The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully conducted the flight acceptance heat test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine. The engine will power the cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
The space agency said the test was successfully conducted on February 24 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. The hot test was conducted for a planned duration of 25 seconds at the High Altitude Test Facility, ISRO said.
That said, all propulsion parameters during testing were satisfactory and closely matched predictions. The cryogenic engine will be further integrated with the propellant tank, stage structure and associated fluid lines to realize a fully integrated flight cryogenic stage, the space agency said.
The flight acceptance hot test comes a day after the Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully completed critical EMI-EMC (Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility) tests.
The Chandrayaan-3 interplanetary mission consists of three main modules – the propulsion module, the lander module and the rover. The complexity of the mission calls for the establishment of radio-frequency (RF) communication links between the modules.
Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third moon mission and a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability for safe landing and orbiting on the lunar surface. The mission is scheduled to be launched later this year by launch vehicle Mark 3 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
