India's first reusable space shuttle, RLV-TD launched

On 23 May 2016, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh. It was carried up on a solid rocket motor (SRM). The nine-ton SRM was designed to burn slowly to accommodate the vertical lifting of winged body. 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.

About RLV-TD:

• ·         The Re-Usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) is considered as a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully reusable vehicle. That is, it can put satellites into orbit around earth and then reo-enter atmosphere.
• ·         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.
• ·         It is very similar to the US space shuttle.
• ·         The double delta-winged RLV-TD being experimented as a scale model which is almost 6 times smaller than the final version.
• ·         Before moving on to the final version of the RLV will take off around 2030, ISRO has planned to test two more such protypes.