India launches spy satellite RISAT-2 and ANUSAT

The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday successfully launched a revolutionary spy satellite that will help security agencies monitor the hundreds of mountain valleys that connect India with Pakistan and terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan further north.

The PSLV-C12, carrying the 300-kg spy satellite Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) and the 40-kg Micro Satellite ANUSAT lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan space Centre on Monday morning.

At the end of a 48-hour countdown, the 44-meter tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C12, in its 15th Mission will launch 300 kg Radar imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) and 40 kg micro satellite named ANUSAT built by Anna University, Chennai. The intended orbit of the satellites is at 550 km with an inclination of 41 degree.

PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle employing both solid and liquid propulsion stages. PSLV is the trusted workhorse launch Vehicle of ISRO. During 1993-2008 period, PSLV had fourteen launches of which thirteen were consecutively successful. PSLV has repeatedly proved its reliability and versatility by launching 30 spacecraft (14 Indian and 16 for international customers) into a variety of orbits so far. It may be recalled that during its previous mission on October 22, 2008, PSLV had successfully launched Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which is now exploring the Moon from lunar orbit.

In its standard configuration, the 44 m tall PSLV has a lift-off mass of 295 tonne. It is a four-stage launch vehicle with the first and the third stages as well as the six strap-ons surrounding the first stage using HTPB based solid propellant. PSLV’s first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world. Its second and fourth stages use liquid propellants.

PSLV-C12 will be launched without the six strapons in its ‘core alone’ configuration. PSLV-C12 weighs about 230 tonnes at lift off. It may be recalled that PSLV in its core alone configuration had launched AGILE and TECSAR during 2007 and 2008 respectively.

RISAT -2

Satellite Specifications
Altitude 550 km
Inclination 41 deg
Orbit Period 90 minutes
Mass 300 kg

RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with all weather capability to take images of the earth. This Satellite will enhance ISRO’s capability for Disaster Management applications.

ANUSAT

Satellite Specifications
Altitude 550 km
Inclination 41 deg
Orbit Period 90 minutes
Mass 40 kg

ANUSAT (Anna University Satellite) is the first satellite built by an Indian University under the over all guidance of ISRO and will demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations.

China launches second ‘Compass’ satellite for global navigation system

China successfully launched its second navigation satellite early Wednesday, as part of the country's independent global satellite navigation system. China plans to have global satellite navigation system by 2015.

The carrier rocket, Long March 3C, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:16 a.m.

An official with the National Engineering Center of Satellite Navigation told Xinhua, the successful launch of the geostationary Earth orbit satellite was of great importance as it was the second one of the country's satellite navigation system independent from foreign technology.

The system, code named "COMPASS", is a crucial part of the country's space infrastructure for providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security among others. It can bring significant social and economic benefits, the official said.

The system can help clients know their location at any time and place with accurate longitude, latitude and altitude data, and will offer "safer" positioning, velocity, timing communications for authorized users.

Previous reports said China planed to complete its independent global satellite navigation system by launching about 30 more orbiters before 2015, with 10 navigation satellites into the space in 2009 and 2010. The current Compass system only provides regional navigation service within China and neighboring regions.

The second "Compass" satellite and its carrier rocket were respectively developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology which are under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

It is the 116th flight for the country's Long March series of rockets.China launched the first "Compass" navigation satellite into geostationary orbit in April 2007 to build up its own positioning system following the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), the Galileo Positioning System of Europe and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).

U.S. Global Positioning System:
Global Positioning System is a global navigation satellite system developed by the United States Department of Defense and managed by the United States Air Force 50th Space Wing. It became fully operational in 1993. The system allows users to determine their positions within a few meters.

Russian Glonass:
Glonass, a Global Navigation Satellite System, is the Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions within a few meters.

EU's Galileo:
The Galileo project, launched in 1999, is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency. Under the agreement signed by the EU transport ministers in November 2007, Galileo will be put into operation by 2013.

Russia designing a new spaceship

The Russian space agency on 7th April ordered design work to start for a next-generation spaceship capable of flying missions to the moon, setting the ground for a potential new space race with the United States.

The space agency granted the state-controlled RKK Energiya Company the 800 million ruble (USD 23 million) contract for the initial work on a new, reusable craft to replace the 40-year-old Soyuz spacecraft.

The as-yet-unnamed Russian spaceship could emerge as a potential competitor to NASA's prospective Orion spacecraft.

Design requirements for the Russian craft appear similar to Orion's specification, prompting some experts to nickname it "Orionski." Orion is scheduled to begin carrying humans to the International Space Station from 2015 and to the moon from 2020.

Alexei Krasnov, the chief of manned space programmes for the Russian space agency, said last week that the prospective Russian spacecraft is set to make its maiden flight before 2020, without elaborating.

