ISRO boosts the payload capacity of the LVM3 rocket by 450kg

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has boosted the payload capacity of its LVM3 (GSLV MkIII) rocket by 450 kg by adding propellant to its cryogenic engine CE20. According to ISRO, the CE20 cryogenic engine, which was developed in-house for LVM3, was successfully hot tested for the first time on November 9 at an increased thrust level of 21.8 tonne.

With additional propellant loading, the LVM3 payload capability will be increased to 450 kg. The LVM3 rocket can currently carry four tonnes to geo transfer orbit and 10,000 tonnes to low earth orbit. The cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 vehicle (C25 stage) is powered by a CE-20 engine that uses a combination of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen (LOX-LH2) propellants. According to the Indian space agency, the main difference between this test article and previous engines was the addition of a Thrust Control Valve (TCV) for thrust control.

ISRO also stated that for the first time, 3D printed LOX and LH2 turbine exhaust casings were installed in the engine. During this test, the engine ran with a thrust level of about 20t for the first 40 seconds, then the thrust level was increased to 21.8t by sliding the thrust control valve. According to ISRO, the engine and facility performance were normal, and all required criteria were met. ISRO uses the LVM3 rocket to launch third-party satellites on a commercial basis. In January 2023, ISRO plans to launch another batch of 36 small satellites from the UK-based OneWeb. The LVM3 rocket launched the first batch of 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit on October 23.

(source : IANS)