ISRO Successfully Conducts Third Test On Vikas Engine
(This was originally posted in India Today)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test on the liquid propellant Vikas engine that would launch the ambitious Gaganyaan programme. The test of the liquid propellant Vikas engine was done for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV MkIII vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan programme, Isro said in a statement.
The engine was fired for 240 seconds at the test facility of Isro Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. As per the statement, the performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test. The Gaganyaan mission aims to demonstrate Isro’s capability to send humans to low-earth orbit onboard an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to Earth.
Four Indian astronaut candidates have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part of the Gaganyaan programme. Formal announcement of the Gaganyaan programme was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2018.
INFORMATION ABOUT GAGANYAAN PROGRAMME
Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capability.
