Cabinet approves Rs 8,240 crore fund to develop reusable launch vehicle

New Delhi: In an effort to develop the capability for an Indian crewed landing on the Moon by 2040, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the development of a reusable next-generation launch vehicle (NGLV) with a total fund of Rs 8,240 crore.

Space agency ISRO will develop a launch vehicle that will support a high payload and will be cost-effective, reusable, and commercially viable.

The funds will include the development costs, three developmental flights, essential facility establishment, programme management and launch campaign.

According to the cabinet, the NGLV will have three times the present payload capability with 1.5 times the cost compared to LVM3, and will also have reusability resulting in low-cost access to space and modular green propulsion systems.

The NGLV development project will be implemented with maximal participation from the Indian industry, which is also expected to invest in the manufacturing capacity at the outset itself, thereby allowing a seamless transition to the operational phase subsequent to the development.

The reusable rocket will be demonstrated with three development flights (D1, D2 and D3) with a target of 96 months (8 years) for the completion of the development phase, the government said.

Currently, India has achieved self-reliance in space transportation systems to launch satellites up to 10 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 4 tonnes to Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) through the currently operational PSLV, GSLV, LVM3 & SSLV launch vehicles.

The NGLV will enable national and commercial missions, including the launch of human spaceflight missions to Bharatiya Antariksh Station, lunar/inter-planetary exploration missions along with communication and earth observation satellite constellations to Low Earth Orbit that will benefit the entire space ecosystem in the country. The goals of the Indian space programme require a new generation of human-rated launch vehicles with high payload capability and reusability.

Hence, the development of NGLV is taken up which is designed to have a maximum payload capability of 30 tonnes to Low Earth Orbit, which also has a reusable first stage.