Science and Technology

Space
By Harikrishnan K
Orbit

An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object in space takes around
another one. An object in an orbit is called a satellite. A satellite can be
natural, like Earth or the moon. Many planets have moons that orbit them. A
satellite can also be man-made, like the International Space Station.
Satellites that orbit Earth, including the moon, do not always stay the same
distance from Earth. Sometimes they are closer, and at other times they are
farther away.

The closest point a satellite comes to Earth is called its perigee. The farthest
point is the apogee. For planets, the point in their orbit closest to the sun is
perihelion. The farthest point is called aphelion.

Earth reaches its aphelion during summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The
time it takes a satellite to make one full orbit is called its period. For example,
Earth has an orbital period of one year. The inclination is the angle the orbital
plane makes when compared with Earth’s equator.
How Do Objects Stay in Orbit?
An object in motion will stay in motion unless something pushes or pulls on it. This
statement is called Newton’s first law of motion. Without gravity, an Earth-orbiting
satellite would go off into space along a straight line. With gravity, it is pulled back
toward Earth. A constant tug-of-war takes place between the satellite’s
tendency to move in a straight line, or momentum, and the tug of gravity pulling
the satellite back.
An object’s momentum and the force of gravity have to be balanced for an orbit
to happen. If the forward momentum of one object is too great, it will speed past
and not enter into orbit. If momentum is too small, the object will be pulled down
and crash. When these forces are balanced, the object is always falling toward the
planet, but because it’s moving sideways fast enough, it never hits the planet.
Orbital velocity is the speed needed to stay in orbit. At an altitude of 150 miles
(242 kilometers) above Earth, orbital velocity is about 17,000 miles per hour.
Satellites that have higher orbits have slower orbital velocities.
GEO
Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth
above the equator from west to east following
Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes
and 4 seconds – by travelling at exactly the
same rate as Earth. This makes satellites in GEO
appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position. In
order to perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the
speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per
second at an altitude of 35 786 km. This is much
farther from Earth’s surface compared to many
satellites.

GEO is used by satellites that need to stay

constantly above one particular place over Earth,
such as telecommunication satellites. This way,
an antenna on Earth can be fixed to always stay
pointed towards that satellite without moving. It
can also be used by weather monitoring satellites,
because they can continually observe specific
areas to see how weather trends emerge there.
LEO
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is, as the name
suggests, an orbit that is relatively close to
Earth’s surface. It is normally at an altitude of
less than 1000 km but could be as low as 160
km above Earth – which is low compared to
other orbits, but still very far above Earth’s
surface.
Polar orbit
Satellites in polar orbits usually travel past Earth from north
to south rather than from west to east, passing roughly over
Earth’s poles.

Satellites in a polar orbit do not have to pass the North and

South Pole precisely; even a deviation within 20 to 30 degrees is
still classed as a polar orbit. Polar orbits are a type of low
Earth orbit, as they are at low altitudes between 200 to
1000 km.
SSO
Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites in SSO, travelling over the polar

regions, are synchronous with the Sun. This means they are synchronized to always be in the same

‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun. This means that the satellite always visits the same spot at the same

local time – for example, passing the city of Paris every day at noon exactly.

This means that the satellite will always observe a point on the Earth as if constantly at the same time of the

day, which serves a number of applications; for example, it means that scientists and those who use the

satellite images can compare how somewhere changes over time.

GTO
Transfer orbits are a special kind of orbit used to
get from one orbit to another. When satellites are
launched from Earth and carried to space with
launch vehicles such as Ariane 5, the satellites are
not always placed directly on their final orbit.

Often, the satellites are instead placed on a

transfer orbit: an orbit where, by using relatively
little energy from built-in motors, the satellite or
spacecraft can move from one orbit to another.
Satellite
A satellite is a body that orbits around another body in space. There are two different types of satellites –
natural and man-made. Examples of natural satellites are the Earth and Moon. The Earth rotates around the
Sun and the Moon rotates around the Earth. A man-made satellite is a machine that is launched into space
and orbits around a body in space. Examples of man-made satellites include the Hubble Space Telescope
and the International Space Station.

