The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will execute the first of multiple test flights ahead of the Gaganyaan mission — India’s first manned mission to space — on October 21, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Space, Science and Technology, said on Tuesday.
The test will be conducted at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and is intended to test the ‘crew module ’ or the part of vehicle where the Indian astronauts will be housed.
The test involves launching the module to outer space and bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal. The Navy personnel have already started mock operations to recover the module, said Mr. Singh. Along with the crew module, there will also be a ‘crew escape’ system. If the spacecraft while ascending into space faces a problem, this escape system is expected to separate and bring the crew safely back to sea from where they will be picked by the Navy personnel.
