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ISRO Will Attempt to Repurpose the Final Stage of a Rocket as a Satellite

posted by martyb on Sunday December 16 2018, @09:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the why-did-nobody-else-think-of-that? dept.

takyon writes:

In a first, Isro will make dead rocket stage 'alive' in space for experiments (alt)

Can a dead rocket in space be anything but debris? Isro believes it might actually be useful. Feted for its frugality and tech savvy, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is working on a new technology where it will use the last stage of the PSLV rocket for space experiments. It will perform a technology demonstration of this new system when it launches the PSLV C44 rocket in January.

Talking to [Times of India] here, Isro chairman K Sivan said, "Normally, the last stage of a PSLV rocket after releasing the primary satellite in space becomes dead and categorised as debris. It remains in the same orbit as that of the released satellite. Now, we are working on a new technology where we will give life to this "dead" last stage of PSLV, also called PS4 stage, for six months after its launch. This rocket stage will double up as a satellite. This will be the most cost-effective way to perform experiments in space as we don't have to launch a separate rocket for the purpose." He said that "India is the only country in the world that is working on this new technology".

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

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  • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday December 17 2018, @01:40AM (2 children)

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 17 2018, @01:40AM (#775258) Journal

    Ever watched a broadcast from the space station? There's so very little room, it seems. Just come up with a method to attach those things to the station, and people can "stand up", stretch, and exercise a little. Hook them together in a circle around the station, put a little spin to the whole mess, and they can "walk". Probably can't give them much "gravity", but anything at all would allow them to exercise muscle and bone that is working hard toward atrophy. .1 G would be better than zero G, wouldn't it?

    Unless the dead last stage actually was on a mission to the ISS in the first place (not a random LEO satellite dropoff), it's not likely to be an option due to deltaV required.

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 17 2018, @06:21AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 17 2018, @06:21AM (#775302) Journal

    There's a whole community of people in California who identify as deltaV. If they won't take the job, we can just kidnap them to get the job done.

    • (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday December 17 2018, @08:39PM

      by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 17 2018, @08:39PM (#775544) Journal

      Heh, ok, but really, you can find a community identifying as most ANYTHING there :-P

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