What is the Vikas Engine?

About Vikas Engine:

• VIKAS (an acronym for Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai) engine is a family of liquid-fuelled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO in the 1970s.
• The early productions involved imported French components, which were later replaced by domestically produced equivalents.
• These engines are deployed for ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) series of expendable launch vehicles for space launch use. 
• The fuel load of the Vikas engine is 40 tonnes for the PSLV, GSLV Mark I and II, and 55 tonnes for the GSLV Mark III.

 

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC):

• The LPSC is a research and development center functioning under ISRO.
• It is the center for the design, development, and realization of liquid propulsion stages for ISRO's Launch Vehicles.
• LPSC activities and facilities are spread across its two campuses: LPSC, Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, and LPSC, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

 

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Q1) What is the advantage of liquid-fuelled rocket engines?

Advantages of liquid propellant rockets include the highest energy per unit of fuel mass, variable thrust, and a restart capability. Raw materials, such as oxygen and hydrogen are in abundant supply and are relatively easy to manufacture.

Source: ISRO's Vikas engine passes throttling test