The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), a sounding rocket (research rocket) with a solid booster carrying advanced scramjet engines, was successfully flight-tested from the launch pad of the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, also known as Sriharikota Range (SHAR), at Sriharikota on Sunday.

This first experimental mission of Indian Space Research Organisation is aimed at the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System which uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen from the atmosphere air as the oxidiser.

The mission had a smooth countdown of 12 hours as the ATV with scramjet engines weighing 3277 kg lifted off at 6 a.m. ISRO chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar and SHAR director P. Kunhikrishnan along with a host of space scientists were present at Sriharikota on the occasion.

The ATV vehicle, which touched down in the Bay of Bengal approximately 320 km from Sriharikota after a flight of 300 seconds, was successfully tracked during its flight from the ground stations at Sriharikota. With this, the ISRO had successfully demonstrated its capabilities in critical technologies like ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems.

Technological challenges handled by ISRO scientists during the development of the scramjet engine include the design and development of hypersonic engine air intake, the supersonic combustor, proper thermal management and ground testing of the engines.

With this, India became the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of a scramjet engines. This mission is a milestone for ISRO’s future space transportation system.

The scientists said that all the important flight events such as the burn out of booster rocket stage and functioning of scramjet engines for 5 seconds followed by burn out of the second stage took place exactly as planned.

(ISRO's ATV rocket lifts off with two scramjet engines from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Sunday. Photo: ISRO)

10 things to know about ISRO's scramjet engine launch </s> BENGALURU: Joining a select club of nations, India on Sunday successfully test fired its futuristic Scramjet Rocket Engine using oxygen from the atmosphere that could cut the cost of the launches several fold and help in ISRO’s bid to design advanced air breathing engines.

The first experimental mission of Scramjet Engine was successfully conducted from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 6 am, Indian Space Research Organisation said.

It described the mission as a “modest” yet important milestone in its bid to design and develop advanced air breathing engines, including ones for its future space transport system.

India is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of Scramjet Engine after the US, Russia and European Space Agency.

After a smooth countdown of 12 hours, the solid rocket booster Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) carrying the Scramjet Engines lifted off at 6 am and ending a 300 seconds-flight, touched down in the Bay of Bengal, about 320 kms from Sriharikota, the city-headquartered ISRO said.

The important flight events — burn out of booster rocket stage, ignition of second stage solid rocket, functioning of Scramjet engines for 5 seconds followed by burn out of the second stage — took place exactly as planned, ISRO said.

The vehicle was successfully tracked during its flight from the ground stations at Sriharikota.

ISRO said it was the maiden “short duration experimental test” of Scramjet engine with a hypersonic flight at Mach 6, and the ATV, an advanced sounding rocket carrying the engines, weighed 3277 kg at lift-off.

The space agency said with this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated.

It said Scramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidizer.

Usually rocket engines carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion, but these newly developed engines with air-breathing propulsion system will use oxygen from the atmosphere thereby reducing the lift-off mass of the vehicle. It will also help in bring down launch costs substantially.

The Scramjet engine will also be used eventually to power ISRO’s reusable launch vehicle at hypersonic speed.

ATV is a two-stage spin stabilised launcher with identical solid motors (based on Rohini RH560 sounding rocket) as the first as well as the second stage (booster and sustainer), ISRO said.

The twin Scramjet engines were mounted on the back of the second stage. Once the second stage reached the desired conditions for engine “Start-up”, necessary actions were initiated to ignite the Scramjet engines and they functioned for about 5 seconds, it said adding that today’s ATV flight operations were based on a pre-programmed sequence.

President Pranb Mukherjee, who is in Bengaluru, congratulated ISRO for the successful test. </s> While conventional rocket engines need to carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion to produce thrust, scramjet engines obtain oxygen from the atmosphere by compressing the incoming air before combustion at hypersonic speed.

The test-flight of the indigenously-developed supersonic combustion ramjet engine took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 6 a.m.

ISRO on Sunday successfully test-fired a newly-developed Scramjet Rocket Engine, DDNews reported. The air-breathing propulsion experiment involves its RH-560 rocket fitted with a supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet) engine.

The test-flight of the indigenously-developed scramjet engine took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 6 a.m., according to news agencies.

The test was to have been done on July 28, 2016 but the search by the Indian Air Force and the Navy for the IAF’s transport aircraft An-32, which disappeared over the Bay of Bengal has delayed it by a month. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has developed the engines to be used in a two-stage RH-560 rocket.

Named Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), the test platform comprises a scramjet engine hitched to the RH- 560 rocket.

“The vehicle has been characterised and is being fabricated at the VSSC and the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri,” VSSC Director K.Sivan had told The Hindu during preparations for the launch of the PSLV-C34.

Space agencies across the world are focussing on the development of scramjet technology because it contributes to smaller launch vehicles with more payload capacity and promises cheaper access to outer space.

