Article Posted on : - Mar 06, 2010

NEW DELHI (BNS): Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high performance sounding rocket.

The flight test was carried out on Wednesday at 08.30 hrs (local time), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, an ISRO statement said.

The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01), weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by ISRO.

It carried a passive scramjet engine combustor module as a test bed for demonstration of Air- Breathing propulsion technology.

During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions of Mach number (6 + 0.5) and dynamic pressure (80 + 35 kPa). These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV.

The successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion.