План индийских космических пусков

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http://isro.org/scripts/futureprogramme.aspx#Forth

Forthcoming Satellites

CARTOSAT-2B   The Cartosat-2B satellite, a follow on of Cartosat-2A, weighing around 690 kg, is configured to provide multi-scene imaging capability during a pass. This advanced remote sensing satellite will be carrying onboard a single panchromatic camera providing scene specific spot imageries (better than 1 m spatial resolution) for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications. The satellite is highly agile having a capability of steering along and across the track up to ± 45

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ISRO annual report for 2009-2010

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Состоявшиеся пуски

15 апреля - GSAT-4, Gagan - GSLV-D3 (Mk.II) - 14:57 - авария РН на этапе работы третьей ступени

Планирующиеся пуски

2010
Дата – КА – РКН/РБ – Время
5 июня - Cartosat-2B, ALSAT-2A, STUDSAT, TIsat-1, AISSat-1 - PSLV-C15 (CA) - ПО
август - RESOURCESAT-2, Sathyabama satellite, X-Sat, CANX-4, CANX-5 - PSLV-C16 - ПО
сентябрь - GSAT-5P(INSAT-4D) - GSLV-F05 (Mk.I) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-6(INSAT-4E) - GSLV-F06 (Mk.I) - ПО
третий квартал - RISAT-1  - PSLV-C17 (XL) - ПО
конец года или 2011 - GSAT-8(INSAT-4G), Gagan - ARIANE-5 - ПО

Попутная нагрузка
ПО - YOUTHSAT - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - Jugnu - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - NLS-8, CubeSats - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - Venta-1 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО

2011
второй квартал - MEGHA-TROPIQUES, CubeSats - PSLV-C18 - ПО
второй квартал - TES-HYP, SARAL (ALTIKA-ARGOS) (ПО), UniBRITE, BRITE-AUSTRIA, CubeSats - PSLV-C19 - ПО
ПО - InSat-3D - GSLV-F07 (ПО) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-10P, Gagan - Ariane 5 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-12, Gagan - GSLV-F08 (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-1, IRNSS-2 - PSLV-C20 - ПО

Попутная нагрузка
ПО - RLV-TD - ПО - ПО
ПО - ALSAT-2B - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - TAUVEX- GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IMSAT - PSLV (ПО) - ПО

2012
первый квартал - GSAT-9 - GSLV- D01 (Mk III) - ПО
первый квартал - ASTROSAT-1, ADITYA-1 - PSLV-C21 - ПО
ПО - CARTOSAT-3, SRE-2 - PSLV-C22 - ПО
ПО - DMSAR-1 - PSLV-C23 - ПО
ПО - RISAT-3 - PSLV-C24 - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-3, IRNSS-4 - PSLV-C25 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-11 - Ariane 5 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-13 - GSLV-F09 (Mk.II) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-14 - GSLV-F10 (Mk.II) - ПО

2013
первый квартал - Chandrayaan-2 - GSLV- D02 (Mk III) - ПО
первый квартал - GSAT-14 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - RESOURCESAT-3 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - OCEANSAT-3 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-7(INSAT-4F) - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-5 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-6 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-7 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - Navy Communications Satellite - ПО - ПО
ПО - GEO-HR - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ACTS-1(F) - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ITM-1 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - TecSAR-2 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
 

Попутная нагрузка
ПО - I-STAG - ПО - ПО
ПО - SENSE-P, SENSE-E - ПО - ПО

2014
ПО - GSAT-15 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - CCI-Sat - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ASTROSAT-2 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ACTS-2 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО

2016
ПО - Mars Mission (ПО) - GSLV-Mk III - ПО

2017
ПО - Human Space Flight Programme- GSLV MkII - ПО

Используемые сокращения:
КА – космический аппарат
РКН – ракета космического назначения
РБ – разгонный блок
ПО – подлежит определению
ЛМВ – летнее московское время
ДМВ – декретное московкое время
НВМ – неотделяемый весовой макет

Изменения от 8 апреля
Изменения от 15 апреля
Изменения от 17 апреля
Изменения от 29 апреля
Изменения от 30 апреля

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http://www.asianage.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7470:india-to-fly-own-space-shuttle-in-a-year-isro&catid=34:top-story&Itemid=59

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http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/24214317/Isro-to-launch-GSAT11-with-40.html
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/approval-for-gsat-11-communication-satellite_100222234.html

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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=1173.msg570133#msg570133

Re: Indian launch schedule
« Reply #546 on: 04/07/2010 05:30 PM »
   
A few things.

