Aiming to launch the Gaganyaan mission and “send India’s son or daughter to space from Indian soil by an Indian vehicle by 2022 to mark the 75th year of Indian independence”, as stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his The speech, which was conceived for Independence Day 2018, might not have seen the light of the day.
A variety of factors, from difficulties in realizing complex technologies to disruptions in global supply chains due to COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have disrupted plans.
Nevertheless, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has, in the last three and a half years, developed and realized various technologies towards making India the fourth country in the world to launch a human space flight mission after the US, Russia and China.
astronaut training
The Gaganyaan mission aims to demonstrate the capability to launch humans (three crew members) into low Earth orbit and return them safely to Earth by landing them in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea.
The four astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission have completed the first semester of crew training and are undergoing Gaganyaan mission-specific training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.
According to ISRO, the first semester of crew training and 39 weeks of training activities have been successfully completed so far.
The astronauts, selected from a pool of Indian Air Force test pilots, are given 218 lectures by both ISRO and Indian Institute of Science faculty, and also undergo 75 physical training sessions. In addition, two flight exercises, consisting of 12 hours each, are completed along with medical and course evaluations.
Between early 2020 and mid-2021, he underwent general space flight training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.
launch vehicle
Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) is the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. According to ISRO, all systems in the LVM3 launch vehicle have been reconfigured to meet human rating requirements and named Human Rated LVM3 (HLVM3).
“HLVM3 includes the Crew Escape System (CES) which is powered by a set of quick acting, high burn rate solid motors which ensure that the crew along with the crew in case of any emergency on the launch pad or during ascent Move the module to a safe distance. phase,” explains the space agency on the rocket selected for the mission.
As per the Annual Report 2022-2023 of the Department of Space, the launch vehicle structures have been redesigned to meet the required human rating factor. The solid motor sections required for the static test were realized, and the HS200 motor was successfully tested statically.
On April 6, a major milestone was accomplished in the form of the final long-duration warm-up test of the human-rated L110-G development engine.
“The successful completion of this test is a major milestone in ISRO’s human space flight programme, Gaganyaan. With this test, all the planned qualification tests of the engine have been successfully completed,” ISRO said.
Prior to the first crewed flight, three Test Vehicles (TV) flights are planned TV-1, TV-2 and TV-3, which, according to ISRO, will demonstrate and validate the features and performance of the crew escape system. are designed for. and a parachute-based deceleration system. ISRO has already completed the mission design for the first test vehicle mission.
“Later this year, we are planning an unmanned test, and early next year, another unnamed flight will carry the humanoid Vyommitra. After that, we will go for manned flight,” said an ISRO official.
orbital module
In the Gaganyaan mission, the Orbiter Module will orbit the Earth, and consists of the Crew Module (CM) and the Service Module (SM). It is designed to keep the crew safe during ascent, orbital phase and re-entry.
“The CM is a habitable space for the crew with an Earth-like environment in space. It has crew interface, human-centric products, life support systems, avionics and declaration systems. It is designed to ensure the safety of the crew during descent till touchdown. The SM is also designed for re-entry into orbit. The SM will be used to provide necessary support to the CM in orbit. It is an unpressurized structure containing thermal systems, propulsion systems, power systems, avionics systems and deployment mechanisms,” ISRO tells.
The design of various systems of CM and SM has been completed.
On April 5, the space agency successfully completed the System Demonstration Model test for the Crew Module Propulsion System for the Gaganyaan programme.
“The completion of this test is a major step towards qualifying the Crew Module Propulsion System for the Gaganyaan programme,” the space agency said.
In addition, ISRO has received the Crew Module Structure simulated assembly for the Integrated Air-Drop Test (IADT) to validate the sequence and performance of the parachute system in the Gaganyaan mission.
In February, ISRO, along with the Indian Navy, conducted initial recovery tests of the Crew Module. The tests were part of the preparations for the crew module recovery operation for the Gaganyaan mission to be carried out in Indian waters.
Ground Station & Tracking
The Gaganyaan mission also requires support from ground stations around the world for telemetry, tracking and command operations.
The Department of Space’s Annual Report 2022-2023 states that a detailed mission requirement document describing the overall requirements of Gaganyaan with respect to direct-to-ground communication support from European Space Agency ground stations has been finalised.
“Technical implementation planning is in progress. Requirement of ship borne terminals for ascent stage and orbit circularization has been firmed up. A requirement note on ship borne terminal and transportable terminal requirements for Gaganyaan mission including the requirements of ships, Cocos Island and Helical antennas include transportable LEA decks with CES avionics terminals and associated communications equipment including VSAT terminals, etc.,” the report said. ,
It added that an implementation arrangement has been signed between ISRO and the Australian Space Agency by the two sides for setting up and operating the transportable terminal at Cocos Island.