Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully carried out the ground testing of the newly developed Solid Booster Stage (SS1) for its new launch vehicle Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The successful testing has given sufficient confidence to proceed with
the first developmental flight of SSLV (SSLV-D1), ISRO said in a tweet.
The remaining stages of SSLV (SS2 & SS3) have successfully undergone
necessary ground tests and are ready for integration, it said.
An ISRO official said the static test of the solid fuel motor was successfully
done at the spaceport of Sriharikota from where the maiden flight of SSLV,
designed to carry satellites weighing 500 kg, will take off in the first of this
year. The motor was fired for 150 seconds.
The 34-metre tall SSLV, with a lift off mass of 120 ton, is a three stage launch
vehicle powered by solid propellants.
ISRO, in a release said, all the propulsion parameters during the test are found satisfactory and closely matching with the predictions.
SS1 motor is a three segmented solid propulsion stage incorporating many new technologies and innovative processes which includes bond-free joint between the segments, high power electro mechanical actuator with digital control electronics, optimised ignitor and simultaneous propellant casting of all segments, which have been successfully validated in the ground test.