ISRO launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil’s Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ISRO launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil’s Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites.

PSLV-C51 rocket, which is the 53rd mission of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), launched Amazonia-1 of Brazil as primary satellite and 18 co-passenger payloads from the first launchpad of the Sriharikota spaceport in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

For the first time, a Brazilian satellite was launched by an Indian rocket from Sriharikota spaceport on Sunday. This also marked Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) first launch of 2021.

PSLV-C51 rocket, which is the 53rd mission of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), launched Amazonia-1 of Brazil as primary satellite and 18 co-passenger payloads from the first launchpad of the Sriharikota spaceport in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The blastoff was scheduled at 10.24 hours from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, where the countdown commenced at 08.54 hours on Saturday for the PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission.

These co-passenger satellites include Satish Dhawan Sat (SD SAT) from Chennai-based Space Kidz India (SKI). A photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been engraved on the top panel of this spacecraft. “This is to show solidarity and gratitude for his (PM’s) Aatmanirbhar initiative and space privatisation,” said SKI, which is also sending up “Bhagavad Gita” in SD (secured digital) card.

PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 is also the first dedicated commercial mission of Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) which is undertaking it under an arrangement with US-based satellite rideshare and mission management provider Spaceflight Inc.

The 637-kg Amazonia-1, which is the first Brazilian satellite to be launched from India, is the optical earth observation satellite of National Institute for Space Research (INPE).”This satellite would further strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory,” an ISRO statement said. (Source: The Indian Express)

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ISRO launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil’s Amazonia-1 and 18 other satellites.

ISRO to launch an unprecedented 10 earth imaging satellites - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ISRO to launch an unprecedented 10 earth imaging satellites.

They include new categories such as first Geo Imaging Satellite

The country will send up an unusually large number of 10 earth observation (EO) satellites during 2020-21, according to the latest annual report of the Indian Space Research Organisation for 2019-20.
On a quick look, such a pre-ponderence of the EO launches is unprecedented and includes new categories such as the first Geo Imaging Satellite, GISAT-1.
In comparison, only three communication satellites — which is another major category in space infrastructure — and two navigation satellites are planned for the coming financial year starting April.

The annual plan mentions 36 missions, another high for a year: these includes both satellites and their launchers.
The high number also stands out amidst the immediate two years before and after the plan. For the ongoing fiscal, ISRO had proposed launching six EO satellites, of which two are due to go. For 2021-22, the plan is to add eight EO satellites.
ISRO says 19 national EO satellites, 18 communication satellites and eight navigation satellites are in service, driving uses from broadcasting, telephony, Internet services, weather and agriculture-related forecasting, security, disaster-time rescue and relief and location-based services. Three of the communication satellites are dedicated for military communication and networking.
In the ongoing fiscal 2019-20, 17 missions have been planned to be launched and up to six of them are due to be completed by March 31, it says.
ISRO was recently given a budget of nearly ₹13,480 crore for the next fiscal.
The EO sats are ostensibly for benign uses such as land and agriculture watch. But their images also have a very important use for the military, for keeping an eye on the borders. The satellites such as RISATs, which carry a synthetic aperture radar on them, provide all-weather, 24-hour information to security agencies.
Apart from GISAT-1 that is apparently fixed over the subcontinent at an orbit 36,000 km high, the space agency plans to launch a new series of high resolution HRSATs as a threesome on a single PSLV launcher.
The upcoming EO satellites include radar imaging satellites RISAT-2BR2, RISAT- 1A and 2A; Oceansat-3 and Resourcesat-3/3S.
The RISAT-2BR2 will form a triad fleet with its predecessors RISAT-2B and RISAT-2B1, all going around 120 degrees apart. They will “increase the frequency of observation in the areas of interest to provide all-weather, day/night imaging services from space,” the report said.


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ISRO to launch an unprecedented 10 earth imaging satellites.

ISRO planning 'Indian Data Relay Satellite System' - New satellites will help Gaganyaan crew - Pragnya IAS Academy - News analysis.

ISRO planning 'Indian Data Relay Satellite System' - New satellites will help Gaganyaan crew.

