ISRO to carry out two test missions, two uncrewed missions before ‘Gaganyaan’ astronaut flight

India's much-anticipated and most sophisticated spacefaring mission 'Gaganyaan' Human Spaceflight is expected to be carried out by the fourth quarter of 2024, the government revealed in Parliament. However, there will be four crucial test flights that will be conducted prior to the actual mission, it was added.

Gaganyaan aims to launch an Indian rocket carrying a crew module with Indian astronauts to low earth orbit, where they would orbit for a few days and then return to earth by splashing down in the ocean. Originally targeted for 2022, coinciding with the 75th year of Indian independence, the project has been set back by delays owing to COVID-19 and related restrictions in 2020-21.

As per the information shared in Parliament by Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, two initial test missions would be carried out using a Test Vehicle (TV). This would be followed by the uncrewed mission 'G1'(in the last quarter of 2023) and the second uncrewed mission 'G2' in the second quarter of 2024. "India’s maiden human space flight ‘H1’ mission is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024," it was mentioned.

Dr Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, VSSC, ISRO had earlier told WION that the test vehicle is a newly-realised multi-purpose rocket to accomplish various tests and demonstrations. "This vehicle will be powered by the engine of a liquid fuel strap-on motor used on the GSLV Mk 2 rocket, which is ISRO's trusted and reliable Vikas engine. During the test, it can carry the crew module to the required altitude depending upon mission requirements. Once the rocket and crew module separate, the crew module will be on its own and deploy parachutes to slowly splash-land on water," Dr Nair had explained.

While the two Test Vehicle missions are meant to demonstrate the performance of the crew escape system and parachute-based deceleration system for different flight conditions, the two uncrewed flights of the actual Human-rated LVM3 rocket are meant to validate the performance of the human-rated launch vehicle, orbital module propulsion system, mission management, communication system and recovery operations. The human-rated launch vehicle will also be carrying a humanoid robot to test the crucial parameters throughout the mission.

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