Indian Space Industry : Updates & Discussions

Isro readying LVM-III to launch 36 OneWeb internet satellites to space​

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is readying its heaviest launch vehicle for the second mission to deploy 36 internet satellite constellation.

The satellites developed by UK-based OneWeb are set to be launched in mid-March from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the Launch Vehicle Mark-III to Low Earth Orbit, where they will join the already deployed constellation of satellites aimed at providing global broadband coverage.

The satellites have already arrived in India after completing a 9000-mile trip from Florida. They are being mated with the fairing of the LVM-III rocket ahead of the upcoming launch.

"Following an almost 9,000-mile trip from Florida, our satellites have successfully arrived on site in India and we have begun integration ahead of our upcoming launch with Isro and NSIL India. This marks the beginning of another giant leap toward global coverage from OneWeb," OneWeb said in a tweet.

Following an almost 9,000 mile trip from Florida, our satellites have successfully arrived on site in India and we have begun integration ahead of our upcoming launch with @isro and @NSIL_India.

This marks the beginning of another giant leap toward global coverage from OneWeb. pic.twitter.com/oZd7soRrSO — OneWeb (@OneWeb) February 16, 2023
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This will be the second launch of the internet constellation by OneWeb from India after the first batch of 36 satellites was launched in 2022. The launch is part of two launch service contracts with M/s Network Access Associated Limited (M/s OneWeb) to launch the satellites.

The agreement was signed between OneWeb and India's New Space India Limited (NSIL) after Russia denied launch services to the United Kingdom over sanctions from western countries following its invasion of Ukraine.

OneWeb recently completed its 16th launch to date, on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX in Florida, to bring its total constellation to 542 satellites – more than 80% of its Gen1 constellation. "OneWeb remains on track to initiate global coverage in 2023, while its connectivity solutions are already live in the wider Arctic region including Canada, Alaska, the UK, and beyond," the company said in a statement.

Isro has re-designated the GSLV-MkIII to LVM-3 since the rocket will not be depositing the satellites in the geosynchronous orbit, but instead in the Low Earth Orbit. This launch is one of the biggest commercial orders by India's premier space organization, and the first using the LVM3 rocket.
www.indiatoday.in

Isro readying LVM-III to launch 36 OneWeb internet satellites to space

The satellites have already arrived in India after completing a 9000-mile trip from Florida. They are being mated with the fairing of the LVM-III rocket.
www.indiatoday.in www.indiatoday.in
 
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1639875840602251264
 
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3 yrs old video. No clue if it's been linked here before but still worth a watch for the future programs of ISRO if you can ignore the pedestrian language .
 

India's PSLV to launch Europe's Proba-3 mission to unravel secrets of the Sun​

The two spacecraft forming the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission are ready with instruments and sensors allowing them to maneuver to a millimeter-scale precision relative to one another. The spacecraft will fly into space on India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in 2024.

The spacecraft is set to go into the testing phase where engineers will subject them to a simulated space environment. The spacecraft has been designed to demonstrate precision formation flying in space, where they will fly together maintaining a fixed configuration as a large rigid structure.

WHAT WILL PROBA-3 DO IN SPACE?
The Sun is a million times brighter than its surrounding corona, so eclipsing it is essential for coronal studies. This is what happens during a solar eclipse of the Sun by Earth's Moon. But that sporadic event lasts for only a few minutes.

Proba-3

The two satellites of Proba-3 will fly in formation to form an external coronagraph in space, one satellite eclipsing the Sun to allow the second to study the otherwise invisible solar corona. (Photo: ESA)

As a world first, Proba-3's two satellites –the Coronagraph spacecraft and the Occulter spacecraft – will maintain formation to a few millimeters and arc second precision.

ESA said that the two probes will together form a 144-m long solar coronagraph to study the Sun’s faint corona closer to the solar rim than has ever before been achieved. This will open up continuous views of the Sun’s faint corona, or surrounding atmosphere, for scientific observation.

