An Ariane 5 rocket carrying two satellites, ASTRA 2F and GSAT-10, blasts off from the European space centre of Kourou, French Guiana. AFP/CNES/CSG/S Martin
India's advanced communication satellite GSAT-10 that would augment telecommunication, direct-to-home broadcasting and radio navigation services was successfully launched early on Saturday on board Ariane-5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana in South America. At the end of a smooth countdown lasting 11 hours and 30 minutes, Ariane-5 ECA rocket injected GSAT-10 into an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), very close to the intended one, after a flight of 30 minutes and 45 seconds, Indian Space Research Organisation said. At 3,400kg at lift-off, GSAT-10 is the heaviest built by Bangalore-headquartered Isro. GSAT-10 project is a Rs. 750 crore mission that includes the cost of satellite, launch services by the European space consortium Arianespace and insurance. Soon after GSAT-10 was hurtled into space, Isro's Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command and control of the satellite and declared the launch of Indian space agency's 101st space mission a success. "The satellite is in good health," Isro said after checks on various subsystems of the spacecraft, adding all its parameters were satisfactory. Blasting off from the launch pad at 2.48am (IST), Arianespace's rocket first injected European co-passenger ASTRA 2F into orbit followed by GSAT-10. With a 15-year design life, GSAT-10 is expected to be operational by November and will augment telecommunication, DTH and radio navigation services by adding 30 more to the much-in-demand transponder capacity, now hit by a crunch. Isro chairman K Radhakrishnan, who was at MCF at Hassan at the launch, said, "By November 2012, we expect to operationalise GSAT-10 and make it available to the user community. GSAT-10 is fitted with 30 transponders (12 Ku-band, 12 C-band and six Extended C-Band), which will provide vital augmentation to INSAT/GSAT transponder capacity. With a scramble for transponders, India is now managing a significant part of its requirement by leasing foreign transponders to meet the domestic demand. GSAT-10 also has a navigation payload – GAGAN (GPS aided Geo Augmented Navigation) -- that would provide improved accuracy of GPS signals (of better than seven metres) to be used by Airports Authority of India for civil aviation requirements. This is the second satellite in INSAT/GSAT constellation with GAGAN payload after GSAT-8, launched in May 2011. GSAT-10 was originally scheduled for a Sept 22 launch, but was deferred after scientists detected a small glitch --one gram of dust -- in the upper part of the rocket. GSAT-10 project director TK Anuradha, additional secretary of department of Space, S Srinivasan and director of Isro Satellite Centre SK Shivakumar were among key Isro officials who were in French Guiana for the launch. Shivakumar said GSAT-10 would give an impetus to the 'communication revolution' in India.Arianespace chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said at the launch base that Isro is a highly loyal customer, as the collaboration with it began more than 30 years ago with its Apple satellite's orbiting by the third flight of an Ariane vehicle – an Ariane 1 version launched in June 1981. In the coming five days, orbit raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit with required inclination with reference to the equator, Isro said. The satellite will be moved to the Geostationary Orbit (36,000km above the equator) by using the satellite propulsion system in a three step approach. After the completion of orbit raising operations, the two solar panels and both the dual gridded antenna reflectors of GSAT-10 will be deployed for further tests and operations. It is planned to experimentally turn on the communication payloads in the second week of October, Isro said. After the successful completion of all in-orbit tests, GSAT-10 will be ready for operational use by November. GSAT-10 will be positioned at 83 deg East orbital location along with INSAT-4A and GSAT-12.Source: Hindustan Times
NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully executed a second Deep Space Maneuver, called DSM-2 last Friday, September 14. The 30 minute firing of its main engine refined the Jupiter-bound spacecraft's trajectory, setting the stage for a gravity assist from a flyby of Earth on October 9, 2013. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016. The maneuver began at 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. EDT), when the Leros-1b main engine began to fire. The burn ended at 4 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. EDT). Based on telemetry, the Juno project team believes the burn was accurate, changing the spacecraft's velocity by about 867 mph (388 meters a second) while consuming about 829 pounds (376 kilograms) of fuel. The burn occurred when Juno was more than 298 million miles (480 million kilometers) from Earth. Juno executed its first deep space maneuver (DSM-1), one of comparable duration and velocity change, on August 30. Together, both maneuvers placed Juno on course for its Earth flyby, which will occur as the spacecraft is completing one elliptical orbit around the sun. The Earth flyby will boost Juno's velocity by 16,330 mph (about 7.3 kilometers per second), placing the spacecraft on its final flight path for Jupiter. The closest approach to Earth, on October 9, 2013, will occur when Juno is at an altitude of about 348 miles (560 kilometers). "It feels like we hit back-to-back home runs here with the near-flawless propulsion system performance seen during both DSM-1 and DSM-2." said Juno Project Manager Rick Nybakken of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "These successes move us closer to being ready for our most critical mission event, the Jupiter Orbit Insertion main engine burn in July 2016. We're not in the playoffs yet, as that will come in 2016 when we arrive at Jupiter, but it does feel fantastic to have hit both of these DSMs out of the park." Juno was launched on August 5, 2011. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will circle Jupiter 33 times, from pole to pole, and use its collection of eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant's obscuring cloud cover. Juno's science team will learn about Jupiter's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core. Juno's name comes from Greek and Roman mythology. The god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife, the goddess Juno, was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Illustration credit: 
WASHINGTON: Encouraged by the success of “Curiosity”, NASA has announced to launch a new Mars mission in 2016 to take a better look into the guts of the Red Planet. The mission called “InSight” will investigate why Mars’ crust is not divided into tectonic plates that drift like Earth’s. Detailed knowledge of the interior of Mars in comparison to Earth will help scientists understand better how terrestrial planets form and evolve, the American space agency said. “The exploration of Mars is a top priority for NASA, and the selection of ‘InSight’ ensures we will continue to unlock the mysteries of the Red Planet and lay the groundwork for a future human mission there,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden. “The recent successful landing of the Curiosity rover has galvanised public interest in space exploration and today’s announcement makes clear there are more exciting Mars missions to come,” he said referring to the success of Curiosity. The 12th selection in NASA’s series of Discovery-class missions, ‘InSight’ is build on spacecraft technology used in the space agency’s highly successful Phoenix lander mission, which was launched to the Red Planet in 2007 and determined water existed near the surface in the Martian polar regions. “Our Discovery Programme enables scientists to use innovative approaches to answering fundamental questions about our solar system in the lowest cost mission category,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “’InSight’ will get to the ‘core’ of the nature of the interior and structure of Mars, well below the observations we’ve been able to make from orbit or the surface,” Grunsfeld said. 
