by Gurbir Singh
9.568
30.695
Grand Total
79,780.77
86.912
44.627
Table 8‑1 The Foreign Exchange Earned by Antrix. Credit Press Information
Bureau of India 26 November 2014[470]
As a product of a democratic nation, ISRO is charged with ensuring diversity in its workforce. Compared to other areas of Indian society, business and industry, ISRO has promoted equality of opportunities between its diverse national communities and especially for women. Women make up only around 10% of its workforce of about 1600 majority of whom are based at the VSSC. Throughout its half-century of existence, Inia’s space programme has been innovating and growing. That continues as it ventures into new areas, such as interplanetary exploration, observing the universe from space, satellite navigation services, developing a lunar lander & rover and building human spaceflight capability. Given political and economic support, the facilities and capabilities of ISRO's forty-two centres around India are likely to continue that tradition of innovation and growth.
Chapter Nine
Sriharikota. India's Spaceport
On Friday, 18 July 1980, an Indian-built satellite was delivered to Earth orbit by an Indian-built rocket launched from India. The outrageous ambition of men with a vision from two decades earlier had been realised in spectacular style. The launch took place from Sriharikota located in Andhra Pradesh. Sriharikota has been the starting point for all of India's spacecraft to the Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars. On 5 September 2002, Sriharikota was renamed as Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC or sometimes as SDSC-SHAR but Sriharikota is still in common use) in memory of Satish Dhawan, who had succeeded Vikram Sarabhai as the chairman of ISRO. Today, Sriharikota, as it is more commonly known, is India's primary and only spaceport.
Figure 9‑1 Sriharikota on India’s East Coast. Credit Google
Located 100 km (62 miles) north of Chennai on India's east coast, Sriharikota is a barrier island as large as the city of Chennai with a maximum width of 8 km (4.9 miles), comparable to Merritt Island at NASA's Cape Canaveral. Typically, 10 m above sea level, Sriharikota located at 13.74°N and 80.2°E, sandwiched between Pulicat Lake and Buckingham Canal on the West and the Bay of Bengal on the East. Like Merritt Island, much of the environment of Sriharikota is a nature preservation area. Pulicat Lake abounds with rare and beautiful birds, including pelicans, kingfishers and pink flamingos. A tangible risk of a tsunami as the one in Asia in 2004 and Japan in 2011, however, makes Sriharikota vulnerable given that the two launch pads are only a few hundred meters from the sea and only a few meters above sea level. Sriharikota was first formally announced as a rocket launch site in the 1968-69 annual report by the DAE.[471]
Sarabhai had entrusted E.V. Chitnis with the responsibility to locate a suitable launch site. In March 1968, E.V. Chitnis and U.R. Rao were conducting X-ray balloon experiments in Hyderabad. They were notified that winds were too high and no balloons could fly for up to four days, so they decided to use this time to identify a site on India's east coast suitable for launching large satellites of substantial mass into Earth orbit. To make use of the energy from the Earth's rotation, rockets are launched in the easterly direction. TERLS, located on the west coast, was not ideal because the launch vehicle would fly over inhabited areas. A launch site on the east coast ensured that the launch vehicle flew mostly over water. Based on the selection criteria used by Germany, the US and Japan, Chitnis and Rao quickly identified Sriharikota, and the first visit to this site took place a month later.[472] In a convoy of six jeeps, Sarabhai visited Sriharikota in May 1969. At that time, there was only a dirt road covered by casuarina branches and Palmyra leaves.[473]
On 9 October 1971, Sriharikota became operational with the launch of RH-125. The RH-125 (short for Rohini from Hindu mythology) was one of India's first indigenous solid fuel-propelled rockets with a diameter of 125 mm. Almost a decade later, India's first satellite launched successfully by its own launcher SLV-3 on 18 July 1980 was also called Rohini. From the 125-mm diameter of RH-125, today, Sriharikota builds rockets with a diameter more than 3 m and launches satellites to LEO, polar orbit, geostationary transfer orbits and to interplanetary space.
