ISRO to launch geo imaging satellite GISAT-1 on March 5 from Sriharikota

GISAT-1 will encourage close to continuous perception of the Indian subcontinent, under sans cloud conditions

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Wednesday said that GSLV-F10 will dispatch geo imaging satellite, GISAT-1, from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on March 5. The dispatch is booked to happen at 5.43 pm. “Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F10) will dispatch geo imaging satellite (GISAT-1) from the subsequent platform of the SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The dispatch is probably planned at 1743 Hrs IST on March 05, 2020, subject to climate conditions,” ISRO said.

Weighing around 2,275 kg, GISAT-1 is a best in class deft Earth perception satellite that will be put in a ‘geosynchronous exchange circle’ by GSLV-F10. In this manner, the satellite will arrive at the last geostationary circle utilizing its installed drive framework. A four meter-measurement ogive molded payload fairing is being flown without precedent for this GSLV flight. This is the fourteenth trip of the GSLV, the space association said. Working from geostationary circle, GISAT-1 will encourage close to continuous perception of the Indian subcontinent, under without cloud conditions, at visit interims, it included.

Nasa satellite finds debris of Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram, releases pics

Vikram lost contact with Isro following its launch from Chandraayan-2 moon orbiter on September 6 when it tried to make a softlanding near the moon’s south pole

NASA has found the crash site and debris of India’s Chandrayaan-2 Vikram moon lander following a tip from an Indian space enthusiast who examined pictures of the area of the moon taken by a US orbiting camera.

The site was located by Shanmuga Subramanian, who on his own scoured the pictures taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbital Camera (LROC), NASA and Arizona State University announced on Monday confirming the find. The first mosaic image of the likely crash site made from pictures taken by the LROC on September 17 was downloaded by several people to look for signs of the Vikram, NASA said.

Arizona State University (ASU), where the LROC project is located, said, “After receiving this tip the LROC team confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images.”One of them, Subramanian, contacted the LROC project with a positive identification of debris, it said. When the images for the first mosaic were acquired on September 17, the impact point was poorly illuminated and could not easily be identified, it said.

But two image sequences were acquired on October 14 and 15, and on November 11 were better. The university said that based on Subramanian’s tip, the LROC team scoured the surrounding area in the new mosaics and found the impact site and the debris field. The impact site is located at 70.8810 degree S, 22.7840 degrees E, at an elevation of 834 metres, it said….

Isro launches 14 satellites, marking success after Chandrayaan-2 setback

Cartosat-3, India’s third-generation earth observation satellite, will be used for large-scale urban planning and to monitor coastal land, rural resources and infrastructure development

India launched 14 satellites Wednesday morning, boosting the morale of its space agency which lost contact with a spacecraft to trying to land on the moon in September.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C47 (PSLV-C47) placed in orbit India’s earth observation satellite Cartosat-3 and 13 nano-satellites for the US when it blasted off from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro’s) Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 9:28am. Seventeen minutes after lift-off, Cartosat-3 separated from the launch vehicle and put into orbit. The 13 US satellites will be launched in the next eight minutes, completing the first business order of Isro‘s newly formed commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd.

Cartosat-3, India’s third-generation earth observation satellite, will be used for large-scale urban planning and to monitor coastal land, rural resources and infrastructure development. The satellite, which will last for five years and weighs 1,625kg, can pick a 25-cm object from its orbital perch about 509 km away, making it one of the sharpest earth-imagers. Twelve US nano-satellites called FLOCK-4P will be used for earth observation and another called MESHBED is a communication test bed.

Isro lost contact with Chandrayaan-2 on September 7 when it was trying to land on the moon, scuttling the agency’s ambitious plans to become the first country to probe the unexplored lunar south pole.

NASA orbiter finds no trace of Chandrayaan-2 lander ‘Vikram’ on moon

On September 7, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) attempted a soft landing of Vikram on the uncharted lunar south pole, before losing communication with the lander

NASA has found no evidence of Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander in the images captured during a latest flyby of its Moon orbiter of the lunar region where India’s ambitious mission attempted a soft landing, the US space agency said. On September 7, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) attempted a soft landing of Vikram on the uncharted lunar south pole, before losing communication with the lander.

“The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the area of the targeted Chandrayaan-2Vikram landing site on October 14 but did not observe any evidence of the lander,” Noah Edward Petro, the Project Scientist for the LRO mission, told PTI in an exclusive email interaction.