James Oberg, an experienced aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's space shuttle programme and is now a space consultant, wrote in a commentary that the new Russian space program could help NASA win funds for its plan to return astronauts to the moon.

U.S. military swears to track 800 satellites by October 1, 2009

Spurred by last month's collision of two satellites high above the Earth, the U.S. military plans to begin tracking all 800 maneuverable spacecraft currently operating in space by October 1, a senior U.S. Air Force official said on Monday.

U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command will work together to expand the number of satellites being tracked from about 300 currently, Air Force Colonel Dusty Tyson, chief of the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, told reporters at a space conference in Colorado Springs.

He said the decision was made at a high-level Pentagon meeting on March 24 attended by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, General Kevin Chilton, head of Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, who runs Air Force Space Command and John Grimes, the Pentagon's chief information officer.

"They're going to stand up a level of capability by 1 October. They hope to be able to provide conjunction analysis on all 800, plus or minus, maneuverable satellites," Tyson said at the Space Foundation's annual National Space Symposium.

Tyson said some officials had long believed a collision of satellites would eventually happen and had been pressing for better tracking of satellites and other objects in space.

But the February 10 collision of a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium had spurred the military into quicker action, he said.

"It was definitely an impetus to get out and get moving faster. Now that the event has happened, there is definitely movement afoot to try to prevent it from happening again," he said.

Tyson declined comment on whether better tracking by the U.S. government could have averted the incident.

US unveils Orion spacecraft to take crew to Mars

NASA gave visitors to the National Mall in Washington a peek at a full-size mock-up of the spacecraft designed to carry U.S. astronauts back to the moon and then on to Mars one day.

The U.S. Navy-built Orion crew exploration vehicle will replace the space shuttle NASA plans to retire in 2010, and become the cornerstone of the agency's Constellation Program to explore the moon, Mars and beyond.

"We're just very proud to build this, do some testing and demonstrate to America that we're moving beyond the space shuttle onto another generation of spacecraft," said Don Pearson, project manager for the Post-Landing Orion Recovery Test or PORT.

NASA plans to use Orion to carry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2015. The capsule will rotate the crew at the station every six months "to work out the kinks" before heading to the moon and Mars, Pearson said.

Trips to the moon are scheduled for 2020, while a journey to Mars is believed possible by the mid-2030s.

The design of Orion was based on the Apollo spacecraft, which first took Americans to the moon. Although similar in shape, Orion is larger, able to carry six crew members rather than three, and builds on 1960s technology to make it safer.

'WE WANT TO GO TO MARS'

Orion is named for a bright constellation that got its designation from a hunter in ancient Greek mythology.

"The reason we're doing all of this is because we want to go to Mars," Pearson said.

But a round trip to the red planet would require three years -- six to nine months to get there and much of the rest of the time waiting for the planets to realign to allow for entry back to Earth.

"We're not confident in our technology yet to be able to last for three years without things breaking that are unrepairable," Pearson said.

So NASA plans to first take several trips to the moon, a journey of just three days. Each visit will last six months while astronauts set up a campsite and practice the things they want to do on Mars.

"That's really the goal -- to put humans on Mars, and going to the moon is our testing ground in order to do it," Pearson explained.

The $2 million PORT project will make sure that crew members can be rescued from the choppy waters of the Atlantic in case of an emergency requiring an aborted launch, using the full-scale, 18,000-pound (8,000 kg) model of Orion.

On April 6, the capsule will be dumped into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, using one of the ships that usually recover rocket boosters from shuttle launches. Instruments within the capsule will measure the acceleration and tilting astronauts would experience upon landing in waves

Mexico to Build Spaceport, builds Ties with Russia

Mexico plans to begin construction of a new space agency, Aexa, to build an equatorial satellite launch complex this year. The facility will be located in the southern state of Quintana Roo on the border with Belize. The location was chosen after extensive studies in part because of its proximity to the Equator.

It also looks as if Aexa will be getting assistance from the Russian space agency Roskosmos. Deputy Director Segrey Saveliev recently led a delegation to Mexico to discuss bilateral ties, the Russian news agency TASS reports:

Russian experts held negotiations with the Mexican Congress Senate Committee on Science and Technology, as well as with the initiative group on development of the national space agency.

The visit took place following the initiative of the Mexican party, Saveliev explained. Mexican space agency is to be established in a few months. After that, Roscosmos will negotiate the issues with the authorized state agency.

According to Saveliev, “reliable legal basis is required” to commence discussions of the space programs with Mexico. Mexican party is interested in cooperation in the satellite communication, remote sensing programs, as well as in the Russian Global Navigation System (GLONASS). Thus, prospective of bilateral cooperation are realistic.