Mighty India Power

India successfully launched its biggest ever rocket on Thursday, including an unmanned capsule which could one day send astronauts into space, the latest accomplishment of its ramped-up space programme. The rocket, designed to carry heavier communication and other satellites into higher orbit, blasted off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. On Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the test mission as "yet another triumph of (the) brilliance and hard work of our scientists." "This was a very significant day in the history of (the) Indian space programme," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman KS Radhakrishnan said from mission control as fellow scientists clapped and cheered. ISRO scientists have been riding high since an Indian spacecraft successfully reached Mars in September on a shoe-string budget, winning Asia's race to the Red Planet and sparking an outpouring of national pride. Although India has successfully launc

India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant was on Monday flagged off for sea trials from Visakhapatnam harbour by defence minister  Manohar Parrikar . INS Arihant, the first in the series of nuclear-powered submarines being manufactured indigenously, is a 6,000-tonne vessel powered by 83 MW pressurised light water reactor, defence ministry sources said. Once inducted, the submarine will help the country complete its nuclear triad giving it the capability to respond to nuclear strikes from sea, land and air-based systems. Nuclear triad is the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea-based weapon platforms. Arihant will help India achieve the capability of going into high seas without the need to surface the vessel for a long duration.

After its launch was deferred twice due to bad weather, India's latest communication satellite GSAT-16 was placed in orbit by Ariane 5 rocket in the early hours today from the space port of Kourou in French Guiana. The European launcher blasted off at 2.10 AM (IST) and hurled the GSAT-16, designed to augment the national space capacity to boost communication services, into space in a flawless flight. GSAT-16 was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).  Indian satellite's co-passenger DIRECTV-14, built by SSL (Space Systems/Loral) for operator DIRECTV to provide direct-to-home television broadcasts across the US, was also launched by Ariane 5 VA221, marking 63rd successful mission in a row for the rocket. "Ariane 5 delivers DIRECTV-14 and GSAT-16 to orbit on Arianespace's latest mission success", Arianespace said on its website. With a lift-off mass of 3,181 kg, GSAT-16 carries a total of 48 communication transponders, the largest by a communication

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inducted India's largest indigenously built warship INS Kolkata in Mumbai. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan were also present at the ceremony. Modi congratulated everyone associated with the project and said, "INS Kolkata is an example of intellect prowess of Indian engineers, technicians and security experts." Modi also highlighted that his government has taken important steps to improve indigenous defence technology. He said, "In the Budget we have taken several steps for defence offsets. We dream to make India strong to export defence equipment to the world." While remembering Chhatrapati Shivaji at the event, Modi said, "Chhatrapati Shivaji understood the importance of securing the seas for increasing trade." Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Admiral RK Dhowan also congratulated the Navy. The warship has been constructed by the Mazagon Dockyards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated India's largest warship INS Vikramaditya to the nation.  He urged to make the country self-reliant in manufacturing defence equipment, shedding dependence on imports.  In his first outing after taking charge as Prime Minister, he addressed the naval personnel onboard the ship off the Goa coast, calling the addition of the warship to the force as a "historic" step. "It is an important day for our nation. It is a golden day in Indian Navy's history. For me, it is a matter of pride and happiness that INS Vikramaditya is joining the Navy. It is a historic step," he said. Stressing on the need for self-reliance in defence equipment manufacturing, he said, "We need to give immense importance to latest technology. This will help the nation. Why should we import defence equipment? We must be self sufficient. Why can't we send our defence equipment to other nations." The Prime Minister

AURA or Autonomous Unmanned Research Aircraft is an Indian initiative at building an Unmanned Combat Air vehicle (UCAV) with special preference given to the stealth features. The examples of these UCAV’s are X47 of US , Dassault nEUROn (France) & BAE Taranis , all of which are on the initial stage of development & testing. The X47b program of US Navy being front runner as it has recently started taking off from the US Aircraft carriers. The purpose of the DRDO is to provide the Indian Air force with an option to deliver the payloads to enemy location without endangering the life of the pilot . This will act along side with the PAK-FA & AMCA , the 5th Generations of fighter aircrafts that will start showing up on the IAF inventory towards the end of this decade or start of the next. The AURA program is also meant to compete with the other programs to provide the IAF with the best technically advanced UCAV which will form the backbone of the airforce in the next decade

The exo-atmospheric missile interceptor was  successfully test-fired at the defence base in Odisha. This is the  first time an  exo-atmospheric  missile is test fired   as part the development of missile shield. The indigenous Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile was fired from Wheeler Island off the coast near Dhamra port in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from here. The missile intercepted an incoming ballistic missile as required, a modified variant of the Prithvi fired from a ship off the coast near the integrated test range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 70 km from Wheeler Island. This test is to be followed by trial of cruise missile Nirbhay (whose maiden test had failed last year) and air-to-air missile Astra next month. "The test was successful," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. "It is for the first time that we have successfully conducted the test of an exo-atmospheric interceptor," he said.

The Indian space agency launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV successfully 25 times in a row, bringing India one step closer to its own global positioning system or the 'desi' GPS.   The 44 meter, 320 ton, PSLV rocket successfully lifted off into the sky at 5.14 PM from Sriharikota and 19 minutes later accurately placed India's second navigation satellite  IRNSS-1B in space.  A jubilant K Radhakrishnan, the ISRO Chairman, said, "PSLV in its 25th successive successful flight precisely injected India's second regional navigation satellite."    The first Indian navigation satellite  IRNSS-1A  launched last year in July is working normally. All seven satellites are to be launched by March 2014. The satellite navigation system will be a fleet of seven satellites that help provide precise locations within 20 meters. The 'desi GPS' or IRNSS will be similar in function to the American Global Positioning System (GPS) but regional in