Bharat Rakshak

Why is india calling it RLV instead of space shuttle ?.. most people remember the ubiquitous american one being an example of american tech prowess . These reports deserve more publicity.

Kudos to ISRO, DRDO, IAF & the whole team!

This is some serious capability - we can see how this can benefit & has likely benefited from the Tapas and Wingman programs. Mastering autonomous landing at such high speeds (much faster than a commercial airliner) is quite something

Here's a backgrounder with little more background music

From ToI

The RLV-LEX demonstrated one of the critical technologies — the approach and autonomous landing on a runway and has put the RLV programme one step closer to an orbital re-entry experiment (ORE), for which the vehicle will be scaled up.

In ORE, a wing body called Orbital Re-entry vehicle (ORV) will be taken to an orbit by an ascent vehicle derived from the existing GSLV and PSLV stages and stay in orbit for a stipulated period, re-enter and land in a runway autonomously with a landing gear.

Before the RLV-LEX Isro had done the RLV-TD HEX-01 (hypersonic experiment) mission in which it validated autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management. Now that LEX is done, Isro will need to integrate both for the ORE.

Carried out on May 23, 2016, the RLV-TD HEX was a 770-second suborbital flight and designed to land on sea. The experimental mission saw the HS9 solid rocket booster carrying RLV-TD to a height of about 65km from where the vehicle began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound).

Prem Kumar wrote:Kudos to ISRO, DRDO, IAF & the whole team!

This is some serious capability - we can see how this can benefit & has likely benefited from the Tapas and Wingman programs. Mastering autonomous landing at such high speeds (much faster than a commercial airliner) is quite something

indeed , the Buran was the first space shuttle to have a fully autonomous landing, and it was Soviet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)

Incredible capability and ISRO deserves more applause .. and where is it ?

Imagine an Indian space station in orbit and supplied by unmanned indian space shuttles.. this is incredible and more important this is well within reach guys, just 5 to 10 years is all it needs with special funding

Here's a short clip of CH-47i Chinook carrying the RLV-TD




Reusable technology could certainly cut down the cost of launches, if we can re-use the hardware instead of losing it each time. I like current ISRO Chairman S Somanath's call for Indian private companies to partner with ISRO in building a reusable Next-Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV). We need to find private sector corporates with the boldness to undertake such a venture, because this reusable tech is key to enabling the new era of satellite constellations. The arrival of constellations means higher launch frequencies with more payloads being sent to orbit. Reusable vehicles are necessary to make such satellite constellations economical and cost effective, and reciprocally these satellite constellations would provide the high volumes necessary to justify the costs/risks of developing & operating such reusable vehicles.

As for space station, I think it would be cool to one day have a rotating wheel / chakra

Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment (RLV-LEX) successfully demonstrates autonomous landing

In my book, a video with background music is less authentic than the actual sound recorded originally at the scene. In this one, you can hear the plane, the tyre squeal and people cheering. Its the real deal.

The entire test took 1:40 seconds from drop to full stop. The craft was horizontal at drop, oriented itself vertically down to gather speed (like wing-suit flyers do to gain aerodynamic control) and then became horizontal again, and then increased its angle of attack for the landing. I estimate the landing speed (purely visual guess) at about 70 kmph. The REX in 2016- the craft landed on water intact, did not break. And sank. No video of that.

PS: The video is edited in the middle, so the 1:40 time duration is compromised.

SriKumar wrote:In my book, a video with background music is less authentic than the actual sound recorded originally at the scene. In this one, you can hear the plane, the tyre squeal and people cheering. Its the real deal.

The entire test took 1:40 seconds from drop to full stop. The craft was horizontal at drop, oriented itself vertically down to gather speed (like wing-suit flyers do to gain aerodynamic control) and then became horizontal again, and then increased its angle of attack for the landing. I estimate the landing speed (purely visual guess) at about 70 kmph. The REX in 2016- the craft landed on water intact, did not break. And sank. No video of that.

PS: The video is edited in the middle, so the 1:40 time duration is compromised.

