ITV

Tag: ISRO

  • Failure analysis committee on GSLV-F02 constituted

    Failure analysis committee on GSLV-F02 constituted

    BANGALORE: Following the unsuccessful launch of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F02) with INSAT-4C on board from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota on 10 July, a Failure Analysis Committee has been constituted by Isro.

    Former director of SDSC-SHAR and presently senior advisor at the Centre chairs the Committee, K Narayana will head the team. According to an Isro release, the 15 member Committee includes experts from academic and research institutions besides those from various Centres of ISRO.

    The Committee will review the performance of all subsystems of GSLV-F02 from lift-off to the termination of flight, identify specific reasons for anomalies observed and recommend corrective measures for future course of action.

    The Committee is expected to submit its report in a month’s time.

  • Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    Insat4c: ISRO gears up for 10-15 July launch

    MUMBAI: 10 to 15 July 2006. That’s the launch window that the Indian Space Research Organisation has set aside for the launch of DTH services satellite Insat 4C. According to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair the indigeneously designed launch vehicle has been moved to the launch pad in Sriharikota.

    The GSLV Mark II is a 49-metre tall rocket weighing around 40 tonnes at lift-off. Its payload is the Insat 4C satellite, with 12 ku band transponders and a mission life span of 10 years.

    Most of the satellite’s capacity has been booked for DTH services by the Sun Network, National Informatics Centre and VSAT (very small aperture terminals) operators.

    The succesful launch of the GSLV will pitchfork India’s ISRO into an elite group of countries and groups with indigeneous satellite design and launch capabilities: United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency (ESA).

    Nair was speaking to journalists at a satellite navigation conference which was held at its offices in Bangalore yesterday. He said that the launch window date will be kept, good weather permitting.

    Isro spokespersons have been pointing out that using indigeneous launch vehicles will result in a saving of about 30-40 per cent or Rs 1.5 billion in expenses per launch. With four satellites to be launched by GSLV Mark II and Mark III, the savings thus will be substantial. It will, however, be using the services of Arianespace to launch the Insat 4B satellite from Kouru in French Guiana next year.

    “With the commissioning of the Rs 3.5 billion ($75mn) second launch pad at Sriharikota, India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles Ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class,” a top ISRO official is reported to have said sometime back.

  • Isro sets the launch of Insat 4C for mid-July

    Isro sets the launch of Insat 4C for mid-July

    MUMBAI: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is targeting to launch Insat -4C in the second week of July, the latest in the Insat 4 series. The launch of this satellite is being seen as a big boost for the DTH operators.

    Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group has booked space on Insat 4C for its direct-to-home (DTH) venture.

    Insat 4C will be put into orbit by the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-5 (GSLV), which will blast off the from the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Insat 4C satellite will be used for broadcasting 150 TV channels through the direct-to-home platform. 

    “Preparations are on for the launch from the second launchpad,” Satish Dhawan Space Centre director Shar M Annamalai said.

    Isro officials say launch from a homegrown rocket meant cutting launch costs by one-third – if the same was to be launched from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana by an ariane vehicle, India has to pay 30 to 35 per cent more.

    According to media reports, it’s for the first time that India`s space agency is putting into space a two-tonne class satellite. Equipped with 12 high-powered KU band transponders, the 2,180 kg spacecraft is designed for a mission life of 10 years.

    On 22 December, last year, Isro had successfully placed Insat 4A in the Geostationary orbit with the Launch provider Ariane. 

    Launcher Ariane 5G also carried Meteosat weather Satellite for Eumetsat along with Insat 4A. This also marked Ariane the only commercial launcher in service capable of simultaneously launching two payloads.

    At present, besides DD Direct Plus managed by the pubcaster Prasar Bharati, the Subhash Chandra owned Dish TV and the soon to launch Tata-Sky service from the Tata-Star consortium, has leased all 12 Ku-band transponders on the Insat 4A satellite enabling to provide about 150 channels.

  • Isro, Arianespace, CNes complete 25 years of cooperation

    Isro, Arianespace, CNes complete 25 years of cooperation

    MUMBAI: European satellite launch firm Arianespace has announced that exactly 25 years ago (19 June 1981), Europe’s Ariane launcher orbited the Indian experimental satellite Apple, built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

    Since then, Arianespace, Isro and the French space agency CNes have developed a space partnership, forging commercial, government and industrial alliances. 

    Within the scope of this cooperation, Isro and Arianespace have signed 13 launch contracts to date. Since the first launch in June 1981, eleven other satellites have been successfully launched by Ariane rockets from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. Arianespace also has a 13th satellite in its order book, Insat 4B, scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2007.

    In March 2004, Arianespace signed a collaboration agreement with Antrix, the company that markets Indian launch vehicles. Since then Arianespace has offered India’s PSLV and GSLV launchers, most notably as backup for small satellites which Arianespace’s own family of launchers cannot handle.

    Arianespace recently signed a launch service contract for European operator Eutelsat’s W2M satellite. W2M will be built by a new consortium of Antrix and Astrium Satellites, which proposes a satellite platform built by Isro equipped with a payload supplied by Astrium Satellites.

    The collaboration between the Indian and French space agencies kicked off in 1972 with the signature of a bipartite agreement, followed in 1993 by a more general framework agreement. Isro and CNes have teamed up on major projects over the years, most notably in Earth Observation, with the Megha-Tropiques mission, and in telemedicine.

    Today, new collaborations are being studied in oceanography, data collection and radio communications, and will enable the two agencies and their teams to further strengthen their relationship.

  • Isro to ramp up number of satellite launches

    Isro to ramp up number of satellite launches

    BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has responded positively to the increasing demand for satellite space. Speaking at the launch of the Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment (ISITE) facility in Bangalore, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair hinted at Isro upping its ante in this area.

