Indian Focus On Cryogenic Engine Succeeds

In an article bylined by BR Srikanth of the Hindustan Times, seems as though the Indians have now joined a rather exclusive league of U.S., Russian and European scientists in that the country now possesses the capability to design and build cryogenic engines. These engines are critical for boosting comsats and manned missions into space. Their claim to this honor is resultant of their successful test of the indigenous cryogenic stage to power their Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GLSV). This test ran for a full flight duration of 720 seconds and was completed at the liquid propulsion test facility at Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, last Thursday.




G. Madhavan Nair, the head of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), stated, “This test has given us confidence about the technology, systems and even helped us build a technology base of our own. It has also given the confidence to design a more powerful cryogenic for GSLV-Mark III scheduled to fly in 2009-end.” He also added that with this engine, the ISRO should be able to reduce their heavy satellites launch costs from about $20,000 per kg to about $12,000 per kg.