Space start-up Skyroot conducts long duration test of its cryogenic engine

Private space tech start-up Skyroot Aerospace has achieved a major milestone by successfully test-firing a fully 3D-printed cryogenic engine for 200 seconds, the company said on Tuesday.

The endurance test of 'Dhawan-II', using Skyroot's indigenously developed mobile cryogenic engine test pad, was carried out at Solar Industries propulsion test facility in Nagpur. It demonstrated impressive performance results, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement.

The achievement follows the November 2022 launch of Vikram-S, which made Skyroot the first Indian private company to send a rocket into space.

The Dhawan-II engine builds on the foundation laid by Skyroot's first privately developed fully-cryogenic rocket engine, the 1.0 kN thrust Dhawan-I, which was successfully test fired in November 2021.

"This is a major milestone for our cryogenic propulsion programme, which will enhance the payload capacity of Vikram series of space launch vehicles making them more modular so as to meet