1. Can-X4 and Can-X5 may not be in the list of satellites in PSLV C15 launch. They have different orbital parameters.
http://www.utias-sfl.net/SpecialProjects/LaunchIndex.html
2.Youthsat of Russia, may be in the list. The orbital parameters listed for youthsat are same as that of Cartosat-2B.
http://isro.org/scripts/futureprogramme.aspx#Space
3.We missed AISsat and Tlsat-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSLV

But we may not be sure until the last few days before launch...when the actual list is published.

http://www.spacecentre.no/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=51389

AISSat-1 – the facts

AISSat-1 is the first Norwegian satellite developed in Norway. It will be launched from India in late March or early April.

Christer Aasen, Nettredakt

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http://www.brite-constellation.at/

BRITE-Constellation consists of UniBRITE and BRITE-AUSTRIA (TUG-SAT1), two 20 cm cube nanosatellites. Each will fly a small aperture telescope with a CCD camera to perform high-precision two-color photometry of the brightest stars in the sky (d 4th mag) continuously for up to several years.
The primary science goals are studies of massive and luminous stars in our neighbourhood, representing objects which dominate the ecology of our Universe, and also evolved stars (giants) to probe the future development of our Sun. The wide field cameras (24°) will also obtain data from other scientifically interesting stars to investigate their stellar structure and evolution.
All of that is enabled by innovative technology currently developed in collaboration between Canada and Austria. A launch of UniBRITE and BRITE-AUSTRIA in early 2011 in envisioned. An expansion proposal of the BRITE-Constellation by two additional spacecraft of same build, to be funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), is currently under review.

http://www.utias-sfl.net/nanosatellites/CanX3/

The CanX-3 - BRITE Mission  
       
CanX-3, also known as BRIght-star Target Explorer (BRITE), is a mission planned to make photometric observations of some of the brightest starts in the sky in order to examine these stars for variability. The observations will have a precision at least 10 times better than achievable using ground-based observations, and it will be packaged inside a CanX-class nanosatellite.

The Principal Investigator for the BRITE mission is Professor Anthony F. J. Moffat D

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April 15, 2010       PRINT THIS PAGE  
Flight testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Stage in GSLV-D3 Mission not successful

The flight-testing of the indigenous Cryogenic Engine and the Stage conducted in the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-D3 this afternoon (April 15, 2010) was not successful.

GSLV-D3 vehicle lifted off as planned at 16:27 hrs after a countdown procedure lasting for 29 hours. The countdown went off as planned. GSLV-D3 vehicle performance was normal up to the end of the second stage (GS2) till 293 seconds.

Afterwards, the Cryogenic Stage was to ignite and burn for about 720 seconds to provide the necessary velocity to inject GSAT-4 Satellite into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. It is yet to be ascertained whether the cryogenic engine did ignite. The vehicle was seen tumbling, lost altitude and finally splashed down in the sea.

Detailed analysis of the flight data is being carried out to find out the exact reasons for the failure and take corrective measures to realise the next flight test of the indigenous Cryogenic Engine and Stage within the next one year.

http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Apr15_2010

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http://netindian.in/news/2010/04/13/0006154/isro-chief-says-approval-indian-astronaut-programme-likely-soon

ISRO chief says approval for Indian astronaut programme likely soon

NetIndian News Network
New Delhi, April 13, 2010

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the Government was likely to announce India's indigenous astronaut launch programme, involving the launching of Indian astronauts using an Indian rocket from Indian soil, within a couple of months.

In an interview to NDTV, Dr Radharkishnan said that while the technical capabilities existed, the Government was yet to give its nod for ISRO's approval.

He said the approval for the Rs 12,400 crore venture might come soon, even before Independence Day.

"We expect that the government will give us approval in a couple of months," he said.

He said the proposal was to put two Indian astronauts in space. With this, India will join a select club of the United States, Russia and China which have such human space flight capabilities.

According to Dr Radhakrishnan, ISRO was ready to launch Indian astronauts by 2017. "As of now what we have is a pre-project study," he said.

He said the programme would be implemented in phases. The first phase is to test the unmanned crew module; a service module in space four years from now. After that the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will be used to launch the Indian astronauts, he said.

He said the Rs 12,400 crores would be needed over seven years for setting up of several ground facilities like launch pads, the mission control centre, astronaut training centre, all permanent assets.

"What goes into the orbit will be [costing] about three to four thousand crores," he said.

