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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will turn its focus on science experiments in 2023 with dedicated missions to the Sun — Aditya — and the moon — Chandrayaan-3 — even as the nascent start-up sector is set to soar in the space applications segment. The upcoming year will also witness a series of experiments on India’s maiden human space flight — the Gaganyaan project — with the first uncrewed mission expected in the last quarter of 2023 aimed at validating the performance of the human-rated launch vehicle, orbital module propulsion system and recovery operations.

ISRO further plans to conduct the first runway landing experiment (RLV-LEX) of the reusable launch vehicle early next year from Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka’s Chitradurga, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh told Parliament this month.

Indian start-ups that marked their arrival with the sub-orbital flight by Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-S rocket, the first by a private sector company and the launch of Pixxel’s hyperspectral satellites Shakuntala, on SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket in April and Anand onboard ISRO’s PSLV in November.

Skyroot Aerospace, which launched India’s first privately developed rocket in November, plans to put a client satellite in orbit sometime next year, while Agnikul Cosmos, a start-up incubated on the IIT-Madras campus, has also lined up the test flight of its highly customisable Agnibaan rocket.

“We are developing six commercial hyperspectral imagery satellites which will be ready for launch next year,” Awais Ahmed, Pixxel co-founder and CEO, had told PTI.

Ahmed said many more rocket companies around the globe will see their first orbital launches come to fruition which will lead to a rocket-themed game of thrones as they vie for the same set of customers sending satellites into space.

The start-ups are eyeing the huge space applications market in the country, which was earlier the sole domain of ISRO, carving a niche for themselves in the earth imaging sector, developing rockets to launch small satellites, designing cheaper fuels for satellites and even planning to take tourists on a space journey.

“The potential for innovative space applications is immense, especially if established aerospace companies form partnerships with businesses that traditionally haven’t ventured into orbit, e.g. pharmaceutical, agriculture companies,” Chaitanya Dora Surapureddy, Chief Financial Officer, DhruvaSpace, told PTI.

DhruvaSpace had launched two satellites Thybolt 1 & 2 onboard ISRO’s PSLV C-54 mission that demonstrated the ability to conduct amateur satellite communication which will help ham radio operations.

Surapureddy said DhurvaSpace has already bagged its first commercial contract worth Rs 20 crore to build satellites.

“The number of space startups in India has already crossed 100 and these startups have raised funding of more than $245.35 million (roughly Rs. 2,000 crore),” Lt Gen A K Bhatt (retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (ISpA) told PTI.

Agnikul also inaugurated its first launchpad and mission control centre at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

In 2022, the industry witnessed some major milestones with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) authorising the space conglomerate formed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited a Rs. 860-crore contract for the commercial development of the next five Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs).

OneWeb also signed up the services of ISRO’s launch vehicle to put 36 satellites in low earth orbit from Sriharikota. A follow-up launch of another 36 satellites is expected next year.

The OneWeb contract for ISRO is learnt to be an outcome of some aggressive bidding by the Indians after the Ukraine conflict knocked off the Russian space launch capabilities off the market.

Chaitanya Giri, space consultant with Research and Information System for Developing Countries likens the aggression in the Indian space sector to the one displayed by Sourav Ganguly’s cricket team.

“Our earlier approach was like Mohammad Azharuddin-led cricket team – very mellow and gentlemanly. The newfound aggression is because of India’s rising geopolitical stature. Also, the Russian market has become a no go due to the Ukraine conflict. So is the Chinese market. Now, it is Advantage India,” Giri told PTI.

He said Indian start-ups should also vie for international contracts and not look at ISRO for business.

“ISRO is not an entity that will sustain business for them. Indian space start-ups, MSMEs and big corporates will have to strike business arrangements amongst each other. These B-2-B arrangements need to grow,” Giri said.


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How NASA Saved a Dying Camera Near Jupiter with Just Heat

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How NASA Saved a Dying Camera Near Jupiter with Just Heat

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, had a huge problem when its JunoCam imager started to fail after sitting through the planet’s harsh radiation belts for so many orbits. Designed to only last through the initial few orbits, JunoCam astonishingly endured 34 orbits. Yet by the 47th orbit, the effects of radiation damage became visible, and by the 56th orbit, images were almost illegible. With few alternatives and time slipping away before a close flyby of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, engineers made a daring but creative gamble. Employing an annealing process, they sought to resuscitate the imager by warming it up—an experiment that proved successful.

Long-distance fix

According to NASA, JunoCam’s camera resides outside the spacecraft’s radiation-shielded interior and is extremely vulnerable. After several orbits, it started developing damage thought to be caused by a failing voltage regulator. From a distance of hundreds of millions of miles, the mission team implemented a last-ditch repair: annealing. The technique, which subjects materials to heat in order to heal microscopic defects, is poorly understood but has been succeeding in the lab. By heating the camera to 77°F, scientists wished to reorient its silicon-based parts.

