Gaganyaan: India to send astronauts in space by 2025, says PM Modi

Gaganyaan Mission: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will commence unmanned flight tests for its upcoming Gaganyaan Mission on October 21. The Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, will take place between 7AM and 9AM in Sriharikota. Ahead of the test flight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a special meeting to assess progress of Gaganyaan Mission and to talk about the country’s space exploration endeavours.

During the meeting, the Department of Space (DoS) presented a comprehensive overview of the Gaganyaan mission, which included various technologies developed for the mission so far. The technologies that the DoS presented during the meeting include human-rated launch vehicles and system qualification. Additionally, DoS outlined around 20 major tests, including three uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3), that have been planned for Saturday.

TV-D1 Flight Test:
The test is scheduled for October 21, 2023, at 0800 Hrs. IST from the First launchpad at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota.

It will be a short-duration mission and the visibility from the Launch View Gallery (LVG) will be limited.

Students and the Public can witness… pic.twitter.com/MROzlmPjRa

— ISRO (@isro) October 17, 2023

PM Modi discusses ISRO’s future plans

In the meeting, PM Modi also evaluated the mission’s readiness for its launch in 2025. If Saturday’s tests are successful, it would take ISRO and consequently India a step closer to launching manned mission in space by 2025.

Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 Missions, Modi directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.

To realise this vision, the department of space will develop a roadmap for Moon exploration, official sources said. This will encompass a series of Chandrayaan missions, the development of a Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), construction of a new launch pad, setting up human-centric laboratories and associated technologies.

PM Modi also called upon Indian scientists to work towards interplanetary missions that would include a Venus orbiter mission and a Mars Lander. He expressed confidence in the country’s capabilities and affirmed its commitment to scaling new heights in space exploration.