Dr Radhakrishnan said India's space programme had given back to the country much more than what had been put into it by the Government, citing the direct benefits accruing from the remote sensing and communication satellites, among other things.

"So when this programme is proved in the human space flight, with the long term vision that we have, 30- 40 years from now, probably you could have a new source of energy. You will have several technologies which will be giving benefit to the other sectors in the economy," he added.

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http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16/stories/2010041663071400.htm

"GSLV-D3 failure will not affect Chandrayaan-2"

T.S. Subramanian

We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year, says ISRO chief

No plans to recover GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal: ISRO chief

Cryogenic technology is the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion: Ramakrishnan

SRIHARIKOTA: The failure of the GSLV-D3 mission on Thursday will not have an impact on the Chandrayaan-2 mission scheduled for 2013, according to K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The GSLV-D3, which was launched amidst high hopes, having been powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time, ended in failure after the cryogenic engine failed to ignite. As per the ISRO's plans, it is a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine that will put Chandrayaan-2 in orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 mission will also put a lander-cum-rover on the lunar soil.

The GSLV-D3 mission had three objectives: to develop and launch an indigenous cryogenic stage with the engine and associated systems; to evaluate the performance of the indigenous cryogenic stage and engine; and to put the communication satellite GSAT-4 into orbit. Only the first objective was achieved, the ISRO Chairman said.

S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, said the cryogenic technology was the most complex of all types of rocket propulsion. France and the U.S. had also met with failures in using cryogenic engines. "Failures in cryogenic technology are not unusual. It is difficult to test the cryogenic engine even on the ground. We are disappointed. But we will overcome [the problems]," said Mr. Ramakrishnan

The GSLV-D3 rocket, including the indigenous cryogenic stage, cost Rs.180 crore. The ISRO spent Rs.36 crore to develop its own cryogenic stage with the engine. GSAT-4 cost Rs.130 crore.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the cryogenic technology, which enabled communication satellites to be put into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit at an altitude of 36,000 km, was a highly complex technology. The GSLV-D3 mission was not successful and "we have to face it," he said. "We have a long way to go and we will do that in the coming year [by launching GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine] ... We have to work with dedication and I am sure Team ISRO will do it." He refuted suggestions that there was a problem with the design of the GSLV because three out of the six GSLV missions from 2001 had failed.

GSLV-D3 is the sixth GSLV mission.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said there were no plans to recover the GSLV-D3 stages from the Bay of Bengal as the ISRO did when its GSLV flight failed in 2006.

Next flight

The next GSLV flight would take place in September this year but it would use a Russian cryogenic engine. It would put into the orbit a communication satellite named GSAT-5B. Another GSLV flight, also powered by a Russian cryogenic engine, would put GSAT-6 into the orbit.

PSLV launch

Meanwhile, a core-alone Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the ISRO is scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at Sriharikota between May 8 and 10. It has already been fully integrated at the first launch pad. It will put Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two nano satellites from the Norwegian defence establishment and Switzerland, and a Studsat into the orbit.

The Studsat has been built by students of colleges in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/64098/isro-rules-sabotage-gslv-launch.html

But the next 'GSLV' flight with indigenous cryogenic engine would have to wait at least a year, he noted. Defending the cost competitiveness of GSLV, Dr Radhakrishnan said that the cryogenic engines were still 50 per cent lower cheaper than importing it.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ISRO-to-launch-Cartosat-2B-on-May-9-/articleshow/5821557.cms

ISRO to launch Cartosat-2B on May 9
PTI, Apr 16, 2010, 05.33pm IST

BANGALORE: Undeterred by the GSLV-D3 mission failure, India is going ahead with the launch of an advanced remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B, now tentatively fixed for May 9 from Sriharikota spaceport.

The high-resolution spacecraft, designed for an operational life of five years, is slated to be launched from the first launchpad on May 9 around 10 am, ISRO spokesperson S Satish told said here on Friday.

Thursday's GSLV-D3 mission to flight-test the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage for the first time ended in failure after the rocket veered off course and plunged into the sea.

GSLV and PSLV missions are independent of each other. ISRO officials said there is no change in its earlier announced plans to launch PSLV in the first half of May -- now fixed for May nine.

"It (Cartosat-2B) will give pictures of 0.8 metre resolution," ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has said. In simple terms, the single panchromatic camera on board this cartographic satellite would be able to identify and take pictures of a moving car.

