Indian Space Program: News & Discussions

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1138724635648782336

Takeaways :

Launch date now firmed up for
  • 15 July 2019 at 02h51m (local) or 14 July, 21h21m UTC
  • Mass of whole Chandrayaan-2 stack is ~3.8 tonnes(wet), with ~1.3 tonnes of propellant (~650 kg each on orbiter and lander) (see dry/wet masses below)
  • 15 min. after launch CY-2 stack would be placed in 170 x 38000 km orbit
  • In next 16 days, five Earth bound orbit raising burns would be performed to reach 150 x 141000 km orbit
  • After that Trans Lunar Injection burn would be performed. CY-2 will travel for five days towards Moon.
  • Lunar Orbit Insertion would put CY-2 stack in 151 x 18000 km orbit with 24 hr period
  • Four lunar bound orbit lowering burns will be performed to reach 100x100 km orbit.
  • Lander will separate after appropriate time and lower its orbit to 30x100 km using on-board propulsion.
  • Lander will stay in this orbit for four days performing various health checks.
  • On D-Day(6 or 7 Sept.) lander will perform a 15 min. long slow controlled descent and landing near south pole.
  • Rover roll-out would occur 4 hrs after landing.
  • Rover @ 1 cm per second speed will traverse 500 meters. Lander/Rover lifetime is 1 lunar day.
  • Orbiter has mission life of 1 year.
  • Orbiter and Lander communicate to Earth directly but for contingency, Lander can communicate via Orbiter. Rover communicates with Lander.
  • Total cost of Chandrayaan-2 (not including launch) is INR 603 crore.
  • Launch cost is INR 375 crore.
  • Orbiter on 14 June and Lander on 17 June will move to SHAR
From Q&A
  • First images from lander 15 min. after launch and 4.5 hrs for rover
  • Launch windows after 16 July are only 1 min. long for rest of July!
Updated dry mass info :

1560369573272.png


Landing site coordinates: 70.9 S, 22.7 E.
 
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1139119296192307201

India planning to launch own space station, says ISRO chief

K Sivan, the chief of ISRO, said the weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes.

India, Updated: Jun 13, 2019 18:23 IST
HT Correspondent
New Delhi
pslv-c45-launch_20c1398c-8dc6-11e9-a1b4-540227be794e.jpg

Photo for representation(PTI)

India is planning an ambitious project to launch its own space station, ISRO chief K Sivan said on Thursday. The space station project will be an extension of the Gaganyaan programme.

“We are planning to have a separate space station. We will not be a part of International Space Startion. Our space station is going to be very small. We will be launching a small module and that will be used for carrying out microgravity experiments,” K Sivan was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. .

The proposal will be sent to the government for approval after the first Gaganyaan mission.

The Indian Space Research Organisation chief said the weight of the space station is likely to be 20 tonnes. A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock.

ISRO is looking at 5 to 7 years time frame for execution of the programme.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the only fully functioning space station in Earth’s lower orbit at present. The ISS is a partnership between European countries represented by European Space Agency, the United States (NASA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and Russia (Roscosmos). It is the world’s largest international cooperative programme in science and technology. China also plans to build a space station of its own.

Addressing a joint press conference with Sivan, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh said that ISRO has resolved to send its first human mission into space in 2022.

On Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation had announced that it will launch Chandrayaan-2, its second mission to the moon, on July 15.

India planning to launch own space station, says ISRO chief
 
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Almost a year back in June 26 2018, there was an presentation given by some of the most prominent space scientists from ISRO and some private space organisations/start ups in Toulouse, France. The topic was "India – Opportunities in an Emerging Space Journey", it was an event organised by the French space agency CNES. The buzz was created by Bellatrix Aerospace, a start up from India, and amidst all the buzz everybody seemed to have missed something. One of ISRO's senior most scientist talked about a future Indian Space Station and gave a glimpse of what it may look like. Here's a view :

1560490409034.png


I'll see if I can find a better quality picture. Look at the timeline here. First the manned mission(Gaganyaan) in 2020-21, second the Mars mission in 2022-23 and one of the last objectives given here lunar sample return for around 2025-28.

