SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launches on first commercial flight - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launches on first commercial flight.

The massive booster carried a Saudi telecommunications s A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 11, 2019.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket successfully lifted off Thursday, marking the towering booster’s second flight and its first commercial launch. This was also the first time that all three of the rocket's reusable boosters returned safely to Earth.
The Falcon Heavy roared into space at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The massive booster carried into orbit a 13,000-pound Saudi telecommunications satellite designed to provide television, internet and mobile phone service to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The 230-foot-tall rocket weighs more than 3.1 million pounds and is made up of three reusable boosters based on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which has been ferrying cargo to the International Space Station since 2012.
Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s two side boosters maneuvered back to Earth and nailed simultaneous, side-by-side landings on pads at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For the first time, the company also successfully landed the center core booster on a robotic drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida.
Flight engineers at SpaceX's mission control center in Hawthorne, California, erupted in loud cheers after it was confirmed that all three boosters returned safely.
The Falcon Heavy is designed to loft into low-Earth orbit up to 140,000 pounds — more than any American rocket has been able to carry since NASA’s Saturn V, which took Apollo astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and ‘70s.
The Falcon Heavy made its maiden flight on Feb. 6, 2018.


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SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launches on first commercial flight.

PSLV carries reusable final-stage rocket, a 1st for India and the world - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

PSLV carries reusable final-stage rocket, a 1st for India and the world.

The latest Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) take off from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, at 11.37pm on Thursday, on a mission to help India notch up one more first in space technology— it will make use of the final stage of rocket as orbital platform for a satellite.

The fourth and final stage of the rocket normally turns into debris after ejecting a satellite. This time, the workhorse PSLV DL’s fourth stage, with a satellite built by school students strapped to its back, will continue orbiting the earth at a distance of 450km above it for six months, maybe more.
This gives Indian space scientists an innovative orbital platform for conducting experiments. The bonus is that Chennai-based school students who built Kalamsat, the world’s smallest student satellite, will also be able to conduct their own research.
The mission, called PSLV C-44, is India’s first this year and serves as a test for a new variant of the launch vehicle, the PSLV-DL, which has two strap-on motors.
PSLV is a launch vehicle with four stages—PS1, PS2, HPS3, and PS4 which is equipped with twin-liquid engines is equipped with twin liquid engines. After the launch vehicle enters space, it ejects the satellite and eventually becomes debris which is normally not recovered.
In the current mission, however, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) have powered up the fourth stage and given it an extended life of at least six months, so that it could serve as an experimental orbital platform.
The strategy is to move the fourth stage rocket (PS4) to a higher orbit and stabilise it by adding a power source. The orbital platform would enable scientists to conduct technology demonstrations and give an opportunity to school students across the country to perform experiments in space, through student satellites.
This is the ninth student satellite that India will fire off into space.
With this mission, Kalamsat will become the first payload to use PS4 as an orbital platform.
PSLV C44 also carries an imaging and surveillance satellite called Microsat for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Microsat will be separated at an altitude of 277km, in low-earth orbit.
“This year, the main focus of Isro is to expand its wings, to explore unknown places in space that have not been explored before" Isro chairman K. Sivan had said on 17 January, while announcing the first satellite mission for 2019. The thrust he said would also be on developing low-cost missions.
This was the 46th flight of the PSLV which, in 25 years, has carried out 43 successful missions, including the landmark Mars Orbital Mission and Chandryaan-1. It has undergone several technology upgrades since its first flight in September 1993 (Source:Livemint)


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PSLV carries reusable final-stage rocket, a 1st for India and the world.

In a first, ISRO will make dead rocket stage ‘alive’ in space for experiments - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

In a first, ISRO will make dead rocket stage ‘alive’ in space for experiments.

Highlights
• The Indian Space Research Organisation is working on a new technology where it will use the last stage of the PSLV rocket for space experiments
• It will perform a technology demonstration of this new system when it launches the PSLV C44 rocket in January.
• The organisation will invite students and scientists to make use of this new technology.

