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If you follow this podcast, you will notice a very long pause since the previous episode. I have been busy writing my second book, the Indian Space Programme which is now finally complete. So I am now back to my familiar but irregular podcasting mode.

The growth in the space sector now widely estimated to be worth annually over 300 billion USD globally. It is primarily being driven by the commercial sector.  The bulk of the expenditure is in satellite television, communication services, Earth observation and businesses enabled by global navigation. In the past, it was technological development driven by the national space programmes that triggered the development of low-cost consumer products. Today it’s the other way round. Sophisticated manufacturing methods and high public demand for digital products have produced low-cost consumer devices which without too much modification can be qualified for use in space. This is particularly true in the sudden growth of the small satellite market.

In this episode, I speak with Dr Rajan Bedi the founder and CEO of Spacechips, a UK based company offering CEO of Spacechips Ltd, which provides industrial R&D and space electronics design consultancy and training services to manufacturers of satellites and spacecraft around the world. I was intrigued by Rajan’s 2017 blog post entitled  “Using and selecting COTS components for space application”. In this episode, I want to understand to what extent spacecraft manufacturers can buy components for spacecraft from the high street.

It's been a while since I posted episode 72.  Now that the book The Indian Space Programme has been published, I am resuming podcasting. You can see some Amazon Reviews and if you have one, add your own too. More about that book on this short BBC radio interview here. .

If you want, you can subscribe to my monthly newsletter. The previous newsletter (March 2018) is available here. April's newsletter is coming out tomorrow!

Scheduled episodes currently look like this

Episode 73. Dr. Rajan Bedi - Using Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTs) Components to build spacecraft (1st May 2018)

Episode 74. Dr Brian Weeden -  Space Debris and Sustainable use of Space (18th May 2018)

Episode 75. Dr Quan-Zhi Ye.  China - Back to the Moon with Chang'e 4 (1 June 2018)

Located about 80km from Chennai on India's east coast, Satish Dhawan Space centre is used by ISRO to launch all of its satellites including those to the Moon and Mars. Also known as Sriharikota, it was established during the late 1960s but today it has a vehicle assembly building, two launch pads and a state of the art mission control centre

The Indian Space Program was initiated by a brilliant nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha who pretty much immediately handed over the space program to Vikram Sarabhai. Bhabha himself pursued the goal of bringing institutionalised fundamental research to India. At the time he saw that as essential for the new emerging independent India.

India's space program is now over half a century old. During this time, its Infrastructure has evolved. This episode looks at the current communication capabilities used to support space vehicles during launch, in Earth orbit or on interplanetary missions.

ISRO has an extensive network of ground stations on the Indian mainland, offshore, and in neighbouring countries (Mauritius and Fiji), and collaborates with Norway, Russia, the USA, and European countries for mission-specific needs. ISRO also has ship-borne resources it deploys to meet individual mission profiles.

ISRO's flagship deep-space antenna is the 32m fully steerable dish at Byalalu, close to Bangalore. It was established for the 2008 Moon mission and has since been the primary means of communicating with the Mars Orbiter Mission. Byalalu is also the central site for India's Regional Navigation Satellite System IRNSS, due to come into full operation in 2016.

This conversation was recorded in March 2014 with the then director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, SK Shivakumar, who had been the project leader who established the 32m antenna.

https://youtu.be/i4Jtf1qKppo

Interview recorded at ISRO's satellite Centre in Bangalore with Mars Orbiter Mission program director Dr Mylswamy Annadurai. This interview was recorded on 26th March 2014 after MOM was launched but before it arrived at Mars.

Contribution of Stephen H Smith to development of rocketry and the Anglo Indian community in India of which he is a member.

This episode is a preview of some of the space-related exhibits in Europe's largest aerospace museum - Speyer Technik Museum, in Germany. If you ever go and the following may entice you to do so: four space exhibits to look out for include the following:

Soyuz TM19 - The landing capsule Soyuz TM-19 was used by the German astronaut Ulf Merbold to return to Earth on 4th November 1994 following his launch in Soyuz TM-20 on 3rd October 1994.

Buran - The Soviet Space shuttle Buran was a the Soviet response to the American Space Shuttle. Two complete working vehicles were made.  The Buran was unmanned and, although reusable, was never actually reused. One made a single flight to space and was later destroyed when the hangar housing it collapsed. The other made 25 test flights, also unmanned, but only in the Earth's atmosphere.  Following an unexpected find in the Persian Gulf by German journalists, it was brought to Speyer in 2008.

Bor-5 - To assist the Soviets in designing the Buran, they built and flew BOR-5, a 1:8-scale model of the Buran. Bor-5  made five unmanned sub-orbital test flights between 1984 and 1988.

Moon rock - One of the largest pieces of Moonrock I have seen on public display. It is from the Apollo 15 mission but was unveiled at the Museum in June 2013 by Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan. 

If you do go, it is a big place - one day is not enough!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwsj23qL-WI

November 21st 2013, was the 50th anniversary of a rocket launched from India into space. The launch itself was an all-Indian affair, but with significant international support. The rocket was American, carried a French Sodium Vapour payload, and was assisted by a computer and a helicopter from the Soviet Union. From this meagre beginning, India has become a key player not only in building and launching rockets but also in designing, building, and deploying satellites.

This episode was recorded on the site of that first launch. Then  known as the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station and is today known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.  Sundaram Ramakrishnan, the current director of the  Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), talks about his 4-decade-long career with the Indian Space Research Organisation. He has played a central role throughout the development of India's most reliable launcher - the  Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

http://youtu.be/o8C0TvUXvOo

Prof. UR Rao

The Indian Space Research Organisation formally came in to being in 1972. By then, India had been developing its space program for almost a decade. The first launch to space from Indian soil was a two stage Nike-Apache rocket supplied by USA with a  sodium  payload from France. The rocket delivered a vertical trail of sodium vapour in space above the twilight sky of the south eastern coast of Kerala on 21st November 1963.

In this episode, professor UR Rao talks about his rich and diverse career. Professor Rao completed his Phd under Dr Vikram Sarabhai, then went on to work for NASA at MIT and in Texas exploring the Solar System with instruments on NASA's Pioneer and Explorer spacecraft. He returned to India at Sarabhai's request and, after heading the Physical Research Laboratory, became the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1984. He served in that role until 1994.

During his 81 years, he has contributed to many significant areas of space and science exploration.  Several key individuals associated with space and science research, including CV Raman, Robert Millikan, Ed Stone, Arthur Clark,  James Van Allen , Abdus Salam and Vikram Sarabhai, were individuals he knew personally, and some were colleagues.

http://youtu.be/fiJ1yRrNRO8