ISRO achieves major milestone in reusable launch vehicle tech with landing experiment

Bengaluru: ISRO announced a significant advancement in reusable launch vehicle technology with the successful RLV LEX-02 landing experiment on Friday. Conducted at 7:10 am in Karnataka’s Aeronautical Test Range, Chitradurga, this marks the second milestone in the series.

Following last year’s RLV-LEX-01 mission, RLV-LEX-02 showcased the autonomous landing capability of the reusable launch vehicle, even from off-nominal initial conditions upon release from a helicopter, stated the Bengaluru-based space agency.

“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. 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.

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.

On the success of the landing experiment, VSSC Director Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair said through this repeated success, ISRO could master the terminal phase maneuvering, landing and energy management in a fully autonomous mode, which is a critical step towards the future.