GSLV-F10 mission 'couldn’t be accomplished as intended' after launch from Sriharikota: ISRO

 Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) second mission of the year to place an earth observation satellite (EOS-3) by a GSLV rocket faced a setback. EOS-03 is the first state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite which was be placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10, as per ISRO. The GSLV-F10 mission was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota at 5:43 am on 12th August,2021. Performance of first and second stages was normal but the mission could not be accomplished fully upon technical anomaly in the cryogenic stage.

Later, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said, "(The mission) could not be fully accomplished mainly because there is a technical anomaly observed in the cryogenic stage. This I wanted to tell to all my friends."

The objective of this mission was to provide near real time imaging of large area region of interest at frequent intervals, for quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events and any short term events, and to obtain spectral signatures for agriculture, forestry, water bodies as well as for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloud burst/ thunderstorm monitoring, etc. This launch was planned to take place in April-May but was pushed to August due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As the news became public, netizens lauded ISRO and wished the space agency luck for its future missions.

Adani, L&T among those in race for PSLV contract

The three entities placed their bids on July 30 after NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a PSU operating under the Department of Space (DoS) issued an RFP (request for proposal) regarding the same.  The NSIL was initially launched as a commercial arm of ISRO and later mandated with productionising launch vehicles, owning satellites and much more.

Three entities—a consortium led by the Adani Group, another one led by L&T and a single company are competing to acquire a PSLV contract for building five PSLV launch vehicles. This will be the first time when entities outside ISRO will build a launch vehicle end-to-end. This contract is likely to be awarded by the end of 2021 and the selected entity will be a licensed producer.

 NSIL announced an expression of interest (EoI) for five PSLVs to which five entities had responded and the RFP for this was then issued in December 2020. “There were five players who responded to the EoI; three have submitted bids after the RFP just over three weeks,” a senior official told the Times of India publication.

The three entities – a consortium comprising Adani-Alpha Design, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), another one including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and L&T have bid as group entities whereas Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bid for this contract as a single company. The contract is not only aimed at furthering the Centre’s Make-in-India but also at ramping up ISRO’s capabilities to launch more satellites in the coming years, as per a DoS communiqué.

“The techno-commercial evaluation is underway, after which the bids will be opened. We are hopeful of completing the whole process in a couple of months, and cannot comment on anything more at this juncture,” NSIL Managing Director and Chairman Radhakrishnan D said.

Government opens up ISRO facilities for private sector

Finance MInister of India Nirmala Seetharaman on Saturday ( 16.5.2020 ) announced giving a role to private sector in India's space programmes which include satellites, launch vehicles, launches and space-based services.

For boosting the private sector in Indian space activities, the Government of India will provide level playing field for private companies in satellites and launch vehicles and other services.   The Government will provide predictable policy and regulatory environment to the private players, she said while announcing the fourth tranche of the economicc stimulus package.   

The start-ups and private firms will get a chance to use ISRO facilities and assets.  This was announced by Finance Minister, Nirmala Seetharaman as she announced reforms for eight sectors amid corona virus pandemic.  

So the private sector will be able to use ISRO facilities and other relevant assets to improve their capacities.  "The future projects for planetary exploration and outer space travel would be open for the private sector",  the Finance Minister said on her fourth press briefing of policy decisions after Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week announced a Rs. 20 lakhs crores stimulus.

India’s first satellite of 2020 Gsat-30 successfully launched from French Guiana

GSAT-30,  India's first satellite of 2020 was successfully launched by European Space Agency's heavy lift launcher Arian 5 ( VA 251 ) from French Guiana at 02:35 am on Friday 17th January, 2020. 

GSAT-30 was placed into a geo synchronous orbit 38 minutes after lift off.  The 3357 Kg GSAT-30 will serve as a replacement to INSAT-4A spacecraft services with enhanced coverage.  The satellite will provide Indian main land with coverage in Ku Band and extended coverage in C-Band covering Gulf countries and large number of Asian countries and Australia.   The mission life of this space craft is 15 years.

For more details please click here..

Please see the video of the live launch below..

The top 10 closest black holes to earth

Black holes should be common in our Milky Way galaxy, but their dark nature means only dozens have been discovered to date. Here are a few nearby black holes astronomers know a little about.

By nature, it is impossible to see black holes directly.  But astronomers can sense their presence by the way they interact with their environments, letting us glimpse these objects whose gravity is so strong that nothing can escape. In the past century, not only have astronomers shown that black holes do exist, but they’ve found dozens in our own galaxy.

However, based on the number of stars in our galaxy, there should actually be tens of millions out there.   Let us now see the top 10 black holes which are closest to our Earth.

1. A0620-00, or V616 Monocerotis:

This black hole occassionally releases dramatic outbursts of X-Ray light.  One of these happened in 1917 and that is how it was discovered.  During the outburst in 1975 this black hole brightened over 1,00,000 times becoming the brightest X-Ray source at that time.  Some of the details of this black hole are given below

• It is about 3,500 light-years away
• 6.6 solar masses 
• Paired with a K-type main sequence star orbiting every 7.75 hours — less than the average work day
• Its companion star is only around 40 percent of our sun’s mass. And the star is continually losing mass to the black hole, whose pull is so strong it’s squeezed into an ellipsoid instead of a sphere.

2. Cygnus X-1:

It is suspected by scientists that this black hole Cygnus X-1 began its life as a star 40 times the mass of our Sun.  It is likely collapsed directly to form a black hole some 5 million years ago.  Some details of this black hole are given below.

• 6,000 light-years away
• 14.8 solar masses 
• The black hole has an event horizon 185 miles across — about the length of New Hampshire.
• Cygnus X-1’s companion star is a blue supergiant variable star that orbits every 5.6 days at just one-fifth of the sun-Earth distance.

