Madurai: ISRO will conduct three more test vehicle missions under the ambitious Gaganyaan programme after the maiden TV-D1 test flight, which is scheduled on October 21, the space agency’s chairman S Somanath said on Saturday.
The Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of the human spaceflight capability by launching a human crew to an orbit of 400 km and bringing them safely back to earth by landing in Indian sea waters.
The test vehicle development flight (TV-D1) will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh to test the crew module that is scheduled to house Indian astronauts during the human spaceflight late next year.
“The first test vehicle flight (of the Gaganyaan mission) will be conducted on October 21. After that we have planned for three more test missions, D2, D3, D4. We will hold thorough tests during the test flight sequence,” Mr Somanath, who is alsot he secretary, Department of Space, told reporters in Madurai. He was here to participate in a couple of events in Rameswaram.
TV-D1 involves launching the crew module to outer space, bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.
Last week, ISRO scientists executed a trajectory correction manoeuvre on the Aditya L1 spacecraft, which had been launched on September 2 via a PSLV-C57 rocket.
Discussing the establishment of a new launch pad in Kulasekarapattinam in Tuticorin district, Somanath outlined the benefits ISRO would gain, including the ability to launch smaller rockets and accommodate private players. He highlighted that this new launch pad would eliminate the need for rockets to alter their trajectory above Sri Lanka and facilitate launches facing southward.
“Smaller Satellite Launch Vehicles and private players will be able to utilize this launch pad in Kulasekarapattinam. Currently, the land acquisition is in progress, and completion is expected within two years,” Somanath stated.
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