ISRO tests 'Vikas Engine' again ahead of India's first manned space mission ‘Gaganyaan'

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on July 14  has successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV MkIII) vehicle. India’s space agency successfully conducted the test for a duration of 240 seconds from its engine test facility ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. 

In a press release on July 14, ISRO stated that the objectives and the engine parameters matching with the predictions, hence the performance met the expectations for the entire duration of the test.  

GSLV MkIII-M1 had successfully launched the 3840 kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into an earth orbit on July 22, 2019. It was ISRO’s first operational flight of the GSLV Mk III. The recent test was a part of the engine qualification requirements for India’s first-ever crewed space mission ‘Gaganyaan Programme’ which will be the first human spaceflight to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), marking the beginning of an era of sustained Indian human space exploration. Two unmanned missions and one manned mission for the programme have already been approved by the Government of India (GoI). The Gaganyaan space programme will cost an estimated Rs 9023.00 crores. 

“The Gaganyaan Programme is going to be a major National effort. The overall programme coordination, systems engineering and implementation will be carried out by India’s ISRO,” the agency explained. 

According to ISRO, the VIKAS Engines (an acronym for Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai) is a family of liquid-fuelled rocket engines which are conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre beginning in the 1970s. The early productions involved the imported French components, which were later replaced by domestically produced equivalents. These engines are deployed for ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) series of expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. 

Vikas engine HTVE was tested in 2018

Separately, the Indian space agency ISRO’s other two “new class” of the Vikas engines HTVE (High Thrust VIKAS Engine) and HPVE (High Pressure or Highspeed VIKAS Engine) developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) were tested in 2018 for the duration of 195 seconds from the same ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) located in Mahendragiri. LPSC director Narayanan explained that the next generation Vikas engine gave a significant advantage in terms of enhancing payload capability. ISRO used 5 engines for the highly complex mission Chandrayaan-2, which provided the space agency with a payload gain of around 250 kgs.  These engines have taken approximately eight years into the building. 

[High Thrust Vikas Engine. Credit: ISRO]

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 gave India’s space exploration prospects a significant technological leap compared to the previous missions. ISRO chairman K Sivan described the final descent as "15 minutes of terror" and called the mission “98 percent successful, as Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon.