The Indian Space Programme

by Gurbir Singh

[752]. The Airports Authority of India quantifies this reliability as “the position errors with probability greater or equal to 0.9999999 in one hour for en-route through Non-Precision Approach operations and for Precision Approach in 150 seconds”. See http://www.aai.aero/public_notices/aaisite_test/faq_gagan.jsp.

  [753]. GAGAN provides a Non-Precision Approach. The standard deviation off latitude, longitude and altitude were found to be less than 4 m, which indicates that the position accuracies of GAGAN are well within the 7.6 m requirement. Ganeshan, A.S. et al. February 2016. GAGAN, India’s SSBAS: Redefining Navigation over the Indian Region. Inside GNSS. Retrieved from http://www.insidegnss.com/node/4788

  [754]. Picture presented by C. L. Indi, Jt. GM (GAGAN) Surendra Sunda, Manager (GAGAN). Airports Authorities of India. See http://slideplayer.com/slide/752290/

  [755]. This blog post details the various SBAS standards. Prasad, Vasuki, C. R. Sudhir. 28 July 2014. GAGAN: India’s First Step to a Future Air Navigation System (FANS). The Flying Engineer. Retrieved from http://theflyingengineer.com/flightdeck/gagan-indias-first-step-to-a-future-air-navigation-system-fans/

  [756]. Figure 2 in the following paper provides a map of the 18 TEC stations. Chakravarty, S. C. February 2014. A Novel Approach to Study Regional Ionospheric Variations Using a Real-Time TEC Model. Positioning 5 (1): 1–11. doi:10.4236/pos.2014.51001.

  [757]. The mysterious loss that befell the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 could not happen to an aircraft using a GAGAN system, which continuously emits location data.

  [758]. Vaid, Rohit. 8 August 2014. New Indian Navigation Technology ‘Gagan’ to Be Offered to Partner Countries. Indo-Canadians. Retrieved from http://www.indocanadians.ca/featured-stories/new-indian-navigation-technology-gagan-offered-partner-countries/.

  [759]. The number of satellites that are active at any one point in time is subject to change as satellites are decommissioned either because their lifespan has come to an end or because they have malfunctioned. Additional satellites are launched over time. Thus, the numbers quoted in the table and elsewhere are subject to change. Also, as systems develop towards completion, the precision of data available varies. For example, the number of BeiDou satellites in GSO/GEO orbit is either 5, 8 or 10 depending on the source: (a) http://www.navipedia.net/index.php/BeiDou_Space_Segment, (b) Slide 7 in Update of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. China Satellite Navigation Office, 9 February 2015 or (c) https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/c-missions/cnss

  [760]. This animation provides a helpful description of the unusual orbits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZRH4-SPtOU

  [761]. UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. January 2016. International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems: The Way Forward. United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2016/stspace/stspace67_0_html/st_space_67E.pdf. p17

  [762]. The IRNSS Interface Control document is available here: http://irnss.isro.gov.in/register.aspx. There is no charge, but online registration is required.

  Chapter 14

  [763].Press release from ISRO http://www.isro.gov.in/update/18-aug-2017/irnss-signal-space-interface-control-document-icd-ver-11-released

  [764]. To quote Boris Chertok “I contend that if Gagarin's flight on April 12th, 1961 had ended in failure, U.S. astronaut Neil A. Armstrong would not have landed on the Moon on July 20th, 1969.” Chertok, Boris and Asif A. Siddiqi. 2009. Rockets and People Volume III: Hot Days of the Cold War. NASA. Retrieved from http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4110/vol3.pdf. P79

  [765]. The terms astronaut and cosmonaut are currently used interchangeably depending on where and who is using them. The US uses the term astronaut, the Russians use cosmonaut, the Chinese taikonaut, and it may turn out that India may use the term Vyomanout. In China, the term hangtianyuan is also gaining popularity. See http://archive.defense.gov/pubs/20030730chinaex.pdf. I use the term astronaut only for convenience and consistency.

  [766]. Quoted from Sarabhai’s speech on 2 February 1968 during the ceremony for formally dedicating the Thumba launch site to the United Nations. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was present for the ceremony.

