Page 6 - Space Technology

European spacecraft rockets on quest to explore Jupiter, its icy moons

A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decadelong quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could have buried oceans. The journey began with a morning liftoff by Europe's Ariane rocket from French Guiana in South America. It will take the robotic explorer, dubbed Juice, eight years to reach Jupiter, where it will scope out not only the solar system's biggest planet but also Europa, Callisto and Ganymede. The three ice-encrusted moons are believed to harbour underground oceans, where sea life could exist. Then in perhaps the most impressive feat of all, Juice will attempt to go into orbit around Ganymede: No spacecraft has ever orbited a moon other than our own. With so many moons, at last count 95 astronomers consider Jupiter a mini solar system of its own, with missions like Juice long overdue. We are not going to detect life with Juice, stressed the European Space Agency's project scientist, Olivier Witasse. But learning more about the moons and their

Indian space tech firm designs chip to track school buses, weapons systems

A Bengaluru-based space technology company has unveiled an indigenously designed NavIC chip which can use India's own navigation satellite system to provide positioning services that have applications in civilian and defence sectors. The 12-nanometre chip can be fitted into a mobile phone or any handheld device and can receive signals from the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the Global Positioning System of the US and the GLONASS constellation of Russia. Designed by the IIT-Kharagpur incubated Elena Geo Systems, the chip was on Thursday presented to Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan in the presence of Samir V Kamat, chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. Elena Geo Systems has entered into an agreement with a Taiwan-based chip manufacturer to ensure a steady supply of the NavIC chip. "We directly control the factory. ...

India muscles in on $447 bn space economy amid China, Russia's isolation

By 2025, the so-called space economy is projected to grow to $600 billion from $447 billion in 2020, according to Ernst & Young estimates

ISRO-NASA built satellite ready to be shipped to India for launch in Sept

An earth-observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO that will help study Earth's land and ice surfaces in greater detail is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September. ISRO Chairman S Somanath visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the US state of California on Friday to oversee the final electrical testing of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite before being shipped to India. This mission will be a powerful demonstration of the capability of radar as a science tool and help us study Earth's dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before, Somanath said at the formal send-off ceremony organised at the JPL which was attended by senior scientists from the two space agencies. Later this month, the SUV-size payload will be moved into a special cargo container for a 14,000-kilometer flight to the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. ISRO and NASA joined hands in 2014 to build the 2,80

Budget 2023: Govt allocates nearly Rs 12,544 crore to Department of Space

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday allocated nearly Rs 12,544 crore to the Department of Space as India plans a human spaceflight - Gaganyaan - next year and sets out to explore the moon and neighbouring planets. The allocation is about 8 per cent lower than the Budget Estimate of Rs 13,700 crore for 2022-23, which was slashed to Rs 10,530.04 crore in the Revised Estimate. The largest chunk of the allocation -- to the tune of Rs 11,669.41 crore -- has gone to central sector schemes or projects such as the human spaceflight centre and various institutions of the department that deal with launch vehicle and satellite projects, including developmental and operational initiatives. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-Space), the government's single-window body to deal with the private sector, received Rs 95 crore allocation against Rs 21 crore in the Revised Estimate. A large portion of the allocation, Rs 53 crore, has been earmarked for capital ..

Indian, US space officials discuss human space exploration in Washington

A highlight of the NASA-ISRO cooperation is the Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, planned for next year

PLI scheme to defence allocation, here's space industry's Budget wishlist

India's nascent private space sector has presented a wishlist of tax incentives and a production-linked incentive scheme in the upcoming Union Budget to boost local manufacturing and spur research and development. "In the 2023-24 Union Budget, we would like to request a space-based production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for space tech startups to help boost local manufacturing and encourage capability building within the country," Awais Ahmed, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Pixxel, a space startup based in Bengaluru, told PTI. Last year, Pixxel became the first Indian startup to launch its own hyperspectral imaging satellite, "Shakuntala", onboard SpaceX's rideshare rocket and followed it up with another similar satellite, "Anand", using the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) PSLV rocket. It plans to have a constellation of earth observation satellites soon. "In the Union Budget 2023-24, we request a further Rs 100 crore issuance as viability gap funding ..