India plans to ring in its own era of space-to-space tracking and communication of its space assets this year by putting up a new satellite series called the Indian Data Relay Satellite System.

The IDRSS is planned to track and be constantly in touch with Indian satellites, in particular those in low-earth orbits which have limited coverage of earth.
In the coming years, it will be vital to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), whose roadmap is dotted with advanced LEO missions such as space docking, space station, as well as distant expeditions to moon, Mars and Venus. It will also be useful in monitoring launches, according to K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space.
The first beneficiary would be the prospective crew members of the Gaganyaan mission of 2022 who can be fully and continuously in touch with mission control throughout their travel.

“When we have the Gaganyaan mission we want it to be covered and be visible 100% so that action can be taken in any exigency,” he said.
Work initiated :
Work on the two IDRSS satellites planned initially has begun. The first of them will be sent towards the end of 2020. It will precede the pre-Gaganyaan experimental unmanned space flight which will have a humanoid dummy. A second one will follow in 2021. The two will offer near total tracking, sending and receiving of information from the crew 24/7.
Older space majors such as the U.S. and Russia started their relay satellite systems in the late 1970s-80s and a few already have around 10 satellites each. They have used them to monitor their respective space stations Mir and the International Space Station, and trips that dock with them, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dr. Sivan said IDRSS satellites of the 2,000 kg class would be launched on the GSLV launcher to geostationary orbits around 36,000 km away. In such apparently fixed orbits, they would be covering the same area on earth. A satellite in GEO covers a third of the earth below and three of them can provide total coverage.
‘IDRSS is imperative’ :
During the launch of the human mission and also when the crew craft orbits earth from a distance of 400 km, at least one ground station must see and track it. But with available ground stations, that would not be the case. Without data relay satellites, ISRO would have to create a large number ground stations everywhere or hire them globally and yet the crewed spacecraft would not be visible all the time.
“We require the IDRSS system when our astronauts are in space. But I would prefer the relay spacecraft to be in place even before we launch the unmanned mission,” Dr. Sivan said.
While the U.S. is putting up its third-generation advanced fleet of TDRS (Tracking & Data Relay Satellites), Russia has its Satellite Data Relay Network and Europe is building its own European Data Relay System. China is into its second generation Tianlian II series. (Source: Livemint)


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ISRO planning 'Indian Data Relay Satellite System' - New satellites will help Gaganyaan crew.

On its maiden flight, India's SSLV will carry two defence satellites - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

On its maiden flight, India's SSLV will carry two defence satellites.

The Indian space agency will fly two small defence satellites in July/August on its new rocket --now known as Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) - said a top official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"We are planning to fly two defence satellites, each weighing about 120 kg in our new rocket SSLV this July or August. The rocket design recently underwent a detailed integrated technical review," K. Sivan, ISRO Chairman, told IANS on Wednesday.
He said the total weight of the payload that will be carried by the SSLV on its maiden flight will be about 500 kg. While the two satellites would weight about 120 kg each, there will be adaptors and others that would weigh about 300 kg.
The total weight of the rocket will be 110 tonne, Sivan said.
Queried about the need for a second commercial arm - first one is Antrix Corporation - Sivan said: "We want to give a big push for production of SSLV. We expect the demand for SSLV to be about two/three rockets per month. We also want to increase the production of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)."
Sivan said the increase in production is sought to be achieved partnering with the private sector.
He said Antrix Corporation is mainly into transponder leasing and other activities.
On Tuesday, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for setting up of a new company under the Department of Space (DoS), to commercially exploit the research and development work carried out by ISRO and its constituent units.
The following areas/avenues provide opportunities for commercial exploitation of ISRO programmes:
Small satellite technology transfer to industry, wherein the new company shall take licence from DoS/ISRO and sub-license to industries; manufacture of small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with the private sector.
Besides, productionisation of PSLV through industry; productionisation and marketing of space-based products and services, including launch and applications; transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centres and constituent units of DoS.
Also marketing of some spin-off technologies and products, both in India and abroad; and any other subject which Government of India deems fit.
When asked about the technologies that the ISRO can transfer, Sivan said: "We have developed technologies in materials, chemicals and others. These can be transferred so that people can benefit."
Sivan said the capital for the proposed company will not be large and its name is yet to be finalized.(Source: defencenews.in)


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On its maiden flight, India's SSLV will carry two defence satellites.

