ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle Prototype Executes Autonomous Landing With Flying Colours

On Sunday, April 2, the reusable launch vehicle prototype of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) underwent a successful autonomous landing test or air-drop landing experiment.?

ISRO successfully launches Reusable Launch Vehicle prototype

The RLV LEX mission was carried out early on Sunday at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka, in cooperation with the Defence Space Research Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

In this mission, a winged body was lifted by a helicopter to a height of 4.5 kilometres before being set free to perform an autonomous landing on a runway.?

On May 23, 2016, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota launched the Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) for the first time. Important technologies like autonomous navigation, guidance, and control as well as the reusable thermal protection system were successfully demonstrated as part of this experimental mission.

A video also surfaced from the site.?

?This was the second stage of the reusable launch

The approach and autonomous landing of the prototype of a reusable launch vehicle on a runway was one of the crucial technologies that ISRO had to demonstrate.?This landmark was reached by the Indian space agency as a result of the RLV-LEX mission.?

This was the second stage of the reusable launch vehicle prototype's technology demonstration missions.For the mission, an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter carried the RLV-TD as an underslung load at 7:10 am IST.?

According to an ISRO mission update, the RLV-TD reached a height of 4.5 kilometres above mean sea level.The RLV-TD was released into the atmosphere once the predetermined parameters were met. Ten parameters, including position, velocity, altitude, and body rates, were part of the release conditions.

The precise conditions needed for a spacecraft that has re-entered the atmosphere were met during the autonomous landing of RLV-TD.At 350 kph, the vehicle demonstrated a high-speed autonomous landing.

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