In a historic milestone, indigenous LCA Mark 1A fighter aircraft on March 28 completed its first flight. The aircraft airborne for 15 minutes during its first maiden flight, as per Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Currently, two squadrons of IAF, 45 Squadron and 18 Squadron, are fully operational with LCA Tejas. HAL has current capacity to build 8 LCA aircraft per year, this is being increased to 16 aircraft's every year by 2025. In coming years the capacity will be further increased to 24 aircraft every year in the next 3 years. Over Rs 9000 crore have been sanctioned for the development of LCA Mk 2, an updated and advanced version of LCA Tejas. Earlier in the 2023, Air Chief Marshal stated that the Indian Air Force aims to replace the MiG-21 fighter jets with LCA Tejas.
28 March,2024 05:18 PM IST
“Bharat Mata Ki Jai” chants echoed on the cargo ship MV Lila Norfolk which was hijacked near the coast of Somalia. The Indian Navy was quick to respond and rescued all the crew members onboard including 15 Indians from the Cargo Ship Hijack. Assessing the situation in no time, INS Chennai warship was moved towards the hijacked cargo vessel on Jan 05. Also, continuous aerial recce of MV Lila Norfolk was undertaken by MQ9B (Sea Guardian), P8I and integral helicopters. The Indian Navy’s elite commando unit MARCOS reached the vessel and initiated its “sanitisation” process. The rescued crew members thanked the Indian Navy for a quick and timely assistance.
06 January,2024 03:53 PM IST
Indian Space Research Organisation Chief S Somanath, while addressing team members, congratulated his team members for the successful launch of PSLV-C58 XPoSat mission from Sriharikota on January 01. ISRO launched X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite from the first launch-pad, SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra today. The mission would carry primary payload XPoSat and ten other satellites to be deployed in low earth orbits. XPoSat mission is India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed ISRO's successful launch of its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite.
01 January,2024 06:00 PM IST
The whole nation was worried when a portion of this under-construction tunnel collapsed on November 12. 41 men were trapped inside the tunnel and rescue teams from different government agencies roped in. The herculean task of the safe evacuation of 41 stranded men in the Silkyara tunnel was completed on Nov 28. During 16 days of continuous rescue operations, one expert from Australia hogged limelight for his tireless efforts. Arnold Dix, an International tunnelling expert, assured Indians that 41 men would reach home safely before Christmas. The rescue teams faced several difficulties as the operations continued, but they kept their spirits high. Finally, the task was completed and 41 men reached home safely, as Australian professor Arnold had promised. Indians are now thanking Arnold Dix for his continuous and tireless efforts during the Uttarkashi Tunnel rescue operations. Australian PM Anthony Albanese has also lauded Arnold for his commendable job during the rescue ops. Arnold is the President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association. Not just this, Arnold is a Barrister, Scientist, and Professor of Engineering. The tunnelling expert holds a Science and Law Degree from Monash University, Melbourne.
29 November,2023 02:27 PM IST
India on Nov 07 successfully carried out the test of the Pralay tactical ballistic missile off the coast of Odisha. As per defence officials, the missile test was highly successful in all parameters and it travelled its full range of around 500 km. In order to create the country’s strong rocket force, last year Defense Ministry cleared the induction of Pralay missile. The Pralay missiles will be acquired at a cost of over Rs 7,500 crore which will be used in conventional roles. 'Pralay' powered by a solid propellant rocket motor and other technologies has been developed by the DRDO. The Pralay ballistic missiles can take out targets at 150 to 500 kms and are extremely difficult to intercept for the enemy. The missile system started getting development around 2015 and its development was given a push by the late Gen Bipin Rawat as COAS. Notably, in the past also India has carried out successful tests of the missile.
08 November,2023 04:50 PM IST
Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched a test flight for the Gaganyaan mission test on Oct 21. The Flight test vehicle Abort mission is conducted to demonstrate the performance of Crew escape system. It will also test the safe landing in the Bay of Bengal after the rocket launch. The mission represented a significant milestone in India’s effort to demonstrate that it is possible to send humans into space. The test flight project aims to prove India's capacity to send humans into a 400-km orbit and safely bring them back to earth. India’s Gaganyaan definitely envisages the demonstration of human spaceflight capability to its maximum. However, ISRO launched the test flight on the second attempt after the first attempt was put on hold. Gaganyaan Test Vehicle- Demonstration launch was put on hold at T-00:05 seconds. Earlier, the lift-off attempt was put on hold because engine ignition could not happen in a nominal course. Gaganyaan TV-D1 is “In-flight Abort Demonstration of Crew Escape System (CES)” at Mach number 1.2 with newly developed Test Vehicle.
21 October,2023 01:31 PM IST | Mumbai
ISRO Chief S Somanath spoke to media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress of the Gaganyaan Mission and outline the future of India's space exploration endeavors. Prime Minister Modi discussed various plans that have to be undertaken by ISRO to step up India's space program. Meanwhile, PM Modi chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress of India’s Gaganyaan Mission. The high-level meeting was to outline the future of India’s space exploration endeavours.
18 October,2023 12:22 PM IST | Mumbai
As a part of ISRO’s ‘Space Odyssey’, Aditya L1 - India’s first solar mission successfully performed the fourth earth-bound manoeuvre on September 15. ISRO's ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru, SDSC-SHAR and Port Blair tracked the satellite during the operation. Meanwhile, a transportable terminal currently stationed in the Fiji Islands for Aditya-L1 will support post-burn operations. ISRO taking to the platform X (formerly Twitter) informed that the new orbit attained is 256 km x 121973 km. The next manoeuvre for Trans-Lagragean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) is scheduled for September 19 around 02:00 Hrs. IST. After the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the Moon, ISRO started its new space mission on September 2. ISRO launched its maiden solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ to study Sun from point L1. The satellite will travel approximately 15 million kilometres to reach the L1 point. The total travel time from launch pad to L1 will take about four months for ‘Aditya-L1’.
15 September,2023 12:38 PM IST
After the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan 3 on Moon, ISRO started its new space odyssey on September 2. ISRO launched its maiden solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ to study Sun from point L1. In a recent update, ISRO informed that the first Earth-bound manoeuvre was performed successfully. Taking to X, ISRO shared that the satellite is healthy and operating nominally. The next manoeuvre is scheduled for September 05, 2023, 03:00 Hrs. IST. ISRO launched India’s first solar mission ‘Aditya-L1’ from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
04 September,2023 02:42 PM IST | Mumbai
On Sept 02, ISRO successfully launched its much-anticipated ‘Aditya-L1’ mission to Sun from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The PSLV-C57.1 rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 orbiter, lifted off successfully. PM Narendra Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) and congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch. MoS Jitendra Singh also termed the launch, a ‘sun shine’ moment for India. Aditya-L1 spacecraft is to be placed in the halo orbit around the Lagrange Point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system. It is about 1.5 million kilometres away from the Earth. Lagrange Point 1 (L1) is where the gravitational pull of both the Sun and the Earth equalises. Placing the satellite in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the advantage of continuously seeing the Sun without any eclipses.
02 September,2023 03:13 PM IST | Mumbai