Can a dead rocket in space be anything but debris? Isro believes it might actually be useful. Feted for its frugality and tech savvy, the Indian Space Research Organisation is working on a new technology where it will use the last stage of the PSLV rocket for space experiments. It will perform a technology demonstration of this new system when it launches the PSLV C44 rocket in January.
Talking to TOI here, Isro chairman K Sivan said, “Normally, the last stage of a PSLV rocket after releasing the primary satellite in space becomes dead and categorised as debris. It remains in the same orbit as that of the released satellite. Now, we are working on a new technology where we will give life to this “dead” last stage of PSLV, also called PS4 stage, for six months after its launch. This rocket stage will double up as a satellite. This will be the most cost-effective way to perform experiments in space as we don’t have to launch a separate rocket for the purpose.” He said that “India is the only country in the world that is working on this new technology”.
Explaining the technology, the chairman said, “The rocket stage of PSLV C44, which will be carrying a microsat as the primary satellite in January, will be made alive with the help of new systems that will include batteries and solar panel. Even after the primary satellite separates from the PSLV, the last stage of the rocket will remain active and can be used as an experimental platform for new space technologies. Students or space scientists can use this “alive” rocket stage for space experiments for free. They can attach their small experimental module or satellite (micro or nano) in the last stage and can perform experiments in space once the PSLV delivers the primary satellite into its orbit.” He said that Isro “can do the same with the GSLV rocket as well where we can use its last stage as an experimental platform”.
Sivan said Isro is going to make an "announcement of opportunity in a few days to invite proposals from students and space scientists to make use of this new technology."
Till now, space agencies around the world can use a rocket only once to deliver satellites in space. Elon Musk-promoted SpaceX is the only exception as the US private space agency has mastered the technology of repeating the same rocket stage for relaunches. However, SpaceX’s experiments with its Falcon 9 rocket are confined to the first stage of the rocket. It has also never experimented with the last stage. (Source: The Business Standard)


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In a first, ISRO will make dead rocket stage ‘alive’ in space for experiments.

China’s 1st private rocket fails after launch - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

China’s 1st private rocket fails after launch.

The first attempt by a private Chinese company to send a rocket into space has failed.

Beijing-based Landscape said late Saturday that the first and second stage of its ZQ-1 rocket worked normally but something went wrong with the final of the three-stage rocket.
It was the first three-stage rocket built by a private company in China.
Video posted by a Chinese news site shows the 19-metre (62-foot-) tall red-and-white rocket lifting off Saturday against clear blue skies.
Landscape said that “cowling separation was normal but something abnormal happened after the second stage.” The statement posted on its social media account did not elaborate.
Chinese media reports say the rocket was carrying a satellite for state broadcaster CCTV. (Source: The Hindu)


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China’s 1st private rocket fails after launch.

Russia Launches First Soyuz Rocket Since Failed Space Launch - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Russia Launches First Soyuz Rocket Since Failed Space Launch.

The satellite reached its orbit at the set time, according to the ministry.

Russia on Thursday successfully launched a Soyuz rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 11.
"On Thursday at 03:15 (0015 GMT) a Soyuz-2.1B rocket was successfully launched carrying a satellite for the Russian military," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

The satellite reached its orbit at the set time, according to the ministry.
"This is the first launch of a rocket from the Soyuz family since the October 11 accident," Russia's space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter.
It was the third launch of a Soyuz rocket from Russia's northern Plesetsk launch pad this year, the military said.
The satellite launch had originally been planned for October 19 but was postponed after the accident that saw two astronauts make an emergency landing minutes after blast-off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome.
The failed launch involved an older Soyuz-FG rocket, which is "in principle the same rocket" as used in Thursday's launch but has less engine power in the third stage, space expert Konstantin Kreidenko told AFP.
Russia will switch to the Soyuz-2.1 series for launches to the ISS by 2020, replacing the Soyuz-FG, which has been in use for 20 years, Kreidenko said.
Russia's Roscosmos space agency has set up a commission to investigate the failed launch to the ISS and is set to announce its findings on October 30.
Russia has in the meanwhile suspended all Soyuz launches but this does not apply to launches by the military such as Thursday's satellite launch.


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Russia Launches First Soyuz Rocket Since Failed Space Launch.

DRDO turns Pinaka rocket system into guided missile, developmental trials soon - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

DRDO turns Pinaka rocket system into guided missile, developmental trials soon.

The missile, which has completed the initial trial, will undergo developmental trials next month and is expected to be delivered to the Army in two years, said senior DRDO scientists

