Looking back at the year India has had in space, the most awaiting & pride moments come to mind around the loss of signal with the Vikram lander, India’s first attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon. The silence that descended into the Control Room and the anxious moments that followed only paved the way for more silence and suspense until the lander’s debris was spotted in images taken by NASA’s lunar orbiter about three months later. .
That being said, India has had an eventful 2019 in space in addition to the Chandrayaan 2 mission. Here’s a look at all the achievements in the space sector in 2019 that set the context for India in Space in the next decade.
Modified PSLV launches MicroSAT-R & KalamSAT to orbit
ISRO began its 2019 journey by successfully launching the PSLV-C44 mission. This mission saw innovations in the PSLV. They replaced all six thrusters with just two thrusters in the first stage of the PSLV, a setup ISRO calls the PSLV-DL. This led to the Microsat-R mission. Although we did not know it in January, this satellite would have an important role to play in March.
ISRO also improved the fourth stage of the PSLV. He modified it so that the stage became a platform for short-term space experiments. This stage generally remains in orbit with some fuel before it decomposes and returns to Earth. ISRO decided to use this stage of the mission to serve as a platform for space experiments, rather than letting the otherwise useless fourth stage remain in orbit. KalamSAT played this role in the mission. KalamSAT only had what would be called the heart of a mission: its sensors; with responsibilities of power, attitude and communication in charge of the fourth stage of the PSLV.
Indian telecom satellite GSAT-31 launched from France
In February, the action headed toward South America, from where the Ariane V put GSAT-31 into geostationary orbit. The satellite replaces the INSAT-4CR launched in 2007 aboard the GSLV Mk I. The INSAT-4CR itself was built and launched a year after the failure of the INSAT-4C launch, which was located in the Bay of Bengal.
INSAT-4CR itself had to use a large amount of its own fuel to reach its designated orbit. India then had to rely on Arianespace to provide launches while it fixed its cryogenic engine design. This cryogenic engine technology was denied by Russia, under pressure from the United States.
Interestingly, India is said to have won throughout the year, launching small satellites for other countries, which Arianespace won in a single launch, which generally puts two geostationary satellites in orbit at once.
Mission Shakti creates a stir
In March, attention turned to the ASAT (Anti-SATellite) test codenamed Project Shakti. A Prithvi Mk II defense vehicle was launched on March 27, 2019 from Abdul Kalam Island. The mission demonstrated India’s anti-satellite capabilities, entering India into an elite club that includes the US, Russia and China, while raising international concern over the creation of space debris.
The DRDO president allayed concerns raised by the international community by stating that the debris would re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn within 45 days. However, there are many more international satellite observers claim that the wreckage of the destroyed Microsat-R satellite is still in orbit.
ISRO’s viewing gallery opens it doors
Meanwhile, ISRO has opened Launch View Gallery, with a capacity of 10,000-seat semi-stadium-like structure from where the public could watch the rocket launches.
Prior to this, space enthusiasts camped at various points near Pulicat Lake to catch launches from Sriharikota. This gallery offers a better service, at least for members of the lay public and students, by helping them to see the launch from Sriharikota.
EMISAT and ExseedSat-2 launched to orbit
In April-2019, ISRO has returned to flight with the PSLV-C45 mission from Sriharikota. Here the first stage PSLV setup was changed again to launch with four connected belt motors. ISRO calls this the PSLV-QL configuration.
This was also when the PSLV placed customer satellites in three designated orbits. The mission has set up primary payload, EMISAT, was developed by DRDO to monitor the enemy’s electromagnetic footprint along the border.
The PSLV’s fourth stage carried Exseed Space’s ExseedSat-2, which was developed and tested in a week. Exseed Space flew this payload for the first time with the PSLV launched in India. ISRO had made its debut to launch, ExseedSat – 1, with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in December 2018.
Indigenous radar imaging tech put to test with RISAT-2B
In May 2019, ISRO continued with the launch of the PSLV-C46 mission. The launch put India’s RISAT-2B into orbit.
The satellite is a radar imaging satellite that will provide services in agriculture, forestry and disaster management. It was the first launch that the public was also able to witness from the newly opened launch gallery.
ISRO’s greatest achievement in this launch was the indigenous development of the ribbed radial antenna structure for radar imaging. Its development abroad would have cost India time (3-4 years), delaying the replacement of RISAT-2, which was launched in 2008 shortly after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. Radar technology was imported from Israel.
