Isac Overview

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ISAC - OVERVIEWRevision-14 2009

- M.V.Kannan

- Rajendrasingh P Byali

- -Santosh Hebbar

Projects Division, PPEG

INTRODUCTION:

The presentation on overview - ISAC under IITP technical module is intended to give

an overall perspective of ISRO satellite centre to young and aspirant engineers who have

joined ISRO. It also intends to specifically expose engineers to various technical areas in

satellite domain, technological growth and challenges in these areas. With this specific

objective in view, this document is made covering aspects such as the evolution of ISAC,

role of ISAC and major activities, achievements, organization structure, ongoing and

future satellite programmes, major fabrication and test facilities, technologies realized at

present and future requirements/technological challenges etc. In this document both

Satellite and Spacecraft are used synonymously depending on the context.

EVOLUTION OF ISAC

The establishment of Thumba Equatorial Launching Station (TERLS) in 1963 and the

Experimental Satellite Communication Earth Station (ESCES) in 1967 was the prodigious

precursors of Space activities in the country. Activities relating to satellite technology

started in the right earnest at Satellite SystemsDivision at Space Science & Technology Centre,

Trivandrum in the late sixties. Later when a conscious

decision emerged in 1972 to build the first Indian

Satellite Aryabhata the scene shifted to Bangalore

with the formulation of the Indian Scientific Satellite

Project (ISSP). This move was to prove propitious

as the cradle of electronic industry nurtured the

activity further and the space programme structured itself in to three separate

components namely: Launch Vehicles, Satellites and payloads and applications. The

Indian Institute of Science campus initially housed the project activities until it moved to

the industrial sheds at Peenya. It was here

that a handful of engineers and technicians

fresh from the Universities sowed the first

seeds of satellite technology in the country.

With practically no prior-art existing within the

country, and with sparse infrastructure put

together from scratch, this young team developed the first Indian Satellite ARYABHATA

in the make-shift industrial sheds at Peenya, Bangalore. With the success of the


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ARYABHATA mission, the fledgling space activity soon developed into a full-fledged

programme with national priorities.

Thus was born the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in 1976.

In 1984 the Centre moved to the present 32 acre campus

at Airport Road, Vimanapura in Bangalore. The main

campus which houses the major fabrication and test

facilities, a new 110 acre campus (ISRO Satellite

Integration & Testing Establishment (ISITE) - established

about three years back) about 8 KMs away on the Marathalli outer ring road is replete

with Integration and environmental test facilities under one roof namely a large clean

room(for S/C Assembly, Integration & testing) , a compact antenna test facility (CATF)-

specific to communication satellites and antenna systems , a comprehensive Assembly

and Test thermo vacuum chamber (CATVAC), a comprehensive Assembly and Test

vibration facility (CATVIB). This facility is to enhance our throughput build of satellites, 5

communication satellites at a time.

ISAC is the lead centre for design, development & integration of Communication, Remote

sensing, scientific and small satellites. The activities include research & development in

the area of advanced state of art technologies, total management of all satellite missions,

creation of vibrant space industry for realization of space systems, Technology transfer,

academia interface etc. Cutting edge technologies meeting various mission requirements are

developed in the Centre keeping ISAC in the forefront of spacecraft technology frontiers. ISAC has

realized till now 54 satellites (Communication & Meteorology: 22, Remote sensing: 17

and others: 15) out of which 23 satellites (Communication & Meteorology: 12, Remote

Sensing: 10 and others: 1) in operation and providing good service for various

applications they are intended for.

The 51st spacecraft is the Chandrayaan-1, a completely indigenous lunar orbiter which

has shot India into International prominence as a space fairing nation capable of

interplanetary missions. The 52nd spacecraft is W2M, ISROs first commercial satellite

while ANUSAT is the 53rd satellite which was built by University scholars and students of

ANNA University, Chennai-Tamilnadu.


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The Centre is fully equipped with state of the art facilities for fabrication and testing of

mechanical and electronic hardware/subsystems and integrated satellite. To name afew:3 Clean Rooms (Assembly, Integration & Testing of about 5 Spacecraft at a time),

Solar panel lab (fabrication & testing), Space Simulation Chambers, Anechoic chambers

and EMI (Electrical/Mechanical interference) test facility, Vibration & Acoustic facility,

Precision Mechanical & Electronics Fabrication facility, HMC (Hybrid Micro Circuits) &

Electronics packaging facility and ISITE (AIT+CATF+CATVAC+CATVIB).

[AIT-Assembly, Integration & Testing; CATF-Compact antenna test facility; CATVAC-

Comprehensive Assembly & Test vacuum chamber; CATVIB- Comprehensive Assembly &

Test vibration facility.]

The human resources total strength of ISAC is around 2400 with 78% technical and 22%

administrative staff. The total budget outlay of ISAC is around Rs.1500/- crores per

year.

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE:

The Centre is functionally organized into six major areas [MSA, DCA, CMA, RCA, ICA,

PSAPA] ,four programme managements offices [GEOSAT, SATNAV, IRS & Small

Satellites] two independent groups [PPEG, CIG] and Two divisions [SAID, APD] apart


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from divisions in other areas [Administration, Purchase, Accounts, Stores, Canteen,

Transport]. There are three programme management teams to co-ordinate and

implement their respective projects. The projects are organized on inter Groups /

Divisions and inter-centre basis with identified teams participating in the developmental

tasks at subsystem/system levels. To utilise the limited resources and simultaneously

execute multiple projects, matrix style of organisation is adapted in the Centre.

The Centre was re-organized on 1st March 2009 and two new areas i.e., Integration and

Checkout Area (ICA) and Power System and Avionics Production Area (PSAPA) was

carved out with Spacecraft Integration Group (SIG) and Spacecraft Checkout Group

(SCG) coming under Integration and Checkout Area (ICA) and Power Systems Group

(PSG) and Avionics Production Division (APD) coming under Power Systems and Avionics

Production Area. Auxiliary support is provided by the Administration Group headed by

the Controller. Each functional area is headed by Deputy Director and supported by

Group Directors, Division Heads, and Section Heads etc. The heads of functional Areas

and S/C programme management directly report to Director of the Centre.

Associate Director, All the Deputy Directors, all Programme Directors, Controller, Group

Director, PPEG and Head, P&GA form the core members of ISAC council chaired by

Director, ISAC. The ISAC Council is the highest management forum in the CENTRE

responsible for all policy guidelines and major strategic decisions.


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Programme Planning & Evaluation Group (PPEG):

The Programme Planning and Evaluation Group (PPEG) is the central coordination team

ofISAC that provides interface between the various technical groups, the administrative

divisions and the management and outside agencies. It is the nodal hub and nerve

Centre in orchestrating the inter-group/inter-divisional coordination for techno

managerial issues. It also serves as the technological secretariat to the Director of

Centre by assisting him in the crucial tasks of resolving techno managerial issues by

collection, retention retrieval, archival and providing data, information and feed back at

right time, for decision making. The Group also assists in planning, coordinating,

monitoring and evaluating the activities of the Centre. Group Director, PPEG reports to

Director, ISAC.

The following are the major highlights of functions of ISAC PPEG.

Overall staff support for Technical and Managerial planning of Spacecraft

programmes including infrastructure build-up, resources allocation &

prioritization, monitoring & evaluating functions.

Futuristic studies in frontier areas of Space

Review and compilation of on-going projects

Centre Budget Planning and Expenditure Control.

Human Resources Development related activities

Providing management information system

Provide advisory support on selected administrative matters of the Centre. In

addition ,the Group will provide special assistance to Director in specific areas

that include general management and progress in technical areas of the

Centre

Appropriate interface between the technical and administrative wings of the

Centre.

Industry interface & Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property Rights related

activities

Specialized public relations and coordination including publications.

Coordination and follow up of TDPs (Technology Development Programme)

and RESPOND programs

Contract Management, Strategic Planning

Organization system, design, reviews and implementation

Organization development and Review

Advance planning (Five year plans)

Safety & Security

Event Managements and handling VIP/VVIP visits etc


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The above functional tasks are carried out by PPEG through the following Divisions and

Cells namely Projects Division, Budget, Organization & Methods Division, Human

Resource Development Division, Safety & Security Division, Management Information

System Cell.

A Programme Planning Cell (PPC) is constituted by Director, ISAC recently where in

Engineers from functional groups have been selected and designated as Programme

Planning Engineers .They all report to their respective Group Directors. This cell is

basically created for facilitating young engineers for learning various management

techniques early in their careers and shoulder higher responsibilities of the Centre in

future. They will be responsible for:

1. Group level Resource Management-

a. Budget Planning, monitoring, reporting and procurement status follow up

b. Man power planning & Reporting

c. Space-Optimal utilization plans

2. Projects subsystems realization plan-Scheduling, status monitoring & reporting

3. Status reporting of Technology Development Programme in the Groups/Facilities

4. Liaison activities with PPEG & PMOs.

FUNCTIONAL AREAS (TECHNICAL):

A spacecraft as a system has many subsystems and associated technology developmenttake place in each of the functional area. The scope and expertise of each functional area

are briefly covered in the following section.

TYPICAL COMMUNICATION SATELLITE


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Mechanical Systems Area (MSA)

This area is responsible for Design, Analysis, Fabrication, Testing and Delivering

Mechanical hardware to all Spacecraft projects including associated Research and

development. MSA is headed by Deputy Director who reports to Director, ISAC. The

Mechanical Systems Area comprises of three groups viz. Structures Group (STG),

Thermal Systems Group (TSG) and Spacecraft Mechanisms Group (SMG).Group

Directors of respective systems report to Deputy Director.

The Structures Group has the total responsibility for

Design and Analysis, Manufacture, Testing and delivery of

spacecraft structure for all spacecraft projects. Know-how

for different types of structure construction, fabrication

processes and use of material with high specific strength

and stiffness, expertise in computer aided design and

manufacturing, accurate analytical prediction and non-

destruction evaluation and experimental testing both static and dynamic rests in the

Structure Group.

Thermal Systems Group is responsible for design and analysis, development and

testing, implementation of Thermalcontrol systems for all spacecraft.

Development of thermal control system

by selective employment of multi layer

insulation blankets, optical solar

reflectors, and auto controlled heaters

and heat sinks, heat pipes, passive radiant coolers etc, its

implementation and testing are the major activities of Thermal Group. Development of

heat pipes, capillary pumped loops, Cryo coolers, indigenization of thermal controlmaterial and development of analysis techniques are also taken up by the group.

Spacecraft Mechanism Group is responsible for the design, development, analysis,

and fabrication, testing of various types of Mechanisms for Spacecraft applications.

These include hold-down and release systems, deployment

mechanisms, antenna pointing

mechanisms, coillable lattice boom with

sail of 16 meters length, dual gimbal

antenna and deployment systems for large

unfurlable antenna to name of few.


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Analysis capabilities for deployment dynamic studies and component analysis also exist.

The Group also undertakes R & D for futuristic projects. The Group has successfully

demonstrated successive 112 on-orbit deployments of various systems in GEOSAT and

IRS series of Spacecraft.

DIGITAL & COMMUNICATION AREA (DCA):

Digital and Communication area is responsible for digital and communication systems forall GEOSAT and IRS series of satellites including associated Research and development.

It is headed by Deputy Director who reports to Director, ISAC. The Digital and

Communication Area has two groups viz. Digital Systems Group (DSG) and

Communication Systems Group (CMG). Group Directors of respective systems report to

Deputy Director.

DSG is mainly responsible for design, development, fabrication and testing of proven

Telemetry and Telecommand systems for all spacecraft. Spacecraft payload data

handling systems for different types of remote sensing payloads, solid state recorders

having Tera Bit storage capacities and gigabit rate read/write capabilities, image

Compression techniques etc are developed. Geo-mobile communication, TTC system for

deep space missions are other areas of expertise. It has also developed expertise in the

areas of command encoders which are installed at various Ground Stations for

controlling the ISRO Spacecraft all over the world. The Group also carries out R & D in

the design of systems for multimedia networking, Space Link Protocols, Onboard Data

Networks, Security for Telecommand and Data Handling links, Digital PSK

demodulator/bit synchronizers, embedded software such as Programmable AutomaticTemperature Controller (PATC) and packet based TTC systems.

CMG has the responsibility of design, development, fabrication

and testing of TTC receivers and TM transmitters in VHF, S, C and

Ku bands for all GEOSAT, IRS series and other spacecraft. For

earth observations and scientific missions data transmitters in S,

X, Ka bands with modulation and data rates up to 400 mbps are

also being pursued. SSPAs up to 20 watts at S and X band,

Temperature Control Crystal Oscillator (TCXO) at 350 MHz, light

SOLID STATE RECORDER

DATA COMPRESSION SYSTEM(3.3:1)


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weight, shaped beam, high power, high gain micro-strip antenna arrays at C Ku bands,

Omni antenna systems at S and Ku bands, light weight global beam antenna at C and

Ku-bands are also within the expertise domain of this Group.

CONTROLS & MISSION AREA (CMA):

CMA is responsible for design, development, fabrication and testing of control systemsand engaged in mission planning & analysis, software development related to flight

dynamics and satellite navigation. It is headed by Deputy Director who reports to

Director, ISAC. The Controls and Mission Area (CMA) has five groups viz. Control System

Group (CSG), Mission Development Group (MDG), Flight Dynamics Group (FDG),

Satellite Navigation Group (SNG) and Computer Simulation and HILS Facility (CS&HF).

Group Directors of respective systems report to Deputy Director. CS & HF is headed by a

General Manager reports to DD.

CSG is responsible for analysis and synthesis of

technologies for control system design, systems

engineering aspects, simulation techniques including

simulation software development, capability to build

spacecraft operation sequence. The competence of

the group rests in design and development of

Attitude Orbit & Control Electronics (AOCE) including

control computer software and peripheral systems ofthe computer, test beds, DC brushless motor, etc. An

onboard computer-Bus Management Unit (BMU) integrating the Telecommand, telemetry,

sensor processing, thermal control, and spacecraft autonomous operation is a jewel in its

crown. The Group also undertakes development of various magnetic torquers, dry

lubrication for various spacecraft mechanism, finite element analysis and magnetic

circuit analysis and design of standard mechanical packages for AOCE.

CSHF is responsible for carrying out hardware-in-loop-simulation test of control

electronics with associated sensors and actuators as per the mission requirement for allspacecraft projects. The Group also carries out the required sensors simulators

establishment, HILS facility up gradation and maintenance and testing of the control

system in open loop and closed loop environment (HILS).

MDG is responsible for mission planning and operation with necessary documentation,

interfacing with all sub-systems, launch vehicle and network teams, carrying out per-

launch simulation and initial phase operations. Development of software system for

monitoring the health and status of the spacecraft and instruments, acquiring,

organizing, processing, archiving and distributing the data telemetered from thespacecraft for real-time and post flight analysis, also form the activities of this Group.


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FDG is responsible for Orbit selection for mission, analysis of orbit and attitude.

Development of software and algorithm for orbit determination, mathematical modeling

and software development for orbit acquisition, station keeping, and strategies for

transfer, launch window and maintenance are also form a part of its expertise.

SNG is responsible for development of suitable models, algorithms, software related to

generation of precise navigation parameters to the users. Currently the group hasnavigation software development responsibilities for GPS Aided GEO Augmented

Navigation (GAGAN) and Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) Projects

under SATNAV Program of ISRO.

RELIABILITY & COMPONENTS AREA (RCA)

RCA is responsible for reliability and quality assurance of all spacecraft hardware and

space qualified component management including Hybrid Micro Circuits (HMC)

development. The area is headed by Deputy Director who reports to Director, ISAC. RCA

has two groups viz. System Reliability Group (SRG) & Indigenization and components

Group (ICG). Group Directors of respective systems report to Deputy Director.

SRG is responsible for the total quality and reliability assurance pertaining to the

fabrication, design, analysis, testing, audit and review of hardware of subsystems,

starting with the lowest assembly level till the final integrated level of the spacecraft.

The whole gamut of Quality Assurance (QA) and reliability activities like design

assurances, reliability prediction and assessment, quality assurance of parts, materials

and process, vendor qualification and certification, test and evaluation of modules,

subsystems and spacecrafts system and software QA of systems are planned and

executed by the expertise available within the Systems Reliability Group. Apart from

executing the routine quality and reliability related activities pertaining to each project,

the group is involved in such activities as, generation and up gradation of various

design/reliability guidelines/alerts, development of failure database of various

subsystems(observed during ground testing and also those observed in orbit), addition

of analytical methods, like risk analysis, Worst Case Circuit Analysis (WCCA) and up

gradation of test philosophy applicable to production of space hardware.

ICG is responsible for the Reliability and Quality Assurance

management of all the EEE parts for the ongoing satellite

programs. The activities include incoming inspection, screening

and qualification of parts. The division is also responsible for

management of bonded stores. The parts transactions and

inventory management are efficiently carried out though the

computerized data base system, ICSDBS developed and maintained by the Group. It is

also responsible for Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) which includes radiation doseestimations; shielding calculations and performance of Total Dose testing and Single

Event Effects (SEE) characterization. Development of micro electronics through design,


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qualification and fabrication of Hybrid Micro Circuits, and indigenization of components

and devices for use in future satellites come under the preview of ICG.