  [767]. Rao, U. R. 2014. India’s Rise as a Space Power. First edition. Delhi: Cambridge University Press India Private Limited. P86

  [768]. Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013. See http://astrotalkuk.org/2013/11/03/rakesh-sharma/. For fascinating details on the USSR’s secret plan under which the first six cosmonauts, including Gagarin, were selected, see Burgess, Colin and Rex Hall. 2009. The First Soviet Cosmonaut Team: Their Lives and Legacies. Springer Science & Business Media. P18

  [769]. Me too in 1958.

  [770]. Interview with Ravish Malhotra. 11 October 2013.

  [771]. Nikitin, S. A. 1985. The Space Flight of the Soviet-Indian Crew. NASA TM-77615. P6. Retrieved from http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19850012916.pdf. The original report was produced by the Interkosmos Council, USSR Academy of Sciences, in July 1984. The English version was made available by NASA at the link given.

  [772]. Gennady Strekalov, the flight engineer aboard Sharma's flight, had narrowly escaped a launch pad fire and explosion on 26 September 1983, thanks to the Soyuz abort system.

  [773]. On 18 March 1965, two cosmonauts in Voskhod-2 landed 400 km away from their designated target and had to spend two nights in their capsule with night-time temperature of -25oC. Survival training and their familiarity with the region was crucial in the eventual safe recovery.

  [774]. Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013. See http://astrotalkuk.org/2013/11/03/rakesh-sharmaa

  [775]. Email exchange with Rakesh Sharma. April 2016

  [776]. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salyut_7 for a list of all the Salyut 7 missions that took up 27 cosmonauts between 1982 and 1986.

  [777]. Despite the extensive speculation to the contrary in the media, these words were not rehearsed. Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013. See http://astrotalkuk.org/2013/11/03/rakesh-sharma/

  [778]. Nikitin, S. A. 1985. The Space Flight of the Soviet-Indian Crew. NASA TM-77615. P9. Retrieved from http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19850012916.pdf.

  [779]. Ibid

  [780]. Interview with Rakesh Sharma in August 2013. See http://astrotalkuk.org/2013/11/03/rakesh-sharma

  [781]. Ibid

  [782]. Personal communication with Rakesh Sharma dated 9/10/2013.

  [783]. This was the conclusion of Professor U.R. Rao, who became the ISRO Chairman in 1984, the same year as Sharma’s flight. Rao, U. R. 2014. India’s Rise as a Space Power. First edition. Delhi: Cambridge University Press India Private Limited. P90

  [784]. The astronaut flight would cost an additional Rs. 2 crore (about $300,000) according to an undated India Today clipping provided by N.C. Bhat.

  [785]. This information has been sourced from NASA's Flight Assignment Baseline (FAB) document. It shows that the booking date for the launch was 13 November 1982, though it was common for the FAB to be amended multiple times to reflect operational requirements. Dr David Baker, who worked on flight manifests at NASA headquarters during the early 1980s, supplied this information from his personal archives. Following the loss of Challenger on 28 January 1986, the mission STS-61-H was reassigned to another crew and payload but was eventually cancelled altogether. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-61-H

  [786]. Email correspondence with P. Radhakrishnan. 13 September 2013

  [787]. These details were included in an article published in an ISRO in-house magazine called Upagrah made available by N. C. Bhat.

  [788]. Ibid

  [789]. This quote comes from an article published in an Indian newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, on 9 March 1986.

  [790].A classified US report indicated that a “New Delhi is likely to keep its payload specialist on standby for a future shuttle flight - perhaps to launch the INSAT-1D satellite scheduled to be ready in 1989”. CIA Report “India: Space Satellite Options), 23 July 1986, h
ttps://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP86T01017R000302820001-5.pdf P4

  [791]. Email communication with P. Radhakrishnan. 13 September 2013. The full quote is as follows “Bhat and I were in Ford Aerospace, USA, for familiarisation with INSAT spacecraft, when we watched on the TV the Challenger flight on January 28, 1986. A little over a minute into the flight, the Shuttle blew into a ball of fire shattering my lifetime dream. Just as steeply as my hopes had soared high into space barely a year earlier, it now made a nosedive. I clearly remember the first question to me from the Selectionboard in 1985 “Why are you in this?” My answer was, “for thrill, excitement and adventure, and also to have something to tell my grandchildren.” All that went up in smoke in that moment.