Thus, this highly-agile satellite, weighing around 690 kg, is expected to give a boost to the tasks of infrastructure and urban planning. The camera provides scene specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications.

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http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/scripts/pressreleasein.aspx?Apr29_2010

April 29, 2010
Launch of PSLV-C15 Rescheduled

The launch of ISRO`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) fixed for May 9, 2010 has been rescheduled. A marginal drop in the pressure in second stage of the vehicle was noticed during the mandatory checks carried out on the PSLV-C15 vehicle. The new date for the launch of PSLV-C15 mission will be decided after preliminary results of the analysis are obtained.

PSLV-C15 is planned to launch India`s Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite ALSAT-2A, two nano satellites NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2 from University of Toronto, Canada and STUDSAT, a satellite built by students from academic institutions in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indian-satellite-launch-postponed-to-June/articleshow/5875446.cms

CHENNAI: The Indian space agency is likely to launch its rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15), carrying its cartography satellite Cartosat-2B and couple of other payloads, sometime in June.

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http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=1173.msg592536#msg592536

CARTOSAT-2B is postponed to the second week of July 2010...

Are you sure that is for the second week of July ?
May be for the second week of June  

I am sure. No word on why yet.

[Salo]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Dedicated-satellite-for-Navy-by-year-end/articleshow/5950179.cms

Dedicated satellite for Navy by year-end
Rajat Pandit, TNN, May 20, 2010, 01.46am IST

NEW DELHI: India's first dedicated military satellite should be up in space well within a year. Indian Space Research Organisation has fixed the "launch window'' of the naval communication and surveillance satellite between December 2010 and March 2011.

The defence establishment was slightly worried ISRO might not be able to stick to the planned launch window after the failure of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) in mid-April, which was launched with the new indigenously-developed cryogenic engine.

"But ISRO has assured us the naval satellite, with an around 1,000 nautical mile footprint over Indian Ocean, will be launched as slated... The project cost is Rs 950 crore. IAF and Army satellites will follow in a couple of years,'' said a senior MoD official on Wednesday.

This comes even as the top Navy brass, led by Admiral Nirmal Verma, is currently discussing the intricacies of "navy-wide network-centric operations'' and "maritime domain awareness'', both of which hinge on dedicated satellite capabilities, during the ongoing naval commanders' conference here.

Coupled with induction of eight P-8i long-range maritime patrol aircraft between 2013 and 2017 under a $2.1-billion deal inked with US, the geo-stationary satellite will ensure a quantum jump in Navy's C4ISR (command, control, communication, computer, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) capabilities.

Though India sees its primary area of strategic interest stretching from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, Navy as of now does not have "dedicated sensors'' which can provide it with a "clear picture of all actors'' in the constantly changing maritime environment.

The dedicated satellite will help Navy network all its warships, submarines and aircraft among themselves as well as with operational centres ashore through high-speed data-links. "Maritime threats can then be detected and shared in real-time to ensure swift reaction,'' said an officer.

Indian armed forces have long used "dual use'' satellites like Cartosat-I, Cartosat-II and Cartosat-IIA, among others, but it will only be now that they will get dedicated satellites of their own.

This is in keeping with the Defence Space Vision-2020, which identifies intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, communication and navigation as the thrust areas in Phase-I till 2012. The need to keep "real-time'' tabs on enemy troop movements, warships, airbases, missile silos and the like cannot be over-emphasised.

There are, for instance, around 300 dedicated or dual-use military satellites orbiting around the earth at present. The US, of course, leads the pack, owning 50% of them, followed by Russia and China.

India, however, has been slow to react to even China's huge strides in the military use of space, which was rudely brought home by Beijing's test of an ASAT (anti-satellite) weapon in January 2007. The government, for instance, is still reluctant to establish a full-fledged Aerospace Command despite the armed forces demanding it for years.

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Состоявшиеся пуски

15 апреля - GSAT-4, Gagan - GSLV-D3 (Mk.II) - 14:57 ЛМВ - авария РН на этапе работы третьей ступени
12 июля  - Cartosat-2B, ALSAT-2A, STUDSAT, TIsat-1, AISSat-1 - PSLV-C15 (CA) -  07:53 ЛМВ