Integration and Checkout Area (ICA)

ICA is responsible for complete mechanical and electrical integration of spacecraft, EMI

control plans, spacecraft ground check out systems support and integrated spacecraft

level testing, final operations at launch complex. The area is headed by Deputy Director

who reports to Director, ISAC. The Integration and Check out Area has two groups viz.

Systems Integration Group (SIG), Spacecraft Checkout Group (SCG). Group Directors of

respective systems report to Deputy Director.

SIG is responsible for configuration design and layout,

Design of electrical distribution system, planning andimplementation of function and interface tests, supporting

integrated Spacecraft Tests, configuring the spacecraft for

the environmental test, planning and conduct of EMC tests

and drawing up and carrying out launch base operations.

The SIG also specializes in spacecraft transportation

container design, electronic housing design, estimation and

measurement of Centre of Gravity (C.G), Moment of Inertia

(M.I.) and cross product of Inertia guidelines for EMI free design, ESD control and

mitigation, circuit modeling, simulation and Design of dedicated Test system is part of itsresponsibility. The SIG operates and maintains all clean rooms at ISAC (three clean

rooms) and ISITE (one clean room), R.F. Shielded chamber for subsystem EMC tests, a

shielded anechoic chamber and Compact Antenna Test Facility of world class.

SCG is responsible for evaluating the performance of different sub assemblies and

integrated system during various stages of progressive integration till launch. Integration

checkout systems which takes care of uplink, downlink power feeding, measurement and

characterization of communication, remote sensing and special payload systems, are

part of their core competence areas.

Power Systems & Avionics Production Area (PSAPA)

Power Systems & Avionics Production Area is responsible for delivery the hardware

required for power systems of all spacecraft. It is also engaged in productionisation of

onboard standard electronic hardware like digital systems, power systems and control

systems. It is headed by Deputy Director who reports to Director, ISAC. PSAPA has onegroup and a division namely: Power Systems group (PSG) and Avionics production


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Division (APD). Group Directors of respective systems report to Deputy Director. Head,

APD directly report to DD.

PSG is responsible for design, development,

fabrication and testing of power electronics

hardware, solar panels and chemicalbatteries for spacecraft. Its expertise

includes state-of-the-art technologies for

generating power up to 6KW using Silicon,

GaAs and multijunction solar cells. In the

field of energy storage, batteries of various types like Nickel

Cadmium, Nickel Hydrogen and Lithium Ion batteries have

been developed and used in various satellite eclipse phase

requirements of power as high as around 5KW. In the area

of power conditioning control and management, distribution

technologies for power up to 6KW are in place. Various

topologies for extensive applications have been developed. Battery management

technologies have been developed to manage the new Lithium ion batteries.

APD has the responsibility to provide necessary managerial support to facilitate groups

and projects and act as a single

window support to achieve faster

turnaround time for realization of

standard electronic packages on

end-to-end basis. It is interfacing

with external vendors for

fabrication and testing activities of standard electronic sub

systems like Telemetry & Telecommand (TMTC), core power, Electro Explosive Devices

(EED), distribution packages, DC-DC converters, BMU etc. The Central Electronic

Fabrication Section, External Fabrication Section and Space Quality Component Section

come under APD.

GEOSAT PROGRAMME:

GEOSAT programme is responsible for definition, conceptualization, design and building

of all geostationary satellites to suit various applications. GEOSAT programme headed by

Programme Director is to establish and operate the multi-agency, multi-purpose

operational INSAT system to provide domestic Telecommunication, Meteorological Earth

observation, Weather Data Relay, nationwide TV & Radio broadcasting /networking, TV

programme distribution and Satellite Aided Search and Rescue payloads. ISRO/DOS is

the nodal agency for establishing and operating of the INSAT System, through INSAT

Coordination committee (ICC), under SATCOM policy of the Govt. of India.


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GEOSAT Management office comprises of Systems Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical &

Propulsion), Budget and Planning, Configuration & Data management. Programme

Director is supported by Project Directors and project Executives of respective projects.

Internal Financial Advisor (IFA-(P)) is responsible for all finance & contractual aspects in

regard to Programmes and supports Programme Management Office.

Space segment development and management of IRNSS will be responsibility of

GEOSAT programme .Project Director and Associate project director of space segment

will report to Programme Director, GEOSAT at ISAC.GEOSAT Programme Director Report

to Director, ISAC.

IRS PROGRAMME & SMALL SATELLITES:

IRS programme is responsible for definition, conceptualization, design and building of all

earth observation satellites to suit various applications. IRS programme headed byProgramme Director is to establish and operate the multi-agency, multi-purpose

operational IRS system for National Resource Management System and use of data for

various applications such as agriculture &soil, land form & land usage studies, water

resource, forestry, draught & flood monitoring, cartography, town planning & coastal

zone monitoring, oceanography studies etc. ISRO/DOS is the nodal agency for

establishing and operating of the IRS System, through Coordination committee (PC -

NNRMS).

IRS & SMALL Satellite Management office comprises of Systems Engineering (Electrical,

Mechanical & Propulsion), Budget and Planning, Configuration, Data management and

advance planning of projects. Programme Director is supported by Project Directors and

project Executives of respective projects. Internal Financial Advisor (IFA-(P)) is

responsible for all finance & contractual aspects in regard to Programmes and supports

Programme Management Office. Projects like Chandrayaan-1 & 2, MEGHA-TROPIQUES,

ASTROSAT, RISAT, YOUTHSAT, SARAL, RESOURCESAT-2 and all other small satellites

come under this office. Programme Director Report to Director, ISAC.

SATNAV PROGRAMME:

Satellite Navigation has been identified as one of the important activities in DOS. To

begin with, ISRO & Airports Authority of India have jointly taken up GAGAN TDS as a

forerunner for the operational Satellite based Augmentation System (SBAS) over the

Indian Airspace and the operational phase GAGAN has to be taken up subsequently.

Government of India has approved the plan to establish IRNSS which will put in place an

indigenously developed satellite navigation system to cater to the requirements of

critical National applications in addition to providing a back-up to the present global

SATNAV system being used by our commercial & other establishments in the country. In


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order to organize and implement the above activities effectively, a Satellite Navigation

Programme was constituted.

To implement the SATNAV Programme, the organizational structure in various ISRO

Centres has been created and activities such as GAGAN TDS & FOP and IRNSS will be

part of this programme. ISAC is identified as the lead centre for Satellite Navigation

Program activities and Programme Director (SNP) is identified for this purpose. He willbe assisted by Project Directors at ISAC, SAC & ISTRAC. Programme Director, SNP will

have the overall responsibilities for all aspects of the program and shall report to

Director, ISAC. Project Director IRNSS and all Associate Project Directors will report to

Programme Director, SATNAV, and Satellite Navigation Office (SNPO) at ISRO HQ.

Human Space Programme (HSP)

The major objective of manned mission program is to develop the fully autonomous

three-ton Orbiting Vehicle (OV) spaceship to carry a 2 member crew to orbit and safe

return to the Earth after the mission duration of few orbits to two days. The extendable

version of the spaceship will allow flights up to seven days, rendezvous and docking

capability with space stations or orbital platform.

ISRO plans to use GSLV-MK II launcher (GSLV-MK II is Geosynchronous Satellite Launch

Vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic engine with a capability of carrying a payload of 2.5

ton) for launch of OV spaceship. The launcher will inject the OV into an orbit, 300 km-

400 km from the Earth about 16 minutes after lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space

Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. The capsule would return for a splashdown in the Arabian

Sea. There are two main components of OV namely a Crew module and Service module.

The primary responsibility of ISAC is to develop and qualify service module (SM) along

with configuring overall mission operations like attitude and orbit control, providing

Environment Control & Life Support Systems for onboard crew. All the hardware

systems of service module will be developed by ISAC ensuring safety margins, added

redundancy and increased reliability for man rating systems to be fail safe. Vikram

Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) will develop and qualify the crew module (CM). The End-

to-End testing of CM+SM stack will also be carried out at ISAC.

ISRO will be setting up an astronaut training centre in Bangalore by 2012, to prepare

personnel both for first manned mission and for future manned Moon missions which will

land Indians on the Earths natural satellite, Moon after 2020. The Rs. 1,000-crore centre

will train the selected astronauts in rescue and recovery operations, surviving in a zero

gravity situation, study of radiation environment and for the long journey in the space

through water simulation. This world class Astronaut Training and Research Centre will

house all major facilities like micro gravity simulators, centrifuge, quarantine, medical &

health care, flight suit, space food, sports & physical training and other such facilities.

ATC will also be responsible for final selection and training of Indian Astronaut who will

fly onboard Indias Human Space flights.


