. The number of boosters vary based on mission requirement.
03.jpg


Then comes the hypergolic liquid 2nd stage. Powered by a single Vikas engine carrying 42 tons of UDMH & Nitrogen tetroxide. The 2nd stage produced 803.7 KN of thrust.
06 (1).jpg


The 3rd stage is again a solid fueled. This stage produces 240KN thrust.
07 (1).jpg


The 4th stage is again a hypergolic. Carrying 2.5 tons of MMH/MON producing 14.66 KN of thrust. The propellant tank is a filament wound tank. The fiber is a Kevlar polyamide, the binding is done based on ISRO's patented interweaving mosaic pattern winding.
PSLV_C45_EMISAT_campaign_09.jpg

The inside walls of the tank are coated with some unknown material. The coating prevents the Mono-Methyl Hydrazine(MMH) from ever coming in direct contact with the Kevlar fiber.

After the completion of rocket assembly the PSLV is moved out to the Launch Pad.
1 (2).jpg

6.jpg


8.jpg

4.jpg


Along with the Indian EOS-1 the rocket will carry R2 technology demonstration satellite from Lithuania, 4 KLEOS satellites (KSM-1A/B/C/D) from Luxembourg & 4 LEMUR satellites (LEMUR 1/2/3/4 ) from the USA.

The mission so far :

Time of EventUpdate
T - 19hr00mFilling of oxidizer for the fourth stage(PS4) of PSLV-C49 completed.
T - 21hr00mFilling of fuel for the fourth stage(PS4) of PSLV-C49 completed.
T - 22hr30mFilling of fuel for the fourth stage(PS4) of PSLV-C49 commenced.
T - 26hr00m26 hr countdown commenced on 1302 (IST)/0732 (UTC) on 6 Nov 2020.
5 November 2020Mission Readiness Review completed. Awaiting official confirmation of launch time.
4 November 2020Launch rehearsal conducted. MRR scheduled for 5 November.
2 November 2020Payload integration and fairing encapsulation completed. Launch rehearsal scheduled on 4 November.
29 October 2020Second NOTAM gets issued.
28 October 2020Launch date and time firms up for 0932 (UTC) / 1502 (IST) on 7 November after readiness review meet.
27 October 2020First NOTAM is issued.

Live webcast :

 
Last edited:

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India
ISRO-PSLVc49.jpg


Bit of foggy launch this time. Successful mission. All 10 satellites inserted.

Congrats ISRO.
 
Last edited:

Gautam

Committed member
Professional
Messages
159
Reactions
1 688
Nation of residence
India
Nation of origin
India
All satellites in orbit. All satellites responding well. Solar panel has been deployed. Mission accomplished.

Launch photos :
image1.jpg

image2.jpg

image6.jpg

image7 (1).jpg

image4.jpg

image3.jpg

image5.jpg
 
Last edited:

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India

Quote:

After the success of the mission, Isro chairman K Sivan said this was a very “special and unusual mission” for the space agency.

“Space activity cannot be done from home. Especially during a launch, every engineer, technician and all other employees must travel from different centres and work together here at SHAR. Also, various hardware had to be carefully transported from various centres.”


“Our Isro team rose to the occasion and worked with limited staff, followed all government protocols with no compromise on quality,” he said.


Sivan said three more launches are lined up including PSLV-C50 carrying CMS01, launch of new vehicle SSLV carrying EOS-02 and GSLV F-10 carrying EOS-03.
 

Nilgiri

Experienced member
Moderator
Aviation Specialist
Messages
9,272
Reactions
96 18,815
Nation of residence
Canada
Nation of origin
India
Highlights of the recent launch:


 

Follow us on social media

Top Bottom