Vikas (rocket engine)

Vikas
Model of the Vikas engine
Country of originIndia
Designer
ManufacturerGodrej & Boyce and MTAR Technologies[1]
PredecessorViking
StatusActive
Liquid-fuel engine
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
CycleGas generator
Performance
Thrust850 kN[2]
Chamber pressure6.2 MPa (62 bar) [3][4]
Specific impulse, vacuum293 seconds (2.87 km/s)[3]
Specific impulse, sea-level262 seconds (2.57 km/s)[3]
Dimensions
Length3.70 m (12.1 ft)(Vikas-4B)
Dry mass120 in (3,000 mm)
Used in
2nd stage of PSLV and GSLV
Main stage L110 of LVM3

The Vikas (a portmanteau from initials of VIKram Ambalal Sarabhai[5][6] ) is a family of hypergolic liquid fuelled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in the 1970s.[7][8] The design was based on the licensed version of the Viking engine with the chemical pressurisation system.[9] The early production Vikas engines used some imported French components which were later replaced by domestically produced equivalents.[10] It is used in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and LVM3 for space launch use.

Vikas engine is used to power the second stage of PSLV, boosters and second stage of GSLV Mark I and II and also the core stage of LVM3. The propellant loading for Vikas engine in PSLV, GSLV Mark I and II is 40 tons, while in LVM3 is 55 tons.

  1. ^ "Manna from Mars ISRO's first mission to the red planet provides a fillip to its local component suppliers". Business Today. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  2. ^ India's VIKAS engines and its relationship to the European Viking engines Archived 2015-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Norbert Brügge, Germany 24 December 2014
  3. ^ a b c PSLV Launch Vehicle Information Space Flight 101 24 December 2014
  4. ^ "With eye on lunar mission, ISRO to test high-thrust Vikas engine". Retrieved 21 May 2022.
  5. ^ M Ramesh (18 December 2014). "Godrej Aerospace to make semi-cryogenic engines". The Hindu Business Line.
  6. ^ Narayanan, Nambi; Ram, Arun (2018). Ready To Fire: How India and I Survived the ISRO Spy Case. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-93-86826-27-5.
  7. ^ "ISRO tests Vikas engine". The Hindu. 3 December 2001. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  8. ^ K.S. Jayaraman (2 August 2009). "Unsung hero of moon mission is sad but forgiving". Thaindian.com. IANS. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  9. ^ Sutton, George Paul (2006). History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines. AIAA. p. 799. ISBN 9781563476495.
  10. ^ Sutton, George Paul (2006). History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines. AIAA. p. 882. ISBN 9781563476495.