Types of Satellites

1.Astronomical: Deployed for observation of distant planets, stars, galaxies, and objects in-universe. It is a

space Telescope hanging in space to photograph objects in space.

2.Biosatellite : Places animals or plants in space to conduct research on the effects of space on these living

objects.

3.Communication:These satellites support telecommunication. Telecasting, Phone calls, Internet

connectivity, Radio, and much remote connectivity are typical applications.

4.Earth Observation: Deployed to study environment, monitor climatic changes and mapping the

earth for non-military purposes.

5.Navigation: Facilitates to trace the exact location of any objects on the Earth. This leads to the

development of new applications, technology, and business cases.

6.Killer (Military) : Deployed to attack enemy satellites and space objects during the war period.

7.Space Stations : Designed for human beings to live and conduct research on objects on planets,

stars, and galaxies.

8.Reconnaissance: Deployed for spying, surveying and scouting enemy territory during the war

period.

9.Crewed Spacecraft: These satellites ferry astronauts to space and bring them back to earth. It has

good grounding facilities and helps astronauts in accessing space stations.

10.Recovery: Recovery satellites are mainly used to recover bio, reconnaissance and other satellites

back to earth.

11.Solar Power:Space-based satellites gather energy from the Sun and transmit it to earth for

consumption.

12.Miniaturized: Smaller sized and lower weight satellites are launched at an economical cost used

for the limited purpose of scientific data gathering and radio relay.

13.Tether:Tether satellites are connected to another satellite by the tether. It is used as a secondary

payload to another main satellite mainly used in students and mini-projects.

14.Weather : These satellites are used to measure and report the Earth’s weather, and the reports

are used in a weather forecast.

SLV
Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was an all

solid, four stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes with a height of 22m and capable of placing 40 kg class

payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The first experimental flight of SLV-3, in August 1979, was only partially successful. Apart from the July

1980 launch, there were two more launches held in May 1981 and April 1983, orbiting Rohini satellites

carrying remote sensing sensors.

The successful culmination of the SLV-3 project showed the way to advanced launch vehicle projects such as

the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

ASLV
The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) Programme was designed to augment
the payload capacity to 150 kg, thrice that of SLV-3, for Low Earth Orbits (LEO).

While building upon the experience gained from the SLV-3 missions, ASLV proved to be
a low cost intermediate vehicle to demonstrate and validate critical technologies that
would be needed for the future launch vehicles like strap-on technology, inertial
navigation, bulbous heat shield, vertical integration and closed loop guidance.
PSLV
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch

vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as the

reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India with 39 consecutively successful missions by June 2017.

During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle

to be equipped with liquid stages.

It is a four stage launch vehicle.

● A large solid rocket motor forming the first stage,

● An earth storable liquid stage as the second stage,
● A high performance solid rocket motor as third stage, and
● A liquid stage with engines as fourth stage.
● The vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013
GSLV
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) project was initiated in 1990 with the objective

of acquiring an Indian launch capability for geosynchronous satellites.

GSLV uses major components that are already proven in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

launch vehicles in the form of the S125/S139 solid rocket booster and the liquid-fueled Vikas

engine.

Due to the thrust required for injecting the satellite in a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) the third

stage was to be powered by a LOX/LH2 Cryogenic engine which at that time India did not possess

or had the technology know-how to build one.

GSLV
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk II) is the largest launch vehicle developed by
India, which is currently in operation. This fourth generation launch vehicle is a three stage vehicle
with four liquid strap-ons. The indigenously developed cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), which is flight
proven, forms the third stage of GSLV Mk II. From January 2014, the vehicle has achieved four
consecutive successes.
GSLV MkIII, chosen to launch Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle
developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic
upper stage.

● GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit
(GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of the GSLV
Mk II.
● The first developmental flight of GSLV Mk III, the GSLV-Mk III-D1 successfully placed GSAT-19
satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on June 05, 2017 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
● GSLV MkIII-D2, the second developmental flight of GSLV MkIII successfully launched GSAT-29, a
high throughput communication satellite on November 14, 2018 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
SHAR, Sriharikota
● GSLV MkIII-M1, successfully injected Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Lunar Mission, in to Earth
Parking Orbit on July 22, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota
Cryogenic Engine:
Rocket engine needs enormous amount of thrust to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. However the
chemicals used for engines are Hydrogen and Oxygen (Hydrogen used as a fuel, while Oxygen as a
oxidiser) that produces a good thrust, found in Earth in the form of gas.

Carrying hydrogen and oxygen in their gaseous form will require a bigger fuel chamber, which not only
increase the size but also weight of the rockets and this will mean undertaking of impossible task to send a
launch vehicle into space.

So the solution is to use hydrogen and oxygen in their liquid form or in a cryogenic form which is easier
to transport, as the volume of propellent decrease. As density increases in liquid form, more thrust can be
produce in less burning time. Such engines are called Cryogenic engine.

Cryogenic fuel is used in rockets, spaceships or satellites because ordinary fuel can not be used in space
due to the absence of an environment that supports combustion. This fuel requires storage at an extremely
low temperature (-253 degree Celsius) to maintain them in a liquid state.
Lagrange Points
Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At Lagrange points, the
gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small
object to move with them. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption
needed to remain in position.

Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points - labeled
L1, L2 and L3 - lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points - labeled L4
and L5 - form the apex of two equilateral triangles that have the large masses at their vertices. L4 leads the
orbit of earth and L5 follows.
The most used L-points are L1 and L2.

These are both four times farther away from Earth than the Moon – 1.5 million km, compared to GEO’s 36
000 km – but that is still only approximately 1% of the distance of Earth from the Sun.
Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission)
India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft has lost communication with the
ground stations, bringing an end to its life after eight long years.
What caused the End of MOM?
Because of propellant (fuel) exhaustion the desired altitude pointing could not be
achieved for sustained power generation and it lost communication from the ground
station.
Recently there were back-to-back eclipses including one that lasted seven-and-half
hours because that satellite has consumed all the propellant on board.
As the satellite battery is designed to handle eclipse duration of only about one hour
and 40 minutes, a longer eclipse would drain the battery beyond the safe limit.
 ● The Rs 450 crore Mars Orbiter Mission was launched onboard PSLV-C25 on 5th November,
2013, and the MOM spacecraft was successfully inserted into the Martian orbit in September,
2014 in its first attempt.
● Mangalyaan was India's first interplanetary mission.
● The mission made India the first Asian country, and the fourth in the world after Roscosmos,
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and the European Space Agency, to get
to the planet.
● China referred to India's successful Mangalyaan as the "Pride of Asia".

Description:

● It carried 850 kg of fuel and 5 science payloads including a Mars Color Camera (MCC) which it
was using to study the Martian surface and atmosphere since entering orbit successfully.
● The highly elliptical orbit geometry of MOM enabled MCC to take snapshots of the 'Full disc' of
Mars at its farthest point and finer details from the closest point.
● The MCC has produced more than 1000 images and published a Mars Atlas.
● Other instruments are: Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars
(MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) and Lyman Alpha Photometer
(LAP).
What is the Future Indian Mars Mission?

ISRO came out with an 'Announcement of Opportunity' (AO) for future Mars
Orbiter Mission (MOM-2) in 2016 but 'Gaganyaan', 'Chandrayaan-3' and 'Aditya
- L1' projects are in the current priority list.

Mangalyaan-2 will only be an orbiter mission.

