ISRO PLANS TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION OF REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE MISSION BY MID-MAY

[knight11]

ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD) being assembled at Satish Dhawan Space Center
Indian Space Research Organisation is planning the technology demonstration of its Reusable Launch Vehicle, expected to make space missions economically viable, by mid-May.
The flight integration of the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is almost complete at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram and it will be shifted to Bengaluru for further tests next week, VSSC Director K Sivan said on Monday.
“RLV-TD is almost integrated and tests are progressing. It will be shifted to Bengaluru next week for an acoustic test and then to Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (SHAR) for final preparations before the launch,” he told reporters here.
“We want clear weather conditions for the launch. We hope it will happen by first half of May,” he said.
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 reusable vehicle.
Under the preliminary mission, which is planned as a suborbital one, a double-delta winged vehicle, which more or less resembles an aircraft, will be launched from the SHAR.
The 6.5 meter-long vehicle, having a mass of 1.75 tonne, will go up to around 70 km after which it is expected to descend at a particular point on the sea.
Sivan said the proposed mission would be just a “baby step” in terms of the RLV technology and no way near to the real Reusable Launch Vehicle.
“What we do now is only a demonstration. It is no way near to the real RLV. It is like a drop test to bring back a launched vehicle to some point. It is just a baby step towards the giant leap,” he said.
Flush air-data system, slow burning propellant and composite movable fin are among the significant features of the RLV-TD.
The total cost of the mission is estimated to be around Rs 95 crore, the VSSC Director said adding the launch would give major inputs for the designing of the full-scale RLV in future.

 

[knight11]

 

[Laozi]

Small step towards a GIANT leap to become a Super Power

 

[knight11]

Small step towards a GIANT leap to become a Super Power

Actually from 2013-2015, the Antrix corporation limited, the comercial hand of the ISRO bagged 600 + crore rupees from the foriegn customer. 9 countries and 26 satellites, but there is a very BIG future market called SPACE TOURISM, and there are many pvt companies in this race also.

Some how I can feel ISRO can give a good competetion and cheaper space tourism package, and take a good share of this market.

If the Reusable Launch Vehicle of the ISRO could be developed, we should be proud that the ISRO would be able to cut the cost of the space transportation to 1/10th of the price from 10 lakh to 1 lakh per kg.
I think this will make few American countries nervous from the ISRO.

Here’s all you need to know about ISRO’s ambitious project:

1. The space shuttle is currently undergoing finishing touches at the Sriharikota, India’s space port in Andhra Pradesh

2. The current RLV-TD is believed to be 6 times smaller than the proposed final version

3. 6.5 metres long and 1.75 tons heavy, the spacecraft is the weight and size of an average Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

4. Although plans for the RLV-TD were in the pipeline for more than 15 years, work began in earnest only five years ago

5. 600 engineers and scientists are part of the project

6. The project is believed to cost around Rs. 95 crore

7. If successful, the reusable technology can bring down costs of launching satellites by more than 10 times

8. A special rocket booster using solid fuel will launch the spacecraft 70 kms into the atmosphere

9. The project is also being called a hyper-sonic experiment (HEX) as it will also test the ability of the vehicle to withstand re-entry at speeds higher than that of sound.

10. Indian scientists have used lightweight, heat resistant silica tiles on the underbelly of the spacecraft to help it endure the high temperatures it will be subject to on re-entry into the atmosphere

11. The final version of the reusable vehicle will take at least 10 to 15 years to develop

12. Talks are on to name the RLV ‘Kalamyaan’ after the late President APJ Abdul Kalam

Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, K Sivan referred to the project as “the first baby steps towards the big Hanuman leap.”