Excellent find. I thought LPSC was involved with SCE-200, but the article quotes lines from a VSSC scientist. Any idea when the test will take place ?
Indian Space Program: News & Discussions
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I was confused too, that SCE being the engine, must be a LPSC project. May be Dr Somnath was privy to info and spoke about it.
Testing schedule is hard to find. Hope ISRO accelerates this testing phase.
This is from last year :
Capital’s skies to sport spectacular hues today
VSSC was carrying out experiments using the RH-300 MK 2 sounding rocket. This year it seems they want to scale up. Now they want to use the RH-560 MK3 rocket to carry out the same experiment but at a larger scale.
Here we have a tender for the TMA payload for RH-560 MK 3 :
https://vssc.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/vssc/tndheader/IDT02826100000000000isro05401.pdf
Capital’s skies to sport spectacular hues today
VSSC was carrying out experiments using the RH-300 MK 2 sounding rocket. This year it seems they want to scale up. Now they want to use the RH-560 MK3 rocket to carry out the same experiment but at a larger scale.
Here we have a tender for the TMA payload for RH-560 MK 3 :
https://vssc.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/vssc/tndheader/IDT02826100000000000isro05401.pdf
The French are putting their Argos-4 payload on ISRO's OceanSat-3 series, which is scheduled to be launched in 2020. Here is the legal document of co-operation between the CNES and ISRO, if you like reading boring lawyer-ised documents :
https://vifdatabase.com/wp-content/...CERNING-HOSTING-ARGOS-ON-BOARD-OCEANSAT-3.pdf
The Argos-4 payload arrived in India on 9th September :
Arrivée du Module Charge Utile Argos-4 en Inde
https://vifdatabase.com/wp-content/...CERNING-HOSTING-ARGOS-ON-BOARD-OCEANSAT-3.pdf
The Argos-4 payload arrived in India on 9th September :
Arrivée du Module Charge Utile Argos-4 en Inde
A Metholox engine too?
Talks about two engines,
a) modification of current Cryo engine - not specified whether its ce 20 or cus. So could be fuel rich staged combustion or even gas gen cycle
b) a 3 ton one with electric motor powered pumps - inspired by electron launchers?
A bit disappointing that there is no FF Staged combustion in the works, but shouldnt crib as the first staged combustion engine , SCE 200 is still in the works
Talks about two engines,
a) modification of current Cryo engine - not specified whether its ce 20 or cus. So could be fuel rich staged combustion or even gas gen cycle
b) a 3 ton one with electric motor powered pumps - inspired by electron launchers?
A bit disappointing that there is no FF Staged combustion in the works, but shouldnt crib as the first staged combustion engine , SCE 200 is still in the works
Who knows, you might be in for a surprise, my friend.
In 2016 Dr. S. Somnath, the then director of LPSC and now the director of VSSC, gave a lecture on the event named : "Launch Vehicles and Space Propulsion - Perspective and Trends". He spoke about many things, but what caught my eye was the development of a 10 ton Methalox engine which was presumably a FF staged combustion. After that event it was complete radio silence on the Methalox engines, no news no updates nothing. Until the news that you posted. Why come out to the media now ? Some breakthrough achieved ?
Pic quality is bad, sorry. But I don't have anything better.
Procurement of 70 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensors
Resolution: 70MP (10000 (H) x 7096 (V))
Pixel Size: 3.1 x 3.1 µm2 (For comparison, Mars Color Camera has a pixel pitch of 5.5µ)
SAC e-procure site :
https://sac.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/sac/tndheader/IDT01354200000000000isro05401.pdf
Manufacturer spec sheet :
https://ams.com/documents/20143/36005/CHR71000_FS000154_1-00.pdf
The data says : Operating temperature range 0°C to +60°C (TBC)
Maybe the application is not space based. Maybe its for ground observation of rockets taking off.
