&w=3840&q=100)
Isro successfully conducts hot tests of Gaganyaan propulsion system
The short-duration tests, lasting 30 seconds and 100 seconds respectively, were aimed at validating the test article configuration, Isro said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The overall performance of the propulsion system during these hot tests was normal as per pre-test predictions. During the 100s test, simultaneous operation of all Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters in different modes (steady state; pulsed) along with all Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) engines was also successfully demonstrated.
"Isro's Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC) is leading the technology development activities for the Gaganyaan SMPS. SMPS is a critical system of Gaganyaan Orbital Module and is required during orbital manoeuvring as well as specific abort scenarios," the space agency said.
It comprises five Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) engines (each 440N thrust) and 16 Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters (each 100N thrust). In order to simulate the propulsion system conditions closer to flight, the SMPS test article for these hot tests incorporated improvements based on experience gained from earlier hot tests.
"With the confidence gained through these hot tests, Isro will conduct a full duration hot test shortly," the statement said.
According to Isro, the Gaganyaan programme aims to demonstrate India's capability to launch a crewed spacecraft into low Earth orbit, and the experience and knowledge gained from this mission will be crucial for its success.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
NISAR a milestone in Indo-US space ties; space minister says sat will be a ‘game changer in disaster management'
NEW DELHI: The successful launch of the world's most expensive and unique earth observation satellite NISAR, jointly developed by US and Indian scientists over a decade, has given a big push to Indo-US space cooperation and has been hailed as a milestone in space collaboration between the two countries under the leadership of US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Wednesday's launch came weeks after Nasa and Isro successfully collaborated on the Axiom-4 mission, under which Indian astronaut Shubanshu Shukla was sent to the International Space Station for microgravity experiments. Congratulating Isro and Nasa, space minister Jitendra Singh called the NISAR mission a 'game changer in precise management of disasters'. In a post on X, he said: 'NISAR's capacity to penetrate through fogs, dense clouds, ice layers, etc., makes it a pathbreaking enabler for the aviation and shipping sectors. The inputs from NISAR will benefit the entire world community…in the true spirit of 'Vishwabandhu'.' He also expressed pride in being 'associated with the Department of Space at a time when Isro is registering one global milestone after the other'. Isro chairman V Narayanan said NISAR 'has brought the two agencies closer than ever before'. Though Nasa began studying concepts for a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission, inspired by the National Academy of Sciences' decadal survey of the agency's Earth science program in 2007, the US chose to collaborate with India for a huge SAR-based satellite, signing a formal agreement for the NISAR programme in 2014. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Activate Your Antivirus License Click Here Undo The then Nasa administrator Charles Bolden and then Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan signed the pact for production and launch of NISAR in Toronto on Sept 30, 2014. Before 2014, US and India had collaborated on a slew of space missions, including the Chandrayaan-1 mission, under which saw Nasa sent its payload (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) on board Isro's spacecraft for the moon mission, which played a crucial role in finding water on Moon. But the NISAR programme is said to be the first big-ticket ($1.5 billion) satellite mission invested in by both sides. Nasa has contributed L-Band SAR, a high-rate telecommunication subsystem, GPS receivers and a deployable 12-metre unfurlable antenna. Isro, on its part, has provided S-Band SAR payload, the spacecraft bus to accommodate both payloads, GSLV-F16 launch vehicle and all associated launch services.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Two-eyed' NISAR satellite will scan every piece of Earth
Nasa's deputy associate administrator Casey Swails, in presence of Isro chairman V Narayanan, addresses scientists after successful launch of GSLV-F16 NEW DELHI: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) programme cost the US and India over $1.5 billion. But there is an important question to be asked: What was the need for such a huge investment when hundreds of earth observation satellites are already in space? The answer is that the world had never developed a dual-frequency band satellite. NISAR has two synthetic aperture radars of different bands that will operate in tandem. It will be a 'satellite with two eyes in space' keeping a hawk's eye on the Earth and scanning every piece of our planet for minute details. 'Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change. Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle,' Karen St Germain, director of Nasa's Earth Science division, explained. Calling NISAR 'the most sophisticated radar we've ever built and a model for the next generation of Earth-observation capabilities', Germain said, 'We'll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and, of course, we'll see wildfires'. It's 'a first-of-its-kind, jewel radar satellite that will change the way we study our home planet and better predict a natural disaster before it strikes,' Nasa's science mission chief Nicky Fox said ahead of liftoff. Congratulating Isro and Nasa, space minister Jitendra Singh called the NISAR mission a 'game changer in precise management of disasters'. The L-band SAR, provided by Nasa, uses higher wavelength microwaves and can penetrate tree cover for vegetation, sand and ice. It will capture minute details of surface undulations and see through dense forest cover. The S-band SAR, provided by Isro, which has a shorter wavelength, will capture larger features like crop fields and water bodies. L-band and S-band SARs together will provide a comprehensive picture of the observed area — generating detailed imagery that is not possible even by integrating data of two separate satellites with different bands. Putting two radars of different bands on the same satellite was therefore the biggest engineering challenge for both Nasa and Isro, which they finally managed to overcome, though it took them 10 years to develop the 2,392-kg marvel. Equipped with a 12-metre dish that will unfold in space, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth's land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 747 km. By picking up tiny changes in the vertical movement of the Earth's surface — as little as 1 cm (0.4 inches) — scientists will be able to detect precursors to natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges. The data from NISAR will be turned into three-dimensional maps that will not only help scientists and policymakers respond to natural disasters but also assist farmers by monitoring soil moisture and crop growth. Indian space industry representative Anil Prakash, DG, SatCom Industry Association (SIA-India), hailed the NISAR mission and Indo-US space collaboration. "The successful Nasa-Isro collaboration on the $1.5 billion NISAR mission marks a defining moment in global space diplomacy. It brings together cutting-edge American L-band SAR systems and India's expertise in engineering, integration, and cost-effective launch capability via GSLV-F16,' Prakash said. "Isro's contribution, including the S-band radar, satellite bus, launch services, and mission operations, once again demonstrates India's ability to build and deliver complex systems with remarkable reliability. With a legacy of over 400 international satellite launches, Isro has emerged not just as a collaborator, but as a co-architect of next-generation Earth science missions,' he added.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Isro-Nasa satellite Nisar takes flight
The Indian and US space agencies on Wednesday launched a powerful satellite that will keep a close eye on Earth and track even minuscule changes on its surface, arming scientists, researchers and disaster response teams with crucial data to help better forecast natural calamities. TOPSHOT - This handout photograph taken and released on July 30 by Isro shows launch vehicle GSLV-F16 carrying the Nisar earth observation satellite lifting off from the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in India's Andhra Pradesh state.(AFP) The Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, or Nisar, lifted off from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40pm, aboard the agency's GSLV-F16 rocket, in collaboration with Nasa. Roughly the size of a large SUV, Nisar was injected into orbit at 5.58pm. Over the next few days, the 2,393kg will begin to unfold itself, extending its 30-foot boom and opening the 39-foot diameter (12-meter) reflector, made of gold-plated wire mesh. Science operations should begin by the end of October. For the next five years, the $1.5 billion satellite will map virtually all of Earth's terrain multiple times from its vantage point 743km above Earth. Its two radars — one from the US and the other from India — will operate constantly, scanning the planet in granular detail twice every 12 days. Experts said the satellite can track changes as small as a centimetre. Data from the landmark effort will transform the way scientists study a rapidly evolving planet and climate. The satellite will push out accurate insights on melting glaciers and polar ice sheets; shifting groundwater supplies; motion and stress of land surfaces prompting landslides and earthquakes; and forest and wetland disruptions boosting carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Union minister Jitendra Singh called the joint-launch India's 'scientific handshake with the world'. 'Its capacity to penetrate through fogs, dense clouds, ice layers, etc, makes it a pathbreaking enabler for the aviation and shipping sectors,' he said on X. Isro chief V Narayanan confirmed that the launch was on expected lines and that the satellite was performing within its required parameters. 'All the vehicle system performance is quite normal as expected and predicted. Today we achieved the intended orbit. We have placed it in orbit less than 3km, within the permissible level of 20km,' he said. Casey Swails, deputy associate administrator of Nasa, who attended the launch, said, 'It has been just an incredible decade culminating in this moment from this technical collaboration, the cultural understanding, getting to know each other, building that team across continents, across time zones, missing weekends with families, holidays.' Nisar will be the world's first Earth-observing satellite equipped with two radars to sharpen its data gathering – an S-band and an L-band. The S-band radar, built by Isro, allows accurate readings of small plants, bushes and shrubs. The L-band, built by Nasa, helps sense taller vegetation like trees. Isro and Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) shared the workload, each building their own components, before integrating and testing the spacecraft at the former's Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in Bengaluru. Data from the L-band instrument will be available at the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) and from the S-Band will be available on Bhoonidhi at the National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad.
