In her first visit to any state as the President of India, Droupadi Murmu will visit Karnataka to inaugurate the ‘Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility’ of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore.

A cryogenic engine uses a cryogenic fuel or oxidizer (or both) liquefied, which is stored at very low temperatures. Presently, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is using these engines for its heavy light rockets.

“On September 27, 2022, the President will inaugurate the Integrated Cryogenic Engines Manufacturing Facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bengaluru. On that occasion, she will also lay the foundation stone for the Zonal Institute of Virology (South Zone) virtually,” a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan mentioned,

Further on September 27, President Droupadi Murmu will grace the inaugural function of the St. Joseph’s University, and will also attend a civic reception hosted by Government of Karnataka in her honour in Bangalore.

The visit, which is scheduled from September 26 to 28, 2022, will also see the President inaugurating the Mysuru Dasara Festival at Chamundi Hills, Mysuru. On 26th September, President Murmu will attend the felicitation function ‘Poura Sanmana’ organized by the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation at Hubali.

Inaugural ceremony of the new campus of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIT) Dharwad will also take place. The President will return to New Delhi on September 28, 2022.

India’s First High Thrust Cryogenic Rocket Engine

In 2015, India’s first indigenously designed and developed High Thrust cryogenic rocket engine generating a nominal thrust of 19 tonnes was successfully endurance tested for a duration of 800 seconds at ISRO’s Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri. The engine is being used for powering the Cryogenic stage (C25), the upper stage of ISRO’s GSLV MK-III launch vehicle, which is capable of launching four tonne class satellites.

To put things in perspective, the cryogenic engine of C25 Stage operates on Gas Generator Cycle using extremely low temperature propellants. The various subsystems of the engine are – regeneratively cooled Thrust Chamber, Gas Generator, LOX and LH2 high speed turbopump systems, flow control components, close loop mixture ratio control system, Pyrogen igniters, fluid systems, among others.

This high performance cryogenic engine was conceived, configured and realised by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), the lead centre of ISRO, which is responsible for developing liquid propulsion systems for the Indian Space Programme. The Engine design was a totally in-house effort with experts from different fields like fluid dynamics, combustion, thermal, structural, metallurgy, fabrication, rotor dynamics, control components, etc., coming together to make it a success.