Test trials of rocket launch held in UP ahead of student competition

Successful test trials of rocket launch systems were conducted here as part of the preparations for a student competition in model rocketry scheduled to be held in October this year.
The launch trials were conducted on Saturday and Sunday by the Astronautical Society of India in association with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The model rocket launcher is developed by Thrust Tech India Pvt. Ltd, under the guidance of the experts from IN-SPACe and ISRO, shall be used for the upcoming 'IN-SPACe CANSAT and Model Rocketry India Student Competition 2024–25' to be held in Kushinagar.

Hashtags

Science

#IN-SPACeCANSATandModelRocketryIndiaStudentCompetition2024

#IN-SPACe

#ISRO

#AstronauticalSocietyofIndia

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

NDTV

an hour ago

NDTV

NDTV Exclusive: Close Call For Musk's SpaceX Rocket: How ISRO Helped Avert Space Disaster

The timely detection of a "crack in an oxidizer line" in the first stage of the Falcon-9 rocket - which will take four astronauts, including India's Shubhanshu Shukla, to the International Space Station - averted a major disaster. The fault was observed following a demand for due diligence from the Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman, Dr V Narayanan. The Falcon-9 rocket will carry four astronauts - part of the Axiom 4 mission - to the International Space Station, where they will spend 14 days and conduct several experiments. The "leak" has been fixed, and the ISRO has confirmed a new launch date for the mission - June 19. The back-and-forth between the ISRO and Axiom Space continued for several days. The mission was postponed five times before getting a new launch date. How ISRO Played A Big Role Experts who assessed the safety told NDTV that had the crack not been detected, the rocket could have suffered a major failure at lift off since liquid oxygen can be a cause of fire. A day before the lift off on June 10, William Gerstenmaier, Vice President for Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX said "We found a LOX (liquid oxygen) leak that was previously seen on the booster during its (Falcon-9) entry on the last mission and discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster during refurbishment, or we didn't find the leak and didn't get not correct it. We have now gone out to the launch pad. We're continuing to troubleshoot that," the SpaceX official said. "We should complete it today, and we will have that back in configuration. We are installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it we will be fully ready to go fly," Mr Gerstenmaier added. Despite admitting to a propellant leak, the SpaceX team decided to launch the ailing rocket on June 11. However, after learning of the "leak", ISRO chief, Dr Narayanan, strongly disagreed with the decision and demanded full correction, with validation by proper tests, including low-temperature leak tests. His insistence on due diligence to rectify the leak forced the SpaceX team to call off the launch on June 11. SpaceX teams went back to the launch pad and carried out inspections, which led to a surprise and shocking detection of a "weld crack" - A big flaw in one of the liquid oxygen lines. This crack had gone unnoticed, even though the first stage is a recycled and refurbished one. The cracked portion has been replaced after Dr Narayanan's insistence, and adequate tests have been carried out on the health of the repaired system. Today, ISRO said, "During a follow-on coordination meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved." NDTV requested a response from SpaceX, asking several questions via email, which remain unanswered. NDTV even tweeted to SpaceX, seeking answers to the questions emailed to them, but got no response. Emails sent to Axiom Space seeking more clarity remained unanswered, too. However, in an oblique admission and acknowledgement of the role played by ISRO in averting a near disaster while ensuring safety, Mr Kam Ghaffarian, Executive Chairman, Axiom Space, on Thursday said, "We appreciate all the incredible work of our customers, NASA, and SpaceX on this Mission. This is the right thing to do for Axiom Space, for NASA, and our customers. We will continue to work with all of our partners to finalise a new launch date and look forward to flying the Ax-4 Mission soon." Earlier, ISRO stated that "During the appraisal of technical issues by Axiom and SpaceX to the ISRO delegation on June 10, ISRO recommended to carry out in-situ repairs or replacement and conduct a low-temperature leak test to validate system performance and integrity, before proceeding with launch clearance." A highly qualified 13-member ISRO team, stationed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was not convinced by the "band-aid-like" solution of a 'purge' offered by SpaceX on the oxidiser line leak. ISRO has a highly qualified 13-member team stationed at the Kennedy Space Center to keep an eye on the safety of the Axiom-4 mission. Photo Credit: Axiom Space In a statement, ISRO Chairman, Dr V Narayanan, stated, "As part of launch vehicle preparation to validate the performance of the booster stage of the Falcon-9 launch vehicle, a seven-second hot test was carried out on the launch pad. It is understood that LOX leakage was detected in the propulsion bay during the test. Based on the discussion on this topic by the ISRO team with the experts of Axiom and SpaceX, it has been decided to correct the leak and carry out necessary validation tests before clearing for the launch." The ISRO chief is a top expert on liquid engines and was part of the team that helped India build a cryogenic engine. He is aware of the risks of a liquid oxygen leak. Sources told NDTV that the Hungarian and Polish teams supported the stand taken by the Indian delegation. The leadership of Axiom Space is also relieved by the 'Safety-first, Launch-later' stand taken by ISRO. The Indian space organisation's handling of the situation is appreciated by many at Cape Canaveral. The cracked line has since been replaced, but Dr Narayanan asserts that "safety and mission integrity remain our top priorities". Experts say the crack could have fractured the fuel line since massive vibrations take place at liftoff. Observers, not party to the Axiom-4 mission, told NDTV, it is probably the first time someone has taken on the formidable SpaceX. The American aerospace expert suggested that SpaceX did not realise that India's space agency was headed by a technical expert and not a politician. Axiom-4 Mission And India's Stake India is a stakeholder in the mission after it purchased a seat on the Axiom-4 mission for Rs 550 crores. It seeks to mitigate all risks for the crew of Commander Peggy Whitson from the US, pilot Shubhanshu Shukla from India, and mission specialists, Slawosz Uzananski-Wisniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. An expert from Florida said, "All four lives are equally important; a human-rated rocket has to be handled differently and not with quick fixes that are not fully validated, as was being provided by SpaceX." At one stage, the Indian delegation was ready to pull out Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla from the mission if SpaceX had not carried out the corrections. India's Science Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh, supported ISRO's decision and said, "Safety, precision, commitment to excellence were paramount since a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak was detected during a seven-second hot test of Falcon 9's booster. After a joint review by ISRO, Axiom & SpaceX teams, it was decided to rectify the issue & revalidate before lift-off." Yesterday, SpaceX said, "Falcon 9 wet dress rehearsal is complete. We'll continue to work closely with NASA and Axiom Space to determine the best launch opportunity for Dragon and the Ax-4 crew to the Space Station." A source in Axiom Space said, "A wet dress rehearsal is a pre-launch test where the Falcon-9 is fully fuelled with liquid propellants, simulating a launch countdown, but without actual engine ignition. We are still standing by for a launch date. This is just ensuring readiness for the vehicle." Meanwhile, NASA has said that it was reviewing launch opportunities no earlier than June 19. SpaceX said that it has completed 500 launches of the Falcon-9 rocket, which has a 99.6% success record, but others point out that the Falcon rocket has had just 10 human space flights, all successful, but still a tiny legacy compared to the Russian Soyuz rockets and the Space Shuttle. The Falcon-9 rocket stands tall on Pad 39-A, the same pad used by Astronaut Neil Armstrong for his moon landing. India's Astronaut Group Captain Shukla and three other crew members are still in quarantine awaiting the launch date. Meanwhile, in a separate headache of a 'pressure issue' on the International Space Station, ISRO said, "Axiom Space informed that they are working closely with NASA to assess the pressure anomaly in the Zvezda Service Module on board the International Space Station." If the launch does not happen on June 19, then the window is still open till June 30.

