India a step closer to realising first human space flight programme: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that ISRO’s successful launch of a test vehicle as part of its Gaganyaan mission takes India a step closer to realising its first human space flight programme.

In a post on X, he said, “This launch takes us one step closer to realising India’s first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at ISRO.” Overcoming initial hiccups, including a monitoring anomaly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully launched a test vehicle with payloads related to the country’s ambitious human space flight programme, Gaganyaan.

Scientists simulated an abort situation for the Crew Escape System (CES) to carry the Crew Module out of the test vehicle, TV-D1, as they made a splash into the Bay of Bengal with planned precision, setting off jubilation among ISRO scientists at the Mission Control Center.