  [792]. National Security Decision Directive Number 254 27/12/1986. 1986. National Security Council. Retrieved from https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/reference/Scanned%20NSDDS/NSDD254.pdf.

  [793]. Fought, E. Bonnie. January 1988. Legal Aspects of the Commercialization of Space Transportation Systems. Berkley Technology Law Journal 3 (1). Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=btlj.P103

  [794]. The following resource describes each Space Shuttle mission in thorough detail. https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf

  [795]. From an account written in 2009. The full text is available in MS Word format here (with the consent of the author): https://gurbir.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/My_Flirtation_With_Space.doc

  [796]. For ISRO’s press release on this meeting, see http://www.isro.gov.in/update/07-nov-2006/scientists-discuss-indian-manned-space-mission

  [797]. Post-independence, Indian Prime Minister Nehru chose to centralise India’s national economy using the concept of a five-year plan that was common particularly among countries governed by socialist governments. There is not one but a series of five-year plans; each government department has one. The first plan covered 1951–56. The current 12th plan was published by the Planning Commission in 2011 and covers the period 2012–2017. With minor breaks, India has consistently pursued the five-year plan approach since independence. Previous plans are available here: http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/welcome.html

  [798]. Priyadarshini, Subhra. 3 January 2009. ISRO Unveils Manned Mission Design. Nature India. Retrieved from http://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2009.2

  [799]. India Plans to Hoist Tricolour on Moon by 2020. 4 January 2009. Hindustan Times. Retrieved from http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-plans-to-hoist-tricolour-on-moon-by-2020/story-kBha7UjIAPsXlPqTAlOK7H.html

  [800]. During the 1960s, the US and USSR publicly denied there was a race to Moon at the time. Subsequent declassified documents leave no doubt that there was, in fact, a race. Similarly, today India is in a race with China. Even though India got to Mars before China, in pretty much every other respect, China's space programme is well ahead of India's. The report below reveals how India chose to go to Mars only after China's attempt had failed: http://zeenews.india.com/news/sci-tech/a-book-that-reveals-indias-journey-to-mars-and-beyond_1500017.html

  [801]. USA International Business Publications (Ed). 2011. India Space Programs and Exploration Handbook. Int’l Business Publications. P125. See also media reports from the time, for example, The Economic Times article ISRO, Russian Space Agency Join Hands for Indian Man Mission (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-12-13/news/27728784_1_moon-mission-human-space-flight-isro).

  [802]. The following piece suggests that India probably could not agree to the price Russia put on the technology transfer. During the “USSR days”, India benefited from many free and very favourable deals. Post USSR days and presence of financially savvy Russian protagonists, favourable deals were no longer on the table for India. See http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/india-has-not-made-offer-to-russia-to-buy-soyuztma-isro/article369235.ece

  [803]. PTI. 28 December 2012. IAF Developing Parameters for India’s Manned Space Mission. The Economic Times. Retrieved from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/iaf-developing-parameters-for-indias-manned-space-mission/articleshow/17798420.cms?intenttarget=no

  [804]. Also, ISRO had concluded that India (like other nations) would select future astronauts with test pilot experience, so the IAF would be the primary source.

  [805]. For ISRO’s press release, see http://www.isro.gov.in/update/31-deCE-2013/media-reports-manned-mission-to-moon

  [806]. The short but full statement is available here: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=81367

  [807]. The project director of India’s HSF is S. Unnikrishnan. He was also the payload director for the 2014 Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment. He describes the state of the HSF programme in section 8.10 entitled Initiatives on Indian Human Space Flight in the following publication: ISRO. 2015. From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India’s Space Journey. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India: Harper Collins India.

