quadbikeIndigenous cryogenic engine not responsible for failure: ISRO
Kochi: Senior Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists, reviewing the reasons for the failure of the GSLV-D3 mission, which was primarily meant to test the indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage of the rocket, have determined that contrary to the initial impression it was a malfunction of another part, and not a failure of the cryogenic stage to ignite, that led to the mission going awry.
A preliminary study of flight data by the scientists has determined that the cryogenic stage did indeed ignite but failed to function thereafter as a fuel turbo pump that supplied fuel to the cryogenic engine stopped working just a second after ignition.
The two-day review meet was chaired by ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan.
According to reports, scientist say that data reveals that combustion did indeed take place as the rocket’s acceleration increased for a second before it began to drift off the designated flight path. Scientists surmise that the turbine that powered the fuel turbo pump had somehow failed.
It is being given to understand that ISRO will now constitute a ‘Failure Analysis Committee’ to pinpoint exact reasons for the failure and submit its report by next month-end.
Dr Radhakrishnan is also due to brief prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday on the mission.
quadbikequadbikeProbe reveals Navy officer’s links with Russian woman
A probe by the Indian Navy has determined that a senior officer posted in Russia had relations with a woman there but it is yet to establish whether the contact influenced the final price tag on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov).
“The Navy has completed one part of its investigation and they have started the second part…the particular man had some relations with the other side…a lady. Let the Navy complete the investigation,” Mr. Antony said here after inaugurating the Unified Commanders’ Conference.
The officer, identified as Commodore Sukhjinder Singh, was in charge of the aircraft carrier refit project in Russia between 2005 and 2007. He was also part of the cost negotiation committee that firmed up a revised price of $ 2.34 billion.
Mr. Antony said he has asked the Navy to speed up the probe and that a decision will be taken as soon as it is complete. On Thursday, the Navy submitted its Board of Inquiry report into the episode that began with its receiving a set of “objectionable” photographs of the officer along with the Russian woman.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma is now scrutinising the report to recommend a suitable punishment to be awarded to the officer to the Defence Ministry.
After his posting in Russia, Cdr. Singh was posted back to India as the Principal Director of Aircraft Carrier Project before he was transferred to the Directorate General of Quality Assurance in the capital late last year.
quadbikeNavy concerned over delays in ship-building
The Indian Navy will commission the first Shivalik class frigate later this month. The project took over a decade to complete, highlighting the problems of time overruns being faced in domestic ship-building, a point stressed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma.
The keel-laying for the first of the three Shivalik class ships was done in 2001, but its completion was delayed on account of a series of issues, including steel being sourced from outside and weapons systems. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is scheduled to commission the ship at Mumbai on April 29.
Delays expected
While naval officials maintained that delays in the first of the series are to be expected, the overall view is that the time taken by Indian ship-builders is much more than international standards.
In its latest report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, for the second year in a row, noted that the Navy does not have the accepted force level of 138 ships determined in 1964.
The present strength of the Navy is 129, including 37 major war vessels such as a carrier, destroyers and frigates, 16 submarines, 59 minor war vessels and 17 auxiliary ships.
Recently, Admiral Verma told The Hindu that while there was a proactive system for approval by the government to build ships, the problem lay in converting these into deliverables.
“If you look at ship-building periods [in India], take frigates, destroyers, corvettes, and benchmark it against world standards [of] how much time it takes to finish [a project]of that size and complexity, there is a fair amount of catching up [to do],” he told The Hindu.
For instance, he said the Navy had ordered two fleet tankers being built by a shipyard in Italy, which was being done in two years flat.
Comparatively, this would take more time in India though labour is cheaper.
