NEW DELHI: A budding aerospace company in Chennai has successfully demonstrated India’s first reusable hybrid rocket technology from a mobile launchpad set-up near Kovalam beach by Space Zone India on Saturday.The launch of Rhumi-1 rocket has the potential to impact the commercial small satellite market.The countdown was delayed for about 20 minutes due to a security breach and was executed perfectly. The 80-kg rocket carrying three CubeSats and 50 Pisco satellites was deployed at an altitude of 35 km.Anand Megalingam, founder and CEO, of Space Zone India, acknowledged that few initial hiccups resulted in propellant filling stoppage twice. On reusability of the rocket, Megalingam said, 80% of the rocket components have landed on the surface of the Bay of Bengal about 5 km from the coast. We used a parachute for a controlled descent. Meanwhile, the payload satellites have also landed in the sea with the help of another parachute and the data would be retrieved from the SD cards fixed to the satellites for further analysis.Mylswamy Annadurai, former ISRO director who is mentoring Space Zone India, said that two consecutive successful launches of hybrid rockets will result in shaping future ‘Rhumi’ missions that are aiming for higher altitude and payload capacity.Space Zone India is planning for Rhumi-2 launch next year, which was designed to travel 250 km and carry 250 kgs of payload. “The engine is ready and getting tested. Rhumi-2 will be a two-stage reusable rocket with the first stage being hybrid and second stage will be powered by a liquid propulsion system. We will be carrying some commercial satellites on the next mission for which we have already signed an MoU with Dubai-based satellite manufacturer Edutech4Space. Similarly, Bengaluru-based Grahaa Space has also shown interest to place 100 nano satellites using our rocket, Annadurai said.Jose Charles Martin, managing director of Martin Group which funded Space Zone India, committed to extend the financial support for future missions as well.Recognising the achievement, Union Civil Aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, who came live online after the launch, said Rhumi-1 successful launch was a significant leap for India’s aerospace industry.State environment minister Siva V Meyyanathan also participated in the event.
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