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HSP (Service Module) and HSP (ATC) are headed by Associate project directors,

designates from ISAC.

Computer & Information Group (CIG)CIG is responsible for establishment and management of Centralized IT infrastructure in

ISAC. Its main activities include managing the Central Computing Facility (CCF), Mail

and Internet services and software development. The Group has expertise in areas like

heterogeneous Unix system management, cross platform applications software

management, internet security, mail administration, network management, software

development under standard, open source environments and search application

development. CIG Group Director reports to Director, ISAC.

SPACE ASTRONOMY & INSTRUMENTATION DIVISION (SAID):

SAID is involved in optical, x-ray and gamma-ray

astronomy research with a strong emphasis on

instrumentation. Instrumentation activities include design

and development of laboratory, engineering and flight

models. Expertise also exists in simulation studies and tools

for optimisation of various system performance parameters

such as detector performance, onboard background

estimation, energy calibration, detector sensitivity and modeling instrument response.

Facilities


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ISRO Satellite Centre has a host of high end Environmental

Test Facilities under one roof to cater to the need of testing

from component to full spacecraft. The facilities include a fully

fledged space simulation chamber of 9.0m diameter for

validation of thermal design and checking the spacecraft

performance for in-orbit thermal environment and a 6.5 m

chamber at ISITE. There are 12 smaller thermal vacuum

chambers including 4.0 m diameter chamber. Electro dynamic

shakers of capacity 16 ton and 29 ton are available for testing

of spacecraft and its complex payloads. Apart from these, four

shakers of capacity-0.6T, 2T, 4T and 8T are used for

subsystem testing. The shock & vibration lab is complete with

capability for sine, random and shock testing. The

instrumentation at vibration lab includes data acquisition and

reduction capability of up to 160 channels and a 256 channelsystem at ISITE. The Environment Test Facility has state of the

art climatic Test lab for testing electronic units and ultra high

vacuum lab for testing materials for deep space conditions. An

ultra modern fabrication facility for making Printed Circuit

boards is also an important lab under facilities. The Facility has

a mechanical fabrication area where all drawings are prepared

using Computer Aided Design (CAD). Machining all types of

space grade materials is done to realize mechanical elements with conventional

machine as well as CNC machining centre.

ISRO SATELLITE INTEGRATION AND TEST ESTABLISHMENT (ISITE):


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Presently the integration and all testing facilities for realization of spacecraft are being

carried out at ISAC campus. The present setup has the capability to realize two to three

spacecrafts per year. But to cater to the growing need to realize 5 - 6 satellites per year

as per 11th five year plan, ISITE has been established with all the Assembly, Integration

and Test facilities needed to realize a full spacecraft under one roof. With the

establishment of this new facility the increased load to realize 5-6 satellites per year can

be easily met with.

ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE) a world class Assembly,

Integration & Test (AIT) complex with all spacecraft integration and test facilities under

one roof was inaugurated and commissioned during April 2006. The complex is fully laid

out and equipped with facilities for the complete assembly and test sequence that can

enable rolling out of a flight worthy spacecraft from the stage of a bare structure.

INSAT-4B & INSAT-4CR were fully integrated and tested in this facility .Presently AIT

activities of W2M (EUTELSAT), GSAT-4 are in progress in this facility.

ISITE is fully operational at present and all communication satellites are being

integrated in the clean room therein. ISAC Main campus clean rooms are being used for

assembly, integration and testing of IRS, Small Satellite and Space Science projects.

A large clean room for AIT complemented with associated checkout facilities for the

complete test protocols of large high power satellites, a 6.5 m Thermo vacuum chamber


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(CATVAC) for Thermo vacuum performance qualification of the spacecraft, a 29 ton

vibrator shaker (CATVIB) for dynamic tests, the various physical parameter

measurement facilities and comprehensive Antenna Test Facility makes the

establishment replete with all facilities for complete integration and testing at spacecraft

level. The campus is situated near to the present ISAC campus. ISITE is 110 acres in

area and other ancillary units and housing, along with establishments for commercial

activities are planned to be constructed here.

Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) Clean Room is of the size 54.634.616.7 m with

a cleanliness level of 1,00,000 class. It consists of two Airlock rooms. The temperature

and relative humidity levels maintained are 22 C 1C and 55 5% RH respectively.

The other facilities commissioned here are Vertical Dynamic Balancing Machine, CG

(Centre of gravity) and MI (Moment of Inertia) Measurement System, Seismically

isolated floor for alignment and verification and Permanent Zero g fixture for solar

panel deployment.

The Spacecraft Checkout System is presently configured for simultaneous testing of two

high power spacecrafts. Overall checkout, special checkout and payload checkout for

Uplink / Downlink, Power feeding, measurement and Characterisation of Communication

remote sensing & special payload systems has been established. It has been configured

with automated state-of-art spacecraft testing facility with centralized computer system.

Comprehensive Assembly & Test Vacuum Chamber (CATVAC) has the capability for

Thermo vacuum and Thermal Balance tests on Ariane-5 class spacecraft using IR


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techniques. Thermal cycling on Spacecraft appendages using thermal cycling enclosures

and agility / deformation and vibration characteristic measurement using provisions for

free suspension of spacecraft and structures can be conducted here. Test specimen of

Diameter 4.5m and Length 6.0m and weight 3tons can be loaded here. Vacuum level of

210-6 mbar and the temperature level of 80deg.K-383deg.K can be achieved.

Electro dynamic shaker capable of generating a force of 29 tons has been installed atComprehensive Assembly & Test Vibration Facility (CATVIB). Frequency range is 5-

2000Hz, maximum bare table acceleration 75g, maximum velocity 1.9m/s and

maximum displacement 50.4mm. The slip table dimension is 2m2.5m. 48 channel

control system and 256 channel data acquisition system with capability to record time

domain data at a rate of 51.2 kHz on each channel has been established.

Compact Antenna Test Facility (CATF) with Chamber size of 30m20m16m has been

established. The Frequency range for Illumination System is 1.47GHz to 200 GHz and for

RF Instrumentation is 1.47GHz to 40 GHz. The Quiet Zone at Centre is 5.5m5.0m8m

and Scanned Zone Extendable to 7.8m.the measurement capabilities include Radiation

Pattern 2D/3D, Gain, Cross Polarization, Bore sight Determination, DUT in Transmit

mode and Integrated Satellite Level Measurement. The Antenna Measurement Accuracy

is Gain 0.25 0.35 dB and Bore sight 0.0140.

Administrative DivisionsThe Administration Area of the Centre is headed by Controller, ISAC.

It has one group viz., Construction & Maintenance Group (C&MG) and three Divisions

viz., Finance and Accounts, Personnel & General Administration and Purchase & Stores.

The Transport wing and the Medical Unit also report to the Controller.

The Engineering Maintenance Division was renamed as Construction and Maintenance

Division and is responsible for Construction and Maintenance activities of the Centre

including LEOS. The Division is elevated as Construction and Maintenance Group (C&MG).

Finance & AccountsThe responsibility for wages and salary administration, implementation of financial rules

and regulations, effecting payments to vendors/suppliers/outside agencies, contract

management, compilation of accounts etc., fall under the purview of the Accounts

Division.IFA (P) and IFA (C) are responsible for finance and accounts of spacecraft

projects and Centre activities respectively.

Personnel and General Administration (P&GA)

The Personnel and General Administration (P&GA) Division is a staff department whosefunctions include employee recruitment and placements, maintaining of records

pertaining to the staff, implementation of employee welfare measures, ensure


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compliance of personnel rules and guidelines, employee review and promotions and

general administration of the Centre.

Purchase and Stores (P&S)

The Purchase & Stores division carries out the important function of procurement of

materials, equipment, components etc. both from foreign and local sources andinventory management while at the same time ensuring that the purchase rules and

regulations are complied with.

Library and Documentation Division (LDD)

LDD has a collection of over 3 lakh documents in different formats and subscribes tonearly 350 national and international technical journals.Digital Library has full text collection

of papers published in Journal of Spacecraft Technology, audio files of lectures and seminars held at

ISAC, internal reports and Satellite News Digest. Internet Resources are identified, catalogued and

made available as an HTML, file of bookmarks (URLs) on Home page.LDDalso markets the in

house technical journal Journal of Spacecraft Technology a bi annual publication

covering the technical achievements of the Centre.

SPACE EXHIBITION:

The space exhibition mirroring the achievements of ISRO in space is as informative as it

is a treat to the mind and eye. A good display of satellite elements, scaled models of

satellites, technology posters and allied information on satellite technologies etc is done

in this exhibition area for the benefit of school children/college students and general

visitor.

