"India accomplished it": ISRO conducts a "Reusable Launch Vehicle" test from Karnataka with success. Video


In Chitradurga, Karnataka, ISRO completed its "Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission" on Sunday with success.

The Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was carried out successfully Sunday morning from the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka.

In a first for the world, a winged body has been lifted by a helicopter to a height of 4.5 kilometers and then released to make an autonomous runway touchdown, the ISRO tweeted.

The Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) reportedly took off at 7:10 am with an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter as an underslung load and climbed to a height of 4.5 km, according to a statement from the space agency.

According to the announcement, RLV completed an autonomous landing on the ATR airstrip at 7:40am using the integrated navigation, guidance, and control system.

According to the statement, "the autonomous landing was performed 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 ship arrived from space."

The test was also supported by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE), Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), and Indian Air Force (IAF).

What is an RLV, or reusable launch vehicle?

The RLV is essentially a space plane, according to the ISRO, with a low lift-to-drag ratio that necessitates an approach at high glide angles and a landing at high velocities of 350 km. LEX made use of numerous local systems. ISRO created localized navigation systems based on instrumentation, sensor systems, and pseudolite systems, among other things.

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