Compared to Thumba, Sriharikota has the capacity to launch larger satellites to higher orbits, is sufficiently large to cater for all the ground-based facilities required for a spaceport and has scope to cater for future growth. As India’s premier launch site, it is now probably ISRO’s best-known centre, drawing global audiences during live TV broadcasts of satellite launches for science, EO or deep space missions.[474] Establishing this site to full operations was one of the final actions that Sarabhai completed prior to his death in December 1971. It was formally founded in 1969 and commissioned three years later, complete with facilities for preparing rockets for launch and with ground support for the telemetry and tracking required for sounding rockets. Based on imagery from their spy satellite, the US concluded in a then Top-Secret memo, now declassified, that Sriharikota was a “possible joint India/Soviet project supporting a Soviet synchronous satellite.”[475] Sriharikota is an integral element in Vikram Sarabhai’s strategy paper published in 1970 Atomic Energy and Space Research: A Profile for the Next Decade 1970–1980.
By the late 1960s, success in space by the US and USSR but also of nations, such as China, Japan and France, had made a political and economic case for India's space programme. Scientifically competent individuals, like Bhabha and Sarabhai, with support from political leaders, like Jawaharlal Nehru and subsequent prime ministers, initiated a space programme that hastens India’s journey towards a developed economy. While Thumba was established at a time when India had zero experience and nothing more than an aspiration for a national space programme, Sriharikota and its infrastructure were built on the success of Thumba and designed to accelerate India's capabilities in space.
Figure 9‑2 Sriharikota. Credit Google Earth
Sriharikota’s infrastructure started with a satellite-tracking and communication system required to communicate with a satellite in orbit. One of the key ingredients was a computer that could calculate in real time the position of a moving satellite. The Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), which had been formed in 1967, supplied Sriharikota a Trombay Digital Computer (TDC-12) that had been built at the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay.[476] The TDC-12 supported Aryabhata when it was launched in 1975. Later, ECIL imported an IRS 55 computer from France, which was used for the development of the SLV-3 launch vehicle, and built TDC-316-I for remote telemetry ground stations, such as Car Nicobar Island, and TDC-36316-II for the two Bhaskara satellites that followed Aryabhata. As the number of sites and computers grew, ISRO called on the German Space Research Organisation to assist with connecting them into a single network.[477] With an annual budget of Rs.550 crore ($100 million) and 2,000 permanent and an additional 2,500 contract staff,[478] Sriharikota is responsible for functions including:
Managing and operating the Mission Control Centre (MCC)
Integrating launch vehicle and payload, testing and launching up to the designated transfer orbit[479]
Managing range operations using data networks between MCC, launch pads and the remote ISRO centres; operating six radars for communication and launch vehicle tracking; optically tracking launch vehicle during launch and establishing the single timebase (timing signal) at high precision for use by all sites for synchronisation
Manufacturing approximately 700 tonnes of solid propellant annually in two separate onsite manufacturing plants
Conducting tests and establishing quantitative mechanical and ballistic characteristics of the solid propellants produced.
Using a thermo-vacuum chamber to assess solid propellant properties for use in space.
At the outset, the ground infrastructure was still basic. A. Aravamudan recalls a unique story of how Sarabhai exploited any opportunity to hasten the development of the space programm
e. In the late 1960s, the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) abandoned its plan to develop a European launcher. The UK was a key partner in ELDO, and Australia, a former British colony,[480] had huge swathes of mostly uninhabited land that UK used as a rocket-test range for ELDO. So, when the ELDO programme ended, Australia had large quantities of equipment associated with launching rockets that suddenly became redundant. It was destined for destruction. Sarabhai sent his engineers to Adelaide in Australia to acquire a complete satellite telemetry ground station for a fraction of its original cost. It was shipped to Madras (now Chennai) and eventually “installed at Sriharikota as the first satellite telemetry ground station.”[481]
Initially, a rocket sledge facility for testing the effects of vibration, acceleration and deceleration on rockets, spacecraft and their subsystems was planned at Sriharikota but was never built. The sledge was designed to be powered by a rocket motor to horizontally push a payload on a high-speed dual rail track to simulate launch conditions. During tests, sensors, transducers and high-speed cameras would have recorded data to inform design decisions and evaluate prototypes. In 2014, a 4-km-long rocket sledge was opened in Chandigarh, Punjab, by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). ISRO may make use of this facility in the future as it gradually advances towards its human spaceflight programme.[482]
The only transport link that Sriharikota has is a single road about 6 m wide that connect the spaceport to the mainland across Pulicat Lake. It does not have air or sea transport links, except for helipads used mainly for VIP transport. The rocket stages, inter-stages and liquid and cryogenic propellants, along with the payload spacecraft, are delivered to Sriharikota via this road. Onsite facilities include a cricket field, temple, school, auditorium and an open-air theatre. To accommodate ISRO's international commercial customers, Sriharikota has a large accommodation complex complete with restaurants offering multi-national cuisines, recreation facilities and a sophisticated medical facility, including a 60-bed hospital. In addition, routine first aid and ambulance provision, enhanced medical services, including specialist doctors, are on standby during scheduled launches.