Petro said that the camera team carefully examined the images and employed the change detection technique — using a ratio of an image from prior to the landing attempt to the one acquired on October 14. This approach, he said, is used for finding new meteorite impacts on the Moon that also helped locate the recent Beresheet lander.

“It is possible that Vikram is located in a shadow or outside of the search area. Because of the low latitude, approximately 70 degrees south, the area is never completely free of shadows, John Keller, Deputy Project Scientist LRO Mission, told PTI….

Chandrayaan-2: ISRO racing against time to get ‘Vikram’ back to life

The lander Vikram, with rover ‘Pragyan’ tucked inside it, lost communication with the ground-stations during its final descent, just 2.1 kms above the lunar surface

ISRO is racing against time to spring ‘Vikram’ back to life and salvage the lander-rover part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. The lander Vikram, with rover ‘Pragyan’ tucked inside it, lost communication with the ground-stations during its final descent, just 2.1 kms above the lunar surface, minutes before the planned soft-landing in the early hours of Saturday.

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) said on Sunday Vikram had a “hard-landing”. The Bengaluru-headquarterd space agency on Tuesday again confirmed that the lander has been located on the lunar surface by the on-board cameras of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter which is circling the moon in its intended orbit.

“All possible efforts are being made to establish communication with (the) lander”, ISRO further said in a tweet. A senior ISRO official associated with the mission said: “The images from the orbiter camera showed that Vikram is in single piece lying on the lunar surface; not broken into pieces. it is in a tilted position. It’s not in its four legs, as usual”…

Chandrayaan 2’s journey from ideation to the cusp of landing: A timeline

The India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 has gone through a long journey dotted with many events in close to 12 years since being conceived in 2007

Chandrayaan-2 is about to begin its final descent to pull off a historic soft landing on the lunar surface. The India’s second moon mission has gone through a long journey dotted with many events in close to 12 years since being conceived in 2007. Starting from Chandrayaan 1, here’s a list of all the major events that led Chandrayaan-2 to where it is today:

April 2003

Over 100 eminent Indian scientists in the fields of planetary and space sciences, Earth sciences, physics, chemistry, astronomy, astrophysics and engineering and communication sciences discuss and approve the Task Force recommendation to launch a probe to the moon.

August 15, 2003

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announces the Chandrayaan mission during his Independence Day speech.

November 2003

The government gives its approval for the moon mission.

October 22, 2008

Chandrayaan-1 launched successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota using four-stage PSLV rocket.

November 26, 2008

The indigenous Terrain Mapping Camera, which was first activated on October 29, 2008, acquires images of peaks and craters. This comes as a surprise to Isro officials because the Moon consists mostly of craters….

How Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram will soft-land on the Moon? Isro explains

Hours after touchdown, rover Pragyaan will roll out from inside the lander to carry out intense probe of the moon soil with its two payloads.

The crucial landing of ‘Vikram’, Chandrayaan-2’s moon lander, will be carried out by at least eight onboard equipment in a coordinated manner.

‘Vikram’ with rover ‘Pragyaan’ housed inside is scheduled for a powered-descent between 1 am and 2 am on September 7, followed by its touchdown between 1.30 am and 2.30 am. Ahead of the proposed touchdown in the early hours of Saturday, the Isroexplained through a video how it will take place.

The space agency explained that the machine will be fitted with at least three cameras, Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC), Lander Horizontal Velocity Camera (LHVC) and Lander Hazardous Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC), to ensure its soft landing on the lunar surface. There will be two KA Band Altimeter-1 and KA Band Altimeter-2.

The KA Band stands for Kurtz-above band, which is part of the Kurtz (K) band in the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. There will be a Laser Altimeter (LASA), an instrument that is used to learn about the topography, or the shape of the surface of a planet. It will operate through the orbitor revolving around the moon above the lander….

Isro conducts Chandrayaan-2 Moon lander’s deorbit manoeuvre successfully

Deorbiting manoeuvres involve the firing of the spacecraft’s engines to slow down its pace and bring it closer to the Moon’s surface

After successfully separating India’s first Moon lander, Vikram, on Monday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) conducted its first deorbit manoeuvre successfully on Tuesday. The manoeuvre began at 0850 hours and had a duration of 4 seconds.

Isro officials said that after Tuesday’s deorbit manoeuvre, the lander had achieved a 109 x 120 km orbit around the Moon. One more deorbit manoeuvre will be conducted on Wednesday and the orbit that the lander will achieve after this will be 39 X 110 km. The effort is to soft-land the lander in the South polar region of the Moon between two craters — Manzinus C and Simpelius N — on September 7, 2019. Deorbiting manoeuvres involve the firing of the spacecraft’s engines to slow down its pace and bring it closer to the Moon’s surface.

