May take 10 years for India to have reusable rocket: Scientist

Describing today’s successful launch of an indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) as a small step in achieving the objective of reducing the cost of space transportation, top space scientist G Madhavan Nair said it may take 10 years for the country to put in place such an operational rocket.

India today successfully launched the first technology demonstrator of an indigenously made RLV capable of launching satellites into an orbit around earth and then re-entering the atmosphere, from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Highlighting that India has been in the field of rocket launchers and satellite launches and has gained a good technical base in rocket technology, Nair, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), however, said since these rockets are expended after each launch, the cost of access to space remains high.

“If you want to reduce the cost of access to space, the hardware has to be reused. So, the recoverable and reusable launch vehicle demonstrator is a small step towards achieving the final goal. And that is very much needed,” he told PTI.

“When you want to have a future space programme, either you want to have an orbiting platform or to go to Moon or Mars, we have to significantly bring down the cost of launchers. To achieve low-cost access to space, a recoverable and reusable launch vehicle is a must,” Nair said.

“A host of technologies related to hypersonic flights and thermal management and re-entry, and all these things are big question mark before us. This demonstrator is a small beginning towards that, wherein rocket technology and aircraft technology have been integrated and the ISRO team has done an excellent job in making this demonstration today,” he said.

Asked how long he believed it would take for the country to operationalise the system, Nair said, “My feeling is that such a programme if it’s initiated today it will take about 10 years before you can have first operational system. So, that’s a long way to go.”

So, ISRO certainly has to come out with its long-term plan, he said.

“At the moment, there is nothing visible. They have to worry about what they will be doing in the next 10 years, and integrating all such technologies and ambitious goals of planetary exploration and the spacecraft of the new generation have to be chalked out in the next 10-year plan,” he said.

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