That hard braking caused it to swerve/drift at the end.

Anyway, next test will hopefully be orbital re-entry, which will also include landing at the end.
I'm not sure what the timeline is for that.

I'm also not sure what the end goal is with this test program. First I'd heard ISRO would make a reusable upper stage to deploy satellites up to half-ton payload, and then return back for landing. Now I see people saying that India will build a large manned vehicle. The story keeps changing.

Our media always flock to these stories, which stoke our feel-goodism

The swerving seemed to be due to brake lockup at first but it was likely related to drogue chute release.

sanjaykumar wrote:The swerving seemed to be due to brake lockup at first but it was likely related to drogue chute release.

Drogue chute release was probably immediately followed by wheel-braking event which caused the swerving. So I doubt it was the drogue chute release itself which caused the problem - just looked that way due to prearranged timing. Drogue chute seemed to only have single attachment point to vehicle, so I doubt it could have caused any imbalancing torque.

SriKumar wrote: The entire test took 1:40 seconds from drop to full stop. The craft was horizontal at drop, oriented itself vertically down to gather speed (like wing-suit flyers do to gain aerodynamic control) and then became horizontal again, and then increased its angle of attack for the landing. I estimate the landing speed (purely visual guess) at about 70 kmph. The REX in 2016- the craft landed on water intact, did not break. And sank. No video of that.

PS: The video is edited in the middle, so the 1:40 time duration is compromised.

The RLV landing speed was 350 Km/hr per a defence channel on youtube.

sanman wrote:
I'm also not sure what the end goal is with this test program. First I'd heard ISRO would make a reusable upper stage to deploy satellites up to half-ton payload, and then return back for landing. Now I see people saying that India will build a large manned vehicle. The story keeps changing.

Our media always flock to these stories, which stoke our feel-goodism

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Rishabh Gulati of News X was pretty balanced and sober about the first test. He did say today's mission was just one step in the development of a functional unmanned reusable launch vehicle.

It is an impressive achievement, what is somewhat puzzling is the lapse in time from the first test back in 2016 and now. Hope we can see more frequent developments in the near future!

Antilock brake systems were pioneered on aircraft but this craft may have omitted it.

That’s a fast approach speed. I estimated it at about 150 km/ hr.

Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

Prem Kumar wrote:Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

maybe they should've packed a bigger parachute

Prem Kumar wrote:Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

See Vips’ post above.

In another first, India’s Skyroot successfully tests 3D printed cryogenic engine

It is a semi-cryo, btw, interestingly using LNG with LOX. I've heard of Methane and Kerosene as fuel but not LNG.

Video below

Prem Kumar wrote:Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

Just beats the Mig 21

Prem Kumar wrote:Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

By comparison, the US Space Shuttle had a landing speed of 344-364km/h

Let's put things in perspective here..
China does 40-60 launches a year, some of them really heavy ones. We do 4-6 .
China has a space station in orbit and rovers on Mars, things we can only dream of
China has a massive pool of talent in R&D for aerospace and defence research, while we run after 'high job packages' in MNCs, software industry and call centres (not to mention huge brain drains to abroad, MBAs and IAS ) . Subsequently the people we have working in these fields consist of a few dedicated souls - and lots of ignorant morons. Such as a technician working on space launcher assembly jigs but could not calculate the volume of a pipe, an electrician working for 6 years on testing ring laser gyros but having difficulty understand how an emergency stop switch works. ( Sorry! real experiences from the last few months ).
Forget competing with China. It is somewhat of a miracle that we even have a functional space program at all.

So the video mentions that SkyRoot plans to launch its first payload to space by end of 2023. Is that meant to be an orbital payload? Nextly, will that mission make use of this newly tested Dhawan-2 engine?

In a more positive news, Cabinet has given nod to Indian Space Policy 2023...the aim is to encourage Pvt Sector in activities such as satellite design & even launches while ISRO will focus on advanced Space related R&D activities. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of hand-holding from ISRO but hopefully the agility of Pvt Sector will enable faster turn arounds of products. Still might take any where from 5-10 years (or more) to fully realize.

