News Analysis India

Tag: ISRO

  • ISRO espionage case: High-level probe panel submits report to SC on Nambi Narayanan’s illegal arrest

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A high-level probe panel appointed by the Supreme Court to take erring cops to task for causing “tremendous harassment” and “immeasurable anguish” to ISRO scientist Dr Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 espionage case has submitted its report to the apex court, sources said.

    The SC had on September 14, 2018 appointed the three-member panel headed by its former judge D K Jain while directing the Kerala government to cough up Rs 50 lakh compensation for compelling Narayanan to undergo “immense humiliation”.

    The scientist was arrested when the Congress was heading the government in Kerala.

    The panel, after investigation, submitted its report in a sealed cover to the apex court recently.

    The CBI, in its probe, had held that the then top police officials in Kerala were responsible for Narayanan’s illegal arrest.

    The case also had its political fallout, with a section in the Congress targeting the then Chief Minister late K Karunakaran over the issue, that eventually led to his resignation.

    Over a period of almost two-and-a-half years, the panel headed by Justice Jain examined the circumstances leading to the arrest.

    The espionage case, which had hit the headlines in 1994, pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on India’s space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women.

    The 79-year-old former scientist, who was given a clean chit by the CBI, maintained that the Kerala Police had “fabricated” the case and the technology he was accused to have stolen and sold in the 1994 case did not even exist at that time.

    Narayanan had approached the apex court against a Kerala High Court judgement that said “no action needed to be taken” against former DGP Siby Mathews, who was then heading the SIT probe team, two retired superintendents of police, K K Joshua and S Vijayan, and the then Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau, R B Shreekumar, who were later held responsible by the CBI for the scientist’s illegal arrest.

    The apex court in its judgement had said, “We think that the obtaining factual scenario calls for constitution of a committee to find out ways and means to take appropriate steps against the erring officials.”

    “The criminal law was set in motion without any basis. It was initiated, if one is allowed to say, on some kind of fancy or notion,” a bench headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra had said.

    “We are of the view that the appellant was arrested and he has suffered custody for almost 50 days. His arrest has been seriously criticised in the closure report of the CBI. From the aforesaid report, the harassment and mental torture faced by the appellant is obvious,” the bench had added.

    The judgement had said the “entire prosecution” initiated by the state police was “malicious and it has caused tremendous harassment and immeasurable anguish” to Narayanan.

    “It can be stated with certitude” that the fundamental right of life and personal liberty of Narayanan was “gravely affected”.

    The CBI, while giving a clean chit to the scientist, had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to IB surrendering his duties” and ordered indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence.

    The case had caught attention in October 1994, when Maldivian national Rasheeda was arrested in Thiruvananthapuram for allegedly obtaining secret drawings of ISRO rocket engines to sell to Pakistan.

    Narayanan, the then director of the cryogenic project at ISRO, was arrested along with the then ISRO Deputy Director D Sasikumaran, and Fousiya Hasan, a Maldivian friend of Rasheeda.

    The apex court had termed the police action against the ex-scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) a “psycho-pathological treatment”.

    It had said that his “liberty and dignity”, basic to his human rights, were jeopardised as he was taken into custody and, eventually, despite all the glory of the past, was compelled to face “cynical abhorrence”.

    Awarding a compensation Rs 50 lakh, which was to be paid by the state government, the top court had said it was being given to compensate for his suffering, anxiety and the treatment meted out to him.

    The apex court had said the “reputation of an individual is an insegregable facet of his right to life with dignity” and had rejected the plea of the Kerala government that due to the lapse of time, no inquiry or subsequent actions were needed to be taken against the erring officials.

    It had accepted Narayanan’s plea that the authorities, who were responsible for causing such a “harrowing effect” on his mind, should face “legal consequences”.

    The findings of the report are not yet known.

  • ISRO working towards using green propellant for future launches: K Sivan

    He said India is in talks with Australia to have a ground station at the Coco Islands for the Gaganyaan mission.

  • ISRO makes breakthrough demonstration of free-space Quantum Key Distribution over 300 metres

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday it has successfully demonstrated free-space Quantum Communication over a distance of 300 metres, for the first time in the country.

