The ISRO has successfully tested its indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage for GSLV MkIII.
The cryogenic stage, designated as C25, was tested for a flight duration of 640 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
This stage test is a significant milestone as it is the last in a series of engine and stage development hot tests before the first development flight of GSLV MkIII.
GSLV MkIII, the next generation launch vehicle of ISRO, is capable of launching four ton class satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
The GSLV MkIII vehicle integration activities are in progress at Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota for its first development flight (GSLV MkIII—D1) targeted for April 2017.
The space agency described the C25 stage as the “most powerful” upper stage developed by ISRO which uses Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) propellant combination.
The stage carries 27.8 tonnes of propellants loaded in two independent tanks.
Development of a cryogenic stage has unique design challenges, with liquid Hydrogen stored at —253 deg C and liquid Oxygen stored at —195 deg C in its tanks.
The Cryogenic Stage development tests were carried out in two phases; first stage was subjected to fluid mock—up, wherein the stage preparation and servicing at launch complex in SDSC, SHAR, Shriharikota was completed to prove all the ground facilities established for servicing the cryogenic stage.
This was followed by testing of the Stage at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri. From the Stage realisation to completion of testing, the process was accomplished in four months.
