ISRO Successfully Completes a Cryogenic Engine Vacuum Ignition Test

The indigenous CE20 cryogenic engine’s ignition trial was successfully carried out by the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro). The test, which was carried out on February 7 at the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu, replicated actual space conditions for the engine restart that will power the upper stage of its powerful Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-III).

A vital part of upcoming ISRO missions, including the human spaceflight program, is the CE20 engine, which was created for the upper stage of the LVM-3 rocket. In order to ensure operational reliability in space, the test concentrated on assessing the igniting process under vacuum conditions.

In this test, a multi-element igniter was used to ignite the engine Thrust Chamber in a vacuum, under the tank pressure circumstances that are anticipated to exist when the cryogenic engine is restarted in flight. During the test, the engine and the facility operated normally and according to expectations.

Because of the inherent complexity of restarting a cryogenic engine, Isro is investigating starting turbopumps in bootstrap mode instead of using the stored gas system as part of its restart operation research.

Under tank head conditions, it is anticipated that the gas generator and thrust chamber will both re-ignite in this method. In order to improve the ability to restart numerous cryogenic engines while in flight, Isro has described a set of tests focused on bootstrap engine starts.

These tests are essential to verifying performance in real-world scenarios now that the CE20 engine has been approved for use in India’s first human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan. The engine and testing facility both operated as planned throughout the trial, according to ISRO, reaffirming trust in the system’s dependability for future space flights.