India’s first hybrid Sounding rocket.

• Martin Foundation, in association with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation and Space Zone India, launched the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Satellite Launch Vehicle Mission- 2023.
  • Around 3,500 students from government schools across the country became part of a team that designed and constructed a student satellite launch vehicle (rocket) and 150 PICO satellite research experiment cubes.
• Rocket can be used for research in weather, atmospheric conditions and radiations.
• Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing upper atmospheric regions (Aeronomy) and for space research.
  • Can also be used to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
• Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term “to sound,” which means to take measurements.
• Hybrid-rocket uses different propellants, i.e., one solid and other being either gas or liquid.

Brief History

• The launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 21 November 1963, marked the beginning of the Indian Space Programme.
• In 1967, ISRO launched its own version of sounding rockets – Rohini RH-75.
• In 1975, ISRO consolidated all sounding rocket activities under Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.
• Rohini RH-200 (meteorology purpose) along with RH-300 Mk 2 and RH-560 Mk 2 (both for Aeronomy) are three sounding rockets currently operational with ISRO.