ISRO to launch 1st uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight in December

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 21

The first robot-manned test flight of Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight project, is scheduled for December this year.

Revealing the much-awaited timeline ahead of India’s maiden National Space Day on August 23, ISRO chairman S Somanath said all preparations had been made for the December test flight.

National Space Day will mark one year since the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar South Pole in 2023, making India the only country to do so.

Minister of State for Space Jitendra Singh said precursor flights to ensure the safety of Gaganyaan mission before humans are sent to space were underway and on track.

On Tuesday, the Department of Space held a high-level meeting with Navy Chief Admiral DK Tripathi on preparations for retrieval of our astronauts once the human spaceflight of Gaganyaan goes into space.

“Naval and coast guards will be deployed for retrieval of our team when it returns,” Jitendra Singh said.

The Gaganyaan project envisages the demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian Sea. Preparations for the same are in advanced stages with precursor trials already underway.

ISRO has planned two preliminary missions before the actual human mission to space. Ahead of the human spaceflight, a female robot named Vayumitra, which would mimic humans, would be sent to space. Humans would be sent after she returns safely. Precursor unmanned missions would prove the safety and reliability of all systems and lay the ground for human spaceflight. “The challenge is not just about sending humans to space, but to also bring them back safely,” said Singh. Meanwhile, on the first National Space Day, ISRO will release key data from Chandrayaan-3 for research purposes.

Indian astronaut may fly to ISS by April 2025

• As part of a NASA-ISRO collaboration, an Indian astronaut is likely to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) by April next, Minister of State for Space Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday
• Two Group Captains, Shubhanshu Shukla and Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, are currently training for Axiom Space Ax-4 mission
• ISRO has deputed Shukla for the Ax-4 mission and Nair as a backup candidate. Singh said India was aiming to set up its own space station — Bhartiya Antriksh Station — by 2035