Major Orbital Launch Systems of the World

ORIGIN: INDIA

Images: ISRO

INTRODUCTION

The Indian Space program, since its inception, has been guided by the vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, considered as the father of Indian Space program, he laid emphasis on the application of space technology for finding solutions to the problems of the common man and the society at large. Self-reliance in space technology has been the important motto and goal for India's policy makers. In 1969, Dr. Vikram A Sarabhai created the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Since then ISRO has been remarkably successful with the active participation of several great scientists and administrators. ISRO is the nodal agency to manage and implement all space related activities in India. The services in communication, broadcasting, meteorology, military reconnaissance, interplanetary and Lunar missions are now been provided by spacecrafts designed and built in India. They have also mastered the elusive and exclusive Cryogenic technology and conversely building Semi-Cryogenic stage as well and shortly poised to launch heavier boosters to place satellites in the 5-ton class. India has pursued a reasonable and a well-balanced program, nicely adapted to the nation's developmental needs. While ISRO has put together a systematic rocket launch vehicle building program, they have also significantly concentrated on the two of the most important areas for a large and developing country such as India, building telecommunications and remote sensing applications.

PSLV: The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the workhorse rocket of ISRO with an outstanding success rate among medium lift rocket systems. The success of the PSLV is an important milestone for the Indian space industry. India has achieved self-sufficiency in launching its operational satellites. The PSLV is a unique vehicle which employs both liquid and solid fuel engines, and it is ISRO's workhorse. The PSLV can place a satellite weighing about three tonnes in low earth orbit (LEO), at a height of 400 to 600 km. It can also deploy satellites weighing up to 1,500kg in Polar Sun Synchronous orbit at a height of 750km above the earth. This versatile and flexible vehicle can handle a LEO, a polar and a GTO orbit. The Payload capacity to Low Earth Orbit is 3,250 kilograms (7,170 lb) and Helio-Synchronous or Sun-Synchronous Orbit is 1,600 kilograms (3,500 lb) and to Geostationary Transfer Orbit is 1,410 kilograms (3,110 lb). The vehicle configuration is as follows, total height is 44 meters (144 feet), diameter is 2.8 meters (9 feet+) and Gross Mass is 295 tons. The first-stage or the core stage employs solid fuel with a total thrust of 486Kn with a specific impulse of 269 seconds with a total burn time of 105 seconds. The fuel used is Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB). The core stage is mated to 6 solid strap-on boosters (only in the PSLV-G and PSLV-XL versions) using HTPB as fuel. The second-stage employes 1 Vikas liquid engine using Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine (UDMH) and Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4) as fuel, and the third-stage is also a solid fuel motor while the fourth-stage is a liquid stage using Monomethyl-Hydrazine and Dinitrogen Tetroxide/Nitrogen Dioxide as fuel.

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The Chinese Technology Paradigm

(THE INTRIGUING TECHNIQUES AND RATIONALITY BEHIND CHINESE PLAGIARISTIC OBSESSION)

The Chinese are double-dyed bootleggers par excellence and they are consummate propagandists evidently traits inspired by their former Soviet masters. Just as in any dictatorship, attention grabbing, diversion or delusive dispersion of information for the domestic audience becomes a cardinal policy for governance and by a reasonable assumption; it goes in with the fodder. Inherently they are hegemonic by nature since the leadership psyche is indoctrinated and fueled by such an ideology which advocates aggressiveness and consequently it is accompanied amply by a will to dominate, having a conniving determination and a firm quest to achieve its goals. To feed these nefarious ends they adopt an artful semblance of posturing seemingly in the intention to rattle their adversaries aspiring to be a step ahead of them either through deceit, larceny or reverse engineering tactics. Bootlegging technology in every sphere of scientific development is a well-honed practice, and it is diligently backed up by massive resource and logistic support. The lists below bears witness to this approximation though some of the equipment is licence produced, but the Chinese have the uncanny habit of deserting or contravening their joint venture agreements and partners and continue manufacturing them under their own branding. Like their former boss-men, the Soviets the Chinese politburo too is compelled to resort to such crack-brained propagandist rhetoric as part of preserving their dictatorship. In at least the cases listed below, desperation by China seems to have won over innovation.

