Isro taking baby steps towards launching its own space shuttle

17 May 2016

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The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch its own indigenous version of a 'space shuttle', making India the fifth nation to do so.

Isro will be launching its first space shuttle on 23 May, although an abridged version of the full-fledged reusable space shuttle.

The RLV-TD (Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Development) took five years to develop and cost the space agency around Rs95 crore. According to reports, a full-fledged reusable space shuttle will take at least another 10 to 15 years to build.

If successful, Isro with its maiden launch of the winged spaceship will be making history with a fully made-in-India version of a 'space shuttle.'

So far, only the US, Russia, France and Japan have successfully launched space shuttle.

''It is a technology demonstrator launch. It is a baby step,'' The Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed Isro official as saying.

The model space shuttle, which is one-sixth the size of the full-fledged version of the space shuttle, will travel 43 miles into space and then re-enter earth's atmosphere, WSJ added.

The space shuttle to be launched from the Sriharikota spaceport, is expected to return to the Bay of Bengal. However, it is unlikely to be recovered from the sea as it is expected to be destroyed on impact while splashing down to the water.

The purpose of the experiment is to see whether it can glide and navigate at a velocity which would be five times faster than sound, onto a virtual runway, The Indian Express report said.

The present design is basically ''a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion using a scramjet engine'', The Hindu quoted the Isro's website.

Isro scientists are reinventing a technology long abandoned by Western scientists as the space shuttle can lower launch costs, making India price competitive in satellite launches.

Since launching space shuttles will be 10 times cheaper, India can create a niche for itself by launching low-cost missions into space.

India wants to join a select band of nations that have a space shuttle program. The country's space agency wants to launch a reusable spacecraft, potentially slashing the cost of space travel.

 

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