REMCs dedicated to the nation
Power Minister R K Singh on 28 February 2020 dedicated to the nation 11 Renewable Energy Management Centres (REMCs) for renewable energy integration.
Singh also inaugurated the Northern Region Renewable Energy Management Centre (NR-REMC) at a function in New Delhi.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22991-remcs-dedicated-to-the-nation.html
#REMCs #SLDCs #POSOCO #NLDC #RKSingh #CPSE

Global virus risk to maximum level
The World Health Organization on 28 February 2020 raised its global risk assessment of the new coronavirus to its highest level after the epidemic spread to sub-Saharan Africa and caused financial markets to plunge.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22990-global-virus-risk-to-maximum-level.html
#Global #WHO #TAG #SARS #COVID19 #microscope #virus

First glimpse of GISAT-1 satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 28 February 2020 shared the first glimpse of Geo Imaging Satellite-1 (GISAT-1), that is scheduled to be launched on March 5 at 17:43 hours.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22989-first-glimpse-of-gisat-1-satellite.html
#GISAT1 #satellite #ISRO #GSLVF10 #ChandrayaanI

Wearable devices application rejected
The Indian Patent Office rejected Google’s application on wearable electronic devices, observing that it lacks inventive steps and the use and the method by which it is to be performed is not fully described in complete specification.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22988-wearable-devices-application-rejected.html
#Wearable #IPA #Google #satellite #OS

Biggest explosion since Big Bang
Astronomers have discovered the biggest explosion seen since the begining of the universe, originating from a super-massive black hole.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22987-biggest-explosion-since-big-bang.html
#BigBang #NASA #explosion #ICRAR #DrSimonaGiacintucci

New Prime Minister of Malaysia
Malaysia's kingnamed former interior minister Muhyiddin Yassin as the new prime minister on 29 February 2020 in a shock decision that sidelined old rivals Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim after a week of political turmoil.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22986-new-prime-minister-of-malaysia.html
#Malaysia #NewPrimeMinister #UMNO #AnwarIbrahim #alliance

China launches last satellite for its BDS
China on 23 June 2020 successfully launched the last satellite of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted to be a competitor to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the US, taking another step to becoming a major space power.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/24096-china-launches-last-satellite-for-its-bds.html
#Chinalaunches #satellite #BDS #GPS #IRNSS

Moon is asymmetric
The Moon is our planet’s natural satellite, the closest neighbour, and the only extraterrestrial body where humans have ever set foot.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/24095-moon-is-asymmetric.html
#Moon #asymmetric #satellite #Earth #lunarmaria #REE

NASA’s retired satellite OGO-1
NASA’s satellite-Orbiting Geophysics Observatory 1 spacecraft (OGO-1) that was launched into space in September 1964 will soon be entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/25314-nasa-s-retired-satellite-ogo-1.html
#NASAs #satellite #OGO1 #Earths #UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Hughes India selected for satellite broadband
The government has selected Hughes Communications India to connect 5,000 village panchayats in border and Naxal-affected states as well as in island territories with satellite broadband under BharatNet project by March 2021.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/26546-hughes-india-selected-for-satellite-broadband.html
#HughesIndia #satellite #broadband #UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Sentinel-6 satellite launched
The Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, designed to monitor oceans, was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 21 November 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/27215-sentinel-6-satellite-launched.html
#Sentinel6 #satellite #UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses #ksgnews

KSG Podcast - How many satellites are orbiting Earth | Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NioK76LiIVE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=7
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - Space diplomacy | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial #Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbrwND5I2Bc
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - Space diplomacy | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial #Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbrwND5I2Bc&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=1
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - How many satellites are orbiting Earth | Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NioK76LiIVE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=51
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - How many satellites are orbiting Earth | Exam Oriented Edited Editorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NioK76LiIVE&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=52
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - Space diplomacy | Short Crisp Concise and Exam Oriented Edited Editorial #Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbrwND5I2Bc&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=55
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Today's Headlines - 24 July 2023
India’s first ‘satellite network portal site’
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

The Gujarat government through its Department of Science and Technology (DST) signed a memorandum of understanding with OneWeb India Communications Pvt Ltd for setting up a ‘satellite network portal site’ — a first for India — at Mehsana in Gujarat.

