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# How ISRO continues to build its own spaceplane
- URL: https://jatan.space/isro-continues-building-rlv-td-spaceplane/
- Published: 2023-04-13T13:13:46.000Z
- Updated: 2024-02-21T09:15:12.000Z
- Author: Jatan Mehta
- Tags: Articles, Indian Space

An uncrewed, autonomous spaceplane prototype developed by ISRO [successfully landed](https://www.isro.gov.in/Reusable%5Flaunch%5Fvehicle%5Fautonomous%5Flanding%5Fmission.html) on a runway at Chitradurga, India on April 2\. The winged vehicle, officially called the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), was heli-dropped from a height of 4.5 kilometers such that its descent simulates an approach from space. The RLV-TD plane then maneuverd itself to the runway, where it deployed a parachute to kill much of its velocity of 350 kilometers per hour.

ISRO uploaded [a cool video](https://www.isro.gov.in/media%5Fisro/video/RLV%5FLEX%5FMISSION.mp4) which starts with the heli-lift and ends with the landing.

## How we got here

ISRO built the RLV-TD as a flying testbed for evaluating various technologies needed to ultimately build an Indian [reusable launch vehicle](https://www.isro.gov.in/RLVTD.html). This vehicle will sport a scaled-up RLV as its second stage or equivalent.

In 2016, ISRO [launched](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7iv5O8%5FLc) a heat-shield-enabled RLV-TD to an altitude of 65 kilometers at hypersonic speeds, which then [successfully steered itself](https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/05/23/india-flies-winged-space-plane-on-experimental-suborbital-launch) 450 kilometers downrange to a sea splashdown in a targeted zone. This month’s precise landing test of an RLV-TD complements the 2016 flight.

## Let’s go orbital

In a post-landing address, ISRO Chief S. Somanath [said](https://twitter.com/sdhrthmp/status/1642399731287482368) the agency will conduct more such landing experiments (LEX) with varied initial conditions so as to approach a robust RLV design. The ultimate such test will see a [60% larger](https://www.wionews.com/india-news/exclusive-india-lands-unmanned-spaceplane-with-pin-point-accuracy-next-destination-is-space-578210) RLV-TD autonomously land after being launched to orbit on a modified GSLV rocket.

The orbital RLV-TD could spend up to a month in space, autonomously operating onboard payloads and experiments, and then deorbit itself for atmospheric reentry leading to a runway landing. ISRO even intends to test [air-breathing propulsion](https://www.isro.gov.in/ScramjetEngineTechnology.html) on a future RLV-TD flight to assess its viability as part of RLV’s ongoing design ideation.

## What India’s spaceplane isn’t

Media outlets have frequently [compared](https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-s-very-own-space-shuttle-launched-successfully-by-isro/story-53k4Yr6sdfxzj7BS9vEUSO.html) the RLV to NASA’s retired Space Shuttle. But ISRO is neither designing the RLV to carry humans to space nor is it intended to be a heavy-lift launch vehicle. As a highly autonomous platform, the RLV will be much more akin to the flying [Boeing X-37B](https://www.boeing.com/defense/autonomous-systems/x37b/index.page) and Sierra Space’s upcoming [Dream Chaser](https://www.sierraspace.com/space-transportation/dream-chaser-spaceplane).

## What’s the catch?

The RLV is an exciting project that could boost [India’s rocket fleet](https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-03/) but it’s also missing a publicly known target launch year. The RLV is being developed at a low priority while ISRO’s major growth focus remains its [Gaganyaan program](https://www.isro.gov.in/Gaganyaan.html) to indigenously send humans to space by mid-decade.

*Originally published on [Payload](https://payloadspace.com/isro-continues-building-its-own-spaceplane).*

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