The next flight of GSLV Mark III, currently scheduled for December 2016, is to go the full distance and put a four-tonne satellite into geostationary orbit. The first two stages of the vehicle are ready, but the upper stage has to wait for the cryogenic stage that is now being developed at the Liquid Propulsions Systems Centre near Thiruvananthapuram.
IPRC Director D. Karthikesan said as part of an important milestone in developing a heavy lift launch vehicle, GSLV MK-3, for the next generation, a major milestone was achieved when the cryogenic CE-20 engine was hot tested.It was successfully tested for 20 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex(IPRC), Mahendragiri on Saturday.
Various subsystems of CE-20, such as injector, thrust chamber, gas generator, LOX and LH2 turbo pumps were tested earlier at IPRC, Mahendragiri.
The engine tested today will enable us to put satellites of up to 4 tons in geostationary orbit. A proud accomplishment.@narendramodi
Congratulations to our space scientists for the successful testing of our indigenous cryogenic engine. @narendramodi
In a silent operation at the Mahendragiri test facility, Isro successfully test-fired the indigenous cryogenic engine CE-20 for 645 seconds. This marks a milestone in the country's effort to develop a big cryogenic engine to fly the ambitious GSLV-Mark III by the end of 2016.
A major milestone in the development of ISRO’s next generation launch vehicle, GSLV MkIII, was achieved on successful long duration hot test (635 seconds) of high thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) on 28-04-2015 at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. The CE20 cryogenic engine is being indigenously developed by ISRO to power the cryogenic stage of GSLV MkIII launch vehicle.The completion of successful long duration hot test has once again proved ISRO’s capability in mastering the complex cryogenic technology. All subsystems of this engine such as Thrust Chamber, Injector, Gas Generator, LOX & LH2 Turbopumps, Control Components, Pyro systems etc., and the ground Test Facility systems performed very well and the parameters are well within the prediction.A series of development tests on this engine are being carried out to validate the performance and to prove the design of the engine. Two cold start tests and four short duration hot tests were already carried out on this engine at IPRC, Mahendragiri.
High Thrust Cryogenic Engine (CE20) DevelopmentISRO is developing a high thrust cryogenic engine to be used for the upper stage of its heavy lift launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III. This high thrust cryogenic engine produces a nominal thrust of 196.5 kN in vacuum with a specific impulse of 434 seconds. The engine works on “Gas Generator Cycle” which has flexibility for independent development of each sub-system before the integrated engine test, thus minimising uncertainty in the final developmental phase and reducing development time. This engine generates nearly 2 MW power as compared to 1 MW generated by the engine of Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) engine of GSLV. The high thrust cryogenic engine is one of the most powerful cryogenic engines of upper stages in the world.ISRO has achieved a major milestone by successfully conducting the ground test of Indigenous High Thrust Cryogenic Engine at ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri on April 28, 2015 at 1657 Hrs for a duration of 635 seconds. All the propulsion parameters during the tests were found satisfactory and closely matched with predictions. This ground test was preceded in the last few weeks, by four short duration tests of 5.5, 7.5, 20 and 30 seconds.The high thrust cryogenic engine is designed and realised by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala with the support of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthapuram. The engine assembly, integration and testing is carried out by ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) at Mahendragiri. Indian Industries have significantly contributed in the realization of the cryogenic engine.While ground tests conducted so far validate this the design adequacy and performance of the integrated engine, further demonstration tests are planned at engine and stage level to characterise the different performance parameters under various operating conditions. After completion of the tests, the indigenous high thrust cryogenic engine and stage are planned to be flight tested in GSLV Mk- III-D1 mission.
A Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include :1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC2002) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and 3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50). The Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle will have an optimal and robust design incorporating the latest technologies.
Awesome find! But the question is anyways this core isn't the same as the ULV CLC (160 tonnes of prop), then ISRO should have attempted putting 2 SC200 engines on this core. Still believe, using CLCs as boosters is the right way to go (similar to Angara) for ISRO heavy lift vehicle, as it'll have commonality with rest of ULV family hence reducing costs and complexity.
Quote from: antriksh on 05/08/2015 10:54 amA Heavy lift Launch Vehicle capable of placing up to 10 ton class of spacecrafts into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit is currently under study by a project team. This new generation launch vehicle will derive its propulsion modules from LVM3 as well as from new developments, which include :1) semi cryogenic booster stage, SC2002) larger solid strap on boosters as compared to S200 strap on motors used in LVM3 (S250) and 3) a larger cryogenic upper stage (C50). The Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle will have an optimal and robust design incorporating the latest technologies.Antisksh, where did you got that info? I don't see the programmatic requirement for such a beast in the future, and it sort of goes against the ULV concept, while ignoring any reusability chances. Is ISRO planning on doing 6+ tonne GTO birds? Or are they needing 20tonnes to LEO?
Well, then it makes me wonder what the purpose of this proposed HLV would be. Would something that could place 10 tons into LEO be meant for lofting space station modules? Otherwise, how many satellites are above 10 tons?
Maybe it's just another powerpoint rocket.
Antisksh, where did you got that info? I don't see the programmatic requirement for such a beast in the future, and it sort of goes against the ULV concept, while ignoring any reusability chances. Is ISRO planning on doing 6+ tonne GTO birds? Or are they needing 20tonnes to LEO?
He said, the next focus after the Mars mission was towards exploration of the solar system and deep space astronomy. As new applications are being developed, the size of satellites had to be increased and ISRO was planning to develop 10 tons satellites soon.