Pushpak, ISRO’s reusable launch vehicle, clears test

• The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully completed the third reusable launch vehicle landing experiment (RLV LEX)

Highlights:

• This experiment was successfully completed at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
• Following the success of RLV LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions and more severe wind conditions.
• Pushpak, the space agency’s winged vehicle, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km.
• The ISRO said that from the release point 4.5 km away, Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway, and performed a precise horizontal landing at the runway centre line.
• The space agency said this mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming its expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of an RLV.
• The ISRO said that the LEX used sensors such as an inertial sensor, radar altimeter, flush air data system and NavIC.
• Notably, the LEX-03 mission reused the winged body and flight systems from the LEX-02 mission without any modification, demonstrating the robustness of the ISRO’s capability of design to reuse flight systems.

Prelims Takeaway

• RLV LEX
• ISRO