ISRO Orbital Vehicle

ISRO Orbital Vehicle

The design of ISRO OV
Operator	ISRO
Mission type	Crew Exploration Vehicle
Satellite of	Earth
Carrier rocket	GSLV Mk II
Launch site	Satish Dhawan Space Centre
Mission duration	7 days

The Indian manned spacecraft temporarily named Orbital Vehicle is intended to be the basis of the indigenous Indian human spaceflight program. The capsule will be designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability. In its maiden manned mission, ISRO's largely autonomous 3-ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 248 miles (400 km) altitude for up to seven days with a two-person crew on board. The crew vehicle would launch on ISRO's GSLV Mk II, currently under development. The GSLV Mk II features a cryogenic upper-stage engine.^[1]

History

The development of the Orbital Vehicle began in 2006. The plan was to design a simple Mercury-class spacecraft with an endurance of about a week in space. It was designed to carry two astronauts and to land in water upon re-entry. The design was finalized by March 2008, and was submitted to the Government of India for funding. The funding for the Indian Human Spaceflight program was sanctioned in February 2009.^[2] The first unmanned flight of the Orbital Vehicle is expected to be in 2013.^[3]

ISRO based the Orbital Vehicle on the design of the SRE. ISRO had launched and recovered the 550-kg Space Recovery Capsule in January 2007. The full-scale manned OV spaceship was said to be derived from this, although ISRO's published concept showed a more elongated conical shape than the SRE.

Description

The OV is a fully autonomous three-ton capsuled spacecraft designed to carry a 3 member crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth after a mission duration of few orbits to two days.

The space capsule will have life control and environment control systems. It will be equipped with emergency mission abort and emergency escape that can be done at the first stage and second stage of the rocket.^[4] The illustration of the spacecraft showed a main engine and smaller orientation engines arranged in a light package around the base of the capsule, indicating an earth-orbit maneuvering capability was to be included. The nose of the original version of the OV was free for a docking mechanism, but primary entry was evidently through a side hatch secured by explosive bolts.^[5]

The Orbital Vehicle is slated to be launched on the GSLV Mk II launcher.^[6]

About 16 minutes after liftoff from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, the rocket will inject the OV into an orbit 300–400 km from the Earth. The capsule would return for a splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian OV spacecraft will be significantly smaller than current Russian Soyuz, Chinese Shenzhou (spacecraft) or the canceled US Orion spaceships but larger than the past US Gemini spacecraft.

While many technological elements to put together a manned flight are already available, ISRO would need to develop many new and novel technologies to ensure a foolproof life-support system, safety, reliability and an escape system for the crew. And in order to perfect the reentry techniques considered crucial for a manned flight, ISRO is planning to carry out three more flights of Space Recovery Capsules (SRE) and few unmanned flights of the OV spaceship.^[7]

Funding and Infrastructure

Development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle to carry a two-member crew into a low Earth orbit has begun. ISRO sources said the flight is likely to be in 2016. The government has allocated 50 crore (US$10 million) for pre-project initiatives for 2007 through 2008. A manned mission into space would require about 12,400 crore (US$3 billion) and a period of seven years. The Planning Commission estimates that a budget of 5000 crore (US$1 billion) is required for initial work of the manned mission during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–12). The project report prepared by ISRO has been cleared by the space commission.^[8][9] In February, 2009 the Government of India has given the green signal for the Manned Space flight Program due to launch in 2016.^[10]

MC Dathan, director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), stated that ISRO will set up a full-fledged training facility in Bangalore for training astronauts. ISRO is also planning to build a third launch pad at Sriharkota for manned missions with extra facilities like entry into the crew capsule and an escape chute.^[9]

In spring 2009 the full-scale mock-up of crew capsule of OV was built and delivered to Satish Dhawan Space Centre for training of astronauts. [1]

Russian cooperation

A cooperative agreement was sealed in an accord signed on December 5, 2008 by ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and Roskosmos Director-General Anatoly Perminov during a state visit to India by Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. Under the accord, the initial plan was that an Indian cosmonaut will fly aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2013 ahead of ISRO's planned 2016 mission. Roskosmos will also help in crew selection and training and in construction of ISRO's orbiter vehicle.^[11] However, in 2010 Russia announced that India no longer planned to do a Soyuz mission.^[12]

ISRO's human spaceflight program will benefit from assistance provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency. Russia and India have a long history of space-related collaboration. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space, flying to the then-Soviet Union's Salyut 7 space station aboard a Soyuz capsule.^[13]

Schedule

In January 2010, it was announced that the ISRO OV is scheduled to be launched with astronauts into space around 2016.^[14]

Operators

•  India

See also

Spaceflight portal

• Indian human spaceflight program
• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
• GSLV Mk III
• Space exploration
• Human spaceflight

References

1. ^ http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090211-india-manned-spaceship.html
2. ^ Priyadarshi, Siddhanta (2009-02-23). "Planning Commission Okays ISRO Manned Space Flight Program". Indian Express. pp. 2. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/plan-panel-okays-isro-manned-space-flight/426945/=. 
3. ^ http://www.indiaedunews.net/Science/ISRO_gets_green_signal_for_manned_space_mission_7530/
4. ^ http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jan42009/national20090104110557.asp
5. ^ Orbital Vehicle
6. ^ ISRO eyes a manned Moon mission by 2015, awaiting Govt approval
7. ^ Towards an Indian manned flight
8. ^ Eleventh Five year Plan (2007-12) proprosals for Indian space program
9. ^ ^{a b} "ISRO plans manned mission to moon in 2014". Business Standard. http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=336718&chkFlg=. 
10. ^ BBC.co.uk - India announces first manned space mission - Jan 27th, 2010
11. ^ Russia to help make 'Indian Soyuz' for manned flight
12. ^ Indian Cosmonauts will not Fly in Russian Soyuz (Oct.10, 2010)
13. ^ The Times Of India. December 10, 2008. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Russia_to_take_Indian_astronaut_on_space_mission_in_2013/rssarticleshow/3817475.cms. 
14. ^ Beary, Habib (January 27, 2010). "India manned space trip 'by 2016'". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8483787.stm. Retrieved May 5, 2010.