ISRO's Long Duration CE-20 Engine Hot Test Successful

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today announced that it has successfully tested CE-20 engine for a long duration of 650 secs for inducting it in flight

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today announced that it has successfully tested CE-20 engine for a long duration of 650 secs for inducting it in flight. In an update, ISRO said CE-20 engine is successfully operated with a thrust level of 22t for a long duration of 650 s at the Cryogenic Main Engine and Stage Test Facility of ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu on Friday. With this, the engine qualification for 20 t thrust level is also successfully completed for induction in flight.

The CE20 engine is designed and developed by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, Kerala. The engine was operated with a 20.2t thrust level for the first 40 s, followed by an operation at 20t off-nominal zones before operating it at 22.2 t for a duration of 435 s, by moving the thrust control valve.

The mixture ratio and thrust control were in open-loop mode. During the test, the engine and the facility performed normally, and the required engine performance parameters were achieved as predicted. The engine used for this hot test had undergone 11 hot tests with a cumulative duration of 2720 s earlier. Thus, this engine has undergone 3370 s cumulative burn duration at different thrust and mixture ratio levels, ISRO said.

Mahendragiri, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the hot test of CE20 cryogenic engine, which has been indigenously developed for LVM3, previously called the GSLV-Mk3. According to the space agency, CE20 cryogenic engine is indigenously developed for LVM3. It was subjected to a successful hot test at an uprated thrust level of 21.8 tonne for the first time on November 9, at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu. This will enhance the LVM3 payload capability up to 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. ISRO successfully conducted the hot test of CE20 cryogenic engine for the LVM3 at its test facility in Mahendragiri.ISRO said in addition to the hot test, a 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, according to ISRO.

The LVM3 is the heaviest launch vehicle of ISRO.Last month, the LVM3 launch vehicle placed 36 satellites of OneWeb; this was LVM’s first commercial launch. Following the launch, ISRO said that the LVM3 has become a catalyst for the Indian Space Programme, opening new vistas for heavy payloads to the Low Earth Orbit. Early next year ISRO is expected to launch LVM’s second commercial launch.

Source Credit : https://www.dynamitenews.com/story/isros-long-duration-ce-20-engine-hot-test-successful

Edited by Ragul Senthil