SHAR

A prototype for a future winged Indian spaceship took off early Monday on a suborbital flight 40 miles over the Bay of Bengal and steered itself to an on-target splashdown, testing a heat shield and guidance, navigation and control algorithms.

India’s space agency plans to boost a sleek winged prototype spacecraft into the upper atmosphere aboard a solid-fueled rocket early Monday on a brief test flight that will end with a controlled, unpowered glide to a simulated runway landing in the Bay of Bengal.