India launches 6th Navigation satellite onboard PSLV-C32

India has launched the 1425 Kg IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System ( IRNSS) on 10th March, 2016 afternoon.  This is the 34th flight of PSLV launch vehicle. The launch took place from India's space port, Sriharikota.   This is the 12th PSLV flight in its 'XL' configuration. 

After the lift off at 16:01 IST from Second launch pad with the ignition of first stage, the subsequent important flight events took place as planned.   The IRNSS-1F satellite was injected to an elliptical orbit of 284 Km x 20719 Km inclined at an angle of 17.866 degrees to the equator after 19 minutes 14 seconds.  The solar panels of the spacecraft were deployed automatically after separation.  ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hasan took over the control of the satellite and placed the satellite into a Geostationary orbit at 32.5 degree East longitude.  This is the 6th of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system.  IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E were the first five satellites of the constellation were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013,  April 04, 2014, October 16, 2014, March 28, 2015 and January 20, 2016 respectively. 

The IRNSS is an independent regional navigation system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 Km around the Indian main land.  The IRNSS would provide two types of services namely, Standard positioning services (SPS)- provided to all users and Restricted Services ( RS )  provided to authorized users.  

There are a number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite ranging and monitoring etc.  18 stations have been established across the country.  

Here is a video of the PSLV-C32 LAUNCH...

India launches 5th Navigation Satellite onboard PSLV-C31

ISRO has launched PSLV-C31 rocket on Wednesday, 20th January, 2016.  The Rocket carried the fifth navigtion satellite of India - IRNSS-1E and launched it into its orbit.  With this launch, India is closer to having its own global positioning system (GPS).  Two more satellites are to be launched in this constellation.

The PSLV-C31 blasted off from the Second Launch Pad of the Space port of India - Sriharikota as per schedule.   The rocket took off at 9:31 AM  IST. The life span of the satellite is 12 years.

The constellation of 7 satellites is planned to be completed this year itself.  The full system comprises of 9 satellites - seven in the orbit and two on the ground as stand-by.   The first satellite in the constellation - IRNSS-1A was launched in July, 2013,  the second in April, 2014, the third in October, 2014 and the fourth one was launched in March, 2015.  

Once the Regional Navigation System, India need not depend on other platforms for GPS services.  The IRNSS satellites two types of payloads - One is Navigation payload and the other is Ranging payload.  The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will transmit navigation signals to the users.  This payload will operate in L5 band and S-Band.

A highly accurate rubidium atomic clock is a part of the navigation payload.  The ranging payload of this satellite consists of C-band transponder which facilitate accurate range of the satellite.  The IRNSS-1E also carries corner cube retro reflectors for laser ranging.

As PSLV-C31 soared into the blue sky at the end of 48 hours count down, all the four stages of the launch vehicle executed their functions as expected.  The two solar panels of IRNSS-1E were deployed automatically after injection of the satellite into the geo transfer orbit.  The orbit raising operations would be done from the Master Control Facility in Karnataka.  The weight of IRNSS-1E is 1,425 Kg.

Here is a live video showing the launch of PSLV-C31.

ISRO's GSAT-15 Communications Satellite successfully launched - Diwali Gift

The ISRO has given its country a perfect Diwali Gift - An indigeneously developed communications Satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched at 03:04 AM ( IST ) today.  The satellite was launched using one of the largest rockets of the world - The Ariane-5.  The launch took place from Kourou in French Guyana in South America.

The GSAT-15 is 3164 Kg in weight and costed about Rs. 278 crores to make it.   The satellite carries 24 transponders which helps in Direct to Home (DTH) broadcasting.  The GSAT-15 also carries a GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) payload which operates in L1 and L5 bands which helps in aircraft navigation.   The Ariane-5 rocket was hired at a cost of Rs. 580 crores.  Another satellite ARABSAT communications satellite also accompanied GSAT-15 in the same launch.  The GSAT-15 was launched into a GTO orbit after Arabsat was injected into space.

India has shortage of transponders at present in space.  Only 1/3 of the required capacity is being handled by Indian Satellite System. The rest is being leased from foreign satellite owners.  After a smooth countdown of  11 hours and 30 minutes the Ariane-5 lifted off at the scheduled time./

The live video of the GSAT-15 launch can be seen below.

ESA deploys "Big Iron" to communicate with its deep space missions

ESA deployed "big iron" to communicate with its deep-space missions.  Three 35-m diameter dishes employing some of the world's most advanced tracking technology.  The three Deep Space Antenna stations of ESA located at New Norcia, Australia, Cebreros, Spain and Malargue, Argentina send commands and receive data from spacecrafts travelling hundreds of millions of kilometers into solar system.

The three stations form a part of ESA's Estrack network which is a global system of stations providing links between satellites in orbit and the European Space Operations Center, Darmstadt, Germany,  The core network comprise of 10 stations in 7 countries.

The huge dish antennae whose movable structures weigh around 620 tonnes - can be elevated, rotated and aimed with great accuracy in spite of high winds and heat and transmit radio signals upto 20 KW power - enough to run over 20,000 domestic coffee makers.  They make use of advanced, made in Europe Electronics, including cryogenically cooled low-noise amplifiers ( LNA) and exquisitely machined mirrors made of metal.