While conventional rocket engines need to carry both fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion to produce thrust, scramjets obtain oxygen from the atmosphere by compressing the incoming air before combustion at hypersonic speed. The scramjet engine can also liquefy the oxygen and store it on board. </s> The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully tested its scramjet engine on Sunday in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

The rocket took off at 6 am after reports confirmed that the wind speeds were conducive for the launch.

The scramjet engine, used only during the atmospheric phase of the rocket’s flight, will help in bringing down the launch cost by reducing the amount of oxidiser to be carried along with the fuel.

Meanwhile, the launch of the Indian weather satellite, INSAT-3DR, which was slated for Sunday has now been postponed to September 8.

Queried about the change in launch plan Krishnan said: "While carrying out the tests there was a technical issue found with a satellite component. It has been sorted out now and hence the delay."

He said the GSLV rocket that would carry the weather satellite INSAT-3DR is fully assembled.

The weather satellite will be mounted on to the rocket in three to four days.

According to officials, the ISRO will launch ScatSat -- a weather monitoring and forecasting satellite -- with polar satellite launch vehicle end of next month.

The Indian satellite will be a co-passenger to an Algerian satellite.

Both the satellites will be put into different orbits. So the fourth engine of the rocket will be switched off after ejecting ScatSat first. Then after a gap of around 30 minutes, the engine will be switched on and put the Algerian satellite into its intended orbit. </s> The Indian Space Research Organisation joined an elite club when, on Sunday, it successfully launched a rocket using a scramjet engine that was developed indigenously. This is ISRO’s first major step towards developing an air breathing propulsion system. The scramjet engine functioned for around six seconds. There are many reasons why the use of a scramjet engine is so attractive. A scramjet engine uses oxygen present in the atmospheric air to burn the hydrogen fuel. As a result, the amount of oxygen required to be carried on board would be reduced considerably as atmospheric oxygen is utilised to burn the fuel in the first stage. In general, propellant accounts for nearly 85 per cent of the weight of a rocket, and oxygen accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the weight of the propellant. Scramjet-powered rockets also have several times greater thrust compared with rockets powered by liquid fuel or even cryogenic fuel. Since about half of the propellant is required for the first stage to achieve the required velocity, a rocket using a scramjet engine would be significantly lighter and smaller and, therefore, cheaper. Alternatively, rockets fired by scramjet engines will be able to carry more payload.

Sunday’s test flight, which attained six times the speed of sound (Mach 6) and was able to achieve ignition and maintain stable combustion even at such high velocity for about six seconds, is a big technological achievement. This is akin to “lighting a matchstick in a hurricane condition and sustaining the flame” for six seconds. The air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems were also successfully demonstrated during the maiden test flight. Since it relies on oxygen present in the atmosphere, the trajectories of scramjet engine-powered rockets are vastly different from conventional ones — rockets with scramjet engines should remain in the atmosphere for a longer period than normal rockets. Typically, scramjet rockets climb to a certain altitude and remain in the atmosphere for as long as possible to achieve the required velocity. It will take many years before a commercial rocket powered by a scramjet engine takes to the sky as there are several challenges to be overcome. One challenge will be to test the engine at higher Mach speeds and prolong the period of combustion. Since the scramjet comes into play only when the rocket goes beyond Mach 5, an engine that initially works at subsonic speed (as a ramjet) and later as a scramjet has to be developed. But as in the case of the successful test flight of a reusable vehicle, the first experimental flight using a scramjet engine is a technological demonstration of ISRO’s capability and will go a long way in redefining its position as one of the leading space agencies in the world. </s> India's brand new and heaviest rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) - with the 3,136 kg communication satellite GSAT-19 on board, blasted off from the Sriharikota spaceport on Monday.

Precisely at 5.28pm, the GSLV-Mk III rocket, on its maiden flight, began its ascent towards space from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC).

The 43.43 metre tall, 640 ton rocket, will, just over 16 minutes into its flight, sling the GSAT-19 at its intended orbit at an altitude of 179 km.

The GSAT-19, as per the Indian Space Research Organisation is a multi-beam satellite that carries Ka and Ku band forward and return link transponders and geostationary radiation spectrometer (GRASP) to monitor and study the nature of charged particles and the influence of space radiation on satellites and their electronic components.

The satellite, which has a life span of 10 years, also features certain advanced spacecraft technologies including miniaturised heat pipe, a fibre optic gyro, micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometer, Ku-band TTC transponder, as well an indigenous lithium-ion battery.

The GSLV-Mk III is a three stage/engine rocket. The core of first stage is fired with solid fuel and its two motors by liquid fuel. The second is liquid fuel and the third is the cryogenic engine.

"The rocket's design carrying capacity is four tonnes. The payload will be gradually increased in future flights," Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K. Sivan had told IANS.

