India successfully tests winged
reusable launch vehicle
reusable launch vehicle
"We have successfully tested the
first delta-winged-body aerospace vehicle operating in hypersonic flight
regime," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement
after accomplishing the mission as a technology demonstrator (RLV-TD).
"We have successfully accomplished
the RLV-TD mission. The lift-off was at 7 a.m. from the first launch pad
here," ISRO director Devi Prasad Karnik told newsmen after the shuttle returned to the
Earth.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian scientists.
Mukherjee, in a message, said:
"Heartiest congratulations to ISRO Team on successful launch of India's
first indigenous space shuttle RLV-T."
Modi
said in a tweet: "The dynamism and dedication with which our scientists
and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) have worked over the years is
exceptional and very inspiring."
The sleek 1.7-tonne RLV was latched on
top of a 15-tonne rocket with a booster for lift-off from the spaceport here in
Andhra Pradesh, about 80km north of Chennai, off the Bay of Bengal coast.
"We started the countdown for
lift-off at 11 p.m. on Sunday and the rocket blasted off at 7 a.m., as the wind
and weather conditions were good for launching the vehicle," ISRO's Vikram
Sarabhai Space Centre (VSS) director K. Sivan told IANS later.
After 91.1 seconds into the flight, the
burn out occurred while the rocket along its vehicle coasted to an altitude of
56km and separated to ascend to 65km above the earth in sub-orbital space.
From 65km height, the vehicle began its
descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at Mach 5 (five times speed of sound).
"Navigation, guidance and control
system steered the vehicle for safe descent to the defined landing spot over
the Bay of Bengal, about 450km from Sriharikota on the east coast," the
statement said.
The entire flight duration from launch
to landing in the sea was 13.3 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment