ITV

Tag: SRE

  • Space capsule recovered

    Space capsule recovered

    MUMBAI: The Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) that was launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR Sriharikota on 10 January, was successfully recovered today after being maneuvered to reenter the earth’s atmosphere and descend over Bay of Bengal about 140 km East of Sriharikota.

    Since its launch, SRE-1 was going round the earth in a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 637 km. In preparation for its reentry, SRE-1 was put into an elliptical orbit with a perigee (nearest point to earth) of 485 km and an apogee (farthest point to earth) of 639 km by issuing commands from the Spacecraft Control Centre (SCC) of ISTRAC at Bangalore on January 19, 2007. The critical de-boost operations were executed from SCC, Bangalore supported by a network of ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Sriharikota, Biak in Indonesia, Saskatoon in Canada, Svalbard in Norway besides shipborne and airborne terminals.

    The recovery operations were supported and carried out by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy using ships, aircraft and helicopters.

    During its stay in orbit for the last 12 days, the two experiments on board SRE-1 were successfully conducted under micro gravity conditions. One of the experiments was related to study of metal melting and crystallizations under micro gravity conditions. The second experiment, designed by National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, was intended to study the synthesis of nano-crystals under micro gravity conditions. This experiment can help in designing better biomaterials having closest proximity with natural biological products. The experimental results will be analysed in due
    course by the principal scientific investigators of the two experiments.

    The successful launch, in-orbit operation of the on board experiments and reentry and recovery of SRE-1 has demonstrated India’s capability in important technologies like aero-thermo structures, deceleration and flotation systems, navigation, guidance and control. SRE-1 is an important
    beginning for providing a low cost platform for micro-gravity experiments in space science and technology and return specimen from space.

  • PSLV launches four new satellites

    PSLV launches four new satellites

    MUMBAI: In its 10th launch on 10 January India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) PSLV-C7 has successfully launched four satellites namely India’s Cartosat-2 and Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1), Indonesia’s Lapan-Tubsat and Argentina’s Pehuensat-1 into a 635 km high Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

    Isro claims to having used a Dual Launch Adopter (DLA) in PSLV for the first time to accommodate two primary satellites in tandem.

    PSLV-C7 lifted off from the first launch pad at SDSC Shar at 9:23 am with the ignition of the core first stage and four of the six strap-on motors. The remaining two strap-on motors were ignited 25 seconds after lift-off.

    The important flight events included the separation of the ground-lit strap-on motors, separation of air-lit strap-on motors and the first stage, ignition of the second stage, separation of the heatshield at about 121 km altitude after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, second stage separation, third stage ignition, third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cut-off.

    Cartosat-2 was the first satellite to be injected into orbit at 981.3 seconds after lift-off at an altitude of 639 km. DLA with the 6 kg Pehuensat-1 was separated about 45 seconds later followed by the 550 kg Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) after 120 seconds and the 56 kg Lapan-Tubsat after 190 seconds.

    The four satellites have been placed in a polar orbit at an altitude of 637 km with an inclination of 97.9 degrees with respect to the equator. The initial signals indicate their normal health.

    After its separation from the DLA, the two solar arrays of Cartosat-2 were automatically deployed to generate the electrical power for the satellite. The satellite health is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre of Istrac at Bangalore with the help of its network of stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Bearslake in Russia, Biak in Indonesia, as well as support from Svalbard ground station in Sweden for the initial phase of the Cartosat-2 mission.

    With Isro Satellite Centre (Isac), Bangalore, as the lead Centre, Cartosat-2 was realised with major contributions from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, LPSC at Bangalore, and IISU, Thiruvanantha-puram. Istrac is responsible for initial and in-orbit operation of Cartosat-2. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad receives and processes the data from Cartosat-2.

    Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1): Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1), developed by Isro’s VSSC and Isac, is a 550 kg capsule, intended to demonstrate the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in microgravity conditions. After the completion of the experiments, the capsule will de-orbited after a few days and recovered.

    Two days before de-orbiting, SRE-1 will be placed in a Repetitive Elliptical Orbit. Subsequently, it will be reoriented and deboost rocket is fired to make it reenter the earth’s atmosphere. SRE-1 will splashdown in the Bay of Bengal, east of Sriharikota coast.

    SRE-1 is being tracked and monitored by ground stations at Bangalore, Lucknow, Mauritius, Biak in Indonesia, Bearslake in Russia, Saskatoon in Canada and Svalbard in Sweden/Transo in Norway.

    Lapan-Tubsat and Pehuensat-1 were launched under commercial agreements. Lapan-Tubsat is a cooperative venture between Indonesian Space Agency, Lapan and Technical University of Berlin. It is an earth observation satellite besides a technical demonstrator in control systems.

    Pehuensat-1 is a 6 kg Argentinean nano-satellite meant to serve educational, technological and scientific fields. Its developed by University of Comahue of Argentina, AMSAT (Amateur Satellite Association of Argentina) and Argentina Association for Space Technology and is intended to provide an experiment platform to perform amateur radio experiments between colleges and universities of Argentina.