ISRO’s successful autonomous reusable launch vehicle landing mission marks major milestone
Posted Date – Tue, 04/04/23 at 12:15pm
ISRO’s successful autonomous reusable launch vehicle landing mission marks major milestone
India has moved one step closer to developing its own space shuttle. The successful implementation of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) is a major milestone in its goal of sending a reusable rocket into space. The launch technology used by the vehicle is a world first, whereby the winged fuselage is transported by helicopter to an altitude of 4.5 kilometers and then released to land autonomously on the runway. The space agency used a scaled-down version of the RLV Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). The actual vehicle will be 1.6 times larger. The RLV is essentially a space plane with a low lift-to-drag ratio that requires a high glide angle approach, which requires a high speed landing of 350 km/h. Mastering this technology will help in the development of different types of space transport launch vehicles. An important aspect of the successful experiment was that the landing was performed under the precise conditions of a high-speed, unmanned, precision landing of the space reentry vehicle, on the same return path as the vehicle had when it arrived from space. The mission uses several indigenous systems, localized navigation, instrumentation and sensor systems developed by ISRO. Several cutting-edge technologies are required to complete the RLV LEX, including precision navigation hardware and software, Ka-band radar altimeter, indigenous landing gear and braking parachute system. More experiments are underway to ensure the RLV successfully delivers payloads to low Earth orbit, as ISRO plans to reduce the cost of the process by 80%.
The year was filled with important space developments, certainly belonging to India, especially in the field of commercial satellite launches. India has recently established its reputation as a reliable player in the commercial satellite market with the successful launch of 36 OneWeb Internet satellites on its heaviest rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (GSLV-Mk3). OneWeb, a joint venture between India’s Bharti Global and the UK government, plans to provide global Internet coverage including India. The satellites, now successfully in orbit, will provide space broadband services to communities, governments and businesses, in addition to serving distribution partners. The success of the commercial launch will make ISRO a leading service provider for companies trying to launch satellites. India has been working to increase its share of the global commercial space market since the country decided to open up its space sector to private companies in 2020. Although it is the world’s major aerospace power, it only has a 2% share of the global commercial spaceflight market. current commercial market. The government plans to increase this share to 10% by 2030 through commercial launches from ISRO and launches from private companies such as Skyroot and Agnikul, which are developing their own launch vehicles.