What is the Satellite network portal site?

Satellite broadband technology or satellite telephony is not a new concept and with satellite constellations in the low Earth orbit (LEO) gaining traction with StarLink, Kuiper and OneWeb among many others, the world is increasingly moving towards relying on LEO satellite communications.
LEO satellites operate at an altitude of 500 to 1,200 km, making it ripe for high-speed and low latency — a lower time lag between a user seeking data, and the server sending that data, compared to geostationary Earth orbit positioned satellites.
OneWeb has 648 satellites orbiting at 1,000-1,200 km making 13 orbits per day, covering the entire globe.
The satellite network portal (SNP) site will serve as a signal and data downlink and uplink terminal or base station on the ground, an intermediary for data transmission through satellite tracking antenna systems.
OneWeb India Communications plans to invest up to Rs 100 crore in this project, which would, according to the Gujarat government, create 500 direct and indirect jobs, including jobs requiring telecom, electronics and instrumentation engineers.
Apart from civil infrastructure, setting up an SNP like this will also require a slew of regulatory approvals from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and spectrum allocation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Earlier, HCIPL and OneWeb, in January 2022, announced a strategic six-year Distribution Partner agreement to provide low Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity services across India, to deliver services to enterprises and government with OneWeb capacity, especially in areas outside the reach of fibre connectivity.

#upsc #news #todayheadline #india #satellite #network #portalsite #spacetechnology #gujarat #government #science #DST #oneweb #communications #mehsana #telephony #constellation #LEO #earth #starlink #kuiper #geostationary #SNP #terminal #INSPACE #fibre #connectivity #strategic #telecomregulatory

Today's Headlines - 31 July 2023
ISRO PSLV-C56 mission successful
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

India space agency, ISRO, on 30 July 2023 successfully launched its proven PSLV rocket carrying seven Singaporean satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. After lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and it was followed by six other co-passenger satellites, which were deployed into the intended orbits sequentially.

The primary payload

The primary payload carried by ISRO's trusted workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is the DS-SAR Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite, which has been developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the Government of Singapore) and ST Engineering, Singapore.
The 360-kg satellite, upon deployment at an altitude of 535 km into a Near-equatorial Orbit (NEO), would be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore.
ST Engineering would use the satellite for multi-modal and higher responsiveness imagery and geospatial services for their commercial customers.
The satellite carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
The payload allows DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day-and-night coverage and it is capable of imaging at 1-metre resolution.

The co-passenger satellites are:

VELOX-AM, a 23 kg technology demonstration microsatellite
ARCADE Atmospheric Coupling and Dynamics Explorer (ARCADE), an experimental satellite
SCOOB-II, a 3U nanosatellite flying a technology demonstrator payload
NULloN by NuSpace, an advanced 3U nanosatellite enabling seamless Internet of Things connectivity in both urban and remote locations
Galassia-2, a 3U nanosatellite that would be orbiting at low earth orbit
ORB-12 STRIDER, a satellite developed under an international collaboration.

About Launch Vehicle

This mission is the 58th flight of PSLV and using the 17th vehicle with Core Alone Configuration.
A Core Alone version of the rocket means the vehicle would not use solid strap-on motors on its sides in the first stage as compared to other variants like PSLV-XL, QL, and DL which use six, four, or two boosters, respectively.
PSLV has earned its title as the 'Workhorse of ISRO' through consistently delivering various satellites into low earth orbits.
This is the second campaign to be undertaken by ISRO after the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 mission which was launched on 14 July 2023 from the second launch pad, at Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

#upsc #news #todayheadline #ISRO #PSLV #mission #space #technology #india #agency #launched #singaporean #satellite #satishdhawan #sriharikota #singapore #NEO #geospatial #SAR #aerospace #industries #israel #VELOXAM #ARCADE #SCOOB #NULION #GALSSSIA2 #ORB12 #chandrayaan3

Today's Headlines - 02 August 2023
Climate change is altering the colour of the oceans
GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

The colour of the Earth’s oceans has significantly altered over the past two decades, most likely due to human-induced climate change, according to a new study. Over 56 per cent of the oceans, more than the total land area on the planet, has experienced the shift in colour, it added. The study, ‘Global climate-change trends detected in indicators of ocean ecology’, was published in the journal Nature.

What makes the oceans colourful in the first place?

In most regions across the world, the oceans appear blue or navy blue for a reason. This happens due to “the absorption and scattering of light”.
When the sunlight falls on deep and clear water, colours with longer wavelengths, such as red, yellow and green, are absorbed by the water molecules but blue and violet, which have a much shorter wavelength, are reflected back.
When sunlight hits the ocean, some of the light is reflected back directly but most of it penetrates the ocean surface and interacts with the water molecules that it encounters.
The red, orange, yellow, and green wavelengths of light are absorbed so that the remaining light we see is composed of the shorter wavelength blues and violets.
But when the water isn’t deep or clean, an ocean can appear to be of a different colour.
For instance, along Argentina’s coastline, where major rivers merge into the Atlantic Ocean, the ocean exudes a brown tint because of dead leaves and sediments spewing from the rivers.
In other parts of the world, the oceans appear green, which happens due to the existence of phytoplankton on the upper surface of the water.
Phytoplanktons are microscopic marine algae that contain the green-coloured pigment chlorophyll.
The pigment helps them absorb sunlight, which they use to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into sugars. Moreover, chlorophyll absorbs the red and blue portions of the light spectrum — or photosynthesis — and reflects green light.

What methods were used to carry out the study?

To conduct the study, Cael and his team first analysed data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite, which has been monitoring ocean colour since 2002 — the measurements are taken in terms of the amount of light coming off the surface of the oceans, at all seven of the different wavelengths of light, from violet to red.
The examination of 20 years worth of data indicated that in more than 50 per cent of the world’s oceans, the colour has changed.
Then, to check if the phenomenon has occurred due to climate change, researchers used a climate model – a computer representation of the Earth.
This model simulated the planet’s oceans under two scenarios: one with the addition of greenhouse gases, and the other without it.
The greenhouse-gas model predicted that a significant trend should show up within 20 years and that this trend should cause changes to ocean colour in about 50 percent of the world’s surface oceans — almost exactly what Cael found in his analysis of real-world satellite data.

#upsc #news #headline #climate #colour #oceans #pigment #phytoplankton #chlorophyll #sediments #spewing #rivers #spectrum #methods #MODIS #NASA #Aqua #satellite #world #earth #wavelength #gases #greenhouse #data #planet

Today's Headlines - 03 August 2023
ISRO rocket debris on Australian shore
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

A large object found on the shores of western Australia a couple of weeks ago has been confirmed to be the debris of an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket, the Australian Space Agency said. ISRO has agreed with the assessment, saying the debris could be from one of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rockets. The ISRO said the agency was still to decide on the future course of action.

Are such incidents normal?

Junk from space objects falling to the earth are not unheard of. Most such incidents involve relatively small fragments from rockets that survive the friction of the atmosphere.
These usually do not make big news, also most of the time the space junk falls into oceans thus posing little danger to human populations.
But there have been a few highly publicised falls as well. In recent times, a large chunk of a 25-tonne Chinese rocket fell into the Indian Ocean in May 2021.
The most famous such case remains that of the Skylab space station, a predecessor to the currently operational International Space Station, which disintegrated in 1979.
Large chunks from this disintegration fell into the Indian Ocean, some of them falling on land in Western Australia.

Isn’t it dangerous?

The threat to life and property from falling space junk is not negligible. Even when falling into the oceans, which is more likely since 70 per cent of the earth’s surface is ocean, large objects can be a threat to marine life, and a source of pollution.
However, there are no recorded incidents of these falling objects causing any appreciable damage anywhere on the earth. When they have dropped over land, so far, it has been over uninhabited areas.

