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RLV-TD HEX-01 (Suborbital), May 23, 2016
by
johnxx9
on 04 Oct, 2014 16:54
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This TD launch was long due. We are still not certain when exactly it will take place. The 2014 Annual Report mentions 2014 but this one has already missed a lot of dates (from 2009).
Please post updates on this TD launch if and when they come out. Posting some technical information for this flight.
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#1
by
antriksh
on 04 Oct, 2014 17:24
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I am avidly waiting fir this test. Fifth year plan (2012-2017) talks about three HEX missions. Lets see how many missions will really be required to understand the hypersonic regime. I dont see a TSTO launcher materialise by 2025. ISRO already has some technologies for TSTO second stage based on SRE experiments. RLVtd will provide technologies particularly winged body fly back booster for first stage of TSTO. What will take long time is developing a SC-460 stage with 3 clustered semi-cryo engines for the first stage and C60 stage with 2 clustered cryogenic engines for the second stage.
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#2
by
johnxx9
on 04 Oct, 2014 17:41
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I am avidly waiting fir this test. Fifth year plan (2012-2017) talks about three HEX missions. Lets see how many missions will really be required to understand the hypersonic regime. I dont see a TSTO launcher materialise by 2025. ISRO already has some technologies for TSTO second stage based on SRE experiments. RLVtd will provide technologies particularly winged body fly back booster for first stage of TSTO. What will take long time is developing a SC-460 stage with 3 clustered semi-cryo engines for the first stage and C60 stage with 2 clustered cryogenic engines for the second stage.
Yes! It's actually 4 TD missions.
HEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment)
LEX (Landing Experiment)
REX (Return Flight Experiment)
SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment)
This is a photo of the poster during Aero India 2009 taken by me.
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#3
by
sanman
on 04 Oct, 2014 21:50
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#4
by
vyoma
on 16 Nov, 2014 16:19
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#5
by
antriksh
on 17 Nov, 2014 00:48
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#6
by
vyoma
on 17 Nov, 2014 01:35
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Yes
2014-2015 Budget Outcome lists following related to RLV-TD:
Major Achievements During 2013-2014:
- RLV-TD - High altitude Radar Altimeter balloon test with silica tiles was successfully conducted up to an altitude of 700 m at TIFR;
- Delivered launch vehicle Inertial Systems (RESINS, RPG and GAINS) for PSLV-C25, RLV-TD (RESINS MKIV R-QM) and GSLV-MK3 (RESINS MKIVA-QM) missions.
- Realized qualification model of HDAS for RLV-TD;
Major Activities Planned During 2014-2015:
- Flight integration and launch of RLV-HEX 01 mission;
Hopefully we might see something in next two years
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#7
by
abhishek
on 06 Dec, 2014 08:25
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The International Space Station (ISS)— the largest spacecraft ever built—faces an uncertain future with Russia's decision to walk away from it. Moscow's international obligations vis-a-vis the orbiting laboratory were expected to continue well into the next decade. But terrestrial realpolitik caught up with the $100 billion space station in November when Russia's space agency Roscosmos conveyed to NASA that it would end its participation in the ISS by 2020.
ISRO has expressed its eagerness to join the ISS. If that happens, unexpected support for the ISS could come from India's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) which is nearing its final stages of testing. The RLV—a hyperplane that can touch outer space, launch satellites and return to Earth—has the potential to become an effective space taxi for the ISS, too.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45391446.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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#8
by
sanman
on 06 Dec, 2014 15:29
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That article sounds like nonsense. The RLV that India is testing is just a small testbed, and nothing more. By the time India could create the TSTO, the ISS would no longer be in service anymore. It's unfortunate that TSTO is being made to wait until after ULV is started, although I suppose ULV is a logical extension of GSLV Mark-3.
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#9
by
johnxx9
on 06 Dec, 2014 16:39
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That article sounds like nonsense. The RLV that India is testing is just a small testbed, and nothing more. By the time India could create the TSTO, the ISS would no longer be in service anymore. It's unfortunate that TSTO is being made to wait until after ULV is started, although I suppose ULV is a logical extension of GSLV Mark-3.
The semi cryogenic engine is the basis for both ULV and RLV. Whatever additional technology RLV needs is being tested through RLV TD program. But once the SCE is ready, the ULV can be developed comparatively easily than RLV.