Here is a knock off list of Military Equipment manufactured in China in no particular order:

The Chinese Russian Manned Soyuz Space Capsule: The Shenzhou Manned Spacecraft

The Chinese Russian Sukhoi Su-27SK Flanker: The Shenyang J-11B
The Chinese Russian MiG-17: The Shenyang J-5
The Chinese Russian MiG-19: The Shenyang J-6

The Chinese Russian MiG-19L Ground Attack Aircraft: The Nanchang Qiang-5

The Chinese Russian MiG-21U Mongol-A Trainer: The Jianjiji J-7

The Chinese Russian Sukhoi Su-33: The Shenyang J-15 Flying Shark
The Chinese Russian MIG-21: The Chengdu-F7 / Shenyang J-8 and later JF-17 Thunder
The Chinese Russian MIG-1.44: The Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon
The Chinese Russian MiG-23MS Ground Attack Aircraft: The Nanchang Q-6

The Chinese Russian Antonov An-12: The Shaanxi Y-8

The Chinese Russian Antonov An-24: The Xian MA60

The Chinese Israeli Lavi/Kfir: The Chengdu J-10 (Lavi itself was based on the F-16 Fighting Falcon)

The Chinese Russian Yakolev Yak-130: The Hongdu L-15 Falcon

The Chinese American F-35 Lightening II/F-22 Raptor: The Shenyang J-31 Stealth Fighter

Comparison of Lockheed Martin F-35 and Shenyang J-31

The Chinese American General Atomics MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV): The Chengdu Pterodactyl

The Chinese American General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper UAV: The Wing Loong CH-4 (More Intriguing Information here)

The Chinese American Northrup MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV: The SVU 200 Sunward
The Chinese American Northrop Grumman X-47B Carrier-Based Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle: The Hongdu Lijian (Sharp Sword) 

The Chinese American Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk (UAV): The Chengdu Xiang Long (Soaring Dragon)
The Chinese Russian Lavochkin La-17 UAV: The Nanjing Chang Kong (Blue Sky) CK-1

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The Science of GSLV

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Booster

The glorious journey began at the magnanimous

St.Mary Magdalene Church (left),

it was the first lab and office of ISRO 

Currently maintained as a majestic Space Museum - Image: ISROHQ

THE EVOLUTION OF INDIA’S ROCKET PROGRAM

In 1962 in a rather nondescript fishing hamlet called Thumba near Thiruvananathapuram close to the sea, two stalwarts and visionaries of the Indian Space and Nuclear program were scouting for a new rocket launching facility along with other fellow scientists. One was the blue-blooded Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and the other the aristocratic Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha. Within a year’s time the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) was born. This was just a humble beginning but over the years, India achieved the capability of building its own launch vehicles, remote sensing, communication, defense and navigation satellites, launch interplanetary and lunar missions, design and develop the closely guarded and cutting-edge cryogenic engine. TERLS primarily focused on launching sounding rockets (SR) to study of equatorial electro-jet phenomena, which is a stream of electric current flowing in a narrow band on either side of the magnetic equator at a height of around 100 kms.

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India's Nuclear Ascendancy - An Analysis

MISSION

To develop nuclear power technology and to produce Nuclear Power as a safe, environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to meet the increasing electricity needs of the country. - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited [NPCIL]

Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the founding Father & Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission

The Basics of Nuclear Fission

Let us learn in layman’s language what exactly Nuclear energy means. Nuclear energy is produced by controlled nuclear reactions. In a typical nuclear reactor, the energy released from continuous splitting of atoms of the fuel is harnessed as heat in either gas or water, and is used to produce steam. The steam drives the turbines that produce electricity. Control rods are used to ensure a controlled rate of the nuclear reactions.

Nuclear fission occurs when a larger isotope breaks apart into two or more elements. Scientists usually accomplish this task by bombarding a large isotope with a second, smaller one, commonly a neutron. The collision results in a controlled nuclear fission. Reaction of this type releases a lot of energy. However, during this process, some matter disappears during the nuclear reaction and this loss of matter is called "mass defect". The missing matter is what converted into energy.

Chain reactions and Critical Mass

During nuclear fission of U-235, only one neutron is used, but three are produced, these three neutrons encounter other U-235 atoms and initiate other fission, producing even more neutrons. This process is termed as a “self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction” or in other words, it is a process of continuous nuclear fission.

Link:The chain reaction of uranium-235

Isotopes that produce an excess of neutrons in their fission support a chain reaction. This type of isotope is termed as a “fissionable nuclear fuel”, and the two most common fissionable isotopes used during nuclear reactions are Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239. The minimum amount of fissionable material needed to ensure a chain reaction is “critical mass” and anything less than this amount is “sub-critical”.

Atomic bombs

Because of the tremendous amount of energy released in a fission chain reaction, the military implications of nuclear reactions are immense. In an atomic bomb, two fissionable isotopes are kept apart. Each piece, by itself, is sub-critical. When it is time for the bomb to explode, conventional explosives force the two pieces fuse together to cause a critical mass. The chain reaction is uncontrolled, releasing a tremendous amount of energy instantaneously.

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2013: Space Launch Yearbook

SPACE LAUNCH REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2013

There were in total 81 spaceflight launches by 7 countries in 2013, unfortunately out of these 3 were failures. In the year 2012 there were 78 launches out of which 2 were unsuccessful. 