Various Mars Missions

ExoMars rover (2021) (European Space Agency)

Tianwen-1: China's Mars Mission (2021)

UAE’s Hope Mars Mission (UAE’s first-ever interplanetary mission) (2021)

Mars 2 and Mars 3 (1971) (Soviet Union)

NASA’s Perseverance Rover

NAVIC (NAVIGATION WITH INDIAN CONSTELLATION)
Centre is pushing smartphone makers to enable support for its NavIC navigation
system in new devices from next year.
NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation)
Independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO).
Earlier known as IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System).
Coverage: It consists of 7 satellites and covers the whole of India's landmass and up
to 1,500 km from its boundaries.
Forthcoming change: To add the L1 Spectrum band into NavIC which is part of GPS
and is the most used for civilian navigational use.
Expansion will help to increase its use in civilian sector and ships, aircraft travelling
far from the country's borders.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) successfully conducted flight trials using GAGAN based
LPV approach procedure.

India is the first country in the Asia Pacific Region to achieve such a landmark in field of Air
Navigation Services (ANS).

LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance) permits aircraft guided approaches that
are operationally nearly equivalent to Category 1- Instrument Landing System (Cat-1 ILS),
without the need for ground-based navigational infrastructure.

GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation)

GAGAN is an Indian Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) jointly developed by AAI
and ISRO for India and neighbouring countries in the equatorial region.

It is one among the only four Space-Based augmentation systems available in the world
which also includes US(WAAS) Europe (EGNOS) and Japan (MSAS).

Benefits of GAGAN: Air traffic control, manage road and railways transport, help farmers in
crop spraying etc.
ARTEMIS I
Recently, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission successfully lifted off from the Kennedy
Space Centre.
Artemis I mission
Aim: To build a long-term human presence at the Moon.
Mission specifications: An uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation
for human deep space exploration. With Artemis, NASA is planning to land the
first woman on the Moon.
First integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems, which include.
Future Missions: Artemis I will be followed by Artemis II (Planned for 2024)
and Artemis III (Planned for 2026)
Retrograde orbit

After getting closer to the moon, the Orion spacecraft used the gravitational
kick it receives to enter a so-called "distant retrograde orbit."

Retrograde means that it will orbit the moon in the opposite direction to the
one in which the moon spins.

Orion will stay in that orbit for some days. Then it will swing back down toward
the moon for another kick to help power its journey back to Earth.
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
James Webb Space Telescope has provided astronomers with a glimpse of the early
universe in a new image.
Telescope captured an image of a galaxy cluster called MACS0647, as well as distant galaxy
MACS0647-JD.
Scientists believe that this might be an event of a galaxy merger in the early universe.
The distant galaxy is visible because of gravitational lensing.
James Webb Space Telescope
Also called JWST or Webb, it is NASA’s largest and most powerful space science telescope. o
It was formerly known as the "Next Generation Space Telescope" (NGST).
International collaboration: between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian
Space Agency (CSA).
Key features of Webb
Visibility Spectrum: Webb views the universe in infrared.
It will be the only infrared-specialized telescope in space that can see long distances.
Mirrors: Its primary mirror is 6.5 metres in diameter.
Larger the mirror area collecting light, more details it can capture of a star or galaxy.
Recently, a secondary mirror was also deployed, reflecting light from primary mirror
to the instruments.
Location/Orbit: It will not be in orbit around Earth but will orbit Sun, 1.5 million
kilometers away from the Earth at second Lagrange point or L2.
L2 lets telescope stay in line with Earth as it moves around Sun.
This allows satellite's large sunshield to protect telescope from light and heat of Sun
and Earth (and Moon).
Major instruments: Contained within the Integrated Science Instrument
Module (ISIM) which is one of three major elements that comprise JWST.
The others are Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and Spacecraft Element
(Spacecraft Bus and Sunshield).
Main instruments: ISIM is main payload. It houses four main instruments:
● Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam),
● Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec),
● Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and
● Fine Guidance Sensor/ Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph
(FGS/NIRISS).
Black Holes

The black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy was photographed for the
first time.
The first photograph of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole situated at
the center of the Milky Way, was revealed by astronomers of the Event
Horizon Telescope (EHT).
EHT is an international collaboration (of observatories) capturing images of
black holes using a virtual Earth-sized telescope.
In 2019, astronomers captured the first ever photograph of a black hole M87
in a distant galaxy called Messier 87.
2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

One half was awarded to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole
formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity.