    “Presently, we are doing about one and a half Insat class satellites a year and one remote sensing satellite launch in every eighteen months. The demand from all segments is high and rising and we should actually be doing around four Insat class satellites, two to three remote sensing satellites and around three to four micro satellites of the around 100 kg payload,” said Nair.

    Nair added that Isro had its hands full with many projects including a couple of commercial satellites for Europe. He said Isro was expecting orders for two more satellites from this region.

  • Isro unveils Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment

    Isro unveils Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment

    BANGALORE: Finding the current facility too small and congested, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has come up with a brand new facility spread over 100 acres of land on the outskirts of Bangalore. The facility is christened ISRO Satellite Integration and Testing Establishment (ISITE).

    So far, Isro had to carry the satellite from one part of the complex to the other for various tests. The new facility at Marthahalli offers world class Assembly Integration and Test (AIT) complex bringing all spacecraft integration under one roof. A tested satellite comes out of the same door through which its knocked down parts go into.

    ISITE is equipped with world class facilities and will enable Isro to assemble, and carry out various tests and then pack the assembled satellite for dispatch to the launch site. Some of the state of art facilities and equipment include:

    (1) Assembly Integration & Test (AIT) Clean room – this is a huge room of size 54.6mts (about 179 feet) x 34.6m (about 113.5 feet) x 16.7m (about 55 feet) height which is maintained at a temperature of about 22 deg C (72 deg F) with a relative humidity of around 55, a cleanliness level of 1,000,000 class maintained at a positive pressure of 20 mbar.

    The bare structure of Insat 4B, which is scheduled for launch in January 2007, was under assembly when Indiantelevision.com visited the site. This room can integrate up to six satellites in various stages of assembly simultaneously of Insat 4B class and is equipped to integrate around 800 elements in the bare structure of the spacecraft. This area has an Electro Static Discharge (ESD) floor to dissipate the micro electric charges from human bodies which could effect some sensitive equipment in the room.

    (2) Comprehensive Assemble and Test Vacuum Chamber (CATVC) is capable of testing satellites under vacuum conditions and at temperatures as low as 173 deg K {(-)100 deg C or (-)343 deg F }. Satellites up to 4.5m diameter (about 14.75 feet) and 6 meters length (about 20 feet) having a weight of 3 metric tons can be tested in this Chamber which has Ariane-5 adapter interfaces.

    (3) Comprehensive Assembly and Test Vibration Facility: This test facility has a peak sine force of around 29 ton-force and a maximum bare table acceleration capacity of 75 gm.

    (4) Compact Antenna Test Facility (CATF): This is a 30 meter long (100 feet), 20 meter wide (67 feet) and 16m high (52 feet) chamber for testing of antenna in space simulated conditions. ISRO officials claim that no other facility in the world has a similar arrangement.

    The facility was officially thrown open by national security advisor M K Naraynan. Other dignitaries who were present to witness the inauguration included former Isro chairmen U R Rao and K Kasturirangan, secretary Department of Ocean Development P S Goel (formerly from Isro and one of the persons who conceived the idea for the Integration and Testing facility) and ISAC director K Shankara. On completion, the project is estimated to cost around Rs 4 billion.

  • Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    MUMBAI: All indications point to the second half of the year being when we will see some fresh action on the direct-to-home (DTH) television services front. Even as the timeline for the Tata Sky DTH service looks to be June-July, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch Insat 4C, the latest in the Insat series, in July.

    Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group, which has booked space on Insat 4C, is negotiating with Isro for eight Ku-band transponders. Earlier Sun had indicated that it would start its Sun Direct DTH service with five transponders which it would ramp up to nine.

    “Sun now wants to start with eight transponders. The company is in discussions with Isro,” an industry source says.

    Though Insat 4C has a capacity of 12 Ku-band transponders, the problem with Isro is that it has got demand from other operators as well. The government requires four transponders for village telephony over a period of time. Even National Informatics Centre (NIC) has asked for four transponders to start with. “We have committed to giving them one transponder each. We may give some transponders to NIC on Insat 4B, which is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2007 as we have to coordinate with the launch vehicle (Arianespace’s commercial launcher Ariane 5),” says Isro contract management and legal services director SB Iyer.

    Isro will also be handing over two Ku-band transponders to media companies for digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) activities. “DSNG is a fast-growing segment. We are providing two transponders for DSNG operators,” Iyer says.

    With one-to-two transponders reserved for spare capacity, Sun may have to finally settle for less than what it wants. But Isro will allocate transponders to customers who are ready to take them first.

    Meanwhile, Anil Ambani’s Reliance has also booked space for its own DTH plans. As things stand now, there may be no room even on Insat 4B as the space on Insat 4B is reserved for Doordarshan which wants six Ku-band transponders at the minimum.

    Subhash Chandra’s Dish TV, which is on NSS satellite, has not yet indicated to Isro whether it wants space on the Insat series. BPCL, the other player which is waiting to launch, has also not applied to Isro for transponder space.

    Insat 4C will be put into orbit in July by the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-5 (GSLV), to be launched from Isro’s Sriharikota facility.

    With 12 high power Ku-band transponders, Insat 4C is the first Indian satellite to exclusively offer DTH playout facilities. The satellite will have the capacity to beam about 150 television channels in all.

    The other two satellites of the Insat 4 series — 4A and 4B — have both Ku-band and C-band capacity, carrying 12 transponders of each. Insat 4A launched last December.

    Isro has already allocated all the 12 transponders on Insat 4A for Tata Sky, the 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and Star Group.