Private space vehicle company Skyroot Aerospace on Tuesday test-fired its 3D-printed Dhawan II engine for a duration of 200 seconds. The engine was developed by the company for its heavier vehicle, Vikram II.
Skyroot carried out its first sub-orbital flight, where the launch vehicle just reaches space but is not fast enough to get into an orbit around the Earth, last November.
The launch used a single-stage solid fuel Vikram S rocket. The Vikram-1 rocket, the first in the series of rockets being developed by the company, will use three solid-fuel stages to take satellites to orbit. The cryogenic engine that was tested on Tuesday will be used as the upper stage of the updated version Vikram-2. A cryogenic upper stage instead of a solid fuel stage enhances the payload carrying capacity of a rocket.
Skyroot plans to carry out its first orbital flight by the year-end, with the updated Vikram II rocket scheduled to become launch-ready by next year, according to the company. This schedule will make the company the first private launcher from South Asia.
The endurance test of Dhawan-II demonstrated impressive performance results, as per the company. It was carried out at Solar Industries propulsion test facility in Nagpur using Skyroot’s indigenously developed mobile cryogenic engine test pad.
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“We are proud to be at the forefront in developing cutting-edge cryogenic technologies in the private space sector of India, and pushing the limit with advanced technologies like 3D printing and green propellants,” Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, said.
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