    A number of key technologies were developed indigenously to accomplish this major feat, which included the use of indigenously developed ‘NAVIC’ receiver for time synchronisation between the transmitter and receiver modules, and gimbal mechanism systems instead of bulky large-aperture telescopes for optical alignment, it said.

    “The demonstration has included live videoconferencing using quantum-key-encrypted signals. This is a major milestone achievement for unconditionally secured satellite data communication using quantum technologies”, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said in a statement.

    The Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology underpins Quantum Communication technology that ensures unconditional data security by virtue of the principles of quantum mechanics, which is not possible with the conventional encryption systems, ISRO explained.

    The conventional cryptosystems used for data-encryption rely on the complexity of mathematical algorithms, whereas the security offered by quantum communication is based on the laws of Physics.

    “Therefore, quantum cryptography is considered as ‘future-proof’, since no future advancements in the computational power can break quantum-cryptosystem”, according to ISRO.

    The free-space QKD was demonstrated at Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, between two line-of-sight buildings within the campus.

    The experiment was performed at night, in order to ensure that there is no interference of the direct sunlight.

    “The experiment is a major breakthrough towards ISRO’s goal of demonstrating Satellite Based Quantum Communication (SBQC), where ISRO is gearing up to demonstrate the technology between two Indian ground stations”, it said.

  • Development of reusable rocket needs a thrust: Former ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: India needs to strive towards mastering reusable rocket technology, give thrust to global marketing and learn from SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s business model to tap full potential in the space field, eminent space scientist G Madhavan Nair has advocated.

    The former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said there is a vast scope to launch foreign satellites and also provide space-related services in the global market.

    “We (India) have basic technology, capability to launch earth observation and communication platforms. But we have missed the opportunity in global marketing,” Nair told PTI.

    India offers satellite launch services at 30 to 40 per cent lower costs compared to international prices, according to him.

    “Naturally, there is a good potential for capturing more and more of launches from countries which have no such capability”, he said.

    “So, there one has to go aggressively and get that market share”.

    He said Musk has revolutionised space technology by going in for reusable launch vehicle system.

    “In fact, India has been talking about it (reusable launch vehicle) for the last 15-20 years, but we have not made headway into it”, Nair said.

    “Unless we go for recoverable and reusable launch systems, we cannot reduce the (space transportation) cost. That’s one area which needs a thrust”.

    India cannot be complacent in the field of space, where technology is changing very fast — in earth observation and communication systems and launch services, he said.

    Lot of innovations and concepts are emerging and India needs to keep abreast of them.

    “If we don’t use these opportunities, we will lag behind.

    Living on past glory is not going to help us”.

    Communication areas such as higher band and digital connectivity needs lot of technology development in which India is somehow not able to pump in resources, he said.

    Nair praised Musk for his leadership, vision and innovative management techniques and said India can learn from his business strategy.

    He said Musk’s life-story reminds him about his early professional days when Vikram Sarabhai, regarded as the father of the Indian space programme, used to dream big and motivate youngsters to put in extra efforts to reach the goal.

    “But today that type of scenario is not there and more of a bureaucratic control is coming in”, Nair said.

    On reforms in the space sector initiated by the Government in June last year, he expressed the view it’s no more than reconfiguring of ISRO structure.

    “Somehow, people get carried away by so-called commercialisation, forgetting the Research and Development part of it”, Nair added.

     

  • India, France working on third joint space mission: ISRO Chairman

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: India and France are working on their third joint satellite mission, even as the bilateral space collaboration is entering into multiple domains, including human spaceflight programme, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said.

    Sivan, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said many French companies are keen to tap into opportunities thrown up by recent reforms injected into the space sector by the Government.

    “France is the biggest partner of India in space”, he said at the DST (Department of Science and Technology) Golden Jubilee Discourse on ‘unlocking India’s space potential – geospatial data & mapping’, an event presented on virtual mode by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication and ‘Vigyan Prasar’ on Friday.

    According to ISRO officials, ISRO and French space agency CNES (Centre National dEtudes Spatiales) have undertaken two joint missions ‘Megha-Tropiques’, which was launched in 2011, and ‘Saral-Altika’ in 2013.

    “Currently, we are working for the third one (mission)”, Sivan said.

