ISRO begins unmanned flight tests for its human spaceflight mission Gaganyaan

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday announced that it will be commencing unmanned flight tests for its next space mission, Gaganyaan. Sharing pictures on X, the space agency also said that the preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) are underway.

"ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway," ISRO posted on X.


According to ISRO officials, the Gaganyaan project would demonstrate India's capability of taking a crew of two to three members to a circular orbit of about 400 km around the earth for a one-to-three days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in a designated location in Indian sea waters. The LVM3 rocket, the heavy lift launcher of ISRO, is identified as the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. It consists of solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.

All systems in LVM3 are re-configured to meet human rating requirements and christened Human Rated LVM3 (HLVM3). Nair said the LVM3 cannot be used for conducting tests to validate CES, saying it's an expensive rocket.