On Friday, March 22, the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV LEX-02) made a successful landing thanks to the efforts of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The word Pushpak refers to this indigenous space shuttle. At the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka, it was raised to a height of 4.5 kilometers by helicopter and then released to make an autonomous runway touchdown.
ISRO made a social media post. RLV landing tests were previously conducted in 2016 and 2023. Compared to the preceding RLV-TD, the Pushpak Vimana is almost 1.6 times bigger this time.
Compared to RLV-TD, Pushpak aircraft can support greater weight. According to ISRO, rocket launches would now be more affordable thanks to this technology. Delivering equipment to space will now be far less expensive.
NASA's Space Shuttle and ISRO's RLV are similar.
NASA's Space Shuttle and ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) are similar. This winged spacecraft is expected to be finished in 2030 and be able to transport a payload of over 10,000 kg into low Earth orbit. The cost of placing the satellite in orbit is incredibly low.
In light of this, we are discussing the ISRO mission using reusable rocket technology here.
Recognize reusable technologies...
Any rocket mission consists of two fundamental components. The spacecraft on top of the rocket. A rocket's function is to launch the spaceship into orbit. Typically, a rocket is dropped into the water when it has completed its mission. It is therefore not reused. This was the way missions were done all around the world for a very long time. Reusable rockets come in here.
Reusable rockets are designed to salvage extremely costly rocket boosters that are used to launch spacecraft. so that they might be utilized once more when the gasoline has been filled. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, founded SpaceX, which began development on it in 2011. Musk prepared the reusable Falcon 9 rocket in 2015.
As a result, the mission's cost was significantly decreased. Let's use an example to better grasp this. Let's say you are flying on a plane that uses a single-use piece of technology to get from New Delhi to New York. Consider how costly air travel would become as a result, since a new aircraft would need to be manufactured each time a plane was needed to journey from New Delhi to New York.
Now comprehend the technologies of ISRO.
SpaceX and ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) are entirely unrelated. SpaceX will guard the rocket's lower section during the voyage, while ISRO will guard the rocket's more complicated upper section. Savings from recovering it will be greater. After departing the satellite in orbit, it will come back. The spacecraft of ISRO is capable of self-landing.
The RLV landing experiment that ISRO conducted earlier was likewise successful.
For a very long period, ISRO has been developing its reusable launch vehicle. We are still in the early stages of this. This vehicle was used in an autonomous landing experiment by ISRO earlier on April 2, 2023. When a spaceship lands autonomously, it can do it without assistance. This was an entirely successful experiment.
During the last successful RLV experiment, the space agency stated that a winged body was lifted by a helicopter to a height of 4.5 kilometers and then released for an autonomous runway landing for the first time in history. The RLV-TD featured two delta wings, two vertical tails, a nose cap, and a straight fuselage. It measured 6.5 meters in length and 3.6 meters in width.
Why is ISRO developing a space shuttle with wings?
The first space shuttle with wings was launched by NASA, the American space agency, in the 1980s. Colombia was the name of it. NASA operated six of these space shuttles in total. NASA decommissioned these shuttles in 2011 following the incidents. Additionally, Russia created the Buran reusable space shuttle technology, which was abandoned after only a few trips.
In such a scenario, one could wonder why ISRO is still working on the space shuttle when both the United States and Russia have given up on it. According to some space technology specialists, America's and Russia's technology is from the 20th century, or outdated technology. ISRO is using 21st-century technologies to build the space shuttle with wings. In that case, ISRO's shuttle will be more sophisticated than the joint American-Russian shuttle.
How would the reusable launch vehicle help ISRO?
An ISRO-supplied reusable launch vehicle will enable inexpensive space travel. This implies that space travel will becoming more affordable. Launching the satellite can be done for less money. Additionally, there is conjecture that this spacecraft may enable the repair of broken satellites in orbit as opposed to their destruction. Aside from this, conducting biological and pharmaceutical research in zero gravity will be simpler.
When will the ISRO car be prepared?
May 2016 saw its initial test by ISRO. Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX) was its name. ISRO showed the re-entry of their winged vehicle, RLV-TD, in the HEX mission. Now, LEX, the landing experiment, has also been finished. In the upcoming days, the Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX) and the Return to Flight Experiment (REX) will be carried out.
Experts anticipate that ISRO's vehicle will be able to take off in the 2030s under such circumstances. This vehicle will eventually be expanded to become the first phase of India's two-stage orbital launch vehicle that can be reused. The ISRO claims that the RLV-TD integrates the intricacies of both launch vehicle and plane into a design akin to that of an aircraft.