    Officials said ISRO and CNES have completed the feasibility study to realise the earth observation satellite mission with thermal infrared imager, TRISHNA (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High resolution Natural resource Assessment) and are working towards finalising an implementing arrangement for the joint development.

    Sivan said India is also working with France on joint experiments and accommodation of scientific instruments in space missions.

    “Indo-French space collaboration is expanding into multiple domains including space exploration and human space flight programme,” he said.

    ISRO officials said the two space agencies have also finalised all interface control documents for accommodating CNES’s ‘ARGOS’ instrument in ISROs OCEANSAT-3 satellite.

    ARGOS instrument has been delivered at Bengaluru for integration with the satellite.

    “Discussions on establishing ‘NavIC’ (an independent regional navigation satellite system developed and maintained by India) reference station in France and CNES ‘Scintillation’ receivers in India are also progressing well”, they said.

    ISRO-CNES HSP (Human Space Programme) Working Group had a number of discussions on medical aspects of human spaceflight and finalising an implementation arrangement to formalise cooperation in the field of space medicine, it was noted.

    Sivan said with the recent reforms initiated by the government in the space sector, the Indo-French space cooperation is expected to grow further involving industries, academia and research institutes.

    He said many French companies want to “make use of” reforms in the sector and “they are going to involve”.

    So, the reforms would not only strengthen space cooperation at government-to-government level but industry- to-industry interaction is going to get a “fresh relook” in the changed environment, Sivan added.

  • ISRO’s business arm to invest Rs 10k crore in next five years

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), which started operations in 2019 and clocked a revenue of Rs 300 crore in the first year, is now looking at revenue of Rs 400 crore in 2020-2021. It is also looking to investment Rs 2,000 crore per year over the next five years, and increase its manpower capability to from the existing 20-25 to 300, to cater to the country’s and international space requirements.

    The money will be raised through a mix of equity and debt, NSIL chairman Narayanan G told mediapersons on Friday. The enterprise foresees a paradigm shift, from having a mandate to produce and operate launch vehicles for ISRO, to procuring, owning, launching and providing space-based services, primarily in the communication sector, to its various customers As per a top source in the organisation, more revenue comes from satellite-related missions than launches. The NSIL has already started discussions with users about communication satellite capacities. It is also in talks with the Department of Space to take ownership of two communication satellites. 

    The NSIL is also looking at owning the already operating satellites in space. “We propose to take over the satellites run by ISRO,” said Narayanan. The space enterprise  which is incorporated as a wholly government owned enterprise with a paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore on March 6, 2019, has an authorised capital of Rs 100 crore. The recent budget identified Rs 700 crore for the company in the coming financial year. 

    With global demand for launching small satellites, the NSIL is looking at production of the PSLV launcher, and is expecting to engage with industry partners in the next six months. It is looking at capturing the mid-segment class of launch vehicles. “Today, we are the best in the world to cater to that segment of the market.  The other competitive vehicles in similar class to PSLV is Arianespace’s (Italian) Vega, whereas Soyuz (Russia) and SpaceX (USA) are heavylift launchers.

    The PSLV is ideally suited for mid-segment satellite with its success rate, number of launches in India and the commercial competitiveness,” said Radhakrishnan D, Technical and Strategy Director, NSIL. He told TNIE that the enterprise eventually aims to produce GSLV, GSLV-Mk3, and SSLV launch vehicles. So far, NSIL has launched 342 satellites for 24 countries, and 80 per cent of all small satellites are from the USA. 

  • NSIL to launch four satellites by 2023

    By Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Four international satellites will be launched by NSIL. While refusing to disclose details of the customer due to the nondisclosure clause, Radhakrishnan D, Technical and Strategy Director, NSIL, on Friday said the company has four dedicated international launch service agreements wherein two satellites will be launched next year and two more in 2023.

    Three of these launches will be on board ISRO’s PSLV, and one of them will be via the SSLV. Radhakrishnan was confident that the order book target will be achieved in a big way, also with two communication satellites coming into the picture. 

    While the Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) has been planning to take over ISRO’s communication and remote sensing satellites to add to its revenue, NSIL Chairman Narayanan G said they are looking for emerging demands for satellite services, and will concentrate on it. For the manufacture of PSLV, its core strength globally for mixed launches, NSIL has already issued a Request for Proposal for identifying an industrial partner. In the meantime, NSIL is also looking to acquire two communication satellites for DTH and broadband.

