Pushpak making an autonomous landing on the ATR runway at Chitradurga.
| Photo Credit: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the Pushpak Reusable Landing Vehicle (RLV) LEX 02 landing experiment at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga on Friday, March 22, 2024.

The RLV LEX 02 landing experiment is the second of the series of experiments conducted by the space agency.

The test was conducted at 7.10 am on Friday, March 22, 2024.

“RLV-LEX-02 Experiment:ISRO nails it again! Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, landed autonomously with precision on the runway after being released from an off-nominal position,” ISRO posted on X (formerly Twitter).

ISRO said that after first the RLV-LEX-01 mission which was accomplished last year, the RLV-LEX-02 demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of RLV off-nominal initial conditions at the release from a Chinook helicopter. The RLV was made to undertake more difficult amnoeuvers with dispersions, correct both cross-range and down range and land on the runway in a fully autonomous mode.

“The winged vehicle, called Pushpak was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter and was released from 4.5 km altitude. After release at a distance of 4 km from the runway, Pushpak autonomously approached the runway along with cross-range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering system,” ISRO said.

ISRO said that the mission successfully simulated the approach and high-speed landing conditions of RLV returning from space.

“With this second mission, ISRO had re-validated the indigenously developed technologies in the areas of navigation, control systems. landing gear and deceleration systems essential for performing high speed autonomous landing of a space returning vehicle,” ISRO said.

It added that the winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused in the RLV-LEX-02 mission after due certification and clearances.

“Hence reuse capability of flight hardware and flight systems is also demonstrated in this mission. Based on observations from RLV-LEX-01, the airframe structure and landing gear were strengthened to tolerate higher landing loads,” ISRO said.

ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director Dr. S Unnikrishnan Nair said that through this repeated success, ISRO could master the terminal phase maneuvering, landing and energy management in a fully autonomous mode, which is a critical step towards the future Orbital Re-entry missions.

Thiruvananthapuram:

The Gaganyaan manned space flight mission will launch “Indian astronauts into space from Indian soil on an India-made rocket”, Dr Unnikrishnan Nair, the head of the elite Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, told NDTV in a special interview this week.

Expected to cost Rs 9,000 crore, Gaganyaan is a “national mission” that will send four specially chosen and trained male test pilots from the Indian Air Force into space, Dr Nair said.

In an exclusive tour of the country’s main rocket lab, an ultra-secure facility, NDTV was given glimpses of the crew module – in which the four pilot-astronauts will travel into space – and the service module – which will be attached to the former, and the space suits that they will wear.

The crew module, Dr Nair said, is a little over 10 feet in diameter and is configured for three people, but this can be adjusted depending on mission requirements. The space suits were purchased from the Russians as part of a deal to buy the seats, which follow the ‘cradle’ philosophy, he said.

On the test pilots themselves, Dr Nair said, “You know… since they are from the Air Force, they are close to astronauts in terms of key attributes, like quick response time, and have responded well to tests like centrifuge, which subjects them to higher acceleration forces.”

“They are now an astronaut training centre for 13 months for training on survivability in different conditions, and then will be subject to parabolic flight tests. Then they will go to Bengaluru, where a Human Space Flight Centre is set up and will get more training, including physical training.”

The four pilot-astronauts – dubbed ‘India’s Fantastic 4’ – were revealed to the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week; they are Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla.

READ | India’s Fantastic 4: Meet Gaganyaan Astronauts Named By PM

Their training will also include academic courses and detailed instruction on Gaganyaan flight systems, as well as yoga, sources at ISRO, India’s space agency, told NDTV.

READ | Gravity, Flying Practice, Yoga: Training For Gaganyaan Astronauts

Earlier all four also received training at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.

Dr Nair also explained why no women will be part of this historic space flight – because pilot-astronauts are drawn from the ranks of Air Force test pilots. At the time, India has no women in that role.

NDTV Explains | Why No Woman Among 4 Pilots Chosen For Gaganyaan Mission

“When I was HSFC (Human Space Flight Centre) Director, we put this idea to the Air Force. But unfortunately, there were then no women test then. Now, I understand there are women test pilots and I hope they will soon join us,” he said.

Meanwhile, NDTV also met Vyommitra – the robotic (female) humanoid that will fly into space for a test flight ahead of the mission. The launch of Vyommitra – whose name comes from Sanskrit words meaning ‘space’ (‘vyom‘) and ‘friend’ (‘mitra‘) – may be in the third quarter of this year.

READ | Robot Astronaut Vyommitra To Simulate Human Functions In Space

Overall, work is on at full pace for the Gaganyaan mission, which will cost about Rs 9,000 crore, with the four test pilots undergoing special training and the launch vehicle now humanrated, which means its ability to safely carry and return its human occupants has been evaluated and confirmed.

Before the manned flight, though, there must be at least two successful unmanned flights, the first of which, if all goes well, will take place by the middle of, or end of, this year, NDTV was told.

In this Sept. 2, 2023 file photo, ISRO’s PSLV-C57 carrying Aditya-L1, India’s maiden solar mission spacecraft, lifts off from the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Advanced sensors of a payload on board India’s maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 have successfully detected the impact of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), according to ISRO.

The payload— Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA)— is an energy and mass analyser designed for in-situ measurements of solar wind electrons and ions in the low energy range, the space agency noted.

