Making of a Satellite Centre: The Genesis of ISRO's URSC

110 Pages·2021·4.309 MB·English

by  Prem Shankar Goel

Prem Shanker Goel
Making of a
Satellite Centre
The Genesis of ISRO’s URSC
Making of a Satellite Centre
Prem Shanker Goel
Making of a Satellite Centre
The Genesis of ISRO’s URSC
PremShankerGoel
NationalInstituteofAdvancedStudies
INAESatishDhawanChairofEngineering
Eminence
Bengaluru,Karnataka,India
ISBN978-981-16-3479-6 ISBN978-981-16-3480-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3480-2
©IndianNationalAcademyofEngineering2022
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Prolog
IndianSpaceResearchOrganisation(ISRO)isauniqueorganisation.Ithasaculture
whichisunique,andthereisnootherwaytodescribeitexcepttosayitistheISRO
culture. The Satellite Program of ISRO has done wonderful things, like providing
confidencetothecountrywiththelaunchofAryabhatasatelliteon19April1975,
thatwecandocomplextechnology,whenevensafetypinswerebeingimportedinto
thecountry.Itwasasimplesatellitebytoday’sstandard,butabigtechnologyleap
forthecountryintheseventies.Pokaran-1in1974andAryabhatain1975weretwo
technology events that gave Indian scientists and engineers confidence to venture
intonewareas,whichwerenotsofarpursuedinIndia.
Thesatellitetechnologygrowthhasbeenslowbutconsistent,towardscomplexity,
modernisationandprofessionalism.WhileURSChasbuilt104satellites(asonDec
31,2019),afewmissionshavebeenlandmarkmissionsthatopenedthepathwayfor
the future. Aryabhata, Bhaskara-1, APPLE, IRS-1A, INSAT-2A, IRS-P3, MetSat
(Kalpana), INSAT-2E, CARTO-1, SRE, TES and IRNSS are some of those land-
marks.Eachoneraisedthebarintechnologydevelopmentandmissionmanagement.
Chandrayaan-1, which attracted the imagination of the country, was another great
achievement of mission management. Mangalyaan further raised the capability to
manageamissionbeyondtheearth’sgravity.Nowwehavearobusttechnologybase
andoperationalspacesystemsforRemoteSensing,Communicationandspace-based
navigationandspacescience.Chandrayaan-2isyetanotheradvancedtechnologyand
mission management demonstration. Though the Lander Vikram had hard landing
veryneartothepre-designatedspotontheMoon,itwasaremarkablemissionintech-
nologydevelopmentandmissionmanagement.Gaganyaan(TheMannedMission)
onitswayisanothertechnologychallengeanddreamofanaspiringnation.
Thisbookisthestoryofpeoplebehindsatellites,narratedthroughSatelliteCentre
(ISACorURSC),whichrepresentssatelliteactivityasalivingorganism.Itisthestory
ofremarkablepeople,afewnamedandmanyunnamed,whocreatedandnurtured
thisbody,whichIbelievehasconsciousofitsown.Likeanyotherlivingbody,ithas
gonethroughitsupsanddownsbuthasalwaysbouncedbackwithfullenergyafter
everyhiccup.
Asthisstoryisofpeople,narratedbyanindividualwhowasoneamongstthem,
itislikelytobebiasedinimpressionsandinterpretations.Ihave,however,triedto
v
vi Prolog
beasfairaspossibletowardsmycolleagues,eachoneofwhomhascontributedto
the growth of ISAC. But there may be some omissions, largely because of fading
memoriesorlackofmyexposuretocertaininstances.Isincerelyapologiseforany
suchomission.
Bengaluru,India PremShankerGoel
Acknowledgements
The inspiration to write this book came from Dr. B. N. Suresh, a colleague and a
friend who had completed his book on design of launch vehicles and wanted me
to write a book related to the evolution of satellites in India. I thank him for his
continuedpersistence.WritingthisbookonMakingoftheSatelliteCentregaveme
anopportunitytorecallmyassociationwithProfU.R.Raoandlivethosemoments
again. I am grateful to him for those wonderful memories. There are hundreds of
persons who have made their contributions in this journey, some alive and many
passedaway;eachdeservesabigthankyou,whethercapturedinthebookornot.
Dr.SurendraPalandMr.V.R.Kattireviewedthemanuscriptandmadenumerous
suggestions, particularly inrecalling the names and specific contributions of some
ofthepersonsthatImissedinmyfirstdraft.Ithankbothofmycolleaguesfortheir
patienceandcontributions.Mr.Guruprasadhelpedmewiththechronologyofevents
andincapturingphotosofimportantmilestones.
Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) decided to make this book a
part of their publication and it was a big morale booster. I thank the engineering
academyforallthesupport.
PremShankerGoel
vii
About This Book
ThisbookisallaboutthepeoplewhomadeISROSatelliteCentre(ISAC),whatisU
RRaoSatelliteCentre(URSC)today,asseenbyonewholivedthroughinitialyears
ofthe“Centreinthemaking”andwatchedthingshappening,inadditiontomaking
hisownhumblecontributions.
Itwasadreamofoneman,sharedbymanyandcontributedbymanymore,Prof
URRaowillliveaslongastheSatelliteCentreexists.Thelandmarkjourneyfrom
