Skyroot Aerospace becomes the first private company in India that successfully tested a homegrown rocket engine. This is a startup co-founded by Naga Bharath Daka and Pawan Kumar Chandana. Both are former scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Back in April 2019, Daka said, “We will be one of India’s first private launch vehicle makers,” The result is currently in front of us. The company is expecting to test the next two stages in the coming six months. After that, the last testing process will take around a year. That means, if each remaining tests go well, we will see the first private rocket launch in December 2021.
Chandana told to Business Insider, “It (the rocket) is a three-stage rocket with a small liquid module, which is called the orbit adjustment model. The engines tested today (12th August) belong to the orbit adjustment model,”
Among the three stages, the upper engine is responsible to deliver the final thrust and for this satellites gets the position in the Earth’s orbit. This upper stage rocket engine is the first one fully 3-D printed and needs high-performance cryogenic propellants to run. It’s the fuel that needs extremely low temperatures to stay in liquid form.
In outer space, the temperature comes down badly and there’s no oxygen. These are the two reasons behind using cryogenic propellants. The liquefied form helps the fuel to burn.
Apart from all these, the upper rocket engine is called the 3D-printed bi-propellant liquid rocket engine ejector. That means it is capable to adjust orbit. It can also add multiple satellites in various orbit in a single mission, as there is multiple restarts functionality.
The entire design and technology cut the overall mass of the upper stage by 50% and reduces the lead time by 80%. On top of that, now fewer components required to it.
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