Mighty India Power

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) ...

The Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ), that got global recognition for its successful launch of a mission to Mars, will now launch German, French, British and Canadaian satellites, a top official said. "We will be launching EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Programme) satellite belonging to Germany. The satellite will weigh around 800 kg," ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan told IANS in an interview. The EnMAP is a hyperspectral satellite that would provide images of the Earth at regular intervals. This apart, ISRO will be launching French satellite SPOT-7 during the first quarter of 2014, Radhakrishnan said. "There will be four more small foreign satellites that would go along with SPOT-7," he added. ISRO  had launched the SPOT-6 satellite in 2012. Read more @  http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/isro-enmap-satellite-spot-7-satellite-k-radhakrishnan-pslv-rocket-mars-orbiter/1/326376.html

India on 23 November 2013 successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile from a naval ship off Odisha coast. The surface-to-surface Dhanush, a naval variant of India's indigenously developed Prithvi missile, was test fired from a location at Bay of Bengal by the Srategic Force Command of the defence force. The single-stage, liquid propelled Dhanush has already been inducted into the armed services. It is one of the five missiles developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Dhanush missile is capable of carrying conventional as well as nuclear payload of 500 to 1000 kg and hit both land and sea-based targets. - See more at: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/india-successfully-test-fired-nuclear-capable-dhanush-ballistic-missile-1385197216-1#sthash.tqQieCuH.dpu f

Mars Orbiter Mission carries five payloads: For atmpospheric studies: Layman Alpha Photometer (LAP): It is an absorption cell photometer. It measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman-alpha emission in the Martian upper atmosphere (typically Exosphere and exobase). Measurement of D/H (Deuterium to Hydrogen abundance ratio) allows us to understand especially the loss process of water from the planet. Methan Sensors for Mars (MSM): It is designed to measure methane (CH4) in the Martian atmosphere with PPB accuracy and map its source. Data is acquired only over illuminated scene as the sensor measures the reflected solar radiation. Methane concentration in the Martian atmosphere undergoes spatial and temporal variations. For particle environment studies: Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA): It is a quadruple mass spectrometer capable of analysing the neutral composition in the range of 1 to 300 amu with unit mass resolution. The herit...

In keeping with expectations, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) trusted workhorse, the PSLV rocket, delivered a perfect launch to India's ambitions of reaching the Red Planet by parking the  Mangalyaan spacecraft  precisely outside Earth on Tuesday. The 43-minute launch aboard the  PSLV C25  from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, some 80 km from Chennai, saw the Mangalyaan spacecraft placed in an argument of perigee of 282.75 degrees which was considered necessary to enable the actual 400 million km transition towards Mars on November 30. It was a textbook launch for the Mangalyaan spacecraft — the 25th successful mission carried out by the PSLV rocket — and its progress through the 43-minute launch phase — the longest ever for a PSLV — went on cue, with the crucial third stage rockets firing at 33 minutes and the rocket initiating satellite separation at 43 minutes. "The PSLV 25 has placed the  Ma...