THE indigenous Pinaka rocket system of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), known for firing a salvo of 12 rockets in just 44 seconds, is being evolved into a precision-guided missile, with enhanced range and accuracy to hit its targets. The missile, which has completed the initial trial, will undergo developmental trials next month and is expected to be delivered to the Army in two years, said senior DRDO scientists.
The initial version of the Pinaka rocket was further developed into Pinaka Mark II, which has an enhanced range of 70 to 80 km compared to Mark I, with a range of 40 km. The rocket has been developed by the Armament cluster of the DRDO, with a lead from Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE). Along with ARDE, the High Energy Material Research Laboratory in Pune and two DRDO establishments in Hyderabad have contributed to the development.
Speaking about the development of the Guided Pinaka Mark II, ARDE Director K M Rajan said, “Pinaka is originally a 30 to 40 km range rocket… in subsequent developments, the range was increased. But with the increased range, the user, the Army, wanted it to be more accurate. So, the guided version of the Pinaka is currently being developed and the first demonstration has taken place one year ago. In the maiden trial, we have been able to achieve a 75 km range with a five metre accuracy. We feel it is phenomenal. Next month, we will be going for a series of developmental trials of the guided Pinaka. The project duration is three years. We have already completed one year and are on time. We can expect the induction of the Guided Pinaka into the armed forces in the next two years.”
On the various trials to be conducted on Guided Pinaka, Rajan said, “Initially, there are ground-level trials for the evaluation of the propulsion. Once those parameters are met, we go for instrumental flight trials… we will see if the performance is as per our prediction and subsequently, if fine-tuning is needed, that will be done. Then there will be actual ground trials at Pokhran. After we are satisfied with all the aspects, the user, which is the Artillery, will be invited for independent evaluation. If that is cleared, we will go for production.”
P K Mehta, director general of Armament and Combat Engineering Systems, DRDO, said, “We also need to understand why the Guided Pinaka is important. What we always want is to avoid any collateral damage. Pinaka is a rocket system that has been developed to nullify a particular area. We are now trying to work out a missile from a rocket. We have a set pattern of trials. One is internal trials, then user-assisted technical trials and then user trial. The parameters, which make Pinaka a guided missile, will be evaluated in these trials. Pinaka per se has already been tested. But the guided Pinaka will be a very small number compared to the entire inventory of the Pinaka.”
While Pinaka Mark I had been used in the 1999 Kargil conflict, the guided version follows the policy of the Indian Army to use precision weapons. “The rocket has been named after Pinaka, the bow of Lord Shiva. The Pinaka system is like a quiver of 12 rockets. But the guided version serves a different purpose. In future, the Pinaka and Guided Pinaka will co-exist in the proportion that the user wants. Pinaka will continue as a weapon that can destroy an area and the guided version will add an edge to it when a specific target has to be hit,” said a DRDO scientist. (Source: India Today)


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DRDO turns Pinaka rocket system into guided missile, developmental trials soon.

Rocket-control glitch delays launch of NASA's planet-hunting satellite - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

Rocket-control glitch delays launch of NASA's planet-hunting satellite.

TESS will help catalog at least 100 more rocky exoplanets for further study.

An 11th- hour technical glitch prompted SpaceX to postpone its planned launch on Monday of a new NASA space telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system.

SpaceX halted the countdown a little more than two hours before its Falcon 9 rocket had been scheduled to carry the Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Space Exploration Technologies, as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private launch service is formally known, said on Twitter that the blast-off was scrubbed due to unspecified problems in the rocket's guidance control system.
The launch was rescheduled for 6:51 p.m. EDT (22:51 GMT) on Wednesday.
Search for exoplanets
The two-year, $337 million TESS mission is designed to build on the work of its predecessor, the Kepler space telescope, which has discovered the bulk of some 3,700 exoplanets documented during the past 20 years and is running out of fuel. NASA expects to pinpoint thousands more previously unknown worlds, perhaps hundreds of them Earth-sized or ”super-Earth”-sized — no larger than twice as big as our home planet.
Those are believed the most likely to feature rocky surfaces or oceans, and are thus considered the best candidates for life to evolve. Scientists said they hope TESS will ultimately help catalog at least 100 more rocky exoplanets for further study in what has become one of astronomy's newest fields of exploration.
Transit photometry
Roughly the size of a refrigerator with solar-panel wings and equipped with four special cameras, TESS will take about 60 days to reach a highly elliptical, first-of-a-kind orbit looping it between Earth and the moon every two and a half weeks. Like Kepler, TESS will use a detection method called transit photometry, which looks for periodic, repetitive dips in the visible light from stars caused by planets passing, or transiting, in front of them.
But TESS will scan a broader swath of the heavens to focus on 200,000 pre-selected stars that are relatively nearby — some of them just dozens of light years away — and thus among the brightest as seen from Earth. That makes them better suited for sensitive follow-up analysis of exoplanet candidates TESS locates.
TESS will concentrate on stars called red dwarfs, smaller, cooler and longer-lived than our sun. Red dwarfs also have a high propensity for Earth-sized, presumably rocky planets, making them potentially fertile ground for further scrutiny. (Source: The Hindu)


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Rocket-control glitch delays launch of NASA's planet-hunting satellite.