Final ground tests success, ISRO’s CE20 Cryo engine is human rated for Gaganyaan mission

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday announced that it has accomplished a major milestone in the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine that powers the cryogenic stage of the human-rated LVM3 launch vehicle for Gaganyaan missions, with the completion of the final round of ground qualification tests.

The tests were conducted on February 13, 2024.

The engine’s mettle was demonstrated through rigorous testing.

The final test was the seventh of a series of vacuum ignition tests carried out at the High Altitude Test Facility at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, to simulate the flight conditions.

“Mission Gaganyaan: ISRO’s CE20 cryogenic engine is now human-rated for Gaganyaan missions”, ISRO posted on X.

“Rigorous testing demonstrates the engine’s mettle. The CE20 engine identified for the first uncrewed flight LVM3 G1 also went through acceptance tests”, it said.

The ground qualification tests for the human rating of the CE20 engine involved life demonstration tests, endurance tests, and performance assessment under nominal operating conditions as well as off-nominal conditions w.r.t thrust, mixture ratio, and propellant tank pressure.

All the ground qualification tests of the CE20 engine for the Gaganyaan programme have been successfully completed.

In order to qualify the CE20 engine for human rating standards, four engines have undergone 39 hot firing tests under different operating conditions for a cumulative duration of 8,810 seconds against the minimum human rating qualification standard requirement of 6,350 seconds.

Last year, ISRO has also successfully completed the acceptance tests of the flight engine identified for the first unmanned Gaganyaan (G1) mission tentatively scheduled for Q2 of 2024. This engine will power the upper stage of the human-rated LVM3 vehicle and has a thrust capability of 19 to 22 tonnes with a specific impulse of 442.5 seconds.