50 SKY SHADES - World aviation news

India launches mini shuttle in race to replace NASA spacecraft

Download: Printable PDF Date: 23 May 2016 17:45 (UTC) category:
Publisher:
India launches mini shuttle in race to replace NASA spacecraft - Events / Festivals publisher
Dana Ermolenko
Country: India Aircraft: Spaceplanes
Source: Cnet

India launched a mini unmanned space shuttle on Monday to test the viability of reusable spacecraft.

The shuttle will head 43 miles into the atmosphere before dropping down into the sea, the BBC reports. It is not expected to survive in one piece, but will collect data on hypersonic speed and autonomous landing.

India has been investing significant rupees in space missions in recent years, launching its own Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013. The space shuttle program has been in the works for the past five years and cost 1 billion rupees ($14 million) to develop.

The US retired its Space Shuttle program in 2011 and since then there has been significant competition to replace NASA's beloved craft. India is competing with Japan, Europe and Russia to create a replacement, as well as private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, owned by Tesla's Elon Musk and Amazon's Jeff Bezos respectively.





Recommended

ExecuJet MRO Services Australasia successfully completes 20-Year heavy maintenance inspection on Indonesian Legacy 600

ExecuJet MRO Services Australia successfully completed a major 20-year scheduled airframe inspection on an Indonesian-registered Embraer Legacy 600 at its Sydney facility, further demonstrating t...

Air France earns global recognition with World’s Best First Class Award from Skytrax

Air France was among the leading winners at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, held in London on September 18, 2026, earning multiple distinctions that highlight the excellence of its products and cust...

Strategic partnership boosts India’s pilot training with ALSIM’s AL250

ALSIM has announced that MH Cockpit, based in India, has acquired an AL250 simulator—marking a significant step in MH Cockpit’s expansion plans and reinforcing its ambition to build a robu...

Flexjet receives first-ever Embraer Praetor 600E as fleet launch customer

Embraer delivered the first Praetor 600E to Flexjet, marking the operator as the launch fleet customer for Embraer’s latest-generation super-midsize business jet. The inaugural aircraft joins Fl...

Android Apps development in Riga, Latvia