a small Division (Satellite Systems Division, SSD) of the then Space Science and
TechnologyCentre,SSTC(nowVikramSarabhaiSpaceCentre,VSSC),withastaff
offewerthan10in1970hasgrowntomorethantwohundredtimesasthesecond
biggestCentreofISRO.ProfessorRaoistoURSCwhatProfSarabhaiistoISRO.
ProfessorRaonotonlygavethevisionbutalsoinculcatedtheworkcultureofISAC
andbuilttheorganisation.Hispassionforspace,concernforIndianscienceandlove
forISACaredifficulttodescribeinwords.Itisremarkablethathetransferredthat
spirit and commitment to dozens of youngsters, who helped in making the Centre
andpreservingthosevaluesfordecadestocome.
It is all about wonderful work of wonderful people, where passion drives and
nationthrives.
ix
Contents
1 TheEarlyDays ............................................... 1
2 TheISSP ..................................................... 5
3 TheExperimentalEraofSpaced-BasedServices ................. 13
3.1 BeginningofRemoteSensing .............................. 13
3.2 ExperimentingwithSatelliteCommunication ................ 16
3.3 ExploitinganOpportunity—APPLE ........................ 18
3.4 APPLEEnabledtheCreationofISAC ....................... 18
4 TheEarly80s ................................................. 23
4.1 INSAT-1 ................................................ 23
4.2 SLV-3,ASLVandSpaceScience ........................... 25
4.3 PTUtoLPSCBangalore .................................. 26
4.4 PSLVandISAC .......................................... 27
5 TheOperationalSpaceServicesEra ............................ 29
5.1 TheRemoteSensingSatellites ............................. 29
5.2 APermanentHomeatNALCampus ........................ 33
5.3 IRS-1AMission .......................................... 33
5.4 TheSatelliteCommunication .............................. 35
6 TheFoundationTEAM,ISAC .................................. 43
6.1 MechanicalSystems ...................................... 44
6.2 PowerSystems ........................................... 45
6.3 TT&CSystems .......................................... 46
6.4 AOCS .................................................. 47
6.5 IntegrationandGroundCheckOut .......................... 49
6.6 SpacecraftMission ....................................... 50
6.7 TechnicalPhysics ........................................ 50
6.8 QualityAssurance(QA) ................................... 51
6.9 TechnicalServices ........................................ 51
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7 MaturingoftheSatelliteCentre:The1990s ...................... 53
7.1 CreationofLEOS ........................................ 54
7.2 Space-BasedServices ..................................... 55
7.3 TheJourneyinMid-90s ................................... 56
7.4 IRS-P3 ................................................. 58
7.5 IRS-1C/D(ResourceSat-1and2) ........................... 59
7.6 IRS-P4/Oceansat1 ....................................... 59
7.7 MaturingSatelliteTechnologies ............................ 61
8 IndianSatelliteNavigationProgram ............................ 73
8.1 GAGANandIRNSS ...................................... 74
8.2 TheSpaceShuttleandSolarPowerSatellites ................. 77
9 FromTechnologytoManagement .............................. 79
9.1 TheFastTrackSatellite,INSAT-3B ......................... 79
9.2 ISACCouncil ............................................ 80
9.3 TES .................................................... 80
9.4 METSAT(Kalpana) ...................................... 82
9.5 SRE .................................................... 83
9.6 ISAC’sRoleasLeadCentre ............................... 84
9.7 TDPs ................................................... 84
9.8 CapacityBuilding ........................................ 84
9.9 SatelliteProductionandComponentBank ................... 85
9.10 CulturalTransformation ................................... 86
9.11 RISAT-1 ................................................ 87
9.12 Cartosat-1 ............................................... 87
9.13 NewCampusforISAC .................................... 88
9.14 Chandrayaan1 ........................................... 89
9.15 LackofLinkageswiththeSociety .......................... 90
9.16 YetAnotherChangeofLeadership .......................... 91
9.17 WideningtheLandscape .................................. 91
9.18 LearningtoAdministrate .................................. 92
10 LookingfromaDistance ....................................... 97
10.1 SpaceforNationalSecurity ................................ 99
11 TheJourneyContinues ........................................ 101