ISRO launches India's first reusable space shuttle

The ISRO successfully launched the first 'Made in India' space shuttle
•    It is called the Reusable Launch Vehicle.
•    It was launched early on 23rd May morning from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
•    The test launch is important because in 2011, the U.S.'s Nasa abandoned its reusable space shuttle project
•    The RLV-TD is described as "a very preliminary step" in the development of a reusable rocket, the final version of which is expected to take 10-15 years.
•    The government has invested Rs 95 crores in the project.•    ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar said that it is essentially an attempt bring down the cost of making infrastructure for space.•    The RLV is a mechanism to bring down the cost of launch. We intend to go through a series of technology demonstration exercises, the first one of which we call HEX-01, that is a hypersonic experiment. It is called a winged body," Kumar said.•    This is the first of a series of experiments and India still have a long way to go till it reach the actual RLV, which will give a tremendous capacity in terms of launching at a very low cost.