PSLV TO THE RESCUE​


Namibia

The 340-kilogram spacecraft will be deployed by PSLV in a high Earth orbit with an orbital period of 19.7 hours. They will be placed in a highly elliptical orbit of 600 x 60530 km. After a short preparatory period, the two satellites will be separated and injected into a safe relative tandem orbit.

Known as the workhorse of the Indian Space Research Organisation, PSLV is the third-generation launch vehicle capable of placing multiple payloads into orbit in a single mission. The four-stage rocket has been used to launch various satellites into Geosynchronous and Geostationary orbits.

Proba-3

Proba-3's pair of satellites will be in a highly elliptical orbit around Earth. (Photo: ESA)
"Proba-3 will function as an orbital laboratory, demonstrating acquisition, proximity, operation, formation flying, separation from 25 meters to 250 meters apart, while validating innovative meteorology sensors, and control algorithms, opening up novel methods of mission control," ESA said in a statement.

The spacecraft will now be shipped to IABG in Germany for the start of a four-month environmental test campaign, simulating every aspect of the launch and space environments.
www.indiatoday.in

India's PSLV to launch Europe's Proba-3 mission to unravel secrets of the Sun

The 340-kilogram spacecraft will be deployed by PSLV in a high Earth orbit with an orbital period of 19.7 hours.
www.indiatoday.in www.indiatoday.in
 
_Anonymous_ said:
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Very nice, in-depth analysis. Once the semi-cryogenic engine is developed a lot of things will be streamlined. Whether or not the RLV is useful for satellite launches depends on how much of the launch vehicle is recoverable. If both stages are recoverable the RLV is definitely useful, however for defense, testing or repairing equipment the Space Shuttle is a better option.
 
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Indian Space Startup 'Azista BST Aerospace' to launch it's first satellite with SpaceX. The launch of the 80kg remote sensing satellite ABA First Runner (AFR) is expected to occur next week around mid-June. The Company is looking to establish space heritage and solidify vertically integrated production capabilities from India as it intends to launch several satellites within the next 12-24 months.

 
‘Raman’ is a series of engines/thrusters using earth storable hypergolic propellants for upper stage engine and attitude/reaction control in Vikram-1.

Raman-1 Construction: Thrust Chamber body & Injector: 3D printed Throat: Metal Matrix Composite Chamber Thermal Protection: High temperature composite Injection Valves: Ultra-fast response Nozzle: Scarfed (to tangentially flush to vehicle diameter from inside)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1671753493697134592
 
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@Ashwin @Ankit Kumar

It seems signing on to the Artemis Accords has already started opening doors:

www.business-standard.com

L&T likely to fuel space exploration plans of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos-owned firm engines: Jeff Bezos-owned firm sourcing engines based on the Artemis Accords
www.business-standard.com www.business-standard.com

Blue Origin has begun negotiations to source engine manufacturing services from India's L&T - which makes solid-propulsion solutions for ISRO.

For decades, both public & private-sector aerospace companies in India developed in a closed market, catering only to the limited, but technically challenging local industrial needs of ISRO. Now, their scope for space-related business is set to expand rapidly.

Thanks to ISRO's programs, a lot of these companies (L&T, HAL, Godrej Aerospace, etc.) have developed industrial capabilities that very few enterprises in the world have. They manufacture stuff like the S200, the 3rd-biggest solid rocket booster in the world (after the Shuttle's and the Ariane 5's), like the CE-20 (the most powerful upper-stage cryogenic engine in the world currently). They are tooling up to build the Gaganyaan crew module as we speak.

When you combine that with the low costs of India's manufacturing scene, the scope of work these companies can do (both as primary contractors, wherever deals are yet to be signed, as well as Tier-1/2 suppliers for existing primary contractors) in programs like Artemis, Axiom station, etc. is simply immense.

This biz is about to take off!
 
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