At 16:50 IST today, 08 September 2016, India successfully launched the 1st operational flight of the GSLV Mk2 rocket, with an indigenous cryogenic engine, deploying a 2200 kg INSAT 3DR satellite as payload The cryogenic’ tag comes from the fact that hydrogen and oxygen are both cooled to cryogenic or ‘very low’ temperatures so that they become liquids and start flowing as gas, once the engine is ignited.
To understand what is cryogenic, imagine it as the standard kitchen LPG gas cylinder – the ‘Liquefied Petroleum Gas’ or LPG is actually stored as a liquid, till it starts flowing up into the gas stove or range as a gas to cook the food. In the GSLV cryogenic stage, they help propel the rocket and its payload.
Why is cryogenic important? To put it simply, rocket fuels are stored as solid or liquid.. The solid fuel in a rocket – think of your Deepavali rocket – is easy to manufacture, store, move and fire quickly. The fuel does not flow, but is easier to manufacture, store, and manage. Liquid fuels do flow, and release more energy, but are difficult to store, and the storage/engine technology itself is very difficult to master.
But for a nation with hopes in space flight, and manned missions, mastering liquid fuel technology is essential – for the simple reason that liquid fuel rockets – from huge Saturn 5, Ariane 5/6, Chang Zheng (Long March) 7, GSLV Mk 2/3 to small thrusters on astronaut space suits for Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) – can be switched on and off and on again. This switch on-off-on function cannot be done with solid fuels.
Thus, unless a nation masters cryogenic engine technology, it cannot hope to venture ‘where no human has gone before’.
So, here is the snapshot of the spectacular launch of the GSLV Mk 2 F05 carrying the 2.2 ton INSAT 3DR satellite as its payload.
To understand what is cryogenic, imagine it as the standard kitchen LPG gas cylinder – the ‘Liquefied Petroleum Gas’ or LPG is actually stored as a liquid, till it starts flowing up into the gas stove or range as a gas to cook the food. In the GSLV cryogenic stage, they help propel the rocket and its payload.
Why is cryogenic important? To put it simply, rocket fuels are stored as solid or liquid.. The solid fuel in a rocket – think of your Deepavali rocket – is easy to manufacture, store, move and fire quickly. The fuel does not flow, but is easier to manufacture, store, and manage. Liquid fuels do flow, and release more energy, but are difficult to store, and the storage/engine technology itself is very difficult to master.
But for a nation with hopes in space flight, and manned missions, mastering liquid fuel technology is essential – for the simple reason that liquid fuel rockets – from huge Saturn 5, Ariane 5/6, Chang Zheng (Long March) 7, GSLV Mk 2/3 to small thrusters on astronaut space suits for Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) – can be switched on and off and on again. This switch on-off-on function cannot be done with solid fuels.
Thus, unless a nation masters cryogenic engine technology, it cannot hope to venture ‘where no human has gone before’.
So, here is the snapshot of the spectacular launch of the GSLV Mk 2 F05 carrying the 2.2 ton INSAT 3DR satellite as its payload.
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