'Breakthrough': ISRO develops innovative nozzle for rocket engines

Bengaluru: The ISRO has achieved a breakthrough in rocket engine technology with the development of a lightweight Carbon-Carbon (C-C) nozzle for rocket engines, enhancing payload capacity. This innovation accomplished by the space agency's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre promises to enhance the vital parameters of rocket engines, including thrust levels, specific impulse, and thrust-to-weight ratios, thereby boosting the payload capacity of launch vehicles, ISRO said in a statement.

Thiruvananthapuram-based VSSC leveraged advanced materials like Carbon-Carbon (C-C) composites to create a nozzle divergent that offers exceptional properties, the statement said.

By utilising processes such as carbonisation of green composites, chemical vapor Infiltration, and high-temperature treatment, it has produced a nozzle with low density, high specific strength, and excellent stiffness, capable of retaining mechanical properties even at elevated temperatures, it said. A key feature of the C-C nozzle is its special anti-oxidation coating of silicon carbide, which extends its operational limits in oxidising environments. This innovation not only reduces thermally induced stresses but also enhances corrosion resistance, allowing for extended operational temperature limits in hostile environments, according to ISRO.