TECHNICAL JOURNALS & NEWS LETTERS:

A bi-annual in house technical journal Journal of Spacecraft Technology is

published by Editorial committee constituted by Director, ISAC. The technical papers are

of good standard and all papers are published after review by experts in allied technical

areas. An exclusive quarterly UPAGRAH news letter is also brought out which covers

technical, administrative information, event managements, achievements, awards, Hindi

implementation news in our centre, articles in Kannada etc.

EVENT MANAGEMENTS:

National Science Day:


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Science promotion activities like the National Science Day, celebrated on 28 th of

February every year, are organized with the participation of the school/college students

and the teaching community every year. The event is marked with various competitions

for students and teachers and has gained immense popularity.

Satellite Technology Day:

Nineteenth of April 1975 is a special day for ISRO community. On this day, our first

satellite ARYABHATA was launched successfully, which has since spear headed the

growth of Satellite Technologies. To commemorate this great event, 19th of April, every

year is being celebrated as Technology Day, since 2000, showcasing the milestone

achievements in the area of Satellite Technologies. This event is to encourage young

engineers who have contributed in terms of innovative ideas in our satellite programme

and honor them.

Employees Welfare:

ISAC Welfare Association, Space Officers Association and Satellite Benevolent

Association have well devised schemes for work life balance.

LABORATORY FOR ELECTRO-

OPTICS SYSTEM (LEOS):

LEOS is situated in Peenya,

Bangalore and is mainly responsible

for research, development and

productionisation of Electro-Optics

systems for both launch vehicles and

satellite programmes of ISRO. It supports ISAC in providing

sensors and electronics for satellites. Development of various types of attitude sensors

like earth, sun and star sensors in several spectral regions for attitude measurement are

done at the Laboratory for Electro Optics System (LEOS). The laboratory has till date

developed scanning earth sensor and digital sun sensor specific to geo-synchronoussatellite application and conical earth sensors, Five Sun Sensors, 4 Pi Sun sensors,

Precision yaw sensor, star sensor for remote sensing satellites. Optical components to

image the earth for meteorological and remote sensing application area also developed

here. The laboratory houses extensive facility for sensor calibration and testing and

fabrication of large optics. Development of fibre optics gyros, laser altimeter, micro-

electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) for actuators and sensors, payload optics for space

probes and interplanetary mission etc. are other major areas of expertise of LEOS. The

Director of LEOS reports to Secretary, DOS/Chairman, and ISRO. In order to maintain

close coordination between LEOS and ISAC, Director, ISAC is the Chairman of LEOS-MC

(LEOS Management Council). The ISRO Radar Development Unit situated in Peenya,


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Banglore, is responsible for Radar Development work and can handle Doppler Weather

Radar, Tracking Radar, MST Radar, Wind profiles to name a few. It is a unit of ISTRAC.

INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION:

Over the years, the Indian industry has been a strategic partner of ISRO in its endeavors.

While the association has enabled the industry to upgrade its technology and improves

quality levels, ISRO has gained through optimizing program. Production of systems and

products required by ISRO to concentrate on its core competency of R&D and

development in related fields is by relieving in-house resources to this effect.

In the spacecraft programs of ISRO about 30-40% of the fabrication/testing activities of

the on-going projects are undertaken through contracts with external agencies.

Arrangements are in place to broaden the scope of this partnership with the Indian

industry in days to come.

ROAD MAP Satellites & Technologies -A glimpse:Over the years, ISAC has planned and executed several satellite missions of ISRO. These

missions represent a broad spectrum of satellite technology. Beginning with scientific

and application experiments, these have culminated in operational space systems. The

primary development of satellite technology in India at (ISAC) has evolved through the

building and launching of six satellites both experimental and technological, in a phased

manner over the decade (1972-82).

This has resulted in ISRO establishing capability in the design and development of simplespinners and a more complex, three/axis stabilized satellite for near earth orbit as well

as geo-stationary applications.


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Till date, ISAC has successfully planned and executed 47 satellite missions representing

broad spectrum of satellite technology. After the developmental efforts, projects werealso undertaken starting from mid-Eighties to establish operational Space-based services

through satellite systems in the areas of communication, meteorology and remote

sensing through the INSAT and IRS series of satellites.

In 1988, these efforts led to the launch of operational I generation Remote Sensing

Satellites. IRS-1A (1988) followed by IRS-1B (1991) with multi-spectral cameras having

spatial resolution of 72.5 m and 36 m respectively. The second generation remote

sensing satellites IRS-1C (1988) and IRS-1D (1990) with improved spatial resolutions of

70 m multi-spectral, 5.8m in Panchromatic bands, a wide field sensors with 188mresolution and 800 Km swath were developed and successfully operationalised in 1995

and 1997 respectively.

As a follow on to IRS-1C/1D spacecraft, the third generation remote sensing satellite

RESOURCESAT-1 was launched in 2003 with improved spatial resolution in all three

bands (23m) for Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-III) camera, advanced wide field

sensor (AWIFS) with 56 m resolution and 740 Km swath and LISS-IV camera with 5.8 m

resolution and selectable panchromatic or multi-spectral imaging modes. Subsequent

developments in the launch vehicle front-Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by ISROpaved the way for the launch of 5 spacecraft in IRS-P series.


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Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) launched in October 2001 is intended to

demonstrate and validate technologies that could be used in the future cartographicsatellite missions.

In order to maintain a lead in the remote sensing area and provide data to the Indian

and global users of Geographic Information System (GIS), CARTOSAT-1 (IRS-P5) and

CARTOSAT-2 series of satellites with improved spatial resolution and imaging capabilities

have been taken up. CARTOSAT-1 was launched in May 2005 and it has two

panchromatic cameras (Fore and Aft) with spatial resolution better than 2.5 M.

CARTOSAT-2 series of satellites with spatial resolution better than 1 m and around 10

KM swath in panchromatic band are planned and in that series, the first one in this series

namely CARTOSAT-2, a high agile platform, with a panchromatic camera to provide spot

images was launched on 10th January 2007 by PSLV C7. Due to high agility, the

platform can be steered to any orientation to cover any user specific needs on the

ground. This mission is meant to meet the ever increasing user demands for

cartographic applications at cadastral level, urban and rural infrastructure development

and management and various land information system (LIS) and Geographical

information system (GIS) applications.

Cartosat-2A is an advanced remote sensing satellite carrying onboard a single

panchromatic camera capable of providing scene specific spot imageries for cartographic


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and a host of other civilian applications. The spacecraft weighs around 686 Kgs. The

satellite has high agility and capability of steering along and across the track up to + 450.

The nominal altitude of the satellite is 630 Kms in sun synchronous polar orbit. There is

a provision to bring the satellite to a special orbit of 560 Kms with a revisit period of 4

days.The panchromatic camera is designed to provide better than 1 meter spatial

resolution imageries with a swath of around 10 Km. The satellite is configured to provide

multi-scene imaging capability during a pass. The satellite is designed for an operationallife of 5 years.The Cartosat-2A was successfully launched on 28th April 2008 onboard

PSLV-C9. The satellite is performing satisfactorily in orbit.

The Cartosat-2B satellite, a follow on of Cartosat-2A weighing around 690 kgs is

configured to provide multi-scene imaging capability during a pass. The advanced

remote sensing satellite will be carrying onboard a single panchromatic camera providing

scene specific spot imageries for cartographic and a host of other civilian applications.

The satellite is highly agile having a capability of steering along and across the track up

to + 450. It will be placed in a sun synchronous polar orbit of a nominal altitude of 630kms. There is a provision to bring the satellite to a special orbit of 560 kms with a revisit

period of 4 days and 1 day respectively. The panchromatic camera is designed to provide

better than 1 meter spatial resolution imageries with a swath of around 10 km. The

satellite designed is for an operational life of 5 years. The Cartosat-2B is in realisation

phase and is planned to be launched onboard PSLV in the first half of 2010.

Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 to provide continuity of data. The

configuration is similar to Resourcesat-1, except that, LISS-4 multi-spectral swath has

been enhanced from 23 km to 70 km based on user needs. Suitable changes including

miniaturization in payload electronics have been incorporated in Resourcesat-2. The

spacecraft mass is around 1220 Kg with a power generation capacity of 1250W. The

spacecraft is scheduled for launch before 2010.

Oceansat-2 mission is envisaged as the continuity service provider to OCEANSAT-1 (IRS-

P4) data users. Oceansat-2 satellite carries two main payloads for ocean related studies,

namely, Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and Ku-band Pencil

Beam Scatterometer. An additional piggy-back payload

called ROSA (Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric

studies) developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is

also a part mission. Oceansat-2 will be in a near polar

sun-synchronous orbit of 720 Kms altitude with an

equatorial crossing time of 12 noon. This orbit combined with the wide swath of both

payloads will provide an observational receptivity of 2 days. The spacecraft weighs

around 956 Kg with a power generation of 1360W and mission life of 5 years.

