Why did ISRO's workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket fail during its 41st flight?
The success of the PSLV-C34 mission is a result of ISRO's professionalism and the hard work put in by their scientists over the last many decades., says Ajay Lele.
The successful launch of Aditya-L1 - the country's maiden mission to study the Sun - is expected to garner increased investor interest in the Indian space sector and trigger more funding for private players. Several private sector players, including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), MTAR Technologies, and Ananth Technologies, have played a pivotal role in the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro's) solar observatory mission. Aditya-L1 on Saturday set off on a 125-day journey on a PSLV-C57 rocket, in its attempt to study various elements relating to the nearest star from the halo orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is carrying 1360-kg satellite 'Resourcesat -I'.
India will join an elite group of nations with the launch of a new mission to test re-entry technology, which would be a forerunner to developing reusable vehicles like space shuttles.
The 44 metre tall four-stage PSLV placed Italian satellite AGILE into orbit at 550 km above the earth.
"It is beautiful to see the countryside. There are so many colours. I think I have mentioned that before how colourful it is being in India. From the space, it is the same," she said.
The 50-hour countdown for the launch of Indo-French climate monitoring satellite Megha-Tropiques and three other nano satellites on board PSLV-C18 on October 12 from the spaceport of Sriharikota is progressing well, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.
Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore.
According to the Indian Situational Space Awareness Report for 2023, the nominal lift-off of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3, carrying the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, had to be delayed by four seconds based on the Collision on Launch Avoidance analysis.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday successfully launched its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite that would offer several insights into celestial objects like black holes.
The two satellites that PSLV will release in the orbit will help the country's mapmakers and amateur radio operators.
The 44.5-metre-tall, 295-tonne PSLV-C7 lifted off from the launch pad at 9.24 am.
Weighing 320 tonne at lift-off, the vehicle used larger strap-on motors to achieve higher payload capability.
There is a huge spurt in demand to launch smaller satellites, those as light as 1 kg, with a lifespan of two to three years. But there aren't enough rockets to carry these, reports T E Narasimhan
Indian Space Research Organisation is using the most powerful configuration of its rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to launch a communication satellite from Sriharikota on July 15, as it braces for the nearly Rs 200 crore mission.
The successful launch of the maiden solar mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation came on the heels of the historic lunar landing mission - Chandrayaan-3.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will conduct three more test vehicle missions under the ambitious Gaganyaan programme after the maiden TV-D1 test flight, which is scheduled on October 21, the space agency's chairman S Somanath has said.
Days after landing on the Moon, India will aim for the Sun on Saturday with its maiden solar expedition, as ISRO's trusted PSLV will carry the Aditya L1 mission on a 125-day voyage to the Sun.
'When a Project Director is appointed, the whole organization -- including the Chairman ISRO -- works for his success. It is a lesson that has been of abiding value all through the other projects I have worked on,' recalls the late President, one of the earliest pioneers at ISRO.
India's PSLV-C9 blasted off into space, carrying ten satellites including the country's latest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, from Indian Space Research Ogranisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Monday.Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirteenth flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 9.23 am from the second launch pad.Besides the 690 kg CARTOSAT-2A, the PSLV is also carrying Indian Mini Satellite.
The Aditya-L1 mission carries seven scientific payloads to carry out the study.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C15 carrying five payloads, including India's remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2B, successfully lifted off from the spaceport in Sriharikota on Monday.
Preparations are in the final stages by the Chennai-headquartered space-tech startup Agnikul Cosmos for the maiden launch of India's first-ever private launchpad and the second rocket launch by a private sector player.
ISRO said on Saturday the Aditya-L1 spacecraft has travelled beyond a distance of 9.2 lakh km from Earth, successfully escaping the sphere of Earth's influence.
For carrying the 360-kg Italian satellite, meant for astronomical studies, Indian Space Department's commercial wing Antrix Corporation would receive a fee from the Italian space agency.
According to ISRO officials, the spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The L1 point is about one per cent of the total distance between the Earth and the Sun.
Aditya -- the name in Sanskrit refers to the Sun -- is a coronagraphy spacecraft manufactured at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru to study the solar atmosphere.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will perform the final manoeuvre on Saturday to inject Aditya-L1 spacecraft -- the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun -- into its final destination orbit, some 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.
ISRO chairman S Somanath said the success gave the space agency "greater confidence," as the GSLV will be next deployed in the NISAR mission, a collaborative effort with the US' NASA.
Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the participation of national institutions., an ISRO official said.
Data collected around L1 would provide insights into the origin, acceleration, and anisotropy of solar wind and space weather phenomena, it said.
Aditya-L1 will be launched by PSLV-C57 rocket on September 2 at 11:50 am. It carries seven payloads to study the Sun, four of which will observe the light from the Sun and the remaining three will measure insitu parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
The images show VELC (Visible Emission Line Coronagraph) and SUIT (Solar Ultraviolet Imager) instruments as seen by the camera on-board Aditya-L1 on September 4, 2023.
Scientists are working on conducting various tests for the ambitious Gaganyaan mission and the agency is coordinating with the Navy and others in this connection, he said.
ISRO, in a tweet, said EOS-04 was placed into an intended sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km altitude at 6.17 am.
Shifting the focus to its next space odyssey after successfully placing a lander on the moon's uncharted South Pole region, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Saturday said that the country's maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 is ready and will be launched in the first week of September.
The Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. It is about one per cent of the total distance between the Earth and the Sun.
As India's first solar exploration satellite reached space, four Kerala public sector undertakings, including Keltron, have reason to be delighted as they too have contributed to this achievement by the country. Various products indigenously developed and manufactured by the four PSUs - Keltron, Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited (SIFL), Travancore Cochin Chemicals (TCC) and Kerala Automobiles Ltd (KAL) - have been used in the Aditya L1 mission. This milestone achieved by the PSUs was highlighted by state Industries Minister P Rajeev in a Facebook post.
The new year will witness two unmanned missions under the "Gaganyaan" project, deep ocean exploration project, "Samudrayaan" and many more.
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