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India Launches Record 20 Satellites In Space Using A Single Rocket (indiatimes.com)
William Robinson writes from a report via Times of India: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) used its workhorse PSLV-C34 to inject 20 satellites which includes 17 satellites from various countries like US, Canada, Germany and Indonesia, into orbit in a single mission and set a new record on Wednesday. In the final stages of the mission, ISRO also demonstrated the vehicle's capability to place satellites in different orbits. In the demonstration, the vehicle reignited twice after its fourth and final stage and moved further a few kilometers into another orbit. Also included are a couple of satellites from academic institutions, Sathyabamasat from Sathyabhama University, Chennai and Swayam from College of Engineering, Pune. From the report: "The 320 ton Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C34) took off on its 36th flight at 9:26 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Center with 20 satellites including its primary payload Cartosat-2 series, which provides remote sensing services, and earth observation and imaging satellites from U.S., Canada, Germany and Indonesia. It was also the 14th flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors. ISRO scientists said, the vehicle had been pre-programmed for today's launch to perform tiny maneuvering to place the 20 satellites into polar sun-synchronous orbits with different inclinations and velocities. It ensured that the satellites were placed with enough distance to prevent collision."
way to go !
A great demonstration of Indian technological ability. As they say, when India was partitioned one part got its flag on the moon while the other part got a moon on its flag.
Guess they had a lot of practice with the trains...
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
ISRO set a world record for the highest number of satellites launched in a single mission when it placed 10 satellites in a PSLV on April 28, 2008. Nasa in 2013 placed 29 satellites in a single mission and Russia in 2014 launched 33 satellites in one launch.
In soviet Russia, satellite launch you !
"...imaging satellites from U.S., Canada, Germany and Indonesia...."
Those satellitles would have made their way into space regardless of whether India launched them or not. Also, 20 is now a small number -- http://phys.org/news/2014-02-nasa-deploys-record-breaking-small-satellites.html
a few years ago, when they sent their orbiter to Mars, i was listening to an interview with a head honcho of their space programme on BBC radio. the interviewer mentioned they're a country where over half the population have no access to a toilet and whether it's reasonable to spend so much money on a space programme instead of sanitation. i was cringing just sitting in my car. the interviewee tried really hard to imply space programme will bring progress and benefit the whole nation but one could see he was just grasping at straws. it was very uncomfortable to listen to.
The satellite projects made by univ students always get sent for free. They just have to wait till the bus is full though. This is a same auto-rickshaw that took to Mars.
> We already have far too many satellites and pieces of debris in orbit [...]
Says you while whipping out the smartphone to get location (GPS) and directions (mapping satellites) -- and a weather forecast for tomorrow (weather satellites) to attend the open-air folk festival.
Look, I'm too of the opinion that our current system is too wasteful of everything (human, natural resources) and that we should be thinking hard on how to do things better, on how to rein-in uncontrolled capitalism, led by pure greed, to better serve us humans. There's lot to criticize. Let's do that.
But "India... sholdn't be doing this" is not part of my utopia. Who should? USA? Finland? Vanuatu? Nobody?
If you possess any tiny bit of modern tech *you* are part of it. If you don't want it: go to the Amish. But then you would be cut off from wanking on slashdot.
"Danger, Will Robinson"
Anybody?
No.
It's sad that it is a poor and polluted country. It *is* sad that there are such poor and polluted countries. But we "first-worlders" are a significant part of this problem, remember.
What do *you* do to change this?
...why Britain still sends record amounts of foreign aid to India....?
Really? I've always heard very simple justifications—it runs at a profit. If they shut the programme down, they'd have less money to spend on sanitation, not more.
I was waiting to see if any nutcase comes up with this or other stupid stuff. So there are still some ignorants left in USA!!!
We are? Why?
Not sad at all. If you think to get your country out of the dark ages by building sanitation first, and only then tackling education, followed by modernisation of agriculture, decent justice and law enforcement, health care, and social security, before embarking on a space programme (or paying other countries to launch your sats), then you have another think coming. India's space program is both cheap and successful and it will pay off in the long run. In terms of reputation and inspiration, it is already paying off now.
