by Michael Foley, Lead Editor, michael.f@industrynewsledger.com

ISRO, the Indian space agency, moving on from their not-so-successful moon landing attempt, has started to look ahead to upcoming missions. The next feat is a group of liftoffs, starting with PSLV 47 later this month. The first step is the inspection and trial of the semi-cryogenic engine in Ukraine.

S. Somnath, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, a unit of ISRO, told BusinessLine that this engine is completely ready. Once it is prepared for the operation, the semi-cryogenic engine will increase ISRO’s transporting capacity from four to six tons up to geosynchronous orbit 36,000 km above Earth.

A framework agreement signed by India and Ukraine on June 2, 2005, established collaboration efforts in the passive uses of outer space. This also applied to the sharing of blueprints for rocket engines. According to the ISRO, the cryogenic liquid propellant-powered Vikas engine that was utilized in the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle’s lower phase is a complex machine that’s development is no less a technical challenge than Chandrayaan-2, ISRO’s lunar orbiter.