A new Space Systems Design lab has been opened in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), in an effort to boost the growth and contribution of India’s private sector space firms and increase India’s share in the global space economy. The lab was inaugurated by Dr S. Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe. IN-SPACe is an autonomous nodal agency under the Department of Space, the Government of India, that facilitates the participation of private firms in space activities.
The lab is equipped with software tools that can design, analyze, and perform mission simulations for space systems. It will allow space start-ups to transform their innovative ideas into onboard implementable modules and provide capabilities to perform real-time hardware tests and evaluations. Periodic workshops will be conducted at the space systems design lab to provide practical hands-on training to the private sector firms and start-ups.
Dr S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, stated that such facilities enable non-government entities to play a crucial role in developing state-of-the-art space technologies, with the goal of enhancing the scale of India’s space economy from the present 2% to 10% of the global economy. He reaffirmed ISRO’s commitment towards the same goal.
The lab has computing resources comprising 16 workstations and high-performance computing multi-core servers of up to 400 cores. The software resources include System Tool Kit, Advance Design Systems, Pathwave system design, high-frequency structure simulation, 3D CAD Mach 3, Simcenter 3D space System (Thermal and cooling), Finite Element analysis structure (FEAST), and OpticStudio (Zemax), which can contribute to mission planning, RF, Structural and thermal design and analysis of space systems.
Dr Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe, explained that the lab resources would help in building prototypes with the least number of iterations, significantly reducing the turnaround time and R&D costs for startups. This is in line with the Indian Government’s vision to provide infrastructure and technical support to space-sector start-ups and help them attain their goals faster and with lesser investment and input costs.
In conclusion, the Space Systems Design lab is a stepping stone in the endeavour to provide a conducive environment for the private space sector in India. It consists of high-end analysis and simulation software for mission simulation, modelling, visualising, optimizing payload and spacecraft, ground station, and launch vehicle avionics.
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