Mission Control Centre
The heart of the Sriharikota complex is the MCC, appropriately a space-age design building resembling a flying saucer. It was inaugurated by the President of India in 2012.[483] Prior to launch, the launch vehicle is can be considered as a very large fuel tank. A safety procedure used by most space agencies is to evacuate the immediate area around the launch vehicle. The MCC is located 6 km away from the two launch pads and connected by underground cables (copper and fibre) for data, control and audio and video communication. It houses two Launch Control Centres (LCC1 and LCC2) adjacent to each other. Each desk is supplied with two monitors, headsets, and power and communications links connected to LCC1 and LCC2.
During the days leading up to the launch Information from all the disparate sources associated with a launch is brought together in the MCC. This includes payload data (for example, in-situ spacecraft battery status, fuel tank temperature), communication (for example, live video of a launch vehicle and safety updates from the range officer), control (for example, remote liquid refuelling), launchpad status and range safety.
Figure 9‑3 Mission Control Centre, Sriharikota. Credit ISRO
The MCC can support multiple missions at the same time. Data from various sources arrive at the MCC via a 1.8 Gigabit Ethernet based network. Some of the sources include
Range Instrumentation facilities that include Tracking, Telemetry Telecommand systems, CCTV systems, Optical Tracking systems, Technical Photography.
Dedicated meteorology facilities that include weather radar and microwave radiometer to provide real-time data on Cloud
Telemetry data coming into the MCC is used by the Range Safety officer to make critical decisions on launch or no launch as well as self-destruct decisions when the launch vehicle loses control.
Real-time images from cameras on the Launchpad, launch vehicle, spacecraft, and the surrounding lightning towers are consolidated in the MCC
Redundancy is built into MCC’s infrastructure. All underground cables connecting MCC to the two launch pads are duplicated for redundancy. Additional redundancy is provided by both LCCs having direct connections to both of the launch pads. Each system in the LCC has built-in redundancy, incorporating an uninterruptible power supply and backup diesel generators.
Figure 9‑4 Second Launch Control Centre. Credit ISRO
The wider picture from ISTRAC, which provides the necessary clearance from downrange monitoring stations, international partners and air traffic control also comes into the MCC. During the countdown, these data are displayed on monitors in real-time and used for go/no-go decisions by the various teams. One of the monitors is reserved for the ISRO chairman, who is typically present on the day of the launch.
First Launch Pad
The launch pad known today as the First Launch Pad (FLP) came into operation in 1993. The one built in 1979 was known as the SLV launch pad and was used to launch SLV-3 and the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), but it was decommissioned in 1994.
The FLP has a 76-m high 3,000-tonne mobile service tower (MST) that embraces the launch tower with movable platforms providing access to each one of the four stages of a PSLV. MST is used to integrate the launch vehicle prior to the launch, and it is designed to accommodate a launch vehicle up to 5-m taller than the PSLV.[484] It is also designed to withstand the Indian monsoon rains and wind (up to 230 km/h) during September to November each year. All the elements of the launch vehicle, stages, inter-stages, strap-on motors and the payload, are brought directly to the FLP by road. A 60-tonne crane atop the MST moves the launch vehicle elements from the road transporter onto the launch pad for integration.
