Raman Engine

Raman

Country of origin	India
Status	Under Development
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH
Performance
Thrust	850 N (190 lbf)

Raman Engine is a bipropellant rocket engine manufactured by Skyroot Aerospace that will be used in its Vikram family of rockets. ^[1] It is named after Indian Nobel laureate Sir C.V. Raman.

Description

It uses UDMH and NTO hypergolic propellants. ^[2] Its injector plate is completely 3D printed. This engine will be used in a cluster of 4 in the fourth stage of the Vikram 1 rocket, which can produce a thrust of 3.4 kN each producing 850 N of thrust, which is lower than many other rocket engines, but is required for precise orbit adjustments. ^{[3] [4]}

Development and Testing

• On 12 August 2020, Skyroot Aerospace successfully tested the engine for the first time. ^[5]
• Skyroot Aerospace tested the Raman-2 engine, designed for vacuum conditions, by firing it for 200 seconds on a ground test stand. The team used water injection to mitigate flow separation in the vacuum-optimized nozzle, allowing accurate testing at sea level. This test provided critical data for the Vikram-1 rocket's fourth stage, advancing India's private space efforts. ^[6]

References

1. "First Indian start-up firm Skyroot Aerospace to test fire rocket engine 'Raman': All you need to know". Jagranjosh.com. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
2. Skyroot Aerospace: Raman Engine Test Fire , retrieved 2022-01-25
3. "With ISRO assistance, India's Skyroot Aerospace aims maiden rocket launch by Dec-2021". WION. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
4. Exclusive Details of Skyroot's Raman Engine , retrieved 2022-01-25
5. Narasimhan, T. E. (2020-08-12). "Skyroot Aerospace first private company to test upper stage rocket engine". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
6. "Skyroot Aerospace Successfully Tests Raman-2 Engine with Water Injection for Vikram-1 Rocket". twitter.com. 18 April 2025.