Gaganyaan Mission: ISRO Prepares For Test Flight Before India's First Human Space Mission – What We Know So Far

Following the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for the Gaganyaan mission, set to launch a crewed spacecraft.

As reported by Indian Express, the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission 1 (TV-D1) is scheduled to lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 7.30am IST on 21 October.

The mission's objective is to assess the functionality of the crew escape system on the crew module of the Gaganyaan mission.

This system acts as a safety mechanism, allowing the crew to safely exit the spacecraft in case of a mission abort due to a malfunction.

During the test, a depressurized version of the Gaganyaan crew module will be carried to an altitude of about 17km by a single-engine rocket.

At this point, an abort signal will be sent. If the escape system works as intended, the crew module will detach from the rocket, deploy its parachutes, and land in the Bay of Bengal.

Notably, the test will not involve any crew members.

ISRO's Gaganyaan mission aims to demonstrate India's capability for human spaceflight.

The plan is to send a crewed spacecraft on a three-day mission, reaching an altitude of approximately 400km above earth.

Subsequently, the mission will safely bring the crew back to Earth with a splashdown in Indian waters.

The test mission, scheduled for tomorrow (21 October), will use a single-stage rocket designed specifically for testing.

However, the actual Gaganyaan mission will employ the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) rocket, previously used for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

If the Gaganyaan mission succeeds, India will join a select group of four nations capable of independently launching a crewed spacecraft, which currently includes the United States, the Soviet Union, and China.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently presided over a high-level meeting with ISRO, outlining two key objectives for the agency: establishing an Indian space station by 2035 and sending an Indian astronaut to the Moon by 2040.

Furthermore, he encouraged ISRO to pursue missions such as a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander mission.