And the other half was awarded jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez
for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our
galaxy.

A supermassive black hole is the only currently known explanation.

They focused on a region called Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy.

Binary supermassive black hole (SMBH)

About: Binary SMBH system (system consisting of two black holes in close
orbit) was discovered in gravitationally lensed blazar.

Blazars are among the most luminous and energetic objects in Universe.

Significance: Help in the future detection of Gravitational Waves (GW).

GW are 'ripples' in space-time traveling at the speed of light caused by some

of most violent and energetic processes in Universe.

This effect was first predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

GW were first detected in 2015 by Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave

Observatory (LIGO).
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission

NASA is planning to shut down SOFIA telescope that found water on Moon.

SOFIA is an infrared telescope inside Boeing airplane, flying at an altitude

around 40k feet above the surface.

SOFIA is collaboration between NASA and German Space Agency (DLR).

It has been collecting data to understand star birth and death and formation
of new solar systems. It is designed to observe cosmic objects in far-infrared
wavelengths.

In 2019, SOFIA discovered helium hydride — first molecule formed in Universe

almost 14 billion years ago.
Gaganyaan
The word ‘Gaganyaan’ is derived from Sanskrit, meaning ‘sky-vehicle’.

The Gaganyaan Programme envisages undertaking the demonstration of indigeneous capability to

undertake human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

As part of this programme, two unmanned missions and one manned mission will be carried out.

ISRO is planning to launch the first uncrewed mission under Gaganyaan in 2022, following which the
second unmanned mission “Vyommitra” will carry a robot and this will then be followed by the
manned mission.

The uncrewed missions are for technology demonstration, safety and reliability verification and will
aim to study the performance of systems before crewed flight. ✓ The robot will mimic the space
crew activities set for the human flight mission in order to assess all the possible challenges prior to
the final mission.
The major new technologies required for Gaganyaan
programme are as follows:
o Human rated launch vehicle
o Crew escape systems
o Habitable orbital module
o Life support system
o Crew selection and training and associated crew management activities
Current status of Gaganyaan programme:

The astronaut training facility is getting established at Bengaluru and in

advanced stage of completion.
ISRO successfully carried out the third long duration hot test of the liquid
propellant Vikas Engine.
Vikas Engine is a high thrust engine to enhance lifting power of various Indian
Launch Vehicles.
Gaganyaan would be smaller in size than the current manned missions of
Russian Soyuz, Chinese Shenzhou and NASA's planned Orion spacecraft.
SSLV

• It would help to meet the demand of the global launch services market for
small satellites (nano, micro etc).

• New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSU, will be the sole nodal agency
responsible for providing end-to-end SSLV Launch services.
SPACE DEBRIS

Space debris encompasses both natural (meteoroid) and artificial

(man-made) particles. Meteoroids are in orbit about the sun, while most
artificial debris is in orbit about the Earth which is commonly referred to as
orbital debris.
Orbital debris is any man-made object in orbit about the Earth which no
longer serves a useful function. Such debris includes non-functional
spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris and
fragmentation debris.
Much of the debris is in low Earth orbit (LEO), though some debris can be
found in geostationary orbit.
The Kessler Syndrome

Also called the Kessler effect, is a scenario in which the density of objects in
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisions between objects could
cause a cascade where each collision generates space debris that increases
the likelihood of further collisions.

It may lead to a situation in which orbit would become impassable in the long
run.
Methods
Mitigating Damage: Space debris is tracked by a number of countries, including Germany, France, UK and USA.

ISRO has come up with ‘Project NETRA’ - an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards
to Indian satellites.

