Dr K Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre explaining the indigenous space shuttle, which likley to be launched on May 23
Highlights
- ISRO expected to launch scale model of Made in India space shuttle
- Vehicle aims at reducing cost of access to space
- The vehicle was developed over a decade, and cost Rs. 95 crore
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is all set to launch first-of-its-kind swadeshi (indigenous) space satellite launch vehicle, (RLV-TD), on May 23, from Sriharikota.
The 6.5 meter long re-usable Launch Vehicle - technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) will weigh about 1.75 tons. The cost of this project is Rs 95 crore.
On being asked that what gave ISRO the confidence that it would succeed with a winged flight, Dr K Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, told NDTV: "... How far our theoretical predictions are going to match with the real flight based on that we will be able to find what the right design is. Therefore, this data from RLV-TD's launch is going to be used for configuring the real reusable launch vehicle."
This will be the first time ISRO will fly a winged body and bring it back to land on make-shift runway in the Bay of Bengal. However, in further tests an undercarriage will be placed to make it land, possibly at Sriharikota.
"We have already identified the area where we are going to land this space shuttle at Sriharikota where a 5-km long runway will be made," Mr Sivan said.
On this flight, he said, "the vehicle will not be recovered because this vehicle is not designed for recovery. Soon after landing it will break. Our aim is to generate data so during the flight itself continuous telemetry will come in, we will acquire it, and then the data will be used".
The final RLV will be about 40 meters in length and will also be able carry Indian astronauts.
The step is being taken to try and reduce the cost of launching objects into space by as much as ten times.