Tuesday, October 06, 2015

These Drawings Show Elements Of ISRO's SVAB

Building up necessary infrastructure to take India's Space programme into a higher gear.

The Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO] presently has 2 Launch Pads for satellites [with 1 more on the anvil], but only 1 Vehicle Assembly Building. बहुत नाइंसाफी!

Bahut-Na-Insafi-01

With an aim to ramp up capability, to meet exigencies & future demands, it has initiated setting up of  a Second Vehicle Assembly Building [SVAB]. Supply chain, manpower & project management falling in line, the facility would enable the organisation to meet its goal of carrying out 1 launch mission a month of, both, its current PSLV-GSLVs, as well as future LVM3.

Soliciting private sector participation, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre [SDSC-SHAR] has been floating tenders for this project. One such sub-system is the 'Wheel Bogie', with its Hydraulic Actuator & Traction Control systems, that would transport the fully assembled Launch Vehicle, integrated on top of the Mobile Launch Pedestal [MLP] to the Second Launch Pad [SLP].

Designed to bear a load of 650 MT each, 4 Wheel Bogies [2600 MT] would have to slide under the MLP, resting on Bearing Plates until then, once integration of the Vehicle is completed, lift up the Assembly hydraulically & transport it, over 4 rails, to the SLP. It has released GA Drawings of the sub-systems, as part of the tender document.

ISRO-SVAB-Wheel-Bogie-001-TN

ISRO-SVAB-Wheel-Bogie-002-TN

Tracks & a Track Changeover arrangement would, therefore, need to be laid, through a distance of around 1800 metres, to transfer the fully integrated Launcher+MLP, weighing up to 2400 MT in all, to either one of the designated Launchpad, over a upwards gradient of 1.46 m w.r.t the SVAB.

Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-08-TN

Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-01-TN Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-02-TN
Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-03-TN Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-04-TN
Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-05-TN Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-06-TN
Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-07-TN Rail-Track-ISRO-SVAB-09-TN

To facilitate stacking of the Launch Vehicle, an EOT Crane with 2 hoists, 1 of 450 MT capacity, & another of 60 MT, capable of lifting material to a height of up to 82 m, is planned to be integrated into the SVAB.

EOT-Crane-SVAB-ISRO-01-TNEOT-Crane-SVAB-ISRO-02-TNEOT-Crane-SVAB-ISRO-03-TN

Ensuring a secure environment to assemble the Launch Vehicle would require the space to be enclose. In order to transport the same to the Launch Pad would need proper openings. This would be achieved with the help of Horizontal Sliding Doors [HSD], a total of 9, that can be opened & closed as required.

HSD-SVAB-ISRO-06-TN

HSD-SVAB-ISRO-01-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-03-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-02-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-04-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-05-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-07-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-08-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-09-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-10-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-11-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-12-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-13-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-14-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-15-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-16-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-17-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-18-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-19-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-20-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-21-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-22-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-23-TN
HSD-SVAB-ISRO-24-TN HSD-SVAB-ISRO-25-TN

To enable Engineers to access the Launch Vehicle, at 6 different elevation, as it is being stacked-up, hinged platform arrangements are envisaged - at each designated elevation there would be 1 Folding Cum Vertically Repositionable Platforms [FCVRP] & 2 Swinging Cum Vertically Repositionable Platform [SCVRP]. These could be retracted once the integration is completed & the Launcher is ready to travel to the Launch Pad.

Platform-SVAB-SCVRP-01-TN Platform-SVAB-SCVRP-02-TN

With the recent successes ISRO has demonstrated, its time for the "Crown Jewel" of Indian Technocracy to up its game, to cater to, both, domestic consumption as well as a slice of the International pie, a goal this upcoming facility would enable it to achieve.

Godspeed

Also read: This Rare Video Shows ISRO's Rohini RS-1 Satellite Being Launched Into Space