ISRO yet to take call on number of astronauts

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, February 27

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is yet to take a call on the number of astronauts who will be travelling to space in the first crewed Gaganyaan mission.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday introduced to the country four IAF pilots being trained for travelling to space aboard the first crewed mission of Gaganyaan.

Talking to The Tribune, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said the number of astronauts who would be travelling to space was yet to be decided. “It could be two, three or four,” he said. The chief said the capacity of the crew module with regard to the number of astronauts it could carry was also still under consideration. “This is our first human mission. We are yet to make the final plans,” Somanath said.

ISRO had originally announced that it was planning to send three astronauts to space in its first crewed mission.

The Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching crew members to an orbit of 400 km for a three-day mission and bring them back safely to the earth. The programme’s objective is to demonstrate indigenous capability to undertake human spaceflight missions to low-earth orbit.

The success of the mission would make India fourth country in the world after Soviet Russia, USA and China to send humans to space.

Somanath said the first crewed flight — which will be the third flight of Gaganyaan — is likely to take off sometime at the end of next year. The second uncrewed test flight of Gaganyaan will carry Vyommitra, a humanoid robot with female features. This is expected to take place sometime later this year. The work on the crewed spacecraft by ISRO had begun in 2012. During its first flight in December 2014, heavy-lift launch vehicle LVM3 carried a crew module mockup on a suborbital trajectory that ended with a successful splashdown in the Bay of Bengal.

Last week, ISRO successfully tested the human readiness of the cryogenic engine, which will be used on the LVM3 vehicles for all Gaganyaan missions.

The orbital module (OM), which will be orbiting earth, comprises crew module and service module.

Woman robot to precede ‘manned’ crew

• The work on the crewed spacecraft by ISRO began in 2012
• During its first flight in December 2014, heavy-lift launch vehicle LVM3 carried a crew module mockup on a suborbital trajectory that ended with a successful splashdown in the Bay of Bengal
• The first crewed flight, which will be the third flight of Gaganyaan, is likely to take off sometime at the end of next year
• The second uncrewed test flight of Gaganyaan will carry Vyommitra, a humanoid robot with female features. This is expected to take place sometime later this year