Gaganyaaan we will do on our own with some help in training from the French and Russians.
Mars mission(Mangalyaan-2) will be either completely us or with French collaboration (India, France to work together on inter-planetary missions - Times of India)
Lunar sample return is a JV with the JAXA named Selene-R (India, Japan working on lunar sample return mission)

Given these developments I'd say the SCE200 must be in an advanced state of development as the plans seems to get bigger and bigger with time.
 
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I've posted about ISRO's SPADEX experiments before. Here is TOI basically taking info from various forums including this one and passing it off as their own. Seriously you are a news agency bring something new to the table.

India has been quietly working on key technology to enable space station

Chethan Kumar | TNN | Updated: Jun 13, 2019, 22 ..


BENGALURU: Isro chairman K Sivan's announcement about India planning its own space station may appear sudden, but work on a key technology - space docking - without which such a station cannot be made functional has been going on for at least three years now. The project has already got clearance and the department of space has earmarked Rs 10 crore.

Isro has been working on technology that will eventually allow it to transfer humans from one vehicle or spacecraft to another but the immediate goal is to enable refuelling of spacecraft to give them a longer life and also transfer other crucial systems to an existing spacecraft, by transporting another to space.

Space Docking Experiment, or SPADEX, as Isro calls it, has already seen work on several systems like signal analysis equipment, high-precision videometer for navigation, docking system electronics and real-time decision making for landing systems being done in various stages.

69776215.jpg


As part of SPADEX, we will "develop and demonstrate the technologies needed for docking two spacecraft (Chase & Target) and to control one spacecraft from the Attitude Control System of other spacecraft in the docked condition," Isro says.
69776216.jpg


Subsequent to docking, the Chaser and Target will be separated so that they would carry-out their designated experiments with payloads. Further, Isro said: "This technology will be a forerunner to future planetary missions including crew transfer, international participation et al."

Isro has already completed some ground simulations and the work on launching two small spacecraft to test this out in space is in the pipeline. However, with Chandrayaan-2, Aditya mission and Gaganyaan on top of Isro's priorities-satellite launches also needs augmentation-serious work on SPADEX may only being after three to four years. "But just like we kept preparing for Gaganyaan quietly, work will go on," one scientist said.

When ready, this technology will also be used for orbit servicing of satellites-as TOI had reported earlier-which will allow Isro to enhance lifespan of satellites, by refuelling them.

Late UR Rao, former Isro chairman and ex-chairman of Isro Advisory Committee, who had nursed ambitions of a space station for India, had earlier told TOI, "Space docking would also be used to transport people to space stations-bring back old people and put in the newer ones-or even send people in to replace equipment on spacecrafts and so on."

Challenges of docking

Sivan, on Thursday ruled out sending Indian astronauts to the International Space Station - of which India is not a member - and said we will have our own station, which, insiders feel, will add impetus to the docking project.

However, there are multiple challenges Isro will have to overcome before it can attempt this in space. For one, docking will depend on space rendezvous: Isro must be equipped with capabilities wherein the two spacecraft will find each other and remain in the same orbit.

Docking has to be automatic and many of the functions thereon will have to be robotic. There is also the challenge of managing the speeds of each of the crafts when they near each other and to then dock the newer vehicle in a manner that they don't crash or collide into each other.

As per one plan document accessed by TOI, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre(VSSC) will work on rendezvous and docking. "To achieve docking during the final phase of the mission, the relative position and velocity of the target spacecraft and chaser spacecraft has to be brought to zero. To ensure proper alignment of the docking port, the relative angular orientation needs to be precisely aligned," the document reads.

ISRO Latest news: India has been quietly working on key technology to enable space station | India News - Times of India
 
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Guynextdoor said:
the MURDERATORS of free speech in this forum (@nair @Milspec etc.) decided I needed a break. All because I support BJP. phhhhhhh!
Click to expand...
I don't think I handed a ban to you, the only member I ban are the ones who try to get you free IELTS/TOEFL/GRE/GMAT entrance tickets.
 
