India’s most ambitious space mission, Gaganyaan, is ready to take off, with the first of the four test vehicle missions set for a May launch. “The project has entered the realisation and testing phase. Presently, Gaganyaan is the high priority activity for the department of space,” minister of state Dr Jitendra Singh informed Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Test Vehicle TV-D1 mission to demonstrate the crew escape system is ready for its first flight, Singh said. Based on its outcome, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will schedule the second test vehicle mission TV-D1 before the first uncrewed mission (LVM3-G1) early next year.
Four test flights, two uncrewed missions
The stakes are high and ISRO is treading cautiously. The space agency has selected its heaviest launcher – launch vehicle mark (LVM) 3, which will fly three Indian astronauts into space on a historic three-day mission for the first time and bring them back. The rocket will target an altitude of 400 km in the low earth orbit (LEO).
The agency has planned four test vehicle missions, TV-D1 and D2 in 2023, and D3 as well as D4 for 2024 to test critical technologies paramount for the success of the mission. The Gaganyaan Advisory Council, too, had recommended testing the crew escape system and deceleration systems through four abort missions using test vehicle (TV) and integrated air drop tests before proceeding with crewed missions.
Apart from these four test flights, there will also be two uncrewed missions with robotic payloads – LVM3 G1 and LVM3 G2 for demonstrating the human safety of the missions before the final flight.
Eyeing late 2024 launch
The human-rated launch vehicle systems (HLVM3) have also been tested and qualified. According to the central government, all design activities have been completed and proto models testing commenced for all systems.
“Manufacturing of all the systems has been initiated and in progress. All propulsion systems tests for higher margins have been completed. Static tests of all crew escape system motors have been completed. Batch testing is in progress,” Singh said.
The ISRO is eyeing a late 2024 launch for the crewed mission, which will have three astronauts on board. The first semester of astronaut training is complete, while crew evaluation and assessment activities are also done. However, the historic flight will be scheduled based on the outcome of the successful test vehicle and uncrewed missions.
“We cannot take chances with human beings,” ISRO chief S Somanath had said earlier, adding that the mission could take more time than expected. “We are going cautiously and carefully. Space agencies take a long time, over 10 years, to develop human spaceflights capability. We did it in four years.”
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