Report by Shuchi Giridhar
On October 21, 2023, the first test flight of the Gaganyaan mission was launched. It was launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 10:00
What is Gaganyaan?
Gaganyaan is a crewed (one which has human crew) orbital spacecraft planned by ISRO. It is the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
• the mission aims to send a spacecraft with a crew of two or three astronauts to space and place them in the Lower Earth Orbit which is at an altitude of 400 km for seven days.
• The spacecraft will go through multiple uncrewed tests before the main mission. It might take until 2025 for the main mission due to safety concerns. The first uncrewed test launched on October 21st.
• The first test has been designated as the Test Vehicle Development Flight Mission-1 (TV-D1) or Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission. This is the first step towards Indians in space.
• How has the TV-D1 been designed?
• The Vehicle is a single-stage liquid propulsion rocket that contains a VIKAS engine, Crew Module and Crew Escape System. This will evaluate the safety and performance of returning Indian astronauts to the Earth safe and sound in the upcoming Gaganyaan mission.
• The crew module is a habitable space with an Earth-like environment. A pressurised metallic inner structure and an unpressurised external structure with thermal protection systems make up the crew module.
What is the objective of the abort demo test?
• Flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle subsystems.
• Flight demonstration and evaluation of Crew Escape System including various separation systems.
• Crew Module characteristics & deceleration systems demonstration at higher altitudes & its recovery
What happened during the abort demo test?
• The vehicle was to launch at 8:00 AM, but it encountered ignition problems hence the launch was postponed to 10:00 AM.
• The launch at 10:0 AM went smoothly with no problem.
• After launch, it rose to an altitude of 17km. Then it launched the crew escape system and crew module which was followed by the release of the parachute.
• The Indian army found it floating safely in the Bay of Bengal, ten kilometres from Sriharikota.
• Thus, the abort demo test has successfully been completed.