An important milestone in the development of indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage for India's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was achieved yesterday (February 16, 2000), when the first Cryogenic Engine, employing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, was ignited at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre test complex at Mahendragiri in Tamilnadu. However, the test had to be aborted at 15 seconds instead of the planned duration of 30 seconds. The voluminous data obtained from the test by the elaborate instrumentation during the test will be analysed to pinpoint the anomaly during the test and take suitable corrective action.

The test of the first Cryogenic Engine yesterday has several accomplishments: fabrication, assembly and integration of the complete cryogenic engine; validation and commissioning of the test stand; chill down trials of the engine and associated system; production of cryogenic propellants to required specifications and; validation of appropriate safety procedures besides collection of valuable data during the 15 second test.

Since the engine was moved to the test stand on December 23, 1999, elaborate trials with cryogenic propellants were carried out as part of final preparation and checks prior to the conduct of test