Guynextdoor said:
yes. But without the ULV the station ain't going up. I think they're confident the tech will work.
Click to expand...
True that. Without ULV all these plans will remain on paper.
Well since you brought ULV into the conversation I decided to go through my old hard disk drive to look at some old ISRO photos that I used to look at few years back. Back then there was a proposed HLV with a liquid engine core(Vikas engine) which was cancelled due to excessive cost and not enough lifting power.
As ISRO planned ahead, they decided to make a family of rockets for lifting more than the GSLV Mark III(LMV3) on the lower end and less than the cancelled HLV on the higher end. This family was named the Unified Launch Vehicle(ULV) family. The difference between the ULV and the cancelled HLV was the core-engine. The cancelled HLV was to use a liquid engine(Vikas) whereas the ULV would use a semi-cryogenic engine(SCE-200) core stage. The Vikas produces around 800 Kilo Newtons of thrust where as the SCE-200 was designed to produce a mind boggling 2.03 Mega Newtons of thrust. The difference in lifting power should be pretty evident.
1560615178434.png

There was a proposed HLV with clustered SCE-200 engines for the core and solid rocket strap-ons. Also a SHLV was proposed with clustered SCE-200 core and stap ons along with more propellant loading. We haven't heard anything about the HLV and SHLV after that. Most people thought it was outlandish and impossible to achieve. But then back then a space station was also proposed and was considered impossible, nobody seem to be saying that now. I guess the HLV and SHLV will re-appear when the time is right. ISRO plans for the long run, they always do. They don't always stick to their plans though.
As for clustering, ISRO seems indecisive on that. Some publications say they are studying clustering of 5 engines some say 4 some others say 3. We don't know what will be the final call. Things will get clearer with SCE-200 test firing.
This is from a long time back. SCE-200 is improperly labelled SCE-2000. This was the proposed path to Human space flight. Well now we will have spaceflight from the GSLV Mark 3 itself. Quite the change of plans.:cautious:
ISROHRLV.png
hlv.png


Much like how the space station plans are meaningless with out a ULV. ULV/HLV/SHLV are all daydreams with out the SCE-200 engine. This is why I keep talking about it. Hre is what it looks like along with a four engine cluster :
1560614213531.png

1560614168124.png

In 2015 sub assembly construction and testing of the new engine started. This is the first major component of the SCE-200. This is a Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo(LPOT) pump.
1560614313969.png


This is from 2018. A roadmap of the engine development. We should have the ULV by 2021-22.
1560614116838.png


In 2018 the engine assembly was sent to Ukraine for testing as we did not have facilities to test it. The new engine testing facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu will be up and running by the 3rd quarter of 2019. The tests in Ukraine is supposed to end by 2019.

The first test fire of the engine will be at the end of 2019 or in 2020. By 2021 we should have a core stage made from the engine which will replace the L110 core stage of the GSLV Mark 3. This will immediately take the GSLV's payload capacity to over 6 ton GTO from the current 4 ton GTO.

I cannot stress enough on how important this engine is for India. Look at the engines we have in service :

Solid rocket : S-200 booster, the worlds third largest solid rocket motor.
1560620905632.png


Liquid rocket : Vikas has proven to be highly reliable and a scalable design. PSLV, GSLV MK1, GSLV MK3 its used everywhere. Few rocket engines has seen that many number to flights as this thing.
hot_test.jpg


Cryogenic : CE-20 is one the most powerful upper stage engines in the world. There are plans of increasing propellant loading and also clustering two or three of them in the future.
1560622206970.png


That leaves out only the semi-cryo engine out. Build that and you have all the pieces to the puzzle, well more or less. Future launcher development will get a lot easier after this. Just like cryo engine was a massive hurdle then we built the CE-7.5, a staged combustion cycle engine. That made making the CE-20, a much more powerful engine running on a gas generator cycle much much easier.
 
