Mighty India Power

India's space agency is planning to have a total of five rocket launches in 2013 from its rocket launch pad at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 80 km from here. This will include a mission to Mars later this year. Four of the launches are expected to happen between June and December, including the launch of communication satellite G-Sat 14 using heavier rocket - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) - powered with a domestic cryogenic engine. "Between June 10 and 15 we are planning to launch the first navigational satellite, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-R1A (IRNSS-R1A) and it will be followed by the launch of G-Sat 14 some time in July," a senior official at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS, preferring anonymity. According to officials, the assembling of two rockets is going on at a good pace at the rocket launch centre. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) version that will carry the navigation satellite ...

The Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System, IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven satellites of the IRNSS constellation, will be launched next month. K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), said the IRNSS would be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on June 12 at 1:01 am. The Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which would be under complete control of the Indian government. The requirement of such a navigation system is driven by the fact that access to Global Navigation Satellite Systems, GPS, is not guaranteed in hostile situations. The IRNSS would provide two services, with the Standard Positioning Service open for civilian use and the Restricted Service, encrypted one, for authorised users (military). The full constellation is plann...

Moving towards completing its nuclear triad, India will activate the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant in the "next two to three weeks" paving way for its operational deployment by the Navy soon.  "The nuclear reactor on-board the INS Arihant would be made critical (activated) in next two to three weeks," DRDO chief VK Saraswat told PTI here on Saturday.  Nuclear triad is the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea. He said after the nuclear reactor is activated, the agencies concerned can work towards readying the warship for operational deployments soon.  INS Arihant has been undergoing trials at Navy's key submarine base in Vishakhapatnam and would be launched for sea trials after the nuclear reactor goes critical.  The DRDO has also readied a medium-range nuclear missile BO-5 for being deployed on the Arihant and its last developmental trial was held on January 27 off the coast of V...