India’s Gaganyaan Mission Advances Toward First Uncrewed Flight; Space Station, Moon Landing Plans Take Shape
New Delhi, July 23: India’s ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme has achieved several key developmental milestones as it prepares for its first uncrewed mission (G1), according to a written reply by Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The programme, led by the Department of Space, is set to launch India into the league of established spacefaring nations with human-rated launch capabilities and a long-term roadmap that includes building a space station by 2035 and landing an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040.
Gaganyaan Programme: Key Milestones Achieved
Human Rated Launch Vehicle (HLVM3): Development and ground testing have been completed.
Orbital Module: Propulsion systems for the Crew Module and Service Module have been tested; an engineering model of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) has been realized.
Crew Escape System (CES): All five types of motors have been developed and static-tested.
Infrastructure Readiness: New facilities include:
Orbital Module Preparation Facility
Gaganyaan Control Centre and Control Facility
Crew Training Facility
Modified Second Launch Pad
Precursor Missions:
The Test Vehicle (TV-D1) for validating CES was successfully flight-tested.
Preparations are underway for TV-D2 and IADT-01 missions.
Communication Network: Ground network finalized; IDRSS-1 feeder stations and terrestrial links established.
Recovery Planning: Recovery assets and operational plan have been finalized.
First Uncrewed Mission (G1) – Progress
C32-G Stage and CES motors have been realized.
HS200 Motors and CES fore-end systems have been stacked up to the Crew Module Jettisoning Motor.
Structures of the Crew Module and Service Module have been completed, and Phase-1 checks for the Crew Module have been successfully conducted.
Next-Phase Vision: Bharatiya Antariksha Station and Moon Landing
The government has laid out a forward-looking roadmap for Indian space exploration:
Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS): India plans to launch a five-module space station by 2035, with development of the first module already approved.
Indian Moon Landing by 2040: Preliminary work on mission configuration, launch vehicle design, and orbital module systems has begun in alignment with this goal.
Human Spaceflight Training: Incremental training modules are being developed for both Gaganyaan and future lunar missions.
The Gaganyaan mission is a cornerstone of India’s scientific ambition under Viksit Bharat, aimed at transforming the nation’s technological and research capabilities.