SPACE LAUNCHES BY FAMILY

Figure 1

Figure 1 Shows the number of launches by different family of rockets, however launches such as the Russian - Strela, European Space Agency - Vega, United States - Pegasus, Antares and Minotaur-1, Japanese - Epsilon, South Korean - Naro-1 (formerly Korea Space Launch Vehicle-KSLV) and the Chinese LV Kuaizhou is not represented because of single launch during the year. The last 3 vehicles had successful launches on debut. There were also a few inaugural launches in 2013, the Falcon 9 v.1.1, Antares, Minotaur V and Soyuz-2.1V. Interestingly, the first three are operated by private companies namely SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, this clearly reflects the general trend at least in the US of gaining commendable position by private companies in the annual commercial launches for all the sectors like the US Department of Defense, Commercial and International Space Station duties. 

There were totally three failures in 2013. The first was the failure of the Zenit-3SL carrying the Intelsat 27 satellite by Sea Launch, and then there was the dramatic accident of a "Proton-M" with three navigation satellites "Glonass-M" and finally the Chinese Long March 4B rocket failed to put the Brazilian Satellite CBERS-3 into orbit. The first two accidents were caused by the malfunction of the first stages of the launch, the last on account of failure of the upper stage.

SPACE LAUNCHES BY ORBIT

Figure 2

Figure 2 Shows the distribution of space launches by orbit. Nearly half of all the launches (40 out of 81) were to the Low Earth Orbit followed by Geostationary orbit (25 out of 81).

SPACE LAUNCHES BY SPACEPORT

Figure 3

Figure 3 Shows the number of launches attempted at different spaceports. The leader of this list is Baikonur spaceport with an impressive tally of 23 Launches by Russia (in 2012 it was 21), Cape Canaveral of the US was followed by 10.

SPACE LAUNCHES BY COUNTRY

Figure 4

Figure 4 shows Russia's leading the race with an impressive 33 launches followed way behind by the US, then Europe, China and India. Also note the entry of South Korea into the space club with its third attempt, the Korean launch vehicle (KSLV) is built with Russian help as the first stage, a semi-cryogenic engine burning Liquid Oxygen and Kerosene is developed by Khrunichev of Russia. Graphics: Viacheslav Pronskyi: - in Russian Language

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Is the Arjun Main Battle Tank a White Elephant?

ARJUN - MBT Mark-1

Arjun MBT has taken several years to develop as a reliable and formidable advanced armoured vehicle for the Indian Army. Experts view it as one of the best contemporary tanks in operation today. Despite this, the army due to its misplaced idiosyncrasies has been backpedalling on user/comparative user trails in the past, which forced DRDO to initiate an accelerated user trails program of their own in 2008. In June 2008, DRDO conducted stringent trails under the watchful eye of the army and had successfully completed 6000 kms of gruelling runs in Rajasthan. However, earlier results had proved that the tank had some issues with the transmission but the vendor sorted this problem and the tank performed flawlessly without failing even once during the accelerated trails in Rajasthan. The 43rd Armoured Regiment operates the Arjun tank for well over a decade now and they are completely satisfied with it. Brigadier Chandra Mukesh remarked in his report after the AURCT, “The accuracy and consistency of the Arjun has been proved beyond doubt.”

Another extensive comparative trial was conducted by the Indian Army in March 2010, in which the Arjun was pitted against the T-90. Arjun emerged a conclusive winner from its showdown with the Russian tank and it demonstrated excellent performance under various circumstances, such as driving cross-country over rugged sand dunes, detecting, observing and quickly engaging targets, accurately hitting targets – both stationary and moving, with pin pointed accuracy. It displayed accurate and quick target acquisition capability during day and night in all types of weather and shortest possible reaction time during combat engagements. An army officer remarked that the Arjun could have performed even better, had it been operated by experienced crewmen. Nevertheless, the result was heartening vindication of DRDO technological capabilities, the Arjun MBT out-gunned and outran the T-90 on every crucial parameter. Besides, the Army was constantly changing its battlefield requirements which had a direct impact on Arjun's delivery timelines.
The Kanchan class armour of Arjun is probably the best of the technologies employed which derives its name from Kanchan Bagh, Hyderabad, where the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) is located. The amour has been able to take the brunt of high precision and deadly Israeli anti tank munitions. The T-72 Ajeya and the new T-90 MBT has shown alarming vulnerability in the Georgian conflict a couple of years ago. I wonder why our Army generals are making whoopee for such sitting ducks. There is lot of money involved in importing military hardware and they are also on the lookout for those foreign jaunts and romp.

Image: Arkem8

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