ISRO conducts flight testing of new generation sounding rocket

Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully conducted the flight testing of its new generation high performance sounding rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The ISRO release says that the Advanced Technology Vehicle called ATV-D01 in short, weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off, is the heaviest sounding rocket ever developed by ISRO. The ISRO sources disclosed that they are developing an Air Breathing engine that can accelerate five times the speed of sound and once this technology is developed fully, it will help lower the cost of traveling to space, as it will use lesser fuel. The Air Breathing engine under development will also improve the efficiency of the launch vehicle, the sources disclosed. During the flight, the vehicle successfully dwelled for 7 seconds in the desired conditions and dynamic pressure. These conditions are required for a stable ignition of active scramjet engine combustor module planned in the next flight of ATV. The release says that the successful flight testing of ATV-D01 is a step ahead towards the advanced technology initiative taken up by ISRO in the area of Air- Breathing propulsion technology.