ISRO to attempt 200th launch of RH 200

ISRO to attempt 200th launch of RH 200

Subject : Science & technology

Context : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will attempt the 200th consecutively successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket on Wednesday from Thumba.

Concept : 

About RH 200:

• RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
• The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors.
• It is 5-metre-tall and is used by the ISRO for atmospheric studies.
• The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
• Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
• Over the years, the rocket has served as a flexible platform for experiments and testing out new technologies.

Rohini (Rocket family)

• Rohini is a series of sounding rockets developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for meteorological and atmospheric stud
• These sounding rockets are capable of carrying payloads of 2 to 200 kilograms between altitudes of 100 to 500 kms.

 Sounding Rockets

• Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.
• Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term “to sound,” which means to take measurements.
• They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
• ISRO began with the launch of indigenously built sounding rockets from 1965. The ISRO launched its own version – Rohini RH-75 – in 1967.
• In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were cluttered under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.

The series of sounding rockets are called Rohini series with RH 200, RH 300 and RH 560 being the most important among them.