Successful landing of RLV Pushpak amid strong winds, the aircraft was landed on the runway for the third time
ISRO has done wonders once again by successfully landing the Reusable Launch Vehicle-LEX-03 Pushpak. The third and final test of Pushpak was carried out at 0710 am in Chitradurga, Karnataka. Pushpak has landed in challenging release conditions amid strong winds. It is being told that this satellite can be reused, due to which the project launch will be cheaper.
ISRO has successfully landed its Reusable Launch Vehicle-LEX-03 (RLV-LEX-03) 'Pushpak' for the third time. Pushpak has successfully landed amid strong winds in challenging conditions. With the completion of the objectives of RLV LEX, ISRO has joined RLV-ORV, Orbital Reusable Vehicle.
The Pushpak aircraft underwent testing at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka, at 07:10 a.m. Following the success of previous missions ALV LEX-01 and LEX-02, Pushpak has demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of RLV under more difficult release conditions and more severe wind.
Pushpak was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km. Pushpak applied cross-range correction autonomously from a release point 4.5 kilometers away from the runway.
It approached the runway and made a precise horizontal landing on the center line. Due to the reduced lift-to-drag of Pushpak, the landing velocity exceeded 320 kmph. This is much higher than 260 kmph for a commercial aircraft and 280 kmph for a normal fighter aircraft.
The idea behind landing the reusable launch vehicle is to recover the rocket boosters that will be used to launch the spacecraft. So that, after refueling, they can be used again. It is being told that ISRO's reusable launch vehicle (RLV) will be different from Space-X. This launch vehicle will be helpful in carrying more than 10,000 kg of weight in the lower orbit of the Earth.
