Date: 03/04/2023

Relevance: GS-3: Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life; Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology; Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers etc.

Key Phrases: Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Aeronautical Test Range, NASA.

Context:

• Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the landing experiment of the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) programme at the Aeronautical Test Range in Challakere, Chitradurga.

Key Highlights:

• An Indian Air Forces (IAF) Chinook helicopter was used to drop the RLV-TD from a 4.5 km altitude and ISRO executed the landing experiment of the RLV-TD as planned.
• It further added that the release of the RLV was autonomous as it performed approach and landing maneuvers using Integrated Navigation, Guidance, and control system and completed an autonomous landing on the airstrip.
• In a first in the world, a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 km by helicopter and released for carrying an autonomous landing on a runway.
• The winged RLV-TD has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, and powered cruise flight.
  • In the future, this vehicle will be scaled up to become the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital launch vehicle
• RLV-TD was successfully flight tested in 2016, from Sriharikota validating the critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, reusable thermal protection system, and re-entry mission management.
  • During this mission the vehicle landed on a hypothetical runway over the Bay of Bengal.
• Therefore, the latest landing experiment is the second in the series of experimental flights of the programme.

Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) Programme:

• Reusable Launch Vehicle–Technology Demonstration Programme is a series of technology demonstration missions that has been conceived by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) reusable launch vehicle.
• RLV-TD consists of a fuselage (body), a nose cap, double delta wings, and twin vertical tails.
  • It also features symmetrically placed active control surfaces called Elevons and Rudder.
• For this purpose, a winged reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured.
  • The RLV-TD acted as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like powered cruise flight, hypersonic flight, and autonomous landing using air-breathing propulsion.
• Under this programme, a total of four RLV-TD flights are planned by ISRO:
  • HEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment)
  • LEX (Landing Experiment)
  • REX (Return Flight Experiment)
  • SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment)
• Hypersonic Flight Experiment
  • The Hypersonic Flight Experiment was the first test flight in the RLV-TD development program.
  • It was launched from the first launchpad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 23 May 2016 on board an HS9 solid rocket booster.
  • In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, and reusable thermal protection system, have been validated.
• Landing Experiment
  • The Landing Experiment was successfully conducted on April 2, 2023.
  • There are plans for conducting more such landing tests in different conditions so as to test hardware and software readiness.
• Eventually there are plans for conducting the next main tests in the programme which are REX and SPEX.

Significance of RLV-TD Programme:

• The main rationale for developing a reusable system is to bring down the costs of satellite launch, and to increase the frequency of launches.
• Satellites and scientific instruments need to ride on rockets to go into space.
  • These are of the use-and-throw kind, which mostly fall into the sea after doing their job, or sometimes float uselessly in space, adding to space debris.
  • Reusable rockets can save the costs of building a new vehicle for every launch, and also the manufacturing time, thus enabling more frequent launches.
• It is estimated that RLV, once fully developed in about a decade, could bring down launch costs 8-10 times.
  • Currently, it costs Rs 6-8 lakh to send a 1 kg payload into a low earth orbit.
• The cost advantage also depends on the degree of reusability built into the vehicle.
  • A fully reusable vehicle would deliver payloads into orbits and return to Earth completely intact.

Conclusion:

• The actual RLV, when it is developed, would have to land on a runway.
  • ISRO has said a 5-km runway, more than double the length of the longest in the country, would have to be built for it.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. What is the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) Programme? Also, mention the significance of this programme. (250 Words).