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi is working on a project titled “Orbit computation of
Resident Space Objects for Space Situational Awareness” to predict collision from space debris.

Avoiding future debris: by adopting better designs of rockets and other objects. For example, making rockets
reusable could vastly cut down waste. UK’s TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1), was designed in such a way that once its
mission is over, a system, would drag the satellite to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.

Removal of the debris: End-of-Life Services by Astroscale Demonstration (Elsa-D) was launched to locate and
retrieve used satellites and other space junk. RemoveDebris is an EU research project to give in orbit
demonstrations of cost-effective technologies that can be used to observe, capture and dispose of space debris.
It has performed key technology demonstrations including:
International efforts to tackle Space debris
Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines (2002) that
focuses on limitation of debris, post-mission disposal, prevention of on-orbit collisions etc.

IADC is an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of
man-made and natural debris in space.

ISRO is one among 13 member agencies of IADC.

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) concluded various international treaties (like
Outer Space Treaty, Liability Convention etc.) which deal with issues like liability for damage caused by space
objects, Prevention of harmful interference with space activities and registration of space activities etc. COPUOS
was set up by UN General Assembly in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all
humanity.

Self-Eating-Rockets & Vanishing Satellites. ISRO has been focusing on new technologies, from self-eating rockets
to self-vanishing satellites and from make in-space concepts to quantum communication and radars.
Private Ventures in Space

Virgin Galactic, a company founded by Richard Branson, to take tourists to

suborbital space.

Blue Origin, controlled by Amazon Chief Jeff Bezos, is building a shepard

rocket and capsule combo.

SpaceX, by Tesla founder Elon Musk, is using its reusable falcon rocket for
space trips.
Space and space travel
According to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (world governing body for aeronautic and astronautic
records), space starts at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) above the surface of the earth.

This is the Karman line where atmospheric lift no longer supports a flying object and the object would need to
reach orbital velocity or risk falling back to Earth.

Space travel is referred to as any flight operation that takes one or more passengers beyond the altitude of 100
km and thus into space.

The main difference between orbital and suborbital flight is the speed at which a vehicle is traveling.

An orbital spacecraft must achieve orbital velocity i.e. the speed that an object must maintain to remain in
orbit around a planet. To orbit 125 miles (200 kilometers) above Earth for instance, a spacecraft must travel at
a screaming 17,400 mph (28,000 km/h).

Suborbital flight, in contrast, requires much lower speeds and doesn't have the power to achieve orbit.
Instead, it will fly up to a certain height that depends on its speed, and then come back down once its engines
are shut off.

At the top of their flight arc in a suborbital flight, when the object is falling back toward Earth, passengers
achieve a few minutes of weightlessness under zero gravity.
Parker
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere – the corona –
and sampled particles and magnetic fields there.

Launched in 2018, the PSP is part of NASA's Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the
Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.

It is named after Eugene Newman Parker, a physicist who proposed concepts about how stars give
off energy.

It uses a carbon-composite shield, to withstand temperatures nearly 2,500 F (1,377 C), to protect
itself from Sun’s heat.

It became the first spacecraft in history to touch the Sun.

It uses a series of gravitational encounters with the planet Venus to gradually lower the orbit of the
spacecraft until it enters the outer atmosphere, or corona, of the Sun.
Solar missions
NASA’s Heliophysics Missions: NASA’s contribution to the Extreme Ultraviolet
High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission (EUVST) and the Electrojet
Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an
interconnected system.
European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter
ISRO’s Aditya-L1 mission ISRO plans to launch it by the middle of 2022.
This is the first mission designated by ISRO to study the Sun’s atmosphere.
ISRO has selected L1, or Lagrangian point 1, between the Earth and the Sun to place the
Aditya satellite. The spacecraft will travel a long journey of 1.5 million km from the Earth for
this task. It will conduct comprehensive research on the processes that occur in the Sun’s
atmosphere, which would enable us to decipher the outstanding problems in solar physics
New Missions to Venus
NASA has announced two missions to Venus, Earth’s closest planetary neighbour, as part of its ‘Discovery
Program’ that aims to explore and study the solar system. Discovery Program, which began in 1992, gives
scientists the chance to launch some missions that use fewer resources and have shorter developmental times.

