Six decades since Thumba launch, slew of private cos prep for flight

Preview: November 21 was 61 years since the birth of the Indian space programme. On this date in 1963, scientists launched a Nike-Apache sounding rocket from Thumba in Kerala. These rockets helped the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) master the solid propellant technology powering India’s launch vehicles today. Around the same time as this anniversary, India launched its first satellite onboard a SpaceX rocket even as multiple Indian private sector entities geared up for launches of their own.

Launches of merit

NewSpace India, Ltd. launched the 4,700-kg GSAT-N2/GSAT-20 satellite onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. N2 wasn’t launched onboard an Indian launch vehicle because its weight exceeded the payload capacity of the country’s most powerful rocket, the LVM-3, which can place satellites weighing up to four tonnes in the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). INSAT-1D was the last such  satellite launched from Florida, in 1990.

GSAT-N2 is a Ka-band high throughput communication satellite built by ISRO to enhance broadband services in underserved areas, including the northeast, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep. It will also support services like in-flight internet connectivity and the Smart Cities Mission.

The satellite was placed in a GTO with a perigee of 250 km, an apogee of 59,730 km, and at a 27.5°inclination. From here, the satellite will use its thrusters to move to a geostationary orbit at 63° E longitude over the next few days.

Next, ISRO is preparing to launch its PSLV-C59 mission bearing the European Proba-3 mission. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will fly in its extended length configuration (XL), which was last used to launch Aditya-L1 in September 2023.

The twin Proba spacecraft to study the Sun arrived at Chennai on November 6 and will be integrated with the launch vehicle. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 4 pm IST on December 4.

Speaking of impending launches: India’s astronaut-designate Shubhanshu Shukla, who is set to fly to the International Space Station in 2025, is undergoing training at the European Space Agency’s European Astronaut Centre. This part of the training is to familiarise astronauts-to-be with the European modules of the space station.

From the private sector

Four Indian private companies are preparing to launch their payloads/satellites into orbit.

Pixxel, which is Indian-American, unveiled ‘Fireflies’, its six hyperspectral satellites expected to be launched early next year. Each satellite weighs around 50 kg, has a native 5 m spatial resolution, and scans 40-km swaths for data in more than 150 spectral bands. These satellites constitute the first batch in what is eventually expected to become a constellation of 24 satellites. These satellites are capable of providing data that can help detect crop diseases, water-stressed areas, real-time deforestation, and ocean pollution early.

Second, GalaxEye Space is flying its “It’s NOT a Satellite, It’s Just a Tech Demo” on board the PSLV’s Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) platform. This is when the final stage of a PSLV finishes deploying its payload and enters earth orbit, becoming an orbital platform where onboard instruments can run experiments. The Tech Demo will test subsystems of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

PierSight Space will also fly a mission on a PSLV POEM called ‘Varuna’, which will demonstrate a deployable reflectarray antenna and test SAR and aeronautical information service avionics in orbit.

HEX20 will fly its ‘Nila’ satellite onboard SpaceX’s Transporter 13 mission in February 2025. ‘Nila’ is a 5-kg cubesat that can host different payloads and provide data-processing services. A ground station will be built in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to control and receive data from the satellite.

Catalyx Space’s SR-0 satellite launched onboard the third developmental flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle mission re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on November 3. The company announced the satellite had achieved all its objectives in its three-month lifespan.

AAKA Space Studio launched India’s first Space Analog Mission in Leh, Ladakh, in collaboration with the ISRO Human Spaceflight Centre, IIT-Bombay, and the University of Ladakh. The site was chosen for its similarity to surfaces on the moon and Mars. One person from AAKA Space Studio will stay in the habitat in Leh for 21 days to test habitat sustainability, life-support systems, and the human experience of isolation.

SatSure is working with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for “automated image feature extraction models for building footprints, roof type, roads, and water bodies among other classes for more than two lakh villages”. This is the Indian government’s largest programme to map rural property. Drones under the government’s ‘Svamvita’ programme will capture images of 3-5 cm resolution and SatSure will use its machine-learning tools developed for satellite data to extract and classify the relevant features.

Space science updates

India celebrated its full membership of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), an international effort to build the world’s most advanced radio telescope in Australia and South Africa. India will contribute cash as well as advanced electronics and engineering for telescope components in exchange for scientific data collected by the telescope.

The first scientific result from the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph onboard the Aditya-L1 spacecraft was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. A team led by researchers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, used data from the coronagraph to accurately predict the time of a coronal mass ejection on July 16. Coronal mass ejections affect satellites in orbit, electricity grids on the ground, and radio communications when they blow past the planet.

Finally, the Departments of Space and of Biotechnology have signed agreements to conduct biological experiments on the forthcoming Bharatiya Antariksh Station. While researchers will be able to conduct experiments on other missions (including the uncrewed Gaganyaan flights), the agreement pertains to experiments onboard the Indian space station.

Pradeep Mohandas is a technical writer and space enthusiast in Pune.