Gaganyaan TV-D1
New Delhi: The launch of the Gaganyaan Test Vehicle Development flight (TV-D1) is scheduled on October 21, 2023, Union Minister of State for Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, said today.
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.
The Minister, while addressing the gathering at a felicitation programme of ISRO scientists associated with the Chandrayaan Mission, further informed that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will also test the efficacy of the Crew Escape System which is the crucial part of the Gaganyaan mission, resulting in unmanned and manned missions to outer space by 2024.
The test will be conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It involves launching a crew module to outer space, bringing it back to Earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal. Indian Navy personnel have already started mock operations to recover the module. The crew module is where the astronauts are contained in a pressurized earthlike atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan mission. The CM for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development. The success of this test will set the stage for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission and ultimately a manned mission to outer space in low Earth orbit.
The Minister informed that before the ultimate manned Gaganyaan mission, there will be a test flight next year, which will carry Vyommitra, the female robot astronaut.
The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew to an orbit of 400 km and bringing them back safely to Earth, by landing in Indian sea waters. The prerequisites for the Gaganyaan mission include the development of many critical technologies including a human-rated launch vehicle for carrying the crew safely to space, a Life Support System to provide an earth-like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision and evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew.
At the felicitation programme today, Dr Veeramuthuvel, Project Director, Chandrayaan-3; K. Kalpana, Associate Project Director, Chandrayaan-3; M. Shrikanth, Mission Director, Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1; and Nigar Shaji, Project Director, Aditya L1 were felicitated by the Union Minister.
– global bihari bureau
