First uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan programme not possible in Dec ISRO

    Bengaluru, Jul 26 (PTI) The launch of the first
uncrewed mission planned in December, as part of the human
spaceflight programme 'Gaganyaan', will be delayed due to the
COVID-19-induced disruption in delivery of hardware elements
for the ambitious venture, ISRO confirmed on Monday.
    "Definitely it will not be possible in December. It's
delayed", Chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research
Organisation), K Sivan, told P T I here.
    "It (uncrewed mission) will shift to next year".
    According to sources in the Bengaluru-headquartered
space agency, under the Department of Space, delivery of
hardware by the industry was hit due to the lockdown imposed
in several States to contain the pandemic in recent months.
    As part of the mandate of Gaganyaan, two uncrewed
flights are planned to test the end-to-end capacity for the
manned mission.
    "Design, analysis and documentation are done by ISRO
while hardware for Gaganyaan is fabricated and supplied by
hundreds of industries across the country," the sources said.
    The objective of Gaganyaan is to carry a crew of three
to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), perform a set of predefined
activities in space, and return them safely to a predefined
destination on earth.
    Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Space,
Jitendra Singh said in February this year that the first
unmanned mission is planned in December 2021 and the second
unmanned one in 2022-23, followed by the human spaceflight
demonstration.
    Four Indian astronaut-candidates (Test Pilots of
Indian Air Force) have already undergone generic space flight
training in Russia as part of the Gaganyaan programme.
    ISRO's heavy-lift launcher GSLV Mk III has been
identified for the mission.
    Formal announcement of the Gaganyaan programme was
made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence
Day address on August 15, 2018.
    The initial target was to launch the human spaceflight
before the 75th anniversary of India's independence on August
15, 2022.
    Meanwhile, the four Indian astronaut-candidates are
getting ready to kick-start the Indian leg of the mission-
specific training that focuses on physical, mental,
psychological and technological aspects.
    An expert team has defined the training curriculum.
    "Mostly, it will start next month", Sivan said.
    "The training will happen at different locations.
Academic training, aircraft trials, Navy trials, survival
trials, simulation trials... the training is repeated, updated
till they fly."
    The crew management activities are being taken care of
by Indian Air Force.
    ISRO has signed MoU with seven labs of Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for design and
development of human centric products.
    It has signed a similar agreement with academic
institutes for development of Microgravity payloads.
    The human-centric products include space food and
potable water, crew health monitoring system, emergency
survival kit, and crew medical kit.
    ISRO is also taking the help of French, Russian and US
space agencies in "some of the crucial activities and supply
of components", sources said.
    Sivan said engines are getting tested and being
qualified as part of human rating of the launch vehicle.PTI RS
SS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)