Milestone Achieved: Human-Rated S200 Rocket Booster, ‘Gaganyaan’ Test Successful

• Image Credit: Internet

• May 13, 2022 | Kabir Chakraborty

In a milestone achievement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed the static test of a human-rated solid rocket booster (HS200) at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, at 7.20 am today for its Gaganyaan programme. 

The heavy-lift launcher, GSLV MkIII’s identification and the process for a human rating of GSLV MkIII for India’s historic space mission was completed in 2020. In its first step towards its unmanned space programme, ISRO had developed the first critical booster segment of the motor case with a diameter of 3.2 meters, 8.5 meters in collaboration with the L&T and had flagged it off on November 13, 2020. 

The recently tested HS200 rocket booster is the human-rated version of the well-proven S200 rocket booster of GSLV-Mk3 satellite launch vehicle or the LVM3 for ISRO’s Rs 10,000 crores space project. Gaganayaan would be the Indian orbital spacecraft for ISRO’s Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP) that will launch the orbital spacecraft into low earth orbit in 2023.

The human-rated GSLV-Mk3 which will be labelled as the HRLV, is a crucial accomplishment towards the Gaganyaan mission. The ISRO scientists tested the first stage of the launch vehicle for its performance for full duration, an estimated 135 seconds. The 20m-long HS200 booster was loaded with 203 tonnes of solid fuel, and is the world's second-largest operational booster of such a type. ISRO monitored approximately 700 parameters, and out of the three propulsion stages of GSLV-Mk3, the human-rated version of L110-G loaded with liquid fuel is the second stage ahead of the final qualification.