Vikas (rocket engine)

The Vikas (a portmanteau from initials of VIKram Ambalal Sarabhai ) is a family of hypergolic liquid fuelled rocket engines conceptualized and designed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in the 1970s. The design was based on the licensed version of the Viking engine with the chemical pressurisation system. The early production Vikas engines used some imported French components which were later replaced by domestically produced equivalents. It is used in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and LVM3 for space launch use. Vikas engine is used to power the second stage of PSLV, boosters and second stage of GSLV Mark I and II and also the core stage of LVM3. The propellant loading for Vikas engine in PSLV, GSLV Mark I and II is 40 tons, while in LVM3 is 55 tons.