India’s first Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), Successfully Flight Tested

India’s Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), Successfully Flight Tested

Question: From where did the ISRO successfully flight tested India’s first Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)?
(a) Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
(b) Integrated test centre, Chandipur
(c) Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Island, Balasore
(d) ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangluru
Ans (a)
Related facts:

  • On 23 May 2016 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully flight tested India’s first Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
  • The double delta-winged flight vehicle RLV Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) was hoisted into the atmosphere on the special rocket booster for a peak altitude of over 65 km and released for its re-entry into the atmosphere before its splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.
  • From a 65 km altitude, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).
  • RLV-TD successfully glided down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal, at a distance of about 450km from Sriharikota.
  • The 6.5 metre-long scale model of the re-usable launch vehicle weighs about 1.75 tonnes and was made at a cost of Rs. 95 crore.
  • It was built at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram by a team of 600 scientists over five years.
  • The RLV-TD is described as “a very preliminary step” in the development of a reusable rocket, whose final version is expected to take 10-15 years.
  • Re-usable technology aims to help reduce the cost of launching objects into space by 10 times.
  • In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management have been successfully validated.

Reference:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=145545
http://www.isro.gov.in/update/23-may-2016/india%E2%80%99s-reusable-launch-vehicle-technology-demonstrator-rlv-td-successfully