I hear the same stupid question when there's news of a programme to get Internet to rural Africa, or to get smart phones in the hands of Asian farmers: "what would they need with that when they barely survive?" Just as subsistence farmers derive huge benefits from having a connected smart phone (more than we selfie-posting drones do with our phones), a developing nation can reap a great return from space technology. And for a nation like India it makes sense to get into the space game themselves instead of relying on others: the space programme helps their industry and their defense, which in turn helps inspire and retain valuable talent. As long as they can do so cheaply.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
I'm the AC who started the thread. Indeed, it is sad that in the 21st there still are polluted and poor countries, but I disagree with something.
We first-worlders _were_ part of the problem (to be precise, started to tackle it ages ago). Efficient/low emission cars are developed exclusively by first-worlders, and mostly used by first-worlders. Efficient/low emission technologies are developed by first-worlders almost exclusively. On top of that, and although we are not poverty-free, only a fraction of the citizens are poor. And by poor I mean poor, not the inability to buy a nexus 5.
First-worlders are far from perfect, but the contrast of these things are way less striking. Things are better covered. If they don't ask to balance things a bit more, I'm definitely not doing it for them.
> We first-worlders _were_ part of the problem [...]
A couple of pointers to you: weapons exports, trade agreement blackmail, neocolonialism in help's disguise...
The EU is putting lots of little African chicken farmers out of their jobs thanks to a trade agreement forcing disgustingly cheap chicken meat (the parts we EUsians don't want to eat) down their throats. Any wonder they risk their lives to just be elsewhere?
Germany's "development help" to "poor countries" dwindles wrt its gross revenue from weapons export.
That's to elaborate on just two points.
No, we first worlders didn't stop being part of the problem. Our relative wealth is built on other people's bones. Unfortunately.
Fortunately, it was not necessary to carry on-board toilets - India has yet to master the toilet technology.
well, this project might and that's good. mars orbiter on the other hand isn't a commercial endeavor.
oh, it's full of them. i, however, am not from there (hence the reference to BBC).
taken from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
In 2010, the UN estimated based on Indian statistics that 626 million people practice open defecation.[10] In June 2012 Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh stated India is the world's largest "open air toilet". He also remarked that Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have better sanitation records.[11]
It is not an economic problem there, it's a Social problem. I have several friends that emigrated here from india and they all will freely admit, "it's not a nice place" because of the class and caste system allows horrible treatment of others.
The ones that flee to come here looking for freedom, they come here for really good reasons. Parts of india may be beautiful and amazing but a large amount of is still filled with human suffering all in the name of tradition.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
(some space stuff came from) from College of Engineering, Pune.
Sounds like a tasty place.
Can't find it in TFA, were these cubesats? Did they use the CA Poly SLO spring launcher?
As long as they can do so cheaply.
I was 100 percent with you, until you posted that.
We've been trying the concept of the path to wealth is via having as many people as possible as poor as possible here since the early 1980s. It always looks like a good idea until they come for your wealth.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
> Isn't it sad that such a poor (and polluted) country like the USA devotes money to put garbage into space?
FTFY
The USA has the largest economy, but still has people living on the streets, lots of mental health issues, many people so overweight as to be dangerous, more people incarcerated per capita than Durkadurkastan, has horrendous crime stats, lots of unemployment, etc etc. Should the US have fixed all those things before going into space?
And GOI in last 2 years has built more than 8 million toilets in rural India. India will be open defacation free in next 3 years. And in next 3 years it will also be one of the top 4 nations in space.
None of these things need to be serial.
Note : Jairam Ramesh is largely regarded as a retard in India ..thats why his party was kicked out of power & managed its lowest ever performance in 7 decades
A significant part of 1st World's wealth is built by killing Indians(and Chinese) & stealing from them
Estimates as to how much India should claim from Britain for its "rule" vary between USD 8 to 14 trillion dollars. Go back and look at the world GDP map over centuries Answers are self evident
The people shitting into the landscape are nevertheless sitting in front of the TV in front of a small restaurant or pub (on the ground) and watching the launch and cheering over its success and are proud about their country!