New missions:

DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission. It will
try to understand Venus‘ composition to see how the planet formed and evolved.

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy). It will map the planet‘s
surface to determine its geologic history and understand the reasons why it developed so differently from
Earth. The last US probe to visit the planet was the Magellan orbiter in 1990. Venus is the hottest planet in
the solar system because of the heat that is trapped by its thick cloud cover. Venus spins on its axis from
east to west. Venus also does not have a moon and no rings. It is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar
sizes. A recent study concluded that a single Venusian rotation takes 243.0226 Earth days.
DART
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RA8Tfa6Sck
China in Space

Zhurong rover (Tianwen-1 Mission)

Tiangong space station- Shenzhou-12 spacecraft

Seven mega missions by ISRO

Chandrayaan-2, XPoSat (to study cosmic radiation) and Aditya-L1(to the Sun).

Gaganyaan

Undefined Missions – which include missions which are still in planning stage namely

Mangalyaan-2 (or Mars Orbiter Mission-2 in 2022), Lunar Polar Exploration (or Chandrayaan-3 in

2024), Venus mission (in 2023), Exoworlds (exploration outside the solar system in 2028).
ISRO
● ISRO is the space agency under the Department of Space of Government of India,
headquartered in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka.
● Its vision is to harness space technology for national development, while pursuing space
science research and planetary exploration.
● Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL) is a Marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and
commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer
of technologies developed by ISRO.
Communication Satellites

● Established in 1983 with commissioning of INSAT-1B, the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one
of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in Asia-Pacific region with nine operational
communication satellites placed in Geostationary orbit.
● It initiated a major revolution in India’s communications sector and sustained the same later. The INSAT
system provides services to telecommunications, television broadcasting, satellite newsgathering,
societal applications, weather forecasting, disaster warning and Search and Rescue operations.
Earth Observation Satellites

● Starting with IRS-1A in 1988, ISRO has launched many operational remote sensing satellites. Today, India has one
of the largest constellations of remote sensing satellites in operation.
● Varieties of instruments have been flown onboard these satellites to provide necessary data in a diversified
spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions to cater to different user requirements in the country and for global
usage.
● The data from these satellites are used for several applications covering agriculture, water resources, urban
planning, rural development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry, ocean resources and disaster
management.
Navigation Satellites

● Satellite is an emerging satellite based system with commercial and strategic applications. Navigation services are
necessary to meet the emerging demands of the Civil Aviation requirements and to meet the user requirements
of the positioning, navigation and timing based on the independent satellite navigation system.
● To meet the Civil Aviation requirements, ISRO is working jointly with Airport Authority of India (AAI) in establishing
the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system.
● To meet the user requirements of the positioning, navigation and timing services based on the indigenous
system, ISRO is establishing a regional satellite navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System (IRNSS).
New Space India Limited
● NSIL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise of the Government of India.
● It was established in 2019 under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
● Headquarter: Bengaluru
● NSIL is the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the primary
responsibility of enabling Indian industries to take up high technology space related activities and is also
responsible for promotion and commercial exploitation of the products and services emanating from the
space industry.
● NSIL is incorporated to carry forward the industry production of space systems and the ISRO’s efforts in
realising Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) from industry.
● NSIL differs from ISRO’s existing commercial arm Antrix Corporation:

○ Antrix will handle ISRO’s commercial deals for satellites and launch vehicles with foreign
customers.
○ NSIL will deal with capacity building of local industry for space manufacturing.
IN SPACE
It will act as a single-point interface between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and
everyone who wants to participate in space-related activities, or use India’s space resources.

It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through
encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.

