Skyroot Aerospace shows off 100% 3D printed Dhawan-1 rocket engine

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of renowned Indian rocket scientist Dr. Satish Dhawan, Skyroot Aerospace unveiled its first fully 3D printed cryogenic rocket engine, appropriately named Dhawan-1.

The engine is 100% 3D printed and uses 100% cryo propellants (LNG/LoX). It is also 100% Made in India. The Indian space startup also demonstrated Vikram-2 upper-stage tech. This is India’s first privately developed indigenous fully cryogenic rocket engine, running on Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) as fuel.

Much like its counterparts in the US and—while trailing by a few years in Europe as well —Skyroot is building technologies for responsive, reliable and economical access to space. The firm envisions a future where spaceflight is as regular, reliable and affordable as air flight. Skyroot was founded by former engineers from ISRO’s rocket design center. Veterans from Indian Space and Defense programs who bring forth over three centuries of collective experience in building rocket systems.

To do this, Skyroot is building three classes of rockets. The Vikram I, II, and III. Vikram, named after Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space program, is a series of launch vehicles specifically designed for the small-satellite market. Built on a common architecture and covering a wide range of payloads, they offer the most affordable and on-demand ride to space.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) aims to harness space technology for national development while pursuing space science research & planetary exploration. ISRO built India’s first satellite, Aryabhata, and the Soviet Union launched it on 19 April 1975. In 2017, ISRO launched one hundred and four satellites in a single rocket (PSLV-C37), a world record. ISRO launched its heaviest rocket, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III), also in 2017 and placed a communications satellite, GSAT-19, in orbit. With this launch, ISRO became capable of launching 4-tonne satellites into GTO. In 2019, ISRO launched its second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, to study the lunar geology and the distribution of lunar water.