With the government’s reluctance to engage overseas shipyards for building warships, the Navy came out with a document on the imperative to revitalise
the domestic ship-building industry with suggestions to deal with the issue.
quadbikeStay committed to space
GSLV D3 failure should not demoralise, but revitalise
The failure of the GSLV D3 launch and more specifically, the failure of the indigenous cryogenic engine is undoubtedly a major setback for the space programme. It must have been heart-breaking for the development team that slogged 17-odd years. But the crash has to be taken in its stride and written off to statistical probability. Just five nations have reliable cryogenic technology. All have research budgets that dwarf ISRO and all went through decades of tests and experimental failures. Cryogenic engines use super-cooled gases (usually liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) as fuel. As the liquids mix and vapourise in the rocket chamber, they expand explosively, imparting thrust. In theory, it is the most efficient form of rocket propulsion. But while the principles derive from Newtonian mechanics, the technical challenges are staggering. Cooling gases to -190ºC and storing them as liquids until the optimum moment is difficult. Things can go wrong at many stages. ISRO will have to work out what exactly did go wrong. There can be no question about staying committed to the programme. Space capability depends on reliable cryogenic engines and India cannot piggyback indefinitely on Russian cryogenics. ISRO possesses only two Russian engines at this instant and there are no guarantees the Russians will sell any more. GSLV D3 with all payloads costs Rs 330 crore. The engine itself costs around Rs 180 crore. These are drops in the ocean of potential returns. India’s entire space programme spends Rs 5,800 crore per annum, that is around 0.1 per cent of GDP.
The return is already many multiples of expenditure. The potential returns could be much higher. Satellite capability has helped extend the TV-Telecom footprint to remote areas where satellite-based technology costs a fifth of the alternatives. Licensing fees and revenue shares from those services already pay for the entire space programme with plenty to spare. In addition, sat-technology has enabled mapping, remote-sensing and zoning services. Improved road planning, municipal tax collection, safe drinking water and irrigation programmes, as well as better weather and crop forecasting, can be attributed to satellite capability. The potential for use in anti-insurgency exercises also exists. Again, the returns exceed the expenditure by magnitudes. Indigenous cryogenic engines will make India a major player and a possible game-changer in the multi-billion-dollar commercial satellite market. According to estimates published in MIT’s Technology Review, India may eventually be able to put payloads in orbit at costs of $67/kg. The Russians charge $3,500/kg for a commercial payload and NASA charges even more.
If those estimates are near-credible (they are endorsed by at least one NASA adviser and ISRO has some patents on the designs), an Indian presence would change the market dynamics. Hence, there are sound commercial reasons for the “haves” to be reluctant to share technology. Well-vented fears of potential dual-use in the missile programme may just be a convenient excuse. It is true, however, that cryogenic engines are critical to inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) design. From South Block’s perspective, whether India develops ICBMs or not, possessing cryogenic capability could scarcely hurt.
Given the multitude of reasons to push on with the cryogenic engine development programme, the political establishment should back it to the hilt
despite this setback. Give ISRO the time and resources to return to the drawing board and seek solutions.
quadbikeLaunched to fail
‘Space progra-mmes have grown through failures.’
The failure of the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-D3 with India’s first cryogenic engine has disappointed not only the scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) but also the entire nation. The failure was unexpected because the engine had been in development for years and had been tested to the best technological satisfaction. The cryo stage was required to work in space for only 720 seconds but it had been tested successfully on the ground for up to 1,000 seconds. It was not tested in weightless conditions but this would not have been possible, and was perhaps not needed. The failure was a setback but there is no need to lose heart. Only five other countries — the US, Russia, France, China and Japan — have mastered the cryogenic technology. They had failed many times before achieving success. ISRO had sought to develop the technology after Russia refused to transfer it to India on US pressure. The technology is very complex, and however successful it is in simulated conditions, there is a chance of error in actual flight. The first attempt often becomes an experiment and a trial.
There have been failures in the past in India’s space efforts. The first attempt of an SLV rocket in 1979 was not successful. There have been failures since then with ASLV and PSLV launches too. GSLV launches in the past have met with some kind of failure or the other. But the space programme has grown through these failures and became sophisticated enough to send a probe to the moon. The PSLV has proved to be very dependable, and has performed well in the last 14 consecutive flights. There is no doubt that the cause of last week’s failure will also be identified correctly and the glitches removed.
