INDIA: Skyroot Aerospace, a leading private aerospace company in India, has successfully carried out a crucial test of its advanced fully 3D-printed cryogenic engine, Dhawan-II. The test involved firing the engine for 200 seconds at the Solar Industries propulsion test facility in Nagpur, using Skyroot’s mobile cryogenic engine test pad.
The Dhawan-II engine, named after India’s prominent rocket scientist, Dr. Satish Dhawan, is a 3.5 Kilo Newton (kN) engine and is a successor to the Dhawan-I engine that generates a 1.0 kN thrust. Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquid Oxygen (LoX), two high-performance rocket fuels used by cryogenic rocket engines like the Dhawan-II, must be stored and operated at cryogenic temperatures (below -150° Celsius).
This engine test is a significant achievement for Skyroot and the Indian private space sector, as they aim to develop cutting-edge cryogenic technologies using advanced techniques like 3D printing and environmentally friendly green propellants. Fully cryogenic engines are the best choice for a rocket’s upper stages since they provide higher specific impulse, which greatly increases payload carrying capacity.
The liquid and cryogenic propulsion team leader at Skyroot, V. Gnanagandhi, said that the 3D-printed Dhawan-II engine also has a torch igniter and a bellow-actuated cryo-injection valve with a short response time.
This achievement comes a few months after Skyroot successfully launched a privately developed rocket called Vikram-S, which was launched from the sounding rocket complex of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The rocket reached a peak altitude of 89.9 kilometres and gained a speed of Mach 5. The successful launch cleared the stage for the company to launch the Vikram-I rocket, which is expected to be the first private orbital rocket launch from South Asia later this year.
In summary, Skyroot Aerospace’s successful test of its Dhawan-II engine marks a significant milestone for the Indian private space sector and highlights the potential of advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing in producing high-performance aerospace components.
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