RLV Technology Demonstration Programme

RLV-TD

RLV-TD (scaled model)
Function Technology demonstration vehicle
Manufacturer ISRO
Country of origin  India
Size
Height ~16 m[1]
Diameter 1 m [1]
Mass 12 tonnes [2]
Stages 2[1]
Launch history
Status Testing prototypes[3]
Launch sites Satish Dhawan Space Centre
First flight 23 May 2016 (planned)[4][5]

Reusable Launch Vehicle—Technology Demonstration Programme or RLV–TD is a series of technology demonstration missions that has been conceived by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle.[6]

For this purpose, a winged reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured. The RLV-TD will act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies like powered cruise flight, hypersonic flight, and autonomous landing using air-breathing propulsion. Application of these technologies would bring down the launch cost by an order of magnitude.[2] This project has no connection with the Avatar spaceplane concept by India's DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation).[7]

Development

In 2006 the Indian Space Research Organisation performed a series of ground tests to demonstrate stable supersonic combustion for nearly 7 seconds with an inlet Mach number of 6.[8]

In March 2010, ISRO conducted the flight testing of its new sounding rocket: Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV-D01), weighing 3 tonnes at lift-off, a diameter of 0.56 m, and a length of ~10 m.[9] It carried a passive scramjet engine combustor module as a test-bed for demonstration of air-breathing propulsion technology.[10]

In January 2012, ISRO announced that a scaled prototype, called Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), was approved to be built and tested.[11] The aerodynamics characterization on the RLV-TD prototype was done by National Aerospace Laboratories in India. The RLV-TD is in the last stages of construction by a Hyderabad-based private company called CIM Technologies.

By May 2015, engineers at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station were installing thermal tiles on the outer surface of the RLV-TD, so it can withstand the intense heat during atmospheric reentry.[3] This prototype weighs around 1.5 tonnes and would fly up to an altitude of 70 km.[3] The RLV-TD will be mounted on top of a solid booster HS9[1] with 1 m diameter and launched beyond the atmosphere, after which the RLV-TD will separate and reenter the atmosphere while traveling through the hypersonic regime.[12] The rocket is expendable while the RLV would glide back to Earth and fall in Bay of Bengal as there are no airstrips that are 5 km long at suitable location in India that could be used to land such aircraft. ISRO has made detailed reports to construct an airstrip greater than 4 km long in the Sriharikota island and it will be built in the near future.[13]

ISRO has tentatively slated a flight to test scramjet engine from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre for May 2016,[4] on board the "Advanced Technology Vehicle" flight 2 (ATV-D02).[14] It will be released at a height of 70 km and ignited during the coasting phase. The scramjet engine will be integrated to the RLV at a later stage of development.[14]

Test flights

A total of four RLV-TD flights are planned by ISRO.[15][16][3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 ""Modeling &Control of Launch Vehicles"" (PDF). www.sc.iitb.ac.in.
  2. 1 2 "Tuesday, December 22, Isro’s small steps towards developing its own reusable rocket [Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)] program". LIVE MINT, IN. 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 ""Navigation satellite system by March"".
  4. 1 2 ""ISRO's RLV-TD Mission Launch Likely in May"".
  5. 1 2 ""ISRO Aims To Conquer Skies With Its Own Reusable Vehicle"".
  6. ↑ "Indian Space Research Organisation to test its reusable RLV spacecraft". SpaceFlight Insider.
  7. ↑ "Government of India Department of Space" (PDF). March 14, 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-27. Feasibility study of project "AVATAR)" has been done by a group of scientists in DRDO. ISRO has no connection with the project.
  8. ↑ "Welcome to Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre - ISRO_Supersonic Combustion Tech". Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  9. ↑ ""Space Transportation Systems: What the future beholds" by Dr. B N Suresh". 2 November 2007.
  10. ↑ "Successful flight testing of advanced sounding rocket - ISRO". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  11. ↑ "ISRO's design of reusable launch vehicle approved".
  12. ↑ "Reusable Launch Vehicles". Brahmand.com. November 25, 2010. Retrieved 2014-10-22.
  13. ↑ "ISRO Gears up for 6 Major Missions This Year". Express News Service. 30 May 2015.
  14. 1 2 "ISRO set to test scramjet engine". The Hindu. 2015-11-28. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  15. ↑ http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/media/33219-5/IMG_0024.JPG
  16. ↑ "Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstration Program (RLV-TD) - ISRO". isro.gov.in.
  17. ↑ Jan 6, 2015. "Another leap in space: India to test reusable vehicle in March". Arun Ram. Times Of India. Retrieved Jan 6, 2015.

External links

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