Zynda wrote:In a more positive news, Cabinet has given nod to Indian Space Policy 2023...the aim is to encourage Pvt Sector in activities such as satellite design & even launches while ISRO will focus on advanced Space related R&D activities. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of hand-holding from ISRO but hopefully the agility of Pvt Sector will enable faster turn arounds of products. Still might take any where from 5-10 years (or more) to fully realize.

There is no hand-holding from ISRO. Zero. Why would there be, after all the so called private space sector is essentially a competitor or replacement for ISRO. Many view the setup of so called private space activities as a cynical ploy to privatize space and shut down ISRO quietly in stages during the span of the next decade, rather than causing the huge ruckus that happened with BSNL and Air India. It may sound ludicrous, but this is the predominant view within ISRO.

Successful completion of human rated Vikas engine test campaign for the L110 stage of Gaganyaan programme

Apr 6, 2023

The final long duration hot test of human rated L110-G Vikas Engine is successfully accomplished for the planned qualification duration of 240 s on April 6, 2023 at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri. The successful completion of this test marks a major milestone in the human space flight programme, Gaganyaan, of ISRO. The air-lit liquid core stage of human-rated launch vehicle (LVM3-G) uses two L110-G Vikas engines in clustered configuration. With this test all the planned qualification tests of the engine are completed successfully.

Design and realization of L110 stage for Gaganyaan is carried out at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), assembly and integration and testing is carried out at IPRC. Engine Gimbal Control system was developed by VSSC.

The Vikas engine uses storable propellants in a pump-fed gas generator cycle. Human rated Vikas engine has higher structural margins for sub-systems, improved assembly process and additional measurements for health monitoring. Human rated Vikas Engine development hot tests were conducted in a step-by-step manner at Principal Test Stand, IPRC. Nine engines had undergone 14 hot tests with a cumulative duration of 1215 s, including four long duration tests of 240 s each. Drawn from the extensive legacy and experience of liquid rocket engine development, the test campaign envelopes extreme operating durations, off-nominal mixture ratios and thrust level conditionsas compared to flight operating conditions. Four sets of hardware used for this test programme were fabricated at various Indian industries.

Electro-mechanical Gimbal actuators and Command System module for engine pilot pressure control, with multiple redundancies were also qualified in the test. ISRO could complete the human rated L110-G Vikas engine qualification within a short span of three years.

The test was witnessed by Shri S Somanath, Chairman ISRO/ Secretary DoS, Dr. V Narayanan, Director, LPSC, Dr. S Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, VSSC, Shri J Asir Packiaraj, Director, IPRC and other functionaries.

Successful completion of System Demonstration Model (SDM) tests for Crew Module Propulsion System for the Gaganyaan Programme

Apr 6, 2023

The crew module of Gaganyaan has got a bipropellant-based Propulsion System for providing 3-axis control (Pitch, Yaw & Roll) to Crew Module following Service Module separation during re-entry i.e from an altitude of 170 km to 7 km till the deployment of the parachute-based deceleration system. It also provides attitude control in the ascent phase abort, if any, from 3 km to 70 km.

The crew module propulsion system hardware consists of 12 nos. of 100 N thrusters and associated flow control components. On April 5, 2023, the hot test of the Crew Module Propulsion System for demonstrating the nominal re-entry for the duration of 650 s was successfully conducted at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri. Prior to this, a series of tests were carried out with six nos. of Thrusters.

This system was designed, developed, and realized by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala. Completing this test is a major step in qualifying the Crew Module Propulsion System for the Gaganyaan Programme.

Indian Space Policy 2023 takes off; a new era of space tech for private industries.

The Central government approved the Indian Space Policy (ISP) 2023 on Thursday. This new space policy seeks to regulate and boost private sector participation in the space sector. The ISP also looks to increase investments in the space sector from private companies.

The union minister Jitendra Singh said, “In brief, the Indian Space Policy will offer clarity in the role of the components set up (in the past).”