- CHR71000ES-1E5M1PA (Monochrome)
- CHR71000ES-1E5C1PA (RGB Bayer Color)
Resolution: 70MP (10000 (H) x 7096 (V))
Pixel Size: 3.1 x 3.1 µm2 (For comparison, Mars Color Camera has a pixel pitch of 5.5µ)
SAC e-procure site :
https://sac.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/sac/tndheader/IDT01354200000000000isro05401.pdf
Manufacturer spec sheet :
https://ams.com/documents/20143/36005/CHR71000_FS000154_1-00.pdf
The data says : Operating temperature range 0°C to +60°C (TBC)
Maybe the application is not space based. Maybe its for ground observation of rockets taking off.
GSLV Mk 3 MLP Tender
Was this posted here? Seems good info is there regarding semi Cryo stages. Especially sections defining the pedestal blocks in the description sections of the tender. ( TBH came across the link while lurking brf, and found this interesting)
Was this posted here? Seems good info is there regarding semi Cryo stages. Especially sections defining the pedestal blocks in the description sections of the tender. ( TBH came across the link while lurking brf, and found this interesting)
ISRO initiates ‘Project NETRA’ to safeguard Indian space assets from debris and other harm
In the middle of its two-month Chandrayaan-2 campaign, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last month quietly initiated ‘Project NETRA’ – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
The project estimated to cost ₹400 crore, when in place, will give India its own capability in space situational awareness (SSA) like the other space powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites. It also goes so far as to serve as an unstated warning against missile or space attack for the country, experts say.
The space agency says our SSA will first be for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft. Under NETRA, or Network for space object Tracking and Analysis, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control centre. They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
With this the ISRO, which has placed satellites to track the earth from above, will also start training its eyes onspace from earth.
Space debris could be floating particles from dead satellites or rocket parts that stay in orbit for many years. Satellite agencies agonise over even a speck of paint or fragment floating towards their spacecraft: it disables on board electronics and cripples the satellite worth several hundred crore rupees besides many services that run on it. Agencies constantly look for debris at the time of a launch and through the life of a satellite.
Global action
ISRO Chairman K. Sivan had earlier told The Hindu that the NETRA effort would make India a part of international efforts towards tracking, warning about and mitigating space debris.
NETRA’s eventual goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.
In the plans are a high-precision, long range telescope in Leh and a radar in the North East. “Along with them, we will also use the Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) that we have put up at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and the telescopes at Ponmudi and Mount Abu” to get a broad SSA picture, he said.
Dr. Sivan said, “Even now we do collision avoidance manoeuvres on our satellites. To do that we depend on data from NORAD and others available in the public domain but we don’t get accurate [or comprehensive] information. By establishing an observation system of our own, we become part of the global network and can access precise data.”
NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is an initiative of the U.S. and Canada that shares selective debris data with many countries.
The new SSA centre would consolidate debris tracking activities that are now spread across ISRO centres.
Currently there are 15 functional Indian communication satellites in the geostationary orbit of 36,000 km; 13 remote sensing satellites in LEO of up to 2,000 km; and eight navigation satellites in medium earth orbits.
Security ring
More importantly, the SSA also has a military quotient to it and adds a new ring to the country’s overall security, as space and defence experts read it.
NORAD, too, uses satellites, ground and air radars to secure its two countries against attacks from air, space or sea.
“We should have started this kind of an SSA project a long-time back,” said Dinesh Kumar Yadvendra, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, Delhi. “With long-range tracking radars, the SSA also provides us the capability of an early warning system against ballistic missiles coming in at a height.”
S. Chandrashekar, JRD Tata Visiting Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, and also a former ISRO scientist, said, “India, as a responsible space power, should have SSA as a part of a national capability, as in the U.S. This is a vital requirement for protecting our space assets and a force multiplier.”
Apart from radars and telescopes, he said India should also think of deploying satellites that track other satellites — as the U.S. and other space powers had done.
Combined with other elements of military intelligence, he said SSA would help us to understand motives behind any suspicious orbit changes of other satellites and to know if they were spying on or harming our spacecraft.
