The test launch is considered a significant step in India's space endeavour. It's especially important because in 2011, the U.S.'s Nasa abandoned its resuable space shuttle project.
The test launch of the 6.5 metre-long and 1.75 ton reusable launch vehicle (RLV-TD) occurred at 7 am on Monday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
"Mission accomplished successfully," ISRO said after the launch.
The RLV-TD is described as "a very preliminary step" in the development of a reusable rocket, the final version of which is expected to take 10-15 years.
The government has invested Rs 95 crores in the RLV-TD project.
ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar explained that the experimental RLV it is essentially an attempt by India to bring down the cost of making infrastructure for space.
"The RLV is a mechanism for us to bring down the cost of launch. We intend to go through a series of technology demonstration exercises, the first one of which we call HEX-01, that is a hypersonic experiment. It is called a winged body," Kumar said.
"Therefore, we are designing for the first time a winged body, which will come back from space. It will be carried up on a solid rocket motor. In addition, this is the first of a series of experiments and we still have a long way to go till we reach the actual RLV, which will give us a tremendous capacity in terms of launching at a very low cost," he added.
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from Defense Aerospace - Press releases http://ift.tt/27QGpVQ
via Defense
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