ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicles

[rahulrds1]

I N D I A - AVATAR RLV-TD (SSTO)

It is planned, AVATAR capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1,000 kg payload to LEO at very low cost for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.

AVATAR is proposed to weigh only 25 tonnes in which 60 per cent of mass will be liquid hydrogen fuel. The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion is collected from the atmosphere, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch. AVATAR is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.

When operational, it would be the cheapest way in the world, to deliver material to space at about US$67/kg.

 

[roma]

What it has got to do with the ISRO's operational capabilities?

Website is just public representation end.

I can design bloody superb websites but still have nothing credible on ground.

ok you are right ! but the main point really was the lack of a firm date - in an earlier post i have given reference to an isro article where they gave 3 different years for the launch of the first manned mission - i think it was 2015, 2016 and then 2018 - all in the same article !

 

[Godless-Kafir]

I N D I A - AVATAR RLV-TD (SSTO)

It is planned, AVATAR capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1,000 kg payload to LEO at very low cost for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.

AVATAR is proposed to weigh only 25 tonnes in which 60 per cent of mass will be liquid hydrogen fuel. The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion is collected from the atmosphere, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch. AVATAR is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.

When operational, it would be the cheapest way in the world, to deliver material to space at about US$67/kg.

All this sounds good on paper but i have not heard anywhere about how successful they have been in getting an oxygen collection system to work. Right now we cant make an Jet engine like Kaveri and our GSLV engine is not even close to reliable. Not to mention the GSLV engine and satellites have consumed the majority of the funds and projects like AVATAR live on the little crumbs that fall down after the majority of fund is used up or spent on conventional projects like Rockets and Satellites.

I find it hard to believe they can make an side rail experiment like RLV to work. When countries like USA have made it an top priority to make RLVs and have not come up with anything more than an huge rocket that carries fuel to space, we should think a bit critically when ISRO is saying it can extract fuel on the run. Why cant USA extract fuel in flight! All this is just great dreams as of now and i will take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[roma]

All this sounds good on paper but i have not heard anywhere about how successful they have been in getting an oxygen collection system to work. Right now we cant make an Jet engine like Kaveri and our GSLV engine is not even close to reliable. Not to mention the GSLV engine and satellites have consumed the majority of the funds and projects like AVATAR live on the little crumbs that fall down after the spend on conventional projects like Rockets and Satellites.

I find it hard to believe they can make an side rail experiment like RLV to work. All this is just great dreams as of now and i will take it with a pinch of salt.

unfortunately i have to agree with you 100 % - and that's what i was trying to get across in some of my earlier posts on this thread - you said it much better .

 

[Godless-Kafir]

unfortunately i have to agree with you 100 % - and that's what i was trying to get across in some of my earlier posts on this thread - you said it much better .

It would be funny if ISRO will do what NASA,ESA etc., could not do. This is another ambitious plan that is not worth waiting, i have already waited 13years for Kaveri engine, i am not going to bet my happiness and self-esteem on this. lol.

 

[agentperry]

pehle gslv bana lo DHANG SE.

 

[plugwater]

Air Force begins screening astronauts for maiden human space flight

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), which would be entrusted with the crucial role of screening and selecting the astronauts for the country's maiden human space flight mission, has already initiated the ground work by developing state-of-the-art laboratories.
The Bangalore-based institute, which was an integral part of the Indo-Soviet manned space flight in the 1980's, has developed various laboratories that can be used for screening potential astronauts.The institute also played a role in the medical monitoring team of India's only cosmonaut, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma.
The department of space and environment physiology has developed three laboratories, comprising the thermal chamber, micro gravity simulation, and lower body negative pressure (LBNP).
At the thermal chamber, temperature can be simulated to very high and low temperatures, which the astronauts could encounter during the mission. The space craft would rotate around the earth about 16 times and the astronauts would be exposed to varying temperatures.
This chamber would simulate various temperatures and get them accustomed. Likewise, at another laboratory, the effects of microgravity can be simulated, which cannot be created normally on Earth.
A high-performance human centrifuge, which can simulate various G-force levels, will also be housed in the institute.

Air Force begins screening astronauts for maiden human space flight - Bangalore - DNA

 

[W.G.Ewald]

It would be funny if ISRO will do what NASA,ESA etc., could not do.

A former US astronaut was on the TV news yesterday saying that our space shuttle should not have been retired.

 

[sandeepdg]

Tall claims !! Its not the first time since we have heard this news. Let them launch the the GSLV with success and operationalize the GAGAN GPS. Then we can go ahead with such dreams of tall order. Anyway, I don't expect much to happen in the next decade.

 

[Godless-Kafir]

Actually this thread should be in the jokes section, ISRO wont make a mini-shuttle. Its not possible with todays technology even for the west.

 

[sayareakd]

 

[Sam2012]

ISRO has been more sucessful than DRDO , they should work together & few of Isro techs can go into DRDO missile & Aeroengine projects which will really help Indian armed force has a whole

 

[Defenceindia2010]

The policy's which have made ISRO should be replicated with DRDO.

 

[sayareakd]

ISRO has single mandate of making and launching satellites and rockets. DRDO has huge mandate to make and develop all sorts of weapons systems.

 

[rahulrds1]

Reusable Launch Vehicle, RLV test in March, needs 5km runway

The Indian Space Research Organisation will fly a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) this March as a technology demonstration. This will be the first step towards developing a full-fledged vehicle that can go to space, inject an orbiter and come back to land.

Reusable vehicles reduce the cost of satellite launches by up to ten times. Moreover, in future, a much developed version of the vehicle could be used for manned missions.

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre deputy director S Somanath said Isro has completed ground tests on the vehicle and is in the final phase of conducting a hypersonic test flight and landing in water. "It will be a winged vehicle that will take off vertically like a rocket and glide back to land horizontally like a plane," said Somanath, who is also the project director for GSLV MkIII, the biggest rocket from Isro's stables.

Fitted with solid strap-on thrusters similar to the ones used in PSLVs, the reusable vehicle will fly at five times the speed of sound (mach 3) to reach an altitude of more than 100km. This would last for barely five minutes. After activating its fin and wing controls, the vehicle will glide a bit before starting its descent. "In about 20 minutes after lift-off from Sriharikota, it would land in the Bay of Bengal, close to the shore," Somanath said.

The water landing is planned because India doesn't have a long enough runway. "We need at least a 5km runway. The longest of runways in the country is only 2km,"the scientist said. "We have enough land at Sriharikota for a runway, but this has to be sanctioned and funded for development.

The next experiment would be to land the vehicle on a 2km runway after releasing it from an aircraft from a height of about 5km. The third step would be to take it to a higher altitude and try the ground landing. "As the next step, we would try an air-breaking engine which is under development at Isro," Somanath said.

The multiple demonstration missions will lead to what Isro envisions as a 'two stage to orbit (TSTO) fully reusable vehicle. While India spends Rs300 crore upwards for satellite launches, reusable vehicles hold the key to more affordable launches. Today putting a 1kg object in space costs about $5000. "This should be brought down to at least $500. And reusable vehicles are the answer," said Somanath.

The US and Russia, which put human beings in space as early as in the 1960s, are also working on futuristic reusable vehicles for satellite launches.

source :
Another leap in space: India to test reusable vehicle in March - The Economic Times

 

[PaliwalWarrior]

3 questions to people who know about it more than me

1. Basically how is it different than the space shuttle of US / Russia,
2. While both US & russia have closed the space shuttle program we are starting one - does it make sense
3. is this a par tof / different from ULV - universal launch vehicle program of ISRO ?

 

[CrYsIs]

3 questions to people who know about it more than me

1. Basically how is it different than the space shuttle of US / Russia,

1) The space shuttle had cryogenic engine,this one has a scramjet engine.

2) Space Shuttle was massive,RLV will be much smaller

3) Space Shuttle is a proven technology,where as scramjet RLV is a newer unproven technology

4) Space shuttle turned out to be uber expensive.This one envisions to lower the cost by 1/10th,so lets see what happens.

5) Space shuttle was designed to carry both humans and cargo where as RLV is primarily being designed for carrying only the cargo.While there are plans for a manned variant but i don't think so it will be both human and cargo at the same time.

2. While both US & russia have closed the space shuttle program we are starting one - does it make sense

Space shuttle and RLV TD are similar concepts but different technology so comparing RLV to Space shuttle is not justifiable.

3. is this a par tof / different from ULV - universal launch vehicle program of ISRO

While there are plans for using the same semi cryogenic engine in both ULV and RLV

but RLV program is different from ULV and ULV stands for Unified Launch Vehicle,not Universal LV.

RLV is in testing phase where as ULV is still in the drawing boards.

 

[PaliwalWarrior]

1) The space shuttle had cryogenic engine,this one has a scramjet engine.


While there are plans for using the same semi cryogenic engine in both ULV and RLV .

i thought you said RLV will have scramjet engine ?

why semi cryogenic and at what stage different engines will be employed ?

 

[karn]

1) The space shuttle had cryogenic engine,this one has a scramjet engine.

2) Space Shuttle was massive,RLV will be much smaller

3) Space Shuttle is a proven technology,where as scramjet RLV is a newer unproven technology

4) Space shuttle turned out to be uber expensive.This one envisions to lower the cost by 1/10th,so lets see what happens.

5) Space shuttle was designed to carry both humans and cargo where as RLV is primarily being designed for carrying only the cargo.While there are plans for a manned variant but i don't think so it will be both human and cargo at the same time.




Space shuttle and RLV TD are similar concepts but different technology so comparing RLV to Space shuttle is not justifiable.






While there are plans for using the same semi cryogenic engine in both ULV and RLV

but RLV program is different from ULV and ULV stands for Unified Launch Vehicle,not Universal LV.

RLV is in testing phase where as ULV is still in the drawing boards.

i thought you said RLV will have scramjet engine ?

why semi cryogenic and at what stage different engines will be employed ?

There is some confusion between the AVATAR and the two stage to orbit concept .
The two stage to orbit concept is the more realistic one .
RLV TD is just a test bed (its right in the name) . It is to deal with hypersonic flight and recovering objects as they exit hypersonic flight .
The full scale two stage to orbit rocket will likely not look just like RLV . It will be large with 3 semicryogenic engines and wings that will take off like a normal rocket and after burning out will glide back down and using its wings and maybe parachutes it will land on an airfield . The second stage will have 2 liquid hydrogen engines that will take the cargo to orbit . But this will return like the way the SRE returned with a hot re-entry and a parachute landing in the sea . As you can see this is completely different from the space shuttle in fact it is the opposite . While the space shuttle upper stage lands back like an aircraft in the ISRO concept the first stage lands back like an aircraft while the upper stage comes back by parachutes .
It is true that one of the RLV experiments in the future will have a scramjet but that does not meant that it will be in the final design .

 

[salute]

nice project.