Final Reusable Launch Vehicle RLV-TD will need a better body to be launched into space: ISRO

The rocket will have to be modified with a more sustainable body before it is finally launched into space.

The body of India's first ever indigenously built reusable space shuttle - the Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) - will need to be made of better material to enable it to be launched into space, said director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), K Sivan, on Wednesday.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully test launched RLV-TD on Monday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota island of Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the media on Wednesday after the feat, Sivan said the rocket will have to be modified with a more sustainable body before it is finally launched into space.

"The aluminum material, after 150 degrees Celsius, it will become dilute. Steel, it will become dilute at 500 degrees Celsius. You just imagine what will happen to a material if it is at 2,000 degrees Celsius. It will evaporate.

So we need a protection system against that one and we need a material which is working in the high temperature. That is another thing. We need autonomous mission management, another thing," Sivan said in Chennai.

The VSSC director also suggested ways to make the vehicle more cost-effective.

"80% of the cost of the rocket and of the materials that cost, only 15-20% are consumables like propellant

Suppose, in the rocket, 80% of the rocket, if we recover 80% of the rocket, that means 80% of the money we can recover.

That is simple technology. That means every time only 20% of the cost will be required to launch a satellite," added Sivan.

The test launch was intended to enable scientists to gather data on autonomous landing, hypersonic speed and more.

It's success puts India on an elite list of space-faring nations, including the United States, Japan and Russia, which have been using their own RLVs for years.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-final-reusable-launch-vehicle-rlv-td-will-need-a-better-body-to-be-launched-into-space-isro-2216611