Axiom space flight tentatively scheduled for June 19 after repeated delays: Science Minister

The Hindu

11 hours ago

The Hindu

Axiom space flight tentatively scheduled for June 19 after repeated delays: Science Minister

The Axiom-4 mission, that is set to carry Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to take off on June 19, 'as of now', Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said at a press conference on Sunday. This comes a day after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had first declared and then deleted the date of the repeatedly postponed launch. On Saturday, ISRO had posted on its official channels that the liquid oxygen leak on the Falcon-9, which is supposed to ferry the astronauts to the ISS, had been 'successfully resolved', and that it was looking to a 'June 19th launch'. Later in the day, however, it removed the specific reference to the date, modifying its post to say: 'The earliest possible launch date for #Ax4 is being worked out.' With the launch having been delayed multiple times already, Dr. Singh said that June 19 is 'being seriously considered', but that there were 'imponderables' such as the weather and other factors. 'Mutual cooperation' with SpaceX In response to a question by The Hindu, the Minister played down perceived differences between ISRO and the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX — which owns and operates the Falcon — on the threat posed by the discovery of an 'oxygen leak'' during a engine test on June 8. On June 10, ISRO had said on its website that it 'recommended' on-site repairs or replacement and a 'low temperature leak test' before the vehicle was cleared for launch. A media report claimed that ISRO had to insist on such a test. 'As far as our understanding goes, there's been an optimum amount of mutual cooperation. As soon as the leakage was pointed out, both teams joined together and agreed to address that [the leakage],' said Dr. Singh, who is also the Minister-in-charge for Space. Oxygen leak detected The astronauts were originally scheduled to lift off on May 29, which was postponed to June 8, then June 10, and then June 11, when SpaceX, the provider of the launch rocket and the space capsule, detected a liquid oxygen leak in the Falcon-9 rocket. The delays were also due to a snag in the Zvezda service module aboard the ISS. Axiom, the company coordinating the launch, has said it was 'coordinating with NASA on the module anomaly'. Former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, Peggy Whitson, will command the commercial mission, while Mr. Shukla, the ISRO astronaut, will serve as the pilot. The two mission specialists are European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary. The 14-day mission will 'realise the return' to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary.

Business Standard

12 hours ago

Business Standard