Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)

After the successful deployment of the swadeshi Global Positioning System through NAVIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation, ISRO is again reaching for the stars. The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully tested its indigenous version of a “space shuttle’, a fully made-in-India effort. The big powers have abandoned the idea of a winged reusable launch vehicle but India’s frugal engineers believe the solution to reducing the cost of launching satellites into orbit is to recycle the rocket or make it reusable. Scientists at ISRO believe that they could reduce the cost of launching stuff into space by as much as 10 times if reusable technology succeeds, bringing it down to $2,000 per kg.

The RLV-TD is described as “a very preliminary step” in the development of a reusable rocket, whose final version is expected to take 10-15 years. For India, the launch of their mini shuttle shows that they are ready to step in the ring and offer a new solution to the economic pitfalls of space exploration.

Key technology involved:
One key technology the scientists had to develop was to make materials that can withstand the very high temperatures that the exterior of the vehicle is faced with as it comes back into the dense atmosphere after its journey through near vacuum in space. To be able to withstand 5000-7000 degrees Celsius temperature, the scientists have developed very lightweight heat resistant silica tiles that are plastered on the underbelly of the so-called Indian space plane. In fact, it is these heat resistant tiles and thermal coating that failed on Space Shuttle Columbia that resulted in the death of Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla in 2003.

Competition with SpaceX Rockets:
The low-cost commercial foreign satellite launch services of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are poised to take a severe beating at the hands of Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) fly-back rockets, the Falcon 9 series. SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, California, has developed a technology of soft-landing its rocket's first stage at a predetermined location after a satellite launch, reassembling that with a second stage, refuelling and sending the assembled rocket on a second launch mission into space within hours of the previous one.

Conventional launches by the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO and other space agencies not only add to the cost of readying a new launcher, but also the time taken for the next launch. According to Musk, SpaceX's concept - which is being successfully tested - can drastically cut spaceflight costs "by a factor of 100", making the company a low-cost game-changer in the satellite market.

ISRO gained popularity for its 100% successful foreign satellite launches using the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) rockets, charging just 60% of the fees charged by foreign space agencies such as Arianespace. Since May 1999, it has successfully launched 57 international customer satellites from 20 countries on board the PSLV. ISRO's global client list includes EADS Astrium, Intelsat, Avanti Group, WorldSpace, Inmarsat, World Sat, DLR, KARI, Eutelsat and several other space institutions across Europe, West Asia and South-East Asia.

But all that is likely to change. Former National Aerospace Laboratories director and the longest serving member (resigned in 2012) of the Indian space commission, Prof Roddam Narasimha said, "At least for some time, ISRO will not be affected. But what SpaceX is doing will eventually drastically reduce launch costs." He said India's PSLV launcher, which has been a complete success, will continue to hold sway for at least "some time to come" as SpaceX is yet to perfect its technologies. But SpaceX already has about 70 launches in its kitty worth $10 billion in contracts. These include commercial satellite launches (which ISRO does) and missions for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract to fly a series of 12 cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, besides carrying crew. In August 2014, ISRO's customer Eutelsat (the third largest fixed satellite services operator in the world) planned to spend about 100 million lesser per year till 2017 and preferred SpaceX over ISRO. The goal for everyone in the spaceflight game right now is to dramatically decrease the amount of money needed to launch materials or people into space, and collaboration will be key.

Practice question: Discuss the significance of RLV-TD for Indian space programme & challenges it is likely to face in this endeavor.

By: Dr. Vivek Rana