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> Since 2005, U.S. satellite manufacturers have been prohibited from hiring India's space agency to launch their equipment. So interestingly why not India then?
by rdtsc 10y ago
> Since 2005, U.S. satellite manufacturers have been prohibited from hiring India's space agency to launch their equipment. So interestingly why not India then?
> Indian Space Research Organization has consistently punched above its modest weight class, racking up a series of cheap and practical achievements.
Aren't we using Russian RD-180 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180 engines which also seemed to punch above their weight class. Allegedly it was hard it believe it was possible to run engine at that efficiency level.
- deepnotderp 10y agoIIRC, ULA is the one that uses the RD-180s.
- exDM69 10y agoThe Indian space program has been using solid fuel rockets in most of their space launchers. I'm not sure how that compares to the (liquid fueled) RD-180 in terms of efficiency, but it's a very different type of engine.
- avmich 10y agoI think these days you can find solid fuel boosters, LH2-LOX upper stage and storables - all on a single ISRO rocket. Can you also find a kerosene stage?
- swatkat 10y agoKerosene stage[1] will be ready in few years, probably by 2020. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCE-200 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCE-200
- avmich 10y ago> Aren't we using Russian RD-180 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-180 engines which also seemed to punch above their weight class. Allegedly it was hard it believe it was possible to run engine at that efficiency level. I don't think professionals were that much surprized. George Sutton (author of an encyclopedia on the subject, https://www.amazon.com/History-Liquid-Propellant-Engines-Library/dp/1563476495 https://www.amazon.com/History-Liquid-Propellant-Engines-Lib...) writes: "The history of liquid propellant rocket engines (LPREs) in the former Soviet Union is remarkable because they have developed a larger variety and a larger number of LPREs than any other nation and the number of their LPREs that have flown is considerably higher than that of any other country." http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/2.6943 http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/2.6943 So having RD-180 performing as they do could be rather expected.