The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is preparing for a ₹10,000 crore programme to send Indian origin astronauts into space. The ambitious Gaganyaan project by ISRO will send 3 Indian astronauts to space in the year 2022, for 7 days. ISRO’s Gaganyaan will help India become the fourth nation to independently send humans to space.
ISRO hopes to deploy its biggest rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) from its launch site at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. There will be 2 unmanned flights, and then a human flight with 3 astronauts into a low earth orbit.
Russia and France will be helping and guiding India in this mission.
India’s space agency has been preparing for a manned event from a very long time. It has conducted quite a few experiments until now, its ambitious project will be a reality in the next 40 months.
In 2008, ISRO conducted a test on indigenously designed silicon tiles on rockets. India successfully recovered back rockets that were used to send satellites into space.
Then again in 2014, a prototype of a 3745 kilogram space capsule which will be used by the Indian astronauts was launched on the first flight of the GSLV Mk III and then recovered safely from the Bay of Bengal.
Again a 11,500 kilogram crew Pad Abort Test was conducted in July this year, to make sure that the crew returns safely incase of a launch pad failure.
ISRO early this year had created and tested its space suits for the mission as well.