ALSO READ: Chandrayaan-2’s lander, Vikram, leaves orbiter for the Moon’s surface

Earlier, Isro Chairman K Sivan said that using deorbiting manoeuvres, the space agency would rotate the lander to the opposite side and burn all the five engines for a short while to reduce the distance between the lander and the Moon’s surface, before rotating it back to the previous position. In the second deorbiting manoeuvre, the agency will once again rotate the lander to the opposite side and conduct a small burn of the engines to further bring down the orbit.

The lander will then make a powered descent to the Moon’s surface in the unexplored south pole on September 7. Sivan said that the powered descent will be carried out in a 15-minute window between 0130 hours and 0230 hours IST on September 7, through which Vikram will touch down on the surface of the Moon…

Keep Reading: Chandrayan 2

Chandrayaan-2 performs 3rd lunar-bound orbit maneuver; landing in 11 days

India’s second lunar expedition — would shed light on a completely unexplored section of the Moon, its South Polar region

With just 11 days to go for its moon landing, the Indian Space Research Organisation on Wednesday said it has successfully performed the third lunar-bound orbit maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.

All spacecraft parameters were normal, the city-headquartered space agency said after the maneuver on the spacecraft that is currently in the lunar orbit for its rendezvous with the Moon.

“Third Lunar bound orbit maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was performed successfully today (August 28, 2019) beginning at 0904 hrs IST, using the onboard propulsion system. The duration of the maneuver was 1190 seconds. The orbit achieved is 179 km x 1412 km,” ISRO said in an update.

“All spacecraft parameters are normal. The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled on August 30, 2019 between 1800 – 1900 hrs IST,” it said. In a major milestone for India’s second Moon mission, theChandrayaan-2spacecraft had successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver….

Chandrayaan-2 begins 48-day journey to the Moon amid anxiety and euphoria

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Isro and its scientists on this feat

Current Affairs: The state of mind was euphoric on Monday at the mission control room of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (Isro’s) Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota. At 2.43 pm the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mk III (GSLV-Mk III), conveying the 3.8-ton Chandrayaan-2 rocket, lifted off from its launchpad.

GSLV-Mk III cost Rs 375 crore and Chandrayaan-2 Rs 603 crore. After a specialized tangle prematurely ending the departure on July 15, the space organization prevailing with regards to putting the satellite on the ideal circle, or a superior circle, as the initial step of its 48-day voyage to the moon’s unexplored south shaft, around 384,000 km away.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted Isro and its researchers on this accomplishment. Prior to the dispatch, notwithstanding, it was a strained circumstance at the mission control live with previous Isro boss A S Kiran Kumar and K Radhakrishnan, among others, viewing the procedures from the exhibition. There was no carefree discussion as there used to be during the dispatch of some PSLV missions. Be that as it may, when the declaration of the fruitful dispatch came, individuals went into joys, amidst which the researchers praised Isro Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan on this and embraced him. Around 7,500 guests saw the dispatch live from the Viewer’s Gallery at Sriharikota..

ISRO aims for the stars: Plans space station, missions to Venus and Sun

Isro said the space station would be a small module and underlined that there were no commercial plans for tourism purposes

India intends to have its own space station sooner rather than later as the nation’s summit space office builds up a three-pronged way to deal with extending its quality in the external skies. The methodology centers around constant dispatch of cutting edge satellites, missions to other planetary bodies, and having an Indian in space in possess rocket.

The Gaganyaan program, India’s lady mission to take human in space, booked for 2022, would be reached out to dispatch the space station, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said on Thursday. A space station is a rocket in circle around the Earth which fills in as a base for space travelers and cosmonauts to do logical examinations.

“We need to continue the Gaganyaan program after the dispatch of the human space mission. In this specific situation, India is wanting to have its own space station,” Sivan said. The administration has put aside a spending limit of Rs 10,000 crore for Gaganyaan. There would be two flights from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota without the team before the lady trip with group at some point in 2022. “We are pointing that previously or around India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022,” said Jitendra Singh, clergyman of state at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Isro said the proposed space station would be a little module, and that there were no business designs thusly. “The station would be utilized to lead small scale gravity tests. The underlying arrangement is to check if space explorers can remain for 15-20 days in space. In any case, the particular subtleties would rise after India finishes up its previously kept an eye on mission,” said an ISRO official.

