The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on said that Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, landed autonomously with precision on March 22.
“ISRO has achieved a major milestone in the area of Reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology, through the RLV LEX-02 landing experiment, the second of the series conduded at Aeronautical Test large (ATR), Chitradurga in Karnataka today morning at 7:10 IST,” the national space agency said in a tweet.
It said that after the RLV-LEX-01 mission was accomplished last year, RLV-LEX-02 demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of reusable launch vehicle (RLV) from off-nominal initial conditions at release from helicopter.
The RLV was made to undertake more difficult maneuvers with dispersions, correct both cross-range and downrange and land on the runway in a fully autonomous mode," it said.
Here’s all about Pushpak
The winged vehicle, called Pushpak, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter and was released from 4.5 km altitude.
After release at a distance of 4 km from the runway, Pushpak autonomously approached the runway along with cross-range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering system, ISRO said.
It added that this mission successfully simulated the approach and high-speed landing conditions of RLV returning from space.
According to the space agency, the winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused in the RLV-LEX-02 mission after due certification/ clearances. Hence, reuse capability of flight hardware and flight systems is also demonstrated in this mission, ISRO said.
Based on the observation from RLV-LEX-01, the airframe structure and landing gear were strengthened to tolerate higher landing loads, it said. The mission was accomplished by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) along with the Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC) and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU). ISRO chairman S Somanath congratulated the team for the flawless execution of this complex mission.
