The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to undertake three more test vehicle missions as part of the ambitious Gaganyaan program. These missions will follow the inaugural TV-D1 test flight, which is scheduled for October 21, according to ISRO Chairman S Somanath.
Gaganyaan’s Aim
The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate India’s human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew into an orbit 400 kilometers above Earth and safely returning them by landing in the Indian sea waters.
Additional Test Missions
The first test vehicle development flight, TV-D1, will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. This mission is designed to test the crew module that is slated to house Indian astronauts for a human spaceflight mission in the coming year.
Somanath announced, “The first test vehicle flight (of the Gaganyaan mission) will be conducted on October 21. After that, we have planned for three more test missions, D2, D3, D4. We will conduct thorough tests during the test flight sequence.”
TV-D1 will involve launching the crew module into outer space, bringing it back to Earth, and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.
Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh recently confirmed ISRO’s plans to conduct the first of several test flights in preparation for the maiden Gaganyaan mission on October 21 at Sriharikota.
Regarding the Aditya-L1 program, ISRO’s maiden solar mission, Somanath expressed optimism that the spacecraft would reach the Lagrange point (L1) by mid-January 2024, enabling various scientific experiments from that location.
ISRO’s new launch pad
Somanath also discussed ISRO‘s plan to establish a new launch pad in Kulasekarapattinam, Tuticorin district. This launch pad will offer advantages, including the ability to launch smaller rockets and cater to private players. He explained that the new location would eliminate the need for rockets to make a southward turn over Sri Lanka, a current requirement for launches from the east in Sriharikota.
“The land is currently in the acquisition stage, and it is expected to take two years for completion,” Somanath noted.
(With PTI Inputs)