Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Reusable Launch Vehicle, ‘Pushpak’ successfully landed on the runway of the Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka’s Challakere. ISRO posted on X, “Pushpak, landed autonomously with precision on the runway after being released from an off-nominal position.”
“The winged vehicle, called Pushpak, was lifted by an Indian Airforce Chinook helicopter, and was released from 4.5 km altitude. After release at distance of 4km from the runway, Pushpak autonomously approached the runway along with cross range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering system,” ISRO said in a statement.
The experiment was the third flight of Pushpak, part of a test of its robotic landing ability in more complicated circumstances. It is expected to take many more years to deploy Pushpak operationally
RVL flew for the first time in 2016 and successfully landed on a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. As per the plan, it sank in the sea and was never recovered. A second test was successfully conducted in 2023 when winged rocket was dropped from air by a Chinook Helicopter for an autonomous landing.
“With this second mission, ISRO has re-validated the indigenously developed technologies in the areas of navigation, control system, landing gear and deceleration systems essential for performing a high-speed autonomous landing of a space-returning vehicle,” the space agency said in its statement.
The government has invested over ₹ 100 crore in the project.
