Context:
ISRO planning to conduct 2nd landing test of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Pushpak
Pushpak:
- A winged technology demonstrator
- Developed by – Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
- Aim – To explore and validate technologies essential for achieving a fully RLV
Winged Technology Demonstrator:
- An indigenous, high-speed, flying-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
- Developed by – Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
Reusable Launch Vehicle:
- A sustainable launching vehicle that is being developed globally
- Objective –
- To reduce launch costs by increasing reusability and reliability
- Make the spacecraft durable enough to withstand multiple launches and landings
- Features – Looks like an aircraft consists of a fuselage, a nose cap, double delta wings, and twin vertical tails
- Cutting-edge technologies tested –
- Hypersonic flight capabilities
- Autonomous landing systems
- Powered cruise flight
- Heat-resistant materials for atmospheric re-entry protection
- Significance –
- A step towards developing low-cost access to space by focusing on reusability
- Reduction in cost of launch by nearly 80% of present cost
- Expected to revolutionize the space industry – Making feasible range of scientific, commercial, and exploratory missions
- Opens sustainable and cost-effective space travel for human activity in space
Previous Experiments by ISRO:
- Demonstrated the re-entry of its winged vehicle RLV-TD in the HEX mission in May 2016
- LEX mission achieved the final approach phase coincided with the re-entry return flight path
Other Agencies Using RLV or Partial RLV:
- NASA – Carries dozens of human space flight missions
- SpaceX –
- Partial RLV system – Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets
- RLV system called Starship
Source: India Today
Previous Year Question
With reference to ‘Astrosat’, the astronomical observatory launched by India, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. Other than USA and Russia, India is the only country to have launched a similar observatory into space.
2. Astrosat is a 2000 kg satellite placed in an orbit at 1650 km above the surface of the Earth.Select the correct answer using the code given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (d)
Explanation:
Statement 1 is not correct:
Astrosat is India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory. Before India, NASA, space agencies of the European Union, Japan, and Russia are the other countries that have launched similar facilities into space.
Statement 2 is not correct:
Astrosat with a lift-off mass of about 1513 kg was launched into a 650 km orbit by the PSLV-C30.
