President Murmu Inaugurates HAL's New Facility to Build Cryogenic Engines for ISRO Rockets

GUWAHATI: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday inaugurated the Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) in Bengaluru. The facility under the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will cater to the entire rocket engine manufacturing under one roof for the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The engine manufacturing unit is set to boost ISRO's capabilities in developing and building cryogenic engines for its rockets as it pushes the envelope with several new missions beyond Earth's orbit.

"It is a historic moment not only for HAL and ISRO but also for the whole country to have a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines," President Murmu said, as she inaugurated the facility.

Lauding the role of HAL and ISRO, the President said, "HAL and ISRO together contribute to strategic defence and development. Both organisations have played a major role in the development of various equipment and programmes which have reinforced the security and development of our country. HAL with its high-end facility of manufacturing defence-related equipment has proved to be an invaluable asset for our country."

The ICMF is set up over an area of 4,500 sq mts, housing over 70 hi-tech equipment and testing facilities for manufacturing Cryogenic- (CE20) and Semi-cryogenic Engines (SE2000) of Indian Space Launch Vehicles. With the establishment of the ICMF, India has joined the elite club of cryogenic engine manufacturing countries like the US, France, Japan, China & Russia.

These engines will be used by ISRO in its launch vehicles to propel satellites and humans into space in the near future. The facility has been developed under an MoU, which was signed between HAL and Isro in 2013 for establishing the manufacturing plant of cryogenic engine modules at HAL's Aerospace Division.

The commissioning of all the critical equipment for the manufacturing and assembly requirements is completed. The pre-production activities which involve the preparation of the process plans, drawings, and quality plan have also commenced. HAL will start realising the modules by March 2023," HAL had said in a statement.

The aerospace division at HAL has been manufacturing liquid propellant tanks and launch vehicle structures for PSLV, GSLV MK-II, GSLV Mk-III, and also stage integration for GSLV Mk-II. The division will now enter into cryogenic engine development, which it says "is a major step in technology up-gradation cum modernization."

ISRO Chairman S Somanath said India can emerge as a superpower in rocket technology only with the help of HAL which has shown the ability to absorb complicated space technology with perfection.Referring to Bengaluru as Space City, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state has contributed most of the space and defence related manufacturing activities to the country

India successfully flew GSLV-D5 with a cryogenic engine made by ISRO through private industries on

January 5, 2014. In 2013, HAL and ISRO signed a memorandum of understanding for establishing the facility and it was subsequently amended in the year 2016 with an investment of Rs 208 crore towards setting up of the ICMF.

Meanwhile, President Murmu also virtually laid the foundation stone for the Zonal Institute of Virology (South Zone) of the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Bengaluru.

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