ISRO has said that a successful launch using a cryogenic engine might take about an year’s time. The delay might affect the Chandrayan-2 mission which has been scheduled for 2013. Satellite launches will become much cheaper with cryogenic technology and become commercially attractive too. About Rs 335 crore was spent on the GSLV-D3 launch. The advanced communication satellite GSAT-4 cost Rs 150 crore. It was also experimental. It is pointed out
that ISRO should not have risked launching a costly and experimental satellite in a test flight, however certain it was of the success. The view is not entirely wrong.
quadbikeIndian Ballistic Missile to be Tested by March 2011
India intends to conduct a test launch of its new Agni 5 ICBM by March of next year, the Pioneer newspaper reported today (see GSN, March 15).
Researchers said the weapon is in the final stages of development. It would be intended to carry a conventional or nuclear payload up to approximately 3,000 miles.
“Hopefully, the Agni 5 ICBM will be ready for its maiden test launch by March 2011,” said W. Selvamurthy, a chief controller within India’s Defense Research and Development Organization.
Other missiles in the Agni line have all proved to function in testing, prompting optimism for the latest version, according to Selvamurthy.
“Besides Agni 5, we are also working on developing a strong interceptor missile system which can be launched from air to surface, surface to surface or deep in the waters,” Selvamurthy said (Pioneer, April 16).
quadbikeISRO scientists to meet on Sunday to discuss cryo failure
CHENNAI: Indian space scientists will meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday to discuss the reasons for the failure of Thursday’s rocket mission, which was for the first time powered by an Indian-built cryogenic engine.
Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is collecting data on the rocket launch to arrive at the reason for the failure.
The scientists will start reviewing the data at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram Saturday.
Scientists said they have to “work overtime” to arrive at a conclusion on why the mission failed.
ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced Thursday that the reasons for the failure will be made public in three days’ time.
ISRO scientists had been working on developing the cryogenic engine for the past 18 years and were naturally upset when the rocket plummetted into the Bay of Bengal, minutes after the launch from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.
However, they are raring to go again and are full of admiration for the ISRO chief.
During the media conference post the launch, Radhakrishnan was calm and composed and also exuded confidence that his team would bounce back with the launch of a rocket powered by an indigenously developed cryogenic engine in a year’s time.
On Thursday, ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket plunged into the sea within minutes of the lift-off because the main cryogenic engine failed to ignite.
At the mission control room when all other scientists were visibly disappointed, Radhakrishnan did not show his feelings.
“He remained cool,” GSLV project director G. Ravindranath told IANS.
“Though such a launch is a calculated risk, we had taken pains that the mission should not fail. The countdown was completed without any hitch. Originally scheduled for launch last December and early this year, it was delayed in order to go in for a detailed national review of the data,” he added.
He said 50 percent of the spacecraft’s velocity is gained during the final stage and hence the cryogenic engine is a necessity.
According to ISRO officials, Radhakrishnan is a hard task master but takes his team along with him.
During the media conference at Bhramprakash Hall in Sriharikota, Radhakrishnan chose to field all the questions himself.
quadbikeSagar Kavach exercise for improved coastal security begins
AHMEDABAD: The coastal areas of Gujarat, Daman and Diu were injected with alacrity and prowess during a synergised two-day joint exercise from Thursday involving Indian Coast Guard (NW), Indian Navy, coastal police and other central and state agencies.
The focus of ‘Sagar Kavach’ (coastal security exercise) being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard is synergy in operations, both over sea and land to test the efficiency and validation of standard operating procedure. The lessons learnt during the exercise would be analysed for improvement of coastal security system, according to defence sources here.
A number of mock drills would be carried out and situations created to test the joint response of the security forces against offensive actions spread over sea and land. The joint effort put in by all the stake holders would strengthen the surveillance, detection and communication network for identification of enemy forces and improve security measures for valuable assets and valuable platforms, they added.
quadbikeProbe against officer handling Gorshkov project complete
New Delhi: The Indian Navy has completed its probe against Commodore Sukhjinder Singh, who is facing allegations of “loose moral conduct” during his posting in Russia to oversee the re-fit of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, officials said on Thursday.