PSLV-C45 lifts off with EMISAT, 28 foreign satellites

PSLV-C45 lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota carrying EMISAT and 28 customer satellites on board

Current Affairs: India’s latest observation satellite EMISAT took off smoothly on Monday morning with Isro placing payloads in three orbits and conducting space experiments for the first time.

The launch vehicle PSLV-C45 blasted off from the Isro spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:27 am today. The rocket is carrying an electronic intelligence satellite Emisat for the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and 28 third-party satellites. This is the first mission of the PSLV in which its PSLV-QL variant (4 XL Strap-on motors) is being flown. The mission marks several firsts to the credit of the space agency as it would manoeuvre satellites in various orbits and orbital experiments including on maritime satellite applications.

The primary satellite in the rocket is EMISAT, a satellite based on Isro’s Indian Mini Satellite -2 (IMS-2) bus platform. It is an electronic intelligence satellite for DRDO. The mission would witness the Isro placing payloads three orbits and conducting space experiments.

The principal “first-time” innovation this time is the multiple orbits involved in the mission. The main satellite EMISAT and the 28 customer satellites will be ed into two different orbits, and later, the fourth stage engine of the rocket will be taken to a third orbit in space. A new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL equipped with four Strap-On motors in the first stage is used for the launch.

This is the 47th mission for Isro’s PSLV programme.

So after injecting the 436 kg primary satellite EMISAT, intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, at around 17 minutes from lift off in a 749 km orbit, they would restart the fourth stage again. During this initiative, all the other 28 customer satellites would be released by lowering the fourth state to around 504 kms orbit. Again, the fourth stage would be reignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform for carrying out space borne experimentations for the first time in Isro’s history…

Mission Shakti: India’s anti-satellite test sends a stark message to China

Foreign ministry said that India wasn’t engaging in an arms race, but asserted that “with this test, India joins an exclusive group of space-faring nations consisting of USA, Russia and China

One month after an ageing Indian Air Force jet was shot down in a dogfight with neighboring Pakistan, New Delhi has demneighbouring new weapons capability aimed at another, more powerful geopolitical rival: China.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a national address to announce India had “established itself as a space power” by sending an indigenously designed ballistic-missile interceptor up 300 kilometers (190 miles) to destroy a satellite orbiting the Earth. The move — with political overtones just weeks ahead of a national election — sends a stark message to India’s nuclear-armed rivals, China and Pakistan, and changes Asia’s strategic calculus by proving India has the ability to knock out enemy satellites.

The development suggests India, which has long struggled with a lethargic military-procurement process and outdated defense technology, is getting closer to sitting alongside China, Russia and the U.S. as countries with the ability to disrupt enemy communications networks. The move comes weeks after India sparred with arch-foe Pakistan in the skies over Kashmir, a disputed border region where China also has territorial claims.

“Essentially, India is saying that we are a strong and capable military power — it’s not specific to any one country, but it is a message to all of India’s adversaries,” said Ajey Lele, a retired Indian Air Force group captain who’s now a senior fellow at the Ministry of Defence-funded Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. “If somebody wants to do something to our satellites, we have the capability to do this to your satellites…

Click Here: Mission Shakti

India successfully tests ASAT missile, joins space superpower club

The tracking and interception capabilities that went into Mission Shakti have been available with the DRDO for over a decade

Current Affairs: On Wednesday morning, 300 kilometers over the Odisha coast, a ballistic rocket guard interceptor created by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) struck a satellite in a low earth circle, crushing it into pieces. Head administrator Narendra Modi declared the accomplishment of the test, codenamed Mission Shakti, on TV and Twitter. Proclaiming that “there can’t be a more prominent snapshot of pride for any Indian”, he stated: “In the voyage of each country, there are minutes that bring most extreme pride and historically affect ages to come. One such minute is today. India has effectively tried the counter satellite (ASAT) rocket.”

The Prime Minister said India had enrolled its name among the space superpowers. “Up until this point, just three nations were in this club – America, Russia and China. Presently India has turned into the fourth nation to build up this capacity,” he said.

The following and capture attempt abilities that went into Mission Shakti have been accessible with the DRDO for over 10 years. It started building up these after China’s fruitful ASAT test in 2007. On March 18, 2008, at that point DRDO boss, Dr VK Saraswat (presently a NITI Aayog part), had informed the media in New Delhi that blocking an approaching rocket terminated from 2,000 kilometers away required a similar innovation required for shooting down a satellite. Asserting that the DRDO effectively had that capacity in 2008, Saraswat had stated: “We have worked, starting at now, ABM (ballistic missile destroying rocket) frameworks with interceptors to draw in 2,000 kilometer-class of targets.”