The Indian space agency had flown a similar rocket without the cryogenic engine but with 3.7-tonne payload in 2014 mainly to test its structural stability and aerodynamics.

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre Director S. Somanath, told IANS that the inputs of the 2014 mission enabled the ISRO to reduce the rocket load by around 20 per cent.

Interestingly, GSLV-Mk III at around 43 metres is slightly shorter than Mk-II version that is around 49 metres tall.

ISRO officials told IANS that due to the increase in the diameters of various stages, the height got reduced despite a drastic increase in the weight - from around 415 ton of GSLV-Mk II to 640 ton in GSLV-Mk III.

"The new rocket may be slightly short but has more punch power," said an ISRO official.

India presently has two rockets - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and GSLV-Mk II - with a lift-off mass of 415 tonnes and a carrying capacity of 2.5 tonnes. </s> This story is from September 8, 2016

GSLV-F05 lifts off from Sriharikota on Sept 8, 2016 (TOI pic by B A Raju)

INSAT-3DR

Mastering cryogenic technology

SRIHARIKOTA: More than two decades after the Indian cryogenic engine programme was formalised, an indigenous cryogenic engine developed by Indian Space Research Organisation successfully propelled for the first time an operational flight of GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) lifting into space the country’s third exclusive meteorological satellite on Thursday evening.INSAT-3DR, an advanced weather satellite , was placed in orbit around 17 minutes after GSLV-F05 took off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 4.50pm. The launch was originally scheduled to be held at 4.10pm. However, it was delayed by 40 minutes as scientists were “rechecking observations made during propellant filling." INSAT-3DR is the second heaviest satellite placed in orbit by an indigenous cryogenic engine propelled GSLV. The 2,211kg satellite, which will provide meteorological and search and rescue data services to the country, was injected into the geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite, with the help of its propellant, will be raised to the final geostationary orbit after two days. Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said, “The launch vehicle has performed extremely well.”It was GSLV’s 10th flight. It was GSLV’s fourth flight with the desi cryogenic engine CE-7.5, with the first three being developmental flights. “This is the third successful launch with the indigenous cryogenic engine in GSLV. It has demonstrated its consistent performance and proved to be an operational launch vehicle of India,” said director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre P Kunhikrishnan.Isro called the present one an operational flight as the space agency was confident about the technology and its success. GSLV is a three-staged vehicle and cryogenic engine is used in the third and final stage.“The GSLV rocket has carried the highest mass satellite into orbit. However, the biggest achievement this year will be the launch of GSLV Mark-III with indigenous high thrust cryogenic engine [CE-20] carrying the highest mass satellite,” said Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director K Sivan, director. GSLV Mark-III will be launched in December.INSAT-3DR, configured with an imager and two transponders, will continue the services rendered by previous satellites and further augment the capability to provide both meteorological and search and rescue services. A data relay transponder will provide meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data from remote uninhabited locations through automatic weather stations, rain gauges and agro met stations. The other is a satellite aided search and rescue transponder that will pick up and relay alert signals originating from the distress beacons of maritime, aviation and land based users.The imager in the satellite will generate images of the Earth disk from an altitude of 36,000km once in every 26 minutes and provide information on various parameters including radiation, sea surface temperature, snow cover, cloud motion and fog.India has six meteorological satellites out of which three -- Kalpana-1, INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR -- are exclusively for providing weather services.Isro had conducted three developmental flights with the indigenous cryogenic engine, which it was forced to develop after it used up all the Russian-supplied engines. However, the maiden flight with the desi engine carrying a 2,220kg GSAT-4, an experimental advanced communication satellite, plunged into the Bay of Bengal minutes after it took off from Sriharikota on April 15, 2010. A study conducted later revealed that the turbo pump supplying fuel to the engine had stopped working. Since then, critical modifications were made to both the engine and the rocket before its first successful flight in 2014 and later in 2015.Isro had faced several challenges during the development of the engine. Cryogenic engines were basically essential to put satellites in geostationary orbit, but the technology was quite sophisticated. The reasons were obvious - burning a super-cooled fuel at extremely high temperatures. Isro was faced with the task of developing a material that can withstand the high temperature and pressure during combustion.Even while its first 7.5-tonne engine, capable to carrying two-tonne payload, developed in 2000, blew up during a test, Isro began a project to develop another engine that could carry double the weight.With a CE-20 engine, Isro is not just aiming at launching satellites weighing up to four tonne, but also a possible future manned mission.In Video: ISRO launches weather satellite </s> This story is from June 5, 2017

(TOI photo)

01:14GSLV Mk III launch: 'Fat boy' to pave way for manned mission

GSLV Mk III-D1 carrying communication satellite GSAT-19

The nation is proud of this significant achievement #PresidentMukherjee — President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) June 5, 2017

first flight for CE-20 engine

The GSLV – MKIII D1/GSAT-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud! — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 5, 2017

