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| A model of Re entry launch vehicle (RLV) |
ISRO‘s design of the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology
Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been
approved by the National Review Committee. An ISRO official said design-related issues have been addressed and
presented to the National Review Committee and clearance obtained to go ahead
to build the RLV-TD.
The space agency, as a first step
towards realizing a Two-Stage To Orbit
(TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle, has developed a winged RLV-TD. ISRO, in
its recently released annual report, stated that design options have been finalized.
Besides, the mission design has been completed with a revised vehicle mass. The
RLV-TD will act as a flying test-bed to evaluate various technologies —
hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic
flight using air breathing propulsion.
The first in the series of trials
is the Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment
(LEX), Return Flight Experiment (REX) and Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX).
During HEX, the vehicle will take
lift off in the form of a rocket with a booster. Later, it can be recovered
from sea. Though the trials for the first experiment are slated to take place
this year, an Isro official said the launch date for carrying out HEX from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota has not been fixed. The development
and flight testing of the Reusable Launch Vehicles-Technology demonstrator
missions leading to Two-Stage To Orbit (TSTO) is part of India’s Space Vision
2025 and is expected to bring down cost significantly.
ISRO, in January 2007, conducted the
Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1). Launched by the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on January 10, 2007,
the capsule was successfully recovered on January 22, 2007, from the Bay of
Bengal.