Планирующиеся пуски

2010
Дата – КА – РКН/РБ – Время

сентябрь - RESOURCESAT-2, Sathyabama satellite, X-Sat, CANX-4, CANX-5, SRMSat  - PSLV-C16 - ПО
сентябрь - GSAT-5P(INSAT-4D) - GSLV-F05 (Mk.I) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-6(INSAT-4E) - GSLV-F06 (Mk.I) - ПО
третий квартал - RISAT-1, AISat - PSLV-C17 (XL) - ПО
конец года или 2011 - GSAT-8(INSAT-4G), Gagan - ARIANE-5 - ПО
ПО - MEGHA-TROPIQUES, CubeSats - PSLV-C18 - ПО
декабрь - Navy Communications Satellite - GSLV(ПО) - (или первый квартал 2011)

Попутная нагрузка
ПО - YOUTHSAT - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - Jugnu - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - NLS-8, CubeSats - PSLV (ПО) - ПО

2011
второй квартал - TES-HYP, SARAL (ALTIKA-ARGOS) (ПО), UniBRITE, BRITE-AUSTRIA, Max Valier - PSLV-C19 - ПО
ПО - InSat-3D - GSLV-F07 (ПО) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-10P, Gagan - Ariane 5 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-12, Gagan - GSLV-F08 (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-1, IRNSS-2 - PSLV-C20 - ПО

Попутная нагрузка
первый квартал - Venta-1 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - RLV-TD - ПО - ПО
ПО - ALSAT-2B - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - TAUVEX- GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IMSAT - PSLV (ПО) - ПО

2012
первый квартал - GSAT-9 - GSLV (ПО) (Mk II) - ПО
первый квартал - ASTROSAT-1, ADITYA-1 - PSLV-C21 - ПО
ПО - CARTOSAT-3, SRE-2 - PSLV-C22 - ПО
ПО - DMSAR-1 - PSLV-C23 - ПО
ПО - RISAT-3 - PSLV-C24 - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-3, IRNSS-4 - PSLV-C25 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-11 - Ariane 5 - ПО
ПО - GSAT-13 - GSLV-F09 (Mk.II) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-14 - GSLV-F10 (Mk.II) - ПО

2013
январь-февраль - Chandrayaan-2 - GSLV (ПО) (Mk II) - ПО
первый квартал - GSAT-14 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - RESOURCESAT-3 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - OCEANSAT-3 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - GSAT-7(INSAT-4F) - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-5 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-6 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - IRNSS-7 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - Navy Communications Satellite - ПО - ПО
ПО - GEO-HR - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ACTS-1(F) - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ITM-1 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - TecSAR-2 - PSLV (ПО) - ПО


Попутная нагрузка
ПО - I-STAG - ПО - ПО
ПО - SENSE-P, SENSE-E - ПО - ПО

2014
ПО - GSAT-15 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - CCI-Sat - PSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ASTROSAT-2 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО
ПО - ACTS-2 - GSLV (ПО) - ПО

2016
ПО - Mars Mission (ПО) - GSLV-Mk III - ПО

2017
ПО - Human Space Flight Programme- GSLV MkII - ПО

Используемые сокращения:
КА – космический аппарат
РКН – ракета космического назначения
РБ – разгонный блок
ПО – подлежит определению
ЛМВ – летнее московское время
ДМВ – декретное московкое время
НВМ – неотделяемый весовой макет

Изменения от 5 июня
Изменения от 14 июня
Изменения от 19 июня
Изменения от 23 июня
Изменения от 28 июня
Изменения от 2 июля
Изменения от 12июля

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/awst/2010/06/14/AW_06_14_2010_p62-231468.xml&headline=India%20Is%20A%20Spacefaring%20Nation

India Is A Spacefaring Nation

Jun 11, 2010

 By Frank Morring, Jr., Neelam Mathews
Bengaluru, Bengaluru

India's recent failure to orbit a satellite with an indigenous cryogenic upper-stage engine—after a decade of trying—will slow the country's ambitious space program, but it is not likely to stop it.

Plans to send astronauts to orbit on an Indian launch vehicle depend on making the engine work, and India's space program has a long history of overcoming setbacks on its own. As it does, it is becoming a respected member of the international spacefaring club in its own right.

Loss of the first launch vehicle to fly with the Indian cryogenic engine was a setback, but there is so much momentum in India's space enterprise that its launch campaign continues with the orbiting this summer of Cartosat 2B on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

That mission continues India's focus on Earth observation from space to help its huge population, particularly in the countryside. The push to develop a cryogenic upper stage for its space launch vehicles has more of an urban thrust, and the nascent human spaceflight program epitomizes it. As they struggle to find out why their new cryogenic engine apparently failed its first flight test, Indian rocket engineers are gaining valuable experience that government planners fully expect will help underpin India's 21st century high-tech economy. The excitement of sending humans into space is calculated to maintain public interest in the effort.

