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AVATAR ((サンスクリット:अवतार)) (from "Aerobic Vehicle for Transatmospheric Hypersonic Aerospace TrAnspoRtation") is a concept for a unmanned single-stage reusable spaceplane capable of horizontal takeoff and landing, by India's Defence Research and Development Organization along with Indian Space Research Organization and other research institutions. The mission concept is for low cost military and commercial satellite space launches, as well as for space tourism. In January 2012, it was announced that a scaled prototype, called 'Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator' (RLV-TD), was approved to be built and tested.〔 The vehicle is undergoing flight integration at the VSSC before being moved to Bengaluru for acoustic testing and later to Sriharikotta for the launch expected to take place in January.,〔http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/RLV-TD-Mission-to-be-Delayed-At-least-Till-the-Year-End/2015/10/02/article3058357.ece〕 and the first orbital flight is proposed for 2025.〔 ==Concept== In Sanskrit, an Avatar (अवतार ') is a deliberate descent of a deity to Earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being. The idea is to develop a spaceplane vehicle that can takeoff from conventional airfields. Its liquid air cycle engine would collect air in the atmosphere on the way up, liquefy it, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere. The AVATAR, a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) was first announced in May 1998 at the Aero India 98 exhibition held at Bangalore. AVATAR is projected to weigh 25 tons, of which 60% of that mass would be liquid hydrogen fuel.〔 The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion in outer space would be collected from the atmosphere during takeoff, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch.〔 The notional specification is for a payload weighing up to 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit and to withstand up to 100 launches and reentries.〔〔 If built, AVATAR would takeoff horizontally like a conventional airplane from a conventional airstrip using turbo-ramjet engines that burn hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen.〔 Once at a cruising altitude, the vehicle would use scramjet propulsion to accelerate from Mach 4 to Mach 8.〔 During this cruising phase, an on-board system would collect air from the atmosphere, from which liquid oxygen would be separated and stored.〔 The liquid oxygen collected would then be used to burn the stored hydrogen in the final flight phase to attain orbit. The vehicle would be designed to permit at least one hundred launches and atmospheric reentries.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Avatar (spacecraft)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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