China’s BeiDou navigation satellite, rival to US GPS, starts global services - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

China’s BeiDou navigation satellite, rival to US GPS, starts global services.

The positioning accuracy of the China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has reached 10 metres globally and five metres in the Asia-Pacific region.

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted as a rival to the widely-used American GPS, has started providing global services.
The construction of the BDS-3 primary system had been completed, BDS spokesperson Ran Chengqi said Thursday.

“This signifies that BDS has officially entered the global era as the BDS expands from a regional system to a global navigation system. From now on, no matter where you go, BDS will always be with you,” Ran said at a media conference here said.
The positioning accuracy of the system has reached 10 metres globally and five metres in the Asia-Pacific region. Its velocity accuracy is 0.2 metres per second, while its timing accuracy stands at 20 nanoseconds, he said.
Pakistan has become the first country to use the BeiDou system ending its reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Named after the Chinese term for the ‘Big Dipper’, the BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012. It will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.
India too is building its navigational system called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NAVIC.
By the end of 2018, there were a total of 33 BDS satellites operating in orbit for BeiDou. This included 15 BDS-2 satellites and 18 BDS-3 satellites.
China plans to launch another 11 BDS-3 satellites and one BDS-2 satellite in the coming two years to form a complete global network, which will further enhance the global service performance, Ran said.
More than 14,000 companies and organisations are doing business related to BDS, employing over 500,000 people, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The total number of satellite navigation patent applications in China has reached 54,000, ranking first in the world.
In China, about 6.17 million vehicles, 35,600 postal and express delivery vehicles, as well as 80,000 buses in 36 major cities, use BDS. The system is also used in 3,230 inland river navigation facilities and 2,960 marine navigation facilities. (Source: Livemint)


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China’s BeiDou navigation satellite, rival to US GPS, starts global services.

ISRO working on smaller launch vehicles to carry satellites of up to 700 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ISRO working on smaller launch vehicles to carry satellites of up to 700.

The ISRO is working on building smaller launch vehicles that will carry satellites weighing 500 to 700 kg to up to 500 kilometres from the earth’s surface, its chief, K Sivan, said Thursday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Bengaluru Space Expo 2018, a biennial event organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Sivan said the agency was planning to open incubation centres at six places in the country to encourage innovation and start-ups.
He said the academia and the industry are two strong pillars of the ISRO and urged the industry to come forward and share the agency’s “load”.
“The demand for small satellites is growing. Small satellites are going to be used for communication purposes in an enormous way. To catch up with the small satellites market, ISRO is in the process of developing a small satellite launcher,” he said.
These satellites, Sivan added, would be of very repetitive nature and easier to produce.
The small launch vehicle will be different from the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), ISRO’s trusted workhorse, and should take only 72 hours for integration, he said.
“We are working on small satellite launch vehicles. These will be able to launch a satellite of 500 to 700 kilograms in a range of 500 kilometre from Sriharikota (the Satish Dhawan Space Centre),” he said.
The ISRO will need 50-60 such vehicles every year, Sivan said, noting that the industry should come forward in this endeavour as over the next 3-4 years, the prime focus of the space research agency would be on the Gaganyan.
“We don’t want to spend time on making these smaller vehicles. We want to give this to the industry and it should take part to make it more effective,” he said.
He said out of the over Rs 10,000 crore announced by the Centre for 40 satellite launch vehicle programmes, Rs 9,000 crore would go to the industry for manufacturing them.
“The prime minister has approved 30 PSLV and 10 GSLV mark III. It costs Rs 10,400 crore. So, more than Rs 9,000 crore will be for the industry. In next three years, we are supposed to launch 59 satellites. So, it converts into two launches per month,” Sivan said explaining the scope of work for the industry.


