A study is on for establishing a rocket launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam, said P.V. Venkitakrishnan, Director of ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, here on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference at Thoothukudi airport, he said the successful launch of GSLV Mk III-D1 was a red letter day in the space calendar. More importantly, the rocket achieved success in its maiden launch, unlike SLV, ASLV and PSLV that met encountered snags.
Referring to the role of Mahendragiri Propulsion Complex in the launch, he said all test beds were available in Mahendragiri and equipment such as turbo pump, fuel and oxygen pumps and gas generator were assembled and the engine was integrated before executing the hot test.
Currently, a semi cryo engine was being developed in Mahendragiri and it could be made operational by using purified and highly refined kerosene. Scientists, he said, were planning to replace liquid hydrogen with the isrosene (refined kerosene). The semi cryo engine would be integrated in the test bed and would successfully emerge in three or four years, he said.
Moreover, he said soft landing test for Chandrayaan-2 was in progress at Mahendragiri.