Even with the delay in its human spaceflight plans, this South Asian nation's long-running program to bring the benefits of space to its rural population is steadily moving beyond national borders and low Earth orbit to closer cooperation with other spacefaring nations on Earth-observation and robotic deep-space exploration. As its hardware delivers urban expertise to more and more of India's 600,000 villages, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is overcoming years of Cold War isolation to make considerable contributions to international exploration efforts.

Take the Moon. ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter provided a platform for a U.S.-built instrument that proved once and for all there is water on Earth's natural satellite. The piggyback instrument may have been provided by scientists at Brown University in Providence, R.I., but the data it delivered was retrieved by an Indian dish antenna in a radio-quiet valley an hour's drive from the center of this high-tech city of six million.

Chandrayaan-2 is already in the works. It will include an Indian-built rover that will trundle another international instrument package across the lunar surface, studying its chemical composition with sophisticated in situ instrumentation. India will build the rocket that sends it to space, and the orbiter that will position it for landing. But the lander itself will be provided by Russia's venerable Lavochkin Association, based on the landers that took the Soviet Lunokhod rovers to the Moon's surface in the early 1970s.

As typified by the ongoing effort to build an indigenous cryogenic rocket engine, ISRO has a long history of developing its own spaceflight hardware. But it will also buy space equipment abroad, if its managers decide that is the best way to go. For example, India will need a large centrifuge for the astronaut training center it is planning here, and it is looking abroad to acquire one.

India also could buy cryogenic upper-stage engines elsewhere —it has been using Russian cryo-engines to launch satellites for years. But that would deprive its propulsion engineers of the experience they will gain in developing the technology. Like neighboring China, India is as interested in the economic and political benefits of space exploration as in the scientific take, and its leaders do not pretend otherwise.

"The Indian space program is now on the threshold of a transition into developing newer capabilities, perspective and direction for ensuring enhanced significance in the national scene and gaining international leadership in a few selected areas," says K. Radhakrishnan, the new chairman of India's Space Commission and head of ISRO. "Space should become the bedrock on which the national systems for societal and other national imperatives are built up. Space should emerge as a catalyst for breeding self-reliance in critical technologies."

Radhakrishnan's remarks in a speech at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), his alma mater, are illustrated in the ambitious plan he is outlining for ISRO after only half a year in office. Building on the work of his predecessor, G. Madhavan Nair, Radhakrishnan is overseeing a program of scientific and technical missions in parallel with upgrades to the communications and Earth-observation spacecraft that are ISRO's traditional core.

As ISRO branches out into new activities, a lot of the outside attention has gone to its fledgling human spaceflight work, which could make India only the fourth nation to send people into space. While delayed by the April 15 upper-stage failure, and funded only through unmanned orbital flights of the spacecraft being designed to take crews to space, India's human program is moving toward selection of the nation's first astronauts. The choice, Radhakrishnan says, will not be limited to military pilots, as in China, but open to civilian scientists of both genders as well (see p. 65).

India also is moving beyond low Earth orbit with its second lunar probe, and preparing to peer even deeper into the Universe with its first space telescope.

Teams of Lavochkin engineers from Moscow can be seen eating together in the spacious dining hall of the ISRO Satellite Center here, where Chandrayaan-1 was built. But they are strictly in a supporting role, reprising their Lunokhod lander for the Indian rover that will descend from the Indian orbiter to ride on Indian lightweight motorized composite wheels across the lunar surface.

T.K. Alex, director of the Satellite Center, says the rover—and the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter overhead—will draw on the lessons of Chandrayaan-1 to carry on with the science the first orbiter started.

"It is a continuation of the previous mission," Alex says. "The capabilities will be enhanced."

Chandrayaan-1 eventually failed in orbit, just as it was beginning bistatic observations with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (AW&ST Sept. 7, 2009, p. 28 ). The harsh thermal environment over the Moon's surface probably contributed to the failure, and the lessons learned from operating Chandrayaan-1 will be applied to its successor spacecraft, Alex says. For example, the new orbiter, essentially a twin of the first one, will have more capable radiators to cope with the combined heat of the direct Sun and solar energy reflected up from the surface.

A scientific advisory board is helping ISRO select instruments for Chandrayaan-2, which will continue its earlier work in exploring the structure and origin of Earth's natural satellite. As was the case with Chandrayaan-1, ISRO has invited foreign participation in the new mission, and foreign proposals are among those in the running to fly on it.

