India gives ‘wings’ to rocket dream, here’s why other countries halt tests

India’s 21st Century Pushpak ‘vimana’ ready to take off

New Delhi:

India is working hard to perfect winged rockets even as most global efforts to have these space planes come to nothing.

Big powers have abandoned the idea of ​​winged reusable launch vehicles, but India’s frugal engineers believe recycling and reusing rockets will reduce launch costs.

ISRO scientists believe that with reusable technology, launch costs can be reduced by 10 times, bringing the cost down to $2,000 per kilogram.

India’s 21st century Pushpak ‘vimana’ is ready to take off as ISRO strives to master reusable rocket technology.

The Indian Space Research Organization is testing its Pushpak launch vehicle, which is similar to the US Space Shuttle. And the model used in the study was much smaller than reality. A sleek SUV-sized winged rocket will be launched on an experimental flight, but the final rocket won’t be ready for at least 10 to 15 years.

The only countries that have attempted actual space shuttle flights are the United States, Russia, France, Japan, and China.

The U.S. space shuttle flew 135 times and was retired in 2011. Russia built a single space shuttle – Buran – and sent it into space once in 1989. France and Japan have conducted some experimental flights, and China has also conducted some experimental flights. Try one of these.

A handful of billionaires, with active support from NASA, have been trying to master vertical lift-off and landing with recyclable rocket engines.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is working to recycle and reuse rocket engines, while Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has successfully repurposed its New Shepard ) rocket lands in Texas.

A key technology that scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) had to develop was creating materials that could withstand the extremely high temperatures faced by the exterior of a vehicle as it re-enters the dense atmosphere after traveling through the near-vacuum of space.

Due to the friction during re-entry, the exterior of the rocket turned into red-hot iron. To withstand temperatures of 5,000-7,000 degrees Celsius, scientists developed very lightweight, heat-resistant silicon tiles for the bottom of the space shuttle.

The nose cone bears the brunt of the heat and is made of a special carbon-carbon composite material that can withstand the heat. These are necessary to protect the spacecraft’s internal temperature from exceeding 50 degrees Celsius.

These heat-resistant tiles and thermal coatings malfunctioned aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, leading to the death of Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla in 2003.