3. V404 Cygni:

Scientists reported a wobble in giant jets of particles shot out by the black hole in V404 Cygni in 2019.   They think this wobble could be caused by a black hole warping space-time.   Some details of this black hole are given below.

• 7,800 light-years away
• 9 solar masses
• Paired with an early K giant star that’s 70 percent as massive as our own sun, but six times larger in diameter.  

4. GRO J0422+32:

This black hole is either the smallest ever found that formed from the collapse of star, or it could be a neutron star — the verdict is still out. Some details of this black hole are

• 7,800 light-years away
• 3.66 to 5 solar masses
• Companion to an M-type main sequence star named V518 Per

5. Cygnus X-3:

The mass of this black hole is not well measured and the scientists are uncertain if Cygnus X-3 actually holds a black hole or a neutron star.  The object is paired with a Wolf-Rayet star — an incredibly bright object with an unusual distribution of elements, particularly on its surface — that is one of the brightest stars in the galaxy. The star will likely become a black hole itself fairly soon, so stay tuned — for the next million years or so.  Some details of this black hole are

• 20,00 light-years away
• Roughly 2 to 5 solar masses

6. GRO J1655-40:

This black hole and star are traveling through the galaxy at 250,000 mph. For comparison, the sun cruises at only 44,740 mph. Astronomers think they achieved their breakneck pace when the black hole was created by an asymmetric supernova, which gave the system a kick. Some details of this black hole are

• 11,000 light-years away (perhaps much closer)
• 7 solar masses
• Paired with an evolved F-type star that’s two times as massive as our sun. 
• The star and black hole are locked in an orbit every 2.6 days.
• The black hole spins 450 times per second — fast enough to warp the space around it.

7. Sagittarius A*:

Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star) is the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole. It was first noticed in 1931, thanks to a radio signal coming from the center of the galaxy. But by observing the motions of nearby stars over decades, and watching clumps of gas near the object, astronomers have since firmly determined that it is indeed a supermassive black hole. What’s more, they now know most large galaxies also have them.  Some details of this black hole are

• 25,640 light-years away
• More than 4 million solar masses

8. 47 Tuc X9:

Scientists are still debating whether there’s actually a black hole in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Recent studies offer evidence for and against the idea. But, if it is there, it would be a rare example of a black hole in a globular cluster — something astronomers long thought was impossible. It would also have the closest orbit ever seen between a black hole and a star. Some details of this black hole are

• 14,800 light-years away
• Mass unknown 
• Every 28 minutes, the black hole orbits its companion white dwarf star at a separation of just 2.5 times the distance between Earth and the moon. 

9. XTE J1118+480:

Some details of this black hole are as follows.

• 5,000 to 11,000 light-years away
• More than 6 solar masses
• Paired with a star that packs just 20 percent of the sun’s mass
• Suspected to have been formed by a metal-rich star that underwent a supernova

10. GS2000+25:

• 8,800 light-years away
• 7 solar masses
• Paired with a late K-type star with 50 percent of the sun’s mass
• Binary pair orbits every 8.26 hours

Europe Is Launching a Suicide Robot to clean up the debris in space

We all know that largest dump on Earth is in Space. 

In low Earth orbit — the space around our planet up to about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) in altitude -  There are more than 3000 satellites which are not functioning and tens of millions of smaller pieces of debris around the atmosphere.  And each one of these is moving at tens of thousands of miles per hour  Some times two big pieces of this debris crash into each other creating smaller fragments which is another junk in space.  All these debris are moving at such high velocities that they can damage a space craft moving in the orbit.

So European Space Agency ( ESA ) has announced its plan to tackle this problem using robot hugs.  In its mission known as ClearSpace-1,  ESA will be launching an experimental, four-armed robot to collect a defunct satellite, hug it closely and then finally drag it on a kamikaze dive into Earth's atmosphere - destroying both devices.

The ClearSpace-1 Mission is scheduled to launch in 2025.  It will test its robotic hugging muscles on a mid size piece of junk called Vespa. Which ESA's Vega launcher deposited about 800 Kms above Earth in 2013.  The weight of that debris is 100 Kgs so it is relatively easy to capture on the robotic mission.

After capture of the Vespa, the robotic garbage collector and Vespa both will make a controlled yet fiery descent into Earth's atmosphere.  The cost of this Mission is estimated to be around $135 millions.

Whether this is a cost-effective way or not,  other nations and agencies are proposing other methods for removing debris like deploying tiny nets and using satellite mounted lasers to blast bits of space debris into atmosphere.

ISRO's PSLV-C48 successfully places RISAT-2BR1 and 9 other commercial satellites into orbit on 11th December, 2019

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its fiftieth flight (PSLV-C48), successfully launched RISAT-2BR1, an earth observation satellite, along with nine commercial satellites of Israel, Italy, Japan and USA from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. 

PSLV-C48 lifted-off exactly at 1525Hrs (IST) on December 11, 2019 from the First Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota.  PSLV-C48 was the 75th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the 2nd flight of PSLV in 'QL' configuration (with 4 solid strap-on motors).  Also this is the 50th PSLV flight of ISRO.

 About 16 minutes and 23 seconds after lift-off, RISAT-2BR1 was injected into an orbit of 576 km at an inclination of 37 degree to the equator.

RISAT-2BR1 is a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg. The satellite will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management. The mission life of RISAT-2BR1 is 5 years.

9 Commercial satellites were also successfully injected into designated orbit. These satellites were launched under commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

Here is the video of the PSLV-C48 Launch...