Tag Archives: Sriharikota

GLOBAL: NATIONAL: AEROSPACE / MANY FIRSTS : World’s First Rocket with Single Piece 3D Printed Engine launched from Sriharikota

The feat has been achieved entirely through indigenous design and development.

The world’s first rocket with a single piece 3D printed engine was launched from Sriharikota on Thursday by Agnikul Cosmos, the IITMadras-incubated start-up.

The launch was witnessed by various luminaries including Dr S Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, Rajeev Jyoti, Director (Technical), IN-SPACe, and A Raj Rajan, Director SHAR.

The ISRO chairman said that the success involving many firsts, including the 3D printed semi-cryogenic engine, flight control systems etc. demonstrate the prowess of indigenous design and innovation. “It motivates ISRO to support the Space startups and non-governmental entities for innovation and Atmanirbharata to create a vibrant space ecosystem in the country,” he said.

The feat has been achieved entirely through indigenous design and development after the launch was postponed many a times. ‘Agnibaan – SOrTeD’ Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator also has the unique distinction of having been launched from India’s first private launch pad called ‘Dhanush’ established by Agnikul. It is also India’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch.

“The key purpose of this mission, which is also Agnikul’s first flight, is to serve as a test flight, to demonstrate the in-house and home grown technologies, gather crucial flight data and ensure optimal functioning of systems for Agnikul’s orbital launch vehicle, the ‘Agnibaan’,” a statement issued by the company said.

The Agnibaan SOrTeD is powered by a semi-cryogenic engine that uses commercially available aviation turbine fuel or essentially kerosene and medical grade liquid oxygen, according to the company. Agnikul follows up on the first launch made by an Indian space company which was Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited which in 2022 flew a solid fuelled sounding rocket from Sriharikota.

Speaking about the next steps, Prof Satyanarayanan R Chakravarthy, founding advisor, Agnikul Cosmos and also the Head of National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), IIT Madras, said, “We are proud to present India’s first Semi-cryo rocket engine, which is also the world’s most integrated single shot 3D printed piece. It signals the ability to rapidly assemble rockets that is unparalleled.”

The Agnikul team consists of over 200 engineers and is associated with NCCRD at IIT Madras. Additionally, the team is guided by 45 former scientists from ISRO who bring invaluable expertise to the endeavour of democratising access to space, a statement said.

The flagship launch vehicle, ‘Agnibaan’, is designed to be compatible with the mobile launchpad called ‘Dhanush,’ allowing for launch flexibility regardless of location. Agnibaan can be configured to accommodate payloads ranging from 30 kg to 300 kg, ensuring versatility across a wide range of mission requirements, the statement added. The startup is aiming to fly an orbital mission towards the end 2024-2025.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: SPACE / SATELLITES &TECHNOLOGY: ISRO Successfully Launches SSLV’s 2nd Developmental Flight with 3 Satellites from Sriharikota

The new rocket launch from Sriharikota has put three satellites into a 450 km-circular orbit during its 15-minute flight .

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its second developmental flight of a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle — SSLV-D2 — and placed three satellites in its precise orbit on February 10 morning.

The three satellites are ISRO’s Earth Observation Satellite – EOS 07, U.S.-based firm Antaris’ Janus-1 and Chennai-based space start-up SpaceKidz’s AzaadiSAT-2. 

SSLV-D2 lifted off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, Sriharikota at 9:18 a.m. This is the first satellite launch in 2023.

“The SSLV-D2-EOS-07 mission is successfully accomplished,” ISRO mentioned on its Twitter handle, a few minutes after the vehicle took off. ISRO in a statement said: “The vehicle injected satellites into close to 450 km circular orbit at an inclination of 37.2 degrees. The tracking network took control of EOS-07 satellite. Deployment of the solar panels and the generation of power is confirmed.”

ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said, “In its second attempt SSLV-D2 has placed the EOS-07 satellite in its intended orbit very accurately. Two more satellites -Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 were also placed in the required orbit.”

The Chairman further said: “SSLV had its maiden flight SSLV-D1 and we had a narrow miss of placing the satellite in the orbit because of a shortfall in velocity. I’m happy to report that we have analysed the problems faced in SSLV D1 – identified the corrective actions and implemented it. We went through lot of studies to ensure that the vehicle will become success this time,” he added. 

“And I’m happy this has been executed in reality. The orbit achieved by the vehicle today is exceedingly good,” Mr. Somanath said.

Noting that this journey began in 2018, S.S. Vinod, Mission Director of SSLV, said, “We had the maiden flight in August 2022 and we could not place the satellite in the intended orbit. Post that detailed analysis with a number of teams was carried out and we were able to pinpoint the problem in the system . We overcame that.”

He added, “And in a period of five months we have come back. And we will be coming back soon with the next launch of SSLV.”

It may be recalled that the first developmental flight of SSLV lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on August 7, 2022, and ended up to be a partial failure, as the rocket failed to inject its satellite payload in their intended orbits.

According to ISRO, the spacecraft was injected into a highly elliptical unstable orbit due to a shortfall in velocity, leading to their decay and deorbiting immediately, in spite of the normal performance of all solid propulsion stages. 

Subsequent detailed analysis of the flight events and observations ranging from the countdown, lift-off, propulsion performance, stage separations and satellite injection revealed that there was a vibration disturbance for a short duration on the Equipment Bay (EB) deck during the second stage (SS2) separation. This affected the Inertial Navigation System (INS), resulting in declaring the sensors faulty by the logic in Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) software.

About SSLV-D2

EOS-07 is a 156.3 kg satellite designed, developed and realized by ISRO. The mission objective of EOS-07 is to design and develop payload instruments compatible with microsatellite bus and new technologies, which are required for future operational satellites. Moreover, it will also design and develop a microsatellite accommodating new technology payloads in a quick turn-around time. 

New experiments include mm-Wave Humidity Sounder and Spectrum Monitoring Payload. Weighing around 10.2 kg, Janus-1 is a technology demonstrator, smart satellite mission based on the Antaris software platform. An 8.7 kg satellite AzaadiSAT-2 is a combined effort of about 750 girl students across India guided by Space Kidz India, Chennai.

According to details provided by ISRO, SSLV caters to the launch of up to 500 kg satellites to Low Earth Orbits on a “launch-on-demand” basis. It provides low-cost access to space, offers low turn-around time and flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, and demands minimal launch infrastructure. It is configured with three solid propulsion stages and a velocity terminal module. It is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle having a lift-off mass of 120 tonnes.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)