The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO has successfully carried out today morning the landing of its Reusable Launch Vehicle Pushpak at the Aeronautical Test Range in Challakere in Chitradurga today in Karnataka. A message on microblogging site X, says ‘ISRO nails it again’ signifying the precise landing of the winged launch vehicle RLV in autonomous mode. ISRO Chairman S Somanath has congratulated the team for the flawless execution of maneuvering, landing and energy management of the spaceship in a fully autonomous mode. The ISRO in its social media post further states that “this mission successfully simulated the approach and high-speed landing conditions of an RLV returning from space. With the RLV-LEX-02, ISRO has re-validated its indigenously developed technologies in areas such as navigation, control systems, landing gear, and deceleration systems, which are essential for performing a high-speed autonomous landing of a space-returning vehicle”.

In this second test today on the Launch Vehicle in Challakere, ISRO successfully tested the brake parachute, landing gear brakes, nose wheel steering system, on board navigation hardware and software and its capability to withstand conditions created by high velocity landing. A Chinook helicopter carried the scaled down version of Reusable launch vehicle tied to a string and dropped mid air at the height of 4.5 kms altitude. The 6.5 meter long winged vehicle descended towards the Earth at a speed of 350 kmph. At such a high velocity and altitude, the spacecraft Pushpak autonomously approached the runway with cross-range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute and other mechanisms. The successful test today is an important step towards building India’s futuristic Reusable Launch vehicle that can launch many satellites, thereby cutting cost.