And they dream to sent a son or daughter to university to participate in such an adventure. Often the whole family is pooling up all their money to do that. And I for my part meet those kids here in Germany in an irish pub after they come from their studies from the KIT.
Go back and play Civilization IV.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
So what, they are just lower caste members or even pariah's. No good hindu should care.
Look up Asia on a map some time. It's not just South Korea, China and Japan. Hint: India is also in Asia.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
It's not about that. It simply makes a lot less sense to run your own space program if you can buy launches from others at half the price.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
> And in next 3 years it will also be one of the top 4 nations in space.
let's hope they won't forget to bring space toilets along.
I SO want the last stage to look like a little car and all the satellites to be painted up like clowns!
How come Slashdot never gets Slashdotted?
Am I the only one thinking this is an indirect demonstration of potential ICBM MIRV capability? IIRC, the physics and engineering behind launching multiple satellites into different orbits on a single rocket is not that far off from putting multiple warheads on a single ICBM.
20 satellites is hardly a "ridiculous amount", now is it? But that made me wonder if all those junk satellites on orbit, made of highly refined materials and often having perfectly functional components, might serve as a harvestable resource for an orbital. It would require an orbit-only craft with maybe ion engines or solar sail to capture and some kind of workshop to disassemble them.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
No Need. Pakistan is on it's path of self destruction.
Mars Orbiter is for PR, just like the moon landing was great PR for NASA. The right people will look and consider using ISRO's launch services.
Indians need inspiration, a diverse economy, and lots of different opportunities, just like everyone else. Good on India getting a viable space program running.
If all you ever do is say, "how can country X spend money on program Y, when sad situation Z exists?", then you miss out on how progress really happens. You can't fix all problems, and even for those you can fix, forward movement is uneven and a bit unpredictable. Thus it is a strategic error to create a singular focus. Also, national economies aren't linear, so national priorities aren't either.
Still not convinced? Take a look at the Chinese Great Leap Forward. They tried throwing all their resources at a single national priority (steel production) and the effort was a gigantic mistake. I call it the Great Leap Backward in terms of what it did to the Chinese economy.
Also this launch alone made more money than what ISRO spent on the mars rover mission.
India is now part of Missile Technology Control Regime too, so there should even more demand for ISRO's services, since compliance is no longer a problem.
HEY EVERYONE! LOOK AT WHAT A GREAT PERSON THIS AC IS! Isn't he so good? Look at how good he is! I mean just look! Gosh! What a great guy/gal.
Because we take our poo to the loo.
We've been trying the concept of the path to wealth is via having as many people as possible as poor as possible here since the early 1980s.
Not true. Even India has been getting wealthier at the individual level and has a declining fertility. I think a huge part of the problem in this area are the myths. Economics is a positive sum game and the path to wealth is not as you describe.
Now if only that apostrophe could self-destruct, then you wouldn't have written IT IS when you wanted ITS.
Could you explain to me why you wrote members, but then you wrote pariah's? Are plurals a complex concept?
Yes but their eyes are fixed on the stars and they dream that one day they will shit in space.
this clearly is a great technical innovation because it was pre-programmed.
I am not a programmer. in fact, I'm not in IT. I learn enough on slashdot to follow some of the conversations of my friends. I value slashdot greatly. Currently I feel ignorant:
Can someone explain the difference between programmed and pre-programmed for this layman, please?
Ya, thanks to I SLAM.
Also, 29 is now a small number -- http://spacenews.com/40974dnep...
Efficient/low emission cars are developed exclusively by first-worlders
You mean cars that can pass the low emission tests but otherwise pollute 10 time more on roads.
...What a great guy/gal.
What a great guy/gal/gay/lesb... just to be politically correct.
The era of permanently clouded skies approaches!
Well done though (: If we're going to spiral into oblivion, might as well do it optimally.