An international dialogue on India’s Space Policy
Apart from this, the 5th Kalpana Chawla Policy Dialogue was held in New Delhi in May. This focused attention on the need to have a comprehensive space policy for India. The Department of Space has several policies governing the remote sensing and utilization of the existing transponder capabilities of Indian satellites launched by ISRO.
However, a policy with unity of vision and application is needed.
ISRO has also partnered with several small and medium-sized companies to help you build your rockets and satellites. However, these have not grown or become large-scale developers of rocket or satellite subsystems. Many new companies, called NewSpace companies, are entering the markets and looking to provide services using the satellite data application or by building complete satellites or rockets themselves.
While the submitted 2017 space policy bill is seen as an encouraging step, it appears to lack the unifying spirit that market players seek and provides clear direction and vision in the implementation of space policy in India.
New Space India Limited launches; Bellatrix Aero bags $3 million in funding
The Government of India announced the creation of a new commercial company in June 2019. The mandate of the company, called New Space India Ltd (NSIL), seems quite similar to that of Antrix Corporation, which started in 1992. It has booked flights for foreign customers on board the 50th flight of the PSLV. Flights from the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), currently in development, are also expected to be booked in the near future.
In the same month, Bellatrix Aerospace, which is also looking to build privately designed and launched launch vehicles, raised about $ 3 million from companies like Deepika Padukone, which garnered more coverage than usual in the media.
GSLV-MkIII primed for Chandrayaan 2
Media attention returned to ISRO in July 2019. Preparations for the first GSLV Mk III mission were underway at Sriharikota after three development flights. The rocket was also carrying a payload that got many talking about India’s second mission to the Moon.
Efforts to partner with Russia on a mission failed after Russia withdrew in 2014. ISRO later reorganized and decided to do this on its own.
In September, the action headed towards the Moon. The country followed the ISRO updates as the orbiter circled its orbit around the Moon, the lander and lander separated, and the lander began a series of maneuvers that would place it on the lunar surface. India and the world waited with great anticipation as the lander automatically performed maneuvers, and there was applause and sighs of relief with each major milestone.
India’s Vikram lander crashes on the moon
In the final minutes of the landing of the Vikram lander, things went terribly wrong. The lander was believed to have crashed into the lunar surface. Efforts continued over the next few days to call the lander. Emotions rose with the nation watching unprecedented scenes of the prime minister consoling a distraught ISRO president.
Over the next several days, news leaked that the lander was seen but was in a tilted position. NASA’s Deep Space Network attempted to contact the lander on the lunar surface. Three months later, news would emerge that a Chennai technician had used images released by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team to detect lander debris near the landing site.
The ISRO president issued a statement the day after that they had seen the lander the day after the accident. It seems that both space enthusiasts and the media missed this news.
Kawa Space brings in new funding
In September, Kawa Space raised an undisclosed amount from PayTM founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Kawa Space offers space as a service, without the need for its own satellites.
ISRO’s Cartosat-3 launched to orbit
ISRO certainly ended the year on a high. ISRO flew the PSLV-C47 mission in November. This was the fiftieth launch of ISRO’s PSLV and the seventy-fifth launch since Sriharikota. The launch put Cartosat-3 into orbit, which was the third-generation advanced agile satellite that provided a much-needed upgrade for India’s constellation of remote sensing satellites. It also launched 13 satellites into orbit under an agreement with the newly formed New Space India Ltd.
A couple of days later, the PSLV flew again from Sriharikota launch station. This release, PSLV-C48, carried the RISAT-2BR2. This also carried the same ribbed radio antenna that flew on RISAT-2B.
Dhruva Space raises Rs 5 cr; ISRO gets Rs 33 cr to build Netra
In the investment rounds of the month, Dhruva Space raised Rs 5 Cr from Mumbai Angels Network. Dhruva Space manufactures small satellites.
among the 10 Indians chosen to be part of the coveted Erasmus Mundus SpaceMaster programme. Image: Spacemasters/Postnoon
ISRO also obtained Rs 33 Cr to build Netra (Network for Space Objects, Tracking and Analysis) to track space objects. This would play an important role for India to be aware of the situation of what is happening in space.