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#10
by
savuporo
on 23 Dec, 2014 18:19
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#11
by
Moe Grills
on 24 Dec, 2014 21:22
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I don't understand the need for that craft.
Does India have military goals for that potential winged orbiter?
Space tourism perhaps for the suborbital version in the future?
Or is India planning an winged orbiter for science and civilian astronauts?
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#12
by
Kryten
on 24 Dec, 2014 22:14
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None of the above. It's ultimately intended to lead to a two-stage uncrewed RLV.
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#13
by
vyoma
on 05 Jan, 2015 09:12
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http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rQIXOa8IJ68k5q9ZZYzlNM/Isro-to-carry-out-wingedreusable-rocket-tech-demo.htmlIsro will carry out the technology demonstration of the reusable launch vehicle in March, the official said.
“The structure that makes a rocket has to be such that it should have 98% propellant and 2% structure. Only then reusability is possible. Today’s technology does not allow you to go to that level as 5% to 10% will be the mass of the structure and around 90% will be the propellant,” said S. Somanath, associate director of Isro’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
VSSC is trying to develop a Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) which will act as a flying tester to assess hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion. Isro is currently integrating the flight model.
In the technology demonstrator, Isro will test if the 12-tonne vehicle can reach five times the speed of sound, whether it can re-enter the atmosphere and land on the sea using its computer system. To be sure, this will be a technological demonstration and the tested vehicle will not be reusable. The VSSC director explained that take-off will be vertical like a rocket, and landing will be like that of an aircraft.
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#14
by
antriksh
on 06 Jan, 2015 01:14
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Another leap in space: India to test reusable vehicle in MarchThe next experiment would be to land the vehicle on a 2km runway after releasing it from an aircraft from a height of about 5km. The third step would be to take it to a higher altitude and try the ground landing. "As the next step, we would try an air-breaking engine which is under development at Isro," Somanath said.
The multiple demonstration missions will lead to what Isro envisions as a 'two stage to orbit (TSTO) fully reusable vehicle. While India spends Rs300 crore upwards for satellite launches, reusable vehicles hold the key to more affordable launches. Today putting a 1kg object in space costs about $5000. "This should be brought down to at least $500. And reusable vehicles are the answer," said Somanath.
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#15
by
antriksh
on 27 Feb, 2015 15:41
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#16
by
AJA
on 01 Mar, 2015 10:46
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Another leap in space: India to test reusable vehicle in March
The RLV will land on water, because we don't have a 5 km runway? What?
First of all, for context - even the Shuttle Landing Facility runway is < 5 km in length. But let's assume that a larger vehicle faced more drag, and came in slower. That still leaves me baffled.
How hard can it be to build a runway of requisite length? The article says that they already have the land! (The budget doesn't mention anything about the RLV though, so it might be impeded by administrative speed-bumps)
Thirdly, if the RLV is coming in that hot - as to need a 5 km runway - is it really going to remain intact after splashdown? Isn't any trajectory that allows for a safe splashdown, also sufficient to allow the RLV to land on a shorter runway? I would've thought splashdown criterion would be stricter!
I don't have the information, but I'd like to think the reason we're going for a splashdown is to avoid the complexity of having pressurised tyres and deployable landing gear (with cuts and doors in the heat shield). That, and the untested nature of the vehicle and needing to keep everyone on the ground safe in case of loss of control.
The air-dropped version probably won't have a heat-shield, and won't be a full-fidelity mockup of the sub-orbital, or the orbital test-bed.
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#17
by
TrevorMonty
on 01 Mar, 2015 21:14
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They should be a lot of interest internationally in this test. ESA, Russia, Japan are or had investigated fly back RLVs. The outcome of these tests will prove whether it is technically viable, SpaceX are already showing boost back RLVs are possible.
It is nice to see there is more than one organisation actively pursuing RLV development and using a different approach.
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#18
by
vyoma
on 27 Mar, 2015 04:33
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http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150327/nation-current-affairs/article/isro-rockets-make-safe-landings-tooIn its first flight in June, it will be propelled into space at about six times the speed of sound by a booster, and return after touching an altitude of 70 km. The booster and the reusable launch vehicle (RLV) will plummet into the Bay of Bengal, but once operational both will touch down on return, Dr A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, Isro, told Deccan Chronicle, adding “ground tests are on for the first flight scheduled for the end of the first half of this year.
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#19
by
antriksh
on 01 Apr, 2015 16:07
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