Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration

Table of Contents☰

Why in news?

An Indian Air Forces (IAF) Chinook helicopter was used to drop the RLV-TD from a 4.5 km altitude and ISRO executed the landing experiment of the RLV-TD as planned.
The release of this vehicle was autonomous as it performed approach and landing manoeuvres using Integrated Navigation, Guidance, and control system and completed an autonomous landing on the airstrip
It is the first in the world; a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 km.
It is the second in the series of experimental flights of the programme.

Key facts about Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration

This programme is planned as 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.
A Winged RLV-TD has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, and powered cruise flight.
These technologies will be developed in phases through a series of experimental flights.
RLV-TD is similar to that of an aircraft and combines the complexity of both launch vehicles and aircraft.
Features of RLV-TD
- It consists of a fuselage (body), a nose cap, double delta wings, and twin vertical tails.
- It also features symmetrically placed active control surfaces called Elevons and Rudder.

What are the previous launches?

RLV-TD was successfully flight tested on May 23, 2016, from Sriharikota validating the critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance and control, reusable thermal protection system, and re-entry mission management.
During this mission, the vehicle landed on a hypothetical runway over the Bay of Bengal.

Q1) What is a cruise missile?

A cruise missile either locates its target or has a preset target. It navigates using a guidance system such as inertial or beyond visual range satellite GPS guidance and comprises a payload and aircraft propulsion system.

Source: ISRO successfully conducts landing experiment of the Reusable Launch Vehicle