8 facts you need to know about ISRO's reusable space shuttle

ISRO successfully launched its maiden indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

The RLV Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD), that is ultimately aimed at putting satellites into orbit around Earth and then re-enter the atmosphere, was carried up on a solid rocket motor.

Here are 8 things you need to know about the ISRO RLV-TD project:

• ISRO's RLV-TD is 6.5-m-long or 2 storey tall and weighs 1.75 tonne which is equivalent to the weight of a SUV.

• The government has spent around Rs 95 crore on this project which has taken five years to materialize.

• The rocket was built at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thirvananthapuram, which is India's rocket designing and fabrication laboratory.

• A team of 600 scientists were involved in building the RLV-TD rocket.

• ISRO will launch two more prototype tests before it launches the final versions which will be around 40 metres (around 12 storey) tall by 2030.

• The final RLV will also be able to carry Indian astronauts.

• The data collected from the first RLV-TD test will be used in improving the designs of the next.

• While ISRO's first reusable rocket landed on a make-shift runway in Bay of Bengal, going ahead, RLV's will have an undercarriage that will be placed to enable it to land back in Sriharikota.