All you need to know about India’s New-Age ‘Pushpak Viman’

New Delhi: Amongst many things that Ramayana introduces us is the flying vehicle named as Pushpak Viman used in the Treta Kaal. Now, in the 21st century again, Indian Space Research Organisation’s RLV (reusable launch vehicle) or ‘Pushpak’ Viman has been successfully tested. It landed on the runway of the Aeronautical Test Range in Karnataka’s Challakere.

The winged vehicle was lifted an Indian Air Force helicopter, Chinook, and released from an altitude of 4.5 km. Following this, Pushpak “autonomously approached the runway along with cross-range corrections”.

The successful landing of the Pushpak marked a major milestone for the space agency in the area of RLV technology. The second of the series, RLV LEX-02 landing experiment was conducted on Friday.

The Indian space agency carried out these successful missions previously in 2016 and April, 2023.

In its post on X, it said, “ISRO nails it again! Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, landed autonomously with precision on the runway after being released from an off-nominal position.”

“With this second mission, ISRO has re-validated the indigenously developed technologies in the areas of navigation, control system, landing gear and deceleration systems essential for performing a high-speed autonomous landing of a space-returning vehicle,” the space agency said in its statement.

Earlier, ISRO chief S Somanath had said, “The Pushpak launch vehicle is India’s bold attempt to make access to space most affordable”.

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