New Solid Propellant Motor to Increase PSLV Capability

ISRO has successfully ground tested an improved version of the solid propellant strap-on motor for PSLV. The new motor, PSOM-XL, was static tested at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota on December 29, 2005.

PSLV at present employs six solid propellant strap-on motors, each carrying nine tonnes of propellant. The new version, PSOM-XL, with a length of 13.5 m, has the capacity to carry 12.4 tonnes. The motor developed a peak chamber pressure of 4.16 Mega Pascal and burned for a duration of 58 seconds in the ground test. The performance of the new motor, developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, was as per the prediction.

PSOM-XL will improve the capability of PSLV from the present 1450 kg to 1600 kg and will be employed in future PSLV flights including launching Chandrayaan-1 and the microwave remote sensing satellite, RISAT.

PSOM-XL in its static test stand