Now this is 'Made in India'!

India made a big splash with its Mangalayan, the Mars orbiter. And in the coming few months, we could see ISRO once again hogging international limelight with the launch of our very own, first, a completely Made in India space shuttle.

The best news already – the test shuttle is using the ‘winged resusable’ launch vehicle – means the rocket is reusable. This was an idea abandoned by big brains around the world but India’s scientists at ISRO have made this possible, thereby bringing down the costs dramatically.

The cost of launching stuff into space will come down by as much as 10 times if reusable technology succeeds, bringing it down to $2,000 per kg. 

In the coming few days, India’s space port at Sriharikota on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh will witness the launch of the indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). The purpose of the experiment is not to see it float but to glide and navigate from a velocity five times higher than the speed of sound onto a designated virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal some 500 km from the coast.

The actual space shuttle, which will be reusable and will house a human will take around 10-15 years to finally take off. These are the first baby steps. And we will stand witness to this history of India.