LPSC, Godrej Aerospace and other propulsion system makers in India

[Indx TechStyle]

HAL sets up Rs 208 crore rocket engine manufacturing facility for Isro
The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has set up a Rs 208 crore Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) here that would cater to the entire rocket engine production under one roof.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has set up a Rs 208 crore Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) here that would cater to the entire rocket engine production under one roof for Indian Space Research Organisation.

President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the state-of-the-art ICMF, set up over an area of 4,500 square metres housing over 70 hi-tech equipment and testing facilities for manufacturing cryogenic (CE20) and semi-cryogenic (SE2000) engines of Indian rockets, on Tuesday.

In 2013, an MOU was signed with ISRO for establishing the facility for manufacturing cryogenic engine modules at HAL, Aerospace Division, and it was subsequently amended in 2016 for setting up of ICMF with an investment of Rs 208 crore.

The commissioning of all the critical equipment for the manufacturing and assembly requirement has been completed, Bengaluru-headquartered HAL said on Monday, adding that the pre-production activities which involve preparation of the process and quality plans, and drawings, has also commenced.

HAL

said in a statement it would start realising the modules by March 2023.

HAL

Aerospace Division manufactures liquid propellant tanks and launch vehicle structures of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV MK-II), GSLV Mk-III and also stage integration for GSLV Mk-II.

"The facility (ICMF) will cater to the entire Rocket Engine Manufacturing under one roof for ISRO. The facility will boost self-reliance in manufacturing of Hi-thrust Rocket engines," the HAL statement said.

Cryogenic engines are the most widely used engines world over in launch vehicles, the statement said. Due to the complex nature of the cryogenic engine, till date only a few countries -- the USA, France, Japan, China and Russia -- have mastered the cryogenic technology.

On January five, 2014 India successfully flew GSLV-D5 with a cryogenic engine and became the sixth country in developing cryogenic engines, it said.

HAL-L&T consortium recently bagged the Rs 860 crore contract for end-to-end realisation of five PSLVs over a period of four years from the NewsSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Department of Space.

 

[FalconSlayers]

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO facilitates the hot testing of an engine developed by an Indian space startup
Nov 8, 2022

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the lead Centre of ISRO for the development of launch vehicles, facilitated the hot testing of a rocket engine developed by an Indian space start-up. VSSC successfully conducted the 15 s hot test of Agnilet Engine for M/s Agnikul Cosmos Pvt. Ltd. on November 4, 2022 at its Vertical Test Facility, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Thiruvananthapuram. The test was carried out as part of MOU signed between ISRO and M/s Agnikul Cosmos Pvt. Ltd. to provide opportunity for Indian space start-ups to use facilities of ISRO through IN-SPACe.

Chamber Pressure – Time curve

Agnilet Engine hot test

Agnilet Engine is a regeneratively cooled 1.4 kN semi-cryogenic engine, working at a chamber pressure of 10.8 bar(a) using Liquid oxygen and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) as propellants. This engine is realised through state-of-the-art 3D printing technology and material of construction is INCONEL-718.

More Details
Agnilet Engine
Agnilet Engine Hot Test Video

Downloadable video of Agnilet test above.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Successful CE20 uprated Engine Hot Test with 21.8 T vacuum thrust
Nov 09, 2022

The CE20 cryogenic engine indigenously developed for LVM3 has been subjected to successful hot test at an uprated thrust level of 21.8 tonne for the first time on 9th Nov, 2022. This will enhance the LVM3 payload capability upto 450 kg with additional propellant loading.

The major modifications carried out on this test article compared to previous engines was introduction of Thrust Control Valve (TCV) for thrust control. In addition to this 3D printed LOX and LH2 turbine exhaust casings were inducted in the engine for the first time. During this test the engine operated with ~20t thrust level for first 40s, then thrust level was increased to 21.8t by moving thrust control valve. During the test, engine and facility performance was normal and required parameters were achieved.

Thrust Chamber Pressure Curve

Engine Hot Test

 

[Vamsi]

@Indx TechStyle @Swesh
it looks like ISRO have completed the design of 100ton Methalox engine, but I don't know the credibility of this news

 

[Vamsi]

Good news boyss....it's official now, ISRO is developing a new 1000KN thrust class Methalox engine ....it's gonna be open cycle engine ...i.e Gas-generator cycle engine....this engine gonna be our 2nd Indigenously designed engine after CE-20...this engine will be used in upcoming NGLV & will be reusable.....