“The investigations are over and a report has been submitted to Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s office April 13,” a senior defence ministry official said.
“The decision would be taken in next one or two days,” the official added.
Officials in the navy said it was possible that Singh could be asked to put in his papers or proceed on leave. He is at present posted at the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) here and attending office regularly.
A board of inquiry headed by a vice admiral was ordered nearly 10 days ago after some “objectionable” photographs involving Singh and a Russian woman surfaced.
According to the official, Singh’s role is being probed to ascertain if his proximity to some Russians was in any way linked to the problems associated with the Gorshkov project, including the cost escalation and the delay in the ship’s delivery.
Singh was deputed to Russia to supervise the re-fitting and other technical requirements of the carrier, which has been renamed INS Vikramaditya. He was stationed there from 2005 to 2007.
India last month cleared the 2.35 billion revised price for the carrier.
The warship, originally purchased for .5 billion, is currently undergoing a refit at Russia’s Sevmash shipyard. Of the total cost, 4 million was meant for the refit and the balance for a squadron of MiG-29K combat jets that will be deployed on the vessel.
Citing additional costs for the refit, Moscow jacked up the price to .9 billion, while New Delhi wanted this to be scaled back to .1 billion. The revised price was decided on during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi last month.
quadbikeISRO to launch Cartosat-2B on May 9
BANGALORE: Undeterred by the GSLV-D3 mission failure, India is going ahead with the launch of an advanced remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B, now tentatively fixed for May 9 from Sriharikota spaceport.
The high-resolution spacecraft, designed for an operational life of five years, is slated to be launched from the first launchpad on May 9 around 10 am, ISRO spokesperson S Satish told said here on Friday.
Thursday’s GSLV-D3 mission to flight-test the indigenous cryogenic engine and stage for the first time ended in failure after the rocket veered off course and plunged into the sea.
GSLV and PSLV missions are independent of each other. ISRO officials said there is no change in its earlier announced plans to launch PSLV in the first half of May — now fixed for May nine.
“It (Cartosat-2B) will give pictures of 0.8 metre resolution,” ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has said. In simple terms, the single panchromatic camera on board this cartographic satellite would be able to identify and take pictures of a moving car.
Thus, this highly-agile satellite, weighing around 690 kg, is expected to give a boost to the tasks of infrastructure and urban planning. The camera provides scene specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications.
quadbikeFailed GSLV-D3 launch may set back India space business
CHENNAI: A rocket powered by a domestically built engine failed on Thursday, Indian officials said, in a potential setback to the country’s quest for a bigger share in the multi-billion dollar global satellite launch market.
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) lifted off from a base in southern India, but eight minutes into the flight the mission failed as the rocket veered off its designated path behind a trail of smoke and fire.
G. Radhakrishnan, head of Indian Space Research Organisation, told reporters that the rocket went out of control after one of its engines failed. India is aiming to expand its satellite launch business to about $120 million a year, which is estimated to be only a fourth of China’s present launch business.
But its dependence on Russian-built cryogenic engines, needed for lifting heavy payloads, has hampered growth plans, forcing ISRO to look for home-built engines.
Had Thursday’s mission succeded, using an Indian-made cryogenic engine for the first time, India would have joined a very small group of countries.
In April 2008, India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket. The same year it also dispatched its first unmanned mission to the moon. That mission was abandoned 10 months later but not before it had sent back data with evidence of ice on the moon.
quadbikeAfter long delay, India moves to expand strategic Karwar naval base
NEW DELHI: India is finally going in for a major expansion of its newest naval base at Karwar in coastal Karnataka, which provides it “strategic depth” on the western seaboard and will house aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines in the future.
This comes after a long delay since the ambitious `Project Seabird’ to build the futuristic Karwar naval base was first approved by the government way back in 1985 at an initial cost of Rs 350 crore.
