ISRO To Launch First Test Vehicle Mission For Gaganyaan In A Month Or Two

BENGALURU: 

The first test vehicle mission of India’s ambitious maiden human spaceflight venture Gaganyaan to validate the crew escape system will be launched in a month or two, a key ISRO official said on Friday.

According to officials of the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency, it would be the first of the four abort missions of the Gaganyaan programme.

The first test vehicle mission, TV-D1, would be followed by the second test vehicle mission, TV-D2, and the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan (LVM3-G1).

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The second series of test vehicle missions (TV-D3 and D4) and the LVM3-G2 mission with a robotic payload are planned next. The crewed mission is planned based on the outcome of the successful test vehicle and uncrewed missions, they said.

“Immediately, what we are now targeting is to validate the crew escape system. In a month or two, the mission will take place from Sriharikota,” Gaganyaan Project Director R Hutton said at an international space conference here.

According to ISRO officials, the Gaganyaan project is aimed at demonstrating India’s capability of taking a crew of two to three members to a circular orbit of about 400 km around the Earth for a one-to-three-day mission and bringing them back safely to Earth by landing in a designated location in Indian sea waters.

The LVM3 rocket, the heavy-lift launcher of ISRO, is identified as the launch