Runway for space shuttle coming up at Sriharikota

A 5-km runway is coming-up at the nation’s spaceport, Sriharikota, to facilitate the landing of Reusable Launch Vehicle.
ISRO successfully launches India's first indigenously made space shuttle- the Reusable Launch Vehicle RLV in Sriharikota Andhra Pradesh on Monday. (PTI)
ISRO successfully launches India's first indigenously made space shuttle- the Reusable Launch Vehicle RLV in Sriharikota Andhra Pradesh on Monday. (PTI)

CHENNAI: A 5-km runway is coming-up at the nation’s spaceport, Sriharikota, to facilitate the landing of Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), which is under development.

The project report, which has been readied a couple of years back, is likely to be fast-tracked following the success of the first Hypersonic Experiment of RLV on Monday.

ISRO sources told Express that a site has already been identified near the Augumented Satellite Launch Vehilce (ASLV) complex. ASLV is now non-operational.

After the Hypersonic Experiment, there would be landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).

To carry out the further experiments in the category, ISRO needs a runway to retrieve and reuse the vehicle, the sources said.

When asked, K Sivan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), said the proposal was already there and a final approval has to be obtained before the work commences.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com