ISRO boosts rocket production capacity with HAL's new facilities

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath inaugurated state-of-the-art propellant tank production and computer numerical control machining facilities at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) Aerospace Division, boosting rocket manufacturing capacity.

HAL said the facilities would provide a major boost to ISRO’s ability to meet its growing production needs, particularly for the Launch Vehicle Mark–3, India's heaviest and most powerful rocket.

Currently, the existing capacity allows for only two LVM3 launches per year, whereas ISRO's requirements stand at six launches annually, according to a HAL statement on Wednesday.

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The facilities will address this gap, enabling HAL to manufacture enough critical components to support the production of six LVM3 rockets per year, the statement added.

Somanath was quoted as saying that HAL has enormous capacities and this potential should be explored in the larger interest of both organisations.

"HAL will play a larger role in ISRO’s future missions; hence, should focus on emerging technologies, designing challenges and take up end-to-end tasks to ease pressure on ISRO," Somanath added.

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HAL's Chairman and Managing Director (Additional Charge) C B Ananthakrishnan said the ongoing collaboration with ISRO would accelerate human spaceflight missions and the development of Next-generation Launch Vehicles (NGLV).

There are significant opportunities to work with ISRO, and HAL is committed to investing further to unlock the full potential in space programmes, Ananthakrishnan said.

“The day is not far off when space becomes an important vertical of HAL”, he added.

The propellant tank production facility will specialise in the manufacturing of high-performance fuel and oxidiser tanks, critical components for the LVM3 launch vehicle spanning four metres in diameter and up to 15 metres in length, HAL said.

The machining facility houses advanced CNC machines for handling high-precision fabrication of 4.5-metre class rings and propellant tank domes of LVM3, the statement added.