Some Indian instruments already have been chosen, Alex says. The 15-kg. (33-lb.), 10-watt, solar-powered rover will include a laser ablation tool for spectral analysis of rocks and soil, and video cameras for navigation. Set for launch on a Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk.II) in 2013, Chandrayaan-2 will follow essentially the same trajectory to the Moon as its predecessor: a series of longer and longer elliptical orbits that will eventually bring it into the lunar gravity well, where the orbiter thrusters will circularize its orbit. The orbiter is expected to last longer than the rover, continuing the mapping and analysis work started with Chandrayaan-1.

ISRO is also branching into space astronomy with Astrosat, a 1,500-kg. orbiting telescope set for launch next year on a PSLV. From its planned 650-km. (404-mi.) orbit, the scientific spacecraft will conduct simultaneous observations in X-ray and ultraviolet wavelengths with two 20-cm. (8-in.) collecting mirrors, plus a grazing-angle mirror for soft and hard X-rays. The three instruments are in preparation, and the satellite's engineering model has gone through thermal vacuum qualification at the ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (Isite), which houses a 6.5-meter (21-ft.) thermal vacuum chamber, a 29-ton vibration table and a compact antenna test facility.

Those facilities should get plenty of use in the years to come. A national program in planetary science and exploration, known as Planex, is developing long- and short-term strategies for ISRO's Advisory Committee for Space Research. Planex is running 15 projects and considering three more. It also organizes workshops on potential areas of study, and conducts research with data already at hand.

That includes ongoing analysis of the 5 terabytes of data generated by Chandrayaan-1 and its lunar impactor, which is maintained at the new Indian Space Science Data Center near the Indian Deep Space Network antenna farm, and at an undisclosed second location for backup.

ISRO experts also are focusing on characterizing radiation signatures from planetary surfaces to develop instruments for future missions. The work includes the study of meteorites, such as the Sulagiri meteorite that fell in India's Tamil Nadu state on Sept. 12, 2008.

The Indian Deep Space Network is based at Byalalu, in a sheltered valley below Savandurga Mountain on the outskirts of sprawling Bengaluru. The Byalalu facility boasts an 18-meter tracking antenna and the 32-meter antenna designed and built in India for Chandrayaan-1. With X- and S-band uplink and downlink capability, the big dish boasts a "periscope" wave guide from its antenna to receivers in its base for better energy efficiency than would be possible with cables.

Beyond India, ISRO maintains a worldwide tracking network, with dedicated antennas and cooperative arrangements. That system, known as the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command network, was used during the Chandrayaan-1 mission, but it was built to support the broader Indian satellite constellation aimed at serving the villages.

"It is very important," says Radhakrishnan. "Because we are using space in every walk of life, space is touching the life of the common man, directly and indirectly."

Before being named ISRO chairman, Radhakrishnan was directly involved in using India's communications and Earth-observation satellites to help guide the response to the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that ravaged India's southeast coast, and upgrade space-based disaster early warning services afterward. In a country with about 200 political districts prone to some kind of natural disaster, the connectivity and broad view available from space are invaluable.

"When there is a disaster, the first thing that will go out is the power and the communications," he says. "So you have communications established through satellites. And [next], when there is a disaster, you have relief operations that need spatial data, which comes from remote-sensing."

The new Cartosat 2B is the latest in the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) series of spacecraft, a follow-on to Cartosat 2A that was launched April 28, 2008. Its utility will go far beyond natural disasters. With a panchromatic resolution better than 1 meter, it approximates the international standard for commercial remote-sensing spacecraft. The 690-kg. satellite will generate a revisit schedule of four to five days from its nominal 630-km. orbit, and can be dropped to 560 km. for daily passes over specific targets. It will produce a 9.6-km. swath, and can be tilted across or up and down its ground track as much as 45 deg.

Once it is fully checked out, Cartosat 2A will be the 11th operational IRS platform, providing data for land-use and resource management, mapping and disaster work. India's Earth resources constellation is one of the largest in the world, and provides some of the most direct benefits to rural Indians under the ISRO portfolio (see p. 66).

For example, the extensive cartographic database, coupled with a growing database on ground-water resources, can be tapped by ISRO specialists to help villagers find the best places to drill water wells. Offshore from the nation's 7,500 km. of coastline, satellite-generated data from spacecraft like Oceansat-2—launched Sept. 23, 2009—feed a system designed to help fishermen find their way to the catch more efficiently, cutting search time by an average of 70%, with a comparable saving in fuel costs.