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Gautam said:
True that. Without ULV all these plans will remain on paper.
Well since you brought ULV into the conversation I decided to go through my old hard disk drive to look at some old ISRO photos that I used to look at few years back. Back then there was a proposed HLV with a liquid engine core(Vikas engine) which was cancelled due to excessive cost and not enough lifting power.
As ISRO planned ahead, they decided to make a family of rockets for lifting more than the GSLV Mark III(LMV3) on the lower end and less than the cancelled HLV on the higher end. This family was named the Unified Launch Vehicle(ULV) family. The difference between the ULV and the cancelled HLV was the core-engine. The cancelled HLV was to use a liquid engine(Vikas) whereas the ULV would use a semi-cryogenic engine(SCE-200) core stage. The Vikas produces around 800 Kilo Newtons of thrust where as the SCE-200 was designed to produce a mind boggling 2.03 Mega Newtons of thrust. The difference in lifting power should be pretty evident.
View attachment 7390
There was a proposed HLV with clustered SCE-200 engines for the core and solid rocket strap-ons. Also a SHLV was proposed with clustered SCE-200 core and stap ons along with more propellant loading. We haven't heard anything about the HLV and SHLV after that. Most people thought it was outlandish and impossible to achieve. But then back then a space station was also proposed and was considered impossible, nobody seem to be saying that now. I guess the HLV and SHLV will re-appear when the time is right. ISRO plans for the long run, they always do. They don't always stick to their plans though.
As for clustering, ISRO seems indecisive on that. Some publications say they are studying clustering of 5 engines some say 4 some others say 3. We don't know what will be the final call. Things will get clearer with SCE-200 test firing.
This is from a long time back. SCE-200 is improperly labelled SCE-2000. This was the proposed path to Human space flight. Well now we will have spaceflight from the GSLV Mark 3 itself. Quite the change of plans.:cautious:
View attachment 7385View attachment 7386

Much like how the space station plans are meaningless with out a ULV. ULV/HLV/SHLV are all daydreams with out the SCE-200 engine. This is why I keep talking about it. Hre is what it looks like along with a four engine cluster :
View attachment 7383
View attachment 7382
In 2015 sub assembly construction and testing of the new engine started. This is the first major component of the SCE-200. This is a Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo(LPOT) pump.
View attachment 7384

This is from 2018. A roadmap of the engine development. We should have the ULV by 2021-22.
View attachment 7381

In 2018 the engine assembly was sent to Ukraine for testing as we did not have facilities to test it. The new engine testing facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu will be up and running by the 3rd quarter of 2019. The tests in Ukraine is supposed to end by 2019.

The first test fire of the engine will be at the end of 2019 or in 2020. By 2021 we should have a core stage made from the engine which will replace the L110 core stage of the GSLV Mark 3. This will immediately take the GSLV's payload capacity to over 6 ton GTO from the current 4 ton GTO.

I cannot stress enough on how important this engine is for India. Look at the engines we have in service :

Solid rocket : S-200 booster, the worlds third largest solid rocket motor.
View attachment 7397

Liquid rocket : Vikas has proven to be highly reliable and a scalable design. PSLV, GSLV MK1, GSLV MK3 its used everywhere. Few rocket engines has seen that many number to flights as this thing.
View attachment 7398

Cryogenic : CE-20 is one the most powerful upper stage engines in the world. There are plans of increasing propellant loading and also clustering two or three of them in the future.
View attachment 7399

That leaves out only the semi-cryo engine out. Build that and you have all the pieces to the puzzle, well more or less. Future launcher development will get a lot easier after this. Just like cryo engine was a massive hurdle then we built the CE-7.5, a staged combustion cycle engine. That made making the CE-20, a much more powerful engine running on a gas generator cycle much much easier.
Click to expand...

Generally the vibe has been that semi cryogenic program has been far less problematic than cryogenic engine program was. With regard to clustering, it will be challenging but it’s not a concept unknown to them. They have done it on a smaller scale in gslv. That might be why they are more confident of this- experience.
 
