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.
On July 14, 2021, ISRO has successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV MkIII vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan Programme. The engine was fired for 240 seconds at the engine test facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.
“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 space agency said in a release.
As soon as the news broke, many took to Twitter, with congratulatory messages for the space agency and the scientists behind the project for their effort. #ISRO and #Gaganyaan also briefly dominated Twitter trends on Thursday.
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. The formal announcement of the Gaganyaan program was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2018.
