Isro launches India’s first air breathing rocket

Isro launches India's first air breathing rocket

Rocket To Carry Out Space Research, Study Atmosphere

 Forty-eight hours after the news about Chandrayaan-1's discovery of ice on the moon, here comes another good news. On Thursday, Isro successfully tested a new generation high performance sounding rocket marking a major step towards low cost access to space by India. 

    "Today's flight marks a major step towards developing a low cost access to space," Isro chief spokesperson S Satish told TOI, while pointing out that there could be another test during the next three months.
    Designated as advanced technology vehicle (ATV), it weighed three tonnes and is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by Isro. The launch took place at 8.30 am in Sriharikota.
    Satish said for the first time India tested air breathing propulsion technology. The rocket reached an altitude of 46 km in 120 seconds after lift off. It then splashed into Bay of Bengal — the total duration of the mission being 240 seconds. Once fully operational these hi-tech sounding rockets have the capability to fly payloads weighing between 200 and 400 kg up to an altitude of 800 km. The basic role of sounding rockets is to carry out space research and study the upper atmosphere, he said. Explaining the new technology, he said in a conventional rocket, fuel and oxidizer are taken as a mixture which increases the weight of the vehicle. But, in an air breathing rocket, oxygen is taken from the atmosphere for burning the fuel. He said the main advantage of this system is it reduces the weight as well as the cost of the rocket itself. It could also result in India-built rockets being able to fly heavier payloads. Studies by Nasa have shown that it costs about $10,000 per pound to place a payload in orbit.
    Nasa and other space agencies including Isro are at present trying to cut down the launch cost to only a few hundred dollars per pound. Since the weight of an air breathing rocket is low, it will be easy to manoeuvre. This would mean safer travel to space.
    Satish said if the air breathing technology is used in well-proven rocket like Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), it could carry heavier payloads. Space experts said studies by Nasa and other space organisations have shown that conventional rocket engines are too heavy to provide any advantage. Satish said India's space programme is expected to cross another milestone on Friday when it will test 110 tonne liquid propellant engine of Geo Synchronous Satellite Vehicle Mark 3. The test will take place at liquid propulsion centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. The GSLV Mk3 has the capability to carry four tonne communication satellites as against two tonnes by the current version of GSLVs.
    He said India's space programme will break new grounds in April when, for the first time, two rockets will be launched in two weeks. The two rockets are GSLV which will for the first time test an indigenous cryogenic engine and PSLV which will fly Cartosat-2b remote sensing satellite, along with an Algerian satellite, Alsat and Studsat, a tiny satellite which is a joint project of students from different colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad. "Both the rockets are now undergoing the integration process at Sriharikota," he added.

Advanced Vs Conventional 

    An air breathing rocket takes oxygen from the atmosphere for burning the fuel
    In a conventional rocket the fuel and oxidizer are taken as a mixture increasing the weight of the vehicle
    This new system reduces the weight as well as the cost of the rocket
IIT-K's nanosatellite Jugnu to be handed over to Isro
        The IIT-Kanpur with its Nano satellite Jugnu is ready to set new highs in the field of space research. A team of students, working under Dr N S Vyas (the visionary man behind the making of the nano satellite) and other faculty members of the institute, have successfully made the country's first nano satellite to be developed for the first time by any educational institute.
    The satellite will be handed over to two Isro scientists — D V A Raghav Murthy (project director, small satellite projects) and Dr S K Shiv Kumar (director, ISRO satellite tracking centre), by President Pratibha Patil on March 6. Weighing less than three kg and with most functionalities of a normal satellite on a small platform, the payload of the satellite will include an indigenously designed camera for near remote sensing and a GPS receiver. Jugnu will transmit blinking signal at all times, all over the Earth. It will revolve around the Earth 15 times a day in polar orbit and will be visible three to four times over Kanpur for a total of 20 minutes.