  • ISRO’s commercial arm NSIL to invest Rs 10,000 crore in five years, looking to make PSLV

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Newspace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, which started operations in 2019 has clocked a revenue of Rs 300 crore in its first year and is now looking at a revenue of Rs 400 crore from operations in 2020-2021.

    Additionally, the company is looking to invest Rs 2,000 crore per year for five years and up its manpower capability from the existing 20-25 to 300 to cater to the country’s and international space requirements.

    The money will be raised by a mix of equity and debt, Narayanan G, Chairman NSIL, told mediapersons on Friday.

    He said that the enterprise was foreseeing a paradigm shift, from having a mandate to produce and operate launch vehicles from ISRO, to procuring, owning, launching and providing space based services, primarily in the communcation sector to its various customers

    As per a top source from the organisation, more revenue comes from satellite related missions than launches.

    NSIL has already started discussions with users about communication satellite capacities. It is also in talks with the department of space to take ownership of two communication satellites.

    NSIL is also looking at owning the already operating satellites in space. “We propose to take over  the satellites run by ISRO,” said Narayanan.

    The space enterprise, which has been incorporated as a completely government owned enterprise with a paid up capital of Rs 10 crore on March 6 2019, has an authorised capital of Rs 100 crore.

    A recent budget announcement identified 700 crore for the company in the coming financial year. How it will be taken into the company is under discussion, said Narayanan.

    With a global demand for launching small satellites, the enterprise is looking at production of the PSLV and is expecting to engage with industry partners in the next six months.

    The enterprise is looking at capturing a mid segment class of vehicles. “Today we are the best in the world to cater to that segment of the market. The other competitive vehicle in similar class to PSLV is Arianespace’s (Italian) Vega. Whereas Soyuz (Russia) and SpaceX (USA) are heavylift launchers. PSLV is ideally suited for mid-segment satellite with its success rate, number of launches performed in India and commercial competitiveness,” said Radhakrishnan D, Technical and Strategy Director, NSIL. He told The New Indian Express that the enterprise eventually aims to produce GSLV, GSLV-Mk3, and SSLV launch vehicles.

    So far, NSIL has launched 342 satellites from 24 countries, with 80 per cent of all small satellites being from the US.

    NSIL to launch four international satellites by 2023

    The launch of four international satellites is on the anvil for NSIL.

    While refusing to disclose details of the customers due to a non-disclosure clause, Radhakrishnan D, Technical and Strategy Director, NSIL, on Friday said the company has four dedicated international launch service agreements of which two will be launched next year and two more the year after that.

    Three of these launches will be on board ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and one will be via the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

    He was confident that the order book target will be achieved in a big way, with two communication satellites coming into the picture.

    NSIL is looking to clock a revenue of Rs 400 crores in 2020-21 and has the same projected revenue for 2021-22.

    While this Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) has been planning to take over ISRO’s communication and remote sensing satellites to add to its revenue, Narayanan G, chairman NSIL, said the enterprise is looking for new emerging demands for satellite services and will concentrate on it. In the two years of its existence, NSIL executed launch services spread over 4 PSLV missions for 45 auxiliary customer satellites and the recent one, a primary satellite for INPE Brazil.

    Towards the manufacture of PSLV, its core strength globally for mixed launches, NSIL has already issued the request for proposal for identifying an industrial partner.

    In the meantime, NSIL is also looking to acquire two communication satellites for DTH and broadband, and Narayanan said discussions are on at an advanced stage with the Department of Space (DoS).

  • ISRO, Japanese space agency review 2024 joint lunar mission

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japanese space agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), on Thursday held a virtual meeting to review projects the two are collaborating on, in particular the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission that is likely to be launched some time in 2024. It involves sending a lander and rover on the Moon’s south pole region, much like Chandrayaan-2 attempted.

    ISRO Chairman K Sivan interacted with the Japanese delegation, led by JAXA president Hiroshi Yamakawa, wherein they reviewed their ongoing cooperation in Earth observation, lunar exploration and satellite navigation.  The Lupex mission is being planned to demonstrate new surface exploration technologies related to vehicular transport and lunar night survival for sustainable lunar exploration in the polar regions — the south pole of the Moon in this case. The mission will use a lunar features-matching algorithm along with a navigational equipment from JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon mission, and the rover will carry instruments from both the space agencies.   

    The lander’s payload capacity will be a minimum 350 kg, while the rover will carry multiple instruments, which include a drill to collect sub-surface samples from 1.5 mt depth. Besides this, water prospecting and analysis are also likely to be the mission’s objectives. 

    The mission aims at an in-situ observation of areas where water is believed to exist, and obtain ground data on the quantity of water, besides understanding the distribution, conditions, form and other parameters of lunar water resources in the polar region. The mission is also meant to obtain data on the quantity and forms of the water resources present on the Moon.

    “Through this mission, we also seek to improve the technology needed to explore the surface of low-gravity celestial bodies in order to support future lunar activities. These advancements include technology for mobility, lunar night survival and mining excavation,” JAXA had earlier announced. The launcher and rover are to be developed by Japan and the lander system will be developed by India.

    The two sides agreed to explore opportunities for cooperation in space situational awareness and professional exchange programme, according to an official announcement by ISRO. The two space agencies also signed an ‘Implementing Arrangement’ for collaborative activities on rice crop area and air quality monitoring using satellite data, the release added.

  • Satellite set for March 28 launch will help India keep an eye on borders near real-time

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: India plans to launch on March 28 an earth observation satellite that will provide it near real-time images of its borders and also enable quick monitoring of natural disasters.

    GISAT-1 is slated to be lofted into space by GSLV-F10 rocket from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 kms north of Chennai.

    “We are looking to launch this Geo imaging satellite on March 28, subject to weather conditions”, an official of the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told PTI on Sunday.

    The rocket will place the spacecraft in a geosynchronous orbit.

    It will be subsequently positioned in geostationary orbit, about 36,000 kms above earth’s equator, using its onboard propulsion system.

    The launch of GISAT-1 onboard GSLV-F10 rocket was originally planned for March 5 last year but postponed a day before the blast-off due to technical reasons.

    Experts said positioning the state-of-the-art agile earth observation satellite in geostationary orbit has key advantages.

    “It’s going to be a game-changer in some sense for India”, a Department of Space official said.

    “With onboard high resolution cameras, the satellite will allow the country to monitor the Indian land mass and the oceans, particularly its borders continuously”.

    Listing the objectives of the mission, ISRO has earlier said the satellite would provide near real-time imaging of the large area region of interest at frequent intervals.

    It would help in quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic and any short-term events.

    The third objective is to obtain spectral signatures of agriculture, forestry, mineralogy, disaster warning, cloud properties, snow and glacier and oceanography.

    GISAT-1 will facilitate near real-time observation of the Indian sub-continent, under cloud-free condition, at frequent intervals, ISRO said.

    The planned launch of GISAT-1, weighing about 2,268 kg, comes close on the heels of the successful February 28 PSLV- C51 mission that orbited Brazil’s earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passengers, including five built by students.

    Secretary in the Department of Space and ISRO Chairman K Sivan told PTI last week that the technical issues that led to postponement of GISAT-1 mission have been resolved and the further delay in the launch was due to COVID-19-induced lockdown which affected normal work.

    According to sources, GISAT-1 will be followed by the maiden flight of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, ISRO’s compact launcher, likely in April.

    SSLV has been designed to meet “launch on demand” requirements in a cost-effective manner for small satellites in a dedicated and ride-share mode.

    It is a three-stage all solid vehicle with a capability to launch up to 500 kg satellite mass into 500 km low earth orbit (LEO) and 300 kg into Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

    By comparison, PSLV — the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO — can take up to 1,750 kg payload into SSO of 600 km altitude.

    With lower per kg launch cost, the mini launcher will have multiple satellite mounting options for nano, micro and small satellites.

    Sivan had earlier termed the SSLV an innovative vehicle which can be assembled in just 72 hours.

    “Instead of 60 days (for building a PSLV), it (SSLV) will be assembled in three days; instead of 600 people (needed to build a PSLV), it (SSLV) will be done by six people”, he had said.

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