Reusable Landing Vehicle (RLV) LEX 02

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About Reusable Landing Vehicle (RLV) LEX 02

This landing experiment is the second of the series conducted at Aeronautical Test Range.
After the RLV-LEX-01 mission was accomplished last year, RLV-LEX-02 demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of reusable launch vehicle (RLV) from off-nominal initial conditions at release from helicopter.

How was the experiment conducted?

The RLV LEX-02 mission demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the reusable launch vehicle from challenging initial conditions after release from a helicopter.
It is named Pushpak, the winged vehicle was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter and released from an altitude of 4.5 km.
It autonomously approached the runway with cross-range corrections and landed precisely, coming to a halt using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes, and nose wheel steering system
The winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused in the RLV-LEX-02 mission after due certification/ clearances.
The mission was accomplished by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) along with the Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC) and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).

Reusable Launch Vehicle

It is essentially a space plane with a low lift to drag ratio requiring an approach at high glide angles that necessitates a landing at high velocities of 350 kmph.
It utilises several indigenous systems. Localised navigation systems based on pseudolite systems, instrumentation, and sensor systems, etc were developed by ISRO.

Q1) What is a Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)?

RLV-TD Programme is envisioned as a series of technology demonstration missions that serve towards realising a fully reusable Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) vehicle.

Source: ISRO successfully conducts ‘Pushpak’ Reusable Landing Vehicle landing experiment