AMN /
India today successfully launched maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, RLV from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 7 am today. Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO said, the mission has been accomplished successfully. The Re-Usable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator, RLV-TD, that is ultimately aimed at putting satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere, was carried up on a solid rocket motor.
The nine-metre long rocket weighs 11 tonnes. Very similar in its looks to the US space shuttle, the double delta-winged RLV-TD being experimented is a scale model which is almost 6 times smaller than the final version. The 6.5 meter long RLV-TD has aeroplane like structure which weighs about 1.75 tons. The cost of this project is 95 crore rupees.
After launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, it glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. The vehicle re-entered the atmosphere after reaching a height of over 70 km. The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, lasted about 10 minutes. Earlier, explaining the importance of the experimental RLV, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said, it is essentially an attempt by India to bring down the cost of making infrastructure in space.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice president Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated ISRO team on successful launch of India’s first indigenous space shuttle RLV-TD. In his message, the President conveyed his congratulations to space scientists at ISRO for their achievement.
In his mesaage Vice President said: “I offer my congratulations to the Scientists, Engineers and Technicians of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful test of the RLV-TD. I wish ISRO all the very best for the future.”
In a message, Mr Modi said, the successful launch is the result of the industrious efforts of our scientists. He said, the dynamism and dedication with which our scientists and ISRO have worked over the years is exceptional and very inspiring.