India launched a mini space shuttle

India has launched an unmanned mini space shuttle. Thus, increase again the number of countries and companies are developing reusable spacecraft. Seven-meter-sized space shuttle had taken off from Andhra Pradesh, and is expected to fly into the atmosphere as far as 70 kilometers prior to glide across the sea.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Monday joined the race to develop a space vehicle that can fly numerous times into space like aeroplanes by successfully conducting the maiden test flight of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)-Technology Demonstrator at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1acUGz)

The mini space shuttle called 'Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)' has been launched on Monday, May 23, 2016 at Sriharikota. The spacecraft with a weight of 1.75 tons has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion towards realising a Two Stage to Orbit (TStO) fully Reusable Launch Vehicle.

ISRO-Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1acUYu)

The space shuttle Model was developed during a period of five years at a cost of around 1 billion rupees (or about Rp.190 billion). And the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, praised the "diligent efforts" involving his country's scientists.

Since NASA stop the space shuttle program in 2011, emerging international competition to design the reusable spacecraft alternatives. Plane like that would cut the cost of space exploration mission in large numbers.

The mission of ISRO-Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1acUvk)

Various private companies like SpaceX belonging to billionaire Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezo trying to fill that void. A number of countries such as Japan, Europe and Russia are also in the testing phase for similar technology.

In the mission, an HS9 solid rocket booster lifted the RLV-TD from its launch pad at 7 am to a height of 56 km where the RLV TD separated from the rocket and climbed to a height of 65 km before automatically steering itself back for a landing in the Bay of Bengal some 450 km away from the Sriharikota space station. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1acUGz)

Currently, India has to have a spacecraft orbiting at the planet Mars atmosphere, which was launched in 2013, and is touted as the most advanced spacecraft of them until today. And India was projecting will launch the reusable space shuttle within the next decade. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | INDIAN EXPRESS]

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