OCM is a 8-band multi-spectral camera operating in the Visible Near IR spectral range.This camera provides an instantaneous geometric field of view of 360 meters and swath

of 1420 Kms. To avoid sun glint due to specular reflection from ocean surface, there is a


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provision to tilt the OCM by + 200 in the along the track direction.

The configuration of OCM payload is identical to the one flown in

IRS-P4 but for the spectral band which is modified for Band-6 and

Band-7 based on the experience from IRS-P4.

The Ku-band Pencil beam Scatterometer is an active microwave

radar and operates at 13.515 GHz providing a ground resolutioncell of size 50 Kms x 50 Kms. Basically, it consists of a parabolic

dish antenna of 1 meter diameter which is offset mounted with a

cant angle of about 460 with respect to the yaw axis (earth viewing

axis) This antenna is continuously rotated at 20.5 rpm using a scan

mechanism with the scan axis along the +ve yaw axis. By using

two offset feeds at the focal plane of the antenna, two beams

(inner beam and outer beam) are generated which will conically

scan the ground surface. The back scattered power in each beam

from the ocean surface is measured from which the wind vector isderived. ROSA payload is a dual channel GPS receiver with two

antenna and receiver package. ROSA will be providing of vertical

profiles of atmospheric density, refractivity, pressure, temperature and humidity to a

height of about 30 kms. The radio Occultation antenna looking along the satellite

velocity vector receives signals from the rising GPS satellites neat the earth horizon.

These signals get refracted from the atmosphere and from the bending angle, a

temperature and humidity profiles are derived. The precise orbit determination (POD)

antenna looking at the zenith of the satellite gives the precise position of the receiver.

The mainframe systems of Oceansat-2 are derived from the heritage of previous

missions like IRS-P6/P5/Cartosat-1.Oceansat-2 was launched on 23rd September 2009

onboard PSLV-C14 along with six other nano satellites. The payloads have been

commissioned and the performance of the spacecraft is normal.

Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), the first of its kind, is a microwave remote sensing

mission with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) as a payload operating in C band. SAR is

an active imaging sensor, which operates in the microwave frequency range of the

electromagnetic spectrum. The sensor has its own illuminating source and does not

depend on sunlight for taking the imagery. The SAR payload is a planar active array

antenna based on TR (Trans-Receiver Module Architecture) and the size & weight of the

panel is 6m x 2m and 900Kg respectively. The total mass of the satellite works out to be

1780 Kg. The satellite is designed for an operational life of 5 years. The satellite is

planned to be launched onboard PSLV in 2010.

Megha-Tropiques mission aims at developing a satellite using IRS

mainframe and payload from Centre National dEtudes Spatiales

(CNESs-French Space Agency). The spacecraft will be placed at an

altitude of 867 Kms with an inclination of 20. The mission life is

envisaged to be 5 years. The spacecraft will be launched onboard


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PSLV during 2010. ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) ground

station at Bangalore will be used for spacecraft control and also for receiving the science

data.

IMS-1 is the first satellite in the micro satellite series envisaged to

provide satellite platform within 100 kg class including payloads, for earth

imaging, space science, atmosphere /ocean studies etc. It carries two

payloads viz., Four Band Multi Spectral Charge Coupled Device (CCD)

Camera (MxT) & Hyper Spectral Imager (HySi-T). The spacecraft is

designed such that payload will be earth pointing during imaging

operations and solar panels will be sun pointing during non-imaging

periods for maximum power generation. The Hyper-spectral Imager was first flown

onboard IMS-1 to evaluate and validate the payload similar to the one flown on

Chandrayaan-1 mission. The Solid State Recorder of 16 GB has been configured to meet

the mission requirements. The micro satellite bus provides 3-axis stabilization with a

mission life of 2 years. Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) was launched as co-passenger withCartosat-2A on 28th April 2008 onboard PSLV-C9 and is performing satisfactorily.

ANUSAT is the first microsatellite designed and fabricated in ANNA University, Chennai

supported by ISRO. This is the first effort of this kind in India to bring university based

academicians and student community, develop the micro satellite under the guidance of

ISRO. The satellite is a spinner satellite weighing ~ 40 Kg using magnetometers as sun

sensors and torquers, for spin rate and spin axis control as actuators. ANUSAT uses

extensively Very Large Scale Integrated Circuit (VLSI) technology in the form of Field

Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Hybrid Micro Circuits (HMCs), microprocessors etc.The Very High Frequency (VHF) receivers are designed in total digital form an all

digital Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) receiver for payload reception onboard the satellite.

The spacecraft was successfully launched onboard PSLV on 20th April 2009. It carried

onboard a digital Store & Forward payload for amateur communication in HAM band as

primary payload. In addition, technological payloads like Micro Electro-Mechanical

Systems (MEMS) magnetometer, MEMS gyro are flown. ISAC provided support such as

structure fabrication, solar panels & chemical battery in the form of subsystem

deliverables in addition to the guidance in the prior mentioned areas. Ground stations for

operating the store & forward payload is established in Pune University and Madras

Institute of Technology (MIT). The spacecraft control centre for command operations is

operated by MIT. ANUSAT will find application in amateur communication.


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SARAL (Satellite for ARGOS & ALTIKA) payloads is designed and developed for a mini

satellite series in the weight range of 400 to 450kg capable of carrying payloads up to a

weight of 200 kg. The satellite is envisaged to carry two payloads of Centre National

dEtudes Spatiales (CNES) called ALTIKA & ARGOS. It is planned to be launched onboard

PSLV in 2010.

The IRS class of satellites typically weighs around 1000-1500 kg at launch and operates

from the polar sun-synchronous orbit of around 600-800 km.

A unique combination of communication and meteorological payloads combined in one

satellite is a marked feature of the ISROs first generation of indigenous geo-stationary

satellites. Five satellites in INSAT-2 series, INSAT-2A through to INSAT-2E have been

launched during the period of 1992-1999. In INSAT-3 series INSAT-3A (2950Kg), 3B

(2070 Kg), 3C (2650 Kg), 3D, 3E (2750 Kg) have been launched. The yet to be launched,

INSAT-3D is a fully meteorological satellite with Imager and Sounder payloads. INSAT-

4A (3080 Kg) was launched on December 22, 2005 carries 12 Ku band and 12 C band

transponders. INSAT-4B (3111 Kg) with 12 Ku band and 12C band transponders is

launched on 12th March 2007 from French Guyana by Ariane 5 V175 launch

vehicle.INSAT-4CR (exclusive KU band payloads) is launched by GSLV F04 on 2nd

September 2007.


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The INSAT system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems with

11 live and operational spacecraft (INSAT-2E,3B,3C,3A,3E,4A,4B,4CR,GSAT-

2,3,KALPANA-1). The INSAT system totally account for about 210 transponders (includes

12 KU from INSAT-4CR) as on date. The GEOSATs under realization are GSAT-4, INSAT-

3D, INSAT-4D/GSAT-5, INSAT-4E/GSAT-6, INSAT-4F/GSAT-7, INSAT-4G/GSAT-8,

IRNNS).

The KALPANA-1 (2002) a 1,000 kg satellite dedicated to meteorological applications.

GSAT-1 flown on the first developmental test flight of Indian Geo-synchronous Launch

Vehicle (GSLV), was intended to prove new spacecraft technological elements like 10N

RCS thrusters, Fast Recovery Star Sensor, and heat pipe radiator panels. The GSAT-2

was the payload for the second development flight of GSLV. GSAT-3 (EDUSAT) is a

spacecraft dedicated to educational purpose while GSAT-4 is a technology demonstration

satellite, acting as a precursor to Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS).

It will incorporate Ka-band regenerative and bent pipe transponder payload and a

number of new bus elements. The ACTS is thought of as a pure technological satellite,

which will provide convergence of remote sensing with Information Technology and

information/knowledge/data collection and distribution with a constituent of one or two

LEO satellite. HAMSAT (40 Kg), an application specific micro-satellite designed to provide

satellite based Amateur Radio Services to Indian and international HAMs (Amateur Radio

Operators) was launched on board the PSLV in 2005 as an auxiliary payload along with

IRS-P6.


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GSAT-4 spacecraft is an experimental technology demonstrator with a lift-off mass of

2200 kg to be flown on-board developmental flight of GSLV-D3 built using indigenous

cryogenic upper stage (CUSP). GSAT-4, first Indian spacecraft in Ka band, is configured

as a forerunner to advanced communication satellite (ACS) and will be utilized for

conducting various experiments in the advanced

communication payload area, introduction of

navigation payload and to prove some of the new bussubsystem technologies & experiments. The spacecraft

contains Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative payload

having eight conjugate spot beams with frequency

reuse for full India coverage, Global Positioning

System (GPS) and Geo- stationary Earth Orbit (GEO)

Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) Payload in C, L1 & L5 bands and Tel Aviv University

Ultra Violet Explorer (TAUVEX), an Ultra Violet (UV) experiment conceived and developed

by University of Tel Aviv, Israel. The satellite is planned to be launched during 2009

onboard GSLV-D3.

GSAT-12 is being realized as a replacement for Extended C band services, presently

being provided by INSAT-3B at 830 E. The primary goal of the spacecraft is to provide

continued support to the Extended C band users such as National Stock Exchange, Banks

etc., as a fast track satellite. Thus the spacecraft is primarily configured to carry 12

Extended C band Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA) based transponders with exactly

the same frequency bands and the area of coverage over India as INSAT-3B.It is

scheduled for launch during 1st half of 2010 onboard PSLV.

INSAT-3D is a state-of-art meteorological spacecraft with 6 channel Imager and 19

channel Sounder payload. The spacecraft is built around I -2K platform with dry mass of

920 Kg and lift-off mass of 2050 Kg, providing a mission life of 7

years. The spacecraft will be located at 82 E longitude in

geostationary orbit. The spacecraft has many new

elements like the star sensor which is being flown for the first

time in Geo-Stationary Earth Orbit (GEO) orbit, micro stepping

Solar Array Drive (SADA) to reduce the spacecraft

disturbances and the Bus Management Unit (BMU) for

control, sensor processing & Telecommand / telemetry function

of the spacecraft. The spacecraft also incorporates new features of

bi-annual rotation and Image & Mirror motion compensations for improved performance

of the meteorological payloads. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch during 2010

onboard GSLV.

Configured as an exclusive C-band communication satellite, GSAT-5/INSAT-4D will

carry 12 normal C-band transponders and six extended C-band transponders. The 12

normal-C band transponders have global coverage whereas four ext-C band

transponders have zonal coverage. Two of the Extended C-band transponders are


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allotted for covering the main land hub stations and Antarctica with a single beam using

a dedicated antenna. It will be launched on board GSLV during 2010 time frame and to

be positioned at 82 E longitude.

The primary goal ofGSAT 6, a multimedia mobile S-

band satellite, is to cater to the customer

requirements of providing entertainment andinformation services to vehicles through digital

multimedia consoles and to the multimedia mobile

phones. The spacecraft is planned to be launched

during third quarter of 2010 using GSLV. This is a

geosynchronous spacecraft to be stationed at 83

East longitude with a mission life of 12 years.

The spacecraft is configured around I-2K bus with a lift-off mass of 2200 kg.

GSAT-8/INSAT-4G, is a communication satellite configured around I-3K bus with a liftoff mass of 3150Kg and 6KW (SS EOL) power generation capacity having mission life of

more than 12 years. This spacecraft carry 24 Ku band transponders and 2 channel

geostationary navigation payload GAGAN. This will augment high power Ku band

transponder capacity over Indian main land region. The satellite will be positioned at 55

E longitude. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in 2010 onboard a foreign launch

vehicle.

GSAT-7/INSAT-4F (~2500 Kg) is proposed as a multi-band satellite carrying payloads

in UHF, S-band, C-band and Ku-band. It is planned to be launched during 2010-11 time

frame by GSLV.

SATELLITE BASED NAVIGATION SYSTEM:

Satellite based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) service is of vital importance to

economics and societies. It is emerging as an important space application area not only

for civil aviation but in many other areas such as mobile telephones, surface transport,

intelligent highway system, maritime transport, rail, oil and gas, precision agriculture,

fisheries, survey and marine engineering, science, electricity networks .It is one of themain components of satellite based communication, Navigation and Surveillance

(CNS)/Air traffic management system adopted by the International Civil Aviation

Organisation (ICAO) for worldwide implementation. It will facilitate seamless navigation

across geographical boundaries and would eventually replace different types of ground-

based navigation systems providing services over different air spaces.

There are two core constellations for satellite based navigation in the world today-the US

Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian Global Navigation Satellite System

(GLONASS).The GPS constellation consists of 29 satellites at present in the 20,000 Kmorbit. The GPS is being modernised through the addition of an L5 signal, modifications in

the satellite and control segment to offer better accuracies and ruggedness. The Russian


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core constellation called GLONASS was fully operational with 24 satellites in 1995.Then

onwards, the number of satellites in the constellation steadily declined to 14 now. The

Russian Government has decided to revamp the GLONASS constellation and make it

operational with 21 satellites by 2008-09.A third core constellation (Galileo) with 30

satellites in 24000 Km orbit has been planned by the European Union Member States.

Besides civil aviation, the Galileo system is aimed at providing service to various modes

of transport, communications network, intelligent highway systems, personal mobility

and vehicle tracking. Galileo system proposes to offer a host of services; an open service

aimed at mass market applications leading to low cost receivers.

The position accuracies provided by these global constellations are not adequate to meet

the requirements of integrity, availability, continuity and enhanced accuracy for civil

aviation during the precision approach and landing of aircraft. Augmentation systems to

GPS have been planned by US, EUROPE, JAPAN and INDIA for seamless global

navigation.

ISRO is contemplating on establishment of an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite

System (IRNSS) to provide location information to various users as an independent

system to GPS, GALILEO and GLONASS with a constellation of GEO and GSO orbits. The

constellation study conducted at ISAC has established the possibility of providing a

regional service with accuracy comparable to GPS or GALILEO.

Indian Regional NavigationSatellite System (IRNSS) is an

independent regional navigation

satellite system. It is designed to

provide position accuracy better

than 10m over India and the

region extending about 1500Kms

around India. It is designed to

provide an accurate real time

Position, Navigation and Time(PNT) services for users on a

variety of platforms with 24 x 7

service availability under all

weather conditions. The IRNSS

system mainly consists of three components viz; Space Segment (Constellation of

Satellites & Signal-In-Space), Ground Segment and User Segment.

IRNSS constellation consists of seven satellites. Three satellites will be placed in the

Geo-stationary orbit (GEO) at 34E, 83E & 131.5E and two satellites each will be

placed in the Geo-synchronous orbit (GSO) with an equator crossing at 55E & 111.5E


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with an inclination of 29. Two spare satellites are also planned to be realised. IRNSS

will have two types of signals in L5 & S-Band. L5-Band centre frequency is 1176.45 MHz

& S-Band centre frequency is 2492.028 MHz. Both L5 and S-Band consists of two

downlinks. IRNSS provides two basic services such as Standard Positioning Service (SPS)

for common civilian users and Restricted Service (RS) for special authorized users.

GPS Aided GEO AugmentedNavigation (GAGAN): ISRO and

Airport Authority of India (AAI) are

implementing a project for the

demonstration of the Satellite Based

Navigation System for the Indian

Airspace. The Indian SBAS is also

known as GPS Aided GEO Augmented

Navigation (GAGAN) system. ISRO and

AAI have signed an MOU in August

2001 for implementing this satellite

based navigation over Indian region.

The demonstration of Ground based network (GAGAN) will mark the beginning of

satellite based navigation system, Airport Authority of India being the user. The

technology demonstration is completed using IMMARSAT-4F1 satellite. The navigation

payload for GAGAN is to be flown onboard GSAT-4.

Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) is a 550

kg capsule intended to demonstrate the technology of

an orbiting platform for performing experiments in

micro gravity conditions. After completion of the

experiments, the capsule will be de-orbited and

recovered. SRE-I mission will provide valuable

experience in fields like navigation, guidance and

control during the re-entry phase, hypersonic aero

thermo dynamic, development of reusable thermal

protection System (TPS), recovery through

deceleration and flotation, besides acquisition of

basic technology for reusable launch vehicles. SRE-I


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carries two experiments, an Isothermal Heating Furnace (IHF) and a Bio-mimetic

experiment.

SRE-1 was launched into a 635km Polar SSO in January 2007 as a co-passenger with

CARTOSAT-2 and stayed in orbit for 10 days during which its payloads performed the

operations they are intended to. The SRE capsule was de-boosted and recovered

successfully back to earth on 22nd January 2007.

SRE-2 is a follow on mission to SRE-1 and will provide continued platform for

microgravity experiments and is planned to be launched onboard PSLV C16. The

payload mass is increased with a total mass of 604 kg against 555kg of SRE-1. New

payloads are proposed for SRE-2 in addition to the advanced Intermediate High

Frequency (IHF) payload with a 30kg mass allocated for all.

