ISRO Developing Air-Breathing Scramjet Engine

Indian Rockets To Soon Use Atmospheric Oxygen As Fuel
IANS

In an attempt to make its rockets lighter and carry heavier satellites, the Indian space agency is planning to flight test by the end of this year its own air-breathing engine that will use atmospheric oxygen as fuel.

Air-breathing engines use atmospheric oxygen and burn it with the stored on-board fuel to generate the onward thrust.

Conventional rockets carry both oxygen and chemical fuel on board.

“We will be doing a series of ground tests of the air breathing engine soon. We are planning an actual launch of a sounding rocket – ATV D02 – powered by such an engine by the end of this year,” an official of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS on condition of anonymity.

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