IOI
Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday for carrying out the three long-duration tests of the Vikas Engine, which will launch the ambitious Gaganyaan program.
On the tweet from ISRO, SpaceX founder Elon Musk commented, “Congratulations.”. An Indian flag also appears in his one-word tweet.
In Tamil Nadu’s Mahendragiri, the ISRO facility fired the engine for a duration of 240 seconds. As part of engine qualification requirements for the #Gaganyaan Program, #ISRO conducted a successful hot test of the liquid-propellant Vikas Engine on July 14, 2021.
Vikas engine was tested in accordance with the requirements for engine qualification for Gaganyaan programme, Isro says. The test was performed for the liquid stage core of GSLV MkIII. According to the space agency, “the test engine met test objectives and its parameters closely matched predictions during the duration of the test.”
ISRO’s Gaganyaan project involves sending Indian astronauts into low earth orbit onboard an Indian vehicle. It is scheduled for December 2021 to launch the first unmanned mission, and for 2022-23 to launch the second.
