Latest news with #Spadex
United News of India
5 days ago
- Science
- United News of India
ISRO Chief gets Kalam award for success of Spadex, Axiom, NISAR missions and for critical space system support for successful Op Sindoor
Chennai, Aug 15 (UNI) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space Dr V Narayanan was today presented the former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam award by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin for the successful Spadex and NISAR missions and for the critical space system support by ISRO for the recent successful 'Operation Sindoor', which was one of the major achievements under his able leadership. Dr. Narayanan, in his brief tenure as DOS Secretary, has proven his visionary leadership with several achievements. They included the 100th launch from SHAR Range the successful completion of Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission making India the fourth country in the world to achieve this, and the successful completion of Axiom mission wherein the second Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla travelled to International Space Station and brought back safely. Dr Narayanan led a high-level delegation which was instrumental in insisting and correcting the Liquid Oxygen leakage in the Falcon-9 vehicle and ensuring safety of the four astronauts onboard Axiom-4 mission including Shubhanshu Shukla from India which otherwise would have led to catastrophic failure. The award was also to hail the recent successful launch of the prestigious and technologically complex NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar Spacecraft using GSLV vehicle. The critical space system support by ISRO for the recent successful 'Operation Sindoor' by India was one of the major achievements under his able leadership, the Government said. He is also spearheading the complex cutting edge technology developments feeding to national missions like Gaganyaan programme, Chandrayaan-4 and 5, Venus Orbiter Mission, Bharathiya Anthariksh Station, Next Generation Launch Vehicle and many more including an Indian astronaut landing on the moon and returning safely. Dr. Narayanan, in his illustrious career, has been honoured with more than 35 most prestigious awards including Distinguished Alumni Award and Life Fellowship Award from IIT, Kharagpur, Gold Medal from Astronautical Society of India (ASI). He is a Member and Fellow of a large number of prestigious National and International Scientific and Technical forums. Born in a small village Melakattuvilai in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Narayanan was a brilliant student throughout his academic career. He studied in Tamil Nadu Government School and completed Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Government. Polytechnic, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. Later, he obtained in Cryogenic Engineering with a silver medal and first rank and Ph.D. from IIT, Kharagpur. Dr. Narayanan was appointed as Secretary, DoS and Chairman, ISRO and Chairman, Space Commission in recognition of his distinguished career in ISRO spanning 41 years with multiple key leadership roles including the post of Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO for seven years. He pioneered in the propulsion systems of rockets and satellites for ISRO, working in critical and cutting edge technologies of propulsion systems, and realisation of large infrastructure. As a propulsion system technocrat, his professional career is studded with several major achievements like leading the Cryogenic propulsion realisation and stage development for India's self-reliance in launch vehicle technology making it one amongst the six countries having this technology. As a Project Director, instrumental in development of C25 Cryogenic Stage for LVM3 launch vehicle and obtained three world records. He was responsible for successful completion of development of Cryogenic Propulsion System from engine hot test to successful flight in 28 months with only 3 engines. Dr. Narayanan's key contributions to pan-ISRO activities include his leadership in development of propulsion systems for launch vehicles and spacecraft of Chandrayaan-2 and 3 missions including the development of throttleable propulsion system for soft landing of Lander and Rover of Chandrayaan-3. After the unsuccessful landing attempt of Chandrayaan-2, he was appointed as the Chairman of the National Level Expert Committee to analyse the reason for the setback. Under his Chairmanship, this committee made critical recommendations for improvement which resulted in the resounding success of Chandrayaan-3 mission. Similarly, he has played a major role in various other national missions like Aditya L1, One Web India missions, etc., and was instrumental in drafting the road maps of Space Transportation Systems of ISRO as the Chairman of Space Transportation System (STS) Programme Management Council. Dr. Narayanan is striving to provide techno-managerial leadership for achieving excellence in Space Transportation, Infrastructure and Space applications benefitting common citizens of our country as well as creating and nurturing a vibrant space eco-system in India. UNI GV 1425
News18
06-05-2025
- Science
- News18
ISRO To Plan Second Space Docking Mission Soon, To Approach Govt For Approval
Last Updated: The first uncrewed flight of Gaganyaan is also scheduled to happen later this year, with robotic payload Vyomitra on board. After successfully demonstrating space docking this year, Indian Space Research Organization Chief Dr V Narayanan said the agency is planning to conduct another space-docking experiment. The Spadex-2 may be launched in the coming three years, subject to government approval. The space agency is planning a proposal, which will be shared with the government soon. One the approval is granted, it is expected to take another 18 months to complete the preparation. India recently became only the fourth country in the world to successfully perform space docking with its Spadex experiment which launched on December 30, 2024. The mission involved the launch of two satellites on a single rocket which were docked and undocked in the low earth orbit amid challenging conditions. 'They are currently undocked and drifting independently of each other in space. The good thing is that still have 50 per cent propellant left and further experiments are planned," added the senior scientist. Spadex-1 was fraught with challenges which the space agency overcame and completed the experiment. The first docking was done on January 16, followed by un-docking on March 13. The second docking was done on April 20, with subsequent un-docking on April 25 following power transfer between the spacecrafts. The technology is critical for the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 slated to be launched in 2028 which will require multiple docking and un-docking in space. Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Space who was also present said, 'There are bound to be challenges. But India's record is far better than other countries when it comes to attempting new technological feats in space. Even though we didn't succeed with our first lunar landing, we aced it with our second attempt in 2023." A significant milestone for upcoming human spaceflight, the test Vehicle-D2 (TV-D2) mission has been designed to simulate an abort scenario and demonstrate the Gaganyaan Crew Escape System. The mission includes sea recovery operations for the Crew Module; mimicking procedures planned for India's first human spaceflight. Gaganyaan First Uncrewed Flight Later This Year The first uncrewed flight of Gaganyaan is scheduled in the last quarter of 2025 – most likely December. 