HAL and ISRO LVM3: On Wednesday, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) unveiled a manufacturing facility at its aerospace division here, in a capability upgrade expected to fulfil the expanding production needs of ISRO.
The production of propellant tanks and CNC machining facilities will be dedicated to manufacturing Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), the heaviest rocket in India. Although ISRO needs to launch six LVM3s per year, the current capability only permits two launches. According to HAL, the new facilities will close this gap and allow HAL to produce essential parts that will enable the company to produce six LVM3s annually. ISRO Chairman S. Somanath inaugurated the facilities.
The production plant for propellant tanks will focus on producing high-performance fuel and oxidizer tanks, which are essential parts of the LVM3. As per Deccan Herald, these tanks can have a diameter of up to 4 meters and a length of up to 15 meters.
Advanced computer numerical control machines are housed in the CNC machining facility, which is capable of handling the high-precision manufacturing of the launch vehicle’s fuel tank domes and 4.5 m-class rings.
Somanath stated that as HAL would be involved in more ISRO missions in the future, it should concentrate on developing new technologies, taking on end-to-end activities, and devising challenges to relieve some of the load on ISRO.
The continuous cooperation with ISRO, according to C. B. Ananthakrishnan, CMD (additional charge), of HAL, will hasten the development of next-generation launch vehicles and human spaceflight missions. He stated that the time will come when space will play a significant role in HAL.
At 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, HAL shares were 5.9% higher at ₹4,623 apiece. Although the stock has increased by 170% over the past 12 months, it is now much below its previous record high of ₹5,444.
