Programme Archives - Defence Monitor

22 Sep

Aus space agency to join NASA’s Artemis programme

Washington: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his nation's intention to join the US' moon to Mars mission, including NASA's Artemis lunar programme.The Saturday announcement was made at the NASA Headquarters here during the signing of a joint statement by US space agency's Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard and Head of the Australian Space Agency, Megan Clark. "We are honoured by today's statement and the commitment of our friends from Australia to support us in our mission to return to the Moon by 2024 with the Artemis programme," Jim Morhard said in a statement. "The strong relationship between NASA and the…

20 Jul

Government units open firing ranges to private makers

New Delhi: Two government-run arms makers have thrown open their firing ranges for use by private companies to test their equipment in a first-of-its-kind initiative under the "Make in India" programme. The firing ranges at Ordnance Factory Trichy in Tamil Nadu and the Rifle Factory Ishapore in West Bengal have made the "We are open" move to power the government's push to expand defence industrial production through private participation. Making weapons for security services had been a strict prerogative of the government all these years but there has been a policy shift. There are over 60 firing ranges belonging to defence…

17 May

NASA selects 11 US firms to build human lunar landers

Washington: The US space agency NASA has selected 11 companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX to develop prototypes of human landers for its Artemis lunar exploration programme.NASA aims to put the first woman on the Moon's south pole by 2024 and establish sustainable missions by 2028. "To accelerate our return to the Moon, we are challenging our traditional ways of doing business. We will streamline everything from procurement to partnerships to hardware development and even operations," said Marshall Smith, director for human lunar exploration programs at NASA Headquarters.Apart from Blue Origin and SpaceX, others selected companies are Boeing,…

06 Dec

Akash missile tested with indigenous radio frequency seeker

New Delhi: Surface-to-air missile Akash was successfully test fired on Tuesday with an indigenous radio frequency seeker, an official said. The missile was successfully launched from the Launch Complex-III at Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha around 1.40 p.m. "The radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems along the coast have tracked and monitored all the health parameters of the missile," said a statement.This is the first surface-to-air missile with indigenous seeker that has been test fired."With this success, India has achieved the capability of making any type of surface-to-air missile," the statement said. The launch operations were witnessed by the Director General…