While the PSLV mission is scheduled to launch Earth Observation Satellite-6 (EOS-6) or Oceansat-3 in early April, significant tests under the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and the Reusable Launch Vehicle (SSLV) are underway.RLV) programs are lined up in the weeks before and after it. A Chandrayaan-3 landing test is also scheduled in March.
Chandrayaan-3
Completed by ISRO Chairman with prompt formal review of program S Somnath Earlier this month, the project team is burning the midnight oil to make the launch possible this year.
“We are trying to launch it this year, but we will take a final call on the launch schedule later. A lot of tests which were pending are being done now. A major test would be to use the hanging position. For Chandrayaan-2, we did it at Mahendragiri, where the landing experiment was simulated. We will do the same at Satish Dhawan Space Center for Chandrayaan-3, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR),” Somanath told TOI.
For this test a unit almost identical to the lander – the propulsion system – will be used to study the nomogram and other performances. The hardware is already at the spaceport in Sriharikota and ISRO is preparing for the test.
RLV-TD
Pointing to various ongoing activities at ISRO, several sources said that some important trials of the RLV Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) program are taking place at Challakere, about 220 km from Bengaluru.
ISRO Chairman S Somnath told TOI ISRO Challakere has been carrying out a series of (captive) tests over the past few weeks, all using an engineering model of the RLV-TD and the last helicopter in that series carried out on Saturday.
“In yesterday’s (Saturday) test we used a flight model. Now, we have to go back and analyze the data from the flight model test. We need to look at all the information and analyze whether it has reached the correct location, equipment health and other parameters. Any improvements required will be made to the software and the hardware will be moved back to Trivandrum (Vikram Sarabhai Space Center) where it will undergo a complete simulation test before coming back in the first week of April for the Landing Experiment (LEX),” Somnath said.
RLV-LEX, which will perform one of the key technologies – approach and autonomous landing on the runway, as reported earlier by TOI, will push it closer to an orbital re-entry experiment (ORE).
At LEX, the vehicle will be lifted to an altitude of about 3 km to 5 km using a helicopter and will be released at a distance of about 4 km to 5 km from the runway with a horizontal velocity. After release, the RLV glides, turns towards the runway and performs a conventional autonomous landing with the landing gear on.
SSLV
The space agency, which is expected to carry out the first developmental flight of the SSLV – to put EOS-2 or Microsat into orbit and mark the debut of a new class of launch vehicles in India – will take a significant turn in the next couple of years. will test. of days.
Somnath confirmed without elaborating on the first developmental flight, “…the static test of the first stage of SSLV will be done in the next few days.”
Designed to meet the demanding launch requirements in a cost-effective manner, the SSLV is a three-stage Full-Solid Vehicle with the capability to launch satellite masses up to 500 kg into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Earlier, ISRO had successfully completed SSLV Payload Fairing (SPLF) functional qualification test and other testing activities are in progress.