ISRO Tests Thrust Chamber Of LOX-Methane Engine

Nellore: ISRO is developing an LOX-methane engine for its next generation of launch vehicles. The building of essential engine subsystems is progressing well at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the ISRO.

Testing of these subsystems has commenced at the sub-scale. An optimally designed thrust chamber with injector head is essential for the success of any cryogenic engine.

Isro has successfully conducted the first hot test of the high thrust LOX-methane engine at the thrust chamber level with a single element injector. The testing took place at the Thrust Chamber Test facility of the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri on January 27, 2026.

The sub-scale thrust chamber and single element injector head got successfully tested to a chamber pressure of 56 bar through the additive manufacturing route. Ignition and flame sustenance inside the thrust chamber, along with performance of all systems, remained normal.

The test article will be further used to select the optimal injector configuration through a series of further hot tests.

Incidentally, the LOX-methane propellant combination is one of the most suitable solutions for the liquid rocket engines of the future, due to the good performances achievable in terms of specific impulse, combined with operation advantages, such as storability, low toxicity, availability and production cost.