It has two sensors: the Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe (SWEEP, measuring electrons in the energy range of 10 eV to 3 keV) and the Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyser (SWICAR, measuring ions in the energy range of 10 eV to 25 keV and mass range of 1-60 amu).

The sensors are also equipped to measure the direction of arrival of solar wind particles.

The data collected by PAPA, developed by the Space Physics Laboratory and Avionics Entity of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, revealed the occurrence of CME events, notably on December 15, 2023, and during February 10-11, 2024.

“The CME on December 15, 2023, was a single event. PAPA observations during this period showed an abrupt increase in total electron and ion counts and the time variations align with the solar wind parameters and magnetic field measurements obtained from the Deep Space Climate Observatory and Advanced Composition Explorer satellites at the L1 point,”, an ISRO statement said.

In contrast, the observed variations in electron and ion counts during February 10-11, 2024, are the result of multiple minor events, with differences in the time variations of electrons and ions, it was noted.

The SWEEP and SWICAR sensors on PAPA-Aditya-L1, ISRO said, are currently making continuous observations of solar wind electrons and ions in the default mode, demonstrating that they are performing as per the design in all modes of operations.

The observations made by PAPA emphasise its effectiveness in monitoring space weather conditions and its capability to detect and analyse solar phenomena, it said.

The launch of Aditya-L1 by PSLV-C57 rocket was successfully accomplished by ISRO on September 2.

Aditya-L1 spacecraft carried seven payloads to study the Sun— four to observe the light from the Sun and the remaining three to measure in situ parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.

Aditya-L1 was placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrangian Point 1 (L1), which is 1.5 million km from the Earth in the direction of the Sun. It revolves around the Sun with the same relative position and hence can see the Sun continuously, ISRO officials said.

ISRO successfully launched the Gaganyaan’s Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
| Photo Credit: ANI

After the successful Test Vehicle-D1 (TV-D1) mission on October 21, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lined up more test missions in the months ahead for the Gaganyaan programme.

Upcoming tests include the TV-D2 mission, the G-X unmanned orbital demonstration flight, an Integrated Air-Drop Test (IADT) and a Pad Abort Test, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), told The Hindu.

A crew module with service module will be used in the G-X mission. This unmanned mission, to be launched aboard a human-rated LVM3, will have ‘Vyommitra’ – the ‘female’ robot astronaut designed and developed by the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) – on board. In this mission, ISRO will put to test control systems, a “reduced version” of the life support system for the crew, thermal protection systems and the parachute systems.

Editorial | The ascent begins: On the progress of India’s human spaceflight mission

Meanwhile, the Test Vehicle (TV) development programme will continue parallelly. TV-D2 will be the second of four tests planned for demonstrating in-flight abort capability under different initial conditions with respect to the launch vehicle. Unlike TV-D1, TV-D2 will also have onboard a control system for re-orienting the attitude of the crew module once it separates.

The test vehicle will be the same, expendable version based on the L40 strap-on of the multi-purpose vehicle Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) used in TV-D1 mission. TV-D1 demonstrated the in-flight abort of the Crew Escape System (CES) at 1.2 Mach speed, which was followed by the separation of the crew module and its recovery from the sea.

At the same time, ISRO is also examining whether the TV-D1 crew module, recovered from the sea after a parachute-assisted splash-down, can be reused for future tests. The space agency is looking into this possibility, Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair said. The lead unit of ISRO for launch vehicles, VSSC was responsible for the structural design and manufacture of the unpressurised crew module used for the test.

As the module had come into contact with salt water, only a detailed inspection can tell whether it can be reused and in what capacity. ‘‘We are working out a plan to reuse it. We need to open and clean it and see what can be done. Efforts will be taken to divert it for the appropriate test programme under Gaganyaan,” he said.

ISRO will use an XL variant of the PSLV to place the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in a low earth orbit. Photo: isro.gov.in

Scientists at the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) under the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here are getting ready to unravel the secrets of the solar wind as the Aditya-L1 mission, meant to study the sun, lifts off in September.

The Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) payload aboard Aditya-L1, one of seven scientific payloads aboard the challenging mission, was developed by the SPL to gain deeper insights into the phenomenon of the ‘solar wind,’ as the constant stream of charged particles from the sun is called.

S. Somanath, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said on Saturday that the mission would lift off from Sriharikota in the first week of September.

Energy of electrons

The SPL’s PAPA payload will study the composition of the solar wind, a senior ISRO official said. “It will look at the energy of electrons and the energy and mass of protons and ions in it. The study will also cover the angular variations,” the official said.

For the SPL, the Aditya-L1 mission is yet another big occasion, coming close on the heels of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission on which it had two important scientific payloads. ISRO describes Aditya-L1 as the ‘‘first space-based Indian mission to study the sun’‘ from a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the sun-earth system.

Weighing roughly 8 kg, PAPA shares space on the Aditya-L1 spacecraft with six other payloads developed by sister ISRO units and other scientific establishments collaborating with ISRO. According to ISRO, the payloads are designed ‘‘to study the chromosphere, the photosphere and the outermost layers of the sun using electromagnetic and particle detectors.’‘

ISRO will use an XL variant of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to place the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in a low earth orbit. Mr. Somanath said in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday that the spacecraft had been integrated with the launch vehicle at Sriharikota. Once launched, it will take 125 days to travel to its destination at L1.

On board the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Vikram lander which soft-landed on the moon on August 23, the SPL had two payloads; the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) and the Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA).