Gaganyaan ready to spread its wings; first test flight before June

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first test flight of ISRO's Gaganyaan, which will carry humans into space, will take place before June. The first flight will be without passengers with an unmanned probe. A second flight will be made with a robot later. Human flight is in 2025. The project announced in 2014 was delayed due to covid.

In the first test flight, the Gaganyaan Orbital Module, comprising the Gaganyaan Service Module and Crew Module, will be launched into space by the GSLV rocket from the Satish Dhawan Rocket Station in Sriharikota. The orbital module will be launched at an altitude of 165 km above the Earth. It will then be lifted to a height of over 350 km. From there it will orbit the earth once. Then it will return to the earth and fall into the sea. The probe will not carry passengers or the robot Vyommitra.

Being able to land the probe at the South Pole of the Moon and also to place the probe at the Lagrange Point has boosted ISRO's confidence. All preparations for the Gaganyaan project have been completed. Probe, rocket, life support system, precision software and emergency escape systems are ready. Three airmen have also been trained for the trip.

The project cost is Rs 10,000 crore. If successful, India will become the fourth country to send humans into space. Other countries are Russia, USA and China.

Will land in sea

• The spacecraft will orbit the Earth at an altitude of 400 km with three passengers
• May stay there for three days
• The probe will be launched 120 km above the earth
• Later it will move upwards and reach 400 km
• It will reach back in 36 minutes
• Ten parachutes were prepared by the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment for this purpose.
• This will control the probe and land it in the sea

Preparations so far

• 12 airmen were selected in 2018 and trained at the Glovcosmos space centre in Russia. Training is continuing at the special training centre in Bengaluru.
• Bioengineering of the Defense Department
• Special suits prepared by Electro Medical Laboratory
• Shock-absorbing seats brought from Russia
• Food for travellers is prepared at the Defense Food Research Laboratory in Mysore
• In 2020, a robot called Vyommitra was released for unmanned launch.
• Passed pad abort test in 2018.
• The work of improving the launch pad at Sriharikota was completed in 2019.
• Parachute airdrop tests were conducted in November 2019.
• Three sets of rockets and three sets of crew module probes have been prepared for the mission.
• The GSLV rocket has been strengthened to carry the human probe.
• Prepared crew module. A life-sustaining environment and communication systems were prepared inside the spacecraft. Apart from this, the probe will also have a service module. It will store power system, fuel, etc. All are manufactured by HAL in Bengaluru.
• Orbital module construction in the final stage
• Microgravity experiment will be conducted soon.
• Ground network systems have been completed.