Sounding Rockets - All you need to know
In News:
ISRO launched a sounding rocket to study attitudinal variations in neutral winds and plasma dynamics (March 2021)
What are Sounding Rockets?
- Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.
- They serve as platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
- It is possible to conduct coordinated campaigns by simultaneously launching sounding rockets from different locations in a single day.
History:
- With the establishment of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1963 at Thumba, a location close to the magnetic equator, there was a quantum jump in the scope for aeronomy and atmospheric sciences in India.
- ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965.
- In 1975, ISRO consolidated all its sounding rocket activities under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.
- RH-75 was the first truly Indian sounding rocket from TERLS.