ISRO Successfully launches GSLV-D5 carrying GSAT-6 Satellite

ISRO has successfully launched its Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) D6 which carried the India's latest communication satellite GSAT-6.  The countdown for the launch began at 11:52 hrs IST  on wednesday 26th August, 2015.  The launch took place at 16:52 hrs IST on thursday 27th August, 2015 from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.  This is the second success of indigenously made Cryogenic stage after the 5th January, 2014 launch of GSLV=D5.

The success of GSLV-D6 is one of the significant milestones in the history of India's GSLV
programme.  The earlier GSLV-D5 success had propelled India into an elite group of nations boasting of the home grown complex crogenic engine and stage after two failures in 2010.  ISRO is the sixth space agency in the world after USA, Russia, Japan, China and France to have joined the indigenous cryogenic regime, which is very crucial for launch of heavier satellites weighing more than 2 tonnes.

Mission Director Mr R.Uma maheswaran described the success of GSLV-D6 as the "Onam Gift".  Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi congratulated the ISRO team terming the launch as a phenomenal accomplishment.  Here is a video of the GSLV-D6 Launch from Sriharikota.

NASA's SLS program is Right on Track for journey to MARS

Here is a news about the NASA's Space Launch System program collected from NASA website.

NASA's Space Launch System Program has completed its review - This is a step forward for the program which helps to launch astronauts on missions to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and then eventually to MARS.  The in-depth review provides a final look at the design and development of the integrated rocket before full-scale fabrication begins.  13 teams including representatives from several NASA field centers worked for 11 weeks and reviewed more than 1000 files of data as part of comprehensive assessment process.

The SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built for a new era of exploration to destinations beyond Earth's orbits.  The rocket will launch astronauts in the Agency's Orion spacecraft on missions to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and eventually to MARS.

“Now that we’ve completed our review, we will brief NASA leadership, along with the independent review team, about the results and readiness to proceed to the next phase. After that step is complete, we’ll move on to design certification,” said Todd May, SLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Critical design review represents a major commitment by the agency to human exploration, and through these reviews, we ensure the SLS design is on track to being a safe, sustainable and evolvable launch vehicle that will meet the agency’s goals and missions.

“It’s an exciting time for NASA and our nation,” May continued, “as we prepare to go to places in deep space that we’ve never been before.”

The critical design review is for the first of three configurations planned for SLS, referred to as SLS Block 1. It will stand 322 feet tall, provide 8.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, weigh 5.5 million pounds and carry 70 metric tons or 154,000 pounds of payload, equivalent to approximately 77 one-ton pickup trucks’ worth of cargo. Its first mission — Exploration Mission-1 — will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to demonstrate the integrated system performance of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft before a crewed flight.

Block 1 requires many critical parts to get it off the ground and safely into space, including twin solid rocket boosters, powerful engines, flight computers, avionics and the core stage. The core stage, towering more than 200 feet tall with a diameter of 27.6 feet, will carry cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s four RS-25 engines.

The team turned in its work to a Standing Review Board composed of seasoned experts from NASA and industry who are independent of the program. The board will review and assess the program’s readiness and confirm it remains on target to meet the established schedule and cost goals.

“Much of the benefit of this review is what we do to prepare for it because that’s where we really bring things out,” said Jim Reuter, head of the Standing Review Board. “And you can tell it in the spirit of the people here. They are excited about what they’re doing. They can see that this is the review that’s going to make it real.”

SLS Program managers will present the results from the critical design review board and Standing Review Board to Marshall’s Center Management Council. After receiving the council’s concurrence, the results then will be briefed to the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

Element-level critical design reviews for the SLS core stage, boosters and engines have been completed successfully. The integrated spacecraft and payloads are nearing completion on their critical design review.

The Engineering Directorate at Marshall, where the SLS program is managed, provided the majority of the initial phase CDR documents, including drawings and data.

“A thorough review requires a wide range of engineering skills and experts to assess everything from avionics and software that fly the vehicle to ground transportation and integrated systems testing designs and plans,” said Preston Jones, deputy director of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate. “We have gone through every design interface and rechecked analysis to ensure we are meeting all SLS mission performance and crew safety requirements.”

The Orion Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Ground Systems Development Office at Kennedy Space Center in Florida also will undergo similar reviews this year. After those reviews are done, NASA will set a date for Exploration Mission-1.

“We’ve nailed our review schedules,” said Garry Lyles, chief engineer for the SLS Program Office at the Marshall Center. “The team is performing at a really high level. And I’m unbelievably positive in the structural robustness of this vehicle; it has tremendous performance. We’ve picked the right vehicle for the journey to Mars.”

ISRO to launch 9 nano and micro Satellites of USA

This is the news published in NDTV website about ISRO to launch USA satellites for the first time.  I am just reproducing the news posted in NDTV website here.

ISRO will be launching 9 nano/micro satellites for the United States during the year 2015-16. ANTRIX corporation which is the commercial arm of ISRO has signed an agreement to launch about nine nano / micro satellite of USA during the year 2015-16.  These satellites will go as piggy back on PSLV.

Till now 45 satellites belonging to various International Customers from 19 countries have been launched successfully by ISRO launch vehicles.   ISRO is also planning to demonstrate its first Reusable Launch Vehicle ( RLV ) technology by the end of 2015.

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