The Indian Space Research Organization will execute the second test flight of the unmanned Gaganyaan mission today, April 24, to achieve another important milestone in space, ISRO Chairman S Somnath said on the sidelines of an event organized by the Astronautical Society of India. Said. (ASI) at Ahmedabad.
Somnath had said on April 17, “The airdrop test will take place on April 24. After that there will be two more unmanned missions next year and then if all goes well, there will be a manned mission by the end of next year.”
The Gaganyaan project will demonstrate the potential for human spaceflight by sending a three-person crew into a 400-km orbit for a three-day journey and then landing in the Indian Ocean and returning them safely to Earth.
ISRO’s human spaceflight program is expected to put India on the global map of human spaceflight countries. Upon successful completion, India will join the US, Russia and China among countries that have active human spaceflight programs.
Unmanned testing for Gaganyaan is expected to begin later this year. ISRO hopes to complete seven test launches under Gaganyaan by March next year.
India’s manned space mission is being completely controlled by ISRO, which is working with partner vendors for a completely indigenous technology stack for Gaganyaan’s space infrastructure.
This marks a key differentiating factor between India and the US, which contracts private companies like SpaceX, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin for a wide range of commercial as well as human spaceflight projects.
India also joined the US, Russia (through the erstwhile Soviet Union) and China in terms of the global space ecosystem and became the fourth country to successfully land a rover on the Moon with the Chandrayaan-3 mission last August 23. Year.
ISRO’s Chandrayaan missions have so far made key observations that have quantified the presence of water on the Moon’s surface. Through Gaganyaan, India hopes to increase its stature in applied research projects in space.
(With PTI inputs)
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Published: April 24, 2024, 08:22 am IST