At first, efforts were for naught, but only days before the December 2023 flyby of Io, the camera unexpectedly recovered—restoring close-to-original image quality just in time to photograph previously unseen volcanic landscapes.

Radiation Lessons for the Future

Though the camera showed renewed degradation during Juno’s 74th orbit, the successful restoration has led to broader applications. The team has since applied similar annealing strategies to other Juno instruments, helping them withstand harsh conditions longer. Juno’s findings are now informing spacecraft design across the board. “We’re learning how to build radiation-tolerant systems that benefit both defense and commercial satellites,” said Juno’s principal investigator Scott Bolton. These findings would inform future missions, such as those visiting outer planets or working in high-radiation environments near Earth, in the Van Allen belts. Juno’s mission continues to pay dividends with unexpected innovations—a lesson in how a small amount of heat can do wonders.

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NASA’s X-59 Moves Closer to First Flight with Advanced Taxi Tests and Augmented Vision

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NASA’s X-59 Moves Closer to First Flight with Advanced Taxi Tests and Augmented Vision

X-59 of NASA has been designed from the ground to fly at a faster speed of sound without making thunderous sonic booms, which are usually associated with supersonic flight. This 99-foot aircraft, which features a logically elongated design, jettisons the front windscreen and is now heading towards the runway. Pilots can see what is at the front through an augmented reality (AR) enabled closed-circuit camera system, which is termed by NASA as the External Vision System (XVS). NASA took control of an experimental aircraft and performed taxi tests on it during this month.

X-59’s Futuristic Design: Eliminating Sonic Booms with External Vision System

According to As per NASA, the test pilot Nils Larson, during the test, drove the X-59 at the runway by keeping a low speed. This is done to ensure the working of the steering and braking systems of the jet. Lockheed Martina and NASA would perform the taxi tests at high speed, in which the X-59 will move faster to make it to the speed at which it will go for takeoff.

Taxi tests are held at the U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, California. The contractors and the Air Force utilise the plant for manufacturing and testing the aircraft. Lockheed Martin has developed this aircraft, whose Skunk Works is found in Plant 42.

Taxi Tests at Plant 42: NASA and Lockheed Martin Prepare X-59 for First Flight

Some advanced aircraft of the U.S. military were developed to a certain extent at Plant 42, together with the B-2 Spirit, the F-22 Raptor, and the uncrewed RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone.

SOFIA airborne observatory aircraft, which is a flying telescope called Plant 42, home recently retired. The space shuttle of the agency is the world’s first reusable spacecraft; these were assembled and tested at the facility.

Such taxi tests have started over the last months. NASA worked in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for testing a scale model of the X-59 in the supersonic wind tunnel to measure the noise created under the aircraft.

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Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole Can Possibly Be Explained

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Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole Can Possibly Be Explained

In recent observations, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has significantly detected the presence of a variety of plasma waves. The emergence of these waves on Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field is projected to be surprising, as their existence was never marked in the planetary magnetospheres. However, scientists might have come out with an explanation. Furthermore, the current studies have been questioned by scientists surfacing the activity at the North Pole. The article below will exemplify the findings and shed light on the plasmas. 

Uncovering Mystery at Jupiter’s North Pole 

According to a paper published in the Physical Review Letters, the scientists have uncovered the explanation behind the presence of these strange waves. They mainly suspect that the formation of these waves lies behind their evolution as a plasma, which later transforms into something different. 

Inside Jupiter’s Plasmas and Their Variants 

Plasmas are best referred to as the waves that pass through the amalgamation of the charged particles in the planet’s magnetosphere.These plasma waves come across in two forms: One, Langmuir waves, which are high-pitched lights crafted with electrons, while the other, Alfven waves, are slower, formed by ions (heavy particles). 

About Juno’s Findings

As unveiled by the Juno, the findings turned out to be questionable after the scientists noted that in Jupiter’s far northern region, the plasma waves were relatively slower. The magnetic field is about 40 times stronger than the Earth’s, but scientists were shocked to witness the results as the waves were slower. To analyse this further, a team from the University of Minnesota, led by Robert Lysak, identified the possibility of Alfven waves transforming into Langmuir waves. Post studying the data extracted from the Juno, the researchers then began to compare the relationship between the plasma wave frequency and number. 

According to Lysak’s research team, near Jupiter’s north pole, there might be a potential pathway of Alfven waves, which are massive in numbers, transforming into Langmuir waves. Scientists are also predicting that the reason behind evolution might be strong electrons that are shooting upwards at a very high energy. This discovery was made in the year 2016. Considering the current findings, the researchers indicate that Jupiter’s magnetosphere may comprise a new type of plasma wave mode that occurs during high magnetic field strength. 

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