ISRO all set to launch space shuttle

The Indian space agency is all set to undertake the launch of its very own indigenous version of a ‘space shuttle’, a fully made-in-India effort. A sleek winged body almost the weight and size of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) is being given final touches at Sriharikota awaiting the final countdown.

Yes, the big powers abandoned the idea of a winged reusable launch vehicle but India’s frugal engineers believe the solution to reducing cost of launching satellites into orbit is to recycle the rocket or make it re-usable. Scientists at ISRO believe that they could reduce the cost of launching stuff into space by as much as 10 times if reusable technology succeeds, bringing it down to USD 2,000 per kg. 

India’s space port at Sriharikota will soon witness the launch of the indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle — Technology Demonstrator (RLVTD). This space craft, which actually has delta wings, will be glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. 

The RLV-TD is unlikely to be recovered from sea during this experiment as it is expected that the vehicle will disintegrate on impact with water since it is not designed to float. The experiment is not meant to see it float but to glide and navigate from a velocity five times higher than the speed of sound onto a designated virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal some 500 km from the coast. 

RLV-TD being experimented is a scale model which is almost 6 times smaller than the final version.