Tag: space

ISRO’s GSAT-24 Successfully Launched On-Board Ariane-v VA257 Flight From French Guiana

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s GSAT-24 satellite, built NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), was successfully launched by French company Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana (South America) on Thursday.

GSAT-24 is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing 4180kg with pan-India coverage for meeting DTH application needs.

It was the first “demand driven” communication satellite mission undertaken by NSIL post space sector reforms.

NSIL, a Government of India company under the Department of Space, has leased the entire satellite capacity to Tata Play.

GSAT-24 was launched on-board Ariane-V VA257 flight from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou.

It was reported earlier this month that GSAT-24 satellite, after completing assembly, integration and environmental test, was cleared by PSR (Pre-Shipment Review) committee on May 2.

The satellite and its allied equipment were shipped to Kourou, French Guiana on May 18 using C-17 Globemaster aircraft.

The France-based satellite launch service Arianespace announced in April that India’s newest space PSU NSIL’s first demand-driven communication satellite for Tata Sky will be launched on June 22. It said the satellites will be launched for two long-standing Arianespace customers – MEASAT, the leading Malaysian satellite operator, and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS).

MEASAT-3d, to be co-located with MEASAT-3a and MEASAT-3b at the 91.5°E orbital slot, is a multi-mission telecommunications satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space. “This new satellite will significantly enhance broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps per user in areas with limited or no terrestrial network throughout Malaysia while continuing to provide redundancy and additional capacity for video distribution in HD, 4K, and ultimately 8K in the Asia-Pacific region,” it said.

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Rare X-Ray Emitting Cosmic Object Found in Milky Way Galaxy

In the latest and fascinating find, astronomers have detected a rare kind of cosmic object in the Milky Way galaxy. The object named MAXI J1816-195 is found to be emanating X-ray light that was first detected on June 7. It was captured using the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) of the Japanese Space Agency. The discovery was brought to light by astrophysicist Hitoshi Negoro of Nihon University, Japan, and his team. They wrote, in a notice posted to The Astronomer’s Telegram (ATel), that a previously uncatalogued X-ray source had been identified.

According to a pulsar database compiled by astronomer Alessandro Patruno, the object is located within 30,000 light-years and is believed to be an accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar.

They described its location to be in the galactic plane between the constellations of Serpens, Scutum, and Sagittarius. The object was observed flaring relatively brighter but the scientists could not identify it using the MAXI data.

However, later, an astrophysicist, Jamie Kennea, from the Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues used the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to observe the specified location of the object.

“This location does not lie at the location of any known catalogued X-ray source, therefore we agree that this is a new transient source MAXI J1816-195,” they wrote in ATel while confirming that the find was a new one.

The notice further read that archival observation made using Swift/XRT of the location in 2017 did not reveal any point source.

In a bid to shed more light on the discovery, astrophysicist Peter Bult of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, observed it using the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). “This detection shows that MAXI J1816-195 is a neutron star and a new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar,” they wrote.

Following the discovery, further observations are being carried out and follow-up has been conducted using Swift. In addition, the Liverpool Telescope on the Canary Island of La Palma in Spain has also been roped in to spot an optical counterpart.

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ISRO, Australian Space Agency Look Forward to Work Together in Future, Review Space Cooperation

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Australian Space Agency (ASA) held a virtual meeting on Tuesday during which they reviewed space cooperation and discussed potential areas of working together. Secretary in the Department of Space (DoS) and ISRO Chairman S Somanath and ASA Head Enrico Palermo steered the discussion from respective sides.

Both leaders expressed happiness over the progress in the ongoing discussion on establishing ISRO’s ground station in Australia to support the Gaganyaan mission.

“They also discussed on other potential areas of working together including Australia’s International Space Investment initiative; establishing ISRO’s ground stations in Australia for satellite data reception and for range and integrity monitoring of NavIC satellites and organising a joint workshop to promote interaction among space entities of both nations”, an ISRO statement said.

Meanwhile, Ambassador of Dominican Republic to India, David Puig, called on Somanath at ISRO headquarters here on Tuesday.

Puig expressed strong desire to learn from India’s vast experience in harnessing the benefits of space technology for national development through access to satellite data, training and capacity building in space technology applications, according to ISRO.

“ISRO/DoS assured all possible support in capacity building in Dominican Republic through training programmes, joint activities such as small satellites and remote sensing applications”, the statement added.

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