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AVATAR (from "Aerobic Vehicle for Hypersonic Aerospace TrAnspoRtation") was a concept development effort for a single-stage reusable spaceplane capable of horizontal takeoff and landing, by India's Defense Research and Development Organization along with Indian Space Research Organization and other research institutions.
The mission concept was for cheaper military and civilian satellite space launches. The idea was to develop a hyperplane vehicle that can take off from conventional airfields, 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 RLV was first announced in May 1998 at the Aero India 98 exhibition held at Bangalore. It was planned to be the size of a MiG-25 fighter and would be capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1,000 kg payload to low earth orbit at very low cost for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.