Budgetary constraints derailed the project for a decade before a truncated Phase-I was approved in 1995, with the work finally commencing in 1999 with a Rs 2,500 crore fund allocation.
“Phase-I is now fully complete. We have 10 warships based there. Now, the detailed project report for Phase-II is in the final stages. After approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security, construction will begin next year,” Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told TOI.
Navy will be able to berth 25 to 30 big warships at Karwar after Phase-II gets over by 2017, he added. The base will also house a wide variety of smaller ships, including 10 of the 80 fast-interceptor craft of Sagar Prahari Bal, the specialised force being raised for coastal security after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai.
Pakistan has already built its new Gwadar deep-sea port with China’s help in Baluchistan, which will help the two countries gain a crucial foothold in the Gulf region.
Admiral Verma, on his part, said, “Our maritime perspective plan takes into account the threats we may face in the future.”
With Navy keen to operate two carrier battle groups around 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov and 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier by 2014-2015, the Karwar base is critical for its blue-water operations in Indian Ocean and beyond. The eventual aim is to make it capable of handling as many as 50 frontline warships.
The 130-warship Navy also currently has three destroyers, six guided-missile frigates, six submarines, two fleet tankers, four anti-submarine corvettes, six survey vessels, six fast-attack craft and a sail training ship under construction. Moreover, it’s on course to order another four destroyers and seven frigates, among other warships.
Karwar, spread over 4,480 hectares on a 26-km stretch along the coastline at present, is being developed into a major naval base after Mumbai and Visakhapatnam for three main reasons.
One, it will “decongest” the choked Mumbai harbour. Two, Karwar has natural cover and sufficient depth of water available. “Being a deep-water port, submarines can operate with greater stealth from there,” said an officer.
“Moreover, a dedicated naval base south of Mumbai provides more flexibility of operations and defence in depth for us. During Phase-II, Karwar will get more piers, berthing and anchorage facilities, apart from an airbase, armament depot and missile silos,” he added.
quadbikeArmy agrees to acquire indigenous Akash missile
The Army has finally agreed to acquire the indigenous two-stage ramjet ‘Akash’ missile. The ‘in-principle’ agreement came at a meeting in the Defence Ministry last week. While the Army has given its nod, induction will depend on the delivery schedule Bharat Dynamics Limited, which makes the missile, is able to maintain. For, the public sector undertaking is already processing orders for six additional squadrons from the Indian Air Force.
Top sources in the Ministry said Army Chief General V.K. Singh gave his ‘in-principle’ agreement at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council. The meeting also gave its final clearance for acquisition of Ultra Light Howitzers (ULH) from the United States through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route.
In 2008, the IAF placed orders for two squadrons of the Akash Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) for Rs. 1,222 crore. This was the first-ever contract from the defence services for an indigenous tactical weapon system of this class.
In February this year, Defence Minister A.K. Antony announced that the council had cleared an additional six squadrons of MR-SAM for the IAF at a cost of Rs. 5,000 crore.
As the order book is already full, a timeline for the Army inducting the missiles is yet to be determined, according to the sources. Public sector Bharat Electronics Limited is the nodal production agency along with Bharat Dynamics, with a large number of industries in the public and private sectors involved in the manufacturing process.
The ground-based air defence system has an interception range of 30 km at an altitude of 18,000 metres. It has both track and wheeled platforms, and multiple targets handling capacity with a digitally coded command guidance system.
Meanwhile, the move to purchase 140 M777 ULH for the Army from the U.S.-based entity of BAE Systems through the FMS, government-to-government route, was cleared after amendments in the Staff Qualitative Requirements.
The deal, estimated at around Rs. 2,900 crore, will have to go through the grind in Washington, with the U.S. administration seeking Congress permission to sell these howitzers to India.
The Army has been pressing for the ultra light field guns which can be flown across difficult terrain by helicopter. Last year, its quest for procuring these guns through an open tender resulted in a single-vendor, Singapore Technologies, remaining in the fray. However, procurement was put on hold by the Ministry following a CBI probe into allegations of wrongdoings by the
company.
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