  [808]. An early design of a space suit that ISRO may use is based on the original Sokol space suits designed by the USSR in 1970. The current proposal for the Indian spacesuit is a modern version from Russia. For more information on this early version of the spacesuit, see http://danielmarin.naukas.com/2013/04/30/el-nuevo-traje-espacial-indio-que-en-realidad-es-ruso/. For the space food menu, ISRO has engaged the same company that supplied the food for Sharma’s spaceflight in 1984.

  [809]. This free return option relies on air drag slowing down the spacecraft in Low Earth orbit. After about a week, the speed loss would result in an automatic re-entry and a splash-down provided the crew onboard has sufficient supplies to survive that long. This precautionary approach was designed for Yuri Gagarin's historic 12 April 1961 spaceflight. However, Gagarin was launched into a higher than planned orbit. Re-entry would have occurred long after all the supplies were depleted.

  [810]. Most rockets generate thrust at the bottom and "push" the payload. A Capsule Abort System "pulls" the crew capsule from the top. In the event of a fuel leak at the launch pad or an imminent explosion during the early phase of launch, the CAS, like an ejector seat, removes the crew capsule from the primary launch vehicle at high speed. This YouTube clip shows the CAS saving the crew of Soyuz T-10-1 in 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyFF4cpMVag

  [811]. Even before the Space Age, a variety of insects and animals had made the journey to test rockets, and some even made it to space. In 1935, Stephen Smith in India transported a small cock and a hen about 800 m across a river by a rocket. Immediately after the World War II, the US tested V2 rockets brought from Germany to the US using mice, monkeys and dogs. A monkey called Yorick and 11 mice were the first to survive a trip to space in September 1951. The first dogs to enter space were launched from Kapustin Yar in 1951(see ‘Leading the Way: Soviet Space Dogs’. Accessed 8 August 2017. http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/exhibitions/cosmonauts/race-to-space/soviet-space-dogs). Many human lives have been lost in the pursuit of HSF since 1961, but not as many, had animals not been used. The first life forms to circle the Moon were turtles, wine flies, mealworms, plants, bacteria and other living matter in the USSR's Zond 5 spacecraft. It was launched on a free return orbit to the Moon in September 1968. For an interesting summary of animals used in space launch systems, see http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html. For the guinea pigs used in the Chinese space programme, see http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/03/china.space.timeline/

  [812]. A DOS audit report highlights the delays and cost overruns arising from the SRE-2: http://www.cag.gov.in/sites/default/files/audit_report_files/Union_Compliance_Comptroller_Auditor_General_27_2014_chap_4.pdf

  [813]. ISRO. 2015. From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet: India’s Space Journey. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India: Harper Collins India. P496

  Chapter 15

  [814]. The initial announcement indicated that the Rakesh Sharma will be played by one of Bollywood’s leading
actors, Amir Khan. Since then who will play the central role has become a little unclear. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/300617/confirmed-aamir-khan-to-star-in-astronaut-rakesh-sharmas-biopic.html

  [815]. A public statement from her husband available here https://www.quora.com/Is-a-film-on-Kalpana-Chawla-being-made

  [816]. Vikram Sarabhai. 1996. Sources of Man’s Knowledge. Part of the National Programme of Talks. Series: Exploration in Space. 1966. Reproduced in Resonance December 2001. Volume 6(12):89–92. Retrieved from http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/Dec2001/pdf/Dec2001Reflections.pdf.

  [817]. In one of the more outspoken comments, a day after the launch of Chandrayaan-1Indian astrophysicist N. Sri Raghunandan Kumar declared “once Chandrayaan-1 relays its data on helium-3 stocks to ISRO’s master control room, India will have a larger claim on natural lunar resources, when man begins to colonize it in the future.” Maitra, Ramtanu. 31 October 2008. India Begins Its Journey to the Moon. Executive Intelligence Review. Volume 35(43): 64–66. P64

  [818]. Kasturirangan, K. 20 July 2006. India’s Space Enterprise—A Case Study in Strategic Thinking and Planning. Dr K. Narayanan Oration. Australian National University. P9