What happens if these objects cause damage?

There are international regulations governing space debris, which include junk falling back on the earth.
Most space-faring countries are signatories to the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.
This convention is one of the several international agreements that complement the Outer Space Treaty, the overarching framework guiding the behaviour of countries in space.
The Liability Convention deals mainly with damage caused by space objects to other space assets, but it also applies to damage caused by falling objects on earth.
The Convention makes the launching country “absolutely liable” to pay compensation for any damage caused by its space object on the earth or to a flight in air. The country where the junk falls can stake a claim for compensation if it has been damaged by the falling object.
In the current case, if the PSLV junk had caused any damage in Australia, India could have been liable to pay compensation, even if the object fell into the ocean and was then swept to the shores.
The amount of compensation is to be decided “in accordance with international law and the principles of justice and equity”.
This provision of the Convention has resulted in compensation payment only once so far — when Canada sought damages from the then Soviet Union, for a satellite with radioactive substance that fell into an uninhabited region in its northern territory in 1978. The Soviet Union is reported to have paid 3 million Canadian dollars.

#upsc #news #headline #ISRO #rocket #australian #space #technology #PSLV #satelite #launch #Vehicle #atmosphere #Indian #ocean #western #marine #earth #damage #countries #liability #canada #soviet #canadian #dollars #territory #shores #satellite

Today's Headlines - 07 August 2023
Satellite bus technology transfer to private firm
GS Paper- 3 (Space Technology)

ISRO said it has transferred the IMS-1 Satellite Bus Technology to Alpha Design Technologies Pvt. Ltd in a step towards enhancing private industry participation in the country's space sector. NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, facilitated the technology transfer through an agreement signed during an event held at the NSIL headquarters 2, the space agency said.

More about the News

The technology transfer documents were formally handed over by D Radhakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director of NSIL to Col. H S Shankar (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director of ADTL.
ADTL is one of the two private players identified to receive the transfer of this technology through Interest Exploratory Note (IEN) published by NSIL.
This transfer marks the beginning of satellite bus technologies developed by ISRO being transferred to private industries. Further, the PSLV is under productionisation by a consortium of industries.
ISRO has been enabling private players to develop space technologies by facilitating and extending the expertise thus ensuring both out-bound and in-bound approaches.
By transferring the IMS-1 technology to the private sector, ISRO/DoS (Department of Space) aims to bolster India's industrial growth in the space sector and foster technological self-reliance, it further said, adding the development opens up new avenues for private players to contribute to space research and exploration, in line with India's vision to expand its presence in the global space market.

About Satellite bus

The satellite bus, developed by ISRO's U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), is a versatile and efficient small satellite platform designed to facilitate low-cost access to space.
The bus serves as a dedicated vehicle for various payloads, enabling earth imaging, ocean and atmospheric studies, microwave remote sensing, and space science missions while ensuring a quick turnaround time for satellite launches.
The IMS-1 bus, weighing about 100 kg, accommodates a 30kg payload. Solar arrays generate 330W power with a raw bus voltage of 30-42 V, ISRO said, adding it offers a 3-axis stabilised with four reaction wheels with a 1 Newton thruster that provides +/- 0.1 degree pointing accuracy.
It is a forerunner for IMS-2 bus technology, capable of improved features, and IMS-1 bus is utilised in previous ISRO missions like IMS-1, Youthsat and Microsat-2D.

About ADTL

Alpha Design Technologies Pvt. Ltd (ADTL) is an aerospace and defence company, with expertise in engineering, manufacturing, and system integration.
It has been a key player in various projects related to defence, space and homeland security, contributing significantly to India's technological progress in these domains.

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The points can be used as ‘parking spots’ for spacecraft in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.
They have been named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), who was the first one to find the positions. So, between the Earth and the Sun, a satellite can occupy any of five Lagrangian points. “Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points – labelled L1, L2, and L3 – lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points – labelled L4 and L5 – form the apex of two equilateral triangles. The L4 and L5 are also called Trojan points and celestial bodies like asteroids are found here.

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