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ISRO Chairman V Narayanan revealed plans for a Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) text vehicle, which would require the development of new structures for recovery and reuse. The capability is necessary for the development of the next generation launcher, which is being developed as a partially usable rocket with a recoverable booster. The biggest cost of spaceflight is lifting the payload through the lower atmosphere, which is accomplished by the first or booster stage. If this stage can be reused, it can significantly bring down the cost of spaceflight, as demonstrated by SpaceX with its Falcon 9 rocket. In a deep-space context, the capability allows for planet-hopping spaceships that can visit multiple worlds, or rapidly move across the surface of one.
ISRO's VTVL Test Vehicle. (Image Credit: ISRO).
V Narayanan said, “We are working on reusable technology, air-breathing technology, and recovery related studies, and new engines, combined-cycle engines which can with an aircraft taking off followed by a rocket engine reducing travel time, and new propulsion systems for spacecraft. Lot of R&D activities are going on including air-breathing engines, reusable engines, new propulsion systems.” The LOX-Methane and VTVL capabilities are both necessary for the development of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle that will be used to assemble the Bharatiya Antariksh Station as well as the Lunar Module Launch Vehicle for crewed missions to the lunar surface.
ISRO is not the only entity in the country developing reusable rockets. The economics of the design makes so much sense, that a number of New Space startups across the country are also developing VTVL capabilities. Hyderabad-based Abyom is starting small with reusable sounding rockets and scaling up to orbital launch vehicles. Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos plans to recover the booster stage after launches, while Bengaluru-based EtherealX is developing the Razer Crest, which will be the first fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicle in the world. Pune-based Astrophel is developing a reusable launch vehicle as well, and Ahmedabad-based OmSpace is working towards demonstrating a ‘LeapFrogger’ vehicle with VTVL capabilities.
