ISRO gears up for maiden human space flight programme with launch of test vehicle mission

The launch of a single-stage liquid rocket on Saturday will signal ISRO’s journey towards its ambitious human space flight programme, Gaganyaan, when the first crew module test to ensure the safety of astronauts will be conducted by the space agency here.

ISRO aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for a three-day Gaganyaan mission and bring them safely back to earth.

Unlike other missions by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, ISRO would attempt a successful launch of its Test Vehicle (TV-D1), a single-stage liquid rocket, scheduled to lift off from the first launch pad at this spaceport at 8 am on October 21.

The Test Vehicle mission with this Crew Module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a nearly complete system is integrated for a flight test.