NEW DELHI: India, too, is capable of firing rockets having a range of 80 km to 300 km with a payload of 500 kg, as claimed by Pakistan recently.
Various sounding rockets developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) can be modified if necessary, for this purpose, according to Vikram Satabhai Space Centre Director S. P. Gupta.
The head of the VSSC told a meeting of the Indian Science Writers Forum here yesterday that the country’s space technology had the capability to accomplish this.
Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Mi1za Aslam Beg, announced 10 days ago the successful firing and testing the missiles of 80 km and 300 km Tange with a payload of over 500 kg.
Dr. Gupta said Indian scientists had been firing and testing sounding rockets for many years. Known by the generic name of Rohini, they were used for various experiments in space.
Having developed and tested a large number of designs, ISRO zeroed in on three of them to be produced on an operational basis. These were the RH200, the RH 300 and the RHS60.
While the RH200 could lift a payload of 10 kg to an altitude of 80 km the RH300 could carry 50 kg to over 100 km. The biggest of the three, the RH560 was capable of carrying 100 kg to 350 km. “One of these rockets can be modified, if necessary for carrying a payload of 500 kg to a range of 80 km to 300 km, Dr. Gupta said.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 10, 1989
