The President of India to Inaugurate HAL’s Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility

The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate HAL’s state-of-the-art Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) in Bengaluru on September 27, 2022. The facility will cater to the entire Rocket Engine Manufacturing under one roof for ISRO. The facility will boost self-reliance in the manufacturing of Hi-thrust Rocket engines.

The facility is set up over an area of 4500 sqm housing over 70 hi-tech equipment and testing facilities for manufacturing Cryogenic (CE20) and Semi-cryogenic (SE2000) Engines of Indian Space Launch Vehicles.

In 2013, an MOU was signed with ISRO for establishing the facility for manufacturing Cryogenic Engine modules at HAL, Aerospace Division. The MOU for the Cryogenic Engine facility was subsequently amended in the year 2016 for the setting up of the Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility (ICMF) with an investment of Rs. 208 crores. 

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, quality plan, etc. have also commenced. HAL will start realising the modules by March 2023.

HAL Aerospace Division manufactures liquid propellant tanks and launch vehicle structures of PSLV, GSLV MK-II, GSLV Mk-III, and also stage integration for GSLV Mk-II. The Aerospace Division entering into the manufacture of Cryogenic Engines is a major step in technology up-gradation cum modernization.

Cryogenic Engines are the most widely used engines the world over in launch vehicles. Due to the complex nature of the cryogenic engine, to date, only a few countries the USA, France, Japan, China & Russia have mastered the cryogenic technology. On January 5, 2014, India successfully flew GSLV-D5 with a cryogenic engine (made by ISRO through private industries) and became the sixth country in developing cryogenic engines. Space exploration in the future is mostly dependent upon cryogenic technology.