Gaganyaan (Orbital Vehicle) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
Published Oct 07, 2023 | 2:09 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 07, 2023 | 2:13 PM
Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1). (ISRO/ X)
After the success of Chandrayaan-3 and a key manoeuvre of the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday, 7 October, said it is on course to commence unmanned flight tests for the country’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission, and preparations are underway for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1).
Gaganyaan (Orbital Vehicle) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the space agency said, “ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.”
According to ISRO, the first development flight Test Vehicle (TV-D1) is in the final stages of preparation.
Officials had earlier indicated that the TV-D1 launch is likely by this month.
Gaganyaan was set to launch in 2022, but due to Covid-19 there was an inordinate delay, ISRO chairman S Somanath told reporters during the international conference on Spacecraft Mission Operations (SMOPS-2023).
The Test Vehicle is a single-stage liquid rocket developed for this abort mission. The payloads consist of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters.
This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission, it said.
“CES with CM will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota,” ISRO said.
The CM, after integration underwent various electrical testing at ISRO’s facility in Bengaluru, including an acoustic test, and was dispatched to Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (SDSC SHAR) on 13 August.
At Satish Dhawan Space Centre, it will undergo vibration tests and pre-integration with the Crew Escape System, before final integration to the Test Vehicle at the launch pad.
Mission Gaganyaan:
ISRO to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission.Preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which demonstrates the performance of the Crew Escape System, are underway.https://t.co/HSY0qfVDEH @indiannavy #Gaganyaan pic.twitter.com/XszSDEqs7w
— ISRO (@isro) October 7, 2023
This Test Vehicle mission with this crew module is a significant milestone for the overall Gaganyaan programme as a near-complete system is integrated for a flight test, ISRO said, adding that the success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission with Indian astronauts.
CM is where the astronauts are contained in a pressurised earthlike atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan space mission. The CM for the Gaganyaan mission is in different stages of development.
For the TV-D1, the CM is an unpressurised version that has completed its integration and testing and is ready to be shipped to the launch complex.
This unpressurised CM version has to have an overall size and mass of actual Gaganyaan CM, the space agency said, adding it houses all the systems for the deceleration and recovery.
“With its complete set of parachutes, recovery aids actuation systems and pyros. The avionics systems in CM are in a dual redundant mode configuration for navigation, sequencing, telemetry, instrumentation and power. The CM in this mission is extensively instrumented to capture the flight data for evaluation of the performance of various systems,” it said.
The CM will be recovered after the touchdown in the Bay of Bengal, using a dedicated vessel and diving team from the Indian Navy.
On Friday, 6 October, signalling a possible end to India’s third lunar mission, ISRO said, now no hope of waking up the Chandrayaan-3’s moon lander and rover. ISRO officials further said, the Chandrayaan-3 achieved all its goals, and if it was able to reestablish communication with the lander and rover, it would be a “bonus”
With the Chandrayaan-3 mission, India scripted history on 23 August becoming the first country to touch down near the lunar south pole; and the fourth in the world to achieve soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
The national space agency headquartered in Bengaluru had put the lander and rover into sleep mode, on 2 and 4 September, respectively, before the sun set on the moon, hoping for their awakening at the next sunrise around 22 September.
The lander and the rover are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days).
According to ISRO officials, all three Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives — demonstration of a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, and demonstration of the rover roving on the moon and undertaking of in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface by its payloads and that of the lander — have been achieved.
On 2 September, ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) successfully launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraft from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
After a flight duration of 63 minutes and 20 seconds, Aditya-L1 spacecraft was successfully injected into an elliptical orbit of 235×19500 km around Earth.
On 19 September, it underwent a key manoeuvre ISRO announced.
(With PTI inputs)
