Mission Rhumi 2024: A day after celebrating National Space Day, India is all set to launch its first reusable hybrid rocket, RHUMI 1, on Saturday. The rocket was developed by the Tamil Nadu-based start-up Space Zone India. It will be launched from Thiruvidandhai in Chennai. Interestingly, it will be launched using a mobile launcher and will carry “3 Cube Satellites and 50 PICO Satellites to a suborbital trajectory.” The reusable hybrid rocket is a collaboration between Space Zone India and the Martin Group, with a prime focus on flexibility and reusability.
Notably, the RHUMI series, consisting RHUMI-1, RHUMI-2, and RHUMI-3, is made to reach altitudes ranging from 1 km to 500 km, Money Control reported.
Mission Rhumi 2024: Third Collaboration
The Martin Group is teaming up with Space Zone India for a third time. This partnership comes on the heels of their previous success in 2023, when they involved over 2,500 students from various schools in the ambitious ‘Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Students Satellite Launch – 2023’ initiative. This project saw the creation of a student-made satellite launch vehicle, carrying a staggering 150 Pico satellite research experiment cubes. And if that weren’t impressive enough, just two years prior in 2021, 1,200 high schoolers developed and successfully launched 100 FEMTO satellites as part of the ‘Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Space Research Payload Cubes Challenge 2021’.
Mission Rhumi-2024: India’s Reusable Hybrid Rocket Takes Flight!
🚀 Join us on August 24th at 7 AM as Space Zone India, in collaboration with the Martin Group, unveils its groundbreaking achievement—the country’s inaugural reusable hybrid rocket. Designed for flexibility and… pic.twitter.com/GqeT1ivjav
— Martin Group (@MartinGroup_) August 17, 2024
Mission Rhumi 2024: Key Features
- The rocket’s launch angle can be easily adjusted between 0 to 120 degrees. It allows the accurate trajectory control.
- Rhumi mission is cost-effective, innovative, and eco-friendly. It uses descent mechanism CO2 to ensure the safe recovery of rocket components.
- More than space exploration, its applications impacts agriculture, environmental monitoring, and disaster management.
- The three cube satellites is designed with a specific mission in mind, to monitor different features of our atmosphere. Inspired by the Money Control report, these elements range from cosmic and UV radiation to the quality of the air we breathe.
- Pico satellites is going to monitor environmental factors such as vibration, accelerometer data, altitude, molecular bonding, ozone levels, toxic content, contributing to a deeper knowledge of atmospheric dynamics.
- The rocket employs a blend of solid and liquid propulsion technologies, striking a balance between performance and minimising environmental impact.
- As per Space Zone India Founder and CEO Anand Megalingam, this reusable system offers a more sustainable and cost-effective approach to satellite launches.