'We will be carrying three uncrewed test flights, and two crewed test flights before we undertake the final human spaceflight," said ISRO chief Dr V Narayanan. India's most ambitious space mission – Gaganyaan – will take three Indian astronauts to the Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 400 km and bring them safely back to Earth. The space agency has already shortlisted the astronauts – all test pilots from the Indian Air Force who have been undergoing rigorous training for the last two years. One of the shortlisted candidates, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, a decorated pilot in the Indian Air Force, will also be flying aboard the Axiom Mission-4 scheduled to take off from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida on May 29. With this, he will also become the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). Among the major missions lined up from May to July, ISRO will launch the PSLV-C61 mission carrying the state-of-the-art EOS-09 satellite. Equipped with a C-band synthetic aperture radar, EOS-09 will be capable of capturing high-resolution images of Earth's surface under all weather conditions, day or night. June will see the highly anticipated launch of the NISAR satellite aboard the GSLV-F16. This NASA-ISRO collaboration aims to study Earth's ecosystems and natural hazards through dual-frequency radar data, combining NASA's L-band payloads with ISRO's S-band contributions. The LVM3-M5 mission, scheduled for July, will cater to a commercial contract with AST SpaceMobile Inc., USA, launching BlueBird Block-2 satellites under NewSpace India Limited's commercial program. First Published: May 06, 2025, 15:54 IST
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Science
- Time of India
ISRO achieves docking of SpaDeX satellites for second time
The Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ) has successfully performed the second docking of satellites as part of its Spadex missions, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday. He said more experiments are planned in the next two weeks. "Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully," Singh, the minister of state for science and technology, atomic energy and space, said in a post on 'X'. He recalled that the PSLV-C60/Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission was launched on December 30, 2024. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Don't Miss The Top Packaging Trends Of 2024, Enhnace Your Brand With The Latest Insights Packaging Machines | Search Ads Search Now Undo Thereafter satellites were successfully docked for the first time on January 16 and successfully undocked on March 13, the minister said. "Further experiments are planned in the next two weeks," Singh added. Live Events Later, in a statement, ISRO said the docking experiment of the SPADEX satellites (SDX-01 and SDX-02) for the second time was successfully carried out on April 20 at 08.20 pm. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories "Subsequently, power transfer from SDX-02 to SDX-01 satellite as well as vice versa was also exercised and accomplished on April 21. The experiment involved operating a heater element in one of the satellites through power from the other satellite," it said. The space agency said the duration of power transfer was approximately four minutes and the performance of the satellites was as expected. "In the second attempt, docking was completed with full autonomy from an inter-satellite distance of 15 metres till docking. In the first docking attempt, an additional hold point was manually exercised at an inter-satellite distance of 3 metres," the statement read. The second docking experiment was preceded by detailed ground simulations and on-orbit trials incorporating the experience gained from the first docking and undocking experiments, thereby providing immense confidence for the second docking demonstration, it said. "The demonstration of the fully autonomous second docking along with power transfer marks the completion of an important milestone in the SPADEX mission ," the space agency added. According to ISRO, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for in-space docking using two small spacecraft that were launched by PSLV. In space, docking is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. This experiment is crucial for ISRO's future missions, such as the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and the landing of an astronaut on the Moon.
Indian Express
21-04-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
ISRO performs second docking of satellites
ISRO has performed the second docking of satellites as part of its Spadex missions successfully, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday. He said more experiments are planned in the next two weeks. 'Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully,' Singh, who is the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space, said in a post on 'X'. #ISRO SPADEX Update: Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully. As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SPADEX mission was successfully launched on 30 December 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time… — Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) April 21, 2025 He recalled that the PSLV-C60 / Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission was successfully launched on December 30, 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on January, 16 and successfully undocked on March 13, he said. 'Further experiments are planned in the next two weeks,' Singh said. According to ISRO, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for the demonstration of in-space docking using two small spacecraft that were launched by PSLV. In space, docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives.
The Print
21-04-2025
- Science
- The Print
ISRO performs second docking of satellites
'Glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully,' Singh, who is the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Atomic Energy and Space, said in a post on 'X'. He said more experiments are planned in the next two weeks. Bengaluru, Apr 21 (PTI) ISRO has performed the second docking of satellites as part of its Spadex missions successfully, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday. He recalled that the PSLV-C60 / Space Docking Experiment (SPADEX) mission was successfully launched on December 30, 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on January, 16 and successfully undocked on March 13, he said. 'Further experiments are planned in the next two weeks,' Singh said. According to ISRO, the SpaDeX mission is a cost-effective technology demonstrator mission for the demonstration of in-space docking using two small spacecraft that were launched by PSLV. In space, docking technology is essential when multiple rocket launches are required to achieve common mission objectives. This experiment is crucial for ISRO's future missions, such as the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and landing an astronaut on the moon. PTI GMS SA This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
