• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said preparations are underway for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) for the Gaganyaan mission.

• Gaganyaan is India’s first manned space mission.

• 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.

• Crew Module is where the astronauts are contained in a pressurised Earth-like atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan space mission. The Crew Module for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development.

• For the TV-D1, the Crew Module is an unpressurised version that has completed its integration and testing and is ready to be shipped to the launch complex.

• This unpressurised Crew Module version has to have an overall size and mass of actual Gaganyaan Crew Module. It houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery.

• With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids, actuation systems and pyros. The avionics systems in Crew Module are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. 

• The Crew Module in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems.

• The Crew Module will be recovered after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.

• The Crew Module, after integration underwent various electrical testing at ISRO’s facility in Bengaluru, including an acoustic test, and was dispatched to Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (SDSC SHAR) on August 13.

• At Satish Dhawan Space Centre, it will undergo vibration tests and pre-integration with the Crew Escape System, before final integration to the Test Vehicle at the launch pad.

• This Test Vehicle mission with this Crew Module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a near-complete system is integrated for a flight test.

• The test flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission.

• Crew Escape Systems with Crew Module will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota.

• The success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission with Indian astronauts.

Gaganyaan Mission

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Gaganyaan mission in his Independence Day address in 2018.

• Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members to an orbit of 400 km for a three days mission and bring them back safely to Earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

• For the first human spaceflight, four Indian Air Force pilots have been selected and are undergoing extensive training for the mission.

• A budget of Rs 9,023 crore is allocated towards achieving the objectives of the mission.

• ISRO is developing indigenous technologies for the launch vehicle, habitable crew module, life support system, crew escape system, ground station network, crew training and recovery.

• These technologies are crucial to meet the objectives of Gaganyaan mission and to take up any further interplanetary missions.

• An uncrewed ‘G1’ mission is targeted to be launched in the last quarter of 2023 followed by the second uncrewed ‘G2’ mission in the second quarter of 2024, before the final human space flight ‘H1’ mission in the fourth quarter of 2024.

• Gaganyaan will not be a one-off mission as the government has given us approval for a sustained human spaceflight programme.

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