Swadeshi ISRO’s return ticket from space

Lifting off from the launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, double delta-winged flight vehicle RLV Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) was hoisted into the atmosphere on the special rocket booster for a peak altitude of over 65 km and released for its re-entry into the atmosphere before its splashdown in the Bay of Bengal. 

From a 65 km altitude, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – with the vehicle’s Navigation, Guidance and Control system accurately steering it during this phase for safe descent, Indian Space Research Organisation said. 

After successfully surviving high temperatures of re-entry with the help of its Thermal Protection System (TPS), RLV-TD successfully glided down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal, at a distance of about 450 km from Sriharikota, fulfilling its mission objectives, ISRO said. 

The aerospace vehicle with the weight (1.75 tonnes) and size of a SUV was not recovered as it disintegrated on impact with water, as it is not designed to float. 

The vehicle was tracked during its flight from ground stations at Sriharikota and a shipborne terminal. Total flight duration from launch to landing lasted about 770 seconds, it said. The government has invested Rs 95 crore into the RLV-TD project. 

The RLV is aimed at putting satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere with the ultimate goal of drastically slashing down the cost of launches by as much as 10 times.