ISRO successfully launched RLV-LEX-02 Pushpak

It employs complexity of a launch vehicle and an aircraft

It is of the size of an SUV and is called “Swadeshi Space Shuttle”

It is yet another feather in the illustrious cap of ISRO as it successfully launched RLV-LEX-02 Pushpak. Even as the country gloats in the success, let’s understand the vehicle’s uniquenesses.

1. It is akin to an aircraft, but employs the complexity of both a launch vehicle and an aircraft.
2. The vehicle has wings. This makes it serve as a flying test bed in order to evaluate hypersonic flights, autonomous landing and powered cruise flight.
3. It can be used in the future to become a reusable two stage orbital launch vehicle.
4. It uses a brake parachute to halt.
5. It employs a fuselage, a nose cap, double delta wings and twin vertical tails. As it falls, thrusters come into play and help the vehicle reach the exact spot where it is intended to land.

RLV-LEX-02 Experiment:
🇮🇳ISRO nails it again!🎯

Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, landed autonomously with precision on the runway after being released from an off-nominal position.

🚁@IAF_MCC pic.twitter.com/IHNoSOUdRx

— ISRO (@isro) March 22, 2024

This is the third test of the vehicle. The first one took place in 2016 at Shriharikota. At that time, it successfully sank in the Bay of Bengal as per plans. In the second test conducted in 2023, it was dropped from the air using a Chinook Helicopter for an autonomous landing. The vehicle is of the size of an SUV and it is called “Swadeshi Space Shuttle.”