ISRO gears up for human space flight with launch of test vehicle

Sriharikota: The launch of a single-stage liquid rocket on Saturday will signal ISRO’s journey towards its ambitious human space flight programme, Gaganyaan, when the first crew module test to ensure the safety of astronauts will be conducted by the space agency here.

ISRO aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for a three-day Gaganyaan mission and bring them safely back to earth.

Unlike other missions by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, ISRO would attempt a successful launch of its Test Vehicle (TV-D1), a single-stage liquid rocket, scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at this spaceport at 8 am on October 21.

The Test Vehicle mission with this Crew Module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a nearly complete system is integrated for a flight test.

The success of this test flight would set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan programme with Indian astronauts, which is expected to take shape in 2025.

The Crew Module underwent various testing at ISRO centres before it was integrated into the launch complex in Sriharikota, located about 135 km east of Chennai.

The entire test flight sequence on Saturday is expected to be brief as the Test Vehicle Abort Mission (TV-D1) will launch the Crew Escape Systems and Crew Module at an altitude of 17 km which are expected to make a safe touchdown in the sea, about 10 kms from the eastern coast of Sriharikota. They would be later retrieved by the Navy from the Bay of Bengal.

The TV-D1 vehicle uses a modified VIKAS engine with a Crew Module and Crew Escape System mounted at its fore end.

Scientists have also lined up a series of tests with the beginning of the TV-D1 flight programme on Saturday.

The rocket to be launched in space would be a human-rated LVM 3 -- a vehicle which would carry the Orbital Module to an intended Low Earth Orbit of 400 km on the Gaganyaan mission.

However, for the Test Vehicle Abort Mission 1(TV-D1), the Crew Module is an unpressurised version and it has the overall size and weight of the actual Crew Module on the Gaganyaan mission.