Indian National Space Promotion Board: It would be set up to strengthen the Department of
Space and for the promotion of the private space entrepreneurs or non-government space
entrepreneurs,

Role of ISRO: The overall idea is to let ISRO concentrate on essential activities like research and
development, planetary exploration, and strategic use of space, while freeing itself from ancillary or
routine work which could easily be done by private industry.

Demand Driven Model: By the support of New Space India Limited (NSIL), It would endeavour to
reorient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ one, thereby ensuring
optimum utilisation of the nation’s space assets.

The main objective of NSIL is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes in
comparison to IN-SPACe which gives emphasis on the participation of the private sector.
Dark SKY Reserve
Department of Science & Technology has announced setting up of India’s first dark sky
reserve at Hanle in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. It will be one of
the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.
Dark Sky Reserve is a place that has policies to ensure that a tract of land or region has
minimal artificial light interference.
International Dark Sky Association, a U.S.-based non-profit, designates places as
International Dark Sky Places, parks, sanctuaries and reserves, depending on criteria they
meet.
Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), high-altitude station of Indian Institute of
Astrophysics, is also located atop Mt. Saraswati in Nilamkhul Plain in the Hanle Valley.
Other Prominent telescopes at IAO: Himalayan Chandra Telescope, High Energy
Gamma Ray telescope (HAGAR), Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment Telescope
(MACE), GROWTH etc.
Space Bricks
Researchers from ISRO and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have
developed a way to make bricks of complex shapes from Martian soil with the
help of bacteria and urea.
First slurry was made by mixing Martian soil with guar gum, a bacterium
called Sporosarcina pasteurii, urea and nickel chloride (NiCl2).
Bacteria convert the urea into crystals of calcium carbonate.
These crystals, along with biopolymers secreted by microbes, act as cement
holding soil particles together.
In the past, the team had made bricks out of lunar soil using a similar
method.
HYBRID-SOUNDING ROCKET
India’s first hybrid-sounding rocket launched by private players from Chengalpattu,
Tamil Nadu.
Martin Foundation, in association with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation and
Space Zone India, launched the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Satellite Launch Vehicle Mission-
2023.
Rocket can be used for research in weather, atmospheric conditions and radiations.
Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing upper
atmospheric regions (Aeronomy) and for space research.
They can also be used to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems
intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term "to sound," which means to take
measurements. Hybrid-rocket uses different propellants, i.e., one solid and other being
either gas or liquid.
In 1963, Indian Space Programme started with first sounding rocket launch
from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Kerala.
Thumba was selected as it is close to magnetic equator.
In 1967, ISRO launched its own version of sounding rockets - Rohini RH-75.
In 1975, ISRO consolidated all sounding rocket activities under Rohini
Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.
Rohini RH- 200: RH-200 (meteorology purpose) is one of three sounding
rockets currently operational with ISRO, the other two being RH-300 Mk 2 and
RH-560 Mk 2 (both for Aeronomy). 200 in the name denotes rocket’s diameter
in millimeters (mm).
Rh-200 rocket used polyvinyl chloride (pvc) based propellant. In 2020, first
rh-200 used a new propellant based on hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene
(htpb).
NASA-ISRO SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR (NISAR) SATELLITE

Recently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR)
satellite from the U.S. space agency.

NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR)

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO.

Mapping and Data: Will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally
consistent data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, etc.

Instruments: It consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments,
which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.

SAR payloads mounted on Integrated Radar Instrument Structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus
are together called an observatory.

NASA is to provide the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and
a payload data subsystem.

ISRO is to provide the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system and spacecraft for the mission.
NISAR is expected to be launched in January 2024 from Satish Dhawan
Space Centre into a near-polar orbit.

After the commissioning period, the L-band radar will be used by NASA for
minimum of three years.

S-band radar will be used by India for a period of five years.

Significance of the mission: High Precision and Resolution, Large Imaging

Area, Observing Indian Coasts and Antarctica.