Raman (rocket engine)
The Raman engine is a bipropellant rocket engine manufactured by Skyroot Aerospace that will be used in its Vikram family of rockets. It is named after Indian Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman.
Description
It uses UDMH and NTO hypergolic propellants. Its injector plate is completely 3D printed. This engine will be used in a cluster of 4 in the fourth stage of the Vikram 1 rocket, which can produce a thrust of 3.4 kN each producing 850 N of thrust, which is lower than many other rocket engines, but is required for precise orbit adjustments.Development and testing
- On 12 August 2020, Skyroot Aerospace successfully tested the engine for the first time.
- Skyroot Aerospace tested the Raman-2 engine, designed for vacuum conditions, by firing it for 200 seconds on a ground test stand. The team used water injection to mitigate flow separation in the vacuum-optimized nozzle, allowing accurate testing at sea level. This test provided critical data for the Vikram-1 rocket's fourth stage, advancing India's private space efforts.