Gautam said:
True that. Without ULV all these plans will remain on paper.
Well since you brought ULV into the conversation I decided to go through my old hard disk drive to look at some old ISRO photos that I used to look at few years back. Back then there was a proposed HLV with a liquid engine core(Vikas engine) which was cancelled due to excessive cost and not enough lifting power.
As ISRO planned ahead, they decided to make a family of rockets for lifting more than the GSLV Mark III(LMV3) on the lower end and less than the cancelled HLV on the higher end. This family was named the Unified Launch Vehicle(ULV) family. The difference between the ULV and the cancelled HLV was the core-engine. The cancelled HLV was to use a liquid engine(Vikas) whereas the ULV would use a semi-cryogenic engine(SCE-200) core stage. The Vikas produces around 800 Kilo Newtons of thrust where as the SCE-200 was designed to produce a mind boggling 2.03 Mega Newtons of thrust. The difference in lifting power should be pretty evident.
View attachment 7390
There was a proposed HLV with clustered SCE-200 engines for the core and solid rocket strap-ons. Also a SHLV was proposed with clustered SCE-200 core and stap ons along with more propellant loading. We haven't heard anything about the HLV and SHLV after that. Most people thought it was outlandish and impossible to achieve. But then back then a space station was also proposed and was considered impossible, nobody seem to be saying that now. I guess the HLV and SHLV will re-appear when the time is right. ISRO plans for the long run, they always do. They don't always stick to their plans though.
As for clustering, ISRO seems indecisive on that. Some publications say they are studying clustering of 5 engines some say 4 some others say 3. We don't know what will be the final call. Things will get clearer with SCE-200 test firing.
This is from a long time back. SCE-200 is improperly labelled SCE-2000. This was the proposed path to Human space flight. Well now we will have spaceflight from the GSLV Mark 3 itself. Quite the change of plans.:cautious:
View attachment 7385View attachment 7386

Much like how the space station plans are meaningless with out a ULV. ULV/HLV/SHLV are all daydreams with out the SCE-200 engine. This is why I keep talking about it. Hre is what it looks like along with a four engine cluster :
View attachment 7383
View attachment 7382
In 2015 sub assembly construction and testing of the new engine started. This is the first major component of the SCE-200. This is a Low Pressure Oxidiser Turbo(LPOT) pump.
View attachment 7384

This is from 2018. A roadmap of the engine development. We should have the ULV by 2021-22.
View attachment 7381

In 2018 the engine assembly was sent to Ukraine for testing as we did not have facilities to test it. The new engine testing facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu will be up and running by the 3rd quarter of 2019. The tests in Ukraine is supposed to end by 2019.

The first test fire of the engine will be at the end of 2019 or in 2020. By 2021 we should have a core stage made from the engine which will replace the L110 core stage of the GSLV Mark 3. This will immediately take the GSLV's payload capacity to over 6 ton GTO from the current 4 ton GTO.

I cannot stress enough on how important this engine is for India. Look at the engines we have in service :

Solid rocket : S-200 booster, the worlds third largest solid rocket motor.
View attachment 7397

Liquid rocket : Vikas has proven to be highly reliable and a scalable design. PSLV, GSLV MK1, GSLV MK3 its used everywhere. Few rocket engines has seen that many number to flights as this thing.
View attachment 7398

Cryogenic : CE-20 is one the most powerful upper stage engines in the world. There are plans of increasing propellant loading and also clustering two or three of them in the future.
View attachment 7399

That leaves out only the semi-cryo engine out. Build that and you have all the pieces to the puzzle, well more or less. Future launcher development will get a lot easier after this. Just like cryo engine was a massive hurdle then we built the CE-7.5, a staged combustion cycle engine. That made making the CE-20, a much more powerful engine running on a gas generator cycle much much easier.
Click to expand...
Playing the Bad guy (and not using the poverty card) .
How goes one justify the need to build a space station and what are the benefits of having one?. Would it be simpler to perfect the crew capsule and docking mechanism (to existing standard) and use/share with the existing ISS ?
 
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