AIR Spotlight: ISRO’s Successful Conduct of RLV Mission

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on: ISRO’s Successful Conduct of the RLV Mission.

Participants:

• Dr T.V Venkateshwaran: Senior Scientist, Vigyan Prasar
• Omvesh Upadhyay: AIR Correspondent

Context – ISRO, joined by DRDO and IAF successfully conducted the Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka.

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Mission

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully completed an autonomous test landing mission for its Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) Chitradurga, Karnataka.

•  ISRO in collaboration with DRDO, accomplished the Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) at ATR on 2nd April 2023.
• The autonomous release of RLV was carried out using the Integrated Navigation, Guidance and Control System. 
• The Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) test was the second of five tests that are a part of ISRO’s efforts to develop RLVs, or space planes/shuttles, which can travel to low earth orbits (LEO) to deliver payloads and return to earth for use again.
• The autonomous landing was carried out under the exact conditions of a Space Re-entry vehicle’s landing —high-speed, unmanned, precise landing from the same return path— as if the vehicle arrived from space. 
• The RLV LEX demanded several state-of-the-art technologies including accurate navigation hardware and software, Pseudolite system, Ka-band Radar Altimeter, NavIC receiver, indigenous Landing Gear, Aerofoil honey-comb fins and brake parachute system.

Space Re-entry Vehicle –

A spacecraft designed to return to Earth’s atmosphere after being launched into space is referred to as a Space re-entry vehicle. 

• The vehicle must be able to withstand the extreme heat and pressure generated during re-entry, and must also have a method for slowing down and landing safely.

RLV -TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator)

RLV-TD was successfully flight tested on May 23, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Sriharikota validating the critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management.

• The RLV is aimed at lowering costs by around 80 % when compared to traditional PSLV rockets.
• RLV-TD is one of the most technologically challenging endeavours of ISRO towards developing essential technologies for a fully reusable launch vehicle to enable low-cost access to space.
• The configuration of RLV-TD is similar to that of an aircraft and combines the complexity of both the launch vehicle and aircraft.
• It will be the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital launch vehicle. 

Scramjet Engine 

The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully carried out in August 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 

• The Scramjet engine uses hydrogen as fuel and atmospheric oxygen as the oxidiser. Usually, rocket engines carry both the fuel and oxidiser on board for combustion. ISRO’s Scramjet uses atmospheric oxygen, thereby significantly reducing the cost.
• Air breathing propulsion systems become much lighter and more efficient leading to overall reduced costs.

The Path Forward

As the spacecraft has undergone its second test – RLV LEX- validating its integrated navigation guidance and control system by successfully accomplishing the approach and landing manoeuvres, the RLV project is ready for the next level of testing.

• Two crucial experiments are to be carried out by ISRO – OREX (Orbital Reentry Experiment)  and a Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX).
• The OREX mission may witness the vehicle being mounted atop the powered cryogenic upper stage engine of a GSLV Mark-II rocket reaching suborbital space by crossing the Kerman line at 100 km above the earth and making a wheeled landing attempt on a longer runway.
• The SPEX experiment is supposed to prove the scramjet-powered flight of the vehicle in the atmospheric regions. 
• After all the experiments are carried out and necessary corrections made, RLV may evolve as a robust and rugged platform for low-cost satellite launches to Low Earth Orbits (LEO).

Conclusion – The success of the RLV LEX mission marks a major milestone in the successful landing of a space vehicle with precision under the same conditions as that of a Space Re-entry vehicle’s landing. With it, the dream of an Indian Reusable Launch Vehicle arrives one step closer to reality.

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