The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : ISRO plans reusable launch vehicles

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Sunday, Nov 04, 2007
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ISRO plans reusable launch vehicles

N. Gopal Raj

Testing to begin from December 2008

Major advances in new propulsion systems and materials envisaged
ISRO studying possibilities of heavy lift launcher

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of an effort to develop reusable launch vehicles that would slash launch costs, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to begin flight testing a Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator in December 2008, according to B.N. Suresh, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Speaking at a symposium on “Space sciences and applications” organised as part of the 73rd annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences here, Dr. Suresh said worldwide, the current cost of access to space worked out to $ 20,000 a kg. The hope was that this cost could be brought down to $ 200 or $ 500 a kg.

Developing reusable launch vehicles demanded major advances in new propulsion systems and materials, he said. Flight testing of a demonstrator for an advanced air-breathing engine was likely to commence in January next year. Such air-breathing engines do away with the need to carry oxygen onboard as rockets do at present and provide far greater propulsion efficiencies too, he said. The air-breathing system would be integrated with the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator in its later flights, said Dr. Suresh. The long-term aim was to develop an operational Two-Stage-to-Orbit reusable launch vehicle by 2025 and a Single-Stage-to-Orbit system by 2030, he said.

The ISRO was also studying possibilities of a heavy lift launcher that could put 20 tonnes into lunar orbit, he said. Such a rocket would be able to take humans to the moon. It would have 10 times the payload capacity of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark-III that would be able to carry 10 tonnes into low earth orbit when it flies in 2009. Work on Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar probe, was progressing, said J.N. Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad. The plan was to launch the spacecraft around April 2008.

Planning for the follow-on mission had started, he said. Apart from an orbiter that would circle the moon, Chandrayaan-2 could also have a soft-lander carrying a robotic rover. A slide projected by Dr. Goswami during his talk indicated that the Chandrayaan-2 mission could take place around 2011-12.

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