Need to invest money in creating aerodynamic test facilities in India: ISRO chairman

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ISRO chairman S Somanath on Thursday said that there was a lack of sufficient aerodynamic testing facilities in India and therefore, huge investments need to be made to create such facilities.

Speaking at the SAROD 2024 event organised here by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Somanath emphasised the importance of scaling up the country’s computational capability.

The ISRO chairman said that with the advancements in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), there was an initial line of thought that aerodynamic testing facilities were no longer required as most of the problems could be identified and solved computationally through simulations.

“So, many of the test programs that were required to be done for the future aero vehicles were actually cut down and at one point we were told to do more simulations than testing.

But, as time goes by, we realised that this is not the case. It became clear that the complementary nature of analysis and simulation with testing will continue. I think the present understanding is that it will continue stronger and more rigorously,” Somanath said in his speech.

He said that ISRO has a certain degree of test facilities, but only 30 per cent of the test requirements could be carried out internally for the Gaganyaan program.

“Much of the test requirements were not able to be met even with the national facilities and we had to go outside the country seeking help from many other testing agencies in the world to generate data..,” he said.

Somanath said that many of the testing, including jet simulations, “could not be achieved with sufficient confidence in India”.

He also said this lack triggered the need to create such capabilities over a longer period of time, and for that, “we need to invest a huge amount of money”.

The ISRO chairman further said that the CFD capability of the country needs to be scaled up and for that more people are required in that field.

Symposium on Applied Aerodynamics and Design of Aerospace Vehicles (SAROD) is a biennial event organised to provide a common platform to share the experiences of aero and fluid dynamics involved in flow-related studies and aerospace vehicle design in India as well as abroad, according to a VSSC statement.

Somanath said that SAROD has been providing an excellent platform for enriching everyone involved in the domain of aerodynamics.

He said that as it brings people together from across the country and outside it, it enriches their skill and knowledge which is important for working on aerodynamic vehicles.

The ISRO chairman also spoke about the changes and improvements happening in the field of model-making and, instrumentation, etc. (PTI)