The first test flight for the Gaganyaan mission was aborted at 8:45 am on Saturday due to an engine ignition issue, and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully completed the Test Flight Abort Mission.
The first unmanned test flight of the Gaganyaan Mission, designated as TV-D1 Flight Test, was momentarily aborted earlier today by ISRO.
After thereafter, the space agency announced that the mistakes had been found and fixed and that the second launch was planned for this morning at 10:00. The purpose of this flight test vehicle abort mission is to show how well the crew escape mechanism works as part of the Gaganyaan mission.
The mission objectives of the TV-D1 launch are: Flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle subsystems; flight demonstration and evaluation of Crew Escape System including various separation systems; crew module characteristics; and deceleration system demonstration at higher altitudes and its recovery.
The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. This flight simulated the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission.
This mission represents a significant milestone in India’s effort to demonstrate that it is possible to send humans into space. The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of three members into an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian waters.
This programme will make India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China. Building on the success of the Indian space initiatives, including the recent Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 missions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that India should now aim for new and ambitious goals, including setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ (Indian Space Station) by 2035 and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
ISRO successfully launches Test Flight Abort Mission for project Gaganyaan
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