ISRO reaches new milestone, successfully lands Pushpak reusable launch vehicle

The testing phase of the Pushpak RLV achieved a significant milestone as it was airlifted by an IAF helicopter to an altitude of nearly 4.5 km. Following the completion of predefined criteria for operational readiness, the RLV was subsequently released to start its testing procedures.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on March 22 announced a significant breakthrough in the field of reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology with the successful completion of the RLV LEX-02 landing experiment. This milestone marks a major advancement in ISRO's efforts towards developing reusable launch vehicle technology.

The RLV LEX-02 landing experiment, conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka, at 7:10 am, represents the second in a series of such endeavours. Following the successful completion of the RLV-LEX-01 mission last year, this latest experiment showcased the autonomous landing capability of an RLV under off-nominal initial conditions upon release from a helicopter, the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO said in a statement.

"The RLV was made to undertake more difficult manoeuvres with dispersions, correct both cross-range and downrange and land on the runway in a fully autonomous mode,” it said.

The winged vehicle, named Pushpak, was hoisted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter and subsequently released from an altitude of 4.5 kilometres. Following its release, at a distance of 4 kilometres from the runway, Pushpak autonomously navigated towards the runway while making cross-range corrections. It executed a precise landing on the runway and came to a stop using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes, and nose wheel steering system, ISRO said.

The space agency further highlighted that this mission successfully simulated the approach and high-speed landing conditions akin to those encountered by an RLV upon returning from space.

"With this second mission, ISRO has re-validated the indigenously developed technologies in the areas of navigation, control systems, landing gear and deceleration systems essential for performing a high-speed autonomous landing of a space-returning vehicle,” it said.

ISRO noted that the winged body and all flight systems utilized in the RLV-LEX-01 mission were reused in the RLV-LEX-02 mission following the necessary certification and clearances. This underscores the demonstrated capability of reusing flight hardware and systems in this mission.

Additionally, based on observations from RLV-LEX-01, the airframe structure and landing gear were reinforced to withstand higher landing loads. The successful execution of this mission was achieved through collaborative efforts from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC), and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU).

ISRO Chairman S Somanath extended congratulations to the team for the flawless execution of this intricate mission. Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair, the Director of VSSC, commented on the success of the landing experiment, emphasising that through this repeated success, ISRO has been able to master terminal phase manoeuvring, landing, and energy management in a fully autonomous mode. This achievement marks a critical step towards the future endeavours of the organisation.