GSLV Mk III

PSLV C38 launch

SRIHARIKOTA: Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday successfully launched its most powerful rocket GSLV Mk III nicknamed ‘Fatboy’ , by firing a high thrust indigenous cryogenic engine in the first developmental flight and placed the country’s heaviest satellite in orbit With the launch, Isro has demonstrated its mastery in developing a cryogenic engine, a technology denied to it years ago. The launch proves the homegrown launch vehicle's capability of hurling up to four tonne payload into higher orbits.It has also laid a strong foundation for its ambitious future projects, including Chandraayan-II and a manned mission, besides venturing into the global heavy payload market.lifted off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.28pm. Around 16 minutes after takeoff, the vehicle placed the satellite in the geosynchronous transfer orbit.Congratulating the scientists and others who worked for the successful mission, Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said: “It is a historic day. The entire team has worked since 2002. The vehicle carried the next generation satellite. We are looking forward to getting the satellite operational.”Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director Dr K Sivan said, “It is the commencement of two complex technologies – a vehicle that can carry twice the payload weight and a high throughput satellite. It is the continued efforts of the team and industry contribution.”The three-stage vehicle was propelled by an indigenously designed and developed cryogenic engine -- CE-20 -- in its upper stage (C25 stage) before it ejected the satellite into its orbit. GSAT-19’s propulsion system will be later used for the satellite to reach its geostationary orbital home.The launch is also the, which was under development since 2002. The engine, which runs on a less complex technology compared to its Russian design predecessors, has undergone more than 200 tests in the last few years.Satish Dhawan Space Centre director P Kunhikrishnan said, “Isro has made it a habit to execute complex jobs in the most professional way. This has culminated in yet another successful event in Sriharikota.”Kunhikrishnan said integration for the next launch PSLV C38 is going on in the first launch pad simultaneously. “It is planned in the next half of the month. The next GSLV Mk III will be integrated in the new vehicle assembly coming up which will be three times bigger,” he said.The GSAT-19 carried transponders and a geostationary radiation spectrometer. The instrument will monitor and study the nature of charged particles and the influence of space radiation on satellites and their electronic components.In December 2014, a miniature version ofcarried a 3,775kg experimental crew module. The vehicle did not have the cryogenic engine as it was only to demonstrate the design.It took five years for Isro to taste its first success with GSLV Mk II after the engine failed 800 milliseconds into ignition in its first flight on April 15, 2010. The vehicle was carrying GSAT-4 satellite.The first successful flight of indigenously made cryogenic stage powered GSLV Mk II was on January 5, 2014 when it carried GSAT-14. Since then, Mark II has seen four successful flights including the launch of South Asia Satellite on May 5 this year.Isro chairman Kiran Kumar said PSLV C38 would be launched on June 23.In Video: Isro successfully launches India's heaviest rocket GSLV Mk III-D1 </s> New Delhi: The countdown for the launch of Indian Space Research Organisation’s monster rocket, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III), has begun and it is scheduled to lift off at 5.28pm on Monday. The space agency’s heaviest rocket will give India self-reliance in delivering large payloads and is also the preferred vehicle when it comes to carrying astronauts into space some day.

Here are a few facts you need to know about the rocket:

- The GSLV MKIII-D1 rocket will carry the GSAT-19 communication satellite into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Monday.

- It is capable of lifting payloads of up to 4,000 kg into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and 10,000 kg into the Low Earth Orbit, enough to carry a manned module.

- Termed as a monster rocket, it weighs 640 tonnes, equal to the weight of 200 Asian elephants.

- It is also the country’s shortest rocket with a height of 43 metre, roughly as high as a 13-storey building.

- The development of the rocket had started in earnest in 1994. It took about 25 years and more than 11 flight tests to operationalise.

- It is India’s first fully functional rocket to be tested with a cryogenic engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants.

- The GSLV-Mk III-D1 is a three-stage vehicle with indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine designed to carry heavier communication satellites into the GTO.

- The rocket launch would augment India’s communication resources as a single GSAT-19 satellite will be equivalent to a constellation of six to seven of the older variety of communication satellites.

- Apart from the cryogenic engine, designated C25, carrying about 28 tonnes of propellants, it has two solid strap-on motors (S200) and a core liquid booster (L110).

- If successful, the GSLV-Mk III could be India’s vehicle of choice to launch people into space. ISRO has asked the Centre for Rs 12,500 crore for a manned mission seven years from now.
The Indian Space agency ISRO successfully tests its Scramjet engines. Two scramjet engines were mounted alongside of a two-stage, solid fueled rocket called Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket. Scramjet engines were then ignited when ATV achieved a speed of Mach 6 (7350 km/hr) at an altitude of 20 km.