Bharat’s space agency, ISRO, has achieved a significant milestone in its Gaganyaan missions by completing the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine. This engine is a crucial part of the Gaganyaan project, which aims to demonstrate Bharat’s capability in human spaceflight. The project plans to send a crew of three members into an orbit 400 km above Earth for a three-day mission, bringing them back safely by landing in Indian sea waters.
The completion of the final round of ground qualification tests on February 13, 2024, marks a key moment in ISRO’s journey towards achieving its human spaceflight goals. These tests, conducted at the High Altitude Test Facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, simulated flight conditions to ensure the engine’s reliability and safety.
The ground qualification tests for the CE20 engine involved various assessments, including life demonstration tests, endurance tests, and performance evaluations under different operating conditions. ISRO conducted rigorous testing to assess the engine’s performance regarding thrust, mixture ratio, and propellant tank pressure, both in nominal and off-nominal conditions.
To meet human rating standards, the CE20 engine underwent 39 hot firing tests under different operating conditions, totaling 8810 seconds. This surpasses the minimum qualification standard requirement of 6350 seconds, demonstrating the engine’s robustness and readiness for crewed missions.
In addition to completing the human rating of the CE20 engine, ISRO has also successfully conducted acceptance tests for the flight engine designated for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission, scheduled tentatively for the second quarter of 2024. This engine, which will power the upper stage of the human-rated LVM3 vehicle, boasts a thrust capability of 19 to 22 tonnes and a specific impulse of 442.5 seconds.
These achievements highlight Bharat’s growing prowess in space exploration. In 2023, Bharat made headlines with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and the launch of Aditya-L1, its first solar mission. These milestones not only solidified Bharat’s position in the global space arena but also stimulated growth in the country’s private space sector.
Looking ahead, Bharat has ambitious plans for the future, including the Gaganyaan Mission scheduled for 2024-2025, the establishment of the ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035, and the goal of sending the first Bharatiya to the Moon by 2040. With each milestone achieved, Bharat inches closer to realizing its dreams of space exploration and scientific advancement.
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