The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has conducted another test with its small spaceplane RLV-TD, which is a prototype of a larger spaceplane that ISRO hopes to develop for reuse in trips between Earth and space in the future.
During the test, which took place on Sunday, the prototype was lifted to a height of 4.5 kilometers by a helicopter and then glided and landed at India’s Aeronautical Test Range about 30 minutes after being released from the helicopter. In a previous test in 2016, another version of RLV-TD was sent into space using a rocket and then landed in the ocean.
In the future, ISRO aims to have its RLV become the second stage in a two-stage rocket, which can be launched from Earth and then land back on Earth like an airplane. When we might see such a spaceplane from ISRO is unclear. In 2016, when the previous test was conducted, ISRO stated that it aimed to have a fully functional spaceplane by around 2026. Whether that timeline still holds remains to be seen.