The PSLV consists of four stages and the external strap-on motors. The complete launch vehicle is assembled vertically, one stage at a time, from the bottom up. The top of the FLP incorporates a clean room used to manage the integration of the payload in the final stage.
Figure 9‑5 Site of the First Launch Pad. Credit Google
Once the launch vehicle is complete, umbilical connections for pneumatic, electrical and propellants are connected and tested. The MST is then moved 150 m away at 7.5 meters per minute on twin rails.[485] All personnel retreat from the launch pad at this time leaving the launch vehicle attached to a steel umbilical tower. Subsequent propellant loadings, control and system checks and eventual launch are all done remotely from the MCC 6 km away.[486]
Like rocket launch pads around the world, FLP is protected by three anti-lightening towers. Lights, 72 cameras in flame-resistant cases and other equipment are attached to these towers that surround the launch pad. These cameras provide live imagery to the MCC before, during and immediately after the launch.The FLP was constructed during a period of sanctions forcing ISRO to develop in-house components that it otherwise would have obtained commercially in the open market.[487] The four large bogies on 16 wheels designed to carry the enormous weight of the MST required “special efforts” to build and test in time for the first PSLV launch
Figure 9‑6 First Launch Pad with PSLV-C18. 12 October 2011. Credit ISRO
Many of the private Indian industries that were engaged at that time are still involved in supporting ISRO.[488] The FLP has been used for ASLV, PSLV and GSLV Mk-2 launches.
Second Launch Pad
The Second Launch Pad (SLP) is the newer of the two launch pads at Sriharikota. A final report for establishing the SLP was submitted in 1996. The government sanctioned the payment of Rs.289 crore ($81 million) of Rs.316.11 crore ($88 million) in June 1997. The SLP was completed and became operational on 5 May 2005 with the launch of PSLV-C6 and has been used for several launches since then, including Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and MOM in 2013. In addition to providing redundancy, the SLP was specifically designed to launch the larger GSLV-Mk3/LVM3 (ISRO initiated the name change from GSLV-Mk3 to LVM3 but the name
has not taken and ISRO now appears to be reverting to GSLV-Mk3 but LVM3 name persists in numerous documents and online).
Unlike the FLP, the launch vehicle is not integrated at the launch pad but inside a building a kilometre away. The SLP complex incorporates a Solid Stage Assembly Building (SSAB, a fixed Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), a mobile launch pedestal (MLP), a kilometre-long twin rail track connecting the VAB to the launch pad, an umbilical tower, a water-based acoustic dampener and a jet deflector immediately below the launch pad. SSAB was established to allow integration of the two S200 solid strap-ons of GSLV-Mk3/LVM3. A short distance from the SSAB (58 m high, 55 m long and 40 m wide) is the larger VAB (83 m × 40 m × 32 m). A rail track connects the SSAB, VAB and the launch pad. Another track has been added connecting the SVAB to the SLP.
Figure 9‑7 Site of the Second Launch Pad. Credit Google
An additional MLP has been developed specifically for the GSLV-Mk3/LVM3. This heavy-lift launch vehicle consists of a first stage with two solid strap-on motors, a large liquid second stage and a cryogenic third stage. The complete vertically integrated launch vehicle exits the VAB through 20 horizontal doors and is transported on a 16-wheel MLP (19.5 m × 19.5 m, 700 tonnes). The journey from the VAB to the launch pad along a 14-m wide, 1-km-long twin rail track can take several hours. The launch pad has a 70-m tall umbilical tower used for control, communication and fuelling. Three vertically repositionable and swivelling access arms provide access to the vehicle while at the umbilical tower. The SLP is surrounded by four 120-m high towers to protect the launch vehicle against lightning. Once again multiple cameras are mounted on the towers to remotely monitor events from the MCC during the preparation and launch.ISRO’s largest launch vehicle GSLV-Mk3 introduced a concern with noise and vibration. The first stage consisting of two solid stage boosters with 210 tonnes of solid propellant in each one, is one of the largest solid stages in use around the world today. The aluminium particles emanating from the exhaust of the two large solid motors generate strong vibrations, increasing the risk of structural damage particularly to the sensitive components in the payload.
