ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is set to launch the Gaganyaan uncrewed test flight by December 2024 said ISRO chairman Dr. S. Somanath.
The Gaganyaan mission (the First human spaceflight mission for India) will begin its launch trials by the end of this year.
Rocket hardware for the uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight has been brought to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, while the service module and crew module are being assembled at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, said ISRO chairman Dr. S. Somanath. in a function.
The function was organized by AICTE in collaboration with ISRO, the Indian Space Association (ISpA), and IN-SPACe, as reported by the Times of India.
He also shared other exciting developments in India’s space exploration efforts. He announced that ISRO has completed the design work for the Chandrayaan-4 and -5 missions and is now awaiting government approval. He also revealed ISRO’s plans for India’s Space station which will consist of five modules, one being launched in 2028.
Read: ISRO-NASA to send an Indian astronaut ‘Gaganyaatri’ to the International Space Station (ISS)
Dr. S. Somanath recently appeared on India’s biggest podcast, “The Ranveer Allahbadia Show” (TRS), where he discussed aliens, India’s future space missions including the Gaganyaan mission, and other intriguing topics.
The Gaganyaan capsule will be launched by ISRO’s most reliable workhorse, the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), which was used to launch India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission in 2023.
The first Gaganyaan uncrewed test flight known as G1 will test all the system operations, including the rocket, crew module, service module, reentry, parachute deployment, and splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.
This test flight will carry ISRO’s new humanoid space robot ‘Vyommitra’ to help verify systems throughout the mission. After this test flight, two more uncrewed test missions named G2 and G3 will be launched in 2025.
After the success of these test flights, the first crewed flight, called H1, will carry four Indian astronauts into the Low Earth Orbit for the first time in India’s history.
The Gaganyaan mission will play an important role in strengthening India’s space technology sector. The success of this mission will also make India only the fourth country in the world to carry out an independent human spaceflight mission.