@Indx TechStyle @Swesh I think it's time for a new dedicated Thread for Methalox engine

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Good news boyss....it's official now, ISRO is developing a new 1000KN thrust class Methalox engine ....it's gonna be open cycle engine ...i.e Gas-generator cycle engine....this engine gonna be our 2nd Indigenously designed engine after CE-20...this engine will be used in upcoming NGLV & will be reusable.....



@Indx TechStyle @Swesh I think it's time for a new dedicated Thread for Methalox engine

View attachment 204709

CE-20 is an upper stage engine.
A 1000 kN engine looks like a core stag engine.

 

[Vamsi]

CE-20 is an upper stage engine.
A 1000 kN engine looks like a core stag engine.

yes it is, core stage for NGLV

 

[Vamsi]

ISRO is seriously working on 100ton Methalox engine for NGLV

@Tactical Doge translate the video

 

[RedPhantom]

ISRO is seriously working on 100ton Methalox engine for NGLV

@Tactical Doge translate the video

Newsreader: Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre developed the hearts of PSLV(Vikas engine), GSLV and Mk2(CE-7.5 Cryogenic engine) LVM-3(CE-20 Crogenic engine). Now they are taking up the challenge of making engines for launchers bigger than GSLV, i.e, LOx Methane engine.

Dr. V. Narayanan: Using Liquid Oxygen and methane propellant, we have started a new engine development. A technology demonstrator has been realised and 6 to 7 test (or thrust?) experiment has been conducted using it. He have learned a lot of technology and using this knowledge, are developing a high thrust LOx engine based on the guidelines from chairman ISRO.

Newsreader: The first question is, if we already have liquid cryogenic engines, why do we need a new engine?

G. Nageshwaran: We use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Here we use liquid methane instead of liquid hydrogen in the LOx methane technology demonstrator engine and LOx scientific technology. The primary reason for that is that LNG, which is 95% methane is cheap and freely available. Cryogenic engines can be used in the final stage as well as a booster, so a single engine can be used for designing a rocket.

Newsreader: LOx engine is critical for interplanetary missions.

G. Nageshwaran: Jupiter, Uranus and the far away planets have oceans of liquid methane, which we can harness if we reach there. The speciality of this engine is that we can use that methane to run our engine.

Newsreader: The developments were very fast.

K. S. Bijukumar: Ordinarily, the LOx methane engine is a critical engine. But instead of testing the full engine in the first attempt directly, we tested ignition, which is the most important step. First we ignited the thrust chamber, then we ran the turbines and after that is the part called the gas generator, and after igniting it, we steadied(or studied?) the engine. Within a single year, we were able to realise the entire technology without any failure in the first try.

Newsreader: More powerful and re-usable engines will be a reality with LOx methane engines.

N. Jayan: ISRO is going to develop a 10 ton capacity reusable rocket that can be used multiple times, is very cheap and can compete in the international market, in the next 5 years. The most important component there is the LOx methane engine, and for that, LPSC has started the procedure for designing and developing a 100 ton thrust engine.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Good news boyss....it's official now, ISRO is developing a new 1000KN thrust class Methalox engine ....it's gonna be open cycle engine ...i.e Gas-generator cycle engine....this engine gonna be our 2nd Indigenously designed engine after CE-20...this engine will be used in upcoming NGLV & will be reusable.....



@Indx TechStyle @Swesh I think it's time for a new dedicated Thread for Methalox engine

View attachment 204709

Copied both pages here instead.

 

[Gessler]

@Indx TechStyle

It seems signing on to the Artemis Accords has already started opening doors:

L&T likely to fuel space exploration plans of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos-owned firm engines: Jeff Bezos-owned firm sourcing engines based on the Artemis Accords

www.business-standard.com

Blue Origin has begun negotiations to source engine manufacturing services from India's L&T - which makes solid-propulsion solutions for ISRO.

For decades, both public & private-sector aerospace companies in India developed in a closed market, catering only to the limited, but technically challenging local industrial needs of ISRO. Now, their scope for space-related business is set to expand rapidly.

Thanks to ISRO's programs, a lot of these companies (L&T, HAL, Godrej Aerospace, etc.) have developed industrial capabilities that very few enterprises in the world have. They manufacture stuff like the S200, the 3rd-biggest solid rocket booster in the world (after the Shuttle's and the Ariane 5's), like the CE-20 (the most powerful upper-stage cryogenic engine in the world currently). They are tooling up to build the Gaganyaan crew module as we speak.

When you combine that with the low costs of India's manufacturing scene, the scope of work these companies can do (both as primary contractors, wherever deals are yet to be signed, as well as Tier-1/2 suppliers for existing primary contractors) in programs like Artemis, Axiom station, etc. is simply immense.

This biz is about to take off!