India's first reusable space shuttle TLV-TD launched from Sriharikota

India successfully launched its maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, RLV from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh at 7 am today. Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO said, the mission has been accomplished successfully. The Re-Usable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator, RLV-TD, that is ultimately aimed at putting satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter atmosphere, was carried up on a solid rocket motor.

The nine-metre long rocket weighs 11 tonnes. Very similar in its looks to the US space shuttle, the double delta-winged RLV-TD being experimented is a scale model which is almost 6



times smaller than the final version. The 6.5 meter long RLV-TD has aeroplane like structure which weighs about 1.75 tons. The cost of this project is 95 crore rupees.

After launch from the Sriharikota spaceport, it glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. The vehicle re-entered the atmosphere after reaching a height of over 70 km. The mission, known as the hypersonic flight experiment, lasted about 10 minutes. Earlier, explaining the importance of the experimental RLV, ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said, it is essentially an attempt by India to bring down the cost of making infrastructure in space.