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Indian Reusable Launch Vehicle Program
by
sanman
on 25 Jun, 2011 21:48
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#1
by
tigerade
on 25 Jun, 2011 21:54
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Neat. It seems everything has been outsourced to India lately, even space shuttles.
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#2
by
Gregori
on 25 Jun, 2011 22:33
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Except its actually a domestically developed independent Indian launch solution. If the US wants to compete for launches with it own technology, its free to do that.
I don't think they could outsource such a thing to India or any other countries because of ITAR....
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#3
by
tigerade
on 26 Jun, 2011 03:59
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Except its actually a domestically developed independent Indian launch solution. If the US wants to compete for launches with it own technology, its free to do that.
I don't think they could outsource such a thing to India or any other countries because of ITAR....
I'm aware. I was being facetious.
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#4
by
seshagirib
on 26 Jun, 2011 05:38
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^^^^The news article in the first post is dated : "Wednesday, Apr 01, 2009", ISRO claims a few times every year, that it is about a year away from launching the TD vehicle.
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#5
by
sanman
on 08 Jul, 2011 14:47
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Yes, I suppose this is the latest claim:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/isro-have-reusable-launch-rocket-2-yrs-452Dr Radhakrishnan said studies have been initiated on the re-usable launch vehicle (RLV) with plans for a lift-off of the technology demonstrator in two years. “We have to understand a gamut of technologies and also prove many new systems. We have to study the aerodynamics of a winged body, the auto pilot, the aero-thermo dynamics, thermal protection system, the de-boost operations for re-entry, navigation and guidance to land precisely on the ground. Of course, some of the lessons learnt from the space shuttle will be incorporated in this vehicle,” he added.
Along with the RLV, Isro would also test air-breathing technology using a scramjet fitted on a sounding rocket in the next couple of years.
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#6
by
sanman
on 31 Jul, 2011 20:53
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#7
by
Patchouli
on 02 Aug, 2011 20:22
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One of the biggest false lessons from STS was that are not practical.
The Shuttle was unpractical because it was a jack of trades and was too complex.
It's good to see that ISRO sees the real lesson from STS.
Everyone talks about China dominating space but I think India is going to be the country to watch in the next 20 years.
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#8
by
sanman
on 08 Aug, 2011 03:04
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You'll see a similar message in this latest article:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/182168/india-shuttles-idea-re-usable.htmlISRO chief Radhakrishnan seems to be saying that they'll explore this technology, but won't zealously/stubbornly overcommit to it.
As someone who works in IT, I'm always hearing how CIO's and architects should be technology-agnostic, and not show bias in stubbornly pursuing a particular technology or platform regardless of whether it fits or not.
So ISRO will explore this technology, but if it doesn't fit their needs, they'll pass it over.
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#9
by
Salo Ukr
on 09 May, 2012 08:06
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#10
by
Salo Ukr
on 09 May, 2012 08:09
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Relevant quote:
The space agency, as a first step towards realising a Two-Stage To Orbit (TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle, has developed a winged RLV-TD.
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The RLV-TD will act as a flying test-bed to evaluate various technologies — hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion.
The first in the series of trials is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).
During HEX, the vehicle will take lift off in the form of a rocket with a booster. Later, it can be recovered from sea.
So, it sounds like a two-stage vehicle, with a scramjet-powered recoverable first stage and a winged orbiter for a second stage.
Just to clarify, the RLV-TD is merely intended as a low-cost testbed platform, and is not intended as a prototype that later platforms would resemble.
India's ultimate goal for RLV is the AVATAR (Aerobic Vehicle for hypersonic Aerospace Transportation) which will be an SSTO (Single-Stage-to-Orbit) vehicle.
India can't make AVATAR right away, so it will first build and operate the TSTO (Two-Stage-to-Orbit) vehicle, which is composed of a lower stage and an upper stage. The lower stage is a winged flyback booster powered by a semi-cryogenic rocket, and the upper stage is powered by a cryogenic rocket.
But before India can even build TSTO, it will build RLV-TD to act as a testbed platform for the technologies which will be used by the TSTO as well as the AVATAR SSTO. For instance, the RLV-TD will also test a hypersonic scramjet engine, which is not used in the TSTO, but will be used in the ultimate AVATAR SSTO.
http://www.brahmand.com/news/Reusable-Launch-Vehicles-%EF%BF%BD-The-future-of-space-missions/5595/3/15.html
As a low-cost testbed (not a prototype), the RLV-TD will carry out a series of experiments: HEX, LEX, REX, and SPEX.
HEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment) will see the RLV-TD launched on a rocket booster high above the atmosphere, and then released to glide back into the atmosphere at hypersonic velocity. Note that this will be a glide, and not an engine-powered flight, but it will be able to test the airframe and control systems. RLV-TD will then land in the ocean and be recovered.
LEX (Landing Experiment) will have the RLV-TD fitted with landing gear. It will be flown on a large transport plane and then dropped, so that it can glide down to a landing strip, deploy its landing gear and land like a regular aircraft.
REX (Return flight Experiment) will have RLV-TD fitted with jet engines that will allow it to take off from an airstrip like a regular aircraft. It will then fly around and return back to land on the strip like a regular aircraft.
Finally SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment) will have RLV-TD further fitted with a scramjet engine. It will get to take off from an airstrip like a regular aircraft, but once in flight it will accelerate to supersonic speed, after which it will activate its air-breathing scramjet engine and accelerate to hypersonic velocity. The scramjet will then switch off and the vehicle will decelerate until it can reactivate its normal jet engines and then return to land at the landing strip like a regular aircraft.
So the actual later vehicles that RLV-TD is acting as a testbed for, will look nothing like the RLV-TD itself. RLV-TD is a testbed, and not a prototype.
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#11
by
Salo Ukr
on 09 May, 2012 08:11
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Hi guys,
Check out the animation of RLV-TD by launch vehicle design team, ISRO. Its animation of the landing experiment.
video:
The upper stage will form the lower stage of RLV with 2000KN semi-cryo stage and will loft 10T to LEO.
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#12
by
antriksh
on 09 May, 2012 17:29
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#13
by
Steven Pietrobon
on 11 May, 2012 08:18
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I really like this TSTO vehicle. Its think its great that India is looking at these advanced launch vehicles.
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#14
by
sanman
on 11 May, 2012 08:25
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If you like, here's a slightly bigger image of TSTO:
And here is the mission profile:
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#15
by
lucspace
on 11 May, 2012 08:25
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A bit disappointing though, that the 'Launch Vehicle Demand' chart now puts the manned vehicle 15 years into the future...
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#16
by
kanaka
on 11 May, 2012 15:43
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How does RLV differs from US Space Shuttle?
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#17
by
sanman
on 11 May, 2012 21:11
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A bit disappointing though, that the 'Launch Vehicle Demand' chart now puts the manned vehicle 15 years into the future...
Well, the first manned flight was planned for 2016, and I think they'll probably be able to do it by 2018 at the latest. The GSLV-Mk3 will be the carrier for the first manned flights, and that will certainly be ready before then. It's mainly the crew capsule and launch abort system that remain to be done before then.
How does RLV differs from US Space Shuttle?
It's smaller - only takes 10 tonnes of payload to LEO - and all stages will be reusable.
Its flight profile is the inverse of the US Space Shuttle, because the booster is what glides back to Earth, instead of being thrown away. Meanwhile the more traditional-looking upper stage is what goes to orbit. However, it too would come back down to Earth for a powered vertical landing.
If you look at the diagram of the TSTO vehicle, you'll see a little red-colored section that mates the upper stage to the lower stage flyback booster. That interstage section obviously gets discarded during stage separation, and is not reused. But aside from replacing this you're only supposed to replace the fuel, as the TSTO is intended to be fully reusable in order to lower launch costs. Keeping costs down has always been a top priority for ISRO.
Ironically, the RLV-TD testbed sort of has the inverse appearance of the planned TSTO vehicle. The RLV-TD is mounted on a traditional-looking solid booster rocket which is discarded, and after separating it then glides back to Earth. But again, it's just a testbed.
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#18
by
Steven Pietrobon
on 15 May, 2012 08:19
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Thanks very much for posting those higher resolution images Sanman! That's much appreciated.
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#19
by
antriksh
on 12 Jun, 2012 00:49
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ISRO is looking to conduct Hex01 and Hex02 experiments in 12th 5 year (2012-2017) plan and start work on hex03, landing and reentry experiment.
