One of the founding fathers of the subject Astronautics and Rocket Dynamics, Mr. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, meaningfully wrote “The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” In fact, this thoroughly expressive and visionary statement clearly identifies that in the area of ‘space exploration’ is the future of human beings.

Various successful and cost efficient space programs thus far launched by India have received whole-hearted global recognition, and those programs have made India one of the super powers in research and exploration in the most complex field of Space Technology and Exploration. The Chandrayan Mission for lunar exploration, the Mangalyaan Mission for Mars orbiter exploration, Aditya Mission for Sun, development and launch of Indian National Satellite System (INSAT), operational launch vehicles such as Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) are key examples that stand outs from many achievements we have made in this area.

An aspiring project that our scientists and specialists are currently working on is the prestigious ‘Gaganyaan Mission’. The objective of this mission is to put the man in the space using innovative technologies developed indigenously in a cost efficient manner.

The Nomenclature and Key Components of Gaganyaan

The term ‘Gaganyaan’ has been carefully coined combining the Sanskrit words ‘gagana’ meaning celestial and ‘yaana’ meaning vehicle. Thus, Gaganyaan denotes the ‘Celestial Craft’. No doubt, the name and the mission stands for our strong desire to traverse through the unknowns of the sky for knowledge and development - we cannot stay in the Earth’s cradle forever!

Gaganyaan Mission encompass launching of three space crafts wherein two are unmanned flights and one manned flight. Pursuant to the plan, the manned flight will carry three Indian Astronauts. The craft which is technically called as the Orbital Module will broadly have two components viz. a Crew Module and a Service Module which are connected together. While the former support the human inhabitation in space by providing environment similar to that in the Earth with state of the art safety system, the latter support the operations of the craft with engines powered by liquid propellant system.

The launch vehicle planned for Gaganyaan journey will be the three stage propellant and highly reliable Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) rocket which will be configured to meet the global standards of human rating requirements. Thus, it will be a Human Rated LVM3 or shortly HLVM3. It is anticipated that the rocket will take the Gaganyaan into the space in sixteen minutes.

Destination and Objective of Gaganyaan

The ultimate destination of Gaganyaan is LEO, an abbreviation for Low Earth Orbit, which is at an average of 400Kms away from the Earth. The crew will be stationed at the space for 3 to 4 days before it returns back to Earth. The key objective of the Mission is, of course, to send the man on to space, with paramount importance to safety. Our prestigious Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has planned certain biological and science experiments on Gaganyaan.

Stages and Status of the Mission

As per the ISRO, major milestones planned in the Mission are divided into five viz., Integrated Air Drop Tests (IADT), Test Vehicle Missions (TV), Pad Abort Tests (PT), Unmanned Flights and Manned Flight. Each milestones are further divided into sub-milestones of complex nature.

Currently, as a part of the Test Vehicle Milestone, on the 21st October 2023, we did the much complex TV-D1 Test a significant milestone in the entire Mission. In summary, this test is a high altitude abort test wherein the launched unmanned crew module was brought back to Earth safely simulating an emergency abort command. The objective was to test the safety of the crew who would actually be sent in the crew module on an HLVM-3 rocket during the Gaganyaan mission. The test was successfully completed.

The next target in the Mission is to send a humanoid i.e., a robot that is similar to human being, in the Unmanned Flights. It is planned that indigenously developed female-looking robot Vyommitra, Sanskrit name for ‘Friend of the Space’, will be send in one of the unmanned flights primarily to evaluate the microgravity effects. As per the announcement from ISRO, Vyommitra will accompany other astronauts in the Manned Flight which is expected by 2025.

If we are successful in our Mission, we will be the fourth country in the history to send human beings into space, the other countries being the USA, Russia and China. The Mission Gaganyaan is capable of taking India to further heights in the space technology and scientific advancements. To quote the lines of renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking “I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.” Yes, we are into that journey making progress slow and steady.

In fact, titanic toil through sleep-less nights and complete dedication with deepest honesty from our scientists and technicians from ISRO and other organizations in India who are deeply involved in the Mission is gradually helping India to carefully move step by step to the final stage of Gaganyaan and into the vast Universe. Mission Gaganyaan is every Indians hope and prayer. The countdown is in the process with hopes and prayers from millions of people around the world.