ISRO’s Reusable Launch Vehicle landing test succesful

• Recently, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the landing experiment of the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) programme at the Aeronautical Test Range in Challakere, Chitradurga.

Highlights

• An Indian Air Force (IAF) Chinook helicopter was used to drop the RLV-TD from an altitude of 4.5 km and the ISRO executed the landing experiment of the RLV-TD as planned.
• It is first time in the world, a winged body has been carried to an altitude of 4.5 km by an helicopter and released for carrying out autonomous landing on a runway.
• According to ISRO, the configuration of RLV-TD is similar to that of an aircraft and combines the complexity of both launch vehicles and aircraft.

Prelims Take Away

• ISRO
• RLV-TD