Tag: India
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India Successfully Launches INSAT-3DS Meteorological Satellite
India achieved another milestone in its space exploration efforts with the successful launch of the INSAT-3DS meteorological satellite. The satellite was launched aboard a 51.7-meter-long Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The GSLV lifted off at 7:05 a.m. Eastern on Feb. 17, delivering the INSAT-3DS into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The…
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Rocket Report: SpaceX’s record year; Firefly’s Alpha rocket falls short
Welcome to Edition 6.25 of the Rocket Report! We hope all our readers had a peaceful holiday break. While many of us were enjoying time off work, launch companies like SpaceX kept up the pace until the final days of 2023. Last year saw a record level of global launch activity, with 223 orbital launch…
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India reveals that it has returned lunar spacecraft to Earth orbit
A little more than three months ago the Indian space agency, ISRO, achieved a major success by putting its Vikram lander safely down on the surface of the Moon. In doing so India became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, and this further ignited the country’s interest in space exploration.…
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Rocket Report: China launches 3-man crew; SpaceX adds to busy manifest
Welcome to Edition 6.17 of the Rocket Report! Two Asian powers notched achievements in their human spaceflight programs this week. In China, three astronauts launched to begin a six-month expedition on the Tiangong space station. With this mission, China is settling into a routine of operations on the Tiangong complex. Elsewhere in Asia, India took…
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India celebrates “first major milestone” on path to launching astronauts
In 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed his nation to develop its own capability to send astronauts into orbit, an achievement that would make India the fourth country with an independent human spaceflight program. On Saturday, that ambition moved a step closer to reality with a successful test of the human-rated spacecraft’s launch-abort system.…
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India sets sights on a Moon landing in 2040, but is it realistic?
In recent years the nation of India has embraced spaceflight as a means of establishing itself as a major geopolitical player. The Soviet Union and United States, of course, pioneered the use of space exploration to exercise soft power in the 1960s during the Cold War. More recently China has used its various space missions,…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch three Starlink missions; India to test crew abort system
Another busy period in spaceflight is underway with three Falcon 9 rockets with Starlink payloads and the first test flight of India’s Gaganyaan crew-capable spacecraft. Starlink 6-23 flew – ahead of 6-24 – from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, while Starlink 7-5 flew out of SLC-4E…
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India launches first solar research mission, Aditya-L1, aboard PSLV
India’s space program continued its busy 2023 with the launch of its first solar research mission, Aditya-L1, on Saturday. Liftoff, aboard the country’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) XL rocket, occurred at 11:50 Indian Standard Time (06:20 UTC) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Aditya-L1 will be the first mission conducted by the Indian Space…
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India’s accomplishments in space are getting more impressive
It’s been more than a week since India’s Chandrayaan 3 mission landed on the Moon, and it’s a good time to assess where the world’s most populous nation stands relative to other global space powers. The successful arrival of the Chandrayaan 3 mission’s Vikram lander on the Moon made India the first country besides China…
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India’s accomplishments in space are getting more impressive
It’s been more than a week since India’s Chandrayaan 3 mission landed on the Moon, and it’s a good time to assess where the world’s most populous nation stands relative to other global space powers. The successful arrival of the Chandrayaan 3 mission’s Vikram lander on the Moon made India the first country besides China…