How Isro’s ‘naughty boy’ cryogenic engine became a ‘smart boy’
Zomato and Swiggy depend on location services from satellites and the news you watch comes via satellite. India itself is looking at satellite broadband to deliver seamless connectivity in mountainous regions and on islands. Military communications are also heavily dependent on satellites.
From Ladakh to Arunachal, both civilian and military communications across India’s Northern frontiers are serviced by ISRO satellites, which also augment terrestrial networks. Cryogenic engines will boost this capacity. Since ISRO tenders out its designs, and transfers technology to the private sector, India’s defence and aerospace industries have grasped the concerned technologies.
Several private sector startups are now trying to develop cryogenic engines. ISRO had done preliminary tests of a “semi-cryogenic" engine in the Ukraine before the start of the war. This brings us to the question of military applications.
Cryogenic engines are not used in missiles since these take several days to fuel up. The Agni range from DRDO uses solid fuel propellants for example. But sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missiles are powered by semi-cryogenic engines which use a mix of liquid (low-temperature) oxygen and kerosene.
Semi-cryogenic technology is even more complex, but allows higher thrusts and missiles can be fuelled quickly. Given a grasp of cryogenic technology, India is a critical step further down the road to developing semi-cryogenic engines. ISRO does not do military applications but it would surely transfer technology to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
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