ISRO's Gaganyaan Mission Advances: Key Test Set For Next Month — Report

India plans to conduct a crucial test for its crewed space mission, Gaganyaan, as early as next month, according to R Hutton, the project director of the mission. He spoke to Reuters.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is currently training four astronauts for this mission but intends to expand the team for future crewed missions, Hutton revealed.

The primary objective of the Gaganyaan mission is to develop a space capsule capable of supporting human habitation.

This capsule will carry a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a duration of three days.

After the mission, the capsule will safely return to Earth through a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Once the Gaganyaan mission is completed successfully, ISRO aims to explore possibilities for a sustained human presence in space.

The team is prioritising the testing of its crew escape system, designed to eject astronauts in emergencies. This will be followed by a series of other tests before the final launch phase. According to Hutton, ensuring safety is the team's utmost concern.

Previously, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre had successfully conducted tests on systems that stabilise the crew module and ensure a safe reduction of velocity during re-entry.

A budget of about Rs 90.23 billion has been allocated for the mission, which is expected to launch from the spaceport at Sriharikota before 2024.