The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully tested its scramjet engine on Sunday in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The rocket took off at 6 am after reports confirmed that the wind speeds were conducive for the launch.
The scramjet engine, used only during the atmospheric phase of the rocket’s flight, will help in bringing down the launch cost by reducing the amount of oxidiser to be carried along with the fuel.
Meanwhile, the launch of the Indian weather satellite, INSAT-3DR, which was slated for Sunday has now been postponed to September 8.
Queried about the change in launch plan Krishnan said: “While carrying out the tests there was a technical issue found with a satellite component. It has been sorted out now and hence the delay.”
The weather satellite will be mounted on to the rocket in three to four days.
According to officials, the ISRO will launch ScatSat — a weather monitoring and forecasting satellite — with polar satellite launch vehicle end of next month.
The Indian satellite will be a co-passenger to an Algerian satellite.
Both the satellites will be put into different orbits. So the fourth engine of the rocket will be switched off after ejecting ScatSat first. Then after a gap of around 30 minutes, the engine will be switched on and put the Algerian satellite into its intended orbit.