ISRO initiates ‘Project NETRA’ to safeguard Indian space assets from debris and other harm
In the middle of its two-month Chandrayaan-2 campaign, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last month quietly initiated ‘Project NETRA’ – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
The project estimated to cost ₹400 crore, when in place, will give India its own capability in space situational awareness (SSA) like the other space powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites. It also goes so far as to serve as an unstated warning against missile or space attack for the country, experts say.
The space agency says our SSA will first be for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft. Under NETRA, or Network for space object Tracking and Analysis, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control centre. They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
With this the ISRO, which has placed satellites to track the earth from above, will also start training its eyes onspace from earth.
Space debris could be floating particles from dead satellites or rocket parts that stay in orbit for many years. Satellite agencies agonise over even a speck of paint or fragment floating towards their spacecraft: it disables on board electronics and cripples the satellite worth several hundred crore rupees besides many services that run on it. Agencies constantly look for debris at the time of a launch and through the life of a satellite.
Global action
ISRO Chairman K. Sivan had earlier told The Hindu that the NETRA effort would make India a part of international efforts towards tracking, warning about and mitigating space debris.
NETRA’s eventual goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at 36,000 km where communication satellites operate.
In the plans are a high-precision, long range telescope in Leh and a radar in the North East. “Along with them, we will also use the Multi-Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) that we have put up at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, and the telescopes at Ponmudi and Mount Abu” to get a broad SSA picture, he said.
Dr. Sivan said, “Even now we do collision avoidance manoeuvres on our satellites. To do that we depend on data from NORAD and others available in the public domain but we don’t get accurate [or comprehensive] information. By establishing an observation system of our own, we become part of the global network and can access precise data.”
NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is an initiative of the U.S. and Canada that shares selective debris data with many countries.
The new SSA centre would consolidate debris tracking activities that are now spread across ISRO centres.
Currently there are 15 functional Indian communication satellites in the geostationary orbit of 36,000 km; 13 remote sensing satellites in LEO of up to 2,000 km; and eight navigation satellites in medium earth orbits.
Security ring
More importantly, the SSA also has a military quotient to it and adds a new ring to the country’s overall security, as space and defence experts read it.
NORAD, too, uses satellites, ground and air radars to secure its two countries against attacks from air, space or sea.
“We should have started this kind of an SSA project a long-time back,” said Dinesh Kumar Yadvendra, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, Delhi. “With long-range tracking radars, the SSA also provides us the capability of an early warning system against ballistic missiles coming in at a height.”
S. Chandrashekar, JRD Tata Visiting Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, and also a former ISRO scientist, said, “India, as a responsible space power, should have SSA as a part of a national capability, as in the U.S. This is a vital requirement for protecting our space assets and a force multiplier.”
Apart from radars and telescopes, he said India should also think of deploying satellites that track other satellites — as the U.S. and other space powers had done.
Combined with other elements of military intelligence, he said SSA would help us to understand motives behind any suspicious orbit changes of other satellites and to know if they were spying on or harming our spacecraft.
ISRO initiates ‘Project NETRA’ to safeguard Indian space assets from debris and other harm
ISRO’s space docking experiment to happen next year, says Sivan
By M Ramesh
Chennai | October 01, 2019
Docking refers to connecting of two flying objects in space, either to transfer men or material from one to the other, or two join two structures to make a bigger one.
India’s space agency, ISRO, plans space docking experiment (SPADEX) next year, the agency’s Chairman, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, told Business Line today. Docking refers to connecting of two flying objects in space, either to transfer men or material from one to the other, or two join two structures to make a bigger one.
Two satellites would be sent to space on board a regular PSLV mission and the two would be made to dock with each other, Sivan said, describing the exercise as a technology demonstration experiment.
Mastering this extremely difficult technology is crucial for the operations of an Indian space station, a lab up in space—astronauts would need to be ferried from the earth to the space station and back. This can be achieved only if the vehicle carries the astronauts can dock with the space station.
Asked when ISRO planned to build a space station, Sivan said that the project was still some distance away, and would be taken up only after the Gaganyaan mission, which is to take astronauts to space and bring them back to earth safely, through the rigours of re-entry into earth’s atmosphere. Gaganyaan is expected to happen in December 2021.
