Laser Propulsion sounds damn cool .It sounded even cooler when ISRO chief K Sivan announced they are developing it.
Setting the road map for ISRO’s future propulsion, ISRO chairman K Sivan highlights that Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) is set to play a lead role in the development of ‘light craft’ for interplanetary missions, which will have the least payload weight with maximum thrust and high speed.
LPSC has also set the challenge to develop powerful advanced cryogenic engine, semi-cryogenic engine and green propellants to end the use of toxic propellants.
It is also focused on the development of 800-newton-thrust main liquid engine for soft landing on moon with Chandrayaan-II, he said coinciding with the 30th anniversary celebrations of LPSC that concluded on Monday. This also highlights one of the reasons why Chnadrayaan 2 was delayed.
“It is not just the aircraft, the target is to develop light craft using laser propulsion for interplanetary mission. With such light craft, powered by high speed laser propulsion, it will be possible to go to Mars in four to eight minutes and the challenge is for LPSC to play a lead role in developing that,” ISRO chairman K Sivan told TOI.
With that, crucial components such as Air Breathing Propulsion Systems (ABPS), control system, fluid components and a lot of technological innovations are being developed for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) at LPSC, he said.
What if ISRO develops laser propulsion ?
Breakthrough Starshot
Well then first of all this will be a major achievement . Very few are working on it . This would mean we could travel to near planets in minutes or neighboring galaxies in a matter of years .
orbiting the planets will be difficult since decelarating from the light speeds will be impossible without a retrograde ( negative ) thrust . We will be able to conduct flybys of various plkanets .
It took 10 years for NASA’s new horizons Spacecraft to reach Pluto .With something like this we might be able to do it in days. Follow our Facebook page here . As ISRO gives out more details we will update you.
LASER propulsion similar concepts
Breakthrough Starshot
ISRO itself launched one of its satellites last year . It is a concept of using tiny satellites and propelling them using Lasers to interstellar velocities.
Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough Initiatives to develop a proof-of-concept fleet of light sail spacecraft named StarChip,[1] to be capable of making the journey to the Alpha Centauri star system 4.37 light-years away.
A flyby mission has been proposed to Proxima Centauri b, an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone of its host star, Proxima Centauri, in the Alpha Centauri system.[2] At a speed between 15% and 20% of the speed of light,[3][4][5][6] it would take between twenty and thirty years to complete the journey, and approximately four years for a return message from the starship to Earth.
Current ISRO Development
“In addition to the advanced cryogenic engine being developed, semi-cryogenic engine will be developed in 30 months for the advanced GSLV-MK III mission, which will be used to launch 5.5 ton class satellites. The GSLV-MK III mission, planned in July for launch of 4.4 ton satellite, will be powered by a liquid core stage L110 stage, which uses two high thrust Vikas engine for combined high thrust, in addition to a powerful cryogenic upper stage (C25). In the next GSLV-MK III launch, semi-cryogenic engine would replace the liquid core stage L110,” Sivan told TOI on Monday.
With that, green propellants to end the use of toxic propellants and electric propulsion systems are being developed at LPSC, he said. LPSC is also developing the 800-newton-thrust main liquid engine for soft landing on moon.
With Chandrayaan-2 to be launched by October, the challenge is to travel to other planets using high speed reusable, reliable and cost effective light crafts and to propel LPSC into the world science map, he said.
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