ISRO successfully conducted the Pushpak Reusable Landing Vehicle (RLV) LEX 02 Landing Experiment

Posted 22 Mar 2024

2 min read

RLV LEX 02 is the second of the series of experiments conducted by the ISRO under the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) Programme.
- RLV LEX 02 re-validated the indigenously developed technologies for performing high speed autonomous landing of a space returning vehicle.
- In it, the winged body and all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused.
  - In 2023, RLV-LEX-01 mission was successfully conducted.

RLV-TD Programme aims at developing essential technologies for a fully RLV to enable low-cost access to space
- RLV is essentially a space plane with a low lift to drag ratio and can travel to low earth orbits to deliver payloads and return to earth for use again.
- This vehicle will be scaled up to become the first stage of India’s reusable two-stage orbital (TSTO) launch vehicle.
- NASA is using RLV for long time and private space agencies such as Space X demonstrating partially reusable launch systems.

Advantages: RLV is considered a low-cost, reliable, and on-demand mode of accessing space.

Challenges: Selection of materials like special alloys, composites, and insulation materials and the crafting of its parts is very complex and demands highly skilled manpower.

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