Published: 25th Nov, 2022
Context
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to attempt the 200th consecutively successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket.
RH-200 sounding rocket:
- RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
- The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors.
- For years, the RH-200 rocket had used a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based propellant.
- The first RH-200 to use a new propellant based on hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) was successfully flown from the TERLS in September 2020.
- As compared to PVC-based propellants, HTPB-based propellant is more energetic, has higher mechanical & interface properties, and has fewer defects due to lower processing temperature.
- The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm. Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
What are sounding Rockets?
- Sounding rockets are one or two-stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.
- Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term "to sound," which means to take measurements.
- They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
- The first sounding rocket to be launched from Thumba was the American Nike-Apache - on November 21, 1963.
- After that, two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure) were flown.
- The ISRO launched its own version - Rohini RH-75 - in 1967.
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Rohini (Rocket family):
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Operational sounding Rockets:
- Currently, three versions are offered as operational sounding rockets, which cover a payload range of 8-100 Kg and an apogee range of 80-475 km.
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