India’s heaviest satellite GSAT-11 launched from French Guiana: ESA

GSAT-11 would play a vital role in providing broadband services across the country

Latest News: GSAT-11, the heaviest satellite built by Isro (Indian Space Research Organization), was launched successfully early on Wednesday morning according to a tweet by the European State Agency.

The satellite was onboard Ariane-5 VA246, which blasted off from Kourou Launch Zone in French Guiana at 20:37 GMT. The 5,854-kg satellite, almost double the biggest one built or launched by Isro till date, was launched aboard the European launch vehicle Ariane 5 ECA.|GSAT 11  

The heavy-duty Ariane-5 vehicle was also carrying GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

Once this big bird is in the space and starts operations, satellite-based broadband will become a reality in India. Besides, it will also significantly contribute towards bridging the divide between digital urban and rural India and will enable the next generation application such as in-flight connectivity, says Isro. Currently, India has nearly 450 million internet users.

Click Here : Business Standard OR  BS

Another milestone for Isro with 100th satellite: 10 things you should know

16 nanosatellites made by the US placed into the sun-synchronous orbit of the Earth

India on Friday launched a polar rocket with 31 satellites, including three Indian and 28 of six other nations from its spaceport in Sriharikota. The 44.4-metre tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) roared into a clear sky after a perfect lift-off at 9.29 a.m. after a 28-hour countdown. The 320-tonne rocket will eject the satellites one-by-one and deploy them into the earth's lower orbit about 17 minutes and 18 seconds after the lift-off.

Isro Chairman designate K Sivan says PSLVC40 is special for Isro since it is coming after a failure 4.5 months back.

PSLVC40 Performance was excellent and entire system perfectly. Its a green flag for high profile missions.

S Somanath, Director, LPSC says today's successful launch is a reassurance to all of us about PSLV. The previous launch failed due to a "very minor" issue.

Here's all you should know about the launch:

• For the mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used PSLV-C40 launch vehicle, which is carrying 31 satellites, including three from India and 28 from six other countries.
• The weather observation 'Cartosat-2 Series' satellite and 29 others will be inserted into a 505-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit after about seventeen and a half minutes since its liftoff.
• This satellite is the seventh remote sensing satellite in its series and has the mission life of five years.
• Its uses include monitoring urban and rural applications, coastal land use regulation, managing services like road networks and water distribution, detecting changes in geographical features and creation of land use maps.
• The flight is the first since the setback suffered by the PSLV in August last and is set to demonstrate that the workhorse rocket is back in the game for reliable satellite launches in the low earth and polar orbits....Read more

4 months after failed bid, ISRO launches 100th Satellite Cartosat-2 Series

The total weight of all the 31 satellites carried on-board PSLV-C40 is about 1,323 kgs

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) on Friday launched its 100th satellite along with 31 others in a single mission from the space port of Sriharikota.
The 42nd flight of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) carrying the 710-kg Cartosat-2 series satellite took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

The total weight of all the 31 satellites carried on-board PSLV-C40 is about 1,323 kgs.

The 28 international customer satellites were launched as part of the commercial arrangements between ISRO and its commercial arm 'Antrix Corporation Ltd'.

Of the total number of satellites carried by PSLV-C40, 30 satellites were launched into a 505 kms polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

ALSO READ : Another Milestone For Isro With 100th Satellite: 10 Things You Should Know

According to ISRO, the Cartosat-2 series satellite launch is a follow-on mission with the primary objective of providing high resolution scene specific spot imageries.

It carries panchromatic and multi-spectral cameras operating in Time Delay Integration mode and is capable of delivering high resolution data.

It will be the third satellite in the Cartosat-2 series.

ISRO had successfully launched Cartosat-2 Series satellite on June 22, 2016.

It is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B.

The images sent by Cartosat-2 series satellite will be useful for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps and change detection to bring out geographical Land Information Systems and Geographical Information System applications.

ISRO Satellite Centre Director M Annadurai had recently said the launch of 28 satellites from abroad and three Indian satellites during the mission would mark the roll out of the 100th satellite by the space agency.

Today's launch also marks the first launch for ISRO in 2018 following the unsuccessful mission of navigation satellite IRNSS-1H last year.

On August 31, 2017 India's mission to launch its backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 failed after the heat shield did not separate in the final leg of the launch sequence and as a result, the satellite IRNSS-1H got stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.