Monday, July 05, 2010

Indian HLV for Lunar Return Mission


Here is a design concept for an Indian Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV), to be used in a proposed lunar return mission:

Click to enlarge

This proposed configuration would be composed of 4 semi-cryogenic engines of 460 tonnes each, surrounding an 800-tonne semi-cryo core first stage, with a 460-tonne semi-cryo stage above that, and finally a 100-tonne cryogenic stage on top.

This design configuration would be capable of lofting 100 tonnes of payload to LEO, or 20 tonnes to Lunar Orbit. Shown on the left for comparison is India's upcoming GSLV-Mk3 medium lift vehicle, which would be used to demonstrate preliminary capabilities like orbital rendezvous, docking and extra-vehicular activities (EVA).

2 comments:

Arvind said...

What does Putin get in return for developing India's "home grown" heavy lift vehicle? He gets to sell another clunker for a couple of billion dollars?

nizhal yoddha said...

the sceptical arvind writes:

Arvind has left a new comment on your post "Indian HLV for Lunar Return Mission":

What does Putin get in return for developing India's "home grown" heavy lift vehicle? He gets to sell another clunker for a couple of billion dollars?