India’s manned Space flight Gaganyaan to be launched in in the fourth quarter of 2024: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

Tags: National Science and Technology

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that India’s maiden human space flight mission is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024. He gave this information in the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2022.

Gaganyaan Mission of ISRO 

Gaganyaan project envisages demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3 days mission and bring them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters.

The Gaganyaan project was conceived in 2007 and it was formally started in 2018 with a budget of Rs 10,000 crore. Initially the plan is to launch two unmanned missions in December 2020 and July 2021 before the final launch of the manned mission in December 2021. 

Now according to the Minister the first unmanned mission will be launched in the last quarter of 2023 followed by the second unmanned mission in the second quarter of 2024.

 Gaganyaan Astronauts 

Four Indian Air Force pilots have been identified as crew for the mission who are undergoing training in Russia. An astronaut training facility was set up in Bengaluru in May this year. Here the four astronauts will go through theory, physical fitness, flight suit training, microgravity, among other things.

Aim of Gaganyaan mission

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) LMV3 rocket will be used as a launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission. It will take the crew 16 minutes to reach space, where they will spend three days conducting scientific experiments. During the return, the crew module in which the crew will live will separate at an altitude of 120 km. It will splash down in the sea nearby 36 minutes after separation.

Human Space Flight 

At present only three countries, the United States, Russia and China have the capability to launch manned space missions.

 The first person to go into space was Yury Gagarin of the Soviet Union on 12 April 1961 onboard the Vostok Rocket.

The first woman to go into space was Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union on 16 June 1963 onboard the Vostok 6 Rocket.

Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian to go into space. He was part of the Soviet mission aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984. 

Humans who travel in space are called astronauts. The Chinese call them Taikonauts and the Russians call them Cosmonauts.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 

It was set up on 15 August 1969

It is India's national space agency.

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Chairman: S.Somanath