Gaganyaan Mission: Unmanned flight tests to commence on October 21

Prime Minister directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

Prime Minister also called upon Indian scientists to work towards interplanetary missions that would include a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander.

Dr Jitendra Singh, the Minister for Science and Technology, had previously confirmed the date, as reported by the Economic Times. The test involves launching a module into outer space, bringing it back to Earth, and recovering it after a touchdown in the Bay of Bengal. The Indian Navy has commenced mock operations to prepare for the module’s recovery, as stated by Singh during a felicitation program for ISRO engineers involved in the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L-1 missions, ET report added.

S Somanath, ISRO Chairman, who is also the secretary of the Department of Space, stated, “The first test vehicle flight (of the Gaganyaan mission) will be conducted on October 21. After that, we have planned for three more test missions, D2, D3, D4. We will hold thorough tests during the test flight sequence.”

The Test Vehicle Development Flight (TV-D1) will launch to test the crew module (CM) that will carry Indian astronauts during the actual Gaganyaan spaceflight, slated for next year. As per ISRO’s statement, the test crew module, though unpressurised, will be launched via a single-stage liquid rocket specifically developed for this mission to simulate an abort scenario. The true crew module will ride atop a 143-foot-tall (43.5-meter) Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3) rocket with solid, liquid and cryogenic stages, recently certified for human safety, as mentioned by R. Hutton, project director of the Gaganyaan mission, according to the report by Space.com.

ISRO’s statement outlined that the test module would explore various mission components, including drogue parachutes designed to stabilise and slow the spacecraft during re-entry, as well as “recovery aid actuation systems.” The test will evaluate the Crew Escape System (CES) and examine the “CM fairing and Interface Adapters” to assess the emergency escape system designed to eject astronauts if needed.

Upon its return to Earth, the crew module will be recovered by a diving team from the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal using a dedicated vessel. ISRO plans to conduct another test flight following this one, featuring Vyommitra, a humanoid robot capable of humanlike interactions, as reported by Hindustan Times.