Dhawan-1: Indias First Privately Built Cryogenic Rocket Engine

Indias first privately built cryogenic rocket engine called Dhawan-1 was test-fired privately by Skyroot Aerospace.

Highlights:

Skyroot Aerospace exhibited the upper stage of its Vikram-2 launch vehicle.

The cryogenic rocket engine is 3D printed and made in India.

It has been named after Satish Dhawan, the third chairman of ISRO, as he pioneered the development of advanced launch capabilities of India.

Vikram Rocket has been identified after Vikram Sarabhai, who started India’s space program and conducted advanced nuclear research.

The rocket uses a mixture of Liquid Natural Gas, more than 90 per cent methane and Liquid Oxygen.

It is called “Methalox”, in the combined state, which forms a cryogenic rocket fuel.

This provides high performance and a low cost. The fuel is environmentally friendly, which is dubbed “Fuel of the future”.

Dhawan-1

The Dhawan-1 engine includes a vacuum thrust of about 1.5kN. The engine was tested on a specially built testbed at Solar Industries in Nagpur.

The engine is the upper stage of the Vikram-2 launch vehicle that uses Environment-friendly compounds called LNG and LOX. It is entirely 3D printed.

Pixxel 1 satellite is set to be launched in 2022, the first private satellite in an Earth Observation constellation in low Earth orbit.

The UNESCO recently presented two Heritage Awards to the Nizamuddin Basti Project. The project was awarded for its conservation efforts. It was awarded with the Special Recognition for Sustainable Award and Award of Excellence.

The project restored more than 20 historic monuments located around 14thcentury Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.

The Nizamuddin area consists of and Batashewala Tomb and tomb of a 16thcentury poet Rahim (Khan I Khanan). These regions were segregated and damaged. They were also renewed by the Nizamuddin Basti Project.

The project was started in 2007 by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Urban Heritage Foundation and the Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The Nizamuddin Basti Project is an Urban Renewal Project. It successfully unified the segregated zones of the seven-century old settlement of the Nizamuddin Basti and its surrounding 70 acres.

It integrated socio Economic Development, conservation and environmental development objectives in these areas.