3rd navigation Satellite ( IRNSS-1C) launched by India on 16th October, 2014

The third navigation satellite, IRNSS-1C was launched by India on thursday early morning at 01:32 hrs IST ( 16th October, 2014).  The ISRO's work horse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV gave the country and the ISRO yet another text book launch at exactly 20.25 minutes after the PSLV-C26 lifted off with IRNSS-1C Satellite from Sriharikota at 01:32 hrs IST.  The spacecraft was placed into its intended orbit.

The IRNSS-1C is a part of Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) which is a constellation of Geosynchronous satellites which the ISRO has been deploying to provide navigation data to India and the surrounding region.  The first satellite of the series IRNSS-1A was launched last July with seven satellites scheduled for completion by end of 2015.

The IRNSS-1C has a total mass of 1,425 Kgs including the weight of the fuel.  The spacecraft has a mass of only 600 Kgs without fuel.  The remaining 825 Kg is the weight taken up by the propellant for the apogee motors and manoeuvring engines.  The spacecraft is designed for a life period of 10 years operations.  The spacecraft generates 1600 watts of power through its twin solar arrays.  The satellite broadcasts L5 and S band navigation signals.  

This is the 27th successful mission of PSLV.  Hon'ble Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh witnessed the launch from the Mission Control Center at Sriharikota.   After the lift-off of PSLV-C26 with the ignition of the first stage, the important flight events, namely, stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 20 minutes 18 seconds, IRNSS-1C Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.56 km X 20,670 km, which is very close to the intended orbit. 

Russian Rocket Soyuz ST-B launches Galileo Satellites into wrong orbit

Arianspace has confirmed on Friday 22nd August, 2014 that two satellites for Europe's Galileo Navigation network were released into wrong orbit after launching aboard a Soyuz St-B rocket from french Guiana.

The Russian Rocket Soyuz ST-B has launched the Galileo satelllites from European Space port in Kourou, French Guiana on Friday 22nd August, 2014.  How ever the launch of two FOC-M1 ( FM01 and FM02) satellites which took place at 12:27 UTC did not result in a correct orbital injection.  Controllers are now looking for options to save the satellites.

There was no clarity whether the two satellites have enough fuel to make up for the orbit injection errors.  The Russian built Soyuz ST-B launch vehicle carrying the Galileo satellites blasted off from French Guiana in South America at 08:27 AM EDT ( !2:27 GMT).  The Soyuz rocket's three booster stages gave way to a Russian Fregat-MT upper stage less than 10 minutes after lift off.  The Fregat was programmed to fire two times to propel the Galileo satellites into a circular medium earth orbit tilted at an angle of 55 degrees to the equator.   

The Fregat upper stage consists of six spherical tanks arrayed in a circle ( four for propellant, two containing avionics) with trusses passing through the tanks to provide structural support.  The stage is independent from the Soyuz's lower three stages having its own guidance, navigation, control, tracking and telemetry systems.  The Fregat uses earth storable propellants ( UDMH/NTO) and can be restarted up to 20 times in flight - enabling it to carry out complex mission profiles.  It can provide 3-axis stabilization or perform a spin-up of the spacecraft payload.

US military orbital tracking data indicated that the Galileo satellites launched by Soyuz on Friday were flying in lower orbit than planned.  The officials confirmed launch anomaly on Friday.  Arianspace said that investigations into the launch anomaly are underway and more information will be provided after analysis of the flight data.

The $7.2 billion Galileo network will consist of 30 satellites when completed.  At least 24 satellites are required for independent global navigation coverage.  ESA officials said before Firday's launch that two more Galileo satellites were being prepared for lift off on another Soyuz launcher in December, 2014.  Another 8 spacecrafts were on track for launches on Soyuz or Arian 5 next year.( 2015).

Here is a video of the launch of GAlileo satellites......

SpaceX Rocket explodes during Test Flight

SpaceX is one of the private companies which is the most successful non-Government company in Space programs.  It was the first private company to launch a spacecraft to orbit and recover it and it was the first to launch a satellite into a geo synchronous orbit.  It is amazing that SpaceX has come so far without any set back.  But the failure happened on Friday, 23rd August, 2014 during an unmanned internal test and no payload was lost.

 SpaceX rocket exploded shortly after launching during a test flight in Texas, according to Bruce Gietzen of KXXV-TV.   Gietzen followed up by reporting there were no injuries. The rocket, which was unmanned, was launched from the SpaceX rocket-development facility in McGregor, Texas.  

Mr. John Taylor, a spokesman for SpaceX said that the prototype rocket automatically detonated after detection of an anamoly during a test flight on Friday 23rd August, 2014 in McGregor, Texas.   He said that the rocket was a three-engine version of the F9R ( FAlcon Rocket ) test vehicle, a prototype intended to pave way for fully reusable launch vehicles which would fly themselves back home. The rocket is similar to Falcon 9 which the SpaceX uses to launch unmanned cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station.  

The Flight Termination System automatically terminated the mission during the flight when an anamoly was detected.    SpaceX will review the flight record to learn more about the rocket's performance before its next test flight.  Here is a video of the launch and the explosion....

Robotic Russian CArgo Ship launched for a trip to International Space Station

An unmanned Russian spacecraft filled with three tons of cargo for the six crew members living on the International Space Station launched on 23rd July, 2014.  

The unmanned Progress 56 spacecraft launched atop a Russian built Soyuz rocket from Baikanur Cosmodrome in Kazakhistan at 5:44 PM EDT ( 21:44 GMT) and 3:44 local time on Thursday, 23rd Jult, 2014.  

The Progress 56 carrying around 2,587 Kilograms of food and other supplies for the Expedition 40 crew who are currently aboard ISS.  The spacedcraft is also delivering 800 Kg of Propellant,  26 Kg of air, 22 Kg of Oxygen, 420 Kg of Water and 1,320 Kg of supplies, spare parts and experimental hardware according to NASA.

The Progress ships normally takes around 2 days to reach ISS but the Russian craft launched on 24th July, 2014 has been accelerated and reached in 6 hours to the Science Laboratory.

The International Space Station was flying about 260 miles above north east of Kazakhistan at the time of launch and passed directly over4 the launch site three minutes later.  After a series of thruster firings by progress have adjusted the orbit to put the Russian space freighter on track for a rendezvous with the ISS and an automatic docking to the earth facing port of Piris docking compartment.  Progress 56 is slated to spend about three months docked to the complex before undocking to make way for ISS Progress 57.

The ISS Progress 55 cargo craft, which undocked from Pirs on Monday, is now a safe distance from the complex for a series of engineering tests prior to being sent to a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on July 31.

The station's crew began the workday at 6 a.m. Wednesday, four hours later than the usual 2 a.m. reveille to accommodate the late-night arrival of Progress.

Commander Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst participated in more Ocular Health exams as flight surgeons track the vision health of the astronauts aboard the station.

NASA recently identified that some astronauts experience changes in their vision, which might be related to effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system. Researchers are working to understand and prevent these changes in astronauts. With guidance from the Ocular Health team on the ground, Gerst performed an ultrasound scan of Swanson's eyes.

Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman then pitched in to help out with Wednesday's exams and conducted an ultrasound scan of Gerst's eyes. Swanson and Gerst later measured each other's blood pressure and collected electrocardiogram data for Ocular Health.

Swanson also temporarily removed the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus from the Combustion Integrated Rack's combustion chamber to replace some igniter tips.

A video of the launch is shown below.

Five Foreign Satellites launched by Indian PSLV-C23 Rocket on 30th June, 2014

Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO bagged another success of its work horse launch vehicle PSLV.  The PSLV-C23 carrying five foreign satellites including French Satellite SPOT-7 successfully placed the satellites into their intended orbits on 30th June, 2014.


The Rocket lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota exactly at 09:52 Hrs IST on Monday, 30th June, 2014.

PSLV-C23 injected SPOT-7, a French earth observing satellite, and four other foreign satellites, including two from Canada and one each from Germany and Singapore, into the desired orbits. This marks exclusive commercial launch by India and the 26th consecutive successful launch of PSLV.

