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YM COLUMN ARCHIVE

April 15, 2009

Indian space shuttle emerging

The midget test vehicle of Indian space shuttle has made a public appearance at last at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. This vehicle of reusable type (RLV-TD) is called “Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator".

http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/01/stories/2009040161821100.htm

This winged-vehicle is to be lifted off by vertically sitting on the first stage of SLV-3 (S-9: weighing about 9 tons) that was used for the rockets for satellites launched in 1980’s. The winged-vehicle, which is carried half way through by a booster rocket to be jettisoned in the end, reaches space to reenter the atmosphere and finally touching down on the ocean for recovery.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/01/stories/2009040152201100.htm

Static firing test of the booster was already conducted in December 2008. Various structural tests of the vehicle are going to be carried out for over a year from now before its launching.

In India from the end of 1980’s to the beginning of 1990’s, launching of the winged-vehicle called “Hyperplane” was originally scheduled as an expendable launch vehicle but later substituted by the modified system of Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) called “Avatar RLV”. But this plan was shelved up, for which the current mainstream program is the launch of manned spacecraft by an expendable GSLV rocket in 2014 to 2015. A newly emerging winged-vehicle similar to the type of space shuttle seems to aim at obtaining the fundamental data for the mainstream project.

Test flight of RLV-TD has three technological problems; reentry, descent and recovery. In the first test flight slated one year after, all data are to be obtained by telemetry, and the vehicle will not be recovered from the viewpoint of the cost. Acquirement of aerodynamics and controllability of the body will be the key words for India: particularly Digital Auto-Pilot (DAP) technology will be the most critical problem.

As to aerodynamics, how to deal with the heat at the time of reentry will be most important. When I visited India for an international conference a year before last, I sensed of their energetic tackling with the development. For the test flight scheduled one year after, let me highly expect of their fruitful achievement for future space development, while I deplore of the slow movement of Japanese space strategy for the manned transportation.

I welcome your opinions on this column to the following E-mail address.
matogawa@planetary.or.jp

(Translated by The Planetary Society of Japan)