ISRO pursues large amount of Technology development
The major objective of Chandrayaan-4 mission is to successfully land on lunar surface, extract lunar sample through robotic arm, ascent from lunar surface and bring back the collected lunar sample to the Earth, said the Department of Space in an update to Parliament on the mega project on 11 Dec.
The configuration of the spacecraft is finalized and the critical design of avionics, mission and flight dynamics is completed. The planned timeline for Chandrayaan-4 mission is 2027, it added.
The targeted landing site for Chandrayaan-4 is in the southern polar region of Moon (~84˚ to 86˚ south latitudes). This region is expected to be geologically diverse, having close proximity to Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSR) and having possibility of finding water ice, also the polar regions of Moon remain largely unexplored and global scientific community is focused on exploring it in detail, elaborated the department on the project’s progress by ISRO.
The Chandrayaan-5 is a joint collaborative mission between ISRO and Japan’s JAXA. The spacecraft comprises of a Lander and a Rover. The Lander is being developed by ISRO whereas Rover is being designed and built by JAXA. The collaborative work extends to the finalization of interfaces between the Lander and Rover, interfaces between the spacecraft and JAXA’s launch vehicle and launch operations. However, there is no collaboration with JAXA for Chandrayaan-4 mission
Separately, ISRO is pursuing large amount of Technology development and R&D activities in critical space technologies required for future Indian space programme includes Stage Recovery & Reuse, LOX-Methane Engine, Air breathing / Hybrid Propulsion, Advanced Materials & Manufacturing, Advanced Inertial systems, Low Cost Spacecrafts, Inter-linking of satellite networks, On-Orbit Servicing, Docking, Lunar sample return, Quantum Communication, Electric Propulsion, Advanced Scientific Payloads, Space Based Surveillance, Atomic Clock, Travelling Wave Tube Amplifiers for communication payloads, Technologies for sustained Human space missions viz. Regenerative Life support systems, Rendezvous & Docking, Inflatable habitats, Human factor & Engineering studies etc.
ISRO along with New Space India Ltd (NSIL) and IN-SPACe is taking various proactive measures required to maximize the transfer of technologies generated in various areas to Indian industries, thereby contributing towards technological self-reliance, industrial growth and national development.
In this regard, IN-SPACe as well as NSIL have taken initiative to list out all the ISRO technologies which are available for transfer to Indian Industry (including startups) in their web portal(s) and offer the same with a price support of 30% concession in the Technology Transfer Fee to all the categories of industries viz., Startups, MSMEs, Academia etc., under Differential Pricing Policy of IN-SPACe.
Department has drafted new Technology Transfer Guidelines and it is processed for approval of the Competent Authority.
Also, ISRO is engaged in the study of various next generation satellite technologies that also include on-board data processing and data storage.
The preliminary evaluations indicate that developing a proof of concept on edge computing infrastructure in space is feasible and such a system is being conceived. However, a full-fledged edge computing infrastructure to become a reality, breakthrough development in several areas including in-orbit power generation, radiation hardened GPUs/ CPUs, security shield for orbiting satellites, etc need to be pursued.
As the study was preliminary, it was carried out within the department.
The Satellites equipped with on-board data processing would enable transmission of only the required information to the ground, hence reducing latency for time critical application such as Disaster management and strategic applications.
Further, on-board processing enables flexibility for communication satellites, as the satellite can be reconfigured in-orbit, said ISRO. Fiinews.com
