Rocket Launch Vehicle Cryogenic Stage Fully Qualified on Ground

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved self-reliance in the third stage of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) through the successful test of indigenously developed Cryogenic Stage, which was till now powered by Russian version. The test was conducted for flight duration of 720 seconds on November 15, 2007 at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. The test is declared complete success.

With this test, the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage has been fully qualified on the ground. ISRO spokesperson said “The next test will now be on a GSLV rocket and the mission is slated for lift-off in the middle of 2008.” The next GSLV mission is GSLV-D3.

The successful ground test of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage for the full flight duration has validated the design robustness and performance adequacy for its use in GSLV.

Future Plans of NAL by Dr Upadhya at Zephyr 2007

Dr AR Upadhya, director of National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), gave a lecture on “Future Plans of NAL” at Zephyr 2007, an aero festival organised by aerospace engineering department of IIT Bombay, Powai, on 6th October. The lecture was really an eye opener for students for making an interesting career in NAL. Dr Upadhya clearly showcased the quality of work done in NAL and as a final note made an appeal to the IIT students to consider the kind of work at NAL, which the private companies, who are right now attracting brightest and the best talents in the country by giving high salary, could in no way match.

NAL is already ready with two prototypes of the rear mounted twin-engine Saras. The prototypes are powered by Pratt & Whitney engines and had had a successful maiden flight on 14 April 2007. The flight certification is expected in 2009. Dr Upadhya pointed out that the aircraft overweighed 500kg earlier but with the use of light carbon-fibre composites, the weight has been reduced considerably.

NAL’s most ambitious project is development and production of regional jet which will come in three variations – a 70-seater, 50-seater and a 90-seater. The jet will be lighter and thus more fuel-efficient so as to successfully compete with other regional jet makers in different countries.

NAL is also currently working on NM5, an aircraft which is either four or six seater, in partnership with Mahindra Plexion, and the first flight of the prototype is expected to take place by the end of 2008. NAL also has longstanding foreign collaboration with China Aerospace, the jet turbine maker Pratt & Whitney and many others in different countries.

NAL has made number of achievements in the field of carbon fibre composites. It has developed a low-cost method with vacuum-enhanced resin infusion technology for making composite components. These components are being used in Saras. In fact, the wings of India's fourth-generation Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) have composite components developed by NAL. Also, the middle part of the fuselage and airframe and the doors for the landing gear were developed by NAL. The composite technology is right now used in making radomes of Doppler radars too.

NAL has also developed Zirconi-based ceramic inserts for launch vehicles to tolerate temperatures up to 3,200 degrees Kelvin. Right now, the development of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) for the fins of the reusable launch vehicles and the technology to burn fuel at supersonic speeds in scramjets used in air-breathing hypersonic launch vehicle, for ISRO, are going on.

In engine field, NAL has developed a prototype for a 55 HP Wankel rotary engine and currently working on integration of microgas turbine, for which all parts are ready. Another field is development of micro-air vehicles, for surveillance purposes.

Apart from these, NAL is specialized in failure analysis and is involved in crash investigations. It is also specialized in development of test equipments like wind tunnels, aero-elastic modeling, G-meters, active noise control devices, semi-free jet test rig (developed along with Pratt & Whitey), computational fluid dynamics, flow visualization and pressure-sensitive paint and a software to monitor aircraft performance.

Future Plans of VSSC and Chandrayaan Mission – Dr Suresh’s Lecture at Zephyr

On the second day, October 6th at Zephyr 2007, Dr Suresh, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) gave an lecture on “ISRO’s Chandrayaan Mission and Future Plans of VSSC”. As I said in the previous article, the eagerness in the audience could be noticed clearly as the auditorium was jam-packed with bubbling students on the very morning of the day. Everyone was very keen in listening to his lecture. Like the day before, his lecture was excellent with lots of information to digest.

In his lecture, he spoke about the projects currently undertaken by VSSC, step by step development in the Indian space program, objectives of ISRO and VSSC, application of space technology and the Chandrayaan moon mission.

He said that VSSC is currently working on the Chandrayaan unmanned moon landing mission, air-breathing hypersonic launch vehicles, reusable launch vehicle like the space shuttle, indigenous cryogenic engine and cheaper launch vehicles.

Then, he started briefing on the development of the Indian space program from 1960s. He mentioned that the Indian aerospace made history note as earlier during the time of Tipu Sultan, when Sultan used 3.5 kg rocket with 2 kg of gunpowder that could fly a distance of 1.5 km against the British.

He spoke about the sounding rockets in 1960s, the launch of experimental satellites into orbit with the solid-fuel analog guided Satellite Launch Vehicles (SLV) in the 1970s, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV) that had liquid-fuelled strap-on boosters and a closed-loop inertial guidance system in the 1980s, the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) that successfully launched remote sensing satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits and the most recent three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV – F04) with a third cryogenic stage that successfully launched a communication satellite INSAT – 4CR on 2nd September 2007.

Dr Suresh then said that the present concern in space industry is to make every launch cost-effective as the space technology has tremendous applications in remote sensing, agriculture, forestry, mining and oil exploration, as well as in disaster management. Right now, the principal objective of ISRO and VSSC is to reduce the cost from the present $20,000 per kg first to $2,000 per kg and then to $500 per kg. The final objective, he said, is to bring down launch costs to $200 per kg.

For fulfilling the above objective, he said, ISRO and VSSC had already initiated work on air-breathing hypersonic launch vehicles that could increase payload efficiencies, as they do not carry oxidisers in addition to fuel, reusable launch vehicles that could be used again and again, thus reducing costs and developing the more economical two-stage and then single-stage rockets for launching smaller spacecraft.

Finally, he spoke about the Chandrayaan moon mission, where a lunar craft would be launched using a PSLV next year. He said the lunar craft would be initially put in the 30,000km Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and then onboard boosters would be fired so that it gets transferred to Extended Transfer Orbit (ETO), which would enable it to gain escape velocity for leaving earth’s atmosphere and finally reach moon to get placed in a polar orbit at a distance 100km above the moon’s surface in 5 days. To know more about chandrayaan, read the following articles.

How Chandrayaan Started?

More Information about Chandrayaan

Dr. Annadurai Lecture on Chandrayaan