Bengaluru Feb 23 PTI India and Israel discussed avenues for expanding space relations in the backdrop of reforms in the sector announced by the Narendra Modi government in addition to ongoing cooperation Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon called on Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary in the Department of Space S Somanath at ISRO headquarters here on Tuesday The ongoing interactions between the space agencies and the avenues for expanding space relations between India and Israel in view of space reforms announced by Government of India were discussed during the meeting an ISRO statement said The ISRO is in discussions with Israel Space Agency ISA to enhance cooperation and identify potential opportunities to work together Last year ISRO and ISA reviewed the progress of the ongoing activities including cooperation in electric propulsion system EPS for small satellites and GEO-LEO Geosynchronous Earth Orbit-Low Earth Orbit optical link The two agencies had also discussed potential opportunities of working together in future including launch of Israeli satellites in Indian launcher and commemorating 75th anniversary of Indian independence and 30 years of India-Israel diplomatic relations through an appropriate event in 2022 According to ISROs annual report It is proposed to fly ISAs EPS in ISROs small satellite PTI RS ROH ROH

Bengaluru Jan 21 PTI High-thrust Vikas engine for the Gaganyaan programme has successfully undergone qualification test for a duration of 25 seconds at Indian Space Research Organisation Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri Tamil Nadu With regard to the Vikas engine qualification for the Gaganyaan Programme two engines have already undergone tests under nominal operating conditions for a total duration of 480 seconds the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency noted in a statement The test carried out on Thursday is to verify the robustness of the engine by operating beyond its nominal operating conditions fuel-oxidiser ratio and chamber pressure The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test ISRO said Further three more tests are planned for a cumulative duration of 75 seconds under varying operating conditions Subsequently another high-thrust Vikas engine will undergo a long-duration test for 240 seconds to complete the Vikas engine qualification for the Gaganyaan Programme it was stated PTI RS ROH ROH

Bengaluru Dec 22 PTI Earthquakes of up to a magnitude of 33 occurred about 70 kms north-northeast of Bengaluru on Wednesday morning National Centre for Seismology NCS said Earthquake of Magnitude31 Occurred on 22-12-2021 070936 IST Lat 1359 Long 7773 Depth 11 Km Location 70km NNE of Bengaluru Karnataka India the NCS tweeted Earthquake of Magnitude33 Occurred on 22-12-2021 071432 IST Lat 1355 Long 7776 Depth 23 Km Location 66km NNE of Bengaluru Karnataka NCS said in another tweet PTI RS ROH ROH

Bengaluru Sept 18 PTI The Department of Space DoS has entered into a Framework MoU with aerospace startup Agnikul Cosmos for access to ISRO facilities and expertise towards the development and testing of subsystemssystems of space launch vehiclesThe MoU will enable the company to undertake multiple tests and access facilities at various ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation centres for testing and qualification of its single piece 3D printed Semi Cryo engine and other systemsIt will also enable Agnikul based in National Centre for Combustion RD of IIT-Madras Chennai to avail technical expertise of ISRO for testing and qualifying its space launch vehicle systems and subsystemsAgnikul said the MoU would formally enable it to go forward with its testing plans at ISROWith this level of Govt support low earth orbit does look close tweeted the company which raised USD 11 Million Series A round from institutional and angel investors earlier this year Top Agnikul officials met DoS secretary and ISRO Chairman K Sivan who assured all support from DoS for qualifying Agnikul launch vehicle systemsISROs Scientific Secretary and Chairman Interim IN-SPACe Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre Committee R Umamaheswaran signed the MoU on Friday on behalf of DoS and Agnikul CEO Srinath Ravichandran inked it from the company sideDoS entered into a similar MoU with Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace last week for access to ISRO facilities and expertise towards the development and testing of subsystemssystems of space launch vehiclesThe Framework MoU will enable the company for undertaking multiple tests and access facilities at various ISRO centres and also to avail technical expertise of ISRO for testing and qualifying its space launch vehicle systems and subsystemsMeanwhile earlier this week the ISRO Chairman inaugurated the spacecraft research laboratory at Bellatrix Aerospace located at the Indian Institute of Science campus hereThis privately funded propulsion lab has in-house facilities for development and testing of electric and green chemical propulsion technologies according ISROSivan appreciated the young team for establishing the state-of-the art facility which houses equipment such as integrated thermal high vacuum test facilities catalytic reactors propellant preparation facilities and specialised high temperature coating facilities PTI RS ROH ROH

Bengaluru Aug 24 PTI The Indian Space Research Organisation has come out with an Announcement of Opportunity AO seeking proposals towards scientific analysis and utilisation of data from all experiments of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiterAccording to ISRO the data from Chandrayaan-1 had been extensively used by Indian researchers to understand lunar morphology surface age determination and composition of the lunar surface studies on the possible presence of magmatic as well as exogenic waterThese studies have provided enhanced thoughtful views regarding lunar evolutionary processes the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said Such studies from Chandrayaan-1 have considerably expanded Indian lunar science communityTo further strengthen the Indian research community for lunar science studies Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads data are made available to public and scientific proposals are solicited for scientific analysis it saidChandrayaan-2 orbiter is currently in a 100 km x 100 km circular polar orbit around the Moon and carries eight experiments for studies ranging from surface geology and composition to exospheric measurements that would continue to build upon the understanding from previous lunar missionsOn December 24 2020 Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads data were released to public for scientific analysisSubsequently in July 2021 next sets of data were released from payloads A few science results by payload science teams are already published in international peer reviewed journalsThe Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads are generating high quality data which are made available in public domain httpspradanissdcgovin for scientific analysis More data sets will be added to this as acquired by various payloads the space agency saidTo enhance the science outcome from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads ISRO seeks scientific proposals from the national scientific community through this AO towards scientific analysis and utilisation of data from all experiments of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter ISRO saidThe AO is open to all researchers from recognised academic institutions universities colleges planetaria and government organisations of India it was stated PTI RS ROH ROH