The Gaganyaan spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch astronauts into space in December 2024, was shown off in photos released today by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The space agency also announced that the mission’s unmanned flight tests would soon begin.
“ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway,” the agency said in a tweet.
Mission Gaganyaan:
— ISRO (@isro) October 7, 2023
ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission.
Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.https://t.co/HSY0qfVDEH @indiannavy #Gaganyaan pic.twitter.com/XszSDEqs7w
The Gaganyaan project would demonstrate India’s capacity to launch a crew of two to three people into an orbit with a diameter of 400 km for a mission lasting one to three days before returning them safely to the ground by performing a controlled landing in Indian sea waters.
“The success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian astronauts,” stated ISRO.
In a release on the First Crew Module for the Gaganyaan test flight, the agency claimed that the first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is in the final phases of preparation.
“The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission,” the release said.
The Crew Module after integration underwent various electrical testing, at ISRO’s facility in Bengaluru, including an acoustic test and was dispatched to SDSC-SHAR on August 13, the release added.
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Source: NDTV
