India successfully launches reusable space shuttle

(Baonghean.vn) - On May 23 (local time), India successfully launched for the first time a miniature prototype of a reusable space shuttle at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, off the coast of Southeast India.

India successfully launched a reusable space shuttle. Photo: ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said that after reaching an altitude of about 40 miles (64 km), the shuttle prototype (RVL-TD) entered the atmosphere at a speed of five times the speed of sound and successfully landed at a landing site in the Bay of Bengal. The shuttle is designed to place satellites in orbit beyond Earth.

"During this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous flight control, guidance, control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management system were successfully operationalized," ISRO added.

ISRO has developed this space technology at an affordable cost, with the cost of building the shuttle being $14 million.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed, "The success of this experiment is due to the diligent work of scientists."

Previously, in 2013, India launched the Mars Mission shuttle with the mission of sending a satellite into orbit of the Red Planet. The total cost of this project was about 74 million USD and that is just a small part of the cost of a series of other Mars exploration projects.

Thanh Hien

(According to ABCNews)