ISRO has achieved a major milestone in the area of Reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology through the RLV LEX-02 landing experiment, the second of the series, conducted at Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga in Karnataka today, March 22. After the RLV-LEX-01 mission was accomplished last year, RLV-LEX-02 demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of RV from off-nominal initial conditions at release from Helicopter.
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The RV 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. The winged vehicle, called Pushpak, was lifted by an Indian Airforce Chinook helicopter and was released from a 4.5 km altitude, said ISRO.
After release at a distance of 4 km from the runway, Pushpak autonomously approached the runway along with cross-range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering system.
This mission successfully simulated RLV's approach and high-speed landing conditions returning from space. With this second mission, ISRO has re-validated the indigenously developed technologies in navigation, control systems, landing gear and deceleration systems essential for performing a high-speed autonomous landing of a space-returning vehicle.
The winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused in the RLV-LEX-02 mission after due certification/clearances. Hence, this mission also demonstrates the reuse capability of flight hardware and flight systems. Based on the observations from RLV-LEX-01, the airframe structure and landing gear were strengthened to tolerate higher landing loads.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the Liquid Propulsion System Centre (LPSC), and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) accomplished the mission. Collaboration from various agencies, including lAF, ADE, ADRDE, and CEMILAC, contributed to its success. Shri S Somanath, Chairman, ISRO / Secretary, DOS, congratulated the team on the flawless execution of this complex mission.
On the success of the landing experiment, Director VSSC Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair mentioned that through this repeated success, ISRO could master the terminal phase manouvering, landing and energy management in a fully autonomous mode, which is a critical step towards the future Orbital Re-entry missions. Shri Sunil P, Programme Director, Advanced Technology and Systems Programme, VSSC, guided the team. Shri J Muthupandian, Project Director, RLV, was the Mission Director, and Shri B Karthik, Deputy Project Director, RLV, was the Vehicle Director for this mission.