50 Thumba to have plant for making rocket motors

Trivandrum: A new plant for the manufacture of solid propellant for rocket motor, including charging hall and high capacity static test facilities, is being set up within the next three months in the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station ( TERLS) near here.

This was announced by director H. G. S. Murthy at the fifth anniversary celebrations of the rocket station here.

Kerala governor V. Viswanathan, presided.

Mr Murthy said the plant was being set up with the assistance of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. It is also proposed to establish a rocket fabrication facility to manufacure different types of rocket motors and accessories, which will be fabricated by the engineers in TERLS. This will be located very close to TERLS and will ultimately provide employment to about 300 persons, Mr Murthy said in his welcome speech.

Governor Viswanathan said that India would utilise its achievements in science for peaceful purposes and would share its research knowledge for the benefit of the entire mankind.

He described TERLS as one of the most important and sophisticated institutions that had been set up in the country after Independence.

The TERLS, a facility of the Indian National Committee for Space Research, headed by Dr Vikram A. Sarabhai, was inaugurated on November 21, 1963. The station was dedicated to the United Nations as an international facility by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on February 2 last.

So far, the station had carried out 70 experiments using two- stage rockets like Nike- Appache and Centaure and single- stage rockets, including Indianmade Rohinis and Menakas.

It had also launched 29 single- stage rockets like Judi- Dart for meteorological experiments. Except in three cases all were successful and the objectives of these experiments were achieved, Mr Murthy said.