ISRO, Microsoft join hands to empower spacetech startups in India

The space tech startups identified by ISRO will be on-boarded onto the aMicrosoft for Startups Founders Hub' platform, that supports startups at every stage of their journey-from idea to unicorn

Satellite imaging start-up GalaxEye Space gets $3.5 mn seed funding

Company says its technology helps in all-weather imaging without atmospheric interference

Start-ups line up for space glory, but still very far from 'SpaceX moment'

Roughly 70% of these start-ups were launched after 2020; of $245 mn that the sector has received in last seven years, $198 mn came after 2020

Agnikul first pvt firm to build launchpad & mission control centre in India

Development follows Skyroot Aerospace's launch of Vikram-S rocket on a sub-orbital flight from Sriharikota on Nov 18

ISRO successfully launches 200th 'RH-200' Rohini sounding rocket

ISRO's journey into the indigenous rockets began with a sounding rocket in 1963

PSLV to launch Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging satellite on Saturday

Spacetech startup Pixxel is set to launch its third hyperspectral satellite Anand onboard ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Sriharikota spaceport on Saturday. Anand is a hyperspectral microsatellite weighing less than 15 kg but having more than 150 wavelengths that will enable it to capture images of the earth in greater detail than today's non-hyperspectral satellites that have not more than 10 wavelengths. The imagery from the satellite can be used to detect pest infestation, map forest fires, identify soil stress and oil slicks amongst other things, a statement from Pixxel said on Monday. "After more than 18 months of delay, many many retests, and more than two years of sweat and hard work by the team, we are finally launching this week," Awais Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Pixxel said on Twitter. Founded by Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, Pixxel became the first Indian company ever to launch a commercial satellite Shakuntala in April using Elon Musk's SpaceX'

Skyroot's Vikram-S rocket launch creating space for private sector

The launch of a sounding rocket by Skyroot marks the start of a surge in start-ups entering a sector that was opened up only in June 2020

Space for start-ups

A Nasa-like PPP policy could make India an aerospace powerhouse

Vikram-S rocket launch shows what an Indian start-up can do: Skyroot exec

Company behind privately developed rocket is looking for investors, says its co-founder

Indian firm eyes sending tourists near space in capsule by 2025

An Indian firm is planning to ferry tourists near space in a spaceship attached to a unique high-altitude balloon system by 2025. Inspired by Elon Musk's SpaceX, the Mumbai-based Space Aura Aerospace Technology Pvt Ltd company has begun to build a space capsule measuring 10 feet x 8 feet, which can carry six tourists besides the pilot into space at a time. However, the space capsule will remain within 35 km radius above the earth. The company presented a prototype of the space capsule named SKAP 1 at a science exhibition 'Akash Tatva' here, which got great response from scientists and common people alike. The firm has set itself a target of 2025 for beginning its flight into space, Space Aura founder and CEO Akash Porwal told PTI. Two places have been identified in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, from where the flight into space can be launched, and a decision in this regard will be taken soon, he said. The company is busy trying to achieve its target with the help of scientists fr

Why did NASA ram DART into an asteroid?

American space agency NASA recently conducted a planned mission to hit a cruising asteroid in space, as a part of its first planetary defense technology demonstration. Let's find out more about it

ISRO launches maiden SSLV carrying earth observation and student satellites

The SSLV-D1/EOS-02 mission by the Indian space agency is aimed at garnering a larger pie in the small launch vehicles market, as it can place the satellites into Low Earth Orbit

India to send 'Gaganauts' to space soon; two trials by the end of 2022

In a reply in Parliament, MoS Space Jitendra Singh said an unmanned flight would be sent to space in the first trial. While in the second, a robot named Vyomitra will be sent to space