Isro to use green fuel for human space flight: Chairman K Sivan
Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight mission that will carry three Indian astronauts to a low-earth orbit, will use eco-friendly fuel, Isro chairman K Sivan has said.
CHENNAI: Gaganyaan, India’s first human spaceflight mission that will carry three Indian astronauts to a low-earth orbit, will use eco-friendly fuel, Isro chairman K Sivan has said.
Isro now uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as propellant and nitrogen tetroxide as oxidiser in its liquid fuel engines. The fuel and exhaust are toxic.
“We are developing green propulsion for human space flight mission. We will use either hydrogen peroxide-based mono propulsion system or hydrogen peroxide along with ethanol as by-propellant. Both hydrogen peroxide and its by-propellant are green and not toxic. Even the exhaust is not toxic,” Sivan told TOI on Saturday. “In the future rockets, we will be using liquid oxygen (LOX) methane engines,” he added.
Earlier, while delivering virtually the 16th convocation address of SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai, the Isro chairman stressed the need to limit environmental damage. “Isro has done the technology transfer of its space-grade lithium-ion batteries to industry. This technology is useful for mass adoption of electrical vehicles without remaining perpetually dependent on foreign sources. In the future, all the propulsive stages of the rocket may adopt green propulsion,” he said.
On space sector reforms announced by the government for greater participation of non-governmental entities, he said, “Our next PSLV launch will have satellites from start-up agencies as the first product of these reforms.”
Calling on new graduates to take calculated risks, he said, “When you take calculated risks, you safeguard yourself from absolute failure. You may fail, but each failure will provide a valuable lesson. India’s space program has been built on spectacular failures. Each failure has resulted in improvements in our system.”
SRMIST founder-chancellor T R Paarivendhar said the satellite launched by the students of SRM university is still working even after nine years, completing more than 40,000 orbits in space. “The satellite was sent to study water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” SRMIST vice-chancellor Sandeep Sancheti presented the annual report.
About 17,204 students including 129 PhD scholars received their degrees and 244 students received medals for securing ranks.