Gaganyaan Mission: ISRO's first test flight rescheduled for astronaut safety

ISRO has rescheduled the launch of test vehicle TV-D1 by 30 minutes. This test, at 8:30 am, ensures astronaut safety in the event of unforeseen issues during their space journey, said ISRO. The Gaganyaan mission's primary goal is to launch humans into space, placing them in a Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 400 kilometres for a three-day mission, with a safe return to Earth scheduled for 2025.

The success of this test flight would set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and uncrewed missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan programme.Test Vehicle Abort Mission (TV-D1) will launch the crew escape system and crew module at an altitude of 17 km which are expected to make a safe touchdown in the sea, about 10 km from Sriharikota on India's eastern coast. They would later be retrieved by the Navy from the Bay of Bengal. Through this campaign, scientists aim to ensure the safety of the crew who would actually be sent in the crew module on an LVM-3 rocket during the Gaganyaan mission. Named after the Sanskrit word for craft or vehicle to the sky, the Gaganyaan project has been developed at the cost of ₹90 billion. If it succeeds, India will become only the fourth country to send a human into space after the Soviet Union, the US, and China.