ISRO's scramjet engine test launch. ─ Photo courtesy ISRO website.
ISRO's scramjet engine test launch. ─ Photo courtesy ISRO website.

SRIHARIKOTA: India on Sunday became the fourth country to successfully test launch a scramjet engine, The Hindu reported.

The test flight, which represents a milestone in the ISRO's efforts regarding its future space transportation system, took place at the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre launch pad.

The purpose of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) experimental mission is the realisation of an Air-Breathing Propulsion System that utilises hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the atmosphere as an oxidiser.

ISRO's scramjet engine test launch. ─ Photo courtesy ISRO website.
ISRO's scramjet engine test launch. ─ Photo courtesy ISRO website.

The scramjet engines help reduce launch costs by cutting down on the amount of oxidiser which needs to be carried along with the fuel.

An ISRO official told Indian news agency IANS that the two air-breathing engines hugging an Advanced Technology Vehicle rocket normally start breathing air when the rocket reaches a height of 11 kilometres.

The ISRO said, "With this flight, critical technologies such as ignition of air-breathing engines at supersonic speed, holding the flame at supersonic speed, air intake mechanism and fuel injection systems have been successfully demonstrated."

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...