ISRO to launch CMS-03 satellite in November, says Chairman Narayanan
Bengaluru (PTI): ISRO has scheduled two launches of its heavy-lift rocket LVM-3 to place in orbit two satellites -- CMS-03 and private US communications satellite BlueBird--before this year-end, chairman V Narayanan said on Thursday.
Narayanan said the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite, launched on July 30, was currently in the calibration stage and will become operational within 10-15 days.
"The satellite is healthy and both the payloads are working well," he added.
At a press conference to announce the Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave 2025, the ISRO chief listed out future missions of the space agency and asserted that 90 per cent work on the Gaganyaan project was complete.
The Gaganyaan mission is India’s first human spaceflight mission under development.
"Next month beginning, we are going to have the LVM3-M5 lift off to place a CMS-03 satellite," Narayanan said.
According to ISRO officials, the CMS-03 also known as GSAT7-R is likely to be launched on November 2.
BlueBird-6, a 6.5 tonne satellite of a US firm, is expected to be launched by the year-end, Narayanan said.
"We have received the satellite and are working for the launch, and the launch vehicle build-up is going on," the ISRO Chairman told reporters here.
One of the heaviest commercial satellites, BlueBird-6, arrived in India from the United States on October 19.
Asked about the progress of Chandrayaan-4, the ISRO Chairman said the project is in its design phase.
"Right now, we are working on the design phase and its approved projects. Also establishing the infrastructure that is the basic standard," he said.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission includes bringing back moon rocks and soil to earth after a soft landing on the lunar surface, launching a spacecraft from the moon, demonstrating a space docking experiment in lunar orbit and getting the samples back to earth.
Speaking about NavIC, India's indigenous navigation satellite system, Narayanan said, "We have four satellites and are building three more satellites. Yes, there were setbacks, but we're working on it."
"The NavIC navigation constellation, too, will be completed within 18 months with three new satellites," he added.
Responding to a question on the NVS-02 satellite which had a technical glitch, he said, "The satellite has gone to the elliptical orbit and we could not take it to circular orbit because of a valve malfunction."
The failure analysis committee formed to look into it has completed the investigation and zeroed down on the fault, he said.
"The recommendation of the committee will be placed before the government," he added.
Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly outlined the space mission 2047, the ISRO chief said today, India has around 56 satellites in the orbit serving the common man of this country.
"In another three to four years timeframe, the number of satellites are going to be increased to something around three times and by 2027, we are going to accomplish the Gaganyaan programme," he said.
"We are going to build our own space station called Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and first module, we have got the project approval and right now the work is going on and it is going to be placed in the orbit by 2028," Narayanan said.
Speaking on the next generation launcher, he said that the capability of the first launch was only 35 kg which was successfully accomplished in the year 1980.
"Today, we are talking about something around 30,000 kg to low earth orbit through the next generation launcher. Also, PM Modi has given a guideline for building a launcher for enabling the crewed lunar mission," the ISRO chief said.
"We are in the conceiving phase. We have not completed the design but it has to lift off something about 75,000 to 80,000 kg type of mass it has to lift off. That is the type of work that is going on," he added.
According to him, till today, around 433 satellites from 34 countries have been accomplished. Out of that, almost 95 satellites were accomplished during the last ten years.
"That means when the entire launch programme started from 1980, in 45 years, the last 10 years is 95 per cent of the foreign satellite launch. That shows the exponential growth of the space sector," he said.
"Initially, we were going through the experimental phase, gradually we moved to operational phase. Today we have exponential growth," Narayanan said.
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Talks ended without deal due to 'excessive demands' made by US: Iran
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Islamabad (PTI): The Iran-US talks in Pakistan have ended without a deal due to "excessive demands" made by the American side, a top Iranian official said on Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, however, said Iran is determined to utilise all tools, including diplomacy, to secure national interests and protect the country's well-being.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, said the talks failed to reach a peace deal, citing Tehran not forgoing its nuclear programme as one of the key sticking points. He said the American side presented its "final and best offer" to the Iranian side, but it did not accept it.
Baqaei, however, said that the two sides reached a consensus on some issues, but they held different views regarding 2-3 important matters.
He said that during the intensive negotiations that began Saturday morning, with Pakistan's mediation, numerous messages and texts were exchanged between the two sides.
"In the past 24 hours, discussions were held on various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region," Baqaei said.
"The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran's legitimate rights and interests," he added.
He said it was natural that Iran should not have expected from the beginning to reach an agreement within one meeting. "No one expected that either."
"We have not forgotten and will not forget the experiences of America's breaches of promise and malicious acts," he said.
He thanked Pakistan for hosting the negotiations and for its efforts in advancing this process.
In a brief statement to the media, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan helped mediate several rounds of “intense and constructive” discussions over the past 24 hours.
Expressing hope for progress, Dar said both sides should maintain a positive spirit to achieve durable peace and regional stability.
Dar said Pakistan would continue to play its role in facilitating engagement and dialogue between Iran and the United States in the coming days.
The Iranian delegation, led by Speaker Mohammad Baqir Galibaf, had arrived in Islamabad on Friday night, while the US delegation, headed by Vice President JD Vance, arrived on Saturday morning.
It was the first direct, high-level engagement between Iran and the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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