"We have operational systems in the country where the fishermen are given advisories on where they can go and fish," says Radhakrishnan. "This information is available to them in the local language, on display boards in the fishing harbor."

That information can save the owner of a typical fishing boat as much as 2.6 million rupees ($55,278) a year in fuel, according to the ISRO chairman.

Long recognized as valuable by commercial purveyors of space-derived geospatial information, India's satellite Earth-observation skills are in growing demand by international weather and climate-monitoring organizations. Plans call for a PSLV this year to orbit the Franco-Indian Megha-Tropiques spacecraft, which will study atmospheric energy and moisture in the tropical regions. As interest grows in precise worldwide monitoring of sea level changes from the melting polar icecaps, Eumetsat and ISRO have signed an agreement to deliver ocean-height data from the forthcoming Satellite for Argos and Altika (Saral) spacecraft under development by ISRO and the French space agency CNES. ISRO may also feed Oceansat 2 ocean-winds data into the international database.

Within India, the communications satellites originally developed to leapfrog land-line installation and link the rural population with the rest of the nation have advanced along with the rest of the space infrastructure. GSAT-4, the experimental satellite lost in the April 15 cryogenic engine failure, included a multi-beam Ka-band transponder and plasma thrusters for stationkeeping.

Under a deal worked out by Antrix, ISRO's commercial arm, an Indian satellite bus, the I-2K, will form the basis of the EADS Astrium Hylas satellite to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 for Avanti Screenmedia to deliver direct-to-home HDTV over Western Europe. GSAT-8, based on the I-3K bus, is a 3,150-kg. spacecraft set to fly this year on an Ariane 5, carrying 18 Ku-band transponders and a GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (Gagan) payload for regional service over India.

GSAT-6, tentatively scheduled for launch this year, is a consumer multimedia broadcast satellite that will use an indigenous, unfurlable antenna to aim five beams across Indian territory.

"We are now increasing the frequency of launch to at least six to seven launches per year, as compared two to three," says Radhakrishnan, proudly noting that India's space achievements have been obtained at relatively low cost compared to other spacefaring nations.

"We are able to make satellites and launch vehicles at almost half the cost of many other countries," he says, citing a study by the Madras School of Economics. "The amount of money that has gone into the program is almost 3 percent of what NASA has spent on the space program."

[Salo]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-17/india-to-launch-five-satellites-after-fixing-rocket-anomaly-.html

India to Launch Five Satellites After Fixing Rocket 'Anomaly'
June 17, 2010, 6:22 AM EDT

By Jay Shankar

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- India plans to put five remote- sensing satellites into orbit in the first half of next month after fixing a rocket "anomaly" that forced it to delay launches in May.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will carry India's Cartosat-2B, Algeria's ALSAT-2A and two small satellites from the University of Toronto, P.S. Veeraraghavan, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said by phone today from the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram. The fifth unit will be a one-kilogram satellite built by Indian students, he said.

The agency, based in Thiruvananthapuram, has corrected the anomaly, which was in the second stage of the rocket, Veeraraghavan said. The delay had disrupted India's challenge to China, Japan, and South Korea as it competes for commercial- satellite launches.

In April, India also failed in its bid to join a group of five nations using their own rocket technology to launch large satellites into higher orbits when scientists lost control of the 50-meter (164 feet) GSLV-D3 spacecraft minutes after blastoff.

"The reasons for the failure are still being analyzed and we expect a report in a month's time," Veeraraghavan said.

India is planning a $2.5 billion unmanned mission to space by 2015 and is slated to launch a second unmanned moon craft Chandrayaan II at a cost of $87.5 million before March 2013.

The Asian nation launched its first space rocket in 1963 and its first satellite in 1975. The country's satellite program consists of 21 orbiters, of which 11 are currently in service.

--Editors: Anand Krishnamoorthy, Neil Denslow.

[Salo]

http://sify.com/news/rok-agrees-to-india-s-space-launch-use-suggestion-news-national-kgrw4cdebec.html

2010-06-17 22:30:00

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday agreed to Indian External Affairs minister S.M.Krishna's suggestion to launch ROK satellites on Indian launch vehicles.

A statement issued on behalf of both leaders said: "Referring to the MOU of cooperation, signed last January between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Krishna suggested that ROK satellites could be launched on Indian launch vehicles. President Lee agreed with the suggestion and asked his officials to do the necessary follow-up."