Walchandnagar Industries shares rose 2% on Friday after the company secured a Rs 30.53 crore order from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) for fabricating, testing and supplying HS200 motorcase segments for the Gaganyaan mission.

The order covers all three motorcase segments and is scheduled for completion over four years, according to the company's filing, meaning the work will be executed across multiple financial years.

Background: VSSC, Gaganyaan and the HS200

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) lead centre for the design and development of launch vehicles. It is named after Vikram Sarabhai, widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.

Gaganyaan is India's first human spaceflight programme, which aims to launch Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit and bring them back safely. ISRO's LVM3 heavy-lift launcher has been designated as the launch vehicle for the mission. Human-rating a rocket involves additional qualification and reliability requirements beyond those applied to routine satellite launches, and ISRO has already carried out precursor tests for the programme, including a crew escape system demonstration and static testing of the HS200 booster.

The HS200 is the human-rated version of the S200 solid rocket booster, two of which are strapped on to the LVM3 rocket. The S200 designation reflects the roughly 200 tonnes of solid propellant carried by each booster, and it is among the largest solid propellant boosters in the world; its motorcase is built in three segments that are fabricated, tested and integrated ahead of launch.

About Walchandnagar Industries

Walchandnagar Industries, headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, is a heavy engineering company with businesses spanning aerospace and defence, energy, and industrial machinery. Established in 1908 by industrialist Walchand Hirachand, it is one of India's oldest engineering firms and is listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange. The company has a long association with India's space programme and has previously supplied motorcases and other critical hardware for ISRO launch vehicles. The order also comes as India's space sector opens up beyond ISRO, with the government having created IN-SPACe as a single-window body to promote and authorise private participation in space activities.

Source: Economic Times Markets