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ISRO working on smaller launch vehicles to carry satellites of up to 700.

Kerala floods: How Isro satellites are playing a key part in saving lives - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Kerala floods: How Isro satellites are playing a key part in saving lives.

Data provided by the satellites is helping experts to predict the level of rains till then, what to expect in the next few hours and even about the situation in the forests and the water reservoirs.

Even as the unprecedented floods and landslides have devastated most parts of Kerala in the last fortnight, technologically the most helpful support the authorities are getting in handling the situation was updates from Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and its various satellites which kept their eyes open up from the atmosphere.

A set of remote sensing satellites and radar satellites has been taking pictures of various aspects of the situation in the flood-hit state from a distance of 400-800 kilometres from the Earth and sending it back with supportive data, which once crunched, helped the experts to predict the level of rains till then, what to expect in the next few hours and even about the situation in the forests and the water reservoirs.
For instance, ResourceSat-2, launched on April 20, 2011, has proved to be helpful in taking pictures on the forestry and normal terrain and how the water bodies are while ScatSat-1 can track the wind, how it flows over the sea and over the land which helps to forecast the weather. Insat 3DR, another satellite together with others can communicate how clouds are positioned and with the help of ScatSat-1, experts can come to a conclusion on how fast they are moving considering the wind speed. Insat satellites, which are geostationary, would send data in every half an hour from the atmosphere, which can give an update to the ground station.
"Satellite plays important role in detection and monitoring of flood situations over large regions. Optical remote sensing from geostationary platform (Insat-3D/3DR) provides rapid and valuable information on cloud patterns and meteorological parameters (rainfall); however, unable to image the surface water conditions in presence of cloud," says Isro.
Microwave remote sensing techniques have a unique advantage in which electromagnetic radiation penetrate the clouds and senses the surface hydrological characteristics. The data from ScatSat-1 (launched by PSLV-C35 on September 26, 2016) was used for the detection of the flood situations over India. ScatSat-1 is a continuity mission for Oceansat-2 Scatterometer for Ocean weather forecasting, cyclone detection, and tracking.
ScatSat-1 observations in Ku-band for backscattering and brightness temperatures have been analyzed for flood detection and monitoring over India with special emphasis in Gujarat and southern parts of Rajasthan in the past. Merging of backscattering and brightness temperature data helped to delineate the regions, which were flooded, partially submerged or existed in different soil wetness conditions (saturated or dry).
Analysis showed the usefulness of ScatSat-1 mission in detecting and monitoring extreme events such as flood with high temporal resolution (daily).
"When we have good number of satellites, we know the situation yesterday and today. We will be able to assess the situation and come to an understanding about what to expect next. These periodical updates are helpful in situations like flood in Himalaya when we can forewarn the State governments about a likely flood once the water reaches down to the locations where people reside," said M Annadurai, who was the director of U R Rao Satellite Centre, Isro, till July 31, 2018. Oceansat-2, Insat 3DR, Cartosat 2 and 2A and Resourcesat-2 are some of the satellites that are helping the country to know about the changes happening in Earth and its atmosphere, periodically, over India and its neighbourhood.
While the remote sensing satellites could be supportive to predict the weather with the wind flow and speed, moisture, clouds and other parameters, the radar satellites help to see beyond the clouds, to the actual ground situation, giving a larger picture from hundreds of kilometers above the land. Oceansat, Resourcesat, and Cartosat are used to take pictures at a closer range, at a lower altitude. This is helpful in identifying forest fire and other natural calamities as they take better pictures than the satellites from the distance. The data sent from the remote terminals also help the scientists to come to a conclusion on the ground situation.
However, the challenge for the satellites closer to the Earth is that they require more power to operate and they are heavier considering they need to carry larger solar panels to meet the power requirement. This makes the life of these satellites shorter compared to those which are placed at orbits almost 800 kilometers away from the Earth. Isro has been working on technology to make these satellites less power consuming and thus smaller, so that these all weather satellites can live longer and serve the needs of the country. (Source: The Business Standard)


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Kerala floods: How Isro satellites are playing a key part in saving lives.