After launching the first student-built Indian sounding rocket in 2012 and the INSPIRESat-1 satellite earlier this year, the students of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) are eyeing bigger things.
The IIST has proposed experiments in hybrid rocket propulsion technologies as part of hands-on experiments in developing reusable launch vehicle technologies.
The IIST Hybrid Rocket Experiments (IHRX) are designed as a student-driven programme which will be guided by the institute faculty and senior hands of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The IHRX programme is part of programmes aimed at promoting innovation among the students, IIST officials said.
In simple terms, hybrid rockets use a solid fuel in combination with a liquid oxidiser, tapping into the advantages of both solid and liquid engines. ‘‘There are many ways of intelligently using propulsion. The programme is in the design stage right now. Looking at the small satellite programme, everyone feels we can do something better,’‘ IIST Registrar Y. V. N. Krishna Murthy said.
‘Vyom,’ the sounding rocket built by IIST students, lifted off from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) on May 12, 2012. The 2.31 metre-tall rocket was also India’s first student-built sounding rocket.
IIST students have also been collaborating with the Laboratory of Atmospheric Science and Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, U.S., on the International Space Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE) which envisions a constellation of earth and space weather observation satellites. The student satellite INSPIRESat-I was successfully launched in February this year.
IIST has also established an Advanced Space Research Group in a bid to strengthen research at the institute which is now into its 15th year.