Complex technology
Docking is broadly for two different purposes—for sending human beings from a shuttle to a space station, or for assembling large satellites in space. Each of these has different complexities. In the case of docking for human transfers, there is scope for human intervention if something goes wrong; when satellites mate in space to form larger structures, it all has to be done by using devices such as sensors and cameras.
Imagine two objects – satellites – flying in space at incredible velocities, of the order of 10 km a second. When they are a few kilometres away, they communicate with each other and the one in front slows down in order that the follower comes close. When they are close enough, onboard cameras (or, lasers) switch on and they ‘look’ at each other. Guided by camera, one latches on to the other and the two become a larger structure. This way, enormous structures can be built in space.
Elsewhere in the world, there are talks of space solar stations, which are giant solar power plants up in space which produce electricity from the sun and beam it down to earth in the form of microwaves.
Docking will be a key capability in future space operations and ISRO’s first step in that direction –SPADEX—will happen next year.
ISRO’s space docking experiment to happen next year, says Sivan
By M Ramesh
Chennai | October 01, 2019
Docking refers to connecting of two flying objects in space, either to transfer men or material from one to the other, or two join two structures to make a bigger one.
India’s space agency, ISRO, plans space docking experiment (SPADEX) next year, the agency’s Chairman, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, told Business Line today. Docking refers to connecting of two flying objects in space, either to transfer men or material from one to the other, or two join two structures to make a bigger one.
Two satellites would be sent to space on board a regular PSLV mission and the two would be made to dock with each other, Sivan said, describing the exercise as a technology demonstration experiment.
Mastering this extremely difficult technology is crucial for the operations of an Indian space station, a lab up in space—astronauts would need to be ferried from the earth to the space station and back. This can be achieved only if the vehicle carries the astronauts can dock with the space station.
Asked when ISRO planned to build a space station, Sivan said that the project was still some distance away, and would be taken up only after the Gaganyaan mission, which is to take astronauts to space and bring them back to earth safely, through the rigours of re-entry into earth’s atmosphere. Gaganyaan is expected to happen in December 2021.
Complex technology
Docking is broadly for two different purposes—for sending human beings from a shuttle to a space station, or for assembling large satellites in space. Each of these has different complexities. In the case of docking for human transfers, there is scope for human intervention if something goes wrong; when satellites mate in space to form larger structures, it all has to be done by using devices such as sensors and cameras.
Imagine two objects – satellites – flying in space at incredible velocities, of the order of 10 km a second. When they are a few kilometres away, they communicate with each other and the one in front slows down in order that the follower comes close. When they are close enough, onboard cameras (or, lasers) switch on and they ‘look’ at each other. Guided by camera, one latches on to the other and the two become a larger structure. This way, enormous structures can be built in space.
Elsewhere in the world, there are talks of space solar stations, which are giant solar power plants up in space which produce electricity from the sun and beam it down to earth in the form of microwaves.
Docking will be a key capability in future space operations and ISRO’s first step in that direction –SPADEX—will happen next year.
ISRO’s space docking experiment to happen next year, says Sivan
Diameter of moulding tool for RLV interface adaptor panels might suggest dimensions of new REX flight article.
Of course the initial plan was to mount this thing on a GSLV MK2 :
Now it has probably changed to MK3.
Of course the initial plan was to mount this thing on a GSLV MK2 :
Now it has probably changed to MK3.
Star Sensor Bracket for RISAT-2B-R1/R2
A star tracker on a satellite is used to determine the orientation (or attitude) of the spacecraft with respect to the stars. Star trackers act as the eyes of the satellite to let the satellite know where it's going in order to get the information we need.
https://isac.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/isac/tndheader/IDT01337700000000000isro08501.pdf
A star tracker on a satellite is used to determine the orientation (or attitude) of the spacecraft with respect to the stars. Star trackers act as the eyes of the satellite to let the satellite know where it's going in order to get the information we need.
https://isac.eprocure.isro.gov.in/tnduploads/isac/tndheader/IDT01337700000000000isro08501.pdf