Gaganyaan Mission

Central Government has allocated a budget of Rs. 9023 Crores towards achieving the objectives of the Gaganyaan mission.

• The Department of Space is also in the process of formulating a comprehensive, overarching space policy to provide a further boost to the entire space ecosystem.

About Gaganyaan Mission:

• Gaganyaan Mission by ISRO aims to demonstrate India's capability to conduct human spaceflight and safe return.
• The mission will launch a crew of three members to a low earth orbit (LEO) of 400 kilometres for three days and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.
  • The first trial (uncrewed flight) for Gaganyaan is being planned for the end of 2023 or early 2024.
  • It will be followed by sending Vyom Mitra- a humanoid, and then with the crew onboard.
  • The crewed mission is expected to be launched by December 2024. If successful, India would be the 4^th country to send a manned mission after Russia, the USA, and China.

Precursor Missions:

• Various precursor missions are being undertaken before carrying out the actual Human Space Flight mission including Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT), Pad Abort Test (PAT) and Test Vehicle (TV) flights.
  • Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT): The test is a simulation of different failure conditions of the Gaganyaan Parachute system. It is designed to test the capability of the crew module’s parachute system to handle the stresses of atmospheric re-entry and ensure the safety of the astronauts during their return to Earth.
  • Pad Abort Test (PAT)/ Crew Escape System: An emergency accident-avoidance measure designed to quickly get astronauts and their spacecraft away from the launch vehicle if a malfunction occurs during the initial stage of the launch. In July 2018, ISRO completed the first successful flight ‘Pad Abort Test’ or Crew Escape System.

Critical components of Gaganyaan:

1. Launch Vehicle: GSLV Mk III satellite, popularly known as Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3). The Human-rated LVM3 rocket consists of the solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.

• Pad Abort Test (PAT)/ Crew Escape System

• Crew Module Atmospheric Re-Entry technology (CARE):
• Satellites that are launched for communication or remote sensing are meant to remain in space. However, a manned spacecraft needs to come back. While re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft needs to withstand very high temperatures created due to friction.
• A prior critical experiment was carried out in 2014 along with GSLV MK-III when the CARE (Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment) capsule successfully demonstrated that it could survive atmospheric re-entry.

• Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS):
• The crew module carrying human beings must have conditions inside it suitable for humans to live comfortably.
• ECLSS will:
  • Maintain steady cabin pressure and air composition.
  • Remove carbon dioxide and other harmful gases.
  • Control temperature and humidity
  • Manage parameters like fire detection and suppression.