In a congratulatory tweet, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the launch of “India’s first indigenous space shuttle”.
Advertisement
RLV-TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that have been considered as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle, ISRO said.
Speaking to the Mint newspaper after the test, a spokesperson for ISRO, India’s space agency, said: “Mission has been accomplished and all the parameters and trajectories were fulfilled”.
ISRO launches Indian’s First Ever Recycle Swadeshi Space Shuttle RLV-TD:- We have good news for all the Indians who loves his country and felt proud, happy to know about their success in space.
Since NASA retired the space shuttle program in 2011, other nations have been racing to design another reusable spacecraft.
A functioning space shuttle would dramatically reduce the cost of a single trip to space.
ISRO said a rocket carrying the shuttle lifted off from a launch pad in southern India on Monday and completed a successful 13-minute test flight.
ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar explained that the experimental RLV it is essentially an attempt by India to bring down the cost of making infrastructure for space. Though the U.S. and Russian Federation have launched reusable vehicles in the past, this is the first time India has done something of this sort via innovative means. We will be launching from Sriharikota, and the plane-like winged body will land in the ocean, in the Bay of Bengal. After re-entering Earth’s atmosphere with the help of its Thermal Protection System, the spacecraft glided down to land in the Bay of Bengal, about 280 miles from Sriharikota. The ship is created to allow Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) to collect critical data on hypersonic speed and autonomous landing. Private companies like SpaceX are also experimenting with reusable rockets.
Advertisement
The vehicle’s Navigation, Guidance and Control system accurately steered the vehicle during this phase for safe descent.
