IIT Kanpur develops India's first hypervelocity expansion tunnel test facility

Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 5 : The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) achieved a major milestone by successfully establishing and testing India's first hypervelocity expansion tunnel test facility.
It is a major achievement that puts India among only a handful of countries with this advanced hypersonic testing capability, said IITK.

"#IITKanpur achieves major milestone with India's First #Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel Test Facility, a major achievement that puts India amongst only a handful of countries with this advanced hypersonic testing capability," IITK posted on X.

According to IITK, the facility is capable of generating flight speeds between 3-10 km/s, simulating the hypersonic conditions encountered during atmospheric entry. Thus, it is a a valuable test facility for ongoing missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) including Gaganyaan, RLV(Reusable Launch Vehicle), and hypersonic cruise missiles.
The S2 facility, nicknamed 'Jigarthanda', is a 24-meter-long facility indigenously designed and developed over a period of three years with funding and support from the Aeronautical Research and Development Board, and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
It represents a tremendous achievement for IITK and a major capacity boost for India's space and defense sectors. With sophisticated hypervelocity testing capabilities now available domestically, India is better positioned to develop advanced hypersonic technologies and systems.