A scientific satellite called

ASTROSAT providing data on Ultra

violet monitoring of the sky and also for

monitoring X-ray source, configured using IRS type of bus is planned for launch in

2010. Astrosat has been configured to carry onboard six payloads, to meet the

mission goal. It will carry a complement of instruments sensitive over a wide spectral

region covering Visible (350-600 nm), Ultraviolet (UV in 130-300 nm), Soft X-rays

(0.3 10 keV) and Hard X-ray (10 100 keV) bands. This will enable multi-

wavelength observations of a variety of celestial objects in the different spectral bands

at the same time.

The Indian Mission to moon,

Chandrayaan-1 is an exciting mission

in space science. Chandrayaan-I, 1380


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kg spacecraft (560Kg (525+35)) Kg in to 100 KM Lunar orbit) was launched from the

Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota by PSLV-XL (PSLV-C11) on 22 October

2008 at 06.22 hrs IST into a highly elliptical initial orbit (IO) with perigee of 255 km and

an apogee of 22,860 km, inclined at an angle of 17.9 degree to the equator. In this

initial orbit, Chandrayaan-1 orbited the Earth once in about six and a half hours.

Subsequently, the spacecrafts Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) firing was done on 23 October

at 09.00 hrs IST, when the spacecraft was near perigee, to raise the apogee to 37,900km and the perigee to 305km. The spacecraft at this stage took eleven hours to go

round the Earth once. The orbit was further raised to 336 km x 74,715 km on 25

October at 05:48 hrs IST. In this orbit, spacecraft took about twenty-five and a half

hours to orbit the Earth once. The LAM was fired again on 26 October at 07:08 hrs IST

to take the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft to extremely high elliptical orbit with apogee

164,600 km and perigee at 348 km. Chandrayaan-1 at this stage took about 73 hours

to go round the Earth once. On 29 October, orbit rising was carried out at 07:38 hrs IST

to raise the apogee to 267,000 km and perigee to 465 km. Chandrayaan-1s orbit at this

stage extends more than half the way to moon and took about six days to orbit the

Earth.

On 4 November at 04:56 hrs IST, Chandrayaan-1 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory

with an apogee of 380,000 km. On 8 November at 16:51 hrs IST, the spacecrafts liquid

engine was fired to reduce its velocity to insert the spacecraft in the lunar orbit (LOI)

and enable lunar gravity to capture it. As a result, the spacecraft was in an elliptical orbit

with periselene (nearest point to the moon) of 504 km and aposelene (farthest point

from the moon) of 7,502 km. The first orbit reduction manoeuvre was carried out

successfully on 9 November at 20:03 hrs IST. Thus the spacecraft was in lunar orbit with

200 km periselene. The aposelene remained unchanged (i.e 7,502 km). After careful

and detailed observation, a series of three orbit reduction manoeuvres were successfully

carried out and the spacecrafts orbit was reduced to its intended operational 100 km

circular polar orbit on November 12. On 14 November at 20:06 hrs IST, the Moon

Impact Probe (MIP) was ejected from the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and hard landed on

the lunar surface near the South Polar Region at20:31 hrs IST after 25 minutes journey.

India became the fourth nation to have its flag flying on the Moon's surface when

Chandrayaan-1's MIP which has the Indian Tricolour painted on it - touched down.

The scientific instruments / payloads were commissioned and exploration of Moon with

the array of onboard instruments provided voluminous data for scientists.

After the successful completion of major mission objectives, the orbit of Chandrayaan-I

was raised to 200 km. The orbit raising maneuvers was carried out on May 19, 2009.

The spacecraft in this higher altitude enabled further studies on orbit perturbation,

gravitational field variation of the moon and also enable imaging lunar surface with a

wider swath. Due to problems in Onboard Computers the spacecraft mission was

terminated. However most of the mission objectives have been achieved.


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The data collected from various payloads of Chandrayaan-1 were analysed by world wide

scientists and the final products were presented and discussed in Chandrayaan-1 Science

meets held at Bangalore on 29th January 2009 and subsequently at Goa on 7th

September 2009.

Water on moon- Path breaking discovery of Chandrayaan-1

On 24th September, 2009, in a discovery hailed as path-breaking, Chandrayaan-1 has

found evidence of water on the moon. The data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

instrument of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had clearly

indicated the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface extending from lunar

poles to about 60 degrees latitude. Chandrayaan-1 M3 was one of the 11 scientific

instruments onboard Chandrayaan-1 that ISRO launched on October 22, 2008. The

analysis of the data from Chandrayaan-1 M3 has led to a path-breaking finding, that

hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom along with

H2O, was also found in the lunar soil. The findings from Chandrayaan-1 M3 show a

marked signature in the infrared region of 2.8-3.0 micron in the absorption spectrum,

which provided a clear indication of the presence of hydroxyl and water molecules. The

analysis of the huge volume of Chandrayaan-1 M3 data was carried out by a joint team

of scientists from the US and India.

Onboard results Laboratory results

Chandrayaan-1 M3 reflectance of ice, water and OH

The scientific team was led by Pieters, a planetary geologist at Brown University in

Rhode Island, and Principal Scientist of Chandrayaan-1 from Physical Research

Laboratory (PRL) of the Indian Department of Space, J N Goswami. The team concluded

that there were traces of hydroxyl (OH) and water (H2O) molecules on the surface of the

moon closer to the polar region. The experts also concluded that traces of OH and H2O

were in the form of a thin layer embedded in rocks and chemical compounds on the

surface of the moon and the quantity were extremely small - of the order of about 700


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parts per million (ppm). These molecules could have come from the impact of comets or

radiation from the sun. But most probable source could be low energy hydrogen carried

by solar wind impacting on the minerals on lunar surface. This in turn forms OH or H2O

molecules by deriving the oxygen from metal oxide. The M3 observations are

strengthened by results obtained from the analysis of archived data of lunar observation

in 1999 by another NASA mission, Cassini, on its way to Saturn. This data set also

revealed signatures of both OH and H2O absorption features on the lunar surface. It isworth noting that the data from Chandryaan-1 MIP mass spectrometer found traces of

H2O during its descent to lunar surface on 14th November 2008. "Harvesting one ton of

the top layer of the moon's surface will yield as much as 32 ounces of water," scientists

involved in the discovery said.

The scientific feat has been termed a landmark event in international space cooperation

between India and other countries.


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Payloads of Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-1 carries the following science instruments developed by ISRO to achieve

the science objectives,

1. Terrain Mapping stereo Camera (TMC) in the

panchromatic band, having 5m spatial resolution ( size of

the smallest object that can be seen ) and 20 km swath

( width of the picture):To prepare 3-D Atlas

2. A hyper-spectral camera (HySI) operating in 400-

900nm band with a spectral resolution of 15nm and

spatial resolution of 80m with a swath of 20km

producing data in 64 spectral bands ( colors ) VNIR

region

3. A laser ranging instrument (LLRI) with height

resolution of about 10m. :To Determine Global

Topographic Field of Moon and supplement to TMC

and HYSI

4. A high energy X-ray (30-270keV) mapping (HEX)

employing CdZnTe solid state detector with CSI

anti-coincidence system having a foot print of

approximately 40km to identify degassing faults

or zones on the moon by mapping Rn[222] and

its radioactive daughter Pb[210]. This will enable

us to understand the transport of volatiles on the

moon.

5. A Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was released to

impact the Moons surface on 14th November

2008 during the Mission. MIP carries three


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ANTENNA

CONNECTOR

BRACKET

TXMODULE

CPMODULE

FILTER

MODULE

RX/EXMODULE

instruments, a mass spectrometer, a C- band altimeter and a video camera.

6. Apart from the five payloads (TMC, HySI, LLRI, LEX and HEX) and MIP discussed

above, five additional instruments under international collaboration have been

accommodated in Chandrayaan-1. They are,

7. Miniature Imaging Radar Instrument (Mini-SAR) from Applied Physics Laboratory

USA supported by NASA: To detect Lunar polar water Ice

8. Sub KeV Atom Reflecting Analyser (SARA) from IRF,

Sweden, JAXA, Japan supported by ESA and VSSC,

ISRO.

9. Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M-3) from Jet Propulsion

Laboratory and Brown University, USA, supported

by NASA

10.Infra Red Spectrometer-2 ( SIR-2) from Max Plank Institute , Germany,

supported by ESA: For Mineral Mapping

11.Radiation Dose Monitor

(RADOM), Bulgarian Academy

of Science, Bulgaria.: To

measure Radiation


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Environment both in Lunar Orbit and Enroute to the moon

A close look on Moon Surface (Captured by MIP)


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Chandrayaan-1 Scientific Instruments and their configurations

DEVELOPMENT OF VARIOUS TECHNOLOGICAL ELEMENTS FOR IRS & INSAT

Spacecr

Documents

Isac Overview