The Policy thrust on privatization will enable the space sector to be more innovative and sustainable. It is crucial if India wants to be competitive in global space ecosystems. The space sector has remained within the confines of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) with full budgetary support from the government.

Despite leading in complex space tech and launch vehicles, the Indian space market is worth $7 billion, which is just about 2% of the global space market.

The entry of the private sector in the space sector would enable the ISRO to channelise its focus on research and development of advanced space technologies.

The Indian Space Policy was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association said “This is a historic moment as the cabinet today approved the Indian Space Policy 2023. It will pave the way forward with much-required clarity in space reforms and augment private industry participation to drive the space economy opportunity for the country.”

The promising space policy 2023

Fundamentally, through the ISP, the government aims to drive the overall growth of Indian commercial space activities by creating a regulatory environment in compliance with international law and by addressing the previous hurdles to the goal of encouraging the private sector.

By institutionalizing the sector, the ISP breaks the monopoly ISRO-driven space sector.

Notably, the ISP also addresses the liability issue in case of any fallout or destruction of space assets. Since India is a party to the Outer Space Treaty, the Liability Convention, and the Registration Convention, the responsibility for any destruction or damage lies with the government.

Within the policy framework, the government aimed to address the crucial issue of the control and access of the dual-use space technology or IP that protects or threatens national security. Industry demanded that IP must be examined on a case-by-case basis.

The Policy will throw much clarity on the regulatory framework which concerns the diverse activities which range from remote sensing to deep-space exploration. The policy also directs and provides the greater opportunity, more time and resources to focus on deep-space scientific and technological research.

“We have been waiting for it for quite some time and today’s announcement has come as a pleasant surprise. We keenly await and look forward to going through the details of the policy. We would like to thank Prime Minister for his visionary leadership with a special focus on long-due reforms in the Indian space sector.”

Zynda wrote:In a more positive news, Cabinet has given nod to Indian Space Policy 2023...the aim is to encourage Pvt Sector in activities such as satellite design & even launches while ISRO will focus on advanced Space related R&D activities. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of hand-holding from ISRO but hopefully the agility of Pvt Sector will enable faster turn arounds of products. Still might take any where from 5-10 years (or more) to fully realize.

I feel far too many Indian space entrepreneurs are focusing on rockets over satellites. When 98% of the revenues from space sector come from offering services through satellites, and only remaining 2% of revenues come from launch rockets, then the choice of what to do should be obvious. Yet Indians are gullibly drawn to the glamourous fireworks of launching rockets over the dull boring satellites which make lots of money.

ISRO has to hold workshops for other 3rd-world countries, hoping to give them enough satellite-building skills to turn them into launch customers. That's really pathetic. You don't see other advanced space powers exporting such rarified knowledge.

If I were to start a space company, I would certainly go for the sure money of satellites over lousy troublesome rockets. But we Indians love our firecrackers.

Prem Kumar wrote:Srikumar & Sanjaykumar: the landing speed was a whopping 350 Km/hr!

According to the video, it was 325km/h touchdown speed

PSLV C-55 with the Singaporean Satellite scheduled for launch on April 22 at 2:19 PM IST

With PSLV-C55 mission, Isro uses new rocket integration technique to cut time - ToI

Isro is gearing up for the launch of PSLV-C55 mission next week and the lift-off is likely on April 22. Unlike previous launches, this launch is unique as integration of different stages of the rocket has been done in an innovative way to help reduce time in the assembly process. The PSLV-C55 is also the first rocket to be integrated at the new PSLV Integration Facility (PIF) and is said it will put a Singaporean satellite in space.

During previous PSLV missions, the entire space vehicle was integrated at the first launchpad with the help of the Mobile Service Tower (MST). However, Isro is following a new approach with the PSLV-C55 mission as the first and second stages will be integrated at the PIF centre and will be transferred to the first launch pad via the new mobile launch pedestal (MLP).

The new approach will allow the partial integration of a PSLV vehicle even if the first launch pad has been preoccupied with another launch and thus helps increase the launch frequency and allow the space agency to launch more missions in less time.

Launch successful