Antariksham #14
First Uncrewed Gaganyaan Flight likely in June'22, New CY-2 Dataset released, ISRO based Clothing, Scientific Paper on AstroSat data and more.
ISRO News
Gaganyaan Updates
While ISRO tested the Vikas engine for the upcoming Gaganyaan uncrewed test flight, the latest headlines state the mission is being delayed still. The first flight earlier said to launch in December 2021 is now being targeted for June 2022 or later. The flight would not test essential life support systems. The primary aim is to test the vehicle performance for the human-rated GSLV Mk-III and reentry profile of the capsule. The capsule would carry some micro-gravity experiments as well.
ISRO Semi Cryogenic Engine Updates
The Indian Space Agency is developing a Semi-Cryogenic Engine in collaboration with Ukraine. A user on Reddit posted the latest google maps images for the test facility, indicating that the Semi-cryogenic Integrated Engine Test Facility (SIET) and Semi-Cryo Test Control Centre (TCC) are "almost ready."
Monthly Summary of Department of Space
The Department of Space used to release a monthly update of the work of DOS until the pandemic stuck. Since then, there were no new updates. Recently, they posted documents for the past year on the ISRO website. The summaries are pretty descriptive of the workings of ISRO in the remote sensing domain.
ISRO released a new dataset of Chandrayaan-2, unannounced
Various users pointed out the appearance of 11 new images taken by the Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) payload along with hundreds of images from the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2) and more. @astro_neel plotted the OHRC images, some of which have a 0.23m/px resolution, on LROC quickmap. You can explore the images and other data on ISRO's Pradan web portal.
NewSpace India Limited Annual Report 2019-20
NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of the Department of Space, released its annual report for the year 2019-20. It contains information regarding the mandate, organisation and accomplishments of the company. A key takeaway: "NSIL released Expression of Interest (EoI) for PSLV production through Indian Industry(ies) and received responses. As the next step, release of RFP to the shortlisted parties, is in progress."
TU Delft and IIST sign MoU
The Twitter handle of Netherlands Innovation Network India announced that TU Delft and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, IIST have signed an MoU to work towards innovations in space. Space IoT, Robotics, Crewed Missions, Health Monitoring & Education, are some areas the two sides will work on.
ISRO Merchandise coming soon
Last week, in Anariksham #13, there was a mention of the company Indic Inspirations Pvt. Ltd. for ISRO merchandise. Now, another company, 1947ind, has announced an MoU with ISRO for clothing apparel. The website for company features coming soon post for the same.
Papers
Science by AstroSat
Indian Scientists detected star-forming galaxies in the "Bootes Void" using AstroSat data. The galaxies were previously unexplored by other platforms.
Divya, P., Kanak, S. and Ananta, P.C., 2021. The Ultraviolet Deep Imaging Survey of Galaxies in the Bootes Void I: catalog, color-magnitude relations and star formation. arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.01774.
NewSpace India
Earth and Space Exploration Program 2021 kicked off on Monday as part of Mars Amity Research Station, MARS. The program features two crews, 6 science groups, 3 regions and over 20 organisations.
Manastu Space is to unveil its products soon, according to a video posted on their YouTube channel.
Podcasts and Discussions
ISRO, CII to organise an international conference on space from Sept 13-Oct 4
Clubhouse Space Clubs: Small Steps & Giant Leaps, every Friday
NewSpace India Discord server discussions, every Saturday
Satcom Industry Association India - International Virtual Conference on 4th - 5th August 2021
Godrej's experience of spin-offs from ISRO technology: Surendra Vaidya talks about Godrej's experience of taking technology from working with ISRO to solve problems in other sectors.
Job Openings
Junior Research Fellows for India's first Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project at Amity University, Mumbai
Other Articles
TSMC, Intel, Samsung unlikely to chip in, India could use DIY in Semicon
A good summary of the rise of Indian Space Start-ups: Allowing private players to ISRO facilities marks new era in Indian space segment