The launch of PSLV-C23 was originally planned at 09:49 hrs IST but was delayed by 3 minutes to 09:52 Hrs IST to avoid possibility of some space debris getting in the way of the satellites.

Prime Minister of India, Sri Narendra Modi  arrived at Sriharikota on Sunday, 29th June, 2014 and has witnessed the PSLV-C23 Launch from Sriharikota.   The other dignitaries who accompanied Sri Narendra Modi are Chief Minister of AP Sri. Chandra Babu Naidu, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Sri Narasimhan and Central
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sriharikota on Sunday, witnessed the PSLV-C23 launch.

Modi on Sunday tweeted his government is committed to give impetus to the country's space programme.

The live Video of the PSLV-C23 launch is shown below.
 

2nd Navigation Satellite launched by India on 4th April, 2014

The second navigation satellite of India, IRNSS-1B was launched on Friday 4th April, 2014 by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C24.  The launch vehicle lifted off at 11:44 hrs GMT ( 17:14 hrs IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Center which is India's primary launch site.  

The launch vehicle is propelled by a solid fueled first stage and six strap-on motors.  The second stage of the rocket is the liquid engine.  The third and fourth stages of the vehicle accelerated the spacecraft to the orbital velocity.  The spacecraft was separated  20 minutes after lift off.

Initial data indicated that the launch vehicle placed the spacecraft in an orbit with a perigee of 20610 Kilometers.  It was placed with an inclination of 19.2 degrees.  The PSLV is the most powerful launch vehicle of ISRO and the Friday's mission has used the PSLV-XL version.

The IRNSS-1B is the second satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System which is a 7-satellite network flying in high altitude orbit over Indian ocean. The spacecraft weighs 1,432 Kilo grams including the full load of propellant.  The satellite will maneuver itself into a 36,000 high geosynchronous orbit at 55 degrees east longitude with inclination of 29 degrees to the equator. The spacecraft will be drifting north and south of the equator, tracing a figure of eight pattern over Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and South Asia.

The spacecraft is designed for a 10-year lift time.  Five more satellites are scheduled to be launched by mid of 2015.  The program of regional navigation system will reach users within India and surrounding regions extending about 1500 Kilometers from the Indian main land. The IRNSS services will be freely available to the public but some of the features will be restricted to the Government users.

The IRNSS-1B launched on 4th April, 2014 carries L-band and S-band navigation payloads and a rubidium atomic clock to keep the time.  A C-band transponder and a laser reflectors will help the engineers to find out the distance to the satellite in orbit which is a requirement for precise navigation services.

Four IRNSS satellites will be operating in inclined orbits ( geosynchronous orbits ) while three satellites will be orbiting in the geostationary orbit over the equator.  The navigation services will be helpful for marine traffic, emergency response officials, vehicle tracking applications, mobile communications, mapping and civilian drivers.

A Planet beyond Pluto - Scientists discover a new planet of Solar System

Scientists at the Carnegie Institute for Science has discovered a new and distant dwarf planet beyond Pluto in our solar system recently in third week of March, 2014.  The planet is named as 2012 VP113.  The scientists believe that the existence of this planet indicates that there may be another actual planet there which may be ten times bigger than the Earth.

The dwarf planet seems to be around 450 Kms.  wide  and orbits roughly 12.4 billion kilometers away from the Sun.  This distance is roughly 83 Astronomical Units away from Sun.  One astronomical unit or AU is 155.838 million Kilometers.

If the size of the dwarf planet is confirmed, it could be qualified as a dwarf planet in the same category of Pluto.  The researchers said that the discovery proves the existence of the inner Oort cloud, which is a region of icy bodies that lies far beyond the orbit of Nepture,.   The planet is currently named as 2012VP113 as announced on 26th March, 2014.  

The size of 2012 VP113 is half the size of Sedna discovered earlier.  Dwarf planets such as 2012 VP113 and Sedna, which travels as far as 949 AUs away from the sun on its 11,400-year orbit, form a placid "inner" Oort Cloud distinct from the outer one, the study suggests. Comets that plunge into the inner solar system are thought to be dispatched from the outer Oort Cloud by gravitational nudges from stars passing near our solar system.