Is the RLV so fat or the image is stretched out?
Is this a new RLV-TD or the same one that was flown last year? The wings look burned but that might just be the lighting.
Quote from: K210 on 01/31/2018 12:28 pmIs this a new RLV-TD or the same one that was flown last year? The wings look burned but that might just be the lighting.A new one - the first one was not planned to be recovered.
"Our research and development department is working on three technology demonstrators. First one on the orbital re-entry of the vehicle, second on the landing of the reusable launch vehicle on the airstrip and third on reusable rocket stages. Isro's research work on these three technologies is simultaneously going on and we hope to do a second technology demonstrator test (first experiment on reusable launch vehicle was in 2016) within two years."
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will soon carry out another major test for its reusable launch vehicle (RLV) in which the vehicle will be flown to a height of 3 km by a helicopter and let free to land autonomously at an airstrip in Challakere in Chitradurga district.
This would be the second test for the vehicle after the first one in 2016 demonstrated that the RLV could land autonomously in the sea after being taken to an altitude of 65 km. Talking about the upcoming test, S Somanath, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said the test will be carried out at the airstrip, owned by the Defence Research and Development Organization within 6 months. "After this test, we will integrate the vehicle into a new rocket which will take it up into orbit for it to return," he said.
In a bid to fulfil its dream of the manned mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is gearing up for the second demonstration test of the reusable launch vehicle (RLV) next year. However, this time, the RLV will be tested on an airstrip and not on the sea.Isro chairman K Sivan said, "We will conduct an RLV test sometime next year where a helicopter will take the vehicle to a height of 3 km and from that height, it will be dropped. The RLV will then glide and land on an airstrip."
Isro conducted the first demonstration test of India's winged body aerospace vehicle on May 23, 2016. A solid rocket booster carrying RLV-TD lifted off from Sriharikota and coasted to a height of 56km. At that height, RLV-TD separated from HS9 booster and further ascended to a height of 65km and then started its descent and successfully glided down to the defining landing spot over the Bay of Bengal.Sivan said, "The third experiment will include testing the RLV from the orbit. The vehicle will be integrated into a new rocket, which will take it up to the orbit. There, the vehicle will get detached and re-entre the earth's atmosphere and land."
In its endeavour to make rockets used for launching satellites reusable, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will explore for the first time the possibility of runway landing of rockets just as airplanes do at airports. "After releasing the satellite, the launch vehicle, which has no pilot, will fall very steeply through the sky. It will come like a falling football. We need to change its angle in such a manner that it comes and lands automatically with the help of wings," said ISRO Chairman K Sivan here on Friday.
For the technology demonstration, scheduled to be carried out in the middle of this year, ISRO will take the shuttle to an altitude of 3 km using a helicopter and drop it. The shuttle is designed in such a manner that it would land automatically on a runway. According to a senior ISRO official, an airport at Challakere, near Bengaluru, will be used for the experiment. This is the second such experiment in reusable-launch-vehicle technology being carried out by the space agency. In 2016, ISRO successfully test flew a winged experimental reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that splashed down in the sea after reaching an altitude of 65 km.
ISRO's reusable rocket: Our confusionWhat exactly ISRO's reusable rocket be like?<snip>
Here comes the LEX (Landing EXperiment):
TSTO RLVFirst stage: vertical launch powered by 3 semi-cryogenic engines (2000 kn each). Unpowered glide back to airstrip after separation around 100-150 km. RLV-TD programme to demonstrate the technologies involved in this stage development.Second stage: Recoverable stage powered to orbit by cryogenic propulsion involving 2 cryogenic engines. Spacecraft/satellite separation by opening the cargo bay doors. Ballistic re-entry into the earth atmosphere and to be recovered at sea. SRE programme to demonstrate the technologies involved in the development of this stage