Frequently Asked Questions - About LPSC
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| In PSLV, the second and fourth stages viz PS2 and PS4 stages are powered by liquid propulsion engines. The PS2 stage is powered by a Vikas engine with 800kN thrust and stage propellant loading of 40 tons. The fourth stage is powered by two PS4 engines delivering 14.7kN thrust with stage propellant loading of 1.6 to 2.6 tons. Besides, PSLV first stage uses liquid propulsion based Control Power Plants namely SITVC and RCS for Pitch, Yaw and Roll control. In GSLV, the 4 nos of L40 strapons are liquid propulsion Vikas engine powered stages. Besides, the second stage, GS2 is also vikas engine based liquid propulsion stage. The upper stage is an indigenously developed cryogenic engine having 75 kN thrust. In GSLV, the 4 nos of L40 strapons are liquid propulsion Vikas engine powered stages with propellant loading of 40 tons. Besides, the second stage, GS2 is also Vikas engine based liquid propulsion stage with propellant loading of 40 tons. The third stage uses cryogenic technology with engine delivering 75 kN thrust and stage propellant loading of 15 tons. In LVM3, the core stage, L110 is a liquid propulsion stage with twin Vikas engine delivering 1600kN thrust with stage propellant loading of 110 tons. The upper stage is an indigenously developed cryogenic stage C25 powered by CE20 engine developing 200 kN thrust with stage propellant loading of 28 tons. |
| Cryogenic propulsion system uses propellants which are stored at low temperatures, below 123K. The commonly used cryogenic propellants are liquid Hydrogen (fuel) and Liquid Oxygen (Oxidiser). The combination of liquid Oxygen (boiling point 90K) and Liquid Hydrogen (boiling point 20K) is used for rocket propulsion. The cryogenic propulsion has a specific impulse of 450s to 460s. This is high compared with 260s to 275 s of solid propellants, 280s to 315s of earth storable propellants and 300s to 350s of semi cryo propulsion. This high performance is the driving factor to use cryogenic engines in terminal stages of launch vehicles. |
| The spacecraft is injected by the launch vehicle either in a low earth orbit or in a Geo-transfer orbit. Once injected into orbit, spacecraft require some form of propulsion throughout their operational life for numerous purposes. It is the spacecraft propulsion system that propels the spacecraft precisely in the desired orbit such as polar orbit, geosynchronous orbit etc. Moreover, the spacecraft propulsion system enables orienting the spacecraft in the orbit, controls and maintains the orbit and attitude as well as helps in manoeuvring the spacecraft on completion of end-of life. Majorly two types of propulsion system configurations, monopropellant system & bipropellant system are being used in various spacecraft missions of ISRO. Electric propulsion system is also being developed for spacecraft propulsion. |
| Electric propulsion system uses electrical energy for heating and/or directly ejecting propellant, utilizing an energy source that is independent of the propellant itself. |
| The liquid propulsion system offers many advantages compared to solid propulsion viz. a) higher specific impulse b) termination of thrust when desired c) thrust can be controlled through proper thrust management system and d) restart capability. |
| The LPSC activities and facilities are spread across its two campuses viz., LPSC Headquarters and Design Offices at Valiamala/ Thiruvananthapuram and Spacecraft Propulsion Systems development at LPSC, Bengaluru/Karnataka. LPSC Valiamala is the Centre Headquarters, primarily responsible for R & D, System Design/Engineering and Project Management functions. Various Entities engaged in design, development and realisation of Launch vehicle Earth Storable, Cryogenic and Semi-cryogenic propulsion systems, associated Fluid Control Components design and development, Propulsion research, materials development & manufacturing, mechanical design, system engineering etc. are located here. LPSC Bengaluru focuses on satellite propulsion. Design and realization of spacecraft propulsion systems, integration of spacecraft propulsion systems for ISRO's Remote Sensing, Communication, Navigation and Scientific spacecrafts, development and production of transducers / sensors are other major activities at LPSC, Bengaluru. Fabrication of launch vehicle stage tanks and structure at ASD/HAL is also coordinated and managed by LHWC at Bengaluru. |
| The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft was launched by LVM3 M4 from SDSC, SHAR. Towards the Launch vehicle, the L110 Stage which is the core liquid stage of
LVM3 was designed, developed and realized by LPSC. This Stage is loaded with ~114t of Earth Storable propellants (N2O4 and UH25) and powered by twin Vikas Engines. In addition, the C25 Stage which is the terminal stage of LVM3
was also designed, developed and realized by LPSC. This Stage is loaded with 28.5 t of Cryogenic Propellants (Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen). The Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen are stored in the propellant tank at 77.2 K and 20.8 K respectively. In addition to these, LPSC had designed, developed and realized vital fluid control components and modules for S200 Solid Stage's Flex Nozzle Control (FNC) system and sit-on umbilicals used for servicing the S200 FNC system.
The Chandrayaan-3 Propulsion Module (PM) was configured by LPSC with two numbers of 780 litre Titanium Alloy propellant tanks holding about 1.7 t of propellant (MON-3 and MMH). The Propulsion Module has one 440N LAM engine and eight number of 22N thrusters. LPSC has also developed the propulsion system for the Lander which has many novel technologies including the 800N throttleable engines (having throttling capability upto 360N), eight numbers of 58N thrusters, two numbers of 470 litre propellant tanks (holding 1.04 t of MON-3 and MMH as propellants) having special propellant acquisition systems that can ensure supply of propellants even during Zero gravity condition and special anti-slosh baffles which can suppress the fluid slosh disturbance while landing. The Lander Propulsion System including the Throttleable Engine Control Electronic Module (TECEM) was conceived, designed and developed by LPSC. |
| The launch of Aditya-L1 by PSLV-C57 was accomplished successfully on Sep 02, 2023. In this mission, LPSC had played a significant role by delivering the
earth storable liquid propulsion stage (PS2 Stage, PS4 Stage) and five Control Power Plants (PS1 RCS x 2 numbers, PS1 SITVC, PS0 SITVC x 2 Nos.) of the PSLV C57 Launch Vehicle. The details of above deliverables are: PS2 Stage: It is powered by Vikas Engine producing a thrust of 80t and has a propellant loading of 42t. The PS2 Stage operated for about 150s in this mission. PS4 Stage: It is powered by 2 Nos. of PS4 engines each producing a thrust of 0.73t thrust and has a propellant loading of 2.5t. The Stage had restart capability and had operated for 27.86s in its first burn followed by 471.5s in its second burn. The Stage had a long coasting period of 1640s between the burns. The Control Power plants provide the necessary control of the Vehicle (viz. Pitch, Yaw and Roll) during the PS1 regime. Two numbers of Roll Control System Packages, 2 numbers of Strap on SITVC (Side Injection Thrust Vector Control) systems and one PS1 SITVC system were used in this mission. LPSC also delivered the Bipropellant based Spacecraft Propulsion system consisting of primarily one LAM engine, 8 numbers of 22N, 4 numbers of 10N thrusters and associated propulsion elements like 390L propellant tanks, precision control components etc. which plays a crucial role in taking the spacecraft to Sun-Earth L1 point. In addition, the Centre had also delivered 220 numbers of critical sensors which were used in both Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft. |
Designed & Developed by CISDG/MSA, LPSC
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