Official from the Indian Space Research Organisation say there was no Russian involvement in the design and production of cryogenic engine that is developed by New Delhi indigenously and declared that it’s a befitting reply to the technology denial regimes.
India is set to test the home-grown cryogenic stage and technology – developed after 18 years of research – in its rocket, GSLV, on April 15 from the Sriharikota spaceport.
Asked at a press conference here if Russians were involved in the development of cryogenic technology, ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said India certainly learnt a lot working with Moscow and it was a “good learning experience”.
But he asserted: “The (cryogenic) engine is designed by our own engineers, our own industry fabricated it, tested…”. He added: “It’s Indian. You should be proud of it”.
ISRO officials recalled that the US exerted pressure on Russia not to provide cryogenic technology and India took a bold decision in 1992 to develop it indigenously.
Of the seven engines supplied by Russia earlier, ISRO has used five.
Radhakrishnan said India developing this complex technology is a “befitting reply” to technology denial regimes.
“About Rs 335 crore is the amount used for the development (of indigenous cryogenic engine and stage),” Radhakrishnan said.
The Rs 175-crore GSLV-D3 would carry the Rs 150-crore, 2220 kg GSAT-4 experimental communications satellite in the proposed mission on April 15.
The ISRO chairman said the PSLV mission, which would launch Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, two Canadian nano-satellite, and Studsat developed by Indian students, is slated in the first half of May.