With the search for the missing Indian Air Force (IAF) transport plane over the Bay of Bengal continuing without much headway, the Indian space agency has decided to postpone the testing of its air breathing engine to a future date, said a senior official.
“There are no signs of any IAF plane debris on the sea. The search is on,” a senior official of Indian Coast Guard said.
“The testing of the scramjet engine has been postponed without any timeline. We do not want to pressurise since the search for the IAF’s AN-32 plane is on over the Bay of Bengal,” a senior official of ISRO said on the condition of anonymity.
Officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had earlier said the scramjet engine would be tested this week.
During the testing, the air space would be required to be kept clear so that no plane comes in the path of the speeding up rocket and traffic in the sea is also stopped.
Aircraft and ships of the IAF, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard are searching over the Bay of Bengal for any signs of the missing AN-2 plane, which went missing on July 22 with 29 people on board.
Officials said before the launch of any rocket, IAF, civil aviation and naval authorities would be informed about the rocket flight timings so that the air and sea are clear.
Traffic on the sea is stopped so that ships/boats do not come in the path of the falling burnt out stages/rocket engine or even the rocket when they fall into the sea.
According to ISRO, the scramjet engine will be tested on a RH-560 sounding rocket.
According to the Coast Guard official, there are no traces of oil on the sea surface that could be connected to the missing plane.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to conduct air-breathing propulsion experiment using its RH-560 rocket fitted with a supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet) engine on August 28 from Sriharikota.
According to ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar, while the test would take place on August 28, the GSLV-F05 rocket with an indigenous cryogenic engine would lift-off on September 8. A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will lift off on September 26. While these three missions would take place from Sriharikota, an Ariane-V launch vehicle from Arianespace will put India’s communication satellite, GSAT-18, into orbit from Kourou in French Guiana on October 4.
ISRO is looking forward to conducting the air-breathing propulsion test. The test was to have been done on July 28 but the search by the Indian Air Force and the Navy for the IAF’s transport aircraft An-32, which disappeared over the Bay of Bengal has delayed it by a month. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has developed the engines to be used in the RH-560 rocket.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is readying to conduct air-breathing propulsion experiment next week using its RH-560 rocket fitted with a supersonic combustion ramjet (Scramjet) engine.
The air-breathing propulsion test would take place on August 28, The Hindu reported Thursday.Later, the GSLV-F05 rocket with an indigenous cryogenic engine would lift-off on September 8, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said. Further, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will lift off on September 26, he added.
While these three missions would take place from Sriharikota, an Ariane-V launch vehicle from Arianespace will put India’s communication satellite, GSAT-18, into orbit from Kourou in French Guiana on October 4.
ISRO is looking ahead to conducting the air-breathing propulsion test. The test was to have been done on July 28 but the search by the Indian Air Force and the Navy for the IAF’s transport aircraft An-32, which disappeared over the Bay of Bengal has delayed it by a month.
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has developed the engines to be used in the RH-560 rocket.
Chennai, Aug 28 (IANS) India on Sunday successfully tested its own scramjet or air-breathing engine with the launch of a rocket, said a senior official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"The mission was successful. Two scramjet engines were tested during the flight," the official told IANS.
He said that as scheduled at 6 a.m., the two stage/engine RH-560 sounding rocket took off from the rocket port located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
He said the two air-breathing engines were like hugging the rocket on its sides and normally when the rocket reaches a height of 11 km the scramjet engines would start breathing air.
The scramjet engine, used only during the atmospheric phase of the rocket's flight, will help in bringing down the launch cost by reducing the amount of oxidiser to be carried, along with the fuel.
Later, the ISRO in a statement said: "With this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air-breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated."
ISRO's Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket, was the solid rocket booster used for testing the air-breathing engine.
The rocket weighed 3,277 kg during lift-off.
"India is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of scramjet engine. The successful technology demonstration of air-breathing scramjet engines in flight by ISRO is a modest yet important milestone in its endeavour to design and develop advanced air-breathing engines, including engines for ISRO's future space transportation system," the space agency added.
New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully testing the scramjet engine.
“The launch marks an important landmark in our space programme and demonstrates, yet again, India's capabilities in space launch technology. With this test, India has joined the select club of nations which have the technology of air-breathing engines,” Mukherjee said.
The ISRO said: "With this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air-breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated."
India has become the fourth country/entity after the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency to have successfully tested the Scramjet engine. “The Scramjet experiment was conducted for 5 seconds between 55 and 60 seconds of the flight at 20 km height. The results are showing the test was gone as exactly as we predicted,” said K. Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
The Scramjet engine designed by Isro uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. “At the beginning, the engine was opened to inject the fuel. The Scramjet engine was ignited automatically. The injection of fuel lasted for seven seconds and all the duration the flame sustained at the supersonic speed,” he explained.
“The results showed we achieved the required thrust level. With this experiment, Isro and India can achieve very crucial and critical, complex technology which is useful for space transportation system,” he said.
The Scramjet is expected to bring down rocket launch costs by reducing the amount of oxidiser need to be carried with the fuel. For example, the GSLV rocket’s weight is 400 tonnes, half of which is the oxidiser, that will burn within a height of 50 km. “If we take oxygen from the atmosphere, the rocket’s weight will be reduced, efficiency will be increased as it can carry heavier payloads,” Mr Sivan said.
The total cost of the project will be around Rs 35 crores, while Sunday’s experiment cost Rs 3 crores.
How will it reduce the weight of the rocket?
In a 400-tonne GSLV vehicle, 85% is rocket propellants. 70% of the propellants are oxidizers which will be used to burn the fuel. Most of these oxidizers will be consumed within the 50 km height. The Scramjet engine will use the atmospheric oxygen as an oxidizer in the combustion process and the weight of the rocket at the liftoff stage can be reduced up to 50 per cent. This will reduce the cost of the launches as well.